In the dead of last winter during the pandemic, the Berman family chose to foster a pack of puppies (小狗) and their mother, all _________ for shelter. Five dogs in all moved into their new home at the Canine Humane Network, a nonprofit rescue organization in Highland, Maryland, US.

The 4-week-old pups needed shelter until they could be _________ ; their mom had Lyme disease and too little mother’s milk. So, for a month, Teresa and Michael Berman and their two sons _________ the pups until _________ homes could be found.

“After dinner, we’d sit around and _________ the puppies play,” said Teresa Berman, 48. “It was better than watching TV. I joked that this was my plan to fight seasonal depression; the pups really did improve everyone’s _________ .”

The puppies tripled (增至三倍) in weight during their _________ and left in their wake more than 1,000 photos and videos of their antics (滑稽动作), all of which took the Bermans’ _________ off COVID-19. Nationwide, the story is much _________. In 2020, the coronavirus resulted in 15 percent __________ in pet fostering from the previous year, according to Shelter Animals Count, a nonprofit data group.

“I __________their sibling rivalry (同胞之争). They would jump on each other, pull tails and play tug-of-war (拔河),” said Michael Berman. Like a __________ dad, he said, “I sent pictures of the puppies to my friends, and now get text messages from their __________ on how they’re doing.”

To date, the Bermans have __________ 12 dogs from the Highland organization in the past year. The virus has __________ Michael’s skill sets. “During the pandemic, I’ve learned to do two things: make bagels and foster dogs.” he said.

One spring morning, my husband was in the yard cutting down an overgrown tree.

He then __ it across the front yard and put it on a pile of wood.

I was inside the house tending to some things, when suddenly he came into the house, looking __ and said, “I’m not sure if I should tell you this. ”

“What?”I said, totally expecting the very worst.

“Just come with me, ” he said. I __ him out to the yard. He pointed. “There, ” he said.

In front of us were four baby birds in the tree branches, having fallen out of their nest (巢) during the terrible ride, __ amazingly all still alive.

I immediately picked them up and made a “nest” in the front of my T-shirt. My husband just looked at me and said, “You won’t be able to keep them ___. You have never nursed a bird back to health before. ”

Luckily, we were able to find the nest in the center of the tree. I placed the baby birds inside the nest. They had no feathers (羽毛), so these tiny birds had no protection __ the sun. I thought they wouldn’t make it through the day. As we stood far enough away from the nest, I wondered if their mother would ever find and __ them as her own.

I couldn’t believe it! Within a few minutes, a Blue Jay flew in and was jumping around the nest. She then flew up to the nest and __ herself on her babies, spreading her wings to __ them. And soon, the father joined the __ and continued his task of bringing food to the family while she warmed and kept the baby birds safe.

On one rainy day, I remember seeing her wings were spread especially wide across the nest. It was a __ sight, to see how a bird with a tiny brain, the size of the tip of my little finger, still had the will to so deeply __ her babies.

Then one day, all four baby birds jumped out of the nest and were gone. The parents had done their job and now the youngsters were __ to go make nests of their own.

I ended up __ that nest. Whenever I look at it, it reminds me to never give up no matter how bad things look, and be inspired by the inner___ of the Blue Jay parents to provide for their family.

One day a small gap appeared in the cocoon (茧), through which the butterfly would come out. A boy, who _______ passed by, stopped and watched how the butterfly was trying to _________ of the cocoon. It _________ several hours. The butterfly was trying very hard, but the _________ was as little as before. It seemed that the power would _______ the butterfly soon.

The boy decided to _________ the butterfly. He took a penknife and cut the cocoon. The butterfly immediately came out, but it was very small and _________, and the wings were _________ moving.

The boy continued to _________ the butterfly, thinking that now its wings would __________ and it would fly. ________, that did not happen.

The rest of its life the butterfly had to drag its weak body and wings that wouldn’t unfold. It was unable to fly because the boy did not realize that a(an) __________ to force itself through the narrow gap of the cocoon was __________ for the butterfly, so that the life-giving fluid would move from the body to the butterfly’s wings and that the butterfly could fly. Life forced the butterfly to leave its shell so hard that it would gain the ________ to grow and develop.

Just like the butterfly, if we were allowed to live without meeting difficulties, we would not survive. Life gives us __________ to make us braver and stronger.