A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp, and he ________ that the elephants weren’t being held by the use of chains or kept in ________ . All that was holding them back from escaping the camp was a small piece of ________ tied to one of their legs.

________ the man gazed upon the elephants, he was completely ________ as to why the elephants didn’t just use their ________ to break the rope and escape the camp. They could ________ have done so, but they didn’t try to at all.

________ and wanting to know the answer, he asked a ( n ) ________ nearby why the elephants were just standing there and never tried to escape. The trainer ________ : “ When they are very young and much smaller, we use the ________ size rope to tie them and, at ________ age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot ________ . They believe the rope can still hold them. ________ , they never try to break free.”

The only reason that the elephants weren’t breaking free and escaping from the camp was that over time they adopted the ________ that it just wasn’t possible.

A family had had a cat for years. Then one day, the children finally ______ to persuade their parents to get them a dog as well. So a little Labrador (拉布拉多犬) ______.

The dog was so ______ that everyone wanted to hold him and he charmed everyone by just loving them. The cat made it very clear that she did not welcome another ______ in the house, but the little dog ______ her everywhere, trying to make friends with the angry cat.

The family thought the cat would ______ like the dog.

Then one day the family heard horrible ______ from their back yard. They ran to the ______ to see what was happening. They lived in the suburbs and so they saw a real lynx (猞猁) was just planning on ______ their cat for lunch. The poor cat had nowhere to run or hide. It would only be a matter of seconds and their cat would be ______.

And then suddenly a black lightning ran to the cat. The little dog ______ the big lynx with all its strength. He was not frightened, nor did he stop to think. He saw his ______ in trouble and did what had to be done. The family opened the window and started yelling and the father ran to the yard. The lynx soon disappeared into the ______.

And ever since that day the cat’s behaviour towards the dog ______ totally. Now it was the cat that followed the hero dog everywhere.

So we can draw a conclusion: if ever anyone is ______ towards you, don’t turn your back on them. They may not rescue your life-but their kindness can certainly rescue your day!

Lately, I have been struggling to connect with my dad because our conversations have seemed unimportant to him. In a half-hearted attempt to find something that ______ him, I pulled out my phone and showed him a few ______ of Jay, my new pet rabbit.

“Did Mom tell you I got a bunny?” It was a strange question. To my surprise, my dad’s ______ were lifted. “A black bunny!” he called out, getting closer to ______ the photos. He wanted to know more. I hurried to find more photos, holding on to this ______ opportunity.

I shouldn’t be ______ that it was a bunny that broke through the ______ between my dad and me. Growing up, we never talked much. ______, our time together centered around animals, like catching crayfish at the river and caring for turtles and crabs. ______ animals has always been our thing.

A few months later, I came prepared with more photos and videos of Jay on my laptop so my dad could see them more ______. I had been ______ that his initial interest in Jay was a one-off event, but he ______ up again when I showed him the new stuff.

Our love for animals is the ______ that connects us. There was no ______ to start having deep conversations if that had never been our style, — just finding ______ together in a photo of a bunny was enough.