You probably have a first-aid kit at home for your family—but what about your family pets？You need to be ready if your furry friend faces an emergency at home. What's more，as the weather gets warmer，more pet owners take their pets with them when they leave the house—on vacation，to the park，jogging，hiking and even swimming. That can be fun for you and your pet，but there's a chance that your pet will get hurt there，as well. So，it's important to know some of the basics of first aid for your pet if necessary.

If your pet is exposed to long periods of heat and sunlight，she will be easy to get heat exhaustion（衰竭）or heatstroke. Signs of heat exhaustion are breathless，anxiousness，dry gums and red skin most easily seen on the ears.

If either of these occurs，cool the pet right away and，as always，get her to the vet（兽医）.Put the animal in a shaded or air-conditioned area，and wet the body with cool water. Rubbing isopropyl alcohol（异丙醇）on the belly and fanning the area will help drive away the heat. If a pet is suffering from heatstroke，don't try to give her water. Get her to the vet immediately.

If you see an animal that's been hit by a car，or you hit one accidentally，first be cautious of all oncoming traffic before trying to reach the animal. Approach carefully. Even a severely injured animal can bite you.

As someone helps with directing traffic, cover the animal with a blanket or towel. If the animal cannot stand on her own, there's a good chance that there are neck, back or head injuries, so try to gently transfer the animal to a flat surface. Then transport that flat surface to the nearest vet. Picking up or hand-carrying the animal may worsen the injuries.

   The sea is home to billions of plants and animals. Many live only near the sunlit surface. Oceanographers sort marine (海洋的) living beings by dividing them into two main groups: plants and animals.

There are two general types of plants found in the ocean, those having roots that grow in the ocean bottom and those not having roots which simply float around with water. The rooted plants in the ocean are only found in shallow waters because there is not enough sunlight to maintain photosynthesis (光合作用) in deeper waters. Since sunlight does not pass more than a few hundred feet into the ocean, most of the ocean is unable to support rooted plants.

The most plants in the ocean are known as phytoplankton (浮游植物群落) . These are usually single-celled, small floating plants that float throughout the surface waters of the ocean. To grow, phytoplankton need nutrients from the sea water and lots of sunlight.

Marine animals are divided into three groups: zooplankton, nekton, and benthos. Zooplankton are floating animals and are usually small; however, they can grow to fairly large size. The jellyfish and the Portuguese man-of-war are examples of larger types of zooplankton which are unable to move themselves effectively.

Nekton are the free swimmers and probably the largest part of familiar animals found in the ocean belong to this class. Common fishes, octopuses, whales, eels and squid are all examples of nekton.

The third type of sea animals spends their entire life on the bottom of the ocean. This group of marine animals is called benthos. Some of these creatures, such as lobsters and snails, may be able to move about on the bottom but their lifestyle is so closely linked with the ocean floor that they are unable to survive away from this environment.

   Dragging a sleigh loaded with enough presents for the world’s children can be no easy skill. But, since ancient times, the Christmas Eve duty has been performed by a team of beloved reindeer.

Soon, however, Santa Claus may have to start looking around for a stronger type of animal, as newresearch shows the species is becoming increasingly puny. A 16-year survey on the arctic Norwegian islands, Svalbard, found the reindeer there have declined in weight by an alarming 12 percent.

The reduction in average body weight is being blamed on global warming. In the research presented lately at a meeting of the British Ecological Society in Liverpool, scientists have explained how upward temperatures are robbing female reindeer of nutrients during important periods of pregnancy.

Snow in Svalbard typically covers the ground for eight months of a year, which, combined with low temperatures, limits grass growth to June and July. But as summer temperatures increase by around 1. 5℃, grass has become more productive, allowing female reindeer to gain more weight by autumn and therefore to have more babies. However, winters have brought with them greater rainfall which freezes when it settles on the snow. Reindeer can often access the poor food sources beneath the snow by clearing it away with their antlers (鹿角) , but they cannot break through the hard ice. As a result, female reindeer are becoming starved, causing them to lose their babies or give birth to the much lighter young.

Despite the findings, reindeer appear to be suffering less from the effect of climate change than some other arctic species. Last week the scientists warned that a third of the world’s polar bears could disappear in the next 40 years.

   Dogs will do absolutely anything for the people they love，and for one North Carolina dog，that meant _________his own life in order to save his best friend.

This past Saturday morning，a deadly fire _________in an apartment building that left multiple families and their beloved pets _________inside waiting for help to arrive. "My wife got a phone call and it was very  very _________because she had her on the speakerphone and my daughter was very  very _________ and she was screaming that the apartment was on fire，"said Mare Martinez，whose daughter Karina was _________in the apartment when the fire started.

Karina had no _________ that her life was in danger until her dog，a 2-year-old German Shepherd named Riddick，woke her up with his panicked _________."Her dog wouldn't settle down so she called him up on her bed to cuddle（依）him，"Martinez explained." _________，he was still sitting up and __________barking at the wall."

After __________there was a fire，Riddick helped guide Karina to safety. "She went down the landing（楼梯平台）because there were already flames，but the dog got __________and went back up and would not come down，"said Martinez __________，she couldn't get Riddick to come back down and he __________before firefighters could rescue him." He was her best friend，they were __________and he did what he was supposed to do. He __________and took care of her when she was in danger.”

"The great Greenville Fire and Rescue department of the city did us very  very __________.They made this even just a little bit more tolerable，"said Martinez，who was __________when they went into the building and got back Riddick's __________ so they could give him a proper __________.