Animals play so many important roles in our lives. Some, like cows and sheep, provide us with food; (A) ________ animals work for us. Above all, every animal—big or small—can fill us with a sense of the wonder of the natural world.

Unluckily, we don’t always value this. Many animals are endangered because (B) ________ our actions, and we treat millions of animals in the world badly. World Animal Day reminds us, at least for one day a year, “to celebrate animal life in all its forms” and “to be thankful for the way in which animals enrich (使丰富) our lives.”

World Animal Day was (C) launched in 1931 in Florence, Italy. It made us pay attention to the problem of endangered animals around the world. It is now celebrated in most countries around the world. The day falls on October 4th every year.

All over the world on this day, volunteers (D) raise money for animal centers and social organizations. (E) Museums and zoos organize special events. Schools have also joined animal projects. (F) 这个想法就是去提醒我们动物的重要性 and to show us how we could improve our relationship with animals.

If you want to take part, you could help an animal or organize a money-raising event for a local charity. The important thing is just taking an active part. We should offer animals as much as they offer us.

2 . Animals didn’t interest Jane when she was a A. child. Then, one day, her father gave her a toy chimpanzee. From that day on, she became really interested B. ___________animals.

When she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl, Jane dreamt of a career studying wild animals in Africa.

Jane’s mother said, “If you really want something, work hard and never give up. C. 然后你将找到一个方法。”

Jane’s mother was right. In 1960, Jane travelled from Britain to the mountains of East Africa. She studied chimpanzees. She watched the animals for a long time and they became her friends. Jane discovered that these animals greet one another with D. ___________ kiss or a hug, and make and use tools—just like humans do.

Jane Goodall is now E. well-known all over the world. F. She achieved her dreams because she never gave up!

Scientists have found the world’s largest unknown field of sea grass. They had some unusual helpers to help them take videos. The helpers were tiger sharks.

Sea grasses usually grow in waters near coastline (海岸线). They grow in thick fields, known as meadows (草地). These sea grass meadows help to clean the water in the ocean. They also provide food and shelter (庇护处) for many sea creatures. They are also a big help to fight against climate change. That's because they store huge amount of carbon (碳). This harmful pollution is making global warming worse. These sea grass meadows stop this pollution back into the air.

However, it is really difficult for scientists to find out the size and the number of world’s sea grass meadows. So a team of scientists decided to have tiger sharks help with the research. These animals became the research “assistants”. They spent a lot of their time in and around sea grass meadows. Researcher put cameras on seven tiger sharks. The sharks carried the cameras and traveled for miles over the sea. The cameras fell off after a few hours and then float (漂浮) back up to the surface. It helped the scientists to find the floating cameras and collect videos.

This has showed a powerful new way to explore the ocean. In other words, underwater animals can help us learn more about life under the sea. Animals like tiger sharks are going to take us to new places.

6 . Zhang Chenliang, 35, is a big name on the Internet. He has a great love for nature. He likes to take videos of animals and plants and put them on the Internet. Many people love his videos.

Zhang is from Beijing. He always goes to places like Yunnan and Guizhou to see all kinds of animals and plants. Zhang makes videos of them and talks about their looks and habits.

Zhang talks about animals and plants in an interesting way. Many students begin to love nature and science after they watch his videos. Some of them say they want to be a science researcher (研究员) like Zhang.

“There are many beautiful things in China, but not many people know about them,” Zhang says. “People ask me a lot of questions. And I’m always here to help.”

Zhang helps lots of children know about nature and science. He is happy that he can do something for young people.

March 16 is National Panda Day in the United States. Last year, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, used the day to celebrate the 50th anniversary (周年) of the first two giant pandas coming into its care. The celebration would last six months.

In 1972, the US president (总统) Richard Nixon and his wife, Pat, made a historic visit to China. On her second day in the country, Pat went to the Beijing Zoo to see pandas. At a dinner before they left China, Zhou Enlai told Pat that China would give away two pandas to the US. (A) This surprised her and made her very happy. The pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing arrived at the National Zoo on April 16, 1972. They lived there for more than 20 years, and died in the 1990s.

A new panda couple, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, arrived at the zoo in 2000. They still live at the zoo with their child, Xiao Qiji. The couple’s other three children, Tai Shan, Bao Bao and Bei Bei were returned to China.

Usually, the workers of the zoo visit their Chinese partners several times a year to share information about pandas. Chinese experts also go to the US. During Covid-19, (B)   they communicated with each other through messages and video calls. It has been as good as it always is, as they have had a good relationship for many years. They hope the program will last at least 50 more years.

Pat and her ________, Richard Nixon visited China in1972, and the first pandas Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing ________ the National Zoo on April 16, 1972. Then in 2000, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian arrived at the zoo. The couple have ________ children. The workers of the zoo hope the program will last at least 50 more years, as they have had a good relationship with their Chinese partners ________ many years ago.

A farmer had four lambs (羊羔). One was black, and the other three were white. The black lamb was friendly to the others. But the white lambs often laughed at (嘲笑) him. They thought he was ugly (丑陋的). Also, the farmer did not like him. He gave (给) bad food to the black lamb.

One winter morning, the four lambs went out to eat grass. They went far away from home. In the afternoon, it began to snow. It was such a heavy snow that the ground (地面) became white soon. They couldn’t find their way home.

When the farmer found that the lambs were not at home, he went out to look for them. There was snow everywhere (到处). So it was difficult for him to find his lambs. Suddenly, he saw something black. He went to it. Oh, it was his black lamb! And the white lambs were there, too. The farmer was very excited. He said happily, “Thanks to the black lamb, I can find you!”

How many fish are there in the sea? We always think that there are a great number of fish. Is this true? Will we run out of fish one day?

Humans began overfishing (过度捕鱼) in the sea in the 19th century. Today, there are too many fishing ships in the world. In other words, we are taking away too many fish from the sea. The fish can’t grow back fast. So, the numbers of many kinds of fish are dropping rapidly. Some kinds will soon be in great danger.

To stop overfishing, many areas have started to do something. The governments have put up “No fishing” signs near some rivers and lakes. The fish in these areas are probably under protection. When the fish in a certain area start to lay eggs (产卵), the governments will announce (宣布) the beginning of the closed fishing season. People can’t catch fish until the young fish grow up.

All life of the living things here depends on the sea. And fish are very important to the health of the sea. Let’s work together to protect our friends in the sea.