【推荐1】Sixteen miles off the coast of northern Scotland, the future of green energy is taking shape. The five giant turbines (涡轮机) of the Hywind Scotland wind farm look much like any other off-shore wind project, except one major difference — they’re floating.

While traditional offshore turbines sit on metal and concrete towers fixed into the seabed, Hywind’s turbines rest on floating frames that move up and down with the waves. It proves to be an important development as the world struggles to meet the net zero carbon emission (排放) targets set in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

To cut those emissions, green electricity will need to be at the main source of global energy, according to the International Energy Agency. It says that by 2040, half of the world’s energy needs will have to be met by electricity produced in a net zero way. Projects like Hywind’s floating wind farm offer a picture of what the future could look like.

The reasons for this can be listed as follows. Firstly, unlike fixed units, floating turbines can operate in deep waters far from the shoreline, where winds tend to be stronger. Secondly, it can serve offshore areas that are too deep for bottom-fixed turbines. “In places like Korea, Japan and California, you can only manage a certain amount of offshore wind, or maybe even none at all, so floating turbines are the only option in the longer term,” explains Henrik Steisdal, a Danish inventor at the forefront of floating wind innovation.

While floating turbines overcome some of the problems that make offshore wind farms in deep waters impossible, there are still challenges that have to be overcome. There are some concerns about what effect floating wind turbines might have on the sea environment. The price of floating wind projects is also still high — almost twice as much as that of the bottom-fixed offshore ones. Another problem is how to avoid the risk of a system breakdown when the wind is blowing too hard.

【推荐2】Five years ago, we cut nearly every single tree across 19 acres here, piled and burned the branches and left the trunks where they lay. The goal was to restore one of the Ozarks’ rarest ecosystems, a type of dry and rocky grassland.

Logging down trees to bring back grass may seem puzzling in a time of climate change, as forest conservation and tree planting have become popular ways to keep carbon out of the atmosphere. But it is exactly what we should do in some parts of the Southeast. The climate and biodiversity crises are problems to be solved together. We can’t afford to rob biodiversity to pay for the climate. And grasslands are surprisingly good at pulling carbon out of the atmosphere. A single sunflower might not be the carbon grab that an oak tree is, but grass’s deep root systems store the element deep underground, where it can take hundreds or thousands of years to return to the atmosphere.

For the past century, the commonly held belief was that forests once covered most of the region from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. But we now know that’s not true. Much of the Southeast was a string of large and small grassland ecosystems with enormous biodiversity. All of these unique grasslands are under threat, but not all by tree invasion. The few remaining grasslands in Arkansas are being converted to grow rice, Virginia grasslands are being flattened by housing developers, and low-lying coastal grassy plain is facing sea-level rise. Because grasslands are so easily navigated (导航) and settled, they may be the most threatened ecosystems in the world.

And it’s obvious that everywhere, grasslands remain undervalued. Many conservation organizations working in the Southeast are still focused on tree planting and preserving existing forests. The Nature Conservancy’s Cumberland Forest Project covers 253, 000 acres of land in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, part of an effort to store carbon and create continuous habitats for species migration during climate change. In fact, recent laws are beginning to lead us in the right direction.

【推荐1】Mentally (精神上) strong people are able to deal with and recover from even the most terrible conditions. To develop your mental strength, here are some suggestions.

Believe in yourself

You’ve made it this far.     1    . Hold on to it even one more moment, and you can survive whatever you’re going through. It won’t be easy, so when you feel like you’re about to fall apart, close your eyes, take a deep breath and remind yourself you can do it.

Rediscover your interest in life

Emotionally strong people view each day as a gift. They try to structure themselves so that the gift is taken advantage of fully.     2     — playing with leaves in the fall, drawing a small animal, or eating a sweet. Find that inner child. Be that inner child. Your ability to be mentally and emotionally strong depends on it.

    3    

Does every little thing anger you?     4    . Try cutting your life down to a few key values that mean the world to you, and don’t worry about anything else. As Sylvia Robinson once said, “Some people think it’s holding on that makes one strong — sometimes it’s letting go.”

Reach out to those who mean the most to you

Spend time with friends and family, along with others who are supportive and positive. If no one is available, make new friends. And if there are no friends to be found, help others who are in greater need.     5    .

SUMMER CAMP HELPERS WANTED!

Are you an active and outgoing person? Are you passionate about Chinese culture? Would you like to meet and help young people from other countries?

The Frog & Fox Summer Camp Council is looking for enthusiastic high school students to join our team as camp helpers at our summer camp next year! Our camp is located in a beautiful area.

We are building a team of keen young people to help us attend to hundreds of students from all over the world. You will be required to supervise and/or help out in a variety of tasks and recreational activities.

Successful applicants will ideally have the following：

·a good level of English;

·good organisation and teamwork skills;

·a passion for Chinese and international culture;

·experience with animals;

·a friendly, welcoming attitude, and good handwriting!

Send your CV and cover letter to: receptionist@FAFSC.com (FYI: Applications can also be made on paper or disk.)

1　Keep the parking area clean, guide new guests to the reception area, etc.

2　Camel rides, barbecue &fry, calligraphy, purse sewing, knitting with wool, etc.

I would like to apply for the position of camp helper. Please find my CV attached.

I believe I would be a valuable addition to your team. My English is at an intermediate level, and I have travelled to several English-speaking countries. I have also helped to organise a three­ day tour of my city for visiting exchange students.

I have experience in working with animals, and I have also volunteered at a local library to help organise the children’s section. I am a team player and I enjoy working with others. I have been captain of my school table tennis team for two years, so I know how to lead and decide on priorities.

With my proficiency in Chinese calligraphy, I could also conduct classes for your visitors to help them learn more about this beautiful aspect of Chinese culture.

The prospect of welcoming exchange students to our country is very exciting, and I am keen to use my skills to give them a warm welcome and an experience they will always remember.

I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible.

Yours faithfully,

Kelly Xu

16 Xinhua Road

Hangzhou

Mobile：XXX 6616 5555

Email: kellyxu888 @exmail.cn

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

2019 — present Plan and teach after­school classical calligraphy classes

·Design classroom activities, provide feedback

2018 — 2019 Worked during holidays at local pet shop

·Cleaned cages, checked and changed flea collars, helped customers

2017　Visited UK on high school exchange programme

·Experienced British culture, demonstrated Chinese culture

2016 Volunteered at local library

·Assisted librarians in organising children’s library section

Helped organise city tour for visiting students from Canada

·Helped manage tour finances and receipts

EDUCATION

09. 2018 — Present　Hangzhou XXX Senior High School

09. 2015 — 07. 2018　Hangzhou XXX Junior High School

SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

★PETS 3 English qualification

★Certificate in Chinese Calligraphy

INTERESTS & ACTIVITIES

★Chinese calligraphy

★Classical literature

★Table tennis

★Amateur photography

★Detective novels

★Programming

【推荐2】Several years ago, Jason Box, a scientist from Ohio, flew 31 giant rolls of white plastic to a glacier (冰川) in Greenland. He and his team spread them across 10,000 feet of ice, then left. His idea was that the white blanket would reflect back the rays of the sun, keeping the ice cool below. When he came back to check the results, he found it worked. Exposed ice had melted faster than covered ice. He had not only saved two feet of glacier in a short time. No coal plants were shut down, no jobs were lost, and nobody was taxed or fired. Just the sort of fix we’re looking for.

“Thank you, but no thank you.” says Ralph King, a climate scientist. He told Grey Childs. author and commentator, that people think technology can save the planet, “but there are other things we need to deal with, like consumption. They burned $50,000 just for the helicopter” to bring the plastic to the glacier. This experiment, quote-unquote, gives people false hope that climate change can be fixed without changing human behavior. It can’t. Technology won’t give us a free ride.

Individuals respond to climate change differently. Climatologist Kelly Smith is hardly alone in her prediction that someday soon we won’t be climate victims, we will be climate Choosers. More scientists agree with her that if the human race survives. The engineers will get smarter, the tools will get better, and one day we will control the climate. but that then? “Just the mention of us controlling the climate sent a small shiver down my back, Grey writes.” “Something sounded wrong about stopping ice by our own will,” he says.

Me? I like it better when the earth takes care of itself, I guess one day we will have to run the place, but for the moment, sitting at my desk, looking out at the trees bending wildly and the wind howling, I’m happy not to be in charge.