On Monday, May 12, 2008, an earthquake of magnitude 8.0     1     (strike) Wenchuan county, northwestern Sichuan Province, China. The earthquake caused great damage, killing over 80,000 people, leaving many more people     2     (injure), and turning many towns and counties into     3     (ruin). The news on TV reported that the number of people who were killed in the earthquake was more than 80,000. People were     4     shock. It seemed as if the world were coming to     5     end. But hope was not lost.

The following rescue work     6     (carry) out by people from all over the country, even abroad. The army sent soldiers to Wenchuan     7     (dig) out those who were trapped and to bury the dead.

Now the people     8     suffered the earthquake are living a new life. The new towns have been     9     (creative) rebuilt by the government. With strong support from the government, the local people feel more     10     (confidence) about the future. Wenchuan has become a symbol of the Chinese spirit of never giving up.

Earthquakes are quite common. In fact, thousands of earthquakes are happening almost at every moment.     1    , most of them are too weak to feel. During a big earthquake, there is often a big noise first. Then the earth shakes     2     (terrible) and many houses fall down.

As one of the most deadly     3     (nature) disasters in the world, earthquakes often result     4     many people being injured or killed. In 2008, a strong earthquake     5     (strike) China’s Sichuan Province,     6     (kill) lots of people there.

Besides the great damage and deaths     7     (cause) by the earthquake, other accidents such as fires often follow. More buildings may be damaged and more     8     (injure) may be caused. For centuries, people have been making studies of earthquakes.     9     is said that about 2,000 years ago, for example, someone invented a machine     10     could find out the direction where the earthquake waves came.

One of the biggest projects to deal with plastic pollution in the UK was launched in April 2021. In the first Million Mile Beach Clean, around 50,000 volunteers cleaned beaches across the UK.

The Million Mile Beach Clean     1    (continue) in the future. The aim is     2    (walk) 10 miles for 100,000 volunteers each and clean places they love along the way. The campaign is     3    (intend) to address the problem of plastic waste in the sea. It is thought that around eight million pieces of plastic     4    (wash) into the world’s sea each day. These pollutants can take several     5    (decade) to break down.   

Surfers Against Sewage, an environmental charity     6    (base) in Cornwall in England, organized the project. Hugo Tagholm, head of the organization, told The Week Junior, “We’re hoping the campaign will give people the chance to reconnect     7    nature, making them keep a healthy lifestyle, as well as    8    (have) a positive impact on our sea and wildlife.”

George,    9    11-year-old volunteer from Bristol, told The Week Junior that he’s been helping to clean up his local river. “It makes me despair to see garbage polluting the river,     10    is why I’m looking forward to getting involved in the clean,” he said.

One type of recycling, called downcycling, involves repurposing a material into a new product of lesser quality. It can include varying grades of plastic, paper products, and other materials.

Downeycling     1     (know) as downstream recycling. It is most common in terms of     2     (industry) materials. These products lose their value as they are recycled,     3     limits their capacity for new use. Their recycled form is typically both weaker and cheaper     4     their original one. White writing paper, for example, is often downcycled into cardboard; once downcycled to this new form, it can no longer be used as white paper again.

    5     (give) products a new life is considered a good way to reuse materials and avoid waste. Once downcycled to their full capacity however, these materials are eventually so degraded that they cannot be reused further. Since downcycled products are considered of lower quality than their original form, they cannot be used in remaking their original product.

Products are provided with codes     6     (determine) their grades and whether or not they may be recycled. Plastic, glass, and aluminium products     7     (code) with the number one may be remade into something     8     equal or greater value. This type of recycling is known as upcycling, and represents the forward compatibility of recycled components.

Items available for downcycling often require additional chemicals, energy,     9     other treatments in order to transform them into something usable. Durable plastic products in particular require much additional treatment. Trash bins, tables, and chairs are also considered materials with     10     high energy cost to recycle.