Yesterday I saw a poster about illegal hunting, which     1    stirred up strong emotions in me. Many species are dying out at an     2    rate due to human activities. About 3 species become extinct every hour on     3    . Some people shoot whales, sharks and deer for their meat or skin. Kangaroos, koalas and dolphins are reduced to endangered species because their habitats are threatened. However, people are aware of the problem and effective     4    are being taken to preserve wildlife. Volunteers set up nature reserves on the plain, watch over them day and night to keep them from being     5    . Gradually, they make     6    and the antelope population has     7    , and they are removed from the endangered species list. If people don’t treat animals as goods, we can live in harmony with them. All     8    including insects living in your neighborhood have equal rights to live. We should search for means to protect them, observe their beauty instead of just being concerned about the problem and we are under pressure about it. The solution exists in human beings.

Telling the bees

“London Bridge is down” is how Sir Edward Young, Queen’s private secretary, conveyed the official news about the death of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday. As the news spread through the world, a headline     1     many on social media: “royal beekeeper has informed the Queen’s bees that the Queen has died.”

Did bees need to be told about human affairs? Would they have any sort of opinion on the matter?

But some beekeepers,     2     by historians, say “telling the bees” is a standard practice that goes back centuries, with potentially serious consequences if not followed.

“It’s a very old and     3     tradition, but not something that’s very well-known,” said Mark Norman, a folklorist and the author of Telling the Bees and Other     4    : The Folklore of Rural Crafts.

The tradition holds that bees, as members of the family, should be informed of     5     life events in the family, especially births and deaths. Beekeepers would knock on each hive, deliver the news and possibly     6     the hive with a black cloth during a mourning period. The practice is more     7     known in Britain but is also found in the United States and other parts of Europe, Mr. Norman said.

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, it was believed that neglecting to tell the bees could lead to various     8    , including their death or departure, or a failure to make honey. Nowadays, beekeepers may be less likely to believe they risk bad luck, but they may continue to follow the tradition as “a     9     of respect,” Mr. Norman said.

Stephen Fleming, a beekeeper for 25 years and the co-editor of BeeCraft, a magazine for British beekeepers, said he once     10     the tradition after a friend died. He went to the friend’s bees, gently knocked on the hives and told them the news, he said.

“It was just something I thought my friend would have enjoyed,” he added.

Mr. Fleming said most beekeepers would most likely be aware of the tradition, but not as many would practice it.

“It’s generally thought to be a good and nice thing to do,” he said.

While giant sharks are more common sea monsters in films, jellyfish also pose a major threat in real life—with some being able to kill people with their stings. And the     1    danger they cause doesn’t stop there, with reports of them attacking salmon farms, shutting down power stations and incapacitating(使丧失能力)warships. There are even some scientists in Australia researching whether box jellyfish could     2    destroy our oceans—so could destroying them be a possible solution?

The huge number of jellyfish in our oceans means that if we did start eating them, there is already a large     3    of these potential morsels to be dined on. Also, some people argue that due to their reproductive cycle, jellyfish are actually a(n)     4    food source. Removing a jellyfish from the ocean doesn’t stop new ones being born. This is because they are spawned(孵出)from polyps on the seabed. In some ways, you can     5    them to apples. When you take an apple from a tree, the tree still goes on to produce more apples.

What about their nutritional value? Jellyfish contain 36 calories per ounce, which puts it on a par with iceberg lettuce. However, unlike lettuce, it is full of protein, making it potentially a great diet food. And indeed, in many parts of the world,     6    in Asia, they are already consumed, often raw, fried or chopped up as part of a salad. The demand for these animals, combined with their numbers, means that selling jellyfish is becoming an ever more     7     business.

But what do they taste like? While some say they are flavourless, others describe them as having a salty taste. This could be due to their absorbent(能吸收液体的)     8    , which also leads them to being often served in a sauce. As for the texture, some people negatively compare the experience to eating gristle.

So, the next time you     9    chowing down on some fish, you might look at jellyfish as a sustainable     10    . They might not be the tastiest thing you’ve ever eaten, but it beats fleeing the sea to avoid being stung.