After a 19-hour plane ride, three pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their child Qi Ji, returned to Cheng-du, China. Just before the departure, locals     1     (delight) by them for these years came to the zoo to see the cute slow-moving animals off. On the journey back home, the three pandas were accompanied by animal care experts and 220 pounds of fresh bamboo,     2     is their favorite food.

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian     3     (arrive) in Washington in 2000 and their fourth cub, Xia o Qi Ji, was born in 2020．Xiao Qi Ji’s brothers were sent to China when each of them was 2 or 3 years old, after     4     (they) births created a hit among the fans.

In 1972, the National Zoo first welcomed     5     pair of giant pandas, Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling. After the panda pair passed away in 1999, the Zoo welcomed Mei Xiang and Tian Tian the next year under a 10-year agreement that since then     6     (update) three times.

Pamela, director at the Zoo, said. “For 51 years, we are very close with our Chinese partners, and     7     (hopeful) we will continue to work with them.     8     Wednesday, as the pandas were being taken from the zoo, Xu Xueyuan, a Chinese diplomat (外交官)     9     (work) in the USA told the reporters that China will continue to work with the United States     10     (research) endangered species.” She added. “Giant pandas belong to China, and giant pandas also belong to the world.”

What species of dolphin is the smallest? Hector’s dolphin, Risso’s dolphin, Spinner dolphin    1    Dusky dolphin? The smallest dolphins    2    (be) Hector’s dolphins. They’re usually around four to five feet in length and 100 pounds in    3    (weigh).

And they are    4    (extreme) rare. You will only find Hector’s dolphins off the coast of New Zealand. And there’s a subspecies (亚种) of them called Maui dolphins    5    population has decreased to just a few dozen    6    (leave) in the wild. The biggest threat to Maui dolphins is when they’re caught    7    accident in the fishing industry. Disease, danger to their habitat and tourism    8    (suspect) in reducing their numbers, too.

But there’s a new eye in the sky and by that we mean a drone that aims to help Maui dolphins by locating, identifying and following them. The aircraft runs on electric and gas power. It’s estimated to cost $ 150. 000 and its aim is    9    (use) artificial intelligence technology to keep    10    eye on the 63 adult Maui dolphins that are still alive.

Humanity’s ongoing destruction of wildlife will lead to a shrinking (萎缩) of nature, with the average body size of animals     1     ( fall) by a quarter, a study predicts.

The researchers estimate that more than 1,000 larger kinds of animals will die out in the next century. They say this could lead to the collapse (崩溃) of ecosystems     2     are important for humans to get food and clean water.

Humans     3     ( destroy) most large animals from all inhabited (有人居住的) continents apart from Africa over the last 125,000 years. This destruction will speed up     4     (rapid) in the coming years, according to the     5     (late) research.

Animal populations have fallen by 60% since 1970, suggesting a sixth mass     6     (extinct) of life on Earth is under way caused by the ruining of wild areas, hunting and farming. Scientists said this month that human society was     7     danger from the drop of the Earth’s natural life-support systems, with half of natural ecosystems now destroyed and     8     total of a million species at risk of dying out.

The future disappearance can be avoided if complete action is taken     9     (protect) wildlife habitats, and the scientists say the new work can help focus efforts on key     10     (animal).

There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its     1     (surrounding). The town was surrounded by prosperous farms, with fields of grain and hillsides of orchards. Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty, where countless birds came to feed     2     the berries. The countryside was famous for its rich bird life, and people traveled from great distances     3     (observe) them. Others came to fish the streams,     4     flowed clear and cold out of the hills.

Then everything began to change: mysterious illnesses swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was     5     shadow of death. There was a strange silence. The few birds     6     (see) anywhere were unhealthy. It was a spring without voices. Only silence     7     (lie) over the fields and woods. Even the streams were now lifeless. People no longer visited them,     8     all the fish had died.

No black magic, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it     9     (them).

In fact, this town does not actually exist. I know of no community that has experienced all the things I describe. Yet every one of these disasters has actually happened somewhere. A dangerous threat has crept upon us almost unnoticed, and this imagined tragedy may     10     (easy) become a terrible reality we all shall know.