Sandstorms are strong, dry winds that carry sand. They are often     1     thick that you cannot see the sun and the wind sometimes has such     2    (strong) to move sand dunes. A typical example of sandstorms is the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in the United States. It was the     3    (bad) sandstorm disaster in the history of the United States. For nearly ten years dust blew on the southern plains of America,     4    caused serious results. People couldn’t breathe when they went outside and     5    (child) wore dust masks to school. The sky     6    (be) often dark for days. Over five million acres of land became desert during the Dust Bowl,     7    (force) 200,000 people to leave their homes.

The disaster     8    (cause) by bad farming methods and several years     9     very little rainfall made things worse. The land dried up and the wind blew the soil away.     10    took over thirty years to reverse the process and replant the land.

The wildfires in Australia became considerably worse in January, 2020. The disaster faced by     1    country is far from over. Many of the fires     2     (send) smoke high into the atmosphere and some smoke turned into pyrocumulonimbus clouds. The clouds can help a fire draw in more air and shift surface winds,     3     (result) in fire tornadoes (龙卷风). Fires have destroyed habitats for animals that     4    (find) only in Australia, including koalas and rare birds. It will take time to fully know how much harm the fires have done     5     wildlife. The wildfires are expected     6     (continue) burning for months as Australia entered its dry season.

This past year, 2019, is the hottest and driest year on record. Fires happen     7    (regular) during the Australian dry season. However, climate and natural changes are making the situation     8     (bad). At least 12 million acres have been burned so far in Victoria and New South Wales alone. Smoke from the fires has made     9    to South

America. There is so much smoke that it may stay in the air for months,     10     could have a small effect on the planet’s climate.

Since mid-July, a large part of Henan province has seen many heavy rains, during    1    time the rainfall over a few days in Henan exceeds (超过) that of a typical year, according to local officials. It was the first time that we    2    (suffer) such heavy rains in several days. Last month, more than 9.3 million people in Henan     3    (report) to have been affected by floods, with over hundreds of people    4    (lose) their lives. The government said that by 29th July, huge funds had been raised by countless organizations and individuals     5    (voluntary). Lots of netizens released videos of support and    6     (encourage) to people affected by the heavy rains, inspiring them to be more active in responding to frequent extreme weather changes.

We are reminded how fragile we human beings are when faced    7    natural disasters. Despite     8    (hit) by heavy rains, we firmly believe that our government will pay    9     it takes to save her people. As    10    matter of fact, rainstorm has no sympathy, but people have love.

In 1916 the United States started the world’s first national park system. Since then, it     1     (serve) as a model for other countries that try to better protect the environment and let people enjoy nature.

A national park is a reserve of land     2    (declare) and owned by the government, protected from human development and pollution. Now China is planning its own national park system. On Dec 5, China passed two pilot plans for national parks     3    (protect) the giant panda, Siberian tiger and Amur leopard.

Before this national park project, China had set aside thousands of nature parks, forests and scenic areas     4     protected areas. However, they haven’t been managed well because too many different     5    (organization) have been involved in the protection of the different areas, according to the China Daily. Under     6     new plans, national parks will cover big areas and include different protected areas.

For example, the habitats of wild pandas lie in different provinces and     7    (cut) into even smaller pieces by railways, roads and power lines. This makes panda groups     8    (open) to danger. The panda national park will cover all the habitats and make the protection of animals as comprehensive as possible.

    9     this increased protection doesn’t mean national parks will shut their doors to humans. Instead, the new system will offer people a chance to     10    (deep) feel nature.