The Paris agreement to fight climate change became international law Friday. The landmark deal aims to deal with global warming among growing _____ that the world is becoming hotter even faster than scientists expected.

So far, 96 countries, accounting for just over two-thirds of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, have formally joined the agreement, which ______ to limit global warming this century to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above what it was before machines and _____ appeared in the late 1700s. The United States ______ entered into the agreement in September, and more countries are expected to come aboard in the coming weeks and months.

United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon celebrated the event, talking with nongovernmental groups at U.N. headquarters in New York to hear their concerns and _____ for the future.

“This is an emotional moment for me. It is a credit to all of you. And it is ______ for the world,” Ban said in his opening remarks.

He praised the ______ for getting hundreds of millions of people to back fighting climate change but _____ the outcome remained uncertain.

“We are still in a race ______ time. We need to move on to a low-emission and climate-sustainable future,” Ban added.

Scientists praised the speed at which the agreement, signed by 192 parties last December in Paris, has come into force, saying it shows a new commitment by the international community to _____ a problem that is melting polar ice caps, sending sea levels ______and transforming vast areas into desert.

“______ the real effect of the agreement after it goes into effect is still uncertain, it is a simple sign that the international society is much more open to alter economic and political behavior to control climate change, which is ______ positive,” said Feng Qi, executive director of the School of Environmental and Sustainability Sciences at Kean University in New Jersey.

Scientists and ______ say the agreement is the first step of a much longer and complicated process of reducing the use of fossil fuels, which currently   ______ the majority of the planet’s energy needs and also are the primary drivers of global warming.

【推荐2】Dressed in a kachhad, a traditional Nepalese clothes, Umesh Balal walked into his meetings at the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) on climate change in Dubai with a sense of determination,

Balal, who has physical disability, was there to publicly ________ inclusion of disability rights in the climate change conference an aspect that he said has long been ________ by organizers of the world’s largest annual meeting on climate issues.

As a student, Balal was ________ about science and involved himself in research on environmental science. Those were his first few interactions that ________ the climate related issues to him. Being from a mountainous region, Balal ________ more about how climate change had ________ people there, which led him to develop climate anxiety.

The more Balan ________ himself to climate science, the more he learned about the impact of climate change. People with more resources have better chances of ________ the climate crisis. But the less developed countries, for the ________ communities, usually don’t have the same opportunities, which will push them further into the ________.

And it is even harder for people with ________. Many people with disabilities in Nepal don’t have ________ to proper education or opportunities for growth. As a result, they aren’t able to advocate for their rights.

In an interview, Balan said, “________, I am honored that I come from a supportive family, where I had a chance of good education which ________ me to grow in life. This is what I ________ for others, to change the way they live their lives.”

【推荐3】Imagine an area 34 times the size of Manhattan. Now imagine it covered ankle-deep in plastic waste. That’s a total of about 19 billion pounds of ______. And according to the estimates available, that’s how much plastic waste ______ in our oceans every year.

“We’re being ______ by our waste,” said Jenna Jambeck, an/a ______ engineer who led the 2015 study that announced this shocking number. According to Jambeck’s research, this ______ will double by 2025 unless something is done, ______ and at a global scale, to stop the tide of garbage.

Plastic has in many ways been helpful to us, used in all walks of ______ from medical equipment to parts of airplanes. ______ some of the very traits (特性) that have made plastics so popular have also made them a ______ problem in our landfills   and oceans. Today, plastics are the No. 1 type of trash found in the sea. Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental group that organizes a yearly ______ cleanup event in more than 150 countries worldwide, said plastic pieces ______ around 85 percent of all the garbage collected from beaches, waterways and oceans — and that’s just the stuff we can ______.

Ocean Conservancy says plastics are believed to ______ at least 600 different wildlife ______. One in three leatherback turtles, which often ______ plastic bags for jellyfish, have been found with plastic in their bellies (肚子). In 2017, a ______ whale beached on Norway’s coast had 30 plastic bags in its ______. Ninety percent of seabirds are now eating ______ on a regular basis. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to 100 percent.

And it’s not ______ wildlife that’s threatened by the plastics in our seas. A growing body of evidence suggests humans are consuming plastics through the seafood we eat.

With this in mind，experts say that all of us have a ______ role to play in relieving the issue — in ways both big and small.

【推荐1】Think of the ways you use your eyes every day. Imagine your life ________ sight. Cover your ears, and ________ being deaf and blind for the rest of your life. Think about the songs, the voices, the music you will never hear again.

For the first 19 months of her life, Helen Keller was able to see and hear. But then a sickness struck her. She became ________ blind and deaf. For the rest of her life, she was never to see or hear. She didn’t have memories of sight or ________. And the sickness struck her when she was a baby ________ she learned to talk. But Helen Keller became a teacher and writer. She was in the hearts of millions of people.

________ did this miracle(奇迹) happen? For the first seven years of her life she was almost like a ________ animal. Her mother and father did not know how to ________ her. She screamed, kicked and cried. She wanted very much to have others understand her, but there was no way she could do. ________ her parents decided to send for a family teacher to treat her. Some went away shortly after they spent a few days with her, until the last one-Annie Sullivan came, who seemed to be sent here by ________, for during the rest of Helen’s life, she stayed with Helen to overcome a lot of unthinkable ________.

Sullivan was a lovely young woman with great patience and imagination. She was a born teacher, ________ of turning a deaf-blind creature into a useful human being. It was this teacher that did not let Helen’s world be       ________. Through the teacher’s hands and fingers, Helen heard the sounds ________ one could hear on a farm, the noises made by cows, horses, chickens and pigs.

________ back on those years, Helen once said, she was greatly struck by her teacher’s wisdom and she was very grateful to her teacher.

【推荐2】The world always makes way for the dreamer.

When I was twelve years old, my father took me to see Zig Zigler. I remember sitting in that dark hall listening to Mr. Zigler____everyone’s spirits up to the ceiling, I____there feeling like I could do anything. When we got to the car, I turned to my father and said, “Dad, I want to____people feel like that.” My father asked me____I meant. “I want to be a motivational speaker just like Mr. Zigler,” I replied. A(An)____was born.

Recently, I began seeking my dream of motivating others.____a four-year relationship with Fortune 100 Company____as a sales-trainer and ending as a regional sales manager, I left the company at the height of my____. Many people were____that I would leave after earning a six-figure income. And they asked____I would risk everything for a dream.

I made my____to start my own company and leave my worryingless position after____a regional sales meeting. The vice-president of our company delivered a____that changed my life. He asked us, “If a god would offer you three wishes, what would they be?” After giving us a____to write down the three wishes, he then asked us, “Why do you need a____?” I would never forget the power I felt at that moment. I realized that____I had accomplished in the past had prepared me for this moment. I was ready and didn’t need a god’s help to become a motivational speaker. A motivational speaker was____.

Having made that decision, I was immediately____. One week after I gave notice, my husband was laid off from his job, and now we had no____. But I held fast to my dream. The wonder really began to happen. In a short time my husband found a better job. And I was able to book several____engagements with new customers. I discovered the incredible power of dreams.

【推荐2】Courage involves the balance between fear and bravery. Without fear, we’ll do foolish things. And without courage, we’ll never step into the _________ . The balance of the two is where the _________ lies, and it’s a balance we all deal with every day.

It was frightening news when I was first diagnosed because I had no _________ with chronic (慢性的) illness or disabilities. And I had no idea how the disease might _________ . But I continued to _________ my dream of working all over the world. And then my work brought me to the United States. And even as the disease progressed significantly and I needed leg braces (支架) and a walker to_________, I still longed for adventure. And this time, I started dreaming of a grand outdoor adventure.

Sitting eight feet above the ground, riding a horse, I got the impression of the Grand Canyon—one of shock and terror. But there was no _________. In the first hour, disaster struck. Going down an oversized step, I was_________ forward and hit my face on the back of the horse’s head. There was panic. My head hurt fiercely, but the path was too narrow for me to_________ the horse.

Now that the trip is over, I know that I would never do horseback-riding again. The__________ , all that planning and the trip itself showed me a level of fear I had never experienced before. But more importantly, it showed me how boldly __________ I can be.

In facing my fears and finding the courage to __________ them, I swear my life has been__________. So live big and try to let your courage __________ your fear. You never know where it might __________you.