2 . 阅读下面短文，从短文后所给的五个选项中选出能填入短文空白处的最佳选项，使短文通顺、连贯，意思完整。

Which color stands for the world’s mood (气氛)?     1     What did it pick for the year 2023? It’s called Viva Magenta.     2     What makes Viva Magenta stand out is its flexibility (灵活性).     3     It shows the important time that the world finds itself in. People have been through a lot. But there are many more challenges (挑战) ahead.

    4     We are entering 2023 and are closer to technology (科技) than we have ever been before. But we still need to keep in mind how much Mother Earth has for us.     5     In the past, a bug called the cochineal (胭脂虫) was used to make this color.

As virtual (虚拟的) worlds become a more important part of daily lives, people look to draw inspiration (灵感) from nature and what is real.

Workers at the Marine Biological Association (MBA) in England were surprised when a letter to “George Parker Bidder” arrived at their offices. They couldn’t understand why someone was writing to their former president, who had been dead for more than 60 years. It became clearer when the letter was opened. Inside, there was an old postcard. On one side was a series of questions about how the postcard had been discovered.     1    

The postcard was from a bottle dropped into the North Sea more than a century earlier. It was one of just over 1,000 bottles that Bidder had thrown into the sea as part of a study on the movement of water.     2     They were picked up by fishermen or by people walking along the beach, who then sent the postcards inside them back to Bidder.

    3     It’s possible that some of the bottles with the postcards had broken. But somehow, the bottle with the recently returned postcard had remained in the sea for over a hundred years. It seems that it finally found its way to a sandy beach on an island.     4     After breaking the bottle open, she filled out the postcard and sent it off to the MBA, not realizing she was posting a message from the distant past.

Unluckily, the old postcard shows nothing new about the movement of water. All it tells the workers is where it was dropped and where it was found.     5    

Nearly 150 world leaders were meeting in Paris, France, at the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties (COP). They were working hard to help solve climate (气候) change. That was an important meeting since so many countries were trying to solve the problem.

    1     It’s kind of like when you have a fever. For you that may mean a day or two of rest. But for the earth the rise in temperature is making ice at the North and South poles melt (融化) more than they should. And the level of the oceans and seas is rising: This breaks the earth’s balance (平衡).

    2     Use of cars, over-use of electricity, too much rubbish, cutting down too many trees and even eating too much meat make the temperature rise. You may not think your daily life can cause such a big problem. But when millions of people are doing them every day for years and years … it adds up.

And it has added up. So the leaders knew they needed to act fast. And since climate change doesn’t stay inside a country, it connects us all. We need to agree on what changes should be made and then keep to the plan.

    3     To make sure that the earth’s temperature doesn’t become 2°C hotter. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is. It is believed that if we go past 2°C, the result of climate change can be really bad.

    4    

*Remember to turn the lights off at home when you’re not in that room.

*Recycle as much as you can.

*Ride your bike or walk when you can instead of using the car.

    5     So we all have to work hard, act fast and care about our planet.

The planet that we all call home is in trouble. And turning your head away from the environmental problems isn’t going to solve them. Instead, let’s try to do our best, starting with these easy ways to reduce waste at home.

    1    . Unless you already live a zero-waste lifestyle, there is a room for improvement when it comes to living a greener life.

While the idea of reducing waste can be overwhelming(势不可挡的), a great place to start is your own home. All it takes is a few small changes to make a big difference, as you’ll see below.

◆Ditch (丢弃) the plastic bags

Whenever you leave the house, remember to bring a bag or two with you. Although plastic bags used to be everywhere, these days, they’re becoming less and less common.

While most stores now charge you for plastic bags here in Canada, others have gotten rid of them completely, offering only the reusable ones.     2    .

◆Make a meal plan

As well as material waste, food waste has become a huge problem in many parts of the world. Thankfully, this issue has an easy solution.

All you need to do is only buy the things that you know for certain you will eat.

    3    . That way you’ll know exactly what foods are necessary to get you and family through the week.

This habit will stop you from buying things you don’t need, thereby reducing the amount of spoiled food you throw out. What’s more: You’ll save money.

◆Shop for second-hand stuff

Shopping for second-hand clothes is always better than buying new ones. As well as saving your money, buying used clothes helps to reduce the waste in the world.

However, it’s not only clothes that you can buy from shops and charity stores.     4    .

Much of the stuff is in a near-new condition too, much cheaper than the new. Who doesn’t like a great deal?

◆Repair rather than dispose(抛弃)

Whether you’ve ripped your favorite pair of jeans or broken a lamp, you should try fixing your things before you throw them away. This is clearly a less costly way of life, but it’s also a greener one.

These DIY skills are easy to learn using TikTok or blog posts, if you’re unfamiliar with the steps. Plus, learning is one of the joys of life!

    5    . And it will make you feel good to know you’re helping the Earth for future generations to keep enjoying it.