1 . As a research scholar at the Indian Institute for Science Education and Research, I once monitored birds that inhabited grasslands in Daying Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area in Northeast India. This habitat forms a part of one of the most bio-diverse places on Earth. Yet despite their ecological importance and uniqueness, most grasslands are classified by the Indian government as “wastelands”.

Ecosystems throughout the world are suffering from the effects of unchecked habitat loss and climate change. While all types of ecosystems—forests, grasslands, oceans, wetlands and deserts—feel these effects, there is evidence of bias (偏好) towards the conservation of forest biodiversity. This bi as hurts the preservation of other ecosystems, including the grasslands that make up 24 percent of the Indian landmass. These grasslands are home to important biodiversity and support the livelihoods of millions of people, yet are defined in India by their value in being turned into forests for fighting climate change.

Apart from being costly, the move overlooks the ecological and social value of grasslands by turning them into mono-culture forests, which do not provide the same ecological benefits. Yet, grasslands could be equally good at storing carbon.

India and other countries with substantial grasslands need to recognize, support and prioritize evidence-based scientific attempts that focus on grasslands by establishing grassland-specific restoration efforts, as well as by mapping their extent and the ecosystem services they provide for humans. The time is ripe for abandoning outdated labelings like “wastelands”.

Already, communities like the Todas and the Idu Mishmi people are protecting grasslands in India through collective action and local stewardship (管理), which are helping them connect with the grasslands. With the aim of preserving the richness of nature, the government must restore greater rights to local communities to manage grasslands. Grasslands are an important feature of an ecologically sound India, one that must be preserved for that value above all others.

4 . “What are you doing?” my fifth-grade teacher inquired as I was ready to leave my desk.

“I’m ________ my schoolbag. The bell rings in a few minutes. ”

“Unpack your ________. You still have five minutes. We work until the clock runs out. The more you do here in class with me, the less you have to do at home,” she ________ with a small smile as she walked back to her desk.

I unwillingly ________ my math assignment back out and completed one problem at a time as the minutes ticked away. The bell finally rang, and I ________ my homework in my schoolbag as fast as possible and ________ my next class. I cannot remember how many times per day she would repeat, “Use your time ________. ”

It ________. It became second nature for me to work until the bell rang. In middle school, I continued the ________ she instilled (灌输) in me. I worked on my assignments until the bell rang. And she was ________. The more I did in class, the more time off I had ________. The more time I had at home, the more time I had for projects and hobbies.

I held ________ to the principle until my college. I instilled that mindset in nearly every ________ of my adult life: my education, my career, and my family. It’s not just a lesson in using the ________ you have, but in enjoying those moments, _______ the time spent with loved ones, and living life.

5 . A long time ago, there lived a girl named Lilly.When she started going to school, she was_______. All her classmates bullied(欺侮) her for her shy behavior. If the teacher asked any questions, she wouldn’t answer because of her shyness. But she was a_______student and she knew all the_______.

Out of all the subjects, her favorite subject was sports. She always_______to be a football player on her school team. But the students always made fun of her. _________, she didn’t care what her_______would say as she wanted to_________that she could be a football player.

So during the day, Lilly_________her school, and at night, she would practice football at her home. Her mother installed(安装) some more lights in their garden so that her daughter could_________properly .

Finally, the selections for the inter-school for football competition came. Lilly, without a thought, ____________to go for it. Her classmates____________her, and said, “Boo! you will not make it. Back off ! ” But Lilly decided not to____________their words.

As she began to play, everybody was______________ her excellent skills.The judges were so wowed by her confident______________that they not only selected Lilly but also made her the captain. Now, everybody wanted to become Lilly’s friend and soon she became the__________girl in the school.

6 . Most of us have heard of the 3Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. It is the core principle of a sustainable (可持续的) life, but few of us can apply it in our own lives. Now, there’s a “lab” you can explore and discover a way toward living sustainably.

3R Lab is located in Xuhui district, Shanghai. It offers exhibitions, activities and goods that showcase the 3R principle. The key to a sustainable life, according to Vincent T. M. Fong, the 32-year-old from Hong Kong who created the lab, is to make it a long-term promise. “A sustainable life should be sustainable itself in the first place. You can’t lead a sustainable life on a whim. Small and comfortable changes are exactly what you need,” Fong said.

The lab regularly hosts ugly fruit markets, offering these strange fruits which are often thrown away by traditional markets and consumers at a quite attractive price. “They’re thrown away simply because of their appearance. Buying fruit regardless of how they look reduces food waste significantly in our daily life,” Fong commented.

A water tank with two types of straws is another equipment in the lab. “One type is made from normal plastics widely used in our daily life while the other is from PHA, a new replacement for plastics, and the water is sourced from the Suzhou River,” explained Ni Li, an employee of the lab. Visitors can see how the PHA straws degrade (降解) into a thin layer in just one month, while the others remain unchanged.

“Leading a sustainable life does not necessarily mean sacrifice,” said Fong. Consuming ugly fruit and using degradable plastics are small changes that are good for the environment and easy to stick to. Only in this way can the 3R principle become part of our lives, he added.

After working there for six months, Ni, who wasn’t mindful of the 3R principle before arriving at the lab, now uses her cup every time she buys a coffee. “The job has reshaped my life,” Ni said.

8 . College Podcast (播客) Challenge Open for Entries

The College Podcast Challenge is back for its third year, in the fall. Entries will open on Sept. 1, 2023 and close at the end of the year on Dec. 31, 2023 to give students the entire fall academic term. And, as with last year’s, the college con test will award a $5,000 grand prize scholarship and $500 prizes to finalists.

One big change this year: the college con test will be open to students of all ages doing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, as well as those who are set to graduate in 2023. College podcasters can enter your own work, without going through your school or professor, as long as you’re 18 years or older.

For the college con test this year, our basic guidelines remain pretty much the same: students can create a podcast about any topic they wish to explore. Some themes we’ve seen over and over include questions on identity and how young people fit in. Your podcast can also be in many different formats: an interview, narrative (叙述的) story or even investigative reporting. You can do it by yourself or with your entire class.

One important rule to keep in mind is that the maximum length of your podcast is eight minutes, and longer entries will be disqualified.

For more tips, advice and the latest updates on this year’s contest, make sure to sign up for our newsletter. We can’t wait to hear your stories!

9 . Slowly, a great white shark swims toward the boat and onto a specialized lift. Once the shark is lifted onto the boat, the research team from OCEARCH, a nonprofit that specializes in shark tracking, performs about a dozen procedures.

The work is part of OCEARCH’s efforts to study great whites in the western North Atlantic, a less well-researched population than others around the world. “Here we are at the location of Jaws, and yet we didn’t really know the animals as well as we should,” says Bob Hueter, the chief scientist.

Two young great whites tagged (打标签) in this way, Simon and Jekyll, recently became famous thanks to a social media post that pointed out the pair had been traveling together for 4,000 miles up the North American Atlantic coast. People began to wonder if the sharks might be friends, but the situation is not so simple.

The two males were first tagged off the coast of Georgia in December 2022．The electronic tags transmit (传送) data via satellite when one of the sharks surfaces, allowing researchers to follow the animals’ movements online in real time. When Simon and Jekyll reached Long Island, researchers noticed their tracks were remarkably similar. Then they arrived in Novia Scotia within practically the same day!

Although this was a one-time event, such a similar route for the two sharks over a longtime and distance is significant. Great whites are traditionally viewed as solitary (独行者), but researchers believe they may display some social behaviors like other shark species. One study found that white sharks may remain close while hunting to benefit from food. “Surprisingly, we see more and more that white sharks might fit into that social category,” says Yannis Papastamatiou, a biologist at Florida International University.

However, Salvador Jorgensen, a marine ecologist at California State University, thinks there may be other reasons why the pair followed the same route.