2 . Hawaii lawmakers are considering legislation (立法) that would require visitors to pay for a year-long license or pass to visit state parks. Josh Green is the state’s governor. He said, “We get between 9 and 10 million visitors a year, but we only have 1.4 million people living here.” He added, “Those 10 million travellers should be helping us sustain our environment.” Lawmakers still debating how much they would charge.

The governor campaigned in 2022 on the idea of having all tourists pay a $50 fee to enter the state. Legislators think this would violate US constitutional protections for free travel. They instead think visitors should pay to enter parks and trails. Either policy would be a first of its kind for any US state. Hawaii’s leaders are following the example of other popular tourist areas with similar fees or taxes. They include Venice, Italy, and Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands.

Hawaii State Representative Sean Quinlan is the leader of the House Tourism Committee. He said changes in the activities of travellers are part of Hawaii’s push. He said golf rounds per visitor per day have dropped 30 percent over the past 10 years while hiking has increased50 percent. People are also seeking out isolated places they have seen on social media. The state does not have the money to oversee and protect all these places, he said.

Most state parks and trails are currently free. Some of the most popular ones already charge, like Diamond Head State Monument. That trail leads hikers from the floor of a 300,000-year-old volcano up to the top. It gets 1 million visitors each year and costs $5for each traveller.

A bill currently before the legislature would require visitors over the age of 15to buy a yearly pass to visit forests, parks, trails or “other natural area on state land”. People who live in Hawaii would not need to pay.

3 . When I was in university, I had to take a computer-programming exam. I had failed it the first time. The exam day came, and I was extremely _________. When the exam started, I noticed that everyone was focused—except me and the guy next to me.

An hour later, I still hadn’t _________ a word. The guy next to me had _________ the exam room, which meant he would fail. I started to worry. At that time, I heard a voice in my mind, “If I fail the exam, then I will fail this course. If I fail this course, I will be _________ to move back home and work at a gas station, and I wonder if there are any good _________ I could get.” I glanced up at the _________. It was halfway through the exam.

It was at that moment that I suddenly _________ something. An image of my roommate flashed into my mind. “Steve, you’ll _________. You’ve spent so much time preparing for this exam,” he encouraged me the previous night. “_________ you are able to do the assignments (作业), you’ll be able to do this exam.”

That was when things began to turn for the better. After that, I started to ask myself positive questions: “I’ve done this before, so why couldn’t I do it now? …” I kept ____________ what my roommate had said. Suddenly, everything was OK. I completed the entire exam smoothly.

Weeks later I received my marks and I had passed the exam.

7 . With a pair of glasses and mild manner, Siew Te Wong could be described as a Malaysian Clark Kent (a fictional character in Superman). This wildlife biologist is a Superman of sorts — a tireless defender of the world’s smallest bear species: the sun bear.

“I often call the sun bear a forgotten species,” Wong said. “When I first started, 20 years ago, no one had ever studied sun bears. Most people did not know that they even existed,” As he studied the animal and realized the threats it faced from deforestation and illegal hunting, he knew the bears were in serious trouble. “The more I learn about them, the more I care. The more I care, the more I worry,” he said. “I have to help them.” Today, Wong’s nonprofit, the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center, is the only sun bear sanctuary (保护区) in the world.

Sun bears are found in the rainforests of South Asia, and the small bears play a big role in keeping these woodlands healthy. Many plants and animals depend on them to spread seeds, create nesting sites and control the termite (白蚁) population. Healthy rainforests provide clean air and water to the entire world.

But the sun bear population has decreased by 30% during the last three decades. In 2007, the bear was officially classified as vulnerable (易危的) to extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Currently, 44 sun bears live at Wong’s center. All of them were orphaned by illegal hunting or rescued from captivity (囚禁). The center has also become one of the leading tourist destinations in the area. “They can see how special the sun bear is and learn about how their survival is important to ours,” Wong said, “so they can take some action when they go back home.”

For Wong, this work is simply his responsibility. “Sun bears have become part of my family. When they’re endangered, I care for them. When they are in trouble, I speak for them,” he said. “I want to be the voice for the sun bear, to fight for the sun bear, to ensure the survival of the sun bear. But my goal is to save the entire forest ecosystem and that is so important to the survival of mankind. I want bears to live in the forest and not in captivity.”

8 . Top 3 Best Museums in the World

Whether you are a fine art or historylover, the following three museums are sure to take your breath away.

Le Louvre, Paris, France

A visit to the Louvre and its collections lets visitors discover Western art from the Middle Ages to 1848 as well as a large number of ancient civilizations. The grand palace that houses the museum. which dates back to the late twelfth century, is a true lesson in architecture: from 1200 to 2011, the most innovative architects have in turn built and developed the Louvre.

●Official website: Louvre

●Highlight: Leonardo da Vinci`s “Mona Lisa.”

The British Museum, London, UK

The British Museum in London was founded in 1753 and opened its doors six years later. It was the first national museum to cover all fields of human knowledge, open to visitors from across the world. No other museum is responsible for collections of the same depth and breadth, beauty and significance.

●Official website: British Museum

●Highlight: the Rosetta Stone.

The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia

The second-largest art museum in the world, the State Hermitage Museum was founded in 1764(200 years later than The Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy), when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of works from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. Today, the collection of art works contains paintings, sculptures and so on.

●Official website: State Hermitage Museum

●Highlight: Golden masterpieces from Eurasia.

9 . History’s first empire rose out of a hot, dry landscape, without rainfall for crops, without trees or stones for building. In spite of all this, its people built the world’s first cities, with monumental architecture and large populations — and they built them _______ out of mud.

Sumer _______ the southern part of modern Iraq in the region called Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia means “between two rivers” — the Tigris and the Euphrates. Around 5000 BCE, early Sumerians used channels and dams to _______ river water and farm large areas of previously _______ land. Agricultural communities like this were slowly _______ in Mesopotamia.

But Sumerians were the first to take the _______ step. Using _______ made from river mud, they began to build multi-storied homes and temples. Those clay bricks gave rise to the world’s first _______, like Uruk, Ur, and Eridu, probably around 4500 BCE.

The Sumerians created the first _______ system, designed to teach the ability of writing. In the schools, people studied from dawn to dusk, from __________ well into adulthood. They __________ accounting, mathematics, and copied works of literature.

But by the third millennium (千年) BCE, Sumer was no longer the __________ empire around, or even in Mesopotamia. Waves of nomadic (游牧) tribes poured into the __________ from the north and east. In 2300 BCE, the Sumerian Empire was conquered and __________.

Afterward, Sumer disappeared back into the desert dirt, not to be __________ until the 19th century.