2 . In 2014, a sophomore student at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts went with friends for a birthday celebration to Beijing Zoo. Little did he know that a chance _________ at the aquarium (水族馆) there would light a lifelong passion.

Fast-forward to today, Xu, a Beijing native, has _________ to the tropical island of South China’s Hainan province, where he serves as a coral _________ for a Sanya-based tropical biological laboratory attached to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Each day, he spends several hours diving deep under the waves to observe and _________ the growth and development of the creatures that _________ him all those years ago. Xu, who is nicknamed “coral man”, is _________ engaged on such social media platforms as Sina Weibo, where he regularly shares visually amazing photos and entertaining videos of corals. He aims to _________ individuals to take action in protecting coral reefs(珊瑚礁) and the oceans as a whole.

For Xu, who had been studying Peking Opera since childhood, becoming a coral conservationist was an _________ turn of events. After he first saw corals at the aquarium, he began to _________ the local market to learn about coral __________ from merchants who sell decorative plants, fish and corals. He also __________information online. Before long, he had set up a small fish tank at home and started cultivating a coral.

“The coral organism is quite sensitive to its environment and has extremely high __________ for water quality,” recalls Xu. “When I started growing coral, its state was not __________.” But as Xu gained more __________ about coral, including how to control factors like water temperature and pH levels, his coral gradually started to flourish. He also learned that coral reefs are known as “tropical rainforests” and “underwater gardens” of the ocean, providing a __________ for a quarter of all sea creatures.

2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar and it is the first time that the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)    1     (include) the term “Chinese dragon” in its dictionary. The Chinese dragon has two definitions in the OED, with the first one about its physical image and the second one on its figurative and allusive (典故的) nature.

Emperors in ancient dynasties were dressed in a Dragon Robe, a traditional silk-woven costume with dragon designs,     2     (symbolize) imperial power and authority. Jade Seals (玉玺), often     3     (carve) with dragons, also symbolize the authority of the emperor.

Contrary     4     the Western dragon, the image of the Chinese dragon, despite undergoing constant changes, has represented various’ positive     5     (quality) including prosperity, authority, strength and good fortune.

In ancient Chinese belief, dragons     6     (associate) with the control of the weather, particularly rain. The dragon’s ability to bring rain was seen as crucial for agriculture, which made it     7     positive symbol for the fertility of the land.

With the rising China Chic trend and the country’s booming cultural creative industry, the Chinese dragon in folktale is now     8     (common) seen in creative products such as tear-off calendars, dolls, dragon-themed jewelry as well as the “dragon blind boxes”     9     appeal to young consumers.

Whether it is through the hands of a national-level intangible (非物质) cultural heritage inheritor     10     the hands of a Generation Z “blind box” designer, the Chinese dragon carries forward the Chinese cultural spirit.

4 . It’s no surprise that there’s a link between exercise and mental health. But scientists have now made it official: research has found a direct connection between movement and mood. Why does exercise hold so many benefits for our mental health?     1    .

When our muscles tighten, chains of amino acids (氨基酸) called myokines (肌细胞因子) are released into the bloodstream.     2    . This communication increases adaptation to stress, reduces symptoms of anxiety and has a direct effect on depression.

A recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that treatment for depression can be much more effective when physical activity is added to the usual care.     3    . “While exercise is not a substitute for professional mental health treatment, physical activity can complement and enhance the effects of the treatment,” says lead researcher Ben Singh, a research fellow at the University of South Australia. He says regular exercise in a group setting can boost self-esteem and decrease feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Exercise helps build key connections between the networks within the brain, too.     4    . Studies have shown that physical activity stimulates creativity, sharpens judgement skills and improves mental energy. It can also help to slow age-related cognitive decline, possibly even slowing the pace of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

    5    . In this way you’ll keep going back to them. Experts suggest that you aim for a minimum of 10 to 30 minutes, three to five days each week. Getting sweaty is good for your body and mind.

5 . Figuring out biodiversity patterns and detecting rare or just-good-at-hiding species has long posed challenges for ecosystem monitoring and conservation efforts. Traditional survey methods are labor intensive and cover limited areas. Now, emerging environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques open new possibilities.

Scientists collect water or soil samples from an environment and extract (提取) any DNA traces left behind by organisms. This is the environmental DNA (eDNA). They then use one of the two analysis methods — quantitative PCR (qPCR) or DNA sequencing (DNA 测序). Similar to COVID tests, qPCR is used to detect if a specific species’ DNA is in the sample. For example, researchers tested river water eDNA to see if endangered fish X was present. When it was detected, they confirmed that the fish lived in that river without directly seeing it. DNA sequencing analyzes all DNA in the sample at once. Scientists can then match the DNA barcodes to databases to identify which species were in the sampled environment.

Although eDNA sampling cannot identify new species or those only known from photos and videos if they are not already listed in the reference databases, the real power of it lies in its ability to capture a wide range of organisms. With just one sample, scientists can detect all kinds of living things, from bacteria to whales, in almost any environment where life exists, including the deep sea and underground caves. One of the most significant advantages of eDNA sampling is that it allows scientists to detect species that are difficult to see or capture. This is particularly useful when studying rare or very small species, or when working in environments like dark water where visibility is limited.

This is just the start. Imagine a future where eDNA data could be collected from the most remote oceans by autonomous vehicles, analyzed by the drone or on board a research vessel (船舰), and integrated with other monitoring data so marine managers and the public can see near-real-time data about the condition of the ocean. Science fiction? Not any more.

6 . For the history of life on Earth, organisms have relied on the light of the sun, moon, and stars to find their way and schedule their lives. While the beginning of electric lighting in the late 19th century may have benefited humans, it has caused problems in the natural world. Among the impacts of artificial light at night(ALAN), light pollution lures migrating birds to cities with shocking consequences, contributes to the alarming decline in insect populations, and convinces sea turtle babies to amble(缓行)away from the water instead of towards it.

Now, a new study from the University of Plymouth adds another disappointing finding about how ALAN is affecting the creatures with whom we share the planet: Light pollution from coastal cities can trick corals(珊瑚)into reproducing outside of the optimum times when they would normally reproduce.

Using a combination of light pollution data and spawning(产卵)observations, researchers were able to show for the first time that corals exposed to ALAN are spawning one to three days earlier and closer to the full moon compared to those on unlit corals. “That shift may reduce the survival and fertilization success of gametes(配子)and genetic connectivity between nearby lit and unlit coral systems,” they explain.

“Corals are among the most biodiverse, economically important, and threatened ecosystems on the planet,” write the authors of the study.

“Climate change has led to mass bleaching(褪色)events. Habitat destruction, fisheries, and pollution have reduced corals substantially since the 1950s,” they write, adding, “The complete loss of corals is anticipated over the next 100 years.”

If we want to reduce the harm ALAN is causing, we could perhaps look to delay the switching-on of night-time lighting in coastal regions to ensure the natural dark period between sunset and moonrise when coral reproduction remains undisturbed.

7 . Dawn Loggins didn’t have a typical senior year. Back in 2012, Loggins was waking up early to get to school to put in a before-school _________ as a janitor (清洁工).

Before the rest of her peers _________ school, Loggins was cleaning bathrooms, scrubbing floors, and _________ down the very desks she would _________ later in the day as a student. After 7 hours at school, Loggins didn’t get to _________ home to enjoy an after-school snack or downtime either._________ , she clocked back in for another two-hour time on janitorial duty.

“I don’t mind cleaning,” Loggins said. “If you have to walk through trash to get to your desk, you’re not going to have an environment that _________ learning.”

While the teen was clearly hardworking, it wasn’t immediately obvious to school officials how badly Loggins _________ the financial support her job provided, until she asked her boss for _________ one day. The reason? Without electricity at home.

Even more shocking, while Loggins was at summer school, she __________ calling home, only to find out the phones had been __________ and her parents had moved away-without her. And she became __________ . When the school realized the extent of the neglect Loggins had been living with, they surrounded her with __________ . The community took her in, providing her with housing and food and clothing and helping her to apply for college.

And the efforts __________ : Loggins was accepted into Harvard University. Today she works as a motivational speaker, speaking to __________ that include education, homelessness, and women and youth empowerment.

8 . Jackdaws (寒鸦) are the smallest member of the crow family. They often live in a crowd. Indeed, when cold weather comes, they gather in the hundreds (and sometimes thousands) every evening so that they can sleep in the same place. If you’ve ever heard jackdaws during their evening gatherings and morning departures, you’ll know they are not quiet birds. Despite being fairly low-volume during the day, they are really loud on either side of their night-time get-togethers. Why might this be?

A team of the Cornish Jackdaw Project set out to determine why jackdaws are so noisy before they depart from their sleeping spot. The team’s theory was that the morning calls might be a jackdaw version of   “voting”. The researchers suspected that each individual’s call might count as an “I’m in!”. When a certain amount of “I’m in!”s are called —and so a certain volume of noise is reached -the group might then depart as a unit.

To test this idea, the researchers artificially increased the level of calls during the jackdaws’ natural morning calls. Their expectation was that, if jackdaws really are “voting with their voice” to decide when to depart the sleeping site, artificially adding calls would make them leave earlier than they naturally would have done. Subsequent experiments confirmed their expectation. The team therefore showed that jackdaws use their calls as a sort of voting system.

You might wonder why this happens. The researchers suggest that individual jackdaws benefit from the voting system because they are less at risk of being killed and they can get more access to social information — such as where to find food.

So the loud calls of jackdaws in the morning are therefore not the pure chaos it sounds like. If you are ever being driven mad by the sound in the morning, you can find comfort in the fact that the louder they get, the sooner they will leave you in peace.