For centuries, Tibet has not been explored as much due to its remote    1    (locate), extreme climate and geographic environment. Since 2006, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway    2    (become) the most popular way to connect Tibet to the rest of China.    3    (know) as the “sky road” and a man-made wonder in transportation, the railway begins in Xining and ends in Lhasa. The scenery along the railway offers not only a feast for the eyes, but also    4    journey for the soul.

Qinghai Lake is the    5    (large) inland lake in China. Be it the blue sky and water, the green grassland or breathtaking landscapes-Qinghai Lake has great charms that are worth exploring. It is    6    (definite) a perfect place for bird lovers as many different kinds of birds fly here in May and June due to the mild weather.

The high peaks of the Kunlun Mountains are covered with snow and mist all year round,    7    (create) an amazing view. The geographic and severe climatic conditions have made this place a “forbidden zone for humans”, which is also a reason    8     its biodiversity.

Lhasa offers almost every aspect of Tibetan culture. If one must pick a name card for Lhasa, the Potala Palace is very likely     9    (be) the answer. No one can really say that he has visited Lhasa     10    he has been to the Potala Palace.

2 . Electric cars are already greener than petrol cars in almost every part of the world today, according to researchers. They say electric vehicles are “a no-regret choice” even in places where power nets haven’t gone fully green.

Some previous comparisons suggested petrol cars produce lower net carbon emissions (净碳排放量) over their lifetime than battery- powered cars. Yet these analyses have often compared only two fixed models of cars.

Instead, the researchers from Radboud University looked at the average emissions across many classes of car to get a clearer global picture. It includes during its production, while it is being driven and when it is broken, for all the petrol and electric cars sold in 59 areas across the world in 2015. They connected with information of those areas in the following years and found that the electric vehicles are greener than the new petrol cars. Electric vehicles already have lower net carbon emissions in 53 of those 59 areas. Only in some countries that use coal heavily, such as India and Poland, are electric car emissions worse than those of petrol cars.

The researchers say that the differences between petrol and electric cars on the carbon emissions will grow bigger as power stations get greener. By 2030, they expect the carbon emissions of electric cars to be 20 percent lower than that in 2015, and 30 percent lower by 2050. The suggestions for governments are clear, says Knobloch.“There is no need to wait. Don’t be confused by all those different results out there. It’s a no-regret choice already.”

4 . The first rule of popular science is to reveal the wonder and mystery of the world. For that reason, Sentient (Picador), written by photographer and wildlife film-maker Jackie Higgins, is my pick of the year. According to my interviews with many readers, I select other four newly-published books in 2022.

This book describes how our ancestors hunted and consumed ancient animals such as mammoths, bison, giant camels and many more now-extinct species. The diet of the Clovis peoples of North America was a menu described as “a record of a lost world”. This book explains how our dinners robbed the world of so many large animals. It gives inspiration for how modern humans can be at peace with nature.

In 1999, Mann published a graph showing the rapid post-industrial rise in global temperatures. Two decades later, his book The New Climate War remains convinced that we can prevent climate change. This book sets out a common-sense approach to carbon pricing and a revision of the Green New Deal. Of course, there are still many people who deny that climate change is even happening.

Physicist Kate Greene imagines that she spends four months in a geodesic dome in Hawaii, with five other people, to mimic living in a colony on another planet. The story describes the future of our Earth. Kate makes readers cherish the natural environment. “No sunshine on our skin, and no fresh air in our lungs,” Greene turns the frustrations into a moving story.

The birds were once common across the peninsula. But as development over the last 100 years reduced the habitats on which the bird depends, the species became endangered. Mark Walters travels the state to report on the natural history and the current situation of Florida’s flag ship birds. This book can raise people’s awareness of protecting the birds’ habitats.

7 . According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels installed(安装)has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few like large solar panels to be installed near them.

Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven’t given much thought to what they put under them. Often, they’ll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.

“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation and Impact Reductions on the Environment(InSPIRE)project. “They need to be protectors of the land and contribute to the agricultural economy.” InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to “low-impact” solar development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators(传粉昆虫).

Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S. agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendliness guidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.

Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that’s going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.

9 . Lillian, 17, had just started working as a lifesaver at a beach in Australia on New Year’s Eve when beach-goers started to point and shout at the water. The workers quickly examined the situation and saw that a kangaroo had jumped out of the bushes (灌木丛) — straight into the sea.

The animal seemed confused by the fishermen standing on the rocks. So instead of turning back and heading back into the bushes, it jumped right into the water! The poor thing bobbed(摆动)around in the waves and went underwater several times before Lillian decided to take action.

As with any other animal rescue, it’s important to approach the situation with prudence. Wild animals that are stressed can become dangerous to their rescuers, and Lillian was aware of the risks as she took her rescue board and hit the water at a run. “It just didn’t want to come on to the beach because it was kind of scared,” she said. “I was trying to figure out how to get it on the board. But considering that it’s a wild animal, even though I was helping, I wouldn’t want to be hurt by it or make it more stressed out.”

As beach-goers recorded the rescue on their phones,Lillian paddled (用浆划船) behind the animal carefully and guided the kangaroo onto the beach. As soon as Lillian’s feet touched the sand, the beach erupted in cheers for her!“It was quite special. As people there were cheering and clapping, the kangaroo was just sitting there up in the bushes staring at me, as if it was conveying something with its shining eyes,” Lillian said. “I didn’t think that was going to ever be my first rescue, I may have more rescues in the future, but none would be as memorable as this one.”

10 . I was walking through the bush when, suddenly, a baby koala rushed to me through the sky. Through quick thinking, I managed to catch it in my _______. “Oh Doodah, are you —_______ to see me today?” I asked the koala. Doodah, a baby koala, was just one of the many koalas that had come into my _______. And while I might be his favourite person, I loved all of these animals _______.

Ever since I was a girl, I’d loved animals and at 18 had started work at the Curmmbin Wildlife Sanctuary as a _______ collector. Selecting leaves for the koalas brought me so much joy as the koalas _______ them for food. Through hard work and _______ I eventually became a koala specialist, which saw me working in China, where I _______ in koala-breeding programs.

My son, Jett, always been with koalas and comes out _______ them with me. But we’ve both become concerned over the __________ of our beloved koalas. I knew the best way to stop them from dying out was to __________ the young like my son because the future really is theirs. So I wrote a children’s book, Have You Seen a Tree for Me?, which I hope will help them understand we’ve got to __________ our beloved wildlife.

There are lots of __________ things kids can do to start helping now; Keep dogs and cats locked away from wildlife, plant a tree that will encourage native animals to visit and __________your family to drive slowly in wildlife habitats and areas. That might only sound __________, but if we all do this, it can make a big difference.