Sarek National Park is a hidden natural treasure.     1     (locate) in the extreme north of Sweden, the park is described as Europe’s last wilderness. No other place in Sweden offers such awe-inspiring views     2     this wild and untouched land.

The most noted features of the park are its peaks. Several of     3     are over 2,000 meters, among which stands the second     4     (high) in Sweden, Mount Sarek. Equally splendid are its approximately 100 glaciers and broad     5     (valley) cut by fast-flowing rivers. In this undisturbed landscape, eagles fly overhead as wild animals move below. Experiencing this will be     6     (true) a memory.

Sarek holds a special importance in the world, due to not only its natural beauty, but its cultural significance for the Sami. They have lived here since centuries ago. Originally, Samis     7     (live) off reindeer, gradually forming their unique culture. Today, Sami culture is meeting the modern world in a new way. Samis are allowed     8     (continue) their traditional life in the park, so some choose to live in traditional settlement areas. They raise reindeer with modern     9     (equip), attracting a lot of visitors.

Those     10     like to look for a change and a challenge are sure to enjoy the pleasure of exploring the wild and experience original life of the Sami-people as well.

3 . Jonathan the tortoise, the world’s oldest land animal, turned 190 over the weekend on the island of St. Helena, where he enjoyed a “cake” of seasonal fruits, leafy greens and vegetables, including carrots carved into the number “190”.

Jonathan was brought to St.Helena from the Seychelles in 1882 as a gift. According to Guinness World Records, Jonathan surpassed the previous record holder, Tu’i Malila, who lived in the 1770s until 1965and could be even older. He arrived in St.Helena as a fully mature tortoise, meaning he was at least 50 in 1882.

“The vet is still feeding him by hand once a week to boost his calories, vitamins, minerals and trace elements, as he is blind and has no sense of smell. His hearing though is excellent and he loves the company of humans, and responds well to his vet Joe Hollins’ voice as he associates him with a feast, Guinness World Records said.

“The tortoise enjoys the sun but on very hot days takes to the shade. On mild days, he will sunbathe his long neck and legs stretched fully out of his shell to absorb heat and transfer it to his core,” according to Hollins. When it’s cold, Jonathan has been known to “dig himself into leaf mold or grass cuttings and remain there all day.”

In most cases, the lifespan of a tortoise or turtle depends on the species and level of care they receive. They generally live much longer in captivity than in the wild, because in the wild, they must find their own food in addition to evading predators while not getting medical treatment. Larger turtle and tortoise species also tend to live longer than their smaller counterparts. For more information about animal record holders, click here.

4 . Teaching middle-school children about climate change may be one of the most important things we can do to save the planet.It’s those kids who have the most potential, according to a new study

It’s at this developmental age that students can master complex concepts like climate change and remain open to new ideas,the researchers say.Middle school is usually when we start to figure out how we really feel about the world and to form our own opinions.

The researchers carried out an experiment with students in North Carolina.They gave specialized climate change training to middle school teachers,sharing lessons that would specifically encourage the kids to interact with their parents and talk about the topic.Research has shown that lessons on climate change that have the most impact typically frame the topic around something you can often see or experience,so.the lessons were focused on these themes,such as how the environment relates to animals or how an individual can directly affect the environment.

The researchers divided the students into two groups:a control group that didn’t get the specialized lessons and an experiment group who did.They also surveyed parents before, during and after the program,following these groups for two years.

After the program,the 357 students who got the special lessons and their parents showed a larger change in their level of concern about climate change than the 224 students who did not get the training.The 357 kids,the study found,can best reach adults and encourage them to act to fight climate change,regardless of their parents’ political beliefs.In fact,the researchers found this method has the greatest impact on the people who are otherwise hardest to convince:conservative (保守的) males.

“Ireally think it is very timely and really speaks to the fact that we have to prepare kids for climate change,”said study author Danielle Lawson.“Immediate action is key.We have about 12 years to take action together to keep the global average temperature from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels.Beyond that critical point,climate change will have done permanent damage.”

5 . Let me start by stating that I am an osprey. As with many in the human population, I spend a great deal of time near the shores and coastlines. Now, many of my fellow wild creatures have asked me to communicate with you on a matter of great importance. We need your help.

It has come to our attention that all of our lives could become endangered by your government. One of the most protective wildlife laws ever put into action is about to be severely weakened:the Endangered Species Act.

We know this would be a disastrous mistake. We had a frightening brush with extinction from the 1950s to the 1970s.Humans realized that chemical poisons such as DDT were causing our eggshells to thin. Other flying species were dying off, too. In 1973, when they were prohibited according to the Act, our population recovered, but it was not easy and not immediate.

The law also protected scores of other animals and plants. It helped save your national symbol, the bald eagle (秃鹰), from extinction. It allowed for the re-introduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park to restore a natural balance to that ecosystem. Right now, the law protects more than 1,600 species in the United States. Do you really think it is a good idea to weaken it?

Your government is engaged in some very dangerous, short-term and nonscientific thinking. Apparently, it is more economically accountable. That means if saving our lives involves larger possible economic losses, our lives and the stability of all of the multiple ecosystems of which we are a part will be ignored. This will not result in healthy, stable and sustainable ecosystems, which are what we all need to survive. Please help us and help yourselves. Keep the Endangered Species Act unbroken.

7 . With their main food source dying off, manatees (海牛) in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon have turned to eating large amounts of algae (海藻) as their food. Researchers are concerned about what this change will do to the animals’ health.

About a decade ago, a harmful algal bloom (HAB) significantly reduced the amount of seagrass in the lagoon (泻湖). These blooms happen when algae grows out of control and can have bad effects on living things in the ecosystem or use up all the oxygen in the water. Around that time is when Florida manatees went from eating primarily seagrass to eating primarily algae, a team of researchers found. Several years ago, scientists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) noticed that many manatees were dying in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) for an unknown reason.

Study author Aarin-Conrad Allen, a Ph.D. student at Florida International University, Institute of Environment, had just finished work on manatee diets in Belize and began studying the Florida situation. Manatees primarily eat seagrass, but will sometimes eat other foods like algae.

Researchers had collected more than 100 stomach samples from manatees that had died in the lagoon between 2013 and 2015. They found that their diet consisted of about 50% algae and 34% seagrass.

They compared data that had been archived (存档) from the late 1970s through late 1980s when the lagoon was not so unhealthy. Then, the manatees’ diets were almost 62% seagrass and only 28% algae. The rest of their diets included other plants and small fish.

“The lack of seagrass within the lagoon is a grave concern for the well-being of manatees, so we were eager to present this data documenting the diet of manatees before and after periods of seagrass decline,” Allen says.

At 3:42 a. m., on 28 July 1976, one of the most deadly earthquakes of the 20 th century began in Tangshan. It seemed as if the world were coming to     1     end! Nearly everything in the city     2     (destroy). The number of people who were killed or badly injured     3     (be) more than 400,000,     4     (leave) thousands of children without parents. Then later that afternoon, another big quake shook Tangshan again. Even     5     (many) buildings fell down. Water, food, and electricity were hard     6     (get). People began to wonder how long the disaster would last.

But hope was not lost. Rescuers, including soldiers, doctors, nurses and workers came to help. The soldiers dug out the people who were trapped and buried the     7     (death).

Workers built shelters for those     8     had lost their homes.     9     (slow), the city began to breathe and revive itself.     10     strong support from the government and the tireless efforts of the city’s people, a new Tangshan was built on the earthquake ruins.