2 . Right now, summers are getting hotter, winters colder and the polar ice is melting at an alarming rate. Extreme weather events and natural disasters frequently occur. The climate time-bomb is ticking. Strict measures must be taken to tackle the problem.

It reminds me of how the lives we live seem to follow roughly in the way put forward years earlier by the writers of science-fiction. I guess it’s “life imitating art”. When I was young there were stories about rockets going into space and even going to the moon, although there had never been a rocket into space at that time. Years later, Russia launched Sputnik, the first man-made object to go into earth orbit and later the US landed people and even a car on the moon.

When I was growing up there were also science-fiction stories about governments looking for solutions when the world’s natural resources were being over-extended, such as they are in the case of climate change. The solution in the stories was to assume that the cause of the problem was over-population and the solution, therefore, was to limit the number of people. Various plans were put forward for doing that, from limiting the birth rate to killing off anyone over a certain age. That age, if I remember correctly, was usually about 60 and when you reached that you were supposed to turn yourself over to a government facility where you would be put to death.

Still, a look at the old science-fiction stories provides an interesting and somewhat chilling approach to what is acknowledged to be a very serious and worsening world-wide problem. There is general agreement that urgent action is needed to stop us from literally making our world unfit to live on. The answers, at least so far, concentrate on managing those resources and the ways in which we use them However, I wonder if the day will come when life will imitate the art of the old science-fiction stories and someone will propose limiting the number of people on the planet as a way of making it more suitable for those who are left. It’s a grave thing to predict.

3 . Five years ago, a friend asked me to look after his cat while he went on holiday, and I realized the idea had potential on a bigger scale. So I moved to London and decided to _______ cat sitting (猫咪代养).

For me, cat sitting is about _______ two groups of people who need what the other can offer. I get to stay in people’s _______ without rent while they’re on holiday. The owners get _______ cat sitting. It also means that there is someone to keep an eye on their homes while they are away. It seems a fairer _______ than just watering plants or walking dogs — I’m more of a cat person.

I have always loved cats, and their gentle temper makes them ideal _______ for someone working from home. Cats have such different personalities, so it’s not surprising that I _______ more with some than others. An owner once told me not to _______ her cat to sit on me, as it had happened only once. But just four days later, the cat came over and sat on my lap. I sent her a photo!

Cat sitting helps me with my _______ anxiety disorder, too. I want to be around people, but sometimes I can’t. Sometimes, this anxiety even ________ me from leaving the house. But since becoming a cat sitter my mental health has ________. Having my own ________ gives me the power to plan my day. I can recharge when I need to and can go out and meet people when I want. The cats have ________ helped.

Now I have stayed in 25 houses, ________ 30 cats and saved more than 10,000 pounds that would have gone on ________. One day I want to save up for a flat so I can have a cat of my own.

Bamboo is called “poor people’s material” and even in China it is not       1     (wide) accepted as a modern building material. But bamboo makes nearly the lightest houses, which       2     (become) better than “modern” materials at surviving earthquakes over the years.

And unlike the “Tofu” buildings that may     3     (destroy) in just several seconds in some earthquakes, bamboo makes a much     4     (safe) building. That is why it is suggested as a replacement(替代品)by International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR).

INBAR notes that     5     number of people who do not have safe and healthy shelter will increase with population growth if no proper action is taken.

Study shows that bamboo is excellent in     6     (strong) and is as strong as wood. Besides, because     7     the lightweight and good elasticity(弹性)of bamboo, bamboo buildings are very good at resisting(抵抗)earthquakes. For example, all of the 30 bamboo houses survived without any damage in the 7. 6 magnitude earthquake in Costa Rica in 2012.

Ancient Chinese people preferred living in houses     8     (make) of bamboo. In Yunnan Province, some locals still live in bamboo homes which can protect       9    (they) from rain and wind. And in Zhejiang Province,     10    bamboo is plentiful, local officials have been encouraging architects to design buildings using bamboo.

The Palace Museum is becoming waste-free as the 720,000-square-meter structure has managed to reduce the number of trash bins to 110 sets in areas open to the public. This is     1     decrease from 310 sets recorded in January 2020,     2     a zero-waste campaign was launched, said the museum.

While     3     (protect) features of the six-century-old historical relic, the action also helps visitors and tourists get into the habit of creating less waste, said the museum.

According to China News, so far, four types of trash bins     4     (equip) following Beijing’s regulations (条例) on the     5     (manage) of household waste. Cleaning staff also check them to make sure all rubbish is     6     (correct) sorted, which is transported later to different destinations for disposal (处理).

The museum also recycled more than 32,000 plastic bottles     7     (make) cultural and creative products between June 2021 and October 2023, meaning a reduction in carbon emission (碳排放)     8     as many as 931 kilograms.

By launching the campaign, the Palace Museum is taking a careful, science-based way to waste. The target is to minimize the production of waste that needs to be buried or burned     9     bring the amount of such waste as close to zero as possible, said the museum.

Up to now, about 3,000 museum staff members, 40 000 tourist     10    (guide), and 21 million visitors have participated in the campaign.

10 . In mainland Britain, people who has ever attempted to grow berries or nuts — or indeed feed the bird — will know, doing so is identical to an opening move in a game of chess with local grey squirrels, a game the squirrels tend to win. Grey squirrels are also fond of the occasional bird’s eggs or the young birds, and enjoy tearing and eating the bark of young broadleaf trees, which can either kill the trees or leave them open to infection. This, apart from affecting biodiversity and the landscape, harms the wood industry. The loss — in damaged timber, lost carbon revenue and tree replacements — is not insignificant: £37 a year in England and Wales.

Grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), introduced from North America in 1876, have nearly replaced the native red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in Britain by outcompeting them for food and habitat. They are larger, and stronger, and resistant to squirrel pox virus, while reds are not. About 3 million now live in the UK; the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the grey squirrel among the top 100 most harmful invasive species in the world.

In Britain, significant efforts have been made to stop grey squirrels’ progress, including trapping, shooting, and releasing pine martens into their habitats. The latest move, a workable system for which was thought to be a decade away, is forbidding the breeding of grey squirrels. However, legal challenges brought so many delays that the invasive grey squirrels. population expanded to an unmanageable level and wiping out was abandoned. The main issue in Britain was thought to be more technological than legal — designing a drug that targets only grey squirrels to prevent them breeding. Another possibility in the years ahead is to use DNA editing to ensure grey females are born unable to give birth.

Obviously, there is a hint of xenophobia (仇外) in some discussions about the introduction of grey squirrels to Britain nearly 150 years ago which has had an impact on the local ecosystem, posing a threat to native species. It’s also worth noting that reds — which also tear bark and take eggs — were seen as pests until the early 1930s, and extensively killed. There is, too, a strong argument that ecosystems evolve naturally, and it may be impractical and unrealistic to intervenes or even resist it. The attraction of controlling the breeding of the grey squirrels is that it is less inhumane, and aims for balance rather than uprooting.