1 . In shallow coastal waters of the Indian ocean, Dugong, a kind of sea cow, is in trouble. Environmental problems pose such a major threat to its survival that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the species’ extinction risk status(地位)to vulnerable (脆弱的).

Much worse, Dugongs are at risk of losing the protection of the Torres Strait Islanders, who have looked after them historically, hunting them for food sustainably and monitoring their numbers. These native people keep their biodiversity, and have deep knowledge about their environment. But these people are also threatened, in part because rising sea levels are making it difficult for them to live there.

This situation isn’t unique to Dugongs. A global analysis of 385 culturally important plant and animal species found 68 percent were both biologically vulnerable and at risk of losing their cultural protection.

The findings clearly illustrate that biology shouldn’t be the primary factor in shaping conservation policy,says anthropologist Victoria Reyes-García.When a culture declines,the species that are important to that culture are also threatened.“Lots of conservationists think we need to separate people from nature,” says Reyes-García. “But that strategy misses the caring relationship many cultural groups have with nature.”

One way to help shift conservation efforts is to give species a “bio-cultural status,”which would provide a fuller picture of their vulnerability. In the study, the team used a new way to determine a species’ risk of disappearing: the more a cultural group’s language use declines, the more that culture is threatened.The more a culture is threatened, the more culturally vulnerable its important species are. Researchers then combined a species’ cultural and biological vulnerability to arrive at its bio-cultural status. In the Dugong’s case, its bio-cultural status is endangered, meaning it is more at risk than its IUCN categorization suggests.

This new approach to conservation involves people that have historically cared for them. It can highlight when communities need support to continue their care. Scientists hope it will bring more efforts that recognize local communities’ rights and encourage their participation-taking advantage of humans’ connection with nature instead of creating more separation.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a health care system in which patients     1     (treat) with natural plant, animal, and mineral remedies (药物). It is assumed, for a person to be healthy,     2     yin and yang forces should he in balance. Imbalance causes illness or injury. TCM is about     3     (restore) the balance between yin and yang forces in patients. It has been a major part of traditional Chinese culture and continues to play     4     vital role in medical treatment in China today.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 80 percent of the world's population depends for its primary health care needs    5     medicines from plants and animals. This is especially true in countries where traditional medicines are     6     (wide) used.

Increasingly, however, modern medicines also contain substances from animals and plants. Given growing populations, increasing wealth, and the spreading    7     (popular) of natural remedies around the world, the demand for these medicines and remedies     8     (rise) now. The rising demand,     9     (combine) with reduced habitat, has caused an alarming increase in the number of plant and animal species used for medicinal purposes at risk for many years. For instance, TCM uses about 1,000 plant and 36 animal species, including the tiger, rhinoceros, and sea horse,     10     are all in danger.

4 . Have you noticed how evenings cool off more in rural areas than they do in cities? Urban areas also tend to get hotter during the day than any nearby areas with lots of greenery.    1    

It’s mainly caused by the difference in materials that cover the ground in urban areas and the countryside. In the country, evaporation(蒸发)of water from soil and the leaves of plants helps to cool the air.    2    Having fewer plants, cities have less evaporation and are unable to cool down the temperature.

Dark colours are another problem. Dark objects absorb all wavelengths of light, making the temperature increase more noticeably. In contrast, white objects reflect all wavelengths of light energy.    3    Sadly, most parts of cities are covered by asphalt(沥青), steel, roofs and bricks which are often dark in colour.

    4    As people drive cars, heat buildings, and run air conditioners, cities are generating waste heat and pouring it into the atmosphere directly. The waste heat adds to the solar energy trapped by the tall buildings.

But cities don’t have to be so hot. Some cities have lightened their streets. This is done by covering black asphalt streets, parking lots, and dark roofs with a more reflective gray coating.     5    

Having more green spaces also helps. Plants serve as a natural air conditioner. They catch heat, release vapour(蒸汽)into the air, and take away heat, contributing to cooler, fresher cities.

Sam was a junior high school student. He lived in a community in Charlotte and usually had little exposure to country life. So much of what he knew about plants came from text-books. Sam was a kind-hearted person. He longed for a chance to explore nature and he wanted to do his part to beautify the world.

Finally, the opportunity came. On Arbor Day (植树节), his class organized a trip to a local village to plant trees. Sam was excited about it and couldn’t wait to tell his mom the good news. So the next day, Sam and his mom went to buy some tools for planting trees, including a shovel(铲), a bucket, gloves and so on.

On the day of the event, Sam and his classmates arrived early at the starting point. It was a beautiful day and everyone looked particularly happy. With the tools in hand, Sam got into the bus with everyone else and headed off to their destination.

As soon as they reached the village, all the students were divided into three teams by their teacher. One team was responsible for planting the trees, one team for shovelling the soil and one team for watering the trees. At the teacher’s command, everyone started to do their job.

However, it was the first time that many of the students had taken part in planting trees, so they had no idea about how to start. Of course, Sam was one of them. Fortunately, their teacher was a middle-aged man from the countryside who had some knowledge of planting trees. In order to set an example to the students, the teacher started to plant trees himself. After watching the teacher plant the trees, everyone also became busy. Before long, they planted hundreds of trees. Sam watched very carefully, not wanting to miss any of the details. Finally, Sam learned how to plant trees by himself and felt happy.

A few days later, a storm damaged some young trees in the community.

The neighbours praised Sam for what he had done.

7 . Beavers(海狸), like humans, change their surroundings to fit their needs. Known as nature’s engineers, they tear trees down to build homes to live in and dams to raise water levels for protection from enemies. Dams also slow water’s flow while blocking sediment(沉积物)that would otherwise flow downstream. The resulting wetlands often attract wildlife diversity where none had existed. There are challenges, though. Beaver dams sometimes cause flooding, and most people prefer trees alive and upright.

Communities face a delicate balancing act, learning to coexist with beavers. Last winter, many people enjoying Winston Path became beaver fans as one furry family transformed Swallow Pond into an oasis for birds, frogs, turtles and deer.

Yet such activity caused concern. As beavers worked, they raised water levels about five feet. The increased depth allows beavers to survive underwater if the pond ices over. But county officials were concerned about how higher water would affect the soil bank supporting Winston Path.

To find a good balance between protecting the path and the beavers, the county introduced a“ beaver baffle”— a pond leveler.Beavers often rush to fill holes in their dams.Baffles stabilize water levels by creating a hidden exit for high water to escape through the dam, unnoticed by the beavers.

People love the beavers but they also love the mature trees. Recently, Catherine Jones,18, organized a tree-caging event — putting wire cloth around large tree trunks to discourage beavers from biting them. It also protects people from injury due to random trees falling.“We cover the trees we don’t want them to eat, while planting periodically others they like,“said Jones.“We need-to learn to give up a little of our wants to share the Earth’s resources.”

Swallow Pond’s 2023 project will restore proper water depth and improve wildlife habitat without creating problems for the path. The balancing act continues.

9 . When adult humans meet a baby, many can’t help speaking in a higher-pitched (更高音的), sing-song y voice. This shift, known as parentese, is not unique to humans — it has also been observed in animals like monkeys and gorillas. Now, scientists are adding one more species to that list: bottlenose dolphins.

Dolphins are intelligent animals that live and hunt in groups. They communicate in a unique way: every individual produces its own signature sound that acts much like an ID card, usually by its first birthday. But how does each come up with its distinctive whistle? For babies, it might have something to do with listening to Mum. To solve this mystery, researchers examined the sounds mother dolphins, make.

Scientists studied 34 years’ worth of recordings of sounds made by 19 female bottlenose dolphins. When the mother dolphins were near their young, they continued to make their signature sound, but at a higher frequency. They also used a wider range of frequencies than they did when their babies were not nearby.

This discovery suggests that using these modifications mother dolphins assist their young in learning how to produce these calls themselves. Since dolphin babies often spend some years with their mothers before living on their own, it makes sense that this adaptation would help them learn to communicate. At the very least, the higher-pitched whistle likely gets the babies’ attention. “It’s important for a baby to know,’ Oh, Mum’s talking to me now,’” says marine biologist June Mann.

This kind of research could help us understand how language developed in humans. “It is absolutely essential to have basic knowledge about other species and how they communicate,” says Mann. “I would be really interested to see whether dolphins also change their sounds when interacting with babies of others, which is what happens in humans.”