1 . Two weeks ago, 93-year-old Joy Ryan set a world record. In her words, “I’m the _________ lady to ever visit every national park.”

In just eight years, she and her 42-year-old grandson Brad Ryan _________ to go to all 63 national parks, an adventure they’ve written on Instagram. Their _________ stop was the National Park of American Samoa in the South Pacific, some 6,700 miles from their home in Duncan Falls, Ohio. The pair received certificates (证书) from the park in _________ of their achievement.

In a way, the journey began 21 years ago when Brad’s parents got divorced (离婚), and he became _________ from Joy. It wasn’t until 2008, at his sister’s wedding, that he _________ her again. She was 78 and she didn’t look good.

“She came into the church and she was dry,” Brad _________. “Very unsteady (不稳定的). It was hard to see this woman that was so important to me in my growing years on the side of _________, knowing that there was so much _________ between us.”

But over a period of months, Joy __________. And Brad, who’d just finished hiking the Appalachian Trail where he’d been thinking through what mattered to him, __________ the courage to call Joy and __________ they make raisin-filled cookies together.

__________, “there was a little too much awkwardness for my liking,” he says. “You can’t pick up where you left off, I learned that quickly.” Still, they __________ in touch. Over the last eight years, Brad and Joy have had little dust-ups (吵架) to be sure. And this tour of the national parks has __________ the crack (裂缝) that once separated them.

5 . New research from the University of Portsmouth has shown a marked increase in shipping in the North East Atlantic. Scientists now warn that more monitoring is required to help protect sea life.

Researchers at the University of Ponsmouth have discovered that rates (率) of shipping in the North East Atlantic area rose by 34 per cent in a five-year period. The research is the first detailed survey of shipping activity in the North East Atlantic. Researchers used data from over 530 million vessel (船) positions recorded by Automatic Identification System(AIS). They looked at the change in shipping between 2013 and 2017 across ten different vessel types. In total the study area covered 1.1 million km², including waters off Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal. Spain, and the UK.

Lead author, James Robbins said: “This change is likely to put more pressure on the marine (海洋的) environment, and may influence the protection of at-risk species. Renewed monitoring effort is needed to make sure that protective measures are enough to save species under threat in a changing environment.”

Some of the greatest shipping increases were found in areas close to the Spanish coast. The Espacio Marino de la Costa da Morte saw a rise of 413 percent in vessel activity. It is an area used to protect seabirds.

Dr. Sarah Marley, Visiting Researcher at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Shipping is the most widespread human activity in our oceans, carrying a set of threats-from unnoticeable effects like underwater noise pollution to serious results when ships hit whales.”

Professor Alex Ford. from the University’s Institute of Marine Sciences, said: “Given the well-documented effects that shipping can have on the marine environment, it is necessary that this situation continues to be monitored-particularly in areas used to protect vulnerable (脆弱的) species which may already be under pressure.”

6 . It is late autumn—millions of gardeners across the northern hemisphere, pulled on their thickest sweaters, spent hours clearing large piles of leaves and packed them into plastic bags at the end of driveways.

In the US alone, nearly 10 million tonnes of garden waste go to landfill every year. That is a large amount of effort, not just from an environmental viewpoint but from that of our aching backs, too. So where does this advice come from? Well, it largely comes from the belief that thick fallen leaves can make plants under them unable to breathe, especially shorter grass. They shut down important photosynthesis (光合作用) and get in the way of the growth of the shorter grass. However, this received wisdom has recently been questioned by researchers at Wisconsin University.

The key finding of their new research was that although clearing fallen leaves is one of the most common gardening practices, it makes very little sense. In natural ecosystems, fallen leaves help return nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth to the soil, which greatly improves soil condition. Removing leaves year after year breaks this ecological (生态的) balance. Letting some leaves stick around to cover your garden is a great way to help your grass and the local ecosystem.

They further explained that if up to 50percent of your grass lawn (草坪) is covered by fallen leaves, you might as well go back indoors and put your feet up. The advantages of this light leaf coverage far outweigh the disadvantages—the leaves will quickly break down and help next year’s lawn grow far better than if you had cleared them. Only at over 50 percent coverage do the Wisconsin researchers recommend clearing.

So why not consider leaving the leaves? Save time, carbon and effort, and in exchange get a healthier lawn from this garden waste—that seems like a pretty good deal. And how many plastic bags could be saved by simply not binning fallen leaves every year? In the US alone, about 700 million.

8 . Dogs may have earned the title of our best friends through their interactions with humans, but now researchers say these social skills could, be present shortly after birth rather than being learned.

To better understand the role of biology in dogs’ abilities to communicate with humans, the researchers studied 375 eight-week-old service dogs. They looked at how these dogs performed in a series of tasks designed to measure their communication skills. The puppies were still living with their littermates (同窝出生者) and had not been sent to live with a volunteer puppy raiser, making it unlikely that they had learned about his or her behavior.

In the first task, a person hid a treat beneath one of two overturned cups and pointed to it to see if the puppy could follow the gesture. Since dogs are good at using noses to find things a treat was also taped to the insides of, both cups. In the second task, puppies watched as the researchers placed a yellow, block next to the correct cup, instead of pointing to indicate where the puppy should look for the food.

The third task was designed to observe puppies’ tendency to look at human faces. The researchers spoke to the puppy in a voice people sometimes use when talking to a baby. They then measured how long the puppy fixed a stare on the human.

In the last task, researchers sealed a treat inside a closed container and presented it to the puppy. They then measured how often the puppy looked to the human for help in opening the container.

The study found that while many of the puppies were responsive to humans’ physical and verbal cues, very few looked to humans for help with the unsolvable task. Researchers said, “This suggests that while puppies may be born knowing how to respond to human-initiated communication, the ability to initiate communication on their own may come later.” The next step will be to see if specific genes that may contribute to dogs’ abilities to communicate with humans can be identified.

9 . In an awe-inspiring incident, a young killer whale recently demonstrated remarkable intelligence by seeking assistance from a group of humans to save its trapped mother, which challenged our conventional understanding of wild predators (食肉动物).

The online viral video, shared by Alvin Foo, began with a young killer whale emitting distressing cries towards a group of people on a boat. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the concerned individuals promptly responded by contacting a rescue team. The young whale’s desperate request for help touched more people’s hearts and set a truly extraordinary chain of events in motion.

As the rescue team arrived, they were amazed to witness the young killer whale’s playful interaction with the humans. The whale appeared elated, seemingly understanding that assistance had finally arrived. This interaction between the mother killer whale and rescuers underlined the potential for mutual understanding beyond the boundary of traditional predator-prey relationships.

The young whale took on the role of a guide, leading the rescue team to its mother trapped in a fishing net. It navigated the water with purpose, as if fully aware that the humans possessed the means to save its mother. This display of intelligence left the rescuers in awe, highlighting the complex cognitive abilities of these magnificent marine creatures. With its guidance, the rescue team swiftly initiated the liberation process, carefully cutting the net to free the trapped whale. Astonishingly, they seemed to understand that the humans were there to help and did as asked.

The instant the mother whale was finally freed, an eruption of joyous cries filled the air. The emotional outpouring conveyed the immense gratitude of both the mother whale and the young whale to the humans who had intervened. As the rescue team made their way back to shore, the two whales swam alongside them. This heart-warming sight emphasized the lasting impact of the rescue. The bond formed through this extraordinary rescue operation was well obvious, proving that the profound connections can be established between various species. The journey back to safety symbolized the victory of compassion over adversity.

10 . Conversation around sustainability (可持续发展) has been growing in recent years, with a whole wave of new words entering the dictionary to describe its influence across many topics. To honour Earth Day, we’re exploring the developing language of sustainability in our day-to-day lives.

The climate emergency took on new meanings in 2018 thanks to climate activist Greta Thunberg. Her speeches and strikes lighted a global conversation and since then, we’ve seen many climate-related words entering the Collins Word of the Year shortlists including “rewilding” and “climate anxiety”. We also saw two climate words win CollinsWOTY: single use (2018) and climate strike (2019).

This increased everyday conversation around our planet also means we’re seeing new words enter the dictionary on an ongoing basis. Recent entries include climate justice (正义), the formulation of policies (政策的制定) to fight climate change that do not place an unfair pressure on poorer and local communities, and zero waste, a situation in which people’s activities produce nothing that cannot be reused, re-purposed, or recycled.

The more we talk about the climate crisis, the more forced we are to find solutions. This means we’re seeing new language around energy production. One example is solar park, which is an area of land that has been set aside for the generation of solar energy. Solar parks are a renewable energy source that can reduce carbon emissions (碳排放). Other energy-related words include blue hydrogen (氢) and green hydrogen, new entries to the Collins Dictionary, both described as a commercially produced hydrogen that creates little to no emissions of CO_2.

Fighting the climate crisis depends on big businesses and governments using greener practices. But there are lots of ways we can protect our planet as individuals and these little changes have led to developing words around nature, diet, and lifestyle.