2 . We humans have always been obsessed with reaching higher, building taller, and touching the sky. In effect, we have been building towers and buildings each taller than the other. Today, we will look at four of the tallest buildings in the world.

Burj Khalifa

Since it opened on January 4, 2010, the Burj Khalifa has been the tallest building in the world. The United Arab Emirates broke world records in the 21st century for building a needle-like, 162 story skyscraper in Dubai. A public observation deck called “At the Top” is located on the 124th floor. The top floor is home to a private VIP club, closed to anyone except members.

Taipei 101

Featured in many videos, the tallest building in Taipei, China, is famous for its unique shape and awesome fireworks display every year. It houses lots of hotels, offices, apartments, and an observatory deck. There’s an outdoor round observatory square on the 91st floor of the building, at 392m above the ground, it’s now the third highest open-air observation deck in the world.

Shanghai World Financial Centre

The Shanghai World Financial Centre, is a soaring glass skyscraper with a distinctive opening at the top in Pudong District, Shanghai, China. The construction of this building began in 1997, but due to the crisis in Southeast Asia, it temporarily halted and resumed in 2003. Its final height is 492 metres and has 101 floors.

International Commerce Centre (ICC)

The ICC building, completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, is the tallest building in Hong Kong, China, and one of the world’s tallest skyscrapers at 484 metres. Original plans were for an even taller building, but zoning laws prohibited the construction of buildings higher than the surrounding mountains. The design of the skyscraper was revised (修改) and plans for a pyramidal-shaped top were abandoned.

3 . “Going after the footprints of wild animals, you can see the most beautiful scenery in the world. You can see the other side of the world, full of strength, wildness and tenderness,” said Xi Zhinong about being a wildlife photographer.

In 1983, 19-year-old Xi had an opportunity to take part in shooting a film about wild birds. At the time, people didn’t know how to photograph these birds without disturbing them. Crews used to catch the birds, tie their legs with ropes and then put them back on tree branches for shooting. Xi thought the birds captured this way had no life. Instead, he set out to learn how to photograph and film birds while they were in flight. The more Xi filmed, the more he saw the cruelty of animals killing. Xi thought he should do more to help protect the wildlife, as focusing on birds was far from enough.

In 1992, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) launched a three-year research project focused on black snub-nosed monkeys, an endangered species in southwest China’s Yunnan Province, Xi’s hometown. Xi followed the researchers to reach the forests at 4,000 meters above sea level. He became the first to film these striking monkeys in the wild. After years of effort, Xi’s documentary film “Mystery Yunnan Snub-Nosed Monkey” won several international awards, including the TVE award at England’s Wildscreen Festival in 2002.

Xi not only films endangered species, but has also taken on the mission of raising awareness for the protection of wild animals and their homes by giving lectures in cities throughout the country.

Now, he owns a studio “Wild China Film” and uses his images to preserve nature. “I hope to demonstrate the most vivid and realistic scenery to the public. I wish natural reserves can be found everywhere in China, but the most important thing is that these reserves are impressed upon in the minds of everybody,” Xi noted.

4 . All over the world, people admire the beauty and grace of butterflies. Butterflies come in every color imaginable, and their_________display an incredible variety of patterns. The largest butterfly, Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing, has a wingspan (翼展) of up to 280 millimeters and lives in Papua New Guinea. The smallest, the Western Pygmy Blue in the southern U.S., has a wingspan of only 12 millimeters. Sadly, some of these beautiful creatures are now _________.

Estimates indicate that between 15 and 20 thousand species of butterflies exist around the world. A number of these species are endangered, over 20 in Japan_________. Although that number may seem small, losing even one species would be_________. Nowadays scientists even look to butterflies as a _________of the environment’s health, since they are _________ to environmental changes. Many environmentalists around the world are eager to protect the endangered butterflies from extinction. The American Museum of Natural History in New York, for example, has an unusual butterfly exhibit. This exhibit _________ the important role that butterflies play in our environment.

In recent years, environmental groups have made significant progress in _________endangered butterfly populations. Governments throughout Asia have passed laws to help protect endangered wildlife, including butterflies. An area called Butterfly Valley in Assam, India, has become the focus of conscious _________ to protect the butterflies’ habitat (栖息地). Other projects in Serbia, Japan, and Canada are also hoping to __________. Some of these efforts are already starting to work. The population of the El Segundo Blue Butterfly in California, for instance, has increased by 8 percent since 2010.

Finding a cure for the butterfly crisis is, __________, not just for environmental groups. __________citizens can plant butterfly gardens to support and enjoy these gentle creatures. A group of female prisoners in Belfair, Washington, are helping to rescue an endangered species called Taylor’s Checkerspot. They recognize how__________ seemingly insignificant creatures can be. The world cannot afford to lose any butterflies. As environmentalist John Muir once__________, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it __________ to everything else in the Universe.”

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Asean (东盟) region are estimated to increase in the same period, based on the latest Nationally determined contributions (NDC) targets up to 2030.

To keep the Paris Agreement temperature goal within reach, Dr Beni Suryadi, Centre for Energy Manager at the Asean Secretariat, stated that ASEAN needs to achieve     1    emissions as soon as possible after 2030 and net-zero GHG emissions as soon as possible after 2050.

However,     2    of the growth in GDP and energy-related CO2 emissions is observed only in a handful of the Asean member states.

“It is vital to reduce energy intensity through lower energy demand and further energy savings and to reduce emission intensity by     3    renewable energy expansion,” he said.

“Current policies need to be enhanced to achieve the NDC targets. The     4    under the NDCs will provide Asean with a better perspective of the need for a more ambitious course of action on mitigation（缓解） in the future. Ambitious energy policies can significantly reduce GHG emission and helps our     5    towards low carbon economies and climate resilient nations.”

Earlier in his presentation, Dr Beni highlighted, “a brief record-breaking drop in climate change – causing carbon emissions during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. However, nowadays we continue to hear the news and read reports that say that global emissions have already     6    to near pre-pandemic levels”.

“While we are grateful to learn that the economy is reviving and we see economic activities taking place everywhere, there is a(n)     7    need for us to limit the growth of emissions. Global GHG emissions continue to rise, at a time when they need to be rapidly falling.”

At the global level, he said, “It is recorded that almost three-quarters of the GHG emissions come from energy use; almost one-fifth from agriculture and land use; and the     8    eight per cent from industry and waste”.

He also noted that the electricity and transport sectors start out as and remain the biggest     9    of GHGs and air pollution in Asean.

“If the Asean member states do what is needed to fully achieve their own national energy efficiency and renewable energy targets, as well as their climate commitments, Asean’s total energy- related GHG emissions in 2040 will be 3,002 MtCO2-eq, 28 per cent lower than in the baseline scenario.

“Power generation remains the largest sectoral contributor, accounting for about 40 per cent and 46 per cent of total GHG emissions from energy in 2025 and 2040,     10    .

“Furthermore, if Asean fulfilled its regional aspirational targets on the energy efficiency and renewable energy, Asean will be able to reduce GHG emissions more sharply to only 2,264 Mt CO2-eq in 2040,” he said.

Throughout the centuries, pink has assumed a range of guises (表现形式). The way it is sensed by society has also changed over the years.

In the West, pink first became fashionable in the mid-1700s, when European aristocrats (贵族) were dressed in pink as a symbol of class. Madame de Pompadour loved the color so much that, in 1757, French porcelain manufacturer Sèvres named its new shade of pink “Rose Pompadour” after her.

Pink was not then considered a girls’ color — infants of both genders were dressed in white.     1     The color’s more recent association with femininity (女性气质) started around the mid-19th century, according to Valerie Steele, editor of the book Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Color. She explained, “Men in the Western world increasingly wore dark colors, leaving brighter options to females     2    . ”

By the turn of the century, pink had entered the mainstream — and its status shifted in the process. The advent of industrialization and mass production led to comparatively cheap dyes (染料). Pink went from luxury to working class.

Its guises continued to change throughout the 1900s.     3     By the 1950s, pink had become more gender-coded than ever. The branding and marketing in post-war America that used it as a symbol of super-femininity, strengthened a “pink for girls, blue for boys” stereotype.

Pink did not regain its popularity until the 1960s, when public figures such as Jackie Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe adopted it as a mark of luxury. In more recent decades, pink has also been accepted as a color of protest and awareness for various communities. For example, it has become internationally equivalent to the fight against breast cancer, in the form of a pink ribbon.

“Pink is going through a generational shift,” Steele said. “    4     There’s a shared recognition that pink can be pretty and powerful and feminine. We’re redefining pink.”