6 . A new study led by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health finds air pollution may negatively impact standardized test scores. Using data from the North Carolina Education Research Data Center, the researchers tracked 2.8 million public school students in North Carolina from 2001 to 2018 and measured their exposure to PM2.5 found in polluted air. While previous research has shown negative effects on academic performance, it has relied on relatively small or less representative samples. “The biggest strength of this study is that we tracked every student in North Carolina in those years, for the whole time period that they were in the public schools,” said Emma Zang, coauthor of the study.

The study also finds that test scores of ethnic minorities and girls are disproportionately (不成比例地) impacted by PM2.5 levels. “Females and ethnic minorities face sexism and racism,” said Zang. “There are a lot of policies that are not friendly towards them. So, when they’re exposed to the same level of air pollution, they don’t have the resources to lessen the negative influences.” More privileged populations, however, might have more resources that allow them to live in a better environment, such as in houses with air purifiers.

“The level of PM2.5 pollution in the US is relatively low, but students living in areas below the current air quality standard of annual PM2.5 concentration are still negatively impacted by air pollution when it comes to their test scores,” said Zang. “We should aim to strengthen the annual PM2.5 standard to better protect our children.”

Air pollution is known to contribute to disease and death, and it also negatively affects students’ academic performance even at low levels of pollution. The subsequent studies, the researchers said, would involve looking at whether the findings hold true in different areas, and also the reasons behind the ethnic and sexual differences.

7 . Rebecca, a wildlife camerawoman, was filming a documentary for the BBC in the Pacific Ocean when she saw something that made her cry: hundreds of  _______   had died because they had  _______  eaten some of the tons of plastic thrown into the sea. Beaches in Honolulu and other Pacific islands were _______ plastic toys, bottles, keyboards, pens, cigarette lighters . Seabirds as well as  other  animals like whales, dolphins, seals, turtles were suffering  _______  thrown-away plastic. The sea and the environment become more and more polluted.

At this point most of us would have felt sad and _______ but Rebecca did differently. In her hometown of Modbury she showed her _______ from the island to local shopkeepers and asked them to do one thing to help—stop using plastic _______ in their shops. To Rebecca's surprise, the shopkeepers_______ and Modbury became the first plastic-bag-free town in Britain. Shops offered  _______ cotton bags or biodegradable(可降解) bags. People in the town got used to taking a shopping bag with them to the supermarket—just like their grandparents had done before plastic bags were  invented . Later, other towns in Britain followed Modbury's  ________ . The small town of Hebden Bridge became the second plastic-bag-free town when four women there saw Rebecca's film and  ________  to act and the people there are happy to change things.

More and more towns around are becoming plastic-bag-free. Now "the bag for life" is part of the national________, and the task of reducing the use of plastic bags has become law. Since October 2015, all shops in the UK must________ five pence for each plastic bag used by each shopper. It's not enough, of course, ________  it's a good start. It also shows us that there is something we can do and that one person ________ a strong enough belief can make a big change to protect the oceans and save the seabirds and sea animals.

8 . Since childhood, London-based artist Josh Gluckstein has been fascinated by the incredible diversity of our planet’s wildlife and inspired to make sculptures of animals from found materials. He often uses abandoned or recycled materials like clothing from junk shops or wood from old furniture. An important aspect of his practice is concern for the environment. “I have traveled through Asia, Latin America and East Africa, and have been fortunate enough to have some incredible wildlife encounters,” he says. “However, on my travels, even in the most remote locations, I was shocked by the huge amounts of plastic waste.”

Mach of the garbage that washes up on shorelines around the world is due to an unregulated (未受监管的) system in which richer countries export waste to developing countries because it is often cheaper than developing better infrastructures (基础设施) to handle it. Many of the thousands of shipping containers exported each year are often dumped illegally.

“I remember going to the Galapagos Islands and visiting a beach famous for a large population of sea lions. It was indeed incredible to see them in the wild, but on every inch of sand not covered by sea lions, there were plastic bottles and cans. It was a heartbreaking sight. I knew I wanted to create artworks that didn’t create waste or harm our planet,” Gluckstein says.

Gluckstein hopes his works will raise people’s awareness about the importance of protecting endangered species. His new series called “Gold” focuses on illegally hunted animals by applying gold leaves to their bodies. He plans to donate some of the sales of his sculptures to the world Wide Fund for Nature.