Looking back over the last decade, China     1    (witness) tremendous changes, which could not have been achieved     2     the hard work of its people. There are many ways to record the past decade, but the story that, at times, leaves a mark on each person is     3    (sure) the most vivid.

Recently, a man named Zou Yi who has recorded Beijing’s blue sky in the past decade shared     4    (he) observations on the improvement of air quality in China’s capital, as well as his understanding of the efforts behind the brilliant blue skies. His first photo     5    (take) on January 27,2013. He did the same     6     next day, and the day after that. Every day, Zou Yi takes a picture of Beijing TV Station, a landmark building     7    (locate) in downtown Beijing. A picture is better than a thousand words.

It took London and Los Angeles more than 50 years     8    (deal) with air pollution compared to only a decade for Beijing. The battle against air pollution perfectly shows the Chinese administration’s     9    (determine) and action in building a prosperous and beautiful country,     10    , over the years, has claimed some major stepwise victories thanks to the tough and comprehensive policies.

2 . Lionfish have been migrating (迁徙) south for years. They were first caught in the Gulf of Mexico, likely released from the aquarium trade, in 1985, and quickly expanded into the US East Coast and the Caribbean. They reached South American coastlines around 2010.

But the species stopped around Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. For 10 years, freshwater flowing from the Amazon River into the Atlantic and a gathering of currents acted as geographic (地理的) barriers, stopping the fish from continuing south. But around 2020, lionfish began slip-ping under the barrier and heading south.

Now, dozens of lionfish have been spotted along 150 miles of Brazil’s coastline, according to a new study in Frontiers in Marine Science. Between March and May, when the water was clear enough to track the fish, researchers and fishers documented 72 individuals there, which suggests they have likely established new, successful populations.

Since March 2022, lionfish already managed to cover 700 kilometers of coastline, says Marcelo Soares, a marine ecologist and lead author of the new study. He also reported the number of individuals is now above 300.

For many scientists, the question wasn’t whether the fish species would continue moving south, but when. “We knew once they made it through the barrier at the Amazon, they would spread like fire,” says Osmar Luiz, an aquatic ecologist at Australia’s Charles Darwin University.

While efforts to fully get rid of lionfish may be useless, efforts to reduce their populations help limit damage to native species. Luiz says that the next important step is to track lionfish as they move and try to prevent them from establishing new populations. For the native species of Brazil, this fight is a matter of survival, Luiz says.

Three pandas at Japan’s Wakayama park return to China

SHIRAHAMA, Japan - Eimei, a giant panda    1    has lived in Japan for 28 years, left western Japan’s Wakayama park along with his twin    2    (daughter) to fly back to China on Wednesday morning.

    3    30-year-old male panda, along with his eight-year-old Japan-born twin daughters Ouhin    4    Touhin, has left their current home at the Adventure World, a theme park in the town of Shirahama in Wakayama prefecture.

Later in the day, the three giant pandas were scheduled    5    (take) a flight from the Kansai International Airport to a facility in southwest China’s Sichuan province.

Prior to their departure, a farewell ceremony    6    (hold) at the park on Tuesday, where about 2,000 visitors    7    (say) goodbye to the three pandas.

Eimei, or Yong Ming in Chinese, is a 30-year-old male panda and the    8    (old) giant panda living in Japan.    9    (come) from China in 1994, it is the father of 16 giant panda cubs born at the Adventure World, setting the world record for being the oldest giant panda to have    10    (successful) fed in captivity.

8 . Live with roommates? Have friends and family around you? Chances are that if you’re looking to live a more sustainable lifestyle, not everyone around you will be ready to jump on that bandwagon.

I experienced this when I started switching to a zero waste lifestyle five years ago, as I was living with my parents, and I continue to experience this with my husband, as he is not completely zero waste like me. I’ve learned a few things along the way though, which I hope you’ll find encouraging if you’re doing your best to figure out how you can make the change in a not-always-supportive household.

Zero waste was a radical lifestyle movement a few years back. I remember showing my parents a video of Bea Johnson, sharing how cool I thought it would be to buy groceries with jars, and have so little trash! A few days later, I came back with my first jars of zero waste groceries, and my dad commented on how silly it was for me to carry jars everywhere. It came off as a bit discouraging.

Yet as the months of reducing waste continued, I did what I could that was within my own reach. I had my own bedroom, so I worked on removing things I didn’t need. Since I had my own toiletries (洗漱用品), I was able to start personalising my routine to be more sustainable. I also offered to cook every so often, so I portioned out a bit of the cupboard for my own zero waste groceries. Perhaps your household won’t entirely make the switch, but you may have some control over your own personal spaces to make the changes you desire.

As you make your lifestyle changes, you may find yourself wanting to speak up for yourself if others comment on what you’re doing, which can turn itself into a whole household debate. If you have individuals who are not on board, your words probably won’t do much and can often leave you feeling more discouraged.

So here is my advice: Lead by action.

More than a fifth of all reptile species (爬行动物) are threatened with extinction, which could have    1     destructive impact on the planet, a new study warns. Fifty-two experts analysed data from the Global Reptile Assessment, which, in the past 17 years,     2     (receive) contributions from more than 900 scientists across six continents.

Although many reptiles live in dry    3     (environment) such as deserts and scrubland, most species occur in forests,     4     they suffer from threats such as logging and conversion of land for agriculture. Hunting is also a major threat to reptiles, especially turtles and crocodiles (鳄鱼), many of which are    5     risk of extinction. Another major factor that     6     (contribute) to forming the threat is the introduction of invasive (入侵的) species.

The study is not all depressing. Scientists noted that conservation efforts to help other animals are likely to be protecting reptile species as collateral (抵押品). “We found, surprisingly, that if you set out    7     (protect) places where birds, mammals (哺乳动物) and amphibians (两栖动物) under threat live together, you’ll protect many more    8     (threaten) reptiles at the same time, ” said Bruce Young, co-leader of the study.

Yet reptiles also require direct,     9     (globe) efforts to protect them, said Cox. Governments will negotiate (议定) new targets to protect biodiversity,     10     (include) reptiles, in Kunming, China, later this year.