1 . A five-month-old bar tailed godwit recently broke the record for long-distance migration after flying 13,560 kilometers non-stop over a period of 11 days.

Every autumn, millions of migratory birds take to the ________ for a long and exhausting journey to ________ the coming cold, feed and breed for the next few months. Many of them ________ impressive distances of over 10,000 kilometers, but this year, one small bird was ________ all expectations regarding long-distance flying, traveling a big 13,560 kilometers without stopping. And it was all because of an unusual roundabout way that could have ________ the bird its life, considering that the non-stop journey pushed its ________ capacity to the limit.

Last month, the young bar-tailed godwit ________ from Alaska to New Zealand, but somehow, at one point during its ________ journey, the small bird took a little roundabout way that added an extra 500 kilometers to its original route. That seems like a small distance to cover, considering that the normal ________ would have seen it fly around 13,000 kilometers, but it’s actually a significant difference that could have had deadly ________.

Scientists were able to ________ the godwit’s record flight with the help of a tiny tracker that only weighed 5 grams. Technological advancements have allowed researchers to track such small species of birds without ________ them, as adding any kind of significant weight to a creature that weighs only between 300 and 400 grams could put its life in danger.

Dr. Woehler estimates that the bird lost “half or more of its body ________” during the 11-day continuous flight, but ________ it to dry land safely.

Interestingly, scientists haven’t yet understood ________ birds like the bar-tailed godwit are able to navigate such large distances without stopping and without getting lost.

2 . Earthquakes are a deadly and unpredictable threat worldwide, as proved by recent catastrophic events in Turkey and Syria. Unlike other natural disasters, earthquakes are difficult to detect and often come with little warning, making them challenging to prepare for. However, knowing best practices for earthquake preparedness can help reduce potential harm.     1    .

Drop, cover and hold.

Make sure you know what to do when an earthquake strikes.     2    , drop, take cover under a stable piece of furniture, and hold on. You’re safe under something like a desk or table, with one arm holding onto a leg of the table and your other arm protecting your neck and head.

    3    .

Let’s say there’s an earthquake in the middle of the night and your house is damaged. “Where are you going to go?” says Alyssa Provencio, a professor who teaches emergency and disaster management. Create a meeting point — somewhere easy for everyone in your household to remember under stress, like the post office near your house. Whatever plan you decide on, don’t rely on your phone as your main form of communication, because technology fails all the time in disasters.

Make digital copies of important documents.

    4    . They’re not something people remember to grab in a disaster. Scan or take photos of your important documents, such as your license, financial records, insurance policy information and even a list of medical prescriptions, and store them in the cloud. This can help ensure your documents will be available even if your computer or hard drive is lost in a quake.

Stock up (囤积) on water and other supplies.

Access to water during an earthquake should be a guarantee.     5    . If you live alone, that means you need a total of three gallons stored in your home. The same goes for food. Store at least 72 hours’ worth of food for everyone in your family, like canned food or power bars.

By following these steps and being prepared, individuals and families can increase their chances of staying safe during and after an earthquake.

3 . Water pollution caused by the coal industry is a critical issue that requires urgent attention. According to a report by environmental and clean water groups, coal plants are the primary source of toxic (有毒的) water pollution in the United States. Nearly 70% of 274 coal plants have no limits on toxic materials, such as As₂O₃ and Pb, and they were dumped directly into waterways. Over one-third of these plants have no requirements to monitor or report discharges of these toxic materials to government agencies or the public.

Furthermore, the report reveals that 71 coal plants discharge toxic water pollution into waterways that have already been declared damaged due to poor water quality. Almost half of the 386 coal plants surveyed operate without Clean Water Act permits, and 53 of them have permits that went out of date five or more years ago. These results are due to the lack of any strict standards limiting toxic pollution from coal plants.

Coal-fired power plants are the main source of toxic water pollution in the United States, accounting for more than half of all toxic water pollution. The human health impacts from this pollution are serious. The EPA estimates that nearly 140,000 people per year experience increased cancer risk due to As₂O₃ in fish from coal plants. The report indicates that almost 13,000 children under the age of seven each year have reduced IQs because of Pb in fish they eat, and almost 2,000 children are born with lower IQs because of toxic fish their mothers have eaten.

Fortunately, the EPA proposed the first ever national standards to limit toxics dumped into waterways from coal plants in April 2013. According to the EPA, these standards should reduce pollution by more than 5 billion pounds a year. The report suggests that the EPA’s new coal plant water pollution standards will not only clean up our water but will also save lives.

Affordable wastewater treatment technologies exist to prevent toxic discharges and are already in use at some plants. It is time for the coal industry to be responsible for the damage it is causing, and for the government to set stricter standards to protect the environment and public health. With the proposed EPA standards, there is hope for a cleaner future. By holding the coal industry responsible, we can make significant steps in protecting our waterways and ensuring that future generations have access to clean and safe water.

Mount Lushan is located in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. Lushan National Park     1    (occupy) a total area of 30, 200 hectares and its     2    (high)Peak, Hanyang Peak, is 1, 474 meters above sea level. Bordered on the north by the Yangtze River and on the south by Poyang Lake, Mount Lushan presents an     3    (appeal) scene of river, hills and lake, the beauty of     4     has attracted spiritual leaders, scholars, artists and writers for over 2, 000 years. More than 200 historic buildings are located in the Lushan National Park. These include the Buddhist East Grove Temple complex     5    (begin) by Huiyuan in 386 CE…Other important features include the stone single-span Guan Ying Bridge of 1, 015 CE and more than 900 inscriptions on cliffs and stone     6    (tablet).

Mount Lushan has an important place in Chinese history and culture. It is     7     outstanding representative of Chinese landscape culture, as well as a remarkable model of Chinese academy-based education. The significant cultural developments and political events occurring over the course of Lushan’s history     8    (influence) the recent course of Chinese history over the past decades. The natural beauty of Lushan is perfectly integrated with its historic buildings and features, creating a unique cultural landscape powerfully associated with Chinese spiritual     9     cultural life.

In 1982, Mount Lushan became one of the first National Scenic Areas and one of the First Class National Nature Reserves. All attributes of Mount Lushan are     10    (effective) protected by the laws and regulations for the protection of cultural heritage and its setting. Any measures and projects that may significantly impact the heritage value must be authorized by the relevant national authorities.

5 . Signal for help in the wild

Having multiple effective ways to signal for help can make all the difference in a survival situation where outside help is guaranteed. Signaling is one of the most under-practiced and under-emphasized skill sets in our survival, and it’s about time we took it more seriously.     1    

Cell phone used for signaling. In areas where service is available, your call for help can be made to the exact right people and vast amounts of information can be conveyed.     2    If you’ll be spending time in an area without cell service, consider buying(or renting)a satellite phone, which will allow you to make a call from anywhere on earth.

Signal whistle. The humble whistle is a fine piece of signal gear for short-range audible signaling. Three blasts of a whistle are generally interpreted as a universal signal for distress.     3    Also, select whistles that are attached to rings to prevent loss. Blow the whistle in blasts of three and to stay in one spot until help arrives.

Signal mirror. A signal mirror is one of the furthest reaching, non-electronic signal methods. Properly aimed, a signal mirror can shine a beam of daylight up to 10 miles, creating a flash of light that can catch the attention of distant aircraft, watercraft, vehicles, or persons on foot. Purchase a mirror with a sighting lens and sweep the mirror VERY slowly right to left and up and down.    4    

Signal flag. Flags have been used for signaling for thousands of years. And while there are commercially available signal flags, you also can create your own. A brightly colored or contrasting colored garment tied to a stick serves as a quick flag.     5    Your homemade flag could be virtually any shape, so long as it is a large panel of material that doesn’t blend into the surroundings. Flags can also be laid out on the ground for ground-to-air signaling.

Zibo barbecue     1    (be) a trending topic on Chinese social media platforms since early March.

Mouth-watering images describe a typical Zibo barbecue     2    (name) after its place of origin, Zibo, a small industrial city in East China’s Shandong province. Zibo barbecue     3    (consist) of well-seasoned meat and vegetables wrapped in a pancake has dominated Weibo and Xiaohongshu, Chinese platforms similar to Twitter and Instagram.

Zibo was hardly on anyone’s travel bucket list     4     it went viral. But thanks to a group of college students who documented     5    (they) Zibo barbecue trip on Douyin, the city’s delicious and     6    (afford) barbecue became a hit.

The local government has jumped     7     the opportunity to take advantage of the city’s newfound fame and explore its tourism potential. Must-go restaurant maps were drawn up, and barbecue-themed high-speed train services and special bus routes were established     8    (make) the small city more accessible to tourists from all over the country.

The city’s other attractions, such as the Haidai building, a    9    (beautiful) designed bookstore, also gained popularity due to visitors who want to make     10     most of their Zibo trip.

8 . Climate change is making a safe, slow adjustment to heat much harder by upending(颠覆)what we’d typically expect as seasons change.

Although late summer can bring more extreme temperatures, early heat waves have a particularly dangerous influence. A large body of research tends to find that early summer heat waves can have higher rates of death compared to later in the season.

There are a few explanations for this phenomenon. One theory is that the most vulnerable populations will fail to fight the higher temperatures at the start of the season, so there are fewer vulnerable people in the more intense heat waves a few months later. A second explanation is the acclimatization(气候适应)effect, since people need time to adjust to heat. How much time a person needs to physiologically adapt depends.

The way we adapt to early season heat isn’t just about physiological changes in our bodies. Behavior makes a difference too, as do policies and infrastructure that help people cope.

The US still has few policies that help protect people from the most extreme summertime heat. Even the protections that exist around heat don’t focus on the vital early season. Besides, the protection measures, where they do exist, don’t typically kick in until after a certain date or when temperatures are above 95 degrees Fahrenheit, which is far beyond what some vulnerable populations can handle.

“We barely have enough resources to deal with what’s occurring right now,” said University of Arizona professor of urban planning Keith Ladd. “With climate change, we’re seeing increasing frequency, intensity, and duration of heat waves, so we need to adjust our response.”

9 . In the shallow waters near the ocean shore, kelp (海藻) grows thickly absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. It grows at a rate of nearly 60 cm daily and if moved to a more nutrient rich depth of 80 m, it even grows faster. It’s this rapid growth that allows kelp to lock large amounts of carbon away — similar to a tree. Kelp and other species of seaweed could remove 61-268 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year.

Kelp can also be turned into biofuel. “This biofuel from kelp can use all the existing refining (精炼) systems of the petrochemical industry,” says Brian Wilcox, the chief engineer at California-based company Marine BioEnergy. “It in many cases looks like crude oil (原油) and it goes through the same processes.”

Researchers are developing what they hope could be a solution that would allow large kelp farming to be used for biofuel. Diane Kim, an ecologist at the University of Southern California, and her teammates collected two sets of kelp from their underwater habitat off the coast of Santa Catalina Island, California. Forty of the kelp chains were attached to a long line at a depth of 10 m near the kelp’s original habitat. Another 40 were fixed to a pole that could move to varying depths like a lift. For 100 days, the second set was put at a depth of 80 m during the night. During the daytime, researchers lifted it close to the ocean surface to absorb sunlight.

After the experiment, the depth-cycled kelp produced almost four times as much biomass as the set kept at the shallower depth. In addition, the depth-cycled kelp grew far faster — at 5% per day against 3.5% for the other set. Kim and her teammates believe this depth-cycling represents a promising option for biofuel generation as it allows kelp to take advantage of both the sunlight closer to the surface and the higher nutrients further down in the water column. Using methods like this could allow kelp to be farmed for biofuel.