1 . Bees are important to agriculture. But useful as they are, bees do not receive the same care and concern over their emotional well-being as other agricultural animals.

Ecologist Buchmann’s recent book, which collects the work of bee scholars as they work to explain what goes on in their brains, suggests bees can learn, think and even likely feel, much like animals. Buchmann’s work also suggests bees should hold a special place in our ethical scheme (道德体系). For Buchmann and some other scientists, what they have learned about bees changes their research strategies to be more ethical, on par with (相当于) the standards set for animals such as mice and monkeys.

Experiments, the outcomes of which are addressed in the book, illustrate the secret life of bees. Lars Chittka, a University College of London professor, did an experiment 16 years ago where he hid a robotic spider in flowers. The spider would grab a careless bee that came too close and then release it after giving it a scare. Chittka observed how the released bees learned to look for the spider and to avoid it. Some would be too scared to approach even unoccupied flowers.

Other studies proved that bee brains saw rushes in chemicals that could bring happiness when they were presented with sucrose (sugar). These happy bees then found more food than their unrewarded bees. By contrast, stress from poor handling lowered the levels of these happy chemicals.

“Many of my colleagues do experiments where bees have some devices placed into various body parts without considering their feelings,” Chittka says. “The current care free situation that researchers live in with no legal framework needs to be re-evaluated.” There are few laws regarding bee welfare. Buchmann thinks the “unhappiness” of bees might be a contributing factor to the decreasing numbers of bees.

Bees are critical to feeding the world and to plant survival. But the bees need care too. The first step in safeguarding the precious bees is to learn more about them and their lives. “These unique minds, regardless of how much they may differ from ours, have as much justification to exist as we do,” says Chittka.

2 . SpoGomi, a combination of “sport” and “gomi” (Japanese for rubbish), is a popular competition in which teams of 3~5 people try to pick up the most trash of the highest quality in a set period of time.

Japan recently announced that it would host the first SpoGomi World Cup in November of 2023, with teams from all over the world searching the streets of Tokyo for trash to pick up. Each team of three players will have 60 minutes to gather the most trash from a designated (指定的) area while trying to sort it correctly into color-coded bags for each type. When the time is up, the trash will be weighed and checked for proper sorting, and the team with the most trash wins. In case of a tie, the winner is determined by the quality of the trash, with points awarded by type.

The SpoGomi World Cup sounds like a great way to encourage people to keep public spaces clean, but in terms of the competitive aspect, there is little incredulity as to which team will win. After all, the Japanese are famous worldwide for cleaning up after themselves everywhere they go.

Participants all wear heavy-duty cleaning gloves that allow them to pick up virtually any type of trash, as well as tongs to pick up trash from a standing position. At the start of the competition, they all yell “Picking up trash is a sport!” before running into their designated areas. At the end of the given time, all participants return to the starting line to have their trash weighed and checked.

Winning teams usually receive a certificate or an award from the organizers, and maybe a small prize from sponsors. But SpoGomi isn’t really about rewards. Participants just enjoy the competitive nature of the sport, working as a group, spending valuable time outdoors and keeping their cities clean.

3 . What if someone told you about a kind of grass as tall as the tallest trees? A grass as strong as steel? Would you believe that person? You should, for that grass is bamboo   (竹子), which has more than 1,000 uses. It is not just a material for making useful products. Young bamboo is eaten, often mixed with other vegetables.

Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. In the USA it grows in many states like Virginia and Florida. Most bamboo, however, is found in wet and warm climates, especially in Asia and on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean.

In most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly as important as rice. This unusual material is used to not only build large buildings but also make water pipes, musical instruments and paper. There are over 1,000 kinds of bamboo. No wonder the lives of nearly half the people on earth would change greatly if there were no longer any bamboo.

4 . Government agencies and volunteer groups in many places are using sea creatures to protect coastal areas from storms and rising sea levels. The idea is that large groups of oysters (牡蛎) known as colonies, can help reduce the power of waves. Powerful waves can damage lands along the edge of ocean waters.

Oysters may play an important part in dealing with the problem. Oysters are central to a project that is taking place near Vaccaro’s rebuilt house. The project is being carried out by the Littore Society. It received $1 million from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The group has been building steel wire containers, filling them with rocks and whelk (海螺) shells an positioning them along the shoreline of Barnegat Bay.

Tiny baby oysters are attached to whelk shells and placed in the existing cages to further strengthen the shoreline. The shoreline in Vaccaro’s neighborhood has lost 46 meters of beach since 1995, the Littoral Society says.

The oysters appear to be doing their job. One recent day, a strong east wind blew across the bay. But between the oysters and the shoreline, the water was much calmer, and waves gently wen onto the shoreline instead of hitting it with force.

As an added benefit, the oysters help improve water quality in the bay. The Associated Press reports that a single oyster can filter (过滤) up to 190 liters of water a day.

A few kilometers south, a group called ReClam the Bay is building an oyster reef to protect the shoreline of Mordecai Island. People do not live on the island, but it protects the shoreline of Beach Haven, a town on Long Beach Island.

Volunteers fill bags with 16 kilograms of whelk shells, to which millions of baby oysters have been attached. Then volunteers move them out to the reef a few hundred yards into the ocean. They have placed 10, 000 bags of oysters and whelk shells there since 2015.

World leaders at the 5th meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) agreed that by 2024, they would create and sign a new treaty on plastics. The new treaty would create international laws     1     could help bring plastic waste under control.

Because plastic is useful for so many purposes, it has become a part of nearly all areas of our lives. It’s hard to look anywhere without finding dozens of     2     (object) made of plastic.

The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) reports that     3     (current) 400 million tons of plastic is produced every year. By 2040, that number is predicted to double. And even though there’s a lot of talk about recycling, only 9% of all the plastic ever     4     ( produce) has been recycled.

Plastic gives off dangerous gases when it’s made and also when it’s burned or buried in the ground. Scientists say plastics are responsible     5     4.5% of the world’s greenhouse gases — the gases that are driving the climate crisis.

Plastic doesn’t “decompose (腐烂)” like natural materials. Instead, it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. And as the plastics     6     (fill) our world break down, they create     7     new problem — microplastics.

Microplastics are so tiny that     8     (they) existence is usually ignored. In the past few years, microplastics     9     (find) almost everywhere, from the North pole to Antarctica, from the top of the Earth’s     10     (high) mountain to the deepest point in the sea. They’ve even appeared in the bodies of animals including humans.

8 . Along the Ulungur River in Altay, the northernmost area of Xinjiang, lives a species of beaver. This animal, which feeds on the shrubs (灌木) that grow near the river, has a strong sense of territory (领地) and won’t leave its surroundings easily. So if people ruin the river, the beavers’ homes will be destroyed and they will no longer survive. But fortunately for these picky animals, they have a responsible protector, Beaver Princess, Chu Wenwen.

Chu had a very different childhood. She was introduced to the wild at the age of 2 by her father who is an animal conservationist. So when the other children were reciting ancient Chinese poems and English alphabet,Chu was working hard to remember the names of different animals and plants. So instead of being a white-collar worker after graduating from Beijing Forestry University, Chu decided to return home and follow in her father’s footsteps.

In Chu’s hometown of Altay, there are 466 species of wild animals and 74 state-protected ones living in the surrounding 110,000 square kilometers. In 2018, Chu founded the Altay Natural Conservation Association which is aimed at animal protection.

The first public project Chu started was for beavers. “We took the beavers as a priority because they were greatly endangered at that time,” Chu said. “The beavers, which can build dams, are known as ‘engineers’ in the animal kingdom. Their dams can change water levels, gather fish, attract birds to nest and bring insects,” Chu explained.

Chu developed the “Beavers Canteen” program which calls on people to donate to help plant a species of shrub that is an important food resource for the beavers. The shrub is also the building material of the beavers. The clever animal makes full use of it.

9 . The planet’s climate has been changing over thousands of years. The average global temperature today is about 15℃. Scientists are worried that the planet is warming faster than ever before. The 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization(WMO). If this situation continues, temperatures may rise by 3℃-5℃ by 2100.

Scientists say we should try and stop this and not allow the average global temperature to rise by more than 1.5℃. Even a 2℃ rise will be bad for us all. Now, half a degree doesn’t sound like much, but it could make a big difference to the planet. A 2℃ rise will mean that all the coral reefs(珊瑚礁) will disappear, but a 1.5℃ rise means that there will still be some. Also, 18 percent of the insects on Earth will disappear if the temperature goes up by 2℃, compared to 6 percent disappearing at a 1.5℃ rise. Thirty-seven percent of people will be affected by dangerous heatwaves at a 2℃ rise. That’s twice the number compared to at a 1.5℃ rise.

So, what can we do? Scientists say that carbon(碳) will have to be taken out of the air by machines and stored underground and that these devices already exist. They also say that billions of trees will have to be planted. People should buy less meat. Of all the foods we eat, beef has the biggest effect on climate change because it produces a high amount of greenhouse gases to raise cows. Also, someone suggested not buying new clothes too often, because the fashion industry is a major source of the greenhouse gases that are overheating the planet. And, of course, use transport that doesn’t bur fossil fuels(化石燃料), like electric cars. It’s also better to walk or ride a bike.

China sent up its first Mars probe(探测器) Tianwen 1 on Thursday. It is expected     1     (reach) the planet in about seven months. The mission to Mars is much     2     (hard) compared to that to the moon.

China’s Mars mission,     3     (design) for the mapping of key zones of the planet’s surface, indicates the country’s space science and technology     4     (progress) rapidly in the past years. It expresses the determination and perseverance(毅力) of the Chinese nation in looking for     5     (science) truth.

Tianwen 1 has immediately grabbed people’s attention after its launch, and     6     is reported that there’re countless discussions on topics related to spaceflight and the exploration of outer space. People’s     7     (curious) about the unknown and thirst for knowledge are     8     (obvious) aroused whenever the country makes breakthroughs in space exploration. And astronauts, scientists and engineers are becoming role models     9     more and more young people. The “Mars fever” that has been aroused shows people’s desire to know more about space, which requires more innovations(创新) to discover more about the universe     10     we live.