1 . For most birds, eyes are essential to life on the fly. _________ when studying how birds might adapt to our quickly changing world, ornithologists (鸟类学家) have largely overlooked eye size in favor of traits such as wing length and beak shape. Now, though, a lost “treasure trove” (宝库) of avian (鸟的) eyeball measurements offers a new view.

In 1982 University of Chicago graduate student Stanley Ritland carefully _________ the eyeballs of nearly 2,800 species. He never published his data, but Ian Ausprey, a graduate student at University of Florida, has just given it a second look. His analysis _________ previous work in Peru showing that smaller-eyed birds adapt better to changing habitats.

“We’re able to show strong correlations between eye size, the type of _________ the birds use, as well as their food-searching behavior,” Ausprey says. Ritland’s measurements indicated an inverse relation between eye and _________ size. Birds with smaller eyes tended to be _________, traveling across many habitats; larger-eyed species had _________ ranges, concentrated around the equator (赤道) and often covered by dense forest shade. The study suggests that smaller-eyed birds can _________ handle varying light levels as they travel, whereas larger-eyed birds struggle with bright light outside of their dim woodlands.

Ausprey had already seen this _________ in Peru’s mountainous cloud forests. In these biodiversity hotspots, he says, “eye size is __________ related to how birds respond to agricultural disturbance.” Larger-eyed birds tend to __________ from brightly-lit agricultural and deforested landscapes; smaller-eyed birds adapt. The new study __________ Ausprey’s Peru observations to a wider variety of birds elsewhere, including parrots and woodpeckers.

Allison Shultz, an ornithologist involved in the research, praises it for highlighting the importance of birds’ light __________. Her own work has found a link between bird coloration and environmental light, and she looks forward to future research exploring how light pollution and deforestation might further shape bird eyes. “I’d be very curious if we’re actually seeing eyes __________ to better match newer light environments,” Shultz adds.

Ausprey says the study underscores the importance of __________ habitats across the light-availability spectrum (光谱), especially areas of dense rain forests, to protect birds with eyes of all sizes from habitat loss.

2 . If you’re not at least a bit terrified by the climate and ecological breakdown unfolding before our eyes, you haven’t grasped the scale of the crisis. Eco-anxiety, defined as “a chronic(长期的)fear of environmental doom”, is on the rise. But redirecting this anxiety into anger and collective action might just pull humanity back from the brink.

We don’t yet know how deeply eco-anxiety affects people, but we can learn not to repeat the mistakes of long-gone societies lost to environmental collapse. Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed uncovers the common driver that led to the fall of ancient civilizations such as the Central American Mayan, the remote Pacific Easter Island, and the Mycenae: People accidentally destroyed the environmental resources on which their societies depended.

Today, we are living in a new climate and ecological age. The new normal is one that humans have never before experienced on earth, and that has occurred within a single generation. We can’t claim ignorance. Numerous scientific reports show: unprecedented(空前的)wildfires in the Arctic, heatwaves annually breaking records, the Amazon shrinking and drying, and species extinction rates accelerating. Nature’s dangerous decline is unprecedented.

So, it’s not surprising that eco-anxiety is on the rise. Anxiety is often a private emotional state: We feel alone, stuck inside our own heads, and our emotions stop us from doing the things we want. But anger, directed appropriately, can fuel powerful collective action for change.

We are on a pathway to destroy the global conditions for human survival. Unlike previous civilizations, we have the science and technology to understand our danger and chart a new pathway. This is a moment for all of us to channel our eco-anxiety, fear and anger into energy for change.

3 . Luxury (奢华的) Costa Rica

This grand adventure through Costa Rica offers the perfect combination of luxury travel and thrilling encounters with the natural world. Travelers will visit the impressing Arenal Volcano, the magical Monteverde Cloud Forests, and the mysterious Manuel Antonio National Park.

★Accommodation in 4-star hotels with a Certification for Sustainable Tourism

★ Nature Guide

★Max. 14 participants

★Comfortable, private transportation

★Guaranteed departures

Look forward to seeing fascinating creatures in their natural habitats, relaxing on beautiful, unspoiled beaches, and spending your nights in high-quality accommodations. Whether you dream of whitewater rafting on rapid rivers, kayaking through forests, relaxing in natural hot springs, or hiking through lush (茂盛的) rain forests—this trip has something for you!

If you have ever considered visiting the picturesque country of Costa Rica then look no further than Sprachcaffe Travel and find out everything you need to know right here. If you have any further question, our friendly and informed staff are more than willing to help!

What’s Included

★Comfortable hotels with 4 stars

★8 breakfasts, 6 dinners

★Transfers in air-conditioned (mini) bus

★Entrance fees and guided tour of Manuel Antonio National Park

★Guided visit to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

★Hot springs, natural pools

★El Trapiche sugar cane and coffee

★English-speaking naturalist guide throughout, local guides

More than 500 pieces of relics    1    (discover) in recent months at the legendary Sanxingdui Ruins site in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, dazzling archaeologists with their historical value as well as the display of creativity.

The relics, discovered at the six new sacrificial pits of the ruins, include golden masks, jade and ivory artifacts and bronze wares    2    were delicately built and    3    (unique) shaped, said the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration.

The new finds bring the total number of items discovered at Sanxingdui to nearly 2,000    4    the excavation (挖掘) of No.3 to No.8 sacrificial pits began in October last year.

“The new discoveries demonstrate once again that    5    (imagine) and creativity of the ancient Chinese far surpassed    6    people today have expected,” said Tang Fei, chief of the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute.

Tang added that the excavation of the new pits has entered a critical stage,    7    more items yet to be unearthed and expected to challenge the    8    (convention) wisdom of archaeologists.

Originally discovered in the late 1920s, the Sanxingdui Ruins have been referred to as one of the world’s greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

Located in the city of Guanghan, around 60 km from the provincial capital Chengdu, the ruins covering    9    area of 12 square km are believed to be the remains of the Shu Kingdom,    10    (date) back some 4,500 to 3,000 years.

6 . A slow death is creeping through Earth’s forests. As animals are killed by hunters or forced away by logging, the plants that depend on them to carry their seeds begin to disappear. Over time, trees and other plants may vanish. Climate change is accelerating this process, a new study suggests—and it may eventually harm biodiversity.

Many plants need help to move about the world. About half of all species rely on birds and mammals to eat or carry their fruits and nuts to new places. When these partners disappear, forests and plant communities can struggle to regenerate.

Climate change is making things worse. As temperatures warm and rainfall decreases, plant populations will have to extend their ranges by as much as tens of kilometers per year.

Ecologist Evan Fricke, wanted to know how well plants all across the planet might be able to move to new habitats. He and his colleagues gathered existing data from thousands of studies that looked at how birds and mammals spread seeds, including how far they travel and what percentage of the seeds actually get to grow. They focused on seeds that are dispersed more than 1 kilometer, a distance that is great enough to expand populations and help them recover from disturbances.

The average ability of plants to keep pace with climate change has already declined by 60%, the research found. “That should certainly be ringing alarm bells,” says Fricke, “We’re ‘forcing’ plants to move these great distances, but we’ve also significantly slowed their ability to do so.”

The loss of the ability is greater in temperate (温带) regions according to the research. That’s because these areas have lost many populations and species of large fruit-eating mammals, which can move seeds longer distances. Also, the challenge for plants is greater there, because when climate conditions change in relatively flat landscapes, species must move farther north to keep cool. In contrast, an alpine plant (高山植物) only has to move uphill to get to a cooler climate.

The situation could   get worse.   In   another   analysis, the researchers predicted what might happen if currently threatened and endangered seed-dispersing birds and mammals go extinct. This would reduce a plant’s ability to keep up with climate change by another 15%.

However, some of the damage can be repaired by connecting isolated habitats. That will better allow species to move in response to climate change. Reintroducing large animals to their former ranges could also help, because they can move seeds long distances.

“This is a very loud wake up call for urgent conservation efforts” of fruit-eating and seed-dispersing animals, says ecologist Rodolfo Dirzo. “What’s important,”he says, “is not just preventing extinction, but   keeping populations big enough to help many plants reproduce.”

Over the last 100 years, many dinosaur egg fossils(化石)     1    (find), but finding one with a well-preserved embryo(胚胎) inside is extremely rare. A dinosaur embryo     2    (date) back to 66 million years ago was recently discovered in Ganzhou, Jiangxi Province. The    3    (perfect) preserved fossil is helping researchers understand the link between modern birds and their dinosaur ancestors.

The egg,     4    was named “Baby Yingliang”, is placed in the Yingliang Stone Nature History Museum in Fujian Province. The creature     5    (measure) 27 centimeters from head to tail, and it lies inside a 17-centimeter-long egg. Its position within the egg indicates that these dinosaurs developed     6    birdlike position close to hatching, according to the study published in the journal iScience in 2021. 

Paleontologists believe it belongs to a toothless dinosaur     7    (call) Oviraptor. They had varied beaks(喙) and body sizes,     8    they can adopt a wide range of diets. Team member Steve Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, told China Daily that this little dinosaur looks just like a baby bird in its egg, providing more evidence that many features of today’s birds first evolved in their ancestors.

Dinosaur embryos are some of the rarest fossils and most of them are incomplete with the bones dislocated. The embryo is preserved     9    great condition and helps us answer many questions about dinosaurs’     10    (grow).

9 . Mount Tai, located just north of Tai’an city in East China’s Shandong Province, is a mountain of historical and cultural_________, with impressive views and beautiful natural scenery.

Among the Five Sacred Mountains (the other four are Heng Mountain of Hunan Province, Hua Mountain of Shaanxi Province, Song Mountain of Henan Province and Heng Mountain of Shanxi Province), Mount Tai is only the third highest. Why is it seen as the _________of the Five Sacred Mountains?

In absolute terms, Mount Tai cannot be considered as the highest of China’s mountains, but because it is_________ to the sea and rivers and rises abruptly from the relatively low hills and plains, its _________height is quite impressive, with a (an)_________ of over 1, 300 meters. _________, in Chinese culture east is regarded as a sacred direction, since it is where the sun and the moon rise. Therefore, Mount Tai is often regarded as the first of the Five Sacred Mountains. It is associated with sunrise, birth and_________,

Many Chinese emperors climbed to the top for enthronement (登基) or other significant ceremonies in ancient China, for they considered it to be a _________ of Chinese power given by master of nature. The earliest activities could _________to Xia Dynasty and Shang Dynasty, so it __________a good many of cultural relics and historic sites. Famous writers, poets and celebrities were attracted here and thousands of poems and __________ about Mount Tai are best-known nowadays.

Mount Tai is famous for its various stone inscriptions, which are the works of either ancient emperors or celebrities. The stone inscriptions__________ different bodies of calligraphy, and most of them are inscribed with beautiful diction, elegant writing style and __________ design. Besides historic relics, Mount Tai also boasts unique natural scenery, and it is well known for its__________. Overlapping mountains, gigantic rocks, centuries-old pines and cypresses (柏树), ever-changing clouds make Mount Tai __________with brightness and peaceful with miracle. As a result, it attracts lots of tourists from the whole world.

10 . A little knowledge and a few measures can enormously increase your chances of surviving an earthquake. The keys are education and preparing in advance. The earthquake safety tips below will not make you an expert.     1     Invest in your personal safety by studying below.

During the earthquake

If you are indoors, quickly move to a safe location in the room such as in the bathroom or along an inner wall.     2     The goal is to protect yourself from falling objects.

If you are cooking, turn off the stove and take cover.

    3    Move away from buildings, power lines _? and trees.

    4    Avoid stopping on or under bridges and overpasses, or under power lines, trees, or large signs. Stay in your car.

After the earthquake

Check for injuries, attend to injuries if needed, and help ensure the safety of people around you.

If the power is out, unplug（拔掉插头）major appliances to prevent possible damage when the power is turned back on.     5     If you will have to step in water to switch off the electricity, you should call a professional to switch it off for you.