Home to large numbers of both wild and caged elephants, India’s elephant protection laws are among the strictest    1     Asia. Elephants have been considered the highest level of legal protection for wildlife. Poaching (偷猎) , trading and trafficking are     2     (strict) forbidden, with heavy fines and prison sentences of up to seven years.

China has been making efforts     3     (protect) its small population of elephants since the 1980s. Local authorities in areas with elephants such as Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province, have not only tried to move human populations away from elephant habitats     4     worked with private insurance companies to protect farmers’ crops against damages     5     (cause) by the animals.

The 2016 amendment (修订) to China’s Wildlife Protection Law of 1988 ensures that wild animals should     6     (provide) with the necessary conditions. According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the population of elephants in China nearly doubled between the 1980s and 2021 to about 300.

In 2020, group of 14 elephants hiked 500 km from     7     (they) home in Xishuangbanna all the way to the suburbs of the provincial capital, Kunming. The journey puzzled scientists and attracted the attention of a global audience,     8     followed the journey to see that the animals played in mud and     9     (sleep) together, as well as destroying crops and stealing food across the province.

Asia has a long history of harmonious relations between humans and elephants. Elephants are respected in societies across Asia, specifically in India and China. As our big friends still remain weak, how can the two     10     (Asia) countries with great civilizations come together to save them?

2 . Around a bend (拐弯处) on a narrow trail that runs deep into the forest of Gabon’s Loango National Park, Kamaya comes into view. The huge silverback gorilla (大猩猩) coolly watches _______ arrive, then goes back to his meal.

Seated on a _______ branch, the 150-kilogram beast greedily pulls more _______ from the tree to his mouth with a _______ but powerful movement before slowly climbing down the trunk. Soon he falls asleep calmly.

After two years of a total _______ due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Parks Agency has decided to restart _______ observations of Gabon’s gorillas,_______ the iconic (标志性的) species will serve as a“loss leader” to _______ ecotourism.

That Kamaya and his _______ of about 10 members are so used to humans is the ________ of long labors by a team of scientists who also ________ data.

They work to make ________ to protect a species ________ with extinction and to ________ foreign tourists. Spending one hour with Kamaya and his family costs $500, on top of charges for ________ to the site and accommodation.

Loango Park, which ________ more than 155,000 hectares of the thickly ________ country, offers rich reward for a 4-5-hour road ________ from Port-Gentil, the second city, followed by the track and a ________ stage by boat.

Though expensive, the price is much lower than that paid to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda or Rwanda. It also gets income to manage protected areas that ________ a safe place for the animals.

Today’s skiers are used to relying on ski lifts at resorts to take them to the top of a mountain before     1     (experience)the addictive thrill of skiing down the mountain.     2    , in some snow-covered villages in Altay prefecture (辖区) of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, it’s common in winter to see local herdsmen, with boards     3     (attach) to their feet, climb the snowy slopes without any other forms of assistance.

The pair of boards are wrapped with horsehide(马革),     4     serves a double purpose. Remarkably, the horsehide not only can provide friction (摩擦) to prevent skiers from slipping while going up, but also helps them slide more     5     (smooth)down the slopes.

According to rock carvings uncovered in the area by archaeologists, such     6     (ski) have served for around 12,000 years     7     a means of transportation for the snowfield inhabitants of Altay. The fur skiing boards gradually lost     8     (they) popularity in recent decades after paved roads linked houses to the outside world.

However, Altay plans to protect and promote its skiing culture. The local government department     9     (want) to pass its skiing tradition to future generations. The prefecture is working     10     (develop)the area as a popular destination for skiers and snowboarders. As a result, the ancient fur skiing boards and the craft of making them have found a new lease of life in modern times.

5 . Unique and distinct to Rwanda, milk bars make many of our communities get together. They are places to meet for breakfast or lunch. They are also places to socialize with people of different backgrounds. While it is difficult for strangers to understand these local milk bars, they reflect a little-known truth about how intrinsic cows and milk are to Rwandan culture.

Pascal Kubwimana, a taxi-moto operator who has been coming to Kuruhimbi almost every day for two years, says he is not going anywhere. “I love the milk here,” he said, washing down his bread and beans with a litre of hot milk. “It helps me feel good all day when I have it for breakfast. I even take some home in the evening. My children love it.”

With around 70% of Rwanda’s population engaged in agriculture, cows are an economic advantage as well as a symbol of wealth and social status in rural areas. In fact, cows are held in such high regard here that it’s common to include the animal into your child’s name. Many traditional Rwandan dances are also inspired by cows. In the Umushayayo, which is often characterized as a sort of Rwandan ballet, women imitate the gentle movements of cows while showing their beauty and grace. And in the Ikinyemera, Igishakamba and other dances, men and women stretch their arms upward to represent cow horns.

In Rwanda, when you want to wish someone well, you say “gira inka” (may you have a cow) or “amashyo” (have thousands of cows), and you’ll hear the response, “amashongore” (have thousands of female cows). When you want to express profound gratefulness, you say “nguhaye inka” (I give you a cow).

6 . As the sun neared the horizon, Ali began his nightly walk through the sandy streets of Timbuktu in Mali. Covered in robes of indigo, he passed through the streets of Timbuktu and continued out into the sand dunes, just beyond the city’s western suburbs.

Ali was a teenager when he first saw the city that would later become his home. “I couldn’t believe the lights!” he remembered. Members of his family still live a semi-nomadic (半游牧的) existence out in the desert. But when he became an adult, drought and the need to earn a living drove Ali into Timbuktu, where he set up a business as a guide for tourists who wanted to explore the Sahara. His heart remained in the desert even when he had to be in the city. He refused to get a fixed-line telephone in case he came to depend upon it. When he had no clients, he would escape to the desert, spending months at a time camping out, drinking tea with friends and sleeping under the stars.

As a guide, Ali made friends from around the world, and he visited some in Europe. It was, to him, an alien world, just as Timbuktu remains for many around the globe. “The first time I was in Europe, I saw water just lying on the ground. Everything moved at a speed that was unthinkable in the Sahara. I thought ‘these people are crazy’. In the desert we have infinite time but no water,” he said. “In Europe, you have plenty of water but no time.”

When travelers wanted to see more of the Sahara, Ali took them to Araouane, a sand-drowned town 270 km north of Timbuktu. And yet for the tourists who visited there, the town was undoubtedly more to it than that. There was something there that produced a feeling similar to excitement. It was the awe of vast skies and big horizons.