1 . The Maranhão region of northern Brazil is my ancestral home. For centuries, we have ________ our natural world there, looking after the Amazon rainforest. Our ________ help us sustain the environment, and in return nature ________ us: trees give us food and medicine.

But today, our environment is being destroyed for capitalist (资本家的) ________ and gain. Around us is illegal ________ and mining. In 2012, we found 72 illegal entry points in our territory which needed ________ . We founded the Guardians of the Forest. We local people took matters into our own hands to ________ our land. For me, there was no question I would be part of this ________ .

When we see an illegal camp or ________ a new incursion (入侵), we Guardians have a(n) ________ in dealing with them. Our knowledge of the forest runs far deeper than theirs. Our networks coordinate, study the area, and prepare to ________ . We agree on tactics (战术), then ________ the camps, and destroy their huts and equipment. We take their trucks apart, and burn their tractors. They are left with no choice but to go ________ .

Our resistance is ________ . Today there are only five illegal entry points into our land. This ________ extends beyond our territory’s borders — it’s about our grandchildren having a chance at a future.

2 . While a lot of undergraduates live with loud roommates, 24-year-old Nikolai shares his home with over 600 noisy animals. It is no _______ he is continuously getting interrupted.

Twenty years ago his parents bought a zoo in Denmark and started the first zoo and rescue centre for animals. Two years ago his dad unfortunately _______ cancer and he was out on his own as a game developer. So he instantly came home again to his mother to _______ the zoo and attend to the 600 animals.

Owning a zoo is busywork with Nikolai taking on many _______: feeding, cleaning and playing with the animals. 600 animals may sound like _______ but Nikolai actually wants the zoo to _______. He hopes to achieve his parents’ goal and make it the greatest rescue centre for rare animals in all of Europe.

“As it is a rescue zoo, everything _______ a little bit differently than it did in the _______ zoos. Because in general zoos, it usually has perfect animals. We feel a need and a (n)_______ to help where we can. Thus, we ________ the zoo into a rescue zoo instead,” Nikolai once said. And that means taking in animals that has been treated ________ or has been in laboratories. And some of our animals may have some scars and some ________ that we have to deal with or treat.

Having to support his mother and the zoo, Nikolai has come up with a ________ way to collect extra money: a mobile app game about the zoo. The game’s ________ will go to various charities. Nikolai believes the money ________ will surely help realize his family’s dream of making their rescue centre the biggest.

3 . The first time ever I realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet was during a road trip in Western Australia, almost 12 years ago.

We ______ at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast to buy some groceries and the lady at the counter told us they didn’t sell any shopping bags in order to prevent plastic in the ______ and to help preserving the endangered turtles (海龟) living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, we ______ all our shopping in our arms and left.

This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more aware of my ______ and pushed me to adopt different habits to live and ______ more sustainably.

Our trip to Borneo was another life-changing ______ that has strengthened my determination to have a ______ lifestyle. While traveling in some Asian countries, we came to know that ______ drinkable water was always a challenge. So we had to travel with our water bottle, and we ______ to avoid using plastic during our trip.

Besides, we were also deeply ______ by our stay on Libaran Island. A ______ turtle conservation project and the community had made big efforts to ______ the beaches and creatively reuse plastic for ten years. Despite that, the shore is washed daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides.

Facing this global issue ______ raised in me a feeling of sadness and anger that soon turned into ______: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in our life. Small changes can ______ a difference!

4 . Every year about 40,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. They bring with them lots of waste. The_________ might damage the beauty of the place. The glaciers (冰川) are disappearing, changing the_________ of Kilimanjaro.

Hearing these stories, I’m_________ about the place — other destinations are described as “purer” natural experiences.

However, I soon discovered that much has changed since the days of disturbing reports of_________ among tons of rubbish. I find a clean mountain, with toilets at camps and along the paths. The environmental challenges are_________ but the efforts made by the Tanzania National Park Authority seem to be_________ .

The best of a Kilimanjaro_________ , in my opinion, isn’t reaching the top. Mountains are regarded as spiritual places by many cultures. This_________ is especially evident on Kilimanjaro as climbers go through five ecosystems (生态系统) in the space of a few kilometers. At the base is a rainforest. It ends abruptly at 3, 000 meters,_________ lands of low growing plants. Further up, the weather__________ — low clouds envelope the mountainsides, which are covered with thick grass. I __________ twelve shades of green from where I stand. Above 4, 000 meters is the highland __________ : gravel (砾石), stones and rocks. __________ you climb into an arctic-like zone with__________ snow and the glaciers that may soon disappear.

Does Kilimanjaro deserve its__________ as a crowded mountain with lines of tourists ruining the atmosphere of peace? I found the opposite to be true.

7 . When Tom Blake was a young boy, watching a jet (喷气式飞机) streak across the sky, he knew flying was what he wanted to do when he grew up.

After five years’ training, he finally ________ his dream job in his late twenties — working as an airline pilot. But in 2019, the travel firm he was ________ for collapsed.

By this time Mr Blake had become increasingly ________ the growing threat of climate change, and the aviation industry’s carbon emissions. “I had an uncomfortable________,” he says. “I was really eager to get involved in ________ protest groups, but I knew it would be career suicide, and I had a lot of ________. It would be easier to return to the industry and pay them off.”

Yet with the COVID-19 pandemic grounding aircraft, Mr Blake decided to quit his flying ________ for good. “I prefer flying and ________ interesting destinations, and earning a decent ________.” says Mr Blake. “But when we are ________ the climate and ecological emergency, how could I possibly ________ my needs? We need to think about how to ________ the biggest threat to humanity.”

Giving up his dream job was a ________ decision, he says. “Financially I’ve been really ________ . It’s been challenging.” But he adds, “Taking action has ________ my anxiety.”

Mr Blake is now a climate activist.

8 . A homeless man rescued all the animals at a shelter after it caught on fire, which made a local headline news. Hamlin, the _______ of the W-Underdogs shelter, told the local media.

Keith Walker, 53, a homeless man, _______ his life to save several cats and dogs _______ at an Atlanta animal shelter after it caught fire, the facility’s founder said.

“I was nervous as hell. I was really _______ to go in there with all that smoke. But God put me there to save those animals and I _______ into the shelter after a fire engulfed (吞噬) its kitchen.” Walker told the media. “If you love a dog, you can love anyone in the world. My dog is my best friend, and I wouldn’t be here _______ him, so I knew I had to save all those other dogs.”

_______ the shelter was not completely destroyed, the fire left it uninhabitable, according to W-Underdogs founder Gracie Hamlin.

“He is my guardian angel (天使),” Hamlin told the media. “Even the firefighters didn’t want to _______ the dogs. They called animal control, but Keith was already in the building _______ the cats and dogs until they were all safe.”

Hamlin ________ knew Walker, who has been homeless since he was 13 years old, because she lets him ________ his dog, a pitbull (斗牛犬) named Bravo, at the shelter every night.

Walker was on his way to ________ Bravo and take him for a walk when he saw the fire. He was able to rescue all the animals-six dogs and ten cats.

“________   the great loss, I’d like to thank him for saving my animals,” Hamlin said. “To my ________, all my animals are safe and sound. Homeless man as he is, Walker is truly my ________ .”

9 . While so many birds visit our leafy garden every year, it’s the pair of tawny frogmouths (茶色夜鹰) that have been returning for years to _________ their young that bring the most excitement. It’s been wonderful to observe how both parents take on the _________ duty of caring for their young.

Last summer the frogmouth family, parents and two babies, was _________ sitting in a tree close to our back deck _________ the late afternoon sunshine. With little _________, dark clouds emerged, and _________ rain began to fall.

At first the birds seemed to enjoy the rain and moved out along the branch, fluffing up (抖开) their feathers to _________ the wet weather. But within minutes, day turned to night. Dark clouds brought a _________ heavy storm; crashing thunder and blinding lightning, wild winds and driving rain turned the garden into a(n) _________ place for the little family.

Through the flashes of lightning, we watched in __________ as the parents guided their young back along the branch until they were all gathered close to the tree trunk, both parents spreading their wings over their young to __________ them from the rain. When the storm passed, the family walked __________ out along the branch and spread their wings to enjoy the sunshine.

When I look up at the pair of tawny frogmouths who continue to __________ our garden, I know I’m not just looking at __________ parents, but very __________ ones.

10 . Ariel decided to _________ herself in nature the day before she turned 30, so she rode her bike to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, New York on November 5 to take a hike. A mile into her walk, she _________ a gorgeous female mute (哑的) swan near the water’s edge. Ariel, 30, who _________ volunteered at the Wild Bird Fund rehab (康复) center in Manhattan for five years, knew that mute swans can be _________. But as she approached this one, it didn’t move.

She was certain that the bird needed medical attention. Ariel put her jacket over the bird’s head to keep it calm, carefully picked it up, and held it in her arms. And then a thought _________ her: What can I do now?

Her best bet was the rehab center, but that was across the East River and clear on the other side of town. How was she going to _________ a 17-pound swan on her bike all that way? _________, some puzzled strangers driving by offered her, her bike, and the swan a _________ to a nearby subway station.

On the subway, no one seemed particularly annoyed by the _________ passenger. Ariel says: “One guy was sitting right in front of me on his phone. I don’t know if he __________ there was a swan in front of him”.

Ariel called the rehab center on the way, and Tristan Higgin, a(n) __________ manager, picked her up at the subway station and drove the bird, bike, and __________ to the facility. There, staff members determined that the swan might have lead poisoning, caused by swallowing __________ used on fishing lines.

While recovering, she made a boyfriend at the center — another injured swan. Sadly, even with all that TLC, the swan __________ a bacterial infection. Two months after Ariel came to her rescue, she __________. It’s a disappointing ending, but the real story is just how far some people are willing to go to save a swan in the big city. In all, Ariel traveled two hours by foot, car, and subway (while dragging her bike). “That’s the perfect summary of who she is.” says Higginbotham.