With fossil records dating back to 400 million years ago, sharks have lived even     1     (long) than the dinosaurs and many other forms of life. There are more than 500 species of sharks     2     (discover) on earth.

These sharks,     3     are so important to the natural order of marine ecosystems, are faced with     4     (extinct). While they have been an important resource for coastal communities in the developing world for     5     (century), this unique balance is in danger of being lost forever.

As our oceans are     6     (serious) influenced by the greenhouse effect, to restore these water bodies is the key     7    protecting sharks. What’s more, sharks’ wide range of species adds difficulty to the conservation efforts of protecting these     8     (amaze) creatures. And the great demand for their fins     9     (increase) the urgency of the task over the past few years. Through the effective strategies, we are trying to restore the balance between humans     10     sharks.

Balesin Island lies in Lamon Bay, about 60 nautical miles east of Manila,     1     capital of the Philippines.

My family and I recently visited the small island,     2     is open for members only. The island is known     3     its slogan (标语): “Balesin, the most unique in the world.” What makes it so special? You can experience many     4     (difference) cultures and cuisines (菜肴) from around the world on one island.

Balesin Island is home to villas (别墅) representing several     5     (place), including the Greek island of Mykonos. Depending upon which villa you visit, the food and architecture make you feel like you’re in Bali, Tuscany, or the Greek island of Mykonos. There are also some stand-alone restaurants,     6     (offer) such choices as German, Japanese, Korean, and Mongolian food.

Most of the food     7     (serve) at the restaurants is grown on the island. Activities include bird watching, boating, fishing, gardening, and horseback riding.

J. J. Fernandez, a     8     (tour), said that she fell in love with the island during     9     (she) visit. Being on Balesin, she     10     (add), is like “traveling around the world in just three days.”

Haitian Earthquake shook the Caribbean in 2010. Many people may remember this from the “Hope for Haiti Now” programme    1    aired on television. Within the next day, the fundraising call had resulted in the    2    (collect) of $58 million US dollars. The earthquake    3    (strike) the island of Hispaniola on January 12, 2010. It started 16 miles west of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and killed anywhere between 100,000 to 316,000 people. The estimates of the death toll vary to this day. The magnitude (震级) was relatively low    4    7.0, but the fact that its epicentre (震中) was so close to     5    population centre made it     6     (high) deadly.

Aftershocks of magnitudes between 5.5 and 5.9 continued for almost two weeks. Haiti’s lack (缺少) of building     7    (rule)meant disaster for the country. The buildings floated like rainwater down the streets. Haiti had seen several major earthquakes before this one:1751, 1770, 1842, and 1946. Even though it is a seismically (地震的) active area, a lack of proper services made it even    8    (hard) for the country    9     (deal) with a situation like this. According to the Haitian government’s estimate, the earthquake caused heavy losses,    10    (leave) almost 250, 000 houses and 30,000 buildings in ruins(废墟).

Every year the world unites together on World Animal Day on Oct.4 for the improved treatment and well-being of animals everywhere.

It started in 1931     1     ecologists banded together in Italy to raise awareness (意识) of endangered species (濒危物种).

Since then, the yearly event has been used as a means of     2     (connect) “animal welfare organizations, youth clubs, businesses, community groups, and individuals... to raise awareness for their work and fundraise in support of     3     (cause) ranging from care of working animals to protection of endangered tigers and habitat loss”.

In the past decades, China     4     (do) much to improve the welfare of animals. The     5     (big) symbol of China’s official protection of animals can     6     (find) in the Wildlife Protection Law. First     7     (sign) in 1988 and revised several times over the years,     8     law enforces (执行) the protection of endangered species as well as ensuring a balance between the needs of wild animals and people.

The Chinese people have also made their voice     9     the treatment of animals clear as well. According to a survey done by Frontiers in Animal Science magazine in 2022, 86.3 percent believed that “it is important to have laws that protect the welfare of animals”.

In the spirit of World Animal Day, we all can think of more ways     10     (protect) both the animals around us and those in the wild.

The population of the earth is increasing very fast. Humans must make the earth support the increasing population. This has made it necessary for agriculture and industry     1     (develop) rapidly.

Such a rapid development produces more and more waste,     2     goes into water, soil or air. When there     3     (be) too much waste, it will do great harm to the environment and people.

When farmers add fertilizer (肥料)     4     the soil to make plants grow better, or use pesticide (杀虫剂) to kill pests, they will go into the soil or the surrounding air. Even     5     (bad), they may go into the grain (谷物). When     6     (bird), fish or people eat the grain, drink the water or breath the air, harm will be done to their health.

The air in some cities     7     (pollute) because of the pollution from the cars and factories. Millions of tons of poisonous gases are sent into the air with smoke. In some places, little is done to make the smoke clean     8     it goes into the air.

    9     (fortunate), people are beginning to realize just how serious the whole situation is. In many countries, laws have been made to prevent factories     10     (send) out poisonous gases. More and more people are taking action to protect the environment.

Humans    1    (make) about 9 billion tons of plastic since the 1950s, only 9% of    2    has been recycled and 12% has been burnt. The remaining 79% has accumulated (积累) in the    3    (nature) environment.

    4    (help) lighten nature’s load, researchers are now looking at alternative methods for plastic reduction. One such    5    (solve) comes in the form of a certain mushroom species with the ability to consume polyurethane, one of the main ingredients in plastic products. Scientists have discovered a few mushrooms that eat plastic over the years and while some are rare, others can    6    (find) in our local market.

Recently, students on    7    class research trip from Yale discovered a rare mushroom in the Amazon rainforest. According to the Yale research team, the plain-looking light brown mushroom can live in environments with or without oxygen, breaking down polyurethane before turning it    8    organic matter. The idea of    9    (use) mushrooms to break down plastic isn’t without its limitations. Releasing new organisms into new environments can be tricky business. One approach would be to collect the plastic debris (碎片) first and let the mushroom work its magic in a    10    (control) environment.

Many people believe that cotton is never     1     (bad) than plastic. It takes hundreds of years     2     plastic to break down. But cotton bags are providing a way for supermarkets to show a planet-friendly attitude.     3    , it turns out that cotton bags have created a new problem. Only if an organic cotton bag is used 20, 000 times can it balance out the impact of     4     (it) producing process, according to a study. And most dyes used     5     (print) logos onto them contain PVC,     6     makes the bags not recyclable.     7     (fortunate), some brands are turning to other     8     (strategy). British designer Anya made     9     extraordinary bag by herself. It is made from recycled water bottles. We hope more and more recyclable bags     10     (invent) in the near future.

Today, giant pandas are one of the world's most well-known animals. And they are     1     (global) recognized as being a leading symbol of both China and nature conservation in general. But global interest     2     the animal only took off early in the 20th century.

The idea of the WWF's logo(标志)     3     (come) from Chi-Chi: a giant panda that arrived at London Zoo in 1961 — the same year that WWF     4     (create).

Aware of the need for a recognisable symbol that would break through all language barriers(障碍), WWF's founders agreed that the big, furry bear with her special black and white coat would make a great logo. The first sketches(草图) were done by the British environmentalist and     5     (art), Gerald Watterson.

Based on these, Sir Peter Scott, one of WWF's founders, drew     6     first logo. He said at the time that “we wanted an animal that was beautiful,     7     (endanger), and loved by many people in the world for     8     (it) attractive qualities. We also wanted an animal that had an impact(影响力) in black and white     9     (save) money on printing costs.”

The panda has since become a symbol not just for WWF,     10     for the conservation movement as a whole.