Wang Xin, a marketing manager based in Shanghai, paid special attention to the carbon consumption figures shown on a flight booking platform. “When booking a flight, I will first check the flights     1     meet my time requirements. If multiple flights within the time range are approximately the same price, I will     2     (definite) choose the one with     3     (little) carbon consumption.” Wang says.

Business travelers like Wang have shown a     4     (prefer) for trips that leave a smaller carbon footprint, according to a recent report. More than 60 percent of its business customers have options     5     low-carbon travel products. “The low-carbon travel trend began in 2022 when we launched flight carbon emission data, which has been recognized by     6     increasing number of business clients,” says Zha Jun, an official with the travel management division.

Afterwards, the carbon emission data of hotels, trains and cars     7     (add) up to now. Business travelers have been encouraged to use new energy vehicles and save electricity and water at hotels, as well as food on flights. Those     8     (choose) low-carbon travel products can also get rewards, such as air miles and credits that can be used     9     (reduce) future travel costs.

According to the US-headquartered Global Business Travel Association, 25 percent of companies worldwide consider carbon footprint and sustainability important in business travel. Among     10     (they), 35 percent have carried out sustainable policies.

Every Lunar New Year, China introduces a zodiac(生肖) sign from a cycle of 12 lucky animals. This year, it’s the Year of the Dragon, or more     1     (accurate), ”the Year of the Loong”. Then what’s the difference?

The Western     2     (describe) of dragons as “fire-breathing winged creatures” was inspired by literature such as Beowulf - the Old English epic about a Scandinavian hero     3    contribution was killing monsters, including a dragon. Greek fairy tales also presented dragons    4    violent sea monsters or guards of valuable     5     (possession). By contrast, “loong”, a word    6     (create) in the 19th century, reminds people of strength and fortune, and should    7     (distinguish) from its Western cousin. In Shiji,     8    2, 000-year-old Chinese history book, the emperor’s mother dreamed of a dragon lying on her body,     9     (predict) the birth of a future emperor. Exactly for this reason, Chinese people proudly claim they are “descendants of the Loong” .

Therefore, some culture experts have been calling for a switch to ”loong”     10     (tell) the Chinese dragon from the frightening monsters of Western tales. The call is also in line with the push for cultural confidence to choose the preferred translation of the Mandarin word for a creature long respected in Chinese culture.

Lijiang Old Town, also known as Day an Old Town, was a former trading town and as top for traders carrying goods on the Ancient Tea and Horse Road. It    1    (list) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

In Lijiang Old Town, you’ll find a mix of architectural style influenced by several    2    (culture) — Naxi, Bai, Yi, Tibetan, and Han. The town also possesses    3    ancient water supply system of great creativity. Every year, millions of tourists visit Lijiang Old Town, which features ancient street sandstone bridges    4    (decorate) with flowers. In addition, there    5    (be) many ancient buildings, beautiful parks, and museums.

The Mufu is one of Lijiang’s famous attractions. It was the residence of the Naxi People’s Mu clan (宗族) who were in charge     6     Lijiang during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It was     7    (actual) the heart of Lijiang Old Town for 800 years. Another    8    (attract) is the Black Dragon Pool. The water is as beautiful as jade and reflects Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, so it is also called Jade Spring Park. It is a wonderful place    9    (take) pictures of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Nobody will miss the Lion Hill, on the top of which there is Wangu Tower     10    you can lookout to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the surrounding crop fields and villages.

What are you waiting for? Come to explore Lijiang right now!

Like many nature reserves in Kenya, Borana used to be a cattle ranch (牧场). For thousands of years, cows were     1     center of culture for the Maasai, Samburu, Pokot, and other local groups. When national parks and nature reserves began to     2     (establish) in the middle of the 20th century, these same groups found themselves prevented from grazing (放牧) their animals on land they had depended on for     3     (generation).

Borana now aims     4    (go) into partnership with its neighbors, with programs such as Mazingira Yetu     5     intend to promote environmental protection. Students from nearby communities can spend a day at the nature reserve, go on game drives     6     learn more about various land practices, including water storage, regenerative farming, and tree nurseries. The program was started in 2022, bringing 365 students to Borana, and it     7     (grow) to welcome more than 1, 100 students in 2023,

Borana put all profits (收益) into efforts like this one, and it has made a     8     (different): Last year, tourism produced over $1 million,    9     (lead) to the protection of 28 endangered species, the training of 114 workers, scholarships for 55 students, and drought relief to seven communities. Now there is a growing recognition that change doesn't happen alone, and that long-term efforts to protect wildlife require a     10    (share) purpose across communities and interests.

Everyone loves a day at the beach, but if you come across litter on the sand, it makes everything worse. One man is doing his part to clean up local beaches, and has invented     1     (innovate) tools to help with that job. Based in Texas, Glenn Morris uses custom grabbers to pick up the rubbish and a remote-controlled car     2     (top) with a waste container to make the process easy and efficient.

Morris     3     (found) the group LitterBuggies a few years ago, and hopes that these remote-controlled cars will make     4     easier for others to keep their surroundings clean. “There are an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste in the ocean     5     have significant impacts     6     marine life. This number is expected     7     (double) within the next ten years,” the litterBuggles website states. “We hope to expand our activities into a larger movement, with the goal of making as big a     8     (different) as possible.”

A couple of days a week, Morris visits local beaches equipped with his grabber and remote-controlled car, and films himself     9     (collect) rubbish littering the shore. It is inspiring to see how Morris     10     (patient) picks up all the waste, leaving behind a clean and tidy beach.

Under the influence of the recent EL Nino,     1     is reported that the average global temperature in 2023 has set the record, making it the warmest year since 1850. The temperatures in most     2     (region) of China from this winter to next spring will be above the long-term average. This winter the     3     (combine) of EL Nino and global warming raised the chances of natural disasters     4     (cause) by extreme weather. The EL Nino is predicted to cause the sea surface temperature to reach its     5     (high) point between November 2023 and January 2024. EL Nino is     6     naturally occurring climate phenomenon that starts with unusually warm surface water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, which then goes on to affect the weather worldwide. On average, it     7     (occur) every two to seven years, and one episode     8     (typical) lasts nine to twelve months. Since May, an EL Nino system has heated the atmosphere in the tropical Pacific,     9     (lead) to a rise in global temperatures. Research indicates that a mild EL Nino event can increase the global annual average surface temperature     10     about 0. 1℃, even 0. 22℃.

In ancient times, all roads     1     (lead) from the outside to Sichuan were referred to as the Shu Path, including those from Shaanxi and Gansu.

Surrounded by mountains, Sichuan, called Shu in ancient times, was known for its inaccessibility. That became widely known partly due to a line from Chinese poet Li Bai,     2     reads “Traveling on the Shu Path is as difficult as climbing to heaven”. The most famous section of the Shu Path is about 600 kilometers long. It starts at Chengdu, and then passes Deyang and Guangyuan in Sichuan before ending in Hanzhong in Shaanxi. The     3     (construct) of the section started around 316 BC. It was on such     4     (danger) mountains that Li Bai was inspired     5     (mention) it.

When builders approached the Mingyue Gorge in Guangyuan, they found     6     impossible to continue because of high cliffs (悬崖). So they dug three levels of holes in the rock, and put in wooden beams. The upper beams were     7     (complete) covered by planks (木板) to form a road for people to walk on. The plank road     8     (rebuild) many times during wars. Now part of it has been restored to allow visitors to admire the man-made wonder.

The Sword Gate Pass, a towering V-shaped mountain pass—the one that gave rise     9     a household idiom, “One man at the pass keeps 10,000 men at bay”—witnessed countless battles during the Three Kingdoms and     10     (be) a tourist attraction now in the Guangyuan section of the Shu Path.