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.

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.

Known as a ”living fossil“,the Chinese sturgeon(鲟)is a very precious species. It     1     (believe)to have lived alongside the dinosaurs more than 140 million years ago.

Although dinosaurs are long since gone, the Chinese sturgeon still exists to this day.     2    ,the species has been listed as ”Critically Endangered“ on the Red List of Threatened Species. According to CGTN, dams and overfishing affect     3     (it)reproduction.

On May 14,Shanghai legislators(立法委员)passed a new law protecting the Chinese sturgeon,    4    (stress)”regional cooperation“,according to China Daily.

”This is the first local legislation in the country     5    (protect)one endangered fish,“ said Ding Wei, director of the legislative affairs committee.

The protection of the Chinese sturgeon is     6     (urgently). China began the artificial propagation(繁殖)and release of the fish in 1984. However, very few of     7     farmed fish have survived in the wild.

    8     this species can be preserved depends on the natural population. If the natural population is not well protected, the Chinese sturgeon is in     9    (dangerous)of extinction.

Since January 1 of this year, a 10-year fishing ban on key     10    (area)of the Yangtze River basin has been issued, covering 332 nature reserves, which include Shanghai’s Chinese sturgeon nature reserve.

Ancient Chinese thinkers regarded nature, with human beings included in it,     1     the world of life. All living things in the world have     2     (they) own lives and state of being. “Life and its state of being is most     3     (worth) of appreciation,” said Cheng Hao, a Confucian scholar in the Song Dynasty, “From such appreciation, people could draw     4     greatest spiritual delight.”

Confucian scholars in the Song and Ming Dynasties all enjoyed observing the state of being of living things. Zhou Dunyi, for example, allowed the grass     5     (grow) in front of his window without cutting it. When he     6     (ask) why, Zhou explained that the natural growth of grass was in line with his idea of living things. He observed the     7     (create) of life and the state of being of living things in the world through the grass. The state of being of the grass was similar to the state of being of people,     8     the experience of this resemblance gave him great pleasure. He felt great joy from     9     (observe) living things. He would often appreciate the fish he kept, and enjoyed watching newly hatched chicks. To him, the lively and lovely chicks     10     (well) represented the state of being.

The day starts early for Zheng Baogang and his tree-planting team. At about 5 a.m., they are on their way to the site of     1     abandoned mine in Huzhou, Zhejiang province.

Since June, they have been working to restore the land to     2     (it)past natural glory. It is the most difficult reforestation project related to the former coal mines and stone quarries in the area in     3     Zheng has participated. The Huzhou mine was put into operation in the late 1980s     4     it is about 200 metres deep now. Today, the entire site for reclamation(开垦)is more than 200. 000 square metres.

    5     (wear)ropes and straps like mountaineers, Zheng and his team took     6     (step)down the cliff to loosen the compacted(压实的)soil and plant trees or grass seeds every day. In summer, the ground temperature can reach over 40°C, while in winter, it is     7     (extreme)cold.

Although the work is     8     (danger)and laborious, Zheng says it is rewarding to see the brown fields turning green. Estimated to be completed by the end of this month, the project will enter a two-year maintenance period     9     (restore)the area’s greenery.

In the past decade, Zheng     10     (help)with such work at over 60 former sites. Some sites are even reviving parklands.

Canada’s national parks are established     1     (protect) and present outstanding representative examples of natural landscapes. These wild places,     2     (locate) in every province and territory, range     3     mountains and plains to forests and lakes. National parks protect the habitats, wildlife and ecosystem     4     (diverse) representative of the natural regions.

Parks Canada is     5     (responsibility) for both protecting the ecosystems of these great natural areas and     6     (manage) them for visitors to understand, appreciate, and enjoy in a way     7     doesn’t compromise their integrity (完整). Parks Canada is working to maintain or restore the ecological integrity of national parks. Maintaining or restoring ecological integrity     8     (be) a challenging task that involves     9     good understanding of the nature of ecosystems and the stresses they face.     10     (addition), it requires cooperation among people whose actions influence the ecosystems.

Hua Weiguang,     1     retired teacher from Tongliao, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is a photography enthusiast.

A decade ago, the arrival of tree planters     2     (catch) Hua’s attention and the photos of the tree planters     3     (take) by Hua are evidence of the     4     (remark) transformation of the land. In those photos, hats, scarves and goggles, for the workers fighting desertification, are basic necessities to protect them     5     the wind and sand. There was no way to avoid the brutal summer heat in the land so the workers had to lie down on the ground or curl up in the narrow shade of their cars to cool off. And they also had to eat their lunch amid the blowing sands, taking in the small pieces of sand with their food.

“    6     we don’t fool the tree, it won’t fool you. You take it     7     (serious), and then it behaves in the same way to you. You put efforts to make it live, and the tree lives up to your     8     (expect),” the planters say.

China’s forest resources have increased by over 70 million hectares in the past decade,     9     (rank) first in the world. One tree after another, a green Great Wall has been built. Brush by brush, a green field     10     (paint) over the yellow sandy land up to now.