People in Bangladesh and India are struggling as they face serious flooding caused by early heavy rains. The floods     1     (cover)roads, bridges, and entire villages so far.     2     (million)of people have been left helpless by the floodwaters. The flooding in Bangladesh is the     3     (bad)in nearly 20 years. The United Nations(UN)says that the flooding has affected at least 4 million people in Bangladesh. The floods have hit the districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj     4     (especial)hard. In these areas, about 2 million people were left cut off from areas nearby.

The flooding     5     (cause)by heavy rains. Two rivers     6     run near Bangladesh’s border with India, the Surma and the Kushiara, hit the highest water levels ever recorded. The government has made the     7     (decide)to close almost 600 schools. Some are to be closed because of flooding. Others will be turned     8     emergency shelters. Bangladesh is a low-lying country, and often has floods.     9     same is true for parts of India. But normally, most flooding happens later in the year. Scientists say that because of the climate crisis, extreme weather     10     (include)heat waves, severe storms, heavy rains, and flooding is becoming far more common.

Early in February some volunteers in the United States posted dozens of     1     (photo) on the social media,     2     (show) that the physical condition of the giant panda Ya Ya in the Memphis Zoo was worrying. Having been hungry for     3     long time, it looked bony, weak and dirty. The poor condition soon caught worldwide concern.

From    4     we have learned so far, Ya Ya has serious skin disease and digestive system problems. The situation is not very optimistic,     5     makes people very sad. The American animal protection group “In Defense of Animals” (IDA) has released a video in which Ya Ya was seen circling around where she lived.     6     is reported that the panda now weighs     7     (little) than normal, eats little and shows obvious signs of stereotyped behavior and even self-harm.

Since the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens received reports of Ya Ya’s poor health condition, the relevant authorities     8     (take) immediate action to deal with the problem. Both China and the US have been actively discussing ways to speed up the procedures necessary for Ya Ya’s return to her home country. A team from Beijing Zoo has arrived in the US to assist Memphis Zoo with Ya Ya’s care and work with them to ensure that she is properly     9     (feed), cared for and then transported back to China.

A source says that if the procedures go     10     (smooth), Ya Ya will return to China in April.

The terrifying flooding of Venice could and should have been avoided. It hasn’t been this bad since 1966, when the water reached 6 feet, 4 inches. Back then,     1     (frighten) Italians called for immediate action.     2    , once the water moved away, they didn’t take it as seriously as before and thought over the issue for almost 40 years. The massive MOSE flood     3     (protect) system that was finally approved in 2003 still hasn’t been completed.

“Meanwhile, Venice is disappearing beneath the water,” said Jacopo Giliberto. “Climate change and rising sea levels are     4     (blame). But so is the fact that we pumped water from an underground aquifer (蓄水层)     5     the 1930s to the 1980s,     6     (cause) the ground beneath us to fall with impressive speed. Proud Venice is     7     world treasure, an open-air art museum, so officials instead chose more expensive invisible dams that won’t disturb the view. So far, we     8     (spend) more than $ 6 billion on MOSE, which won’t be put into use until next year at the earliest.”

“The project is a disaster, and Italians just aren’t good at long-term planning,” said Maurizio Ferrera. “Look at our booming national debt,     9     now sits at $2.7 trillion, 138 percent of our GDP. If we are to save Venice, we’ll have to change our political culture.     10     is unclear whether we have the will.”