According to the World Meteorological (气候的) Organization, El Nino is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon. It starts with unusually warm surface water in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean,    1    then goes on to affect the weather worldwide. On average, it occurs every two to seven years, lasting 9 to 12    2    (month).

The center said the combination of El Nino and global warming would increase the chances of meteorological disasters     3    (cause) by extreme weather. The El Nino event is projected to cause sea surface temperature to peak between November 2023 and January 2024. Since May, an El Nino system    4    (build) up along the equator (赤道) in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Research     5    (suggest) that every 1℃ increase in temperature in the equatorial eastern Pacific can raise the global annual average temperature by 0.12℃. A moderate or strong El Nino event     6    (usual) rises the global average surface temperature by about 0.1℃ to 0.22℃, the center added.

Speaking of the effect     7    China, the center said that an El Nino event tends to bring more rainfall to the southern regions and    8    (warm) temperatures in the north of the country. Since the 1990s, every El Nino event has been followed by two consecutive summers of above normal precipitation (降水) in China.

Jia Xiaolong, vice director of the center, said at     9    news conference in early November that statistics show that in the context of El Nino events, temperatures fluctuate greatly in winter, and the number of cold spells affecting China is often more than usual. The center recently released the climate trend forecast. It is expected    10    (face) snow disasters and increased demand for heating compared with the past, leading to temporary energy consumption peaks.

Machu Picchu is an ancient city in Peru, South America. It     1     (build) many hundreds of years ago by the Incas, an ancient South American civilization (社会文明).

Machu Picchu is high up in the Andes Mountains of Peru. There are 3,000 stone steps     2     connect the city’s many different levels. This special stone city is very difficult     3     (get) to because it is so high in the mountains. It has only one way in and a stone wall to protect it.

Millions of people visit every year to see the stone city. The development of nearby towns and damage     4     the environment continue to destroy Machu Picchu. In 2017 the Peruvian government laid down some rules of     5     number of people who can visit Machu Picchu every day and even closed some sections to the public to protect the stone city.

Peru is taking     6     (it) protection of Machu Picchu one step further by starting a program to plant one million trees all around the protective zone that surrounds (围绕) the city. Apart from     7     (be) a really great environmentally friendly idea, the trees around Machu Picchu will     8     (certain) help to protect the historical landmark in many other     9     (way). The trees would help prevent mudslides (泥流) which can be very     10     (danger) and can destroy the site as well. It will also protect the area’s unique animals and plants.

My family lives by the Pacific Ocean, and my son, Ryan, has always loved marine animals. When he was three, Ryan came to the recycling center with me. He had fun     1     (feed) cans and bottles into the machine, especially once he realized that the more we recycled, the     2     (little) they would end up as litter on the beach. When I let him keep the $3 we got back for the returns, he was even more     3     (excite).

The next day, Ryan announced he was starting a recycling business: Ryan’s Recycling. He and my wife delivered trash bags to each of     4     houses on our street and asked our neighbors to save their cans and bottles     5    him. The neighbors also asked their friends to save     6     (they) bottles. Ryan, now 10, has 300     7     (customer). An average weekend includes a dozen pickups and three trips to the recycling center. So far, Ryan     8     (keep) 770,000 cans and bottles off the beach and out of the ocean.

Ryan is saving the refund money to buy a truck and hopes to expand his business     9     he grows up. Recycling allows us     10     (spend) time together and do some good to the ocean’s animals.

Observing the Earth provides a wealth of information,     1     benefits our daily lives. Now the European Union     2     (design) a so-called digital twin of the Earth, allowing scientists to run simulations (模拟) to predict extreme weather events and other impacts of climate change.

The program,     3     (call) Destination Earth, will use artificial intelligence and supercomputing to input and analyze climate data at high resolutions. It can predict a number of risks including storms, droughts and     4     (rise) sea levels. The program will allow scientists to create a simulation of the planet and its climate and then experiment with changes     5     different conditions. These include temperature, wind speeds and humidity (湿度). It can then observe the knock-on effects of these changes on a     6     (region) and global level. Destination Earth will also help monitor food     7     (secure), changes in the polar regions and global sea level rises.

Several climate simulation     8     (program) already exist, generally running at resolutions of around 100 kilometers. This makes predicting more localized impacts of climate change challenging.     9     Destination Earth team plans on building a supercomputing network which would allow for a far higher resolution, approaching just a few kilometers.

“Destination Earth is a key initiative for Europe’s green transitions. It will greatly improve our ability     10     (produce) climate models with reliability, allowing policymakers to reduce the effects of climate change, saving lives and reducing economic consequences in cases of natural disasters.” said Skordas.

The Lion Rock mountain stands not only as one of the most famous scenic spots in Hong Kong,     1     has become a spiritual symbol representing the persistent efforts of ordinary Hong Kong people     2     (live) a better life.

The Lion Rock spirit has also     3     (deep) touched those outside Hong Kong, such as Cui Xiaodong,     4     ink artist and director of the Yan Huang Art Museum in Bejing. “The mountain stands like a giant, symbolizing the industrious and persistent spirit which, over the past decades,     5     (pull) people in Hong Kong together through hard times. It is a recollection of the youth and vigor (活力) of a generation of people in Hong Kong     6     struggled to make the city what it is today.” he says.

Cui created Lion Rock in Hong Kong, a colored ink painting. In his painting, Cui depicts (描绘) the cliffs of the Lion Rock, surrounded by blooming trees and     7     (overlook) the city’s skyscrapers. Made earlier this year, the painting is now     8     show at Greater Bay Area in the Eyes of Artists, a display marking the 25th anniversary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The     9     (exhibit) displayed there hail (向……致敬) the ecological diversity of the area and also presents to the audience     10     (success) reformative accomplishments since 1997.