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.

Yuncheng,     1    (know) as “Hedong”, is one of the birthplace of Chinese civilization. With its rich cultural heritage spanning thousands of years, Yuncheng has become a destination for those interested in     2    (explore) China’s roots. From the earliest hominid fossils(原始化石) to salt mining techniques, Yuncheng is home     3     some of the most significant artifacts(史前古器物) and sites in Chinese history.

The Hedong Salt Lake is one of the oldest salt fields in the world, with     4     history of over 4, 600 years. “The Five-Step Salt Production Method”, which     5    (origin) during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, became a vital technological     6    (contribute) to the salt industry in China and the world. This technique predates European salt production methods by nearly one thousand years and     7    (list) as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2021.

    8    (recent), Yuncheng has increased its     9    (ecology) restoration efforts of “returning salt to the lake”. The salt lake has changed from a mining area to a tourist hot spot,     10     offers visitors a new appearance.

Beijing — Planetary scientists in China found hints of water “reservoirs (水库)” on the moon. Over billions of years, the surface of the moon     1    (hit) by space rocks, causing the soil     2    (melt) and be ejected (喷射) into space. Then it is cooled down and falls back to the lunar surface,     3    (form) beads (珠子) of glass. The Chang’e 5 probe,     4     returned to Earth on Dec 17, 2020, brought back     5     total of 1,731 grams of rocks and soil from the lunar surface, including glass beads.

After looking into the glass beads from the sample, the international research team     6    (find) that about one ton of glass beads may contain 0.5 kilograms of water. Hui Hejiu, one of the study authors said, “This ‘water’ wasn’t a liquid     7     instead took the form of hydrogen (氢气). The hydrogen     8    (contain) in the glass beads can     9    (easy) be turned into the water we can use.” If the water in the beads is easy to get, it will be a “really big deal” for deep space     10    (explore) missions in the future.

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.

Nature hands us a whole series of rich and varied colors,     1    (literal) on our plates! Not only do we eat pigments (色素),     2     we use some of them as colouring agents. Red, yellow, pink and green are just some of the rainbow of colors in our food.

The color of food has quite     3     impact on our choice of what we eat. We instinctively prefer the colors red, orange and yellow over green and blue, which tend     4    (represent) bitterness. Man is naturally attracted towards sweet food and dislikes all things bitter, a tendency which is evident right from birth. However, such preferences     5    (influence) by our individual experiences and education, cultural criteria and tendencies. The color of a particular foodstuff can also influence our perception of tastes,     6    (flavor) or smells and we often associate certain colors with particular tastes: pink with sweet things, green with     7    (salt) food and the color orange with spicy food.

    8     do carrots, peppers and tomatoes all have in common? They all contain natural coloring agents. Discovery of various coloring techniques spread the centuries. New and creative methods to abstract pigments, mix them and then dye (染色), all add a little color     9     life, simply to please our senses. Nonetheless, colored food also brings micronutrients which are essential for good health. So don’t wait any     10    (long)! Brighten up your plate today!