Every year the world unites together on World Animal Day on Oct.4 for the improved treatment and well-being of animals everywhere.

It started in 1931     1     ecologists banded together in Italy to raise awareness (意识) of endangered species (濒危物种).

Since then, the yearly event has been used as a means of     2     (connect) “animal welfare organizations, youth clubs, businesses, community groups, and individuals... to raise awareness for their work and fundraise in support of     3     (cause) ranging from care of working animals to protection of endangered tigers and habitat loss”.

In the past decades, China     4     (do) much to improve the welfare of animals. The     5     (big) symbol of China’s official protection of animals can     6     (find) in the Wildlife Protection Law. First     7     (sign) in 1988 and revised several times over the years,     8     law enforces (执行) the protection of endangered species as well as ensuring a balance between the needs of wild animals and people.

The Chinese people have also made their voice     9     the treatment of animals clear as well. According to a survey done by Frontiers in Animal Science magazine in 2022, 86.3 percent believed that “it is important to have laws that protect the welfare of animals”.

In the spirit of World Animal Day, we all can think of more ways     10     (protect) both the animals around us and those in the wild.

In China, 2022 marks the Year of the Tiger. The animal     1     (regard) in Chinese culture as “the king of all beasts”.

Most children here, when     2     (ask) to draw a tiger, would write on its forehead the Chinese character wang, as the markings on tigers’ foreheads resemble the character for “king”, who conquers the kingdom of animal.

Since ancient times, tigers     3     (indicate) power, solemnity(庄严) and     4     (brave) in our ancestors’ mind, with objects bearing tiger-related image created to drive away the alarming evil spirits and invoke good fortune.

To celebrate this year’s Lunar New Year, it is therefore necessary to prepare     5     advance a few traditional tiger stuffed toys — the classic type is usually made of cloth and comes in colors such as red and yellow —     6     (decorate) one’s home or to give to children as a fascinate mascot(吉祥物).

The eve of Lunar New Year is a time to say goodbye to the past and ring in the new year, with the reunion dinner an indispensable feature of the night.

Although the     7     (food) prepared for the feast vary throughout the country, jiaozi (dumpling) is     8     must-have for most families in northern China. Dishes like fish and chicken, the words     9     sound like “surplus”(盈余) and “good luck” in Chinese, are usually the centerpieces on dining tables. These could make a     10    (wonder) feast and show the host’s generosity and hospitality.

The population of the earth is increasing very fast. Humans must make the earth support the increasing population. This has made it necessary for agriculture and industry     1     (develop) rapidly.

Such a rapid development produces more and more waste,     2     goes into water, soil or air. When there     3     (be) too much waste, it will do great harm to the environment and people.

When farmers add fertilizer (肥料)     4     the soil to make plants grow better, or use pesticide (杀虫剂) to kill pests, they will go into the soil or the surrounding air. Even     5     (bad), they may go into the grain (谷物). When     6     (bird), fish or people eat the grain, drink the water or breath the air, harm will be done to their health.

The air in some cities     7     (pollute) because of the pollution from the cars and factories. Millions of tons of poisonous gases are sent into the air with smoke. In some places, little is done to make the smoke clean     8     it goes into the air.

    9     (fortunate), people are beginning to realize just how serious the whole situation is. In many countries, laws have been made to prevent factories     10     (send) out poisonous gases. More and more people are taking action to protect the environment.

Planting trees is a great way to reduce carbon emissions, but protecting our oceans and coastal ecosystems can do the same?

“Blue carbon” refers to organic carbon which     1     (store) by the oceans and coastal ecosystems. Mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses are the three main coastal ecosystems that can store large     2     (quantity) of blue carbon. They play a major role in reducing carbon dioxide in the air.

    3     (compare) with ecosystems on the land, coastal ecosystems can store carbon     4     (constant) in the long term. When plants on the coast die, the organic deposits that they become will slowly disappear thanks to the flowing seawater above,     5     means the carbon will not escape easily but remain stored for hundreds and thousands of years.

China is one of the few blessed     6     all three coastal ecosystems. Tidal marshes are the largest coastal ecosystem in China,     7     (occupy) an area of 5,448 square kilometers. In comparison, mangroves have a     8     (small) size. According to the latest data, the total area of China’s mangrove forests in 2020     9     (be) 289 square kilometers, and over 70 square kilometers of mangroves are newly planted and restored now.

By protecting and restoring these coastal ecosystems, we can avoid enormous amounts of stored blue carbon going back into     10     atmosphere, and safeguard wildlife living in these ecosystems.

Humans    1    (make) about 9 billion tons of plastic since the 1950s, only 9% of    2    has been recycled and 12% has been burnt. The remaining 79% has accumulated (积累) in the    3    (nature) environment.

    4    (help) lighten nature’s load, researchers are now looking at alternative methods for plastic reduction. One such    5    (solve) comes in the form of a certain mushroom species with the ability to consume polyurethane, one of the main ingredients in plastic products. Scientists have discovered a few mushrooms that eat plastic over the years and while some are rare, others can    6    (find) in our local market.

Recently, students on    7    class research trip from Yale discovered a rare mushroom in the Amazon rainforest. According to the Yale research team, the plain-looking light brown mushroom can live in environments with or without oxygen, breaking down polyurethane before turning it    8    organic matter. The idea of    9    (use) mushrooms to break down plastic isn’t without its limitations. Releasing new organisms into new environments can be tricky business. One approach would be to collect the plastic debris (碎片) first and let the mushroom work its magic in a    10    (control) environment.