My motherland, China,     1     capital is Beijing, is a great country with a long history and rich culture. It     2    (locate) in the east of Asia, with an area of 9,600,000 square kilometers and     3     population of 1.4 billion. Our country     4    (consist) of 56 nationalities, among which the Han Ethnic Group is the largest,     5    (make) up 94% of the people. There are many beautiful mountains and rivers as well as rich natural     6    (resource) in China. As we all know, the Yangtze River is the third     7    (long) river in the world,     8     the Great Wall is one of the seven wonders in the world. Kung Fu is the crystallization of Chinese     9    (wise) and the embodiment of Chinese traditional culture. The Chinese people are hard-working and brave. Great changes     10    (take) place in China in the past 20 years.

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.

A seed bank stores seeds to preserve genetic diversity; hence it is a type of gene bank. Many people may wonder     1     the seeds are stored. One of the major reasons is to preserve the genes that plant growers need to increase yield (产量), disease resistance, drought tolerance, nutritional quality, and the taste of crops. Another is to prevent     2     (lose) of genetic diversity in rare or endangered plant species in     3     effort to conserve biodiversity. Many plants     4     (grow) centuries ago by humans are used less frequently now; seed banks offer a way to preserve that historical and cultural value. Collections of seeds stored     5     constant low temperature and low water level are guarded against reduction of genetic resources which are otherwise maintained in field collections. These alternative “living” collections can     6     (damage) by natural disasters, outbreaks of disease,     7     war. Containing valuable information about evolved strategies to reduce plant stress, seed banks are considered seed     8     (library), and can help to create genetically modified (调整过的) versions of     9     (exist) seeds. The work of seed banks often span decades and even centuries. Most seed banks are     10     (public) funded and seeds are usually available for research that benefits the public.

In the coming weeks, China Daily will be publishing special reports focusing    1     the ongoing development of the country’s national park system, looking at areas coming under stronger    2     (protect) and the species benefiting from many new    3     (facility).

The Sanjiangyuan National Park, covering 190, 700 square kilometers,     4     (be) China’s largest such facility. It is about 14 times the area of Yellowstone National Park in the United States and 19 times    5     (large) than the Banff National Park in Canada. Standing at an average altitude of more than 4, 500 meters, the sparsely populated park in Qinghai Province is the ideal habitat for many wildlife species,     6     (include) Tibetan antelopes and snow leopards.

Sanjiangyuan,     7     means “source of three rivers”, is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Lancang River    8     (know) as the Mekong once it leaves Chinese territory. As such, the parks has been dubbed “Asia’s water tower”. 2% of the total water volume of the Yangtze River, 49% of the Yellow River and 17% of the Lancang River come from the Sanjiangyuan area, with tributaries providing the rest.

Decades ago, climate change and human activity caused serious    9     (environment) degradation in Sanjangyuan, which resulted in a large number of lakes drying out and wildlife numbers falling    10     (sharp). In 2016, the pilot program for the Sanjiangyuan National Park management system was launched, and the area was officially designated as a national park in September in 2021.

Humans are not the only ones who like to use tablet computers. The nonprofit organization Orangutan (猩猩) Outreach has started a program     1     (call) Apps for Apes using Apple’s iPad. Orangutan Outreach     2     (start) by Richard Zimmerman and is based in New York City. He began the organization six years ago with the goal of     3     (protect) orangutans in the wild.

The organization started Apps for Apes one year ago. The program introduces the Apple iPad to orangutans in zoos. Apps for Apes has three     4     (goal). The first goal is to provide interesting activities     5     orangutans. The second goal is to raise     6     (aware) among zoo visitors about how smart these animals are. The third goal is to urge people to visit Orangutan Outreach’s website, redapes. org, to learn how they can help protect orangutans in the wild.

“The young orangutans are very curious, and they go to it     7     (immediate), ”said Mr. Zimmerman, adding that the iPad is a perfect device for the animal because of the touch screen technology. With some assistance, the orangutans are able to use different apps to listen to music, play games     8     do other activities.

The program,     9     was first launched at the Milwaukee County Zoo, has expanded to more than 10 other zoos as well as     10     rescue center for apes in the United States and Canada, and is growing worldwide.