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.

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.

March 12th is China's annually National Tree-planting Day. On this day, millions of Chinese, from all walks of life, will put their works at hands aside for     1     moment, take shovels and buckets as well as saplings, and trek out to green up their hometowns.

First     2    (create) by the US agriculturist Sterling Morton in 1872, Tree-planting Day was set in order to inspire people's passions for planting and protecting trees, and     3    (protect) and improve the     4    (nature) environment on which people depend on for their living.

China's Tree-planting Day could date back     5     a proposal made by Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), a great China revolution leader, to Beiyang Government (1915-1927) in 1915 and then regulation was     6    (formal) publicized that Tomb-sweeping Festival (April 5th)     7    (adopt) as Tree-planting Day. However, April 5th was a late time for tree-planting in Southern China and so it was changed to March 12th by the Nanjing National Government (1927-1949) in order to memorize Sun Yat-sen,     8     passed away on March 12th.

In February 1979, the 5th National People's Congress of People Republic of China made a     9    (resolve) that March 12th would be taken as Chinese Tree-Planting Day, requiring the whole country to carry out tree-planting     10    (activity) on this day and support the construction of forestry.

Today, giant pandas are one of the world's most well-known animals. And they are     1     (global) recognized as being a leading symbol of both China and nature conservation in general. But global interest     2     the animal only took off early in the 20th century.

The idea of the WWF's logo(标志)     3     (come) from Chi-Chi: a giant panda that arrived at London Zoo in 1961 — the same year that WWF     4     (create).

Aware of the need for a recognisable symbol that would break through all language barriers(障碍), WWF's founders agreed that the big, furry bear with her special black and white coat would make a great logo. The first sketches(草图) were done by the British environmentalist and     5     (art), Gerald Watterson.

Based on these, Sir Peter Scott, one of WWF's founders, drew     6     first logo. He said at the time that “we wanted an animal that was beautiful,     7     (endanger), and loved by many people in the world for     8     (it) attractive qualities. We also wanted an animal that had an impact(影响力) in black and white     9     (save) money on printing costs.”

The panda has since become a symbol not just for WWF,     10     for the conservation movement as a whole.

During the World Elephant Day on Thursday, Chinese and foreign experts gathered in one online forum(论坛)     1     ( discuss) ways to protect elephants better based on the migration(迁徙) of 15 wild elephants in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. This shows how Chinese people care about the    2     ( protect) of these giant friends.

The 15 wild Asian elephants among    3     one male turned back in July finally returned to their habitat after touring for 17 months in Yunnan Province. The case was taken by the experts as a    4     ( success) example on how to protect and guide the migration of wild elephants.

Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, mentioned an idea which focused    5     helping wild animals survive by     6     (reduce) the harm to nature and wildlife in our daily lives.

Zhang Chenglin, Deputy Director of the Beijing Zoo，who introduced some measures taken by Chinese zoos to take good care of elephants,     7     (say) that there were around 150 elephants living in zo0s around China.

“    8     ( human) and animals share nature. To protect elephants     9     (be) to protect our planet. Hope we can work with other countries to protect wild animals."     10     woman wrote on Sina Weibo on the World Elephant Day.

Monarchs (黑脉金斑蝶) are the only butterflies known to make two-way migrations, as birds do. In the late summer and early fall, the butterflies typically leave southern Canada and northern and central     1     (region) of the United States. They make a dangerous trip to Florida and Mexico,     2     the weather is warmer. In recent years, monarch populations have been dropping dramatically. To help save the monarchy butterfly population, teens in the North Carolina community formed a club. The Monarch Butterfly Club at East Chapel Hill High School     3     (success) applied for land from the town council for the monarchs’     4     (protect). Club members hope that the garden they     5     (create) will be a safe resting place for the monarchs during     6     (they) long migration. The students plan to get more land from the community in the future. This summer, the club held events for the community. Residents of Chapel Hill were able to help club members plant milkweed for     7     young to eat. “We tell people about the club and our goals     8     (raise) awareness,” said member Kevin Guo, 16. “We’re hoping this can make a change     9     cause people to do more for the butterflies. “According to club member Reymond Zhao, also 16, the situation has to     10     (improve) as soon as possible. He has been planting milkweed in his own backyard for the past few years. “In the future, we might get more schools or clubs into this,” he said. “We need all the help we can get.”