An Encounter with Nature

As a nature photographer, I have to     1     the elements. But despite the wind and the rain, I still enjoy     2    outside in the wild. One of the best things about this job is that you can observe animals in their natural environment.

My favourite place to take photos is Yellowstone National Park. As the world’s first national park, Yellowstone is famous for the variety of its wildlife, but it is     3     best known for its bears. These huge, strong animals can live for 30 years. Despite a weight of up to 300 kilograms, they can run at a speed of around 64 kilometres per hour and are also     4     swimmers.

Last spring in Yellowstone, I followed a path that took me through a dark forest. When I finally stepped out of the trees, the view was     5    . An eagle flew over the snow-capped mountains, which were reflected in the still lake below. While I was concentrating on photographing this amazing scene, I     6     had a feeling that I was being watched. Slowly, and with the camera still held to my eye, I turned… and froze. Only meters away from me was a bear. With water     7     off its thick, brown hair, the bear stared back at me. Time stood still as the bear and I both waited to see who would move first. My legs started     8    . Somehow, I forced my finger to press the button. A second later, the bear turned and ran back into the forest. When I recovered from the shock, I looked at my camera. My most frightening but magical experience was now     9     forever in a single image.

From time to time I look at the photo as a     10     to show respect to all animals. It is after all we who are the visitors to their world.

We went to Tibet to     1     Tibetan antelopes with Zhaxi as our guide.     2    , on the plain in front of us, we saw a herd of antelopes move slowly across the green grass. These beautiful animals     3     me of their danger because they are being hunted     4     for their valuable fur. Especially in the 1980s and 1990s, their population     5     by more than 50 percent. To save this species from     6    , the Chinese government placed it under national protection. Zhaxi and other volunteers watched over the antelopes day and night and bridges and gates were added to keep them     7    . These measures were     8     and the antelope population has recovered. However, the government doesn’t intend to stop the protection programmes, since the     9     to the Tibetan antelope haven’t disappeared. Only when we learn to exist in     10     with nature can we stop being a threat to wildlife and to our planet.

The measures were    1    . The antelope population has    2    and in June 2015, the Tibetan antelope was    3    from the endangered species list. The government, however, does not    4    to stop the protection programmes, since the    5     to the Tibetan antelope have not yet disappeared.

10 . 阅读下面小短文，根据上下文语境，选择合适的单词填入空白处，每个单词只使用一次，每个语篇有一个是多余的选项。

Mankind has been exploring space to find out the secret of the     1     and has    2     a lot of satellites into space, which can transmit     3     to scientists on earth. However, exploring space is dangerous and challenging. These disasters made everyone     4    , but the     5     to explore the universe never ends.