1 . Earth Day falls on April 22 each year to inform people about environmental problems and inspire them to act. It first came into being in 1970, followed in 1972 by World Environment Day. It has been celebrated ever since, slowly but surely picking up steam. Interestingly, it remained a grassroots affair for 20 years before spreading out to 140 countries in 1990. Now, it is celebrated around the world. Humans still face many challenges, such as climate change and plastic pollution. But we can all make a difference.

When Claire was in the seventh grade, she learned about plans to expand and modernize her middle school. As a follower of Earth Day, she wanted to help. Claire asked the school board to add solar panels to the project because, she explained, clean energy would contribute to a truly modern school, and help her school pursue sustainable development.

The board liked the idea but said it could contribute just $25,000, one-fifth of the cost. So Clarie turned to the community, looking for a solution. Her friends and neighbors shared her enthusiasm. Soon Claire organized a group of kids and adults, who set to work raising the rest. They wrote grant (拨款) requests, put on a talent show and asked for donations, even going door-to-door for them at Halloween. And they appealed to charitable foundations too. One donated more than half the cost!

After two years of hard work, the group paid for the solar panels, which now supply one-fourth of the school’s electricity needs, saving the district thousands of dollars. “My favorite part about this project was that one person could start something small and then the project could grow and have a big impact on the community,” Claire said “There are always going to be barriers and hard parts. When there’s a challenge presented to you, use it as a learning moment and an opportunity to overcome it.”

You can be a hero for the environment, so find out what can be recycled where you live.

3 . A new research in Nature reveals that a warming world is increasing human-wildlife conflicts. “We found evidence of conflicts between people and wildlife exacerbated by climate change on six continents, in five different oceans, in marine systems, in freshwater systems-involving mammals, birds, fish and so on,” said lead author Briana Abrahms.

To identify trends, the team studied published, peer—reviewed incidents of human—wildlife conflicts and identified cases that were linked specifically to the effects of climate change. These include both short-term climate events-such as a drought-as well as longer-term changes. Warming in the Arctic, for example, is leading to loss of sea ice which has left polar bears short of food. They increasingly travel on land, sometimes entering human settlements and attacking people, as a recent incident in Alaska illustrates.

Most cases of human-wildlife conflicts linked to climate involve a shift in resources—not just for wildlife, but also for people.

A majority of cases on land also involved a change in precipitation (降水), which will continue to be affected by climate change. Many resulted in human deaths or injuries, as well as property damage. “Identifying and understanding this link between human-wildlife conflicts is not only a conservation issue,” said Abrahms. “It is also a social justice and human safety issue. These types of conflicts are likely to rise as climate change intensifies (加剧), particularly as mass migrations of people and wildlife increase and resources shift.”

But, it doesn’t have to be all bad news. “One major motivation in studying the link between climate change and human-wildlife conflicts is finding solutions,” said Abrahms. “As we learn about specific incidents, we can identify patterns and tends-and come up with interventions (干预) to try to address these conflicts.”

Some interventions may be as simple as public-awareness campaigns. Governments can also plan for times when extreme climate events will bring people and wildlife into closer contact. “Once you know the root causes of a conflict, you can design interventions to help both people and wildlife,” said Abrahms. “We can change.”

6 . Remember boiling tap water for drinking? Who has the time now? Instead, bottled water is everywhere, in offices, airplanes, stores, homes and restaurants. But what’s in that bottle? Beautiful names and labels depicting romantic scenes have convinced us that the liquid is the purest drink around. But given the lack of labeling requirements for bottled water, how much do consumers really know about what’s in the bottle? “The public should not assume that water purchased in a bottle, is better regulated purer, or safer than most tap water. Water utilities are required to tell the public more about the tap water than bottled water companies are,” says Mae Wu, a bottled water (expert at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a nonprofit organization in the US devoted to protecting health and the environment. Sure, some bottled water comes from sparkling springs and other, sources. But in the US, alone, more than 25 percent of it comes from a municipal (市政的) supply. The water is treated, purified and sold to us, often at a thousand fold increase in price. Most people are surprised to learn that they are drinking glorified tap water, but bottlers aren’t required to list the source on the label.

According to the Asian Bottled Water Association, water from municipal supply does not have to state on its label that it is from a community water system. However, there are some brands like Nestle Pure Life that indicate whether the water comes from public, private or deep well sources. Advertising can be misleading at best and deceptive at worst. In a recent case, a food and drink manufacturer boasted in a TV commercial that its mineral water came from a “high-quality water source” but it turned out that, that was no more than plain tap water.

The potential health risks are important to understand, but bottled water also affects the health of the planet. While we struggle to, cut down on our consumption of fossil fuels, bottled water increases it. Virgin petroleum (石油) is used to make PET, and the more bottles we use, the more virgin petroleum will be needed to create new bottles. Fossil fuels are burned to fill the bottles and distribute them. Some brands of water come from islands and countries thousands of kilometers away, and shipping bottles can cause carbon pollution to spill into the water and spew into the air.

So, what is plogging? As a matter of fact, it is a    1    of picking and jogging, which means picking up garbage while working out. Many people    2    it because plogging benefits us a lot. It not only helps us keep    3    and mentally healthy but also is of great    4    to protect the environment and our homeland. People of all ages can participate in this kind of exercise. More than that, it raises the public    5    of environmental issues and develops their sense of responsibility.

9 . New research has discovered that adult howler monkeys use play to avoid conflict and reduce group tension, with levels of play increasing when they are faced with limited resources.

Howler monkey play involves individuals hanging from their tails(尾巴)and making facial expressions and signals, such as shaking their heads. However, play is an energy-costly activity for howler monkeys, who generally have an inactive lifestyle due to their mainly leaf-based diet.

The researchers examined how play varies with age, and they measured the amount of time adults play with other adults and with juvenile monkeys within their groups. By studying seven different groups of howler monkeys in the rain forests of Mexico and Costa Rica, the researchers found that the amount of adult play is linked to the number of potential playmates, increasing in line with the size of the group. Adults spend more time playing with other adults, rather than juveniles, and adult females spend more time engaged in play than adult males.

Crucially, the researchers found that play among adults increases in line with time spent searching for fruit. Howler monkeys typically eat leaves, and fruit is a highly prized resource that generates competition among the monkeys. Lead author Dr.Norberto Asensio, of University of the Basque Country, said,“One theory for the positive effect of fruit consumption on play is that a fruit-based diet simply provides the howler monkeys with more energy compared to their typical diet of leaves.”

“If this was the case, we should have observed adults engaging in more play with other adults of the group, instead of young monkeys during fruit searching. Because young monkeys do not pose a threat or provide competition at fruit trees, we believe that play among adults is a method for solving conflicts within the group, in a similar way that grooming(梳理毛发) is used by some other animals.”

10 . Our oversized, male Golden Retriever (金毛寻回犬), Rusty weighed much more than most Goldens. Though big, he was _________. When Karen, my 18-month-old daughter, held a cookie out to him, he’d take it gently. Wherever she went, Rusty would _________ her. If we grown-ups held out food for him, _________ , he ate it like a hungry wolf.

One day, I was occupied with chores all the morning in the kitchen. When I looked out the window, my heart _________! Our back yard had two levels, with stone steps leading from the lower level to the larger open area above. At the highest point of the steps was a _________ of 1.5 meters to the lower level. Then and there, I saw Karen on the upper level walking along the edge!

Though _________, I didn’t shout for fear of frightening her into losing _________ and falling to the ground below. Then I noticed Rusty beside her, moving to _________ the way. Not to be stopped, Karen walked to an open spot. Just as quickly, Rusty moved himself in front again, _________ her.

That repeated a couple of times. Finally, she got __________ and moved back to the center. Sighing with __________, I ran up immediately. “Come on, Karen,” I said, “Let’s go inside and get a __________.”

She clapped her hands and grabbed mine, making her way down slowly. Rusty stayed by her side, moving at her pace. When we got to the door, she __________ my hand and crawled through the doggy door. Rusty followed. This was how they got outside with the door __________. By the time I got to the kitchen, Karen and her four-legged nanny were waiting for the __________ cookie.

I never worried about Karen playing outside after that.