Nature’s Lungs

We know that trees are nature’s purifier (净化器): They absorb carbon emissions (碳排放)and release oxygen. But their     1       (able) to do that changes as they age. According to Newsweek, trees     2       are at least 20 years old can absorb carbon better than younger ones and older ones. And a recent study by researchers from South Korea’s Forest Research Institute     3       (find) exactly how much carbon that each 25-year-old cherry tree can absorb: 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms) each year.

According to the study, there are     4       (current) about 1.5 million cherry trees in South Korea, which means they can take in as much as 13,650 tons of carbon each year.

This may sound like a lot,     5       it’s only the annual emissions of 6,000 cars. And it’s pretty     6       (shock) if you think about it: The annual emissions of a single-car requires 250 mature cherry trees to absorb     7       carbon.

Yet, planting trees is still considered the most effective way     8       (reduce) global warming, according to Professor Tom Crowther of the Swiss university ETH Zurich. “Forest restoration isn’t just one of our climate change     9       (solution), it’s the top one,” he told the Guardian. “What blows my mind is the scale. I thought restoration would be in the top 10, but it is much    10     (powerful) than all of the other climate change solutions proposed.”

Apples are ready to pick when the skin color deepens and the fruit comes away     1     (easy) from the tree. The presence of windfalls (风吹落的果子) is a good     2     (indicate) that fruits are ready to pick. Not all apples are ready     3     the same time, so pick regularly as most of them are fully developed.

To pick an apple, cup it in your hand, lift, and twist gently. It should be separate from     4     (it) end. Always touch apples gently     5     (avoid) injuring them, and never tug (拽) an apple from the tree     6     you may damage the fruiting spurs (枝丫) or cause apples nearby to drop.

Early season apples are eaten best soon after     7     (pick) as they don’t store (储藏) well. Midseason apples will store for a few weeks, and late season apples should be good for up to six     8     (month). Apples chosen for storage must be in perfect condition. Check stored apples regularly and remove the ones that     9     (be) going soft, brown, or rotting,

Store your apples in a cool but frost-free, dark, well-ventilated place such as a shed or garage. Make sure they don’t touch, or else wrap them in newspaper. Different species store for different lengths of time — keep them separate and use those     10     have a shorter storage life sooner.

According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), approximately three billion people rely on seafood as their     1     (big) source of protein. Just under half of the fish we eat comes from wild animals     2     (catch) in the oceans,     3     the rest coming from fish farms. Besides the familiar fish and shellfish, the oceans provide something else     4     reaches into our diets and daily lives, often without us knowing it. Each year, at least 25 million barrels (桶) of seaweed     5     (farm). Sometimes you’ll see it as the nori (紫菜) wrapped around your sushi rolls, but a lot of it is employed to make     6     (industry) products, including alginates and carrageenans, which end up in all sorts of items. Those     7     (range) from shampoo and toothpaste to ice cream and beer can all contain chemicals got from seaweed.

Seaweed farming has traditionally been carried out in Asia, and now other countries including the UK and US are catching onto the benefits. Not only is seaweed considered to be     8     “superfood” that’s rich in iodine, calcium and amino acids, but it can be     9     (sustainable) farmed and is carbon-neutral (碳平衡), absorbing carbon dioxide and mopping up excess nutrients from the sea. Seaweed can be used     10     (create) biofuels, while research suggests that cattle raised on seaweed-based feeds produce less methane, a greenhouse gas.