1 . Do you know that forests cover an estimated 38 percent of the total land surface of the European Union (EU)? And that these extensive areas covered with trees and underbrush need to be protected so they can continue to do good for the environment for the next generation? Now the EU has just come up with is ambitious new “Forest Strategy”.

Forests can fight against climate change and prevent biodiversity loss They can reduce the impacts of climate change by cooling down cities, protecting us from heavy flooding, and reducing drought impacts. They are valuable ecosystems that are home to a major part of the world’s plants and animals. But forests also improve our health and well-being through functions like water regulation, erosion (侵蚀) control and air purification. And they serve as ideal settings for “recreation, relaxation and learning, as well as securing livelihoods”.

This new European- wide forest conservation vision takes in an impressive commitment to plant a minimum of three billion additional trees over the next decade. This is an ambitious plan but a long overdue one because forests have been battered by severe weather and human impacts, particularly the demand for wood over the last ten years. As the EU Observer puts it,“extreme weather events and the increasing demand for forest services and products, driven by wood-based bioenergy and international trade, have accelerated tree cover loss in the last decade.”

This EU strategy takes into account the complexity of ; forest sustainability. Observation, knowledge exchange, ongoing monitoring and close cooperation between public and private organizations and individuals are also key elements in this new continent- wide forest protection strategy.

This is a future- focused blueprint, designed to protect these precious green areas, and ensure that the trees and greenery are here to stay!

4 . Biodiversity is a concept that's commonly referenced, yet regularly misunderstood. The complex_______ not only refers to the unbelievable variety of life on Earth, but to how everything from genes to entire ecosystems interact to make the planet habitable. The bad news: science shows that biodiversity is _______ worldwide at a faster rate than at any time in human history. That’s obviously devastating for everything in nature--including us.

“If biodiversity disappears, so do people,” says Dr. Stephen Woodley, field ecologist and bio-diversity expert with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “We are part of the _______ and we do not exist without it.”

Preventing such a catastrophe, says Woodley, begins with understanding why biodiversity is declining, and then taking action to _______ course.

“The two greatest _______ of biodiversity loss are habitat loss, primarily on land, and overexploitation, primarily in the ocean,” Woodley says. He explains that we can solve these problems by permanently _______ more lands and oceans and managing them for their conservation values.

That's the mission of the global Campaign for Nature, a partnership of the Wyss Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Instead of simply protecting 30 percent of the Earth, the_______ also encourages nations, in full partnership with local communities, to focus on the right 30 percent. Those areas, says Woodley, _______ the most important biodiversity, such as endangered species and ecosystems and rare species and ecosystems.

The campaign also recognizes the importance of_______ local rights. Local peoples manage or hold tenure(保有权) over lands that support about 80 percent of the world's biodiversity, making it ________ for these communities to be full partners in developing and implementing strategies.

________, protecting the health of key biodiversity areas is vital for tackling climate change, says National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Enric Sala. Pairing the international Paris Agreement to combat climate change, Sala's paper asserts, “would ________catastrophic(灾难性的) climate change, conserve species, and secure essential ecosystem services.”

“Biodiversity is stability,” says Sala. “Trees, wetlands, grasslands, peat bogs(泥炭沼泽), salt marshes(盐沼), healthy ocean ecosystems, mangroves(红树林), and plants ________ much of the carbon pollution humans put into the atmosphere. Yet, right now, less than half of the planet is in its natural state, which isn't enough.” Bottom line: Nature needs us to act-now. “Moving to Mars is not a(n) ________,” Sala adds. “The only conditions for our life and for the prosperity of human society are here on Earth ...we are ________ protecting it.”

5 . A Plastic Ocean is a film to make you think. Think, and then act. We need to take action on our dependence on plastic. We’ve been producing plastic in huge quantities. Drinking bottles, shopping bags and even clothes are made with plastic.     1     What happens to all the rest? This is the question the film A Plastic Ocean answers.

The film begins as a journey to film the largest animal on the planet, the blue whale. But during the journey the filmmakers make the shocking discovery of a huge, thick layer of plastic floating in the Indian Ocean.     2     In total, they visited 20 locations around the world during the four years to make the film.

In the film there are beautiful shots of the seas and marine life.     3     We see how marine species are being killed by all the plastic we are throwing in the ocean. The message about our use of plastic is painfully obvious.

    4     In the second half, the filmmakers look at what we can do to deal with the problem. They present short-term and long-term solutions. These include avoiding plastic containers and recycle as much as you can. The filmmakers also stress the need for governments to work more on recycling programmes.

We make a shocking amount of plastic. Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, and at least 8 million of those are thrown into the oceans. The results are very harmful, but it isn’t too late to change.     5    

7 . You just can’t imagine what a brave mother is like. She was a mother of three, who just _______ an earthquake, couldn’t tell if her children were _______ for help. Or what if you knew you couldn’t yell at her for help because she couldn’t _______ you? That was what happened to Connie and her three children _______ the 6.1-magnitude earthquake rocked Napa, California. Connie is _______ and communicates with her children using sign language.

At midnight, Connie and her three children were _______ on the first floor of their two-story home. She and her 16-year-old son, Juan, were shaken awake. Instantly, they realized there were no disaster supplies downstairs. Connie, also _______ one-month-old Raul and 8-year-old Adriana, called Juan to come close to her in the darkness and _______ for him to go upstairs to get a _______.

Juan slowly __________ the stairs. He heard a loud creak (嘎吱声). Arriving on the top floor, he moved quickly but __________ to get what he needed. Using the flashlight to guide his steps back __________ the stairs, the family was able to take a few items from the first floor and __________. Their home was almost in ruins.

Being deaf was not deterrent (妨碍物) for this __________ mother. The family made it to the __________ safely, which comforted everyone.

8 . New Zealand’s government recently announced it will help pay for poorer families to replace their old cars with cleaner hybrid(混合动力的)or electric vehicles. The government said it plans to spend $357 million on the test program.

The move is part of a wider plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are believed to cause warming temperatures in the Earth’s atmosphere. New Zealand plans to provide aid for businesses to reduce emissions and have buses that run on environmentally safe fuel by 2035. The government also plans to provide food-waste collection for most homes by 2030.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardem said in a statement, “We’ve all seen the recent reports on sea level rise and its influence right here in New Zealand. We cannot leave the issue of climate change until it’s too late to fix.” The plan is a step toward New Zealand’s stated goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Reaching net-zero emissions means not creating more carbon in the atmosphere than oceans and forests can remove. Ardern said that reducing dependence on traditional fuels would help protect families from extreme price increases. The plan also sets a goal of reducing total car travel by 20 percent over the next 13 years. The programs will be paid for from a $2.8 billion climate emergency response fund.

Officials said that over time, money collected from polluters would pay for the programs rather than taxes from families. Some critics of the plan say it continued to be less restrictive on New Zealand’s huge agriculture industry. Agriculture creates more than half of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions. But the industry is also important to the economy as the nation’s biggest export earner.

David Seymour is the leader of New Zealand’s ACT political party. He said that some of the announced programs are proven to be ineffective and have been tried and failed overseas. Seymour added that people should be able to choose how they reduce emissions through the market-basedd emissions trading plan.

10 . Humankind has tried to improve its standard of living since the very beginning of civilization. Back then, as well as today, providing food and security was the basic task for a person.     1    People feel the need for not only some primary things, such as a piece of bread and a roof over their heads, but also for various facilities and luxuries. Providing humanity with these things is connected to the use of natural resources, which requires energy. The problem is that the common sources of energy we use today cause pollution, so economic growth is almost inevitably associated with environmental damage.

    2    One of these is the fact that in order to produce more goods and products, the construction of large industrial plants is required. These plants produce a lot of waste, leading to the pollution of water and the atmosphere, which may cause negative long-term health effects to nearby populations of animals, or people.

Industrial manufacturing leads to the constantly increasing energy consumption.     3    There also exist so-called eco-friendly sources of energy. They are sometimes preferred but replacing the traditional sources with them also requires time, during which people have to make some sacrifices to support these undertakings.     4    This is expensive and has harmful effects on the environment. For example, application of wind energy would block airflows’ natural speed, which is the reason for their decrease in strength, after crossing the windmill.     5    And it is important to remember that the environment and weather conditions are directly affected by atmospheric pressure.

For these reasons, bringing about economic growth without resulting in any environmental damage is impossible.