Many of the Earth’s plants and animals have already died out, and a hundred species become     1     (endanger) every day. If nothing is done, we may find ourselves alone on Earth.

The population of wildlife species has dropped     2     (main) due to the loss of habitats. The forests that wild animals live in are being destroyed by people. As       3     result, their living area has become smaller and smaller,     4     leads to the shortage of food. Besides, many animals are dying out because of all kinds of pollution     5    (cause) by humans in the process of the     6    (develop) of society. At the same time, man is killing off animals just for     7    (get) their fur, teeth and meat.

I suggest that measures should be taken     8    (protect) wildlife. The government should keep people     9    destroying forests and shut down the factories that pollute rivers and air. I think more wildlife     10    (reserve) should also be built. In this way, we can save more wildlife species and make the world a better place.

2 . A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the rainfall spreading quite equally through the year. And the temperature there rarely falls below l6℃. Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust (调节) the climate. Without the forest cover, these areas would bend more heat back into the atmosphere, and this will warm the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall, possibly causing certain natural disasters all over the world.

In the past hundred years, humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three things: land for crops, wood for paper and other products, land for feeding farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example, a lot of CO₂ in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the things we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.

There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, when people cut down trees, generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly, cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now, but in the long run it actually reduces the world’s wood supply.

Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However, fewer than l% of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is likely that our best chance to treat diseases lies somewhere in the world’s reducing rainforests.

4 . More plants are growing and expanding around Mount Everest (local name Mount Qomolangma) as the area continues to experience the consequences of global warming, researchers have found.

Scientists from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom used satellite data to establish increases in subnival vegetation — plants that grow between the tree line and the snow line.

Using NASA Landsat satellite data from 1993 to 2018, scientists measured "small but significant" increases in vegetation cover between 4,150 and 6,000 meters above sea level.

“There are now more areas that are covered in plants than there were in 1993,” said Karen Anderson, a remote sensing scientist who led the research.

“We don't know what the impact is. It may be that plants trap snow and might cause it to melt more slowly. It might be that the plants cause the snow to melt more quickly,” she added.

1.4 billion people depend on water collected in the region, and changes to water cycles and supplies could have far reaching impacts, their research, published in the Global Change Biology journal, said.

“We know that plants and the water cycle are coupled,” Anderson explained. “Wherever you have plants growing, it changes the way the water cycle behaves in those areas.”

“This is particularly important in the Himalayas because glaciers are receding, and we know from lots of scientific work that this is already affecting water supplies in this region,” she added.

Climate change is already having an impact on Himalayan communities. A 2019 study from Columbia University found that Himalayan glaciers have been losing almost half a meter of ice each year since the start of this century. This is already resulting in flooding for local communities, and could ultimately result in drought.

Last year, an assessment from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development found that at least a third of the ice in the region could melt by the end of the century.

5 . In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was "Save water. Shower with a friend." Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse. It charges students for the amount of time in a shower. Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card. The clock starts ticking the minute the tap is turned on. It pauses when a button is pressed for soap. An integrated circuit (IC) card reader at each tap shows the time. No money, no water. The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower. The university used about 320 tons of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now.

Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided. Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race. Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower. Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they're still covered in soap. They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time.

"It's a flaw in the system that you can not buy extra time on the ID card," said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University. The university is also considering some students' suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they've finished the shower. Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower. But many students say the move helps them develop a water-saving sense.

Without the time limits, most students tended to shower from 30 to an hour in the bathhouse.Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes. "In my experience, 10-20 minutes is enough," said Dai Zhihua, a third-year student who usually takes 8 minutes.

A similar system has been installed in other universities. Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September. The bathing fee there is 0.2 yuan per minute. One male student responded by setting a record with a two-minute shower.

6 . What were you doing when you were nine years old? Making crafts from a Klutz book? Kicking around a soccer ball? Designing a business plan to deal with plastic pollution and relieve childhood poverty? Zymal Umar showed us the latter. The Pakistan’s youngest businesswoman has started a project entitled Zee Bags, which aims to reduce plastic pollution by providing an environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic grocery bags.

When Zymal was on a shopping trip with her parents three years ago, she was shocked by the number of plastic bags on the streets. Depressed by the plastic pollution, she was reminded of the severe consequences our habits have on the environment. Then, she noticed a shopkeeper handing out newspaper bags. And at that moment, Zymal knew she had to act. Since then she has created beautiful, unique reusable newspaper bags for hundreds of customers.

It’s amazing to see this youngster using her brains and business skills for good. And she should certainly feel proud of the work she is doing. After all, plastic grocery bags are killing thousands of marine animals every year through their contribution to plastic waste. According to The Earth Institute, over one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide annually—that’s about two million bags used per minute around the world.

And those bags certainly don’t disappear into thin air. Instead, they end up in our oceans, putting approximately 700 marine species in danger of extinction due to the threat from pollution. And plastic bags are just one of the many forms of plastic trash that ends up in the oceans—in fact, an astonishing 8. 8 million tons of this material make their way from land to the oceans every single year.

But with Zee Bags, we’re all empowered to make more thoughtful choices about our trash production. And Zymal’s amazingness doesn’t stop there—the profits from her sales go towards helping poor children.

The first Smokey Bear poster shows a brown-coated bear wearing jeans. He is staring     1     （shy） up from under a campaign hat as he pours a bucket of water over a campfire. “SMOKEY SAYS,” the poster     2    （read） , “Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!”

Albert Staehle, the illustrator, chose a bear because he might have wanted Smokey     3     （look） like the father of the forest, as his wife supposed. But many will forever associate the cartoon with a real baby bear,     4     paws（爪子）were burnt in a 1950 spring wildfire.

The baby bear had been rescued by Ray Bell, a forest ranger （护林员）     5    （ fight） a fire in New Mexico's Capitan Mountains. Don Bell was 15 when his father came home with the five-pound bear. The Bell family was constantly taking in wild animals to protect them     6     potential dangers, so Don Bell didn't think much of the "cute little guy" who slept in a rabbit cage. But the story of the rescued baby bear would become     7     national phenomenon. At the capital airport, the     8     （arrive） of Smokey drew hundreds of reporters, photographers and onlookers, and he appeared in     9    （newspaper） across the country.

At the zoo, Smokey drew millions of visitors during 26 years. Having a living animal symbol helped make the wildfire-safety campaign more visible. The Smokey ads were also a far     10    （ good） choice.

9 . The populations of common animals are just as likely to rise or fall in number in a time of accelerating global warming as those of rare species, a study suggests.

Until recently, scientists were still accumulating data on how animal populations were shifting over time globally across the different regions of the planet.

Making use of the newly available data, a team of University of Edinburgh researchers studied nearly 10000 animal populations recorded in the Living Planet Database between 1970 and 2014 to provide a new perspective on animal population change. These include records of mammals, reptiles, sharks, fish, birds and amphibians.

The team found that 15 percent of all populations declined during the period, while 18 percent increased and 67 percent showed no significant change. Amphibians were the only group in which population sizes declined, while birds, mammals and reptiles experienced increases. The overall decline in amphibians makes them a priority for conservation efforts, researchers say, as their loss could have knock-on effects in food chains and wider ecosystems.

Gergana Daskalova, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said, “We often assume that declines in animal numbers are prevalent everywhere. But we found that there are also many species which have increased over the last half of a century, such as those which do well in human-transformed landscapes or those which are the focus of conservation actions.”

Dr. Isla Myers-Smith, also of the School of GeoSciences, who co-authored the study, said, “Only as we bring together data from around the world, can we begin to really understand how global change is influencing the biodiversity of our planet.”

10 . A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to clean up floating(浮动的) plastic from the Pacific Ocean. He has developed a floating device(设备) to catch plastic waste moving into rivers before it reaches the oceans.

Boyan Slat was just 18 years old when he invented a system for catching waste in the ocean. He also set up an environmental group called “The Ocean Cleanup”. Its purpose is to develop the system. Last year, Slat showed the next step: a floating device called Interceptor. It takes plastic out of rivers. The device is powered by energy from the sun. “The 1,000 rivers are responsible for about 80% of plastic going into the world’s oceans,” said Slat. Three of the machines have already been used. Each machine costs about $ 775,660, but the cost might drop as production increases.

Since they were used, the machines have been doing very well, collecting the plastic bottles and all the rubbish in the rivers. According to Slat, it is necessary to close “the tap”, which means stopping more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place. He wanted to clean them all in the next five years. “This is not going to be easy, but if we do get this done, we could truly make our oceans again,” said Slat.

The device is designed to be safe in rivers. Its nose is shaped to change directions to keep it away from larger floating things. It works by guiding plastic waste into an opening in the front of the device. The waste is then carried inside the machine where it is dropped into containers(容器). The device sends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it is full.