1 . Help Hermit Crabs

Hermit crabs are nature’s recyclers. They eat waste and help keep oceans and shores clean. Unlike other crabs, the hermit crab has a thin outer shell over its soft tail. This makes the hermit crab easy prey for hungry predators. Hermit crabs stay safe by living in old seashells. A hermit crab is picky; it tries on many shells until it finds one that fits just right. In recent years, however, many hermit crabs have had trouble finding their perfect homes. What is the problems There are not enough shells to go around!

One reason for the seashell shortage is that ocean water is not as clean as it once was. This has caused chemical changes to sea water. Some sea animals, like snails, are affected by these changes. Now there are fewer snails making shells. People visiting the beach often take shells home as souvenirs. This is another problem. Other people even take shells for their own pet hermit crabs! They do not realize that hermit crabs in the wild need those shells too.

Now people are working to solve this hermit crab housing shortage. They are teaching beach-Boers to leave seashells where they belong — at the seashore! Some people even make fake seashells that they hope the hermit crabs will like. For example, a group called Project Shelter invited people who visited their website to create different designs for hermit crab shells.

These designers had a lot to consider. What kind of material should be used to build a seashells. The material must be light enough for the hermit crab to carry, but strong enough to protect the crab from predators. The man-made shells could not contain glue or any other substance that might harm a hermit crab. Another challenge with building a hermit crab home was the opening to the shell. Too big would mean the crab would not feel safe. Too small would be uncomfortable, and the crab would not want to move in.

The Project Shelter shells are placed in the wild for hermit crabs to find. Lucky hermit crabs can move into these new dream homes.

2 . It will soon be possible to reduce common indoor air pollution using just a curtain. A mineral-based surface treatment enables this new curtain from IKEA to break down air pollutants when exposed to light. Air pollution is a global problem. According to WHO, around 90% of people worldwide breathe polluted air. It causes eight million deaths per year.

The Swedish furniture company hopes to reduce this number by producing an air-purifying (净化空气) curtain. It can increase people’s awareness of indoor air pollution. It can also change some people's bad habits and bring clean air to the world. The technology will be applied to other textiles (纺织品).

The curtain uses a technology that has been developed by IKEA suppliers over the last few years. The process, similarly to photosynthesis (光合作用), is activated by both outdoor and indoor light. It's important to work on products that solve actual problems. Textiles are used across homes. By enabling a curtain to purify the air, they are creating an affordable and space-saving air purifying solution. Meanwhile, the home will become more beautiful.

For many years, IKEA has been reducing air pollution. They avoid using chemicals that release air. Last year, IKEA launched a campaign, aiming to turn rice straw—a rice harvesting remains that is traditionally burned and contributes heavily to air pollution—into a new renewable material source.

IKEA has also promised to become climate positive by 2030, reducing our overall climate footprint by 70% on average per product. The company has recently been praised for making their products made from renewable or recycled materials. In fact, IKEA has been working on positive change. It is their dream to enable people to live healthier lives.

3 . In 1994, The Brazilian photographer Salgado went back to his homeland in Minas Gerais, Brazil. He was__________ to see the land run by his family. The thick forest there was once a paradise   ( 乐园 ) for him and his friends, bringing them___ memories.

To his horror, he saw a totally different____. Only 0.5% of the land was covered with trees. “The land was as sick as a serious patient — everything was______ due to deforestation (砍伐森林),” Salgado said___ during a meeting on climate change in Paris.

Salgado ______that he should do something about it. Then he ______the bold idea of replanting trees on the land, which beyond his expectations, received___ from his wife and relatives. Soon the whole family _______   and the results are remarkable. _______, the land is changing: It is carpeted with green trees again and some of the insects, birds and animals living in the land before____. The land has been brought back to life. The___ family’s hard work also impressed people around them. They___ cutting down trees and began to protect the environment.

“The work over the years is quite difficult but well worth the_____ and I think every   little bit of work_____,” said Salgado. Therefore, everyone should play a part in protecting   the environment.

At 3:42 a.m., everything began to shake. The world seemed to come to     1     end! Eleven kilometers directly below the city, one of the most deadly earthquakes of the 20th century had begun, a quake causing damage more than 150 kilometers away in Beijing. It was reported that it could     2     (feel) by nearly one third of the whole nation! A huge crack, eight kilometers long and 30 meters wide, cut across houses, roads, and waterways. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In less than one minute, a large city lay in ruins. Two thirds of the people     3     lived there were dead or injured. Thousands of children were left without parents. The number of people     4     (kill) or badly injured in the quake was more than 400,000.

Like all big cities, Paris has a traffic problem: lots of cars, traffic jams and pollution from exhaust fumes (废气). So since 2007, the city     1     (begin) a plan to improve the situation.

Under the Velib scheme (公共自行车计划), people can take a bicycle, use it as long as they want, and then leave it at the same or another bicycle station. The first half hour is free,     2     if you don’t return it after 30 minutes, you have to pay. It is only 1 a day or 29 a year. The bicycles are as heavy as 25 kilograms, and they’re all grey and have    3    (basket). There are a large number of them in the city, and the bicycle stations are more than the subway stations!

Paris isn’t the first city     4     (operate)a scheme like this. Not everybody thinks it’s a great idea. One Parisian (巴黎人) said, “These bicycles are only suitable     5     short journeys. If people want to travel across the city, they won’t use a bicycle-they’ll still use their cars.”

A city spokesman said, “The bicycle scheme won’t solve all our traffic problems, but it might work in    6    (reduce) air pollution. Traffic, together with factory fumes,           7     (be) a big problem. Global warming and dramatic climate changes are becoming more and more serious,     8    is partly because rain-forests are    9    (gradual) disappearing. And it’s also because there’s so much pollution. There aren’t any simple answers to traffic problems and pollution in cities, but the bicycles might help people lead a healthier life. Unless we do something now, there will be more traffic jams and temperatures will continue to rise, so the problems in our environment will get even       10     (bad).”

10 . Here are four women who made it their life’s mission to make the world a better place through environmental activism.

“I have not accomplished anything. ”This statement was made by Greta Thunberg(17 years old)and it couldn’t be further from the truth. Her dedication to protecting the environmenl for our future generations is all accomplishment on its own. Her ability to resist to adults in power is admirable and continues to push the importance of conservation to the front of our minds.

WE ACT for Environmental Justice is an organization that“through advocacy，planning，and research…mobilizes low-income communities to make environmental changes. ”At the helm(掌权)of WE ACT is Peggy Shepard. Her goal is to make sure that sustainable environmental practices are accessible to all，regardless of circumstance.

American marine biologist，writer，scientist，and ecologist，Rachel Carson(1907—1964)，was way ahead of her time. She wrote about conservation in the late 1930s and focused on her mission of protecting our oceans.

In the late 90s，Julia“Butterfly”Hill spent 738 days living in an ancient redwood，called Luna. This act brought awareness to the immense human threats to Redwood trees. Julia continues to advocate for the environment. “By standing together in unity，solidarity and love，we will heal the wounds in the earth and in each other. We can make a positive difference through our actions. ”