2 . The world’s coral reefs do more for the planet than provide underwater beauty. They protect shorelines from the effects of hurricanes. An estimated 500 million people earn their livelihood from the fishing stocks and tourism opportunities reefs provide. The tiny animals that give rise to reefs are even offering hope for new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.

Despite their importance, warming waters, pollution, ocean acidification, overfishing, and physical destruction are killing coral reefs around the world. So now scientists around the world are looking for all kinds of ways to protect and maybe even revive(复苏) corals. In the Bahamas, Ross Cunning, a research biologist at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, is focusing on corals with genes that could make them natural candidates for restoration projects. He recently published a study of two Bahamian reefs, one that seemed to survive an intense 2015 heat wave, and one that didn’t.“It sets the stage to find out which genes are responsible for thermal tolerance,” says Cunning, adding that he hopes discovering those genes will help scientists one day breed more heat-tolerant coral.

In Massachusetts, Cohen’s research has found two key elements that seem to protect corals. The first: internal(内部的) waves beneath the ocean’s surface that bring cooler currents to heat-struck corals, essentially air-conditioning them as temperatures rise. The second: adaptation, a quality that corals found in Palau’s warm lagoons(环礁湖) seem to display.On average, these lagoons submerge(淹没) coral in water that is two degrees Celsius warmer than the water outside the lagoons. “We think the fact that they can deal with these higher temperatures is built into their genetics and allows them to deal with the heat waves.”

She’s also found evidence of corals evolving more quickly in the past two decades to withstand rapidly warming temperatures. The big question scientists are now enquiring into, says Cohen, is whether there’s a cap on how much more heat corals can adapt to. Cohen calls these regions with heat-adapted corals as “super reefs,” and like Friendlander, advocates for using marine reserves to protect them.

3 . New Zealand plans to put a price on sheep and cow burps (打嗝) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (排放). If the plan is passed, New Zealand will become the first country to tax (征税) farmers on each burp of their cattle, since the burps give out methane (甲烷) into the atmosphere.

“There is no question that we need to cut the amount of methane we are putting into the atmosphere, and an effective emissions pricing system for agriculture will play a key part in how we achieve that,” Climate Change Minister James Shaw said.

Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of global warming. It is reportedly responsible for at least 14.5% of the world’s emissions. Moreover, cows are by far the biggest contributors. This is so because they produce 40% of global methane when they burp, fart (放屁) and produce waste. Also, methane is 80 times more warming than CO₂ although it’s shorter-lived in the atmosphere.

New Zealand, which has a population of five million people, has around 10 million cattle and 26 million sheep. “Almost half the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, mainly methane,” the draft plan explained.

The “burp tax” is expected to take effect in 2025. Mr. Shaw wants farming to be more environmentally friendly. He also wants farmers to change the way they farm. He wants them to feed their animals on seaweed instead of grass. This will produce fewer emissions. Mr. Shaw also said farmers can reduce the tax they pay by planting more trees. Another suggestion is for cows to wear special masks.

New Zealand’s farmers support the government. They want to do their bit to help the environment.

8 . As we all know, environmental pollution is still serious nowadays. Our group wanted to know how many students knew about each kind of the pollution and we wanted to learn how often they sorted rubbish. So we did a survey among the students in our school. Here are the results of our questionnaire (问卷).

The results of the questionnaire

9 . For the past few years, I’ve taken my vacation in the spring. One April I planned to visit a friend in Nepal who had lived in the country for over 15 years.

I flew into Kathmandu and spent a week visiting sites, and on Friday, April24, 2015, we went to Lukla, a mountain town to the northeast. My friend had worked there before. We visited a nearby village on Saturday. We were served a delicious pancake and endless cups of milk tea; villagers made small talk and caught up with each other. After a couple of hours, my friend and I made a polite exit(离去) for a coffee break across the dirt path to our lodging, a house he had lived in while working in Lukla years ago.

As we sat in the kitchen taking a rest, I wondered why it felt like an underground was running under the village. As the sound started to shake, I looked out the window at the passers-by and thought it felt like a truck was driving by-impossible in this village. I looked at my friend and he said off-handedly: “It’s an earthquake.” Before I could ask questions, he began shouting to get out of the house.By the time I was running down the dirt path, I couldn’t run straight.

Away from buildings, we lowered our bodies near a low wall, and unbelievably before our eyes, walls and buildings fell. In front of us the end wall of the house we slept in collapsed(倒塌), the stones dislodging(移开)and falling to the ground. In a matter of seconds, every house in the village was damaged(损坏), with walls either seriously cracked(破裂), or partially or completely damaged.

In the days and weeks that followed we checked in with friends and shared stories of where we were and what we were doing. The event was so wide-reaching that it was difficult to understand except through personal stories.

10 . After a magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Luding county in Southwest China’s Sichuan province on Monday, rescuers from across the province have rushed to the hardest-hit areas to help affected local people.

During the search and rescue operations, the photo of a young rescuer holding a 2-month old baby in his arms has pulled the heartstrings of many people. Zhang Zili and fellow members from the Forest Fire Brigade of Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture (自治区) discovered the baby and her grandmother trapped at their home in a village on Tuesday. The rescuers have carried the baby, who suffered as light head injury, and his grandma to safety. The baby’s father is also a firefighter who was participating in rescue operations after the quake hit the area. His mother and grandfather were seriously injured and sent to hospital.

The photo of Zhang holding the baby moved many people. Zhang was lovingly referred to as “brother Wen chuan” for the characters of “Wenchuan” on his armband, which indicates that he is from the Wenchuan squadron (中队) of the Aba forest fire brigade.

The 20-year-old is a native of Maoxian county, which is close to Wenchuan county, the epicenter(震中) of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 69, 000 people in 2008. 14 years ago, Zhang witnessed the devastating earthquake, which brought down his family’s house. He and his family lived in a temporary, shelter setup at a school playground. “I remembered the tent we lived in was dark, and I was scared,” Zhang said. Here called how emergency supplies were air-dropped from” helicopters and how soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army and rescuers helped locals get over the difficulties. “Then a uncle of the PLA came to me. He taught me songs to sing and played with me. He kept saying, “Don’t be afraid. We are here now.” The words left a deep impression on the boy’s heart.

This year, when he learnt that the local forest fire brigade was recruiting (招聘) firefighters, he did not hesitate to join it. Since then, in less than four months, he has taken part in several forest firefighting missions and rescue operations of the latest earthquake.