1 . Marcelo Toledo usually creates works of art out of metal. Now the Argentine artist is working with a new material: waste masks from the COVID-19 pandemic (流行病) to create an exhibition exploring the painful impact of the virus.

Toledo, who has made decorations for the musical “Evita” on Broadway, was among the first in Argentina to be infected by COVID-19, which left him hospitalized for eight days. The experience led to a series of artworks, including a 14-meter mask with the Argentine flag that he placed on the famous Obelisk in Buenos Aires to raise awareness about organ donation during the pandemic.

For his new exhibition, the “Museum of the After,” Toledo is collecting recycled coronavirus waste sent by hospitals, laboratories and random people, including old medical parts and newspapers about the pandemic.

“I am excited to be able to transform pain into beauty and this. exhibition is just recording everything that is happening to us as a society,” Toledo said. The artworks, which will go on show from September in a public space in downtown Buenos Aires, will all be made from waste materials or garbage that people send him. “It is the first time that I have done an exhibition in which I do not have to buy any of the elements,” he said.

In the exhibition there will be a real ship that will symbolically cross a “storm” and recycling islands to raise awareness about the importance of caring for the environment. “The exhibition will tell the story of this ship that went on sailing after the storm, which is a great metaphor (隐喻) for what is happening to us. This pandemic is a great global storm,” Toledo said.

As with the huge mask, which was replicated (复制) in countries such as the United States and Japan, the artist dreams of replicating the new exhibition in other cities around the world.

It’s     1     little hard to believe that Iceland has experienced 18,000 earthquakes in a week. Most of them have been too small to feel. The seismic (地震的) activity suggests that a volcano in the southwest of Iceland,     2     hasn’t been active for over 800 years, may be about     3     (erupt). Iceland is a volcanic island and is used to the occasional earthquake. However, quakes have unsettled     4     (resident) in the capital city Reykjavik. Scientists say despite the large number     5     quakes, there has been very little damage.

Iceland     6     (lie) on top of the meeting of tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth’s crust (地壳) around 100km thick on which Earth’s landmass sits. The plates below Iceland are     7     (constant) pushing North America and Eurasia away from each other at an extremely slow rate. Living on a tectonic plate means earthquakes can’t     8     (avoid). One Reykjavik resident spoke about his anxiety     9     (cause) by the 18,000 recent quakes. He said, “It is very     10     (usual) to feel the Earth shake 24 hours a day for a whole week. It makes you feel very small and powerless against nature.”

5 . Oceans hold a lot of mystery, even for people who study them. But it’s no mystery why they’re in trouble. We’ve been using them to hide our waste, such as pouring oil, plastic, and poisonous chemicals into them for decades. We’ve over exploited (剥削) many fish stocks to levels so low that they can no longer be harvested.

Oceans are also a primary source of protein for millions of people worldwide. If we want to continue to enjoy what oceans provide, we need to do everything we can to protect them and the life they support. We should ensure the seafood we eat is sustainable.

Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to be able to catch their own fish, which means having sustainable options at the store is critical. As public and companies awareness about the risks caused by overfishing and uncontrolled sea farming expansion has grown, food tradesmen in Canada have developed sustainable seafood policies and commitments.

Seafood Progress, an online resource, is designed to help provide rewards to tradesmen and information to seafood lovers. It makes it easier for consumers in Canada to find out tradesmen’s policies on sourcing sustainable seafood, whether they’re sticking to those policies and how they’re performing compared to their peers.

But tradesmen must do more to ensure their seafood products are environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. This means expanding the scope of their commitments to cover all seafood products they sell, in all their stores. It also requires continuing to work with suppliers and producers to improve practices and make sure the sustainable seafood supply meets consumer demand.

It’s no mystery that if we want to continue to eat fish, we must do it responsibly. Seafood Progress has invited seafood tradesmen, suppliers and consumers to join in pushing to this goal.

7 . All Ric O Barry wanted was to stop the dolphin-killing, so he headed to this seaside Japanese town, Taiji. The American activist, who is the star of a new award-winning documentary that portrays the dolphin-killing here, got an unwelcome reception when he showed up here this week for the start of the annual hunt.

His movie, The Cove (海豚湾), directed by National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, was released in the United States a month ago but has not yet to come out in Japan.

Scenes in the film, some of which were shot secretly, show fishermen banging on metal poles stuck in the water to create a wall of sound that scares the dolphins, which have supersensitive sonar (声呐系统) , and sends them fleeing into a cove.

There, the fishermen sometimes pick a few to be sold for aquarium shows, for as much as $150, 000. They kill the others, spearing the animals repeatedly until the water turns red. The meat from one dolphin is worth about 50, 000 yen, and is sold at supermarkets across Japan.

Greenpeace and other groups have tried to stop the hunt for years. Activists hope The Cove will bring the issue to more people internationally, and eventually in Japan.

Already, the Australian town of Broome dropped its 28-year sister-city relationship with Taiji last month, partly because of the movie.

“Some regions have a tradition of eating dolphin meat,” said fisheries official Toshinori Uoya. “Dolphin-killing may be negative for our international image, but it is not something orders can stop.”

The town government in Taiji, which has made whales and dolphins its trademark, refused to comment about The Cove, or the growing international criticism against dolphin-killing.

Many in Taiji take the dolphin hunt for granted as part of everyday life. They are defensive about The Cove, seeing themselves as powerless victims of overseas pressure to end a simple and honest way of making a living.

8 . Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein’s jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.

Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts(收银台). The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.

Among the bag makers’ argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.

The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.

Environmentalists don’t dispute(质疑) these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.

9 . Climbers at Qomolangma are being asked to clean up after themselves.

Qomolangma has earned the nickname (绰号) the World’s Highest Garbage Dump (垃圾场).

Climbing Qomolangma, the world's highest mountain, just becomes more challenging. The government of Nepal is telling climbers they cannot leave trash on the trails. Each climber will have to come down the mountain with at the least 18 pounds of garbage. That’s the average amount of trash a climber leaves behind on Qomolangma.

Officials say climbers are responsible for their own trash. “We are not asking climbers to pick up trash left by someone else,” said the Nepal Tourism Ministry. “We just want them to bring back what they took up.”

More than 4,000 people have reached the 29,035-foot summit (顶峰) in more than 60 years. Leaving trash along the way helps climbers keep their bags light so they have energy to reach the summit. “The trash problem in Qomolangma is not new.” Burlakoti says. “When the people started to climb the mountain, they started to leave their garbage there.” They have left behind bottles, food boxes and equipment.

The new rule came into effect in April, 2014. To make sure it is followed, climbers will have to deposit money (交保证金) before they climb. Once they climb back down the mountain, officials will check climbers at a return camp to make sure they have the required 18 pounds of trash. If they do, their money will be returned to them. If they do not, climbers will not receive their deposit and they will not be given a permit the next time they want to climb Qomolangma.

The goal is to make sure no more litter will be left on Qomolangma. “As we offer Qomolangma to all the people of the world they should take responsibility to clean it.” Burlakoti says, “After seeing the results from this, we will also apply this rule to other mountains.”

Each year     1    (thousand) of tourists visit the polar regions of the Arctic and Antarctica. But the increasing number of people traveling to the ends of the Earth can have     2    negative effect on fragile ecosystems. Should tourists     3    (allow) to visit polar regions?

About 40,000 tourists visit Antarctica each year. More than five million travel to the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Transporting tourists to the regions    4    (increase) ship and airplane traffic, adding to the risk of pollution, oil spills, and other     5    (environment) damage. Because the places where wildlife is accessible     6    (be) few in number, tourist traffic can become concentrated in specific areas,     7     (put)Arctic vegetation(植被) at risk.

Others say that access     8    these very special parts of the world should not be restricted to only researchers and scientists. Polar tourism allows people to develop deep     9    （person） connections with polar regions. “Those     10    travel to the Arctic or Antarctica often become cheerleaders for supporting those places.” Jim Sano, vice president for travel and conservation at World Wildlife Fund, told TFK.