Leonora, a 51-year-old from the Philippines,     1    (make) women’s dresses out of waste materials in recent years since she believes     2    (wear) such clothes can be cheap and look good. To make her dresses, she uses     3    foot-operated sewing (缝纫) machine to join together the waste materials, including recycled newspapers, plastic wrappers and rice bags,     4    which Leonora makes her designs. The bubble (泡沫) wrappers from delivery packages are nice-looking and suitable for a good design,     5    (particular) for making wedding dresses. They are also used for everything from wedding decoration to birthday     6    (party).

In Asia, there is plenty of waste material for Leonora to apply. Most of the world’s ocean waste     7    (carry) by Asian rivers. And her country, the Philippines, is responsible for one third of Asia’s ocean plastic pollution.

“The dresses are really     8    (impress). It’s important to recycle such materials so we can help our earth,” said Lalaine     9    buys clothes from Leonora.

Most of her dresses are used in the beauty     10    (compete) and are popular with young girls. “I get delighted whenever they win. The designs are simple, but they still win,” she said.

2 . Earth Day is April 22. Every year, people around the world observe the day by helping to care for the environment. They carry out all kinds of activities in an effort to better the planet’s heath.

One way to support this goal is to grow plants native to your area. This helps wildlife like birds and insects that evolved alongside native plants. For many of these animals, plant pollen (花粉) is their food. Native pollinators often cannot recognize non-native plants as food. This means they do not collect the pollen or spread plants’ seeds. Planting non-native species creates so-called “food deserts” for pollinators including bees, birds, bats, butterflies and more.

Doug Taamy is a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. Entomology is the study of insects. He found that non-native plant species can harm the natural food chain, which can lead to a collapse of the environment. “Plant choice matters,” he said. “The plants we choose to landscape our properties should be determined by how much life can live there.”

Humans depend strongly on insects. Without them, we would have no flowering plants, which would harm the food web that supports important animals. Birds, for example, depend on plants for food and spread their seeds while keeping the populations of harmful insects down.

Insects support plants that provide oxygen, clean our water, capture carbon and add nutrients to the soil. That builds topsoil and prevents flooding. Without insects, the biosphere — the living parts of the Earth — would rot because of the loss of insect decomposers. Humans simply could not survive that, Tallamy said.

In addition to providing food and habitat for insects and other wildlife, native plants are able to grow easily and do not require much care. That means less watering and less fertilizing. The situation is a win-win for gardeners and pollinators.

3 . A tsunami is a series of huge waves that can kill many people and destroy a whole country. A terrible tsunami disaster happened on December 26, 2004.     1     It is said that it might not be the worst and a future tsunami in the Indian Ocean could affect Singapore, Somalia, Western Australia, and many other places.

The word “tsunami” comes from Japanese words. A tsunami can be caused by natural phenomenon such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, large asteroid impacts (小行星撞击地球), and earthquakes occurring underwater or close to a body of water.     2    

A tsunami usually cannot be seen while it travels through deep water.     3     On December 26, 2004, some people saw the sea suddenly disappeared just before the waves came and knew that something was wrong. Some people managed to run fast from it and survived, but many people, who did not see any signs or did not run fast enough, died.

    4     If you are in a coastal area where the water suddenly draws back, the only chance of survival is to run for high ground or for the high floors of high-rise buildings. But because it moves too fast for people to run from it, only those who are lucky manage to survive.

Since the tsunami of 2004, many people know more about tsunami.     5    

4 . “What if we treat the ocean as if our lives depend on it? Or, what if we don’t?” World-famous marine biologist Sylvia Earle poses her famous “what if” questions to inspire people to reflect on how they can help save the ocean. In 1998, Time magazine named Earle its first “Hero for the Planet.”

Earle’s move to Florida’s west coast at age 12 is what started a lifelong passion. She says, “That’s where I first fell in love with the ocean.” In 1953, using newly developed equipment, the young scientist became one of the first in her field to scuba dive (水肺潜水). Her first long-term exposure to the ocean depths came in 1970 when she led an all-female research team to study the ocean. They lived under the sea in a submersible (潜水器) for two weeks. When they returned to the surface, world-wide cheer and praise were waiting, especially for Dr. Earle.

Sylvia Earle’s career includes many firsts. In 1979 she became the first woman to walk the ocean floor 381 meters below the surface. In 1990, she became the first female chief scientist of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Through the years, Earle has spent roughly 7,500 hours underwater. During that time, she has become increasingly alarmed by the significant changes she has observed.

The famous scientist fears that the ocean is dying. Climate change, overfishing, the dumping of trash and chemicals and oil spills are just some of the many causes. In order to tackle the problem, Earle formed Mission Blue in 2009. This organization promotes the legal protection and conservation of the world’s oceans. Her plan is to develop “Hope Spots,” protected areas large enough to reverse (逆转) damage and restore the ocean.

5 . A Ghanaian man in Africa, who once made glass jewelry (珠宝), is now focusing on more than _________. The glass artist is reducing glass waste and helping his country both economically and _________.

Tetteh got to _________ the art of glass blowing (吹制) during a visit to Europe in 2012, then he became the nation’s only professional glass blower. Later, the beautifully-colored, artistic flower holders or water carriers really _________ him.

Why not _________ more Ghanaian people to make art pieces from glass? With efforts, Tetteh set up his own workplaces in Ghana where, every day, they _________ broken glass from waste centers and turns it into _________ for family use and decoration. Largely _________, after all, Ghana buys about $300 million yearly worth of glass and pottery from other countries.

Tetteh melts the _________ glass from old televisions or bottles and turns the old glass into hot liquid. Using a long pole to remove a ball of melted glass, he starts working to ____________ the glass into colorful items people can use again. Actually, In the past ten years, Tetteh’s ____________ has not only saved the country a lot of money but got the country ____________.

Tetteh, now 44, loves what he is doing. “Glass is my ____________, but Ghana is my heart,” he laughed, ____________ to do something for his country ____________.

6 . Environmental pollution and other human activities are leading to thousands of deaths among seabirds, a new study has warned.

Ecological experts tracked the behavior of British and Irish seabirds. They used satellites to track hundreds of the creatures to find out where they went to catch fish at sea. The study can help assess potential impact from human activities and where protected areas of the seas should be.

Lightweight GPS tags were fitted to more than 1,300 adult birds from 29 different colonies around the UK and Ireland, including kittiwakes, shags, razorbills and guillemots. Results from the five-year study show the large areas of sea the four seabird species use. They found it was at least 600,000 square miles, an area three times the size of Spain. It shows how far they travel from their nests in search of food for their chicks. And it shows the use of the seas by all four species concentrated in the coastal waters of Scotland, highlighting the importance of conservation measures there.

The four species studied require conservation help, with kittiwake numbers declining 71 percent in the past 25 years and shag populations down 61 percent. This means both seabirds are "red listed" and need urgent protection. Razorbills and guillemots are "amber listed", which means they are considered to need conservation action.

Dr. Ewan, lead author of the research, said, “Many seabirds are at the top of the marine food web. They feed on some small fish but that prey is declining because of human pressures, including climate change. The result is that thousands of sea baby birds are dying each year because their parents can't feed them. For the first time, this study provides us with a full map for the feeding areas for some of our most important seabird species.”

The analysis provides critical data to inform marine management, the experts said.