AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The heavy smoke from devastating Australian bushfires cloaked Auckland,     1    (turn) the city's skyline into strange, mysterious and frightening orange color     2     Sunday afternoon.

New Zealand meteorology service MetService forecast that     3     upper level jet of westerly winds was driving the smoke across the Tasman Sea towards New Zealand. The smoke     4    (expect) to arrive Sunday evening and was likely to be     5    (large) gone by the morning.

It is the second layer of smoke coming from the Australian bushfires,     6     is cloaking the North Island and upper parts of the South Island. Much of the South Island     7    (awake) to reddish-brown skies on New Year's Day before the smoke spread to the North Island.

MetService said it is possible     8     people would be able to smell and taste the smoke. However, long-lasting health     9    (effect) are not expected.

On Friday, the New Zealand government pledged twenty two     10    (many) firefighters to help fight the Australian bushfires.

Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories,    1    (destroy) fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged    2    their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or roofs. One person was killed, several were    3    (serious) hurt and taken to hospital,and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.

A farmer,Mr.Tan,said that the storm began early    4    the morning and lasted for over an hour.

“I    5    (eat) with my wife and children,” he said, “when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us.We tried our best    6    (climb) out but then I saw that one of my children was    7    (miss). I went back inside and found him, safe    8    very frightened.”

Mrs.Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she    9    (feel) that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children.

Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded area and the welfare department brought    10    (they) food, clothes and shelter.

Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories,    1     destroy) fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged    2    their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or roofs. One person was killed, several were    3     (serious) hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.  

A farmer, Mr. Tan, said that the storm began early     4     the morning and lasted for over an hour.  

“I     5     (eat) with my wife and children,” he said, “when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best    6    climb) out but then I saw that one of my children was    7     (miss). I went back inside and found him, safe    8    very frightened.”

Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she     9     (feel) that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children.

Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded area and the welfare department brought     10     (they) food, clothes and shelter.

Located in Erdos, North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Kubuqi Desert is the     1     (close) desert to China’s capital Beijing.

It was once known     2     “the sea of death”. However, in the past 30 years, the government, social organizations and local farmers and herdsmen     3     (work) together to control the desertification in Kubuqi desert.

Historically. Kubuqi was a rich city filled with water and grass. But due to climate change and over-exploitation from humans, the farmlands     4     (final) turned to desert over 2.000 years.

Controlling desertification was the only way out for people still living in Kubuqi. With the first highway going through the desert     5     (build) in 1999. People started planting trees in the whole desert. It was common for planted trees to die. But the next year, people just continued to plant more trees. Their hard work inspired the term “ Kubuqi spirit ”,     6     （ encourage）local people to move forward with great efforts.

Over three decades, tree planting technology saw continuous     7     (develop) in Kubuqi. Now workers can plant a tree in just ten     8     （ second）, and their survival rate is over 80 percent.

The 102,000 residents in the desert have enjoyed the benefits of managing desertification. Meng Keda,     9     family has lived deep in the Kubuqi Desert for generations, began a tourism business in 2006. He had     10     income of 300.000 yuan last year.

As the effects of global warming, rising sea levels and natural disasters become more serious     1     before, some local communities are taking action. Among them is one community in Florida     2     local people and government officials are proving successful in protecting     3     (coast) cities from the dangers of rising sea levels.

The community has studied how much sea levels will rise and has suggested     4     (way) to address the problem. It has persuaded the state government     5     (ban) new developments on land near the coastline and recommended building sand dunes (沙丘) along beaches. Kristin Jacobs, one of the group's founders, decided to take action in 2008 after it became     6     (gradual) clear that her state's 27 water authorities couldn't agree on joint action.

While some Florida government officials doubt     7     the climate will become hotter or colder, the people     8    (live) in these locations are certain of the need to protect their communities.

At present, coming     9     with ways to fight against the effects of climate change under a limited budget     10     (be) a pressing concern. Only time will tell whether these coastal communities will succeed in the end.

Sandstorms are strong, dry winds that carry sand. They are often     1     thick that you cannot see the sun and the wind sometimes has such     2    (strong) to move sand dunes. A typical example of sandstorms is the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in the United States. It was the     3    (bad) sandstorm disaster in the history of the United States. For nearly ten years dust blew on the southern plains of America,     4    caused serious results. People couldn’t breathe when they went outside and     5    (child) wore dust masks to school. The sky     6    (be) often dark for days. Over five million acres of land became desert during the Dust Bowl,     7    (force) 200,000 people to leave their homes.

The disaster     8    (cause) by bad farming methods and several years     9     very little rainfall made things worse. The land dried up and the wind blew the soil away.     10    took over thirty years to reverse the process and replant the land.