Jiangxi Province has taken many measures to protect finless porpoises (江豚),     1     have faced dramatic changes in their living environment as Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, suffered a severe drought.

The species,    2     (list) as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, now lives only along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The number of finless porpoises    3     (drop) significantly in the past few years, with only 457     4     (live) in Poyang Lake.

As the water level dropped to less than 12 meters, the lake officially entered this year’s dry season on August 6,     5     (early) than at any time since records began in 1951. Severe drought has reduced the lake by 75 percent. This change will     6     (undoubted) increase the risk of the finless porpoises hitting boats and also result     7     a food shortage for the porpoises.

Wang Liang, who works for the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Jiangxi, said the province has released     8     total of 200 million fish, shrimps (虾) and crabs into the waters     9     (enrich) the food supply and more than 2,000     10     (volunteer) have been trained to rescue the species.

This is the year 2070. Today is my    1     (fifty) birthday, but I look like a person of eighty- five. I have serious kidney (肾脏) problems because I don’t have enough water     2     (drink). I’m afraid I don’t have much time left to live. I’m already one of the oldest people in this society.

I remember when I     3     (be) five years old, everything was very different. There were lots of trees in the parks. I could enjoy a shower for half     4     hour. At that time,     5    (woman) all had beautiful hair. Now, we have to shave (剃光) our heads to keep them clean without the use of water.

I remember there were “Saving Water” warnings in many public places, but nobody     6     (pay) attention. We believed water would last forever. Now, all the rivers and lakes are either dry or polluted. Water is much     7     (expensive) than gold and diamonds.

In the past, doctors suggested adults drink eight glasses of water a day. Nowadays, I am allowed half a glass only. Most people are weak and sick.

When my son asks me about my childhood, I tell him about how pleasant it was to fish in the rivers     8     how healthy people were. When he asks, “Why is there no clean water now?” I feel guilty (有罪的). I belong     9     those people who simply turned a blind eye to all the warnings.

I hope the people living in the 2020s     10     (true) understand the importance of saving water.

Waters may be flowing on the surface of an enormous planet that lies about 120 light-years from Earth, according to new evidence     1     (uncover) by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The investigation with the space-based observatory, one of the most advanced astronomy instruments in operation,     2     (reveal) that the exoplanet (外星球) K2-18b may have some key features of a planet     3     could support bodies of water — and life. Closely orbiting the cool dwarf star K2-18, the exoplanet lies within the star’s habitable, or Goldilocks, zone and is 8.6 times     4     big as Earth. An     5     (analyse) of Webb’s observations found the planet has huge quantities of methane (甲烷) and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere.

The Webb telescope, which can detect infrared (红外) light invisible to the human eye, searched for exactly     6     elements are featured in the planet’s atmosphere. And     7     latest observations of the planet also hint that a very special substance, called dimethyl sulfide (二甲基亚砜), could be     8     (presence) on K2-18b. On Earth, dimethyl sulfide “is only produced by life,” according to NASA. Researchers are not directly suggesting that K2-18b is crawling with alien life. Further research is needed     9     (confirm) the presence of dimethyl sulfide.

And even if scientists confirm the chemical compound’s presence, that doesn’t guarantee life-forms exist there. But this new evidence does expand scientists’ understanding of exoplanets similar     10     K2-18b.

Smartphones are mobile phones that have lots of    1    same features as a personal computer. Technology is moving on very    2    (rapid). Smartphones have become an important part of everyday life for many people. However, they also have negative effects (影响),     3    means some people are giving them up.

Some people think smartphones can cause health problems. Smartphones offer so many ways    4    (communicate) that people are having less face-to-face communication. This can lead to loneliness and     5    (sad). What’s more, all the activities that can be done on phones can lead to fewer real-life experiences. Being less active can influence your health. Finally, some people become nervous if they    6     (separate) from their phone and can’t check their messages or social media.

Others still say smartphones are useful and fun. Smartphones allow you to keep    7    touch with people in different ways. They are really good for video-calling faraway friends and family. You can also get    8     (direction) on them. Having Internet access(访问) on your phone allows you to get news and information—it is really    9    (help) for homework and so are education apps. Smartphones are great entertainment(娱乐) on long journeys. They are fun to use with friends, taking photos and    10     (make) videos.

Recently, a poll(民意调查) finds that although almost three in four adults played sports when they     1     (be) younger, only one in four continue to play sports as adults.

But that decline in interest doesn’t stop parents from encouraging their children to make sports a part of their lives.     2     fact, almost nine in ten parents     3     middle school or high school aged children play sports say that their children benefit     4     great deal or quite a bit from playing sports.

And, while most adults no longer play sports     5     (they), the majority of parents say it is very likely or somewhat likely that their children will continue playing sports when they become adults. One in four parents also hope their children will become     6     (profession)athletes.

“Sports are an important part of a healthy community. They help children and adults maintain a fit     7     (weigh), teach acceptance and teamwork, and expand opportunity for children     8     (live) in poverty(贫困),” said a researcher. “This poll     9     (indicate) that we must continue to encourage children to play sports, but just as important, we must find ways     10     (keep)adults engaged in sports in order to maintain health and well-being.”

As a child, reading was one of my favorite     1     (hobby), and it still is to this day. I've always enjoyed immersing (使沉浸于) myself in the pages of a novel, entirely attracted by fictional characters and     2     (they) stories. One part of the experience that almost always made me feel    3     (disappoint), however, was when my beloved books became movies. And according       4     a recent survey, I'm not the only person who is let down by book adaptations.

SuperSummary, an online resource, wanted     5     (know) the answer to a burning question: Book or movie? The company asked 2,030 people, ages 23 to 62, to answer questions about books    6     had been turned into movies or TV shows.

The results were fairly close. Overall, 34% of people enjoyed the book,       7    (compare) to 27% of people who liked the movie more. Although 82% of people said “screen adaptations help books come to life,” 46% of people argued that movie adaptations “would never be as good     8     the book.”

Perhaps the slight preference for the book over the movie is related to libraries being a little     9     (popular) than movie theaters. I     10     (complete) understand why people might prefer watching a live version of a story on the big screen, but to me, there are few simpler pleasures than getting lost in the pages of a good book.

Coffee fest hopes to fuel Shanghai’s cultural industries

Shanghai, the city     1     the most coffee houses in China, opened a two-week-long coffee culture festival on Thursday.     2    (organize) by the Shanghai Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Association and the Shanghai Food Association, the Shanghai Coffee Culture Week will run to Aug 18 and feature a     3    (vary) of themed activities.

Data from domestic tech and retail giant Meituan showed that Shanghai was home to 7,857 cafes as of June 30,     4    (rank) first among cities in China. The central Huangpu district has the     5    (high) density of coffee shops, with 38.5 per square kilometer.

Wang Yayuan, deputy head of the municipality’s publicity department, said at a news conference for the event that coffee culture has prospered in Shanghai and become     6     important “window” for residents and tourists     7    (experience) a high-quality life and local culture. The festival     8    (design) to explore coffee’s cultural connotations and the city’s unique characteristics, advancing the development of     9    (culture) and innovation industries, Wang said.

On the event’s opening day, the homegrown coffee brand Manner Coffee offered free Americanos to residents,     10     food delivery platform Eleme provided 30,000 cups of free coffee on Friday. Customers can get special offers at hundreds of coffee shops across the city during the festival, according to organizers.

Drinking two or more cups of black tea a day     1    (be) associated with lower risk of death from all causes, according to a new study     2    (publish) Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study looked at nearly 500,000 men and women aged 40 to 69 years old who participated     3     the UK Biobank, which houses in-depth genetic and health information, between 2006 and 2010. The database included information participants reported about     4    (they) own tea drinking habits, such as     5    (frequent) and what they added to their cup.

Some participants didn’t drink black tea a tall, but since the data came from the United Kingdom, there were plenty of people who drank it     6    (regular) and some who drank up to 10 cups a day, said lead study author Maki Inoue-Choi.

The Biobank followed up about 10 years after the     7    (origin) survey, and researchers found that people who drank two or more cups of tea daily in the interim(其间) were less likely     8    (die) from causes such as heart disease.

The research is     9     exciting look into tea drinking habits, but there is still more work     10     needs to be done before recommending dietary changes, said Howard Sesso, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who was involved in the study.

Why do Chinese people drink hot water? Many westerners find it so interesting that they always see Chinese people carry a vacuum cup(保温杯) no matter which season it is.

For lots of Chinese people, nothing is     1    (common) than drinking hot water every day. But for most of the Westerners,     2     idea of drinking plain hot water is really odd since they drink cold water even in winter. Why do Chinese people drink hot water? Hot water vs cold water, which one is better? Follow us     3    (find) an ideal answer.

It is well known     4     Chinese people prefer hot meals every day, and they’re also used to     5    (have) hot drinks with it. Moreover, some parents always teach     6    (they) children to drink hot water with meals, because they think mixing cold liquids with hot meals     7    (be) really bad for the stomach. And cold liquids may solidify fats in your stomach, which cause digestive problems, whereas hot liquids aid in     8    (digest).

According to the eating habits in western countries, they prefer “raw” food,     9     they also prefer their water “raw”. At the same time, they are fond     10     hamburgers, cheese and fried stuff, which are all with high calorie. As a matter of fact, they need cold drinks to cool them off.

Confucius was born into a middle class family in Lu State, an area with the modern city of Qufu, in China’s Shandong Province. Now, he     1     (remember) for his teachings, which, along with the works of his students，formed the rule of Confucianism (儒学) many     2     (year) after his passing away.

Confucius also lived     3     active political life. From his job as Minister of Crime, he took part in a campaign (运动) to distance Lu from the rule of the state instead of     4     (work) for the central government. However, the plan failed. After a short period of being sent to live in another country, Confucius could finally return to Lu state     5     (spend) the rest of his life as a teacher of philosophy.

Even up to the time of Confucius’s     6     (die), his teachings were not     7     (wide) accepted in China, and most of     8     (they) were lost when the emperor Qin ordered the burning of Confucius’s books.

Yet, his philosophical (哲学的) ideas survived during the later Han Dynasty. Emperor Han Wudi,    9     was inspired by the social and political wisdom of Confucius, accepted Confucianism and applied his systems of morality everywhere from classrooms     10     law courts. The teachings of Confucius still spread far across China and the Far East.