In the 1950s and 1960s, people were widely using chemicals in agriculture, which polluted the food web and broke the eggs of Bald Eagles. Concern for the birds helped to pass the Endangered Species (物种) Act (ESA) on December 28,1973.

The ESA is now 50 years old. It is a vital part of protection efforts in America, but it comes into play only when a species is nearly gone. There is much we can do to prevent our weak creatures from needing the act in the first place.

Recent studies have shown that the best way to protect species is to protect their habitats (栖息地), because it follows a sound, nature-based logic. People and progress depend on nature for large benefits. Compared to recovering a species, protecting habitats won’t need to decide which species is the most serious case that should be treated first.

In January 2023, a bill named Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA)was passed, which would provide significant funding for protection of wildlife habitat that supports species at risk. It basically modernized the Pittman-Robertson Act in 1937, one of the first species-protection acts in America. RAWA was one of the most important acts in wildlife conservation in decades providing $1.397 billion to fund local and state efforts not only to help recover endangered species but also prevent at-risk wildlife from becoming endangered. While this funding has worked for decades, the accelerating (加速) loss of biodiversity requires a new way and more investment.

Protecting habitat doesn’t just protect wildlife; it protects humanity. If the desire to care for our world is not enough, it’s wise to remember that if you destroy your home, you des troy your life.

According to a new study, the leading cause of death of birds near power lines is not electrocution (触电), but unlawful shooting. “We need to know how birds are dying so that we can come up     1     some ways to reduce their deaths,” said Thomason, leader of the research team. Between 2019 and 2022, they     2     (find) 410 dead birds and 66% were killed by guns. “It is really difficult     3     (know) what’s going on. Sometimes people shoot birds for fun. Sometimes they do this just to protect their animals on the farm. Anyway, unlawful shooting should be prevented,” said Thomason.

6 . One spring morning, my husband was in the yard cutting down an overgrown tree.

He then __ it across the front yard and put it on a pile of wood.

I was inside the house tending to some things, when suddenly he came into the house, looking __ and said, “I’m not sure if I should tell you this. ”

“What?”I said, totally expecting the very worst.

“Just come with me, ” he said. I __ him out to the yard. He pointed. “There, ” he said.

In front of us were four baby birds in the tree branches, having fallen out of their nest (巢) during the terrible ride, __ amazingly all still alive.

I immediately picked them up and made a “nest” in the front of my T-shirt. My husband just looked at me and said, “You won’t be able to keep them ___. You have never nursed a bird back to health before. ”

Luckily, we were able to find the nest in the center of the tree. I placed the baby birds inside the nest. They had no feathers (羽毛), so these tiny birds had no protection __ the sun. I thought they wouldn’t make it through the day. As we stood far enough away from the nest, I wondered if their mother would ever find and __ them as her own.

I couldn’t believe it! Within a few minutes, a Blue Jay flew in and was jumping around the nest. She then flew up to the nest and __ herself on her babies, spreading her wings to __ them. And soon, the father joined the __ and continued his task of bringing food to the family while she warmed and kept the baby birds safe.

On one rainy day, I remember seeing her wings were spread especially wide across the nest. It was a __ sight, to see how a bird with a tiny brain, the size of the tip of my little finger, still had the will to so deeply __ her babies.

Then one day, all four baby birds jumped out of the nest and were gone. The parents had done their job and now the youngsters were __ to go make nests of their own.

I ended up __ that nest. Whenever I look at it, it reminds me to never give up no matter how bad things look, and be inspired by the inner___ of the Blue Jay parents to provide for their family.

7 . Carefully play with pets

Do you have a pet? Many children like pets and even treat them like humans sometimes. They may like to kiss or hug (拥抱) their pets. But this can make you sick, according to Daily Mail.

Kissing or hugging pets such as dogs and cats can cause people to take in drug-resistant bacteria (耐药细菌), British scientists said.

Many pet owners give their pets antibiotics (抗生素) when they get sick. But taking antibiotics too often can affect (影响) the bacteria inside your pct. The bacteria can become drug resistant. When people kiss or hug their pets, this kind of bacteria can move to them and make them sick.

Close relationships between pet owners and their pets are important. But if pet owners follow the rules below, they will not get sick.

Rules for playing

·Do not kiss your pets on the mouth.

·Do not let your pets lick (舔) your mouth or nose.

·Wash your hands after touching and playing with your pets.

·If you have a wound, cover it. This way, bacteria cannot pass on to you from your pet.

8 . I had always wanted a dog. My parents told me when I was old enough and _______, I could have one.

One day I hopped off the bus, not knowing what awaited me inside. I walked through the door, and to my _______, a white and black puppy greeted me with many puppy kisses. A very special friendship was born that day.

She was a smart dog. We _______ play for hours, spending our days learning and growing together.

Eleven years we were together, best of friends. Unfortunately, arthritis (关节炎) and old age set in on her. My parents knew what had to be done, but they let me find and make the decision myself.

She was _______ so much and the medicine didn’t seem to help anymore. She could _______ walk. I looked into those deep brown eyes and _______ it was time to let her go.

I carried her into the vet’s (兽医诊所) and placed her on the table. She leaned her head forward and gave a lick to my hand as if to say, “I understand. Stay _______.” Her tail was wagging (摆动) in a circle as always.

The vet asked before giving the final shot, “Are you sure?” With a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes, I nodded yes. The final shot was given. My eyes fixed upon her wagging tail. In a matter of seconds, it _______. The vet listened for a heartbeat, and said, “It’s over.”

I took her home and buried her in the pasture, where she loved playing and chasing rabbits. It was the _______ thing I had ever done.

Recently I went back to her grave. Growing on her grave was a single wildflower. It was swaying in a circle, just like her. I know now that, that special friend will be __________ me always.

9 . Earlier findings about sharks have shown that they could learn skills from each other. Recently, Vera Schluessel at the University of Bonn in Germany and her colleagues have done research on how well 12 bamboo sharks could recognize (认出) different numbers of objects.

Each shark was put in a training pool with pictures of two different groups of geometric (几何图形的) shapes projected onto a wall The team then cycled through at least 40 objects of different shapes and shades to ensure the sharks weren’t simply picking up on the darkness of the objects or the area of wall they covered. Around half the sharks learned to reliably press their nose against the image with the most objects, after which they were rewarded with food. These sharks only seemed able to pick out the bigger group if it contained at least two more objects than the smaller one. This may be because the difference between six and seven fish or predators (捕食者) is unimportant in the wild, says Schluessel. The reason not all the sharks learned how to do the task could be that they, like all animals, have differences in intelligence (智力).

Sharks join a growing number of animals that have been discovered to have similar skills at distinguishing quantities, including black bears, guppies and rhesus monkeys. In one experiment, dogs and wolves were able to reliably pick the larger of two groups. But dogs could only do so when one of the groups had far more objects.

Some shark species are social learners and can perform a task in a tank more quickly if they watch another shark that has already been trained to do it. This challenges the image of sharks as mindless, solitary creatures. Just like humans, sharks learn from their own experiences and failures. And just as we do, sharks can learn from each other’s experiences too, says Catarina Vila Pouca at Macquarie University in Australia. “Being able to learn from others is enormously beneficial. Not only does it save time, but watching another shark’s success at feeding or failure to escape predators could be a matter of life or death.”

Schluessel and her colleagues have also previously found that bamboo sharks have an advanced ability to recognize categories , such as snails or fish, enabling them to get a treat even if pictures look remarkably similar. This is similar to our ability to look at a goldfish and a salmon and know that they are the same type of thing, even though one is 30 times the size of the other.

A special birthday party     1     (hold) on Wednesday at Chongqing Zoo for twin giant pandas Xiong Xiaokai and Mao Xiaoyu, who both turned two years old. The party invited their roommates, another twin panda brothers Xingxing and Chenchen, as special guests. The event also attracted crowds of over a thousand     2     (join) the birthday celebration. At 8 am on Wednesday, four pandas enjoyed the birthday cake     3     (make) from bamboo shoots and grapes by the keepers in their outdoor enclosure(围场).