2 . Keeping animals safe on the road

Roadkill is not a rare sight when driving down most highways and sometimes also on roadways in cities.     1    . A recent study has measured, for the first time, the damage that can be caused to animals in urban areas on China’s fast-developing road network.

    2    . Li Zhongqiu and his team from Nanjing University’s School of Life looked at the problem in cities, where roadkill could have an even larger impact.

They chose Nanjing as the study subject, where there are more than 9,700 kilometers of paved roads. A total of nine roads were chosen for the research, including three national highways.     3    . The researchers then monitored the roads every two weeks over a year. The team recorded a total of 293 individual roadkill cases. Birds made up nearly half the total, making them the most susceptible (易受影响的) group to roadkill.     4    . “This may be owing to the large number of stray (流浪的) cats and dogs in urban areas,” Li said. “Abandoned pets are more likely to wander into traffic.” Also, there are a large number of black birds in East China, and they can be attracted by flies or other insects, leading to further accidents.     5    . This may be owing to the fact that some warm-blooded animals have to go out and search for food during these times when food is hard to find. “Roadkill has resulted in the decline (下降) of urban animal populations and must be taken seriously,” Li said. The researchers also call on policymakers to put forward related traffic rules and animal protection rules, such as speed limits and traffic controls.

3 . For those of us who grew up watching Star Trek, exploring space has been about discovering strange new worlds. And there are plenty of worlds to explore in time, but we still need major technological advancements to reach planets that are light years away.

What we are doing in space today is providing unbelievable benefits right now, right here on Earth. From space, we can monitor, manage and care for our planet. Satellite-based sensors show us the short- and long-term effects of human activity on our environment. Many companies are using their interest in space to help solve problems here, from using hyperspectral imaging(高光谱成像), which enable us to map vegetation(植被) and rain forests, to microsatellites that provide global connectivity for the network of things.

My company, OneWeb, is focusing on what I believe is one of the world’s most important issues: the need for equal access to the Internet. The Internet has become our economic lifeblood. And yet, nearly half of the world’s population doesn’t have Internet access. Space is playing a key role in bridging this digital divide. OneWeb is launching 1,980 satellites to help bring Internet access to people everywhere, and our first production satellites are already flying in space and have shown very high download speeds.

Fiber and cable Internet access technologies already cover most financially viable(可行的) major cities. Similarly, these regions will also be the first to be served with 5G. Poor communities are the last to get connected, and without connectivity, those communities have no chance to lift themselves from poverty. OneWeb’s satellites will reach every community in the world and enable equal access to the Internet for the world’s less developed places.

Fifty years from the day when man first walked on the moon, we are still only approaching the possible. There will be tens of thousands of new satellites, space stations and factories in the coming years to bring advancements in communications, scientific research, monitoring the earth, exploring space and more. This is exciting, but we must take action carefully.

Pumas are large, cat-like animals which are found in America. When reports came into London Zoo that a wild puma had been     1     (find) 45 miles south of London, they were not taken     2     (serious) by experts from the zoo until enough evidence     3     (be) collected. The     4     (describe) given by people claiming (声称) to have seen the puma were similar. A woman     5     (pick) blackberries said she saw “a large cat”. And a businessman     6     a fishing trip also said he saw the puma up a tree. The experts fully     7     (believe) that the animal was a puma     8     was probably owned by a private collector. The hunt went on for several     9     (week) but no one could catch it.     10     is disturbing to think that a dangerous wild animal is still at large in the quiet countryside.

6 . Welcome to the tour bus that helps you catch up on sleep. A new Hong Kong Sleeping Bus Tour is letting people get some much-needed extra sleep. The bus tour is a 76-kilometer, five hour ride around Hong Kong on a double-decker bus. Tickets for the Sleeping Bus Tour quickly sold out, passengers had to wait in the long line in front of the ticket office.

So how did the idea of the tour come out about? “When we were trying to develop new tours, I was stressed out by my work, and I couldn’t sleep at night. So I once suddenly passed out in my office because I had suffered from lack of sleep,” said Kenneth Kong of Ulu Travel, the organizer of the bus tours. “But when I was travelling on the bus, I was able to sleep well. So I create this tour that lets passengers just sleep on the bus.”

Dr. Shirley Li, who researches sleep at the University of Hong Kong, said, “People in Hong Kong don’t have enough time to sleep. Some people may tend to connect public transport with their sleep. And that’s why they found it easier to fall sleep on the bus. People can sleep on the bus at any time. So the Sleeping Bus Tour can really help them. And this tour also reminds the public about the drop in people’s healthy lifestyles.”

“I have been suffering from insomnia, so I am here to try and get some sleep. I know it is just for a moment, because I don’t want to move my comfortable bedroom into a bus and sleep in the sunshine,” said 25-year-old Anson Kong, one of the passengers on the first bus tour.

8 . Schoolchildren spend most of their time surrounded by their peers (同龄人). They spend a lot more time with classmates, teammates and fellow club members than with adults in their lives. Peer pressure can have a huge influence on the lives of children in grades two through twelve.

From birth through age six, the family shapes a child’s sense of identity (个性). Parents and brothers and sisters affect (影响) a child’s likes, dislikes, tastes in clothing, food and music and, perhaps most importantly, values. Once children enter school, they form connections to the larger group of their peers. This group brings new ideas and experiences. Peer pressure happens when a student’s actions are influenced by this group. The “pressure” happens when peers suggest or demand actions different from the child’s normal behavior and values.

Peer pressure leads to some disturbing negative (消极的) behavior in schoolchildren. In the USA, about 75% of high school students have tried alcohol (酒) offered by their friends in middle or high school. According to a survey, students felt pressured by their peers between 35 and 49% of the time. The power of peer pressure can result from a schoolchild’s growing desire to fit into a group.

Thankfully, peer pressure can also be positive (积极的). For example, wanting to join an athletic group of friends may force a student who has been sitting for a long time to try out for the soccer team. In a survey on peer pressure, 51% of teenagers felt that peer pressure was sometimes positive. One teenager responded, “Sometimes it can help you gain confidence.” Other examples of positive peer pressure include students encouraging a classmate to run for school president, or friends suggesting that that a talented peer try out for a talent show.

9 . While waiting in bus stations, airports or parks, some people are busy with a friendly conversation, and others read newspapers, comics (漫画), novels and pocket books. That was many years ago.

Today everyone uses smartphones, tablets and laptops at home, work and school. Exactly, it improves our communication, social media, entertainment and provides convenience to work. The computers, Interweb, and smartphones have become part of our everyday life.

However, the publishing houses suffer terrible losses, and the comics industry is out of business, for everyone goes digital and gadget (小玩意) dependent.

Especially in the COVID-19 times, the sales (销售) of PC, laptops and gadgets suddenly went up quickly. Because of health safety problems, people chose to shop online. Moreover, education happens through Online Distance Learning, which forced parents to buy desktops and smartphones. Yet behind the benefits and use of these modern gadgets is a sad reality. Many students lose the face-to-face conversation power. skills in public speaking, and social skills.

Another problem is health. The young generation today spends so much time on gadgets inside homes. They don’t live the traditional healthy outdoor life. The result is eyesight problems and enjoying very little sunlight.

For workers, too much exposure (暴露) to video call meetings has damaged their health. What’s more, many of us are expected to continue working at home.

Modern information technology (IT) has really-affected our way of life. In the COVID-19 times, these products of modern technology have protected us from public exposure and direct interaction with people. However, its continuous use can also harm people’s health and interest. Thus, we should take control of IT application in our life and not allow IT to endanger our health and safety.

Will you eat everything in your lunch box today? If not, will you save it for another time or just throw it away?

A recent study     1     (find) that 17% of all the food     2     (produce) around the world gets wasted each year,     3     reaches about 931 million tons. Believe it     4     not, 61% of the waste happens in our houses!

Food waste in homes     5     (happen) in rich countries like the US and the UK as well as in poor countries for different reasons.

Cultural habits could also lead to waste at home,       6     (include) massive packaging and “buy one, get one free” deals. ‘Use by’ or ‘best by’ dates       7     products could also cause people to throw away food. People could throw out food because they think it is     8     (safe) to eat, when in fact the date only shows when quality might go down.

Food was     9     (much) valued even in richer countries just a few generations ago, because people often couldn’t afford to waste it.     10     (throw) away food is for sure a great waste and we should try to make people know the importance of saving food.