1 . Walking or running outdoors, people usually see rubbish all over the ground. Well, some people are doing something about it.     1     “Plogging” began in Sweden. The name connects the Swedish word “plocka” which means to pick up, and the word “jogging” which means to run slowly.

A Swedish man named Erik Ahlström, started the movement in 2016. He moved to Stockholm from a small community(社区) in northern Sweden. Each day he would ride his bike to work. He became worried about the amount of rubbish and litter he saw each day on his way to work. So, he took matters into his own hands. He began picking up the rubbish.     2    

Today, plogging is an official activity, which is becoming more and more popular. People of all ages are welcome to plog. Exercise while helping your community.     3     It can also build closer social connections in a community. When the street looks bad and it’s dirty, you’re going to feel bad about the community. You may even feel less safe because of that. So if we’re all doing our part and picking it up, it’s very easy to help beautify it, and help build those social connection.     4     You get to feel some social duty when you do this.

Along with cleaning up the environment, there may be another reason to choose plogging instead of just jogging. You may get a better workout. One fitness app, Lifesum, records one hour of plogging as burning 288 calories.     5    

As can be seen, cities around the world now hold plogging events. The goal is to spread the idea that littering is not acceptable. People would think twice before dropping a garbage on the ground.

2 . The newly-elected president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro says that his country should withdraw (退出) from the 2015 Paris Agreement, and that Brazil’s rainforest protections are standing in the way of economic success. During the election campaign, he promised to ease protections for areas of the Brazilian Amazon set aside for native people and wildlife. Are Brazil’s rainforests in danger?

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, is called “the lungs of the planet.” Each tree takes in and stores carbon dioxide from the air around it. Billions of trees pull up water through their roots and release water vapor into the air, forming tiny drops of water. The Amazon creates 30 to 50 percent of its own rainfall. Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist, says that it is almost impossible to say Just how important the rainforest is to the planet’s living systems.

Some of Bolsonaro’s support comes from business and farming groups. One supporter, Luiz Carlos, noted that farmers “are not invaders, they are producers.” He blamed the past government for supporting rainforest protections at the cost of farmers. “Brazil,” he said, “will be the biggest farming nation on Earth during Bolsonaro’s years.”

Paulo Artaxo, a professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo, says that if Bolsonaro keeps his campaign promises, then “deforestation of the Amazon will probably increase quickly — and the effects will be felt everywhere on the planet.”

Other scientists warn that if the Amazon and other tropical rainforests lose too many trees, this could affect rainfall in other areas. Without enough trees to support the rainfall, the longer and bigger dry season could turn more than half of the rainforest into a tropical grassland.

3 . Among the world’s waste-recycling pioneers, Germany is the leader. The country has quite a detailed way of sorting their waste-down to the color of glass waste, the type of paper, the separate bin for metals, etc.

Here below are what you should know about Germany’s waste sorting system：

◇You are expected to gather your waste in your apartment/housing area’s local public garbage bins.

◇There are commonly several types of public garbage bins available in the German’s apartment/housing areas：

Blue bin — for paper and cardboard

Green and white bin — for glass, different bins for differently colored glass, not available for holiday decorations and lights

Yellow/orange bin — for plastic and metals

Brown bin — for goods that can be changed naturally by bacteria into substances that don’t harm the environment, like leftovers, fruit and vegetables

Gray/black bin — for everything else that can’t be recycled such as used cat litter and animal waste

◇Some items don’t belong in these public garbage bins. Items like used batteries, electronics, unused paints, and lights must be returned to the special agent/locations so they can be properly recycled. Other items such as clothes, shoes, and oversized rubbish and furniture are advised to be donated or sold.

◇There’s this thing called Pfand in Germany, a certain part of the price for a bottled drink that you get back if you send back the bottle to certified (有资历的) shops. German law requires shops over a certain size selling bottled drinks have a Pfandruckgabestelle, or place for bottles with deposits (押金). These bottles usually made of glass or plastic will be refilled. Of course, there’re strict health regulations.

4 . Jane Goodall, the well-known scientist, is starting Trees for Jane on Tuesday, joining a global campaign to fight climate change by planting a trillion trees by 2030.

Goodall made it clear that planting is just one part of Trees for Jane. “The key is protecting existing forest because those big trees have already stored CO2,” she said in a National Geographic interview. Donations to Trees for Jane will support local groups working to stop destroying trees. And those who plant are asked to agree to care for the trees and monitor them until they’re mature(成熟的).

Of course, tree planting is not a substitute for reducing emissions (排放), said Susan Cook-Patton, senior forest restoration scientist for The Nature Conservancy. “The most important action is to reduce fossil fuel emissions. However, even if we rapidly reduce emissions, we’re still going to need to remove carbon from the atmosphere to prevent catastrophic warming. That’s why carbon removal approaches like re-growing trees remain important.”

Some tree-planting efforts have come under fire from some scientists as being ineffective since many programs don’t plant native species, essentially creating tree farms, not helping forests. And Cook-Patton’s message is clear, “Plant the right trees, in the right places, in the right way.” This means planting native trees where they historically lived.

Goodall said this agrees with the goal of Trees for Jane. She, noting that Trees for Jane encourages people to plant trees themselves or donate to support global efforts, said her love for trees dates back to her childhood. Nearly eight decades later, she is working tirelessly and selflessly to share the gift of trees with the entire world, for the good of the planet.

    1     (see) from outer space, Earth is a blue planet, due to the fact that the ocean covers over 70 per cent of its surface. According to a new study published in the journal Science, the ocean plays a great role in     2     (slow) down global warming.     3     The New York Times reported, it is “    4     important buffer(缓冲物) ”. 

The oceans can absorb 93 per cent of the heat trapped by the greenhouse gases which humans release into the atmosphere. And the other 7 per cent     5     (absorb) by the air, land and ice caps, according to an     6     (analyse). 

“If the ocean wasn’t absorbing as much heat, the surface of the land would heat up much     7     (fast) than it is right now,” said professor Malin L. Pinsky at Rutgers University in the US. “In fact, the ocean is saving us from rapid warming right now.” 

However, the ocean itself, as Discover Magazine noted, is heating up 40 per cent faster on average than the United Nations     8    (believe) five years ago. That means if the ocean temperatures increase     9    this speed, the high water temperatures “will kill off marine ecosystems, raise sea levels and make     10     (hurricane) more destructive (破坏性的) ”, The Guardian reported.