3 . Twelve years ago, a young traveler named Rhett Butler from San Francisco, California, visited the Sabah rainforest on Malaysian Borneo. In one area of the rainforest, he watched a bird flying through the trees. The beautiful sight left quite an impression on him. But weeks later, back home, Rhett Butler got the news that trees had been cut down in the area he visited.

That experience led Rhett Butler begin writing a book about rainforests and threats to their existence. But he did not publish the book. Instead, in 1999, he used his research for the book to create a website. The site is Mongabay. Com. His purpose was to inform the public about tropical rainforests. But the subject quickly developed. As a former businessman, he became a respected writer of science and environmental stories.

The popularity of Mongabay. Com attracted advertisers. Small ads on the site pay for its operations. Mongabay.Com has grown and led to other sites. For example, there is a site for children which is called kids. Mongabay.Com. Another one, WildMadangascar.Org, is all about the island nation that Rhett Butler calls his favorite place.

To keep his website going, he travels around the world on several major trips each year. His working tools are a laptop computer, cameras and sometimes diving equipment. He often calls on experts for information. For example, he interviewed Alison Jolly, a top experts on lemurs(狐猴). He interviewed Rodney Jackson, a biologist who established the Snow Leopard Conservancy.

Stories like these have made Mongabay a favorite place on the Internet for researchers, students and teachers. In April, Time.Com named it one of the fifteen top climate and environment websites in the world.

4 . Imagine a mass of floating waste is two times the size of the state of Texas. Texas has a land area of more than 678,000 square kilometers. So it might be difficult to imagine anything twice as big.

All together, this mass of waste flowing in the North Pacific Ocean is known as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. It weighs about 3,500, 000 tons. The waste includes bags, bottles and containers—plastic products of all kinds.

The eastern part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is about 1,600 kilometers west of California. The western part is west of the Hawaiian Islands and east of Japan. The area has been described as a kind of oceanic desert, with light winds and slow moving water currents (流, 流动). The water moves so slow that garbage from all over the world collects there.

In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the floating garbage and its effect on sea creatures and human health. Scientists say thousands of animals get trapped in the floating waste, resulting in death or injury. Even more die from a lack of food or water after swallowing pieces of plastic. The trash can also make animals feel full, diminishing their desire to eat or drink.

The floating garbage also can have harmful effects on people. There is an increased threat of infection (感染) of disease from polluted waste, and from eating fish that swallowed waste. Divers can also get trapped in the plastic.

Its existence first gained public attention in 1997. That was when racing boat captain and oceanographer Charles Moore and his crew sailed into the garbage while returning from a racing event. Five years earlier, another oceanographer learnt of the trash after a shipment of rubber duckies got lost at sea. Many of those toys are now part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.

6 . I take the train to work every morning from a train station near my house. I can get to the station quite __________ because there is a shortcut(捷径) to the station. But in the summer, it can get quite smelly because of all the __________．So I always try to __________ through it.Today I was trying to do so as usual __________ something made me stop for a moment.I saw the most beautiful __________ by an old woman walking in front of me with the help of a white __________．

She was short and __________ and had white hair. She was walking __________ as each step took some effort. I hadn’t specially noticed her __________ , until she stopped near a rubbish bin.

She slowly placed her walking stick __________ the rubbish bin.Then she leaned(倚靠) on it with her right hand. She bent down and __________ the rubbish. She clearly found it __________ and it took her a while. She __________ some rubbish with her left hand and slowly straightened(挺直) herself up again. All the while she used the rubbish bin to __________ herself. She threw the rubbish inside the bin and then __________ walking. It all took her great effort.

There’s so much rubbish and no one ever does __________ about it. I was moved to __________ this old woman make such a great effort to keep even a small part of it __________ ! I haven’t been able to __________ thinking about that all day.

I want to follow her example. I’ve decided to pick up rubbish off the __________ if I see it from now on. I hope people will do the same as I do.

7 . Soon enough, we will lose some of the most amazing sites on Earth!

The Great Barrier Reef

Rising air temperatures will cause sea temperatures to rise as well.All life supported by the oceans will be affected with this shock to their ecosystem.Coral are some of the most vulnerable marine animals and we are already watching whole reefs disappear.The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is no exception and will continue to shrink as the temperatures rise！These reefs are some of the best in the world for diving, but they will soon disappear!

Venice

Sprawling across(横跨)hundreds of small islands in Northeast Italy，Venice is at extreme risk of sinking into the Adriatic Sea.Rising sea levels are in fact a serious threat to many coastal cities located at sea level.Lucky for us，however，Venice is developing a series of sea walls to protect the city in times of high tide.

Glacier(冰川)National Park

Glacier National Park was once covered by over 150 glaciers, but by 2005 it only had about 27！Located in Montana, Canada, this park is over a million acres and has a huge plant and wildlife population.As temperatures rise, the glaciers and ice melt, which will upset the ecosystems sustaining over a thousand plant species and hundreds of animals.

The Amazon

The cause behind the disappearance of these fantastic places ultimately comes down to humans.Our expansion usually requires cutting down forests for land, fuel and materials，but rarely considers the consequences.These forests are sources of food and medicine for just about everyone on the planet!

What will happen if we lose these valuable places and beautiful destinations？！

Palm oil(棕榈油) is the most widely used vegetable oil worldwide. It’s found in a wide variety of products from of vitamins to chocolate and bread.     1     The former makes it easy to spread，while the latter makes it good for our body.

But the oil’s popularity comes at a high price.     2     As a result，thousands of acres of rainforests in Indonesia，the world’s biggest palm oil producers，are being destroyed to make room for them.

With half of the world’s palm oil coming from Indonesia，orangutans(猩猩) have suffered a lot.     3     What’s worse，in 2015，wildfires endangered one-third of the remaining orangutans. Palm oil farms have also threatened tigers and elephants and caused water and air pollution.

    4     However，it’s not easy given that no other natural vegetable oil has both of its qualities. Now，scientists are creating a new oil to replace it by using food waste and M. pulcherrima，a yeast(酵母) that grows on leaves，fruits and flowers.     5     Besides, the yeast can be widely produced in any weather. The scientists say their biggest challenge was to find a cheap way to change the sugars in the food waste to a form that the yeast can take in easily. The team is now trying to test if they can produce the oil at a lower cost.

10 . It is reported that bags are getting bigger all the time，and that there are more bags per person on the street today than at any other time in history．If this is true，possible explanations could include the wide use of small electric and electronic devices，a reading-material explosion，a popular interest toward tight or pocket less clothing，or cheap bagmaking labor overseas.

But，much as nature finds ways—such as disease—to control overpopulation，city life has thrown up impediments(障碍) to bags．To enter many public buildings，such as theatres and railway stations，you must go through a search or go bagless．The city has countless bag rules．It is hard to keep them all straight，and you're never sure，when leaving home for the day，whether it might be a bad idea to bring one along．

Last week，the New York Public Library got in the game．Students，researchers，writers，historians，and anyone else who has got used over the years to treating the vast Rose Main Reading Room as an office or a reading room came up against a new rule．You are no longer allowed to bring a bag larger than eleven inches by fourteen inches into the library．If you walk in with one，you must leave it at the coat check．You may keep its contents with you，however，and the library provides big clear plastic bags for them．You return them when you come back for your own bag．

What the library is trying to prevent，in this case，is people taking things out，rather than bringing things in．A librarian said on the second day，”It’s a big change for people who used to come and bring in half their flats．The people who use the library responsibly will continue to do so．The people who steal will continue to get away with it，if they really want to．”