1 . On December 16,2023, the first section of Maya Train officially opened, which runs between Campeche and Cancun, carrying up to 231 passengers across 290 miles and stopping at 14 train stations.

Built as an ambitious effort to promote tourism and boost Mexico’s economy, the rail system connects the major cities and tourist regions of the Yucatan Peninsula -from Cancun’s beaches to Tulum’s archaeological wonders. Once the project is completed, the entire rail system will link tourist destinations across five states. However, environmentalists and archaeologists argue that the train route will cause great damage to the environment and ancient Mayan sites.

The Maya Train passes through six UNESCO World Heritage sites and thousands of archaeological sites. One particular area of concern is the Calakmul reserve, which is home to many endangered species, such as jaguars and over 500 other animal species. The train lines, more than 60 meters wide, could act as artificial barriers that may make it difficult for these animals to move around and access food and water sources.

Opponents also express safety concerns. Certain sections of the rail system will be built right on top of the aquifer’s (地下水层的) weakest points of contact with the surface. “It’s like wanting to build over eggshells.” says Guillermo Christy, a water treatment consultant. “Putting trains weighing thousands of tons on top could cause the underground caves to crash down.” To construct the train infrastructure (基础设施) also requires driving long piles deep into the ground, which poses a big threat to this weak ecosystem and leads to water shortages.

In the ongoing debate of Maya Train, it is crucial to consider the delicate balance between economic development and environmental preservation. While Maya Train may provide economic benefits, we must not ignore the potential environmental and cultural losses, as well as the safety risks it may bring. Achieving harmony between progress and conservation may be a significant challenge for the project, but we must take into account the long-term consequences of our actions.

2 . Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World—Katherine Hayhoe’s new book, proposes to fight climate change through better communication. It is a follow-up to her awesome TED talk in 2018, when she declared the most important thing any individual can do to fight climate change is to talk about it.

Of many refreshing aspects of this book, one is that Hayhoe recounts both her successes and her failures to communicate, through which she has gathered evidence about what works and what does not. Much of the book’s advice is common sense, all backed up not just by Hayhoe’s experience but also with convincing research by psychologists and social scientists.

Hayhoe advises against trying to engage with a small minority, the “Dismissives”, who angrily reject the idea that human-caused climate change is a threat. Hayhoe pays special attention to Dismissives early on, noting that their aggressive posture online may create the impression that they’re everywhere. However, she argues, Dismissives account for only 7% of all American adults. The other 93% are more receptive by degree.

The book includes amusing examples of her encounters with the “Dismissives”, including an engineer who was unconvinced about the evidence but with whom she was able to establish mutual (相互的) respect through a shared passion for knitting (打毛线衣). It is also packed with inspiring accounts of how she has won over even the crowds who are the most suspicious. Her motto is “bond, connect and inspire”, which represents her approach of always looking for point s of common ground.

She also tells of a man who approached her after an event in London in 2019. Inspired by her TED talk, he had started to speak to everybody he could in his neighborhood of Wandsworth. He showed her details of 12,000 conversations that had taken place, claiming that they had helped to convince the council to declare a climate emergency and to switch investments from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

And so, while it may feel difficult to influence the outcome of the COP26, Hayhoe’s uplifting book makes a persuasive case that we can all do our bit to bring about success just by talking about the issue.

3 . The East African country of Kenya has been at the forefront of the global war on plastic since 2017, when officials banned plastic bags. In June 2020, the government intensified the efforts with a ban on single-use plastics in protected areas. Unfortunately, the measures have _________ made any impact. Hundreds of tons of industrial and consumer polymer (聚合物) waste continue to get _________ into landfills daily. However, if 29-year-old Nzambi Matee has her way, the unpleasant plastic heaps will soon be transformed into colourful bricks.

The material engineer’s search to find a(n) _________ solution to control plastic pollution began in 2017. She quit her job as a data analyst at a local chemical factory and set up a small lab in her mother’s backyard. It took her nine months to produce the first brick and even longer to _________ a partner to help build the machinery to make them. But the determined eco-entrepreneur was confident in her idea and did not give up.

She says, “I wanted to use my education in applied physics and material engineering to do something about the problem of plastic waste pollution. But I was very _________ that the solution had to be practical, sustainable, and affordable. The best way to do this was by _________ the waste into the construction and finding the most efficient and affordable material to build homes.”

Her company, Gjenge Makers, now hires 112 people and produces over 1,500 bricks a day. The pavers (铺路材料) are made using a mix of plastic products that cannot be reprocessed or recycled. The polymer is obtained _________ from factories or picked by hired locals from Nairobi’s largest landfill, Dandora.

The collected plastic is _________ with sand, heated at very high temperatures, and compressed into bricks that vary in colour and thickness. The resulting product is stronger, lighter, and about 30 percent cheaper than concrete bricks.

Matee, who was recently recognized as one of the Young Champions of the Earth 2020 — the United Nations’ highest environmental _________ — is far from done. Her dream is to reduce the mountain of trash in Dandora to just a hill by increasing production and expanding her offerings. She says, “The more we recycle the plastic, the more we produce affordable housing, and the more we create __________ for the youth.”

4 . Bringing species like beavers (河狸) back to England is no longer a priority, the government said on Friday to criticism from wildlife groups.

A recent report shows that one in six UK species are at risk of extinction. In September more than 60 conservation organizations reported a significant decline in species due to expansions in farming and the effects of climate change. In recent years, animals and plants have been reintroduced by charities as part of efforts to restore the country’s reduced biodiversity.

Despite the government allowing this, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee concluded in July that there was an absence of long-term plans on how to manage this. In response, the government has now said that the "reintroduction of species is not a priority".

The government said it was focused on increasing biodiversity through habitat restoration. The government's environment department has come under scrutiny (详细审查) for not doing more to prevent sewage dumping and other forms of pollution in England's waterways.

Sir Robert Goodwill, chair of the Committee, said he was disappointed with the government response. Bringing back extinct species is a controversial issue- although farmers and landowners appear broadly supportive, there are risks of reintroducing new species, and without clear guidance, problems could arise.

A recent study showed that river barriers similar to those built by beavers can protect communities at risk of flooding. But there have also been cases documented in Europe where beavers have built their dams in places that have damaged crops and changed rivers.

Joan Edwards, director of Policy &Public Affairs at The Wildlife Trusts said, “Reintroducing wildlife must be part of the UK government’s arsenal (武器) for tackling nature loss and climate change—it is astonishing there is no strategy for doing so.”

“The return of wild beavers can help to recreate lost wetlands, with a knock-on effect that benefits other wildlife including insects, invertebrates and birds. Beavers also slow the flow of water, which can reduce flood risks to towns and villages,” she said.

8 . Damon Carson calls himself a matchmaker (媒人) of the never-ending waste of American society, trying not to pair people with people, but things with people.

In the late 1990s, Carson was on break from business school in Vail, Colorado, when he ______ the vast world of waste. He began ______ creating a secondhand store that would sell old ______ and keep them out of being ______. As a result, in 2010, his company, Repurposed Materials ______.

For nearly ten years, his company, Repurposed Materials, has not been looking to ______ the waste he gets—breaking it down to make something new —but rather finding new homes for thrown-away goods in their original ______.

Carson, a husband and father of three adult children, is far from ______. Frugal (节俭) is how he describes himself. The clothes he’s wearing all came from a(n)______ shop; his truck was bought with 290, 000 kilometers driven.

“Why break something down, why melt something down, if it still has ______?” he asks. An old oil-field pipe might be melted down and turned into a car bumper, but it still takes an amount of ______ to finish the complete change. Why not leave it as a steel pipe? Why not turn it into a ______ post (杆、柱) on a farm? The only cost is ______.

American industrial facilities create and ______ about 7.6 billion tons of unwanted industrial materials every year. For the moment, Carson’s unique business finds new ______ for millions of kilograms of industrial waste every year.