1 . Thanks to its harsh environment, Antarctica remained largely untouched by humans for many millennia, allowing a thriving (旺盛的) ecosystem to evolve. However, since the 1990s, the last true wilderness on the planet is becoming an increasingly popular destination for adventure-seeking tourists. Now, a new study declares that the visitors may be leaving behind harmful bacteria which could devastate the area’s native bird population.

Humans can infect animals with illnesses such as the flu. Researchers, however, believed that the Antarctic animals were immune to the danger due to the continent’s extreme weather. However, microbiologist Marta Cerda-Cuellar was not convinced.

She and some colleagues decided to examine waste samples from Antarctic birds for evidence of human bacteria. To ensure the waste was not polluted, the scientists had to collect it from the birds themselves.

The results of their study revealed the presence of several types of human bacteria in the bird waste. This included a common strain (品种) of bacteria that causes food poisoning in humans. The researchers say the bacteria strains were resistant to commonly-used human antibiotics (抗生素)，indicating they were brought in by the visitors, rather than migratory birds (候鸟).

“These strains, which are a common cause for infections in humans and livestock, do not usually cause death outbreaks in wild animals,” says Gonzalez-Solis. “However, the emerging or invasive pathogens (病原体) that arrive to highly sensitive populations could have severe consequences and cause the local collapse and extinction of some populations. “The researcher also fears the presence of these bugs could foreshadow the arrival of other, more deadly, pathogens as the number of tourists people increases.

Experts believe the only way to prevent the mass destruction of the birds is to impose stricter regulations or, at least, put the ones already in place into effect. For example, while the Antarctica Treaty requires visitors to carry their waste back home to safeguard the pristine environment, the regulation is rarely enforced. Nowadays, some officials are taking steps to save the vulnerable birds before it’s too late.

There comes a time when the old must give way to the new. Finding and     1     (keep) the right balance between progress and the protection of cultural sites can be     2     big challenge.

In the 1950s, the Egyptian government wanted to build a new dam across the Nile     3     (control) floods, produce electricity and supply water to more farmers, but the proposal led to     4     (protest).

After listening to the experts’ opinion, the government turned to the United Nations for help. Then a committee     5     (establish) to limit damage to the Egyptian buildings and prevent the loss of cultural relics.     6     (final), a document was signed, and the work     7     (begin) in 1960.

    8     the project ended in 1980, it was considered a great success. Not only had the countries found a path     9     the future that did not run over the relics of the past, but they had also learnt that it was possible for countries to work together to build a better tomorrow. The spirit of the Aswan Dam project is still alive today.   If a problem seems too difficult for a single nation, the     10     (globe) community can sometimes provide a solution.

4 . The endangered pandas in the Qinling Mountains might face a new threat: the loss of their food, bamboo, which makes up 99% of their meals.

Adult pandas spend most part of the day eating bamboo and have to take in at least 40 pounds a day to stay healthy. However, a new study published in Nature Climate Change warned that they may soon find their food gone because most of the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains might disappear by the end of the century as a result of rising temperature worldwide.

A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has studied the effects of climate change on the bamboo in the Qinling Mountains. They have found that bamboo is very sensitive to climate changes. “80% to 100% of the bamboo would be gone if the average temperature rises 3.5 degrees worldwide by the end of the century,” said Liu Jianguo, one of the report’s authors.

He added, “This is how much the temperature would rise by 2100 even if all countries will keep their promises in the Paris Agreement. But you know what is happening all around the world.”

In recent years, China has been trying its best to protect the endangered pandas by setting up more and bigger natural reserves.

“But it is far from enough and the endangered pandas need cooperation from the rest of the world, because their future is not just in the hands of the Chinese,” said Shirley Martin from the World Wildlife Fund but not a member of the team.

The Qinling Mountains, in the southwest of China, are home to about 260 pandas. That is about 13% of China’s wild panda population. In addition, about 375 are living in research centers and zoos in China.

6 . Garbage sorting (分类) has become a hot topic around China, especially after Shanghai began carrying out a regulation (规章) on July 1.

Beijing has been expected to do the same. At present the regulation gives garbage sorting responsibilities to government departments, property management groups and other organizations. It also gives rules for companies, explaining how they’re responsible for waste collection, transportation and treatment. Citizens are free of responsibilities for the moment.

The long-awaited revision will soon change the situation. “Taking out the trash without sorting it properly will be illegal,” said Sun Xinjun, director of the Beijing Commission of Urban Management. In Shanghai, violators (违背者) are now fined up to 200 yuan for trash-sorting violations. “The maximum fine in Beijing will not be less than that,” he said.

The Beijing city government first promoted garbage sorting in 2009. Authorities have since called on citizens to sort their household waste into four types—recyclable waste, kitchen trash, dangerous waste and others , and leave it in a colored dustbin or trash can. Blue-colored dustbins are for recyclable items, green for kitchen trash, red for dangerous materials and grey for other waste.

To promote the awareness of garbage sorting and expand the base of participants, authorities have employed workers to help citizens. With intelligent devices, those who throw in recyclable waste at given places will be rewarded with bonus points, which can be used to buy daily goods. At some communities, there are no color-coded dustbins. Instead, a scheduled garbage collection service is offered to help improve the environment. In other communities, workers offer a door-to-door service to collect recyclable or kitchen waste.

Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group has been promoting new garbage sorting facilities such as recycling cabinets and smart kitchen waste trash cans since 2016, Xinhua News Agency reported.

7 . A Plastic Ocean is a film to make you think.Think,and then act.We need to take action on our dependence on plastic.We’ve been producing plastic in huge quantities.Drinking bottles,shopping bags and even clothes are made with plastic.    1     What happens to all the rest?This is the question the film A Plastic Ocean answers.

The film begins as a journey to film the largest animal on the planet,the blue whale.But during the journey the filmmakers make the shocking discovery of a huge,thick layer of plastic floating in the Indian Ocean.    2     In total,they visited 20 locations around the world during the four years to make the film.

In the film there are beautiful shots of the seas and marine life.    3     We see how marine species are being killed by all the plastic we are dumping in the ocean.The message about our use of plastic is painfully obvious.

    4     In the second half,the filmmakers look at what we can do to deal with the problem.

They present short-term and long-term solutions.These include avoiding plastic containers and recycling as much as you can.The filmmakers also stress the need for governments to work more on recycling programmes.

We make a shocking amount of plastic.Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year,and at least 8 million of those are dumped into the oceans.The results are disastrous,but it isn’t too late to change.    5    

8 . I fell in love with Yosemite National Park the first time I saw it. My parents took us there for camping. On the way out, I asked them to wait while I ran up to El Capitain, a_________rock of 3,300 feet straight up. I touched that giant rock and knew_________I wanted to climb it. That has been my life’s passion(热爱) ever since—_________the rocks and mountains of Yosemite. I’ve long made Yosemite my_________.

About 15 years ago I started seeing a lot of_________, like beer cans, empty boxes, around the area. It’s beyond me why visitors started respecting the place_________and treated such a beautiful home-like place this way.

I tried_________trash(垃圾) myself, but the job was too big. I would_________an hour or two on the job, only to find the area trashed all over again weeks later. Finally, I got so tired of it that I decided something had to change.

In 2004, together with some climbers, I set a date for a_________. On that day, more than 300 people__________. Over three days we collected about 6,000 pounds of trash. It was amazing how much we were able to__________. I couldn’t believe the__________we made—the park looked clean!

Each year volunteers come for the cleanup from everywhere. In 2007 alone, 2,945 people picked up 42,330 pounds of trash.

I often hear people__________about their surroundings. If you are one of them, I would say the only way to change things is by__________rather than complaining. We need to teach by__________.

9 . A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely dipping below16℃. Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate. Without the forest cover, these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere, warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns, potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.

In the past hundred years, humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources: land for crops, wood for paper and other products, land for raising farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example, a lot of carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.

There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, when people cut down trees generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly, cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now, but in the long run it actually reduces the world’s wood supply.

Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However, fewer than 1% of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.

10 . In a county of Britain, a pair of pig farmers has managed to feed one million bees by turning over half of their land to wildflowers. Four years ago, brothers Mark and Paul Hayward decided to fill 81 acres of their farm land with wildflowers. This week, a study found they were feeding one million bees at any time.

“This was our target when we started, to, grow enough flowers to feed a million bees on a single day.” Mark said. “We are acutely aware that bees are under threat from modern farming methods and that East England is one of the worst places where bees are seriously suffering from lack of wildflower diversity,” he continued.

“Every third bite of food you eat can come from bees and we wanted to create an operation on our farm that did not push nature out but rather hugged it-as a central part of our ecology system and our food cycle,” he said.

The farm uses all kinds of seeds which can produce many different wild plants and of course, the bees can get food from different wildflowers.

“We are taking a very small role in helping society restore a balance and this starts with plant diversity to encourage insects, bees, small mammals(哺乳动物), and birds,” said Paul. “At the end of the day, we see ourselves as caretakers of this land. Between us we have six children and we owe it to them to farm sustainability(持续性)and set an example for the generations to come,” added Paul.

According to the Bee Conservation Trust, many types of bees have seen their populations decline by 70%, and two species have become extinct in the last century.

Gill Perkins, CEO of the Bee Conservation Trust said, “Thanks to Mark and Paul, at least here, a million bees can keep living, which is of great significance for ourselves now and future.”