The Student Union

5 . The future in energy production is here. And some of the materials used to supply the energy may surprise you! Companies have developed a way to turn plant wastes and other garbage into fuel. It has been called one of the most promising technologies in energy. And the process is expected to become more common this year.

The American-based company Fiberight is taking the lead in this new form of energy production. Truck loads of garbage are sent to Fiberight’s test plant in southern Virginia. Old vegetables, cardboard boxes and other wastes become something much more valuable through the work done at the factory. 50% of this material is going to be processed for the change of biofuel such as ethanol（乙醇）.

Ethanol makes up about 10 percent of America’s fuel supply. Nearly all of it comes from corn, the food known as maize in some countries. Critics say this creates competition between food and fuel, and raises food prices. Environmentalists say farmers are using more land to plant corn crops. They also say farmers are using more fertilizers and products for killing insects. They say this creates more pollution.

This year, several other fuel production plants are expected to start making ethanol from the cellulose（纤维素） in corn stalks, wheat straw and other plant materials. However, making cellulosic ethanol turned out to be harder than expected. We know how to do that in a lab. The main problem is doing that in a continuous way, cost-effectively on a large scale. Besides, our cars may limit how much the industry can grow. Even if we can begin to produce this cost-effectively, we need to be able to consume it as well. Only a few models of automobiles can operate on high-ethanol fuel. Without more of them, there is only so much gas from garbage that will sell.

6 . Off the coast of Formentera, an island, lives seagrass that stretches 15 kilometres. The seagrass, covering several hectares, is made up of a single organism. The grasses are also long-lived, for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. Along with two other kinds of coastal ecosystems—mangrove swamps（红树沼泽）and tidal marshes, seagrass meadows are particularly good at taking carbon dioxide from the air.

This role was highlighted in a report, which was published on March 2nd by UNESCO, on blue carbon—the carbon taken in by Earth's oceanic and coastal ecosystems. In total around 33 billion tons of carbon dioxide, about three-quarters of the world's emissions（排放）in 2019, are locked away in the planet's blue carbon sinks（碳汇）. Research by Carlos Duarte, the report's author and a marine ecologist, has shown that one hectare of seagrass can suck as much carbon dioxide each year as 15 hectares of rainforest.

One reason that blue—carbon ecosystems make such effective sinks is that underwater forests are thicker than the land-based woods. They can also trap floating pieces and organic matter, which settles on the sea floor and can double the amount of carbon stored away. They have another advantage, too. Climate change is leading to more wildfires around the world. As forests burn, their carbon stocks are released back into the atmosphere. Unlike forests on land, blue-carbon ecosystems do not burn.

Blue-carbon ecosystems may not be fired, but they remain affected to other sorts of disasters. In May 2020 hurricane Amphan destroyed 1,200 square kilometres of mangrove forest. A marine（海洋的）heatwave in Australian waters in 2010 and 2011 damaged around one third of the world's largest seagrass meadow in Shark Bay. “Mangrove forests can weaken or control waves and provide natural barriers to storm surges. Protecting and expanding them, then, appears to be a must,” said a marine biologist.

Today, Mount Qomolangma’s peak is not a lonely place any more. Over 3,500 people have     1    (successful) climbed the mountain over the past years. Meanwhile, climbers have complained about     2    (wait) for hours in the bottlenecks.

In fact，the dangerous     3    (crowd) aren’t the only problem. All those climbers need to bring a lot of gear (设备), much of which ends up     4    (leave) on the mountain. It is becoming the world’s     5    (tall) rubbish dump.

But the good news is     6     some mountaineers have started to clean up Qomolangma. Mountaineers Paul and Eberhard are part of Eco Everest Expedition, which has been cleaning up rubbish since 2008. So far they     7    (collect) over 13 tons of garbage.

Some of that rubbish is even being used for     8     higher purpose. As part of the Mount Everest 8848 Art Project, a group of 15 artists from Nepal collected 1.5 tons of garbage. They’ve changed the cans and oxygen tanks     9     74 pieces of art that have already been exhibited in Nepal’s capital. Part of the profit from sales     10    (be) available for the Everest Peakers Association which has helped collect rubbish off the mountain.

9 . Over two weeks ago I was standing on the summit of Mount Qomolangma. It was the top of many years' hard work, and the_______of a childhood dream.

I have been overwhelmed by the tide of goodwill and support. But one thing has become_________apparent. Many people have constant misunderstandings about Mount Qomolangma. In their minds, Qomolangma has_________her crown. She has become a mountain connected with death, exploitation and_________.

The most common question I get asked is: "Is it_________with rubbish?" As a United Nations patron(资助人)of the wilderness, one of my roles is to_________back the Earth's remaining wildernesses and to act as a_______for the wild.

I climbed Qomolangma expecting a rubbish dump but what I found_________me: I_________saw any litter, from the airport to the summit.

The Nepalese have____________some huge clean-up campaigns in recent years, perhaps to improve their reputation, but also in response to some tragic natural disasters. The government____________a number of requirements including that each climber____________an additional 8kg of litter(not including their own) and incentives(激励)for Sherpas(夏尔巴人)of $ 2 per kilo of rubbish cleaned.

The results have been____________. The country lanes of Great Britain have more rubbish than the path to base camps; despite the 100, 000 footsteps I saw one of the cleanest, tidiest wilderness trails I have encountered.

I have spent time in many of the world's popular wilderness locations and I would say Nepal should be proud. It is an example of man repairing the____________he has done. As our focus turns to the oceans and the seemingly____________task of repairing our marine habitat, we could look at Qomolangma as a fine example of turning back the clock.

10 . Scientist， conservation organizations and government trying to stop the trend of extinction （灭绝） often focus on protected areas such as national parks and wildlife preserves. But with as many as million species（物种） at risk， this plan of action may not be enough to conserve wildlife.

Slowing the mass extinction that now appears to be underway will require more creative means of coexisting alongside wild plants and animals. A new study indicates the effectiveness of some such approaches by examining some lands managed by indigenous groups.

“ We show really strongly that， from a biodiversity standpoint in terms of species richness，indigenous － managed lands are at least comparable to protected areas， ” says biologist Richard Schuster of Carleton University. And in some places， they are better than parks and preserves －even though indigenous communities may use their lands’ resources by hunting or searching for food.

Schuster and his team analyzed more than 15，000 areas in Australia， Brazil and Canada. They found that the total diversity of wildlife was highest on lands either managed or co － managed by indigenous groups， while randomly selected areas with no formal protection were the least bio－diverse. For threatened species in particular， indigenous lands scored slightly higher than protected lands on overall species richness in Brazil and Canada， as well as higher for threatened animals in Australia.

Each country has a different geography， climate and history. Yet remarkably， Schuster says， the best indicator for species diversity is whether a given area was managed by an indigenous community. He pointed out that practices such as sustainable（可持续的） hunting， fishing and searching， as well as burning， are more likely to occur in such areas. Don Hankins， an ecologist at California State University，agrees. “ there’ s probably going to be more of a connection to the land， ” he says， “ and a use of the land for the things that are there， compared to a national park. ”

“ It’ s really important to listen to the people who live on the land and have them drive the stewardship efforts going forward， ” Schuster says， adding that partnering with indigenous communities may enable the world’ s countries to better meet a wide range of conservation goals： “ We really need all the help we can get as a global community to prevent species extinction that we’ re facing right now. ”