1 . Students at St. Stanislaus High School in Mississippi are among the volunteers along US coasts raising oysters (牡蛎) to help restore, or repair weakened reefs (礁). Oyster reefs are an important part of coastal environments. Each oyster cleans 95 to 190 liters of water a day. The reefs provide living space for shrimp, crabs and fish. They also protect coastlines. In the states of Maryland, Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama, now there are more than 1,000 oyster gardens. Most of them are in wire cages hanging from private ports.

Colin Wood, one student looking after the St. Stanislaus garden, said he was excited by the hands-on work. “I didn’t realize oysters had a big influence on the environment. And 50,000 to 55,000 adult oysters grown here each year go to reefs in Mobile Bay,” he said.

In the 1950s, an average of 37,400 tons of oysters were taken yearly from partly salty waters in the US. But US oyster harvests fell sharply in the 1990s. Data showed the cause of the drop could be overharvesting, pollution, pests and other problems. Then oyster gardening started.

Oyster gardening uses many of the same methods as farming. Farmers around the country grow oysters near the surface of water. Oysters develop much faster where the water holds more food they eat and enemies can be more easily removed. But the oysters are not being grown to be eaten. Oyster gardens get pulled from the water every seven to ten days. The time out of the water is used to clear out small animals, keep oysters from growing through the wires, and dry and clean off plant-life growing on the wires.

Bob Stokes, the director of the Galveston Bay Foundation in Texas, says, “Oyster gardening is as much about education as it is restoration.”

2 . Do you know that about 71 percent of our planet is covered by the ocean (海洋) ?     1    . People around the world wear blue to celebrate World Oceans Day on 8 June every year. World Oceans Day is a special day for learning about oceans, including why they’re in danger and how essential it is to protect them.

Without oceans, life couldn’t exist. Scientists don’t know the exact number, but they think that oceans are home to 50 percent to 80 percent of all species on Earth, from large whales to tiny plankton. Oceans absorb carbon dioxide and give out oxygen (氧气).     2    .

Humans use the ocean in many different ways. Lots of our food comes from oceans.     3    . Besides getting oil and gas from beneath the ocean floor, we can produce electricity using the power of waves. We even rely on submarine cables for international communication.

    4    , but sadly they are in danger. You’ve heard of plastic pollution. Billions of pieces of plastic are floating around in our oceans, harming and killing sea creatures. It’s also dangerous for our health too, because fish eat the tiny pieces of plastic and then humans eat the fish.

For World Oceans Day, you can use social media platforms to share posts, photos or videos showing how important oceans are and why we need to protect them.     5    . Remember that every day we can make a difference by using less plastic and recycling, and talking to others about protecting our precious oceans.

Imagine that you’re sleeping in the wild in a tent and are awakened by the sound of wolves howling(狼嚎叫). That’s     1    happened to me last summer when my family and I spent the night at the Wolf Conservation Center (WCC) in South Salem, New York. The howling didn’t frighten me. Wolves howl to communicate     2    each other.

The WCC educates people about wolves,    3    (they) relationship to the environment, and how to ensure that they survive. Guests     4    (invite) to visit the wolves year­round. The center is home to twenty­five wolves and two    5    (serious) endangered species—the red wolf and the Mexican gray wolf. At one point, both species     6    (be) extinct in the wild. With help from the WCC, the wolves are making a comeback.

“Wolves help to keep all other animals in balance(平衡) and keep the environment really     7    (health) ,” said Mary Kate Kabbes, an educator at the WCC.

When wolves became extinct in Yellowstone National Park, the elk(麋鹿) population increased to five times its normal(正常的) size and destroyed areas where birds lived. As    8    result, several bird species were forced to leave the park.

Now that wolves are back at Yellowstone, the birds have returned. “Learning about wolves, reading books about them, and telling your family and friends is a simple way    9    (help) spread the word about the     10    (important) of wolves.” Kabbes said.

9 . A French company called SolarSoundSystem is celebrating its 24^th year of hosting solar-and-bicycle-powered parties in Europe. Founder Cedric Carles says “it is necessary to perform in public spaces in order to increase the level of general knowledge and catch public concern about climate change.” The solar-powered sound systems started off in Lausanne, Switzerland, but have now taken off in France, Berlin, the Basque region of Spain and Tel Aviv.

The principle is simple, during the day batteries are charged by solar energy. These are attached to generators which allow the speakers to function and power the DJ turntables (唱机转盘) too. Impressively, the sound quality is so high that it can provide music for up to 500 people. In terms of how long the music can last, the team explains that even with partial sun clouds, the machines can operate for 5 hours without bicycles and 6 to 8 hours with bicycles. With plenty of sun in the sky, the party can go on until dark. Then at night, party-goers are encouraged to take turns donating pedal power, by riding the bikes to keep the music going.

To mark the 23^rd anniversary of the parties last year, the eco-friendly sound system released a vinyl record (黑胶唱片) of the electronic artists that have been playing on their systems over the years. The chosen songs pay tribute to the eight international artists who have supported SolarSoundsystem in the past years, such as Jay Ka and Gregorythme.

10 . Growing up in Canterbury, Scartozzi recalls swimming in rivers as part of her childhood. When she returned many years later, however, she noticed things had changed. “Some of the places where I could swim before now have signs saying ‘polluted water, do not swim’,” she says. “I wanted to take my kids to places to swim but we couldn’t because these signs were up.”

Although the experience was sad and surprising, it has also served as fuel for Scartozzi, who’s now focusing on restoring the health of waterways. Her company called eCleanEnvirotech is developing technology to remove pollutants from waterways such as rivers, ponds and streams. It involves feeding polluted water into a system housing microbes (微生物) that eat or break up the pollutants.

The “engineered” nature of the technology, Scartozzi explains, means it’s adaptable for different environment conditions. Each system can be personalized with its own unique “soup” of microbes to remove the pollutants in any waterway where it is installed (安装).

Other advantages of the technology, she says, are that it can process water relatively quickly and that it can be used to treat waterways in a variety of sizes and locations.

She says she hopes to create cleaner water for the benefit of future generations. “My passion is around restoring the health of these waterways. And my purpose is to do anything that I can to return them to their former condition. That’s what drives me every day. If I can do anything, it is so that in the future, my kids and grandchildren have somewhere where they can go swimming and fishing.”