1 . The suburb I live in backs on to a large nature reserve. One morning I saw a koala (考拉) sitting in a palm tree in my front yard. I phoned around to ask what I could _________ this koala, but no one wanted to know. I ended up _________ the koala out of my tree and we crossed the road _________ for him to return to the nature reserve.

I’ve always been befriending animals. As a young kid I used to pick up lizard eggs and _________ them. It stimulated my interest as to why there wasn’t anyone wanting to come and _________ this koala in my tree. After that, I signed up for all the _________ I could find.

Once I had accreditation (合格证), I volunteered with the RSPCA in 2014, rehabilitating (使康复) wildlife. I was an ambulance driver, _________ overnight rescues. We rescued hundreds of animals and _________ more.

One day, I thought why not _________ my own rescue group focusing on my backyard? I purchased a two-acre property and built enclosures on it to __________ injured animals. Last year, I planted 300 eucalyptus trees(桉树), with seven varieties to __________ the koalas.

I cut the leaves of the eucalyptus trees for the koalas to eat and look after the __________ wildlife at our centre. If they recover, they are __________ back to where they come from.

As a kid I would never have imagined doing this. I feel like I’m the __________ girl on the planet that I get to do what I love. I believe it’s my __________.

2 . Last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report that a hotter future is unavoidable. The scientists predict killer heatwaves, a(n)_________ of water and food, and millions of people suffering and dying. In 2040 when my son will be college-aged, he will likely be more _________with air quality and escaping the heat than with his academic achievements. By the time he has _________of his own, reliable access to food and water may be more _________than a diploma (文凭).

That night, I asked my husband: What if we stopped putting money in our son’s college fund and started using that money to _________him from climate change?

_________played a big role in both my and my husband’s college decisions — I did my first two years at community college to _________money, and my husband’s college fund got spent on keeping the family business running. The idea felt _________that we would be removing those_________for our own kids with the money we were putting aside, something we had started doing while I was still pregnant.

After much discussion, we agreed that saving money for his college education when we are facing a climate emergency just doesn’t __________. Instead, we are planning on using the money to invest (投资) in a __________life style now by buying electric cars, installing solar panels and starting a backyard vegetable garden.

Another mom __________me of “stealing” my child’s future by planning to spend this money now ________saving it for higher education. But my husband and I are living __________that you don’t need a six-figure college fund to do well in life. If my son wants to go to college, he’ll figure out a way. Or he’ll be like nearly 80% of the other students and __________student loan debt.

4 . Reducing the use of plastic is a balance between what you can afford and what you can get. I’ve ______ a lot from a plastic-free lifestyle. It helps me ______ my carbon footprint and save money.

I’ve found that living plastic free is a great way to ______ mindless online shopping. Nowadays, I ______ weigh the possibility of returning an order before I hit the ______ button. Do I have something else I could ______ to meet this need? Is there a place I can get it ______ so I don’t have to deal with all the plastic it’ll arrive in?

Besides, I’ve slowly ______ the collection of the things that I want, and that are made to last. Anytime I need to replace a bigger-ticket item, I’m ______ to look for a second-hand version of a nicer, ______ item, which I can often find for the same price as a new but less durable (耐用的) model.

Of course, there are certain situations where plastic is the most ______ choice. I recently reorganized my closet and found that I ______ clear plastic containers for my off-season clothing. After a few ______ to my favorite neighborhood charity shop, I found a set of Rubbermaid storage containers that ______ the bill.

Life without plastic doesn’t take place overnight. Devote yourself to making a few ______ in your daily plastic use and see where it takes you.

8 . 10-year-old Sasha Olsen went on a trip in the summer of 2021 with her family to Vietnam and Japan. She was shocked at the ocean’s pollution levels and dying sea animals.

“We went on this trip and I was so_________,” said Sasha. “But when I saw the way the oceans had become, I got upset. I wanted to know why things were this way but couldn’t find an_________.”

When she returned home to Bal Harbour, Florida, she grew even more_________. She learned some of the_________in South Florida had been closed by the health department because the_________had too much bacteria (细菌)in it.

Sasha sought the_________of her cousin, Narmina Aliyev. Together, they_________ a nonprofit Organization—Iwantmyoceanback._________ the group started small, with friends joining together on weekends to_________the beaches in Bal Harbour. Recently, however, she has__________events to raise funds for beach cleanups and to __________to protection groups.

“It’s__________to bring awareness not just through doing cleanups and meetings, but to show people they can come together through their hobbies and__________together to a common goal,” said Sasha.

Sasha hopes to__________their work to neighboring cities. “We really want to make ourselves visible and__________to all,” said Sasha. “After all, in Miami the ocean is everyone’s backyard. This is the best place to start.”

9 . Natalie and Callie, both 13 years old, started raising monarch butterflies for fun in 2020.

But after realizing the monarchs were an endangered species, their _______ soon turned into a serious mission.

They learned that the population of monarch butterflies had _______ since the early 1990s, due to habitat _______ and widespread use of chemicals, which made the milkweeds (马利筋草) the monarchs _______ for their main diet dangerous to eat.

So the girls teamed up with a national nonprofit group to plant a native garden _______ for the monarchs. The garden grew organic milkweeds that _______ and kept the butterflies. To help _______ the locals to sustain the monarch population, they created an exhibition about the monarchs in the local library. They also wanted to put up an educational sign in town, but it _______ a lot. To cover the expense, they set up a stand at the Farmers Market to sell their _______ milkweeds for people to plant. Although the fundraising days were ________, they finally succeeded in earning enough money with their hard work and people’s support.

The team has won the Silver Award for their ________ of taking care of butterflies, but they are not ________ with their work. “Our next step is to cut down on the use of ________ to guarantee a safe environment for the monarchs,” said Natalie. In the award ceremony, their teacher Brian ________, “I am so proud of them for their constant ________.”

10 . China becomes a world leader in clean technology by fighting environmental pollution, sharing experience.

Erik Solheim, former executive director of the United Nations Environmental Programme, said he is __________ with China’s phenomenal achievements over the past decade in fighting environmental pollution and climate change, and in its march toward __________ development.

This is very __________ to his Twitter followers. Solheim’s latest tweets include one about China ranking first globally in planted forests and forest coverage growth, __________ a quarter of the world’s new forests in the past decade; one about China producing 60 percent of global solar energy last year and 80 percent of solar panels; and another highlighting the fact that 80 percent of the world’s new offshore wind capacity was installed in China last year.

He believes that it’s time for the rest of the world to __________.

For Solheim, who is also the former Norwegian Minister of the Environment and Minister of International Development, China’s achievements on the climate and environmental fronts all started with its fight against__________.

“People wanted to see beautiful skies over their cities,” he told China Daily. “The __________ fast reduction in air pollution in Chinese cities over the last decade shows how fast China can act. This has now spilled over into renewable energy, nature protection, electric mobility, tree planting and a lot more. Today, China is the world leader in all __________ technologies.”

The latest __________ from China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment prove Solheim’s observations that the country is rapidly switching to a more sustainable path.

Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu told a news conference on Sept 15 that the country’s toughest measures and greatest progress on the ecological and environmental front have occurred in the last decade.

He said that __________ painstaking efforts to combat pollution, clear waters and blue skies have become more commonplace.

While poor air quality used to be a source of frequent public complaints, the average __________ of hazardous airborne PM2.5 particles dropped from 46 to 30 micrograms per cubic (立方的) meter between 2015 and last year.

About 87.5 percent of days last year were rated as having good air quality, up 6.3 percentage points from 2015, making China the country with the biggest __________ in air quality in the world.

In the last decade, the __________ of water at or above Grade III in the country’s five-tier water quality system rose 23.3 percentage points to 84.9 percent, close to the levels in developed countries. Carbon intensity, or carbon emissions per unit of GDP, has declined by 34.4 percent, with coal __________ for 56 percent of total energy consumption, compared to 68.5 percent a decade ago.

China has has legislated or revised roughly 30 laws and regulations, some of which focused on water resource protection, including the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, which was modified in 2017, and the Yangtze River Protection Law, which __________ last year.