Located in Ordos, North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Kubuqi Desert (库布齐沙漠) is the closest desert to China’s capital Beijing. It was once known as the “sea of death”. However, in the past 30 years, the government, social organizations and local farmers     1     (work) together to control desertification (沙漠化) in Kubuqi Desert.

Historically, Kubuqi was a rich city filled with water and grass. But due     2     climate change and over-exploitation from humans, the farmlands gradually turned to desert. Controlling desertification was the only way out for people still living in Kubuqi. With the first highway going through the desert     3     (build) here, people started planting trees in     4     whole desert. It was common for planted trees to die. But the next year, people just continued to plant more trees.     5     (ultimate), their hard work inspired the term “Kubuqi spirit”, encouraging local people     6     (devote) themselves to the desert greatly. Over three decades, tree planting technology saw further     7     (improve) in Kubuqi. Now workers can plant a tree in just ten     8     (second), and the survival rate of trees is over 80 percent.

The 102,000 residents in the desert have enjoyed the benefits of managing with desertification. Meng Keda,     9     family has lived deep in Kubuqi Desert for generations, began a tourism business in 2006     10     earned about 300,000 yuan last year.

When     1     (ask) by a TV reporter to talk about air and water quality in his hometown, Qi Mu noted, “The air is great now, and we can take more walks and enjoy being outdoors again.” He felt quite pleased because the villagers were living     2     (harmonious) with nature once more. However, he could not forget about an earlier time     3     his village had been struggling with a serious air quality problem.

In the 1990s, garbage from nearby city was usually brought to the village. “How can we make use of this?” The villagers wondered. Soon they found that garbage could be used     4     (feed) pigs. “Over the next few years,     5     (dozen) of pig farms were set up,” Qi recalled. But then nobody in the village wanted to open their windows. “The smell from the garbage and pig waste was making us sick,” Qi said. The numbers of mosquitoes and flies were also     6     (horrify). “Under such circumstances, no single women wanted to marry anyone in our village and move here,” Qi     7     (sigh).

The villagers could no longer tolerate the situation. So     8     initiative was launched and “clean-up” campaign was added to the government agenda, including restricting large vehicles     9     passing through the village. Garbage from the city was no longer disposed of in the village and more trees were planted. “We can all breathe more freely now that the natural beauty of our village     10     (restore) since then,” said Qi.

Earth Day     1     (found) in 1970 as a day of education about environmental problems, and Earth Day 20 occurs on Wednesday, April 22—the holiday’s 50th anniversary. The holiday is now a global celebration that’s sometimes extended into Earth Week, a full seven days of     2     (event) focused on green living.

    3     (elect) to the U.S. Senate（参议院）in 1962, Senator Gaylord Nelson was determined to convince the federal government that the planet was     4     risk. In 1969, Nelson developed the idea for Earth Day after     5     (inspire) by the anti-Vietnam War “teach-ins” that were taking place on college campuses around the United States.

Denis Hayes, a young activist     6     had served as student president at Stanford University, was selected as Earth Day’s national coordinator（协调者）, and he worked with     7     army of student volunteers and several staff members from Nelson’s Senate office     8     (organize) the project.

The first Earth Day was effective at raising     9     (aware) about environmental problems and transforming public attitudes. Earth Day kicked off the “Environmental decade with a bang,” as Senator Nelson later put it. The theme of Earth Day 2020 is “climate action.” EarthDay.org hopes it will be the     10     (large) volunteer event in history.