According to Science Daily, the Arctic, the only natural habitat for polar bears, is in danger. Sea ice in the area could disappear    1    (complete) by 2035. This is undoubtedly bad news for the animal, as they use the floating sea ice to hunt.

Scientist made this    2    (predict) by using the UK Met Office’s Hadley Center climate model. This model allowed researchers    3    (compare) Arctic sea ice conditions during the last interglacial period-the warm period that     4    (occur) around 127, 000 years ago-to present day conditions. Researchers found during the last interglacial period many shallow pools of water formed on the surface of the Arctic sea ice. These pools     5    (know) as melt ponds, played a crucial role in the melting of the sea ice. This is because if there are larger areas of melt ponds, more heat    6    (absorb) by sea ice, which causes it to melt further.

In the last interglacial period, the Arctic sea ice actually disappeared. This is a    7    (frighten) thought for scientists     8    see the pattern repeating. “If what is happening to the Arctic right now is anything like the last interglacial period, there is     9    chance that it could be virtually free of sea ice in only 15 years,” the researchers said.

In addition     10    the potential extinction of some animal species, the melting of sea ice could cause devastating natural disasters.

Dongying city in China’s Shandong Province has witnessed ecological improvements in the Yellow River Delta, thanks to various     1    (effect) measures to improve wetland restoration and protection.

Years ago, the wetlands there     2    (threaten) due to less water from the river and other factors.     3    (protect) the wetlands ecosystem, the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve was established in 1992. Since then, the city     4    (carry) out several management projects and restored the biotic (生物) population in the zone.

Dongying has been adopting a comprehensive wetlands restoration model by giving high priority to protecting the nature reserve and letting nature restore     5    (it) . Over the past three years, it’s transferred 469 million cubic meters of water to the nature reserve, which has recovered the ecological functions of the wetlands there.

Last year, Dongying built a real-time monitoring network for bird species at the nature reserve, which ensures that birds are free from disturbance of human activity and     6    (put) the habitats of cranes and other species under key protection. As     7    result, the nature reserve has seen an obvious increase in the variety and number     8    bird species. Home to 371 bird species, it’s become an important stop, wintering ground and breeding place for migratory     9    (bird). Dongying is currently working to build the Yellow River Estuary National Park,     10    will cover 3, 523 square kilometers, including land area and sea area, to explore pathways for the protection of Delta ecology.

A material can be really special when it was named after the place where it     1     (create) originally. That’s certainly the case with “China”. And of all     2     (type) of China, white porcelain (瓷) is among the most famous.

Nowadays, the     3     (tradition) material has taken on a modern look in the     4     (hand) of four Chinese artists in the Modern White Porcelain Exhibition. And the key word here is “modern”. One of the works     5     (be) a porcelain boat. But look     6     (attentive) and you will see that the boat     7     (build) with porcelain looks like a takeout box. Inside the boat is a statue of a baby. The baby stands     8     humans and the boat is what supports life. It suggests we may have done some damage to     9     environment and that we’re treating life like fast food.

All the four artists gave white porcelain a model style, each in their own way. And this is what the exhibition’s theme comes from. It’s a dialogue between the past     10     the present.

Scientists in Antarctica have made a surprising and welcome     1     (discover) — the world’s largest breeding ground for fish. Researchers from Germany came across the fish while     2     (make) a map of the seabed of the Antarctic Weddell Sea. They found around 60 million ice-fish breeding in an area about 240 square kilometers. The research team had been setting down a number of     3     (camera) to a depth of 530 meters under the Wed-dell Sea for months. “Such a huge breeding area of ice-fish in the Weddell Sea was     4     (previous) undiscovered, and it is totally attractive,” said Autun Purser,     5     deep-sea biologist.

The researchers have been exploring the region hoping     6     (establish) it as an official Marine Protected Area. They say the seas are a unique habitat that must     7     (preserve). They want to keep fishing and some other scientific research from     8     (pollute) the waters. A recent University of Cambridge study found that fishing in Antarctica is bringing millions of other species from 1,500 ports around the globe,     9     are threatening the area’s special eco-system. Antun said, “So far, the remoteness and difficult sea-ice conditions of Antarctica have protected it, but we must keep     10     mind that we should be very careful with oceanic conservation.”