It’s a wildlife expedition (远征) that has captivated (使着迷) the globe: a herd of 16 elephants trekking (跋涉) more than 300 miles from their home in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. The herd’s trek began in March last year when 16 elephants     1     (see) moving from the reserve. Nobody is clear why the herd set out on this unprecedented (前所未有的) trek. Some suggest environmental degradation may have pushed them;    2     believe they are simply lost. An expert in elephant psychology believes that they likely left because of habitat loss and increasing human disturbance,    3     may have led to decreasing availability of food and water.

“We can’t ignore the effect of rapid development of the local economy on the loss of wildlife habitat,”    4     well-known expert on Asian elephant migration wrote on his Weibo page. “Clear waters and green mountains are as     5     (value) as mountains of gold and silver. A healthy and complete ecosystem is the cornerstone of sustainable economic development.

China’s wild elephants     6     (double) in number to more than 300 since the 1990s, but their habitat has shrunk     7     nearly two-thirds over the same period. Though China has extremely harsh penalties for those     8     (catch) killing elephants, the combination of these factors     9     (mean) that the potential for human-elephant conflict will only rise. It’s     10     (extreme) challenging for them to coexist.

The big fear is that the intensity of conflict between humans and elephants can start as just a nuisance and quickly grow to the point where people or elephants get killed.

China’s accumulated experience in reducing food loss and waste is being shared with the world. This knowledge will help many countries improve their ability    1     (reduce) food loss and ensure food security, experts and officials said.

About 14 percent of the world’s food is lost during from    2    (produce) to retail (零售). Reducing that loss by 1 percentage point would be equal to a 28 million metric ton increase in grain output,     3    could feed 70 million people for a year. This is according to the State of Food and Agriculture 2019 report released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

According to the FAO, over 155 million people experienced serious food insecurity in 2020, the    4    (high) number in the past five years. This was caused by conflict, extreme weather events and economic shocks    5    (relate) to COVID-19.

Wu Laping,     6    professor at China Agricultural University’s College of Economics and Management, said food loss and waste is    7    (large) affected by economic development. They noted that    8    (develop) countries lose food mainly before it is retailed, whereas developed countries mainly lose it after retail.

    9    example, food loss and waste mostly occurs in harvesting and storage in Africa and South Asia. Up to 30 percent of food loss was found during farmers’ storage in some areas in Africa, and 21 percent of food in the United States    10    (waste) during daily consumption, Wu told Economic Daily.

World Water Day,     1     (hold)on 22 March every year since 1993, focuses on the importance of freshwater. World Water Day celebrates water and     2     (raise)awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is about     3     (take)action to handle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

Despite the rapid progress of society, there is a widespread recognition that the quality of life in large cities is getting much    1    (bad). The proper way to tackle this problem is developing mixed-use areas. Mixed-use areas, for example, may contain offices and businesses, apartments, and entertainment facilities.    2    (apparent), they attract people who want to live and work in the same area. Therefore, people spend less time in cars driving to work and play,     3     in turn reduces pollution and possibly improves the well-being of the population.

17­-year­-old Jackson Hinkle, a surfer, has always been aware of     1     issue of plastic pollution and its effects on ocean ecosystems. This year, however, was a big year when it came to taking action, reports Teen Vogue. He became a Water Ambassador for The Water Effect at The Ecology Center, and     2     (organize) a march against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in Orange County to raise people’s awareness of water rights and support the     3     (create) of a clean future. Besides, he     4     (present) serves as the founder and president of Team Zissou, an     5     (environment) club that has popped up in schools in California, Hawaii, Washington, and Canada. Jackson is also leading a campaign in his town called “Plastic Free SC,”     6     promotes the usage of reusable water bottles. “Our team is urging local restaurants and eateries     7     (join) our movement by transferring from carrying plastic water bottles to selling more sustainable paper water bottles, and is planning to equip our city     8     new water bottle refill stations and water fountains.”     9     (find) out simple ways you can start reducing your carbon footprint today and you’ll make contributions to stopping the earth from getting     10    (pollute).

A study shows 176 bird species have been found to build nests with human litter, such as plastic bags and fishing nets.     1     worries the scientists is that such materials can harm chicks and even adult birds. The study     2     (review) research covering almost 35,000 nests and finds that birds use human-made materials in nests on all continents except Antarctica. While such behaviour     3     (observe) as early as in the 1830s, in recent years it has undoubtedly increased.