In downtown Xiamen, Fujian Province, a 6-meter-high mound(土堆) that stretches for 60 to 70 meters stands in contrast to the high-rise     1    (construction) all around. It is a vital place for the blue-tailed bee-eaters. Now they are under second-level state     2     (protect).

The blue-tailed bee-eater, or Merops philippinus, is known for its colorful plumage and on the Chinese mainland it     3     (find) in coastal provinces, such as Fujian and Hainan.

    4    (establish) in 2011 as Xiamen’s inaugural city-level nature reserve in an urban area, the Wuyuanwan Nature Reserve provides     5     crucial habitat for the species.

In recent years, with improved environmental conditions in Xiamen and the city government’s commitment    6     nature conservation, the blue-tailed bee-eaters have become regular visitors.

In 2015, the center     7     (observe) some 70 to 80 birds in the area while in 2023, over 200 of the birds were watched at the nesting site.

The birds,     8     are sensitive to smell, build a new nest every year. Therefore, the mound must be cleared and refilled after the blue-tailed bee-eaters fly south.

    9     (safeguard) their habitat better, the city government issued a notice in 2017, setting up a protective zone around the nesting site, where noise and pollution-producing industries are prohibited     10     (strict).

The 13-year experience of preserving blue-tailed bee-eaters has given the center a grasp of their habits and made the Wuyuanwan Nature Reserve a stable home for them.

The number of Amur tigers, also known as Siberian tigers, moving from Russia into northeastern China,     1    (increase) because of lower levels human activity, improvements in their habitat     2     a smoother transit corridor between countries. The area     3     tigers lived across the Sino-Russian border expanded by about 12 kilometers every three years from 2003-2016. In 2021 the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park was established.     4     (cover) approximately 14,100 square kilometers, the park straddles the provinces of Heilongjiang and Jilin. By the end of 2021 the number of wild Amur tigers living there     5     (rise) to 50 from 27 in 2017. The conservation of tigers is recognized as a global challenge, due to     6     (they) expansive habitat requirements. A female needs 400 to 500 square kilometers while a male requires over 1, 000 square kilometers. The collaboration between these neighboring parks creates a     7     (share) home for the animals. The construction of the Sino-Russian cross-border environmental corridor is vital     8     several barriers hinder the movement of tigers between the two sides. Border fences and roads built in the area are among those obstacles. Efforts are required by both sides     9     (promote) the corridor. As the population of prey species including wild boar and deer rises, Amur tigers are travelling     10     (far) into China for food. The expansion of the tigers’ range is expected to continue.

Many people don’t think twice about dropping litter, believing it     1     (harm) due to its small size. However, in today’s world, this     2     (assume) is proven wrong. With the increasing use of plastic bags and the rise in smokers, litter production has surged. Cigarette butts, despite their size, harm the environment greatly.     3     (globe), around 4.3 trillion cigarette butts are discarded annually. These butts not only spoil the environment’s beauty but also contain toxic     4     (chemical), polluting water sources and     5     (endanger) wildlife. They can take up     6     25 years to decompose, posing a significant threat due to the large quantity     7     (litter). Plastic bags, easily carried by wind and water, travel long distances, reaching rivers, parks, beaches, and oceans,     8     they harm countless animals each year and can persist for hundreds of years. Charging for plastic bags and promoting reusable alternatives can mitigate their impact. Ultimately, preventing litter altogether and reducing plastic bag usage is crucial for environmental preservation.

Beijing is the capital city of China. It     1     (cover) an area of around 17, 000 square kilometers, in which there are different kinds of bird habitats (栖息地),     2     (include) grassland, scrubland (灌木丛林地), wetland, and also agricultural land. Researchers call these areas “service stations,” where migrating (迁徙) birds stop     3     (rest) and feed. But the birds ‘“service stations” re     4     (rapid) closing in Beijing, as the city considers scrubland, grassland and old agricultural land to be “dirty” and “ugly”.

The loss of grassland and scrubland is already having a major influence     5     Beijing’s bird life. In the north of Beijing, the land around Miyun used to be visited by thousands of cranes (鹤). Now, much of that land is covered with man-made forest and     6     number of cranes there has greatly fallen.

“Cranes are rare and valuable animals in China. At Miyun, a festival     7     (hold) to celebrate the migration of cranes every year,” one researcher, Townshend, says. “Because it is Beijing, we can attract many people—both local people     8     visitors.”

“More cooperation (合作) between     9     (country) is needed,” Townshend adds. “Migratory birds are a shared natural heritage (遗产), and with this comes a common     10     (responsible) to protect them and the places they need,” he says.

Due to the improvement of ecological and environmental     1     (protect) in recent years, the western part of Northeast China’s Jilin province has seen     2     (many) rare migratory birds than other places, searching for food in spring and autumn.

With     3     (it) favorable geographical location and wetlands, Jilin is     4     important stop for migratory waterfowl, including large numbers of rare species, such as white cranes (鹤), red-crowned cranes, white storks and Chinese merganser ducks (秋沙鸭).

Western Jilin     5     (focus) on water management and started major projects such as river and lake connectivity in the past decade to improve the ecological conditions.

    6     (locate) on the border of Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and the Inner Mongolia (蒙古) autonomous region, the Momoge National Nature Reserve in Baicheng city has rich natural     7     (resource) and is a key habitat     8     migratory birds in China settle. It is one of the nine major global bird migration routes,     9     more than 5 million migratory birds passing through every year.

The number of white cranes     10     (stop) in the reserve in spring and autumn has risen to around 3,500, with a resting period of about 100 days every year.

According to officials in China, the giant panda is no longer listed as endangered. After working for many years to increase     1     (they) numbers, there are now more than 1800 giant pandas     2    live in the wild. The International Union for Conservation of Nature     3     (remove) the giant panda from the endangered list in 2016. At the time, Chinese officials didn’t agree with the     4     (decide). However, now they do. China has worked for decades to increase the number of these black and white bears because they are regarded     5     national treasures. China has worked to enlarge the pandas’ habitat. They have also made sure that there is plenty of bamboo for them to eat by     6     (plant) more bamboo forests. This has helped increase the number of pandas and stop them from dying out China will continue to support the giant panda population. Alongside efforts     7     (increase) the number of giant pandas in the wild, zoos around the world have breeding programmes. These     8     (design) to help increase the number of giant pandas which in captivity (圈养).     9     (hopeful) the giant panda will have     10    bright future with continued conservation efforts. We certainly hope so. We couldn’t bear to lose them.