1 . Scientists often compare coral reefs(珊瑚礁) to underwater rainforests, yet unlike the leafy plant base of a forest, corals are animals. The soft creatures are naturally half-transparent and get their brilliant color from algae(藻类) living inside them. When corals experience stress from hot temperatures or pollution, they halt the interdependent relationship with algae, typically pushing them out and turning white. Corals are still alive when they are white, but they're at risk and many eventually die, turning dark brown.

Scientists around the world are looking for means to protect and maybe increase corals. One common option is to create more protected areas — essentially national parks in the ocean. Beyond nature preserves, some conservationists are looking to more hands-on methods. One research center in the Florida Keys is exploring a form of natural selection to keep corals remaining. The reef system in the Keys has been hit hard by climate change and pollution, which is especially tough, because corals there help support fisheries worth $ 100 million every year.

To keep the wild ecosystem alive, Erinn Muller, the center's director, and her team are harvesting samples of the corals that survived the environmental stress naturally, keeping them to make them reproduce, and then reattaching them to the reef. They have 46,000 corals on plastic frames under the sea. So far, the center has regrown over 70,000 corals from five different species on damaged reefs.

In The Bahamas, Ross Cunning, a research biologist at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, focuses on corals with genes that could make them natural candidates for restoration projects. He published a study of two Bahamian reefs, one that survived an extreme 2015 heat wave, and one that didn't. "We think their ability to deal with these higher temperatures is built into their genes," says Cunning. There's evidence of corals evolving more quickly to resist rapidly warming climate. The big question scientists need investigate, adds Gunning, is how much more heat corals can adapt to.

There are thousands of endangered species in the world. If the rate    1    which they are dying out continues to rise, millions of plants and animals will become extinct    2    (immediate) in the next decade. The Giant Panda,    3    (know) as a symbol of conservation, might be one of them. Apart from the few pandas    4    (live) in zoos and conservation centres around the world, pandas     5    (find) only in the bamboo forest in southwest China. They are endangered as their habitats are being destroyed due to human    6    (activity). Because of conservation efforts,    7    number of pandas is increasing according to a recent survey. The news is exciting, but much still has to be done to save it from    8    (extinct). The Yangtze Dolphin is another species    9    habitat is being threatened. We must take measures to protect the Yangtze River. We should learn to exist in harmony with    10    (vary) types of wildlife.

7 . Nola (August 21, 1974—November 22, 2015) was a northern white rhino who lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido, California. At her death, she was one of only four remaining northern white rhinos in the world. The other three lived in Kenya. World Rhino Day,   held on September 2,   is to raise awareness(意识) of the less than 30, 000 other rhinos left on Earth.

''Rhinos need our help today, not tomorrow,'' Nola's lead keeper Jane Kennedy said. ''Last year we lost over 1, 200 rhinos just in South Africa. If we continue to lose more than 1, 000 rhinos a year, in 10 to 20 years all the rhinos on the planet will be gone. ''

''Unfortunately, most animals are in danger of dying out because of humans,'' Kennedy says. ''Humans have either poached animals, or because there are over seven billion of us, we've taken up too much of the world's resources''. Poachers illegally hunt rhinos for their horns. They sell the horns for thousands of dollars per pound, to be used for art, jewelry, and decorations. Experts believe that one rhino is poached every eight hours.

In 1975,   the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research started the Frozen Zoo,   a program through which researchers have collected cell (细胞) samples from more than 8, 000 different types of animals,   including the northern white rhino. Scientists hope that by studying the rhino cells, they will get greater understanding of it, and will find ways to increase its numbers.

Jane Kennedy describes World Rhino Day as a celebration of rhinos along with an awareness campaign for everybody across the world to know that rhinos need our help. ''At the San Diego Zoo, children and adults are welcome to visit and speak with zookeepers to learn about rhinos. But you don't have to live in San Diego to celebrate World Rhino Day. It is observed around the world, with zoos and wildlife parks holding special events and programs to teach people about rhinos, and enable them to see the animals up close. For more information, go to www. worldrhinoday. org.

When I was a child, I hoped to live in the city.I think I would be happy there.Now I am living in a city，but I miss my home in countryside.There the air is clean or the mountains are green.Unfortunately, on the development of industrialization, the environment has been polluted.Lots of studies have been shown that global warming has already become a very seriously problem.The airs we breathe in is getting dirtier and dirtier.Much rare animals are dying out.We must found ways to protect your environment.If we fail to do so,we'll live to regret it.

9 . The populations of common animals are just as likely to rise or fall in number in a time of accelerating global warming as those of rare species, a study suggests.

Until recently, scientists were still accumulating data on how animal populations were shifting over time globally across the different regions of the planet.

Making use of the newly available data, a team of University of Edinburgh researchers studied nearly 10000 animal populations recorded in the Living Planet Database between 1970 and 2014 to provide a new perspective on animal population change. These include records of mammals, reptiles, sharks, fish, birds and amphibians.

The team found that 15 percent of all populations declined during the period, while 18 percent increased and 67 percent showed no significant change. Amphibians were the only group in which population sizes declined, while birds, mammals and reptiles experienced increases. The overall decline in amphibians makes them a priority for conservation efforts, researchers say, as their loss could have knock-on effects in food chains and wider ecosystems.

Gergana Daskalova, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said, “We often assume that declines in animal numbers are prevalent everywhere. But we found that there are also many species which have increased over the last half of a century, such as those which do well in human-transformed landscapes or those which are the focus of conservation actions.”

Dr. Isla Myers-Smith, also of the School of GeoSciences, who co-authored the study, said, “Only as we bring together data from around the world, can we begin to really understand how global change is influencing the biodiversity of our planet.”

Yours,

Li Hua