1 . Climate change disproportionately affects the world’s most vulnerable people, particularly poor rural communities that depend on the land for their livelihoods and coastal populations throughout the tropics. We have already seen a chain of tough suffering that results from extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, and more.

For remedies, advocates and politicians have tended to look toward cuts in fossil-fuel use or technologies to capture carbon before it enters the atmosphere—both of which are crucial. But this focus has overshadowed the most powerful and cost-efficient carbon capture technology in the world. Recent research confirms that forests are absolutely essential in reducing climate change, thanks to their ability to absorb and isolate carbon. In fact, natural climate solutions such as conservation and restoration of forests, along with improvements in land management, can help us achieve 37 percent of our climate target of limiting warming to a maximum of two degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, even though they currently receive only 2.5 percent of public climate financing.

Forests’ power to store carbon dioxide is staggering: one tree can store an average of about 48 pounds in one year. Intact(完整的)forests could take in the CO₂ emissions of some entire countries.

For this reason, policymakers and business leaders must create and enforce policies to prevent deforestation, foster, reforestation of degraded land, and promote the sustainable management of standing forests in the fight against climate change. Protecting the world’s forests ensures they can keep performing essential functions such as producing oxygen, filtering water and supporting biodiversity. Not only does the world’s entire population depend on forests to provide clean air, clean water, oxygen and medicines, but 1.6 billion people also rely on them directly for their livelihoods.

Unfortunately, a huge amount of forest continues to be converted into agricultural land to produce a handful of resource-intensive commodities - despite zero-deforestation commitments from companies and governments. So now is the time to increase forest protection and restoration. This action will also address a number of other pressing global issues. For example, in less developed, rural areas - especially in the tropics - community-based forest-management programs can forge pathways out of poverty. In the Peten region of Guatemala, for instance, community-managed forests boasted a near-zero deforestation rate from 2000 through 2013, as compared with 12 percent in nearby protected areas and buffer(缓冲)zones. These communities have built low-impact, sustainable forest-based businesses that have stimulated the economy of the region enough to fund the creation of local schools and health services. Their success is especially noticeable in a location where, outside these community-managed zones, deforestation rates have increased 20-fold.

3 . People start new businesses for different reasons. Sometimes they have a great ideal.    1    For Eli Reich, his business began when someone stole his bike bag.

Reich was an engineer in Seattle. Because he cared about the environment, he biked to work every day. He carried his work and his laptop in a bike bag. When someone took his bag, he tried to buy a new one. But he couldn’t find one he liked. So he decided to make his own. Riding a bike every day leads to lots of tire punctures(轮胎刺破). As a result, he had plenty of used inner tubes in his apartment. Inner tubes are the inside part of a bike tire. They are soft, flexible, and feel like leather. They are also waterproof--all perfect qualities for a bag.

The design loved by friends and others, Reich quit his job, and started his own business--Alchemy Goods. At first, he depended on his friends for inner tubes. But business was good, and he quickly ran short of these tubes. He needed a new supply. So he asked local bike stores to send him used inner tubes instead of throwing them away. To date, he has used over 300,000 inner tubes. Having a good supply of these materials is a critical part of Reich’s business.

Each bag uses as many recycled products as possible. The straps, for example, are old care seat belts. Reich’s goal is to use 1000 percent recycled materials. This is not easy. “It’s hard to come up with a product that is endlessly recycled.     2    ” He wants to let his customers know about his goal, so each bag has a number above the company logo. The number gives the percentage of recycled materials in that particular bag.

    3    Recycling turns waste into reusable things that are often cheaper than the original product. Companies turn newspapers into paper cups, for example. Up-cycling transforms water into a better quality--and more expensive --product than the original product. Alchemy Goods bags are not cheap. Each bag is handmade. Using recycled materials keeps the cost down, but the labor is expensive.Creating a business out of other people’s trash is a growing trend. Up-cycling is becoming popular. Reich joins thousands of small business owners who are taking advantage of the 250 million tons of trash that Americans throw away every year.     4    

5 . For the longest time, the predominant description about renewable energy featured awkward technologies, high costs, and burdensome allowance. In the _______ of strict and far-reaching policy changes, the chances for mass adoption seemed slim. Electric vehicles (EVs) simply couldn’t go the distance, and LED lights were unattractive and _______.

But now that these technologies have come of age, a new story is being written. Around the world, businesses, governments, and households are taking advantage of more cost-effective low-carbon technologies.

_______ advances in information technologies (IT), green solutions can be introduced into business operations successfully. And as public support for these technologies has grown, so have the _______ for scaling up to a fully sustainable energy system.

As in any rapid transition, a full understanding of what is happening has _______ events. Many present energy producers find it hard to believe that their world is undergoing a revolutionary change, so they insist that their heavily polluting technologies will remain _______ and necessary for some time to come. Journalists, too, describe the transition with a degree of _______, because it is their job to be suspicious. And politicians and regulators are cautious to adopt a new perspective, _______ they are already struggling to keep up with the pace of change in the energy industry.

To be sure, _______ doesn’t come without setbacks, as the recent growth in energy-related greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions shows. Yet there is no doubt that the future of energy will be __________ different from the recent past. In fact, the __________ is happening even faster than we think, for example, coal-fired power plants are shutting down faster than ever, and plans for new natural-gas plants are being replaced with more cost-effective wind and solar options. And as the shift toward renewables gains good trends, it will be easier for elected officials to pursue more climate-friendly policies and regulations, thereby creating a(n) __________ circle of change.

As the green transition comes of age, it will offer solutions to all of humanity’s energy needs, placing a clean, prosperous and secure low-carbon future well within reach. Yet even as we hug __________, we must not lose sight of the fact that climate change is speeding up. With GHG emissions __________ to rise, the future of humanity hangs in the balance. One hopes that the shift to __________ energy will tip the scale in our favor.

Recycling can be defined as the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. It can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of recycling is to avoid     1     waste disposal. It contributes to the prevention of the waste of potentially useful materials and reduces the consumption of fresh raw materials, thereby reducing: energy usage, air pollution, and water pollution from     2    . This practice has been around throughout the history of mankind,     3     from the fourth century BC.

Recyclable materials include many kinds of glass, paper, and     4     metal, plastic, tires, and electronics. The composting(堆肥) or other reuse of biodegradable waste- such as food or garden waste- is also     5     as recycling.

Materials to be recycled are either brought to a collection center or picked up from the roadside, then     6     cleaned, and reprocessed into new materials for manufacturing.

In the strictest sense, recycling of a material would produce a fresh     7     of the same material- -for example, used office paper would be changed into new office paper. However, this is often     8     difficult or too expensive (compared with producing the same product from raw materials or other sources), so “recycling” of many products or materials involves their reuse in producing different materials instead. Another form of recycling is the rescue of certain materials from complex products, either due to their intrinsic（内在的） value or due to their dangerous nature.

Much of the difficulty in recycling comes from the fact that most products are not designed with recycling in mind. The concept of     9     design aims to solve this problem. Now scientists suggest that every product and all     10     they require should have a complete “closed-loop” cycle mapped out for each component- a way in which every component will either return to the natural ecosystem through biodegradation or be recycled indefinitely.

7 . The lives of sea turtles begin on a beach when hatchlings crawl up out of their sandy nests and try to get to the sea as fast as they can. Those that aren’t eaten by killers on their way to the water swim out into the ocean until they find somewhere they can hide, eat and grow.

Ten to fifty years later, depending on the species, the sea turtles mate in shallow waters. Then the females return to the same beach where they were born to lay their eggs, and the cycle begins again.

Turtles that successfully avoid the numerous threats to their existence can live up to 100 years. But predators, fishing nets and garbage are major problems, and only one out of every 1,000 hatchlings will reach adulthood. There are seven sea turtle species, and six of them are either threatened, endangered or critically endangered. Many organizations around the world are working hard to ensure that sea turtles will not disappear from our oceans.