China’s research icebreaker Xuelong,     1     126 crew members aboard on the 35th Antarctic research mission, on Thursday local time left the Zhongshan Station on     2     (it) way back to China.

Snow Eagle 601, China’s first fixed­wing aircraft for polar flight, on Thursday night also departed from the Antarctic after     3     (complete)all assignments.

Xuelong,     4     arrived near Zhongshan on Feb. 9, supplied the station with fuel oil, and then picked up summer expedition   team members   at   the   Kunlun, Taishan and Zhongshan stations, as well as     5    (member)of the fixed­wing aircraft project.

Sixteen members of the Kunlun team     6    (previous)completed all scientific expeditions at Dome Argus (Dome A), the South Pole’s highest icecap. They，together with 21 members of the Taishan team,     7    (return)to Zhongshan on Feb. 8.

The Zhongshan team completed tasks including installation of and tests for LiDAR, drilling of ice bedrock, atmospheric sounding     8    (observe)，surveys of birds and aerial exploration carried out by the fixed­wing aircraft.

As the summer expedition team at Zhongshan left, 19 members would stay for winter expeditions.

Also     9    (know) as the Snow Dragon, the icebreaker carrying a research   team   set   sail   from Shanghai on Nov. 2   last year, beginning     10     country’s 35th Antarctic expedition. It is expected to arrive in Shanghai in mid­March.

3 . A young Dutch inventor is widening his effort to cleanup floating (浮动的) plastic from the Pacific Ocean. He has developed a floating device (设备) to trap plastic waste moving into rivers before it reaches the oceans.

Boyan Slat was just 18 years old when he invented a system for catching waste in the ocean. He also founded an environmental group called “The Ocean Cleanup”. Its purpose is to develop the system. Last year, Slat showed the next step: a floating device which is called Interceptor. It removes plastic out of rivers. The device is powered by energy from the sun. “The 1,000 rivers are responsible for about 80% of plastic going into the world’s oceans,” said Slat. Three of the machines have already been used. Each machine costs about $775, 660, but the cost might drop as production increases.

Since they were used, the machines have been doing very well, collecting the plastic bottles and all the rubbish in the rivers. According to Slat, it is necessary to close “the tap”, which means preventing more plastic from reaching the ocean in the first place. He wanted to clean them all in the next five years. “This is not going to be easy, but if we do get this done, we could truly make our oceans again, ”said Slat.

The device is designed to be safe in rivers. Its nose is shaped to change directions to keep it away from larger floating things. It works by guiding plastic waste into an opening in the front of the device. The waste is then carried inside the machine where it is dropped into containers. The devices ends a text message to local operators that can come and empty it when it is full.

4 . The earth is dying before us, yet we sit and watch. If the TV or the game system breaks, we run off to the stores to get it fixed immediately no matter what the cost. Why aren’t we willing to fix our earth? Are our televisions and game systems more important to us than where we live? Where shall we continue to live, until the end of time?

The earth is our home and cannot be replaced. We must take care of it. We have come up with so much technology that limits us instead of helping us. Take that game system we run to repair. What does it do? It occupies kids’ time! The earth has already given kids plenty of entertainment in the forms of fields and hills, forests and plains, water and land. However, instead of using what the earth has given us, and helping kids by giving them exercise as they run around, we decide to ruin kids’ minds with game systems that glue them to the screen for hours, and make them ignore their homework and chores. We have polluted this earth by making these things which do not even help in any way!

We have already messed up this world, we have ruined the air, water, and animals that it has so willingly provided for us. We need to stop this destruction of life and bring back the world we had before. It will not be easy, but everybody can help! What about something as simple as turning the lights off when you leave a room? Recycling what can be recycled? Picking up litter? Donating money to an environmental organization? None of these things are very hard. We can’t just always say, “Oh, the earth is a mess. Ah, well, those big companies that are polluting so much can stop and fix it.” Instead, we need to help out. It’s not only those big companies; it’s everyday things that we do too that are ruining the earth. So, stop and think about what you can do to make a difference to our world!

5 . When an empty parking spot appears before us, many of us would see it for what it is—a place that could be filled with cars and trucks. But to eco-engineer Shubhendu Sharma, it's a space to be planted with trees and turned into a forest.

What's more, he believes these tiny forests can grow anywhere, including our most crowded and polluted cities where they can help maintain clean air and water and provide habitat for animals and insects. “A forest is not an isolated piece of land where animals live together,” says Sharma. “A forest can be a complete part of our urban existence.” Most of us know just how important trees are to our health and to the planet. Yet millions of hectares of forest are cleared every year due to farming, ranching, logging and construction. The World Wildlife Foundation estimates that 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest and surrounding ecosystems have already been lost.

Inspired by the work of Japanese scientist Akira Miyawaki, Sharma built a forest in the backyard of his family's home in northern India in 2010. He planted 100 young trees in the 75-square-meter plot. They grew and a dozen species of birds came to check them out. The plantings created welcome shade, and their roots were able to absorb even the abundant monsoon rains. After a year, he had his own forest. Since then, Sharma has founded a company called Afforestt. Its top priority is to bring back natural forests to places where they no longer exist. So far, Afforestt has planted 144 forests in 45 cities around the world. Sharma has shown you can take a space the size of six or seven parking spots and create a forest with 100 trees. Ready to create your own tiny forest? If your answer is yes, let's follow Sharma's 5-step procedures to grow our own forests.

6 . The Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa is one of the richest wildlife regions in the African continent. Over 200 species of mammals and 350 different birds can be found in its vast plains, grasslands and forests.

I spoke to Michael Rattray, chairman of the Sabi Sands management committee, about the management policies. “If in a thousands years’ time the reserve is still a wonderful habitat for wildlife, then we will have succeeded in our mission. Various measures are being put in place. These include dealing with the problem of erosion. In 1996 we had abnormally high rainfall. This could have been absolutely destructive. However, we have successfully fought erosion using gabion stretchers, which are wire baskets filled with rocks. We have also used a lot of old aerial photographs, which have helped us return the land to its earlier state. This meant recreating open grassland areas to attract different types of animals,” he said.

Apart from these measures, the reserve employs a wide range of local workers. Building staff accommodation of any sort would make a big impact on the environment and would, go against the aim of keeping the reserve as natural as possible. Instead, transport is provided so employees can live a normal life with their families outside the area, and the human impact is kept to a minimum (最低限度).

Visitors to the reserve spend about six hours a day in open vehicles, observing wildlife on game drives. They are accompanied by a ranger and a local tracker. I shall never forget the moment on a game drive when a cheetah (猎豹) with her five cubs was pointed out to me. She was lying in a sea of long yellow grass, her markings almost invisible. We got close enough to hear her purr.

The Sabi Sands Game Reserve is a place where animals have no fear of humans. It is impossible to quantify the benefits of spending time in such an environment.