Xixi, located less than five kilometers from the West Lake in the west of Hangzhou, is China’s first national wetland park. The area covers about 10 square kilometers and it 【小题1】 (be) around for more than 1,500 years, although it was only recently reopened 【小题2】 (offer) visitors a chance to escape from the concrete of the city. Despite its growing popularity, 【小题3】 wetland’s winding waterways, thick greenery and wide 【小题4】 (variety) of wildlife guarantee its peaceful spots in nature.

Wetlands themselves are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems, 【小题5】 (act) as natural green lungs, water purification (净化) systems and flood control. But wetlands are 【小题6】 (serious) threatened by environmental pollution worldwide nowadays. More than 200square kilometers of wetland in the country have disappeared every year 【小题7】 average in the past decade, the China Institute for Marine Affairs warns. The wetlands of the Yellow and East China seas have lost up to 90 percent of their natural function, the institute reports, 【小题8】 makes the 226 plant species, 50 kinds of fish and aquatic (水生的) animals as well as 126 kinds of birds in Xixi even 【小题9】 (valuable).

Xixi’s native vegetation, 【小题10】 (water) by six crossing rivers, consists of subtropical mountainous swamp (沼泽) and evergreen forest.

Is recycling the key to a sustainable future?

In the last decade, scientists have gone back and forth on one question: does recycling really help the environment? The conclusion at which they 【小题1】 (arrive) seems to be: yes, it does. 【小题2】 , experts warn that our efforts should not stop there. While recycling is an important part of the solution, it is not 【小题3】 (necessary) the critical factor.

Contrary to popular belief, many items that go into our recycling dustbins do not get recycled in the end. Moreover, compared to other ways 【小题4】 (save) the earth, recycling is a much smaller player. According to a recent study, 【小题5】 twenty top petrochemical companies in the world are responsible for 55% of the world’s single-use plastics, most of 【小题6】 are practically impossible to recycle. This means that urging these major polluters to take responsibility for their harm to the environment would do much more than if every one of us recycled our waste. In addition, dependence 【小题7】 recycling can take attention away from reducing and reusing, which are more effective in 【小题8】 (lower) emissions.

In conclusion, helping the environment is not restricted to recycling. Recycling is 【小题9】 (benefit). It is but a small part of an interconnected web of 【小题10】 (resolve), which on its own can’t accomplish much. But together with other efforts, it can truly create a sustainable future for us all.

Is Climate Change Consuming Your Favorite Foods?

Due to climate change, the world’s endangered lists are no longer just for animals. We may not only need to adapt ourselves to living in a warmer world but a 【小题1】 (tasty) one as well.

As the increased amount of carbon dioxide in the air linked to global warming 【小题2】 (continue) to affect weather, we often forget that they are also impacting the quantity, the quality, and the growing locations of our food. Some foods have already felt the impact while 【小题3】 may even become scarce within the next 30 years.

Whether or not you try to limit yourself 【小题4】 one cup of coffee a day, the effects of climate change on the world's coffee-growing regions may leave you little choice.

Rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall patterns are reported to have been threatening coffee plantations in South America, Africa, Asia, and Hawaii. The result? Significant cuts in coffee yield.

According to organizations like Australia's Climate Institute, half of the present coffee-producing areas 【小题5】 (estimate) not to be suitable by the year 2050, if current climate patterns continue.

With temperatures continuously rising, oceans are absorbing some of the heat and undergoing warming of their own, 【小题6】 (cause) a decline in fish population, including in lobsters that are cold-blooded creatures, and in salmons (鲑鱼) 【小题7】 eggs find it hard to survive in higher water temperatures. Warmer waters also encourage some poisonous marine bacteria to grow and lead to illness in humans whenever 【小题8】 (take) with raw seafood, like oysters.

And how about that satisfying “crack” which you get when you are eating crabs and lobsters? It could be silenced 【小题9】 shellfish have been struggling to build their calcium carbonate (碳酸钙) shells, which is a result of ocean acidification.

Even worse is the possibility 【小题10】 we will have no seafood to enjoy at all. In a 2006 Dalhousie University study, scientists predicted that if over-fishing and rising temperature trends continued at their present rate, the world's seafood stocks would run out by the year 2050.