How did Cape Town, South Africa, get into a Day Zero situation—when the city’s taps would go dry because its reservoirs (水库)would become dangerously low on water? The city gets its water from six reservoirs in Western Cape province, which usually ____________ during the rainy season, from May through August. But since 2015 the region has been suffering from the worst drought (干旱)in a century, and the water in those reservoirs____________ tremendously. Compounding the problem, Cape Town’s population has grown substantially, increasing ____________ . The city actually did a pretty good job by reducing leaks in the system, a major cause of water waste, and has even won awards for its ____________ policies. But the government of South Africa was slow to declare a national disaster in the areas hit hardest by the drought, paving the way for the recent ____________.

Cape Town is not ____________ . Since 2014 southeastern Brazil has been suffering its worst water shortage in 80 years,___________ decreased rainfall,   forestation and other factors. And many cities in India do not have access to municipal water for more than a few hours a day, if at all.____________ , the city of Shimla ran out of drinking water in May, urging locals to beg tourists to stay away from the popular Himalayan summer resort.

In the U.S., the situation is somewhat better, but many urban centers still ____________ water problems. Californians recent multiyear drought led to some of the state’s driest years on record. Since about half of the state’s urban water usage is for landscaping, it was able to cut back on that fairly easily. But cities that use most of their water for more essential uses, such as drinking water, may not be so ____________ .

____________ , steps can be taken to avoid urban water crises. In general, a “portfolio approach” that relies on multiple water sources is probably most ____________ . Cape Town has already begun implementing a number of water projects, including tapping groundwater and building water-recycling plants. Many other cities will need to repair existing water infrastructure (基础建设)to cut down on leakage. City leaders should be thinking about meeting long-term needs rather than just about ____________ requirements. Good organization and financial accountability are equally critical. And planning efforts should include diverse stakeholders (利益相关者)from the community. One major challenge is providing services to informal areas, which develop without any government foresight. Such regions often ____________ basic resources一a well-planned water supply among them. The global community has an opportunity right now to take action to prevent a series of Day Zero crises. If we don’t act, many cities may soon face a time when there isn’t a drop to ____________ .

Eli walked to school every day, a familiar routine that never failed to bring him a sense of peace. The school day ________ with the bell, and Eli would walk home, his ________ often included a shortcut through a vacant (空着的) lot where beautiful flowers and trees were growing wild.

One particular day, Eli’s eyes were caught by a ________ of blue in the old maple tree on the vacant lot. A blue bird had flown into the tree, ________ loudly as it landed on a low branch. Eli watched as the bird flew up to higher branches and ________ into the distance.

With the bird gone, Eli noticed something ________. The branch where the bird had been sitting wasn’t empty. There was a bright red ________ hanging from it, swaying gently in the breeze (微风). ________, Eli walked towards the tree for a closer look. It was a flat balloon. Eli ________ that balloons were a form of ________ and wondered what if a bird tried to ________ it. He reached out to grab the balloon, ________ to throw it away.

But as he picked up the balloon, Eli noticed a ________ attached to it, which read “these beautiful trees are the home of some special birds. Let’s do our bit to ________ them”. Having seen this, Eli ________ put back the balloon and walked at a brisk pace towards his home.

A thirty-year-old environmental puzzle has finally been solved. Since the 1990s, pieces of plastic telephones that look like Garfield—the lazy cartoon cat—have been ______ up on beaches in France. But for three ______, no one knew where the phones were coming from. On March 22, a group of volunteers from a coastal clean-up organization, along with two journalists finally found out the ______ to their puzzle. They discovered a(n) ______ shipping container and ______ of several Garfield phones inside a rocky sea cave. The cave is hard to find, and can only be ______ when the tide (sea) is low.

Shipping containers are used to move things like food, clothing and other items ______ the sea. Cargo ships ______ hundreds of the huge steel containers from the countries where the goods are made or grown, to the countries where they will be ______. However, ______ knows for sure how the shipping container full of Garfield phones ended up in the ______.

People who live in the area say that the ______ first showed up on beaches ______ a big storm in the early 1990s. The container ______ fell off a ship during the storm, but nobody ever reported that it was ______.

The Garfield phones have become a symbol of the problem of ocean ______ Fabien Boileau is the director of Iroise Marine Natural Park, where the cave with the phones is ______. He said the Garfield phones help people to ______ that plastic trash doesn't ______ in the ocean. Some of the colourful plastic pieces still look almost ______, even though they were washed overboard more than 30 years ago.