The giant panda, also 【小题1】 (know) as panda bear or simply panda, is a bear native 【小题2】 south central China.In the past many years, the giant panda 【小题3】 (drive) out of the lowland areas where it once lived as a result of farming,deforestation and other 【小题4】 (develop). Wild population estimates vary: one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals 【小题5】 (live) in the wild, while a 2006 study estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that 【小题6】 number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise.

The West first learned of the giant panda on 11 March 1869, 【小题7】 the French missionary (传教士) Armand David received a panda skin from a hunter. In 1936, Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner to bring a live giant panda named Su Lin to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. To protect the pandas, in 2012, Earthwatch Institute, a global non­profit organization that teams volunteers with scientists to conduct important 【小题8】 (science) research, launched a program called “On the Trail of Giant Panda”. This program, based in the Wolong National Nature Reserve, allows 【小题9】 (volunteer) to work up close with pandas cared for in captivity (圈养), and help them 【小题10】 (gradual) adapt to life in the wild.

At a very young age, Oindrila Basu had no idea of 【小题1】 to live with nature. She would climb trees or destroy the nests of birds just for fun, like other kids. Once her mother caught her and got angry, and then the girl realized she had done something 【小题2】(terrible) wrong.

This is just a way that Basu's parents shaped her understanding and appreciation of nature. Living in 【小题3】 countryside, she spent her youth studying ants before the rain, watching sunbirds drink honey, counting fireflies and【小题4】(watch) young plants grow. Then her parents decided to move to a nearby city for better educational chances, and then she stopped having first-hand experiences with nature.

Later, as she struggled 【小题5】 (choose) a college major, her mother suggested a career in forestry (林业).That's when her journey began, and she fell in love with forestry. Away from the crowded cities,, she graduated in forestry from Kumaun University, India. When she went on to study a master’s degree in forestry from the Forest Research Institute, India, she finally got introduced to a like-minded group of people, 【小题6】(devote) to the International Forestry Students' Association (IFSA).

IFSA is a 【小题7】 globe) organization connecting students to exchange knowledge and participate in forestry activities. The youth joining IFSA are 【小题8】(encourage) to undertake its task ― to enrich forest education and spread a love of nature through events and exchanges.

After 6 months of exciting international conferences and workshops, Basu, then 25, found her home ― a family 【小题9】 loved forests as much as she did. She felt more active, so her passion had a direction. Now she wanted to do more.

【小题10】 a key member of IFSA, Basu recalled the experience of joining, “ deliberately or by accident, we chose forestry, or rather, forestry chose us.”

A sea creature renowned as the sunflower sea star was once 【小题1】 (abundance) in the Pacific Ocean along the coast of North America. But in the last 10 years, about 90 percent of them 【小题2】 (die).

Scientists at the University of Washington are trying to understand 【小题3】 the sea stars died. 【小题4】 (do) so, they are growing them in a lab.

The sickness that killed them is known as sea star wasting syndrome. Jason Hodin, the top 【小题5】 (research) at the Friday Harbor Marine Lab, said the sickness might have happened because of warmer water caused by climate change.

【小题6】lab is on San Juan Island, northwest of Seattle. Hodin called his lab the world’s only “captive breeding program for the world’s only 【小题7】(endanger) sea star.”

The university’s neuroscience department is also working on the study, 【小题8】 (try) to find out if warmer water changes the way the stars move. The group is using special cameras to see how the stars move 【小题9】 to create 3-dimensional pictures that can show differences. The pictures would show differences even with small changes to their environments - such as a small water temperature change.

So far, researchers think the sea stars are able to survive in 【小题10】 (warm) water.