Easter is still a great day for worship, randy in baskets and running around the yard finding eggs, but every year it gets quite a bit worse for bunnies.

And no, not because the kids like to pull their ears. The culprit is climate change, and some researchers found that rising temperatures are having harmful effects on at least five species of rabbit in the US.

Take the Lower Keys March rabbit, for instance. An endangered species that lives in the Lower Florida Keys, this species of cottontail is a great swimmer — it lives on the islands! — but it is already severely affected by development and now by rising levels. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, an ocean level rise of only 0. 6 meters will send these guys jumping to higher ground and a 0.9-meter rise would wipe out their habitat completely.

The snowshoe hare, on the other hand, has a color issue. Most of these rabbits change their fur color from white in the wintertime to brown in the summer, each designed to give them better cover from predators. As the number of days with snow decreases all across the country, however, more and more bunnies are being left in white fur during brown dirt days of both fall and spring, making them an easier mark for predators. Researchers know that the color change is controlled by the number of hours of sunlight, but whether the rabbit will be able to adapt quick enough to survive is a big question. The National Wildlife Federation has reported that hunters have noticed their numbers are already markedly down.

American pikas or rock rabbits, a relative of rabbits and hares, might be the first of these species to go extinct due to climate change. About 7-8 inches long, pikas live high in the cool, damp mountains west of the Rocky Mountains. As global temperatures rise, they would naturally migrate to higher ground — but they already occupy the mountaintops. They can't go any higher. The National Wildlife Federation reports that they might not be able to stand the new temperatures as their habitat beats up.

The volcano rabbit has the same problem. These rabbits live on the slopes of volcanoes in Mexico, and recent studies have shown that the lower range of their habitat has already shifted upward about 700 meters, but there are not suitable plants for them to move higher, so they are stuck in the middle. Scientists are concerned about their populations.

Native to the US, pygmy rabbits weigh less than 1 pound and live in the American West. They are believed to be the smallest rabbits in the world. Their habitats have been destroyed by development. Several populations, such as the Columbia Basin pygmy, almost went extinct and were saved by zoo breeding programs. Pygmy rabbits also rely on winter cover by digging tunnels through the snow to escape predators, but lesser snowfall is leaving them exposed.

All of this gives new meaning to dressing up in a giant bunny costume this Easter.

In our modern world, when something wears out, we throw it away and buy a new one. The    (1)   is that countries around the world have growing mountains of    (2)    because people are throwing out more rubbish than ever before.

   How did we    (3)   a throwaway society? First of all, it is now easier to    (4)     an object than to spend time and money to repair it.      (5)     modern manufacturing (制造业) and technology, companies are able to produce products quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and     (6)     .

  Another cause is our     (7)    of disposable (一次性的) products. As    (8)    people, we are always looking for    (9)    to save time and make our lives easier. Companies     (10)   thousands of different kinds of disposable products: paper plates, plastic cups, and cameras, to name a few.

   Our appetite for new products also    (11)    to the problem. We are    (12)    buying new things. Advertisements persuade us that     (13)    is better and that we will be happier with the latest products. The result is that we     (14)     useful possessions to make room for new ones.

   All around the world, we can see the    (15)    of this throwaway lifestyle. Mountains of rubbish just keep getting bigger. To    (16)    the amount of rubbish and to protect the    (17)     , more governments are requiring people to recycle materials.     (18)   , this is not enough to solve our problem.

   Maybe there is another way out. We need to repair our possessions   (19)   throwing them away. We also need to rethink our attitudes about      (20)   . Repairing our possessions and changing our spending habits may be the best way to reduce the amount of rubbish and take care of our environment.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a huge space station. It is being   (1)   by thousands of people from 16 countries. All these people are trying to find out if humans can one day build   (2)   in space.

Floating 230 miles above Earth, the International Space Station currently   (3)   a huge building-block project out in space. US space shuttles and Russian rockets have been   (4)   tools and pieces of the   (5)   into space to help finish building it. From the beginning of its construction in 1998 to its   (6)  , more than 100 major pieces will be put together to create this   (7)   space station. When   (8)  , it will be the largest structure ever to fly above Earth. The ISS will be   (9)   than a football field and will weigh about one million pounds.

In addition to helping build the space station,   (10)   are trying to answer such questions as these: How does space travel affect germs? Does the human body break down food   (11)   in space? Someday, the station may even serve as a launchpad (发射台) for trips to other   (12)  , such as Mars.

Because of its   (13)   size, the ISS needs a lot of   (14)  . Like other man-made bodies in space, its power comes from the   (15)  . To create solar energy, large panels (嵌板) are lined with special materials. These materials   (16)   the sun's energy and change it into electricity.

So what does it cost to build such a   (17)  ? It costs over $60 billion dollars.   (18)   this may seem astronomical, it may be a small price to   (19)   a project that enables some of the world's finest scientists to work together, exploring space for the world's   (20)  .

You’re surrounded by robots and you probably don’t even know it. Most are not all that   (1)   and they won’t come up to you and speak like a friend.   (2)   you’re unaware of them, they know you’re there. Robots are monitoring   (3)   in hospitals, providing banking services,   (4)   people from burning buildings and assisting astronauts in   (5)   . Robots are everywhere.

Are robots   (6)   or deadly enemies? Robotic expert Hans Moravec says intelligent robots today are no smarter than the average insect. But, don’t feel too   (7)   about that. For example, army ants in South America   (8)  everything in their path when they go to war—forests, crops, buildings, people...

In case you   (9)    don’t care about our little mechanical friends,   (10)   this: Robot technology is currently   (11)    at a rate 10 million times faster than the evolution of   (12)   .

Considering the advances in robot technology during the upcoming years, Moravec says that robots must pass through four   (13)   of development before they rule the planet.

First robot technology must achieve the ability to   (14)    as general­ purpose tools with software running at one million instructions per second (MIPS). Those robots will have the   (15)   of reptiles (爬行动物). Next, this happening into 2020, robots will have acquired brains capable of   (16)   300 million MIPS, which will give them the intelligence of smart mice. A hundred billion MIPS will be   (17)    sometime after 2030. By then robots will be provided by their   (18)    (humankind) with monkey­like brains.  (19)   , at the dawn of 2040, robots will   (20)   human intelligence and they will quickly surpass humans and challenge people for supremacy (至高无上) of the planet.

In the north of Scotland there is a lake called Loch Ness. It is the biggest   (1)    in Britain. It is over thirty kilometers long and nearly 300 meters   (2)   It is cold and dark and not many people went there until after 1930. Then a road was made   (3)   the lake.

Holiday makers began to use the road, and this was when the  (4)  began. Someone said that he had seen a monster(妖怪) in the lake. He said it was twelve meters long. It had a long   (5)  and a small head. Then someone else said he heard  (6)  . Others said the same thing and in 1933 a London doctor took a   (7)  . It   (8)   like a monster with a long neck and a thick body but the photo was not too  (9)  . The newspaper printed the picture and   (10)   it the Loch Ness monster, or “Nessie”. Then the argument began.   (11)   people, however, were certain there was something living in the lake. Others said there was   (12)   there. In 1961, a lot of people joined together to make a real   (13)   to see and photograph the monster to find   (14)   there was one! Several times people thought they saw something but after ten years there was   (15)   no real proof（证据）.

Later underwater television cameras were used, but   (16)   found any real proof. However, they  (17)  find something interesting: a huge underwater cave. It was big enough to be   (18)   of a monster, but of course, this was not a proof. In 1975,however, some American scientists  (19)   a search group. They used an underwater camera. It took pictures every seventy seconds. Some of the pictures seemed to show a redbrown creature. Its body was about four meters long,  (20)  had a very ugly head on the end of a four-meter neck. Many people then began to believe in the monster. But even today we can’t be certain.

Are you concerned about the quality of our environment? Do you look for new ways to save   (1)  ? Do you ever wonder what can be done to protect our  (2)   resources (资源)? People can and must make a   (3)   by considering better choices.

      Each year coal-burning power stations in America provide trillions of kilowatt-hours (千瓦时), but this energy source  (4)   tons of CO. This is a colorless gas and is sometimesdeadly. The situation makes it  (5)   to use other electrical power sources that are  (6)  , cleaner and renewable. Two  (7)   of environmentally friendly energy sources are solar power and hydropower. However, even these  (8)   have their own advantages and disadvantages.

       Solar power, which  (9)   the sun’s energy into electricity, can be used   (10)  . There is more than enough sunlight, and this type of energy system can operate for long periods without  (11)  . After collecting energy from the sun, huge panels (板)  (12)   the solar power. Once fixed, solar panels do not need to be   (13)   very often. In addition, they do need a large, expensive battery bank (电池组):  (14)  , the cost can be very high.

       Hydropower, which uses the movement of water to create energy, does not  (15)   a battery bank. However, hydropower factories must be  (16)   near water and can be very expensive to build  (17)   it’s not easy to make water flow into the factory.

       Both solar power and hydropower produce less  (18)   than coal-burning power stations, and both are renewable.Solar power and hydropower are quiet and clean, so you can  (19)   them. While the cost of using environmentally friendly power sources might be  (20)  , the price of not using them is even higher.

   The journey of water as it flows upon the earth can be a mirror of our own paths through life. Water begins its   (1)  on earth as it falls from the sky and streams down a mountain into a stream or river. In the same way, we come into the world and begin our lives on earth. Like a river that flows within the   (2)  of its banks, we are born with certain defining characteristics that   (3)  our identity. We are born in a specific time and place, within a specific family, and with certain gifts and   (4)  . With these limitations, we move through life,  (5)  many twists, turns, and barriers along the way just as a river  (6)  .
      Water is a great teacher that shows us   (7)   to move through the world with grace, bravery, determination, and  (8)  . When a river   (9)   at a waterfall, it gains energy and moves on, as we face our own waterfalls, we may fall hard   (10)  we always keep moving on. Water can inspire us not to become rigid (死板的)with fear or stick to what’s familiar. Water is  (11)   and does not waste time sticking to its past, but flows onward without   (12)   . At the same time, when there is a  (13)  to be filled, water does not run away from it in   (14)   of the dark; instead, water modestly and bravely fills the empty space. In the same way, we can face the   (15)   moments of our life rather than run away from them.
        (16)  , a river will empty into the sea. Water does not hold back from   (17)  in a larger body, nor does it fear a loss of  (18)   or control. It gracefully and modestly falls into the vastness by contributing its energy and joining without   (19)  . Each time we move beyond our individual characters to become part of something bigger, w e can try our best to   (20)   the lead of the river.

      Are forests always created by nature? A man from rural India proves that this is not necessarily   (1)  .

        Abdul Kareem, who used to be an airline ticketing agent，has a great love for the   (2)  ．Though he never went to college，he can talk about plants and trees like a(n)   (3)  ．In 1977，he bought a piece of   (4)   wasteland with the hope of growing trees on it．In the beginning，people thought he was   (5)   to waste his time and money on the land．But he  (6)   ignored them and kept working on the soil and planting trees there．The land was so  (7)  that it had to be watered several times a day．Kareem had to fetch the water from a   (8)   that was a kilometer away．In the first two years，none of the trees he planted   (9)  .However，in the  (10)  year，several young trees started growing．Greatly  (11)  by the result，Kareem planted more trees and his man made forest began to   (12)  ．

        Kareem let his forest grow   (13)  , without using fertilizers or insecticides．He believed in the   (14)   of nature to renew itself without the interference of humans. That’s   (15)   he did not allow fallen leaves or branches from the forest to be removed.

       After years of   (16)  , Kareem has not only realized his dream but also transformed a piece of   (17)  land into a beautiful forest. Today, his forest is  (18)  to 1,500 medicinal plants，2,000 varieties of trees，rare birds，animals，and insects. Now，  (19)   from all over the world come to visit his creation. They hope to do research on the secret of his   (20)   so that other parts of the world could benefit from it．