The champions of the Earth Awards (地球卫士奖) is the United Nations' highest environmental honor. On Dec 5th, 2017, it {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to China's Saihanba.

    Saihanba is a vast forest{#blank#}2{#/blank#} in Chengde, Hebei. In Mongolian, its name means “beautiful highland”, and rightly so: across the area{#blank#}3{#/blank#} forests and grasslands are around crystal-clear lakes.

    Around the 10th century, Saihanba became a{#blank#}4{#/blank#} hunting ground. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Emperor Kangxi liked Saihanba so much and he once killed 318 rabbits in a single day.

    In 1860, because of a shortage of money, the land {#blank#}5{#/blank#}to the public. In the following years, logging (砍伐) and wildfires destroyed the forest and grassland. By the 1950s, Saihanba had become a barren (荒芜的) land.

    Hard work and efforts{#blank#}6{#/blank#} a national forest in Saihanba started in the 1960s. In 1961, a group of six scientists traveled through Saihanba and studied the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} of growing trees there.

    They finally found one tree standing alone in the vast land, which {#blank#}8{#/blank#}encouraged them. If one tree could survive there, so could millions of others.

    About 56 years later, after overcoming the countless difficulties of planting trees in a very cold place, the barren land is now a vast forest. Today, Saihanba is known as a natural shield (防护){#blank#}9{#/blank#} sandstorms. It is very important for Beijing's water and air{#blank#}10{#/blank#}

    Mary always wanted to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a singer. Music was the most important thing in her life. She kept {#blank#}2{#/blank#} again and again in her daily life. But to tell the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, she had a bad vice. She took lessons for many years. But her voice didn't become {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, it just got louder.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} her teacher wanted to give up and stopped, the lesson，but Mary refused(拒绝) to stop. One day she decided to give a concert and invited her teacher to come. The teacher was {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. What to say after the concert because she knew it {#blank#}7{#/blank#} be bad.

    At last she got an idea and after the concert, she went to see her pupil.

    "Well," said Mary. "What do you think of my concert?"

    What was the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} answer, do you know?

    Imagine one day, the water taps in your house stop running. You have to buy water from shops. And still there {#blank#}1{#/blank#}water for everyone. Your mother has to save the family's shower water to do other things. Would you be able to stand that kind of life?

    Probably not. But that's what kids in Yemen are experiencing. Experts said Yemen is going to be the first country in the world to run out of water. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}a report, the capital, Sana'a, will run out of drinking water as early as 2025.

    Because of the shortage, the government often cuts the water supply. Hannan, an 18-year-old girl from Lahej, told the Times: "In a good week we'll have the water supply all week. But then the following week there will be water only for {#blank#}3{#/blank#}."

    Hannan said only rich people have enough water to use. They can buy water from the shops or from the water trucks. Private companies own the trucks. They {#blank#}4{#/blank#}every day to sell water—at very high prices. "A lot of people can't afford it," she said.

    The government is {#blank#}5{#/blank#}making use of seawater. But it will cost a lot and it may not happen soon enough to help the people of Yemen.