In Chinese culture, each year is related to{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Chinese animal according to the 12-year cycle. 2018 is an Earth Dog Year. People born during the year of dog {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (believe) to take after some of the animal's characteristics, such as loyalty, patience, and reliability.

    Zodiac(黄道) theory also relates to Chinese elemental theory, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}associates the 12 animals with one of five elements :metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The five elements {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (combine) with the 12 zodiac signs produce a 60-year cycle. Zodiac animals have both fixed and non-fixed elements attached {#blank#}5{#/blank#} them. For example, the dog (as well as the dragon, ox, and goat) is always associated with the earth element. {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the year of 2018 is considered an earth year according to the Chinese solar calendar, those born in 2018 are considered earth dogs, which carry characteristics like being communicative and responsible at work. Though dogs are{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(general) associated with earth, those born during the metal dog year are believed to be conservative and{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (caution)in nature. As Dogs are not good at communication, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} is difficult for them to convey their thoughts to others. Therefore, Dogs tend to leave others with the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (impress) that they have a stubborn personality, but they are indeed loyal to their families and friends.

    The music industry is never short of teen pop stars with wonderful looks, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} it doesn't often find one like US singer Taylor Swift. "Beneath Taylor Swift's not-a-girl, not-yet-a-woman sweetness hides a very {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(skill)songwriting technique (技巧)," writes Leah Greenblatt with Entertainment Weekly.

    Songwriting, the country singer explains, is "how I deal with problems. I am used to {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(write) about things that really influences me most." So in her songs, there is always {#blank#}4{#/blank#} true and honest. They seem like stories from {#blank#}5{#/blank#} diary and that certainly helps Swift attract her audience.

    She {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(sell) more than 13 million copies worldwide of her first two albums, 2006's self-titled debut (首张专辑) and 2008's Fearless. She's the youngest artist ever to {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(name) Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Not surprisingly, there were great expectations for her third album, Speak Now, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} came out late last month, where she again returned {#blank#}9{#/blank#} her own life for material. "The 14 songs are all about the last two years... when life was a little bit bigger and {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(crazy)," says Swift. "So I've written about the lessons and confusion and heartbreak and all the different things that go along with being 18, 19 and 20."

    The polar bear is found in the Arctic Circle and some big land masses as far south as Newfoundland. While they are rare north of 88°, there is evidence {#blank#}1{#/blank#} they range all the way across the Arctic, and as far south as James Bay in Canada. It is difficult to figure out a global population of polar bears as much of the range has been {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (poor) studied; however, biologists calculate that there are about 20,000-25,000 polar bears worldwide.

    Modern methods {#blank#}3{#/blank#} tracking polar bear populations have been employed only since the mid-1980s, and are expensive {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (perform) consistently over a large area. In recent years some Inuit people in Nunavut {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (report) increases in bear sightings around human settlements, leading to a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (believe) that populations are increasing. Scientists have responded by {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (note) that hungry bears may be congregating (聚集) around human settlements, leading to the illusion (错觉) that populations are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (high) than they actually are. Of {#blank#}9{#/blank#} nineteen recognized polar bear subpopulations, three are declining, six {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (be) stable, one is increasing, and nine lack enough data.

    On the afternoon of 11 March 2011, Tetsu Nozaki watched helplessly as a wall of water {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(crash) into his boats in Onahama, a small fishing port on Japan's Pacific coast.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(spend) the past eight years rebuilding, the Fukushima fishing fleet is now confronting yet another menace — the increasing likelihood {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the nuclear plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), will dump huge quantities of radioactive water into the ocean.

    "We strongly oppose any plans to discharge the water into the sea," Nozaki, head of Fukushima prefecture's federation of fisheries cooperatives, told the Guardian.

    Currently, just over one million tonnes of contaminated water is held in almost 1, 000 tanks at Fukushima Daiichi, but the utility has warned that it will run out of space by the summer of 2022.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(release) the wastewater into the sea would also anger South Korea, adding to pressure on diplomatic ties.

    Seoul, which has yet to lift an import ban on Fukushima seafood {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(introduce) in 2013, claimed last week that discharging the water would pose a "grave threat" {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the marine environment — a charge rejected by Japan.

    Japanese Government officials say they won't make a decision {#blank#}7{#/blank#} they have received a report from an expert panel, but there are strong indications that dumping is preferred over other options {#blank#}8{#/blank#} vaporising, burying or storing the water indefinitely.

    Critics say the government is reluctant {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(support) the dumping option for fear of creating fresh controversy over Fukushima during the Rugby World Cup,{#blank#}10{#/blank#} starts this week, and the buildup to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.