"When it comes to the Earth, there is no time to waste," says the Earth Day Network. And that is right. (protect) our environment is very important. World Earth Day (create) in 1970 to ask more people to protect our environment. On April 22 of each year, people around the world celebrate Earth Day.
Every year there is a special topic, and in 2016 it was "Trees for the Earth''， Earth Day that year was all about planting trees. They planned to plant 7. 8 billion trees within the next five years.
That's a big goal, and you might wonder why (tree) are so important. Because they can take in carbon dioxide(CO2) and improve the air quality(质量). CO2 is an element(成分) in our atmosphere, but humans make too much of it. person makes about 2.3 tons a year, which is bad for the environment.
Planting new trees is important because people cut down a huge number of trees. Last year, there were 3 trillion trees in world, about 139 billion in China. But according to China Daily, the world's total number has been almost cut in half since human civilization(文明) began.
That's 15 billion trees are cut down every year.
So we need (plant) more to make up for (弥补) those we lost. One tree can take in 21. 8 kilograms of CO2 per year. And it's still one of (cheap) and best ways to get rid of CO2.
But don't forget that we can also help protect the environment by (cut) down on the energy(能源) we use every day. Every little thing helps.
The coffee shop Starbucks will give people a discount if they bring their own cups. It wants to cut down on the number of paper cups that are put in the rubbish bins. It is part of a two month experiment in cafes in England. Starbucks wants to reduce waste and recycle more, The president of Starbucks in the UK said, "We are very happy to increase recycling rates(比率)，and reusable cups are a key part of our waste reduction plan." Bosses will decide later if they will continue the discounts. People who bring their own cups will not get a discount on the cafe's cheaper filter coffee.
The problem of paper cups has been in the news a lot. Around seven million cups are thrown away every day. Reporters say that some cafes lie about how many paper cups they recycle. The reporters say the cafes do not recycle as many cups as they say. Customers wrongly believe that a coffee shop is environmentally friendly. Less than one in 400 paper cups at coffee shops are recycled. A coffee drinker said she would bring her own cup. She said, "I am so sad that cafes recycle so little. I thought they were more responsible."
根据短文理解，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选择最佳答案填空。
After their 15-year-old pet dog died, Rain and his wife, Ann, looked for months to find the right new pet. "I love dogs." said Rain, a worker at a health club in New York. "I can't 1 not having one.
"Finally, the couple found a lovely young 2 and decided to 3 him home. They named him Little Sheep. Little Sheep quickly made himself at home, sleeping on his new 4 bed at night.
With heart disease for 25 years, Rain 5 look his medicine four times a day and always had no problems. 6 on March 17, he took the wrong amount(数量) of medicine before he went to sleep. When he got out of bed to 7 the bathroom at night, suddenly, he felt his heart beating fast and later fell to the floor heavily.
"Little Sheep was usually very 8 and well-behaved," said Ann. "But when my husband hit the floor, the dog gave a loud cry like a wild animal. I was woken but didn't know what was happening. Then l saw my husband 9 on tile bathroom floor. I ran for the 10 and called a hospital at once. "Rain spent several hours in the hospital. By 6:30 a. m., he had been 11 enough to go home. "It surprises me that Little Sheep has such great 12," said his thankful owner. "He's becoming a calm little gentleman. We can walk him on our street, unleashed(未拴住的), without any problem. He's got a lot of 13 now, and everyone wants to 14 him kindly. "
"We feel the name Little Sheep is not good enough," said Rain. "So now we call him Big Hero, more 15 for an animal of his ability. "
