The world uses about a thousand million (百万) tons of water a day. Water is a human right and everyone should have his share. Yet more than 700 million people around the world have trouble getting clean, safe water.
Treating wastewater is a good way to provide fresh water for us. And it also helps the environment by keeping waste out of rivers and oceans. 80% of wastewater around the world is not treated at all, and it is running into oceans. But now we have got the technology to treat and reuse the wastewater.
While 75% of our planet is covered with water, only 2%is fresh water—that comes from rivers, lakes, ice and snow. The rest, 98% of the water, is in seas and oceans. It is too salty to drink. Then desalination businesses come in. More than 19, 000 factories have been built around the world, mostly in coastal countries. They process (加工) more than 92 million tons of water every day. But the technology they use requires a lot of energy.
Scientists are working to create a less costly technology. They want to produce 20 times more clean water and make sure everyone has enough. But for now, the world still faces each day with not having enough water for everyone.
There are many unusual customs around the world. If you travel there, it's important for you to know about them.
Greece
If children are changing their teeth, instead of saving their teeth and placing them under a pillow (枕头) for the tooth fairy (仙子) to collect, Greek children's teeth are thrown to the roof of their homes. This unusual tradition is thought to bring good luck for the family, as well as a healthy tooth for the child!
China
When dining with locals and traveling in cities, it's important to give out gifts as a way of saying thank you. But remember to avoid giving them the following gifts: clocks, handkerchiefs (手帕) , shoes and anything white or black. It may seem like a good way of saying thank you for their lovely treat, but they are each strongly connected with death and funerals. A proper gift to pass on to show your thanks is delicious sweets or fresh tea.
Thailand
This is probably one of the most unusual customs to look out for, but it's also a lot of fun—especially for your kids! Every November, in the town of Lop Buri, the locals lay out fresh fruit, cakes and candies on top of tables that line the streets. But these mouth—watering treats aren't for the people, they're for the native Macaque monkeys to enjoy. This strange but wonderful celebration is called the Monkey Buffet Festival, and is a must—see on a trip to Thailand.
Hundreds of years ago, life was harder than it is today. People didn't have modern machines. There was no modern medicine, either.
Life today has brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution. Water pollution has made our rivers and lakes dirty. It kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us talk louder and become angry more easily. Air pollution is the most serious kind of pollution to all living things in the world.
Cars, planes and factories all pollute our air every day. Sometimes the polluted air is so thick that it is like a quilt (被状物) over a city. This kind of quilt is called smog.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. Factories must now clean their water before it is thrown away, and they mustn't let dirty smoke go into the air.
We need to do many other things. We can put waste things in the dustbin and do not throw them on the ground. We can go to work by bus with our friends in the same car. If there are fewer people driving, there will be less pollution.
Rules are not enough. Every person must help to fight pollution.
Have you ever dreamed about sending a letter to yourself or your friends in the future? While express mail(快递) is a fast way to send your letters, there is another type of mail appearing in China as a new business—future mail.
"The letter should be sent next Mother's Day and not a day earlier!" Lin Xiaofan, a college student in Shanghai, tells one of the companies offering the service.
Lin Xiaofan wrote the letter to her mother nearly a year earlier to express her love to her mother for next Mother's Day.
"Offering this service makes people slow down and lets them understand the meaning of 'time' in another way," said Zheng Zhimin, manager at a "future mail" company. Zheng thinks "future mail" letters help remind us of care, friendship and love.
While "future mail" is becoming more and more popular, some people are wondering what will happen if the postal address changes or if the company goes broken before the letters arrive.
Zheng said customers are glad to sign a contract(签订合同) to make sure that they can be compensated if their letters are lost or damaged.
Most of the customers are college students and young white-collar(白领) workers. Psychologists (心理学家) said that young Chinese might have a new way to express their feelings through this service. Most people put their hopes and wishes in the letter so that they can experience the connection(联系) between the past and the present when they receive the letter.
GreenHome campaigners (发起者) really love the nature world. In fact, we love it so much that we're determined (决心) to do our best to protect it.For that, we need money, too. GreenHome can be strong only with the support from people like you.
If the joy of walking through the green forest, the excitement of climbing ancient rocks, or even the simple pleasure of watching wildlife in its own habitat (栖息地) really moves you, then share GreenHome's idea with the world. Please turn that idea into some support today.
So take action right now! Even a very small amount, like $ 1 a month, will soon build up into a valuable contribution (贡献) to protecting the nature world we love so much.We'll also use it to develop ways to deal with environmental problems.
Think about it in another way. If you want a future where you can continue to do the things you love in the great outdoors, you need to make sure you've got a great outdoors to do them in.And this way is simple enough—that's got to be worth $1 a month.
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A. Giving GreenHome your support is one way you can do that. B. But determination alone will not protect the environment. C. That's why we're asking you to join us today. D. And we won't just use it to stop bad things. E. Everything we do costs money. |
Each one of us shares this planet with seven billion others. And we all need1. People and products need to move from city to city and country to country. However, we all know2most cars, motorcycles, boats and planes cause air pollution. They are also3. This is a serious problem in many cities.4inventors are coming up with creative ideas to try to reduce the pollution and noise.
In many cities around the world, motorcycles are very5. Now Vietnam has many motorcycles. Motorcycles are a faster and cheaper way to get around a city than6. Yet air pollution is a growing problem. In large cities, people7it is difficult to breathe. To solve these problems, a US company designed an environmentally friendly motorcycle. It uses electricity as fuel (燃料) . As a result, there is8pollution. It's also quiet and fast. This makes9a good choice for getting around a city.
Venice is a city with only a few10. There are no cars in the city center.11cars, water taxis and buses carry people along the city's canals (运河) . However, they cause pollution, 12for the water. English engineers Dick and Jem designed a solar-powered (太阳能的) water taxi. The water taxi13run for a day after being charged (充电) .
Planes also cause air and noise pollution. Designing an environmentally friendly airplane is a real14. Some airplane companies have15to solve the problems. Swiss engineers have gone one step further. They developed a solar airplane. This plane holds the world record for the longest solar-powered flight—1,541 kilometers from Arizona to Texas in America.
