—Yes, I do. And you can see that books are made _______ paper.
As everyone knows, animals are our friends.Of all the animals, we find that dogs are friendly to1.
Dogs are always staying2humanbeings. They are in different colours and3. There are many differentkinds of dogs too. Hunting dogs can4people get more prey (猎物). The seeing-eye dogs can help5peoplea lot. The police dogs can help the police.
Today it is6toimagine life without dogs. Maybe everyone is happy to see dogs. Dogs are goodat7and smelling. Some dogs can find thepeople who are trapped (困)8thebroken houses. Some dogs can help take care of the houses of their owners (主人).9someone strange comes close to thehouse, they will bark to frighten (吓唬) him. Even somedogs can help look after small kids when their10arenot at home.
In a word, dogs are our best friends amongall animals.
The Year of the Tiger has gone and we haverabbit, dragon…pig year. What words can we think of for pigs?
Some bad words may be silly, dirty, greedy(贪婪)…But are these true?
When we see pigs, they are usually in dirtywater or behind dirty fences. But pigs also want to be clean if they can. Pigshave no sweat glands (汗腺), so they have to getcool in water when they feel hot.
If people are greedy, we say they are "pigout". Yes, pigs love eating a lot. But they are useful to people. Peoplenot only eat their meat, but also use other parts of pigs. Pig skin is used forglue and shoes. The hair can be used to make brushes. Sometimes, pigs are evenused to make medicine.
"He is as silly as a pig!" Thisexpression is wrong. Pigs are very smart animals. Among all animals, they arethe third cleverest一monkeys, dolphins andpigs. Scientists think the training of pigs is easier than the training of dogsand cats. Pigs have a very good sense of smell. They can find things nearby orfaraway. They can also help the police tosniff out drugs (毒品) at an airport or at a train station.
NorthAmerican black bears are shy animals. They are fearful by nature, and willusually run away if they see or hear people. Because of this, it can bedifficult for scientists to learn about these animals.
Inorder to study black bears, researchers from New Jersey, the USA, catch bearsand use drugs to help them go to sleep. Researchers then work out the size andthe weight of the bear, take blood to test for diseases, remove a toothand take it to the lab to find out its age. From these studies, researcherswant to find out how many bears live in New Jersey, how long they live, and howmany babies they produce.
Butin Minnesota, the USA, researchers study bears that are completely awake. Thebears know the researchers' voices and they are not afraid of the researchteam. With the help of a few grapes to keep the bears busy, researchers cantouch them to check their hearts, look at their teeth, and do other jobs.Researchers can also walk or sit with bears for hours and make videos to learnabout their everyday lives.
Inboth places, the main purpose is the same—to make sure there is a healthypopulation of black bears. But the research methods and the kinds ofinformation that researchers are able to collect are quite different.
Thereis good and bad news about the number of trees on our planet. The good news isthat there are seven times more trees than we thought. A few years ago,scientists believed that the world had 400 billion trees. However, a new studyfrom Yale University shows that there are around three trillion (万亿) trees. That's athree followed by 12 zeroes. That means there are about 420 trees for everyonein the world today.
Thebad news is that thousands of years ago, the earth had six trillion trees.Humans cut down half the number of trees on the planet. Take Europe forexample, it was a large forest thousands of years ago. Now much of it is citiesand towns. And another 15 billion trees are lost each year.
DrThomas Crowther is one of the scientists from Yale University. He said the newnumber of trees from their study would change nothing. "The study onlyshows we need to do more to protect our forests," he said.
Have you ever heard of friendships among animals? At a zoo in Germany, an unusual friendship has developed a cat and a bear.
No one is quite sure how the friendship first began. One day, some (worker) in the zoo noticed a black cat was in the bear's cage (笼子), and the two animals were playing together peacefully. They were surprised how well the small cat seemed to get along with the large bear. The bear keeper allowed the cat (stay) with the bear. And later the pair and their unusual friendship (become) a hot topic at the zoo.
After several years, a new cage was built for the bear. However, the cat was still in the old cage, so it walked around (angry) and cried to be with the bear. The bear keeper (final) took pity on the cat let it stay with the bear. The cat and the bear got (close) than before. They often (sit) together and shared meals in the sun.
Sometimes it may be natural for animals (have) their own ideas about who they would make a good friend with. These may surprise humans, who usually expect animals to form relationships with others of the same species.
Hundreds of years ago, no dandelions (蒲公英) grew in North America. Then people came from Europe. The seeds fell from their clothes onto the ground. Since then, dandelions have spread all over.
Most people believe that dandelions are weeds (杂草). They do not want them in their gardens. But some people think that dandelion flowers are pretty. They cook dandelion leaves or put them into a fresh salad. The leaves must be picked before the flowers come out or they will not taste good.
Dandelions do not die easily. If the winter is not very cold, their leaves may stay green. When spring arrives, their flowers come out.When the sun shines the next day, they open up again. Dandelion flowers are very unusual. They do not have to get pollen (花粉) from another dandelion flower in order to form seeds. So after several days, the yellow flower turns white and soft. A tiny brown seed forms at the bottom of each white petal (花瓣). When the wind blows, the petals float away. Each white petal carries a seed away. New dandelions grow where the seeds land.
| A. And others think that dandelions taste good. B. They had dandelion seeds on their clothes. C. Each night their bright yellow flowers close up. D. This lets the dandelions spread their seeds all over. E. Some people make dandelion flowers into wine. |
