Each oneof 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 planescause air pollution. They are also3. This is a seriousproblem in many cities.4inventors are coming up with creative ideasto try to reduce the pollution and noise.
In manycountries around the world, motorcycles are very5.Now Vietnam has around 33 million motorcycles and China has almost 120 million.Motorcycles are a faster and6way to get around a city than cars. Yetair pollution is a growing problem. In large cities, people7itis difficult to breathe. To solve these problems, a U.S. company designed anenvironmentally 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 gettingaround a city.
TheItalian city of Venice is a city with only a few10.There are no cars in the city centre.11cars, water taxis andbuses carry people along the city's canals (运河). However, they cause pollution,12tothe water. English engineers Dick and Jem designed a solar-powered (太阳能) water taxi. The water taxi13run for a day after beingrecharged (充电).
Planesalso cause air and noise pollution. Designing an environmentally friendlyairplane is a real14. Some airplane companies have15tosolve the problems. Swiss engineers have gone one step further. They developeda solar airplane.
Believe itor not, oceans and seas are easy to be harmed by the development of humansociety. They are also influenced by man-made pollution easily. It is human beingsthat do great harm to the ocean ecosystems (生态系统).
The coralreefs (珊瑚礁) are fine ecosystems thatprovide food and protection for many ocean creatures (生物). The coral in almost all of the oceans is in danger frompollution. Chemicals from factories end up in the seas and oceans and destroy (破坏) coral reefs. If the coral systems die, some ocean creatures willbe sure to die out.
Protectingthe ocean also has something to do with the protection of ocean wildlife likedolphins. The fishing industry depends on modern ways to catch many fish inorder to earn more money. But the nets for fishing also catch other seaanimals. The fishing boat workers are advised to check their nets and set otherocean animals free. But the boats are in a hurry to make money and often otherocean animals are caught with fish.
Oil spills(泄露) can destroy the oceanenvironment because oil kills all ocean life. The world depends on oil andbecause there is plenty of oil off the shore (岸) inmany countries, the need for oil is more important than the risk of the oilspill. However, the fact is that one ocean mistake can lead to an oceanenvironment accident that will cause years ofdamageto the fine oceanecosystems. Oil spills will kill all the creatures in the area of the spill.The oil will be washed up on the shore and destroy the ecosystems along theshore, including birds.
Everyonewho cares about the environment should pay more attention to protecting theocean, and all of us should do something for the protection of the ocean.
Thehomestay (寄宿家庭) providesEnglish language learners with the good chance to speak English outside theclassroom and the experience of being part of an American home.
What toExpect
The hostwill provide places to live and meals. Rooms will be cleaned every day. And thehost is there to offer help and advice on your physical and mental (精神的) health.
LivingArea
Hostfamilies are mainly in Zones 2, 3 and 4. Most hosts don't live in Zone1 becausemuch of central New York is trading center. Zones 3 and 4 often offer largerhouses in uncrowded areas.
But it'svery convenient to travel to the center of New York by subway.
Meal Plans
It'simportant to know that few American families still provide a traditional cookedbreakfast.
Yourbreakfast mainly includes fruit juice, bread and coffee. Cheese, fruit and coldmeat are not part of the breakfast. Dinners are usually made up of meat or fishwith vegetables followed by dessert, fruit and coffee.
Friends
If youwant to invite a friend to visit you, you must ask your host for permission (许可) first, because some familiesfeel uncomfortable when there are strangers at their home.
We spoke to three students from around the world about different national holidays. There are different customs for each festival.
Tan Xiaodong, 15, Hong Kong, China
"It'll soon be Chinese New Year. Before it, we'll clean the house and decorate (装饰) it for good luck. Every shop is going to close for a few days and we'll go out a lot to celebrate in the streets. We might go and see the lion and dragon dances in the city center. I love this festival."
Wendy, 16, Sydney, Australia
"Australia Day is on 26th January and it's an important holiday here. We always have a Monday off, so we celebrate for three days. My parents and I go to the countryside for a picnic and friends always come over. Many people go to beach parties or street parties and there are lots of music and dancing. What fun!"
Amy, 14, New York, USA
"The first Thanksgiving Day was hundreds of years ago when Europeans who came to American thanked God for his help. It's still a very important day for families to be together. This year we're going to visit my grandparents and we'll eat a delicious meal of turkey. Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November every year."
My mother is fifty-five years old. Sheretired (退休) just twomonths ago. After that, she was bored and didn't know what to do every day. Shewas kind to us before, but recently shehad a chip on her shoulder. Sheoften quarreled with my brother and me without any reason. Also, relationsbetween my parents became difficult. My mother got into trouble and didn't knowhow to deal with it. My brother thought of a good idea to solve the problem. Hebought her a new smartphone and taught her how to use WeChat. My mother's lifechanged a lot from then on. No matter where she went and whatever she did, shealways used it. She took photos with her new smartphone and always shared herphotos in her friend circle to express how happy she was. As a result, she oftendid something by mistake. She often forgot to turn off the gas and the food shewas cooking usually got burnt. My father tried to stop her, but it didn't work.
Thisafternoon, my mother prepared to make dumplings for dinner. She took a lot ofpictures in order to post them into her friend circle. After dinner, we tookout our smartphones and waited to see the photos she had taken. To oursurprise, we didn't find any pictures of her dumplings. At last, my fathercouldn't help asking her, "Why don't you share your delicious dumplings inyour friend circle today?" My mother looked embarrassed and said,"_________" "Oh, my God! I have to spend more money buying a newone!" cried my brother.
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Dear Larry,
It was lovely to hear from you again and to know that things are going well with you.
Thanks for telling me all about the Chinese Moon Festival. It you enjoyed a great party in Inner Mongolia (内蒙古). It makes me think of the festival we in when we travelled in South Africa. The people there kept many goats (山羊), sheep and cows. Beef was expensive and was only for very special time. In all our time there we were never served beef in the villages, because beef is not usually served to visitors.
, I happened to see these pictures and thought you'd like to see them. A Chinese girl gave Tang Suit to Joan and me when she left school. We tried them on in the university car park. Someone took photos for us though I was wearing my kilt (苏格兰短褶裙)! It seemed to be so different that some suggested that I could start a new look.
We wore Tang Suit to a dinner which was held on the ship in August when we visited Germany. Some Chinese ladies came and spoke to us. They were interested in my traditional Chinese clothing.
We both hearing from you again. Best Wishes!
Yours,
Ken and Joan
Somecountries are building a great wall of trees across Africa. It is called theGreat Green Wall. The aim is to bring life to the dry lands and help to fightthe bad environment.
The wallis 8,000 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide. It covers from Senegal in thewest to Djibouti in the east, on the south of the Sahara Desert (撒哈拉沙漠). So far, Senegal has madethe best progress by planting about 11,000,000 trees.
Many yearsago, there were few trees in that area and the winds used to be very strong. Itwas harmful to the fields. Also, there was little rain, so few plants couldgrow and many people went hungry. Since the tree planting project started, thetrees have provided food for the local people and increased the wetness (湿度) of the air. Little by little,there appeared green fields for people to grow plants.
Theproject which began in 2007 is supposed to cost a total of 8,000,000,000dollars. Many countries are trying their best to help to continue the planting.So we will be able to see the whole green wall across Africa in the nearfuture!
