The lion is called the king of all animals. Once it was also called as the king of the desert (沙漠). However, lions 1 live in any desert now. Their colour may 2 different from yellow to brown and males (雄性动物) can be from blond to black. The male lions 3 up to 190 kg and are about 1.20 metres tall while the females（雌性动物）weigh nearly 130 kg and are 1 metre tall. They 4 beautiful fur, strong legs with sharp claws and a long tail.
Panthera Leo (非洲狮) lives in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. 5 it feeds on many kinds of animals. When it's 6 its food, it can reach the speed of 60 km per hour and jump even 12 metres. The lion likes to eat its food at once, 7sometimes it has to hide the food because of hyenas (土狼). Hyenas are the only animals which kill lions for food.
The lion lives in small families820 to 30 members. In each family there is usually one 9 male with two or three females with small baby lions. 10, the lion population is in great danger mainly because of people's hunting.
The elephant is another animal that lives in groups. An elephant group usually has from twenty to forty members. The elephants in the group help each other when in trouble.
The leader of the group is usually a wise and strong female(雌性). She travels at the head of the group and the other females and their young follow her. The bull elephants(公象) follow last. When danger comes, the bulls make a circle around the weaker animals and protect them. The members of the group are friendly to each other. The group will not leave the sick elephants to die. If an elephant is sick, the whole group stops travelling until it gets well. When an elephant is hurt, two others walk on both sides of it and support it with their bodies. A member of the group may be in a trap(陷阱). Then the others try to free it.
Elephants give the young special care. They help young animals swim when crossing a river because the young can't swim well. They work together to save a calf that has walked into a dangerous place.
A female elephant that is going to give birth to her young leaves the group for a short time. However, she takes another female along to act as "aunt". The aunt helps the mother with her new-born calf. In this way, the whole group protects its newest member.
There are many kinds of ants in America. One kind is very strong. People are afraid of it, and animals are afraid of it, too.
These ants move in large groups. They eat all the animals, and they can eat wood houses. Sometimes even people are killed by them. When the ants come near, people leave their homes. But people are sometimes glad after the ants pass through, because they can see no insects (昆虫) or snakes .
There are about 5,000 different kinds of ladybugs(瓢虫) in the world. They come in many different colours like blue, yellow, white, orange and black.
In many cultures, people think ladybugs can bring good luck. Most people like them because they are beautiful and not bad for people's health. But farmers love them because they eat plant-eating insects. One ladybug can eat up to 5,000 small insects in its lifetime!
Ladybugs are colourful for a reason. Their colours tell other animals, "Eat something else! I taste terrible."
Ladybugs are happy in many different habitats, such as forests, cities and along rivers. Ladybugs like to keep warm. When the weather turns cold, they look for a warm place to hibernate (冬眠), such as inside houses.
Here are some other facts about ladybugs:
● Though most ladybugs eat small insects, a few kinds eat plants.
● Ladybugs will clean themselves after a meal.
● There are more than 400 kinds of ladybugs in North America.
There are several ways you can find out about the countries and places you wish to visit. You can talk to friends who have traveled to the places, you can go and see a colour film about them, or you can read a travel book.
It seems that there are three kinds of travel books. The first are those that give a personal, subjective(主观的) idea of travels which their writer has got himself. These books can be useful if the writers share their traveling experiences with others. The second kind are those books which give objective(客观的) information of things to be done and seen. If a cultured person has written such a book about the facts of a place, then it is more useful. The third kind are those books which are called "a guide" to some place or other. If they are good, they will describe and explain the place in detail. Like the first kind, they can be interesting and exciting, but their main purpose is to help the reader plan his travel in the most practical way.
Whatever kind of travel book you choose, you must make sure that the book does not describe everything as interesting, exciting or fantastic. You must also keep an open eyes on its date of publication(出版) because travel is very practical matter and many things change quickly in the 21st century. Finally, you should make sure that it's easy to find the useful information for you travel.
Don't forget to your mother .
