No. 4 Middle School

Kunming, Yunnan

April 2nd, 2014

Dear Editor,

I live in a beautiful city. Many visitors come to my city. There are so many colorful peacocks (孔雀)here.

    The peacocks mostly (主要）live on the grassland of Dongfeng Square. Visitors can give them food freely. They usually throw food to them, and don't think about at all whether the food is right or not. Some of the peacocks became ill. Some even died after eating the bad food.

    I'm sure most of the visitors who throw food to the peacocks really like the birds, but they don't realize that they may be doing any harm.

    We should tell the visitors that what they have done is very harmful to the birds, and we also must stop this kind of thing from happening.

    Perhaps we can build some small shops beside Dongfeng Square to sell peacock food. For every one of us, it's our duty to give more love to these beautiful birds and to look after them carefully.

Yours,

Sun Yan

    In today's world of modern science and medicine, a more traditional treatment is once again becoming popular -- animal friendship.

    It is now well-known that people with problems such as heart disease or cancer live longer and get better more quickly if they have pets. Keeping pets lowers blood pressure and makes people less worried. Animals are increasingly important in treating older people who have memory loss(损失) and other brain problems. These people often feel nervous and upset. Activities with animals help them improve their physical condition and also give them joy, entertainment and loving friendship.

    Here is a case that shows the benefits of animals. John was a six-year-old boy. He had no physical problems. He just refused to talk. His older cousin, Ned, had a parrot called Sally, and John used to visit it. When he arrived, Net used to say, “Hi, John!” We all know parrots copy what they hear. After a few visits, Sally began saying “Hi, John!” When John came into the room. Then, one day, John turned to the parrot and replied “Hi, Sally!” Staying with the parrot encouraged John to begin talking.

    Another use of animal helpers is in schools. In some cases, they are used to teach children to get on and share with others, and even to teach them about animals.

    If you want to know more about animal helper programs, you can get in touch with organizations like Riding for the Disabled or do a search about animals on the Internet. You don't have to be an animal trainer or a doctor to join in.

根据短文内容选择最佳答案。

    The best way to teach your children to live a green lifestyle is to live that green lifestyle yourself. When kids see you picking up rubbish from the park, they see value(价值)in keeping public places clean Use these tips to introduce your children to green living：

    Use public transport. Use the car only when necessary; at other times, take trains and buses with your children.

    Ask for their help. Younger children often love grown-up activities. So have them carry a small bag of food waste to the bin, or let them help separate(分开)your recycling. Older children may want to take part in the activities like cleaning up the neighbourhood and organizing the daily recycling If they're not very interested, make environment-friendly activities a family-time priority (优先事项)

    _________________________ Petting farms for younger kids may help prevent(防止)farm animals from becoming something that they see only in books or on television. Many people believe that wild animals shouldn't be kept in any kind of zoos, but they do offer a valuable educational and conservation(保护)lesson. So if you want to visit a zoo, find a zoo that provides its animals with as natural an environment as possible

Vision—phones(可视电话)

    Many inventions are very useful in our daily life. They have greatly changed our life. For example, radios, telephones and televisions are widely used in the world. When you turn on the radio, you can listen. But when you use the telephone, you can not only listen to others but also chat with them. However, you can't see anything at all. The television is much better than both of them. People can watch TV and listen to it, but they can't take part in what they see.

    Today, some people are using a type of telephone called the vision phone. With it two people can see each other when they are talking

    Vision-phones can be of great use when you have something to show the person when you are calling him or her. It may also have other uses in the future. Some day you may be able to call up a library and ask to read a book over your vision-phone. You may be able to do some shopping through it too. Perhaps in the future, the vision-phone will come into wide use in our everyday life.

    Posted on 25 March by Selina

    I used to shower with soap every day, but my skin(皮肤)always felt dry and itchy(发痒的). Then two months ago, I heard of the no-soap movement. Since then, I've given up using soap in the shower. I still shower every day. I just don't use soap because it's filled with chemicals.

    So, what's so bad about using soap? Well, the chemicals in soaps can be harmful to our health. So, if we use soap, our skin will take in the chemicals, which will then end up in our bodies. According to the scientists, some of the chemicals used in a soap are quite dangerous. During my research, I also learnt that soap removes moisture(水分)from the body. This is actually why my skin was so dry and itchy.

    Getting used to washing my body without soap was a huge change. For the first week, I felt a bit dirty and I didn't smell great, either. However, during the second week, my skin felt clean without strange smell. Best of all, my skin problems disappeared, and now I have softer and healthier skin.

    On the whole, going soap-free has not only saved me time and money, but has also improved my skin. What's more, this experience has made me take a look at some of the other products I use in the shower, such as shampoo. More about that in my next blog!