Nearly all our food comes from the soil. Some of us eat meat, of course, but animals live on plants. If there were no plants, we would have no animals and no meat. So the soil is very necessary for life. The top of the ground is usually covered with grass or other plants. There may be dead leaves and dead plants on the grass. The waste matter(粪) from animals also falls on it.

    All soil needs food. If we do not give it any, the plants will be weak. Farmers found that animals' waste is the best food for the soil, but chemical fertilizers(化肥) are also very useful. The same crop（庄稼）should not be grown in the same place every year; it 's better to have a different crop. A change of crop and the use of a good fertilizer will keep the land good.

阅读下列短文,从每小题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出一个最佳选项。

Going Green

Green is no longer just a color. It is a new way of thinking about the world and a way of living your life. It's catching on all over the world. More and more people decide to "go green" because they know that we only have one planet to live on. We won't be able to live on it much longer if we keep wasting energy, and destroying(破坏) our home with air, land, and water pollution.

"Green Living" means:

    Understanding that your choices affect(影响) not just you, but everybody everywhere.

    Understanding that your choices affect not just today, but the future.

Understanding that when we talk about "saving the planet" or "saving the environment," we are actually talking about saving ourselves!

You may be thinking: "Hey, I'm just one person, on a planet with billions. I can't really make a difference." Well, have you ever seen a group of people do "the wave(波浪)"? It always starts off with one or two people, jumping up and down like crazy. Soon thousands of people are joining in. "Going green" is just like that. It starts with small, simple actions. It can soon build into a wave that will change the whole planet and lead us all to healthier, happier lives.

    Many students have already shared with us their efforts to help the environment:

Gabrielle, 12, writes, "I have helped my community plant a garden and I ride my bike or skateboard to school."

Kaitlyn, 10, says, "Lots of paper towels are thrown away, so I use a reusable cloth towel to dry my hands instead."

"I always recycle(重复利用)" says Natalie, 13. "You can call me a recycler! I always look at the bottom of things. I want to see whether they have the little sign that tells you it can be recycled. So I almost recycle everything!"

Now it's your turn to think about how you can "go green". Make important choices and take actions to improve the environment right around you and the health of the whole world.

    Do you think you're green? You're a totally modern citizen, aren't you? You keep your bottles and take them to the bottle bank. You have a black bin and a green bin, one for general waste and one for recyclable waste. Your car uses lead—free petrol. You use the same plastic bag every time you go to the supermarket. Maybe you even cycle to work from time to time. You are playing your part; you are green and environment—friendly. Well, I've got news for you:

    YOU ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH!

    If you don't believe me, look at these facts. Trust me, they're from a BBC website.

    On average every person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks.

    Every year, the average dustbin contains enough unused energy for 500 hot baths, 3,500 hot showers or 5,000 hours of television.

    Every UK household produces over one tonne of rubbish every year.

    If all the aluminium drink cans sold in the UK were recycled, there would be 14 million fewer full dustbins per year.

    Just one recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours!

    At Christmas over 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper is thrown in the bin.

    Almost three billion nappies (used for baby) are thrown away in the UK every year. 90% of these are buried and take hundreds of years to disappear.

    Have I made you believe that you need to do more? No? OK, here are one or two more facts.

    Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a light bulb for six hours.

    Collecting dustbins and cleaning streets costs ￡1. 6 billion per year.

    Surely you must believe me now. You need to do more. The good news is that there is some— thing else you can do.

B

    Have you ever stayed in a hotel? Most Chinese hotels often provide guests with things like disposable (一次性的) toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and slippers. Many guests like the idea because they don't have to bring their own. But, if you travel to Beijing, remember to bring your own things. Starting from June, some hotels in Beijing will no longer provide guests with these disposables. They want to ask people to use less disposable things.

    Many disposable things are made of plastic. People throw them away after only using them once. It is a waste of natural resources (资源) and is very bad for the environment. Do you know, one Chinese person makes as much as 400kg of waste a year! Most of that waste comes from disposable things. In Beijing, people throw away about 19,000 tons of plastic bags and 1,320 tons of plastic lunch bowls every year! Plastic can take between 100 and 400 years to break down. So the less plastic we throw out, the better. So, wherever you travel, bring your own things and use them again and again.

    Back at home and school, you can also do something to make our world a better place. Try to do these things in your daily life: Use cloth shopping bags, not plastic ones. After using a plastic bag, wash it out and let it dry. Then you can use it over and over again. Do not use paper cups. At your school canteen（食堂）, use your own bowl and chopsticks instead of disposable ones.

    Different weather makes people feel different. It influences health, intelligence(智力) and feelings.

    In August, is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States, People there have heart trouble and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in these states have more heart trouble after the weather changes in February or March.

    The weather can also influence intelligence. For example, in a scientific report, IQ (智商) of a group of students was very high when a very strong wind came, but after the strong wind, their IQ was 10% below. The wind can help people have more intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can make it lower. Students in many schools of the United States often get worse on exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).

    Weather also has a strong influence on people's feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel unhappy during cold weather. But fat people may have a hard time in hot summer. At about 18℃, people become stronger.

    Low air pressure may make people forgetful. People leave more bags on buses and in shops on low-pressure days. There is a "good weather" for health. People feel best at a temperature of about 18℃.

    Are you feeling sad, tired, forgetful, or unhappy may be the weather's problem today?