1970 was "World Conservation Year". The UN wanted everyone to know that the world was in danger - they hoped that governments would act quickly in order to conserve nature. Here is one example of the problem. At one time there were 1,300 different plants, trees and flowers in Holland, but now only remain 860. The others have been destroyed by modern man and his technology. We are changing the earth, the air and the water, and everything that grows and lives here. We can't live without these things. If it continues like this, we shall destroy ourselves.

       What will happen in the future? Perhaps it is more important to ask "What must we do now?" The people who will be living in the world of tomorrow are the young of today. A lot of them know that conservation is necessary. Many are helping to save our world. They plant trees, build bridges across rivers in forests, and so on. In a small town in the United States a large group of girls cleaned the banks of 11 kilometers of their river. Young people may hear about conservation through a record called NO ONE'S GOING TO CHANGE OUR WORLD. It was made by the Beatles and other singers. The money from it will help to conserve wild animals.

    Five hundred years ago, potatoes grew in South America. They were an important food for the people who lived in these high mountains. In other parts of the world, however, people didn't know about potatoes.

    The Spanish came to South America in the 1500s. They learned of potatoes and took some back to Spain. By 1570, people grew white potatoes in parts of Spain. By 1580, people in Italy were also growing potatoes.

    From Spain, potatoes travelled to France. In France, however, people were afraid to eat this new vegetable. They thought it was bad for health. Then the King of France tried to make his people eat potatoes. But for many years, the French still refused to eat potatoes.

    Potatoes reached England in a different way. In 1586, the English explorer(探险家) Drake stopped in Colombia. There he probably picked up some potatoes and took them back to England. At first, the English refused to eat potatoes, too. They used potatoes to feed their pigs and chickens.

    From England, the potato travelled to Ireland. The potato grew well in the poor soil of Ireland and soon it was an important food for the people in Ireland.

    In the early 1700s, Irish people brought potatoes to North America. By 1750, many people in New England were growing and eating potatoes.

    March 20th is World Water Day every year. According to a report from the United Nations, more than half of the world's major rivers have serious water loss and are polluted.

    The Yellow River, the world's fifth longest river, watered some of the oldest farms on earth.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Its source（源头）on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is drying up. In most of the past 35 years, it didn't reach the sea.

    The Nile in Egypt, running 6, 650 km, is the longest river in the world.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Now it is down to 2 billion m³ or so. Australia's Murray River reaches the sea only every other year. One fifth of America's Rio Grande has no water, either.

   {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Mostly it's damming（筑坝）and global warming that make rivers dry.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}Now about 45, 000 of them lie across the world's rivers. They hold back around 15% of the world's fresh water from running to the sea.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Warmer weather takes water away. The glacier（冰川）are becoming smaller. The source of the Yellow River is drying up because of it. Global warming has had certain effects on water sources. Droughts （干旱） happening around the world make people pay more attention to this fact.

    How do you pay for your meals at a fast food restaurant? With change(零钱)? Nowadays we have We Chat wallet and Alipay.

    I use my tap-and-go card(感应式信用卡). I don't even need to enter my PIN number(SIM卡密码)or a signature(签名)to pay money. It's quicker and everybody in the queue(队)is happy.

    Contactless payments(非接触式支付)are more and more popular, but the safety (安全性)still needs improving(改善). And people shouldn't pay too much at a time-in the UK it's ￡30. If you use the card a few times, you will need your PIN number.

    Some things, such as your clothes, have been combined with electric technology(与电子技术联系起来). Kenneth Cukier, the writer of the book Big Data, says, "You can take any card and put it in a coat. When you make a payment, just wave your arm in front of the terminal(终端)." This is for people who don't want to take their card out of their pocket, or use their phone or watch.

    Good, isn't it?

    So spending money is becoming easier at the time. And people are buying more and more things. But making money still needs the hard work.

    Back to work then!