Astronauts are not like pilots, who fly into sky. They need some special trainings. They will fly into space. First they go to the Johnson space center in Houston Texas. They are tested there. Space doctors want to know how strong and smart they are.

      First of all, their hearts are tested. The people walk or run. Next, the space doctors see how fast their hearts are beating.

      Then it is another important test. In this test the person must curl his body up in a ball. And when he is in that position, he will be put into a round cloth bag. The doctors don't tell him how long he will have to stay in the bag. If a spaceship broke down in space, the astronauts would get into bags like these. Then they would have to wait, curled up in darkness, until they are saved. You can know that an astronaut must not be afraid of tight spaces or darkness.

      After these tests, scientists only choose the best people to start astronaut training in a training center. They will learn many other things in training. They will learn how to jump out of moving airplane, to blow up a lifeboat and get into it while they are in the ocean.

They also have to learn how to get lifted out of the ocean by a helicopter.

      When they finish training, the astronauts go on to work. They stay in good situation by running and doing exercise. They read about the special jobs. In that way they will be able to learn new facts about space travel.

      Finally, the astronaut is told to go to work on a flight into space. The members begin to know each other first. Then they can learn which jobs each will do.

    All living things on the earth need other living things to live. Nothing lives alone. Most animals must live in a group, and even a plant grows close together with others of the same kind. Sometimes one living thing kills another, one eats and the other is eaten. Each kind of life eats another kind of life in order to live, and together they form a food chain (食物链). Some food chains are simple, while others are not. But all food chains begin with the sun, and all food chains become broken up if one of the links (联系) disappears.

    All life needs sunlight to live on. But only plants can use sunlight directly (直接). Plants are “factories”. They make food from sunlight, water and things in the soil (土壤) and air.

    Plants feed all other living things. Animals can only use the sun's energy (能量) after it has been changed into food by plants. Some animals feed directly on plants, others eat smaller animals. Meat-eating animals are only eating plants indirectly.

    What about human beings? We are members of many food chains. We eat wheat (小麦), rice, vegetables, fruits and so on. We also eat meat and drink milk. But humans often break up the food chains. They kill wild animals. They also make rivers, lakes and seas dirty. When these rivers, lakes and seas are polluted, the fish in them cannot be eaten. If men eat the fish, they will get strange diseases (疾病).

    Each form of life is linked to all others. Breaking the links puts all life in danger.

    Many animals are in danger of dying out. We can see the number of animal species decreases faster and faster and this trend will continue. From 1980 to 2010, at least I million animal species disappeared. Worse still, more and more wild animals are in great danger. It is not a piece of terrible news; it is a fact, a harsh reality. Unfortunately, we may not see these animals in the near future.

    Why is the number of animal species declining year by year? Apparently animals have become victims of fashion industry. Animal skin has been used to make fashionable clothes and these clothes are sold at a high price. So some greedy people begin to kill animals in a large quantity.  This irresponsible behaviour not only breaks the balance of nature but also endangers the living environment of human beings.

    As far as I am concerned, something must be done to stop this illegal action. We believe "no buying, no killing". First, we must make concerning laws to protect these animals in danger.  Second, we must take some measures to protect animals effectively. Animals are our friends and part of our environment. Third, we should raise people's awareness to protect animals and our environment.  In this way, we can build a harmonious society and ensure a sustainable development.

Bradford City Matters

    Welcome to the winter edition（版） of City Matters.

    "Don't Drop It; Stop It!"

    Put rubbish in your wheelie bin（有轮大垃圾筒）.

    You must put your rubbish in your wheelie bin to keep your environment clean. Don't pile your rubbish up（堆放） in your house or garden-use a wheelie bin or one of our larger bins.

    You can buy a wheelie bin from our Waste Management Section at 01943 874122.

    You can tell us about mice or rubbish in your area by phoning our Public Health Unit at 01943 874146.

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    Did you know that you can get a 50 fine（罚款） for dropping rubbish on the streets? Our Council officers are on the streets of Bradford looking for people who drop rubbish. They will fine people who drop litter. This is part of our "Don't Drop It; Stop it!" campaign（运动）.

    Don't fill your bin-recycle.

    Just think how full your bin gets over the holidays.

    To reduce your waste:

    Say "no" to unwanted bags.

    Take your own bags to the supermarket or reuse old ones.

    Get your free shopping bag from our Advice Center.

    Recycle your waste.

    Take bottles to your local recycling center.

    Buy recycled things.

    Cards and paper are good examples.

    Our competition winners

    As part of our "Don't Drop It; Stop It!" campaign, community groups from the north, south, east and west of the city-500 volunteers-entered our competition to clean up their area. The goal was to make the city cleaner for those who live, work, shop or play there.

    The four winners were: High Trees Parent Group, South Bradford Community Project, The Bridge Community Association and Forest Youth Group.

    All pets' owners know that pets use their body language to communicate with us. Since they live much simpler lives than we do, they depend on us and they need to express their needs to us. For example, cats do this with their ears, bodies and sounds. Sometimes they simply want our attention, while other times, they are telling us" My food is empty."

    I have one cat. He tells me different things. For example, when his food bowl is empty, he lets out a howl(长嚎). When he is hungry and doesn't find food to cat, he climbs onto my table and walks on it.

Now research shows that 67% of people think they understand what their pets want or need. The more we show our understanding of what they are telling us, the better our pets will be able to communicate with us. Try to pay close attention to what your pet is "telling" you and you will find it is eager (渴望) to "talk" to you.

    Man has a big brain(脑). He can think, learn and speak. Scientists always say that men are different from animals because they can think and learn. They know now that dogs, rats, birds can learn too. They are beginning to understand that men are different from animals because they can speak. Animals cannot speak. They make noises when they are afraid, or angry or unhappy. Apes(类人猿) can understand some things more quickly than humans. One or two of them can learn a few words. But they cannot join words to make sentences. They cannot think like us because they have no language(语言). They can never think about the future. Language is a wonderful thing. Man can build a modern world because he has language. Every child can speak his own language very well when he is four or five, but no animals learn to speak. How do children learn it? Scientists do not really know. What happens inside our body when we speak? They do not know. They only know that man can speak because he has a brain.