WIRES is short for Wildlife Information and Rescue Service. It is an Australian  organization, established(成立) in 1985 to care for injured and orphaned(失去母兽的) native wildlife. WIRES has a network of hundreds of volunteers who rescue and care for native animals until they are well enough to be released (释放)into the wild. Volunteers look after rescued animals in their own homes and are trained in the special needs of native wild animals.
    When Australians find a native animal in trouble, they often call WIRES for help. WIRES may be asked to look after a possum that has been attacked by a cat, rescue a large lizard that has got its head caught in a drink can, or care for a baby animal who has lost its mother. People call WIRES when they want to move a dangerous snake away from their garden or when they find a seabird that has swallowed(吞下) a fishing line or an owl with a broken wing. Sometimes kangaroos jumped onto the road in front of cars and are run over. Australians are encouraged to check the pouch(育儿袋)of dead kangaroos in case there is a baby in it. WIRES volunteers find themselves caring for many babies orphaned in this way.
Each year, in the summer, parts of Australia suffer from(受苦) huge bush fires. These fires not only destroy human homes and put people in danger, but they also destroy animal habitats(栖息地)and endanger the animals living in the bush. After a big fire, WIRES and other organizations go into the district to pick up surviving animals. They are treated for burns, shock, smoke and other problems and then cared for until new location can be found for them.
    WIRES is also involved in educating people in the importance of caring for wildlife and wildlife habitats. Volunteers visit schools and other public places to talk about native animals. Sometimes they bring a bat or some other interesting animals with them to show to people who may never have seen one up close before.

Radio, telephone and TV are widely used in the world. When you turn on the radio, you can listen. But when you use telephone, not only can you listen to others but also you can chat with them, however, you can't see anything at all. TV 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 vision-phone（可视电话）. With it, two people who are talking can see each other. It is better than radio, telephone or TV.

    Vision-phones can be of great use when you have something to show the person whom you are calling. It will be helpful in people's life. Some day you may be able to call up a library and ask to read a book on your vision-phone. You may be able to do some shopping too. Perhaps in the future, people will use vision-phone.

阅读理解

Light and Reflection

    Light is another type of wave that carries energy. A source of light (光源) such as the sun or a light bulb gives off light rays that travel away from the light source in all directions.

    A light ray is a narrow beam (光束) of light that travels in a straight line.

    Most objects around you do not give off light on their own. They can be seen only if the light from another source bounces off (反弹) them and into your eyes. The process of light hitting an object and bouncing off is called reflection.

    Look at the picture. The light is given off by the light bulb. Some of these light rays hit the page and are reflected (反射). The student sees the page when some of the reflected light rays enter the student's eyes.

    When a light ray hits a surface (表面) and is reflected, the reflected ray obeys the law of reflection. The angle of incidence (入射角) is always the same as the angle of reflection. This is the law of reflection. And this is true for any surface, no matter what material it is made of.

    The sun, the moon and the stars are all in the sky. We see the moon and the stars at night. The sun is a ball. It's much bigger than the moon. It gives us heat (热量). The sun has a family. It's the biggest member of the family. The moon is a ball, too, like the sun and the earth. Sometimes it looks as round as a plate (盘子). Sometimes it looks half a plate. It looks bigger because it's much nearer to the earth. It's much smaller than the sun. It's smaller than the stars. The light (光) on the moon comes from the sun. It has no light of its own.

    The stars look smaller than the sun. They look small because they are very far away from us. All day the stars are in the sky. But the light from the sun is too bright. We can't see the stars in the day.

    Is there intelligent(有智力的) life on other planets(行星)? For years, scientists said "No." or "We don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers (天文学家). They believe intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings(人；生物).

    Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life," say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size——the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble Telescope (哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies (银河系) ," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth. "

    In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes (高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets--the size of Mars or Earth--in other solar systems (太阳系).These planets might have intelligent life.

    Have beings from space already visited Earth? "Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals(信号). "In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.