阅读理解。

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    Fraser Island is in Queensland, Australia, about 200 kilometers north of Brisbane. It is about 120 kilometers long and 240 kilometers wide. It is a very important island because it is completely made of sand. In fact, it is the largest sand island in the world. There is no airport on the island, but there is a long beach along the east coast. Planes arrive and leave from here.

    The sand makes unusual shapes. There are hills made of sand called sandblows. Nothing grows on them. They move one or two meters a year from the northwest towards the southeast of the island, getting bigger and bigger. At other places on the island, such as Rainbow Gorge, The Cathedrals and Red Canyon, the sandy rocks have different colors. Sometimes the rocks are so brown that they turn the sea brown, like coffee.

    Surprisingly, the sandy island has a lot of different plants and animals. There are dark forests—eucalyptus woods, beautiful flowers and over a hundred lakes. There are many kinds of birds, like owls and curlews. There are many animals there, too, such as crocodiles, flying foxes and wild dogs called dingoes.

    About 500,000 people visit the island every year to see the island's beauty and nature. People enjoy camping and hiking（徒步）there. Unluckily, the visitors create problems. They damage plants and frighten animals. Their sun cream（防晒霜）makes the water dirty. So it is necessary to manage the visitors. For example, people may not use motor boats or go fishing in the lakes, and they need official papers to drive there.

    What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make a guess, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on the average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively (相对地) short period of time, so we may suppose that man will continue to grow taller.

    Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain's capacity (容量.) As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more and finally we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too. The head, especially the forehead, will grow larger.

    Nowadays our eyes are being used too much. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man's eyes will grow stronger.                      

    On the other hand, we tend (有…的趋势) to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive (敏感的) because they are used a great deal in modern life.

    What about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both men and women are probably to be hairless!

    Perhaps, all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive (有吸引力的) person to look at! This may well be true. All the same, besides these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and feelings similar to our own.

    Many people are trying to save the earth with special days like "Meatout Day", "Earth Day" and "Buy Nothing Day".

    "Meatout Day" is on March 20. Many people around the world don't eat any meat for one day. In this way, they'll get healthier and reduce greenhouse gases (减少温室气体).

    "Earth Day" is on April 22nd. Many people all over the world try to do something green on this day. In Italy, people don't use plastic bags. In Canada and Norway, people ride bicycles and don't use their cars. In the USA, people dress up like plants and animals to dance in Times Square, New York.

    "Buy Nothing Day" is usually on the fourth Friday in November. On this day many people don't buy anything. "Buy nothing" means "make no rubbish". When you make less rubbish, you can make a cleaner earth.

    Do you want to join them? Then you can remember these special days and do something green.

    It took 13 years of international effort to map the human biological blueprint of all the genes (基因) that make us different people. The first rough draft (草图) made in 2000. The last of our 23 chromosomes (染色体) was clearly described in 2006. Ever since then, the age of personal genetic testing has been upon us. Since that time, a growing number of private companies have come on the market mostly through the Internet, offering to scan your personal DNA and compare it to some disease markets of the blueprint, called DTC genetic tests.

    But over the last five years the medical world has been discussing excitedly about whether these DTC tests are helpful or harmful, scientifically believable or completely useless. One of the usual criticisms (批评) is that the science is so new that no one really knows yet how to explain the information.

    "At present they largely remain in the period of research studies," notes Dr. Greg Ferro, special advisor to the director of genomic medicine at the US National Human Genome Research Institute. Ferro says there are two reasons." The first is that when they offer a test, are they really checking what they should check? And then the next is that even if it is believable, does what the test is checking really mean anything to your health?"

    Other worries include the privacy of the results and how your personal genetic information might be used by insurance (保险) companies to refuse your insurance or your boss to dismiss you. Or you could learn information with a huge social or personal impact (冲击), such as finding out that genetically you cannot possibly be the father of your child. It can also give you risks that may break your life, such as whether you are at high risk of cancer, Parkinson or other terrible diseases.

    Criticisms over the tests are such that some countries, such as Germany, have banned them. In 2011, some scientists advised the US government that most tests should be done under the guidance of medical professionals (专家). The UK government also expressed its worries about DTC genetic tests and in August 2010 made a set of rules to guide the development of genetic tests.

    In 2011, three medical researchers published a review article in the International Journal of Clinical Practice, saying that such tests offered more risks than benefits. The most important reason is that the tests might create worries or unreal results or drive unnecessary medical treatments. They also noted some of the genetic information the tests are based on at present is far from being perfect.

    A new rubbish sorting system (垃圾分类系统) has been put into use in Fangchengyuan Community in Beijing. Local people not only sort their rubbish, but also put QR codes (二维码) on it.

    "When the rubbish is collected and the codes are seen, I will get reward points to exchange for small gifts and even some money," one of the local people told reporters. "It's really creative and encouraging."

    This smart system has been carried out in 350 communities in Beijing. The capital of China has joined a list of cities in the country that take action to support rubbish sorting. For example, Shenzhen and Shanghai have made laws to punish people and organizations for not sorting rubbish correctly.

    China produces quite a lot of rubbish every year. Much of the rubbish is buried (填埋) in soil or burned without being sorted. Landfills (填埋场) take up a lot of land and have a risk of polluting the soil and water nearby. And burning rubbish can produce harmful gases. Through rubbish sorting, we can reduce the use of landfills and air pollution.

    What's more, rubbish sorting saves resources, which could bring economic benefits (经济利益). For example, a ton of waste paper can be reused to make about 850 kg of paper, saving 17 trees and 50 percent of water. Because of the benefits, some countries have developed successful sorting systems.

    Japan has a strict and detailed system. When people throw away a water bottle, the cap, the wrapper (包装纸) and the bottle itself have to go into three different bins. Every year, families receive special rubbish sorting timetables and directions from their local governments. They are advised to follow the timetables and directions when they throw away rubbish.

    In Australia, every family is provided with three rubbish bins—the red lid (盖子) bin for "general waste" like food and plastic bags, the yellow lid bin for "recycling" like steel and glass, and the green lid bin for "green waste" such as grass and leaves. On the streets, the bins are printed with pictures of the things that are allowed inside. It makes recycling quite easy.