Many animals hide to stay alive. They hide in many ways. Some animals hide in leaves; some animals hide in snow. Usually their colors or shapes help protect them. It's hard to see an Arctic bear in snow. Its white fur helps protect it. Chameleons(变色龙) can hide by changing colors. Their skin turns the same color as what is around them. Some chameleons can change colors in five minutes.

    Many animals try to look bigger than they are to stay alive. Some animals can make other animals think they are very big. If they look very big, animals that are looking for food will run away. Bears can walk on two legs. They look very, very scary. Some animals will run away from them.

Many animals try to stay around other animals. This helps them stay alive. Zebras stay close together so that they can help each other look out of danger. Seeing many stripes at once can also confuse animals that want to eat them. Some birds stay in a circle, each toward a different direction. In this way they can also help each other stay alive by looking around for animals that many want to eat one of them.

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    Rivers are one of our most important natural resources(资源). Many of the world's great cities are located on rivers, and almost every country has at least one river through it that plays an important part in the lives of its people.

    Since the beginning of history, people have used rivers for transportation. The longest one in the United States is the Mississippi. The lifeline of Egypt is the Nile. To the people of India, the Ganges is great, but it is also important for transportation. Ships can travel along it for a thousand miles. Other great rivers are the Congo in Africa and the Mekong in southeastern Asia. The greatest of all for navigation(航海), however, is the Amazon in Brazil. It is so wide and so deep that large ships can go about two thousand miles up it.

    Besides transportation, rivers give food, water to drink, water for crops, and chances for fun and recreation for the people who live along their banks. In order to increase the supply of water for crops, engineers sometimes build a dam(坝) across a river and let a lake form behind the dam. Then people can use the water not only to irrigate(灌溉) their fields but also to make electricity for their homes and industries.

    However, large cities and industries that are located on rivers often cause problems. As the cities grow in size and industries increase, the water in the rivers becomes polluted with chemicals and other materials. People are learning the importance, however, of doing more to keep their rivers clean if they want to enjoy the benefits of them.

    The expression "lanshouxianggu" has been quite popular on Chinese social networking sites. You may have used it many times when chatting online. However, did you know that the "blue thin mushroom" was not just magic of Photoshop and was really there in nature?

    Well, let' s meet Entoloma hochstetteri (霍氏粉褶菌).This is a kind of naturally-blue fungus(真菌) The plant looks very small. Its sten' s diameter(梗的直径) measures only about 5 millimeters. Entoloma hochstetteri can be found widely in New Zealand, especially on the west coast. The Maori name for it is "werewere-kokako." It seems New zealand is very proud of producing this unusual species-the country prints the blue mushroom on its $50 notes.

    Athough the species is very unusual, little is known about it. Silas villas-boas is a scientist at the University of Auckland. He said he was very disappointed that nobody had ever tried to test the blue mushroom in the lab, "You can even count the number of scientific articles on it on one hand, he said. The scientist decided to be the first to study the plant. A group of researchers have been helping him with the study.

    In an early test, the researchers found alkaloids(生物碱) and Omega-3 fatty acids(w-3脂肪酸)in the blue mushroom. While the acids are helpful to health, alkaloids soetimes influence how the brain works. However, Villas-Boas said the substance was very common in plants. So far, the researchers have not found any toxins(毒素) in Entoloma hochstetteri, but they are not yet sure if it can be eaten. Villas-Boas said more testing would be required.

    Most people agree that trees look nice, but not everyone knows that trees can also help cities save money. A few years ago, the US Forest Service studied trees in Chicago. They found that just one tree can save a city hundreds of dollars over its lifetime.

    Trees can save money by helping people save energy(能源). Trees stop the sun shining on buildings. They also block(挡住) the winter wind. That helps people use less energy to make their homes or offices warm or cool. Saving energy is saving money.

    Trees have another way to help a city save money. When it rains, there will be a lot of water in a city's sewers (下水道). Cities need lots of money to clean that water. But before the rainwater gets to the dirty sewers, trees can take some into themselves. With the help of trees, there is less water to clean.

    The Earth is about 4, 600 million years old Man lives on the Earth for only 35, 000 years. But we change our Earth in many ways. Many things we do are good, but some are not good for the Earth.

    Water pollution

    A lot of people, birds and fish die each day because of water pollution. Factories pollute the water. As a result (因此), the water in many rivers and lakes is now very dirty.

    Air pollution

    In big cities, factories, cars and buses are the main causes of air pollution. Many people in cities now have health problems. For example, Mexico City used to be a beautiful sunny capital, but today there are many clouds in the sky. And many people get ill because of the polluted air.

    Soil (土壤) pollution

    In order to have a better harvest (收获), some of the farmers use chemicals too much in their fields. That's bad for the soil.

    Hope for the future

    These problems are very serious for our future, so all of us should do something to protect the environment. If we can stop pollution, our Earth will become more and more beautiful.

    The American Computer &. Robotics Museum was open to visitors in 1990 in Bozeman, Montana. At first it was planned to build in Princeton, New Jersey. The founders moved to Bozeman in 1988 and after looking at the area they decided to build the museum there. With Yellowstone National Park to the south and Glacier National Park to the northwest, the museum attracts thousands of visitors from all 50 states and over 50 countries. The American Computer &. Robotics Museum has been written about in many publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, QST and USA Today.

    When visitors first enter the museum, they are shown a video introducing the museum and its collections. All visitors are given the chance to join in tours led by friendly tour guides. We have had visitors aged from3 to 93- it is a big family. Over 1,000 exhibitions are shown in the 6, 000-squaremetre museum. Travelling through our museum, you will see the exciting 20,000 years of history of the information age. Technology becomes easier to accept when one learns about its origins(起源) in the natural process(进程) of human development.