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Books                                  Contents
Leo the Snow Leopard By Craig Hatkoff	It was written by the best story-teller. The  story is about Leo, a young snow leopard(雪豹) that was helped by a kind man in the snowy mountains in Pakistan. Snow leopards are in danger. Leo was just two months old when he was found and he could not live in the wild on his  own.
Where Do Recyclable Materials Go By Sabbithry Persad	Tiana has been learning about recycling at  school. But after her dog, Bubbles, gets lost chasing after a recycling truck, she decides to learn  a lot more about recycling! Following Tiana, readers will learn how to take care of the environment.
The Scrap Kins Build By Brian Yanish	Meet the Scrap Kins. They are friendly monsters. In the book, they'll show you how to turn rubbish into some pretty cool things. Readers will learn how to make toy planes from plates, bags, old clothes and more. You know what they say: One person's rubbish is another person's love.
Explore( 探索) Life Cycles! By Kathleen M. Reilly	Do you know the largest seed( 种子)in the world or an egg can weigh up to 4 pounds? You'll learn about all of these things and more with the latest book in the Explore Your World series( 系列). The books give readers a good look into the life cycles of plants and animals on the Earth.

Smog is a big problem in many Chinese cities. But it seems that besides wearing a mask, few of us know what has caused the smog and what to do to beat it. In fact, burning too much coal and oil are the main causes of PM2.5 and smog (雾霾).

    To solve the problem, we should clean our coal and oil or replace them with cleaner energy such as natural gas. We ordinary people can do something to help control smog, too.

    What can we do to help beat the smog?

    Choose to take public transportation. Though many people have their own cars, they had better take public transportation, such as the subway or buses. If the destination (目的地) is not far away, you can also walk ________ ride a bike.

    Call the hotline 12369. You can call the number for complaints and questions about environmental issues. It is run by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection. If you call the number, some officers can come and try to solve the issues, so please remember it.

Report and resist pollutant source. If you find any pollutant source, take a picture of it and post it on your social media accounts. Remember to add “@local environmental departments” on weibo. Payattention to factories that pollute the environment and don't buy products from them.

    Our environment will become better if everyone is concerned (关注) with the environment. This is what we need in the future. So everyone can do something to beat smog.

B

    Surtsey was born in 1963.Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's（船长）feet. He noticed a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano（火山）was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom（底部）of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November. Scientists flew there to watch. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967.It was 175 meters high and 2 kilometers long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came. Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.

    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.

    Wind power is a very clean source of energy. This is how wind power works. Wind makes windmills spin (旋转). When the windmills spin, they make electricity. Then we can use the electricity.

    A lot of people think that wind power is new, but that's not true.

    For thousands of years, people have used wind to sail boats and move water. We still do those things today, but these days we mostly use wind power to make electricity.windmills

    Wind power is a very popular source of energy. Most people think that we should use it more and more. First of all, it's clean. Windmills don't pollute the environment at all. Second, we can use wind power forever. After all, we will always have wind. Also, wind power is cheap, and it's getting even cheaper.

    A lot of people don't understand wind power very well. They believe that there are problems with wind power, but many of those problems are not real. For example, some people say that windmills are dangerous for birds. They used to be true, but it isn't true anymore. Old windmills killed birds because they spun very fast. New windmills spin slowly, and they aren't dangerous for birds.

    However, there are real problems with windmills. One problem is that many people think windmills are very ugly. This is a problem for people, because windmills are often in very pretty areas. Also, wind doesn't blow all the time, so we can't use wind power all the time. Finally, windmills are noisy.

    Wind power is becoming more and more common. Right now, more than 80 countries use wind power. About 2.5 percent of the world's power comes from the wind. For some countries, that number is a lot higher. Wind power gives Denmark more than 25 percent of its electricity.