Everybody hates rats. But rats may soon be man's new good friends. What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can't get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

    How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat's brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat's brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.

    Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Robots' noses don't work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that. Rats can also see in the dark, they are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don't need electricity!

    The "rat project" is not finished. But a scientist says, "It would be great. A rat could get into any place we couldn't get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn't safe." Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course).

    Now satellites(卫星)are helping to forecast(预报)the weather. They are in space and they can reach any part of the world.The satellites take pictures of the atmosphere(大气), because this is where the weather forms(形成). They send these pictures to the weather station. So meteorologists(气象专家)can see the weather of any part of the world. From the pictures, the scientists can often say how the weather will change.

    Today, nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive satellite pictures. When they receive new pictures, the meteor- ologists compare(比较)them with earlier ones. Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours .This may mean the weather on the ground may soon change, too. In their next weather forecast, the meteorologists can say this.

    So the weather satellites are a great help to the meteorologists. Before satellites were invented, the scientists could forecast the weather for about 24 or 48 hours. Now they can make good forecasts for 3 or 5 days. Soon, perhaps , they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead(提前)

Dear Candy,

I am happy to hear from you. I know that you are 1 in Chinese paper cutting(剪纸). Let me tell you about it.

As we all know, paper cutting is a kind of art in China. It has a long 2 . It is very popular 3 easy to make. People often make paper-cuts when they are free, because they think that paper-cuts can bring good luck to 4 .

People usually use red paper 5 paper-cuts. We can 6 paper-cuts on walls, windows, doors, and so on. In China, people like to make paper-cuts in the shape(形状) of flowers and 7 .

It is easy 8 how to make paper-cuts. What you need is a piece of paper and a pair of scissors(剪刀). But it's difficult to be good 9 paper-cuts, because it needs 10 practice and imagination(想象).

I know you will come to China next month. Hope to see you soon.

Best wishes!

Li Hua

Zhalong(扎龙) is a nature reserve（保护区） in Heilongjiang in north-east China. It is one of the world's most important wetlands. The reserve covers an area of 210,000 hectares. The area provides food and shelter for wildlife. It is an ideal home for different kinds of plants, fish and birds.

Many birds live comfortably in Zhalong Nature Reserve all year round, while some only stay there for a short time. There are many fish in the wetlands, and the birds can easily catch them for food. Zhalong has long been called "the home of the crane". There are 15 crane species (物种) in the world. Eight of them are in China and there are 6 species in Zhalong area. It is an important living area for the rare red-crowned cranes. There are not many red-crowned cranes in the world. Every spring and summer, red-crowned cranes lay and hatch (孵化) their eggs in Zhalong.

Some people want to change the wetlands to make more space for farms and buildings. This means there will be less and less space for wildlife. More and more birds are in danger because they do not have enough living space. Many of them died. The Chinese government wants to protect these endangered birds, and they can be safe in Zhalong.

Every year, a lot of tourists go to Zhalong to watch birds. This year, members of our Bird-watching Club are going to study the different kinds of birds in Zhalong and the changes in their numbers. The study begins next month.

We ____ once a year. We are now inviting secondary school students to help. We need more people to help us count and do something to help the birds.

Many people do not understand the importance of the wetlands. We hope this information will help them understand and make them actively take action to protect wildlife.

Most people would stay away from bees while meeting them. However, if your goal (目标)is to grow a{#blank#}1{#/blank#} and productive (丰收的) garden, you will want to bring on bees. 

How to attract (吸引) bees? 

Plant! Plant! Plant! Plant not only {#blank#}2{#/blank#} but also flowers. Bees are attracted by colours and purple, yellow, white and blue are their{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. If possible, you should be careful to plant different flowers for bees to choose from. Be sure to plant some flowers in sunny areas. Bees like warm and bright places better than cool and dark ones. 

Another part of learning how to attract bees is to always leave a place for wild grass or flowers near your garden. This is where bees can live comfortably and{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. You can also design (设计) a bee house for the bees to live in. To do this, you can use several pieces of bamboo tied{#blank#}5{#/blank#}. Place the house close to the ground because bees prefer living close to the ground. Preparing such a place can make sure that they will enjoy and never want to leave.

Be sure to leave water around for them to drink. Once the bees are there and active, you will have a fruitful garden.