All living things on the earth need other living things to live. Nothing lives alone. Most animals must live in a group, and even a plant grows close together with others of the same kind. Sometimes one living thing kills another, one eats and the other is eaten. Each kind of life eats another kind of life in order to live, and together they form a food chain (食物链). Some food chains are simple, while others are not. But all food chains begin with the sun, and all food chains become broken up if one of the links (联系) disappears.

    All life needs sunlight to live on. But only plants can use sunlight directly (直接). Plants are “factories”. They make food from sunlight, water and things in the soil (土壤) and air.

    Plants feed all other living things. Animals can only use the sun's energy (能量) after it has been changed into food by plants. Some animals feed directly on plants, others eat smaller animals. Meat-eating animals are only eating plants indirectly.

    What about human beings? We are members of many food chains. We eat wheat (小麦), rice, vegetables, fruits and so on. We also eat meat and drink milk. But humans often break up the food chains. They kill wild animals. They also make rivers, lakes and seas dirty. When these rivers, lakes and seas are polluted, the fish in them cannot be eaten. If men eat the fish, they will get strange diseases (疾病).

    Each form of life is linked to all others. Breaking the links puts all life in danger.

    Many years ago, most of our earth wascovered with blocks (块) of ice. These iceblocks were as tall as high buildings in modern cities. Most of the ice was inthe northern part of the world. Then the ice blocks started to move south. Coldand rain came with the ice. Animals had to move. At last, the ice began to melt(融化). After half a million years, most of it melted.More than half of the earth became covered with water. Theclimatebecame much warmer. Things began to grow. The earth began to look the way inwhich it looks today.

提示:

1. What is your favourite hobby?

2. When did you start the hobby?

3. How long do you spend on your hobby?

4. Why do you enjoy the hobby?

Paper, also called zhi, was a Chinese invention. About 2,000 years ago, Chinese people {#blank#}1{#/blank#} paper-making (造纸). At that time, zhi was made {#blank#}2{#/blank#} silk and was very expensive. Only the emperor and rich people could afford to use {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. About 1,900 years ago, Cai Lun improved the paper-making {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. He made cheap zhi out of tree bark and old cloth.

The improvement in paper-making {#blank#}5{#/blank#} zhi far and wide, and many different kinds of zhi were made by Chinese people. Xuan paper, a type of high-quality rice paper, can show the charm (魅力) of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} Chinese painting and calligraphy best. Later, Chinese zhi spread to the West through the Silk Road. It became one of the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} popular inventions in the world. With zhi, the cost of producing books became more affordable, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} knowledge could be shared more widely. Chinese zhi now is {#blank#}9{#/blank#} used around the world. Humans are full of infinite wisdom. No one knows {#blank#}10{#/blank#} the future will be like.

 Do you like English? How do you study English? Most students want to be good at English. And reading English newspapers is a good way to improve (提高) students' English. It helps students improve their reading, and students can also learn something new from newspapers. What is the correct way to read an English newspaper?

 The first step is to find a right newspaper with good language. Then turn to the front page and read the headlines(标题), because the front page usually tells important things. 

 Second, read newspapers every day. Remember words through the sentences. Don't look up every unknown word in your dictionary. You can try to guess the meaning according to the sentences. If your guess is wrong, don' t be sad. You will become familiar(熟悉的) with the words after reading them in different passages. 

 Reading English newspapers is very helpful. We can both improve our English and know about the world.