Australia's Great Barrier Reef(礁) is the world's largest reef system. It is over 2,600 kilometers long. The reef is home to many animals: fish, birds, turtles, sharks and even whales. Unfortunately, the reef that all these animals call home is in danger.

    Climate(气候)change, over fishing and water pollution are damaging(毁坏)the reef every year. Coral(珊瑚)reef experts at Australian universities say that if we do nothing to stop it, the coral reef could be destroyed before the year 2030.

    Everyday things like driving cars, using electricity and running a factory give out greenhouse gases into the air. These gases make Earth warmer and warmer. This is a problem for the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs around the world.

    Coral is very fragile, and even a 2-degree increase in water temperature is enough to kill it, according to Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, reef researcher at the University of Queensland, Australia. If the water temperature doesn't go down, the coral dies.

    But it's not only the coral that's in danger. One quarter of all sea life lives on coral reefs.

    If air pollution is not slowed down or stopped, then the water will warm by at least 3 degrees in the next 20 years, according to reef experts in a report from University of Queensland. This would spell the end for the Great Barrier Reef and all its sea life.

    Some of the greatest problems we face today are the destruction (破坏) of our environment. Brown clouds, polluted water, endangered wild animals…. these problems seem so huge.

    So my family does what we can. We take cloth bags to stores instead of using plastic bags. We walk where we don't have to drive…

    But does it do any good? When I am the only one in line at the market with cloth bags, am I doing any good? Does my walking to stores make any real difference to the world?

    I recently learned something about flamingos(火烈鸟) which like to get together in groups of a thousand or more. Every year, when the time comes for migration(迁徙), a few of them first take off from the lake. But none of the others seem to notice. So the small group returns. However, the next day they try again. This time a few more fly along with them, but most of them still pay no attention, so they return again. They try for several times. Every time a few more birds join in but, since thousands of the others still take no notice, the great migration plan is once more stopped.

    Then one day something changes. The same small group of birds once again starts flying and a small number more join in just as before, then more. Finally, they all take flight and the migration really begins. What a spectacular sight it must be — thousands of flamingos taking off into the sky at once!

    A few can make a difference. Even if you're the one to take the first step, and continue trying, others will someday take notice and together we will solve even our greatest problems.

Valentine's Day is a very old holiday. It goes back to the times of Ancient Rome(古罗马). One of the characters we often see on Valentine's Day is Cupid. He was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. He shoots people with arrows(箭) of love. When a man and a woman are hit by his arrows, they will fall in love. 

Today people celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14. If a man and a woman are in love, they will give each other gifts. The most popular gifts are flowers(especially roses) and chocolates. Couples may also go to a restaurant for a very nice dinner or plan something else romantic. 

In the United States, Valentine's Day is not just for lovers. Children make special Valentine's cards for their classmates. Families and friends may give candy or other small gifts to each other. It can be a fun day. 

There is a competition for photographers (摄影师) of wildlife in the Natural History Museum in London every year. This year, the competition had about 50,000 photos.These photos come from different parts of the world. They take us underwater, deep into the woods, and high above cities. All of them show different kinds of life on earth.

In the end, the great prize went to Laurent Ballesta. The French photographer won the prize for his photo of a horseshoe crab. In the photo, the horseshoe crab looks for food in the sea. Three little fish follow it closely. They may hope to eat what the horseshoe crab misses.

Horseshoe crabs are known as "living fossils (化石)". They have lived for at least 445 million years and stayed almost unchanged. They're now in great danger, however. What happened to them? In the 1960s, scientists found something surprising. The blue blood of horseshoe crabs can be used for scientific study. As a result, hundreds of thousands of them are caught each year.

For a long time, Ballesta took photos of horseshoe crabs in the sea. His winning photo took the judges (评委) by surprise. "To see a horseshoe crab so alive and well, in such a beautiful way, was fantastic," said one of them.

Read the passage and answer the following questions.

①A tidy desk helps you find things easily and is good for your study. But how can you keep your desk tidy?

②First, only put things you need on your desk. For old books, you can put them in the bookcase. Get a box for small things you don't need every day, and you can put your pens and pencils in a pencil box.

③Second, don't put food or drinks on your desk, because they can make your desk dirty. Go to the kitchen when you want to eat.

④Third, put important(重要的)things next to you. Then it is easy for you to get them.

⑤Fourth, clean your desk every day. If you do it every day, you can have a new day with a tidy room the next morning.

①Around the world, many wild animals are in danger of extinction(灭绝) because they have no place to live in. Endangered(濒危的) wild animals live all over the world and you may find some in your home town. Here are some steps for protecting endangered animals. 

②Step 1: Find out what animals are in danger. Spend some time learning about animals and what their favourite places are. 

③Step 2: Do something for nature reserves(自然保护区). Nature reserves are good places to help protect endangered animals. You can give some money to nature reserves or spend your time helping nature reserves to protect endangered animals. 

④Step 3: Never buy anything that are made____from endangered animals. Don't do harm to endangered animals or their living places. Instead, we should try our best to protect them. 

⑤Step 4: Join an endangered animal protection organisation. You can save animals through these organisations by planting more trees and calling for more people to protect animals. 

⑥If everyone works hard to protect endangered animals, we'll get a more beautiful world. Let's take action from now on!