As parents, you can help children deal with the fear of natural disasters (自然灾害) and help protect them from being hurt by telling them how disasters happen, and what to do when disasters happen. Here are some tips for you:

◆ Find out what disasters are possible in your area by visiting your local library;

◆ Think about where your family should go if your house is destroyed（毁坏）.

◆ Teach children the warning signs and signals in your area and practice what to do if a disaster happens.

◆ Once you know the danger, ask your children to help check the safety in your house. You and your children can also work together on a disaster plan and prepare a disaster box with food, water and necessary tools.

◆ If a disaster does happen, pay attention to your children's behavior. Changes in behavior, for example, acting strangely, mean that your children need help.

◆ Allow children to share their feelings about what has happened such as drawing a picture or writing a story.  

◆ Let friends and neighbors help you if they can.

◆ Continue to tell your children that they are loved.

    Friendship between animals sometimes seems stronger than that between men.

    In France, a man had to move to a new job two hundred kilometers away. He had a dog and a cat, and he loved them both. But he thought that the cat would like to stay in the same house with new owners. So he moved and took only the dog.

    About three weeks later, the dog was suddenly lost. For several days, the man looked for his dog, but didn't find him. Then, seven weeks later, the dog came back but he was not alone. By his side was the cat. They were tired and hungry after their long trip. And they never left each other again.

    Another story is about goldfish. We usually think fish are cold-hearted, but sometimes we may be wrong. A friend had to work in another country. So I took her pet goldfish and put it in a bowl with mine. They two lived together for six months. When the friend came back, she took her fish home.

    Then, I found my goldfish was acting strangely, hitting against the side of the bowl. The next morning he died. Later that day, my friend phoned to say that her goldfish was also dead. I believe they died of sadness.

    Can plants eat people? Maybe not, but there are many plants that eat meat. Some of them are big and they can eat small animals. One famous meat-eating plant is the Venus flytrap(捕蝇草).

    The Venus flytrap is a very strange plant. It grows in dry parts of the United States. Its leaves are like the pages of a book. They can open and close very quickly. The fly (苍蝇) cannot get out. In about half an hour, the leaf presses (压) the fly until it is dead. Then, the plant covers(覆盖) the fly. Slowly, the plant eats the fly.

    Why do plants do it? Most plants get what they need from the sun, the air, and the ground (地面). In some places, the ground is very poor. It doesn't have all these important things, especially nitrogen(氮.). Animal meat has a lot of nitrogen, so many plants eat meat to get what they need.

    Let's hope that some of the bigger plants don't get the same idea!

    Light and shadow（影子）are friends. They usually go together. We receive light every day. At the same time, we produce shadow.

    Light cannot shine through you. Your body stops it from passing. There is a dark spot on the ground next to you. The light cannot reach the dark spot. This is your shadow.

    At noon the Sun shines over your head. Your body stops very little light from reaching the ground.

    We love light, especially sunlight. Without sunlight, life on the Earth is impossible. Most of us like to stand in the shadow of a tree in summer. But some people are afraid of their own shadow at night. They do not want to walk in a dark street. They do not want to see the shadow either. But still light and shadow usually go together.

    To protect the environment, we are on the way. Here are a few things we can do.

    Unwanted gifts? Give them away!

    Have you ever received a gift that you didn't like? Did you throw it away? If so, you can have another choice now. Two British companies hopes people will give away their unwanted gifts to them. And they will resell the gifts to raise money for the poor. In this way, the gifts can be refused and have a future life. And people can make a difference to the world.

    Wear the trousers that reduce(减少) pollution!

    A chemistry scientist and a fashion designer(时装设计师) have created a new kind of trousers. The trousers are made of a new material which can help reduce air pollution around us. Scientists have tested the material. The result shows that it isn't harmful to human. This new kind of trousers may appear at the market in two years. Professor Ryan said, "If thousands of people wear the trousers, the air quality will be improved."

    Plant trees with Felix

    Felix Finkbeiner, a 14-year-old German boy, is not famous as a child actor but an environment hero. At the age of 9, Felix got the idea that children could do something to protect the environment. So he started a club. Felix soon got support from children all over the world. Some of them have become his good friends. The club has an aim of planting 212 million trees. They have planted over 3.5 million trees all around the world. Felix said, "The answer to controlling global (全球的 ) warming is trees-lots of trees!”

    As space science develops, man has learned more and more about space. Space is not only amazing but also dangerous. While working in space, spacemen are facing danger as well as success.

    Scientists have found out that the radiation(辐射) is the greatest danger to spacemen in space. When spacemen are working in space, they are in danger of the radiation from the sun and other stars, which is bad for their health. The harm of the radiation won't be found until their children even grandchildren are born. Some special medicine may work a little, but no really effective medicine has been found so far. Space rubbish is also thought to be a great danger to spacemen. It's reported that there were 9,000 man-made things flying in space. About 30% of these are satellites, 10% are spaceships, and the rest are space rubbish. An explosion(爆炸) in space in 1999 made a cloud of 300,000fragments, each at least 4mm in size. A small piece of these even knocked a spaceship window and caused some damage(损坏).

    Scientists are watching and reporting any possible danger all the time. They are working to deal with space rubbish. Although space is really dangerous, it interests many people on the earth. In the near future, it may become possible for people to spend a few days in a space hotel. People may even choose to leave the earth and live in space in a few years. So scientists are doing everything they can to help improve the space environment.