Save the world's trees

    "When it comes tothe Earth, there is no time to waste." says the Earth Day Network. And that isright. Protecting our environment is very important, and World Earth Day wascreated in 1970 to ask more people to protect our environment. On April 22, peoplearound the world celebrate Earth Day.

Every year thereis a special topic, and this year it is "Trees for the Earth", so Earth Daythis year will be all about planting trees. They are planning to plant 7.8billion trees within the next five years.

That's a biggoal, and you might wonder why trees are so important. Because they can take incarbon dioxide (CO₂) and protect the air quality(质量). CO₂ isa chemical in our atmosphere, but humans make too much of it. Each person makesabout 2.3 tons a year, which is bad for the environment.

Well guess what!Planting new trees is important because people cut down a huge number of trees.Last year, there were 3 trillion trees in the world, about 139 billion inChina. But according to China Daily, the world's total number has been almostcut in half since human civilization(文明) began. That's because 15billion trees are cut down every year.

So we need toplant more to make up for（弥补）the ones we lost. One treecan take in 21. 8 kilograms of CO₂ per year. And it's still one ofthe cheapest and best ways to get rid of CO₂.

    But don't forget that we can also help the environment by cutting down on how much energy(能源) or water we useevery day. Every little thing helps.

根据短文内容，回答问题（1-4），英译汉（5）。

    Since 1963, many female space explorers have followed Russian astronaut Valentina Tereshkova. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American women in space. Her team carried out scientific experiments in space and put two communications satellites in space. Satellites make it possible for us to communicate immediately with each other across the world through TV, radio and telephone.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. During her task, she discovered important information about the sun's energy and how it affects the climate in very hot and very cold places on Earth. She also took photographs of Earth and measured air pollution.

    In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African-American in space. During her task, she did scientific experiments using the weightless atmosphere.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}, so everything floats! Dr. Jemison's experiments gave important information about the human body to produce better medicines and healthcare.

    In 2012, Liu Yang became the first Chinese women in space.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}, which showed how astronauts can survive and stay healthy in space. The conditions in space are very hard on the body and space medicine helps astronauts work safely.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

A. There is no gravity (重力) in space

B. She did experiments in space medicine

C. We believe there will be more and more female astronauts in the future

D. Let' s look at the tasks of four female astronauts to find out what they do in space

E. In 1984, Kathryn Sullivan became the first American women to walk in space

    It was a cold night. The taxi driver didn't take even one passenger all day. When he went by the train station, he saw a young man coming out with two bags in his hands. So he drove to him and asked, “Where are you going, sir?”

    “To the MP Hotel,” the young man answered. When the taxi driver heard this, he didn't feel happy any more. The young man would give him only three dollars because the hotel was near the train station. But suddenly, he had an idea. He took the young man through many streets of the big city. After a long time, they arrived at the hotel. “Here we are! You should pay me seventeen dollars, please,” the taxi driver said to the young man. “What? Seventeen dollars! Do you think I'm a fool? Only last week, I took a taxi from the train station to this hotel and I only gave the driver fifteen dollars. I know how much I have to pay for the trip.”

    About one hundred years ago many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It has become the new international language. There are more people who speak English as a second language than people who speak English as a first language. Why is this?

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} One of them is that English has become the language of business. Another important reason is that popular American culture (like movies, music, and McDonald's) has quickly spread all over the world. It has brought its language with it.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} I don't know. It's important to have a language that the people of the earth have in common. Our world has become very global(全球性的) and we need to communicate with one another. On the other hand, English is quite a difficult language to learn and it brings its culture with it. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Scientists have already tried to create an artificial(人造的) language that isn't too difficult and doesn't include any one group's culture. It is called Esperanto. But it hasn't become popular. But maybe the popularity of English won't last that long either. Who knows? There are more people in the world who speak Chinese than any other language. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Do we really need that?

B. So it is important for people to learn French.

C. There are many reasons why English has become so popular.

D. Today most people speak English when they meet foreigners.

E. Maybe someday Chinese will be the new international language.

F. More than six thousand languages are spoken in the world today.

G. Is it good that English has spread to all parts of the world so quickly?

    Once upon a time, in the forest there lived a baby elephant, who had no friends.

    None of the animals wanted to be his friend because he was too large.

    One day, a wild fire happened in the forest. The animals ran to safer places. The dry trees caught fire and the fire was sure to go all around the forest. The baby elephant ran to the nearest river, collected much water in his trunk (象鼻) and rushed to the burning trees. He sprayed (喷) the water on the fire. Finally, he put out the fire.

    Later, while he was resting after the hard job, all the animals and birds came to him and expressed their thanks for his kind help in time. They were now ready to regard (把……看作) him as their good friend and their hero. They said, "A friend in need is a friend indeed."

    The baby elephant was happy to get so many friends and played games with them. He walked through the forest, carrying several small animals and birds on his back.