No. 4 Middle School

Kunming, Yunnan

April 2nd, 2014

Dear Editor,

I live in a beautiful city. Many visitors come to my city. There are so many colorful peacocks (孔雀)here.

    The peacocks mostly (主要）live on the grassland of Dongfeng Square. Visitors can give them food freely. They usually throw food to them, and don't think about at all whether the food is right or not. Some of the peacocks became ill. Some even died after eating the bad food.

    I'm sure most of the visitors who throw food to the peacocks really like the birds, but they don't realize that they may be doing any harm.

    We should tell the visitors that what they have done is very harmful to the birds, and we also must stop this kind of thing from happening.

    Perhaps we can build some small shops beside Dongfeng Square to sell peacock food. For every one of us, it's our duty to give more love to these beautiful birds and to look after them carefully.

Yours,

Sun Yan

    Do you know why different animals or pests have their special colors? Colors in them seem to be mainly used to protect themselves.

Some birds like eating locusts (蝗虫), but birds cannot easily catch them. Why? It is because locusts change their colors with the change of the colors of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But as the harvest time comes, locusts change into the same brown color as crops have. Some other pests whose colors are different form plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves for lives and appear only at night.

    If you study the animals' life, you'll find the main use of colors is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through forests. They cannot be easily seen by hunters because their colors are much like the trees.

    Colors are useful not only on the land, but also in the sea. A kind of fish in the sea can give out a kind of black liquid (液体) when the fish face danger. The liquid spreads over quickly, so they cannot be found by their enemies and can quickly swim away. That is why they live safely though they are not strong at all.

    How green are you? Do you know how to be green? We all need a healthy environment, but we produce waste every day and it is harmful to our environment. Though we are young, we can still do something to help. Here are some ideas for you.

    Reduce

    Reduce means "use less" .Don't waste things. This saves money and reduces pollution. Before we buy something new, think whether it is really necessary— or maybe the old one is still useful.

    Reuse

    Reuse means "use again" .When we buy things, make sure that they can last a long time. When something is broken, we should repair it instead of throwing it away and buying a new one. Don't use a paper cup or a paper bag. It's better to use a china(瓷) cup and a lunch box because you can use them again.

    Recycle

    Recycle means "change things into something else" .Though it takes energy to change something into something else, it's better than throwing things away or burning them.

    So please remember these three words: reduce, reuse and recycle.

    Which is the tallest mountain on the earth? The answer must come fast—MT Everest, at a height of 29,000 feet.

    But that is only on land. For, if you were to measure (测量) from the bottom (底部) of the ocean. The tallest mountain in the world will probably be Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It is more than 15,748 feet under the sea and another 13.779 feet above it.

    As US scientist Cindy Lee Dover points out that the seafloor is the largest and least known place on the earth. We know more about Mars (火星) and Venus (金星) and the back side of the moon than we know about the seafloor.

    Some people have travelled to the deep water of the ocean to try to find all kinds of unknown animals and plants living in the deep water. Even scientists know very little about them. Many of them perhaps do not even have names. Some of the names given by scientists to newly discovered (被发现) animals are really funny. Among them are the spaghetti worms (意大利面蠕虫), named as such it is found in a tangle (缠结), it is often difficult to make out where one ends and another begins! Just like spaghetti.

People love walking through a giant puzzle. In a corn maze(玉米迷宫), they can follow miles of paths and run into lots of dead ends before they finally find their way out. The corn maze has been growing for almost 30 years. 

Simple corn mazes began appearing in the 1980s. In 1993, the first big corn maze created for the public to enjoy was made in Annville Pennsylvania, by Don Frantz and Adrian Fischer. Then, in a corntield as big as two and a half football fields, Mr. Frantz created "The Amazing Maize Maze"with the help of his family and friends. When it was done, almost two miles of pathways snaked through the cornfield. Since then, thousands of corn mazes have been created around the world.

For many farmers, a corn maze means a boost(激增) of extra income. During the opening weekend, about 6, 000 visitors came to get lost in Mr. Frantz's maze. Charging only $5 per person, he earned almost $32, 000in two weeks.

Brett Herbst is also a maze designer. In 1999 he set a world record for the world's largest corn maze, an image of the solar system with nine planets in it. He now has a business called The Maize, which has designed more than 4, 000 mazes around the world. "Corn mazes help people connectwith their roots, "he says. "People are so far removed from farm life that they are drawn to something real, something organic. "

Today, a great number of people enjoy seeking fun in a corn maze. Mr. Herbst says, "When we see families on the farm having fun, we know that they are making memories that will last a lifetime. "