Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is the color of most growing plants, too.

Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe.

For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war (战争) .By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today——a person who is new in a job.

About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west Old—timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east. The greenhorn didn't have the skills that he would need to live in the hard, rough country.

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundred.

A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

The Green Revolution (革命) is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural (农业的) scientists who had green thumbs.

    We live on the earth. We use the sea around us. What do we take from the ocean? And what do we give to it?

    We take fishes from the ocean—millions of kilograms of fish, every year, to feed millions of people. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}We take minerals (矿物) from the ocean. We can get salt by evaporating (蒸发) seawater. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}such as gold. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Seaweed (海草) becomes food of many kinds—even candy and ice cream—as well as medicine. Believe it or not, fresh water is another gift from the sea. We can't drink ocean water. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}But ocean water becomes fresh water when the salts are removed. In the future, we will find ourselves depending more and more on fresh water from the sea.

    The sea gives us food, fertilizer, minerals, water and other gifts. What do we give the sea? We pollute the ocean all the time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Throwing waste into the ocean is killing off sea life. Yet as the world population grows, we may need the sea and its gifts more than ever.

    We are finally learning that if we destroy our sea, we might also destroy ourselves. Hopefully, it is not too late.

Stamp collecting is becoming a big hobby for young people to remember their trips. Lovers of this hobby enjoy collecting stamps about the places they visit. They usually buy stamps in the local(当地的) post office.

Jenny, a 25-year-old teacher, enjoys collecting stamps. For her, this is a great way to record her trips. Once during a two-day trip to Beijing, she collected over 90 stamps! They're all about beautiful artworks.

Ben, a 12-year-old teenager from Beijing, said collecting stamps helped him learn about the culture and history of a place. He likes to buy different kinds of stamps while travelling. For example, when he went to Xi'an, he bought a special stamp. It has a picture of an old Chinese stone bridge on it."The stamp looks very marvellous. It makes me more interested in Chinese culture,"he said. Then he started to look for more stamps with interesting pictures. Ben also shares them with his friends. It encourages them to visit more places.

"These days, more and more tourists share their stamps online. Stamp collecting is a good way to help people know more about the local culture. It's really educational,"said Gina, a teacher from a school of Tourism Management in Dongguan.

Do you know how to spend money {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(wise)? When you are thinking about {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(buy)something you want, run through this checklist first.

Do you really want it? Seeing a $25 toy machine, Ben wanted it. But after thinking for a while, Ben thought it would be {#blank#}3{#/blank#}( exciting)only for one day or two.

Do you still want it a week later? If the thing passes the "really-wanting-it" test, try {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(wait) for some time to see how strong {#blank#}5{#/blank#} wish is. This works for adults, too!

How will you pay for it? After the first two steps, Ben found he really wanted a toy ship, but it would cost {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(he) $50. He had $22 in his pocket {#blank#}7{#/blank#} got $1.5 a week to spend.

Are there ways to make money? Ben decided to wash the downstairs windows at a dollar each.So he got $10 for himself.

Can you get it {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(cheap)? After deciding to buy it, it {#blank#}9{#/blank#}( be) necessary for you to look for less expensive ways to buy it: search for what you want on the Internet or in shops. Sometimes you can find the same thing {#blank#}10{#/blank#} a much lower price.

If these tips work well, they can save you a lot of money. And you will be a smart shopper.

 When we think of paper, we think of newspapers and books. But there are many other uses. Only half of the world's paper is used for books and newspapers.

 Paper is very good for keeping you warm. You have perhaps seen homeless men sleep on large number of newspapers. In Finland, it is sometimes -40℃ in winter. The farmers wear paper boots(靴子) in the snow. Nothing could be warmer.

 Each year, more and more things are made of paper. We have had paper cups and plates for a long time. But now we hear that chairs, tables, and even beds can be made of paper. Besides paper boots and shoes, you can wear paper hats, paper dresses, and paper raincoats. When you have use them once, you may throw them away and buy new ones.

 The latest use of paper seems to be paper houses. These are not small houses for children to play in, but real, big houses for people to live in. You can buy a house with three rooms for about 500 dollars. You can put it up by yourself in a few hours, and you can use it for about five years.

My hometown Nanjing is in the eastern part of China.As the capital of Jiangsu，it is a modern and busy city.And it is one of the cities with the longest history in China.With the development of the economy（经济），it has changed a lot in the past few years.

For one thing, people took tramcars (有轨电车) to go out in the past. But now many people choose to take a subway because of its convenience (便捷). What's more, taking a taxi becomes very popular. It has an app on the phone, and some people use it to call a taxi. It may be much cheaper.

Besides，the building is different from the past.In the past，the tallest building in Nanjing was Jinling Hotel.It had 37 floors.At that time，the tallest building is Zifeng Tower.It has 78 floors.Different from the past，you can see tall buildings everywhere in Nanjing.

As for the environment，in the 1980s and before，Nanjing was full of trees，people paid little attention to the importance of plants and fresh air.Plants were cut down and the air got worse. Now, to improve the living place, people take all actions to grow plants and cut down pollution. The environment is getting better now.