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 does harm to our environment. Though we are young, we can still do something to help. In fact, even the simplest everyday activities can make a real difference to the environment. Here are some ideas for you.

    Reduce

    Reduce means "use less". Don't waste things. This saves money and reduces pollution and waste going into the environment. Before we buy something new, think whether it is really necessary—or maybe the old one will be just as good! When we buy things, choose local products if possible, and try not to buy too many things from abroad.

    Reuse

    Reuse means "use again". Use things for as long as possible. When we buy things, make sure that they last a long time. We should look after them so that they will last, and we should repair them if we can instead of throwing them away and buying new ones. Don't use a paper cup or a paper bag. It's better to use a china (瓷器) 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. Find out what can be recycled in your neighbourhood and take part in recycling programmes. We should also buy products made from recycled materials, such as recycled paper, to help save trees.

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

House fires cause many deaths each year and a large number of these fires are unfortunately set by children.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}Kids must understand that they'd better not play with fire. You should keep matches and lighters out of their reach.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} The main job of such an alarm is to protect you while you're asleep. You should have a smoke alarm outside each bedroom and on each floor of your home. You ought to have two plans for getting out of your house if there is a fire and practise these plans in the dark with your family.

A smoke alarm warns you of the danger. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}Take action immediately. When you come to a closed door, check it with the back of your hand. If it feels hot, there may be smoke or fire behind the door, so take care. Once you are out of your house, call the fire department from a neighbor's house. If a family member or a pet is caught inside, you shouldn't go back in. Firemen know how to perform rescues safely.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Change the batteries at least once a year. You should use the test button each month to see if the alarm and batteries are still working. A smoke alarm lasts about ten years. You ought to change it even if it seems to be working.

Frodo is a 20-year-old cat who loves to sleep in the sun. However，getting to thisfavorite sleeping place by the pool means hobbling（跛行） down a lot of stairs every day. 

But life has become a lot easier for the old cat now. 

Liam Thompson is an inventor who loves cats. He noticed his old friend's difficulties and decided to do something. He spent four days building an elevator that would allow Frodo to go up and down the stairs easily. 

A video on the Internet showed how Thompson made the track and cart of the elevator for Frodo. video attracted over 900，000 people's interest. 

To make sure the elevator was safe for his old friend，Thompson used a toy to test the elevator. Thompson asked his favorite cat， "Are you ready to go downstairs without moving a muscle? I hope so because it took me four days. "

Frodo seemed very relaxed in the elevator as it went to the bottom of the stairs. Thompson laughed excitedly as Frodo walked out of the elevator and made his way over the pool. 

He said，"This is the greatest day of my life. "His love to his cat has won 1. 87 million fans on the Internet. Many viewers felt amazed at his work and one said，"His invention for his pet is much safer than the ones he invents for himself. Respect. "

①What did people do to communicate in ancient times? Here are some very interesting answer s to this question.

②Alphorns(阿尔卑斯长号角) were once used to communicate in the mountains in Switzerland. They are very long and they are very heavy, too. So, alpharns are hard work to blow. Then why use them? Well,they make a loud sound which travels much further than the human voice. Herdsmen(牧民) used them to call cows in the distance for milking. At sunset, alpharns were also used to send a message down to villagers that all was well. These days, they're mostly used as musical instruments.

③The people ofLa Gomera, an island in Europe, have their own special way of sending messages from mountain to mountain. They use a whistled(口哨的) language called el silbo, which comes from their language . Spanish. Whistling can be heard within five kilometers, which means it can be used across much greater distances than shouting. El silbo can be used for all kinds of messages, including greetings and announcements. El si lbo is used a lot less than it used to be, but primary school students in La Gomera have to leave it.

④Did you know it's also possible to send messages without making a noise? This is called visual communication, and it includes the use of flags and even smoke. Long ago, soldiers along the Great Wall of China used smoke as a warning. If they noticed the enemy from their signal(信号) tower, they li t a smoky fire. When soldiers in other towers saw the smoke signal, they lit fires too. In this way, messages about the enemy's arrival could travel as far as 800 km in just a few hours.

 It's 2: 30 in the afternoon. The house is quiet(安静的)." Tom?" Mom says. No one answers.

 Mom comes to Tom's room. He is not on the bed, but his model plane is on the desk." He is not in his room, and he is not in the yard, " Mom thinks. Then Mom comes to his grandparents' room. Tom likes to play with his grandpa's tape player, but he is not there.

 Mom looks for Tom everywhere. Where is Tom? Mom is worried. She wants to call Dad. She comes to the living room to get the phone.

" What's that? " Mom sees something black under the sofa. Oh, it's Eric, Tom's dog. It loves sleeping there. What is next to Eric? It's Tom!

The key to learning a new skill isn't necessarily how many hours you spend practising, but the way you practise. Scientists have found that by simply changing your training method, you can keep your 1 more active in the learning process and spend less time reaching the required standard. People think simply 2 a skill—for example, practising the same piece of music on the piano or playing the same level in your game over and over again—is the best way to learn it. Instead, it turns out that there might be a 3 way to level up. 

Recently, researchers got 86 volunteers to learn a new 4 —moving a cursor(光标) on a computer screen by pressing a small device, 5 using a mouse. The volunteers were divided into three groups, and 6 spent 45 minutes practising the skill. Six hours later, one of the groups was asked to repeat the same training exercise again, 7 another group to perform a different version(版本) that required a different pressing8 to move the cursor. The third group was 9 asked to complete the first training, acting as a control(对照组). 

In the end, everyone was 10 on how they could perform the new skill. As a result, the group that had repeated the original(原来的) training did 11 on the test compared to the one that had had mixed training and trained in new areas—in fact, the group that had 12 their training method did twice as well as the group that had repeated the original training. 

So how does that work? The researchers believe it's due to something called reconsolidation(重新合并), which is a process: 13 are recalled and changed with new knowledge. "Our results are important 14 little was known before about how reconsolidation works in relation to skill development. This shows simple training method changes can 15 more rapid and better skill gains, " said Celnik.