Clothes are traditionally made of natural materials, such as cotton, leather and wool. They are all from plants or animals, but that doesn't mean they're friendly to the earth. For example, farmers have to use a lot of chemicals to grow cotton plants.

    Scientists are now looking for new ways to make clothing materials. They hope the new materials are both comfortable and good for the earth. Scientists have worked out how to make materials out of cornhusks (谷壳), chicken feathers and rice straws.

    "They used to be useless things. We always have a problem of how to deal with them," Yang, a scientist says. "Now, we can turn them into beautiful materials. Chicken feathers are better than other things. They have small air pockets like honeycombs. That means it will be very warm if you use them to make a jacket or sweater, and I think more and more people will like to buy these kinds of clothes."

   Americais a mobile society. Friendship between Americans can be close and real, yet disappearssoon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmasgreetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while, then no more,If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up thefriendship.

   Thiscan be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendship betweenus flows more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending(延伸) sometimesdeeply into both families.

   Americansare ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays and theirhome life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept theirhospitality (好客) easily.

   Anotherdifficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they includeus warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don't show their politeness tous if it requires a great deal of time.This is usually the opposite of thepractice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes,we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet afriend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends.Americans, however, express their welcome at home. But they truly cannot managethe time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They willprobably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. Andthey expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes,the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves to be treatedhospitably.

   ForAmericans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to theirhomes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accepttheir hospitality at home!

    Canada is the second-largest country in the world, with almost 10 million square kilometres of landmass. Due to (由于) its size, it is divided into four different regions(地区).

    The Atlantic Provinces

    Fishing is the old industry in this region. Agricultural crops, such as fruit and potatoes, and forests, which produce paper and lumber(木材), form part of the industry. Traditionally depending on fishing and farming, they are developing other natural resources, such as oil and copper.

    Central Canada

    Ontario and Quebec form the industrial and manufacturing (制造业的) heart of Canada. They produce three quarters of Canada's goods. More than half of Canada's population lives in the cities in the southern part of Ontario and Quebec. Most of the people living in Quebec speak French.

    The West Coast

    The British Columbia Coast is Canada's western continental coastline (海 岸 线 ). Europeans settled (定 居 ) in British Columbia in the early 1800s. The railroad built by the government in the late 1800s made moving much easier. Thousands of Chinese came to British Columbia during this period to work on the railroad. British Columbia has the most valuable forest industry in Canada.

Salmon (鲑鱼) fishing is not only a popular sport, but also an important part of the industry. Pacific salmon are exported (出口) all over the world.

    The North

    The Yukon and the Northwest Territories (领土) cover a third of Canada. This huge region has a very small population. Most of the people are natives. There are several native languages, which are equal (平等的) in status (地位) to English and French. During the Gold Rush at the end of the 1800s, thousands of miners (矿工) came to make their fortune (财富). Mining is still an important industry in this region.

① Animal behavior is an interesting and attractive study. Scientists research the ways animals use to look for food. They study how animals protect themselves from their predators, and which animals kill other animals for food. All of this helps us understand how useful animals can be.

② Each country or culture raises some animals for food. In the United States, people mainly eat meat from cows, chickens and pigs. In some other countries, people might raise sheep or buffalo for meat. These differences come in part from weather and other environmental conditions (状况). People around the world eat all kinds of fish and shellfish from oceans and rivers. In some countries, people don't always choose some animal groups, such as dogs, for food while in other countries such animals may become people's favorite food.

③ In West Africa, animals provide humans with more than food. They have been helping people do daily work for thousands of years. Horses, oxen, and other work animals pull heavy things. Elephants, camels and other animals carry people and things from place to place. Carrier pigeons (信鸽) have been used to send messages.

④ People also receive health benefits (利益) from animals. For example, dogs and cats can help calm people down. This is helpful for people fighting illnesses. Animals can also reduce stress, helping people to draw their attention to learning new information, such as reading. When people are walking their dogs or horses, it encourages exercise.

⑤ Animals and humans share space on Earth, so keeping a healthy relationship with animals around us is in our best interest.

The temperature has dropped to 30 degrees below zero. But that doesn't stop the fishermen of Songyuan City in Jilin Province. Each morning, they get up early and rush to Chagan Lake with a group of horses. The fishermen use the horses to help pull fishing nets out of the frozen (结冰的) lake.

For centuries, those living around Chagan Lake have kept alive the tradition of ice fishing. They dig holes through the thick ice and use a huge net to catch winter fish in the freezing water. This special method has been listed as an intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产).

Every year in December, there is a winter fishing festival, which marks the beginning of the winter fishing season. Over 20 activities are held during the festival, such as winter sports competitions, nature watching, and the selling of the first-caught fish.

None of the tourists at this year's festival would ever imagine that Chagan Lake used to be only tens of square kilometers in size. In the past, there was little rainfall and the lake grew smaller over time. Also, overfishing is one of the main reasons.

To bring Chagan Lake's beauty back, the government used a lot of different methods. They brought in water from the Songhua River, grew more plants, and kept the water clean. The lake now covers about 500 square kilometers, and fish numbers have returned to a normal level. Now, an increasing number of tourists flock to the lake each year to experience the ancient ice-fishing tradition.

The special event of ice fishing at Chagan Lake is sure to continue into the future. It's a hit with tourists, and the locals say that the life of Chagan Lake will only get better and better.

A few years ago,I visited theclassical gardens of Suzhou. During the visit, my attention {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(draw) away from the plants, bridges and stones, towards {#blank#}2{#/blank#} walls of the gardens. Mostly white, some parts of the walls are losing small {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(piece) of their coverings.

 This creates space in which light and plants can be seen. The walls are not only the boundaries of the gardens, but they also form protected roads {#blank#}4{#/blank#} guide you on a trip.

 The memory of the white walls stayed with me. I kept imagining how many shadows(影) could be collected {#blank#}5{#/blank#} them to dance with the light. This fantastic moment was so {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (live) that I came back to explore with my camera.

{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(walk) freely with these walls and their marks, I began to feel like collecting all the stories that {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) painted there. Weather and time have turned these amazing white walls into Chinese landscape paintings.

I {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(take) the photos during the month of June, just after the rain. The air was full of small   drops of water, showing the light and the color of the things around. As color was born out of a dance between light and a body, when photographing in color I found {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(I) enjoying a moment of this dance.