A taxi hit a truck. A policeman spoke to the taxi driver and to the truck driver. He also spoke to Tom. He was a witness (目击者). This is what they said.

    TRUCK DRIVER: I was driving from the airport to Newton. A car crossed the road, so I slowed down. I did not stop. A taxi hit the back of my truck. Nobody was seriously hurt but both cars were damaged（受损害）.

    TAXI DRIVER: I was driving behind a truck a few kilometers from Newton. The truck stopped suddenly. The driver did not give me a warning (警告). I was driving very slowly. I could not pass the truck because there were two cars coming near from Newton. My taxi hit the truck, and some glass cut my left hand.

TOM: I was watching the traffic about a kilometer from the airport. A truck was going to Newton. It was not going very quickly. There was a taxi about two hundred meters behind the truck. It was going fast. When the truck slowed down, the taxi hit it. The taxi driver was not looking at the truck. He was looking out of the window at something. My friend saw the accident, too.

    Tom's friend spoke to the policeman and agreed with Tom.

    Many hundreds of years ago, the moon was a mystery to people on the earth. What was that glowing ball came out at night? Why did it keep getting smaller, then larger? Why didn't it fall from the sky? Through the ages, people have tried to come up with answers.

    To the native people of Bolivia, in South American, the moon was a great chief who once lived on the earth. The Abaluyian people of Kenya, in Africa, believe the moon and the sun were brothers who fought in the sky. In other parts of the world, people believed they saw different pictures in the moon. The Haida Indians of Canada saw a woman carrying a bucket. The Chinese saw a road.

    People in the past also used the moon to mark time as a kind of calendar. In fact, in some languages, the word for moon meant “month”. A Native American nation called the Sioux made a calendar of 13 moons, or months. Each moon had a name, such as Moon of Black Cherries, Moon of Green Corn, and Moon of Severe Cold.

    Though people of the past found the moon was helpful, mysterious and interesting, they didn't know much about it. They only knew what they could see with their own eyes.

    Then almost 400 years age, an Italian scientist named Galileo made a new telescope(望远镜) that was more powerful than any telescope made before. Galileo decided to take his new implement to look at the moon. He discovered that the moon was not the smooth, shiny ball. The brighter places were mostly hills and mountains. The flat areas were lower, which is why they appeared darker.

    As more people saw the moon through telescopes, they discovered more about it. Yet, people still had much to learn about the moon.

    There are many wetlands in China and some of them have become the world's important wetlands. The Chinese Yellow Sea Wetlands are among them. They are in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. They are home for many different kinds of birds and animals. The world's largest Milu Deer Nature Reserve(自然保护区) is in them. More than700 milu deer live freely there. There are not many red—crowned cranes in the world, but every winter you can see some in the Red—crowned Cranes Nature Reserve in the Yellow Sea Wetlands.

    The temperature in the wetlands is usually neither too high nor too low. There is a lot of rain and sunshine, too. They are usually good places for wildlife. Offering food and home for some special kinds of animals and birds is not the only reason why we need to protect wetlands. Wetlands are important because they also prevent(阻止) flood(洪水). But some people want to change the wetlands to make more space for farms and buildings. This means there will be less and less space for wildlife.

    Luckily, more and more people are beginning to realize(意识到) the importance of wetlands and wildlife. Every year, on February 2^nd, many activities are held to tell people more about wetlands.

    1970 was World Conservation(保护) Year. The United Nations wanted everyone to know that the world was in danger. They hoped something could be" done.

    Here is one example of the problem. At one time there were 1,300 kinds of plants, trees and flowers in Holland(荷兰), but now only 866 are left. The others have been destroyed (毁灭) by modern people and their science. We are polluting earth, air, water and everything around us. We can't live without these things. If things go on like this, we shall destroy ourselves.

    What will happen in the future? Perhaps it's more important to ask "What must we do?". More and more young people have known this. Many of them are helping to save our earth. For example, they plant trees. In a small town in the United States a large group of girls cleaned the banks of 11 kilometres of their river. Young people may hear about conservation through a song called "No one's going to change our world". It was made by Cliff Gichard and other singers. The money from it will help to conserve tigers, elephants and pandas on the earth.

    There are some easy things you can do to protect the environment and the earth. Choose ideas from the list or come up with a few of your own.

    •Plant flowers, grass or trees.

    •Whenever you visit a park or beach, take away what you bring there—keep rubbish in a bag until you can put it in a dustbin.

    •Turn off the lights and TV sets when you leave the room. This can save a lot of electricity.

    •Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. You can save some water by not letting it run. Also, use a glass cup instead of a paper cup because this saves paper.

    •Keep the doors and windows closed in winter to keep warm air in.

    •Give your old books and magazines to a library instead of throwing them away.

    •Give your old clothes to poor children you know instead of throwing them away.

    •Use both sides of paper.

    •Stop pouring dirty water into the rivers or lakes nearby.

    •Encourage all your friends to do the same things you do to help protect the earth. You don't have to wait until Earth Day to do these things. Make every day Earth Day. If everyone makes a contribution to protecting the environment, the world will become much more beautiful.