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 animals. The world's largest Milu Deer Nature Reserve is in them. More than 700 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 Crane 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 really good places for wildlife. Offering(提供) food and home for some special kinds of animals is not the only reason why we need to protect wetlands. Wetlands are important because they also prevent flood. But some people want to change the wetlands to make more space for farms and less space for wildlife.

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

    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 do 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 cup and a lunch box because you can use them again.

    Recycle

    Recycle means “change things into something else”. Though it takes energy(精力) to change something into something else, it's better than throwing things away or burning them. Find out what can be recycled in your neighborhood 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.

    Air is a colorless, tasteless and invisible（看不见的）gas that is around us. An "empty" drinking glass and an "empty" room, in fact, are not really empty. Each is filled with air. When the glass is filled with water, the water pushes the air out of the glass.

    Air, as a gas, has no definite shape, but because it is matter, it takes up space and it has weight. It is easy to prove that air is something that takes up space. Stuff a piece of dry cloth（布）into the bottom of a glass so that it will not fall out when the glass is turned upside down. Push the upside down glass, holding straight up and down, into a jar of water till the glass is completely covered. When the glass is taken out of the water, the cloth is still dry. The air inside the glass shows that it takes up space and keeps the water from coming in.

    There are some very good inventions which， for one reason or another， don't become popular. These inventions should be better known， even though I think that some of them are crazy. Let's have a look at some of these inventions and see if you agree that they should be more successful.

    The Australians had a great idea to stop people from drinking and driving. The idea was that if a driver wanted to start the car， she or he would have to blow into a bag first. If there was too much alcohol(酒精) in their breath， the car wouldn't start. It sounded like a great idea to me， but people said that they might need to drive the car in an emergency even if they had drunk too much alcohol. Another idea I liked was an invention by a scientist who thought his children watched too much TV. He linked the TV to an exercise bike so that the electricity to power the TV was generated(产出) by the bike. If the children wanted to watch a lot of TV， they had to pedal(踩踏板) very hard. I found another invention on the Internet which was intended (倾向于) to encourage good habits. Believe it or not， this invention was an ashtray(烟灰缸) which spoke to you when you lit a cigarette! The “voice” of the ashtray was activated (启动) by the heat from the cigarette and reminded you how dangerous it is to smoke.

    One of the strangest inventions I have come across is a bicycle which can cross rivers! The idea was that when you came to a river， you could inflate a huge plastic ball all around the bike. You would then get into the ball which would float on the river while you pedaled the bike inside the ball! Why not use a bridge instead? A friend of mine at school once bought a strange pair of football shoes. On the bottom of the shoes there was a rotating pad of studs (转动钉垫). The idea was that you would change direction more quickly if the studs rotated with you. The problem was that every time you stopped you changed direction whether you wanted to or not! I think he wore those shoes twice! One thing I would like is a baseball cap with a built-in radio so you can listen to sport all day with your hands free. While we are on the subject of sport， the Americans invented a kind of robot for sports fans. If you were watching your team on TV on your own， you could press a button and the robot would do “high fives” with you! Fantastic! I wonder if you have any good ideas for inventions like these.

    Canada Geese are large blue and white birds. When autumn comes, they have to fly south where the weather is warmer. The winters are so cold in Canada that the birds will die if they stay there.

Last spring, Bill Lishman found sixteen young Canada Geese on his farm. They had lost their parents. Bill thought, "These young birds won't know what to do in the autumn." He had a small plane and he decided to teach the birds to fly by following him. All through the summer, he went on short trips in his plane and the young geese flew after him.

When the cold weather arrived in the autumn, Bill flew to Virginia in the United States——600 miles South of his home in Canada. The geese followed him all the way. Bill left the geese in Virginia and he returned home.

    This spring, Bill was waiting for the birds to come back. They didn't arrive, so Bill flew to Virginia to get them. He looked for them for two weeks but he couldn't find them. When he arrived back home, he found the geese waiting for him. They had found their way home without him!

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