DISCUSSION

    It was Saturday morning. Kate got up early and had breakfast quickly. She was so excited. She was going to the zoo with her family today! There was a new kind of animal in the zoo. It was called sloth (树懒) and it was from South America. Kate never saw a sloth before. She could not wait to see it.

    When Kate and her family got to the zoo, there were already lots of people around the sloth. The sloth was staying in a tree! It looked so cute! Kate looked at the animal for about ten minutes, and then she asked, “Are you sure it is alive (活的), Dad? I don't see it moving at all.” “Of course it is alive,” her father said. “But a sloth can only move really slowly.”

    Kate's family went to see some other animals. Then they went back to the sloth after lunch. Kate looked at the sloth carefully. It was really at a different place, near the place where it stayed in the morning. “You are really lazy, Mr. Sloth,” Kate said. “I think you should do more exercise. It is good for your health.”

The story of the red-crowned crane

    Have you ever heard of the song "The story of the red-crowned crane"? It is about a girl called Xu Xiujuan.

    Xu xiujuan was born in Zhalong, Heilongjiang Province in 1964.Her father's job was to look after red-crowned cranes. Xiujuan started helping her father when she was young. She soon showed a great love for these white birds. She become good at raising them.

    When Xu Xiujuan was 21, she got a job at a nature reserve in Jiangsu Province . She enjoyed taking care of the baby cranes. If a bird become sick, she took good care of it stayed with it every day until it was strong enough to fly again.

    In September 1986, one of the birds went missing .The workers in the nature reserve looked everywhere, but no one could find it. Xiujuan was very worried. She looked for it day and night for two days. On the second night, while she was looking for the missing bird, she fell into a river and died. She was only 23.

    Later, a song was written in memory of Xiujuan. Though Xiujuan died young, people always remember her when they hear the song or see a red-crowned crane.

    Smokejumpers are special firefighters. They jump from planes into areas that are difficult to reach by car or on foot, like the middle of a mountain forest. They race to put out fires as fast as they can.

    At a fire site, smokejumpers first check the land and decide how to fight the fire. They try their best to stop a fire from spreading. Using their tools, smokejumpers clear the land of burnable things like dry grass and leaves. They usually carry some water with them.

    In the US, although most smokejumpers are men, more women are joining. The important thing is that your height and weight must be within a certain range(范围). For example, smokejumpers in the US must be between 120 and 200 pounds, so they don't get hurt when they land, or get blown by strong winds.

    Smokejumpers must also be able to live in the wilderness. In Russia, many smokejumpers know how to find food in the forest and make simple tools.

    The work is dangerous, and the hours are long. But for smokejumpers, smokejumping isn't just a job. They love being able to jump out of planes, fight fires, and live in the forest. As 28-year-old proud Russian smokejumper Alexi Tishin says, "This is the best job for brave people."

    Humoody was born in Iraq. When he was two years old, his face was badly hurt and he couldn't see any more. He came to the United States to get medical care and now lives with an American family in Washington State.

    Humoody quickly learned to use a cane(手杖) to get around. He also started clicking(使发出咔哒声),sensing objects by listening for echoes (回声). To help Humoody develop this skill, his family found him an

echolocation(回声定位_) teacher, Juan Ruiz. Ruiz is also blind and he has been echolocating for many years." Even someone who's not blind can try it," he says. Stand facing a wall a couple of feet away. Make some noise by clicking or talking out loud. Listen carefully. Now walk a little closer to the wall and keep making your noise. Can you hear how it changes as the wall gets nearer?

    Experiment with how your voice or clicks sound in different parts of your home. "Every room has a different sound to it," Ruiz says.

    How does the sound of a kitchen or bathroom compare to the sound of a carpeted(铺有地毯的) room? What about a long hallway? The differences you hear are the same kinds of clues(线索) that blind people listen to. With lots of practice, their brains have learned to get information from these clues.

    Humoody has never let being blind slow him down. Learning how to echolocate is helping him get around more easily and safely, especially in places where he can't take his cane, like the football field.