阅读理解。

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    Fraser Island is in Queensland, Australia, about 200 kilometers north of Brisbane. It is about 120 kilometers long and 240 kilometers wide. It is a very important island because it is completely made of sand. In fact, it is the largest sand island in the world. There is no airport on the island, but there is a long beach along the east coast. Planes arrive and leave from here.

    The sand makes unusual shapes. There are hills made of sand called sandblows. Nothing grows on them. They move one or two meters a year from the northwest towards the southeast of the island, getting bigger and bigger. At other places on the island, such as Rainbow Gorge, The Cathedrals and Red Canyon, the sandy rocks have different colors. Sometimes the rocks are so brown that they turn the sea brown, like coffee.

    Surprisingly, the sandy island has a lot of different plants and animals. There are dark forests—eucalyptus woods, beautiful flowers and over a hundred lakes. There are many kinds of birds, like owls and curlews. There are many animals there, too, such as crocodiles, flying foxes and wild dogs called dingoes.

    About 500,000 people visit the island every year to see the island's beauty and nature. People enjoy camping and hiking（徒步）there. Unluckily, the visitors create problems. They damage plants and frighten animals. Their sun cream（防晒霜）makes the water dirty. So it is necessary to manage the visitors. For example, people may not use motor boats or go fishing in the lakes, and they need official papers to drive there.

Americans love cars. They go everywhere in them. 85% of people in the US go to and form work by car. And most adults have driving licenses. Why does this car culture exist?

How it started

America's love of cars started after the war when soldiers returned home from World War Π to rebuild their lives. They borrowed money from the government to buy houses and cars which became the symbols of status（地位）. The more money they had, the bigger their cars were.

Making of roads

During the war, President Eisenhower noticed what good roads Germany had. He decided to build new four-lane（四车道）roads in America. He said is something happened suddenly, the two-lane roads wouldn't be able to carry all the cars that would suddenly leave the cities. Car and oil companies liked his idea and building started.

Car lovers

Not just teenagers are crazy about cars. Some Americans love their cars so much that they paint their cars beautifully. These are called Art Cars. Every April there is an activity in Houston, Texas, where they show their cars.

Pollution

Cars have polluted the environment. American President Bush refused a worldwide law that is against pollution. Many countries were angry about it. Bush said he had to think of the American economy（经济）and all the American people that make money from cars. Factories say they want to make cars that pollute less. But others say making cars that pollute less will never be as good as having fewer cars.

    Can dolphins talk? Maybe they can't talk with words, but they talk with sounds. They show their feelings with sounds.

    Dolphins travel in a group. We call a group of fish“a school(一群)。” They don't study, but they travel together. Dolphins are mammals(哺乳动物)，not fish, but they swim together like fish in a school.

    Dolphins talk to the other dolphins in the school. They give information. They tell when they are happy or sad or afraid. They say” welcome” when a dolphin comes back to the school. They talk when they play.

    They make a few sounds above water. They make many more sounds under water. People cannot hear these sounds because they are very, very high. Scientists make tapes of the sounds and study them.

    Sometimes people catch a dolphin for a large aquarium(水族馆). People can watch the dolphins in a show. Dolphins don't like to be away from their school in an aquarium. They are sad and lonely.

    There are many stories about dolphins. They help people. Sometimes they save somebody's life. Dolphins' meat is good, but people don't like to kill them. They say that dolphins bring good luck. Many people believe this.

    Can dolphins (海豚) talk? Maybe they cannot talk with words, but they can talk with sounds. They show their feelings with sounds. Dolphins travel in a group. We call a group of fish a "school". They do not study, but they travel together. Dolphins are mammals (哺乳动物), not fish, but they swim together like fish in a school. Dolphins talk to the other dolphins in the school. They give information to the others. They talk when they are happy, sad or afraid. They say "welcome" when a dolphin comes back to the school. They talk when they play.

    They make some sounds above water. They make many more sounds under water. People cannot hear these sounds because they are very, very high. Scientists make tapes of the sounds and study them. Sometimes people catch dolphins for a large aquarium (水族宫). People can watch dolphins in a show. Dolphins do not like to be away from their school in an aquarium. They are sad and lonely. There are many stories about dolphins. They help people. Sometimes they save somebody's life. Dolphins' meat is good, but people do not like to kill them. They say that dolphins bring good luck. Many people believe this.

    As we know, all living things have to eat food. For a man, a tiger, a fish, a bird, or even a worm, food is needed. We know all living things are sure to die without food. In every part of the world, different kinds of animals share living places and live in communities (群落) together. They are connected(联系) in a food chain.

    In a food chain, some living things are producers and some are consumers. Plants are producers because they use sunlight, soil and other things to make their own food. Animals are consumers because they have to eat other animals or plants.

    There are four different kinds of consumers in the animal world. A carnivore is an animal that only eats other animals. An herbivore is an animal that only eats plants. An omnivore is an animal that eats plants and animals. A scavenger is an animal that eats dead animal.

    Here is a picture of a food chain. The food chain shows how animal eat each other in a community. In the picture, you can see what animal or plant is food for another animal. See? The grass is food for a rabbit(兔子), which then becomes food for a hungry tiger. In this way, all of these animals are connected.