Trees are useful to man in three very important ways. The first important way is that they provide man with food, wood and other products. Trees provide not only man with food, but also many animals with food. Without trees many animals could not live on the earth. It's not easy for man to live on the earth, either.
The second important way is that trees give us shade. On a hot summer day, people are eager(渴望)to have a rest under the shade of a tree after they have walked a long way. You can imagine how important the shade of a tree is to man and to animals.
The third important way is that trees help to prevent drought and foods. However, in many parts of the world, man has not realized the third important way. He has cut trees down in large numbers. In the end he finds that he has lost the best friends he had.

The Importance of Trees

The First Important Way: {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

The Second Important Way: To give man shade

The Third Important Way: {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Have you heard of the story of The Legend of White Snake (《白蛇传》)? {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It's a love story between White Snake and Xu Xian. It has a connection (联系) with the Dragon Boat Festival in China.

    Once upon a time, there were two snakes, White Snake and Green Snake. They had magical powers and turned into two beautiful young ladies. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} White Snake quickly fell in love with him. They got married soon and lived happily.

    The Dragon Boat Festival came. On that day, people drank realgar wine (雄黄酒). {#blank#}3{#/blank#} If she drank the wine, she would turn into the snake again. However, Xu Xian didn't know anything about it, so he asked his wife to drink realgar wine. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} When Xu Xian entered the room, he couldn't find his wife. He only saw a huge white snake on the bed. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Later, White Snake recovered (恢复). In order to save her husband, she went to steal the magical herb (药草). In the end, the god was so moved by her true love that he saved Xu Xian. What a moving love story!

    Everyone has his own hobby. Reading books is a good hobby for us. Here are some reasons for reading：

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}⒈Reading has a lot of benefits（好处）. It can open up our eyes because books are full of knowledge，and it can make us wiser and richer in life.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}⒉You can keep yourselves amused（被逗笑的）if' you like reading. This is especially useful when the weather is bad. It's a relaxing hobby，too. You can really become interested in it.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}⒊Reading also helps readers become good writers. They are usually good at spelling as well，and have more things to write. So reading is a wonderful hobby.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}⒋You can choose anywhere to read books. If you don't like carrying printed books，you can choose e books. Besides，reading is easy to stop and then start again.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}⒌Have you ever heard of a famous saying Reading makes a full man? It is from the famous writer Francis Bacon（培根）. To make you a full man，let's begin reading right now!

Huge Waves Destroying Arctic Ice Faster than Expected

    Ice covers much of the Arctic Ocean (北冰洋). Some pieces of ice are huge, like moving islands. As temperatures have increased, however, some of the ice has begun to disappear. Scientists have discovered huge waves (海浪) in the arctic waters.

    The waves were discovered by accident in May, 2010. Scientist Aleksey Marchenko and his students set out on a trip. They wanted to study the icy waters.

    On May 2, the ship traveled east and stopped next to a large chunk of ice around 50 miles from the small island of Hopen. Marchenko prepared to lead his students out onto the ice.

    "We were ready to go but when I went out, I discovered many cracks (裂缝) around," he remembers.

    He decided to move the ship deeper into the ice to keep safe. The farther in they went, he thought, the harder the ice would become. As they pushed forward, however, the ship experienced small waves, and then bigger ones. Soon, the waves broke up the ice around the ship into thousands of smaller pieces.

    Within an hour, Marchenko and his team saw a wave that was about 13 feet high. The ship's navigation (航行) system finally recorded the largest waves. They were more than 20 feet in height. The waves were so strong that they forced huge pieces of ice to jump up and down, breaking the ice into smaller pieces within just one hour. Scientists had never imagined that the process could happen so fast. The waves in these areas used to be small.

    The speed and force of the huge waves there makes it impossible to know in advance when they are coming. That could be dangerous for navigators and local communities who are unprepared for huge waves or depend on sea ice to protect them. Wildlife like polar bears and walruses that depend on sea ice to live is also in danger.

    Some scientists think people will soon see even bigger waves in these icy waters. As waves break up ice, the seas will become more open, and the waves will get even stronger. There are stormy times ahead.

    Great weather! It was sunny yesterday. We arrived in Beijing at 9: 00 in the morning. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} We went to the hotel by taxi. After lunch and a short rest, we took a bus to the Summer Palace. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} While we were in a boat on Kunming Lake, we heard someone singing Beijing Opera on the bank. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In the evening we walked to Tian'anmen Square because it was next to our hotel. We took some photos there. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} This morning when we walked to the Palace Museum, we passed by (路过) a square and saw some people flying kites. The kites were in different shapes (形状) {#blank#}5{#/blank#} They were really beautiful. I'll go to the aquarium (水族馆), and then Beihai Park. The day after tomorrow we'll visit the Great Wall. I hear it's very great and I think I will have great fun playing there.

    It's the end of class. When the bell rings, students of a Foreign Languages School in Shenzhen quickly take out their mobile phones. They like to log on (登录) to their micro blogs to check the funny things that have happened in the last hour.

    Micro blogging has swept the country during the last few years. Recent surveys show that most students in middle schools have a micro blog, and some even update their blogs more than five times a day.

    "We learn many fresh and interesting things on micro blogs and they have become popular topics in class," said Liang Jianmin, 14, a student from Harbin No. 3 Middle School. "If you do not know about them, you are out.”

    It is also a great place for students to relax." My parents always ask me to study hard, and encourage me before exams, but actually it adds pressure," said Zhang Yazhe, 15, a student from a Foreign Languages School. "When I share these feelings on my micro blog, I get many replies from friends in the same situation, which makes me feel better."

    But parents are worried that micro blogging could be a waste of time. Some misleading messages may even be dangerous to kids.

    Shen Mingde, a professor, suggests parents not worry too much that kids are crazy about micro blogging. Instead， however, it can also become a window for parents to understand their children. "If parents can read their children's micro blogs, they'll know their thoughts, it can lead to better communication and solutions to problems," he said.

    He also gives some advice to kids.

    Don't micro blog for more than one hour a day.

    Never micro blog in class.

    Try to talk face to face with people from time to time.

    Be critical(批判性的). Not all the messages on the micro blog are true.