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.

    The world's forests become smaller and smaller. People are still cutting down the trees. Why is this happening? There are two reasons—land and wood. People need land for animals and crops. And people want wood. Japan, Europe and North American need wood. There, it is used for buildings or it is made into furniture.

    But most places from the forests are not good for animals or crops. The soil (土壤) in the forests is very thin. When trees are cut down, the soil is washed away by the rain or the wind. Soon there is nothing but sand. Then more land will be needed and more trees will be cut down.

    There are some easy things you can do to protect(保护) 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, TV sets when you leave the room. This saves 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 the 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 (贡献)to protecting the environment, the world will become much more beautiful.

    Solar storms shake Earth's magnetic field(磁场). They not only influence human technology, but also animals, reported Forbes.

    Studies show that many animals use changes in Earth's magnetic field to find directions. These changes provide the animals a general compass(指南针) for south and north. Animals can also use them as landmarks.

    For example, scientists have found special cells in part of a bird's eye nervous system(神经系统). They seem to react to changes in the magnetic field.

    Some fish species, like the common trout，have cells with magnetic sensors in their nasal cavity(鼻腔). In 1994 "magnetic sense" was also discovered in sea turtles.

    Some whale species may use magnetic sense to navigate (导航) the oceans. A dysfunction of this sense may explain the still mysterious beachings (动物搁浅). Sometimes several hundred animals, such as whales and dolphins, are driven out of water along beaches. They usually can't breathe under their own weight and die slowly.