Nearly all our food comes from the soil. Some of us eat meat, of course, but animals live on plants. If there were no plants, we would have no animals and no meat. So the soil is very necessary for life. The top of the ground is usually covered with grass or other plants. There may be dead leaves and dead plants on the grass. The waste matter(粪) from animals also falls on it.

    All soil needs food. If we do not give it any, the plants will be weak. Farmers found that animals' waste is the best food for the soil, but chemical fertilizers(化肥) are also very useful. The same crop（庄稼）should not be grown in the same place every year; it 's better to have a different crop. A change of crop and the use of a good fertilizer will keep the land good.

    Are you bored with your mobile phone? Is it too heavy? Does it take too long to send and receive text message? If your answer is “Yes”, then read on!

EXIT introduces you to the latest mobile phone in town—the Speed Set 12000! It has over 30 features（特点）and weighs less than 130 grams! It is designed in Italy and made in India. It has a special gold button at the front that allows you to take pictures while you are talking. That's right, you can now talk and take pictures at the same time!

    The Speed Set 1200 is even more convenient to use than the Speed Set 1001. Like the Speed Set 1001, it has voice mail and caller show function, but the 1200 model has a bigger memory, so you can send and receive longer voice mails. Not only that, the newer model recognizes the voice mails, so it can tell you who the caller is. Also, the Speed Set 1200 has a more powerful battery, so you can recharge(充电) faster. With this model, it only takes you thirty minutes to recharge.

    The Speed Set 1200 has been already widely used in Asia and Europe. It is very popular with students and business people, as it has an Internet function that allows you to get information about news, sports and entertainment in just a few seconds.

    In the past, mobile phones were widely used to keep in touch with other people, but with the new Speed Set 1200, you can not only use it as a phone but also use it as a mini computer. So, if you are thinking of getting a new mobile phone, choose the Speed Set 1200. It's not just a phone. It's also a computer. At 2800 yuan, it's the cheaper mini computer in town!

    A zero-waste life is a lifestyle that hardly creates any rubbish. So, a zero-waste store is about providing a kind of everyday and pleasant-looking zero-waste products to help people start on a zero-waste life journey.

    "Zero waste" or "danshari" was first suggested by a French woman called Bea Johnson. Her idea is: live a life and try not to create any rubbish; use different kinds of ways to save the environment such as stopping the use of one-off objects; giving unwanted things to others or giving them away to organizations like the Red Cross.

    Yu Yuan, 27, is deeply interested in this idea. She and her boyfriend have lived in Beijing for many years. And earlier she used to buy things without thinking about them carefully until she saw a video about "zero waste", in which a family of four placed the rubbish they produced every year in a jar (罐). After watching the video, Yu wanted to experience this zero-waste lifestyle with her boyfriend.

    A zero-waste life follows the 6R rule-Refuse Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle and Rot. Over August-October when Yu followed the rule of zero waste 6R, she and her boyfriend Joe Harvey both produced only two cans of rubbish.

    Now, the couple have opened a small shop in Beijing, where they use wood products to take the place of plastic ones and cloth bags printed with environmentally friendly logos. Most products sold in the store can be reused. The store also has second-hand books and CDs/DVDs with, ideas to make the best of the used things.

    "Those who once experienced the non-waste lifestyle have slowly changed their ideas," says Ya, "The zero-waste lifestyle is not for ascetics (苦行僧). It is just around us at our finger-tips." Yu expects some of her friends to join her on the road to zero waste.

    After years of research and testing, the hybrid car was developed and put on the market. It's an interesting and exciting new improvement in today's world as we look for better ways to protect the quality of the air we breathe and save our natural resources.

    The quality of our air is affected by many different things. But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline which is used to power a car's engine. The EPA has set national standards to help control the level of harmful pollutants sent off into the air, and the automobile industry has acted by producing a hybrid car that uses less gas and therefore causes less pollution.

    A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery powered. Some people tend to think that since the hybrid car is partially electric, you have to plug it in to charge it. But that's not how it works. The 144 volt battery pack is actually recharged through the energy that is produced when the car's brakes are used. This is referred to as "regenerative braking", because it produces electricity.

    Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time, this helps it use less gas than a regular car. When the driver stops at a traffic light, the engine automatically shuts off to save fuel. Then, as soon as the driver puts the car in gear and touches the gas pedal, the engine starts back up.

    Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who ran out of gas? That probably wouldn't happen if you were riding in a hybrid car. It flashes a warning on its computer screen that says, "I am low on gas". When it completely runs out, the warning reads, "YOU ARE NOW OUT OF GAS!" Then the electric power supply kicks in to let the driver travel a few more miles to a gas station.

    Do you know when Earth Day is? It is on April 22nd, and it began in the US in 1970. Earth Day in our country began in the 1990s. Earth Day is a good time for people to think about what they can do to make the Earth clean and beautiful, because now the environment on Earth is getting worse and worse. In fact, there are many things we can do to protect our Earth.

    Plant trees.

    Planting more trees helps to reduce greenhouse gases (温室气体), stop the earth from running away and provide homes for animals.

    Don't waste.

    Do not waste water. Use both sides of paper when you write. Turn off the light when you leave. Take your cup with you. Take your own shopping bags to the supermarket. Stop using the plastic bags. Don't use any disposable things. We should save energy.

    Don't throw rubbish in the streets.

    When rainwater washes over the rubbish, it becomes polluted. The polluted water flows into the rivers and seas.

    Ride your bike or take a bus.

    Too many cars pollute the air and waste energy.

    Remember: Every day is Earth Day.

    We should protect the Earth every day, not just on Earth Day. The Earth is our home. Let's do our best to make the Earth cleaner and more beautiful.

    Every day there is less and less space on Earth for rubbish. Yet every day we make more and more rubbish. What can we do? We can recycle some of our rubbish. Recycling means that the rubbish will be made into something that can be used again.

    Recycling helps Earth. And it saves space in rubbish dumps. Half of everything that we put into landfills could be recycled instead. In fact, most things made of paper, metal, glass and plastic can be recycled.

    Paper can be broken into small pieces and made into new paper. Steel and aluminum cans(金属雄)can be melted down(熔化)and made into new cans. The same is true of glass bottles. This can be done over and over again. Recycling doesn't take as much energy as making these things the first time. So we can use less of Earth's fuel resources.

    Plastic can be melted down, too. Then it can be formed into park benches, playgrounds and so on. Some people call plastic the "wood" of the future. Things made of plastic will last about 400 years-even if they stay outside in the weather. No wood can do that!