C

    Thousands of bats(蝙蝠)in the Northeast are dying, and no one knows why. Scientists are conducting investigations(开展调查) to find out the cause and stop the spread of deaths, which have been most heavily reported in New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.

    "Most bat researchers agree that this is the most serious threat to bats they have ever seen, " says Alan Hicks, a bat expert who works in the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

    There are few clues about the cause of the deaths. Bats are easy to catch the contagious disease(传染病) because they hibernate(冬眠) together. In some caves, there are 300 bats per square foot. Environmental officials are asking people to stay out of bat caves to avoid spreading the mysterious(神秘的) sickness while they are working to find out what it is.

A

    Jupiter(土星) is the fifth planet from the sun and it is the largest one in the solar system. It is about 11 times bigger than the earth. Jupiter's strangest thing is its huge red spot. Pictures taken from space tell us that the red spot is probably a hurricane(飓风). It is so big that the earth would fit right in the middle of it. Sometimes the hurricane looks like a huge oven with orange-red waves (波浪). Some other time the color almost disappears.

    On the earth, hurricanes move. We can watch them travel across water to land. Jupiter's red spot also moves. Scientists say it “walks”. It is carried along by air in Jupiter's atmosphere(大气层).

    So far, Jupiter has been visited by four spacecrafts. All of them flew by Jupiter very quickly. On the next trip to Jupiter, a spacecraft will stay near the planet much longer. New information will be sent back to the earth. Soon scientists will know much more about this strange red spot in the atmosphere.

    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!

    Caterpillars (毛虫) are often used as fish bait (鱼饵). However, the creatures may get a better life — they are now setto join the war on plastic wastes.

    Federica Bertocchini isa Spanish scientist. When she's not working in her lab, Bertocchini keeps bees.One day, when she looked at her hives(蜂箱), she found dozens of caterpillars called waxworms(蜡虫). These insects are often used to feed fish. In the wild, however,they live in beehives, feeding on the wax that bees use to build theirhoneycombs(蜂巢). Bertocchini picked out the caterpillarsand put them in a plastic bag. Surprisingly, when she returned to the bag aftercleaning out the hives, she found it full of holes. The worms had eaten theirway out.

    Bertocchini came up withan interesting question: Were the waxworms digesting(消化) the plastic? Then she got in touch with peersat the University of Cambridge, Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe. Accordingto their paper in Current Biology, some chemical or combination of chemicalswithin the insects can really break down plastics.

    Bertocchini and hercolleagues discovered that it took a waxworm about 12 hours to eat up amilligram of plastic shopping bag. However, the scientists warned that it wouldbe at least several years before they release(释放) waxworms into the environment. They want to know if the insectsare using the plastic as a food, or just because they want to escape. If theyjust want to escape, they are going to get fed up very soon. But if they'reusing it as an energy source, it's a completely different game. Anotherquestion lies in the insects' feces(粪便). If the fecesturn out to be poisonous, then there will be little point in pursuing(追究) the matter.

    "It's certainly notgoing to be the case that within six months we've solved the world's plasticproblem," said Howe. "l wouldn't want people to think that within afew months, they can start throwing away plastic bags without worrying aboutit."

    Every year on April 22, People all over the world celebrate Earth Day. It is a time to work to keep our earth clean. People plan projects to clean up the land, air and water.

    U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson first thought of the idea for Earth Day in 1962 when he saw polluted rivers and cities with smoke. He needed to get support from Americans to clean up the earth. Finally, on April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans celebrated the first Earth Day! Now many countries around the world celebrate it, and you can, too.

    How can you celebrate Earth Day? Here are a few ideas:

    Join a clean-up project-Clean up your street or a favorite beach.

    Save energy-Turn off the lights when you leave a room, and use public transportation.

    Use less water.

    Reduce(减少)/ Reuse/ Recycle ― Practice the three Rs: First, reduce how much you use. Then reuse or recycle what you can.

    You can make a difference on Earth Day and every day!