It seems that everywhere around the world, people are sending more time at work {#blank#}1{#/blank#} less time with their families and friends. People are {#blank#}2{#/blank#} than ever before!

    In the past in many countries, the father worked and the mother stayed home, took {#blank#}3{#/blank#} of the children, and did the food shopping, cooking and cleaning.  At present, in most of the families, parents need work on weekdays, so they {#blank#}4{#/blank#} have to do the shopping, cooking and cleaning in their free time. Parents don't have as much time with their {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, however, they often had time in the past. There are also many single-parent（单亲的）families. In these families, the single parents has to do everything.

    These days ,many children come home {#blank#}6{#/blank#} school to an empty apartment or house .A lot of children spend many hours {#blank#}7{#/blank#} day in front of the television .Even the families are together, it is common for families members to do things by themselves. For example, they {#blank#}8{#/blank#} programs on separate TVs in different rooms, they use the Internet, they {#blank#}9{#/blank#} friends on the telephone, and they do other individual by themselves.

    Isn't it strange? Thanks to technology（科技）, people are able to communicate so {#blank#}10{#/blank#} with people far away, but sometimes they don't communicate with people their own homes.

    Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Pollution comes in many forms. We see it, smell it, drink it and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} hear it.

    Man is now slowly polluting the whole {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Air pollution is still the most serious. It's bad for all living things in the world, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}it is not the only kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us {#blank#}5{#/blank#}more easily.

    Many countries are making rules to {#blank#}6{#/blank#}pollution. They stop people {#blank#}7{#/blank#}burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO₂ is now the most dangerous kind of air pollution. It is {#blank#}8{#/blank#}by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be {#blank#}9{#/blank#} air pollution.

    The Earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means {#blank#}10{#/blank#}the land, water and air clean .And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.