As everyone knows, animals are our friends. Of all the animals, we find that dogs are friendly to1.
Dogs are always staying2human beings. They are in different colours and3. There are many different kinds of dogs too. Hunting dogs can4people get more prey (猎物). The seeing-eye dogs can help 5people a lot. The police dogs can help the police.
Today it is6to imagine life without dogs. Maybe everyone is happy to see dogs. Dogs are good at7and smelling. Some dogs can find the people who are trapped (困) 8the broken houses. Some dogs can help take care of the houses of their owners (主人).9someone strange comes close to the house, they will bark to frighten (吓唬) him. Even some dogs can help look after small kids when their10are not at home.
In a word, dogs are our best friends among all animals.
The Year of the Tiger has gone and we have rabbit, dragon…pig year. What words can we think of for pigs?
Some bad words may be silly, dirty, greedy (贪婪)…But are these true?
When we see pigs, they are usually in dirty water or behind dirty fences. But pigs also want to be clean if they can. Pigs have no sweat glands (汗腺), so they have to get cool in water when they feel hot.
If people are greedy, we say they are "pig out". Yes, pigs love eating a lot. But they are useful to people. People not only eat their meat, but also use other parts of pigs. Pig skin is used for glue and shoes. The hair can be used to make brushes. Sometimes, pigs are even used to make medicine.
"He is as silly as a pig!" This expression is wrong. Pigs are very smart animals. Among all animals, they are the third cleverest一monkeys, dolphins and pigs. Scientists think the training of pigs is easier than the training of dogs and cats. Pigs have a very good sense of smell. They can find things nearby or faraway. They can also help the police to sniff out drugs (毒品) at an airport or at a train station.
North American black bears are shy animals. They are fearful by nature, and will usually run away if they see or hear people. Because of this, it can be difficult for scientists to learn about these animals.
In order to study black bears, researchers from New Jersey, the USA, catch bears and use drugs to help them go to sleep. Researchers then work out the size and the weight of the bear, take blood to test for diseases, remove a tooth and take it to the lab to find out its age. From these studies, researchers want to find out how many bears live in New Jersey, how long they live, and how many babies they produce.
But in Minnesota, the USA, researchers study bears that are completely awake. The bears know the researchers' voices and they are not afraid of the research team. With the help of a few grapes to keep the bears busy, researchers can touch them to check their hearts, look at their teeth, and do other jobs. Researchers can also walk or sit with bears for hours and make videos to learn about their everyday lives.
In both places, the main purpose is the same—to make sure there is a healthy population of black bears. But the research methods and the kinds of information that researchers are able to collect are quite different.
There is good and bad news about the number of trees on our planet. The good news is that there are seven times more trees than we thought. A few years ago, scientists believed that the world had 400 billion trees. However, a new study from Yale University shows that there are around three trillion (万亿) trees. That's a three followed by 12 zeroes. That means there are about 420 trees for everyone in the world today.
The bad news is that thousands of years ago, the earth had six trillion trees. Humans cut down half the number of trees on the planet. Take Europe for example, it was a large forest thousands of years ago. Now much of it is cities and towns. And another 15 billion trees are lost each year.
Dr Thomas Crowther is one of the scientists from Yale University. He said the new number of trees from their study would change nothing. "The study only shows we need to do more to protect our forests," he said.
Have you ever heard of friendships among animals? At a zoo in Germany, an unusual friendship has developed a cat and a bear.
No one is quite sure how the friendship first began. One day, some (worker) in the zoo noticed a black cat was in the bear's cage (笼子), and the two animals were playing together peacefully. They were surprised how well the small cat seemed to get along with the large bear. The bear keeper allowed the cat (stay) with the bear. And later the pair and their unusual friendship (become) a hot topic at the zoo.
After several years, a new cage was built for the bear. However, the cat was still in the old cage, so it walked around (angry) and cried to be with the bear. The bear keeper (final) took pity on the cat let it stay with the bear. The cat and the bear got (close) than before. They often (sit) together and shared meals in the sun.
Sometimes it may be natural for animals (have) their own ideas about who they would make a good friend with. These may surprise humans, who usually expect animals to form relationships with others of the same species.
Hundreds of years ago, no dandelions (蒲公英) grew in North America. Then people came from Europe. The seeds fell from their clothes onto the ground. Since then, dandelions have spread all over.
Most people believe that dandelions are weeds (杂草). They do not want them in their gardens. But some people think that dandelion flowers are pretty. They cook dandelion leaves or put them into a fresh salad. The leaves must be picked before the flowers come out or they will not taste good.
Dandelions do not die easily. If the winter is not very cold, their leaves may stay green. When spring arrives, their flowers come out.When the sun shines the next day, they open up again. Dandelion flowers are very unusual. They do not have to get pollen (花粉) from another dandelion flower in order to form seeds. So after several days, the yellow flower turns white and soft. A tiny brown seed forms at the bottom of each white petal (花瓣). When the wind blows, the petals float away. Each white petal carries a seed away. New dandelions grow where the seeds land.
| A. And others think that dandelions taste good. B. They had dandelion seeds on their clothes. C. Each night their bright yellow flowers close up. D. This lets the dandelions spread their seeds all over. E. Some people make dandelion flowers into wine. |
