Cities are home to skyscrapers (摩天大楼) and other buildings, and there were not many open spaces within them. Without many spaces for _______ and gardens, city planners often find it difficult to add green to the city. One way to _______ this problem is to grow plants on unused areas like walls and rooftops (屋顶). It’s a good idea, and now rooftop gardens and green walls can be _______ in cities around the world.

There are many _______ of having green spaces in cities. Adding green to rooftops or walls can create a(n) _______ environment, for example, turning a cement (水泥) wall into a colourful _______. The CaixaForum art gallery (画廊) in Madrid, Spain, is a famous example. One of the walls is covered _______ 15000 plants. In other cities, green walls are being used more practically (实用地), for example, to cover up old houses and empty buildings.

Using plants to cover walls and rooftops can also cut power costs _______ they can keep buildings cool in summer and also help them stay _______ in winter. They ________ provide   green spaces for birds. About 12% of roofs are green in Germany already, and Tokyo requires at least 20% of the new roofs to be green.

Look carefully at the back of a California state quarter (州纪念币). A man with a walking stick is pictured there. A bird called a California condor is flying overhead. Who is this man, and why is he on the back of a coin?

The man on this quarter is John Muir. Even as a child, Muir loved watching nature. As a young man, he spent much of his life exploring the beauty of the wilderness. He walked more than a thousand miles across the country, through fields and woods. John Muir liked writing about the places he visited, describing their beauty.

Muir also wrote about problems. In order to create more farmland for sheep and cattle, many trees were being cut down. This made Muir unhappy and worried, because he knew that trees were important to forests and to the animals that lived in them. Muir believed that nature should be protected instead of being changed by human beings. He wrote articles in magazines and newspapers to spread the word about protecting forests. Soon, others began to listen.

Muir wrote letters to important people, such as President Theodore Roosevelt. The president admired Muir’s love for nature. When Roosevelt came to visit Muir in California, Muir asked the president to go camping with him for three nights under the trees so they could talk about conservation (保护). Later, President Roosevelt set aside 148 million acres of land for national forests and built five national parks. This means that people cannot build homes or businesses there.

Though it has been over one hundred years since John Muir died, people continue his work today. His work helped us to see the beauty of our natural world. John Muir made us understand the importance of protecting our earth and our resources-then, now, and for the future.

For the first time, the Palace Museum opened its doors to the public at night for two days in February, 2019. It gives visitors the chance to see its palaces and temples in beautiful lights. The idea was a hit.

The webpage for people to sign for free tickets went wrong because of traffic. The museum gave away 500 tickets for people to join 2,500 invited guests on Tuesday, and another 3,000 tickets for Wednesday night.

The lucky visitors enjoyed light shows and a Beijing opera show at the Belvedere of Pleasant Sounds, the Palace Museum’s largest theater. They could hear the music all over the museum, as there were fewer people at night than during the day.

The opening was part of an effort(努力)to change the image(形象)of the Palace Museum as it has always been conservative(保守的).

“The more the Palace Museum does, the more influential(有影响力的)it will be,” said Shan Jixiang, the museum’s director.

Yang Jie visited the museum with her husband on Tuesday night. “The light show was wonderful,” she said, “it makes it possible to see a different side of the Palace Museum.”

It was a hot summer day. A group of ants were working hard. They were carrying food.

Some grasshoppers were playing in the shade of a tree. One of the grasshoppers asked an ant, “Why are you working so hard on such a hot day?”

“Because you cannot find food in winter. We are getting food for winter,” answered the ant.

“It’s so early to find food for winter. You are a fool to work on such a hot day,” he teased (取笑) the ant.

The ant was very angry and shouted at the grasshopper, “Well, go and play! You will have a bad time in winter. ”

Summer was over and winter came. The grasshopper could not find food anywhere. He was both cold and hungry. He went to the ant’s home and knocked at the door.

“Mr. Ant, I’m very cold and hungry. I’m dying. Please let me have something to eat,” he said.

The ant opened the door and said, “Mr. Grasshopper, you played and sang and teased us in the summer. Please go to play and sing now. ”

Days later, the grasshopper died in the snow.

Are you looking for something fun? Would you like to help other people in your s    56     time? Then j    57     us and be a volunteer!

We are a non-profit organization. We have volunteer jobs for people of all a    58    . Anyone, from twelve-year-old children to people in their 80s, can become a volunteer. You can help people in many w    59    . Schools need help with taking care of children while parents are working. H    60     need volunteers to look after children while their parents see a doctor. Animal lovers can help take care of those dogs and cats w    61     homes. There is something for everyone.

“As a volunteer, I don’t want to get anything. Seeing the children’s h    62     faces, I am happy, too.” said Carlos, a lady of 62. “I often played computer games in my free time, b    63     now I help older people learn how to u    64     computers.” said another volunteer at the age of 18. If everyone helps out a bit, we’ll have a b    65     world to live in.

66. 2022年冬奥会将在北京和张家口举行，为了确保冬奥会圆满成功，组委会发起了志愿者招募活动。假如你是学生李华，希望能成为其中一员。请根据以下提示用英文给组委会写一封申请信。

My name is Li Hua. I’d like to work as a volunteer for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I would be very thankful if you could offer me the chance to be a volunteer. I’m looking forward to your reply.

Yours,

Li Hua