When people talk about air pollution, they are usually thinking about outdoor air _______. But do you know that there is also air pollution inside homes, offices, hotels and other buildings? The air in your home can be 2 to 100 times more polluted than the air outdoors! In fact, some American doctors say that 50% of the illnesses have _______ to do with the polluted indoor air. A lot of pollution comes from indoor activities _______ smoking and cooking. As most people _______ about 80%—90% of their time inside buildings, it is important to take indoor air pollution seriously, too. Air pollution influences our health _______. When the air is polluted, not only young children and old people _______ from it, _______ people without health problems suffer as well. Indoor air pollution can _______ people’s eyes, noses and throats. Air pollution, both indoor and outdoor, can also _______ to lung cancer and heart disease! In the Great London Fog in 1952, 4000 people died in a few days ________ the pollution! It is said that half a million young children and women die each year in India because of indoor air pollution!

Every year, there are many people going home by long-distance buses during the Spring Festival and the Tomb-sweeping Day. There are more walkers on their way home or to work on the roads. So there are more and more traffic accidents on the roads. Thanks to the efforts of the traffic police, it is said this year the number of traffic accidents across China was 25.2 percent fewer than the year of 2018 during the three-day Tomb-sweeping Day.

Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival. It is an important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors(祖先). Most people go home in memory of their ancestors on that day. About 9.78 million Chinese visited cemeteries to honor their ancestors or relatives during the holiday. A few people also spent the three-day holiday on leisure trains. So transportation safety is a big problem.

On the other hand, it is said Chinese have made 112 million trips during the holiday, up 10.9 percent from last year’s holiday. For the traffic accidents, some people lost their lives. This year, traffic accidents caused 10 deaths during the three-day Tomb-sweeping Day.

The fewer traffic accidents are all from the efforts of the police and our government. With the development of society and the government’s efforts, I believe everything will change better.

Have you heard about paper-cutting? Paper-cutting is an important art form in China. Paper-cuts were used for many purposes, and everything can become the theme(主题)of paper-cuts, from people to the things that can be found in everyday life such as birds, flowers and animals.

Each paper-cut brings out the personal ideas of the author(作者). People express traditional culture or their own feelings with different styles of paper-cuts, For example when someone marries, we put up some red paper-cuts on the wall, dressing table or other furniture to express our best wishes.

It is easy to learn paper-cutting but very difficult to make it perfect. We need a long-time practice to learn how to use the scissors and how to paint. More over, we need to learn some cutting skills.

At present, in many parts of China, paper-cutting skill has become a must for women and a symbol of a clever mind.

New Energy in the Twenty-first Century

Energy from the wind

Wind is a kind of clean energy, and there is lots of it. But, if there’s no wind, there is no wind energy.

Energy from the water

When water moves from a high place to a lower place, it can make electricity without pollution. However, people have to build dams(水坝) to use this energy, and building dams is very expensive.

Energy from the earth

There is heat in the rocks under the earth. Scientists use the heat to make geothermal(地热的) energy. This kind of energy is cheap, but it is only possible in a few places in the world.

Energy from the sun

Solar panels on the roofs of houses can turn energy from the sun into electricity. Solar power is clean and plentiful. But when the weather is bad, it doesn’t work.

76. “绿水青山就是金山银山”。近年来，我们国家在发展经济的同时也非常重视对环境的保护，无论城市还是农村，环境条件、人的意识都发生了很大的变化。请你根据提示材料，对你所居住的小镇的变化做一些描述。

三年前：没有花草(flowers and grass)，水很脏(dirty)而且难闻(smelled terrible)，有(there be)一些工厂(factories)正排放废水进入河流(pouring waste water into rivers)，很多人都喜欢使用一次性杯子和饭盒(cups and boxes which can be used only once)。

现在：一切都改变了。花草茂盛(beautiful)，空气清新(fresh)，河水清澈(clean)，还能看到蜜蜂和蝴蝶(butterflies)起舞(dancing)。大多数人懂得了节约能源(save energy)和减少空气污染(reduce air pollution)，他们经常步行或骑单车代替(instead of)开车(driving cars)去上班。

Great Changes in My Hometown

In recent years, great changes have taken place in my hometown. I have seen the changes myself. Three years ago,