John Wesley Powell

Every time I go whitewater rafting, I think of an explorer named John Wesley Powell who was an amazing figure in the American West. Powell was fearless and thought nothing of hopping in a boat and rowing down an unknown river. Along the way, he studied geology, plants, and wildlife, teaching himself much about the natural world.

In 1860, Powell joined the army in the Civil War. He was injured and lost his right arm. When the wound was cured, he went back into battle! In 1865, he retired as a major（上校）.

Powell took a teaching position as professor of geology even though he had never gone to college himself. During this time, he began to develop a daring plan. He wanted to explore the Grand Canyon by rafting the Colorado River. No one had done such a thing before.

In May of 1869, Powell set out with ten men on the Green River in Wyoming for a ten-month trip. Everyone who saw them leave thought they would be done for.

No wonder! They were facing the unknown with every bend of the river. No one knew what rapids（急流）lay ahead or how dangerous they’d be. But Powell refused to give up. He had courage and carefulness. He did what he set out to do. He got a river’s-eye view of one of the most unbelievable natural formations（构造）on Earth. And he lived to tell the tale.

Five tips for less plastic

The world has a plastic problem and it is increasing. Scientists are working to find a long-term solution by making plastic more biodegradable（可生物降解的）. But in the meantime, here are five things you can do to r    8       plastic waste now.

1.Stop using plastic bags. Instead, take your own reusable shopping bag to the store. People use a trillion plastic bags worldwide every year. About 10 percent are used in the United States alone. That’s almost one bag per American per day, but the a    9       Dane（丹麦人）uses four single-use bags per year. In 1993, Denmark was the first country to place a tax on plastic bags. Today, other countries（such as Chile, Kenya and New Zealand）either make customers pay for plastic bags, or have banned（禁止）them c    10    .

2.Skip the straw. Today, around 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches. So when you order a drink, say “no”to the reusable straw, or bring your own reusable one. In 2018, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to ban plastic straws and many other cities are set to follow its e    11    .

3.Don’t use plastic bottles. Buy a reusable bottle and fill it with any t    12     of drink you like. Some cities have already banned bottled water. However, people still buy nearly a million plastic bottles every minute in the world.

4.A    13       plastic packaging. Buy bar soap instead of liquid soap in plastic containers. Don’t buy fruit or vegetables in plastic packaging. In the U.K, leaders are calling for supermarkets to have plastic-free areas. They also want to tax plastic take-out containers.

5.Recycle. We can’t recycle all plastic items, but it is p    14     to recycle most bottles and milk or juice cartons. Today, Norway recycles 97 percent of its plastic bottles. How? Machines at most supermarkets take the bottles and give a refund of up to 2.5 kroner（32 cents）per bottle.

Do you want to help save the sea turtles? There are several ways to do so.

The first way is to turn off the lights near the beach. When sea turtles hatch, they head for the water. They use light from the moon to find their way. But electric lights _______ the baby turtles. They head away from the water toward the electric lights on land. This leads to injury or death. _______, female turtles can’t nest on beaches with lights. So turn off the lights at the beach when it is safe to do so.

Sea turtles are wonderful to look at. You may really want to observe or even touch one. This is a _______ idea. An adult turtle may bite at you. Also, you will disturb the nesting site. You may harm the eggs and step on young turtles. So give the sea turtles plenty of _______.

Another way to help is to keep beaches clean. All sea animals, including turtles, can get caught in trash on the shore and in the water. Plastic bags and other trash may also be eaten by sea turtles, often resulting injury or death.

There are many ways in which you can make a _______ in the lives of sea turtles. Organize a class clean-up at your local beach. Settle chemicals you use in your home _______ because these can find their way to the water. Tell others about these wonderful animals and teach them how to help the sea turtles.

Many artists include drawing of nature in their works. But the results can be very different. Here are four of the most famous.

Stanislaw Witkiewicz（1885-1939）was a Polish artist. You often see his paintings in art galleries in Poland. Many people like Witkiewicz’s paintings of people’s faces, but I prefer his paintings of nature and landscapes. This one（painted in 1907）shows the Hinczow Lakes in the Tatra mountains. I like this painting because of the green fields and blue water—I’d love to go there.

Japanese art is famous for landscape paintings. You can often see sea and sky, and mountains and trees. Ando Hiroshigo worked in the nineteenth century and he’s one of Japan’s most famous artists. He printed and sold thousands of beautiful prints in his lifetime. However, he was poor when he died.

Beatriz Milhazes is a Braziliann artist from Rio de Janeiro. She’s famous for her colorful paintings of flowers and interesting shapes. She also makes sculptures with different types of natural and man-made materials. Personally, I like all her works, though I prefer her paintings.

Vincent van Gogh, the famous Dutch artist, made eleven paintings of sunflowers. They were his favourite paintings because he loved the color yellow. I prefer his other paintings, but many people love these ones. Nowadays, you see them on cards, postcards, and T-shirts. Van Gogh died with no money, but in 1987, someone bought the last sunflower painting for $49 million.

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The members of the Science Club want to plant a vegetable garden. We think that it will be a good community project that will not only be     42    , but also will be fun. There will be many     43    .

Students will learn about science. They can learn about different kinds of plants. Students would     44     organic gardening, ecology, botany, and other science topics.

Students will get sunshine and exercise. Gardening can be hard work. Students in all     45     can share the jobs. Everyone will have a chance to feel involved.

Students will also learn about commitment(承诺) and     46    . Gardening takes teamwork and patience. The success of the garden     47     completing every task. Everyone can take pride in the results.

Finally, students will learn healthy eating habits. A lot of kids don’t like vegetables. However, if they have helped grow the food, they will be more     48     to try it. Many students will be shocked to find out that they like green, leafy stuff!

We hope that you will     49     our idea. Thank you for your time.