【推荐1】When talking about the little town, Yibin, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, we’ve always been thinking about Yibin Noodles and Wuliangye Rice wine until one night on June 17th, when most people were about to sleep, a 6.0-magnitude earthquake (地震) hit the lovely town, which caused 13 deaths and many other injuries. During the normal earthquake, houses fell down, the earth shook, lots of people rushed out to the streets. Everything was in a mess.

Soldiers and experts quickly arrived in the area. They helped save people and rebuild homes. Tens of thousands of people have given money to help. Yang Yan, a sixth-grader in Yibin, Sichuan, was taking a drawing class in a tent on June 19th. She drew a house with wings. “If my house could fly, it wouldn’t have fallen down in an earthquake,” she told the West China Metropolis Daily.

Earthquakes do much harm (危害) to our life, and some other serious earthquakes also cause a tsunami (海啸) and a nuclear leak (核泄漏). But we can’t stop an earthquake from happening. However, we can use some methods to reduce the harm. The American Red Cross introduced the “Drop, Cover & Hold on” methods.

Drop down onto your hands and knees. This can stop you from falling. Cover your head and neck under a strong table or desk. If there is no shelter (遮盖物) nearby, you can also stay by a wall, and cover your head and neck with your arms and hands Hold on to your shelter until the shaking stops.

It’s also important that we are well prepared for these kinds of disasters. Japan is considered to be one of the best countries at dealing with earthquakes. From a young age, the Japanese are taught how to survive (幸存) them. Schools in Japan often take earthquake drills (演练). Almost every Japanese family as a survival kit (救生包) with a flashlight, a radio, water and enough food for several days. This helps people to stay alive after an earthquake.

March 28th is China’s National School Safety Day. “There should be more safety training at schools in our country,” said Xu Jiannong, an education expert in Beijing. “There have been many earthquakes around the world in recent years. It is necessary for teenagers to know some safety tips for earthquakes.”

A Chinese worker, who cared for the injured and dealt with a dangerous situation and then got lost in the mountains, has been saved 17 days later.

Gan Yu, a worker at Sichuan’s Wandong hydropower plant（水力发电站）, was on duty with his co-worker, Luo Yong, on Sept.5 when the 6.8-level quake hit southwestern Sichuan Province. Luo prevented flooding by pouring water from the dam before he joined Gan Yu, who stayed behind to give first aid to injured co-workers. Then the pair ran to the plant and turned off the generator（发电机）. They tried to leave the far-away power station, walking around for 20 kilometers. But Gan, who has very poor eyesight, had lost his glasses during the quake and found it difficult to walk in the mountains. They finally decided that Gan should stayput while Luo went looking for help. Luo left Gan some wild fruit and bamboo shoots to eat. Luo was found on Sept.8, but by the time Gan’s pieces of clothing and footprints were discovered on Sept.11, he had disappeared.

Luckily, the story didn’t end here. On Sept.19, a local farmer, Ni Taigao, returned to his village at the foot of the mountain where the power plant is, and heard about the news of looking for Gan. The villager put his local knowledge to use and joined the search. During hours of trekking（艰苦跋涉）, he heard Gan’s weak cries and soon noticed him. There are no superheroes in this story, but ordinary people like the three turned into heroes.

【推荐2】Napoga is a 12-year old girl in Ghana, Africa. It is hard for her family to get clean water. Every morning, she leaves home at half past five to get clean water for her family in a village far away. It takes her six hours to get enough clean water for daily cooking and drinking. She has no time to go to school or to play with her friends. Millions of people in the world are like Napoga. They can’t get enough clean water to keep healthy.

Earth Day is April 22. But on all other days, we must also remember it. The water we use is the most important natural resource（自然资源）on the earth.

Water covers 70 percent of the earth’s surface（表面）. But most of that is sea water. We can’t use it for many things. Freshwater covers only one percent of the earth’s surface.

You probably feel lucky that your life isn’t as hard as Napoga’s. But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about water. We all face serious water problems. One of them is water pollution. All kinds of things from cars, factories, farms and homes make our rivers, lakes, and oceans dirty. Polluted water is very bad for people to drink. And dirty water is bad for fish, too. Now, thirty-four percent of all kinds of fish are dying out.

How do cars and factories make our water dirty? First, they pollute the air. Then, when it rains, the rainwater comes down and makes our drinking water dirty. Dirty rain, called acid rain（酸雨）, is also bad for plants, animals and buildings.

Scientists say that in 30 years, more than half of the people in the world won’t have enough clean water. We have to learn how to save more water for ourselves and our children.

Here is some advice for saving water.

·Turn off the water while you brush your teeth. You can save as much as 450 liters each month.

·Leaky taps（漏水的龙头）waste a lot of water. Fix them right away.

·You can easily cut your 10-minute showers in half, and you’ll be just as clean.

·When you wash dishes, don’t let the water run.

·Only wash clothes when you have a lot to wash. If your washing machine isn’t full, you are wasting water!

【推荐3】The Young for the Planet

Today, by carefully choosing dog parents, humans have created many different kinds of dog. Each kind has its own look and talents, and its own role within human society. Here are three examples of “a dog’s life” in the human world.

Today, many hospitals let specially trained dogs in to bring love and cheer to patients. Shaynee is a therapy (治疗) dog. She visits children who are in hospital. Dogs like Shaynee help patients feel calm and at peace, which can be hard in a busy hospital. They help both children and adults stay strong during long hospital stays, and, some suggest, even help them get better.

Today, some beagles (小猎犬) work in airports for the government. They are part of the program called the Beagle Brigade. A beagle is good for the work because of its powerful nose, and ability to follow smells. The Beagle Brigade’s job is to smell everything that comes into the country. They make officers notice illegal (非法的) fruits, vegetables and other foods in luggage or in mail. The beagles do the job far better than any human could.

While some dogs are working hard, others are free to spend their days resting and playing. Across the world, many pet dogs are treated like children. Many have their own rooms and all the things a dog could want. Some even have their own clothes. Many of these pets spend their days playing, learning to follow, or even going to classes. Their owners give them the best, and enjoy doing so.

Whether as workers or objects of affection (钟情), dogs have become helpful to humans in many ways. There are plenty of advantages for the dog, too. Many kinds of wild dogs have nearly disappeared from the Earth. However, the domestic dog’s special place as “man’s best friend” has allowed it to survive (存活) in a human world.

A．

B．

C．

D．