Say the word shark to someone on the beach and you are sure to get a reaction(反应). Sharks have been the most dangerous predator(捕猎者) of ocean. Sharks are fish.     1     They can be found in oceans all over the world, and they have also been found in some rivers and lakes.

One difference between most other fish and a shark is that most fish have bones(骨头) and a shark has cartilage(软骨).     2     Another difference is that the shark is only able to swim forward, while most fish can swim forwards and backwards. Fish also generally have slippery scales(滑溜的鱼鳞), while a shark has rough scales that feel like sandpaper.

    3     In fact, there are about 368 different types. The differences include color, habitat, behavior, and size. Sharks are also known for their very sharp teeth.     4     But they swallow large chunks of food. They have five rows of teeth. If a tooth is broken, a new one grows.

Sharks are carnivores, meaning that they eat meat.     5     In fact, chances of getting stung by a bee or getting hit by lightning are greater. Even so, experts say it is important to keep an eye out for sharks when swimming in the ocean.

Quilts keep people warm.     1    

Quilts have a long history in different places.     2     In the 11th century, people in Europe brought quilting skills from the Middle East. From then on, people in Europe wore quilted (夹层的) clothing under their heavy coats to keep warm.

    3     When the earliest people in Europe came to America, there were few or no stores. Women cut up old clothes and used them to make new clothes. During the 1700s and 1800s, women made quilts. Quilting kept families from living in the cold environment. Women met at parties to help each other finish making quilts and change news with each other.

    4     Some stories said that slaves (奴隶) put information into their quilts to show other slaves the way to freedom (自由).

Quilts are also a form of art. Every quilt is a way for the artist to show himself or herself. Each one uses different designs and colors. Each one also uses different skills for sewing (缝) the pieces together. In the beginning, people just sewed the materials together.     5    

So next time you climb into bed with a nice warm quilt, look at it carefully.

You may think that having less water is related to having less rain, but it is now a problem in southern China, an area in which it rains often.

In December 2021, the government said that Shenzhen was facing its most serious water shortage ever. Other cities in the southern part of China, like Chengdu and Guang-zhou, are also becoming “thirsty” despite having more rain and being close to more rivers and lakes, The China Daily Paper reported.     1    

In these big cities, populations are growing fast and their industry is developing quickly.     2    

    3     Most cities in Guangdong province depend on the Dongjiang River as their main source of water. In 2021, the river was reported to be drying up because of the hot dry weather and less rain. These years, the climate is changing around China and making it different as usual.

Wasting water also makes it harder to get clean fresh water. Factories and farms don’t use water as well as they should.     4     They don’t have big lakes or reservoirs (水库) to store water, so the water goes out into the sea directly.

But there is a hidden water resource right under our feet. That’s “groundwater”. We can’t see it.     5     About 98 percent of Earth’s fresh water is groundwater. It is 60 times as rich as the fresh water in lakes and rivers. But in many places, people overuse and pollute groundwater. We should pay more attention to this hidden water resource (资源).

【推荐1】The world is a greener place today than it was 20 years ago. How does this happen? Well, it appears China is leading the change. The tree-planting programs in China have made huge contributions to the global greening.

Taking a bus or subway, making payments online, or just walking—these daily activities can help turn China’s deserts into forests if you are using Ant Forest. It was launched by Ant Financial Services Group.

Ant Forest is a feature in the Alipay mobile payment app. It records users’ low-carbon activities—taking a bus to work instead of driving, for example —and gives users “green energy” when the users’ green energy gets high enough. Ant Forest and its partners will plant a real tree for the user.

Ant Forest recently received the 2019 Champions of the Earth award, the UN’s highest environmental honor, for encouraging people to live greener lifestyles and protect the environment.

About half a billion people have used Ant Forest since it came out in August 2016. Ant Forest and its partners have planted about 122 million trees in China’s driest areas, including parts of Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai and Shanxi. The trees cover a total area of 112,000 hectares (公顷). This makes Ant Forest China’s largest tree-planting project started by a private (私人的) company. Ant Forest shows us how we can use technology to solve environmental problems.

This is only part of China’s efforts to make Earth greener. In 1978, China began a national-level forestation project—the “Great Green Wall”. The program has seen trees planted in northern China to act as windbreaks (防风林). China is one of the most successful countries in greening the desert and has lessons to share with the world.

Sarah is a junior high school student in England. She is in Grade Seven.     1     She knows that plants help people a lot in the class. But every year, people cut down lots of trees. She wants to do something.     2     It is Project Green.

Now there are only 4 students in the club.     3     They meet every Saturday morning and go to plant trees in the parks. They know planting trees is a good way to help the environment（环境）.     4    

Ms. Lee, the head teacher, is very happy when she hears about what they are doing. She meets Sarah and gives her some good ideas.     5     “It’s what I want, too,” Sarah thanks Ms. Lee and says.

【推荐3】Fresh green grass, hundreds of colorful wild flowers, water running into little pools, birds making their homes in boxes, the 9,500-square-meter Augustenborg Botanical Garden may look just like any other well-organized park, but there’s a difference. It lies on the roofs (屋顶) of industrial and office buildings in the city of Malmo in Sweden.

Green roofs are not a new invention. And now they are getting popular again. The common roofs of a modern city have endless black surfaces with no life or water. Perhaps that’s why a garden on a roof becomes such a perfect choice for more and more people.

Green roofs are not just pretty. They also help to moderate the city temperature. The high temperatures on common roofs in the summer can make top floor flats uncomfortably hot. What is more, they play a part in making the cities hotter than the countryside around them, causing the “urban heat-island effect”. On a green roof, however, with its plants and water, temperatures change only a little, as they do in a park. Rooftops covered with plants help keep buildings cool. Green roofs take in rain water and protect the city drainage (排水) system. They can reduce water runoff into streets and storm water systems. This can greatly cut the costs of heating and cooling in the building below.

Also, _______. Small animals and birds can make their homes on it. Thanks to this, the city may become part of nature, rather than something completely separate from it. Though they won’t directly replace ground environments, they’re perfect for attracting birds and other wildlife to create a eco-friendly habitat (栖息地).

A green roof helps to improve the overall air quality, too. According to a study, green roofs help reduce (减少) up to:

37% of sulfur dioxide

21% of nitrous acid

0.2kg of dust particles / square meter each year

While the cost of building such a roof can still be higher, it can be cheaper in the long term as a result of energy savings. And wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to walk out into a garden high above the city’s noise and traffic, whether you’re at school or in an office or just at home in a ten-floor block?

【推荐1】It’s difficult to make friends if you stay at home all the time. Go out of the house and do things with other people. It’s easier for you to make friends in this way.

Don’t be afraid to show people what you are really good at. Talk about the things you like to do best. Other people will understand you easily. Then they want to make friends with you.

When you talk with somebody, watch their eyes. In this way, you can find it easier to talk to them. And people may think you are interested in them.

Be a good listener. Let people talk about themselves before talking about yourself. Ask them lots of questions and show great interests in their answers.

Try to make friends with the kind of people you really like and respect (尊敬), not just with those who are easy to meet. Be friendly to a lot of people, and you will have a bigger group of people to make friends with.

【推荐2】Success is often considered to be the opposite of failure. To teenagers, it is the achievement of a goal or completion of something they really need, such as good grades and the ability to get along well with their classmates. Some schools used to agree with most parents who measured (判定) the success of their children according to grades, but now they pay special attention to moral (道德的) education and character-building to make sure teenagers achieve success in building human relationships.

Schools give chances to students to discover their hidden ability so that they can enjoy some form of success. For example, those good at speaking skills are advised to take part in speech competitions while those interested in arts are expected to perform in front of their classmates. Teenagers also get the pleasure of success when they join their favorite clubs.

Teenagers are often told that success is not easy to achieve and that success lies in hard work. Great efforts have to be put into project work. Doing things much later than planned should be avoided as this will lead to a mountain of work which finally makes them nervous. Another good quality (品质) is a sense of responsibility which makes them remember that a task has to be completed.

Sticking to moral values is the key to success too. Honest teenagers will win the trust of friends leading to good relationships. Self-motivation   (自我激励) is another quality to be developed, for self-motivated teenagers will have a strong will and drive to perform a task and finally get to enjoy a sense of achievement.

Globalization means that people, ideas, technology, money, services and many other things are moving between countries and changing the way people think and act.

Not everyone thinks the same way about globalization. Some people think it is bad, and some people think it is good. Some believe that globalization helps rich people get richer and makes poor people poorer. These people say that globalization helps big companies like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s destroy (破坏) local businesses. However, the people who think globalization is a good thing argue that globalization helps poorer people to become richer. They also think that it doesn’t destroy local cultures. These people also believe globalization helps prevent wars. This is because countries with economic (经济的) connections will try hard to keep good relationships so that their economies aren’t destroyed.

Whether you think globalization is good or bad, it affects the world in two areas: jobs and cultures.

Globalization has had a very strong influence on jobs all over the world. For some workers, such as engineers, lawyers and bankers, globalization has been a good development. These workers are able to successfully compete globally and have seen an increase in their pay. But for those who work in factories or in the service industry at hotels, shops and restaurants, it has not been good. Workers from poorer countries are trying to get these types of jobs. They will do the same job for less money. This lowers the pay for that job, so people get paid less to do it.

Cultures have also been affected by globalization. Foods such as Japanese noodles, Indian curry and French cheeses have spread around the world. We can also see an increase in the use of Chinese characters (汉字) in tattoos (文身). Some people get these tattoos but they don’t really know what the characters mean. Globalization also influences the film industry. Most people have seen American movies. But because of globalization, Korean, Indian and Japanese movies have become more worldwide.

No one knows the future of globalization. Most experts agree that it will continue to grow and have an increasingly greater influence on people’s lives in the future.