The earth is our home.     1     This means keeping the land, air and water clean.

Pollution is a “dirty” word. To pollute means to make things unfit or unclean to use. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, taste it and drink it.     2    

Man has been polluting the earth from the time he first made fire, washed his clothes in the river and threw his waste on the ground. When land was used up or water became dirty, men moved on to another place.     3     There weren’t so many people then and their wants were fewer. All the dirty things could be absorbed (吸收) by nature and soon covered over. But this is no longer true. Man is slowly poisoning (毒害) his environment.

Once we thought of pollution, we simply mean air pollution. Though it is still the most dangerous, air pollution is only type of pollution.

Through the use of poison, man has polluted the land, killing the animals. By putting dirty water and chemicals into rivers and lakes, we have polluted our drinking water, killing the fish.

Obviously, our increasing population is part of the problem.     4    

Where is this all to end? Are we turning the world into a big rubbish dump, or is there any hope that we can get rid of (摆脱) the pollution?     5     They are now working hard to bring pollution under control.

If you live in Shanghai, you might have taken a “lesson” in sorting garbage. As China’s first city to carry out strict regulations on garbage sorting and recycling, Shanghai requires its residents to sort garbage into four categories, namely recyclable, harmful, dry and wet waste. If people fail to sort their garbage properly, they can be fined (罚款) up to 200 yuan.

Since the regulation took effect, the amount of total daily waste in Shanghai has been reduced by an average of 15,500 tons, dropping 26 percent from the end of 2018, while the average daily weight of recyclables hits 4,500 tons, five times higher than the end of 2018, according to the Shanghai Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau. “Proper waste sorting protects the environment and saves natural resources.” said Deng Jianping, director of the bureau. “Led by the central government, Shanghai is making efforts to develop long-term solutions to garbage management.”

However, there have also been some problems. Some people complained that it is difficult to deal with wet garbage, as they are asked to remove wet garbage from its bag when dumping (倾倒). According to the sorting rules, the wet garbage must go in the wet waste bin and the bag must go in the dry waste bin. This separation is necessary, as it ensures that the wet garbage will decompose properly and become useful organic (有机的) waste, the bureau said. Plastic bags can affect this process. Some people in Shanghai are instead using paper bags that can biodegrade (生物降解) or plastic containers that can be washed and reused, according to Xinhua.

More cities are introducing similar garbage sorting regulations. By the end of 2020, garbage-sorting systems will be established (建立) in 46 cities in our country, including Beijing and Shenzhen, People’s Daily reported.

【推荐3】(at the beach)

Ben: Hi, Judy! I can’t believe you came to join us!

Judy: Hello, Ben. I came because I like your idea: when you give, you’re rich. I’m happy that I can do something for the earth.

Ben: Right. That’s why we had this plan to get our clean beach back. Do you know if Paul’s coming? I remember he had the same idea and said he would try his best to come over.

Judy: But he just called and said he wouldn’t come today because it’s too hot.

Ben: I can’t believe it! He always says, “We can do this and that…”

Judy: Don’t you know him? He only pays lip service to what should be done but seldom（极少地) does anything.

Ben: I see. Let’s forget about him. We’ll have Tony and Sophie to help us soon.

Judy: That’s great. So where should we start now? Should we pick up those bottles first?

Ben: Sure, let’s go.

【推荐2】China’s Yangtze River is the world’s third longest river. It is home to more than 400 kinds of fishes. And the Chinese paddlefish (长江白鲟) was once common in the Yangtze River. Because of human activity, its number dropped greatly. Scientists could hardly find them. Finally, this past January, a piece of sad news came in: The fish went extinct between 2005 and 2010. “It’s very sad,” said Zeb Hogan, a US biologist (生物学家). “We’ve lost a valuable animal. There is no hope of backing to the old days.” The Chinese paddlefish was one of the world’s largest freshwater fishes. It could grow to seven meters. It was known for its big nose. For this reason, many people called it the “elephant fish”. The Chinese paddlefish was an ancient kind of fish. It first appeared in the Jurassic period (侏罗纪时期). After lived on the earth for 200 million years, the animal finally went extinct because of human activity.

Started from 1970, humans caught about 25 tons (吨) of paddlefish each year. That mainly caused the great loss of the fish. And in 1981, the building of the Gezhouba Dam (葛洲坝) made the paddlefish become two groups. The two groups could not reproduce (繁殖). What’s more, the Yangtze River was seriously polluted by nearby people. As a result, the population of the fish became smaller and smaller. Scientists said that many freshwater fish in the Yangtze River are in danger. The Chinese paddlefish was only the first to disappear. Luckily, China has taken action. From January 2020 to 2030, nobody can go fishing on the Yangtze River.

There are many useful inventions in the world.

Have you ever wished to have an umbrella that makes your hands free? Alan Kaufman has thought up the “Nubrella”, which means “new” + “umbrella”. It is the first truly hands-free umbrella in the world. The inventor says that it stops rain, wind and snow and can keep your head, face and hair dry.

“I never planned to invent a product. I just noticed a problem and thought up a way to solve it,” said the inventor. The idea for the invention began on one rainy day. Mr. Kaufman was standing in one of his stores. He began to look at people’s umbrellas. He found that they had to try very hard to keep their umbrellas in the right place. At that moment an idea came into his mind. He ran to his desk and drew a picture. In this way, the Nubrella was born.

One cool feature (特点) of the Nubrella is that you don’t hold it like a usual umbrella, but you wear it. The shoulder straps (肩带) of the Nubrella allow people to be fully hands-free, so when walking in the rain with the Nubrella, you are able to use your cell phone or drink a hot cup of coffee. Also, the Nubrella will never be inverted (颠倒) in the wind. The new umbrella is far safer than traditional ones, because it has no sharp points.

【推荐3】Here are two pictures. Who are they in the pictures? Mr. White and his son Bill are in the first picture. Now they are in Bill’s room. We can see some English books on the desk. And on the bed there is a watch. It’s Bill’s. His notebooks are on the bed, too.

What about the next picture? You can see a woman and a girl in it. The woman is Bill’s mother and she’s in her daughter Ann’s room. You can see a map on the white wall（墙）. Next to the bed is a desk. A clock is on the desk. What is that under the bed? Is it a yellow hat? No, it’s Ann’s pet dog.