Ancient Chinese people loved planting trees.     1     they didn’t have a special day like the Tree-Planting Day, the tradition of planting trees has been there for a long time.

Back then, it was always warm and     2     around the Qingming Festival. The trees were easy to grow in spring. The ancients     3     the tradition of planting trees around the Qingming Festival.

There are     4     of kinds of trees. However, mulberry trees (桑树) and fruit trees used to be especially popular in   ancient times. Silkworms (蚕) took mulberry leaves as their food. Silk was produced from the cocoons (蚕茧) of the silkworms, and then made into soft and beautiful     5     for noble (贵族的) and rich people.

The taste for     6     of the ancient people reached a high level. They planted trees to beautify their neighborhood and     7     the environment as well.

Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, loved planting trees.     8     he went, he would plant trees in places where he worked.

Dong Feng, a doctor in the Three Kingdoms Period,     9     accepted money from his patients. Instead, he asked them to plant apricot trees (杏树) on a hill. Gradually, a forest of apricot trees appeared on the hill. That is why we     10     a doctor who has noble ethics (高尚品格) and excellent skills with the words “warmth in an apricot forest”.

What animal is black and white, cute and endangered?     1     Here are some interesting facts about them.

Scientists are not sure what’s behind their colour, but think it has to do with a way of keeping safe. The panda’s white body colour helps it hide in the snow.     2     Other scientists believe that their colour may have something to do with finding a mate. However, not all pandas are black and white. There is also a rare brown and white panda.

Scientists say their round faces and way of walking remind us of human babies.     3     Similarly, the dark circles around the eyes make giant pandas’ eyes appear larger, so they look so cute.

    4     They have noticed that wild giant pandas normally start to be active before sunrise, rest and then reach a second active peak again before sundown and then rest until late at night. Daily activities often change with the seasons. In summer and autumn, for example, activity levels are much higher in the daytime than at night.

Many people like visiting pandas in the zoo. It’s important for pandas to have a quiet environment.     5     Also, don’t throw food to pandas unless the panda keeper tells you it’s okay to do so, or it could cause them to get sick.

4 . Many cultures have stories of talking trees that give advice as well as warnings to people. Alexander the Great and Marco Polo were said to have visited such a tree in India. And in some modern stories, such as the film Avatar, trees can communicate with animals and people. With our long believing that talking plants are unreal, new research has found something amazing: It turns out that plants can really communicate.

It has been known that plants use chemicals to communicate with each other. This happens when a plant, say a bean plant, gets attacked by insects. The plant gives off chemicals from the leaves that are being eaten. This is like a warning, or a call for help, “I’m being attacked!” When another bean plant feels the chemicals from its poor neighbor, it starts to give off its own, different chemicals. Some of these chemicals drive insects away. Others attract insects—the wasps! The wasps kill the insects that are eating the bean plant. Scientists hope to learn more about this plant warning system, so that we can use it to grow crops without pesticides (杀虫剂).

More surprisingly, plants also use sounds to communicate. People can’t hear these sounds, but plants are making them. Some plants make noises with their roots. Corn and chili plants do this. They also “listen” to the noises from other plants. A chili plant can tell if a neighboring plant is helpful, or unfriendly. Some trees make clicking noises when there is not enough water.

Most surprisingly of all, plants have an amazing system of communication that can link nearly every plant in a forest. Scientists call this system “wood wide web”. It is in some ways like the Internet we use. This wood wide web is linked underground by fungi (真菌). Using this wood wide web, plants can share information and even food with each other. But just like our Internet, this wood wide web has its own version of “cybercrime (网络犯罪)”. Plants can steal food from each other, or spread something harmful to attack other plants.

Scientists are learning more every day about the secret ways in which plants talk to each other. Maybe we will know enough about plant communication to be able to “talk” with them ourselves in the near future. Let’s wait and see.

Spending time in nature reduces (减少) stress and improves our feelings. Hugging ourselves or another living thing can improve our well-being. That’s what hugging a tree does!     1    

Take a fresh breath.

    2     So, when you are close to a tree and hug it, you are naturally in a more oxygen-rich environment. You are also likely to be breathing in less pollution.   

    3    

One study found that when we experience nature, such as climbing mountains or simply looking at trees and birds on the way to work, we can make our heart rate (心率) change. This can lower the risks of many heart diseases.

Reduce stress.

Trees are one of nature’s greatest stress-reducers. It works by relating you to the environment and allowing you to feel grounded in both space and time.     4     This is useful for people who are nervous and worried.

Find a tree that speaks to you.     5     The hug you give is not just to the tree but to yourself and your spirit.

Most mother animals love their babies and look after them well. But do you know some father animals are also great dads? Now let’s see them.

Sea catfish (鲶鱼):     1     male (雄性的) sea catfish keeps the eggs of his young in his mouth until they are ready to hatch (孵). He does not eat during this time. It may go several     2     (week).

Duck: Most male ducks live alone,     3     the ruddy ducks of North America help care for their young.

Wolf: When the mother wolf gives birth, the father     4     (work) outside their “house” and brings food for the mother and pups. As the pups grow, he not only plays with them but also teaches them how     5     (kill) other animals.

Monkey: There are small monkeys in South America called marmosets (狨猴). Among     6     (this) monkeys, the fathers take care of their babies from birth. When a marmoset is born, the father cleans it and keeps it     7     (safely). When the baby can     8     (eat) food, the father feeds it.

Seahorse: The male seahorse looks after the eggs for about     9     (second) months, until they hatch. He goes on protecting the young until they are able to live     10     their own.

9 . “Cats!” “Dogs!” These look like fighting words. But you may know clearly there are dog people and cat people. Dog people think dogs are “ man’s best friends”, while cat people like cats because of their elegance (优雅) and independence (独立). Sometimes the two groups even argue with each other. Which pet do people like better?

Dogs seem to win. An associated opinion poll (民意调查) showed that people in the US like dogs more than cats. 74% said they liked dogs “a lot”, but only 41% said the same thing about cats. The Pet Industry White Paper also showed that there are around 11,000,000 more dog owners than cat owners in Chinese cities.

However, cats seem to have more attention online. People call them “masters” (喵主子) online while the dog owners are “servants who clean their masters’ feces” (铲屎官). Even those who don’t have pet cats are doing something called “cloud cat petting” (云吸猫). It means taking pictures and videos of cats online.

An article in The Guardian pointed out that dog owners usually go outside to play with their pets or their neighbors’ dogs. But cats are mainly indoor animals, so the Internet becomes a virtual (虚拟的) “cat park” for cat owners.

But it doesn’t really matter if you like cats or dogs better. Keeping a relation with any animal can make us feel good.

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10 . More than once we have seen videos of dogs, cats and other cute animals shared by people on the Internet. But recently, a less-known animal has caught the public’s attention—the capybara (水豚).

Capybaras are the biggest rodent (啮齿目动物) on the earth. They live in South America and Central America. Like other rodents, capybaras’ teeth keep growing. They make them short by eating plants.

Capybaras are strong swimmers. Their pig-shaped bodies are adapted for life in water. Their toes are webbed (脚趾有蹼) for moving through the water. They have dark brown fur, allowing them to quickly dry when on land. Their small eyes, noses and hairless ears are located (位于) high on their heads. So even though most of their body is in the water, they can keep watching as long as their faces are out of the water.

Capybaras are also social animals. They are good at building relationships with other animals. They like to stay on their own, but if humans or other animals try to get close to them, they will never run away. They will play with them, even with large animals. Besides, capybaras can help provide food for other animals. It is common to find other animals, like monkeys and birds, riding on the back of a capybara. They look for lice (虱子) in the capybara’s coat to eat. Since capybaras do not hurt these animals, it is very great to move with capybaras and get a free ride hopefully.

Nowadays, capybaras are getting popular as friends of humans. More and more people around the world want to raise a capybara as a pet. After all, no one can say no to such a cute and kind friend.

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