1 . Libraries. They have that reassuring smell of well-read pages, are peaceful, have free Internet and, of course, abundant books.

But guess what? There’s a new kind of library sweeping the nation — a tool library — and it’s just as cool, but in all sorts of different ways.

It’s often said that the average electric drill is only used for 11 minutes in its entire lifetime. Granted, it doesn’t take that long to drill a hole, but still — that’s crazy. Yet the majority of households have one, even though DIY is actually a really infrequent activity for most people.

What if you could just borrow tools when you need them, and drop them back so that they can be used by someone else all the time you’re not DIY-ing? Well, in some parts of Scotland, you now can. Membership-based tool sharing services are popping up in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Linlithgow and Cumbernauld. They work just like a normal library but instead of books, you can borrow a massive range of tools and equipment when you need them, then drop them back when you’re done.

Zero Waste Scotland’s Andrew Pankhurst recently renovated (翻新) his house using the Stirling Tool Library. He said, “It’s amazing. It had all the tools I was looking for, and some I didn’t even realize I needed.”

And that’s the beauty of a tool library. Borrow a tool, use it for one afternoon at a small amount of cost of buying it and instead of it cluttering up your house gathering dust, it’s back off to a busy life all across town, week in and week out.

The tools available to borrow are mainly received as donations. The tool library will then repair them if needed and PAT test for safety ready to be borrowed and saved from going to landfill.

So next time you have a job to do around the house, why not borrow rather than buy?

2 . My House

My mother moved a lot when she was growing up on account of Grandpa being in the army. She hated having to adjust to new schools and make new friends. That’s why I thought she was joking when she put forward the idea of moving. But she was completely serious. “For just the two of us,” my mother said, “an apartment in the city will suit our needs much better.” Personally, I think she’s lost her mind. I guess I can understand why she would want to move, but what about me and what this house means to me?

I suppose if you looked at my house, you might think it was just another country house. But to me it is anything but standard. I moved into this house with my parents ten years ago. I can still remember that first day like it was yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the big front yard. To me it seemed like an ocean of grass — I couldn’t wait to dive in. The backyard was full of gnarled (扭曲的，粗糙的) and scary trees that talk on windy nights. But I grew to like them and the shadows they cast in my room. My father and I even built a small treehouse, where I often go to remember all the wonderful times we had before my father’s death.

This house is special — maybe only to me — but special nevertheless. It’s the little seemingly insignificant things that make this house so special to me: the ice-cold tile floors that make me tremble on midnight; the smell of my father’s pipe that still exists: the towering bookcases of my mother; the view outside my bedroom window.

This house holds too many memories, memories which would be lost if we gave it up.

There is a place     1     (name) Dahailin (Huge Sea Forest) in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang Province. Deep in Dahailin is a magic al place,     2     it snows from October until March. There lies a small snowy village. In the snow, the old wooden     3     (house) look like white mushrooms (蘑菇). Bright red lanterns stand out upon the village’s white-washed background. The villagers there enjoy     4     (live) a free and pleasant life.

When we think of green buildings, we tend to think of new ones — the kind of modern, solar-paneled masterpieces. But the US     1     (have) more than 100 million existing homes, and it would be incredibly wasteful to tear them all down.

An enormous amount of energy and     2     (resource) went into the construction of those houses. And it would take     3     average of 65 years for the reduced carbon emissions from a new energy-efficient home to make up for the resources       4     (lose) by destroying an old one. So in the broadest sense, the     5     (green) home is the one that has already been built. But at the same time, nearly half of US carbon emissions come from heating, cooling     6     powering our buildings. They can’t deal with climate change without dealing     7     existing buildings.

The oldest homes tend to be the least energy-efficient, mainly due to the tiny cracks and gaps that expand over time and let in more outside air.

    8     (fortune), there are a vast number of relatively simple changes     9     can green older homes. And efficiency upgrades can save more than just the earth; they can help protect property owners from     10     (rise) power costs.