牛津版（深圳·广州）七上Module 2 Unit 3 阅读素养培优练

How's it going? Are you busy with your study these days? I'm very glad to tell you that our school life is changing 1 this term.

First of all, our school asks us to "clean" our plates when we have our 2. Some of us used to 3 more than what we could eat. That was a big waste of food. Now we need to 4 the food we order. We can also stop wasting in some other 5. For example, we should 6 the lights when we leave the classroom. And our school has opened up some 7 for us to learn how to grow vegetables. The school gives each class a small garden and our class has decided (决定) to grow some tomatoes and beans in our 8 time. I think that'll be very interesting. Maybe I'll be able to 9 you some beans we've grown by ourselves next time! Besides, we have only two classes in the afternoon, so we have more 10 for after-school activities.

Please write back soon and tell me more about your school.

Yours,

Cindy

    We all live on Earth and enjoy our life every day, but you may not be aware of all the fun and interesting facts about the Earth.

    The Earth is not round. Do you think the Earth is round? Wrong! Well, it is not completely round.

    The Earth is really old. Grandma and Grandpa are old, but the Earth is much older. Scientists think that the Earth is about 4. 5 to 5 billion (十亿) years old.

    Much of the Earth is water. About 70% of the Earth is water, and only about 30% of the Earth is land.

    Earthquakes happen all the time. Do you know that the Earth has earthquakes all the time? But most of the time, the earthquakes are very small and humans cannot even feel them.

    Mount Qomolangma is the highest mountain. There are many mountains on Earth, but Mount Qomolangma is the highest mountain on Earth.

    There are so many interesting and fun facts about the Earth, Be sure to check out the sources and see how much you can learn about our awesome (令人惊叹的) planet—the Earth!

Tubbat and his wife, Tosontsagaan, are villagers in Inner Mongolia's Ejin Horo Banner (内蒙古), where there is the Badain Jaran Desert (巴丹吉林沙漠), one of China's four biggest deserts. They have spent many years fighting against the desert. They plant trees in the desert area to keep the sand and protect the environment.

Tubbat has planted more than 50,000 trees covering about the size of 133 football fields. "When I was a child, there were lakes, forests and animals. And it rained a lot," said Tubbat. " But sandstorms turned the green land into a desert. "

Tubbat started to plant trees in 2002 after he finished his job as a government official. His wife supported his decision. They did all this for free and even spent most of their own money. "Many people do not understand why I do this. They don't know the happiness I feel when I see the land turn green again," said Tubbat. "My wife's support gives me energy. Our children want us to live in a city. But this is not the right time. I want to grow more trees," he said.

Tubbat is happy that more people have begun to plant trees after hearing his story. Some have even visited him to learn how to plant trees in the desert. "Trees can bring rain and animals," he said. "I want to be a tree, to grow up in the desert and hold the sand until I die. "

Dear children, I need your help. I am a five year-old elephant. When I was a baby, I lived in the forest with my parents. But some people killed my mother, and they caught me. They wanted to use a car to take me to the circus first. But it was small, so they finally used a truck.

I had a big family. My mother was the head of the family. We traveled together, ate together, played together and slept together. When I was in the family, my mother and my sisters looked after me carefully. I played happily with all the other elephants. Now I miss them very much.

Many people enjoyed watching my wonderful tricks. To make them laugh, I had to work eight hours a day. I really don't like doing this. I never play any tricks in the forest. I don't enjoy any of the tricks. I played tricks because the people in the circus made me do so. And I heard some people wanted to see me because they love me. But most people were just thinking about themselves—what they want and what they like. Please think about me. I need to be free and to be with my family. Can you help me come back to my family?

    Earth Day is coming. Are there any activities on (protect) the Earth in your school? Well, in our school, we have such an activity (one) a month. For example, we want (plant) trees in the forest this month. We all know trees are very important our daily lives. They provide lots of (thing) for us. The forest is about two (kilometre) away, so we will walk there. There five groups of students and each group needs to plant thirty (tree). After that, we will take some (photo) there. I'm sure we will have nice day.

提示：①重要性：只有一个地球；②主要问题：污染、疾病、灾难；③措施：停止污染、保护大自然。

参考词汇：disaster n.灾难

注意：可适当发挥，以使行文连贯。开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Save our Earth

    We all live on Earth. It's our home.

    Let's take action.