Elephants might be the most well-known and well-loved animal in African wildlife. But conservation (保护) of the African elephant still faces special difficulties. While the elephant population is half of what it was 40 years ago, some areas of Africa have more elephants than populated areas can support. That's why AWF scientists are studying elephant behavior, protecting habitats and finding ways for humans to live peacefully with elephants in Africa.

    Years ago, overhunting and the ivory trade were the biggest threats to elephants' survival. Luckily, ivory bans (禁令), hunting rules and protected areas protect elephants from these dangers today.

    The 21st century brings a different challenge to elephant conservation—land-use. Elephants walk across borders and outside parks and other protected areas. So they often destroy crops, causing conflicts (冲突) between local farmers and these big animals.

    Successful conservation strategies (策略) must allow elephants to walk freely in their natural habitats while reducing conflicts between elephants and local people.

    AWF researchers are searching for a way to give both elephants and people the space they need. The AWF is collecting information on elephant habitats and behavior. The information they gather will help to develop the widest possible space for elephants.

    The AWF is helping elephants by protecting their habitats. And they also work with local famers to improve their life in order to encourage them to protect rather than destroy elephants.

    A young woman carrying a three-year-old child got on a bus. The conductor hurried to give her a warm welcome and then kindly asked the other passengers to make more room for the woman and her child. On seeing this, people were surprised and began to talk. "You know this conductor used to be very rude. Now suddenly he has changed his bad behavior, "said a middle-aged man.

    "Yes, he should be praised and we must write a letter to the company," said a second passenger. "That's right," another lady said, "I wish a newspaper reporter were here so that more people could learn from this conductor.”

    Just then a gentleman who looked like a teacher turned to the conductor and said, "Excuse me, but can I know your name, please? Your excellent service must be praised."

    Before he could open his mouth, the three-year-old child sitting on the young woman's lap interrupted, "I know his name. I call him Dad."

    When I was 8 years old, I decided to run away from home after a quarrel with my mother. With my suitcase(行李箱) packed and some sandwiches in a bag, I started for the front door.

    My mom asked where I was going. “I'm leaving home,” I said.

    “What's that you're carrying?” she asked.

    “Some clothes and food,” I replied.

    “If you want to run away, that's all right,” she said. “But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way.”

    I threw my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor and started for the door again.

    “Wait a minute,” Mom said. “You didn't have any clothes on when you arrived, and I want them back.”

    This infuriated me. I tore my clothes off — shoes, socks, underwear and all — and shouted, “Can I go now?”

    “Yes,” my mom answered, “but once you close that door, don't expect to come back.”

    I was so angry that I shut the door forcefully and stepped out of my home. Then I noticed down the street two neighbor girls walking toward our house. I was so shy that I saw the big spruce (云杉) tree in our yard and jumped under the low-hanging branches (树枝). A pile of dried-up brown needles (针状物) were beneath the tree, and you can't imagine the pain those sharp needles caused to my body.

    After I was sure the girls had passed by, I ran to the front door and knocked at it loudly.

    “It's Billy! Let me in!”

    The voice behind the door answered, “Billy doesn't live here anymore. He ran away from home.”

    Looking behind me to see if anyone else was coming down the street, I said, “Mom! I'm sorry. I'm still your son. Let me in!”

    The door opened and Mom's smiling face appeared. “Did you change your mind about running away?” she asked.

    “What's for supper?” I smiled back.

Tips for Cooking on a Tight Schedule

    From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don't cook more often：ability, money, and time.       Money is a topic I'll discuss another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule：

    ⒈Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I'm already hungry and there's nothing ready to eat .So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook？ Do you have the right materials already？      

    ⒉Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread？       It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

    ⒊       This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking is to try new things. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

    Hopefully that gives you a good start.       And don't let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!

A. Try new things.

B. Ability is easily improved.

C. Make three or four instead.

D. Understand your food better.

E. Cooking is a burden for many people.

F. Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.

G. A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.

    A little boy invited his mother to attend his school's first teacher-parent meeting. To the little boy's 1 , she said she would go. This 2be the first time that his classmates and teacher3his mother and he felt 4of her appearance. Although she was a beautiful woman, there was a severe scar（疤痕）that 5 nearly the entire right side of her face. The boy never wanted to 6why or how she got the scar.

    At the meeting, the people were7 by the kindness and natural beauty of his mother 8the scar, but the little boy was still embarrassed（尴尬）and 9 himself from everyone. He, however,10 a conversation between his mother and his teacher.

    The teacher asked 11,“How did you get the scar on your face?”

The mother replied,“12 my son was a baby, he was in a room that caught fire. Everyone was13 afraid to go in because the fire was14 ，so I went in. As I was running toward his bed, I saw a piece of wood coming down and I placed myself over him trying to protect him. I was knocked 15 but fortunately, a fireman came in and saved both of us.” She 16 the burned side of her face. “This scar will be 17 , but to this day, I have never18what I did.”

    At this point, the little boy came out running toward his mother with tears in his eyes. He held her in his arms and felt a great19 of the sacrifice（牺牲）that his mother had made for him. He held her hand 20for the rest of the day.

    Wang Wei and Wang Kun are brothers and sisters. They have dreamed of       (take) a great bike trip. It was Wang Wei        first had the idea to cycle along the Mekong River and finally they      (ride) bicycles to travel along the river,        source is in Qinghai Province. When it enters Southeast Asia, it travels slowly through hills and low valleys and the plains        rice grows. Despite the       (difficult), Wang Kun and Wang Wei were       (determination) to begin their journey at        altitude of more than 5,000 metres in Qinghai Province. During their journey, they enjoyed the        (continue) change of the weather. At last they reached Dali in Yunnan, where Dao Wei and Yu Hang joined them. The four of them went on       their great bike trip.

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。

    At 3:42 one of the greatest earthquake of the 20^th century shook Tangshan. It seemed as if the world was at the end. A huge crack that was eight kilometers long and thirty meters wider cut across houses, roads and canals .Steam bursts from holes in the ground. Hard hills of rock became rivers of dirt. In fifteen terrible seconds a large city lay in ruin. The suffering of the people was extremely. Two-thirds of them died and injured during the earthquake. The number of people killing or injured reached more than 400,000.After the earthquake, everywhere the survivors looked nearly everything was destroyed. Bricks covered the ground like red autumn leaves and sand was now filled the wells instead of water. People were shocking and they felt hopeless.

注意：可适当增加细节，使行文流畅。开头与结尾已经写好，不计入总词数。

参考词汇：理想的 ideal    有竞争力的 competitive

Why Should We Learn English

Dear friends,

    That's all. Thank you.