The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and TV, telephone and so on. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has also brought new problems. One of the biggest is pollution.

Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even hear it.

The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problem was not so serious because there were not so many people. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world. Air pollution is still the most serious. It’s bad to all living things in the world. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us become angry more easily.

Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city.

The pollution of SO--₂ is now the most dangerous problem of air pollution. It is caused by heavy traffic. It is sure that if there are fewer people driving, there will be less air pollution.

Peter is 15 years old. He likes playing computer games and listening to music. Once he spent the whole night playing computer games and listening to music. He was excited and shouted along with the MP3 player. The next day when he walked out of his room after listening to the MP3 player, he couldn’t hear anything about his mother’s words. His mother took him to the hospital at once. It was moderate(中度) hearing loss(耳聋).

Are you like Peter? If you are doing this now, stop it at once. A study shows that lots of young people enjoy listening to their MP3 players. And they always listen to them at high volume. There are about 100 million people listening to MP3 players in Europe(欧洲) every day. Most of them are young people. The study finds that if people listen to MP3 players at a very high volume for more than five hours a week, they may lose their hearing in five years.

High-volume music can keep people excited, so young people would like to keep the volume high. It’s too bad for their ears. So the MP3 player listeners should keep the players at safe volume, no higher than 60%~70% of full capacity(容量). If people near you can hear the sound of your MP3 player, it means you are keeping your MP3 at a very high volume. Turn it down, please!

Can plants eat people? Probably not, but there are many plants that eat meat. Some of them are big, and they can eat small animals. One famous meat-eating plant is the Venus flytrap (捕蝇草).

The Venus flytrap is a very strange plant. It grows in dry parts of the United States. Its leaves are like the pages of a book. They can open and close very quickly. Inside the leaves, there are three small hairs. If a fly touches one of the hairs, the leaves closes quickly. The fly cannot get out. In about half an hour, the leaves press the fly until it is dead. Then, the plant covers the fly. Slowly, the plant eats the fly.

Why do plants do it? Most plants get what they need from the sun, the air, and the ground. In some places, the ground is very poor. It doesn’t have all these important things, especially nitrogen (氮). So some plants eat meat to get what they need. Let’s hope that some of the bigger plants don’t get the same idea!

Many children think mobile phones are cool. They come in fun colors and you can talk with a friend anytime and anywhere. In the USA, more than 90 million people use mobile phones. Many of those people are children. For children, mobile phones are more than phone calls. They are fashionable.
       Most mobile phone users(使用者) don’t think about the health problems caused by mobile phones. Some scientists say that mobile phones give off radiation(辐射) that might be bad for users. One recent study shows that mobile phone radiation might raise a person’s chance of getting some kinds of cancer（癌症）. Other scientists say mobile phones are not bad for people’s health.

Scientists say that people can protect themselves from mobile phone radiation. One way is to use an earphone, or people can make shorter calls.

In the USA, who thinks mobile phones are more than phone calls?

Which of the following sentences is true?

Many of the mobile phone users in America are _____.

The underlined word “give off” in the passage means “________”.

To protect themselves from mobile phone radiation, people can ________________.

We spoke to three students from around the world about different national holidays. There are different customs for each festival.

Tan Xiaodong, 15, Hong Kong, China

“It’ll soon be Chinese New Year. Before it, we’ll clean the house and decorate（装饰）it for good luck. Every shop is going to close for a few days and we’ll go out a lot to celebrate in the streets. We might go and see the lion and dragon dances in the city center. I love this festival.”

Wendy, 16, Sydney, Australia

“Australia Day is on 26th January and it’s an important holiday here. We always have a Monday off, so we celebrate for three days. My parents and I go to the countryside for a picnic and friends always come over. Many people go to beach parties or street parties and there are lots of music and dancing. What fun!”

Amy, 14, New York, USA

“The first Thanksgiving Day was hundreds of years ago when Europeans who came to America thanked God for his help. It’s still a very important day for families to be together. This year we’re going to visit my grandparents and we’ll eat a delicious meal of turkey. Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November every year.”

In different countries around the world, most children must start schooling at early ages．And they become "adults" at different ages．Being an adult means having the right to do certain things，such as getting a part﹣time job，voting（投票），getting married，or getting a driving license. It also means accepting the responsibilities that go along with these rights.        

 In many countries，sixteen or eighteen is the age when a person becomes an adult．Young men and women at this age can get a part﹣time job，and begin to receive an income of their own．They no longer have to depend on their parents for money all the time．In Canada and America，sixteen is the age when one can get a driving license；in England，it is seventeen．

There are responsibilities that go along with both of these rights．Getting a part﹣time job means that you have to pay income tax．Driving a car demands that you follow certain rules like buying car insurance．

Voting is another right that young people enjoy when they become adults．In the United States，Canada and Britain，young people have the right to vote at the age of eighteen．With this right also comes responsibility．For young people to use their right to vote wisely，they must have an understanding of the needs of society，and they must also learn how politics work．

Do you want to do well in exams? Sometimes your knowledge is not enough, you also need good strategies. Here are some for you:

Before you answer the questions, if you feel a little nervous, take a few deep breaths to help you relax.

Always read the question carefully and make sure that you understand it. Read it a few times if possible.

Find out how much each question is worth or how many points you need.

If it asks to give one answer, only write one.

If there is a difficult question, don’t worry. Go on to the next question and come back to it if you have time later.

Try not to leave questions unanswered when you finish the test. Sometimes a guess may get your points.

When you finish, go back and check your answers. You will need to check your writing or spelling mistakes.

       a little nervous.