Giants and storm hit northern China
如果你生活在北方,你可曾目睹过沙尘暴袭来时天地昏黄、日月无光的景象呢？你可曾想过谁是造成这种灾害的罪魁祸首呢？其实就是我们人类自己。
On March 10, 2004, strong winds from Russia’s Siberia kicked up clouds of dust and sand. Thus northern China was hit by the season’s first major sandstorm. The thick yellow glooms lowed traffic and forced airports and schools to close, giving the sky a yellow appearance.

Northwestern Gansu Province was the worst affected area. One villager said, "There’s nothing to do but dig away the sand nonstop and wait to see what happens. Sometimes I dream of the sand falling around me faster than I can dig away. I worry that in real life, the sand will win."

His worry is understandable. Every year, about 110 million people suffer from desertification and another 2,500 sq km turns to desert each year. Few people think of China as a desert nation, but it is among the world’s largest. What causes the terrible sandstorm? The answer is obvious. Years of heavy farming and animal grazing in the northern China are the major reasons. Due to this, the land of vegetation that protects the soil is disappearing. The exposed earth becomes a dust bowl easily swept up by the strong winds.

As early as in the 4th century B.C., our ancestors began to notice the environmental problem. Chinese philosopher Mencius (孟子) once wrote about desertification and its human causes, including tree-cutting and overgrazing. Our former Premier Zhu Rongji also called it "an alarm for the entire nation". He called on the whole nation to plant trees to fight the growing desertification.

However, Chinese deserts are still on the move. Sandstorm threatens even Beijing. Beijing, which will host the 2008 Olympic Games, has told the world it will hold a "Green Olympics". The government has promised to make the capital into a "garden city"for the Games by creating belts of trees. So a great project named "Green Wall"is in process. The green wall, like the Great Wall, will block invasion of the enemy. However, the enemy are not foreign invaders, but sand.

小字典
gloom n.阴沉nonstop adv.不断地grazing n.放牧vegetation n.植被dust bowl 干旱尘暴区ancestor n.祖先invasion n.入侵

Open question:
As a student, what will you do for the "Green Olympics"?

重点短语透视
------------
【词条1】be caught in
【课文原句】"To have been caught in a sandstorm was a terrible experience,"...(Page 32)
【点拨】be caught in 此处意为"遭遇上"。如:
I was caught in the downpour on the way home from school.
【拓展】catch 构成的常见短语:
1. catch sb doing 偶然发觉某人做某事。如:
The teacher caught him sleeping in class.
2. catch up with 赶上。如:
You’ll have to work harder to catch up with the top students.
【词条2】take in,give out
【课文原句】Trees take in carbondioxide and give out oxygen. (Page 35)
【点拨1】take in 此处意为"吸收,吸入(空气、水等)"。如:
Take in a deep breath.
【拓展】take in的常见意思还有:
1. take in 把……拿进。如:
Please take your clothes in in case it rains.
2. take in 收容(留)某人住宿。如:
The teacher took in several students.
【点拨2】give out 此处意为"放出,散发出", 多指气味、热量等的释放。如:
The rotating machine gave out a lot of heat.
【拓展】give out的常见意思还有:
1. 发(书、报)等。如:
The teacher gave out the exam papers.
2. 用完,耗尽。如:
After five months, their food supply finally gave out.
【词条3】cut down,dig up
【课文原句】This is a process that happens when land becomes desert because of climate changes and because people cut down trees and dig up trees. (Page 32)
【点拨1】cut down此处意为"砍倒"。如:
They cut down many old trees and planted some young trees.
【拓展】cut down还有"削减,删减"的意思。如:
Your article is too long, so please cut it down to 500 words.
【点拨2】dig up此处意为"从地里挖出(某物)"。如:
We dug up the tree by its roots.
【拓展】dig up 还有"掘到,掘出"的意思。如:
An old vase was dug up here last month.

请根据首字母或汉语提示完成单词。
1. As we know, s_______ are strong, dry winds that carry s
生词表: