In the past, man did not have to think about the protection of his environment. Today, things are different. The world has become too crowded. We are using up our natural resources too quickly, and at the same time we are polluting our environment with dangerous chemicals. If we continue like this, human life on earth will not survive (生存).
Everyone realizes today that more and more fish are caught because of modern fishing methods. We know that if too many trees are cut down, forests will disappear and nothing will grow on the land. Yet, we continue to use bigger and more powerful machines to cut down more and more trees.
We realize that if rivers are polluted with waste products from factories, we will die. However, in most countries waste products are still put into rivers or into the sea, and there are few laws to stop this.
We know, too, that if the population of the world continues to rise so fast, in a few years, there will not be enough food.
What can we do to solve these problems?
If we eat more vegetables and less meat, we will easily get more food. Land that is used to grow plants can feed five times more people than land where animals are kept. The world population will not rise so quickly if people use modern methods of birth control. Finally, if we educate people to think about the problems, we shall have a better and cleaner living place in the future.
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The importance of protecting the environment
Problems	◆ More fish are       . ◆ More trees are cut down. ◆ More waste       are put into rivers. ◆ More babies are born.
Causes	◆ The world has become too        . ◆ Modern methods make the situation worse.
Result	We human beings will not survive on the earth.
Solutions	◆ Eat more vegetables and less meat so that we can        more food. ◆ Use modern methods of       control so that the population will not grow too fast. ◆ Educate people so that the living place will be         and cleaner.