Protecting the Few
How we live our lives affects the environment. The environment is all the things around you. All across Earth, humans are___31___the environment in small and large ways. We cut down trees to build houses. We plow fields to___32___crops. We pour waste into rivers, lakes and oceans .We use larger nets and bigger boats to catch___33___numbers of fish. Activities like these affect plants and animals. They___34___affect things like the soil and water.
Sometimes our actions make the number of a___35___plant or animal get larger. For example, if you planted roses in your yard, there would be more roses in your area.
Our activities can also___36___to a smaller number of plants and animals. If a park were turned into an apartment building, what would happen to the plants and animals there? Well, they would___37___die or move to other___38___. There would be fewer plants and animals.
Pollution and other activities sometimes cause the number of a species（物种）to become so___39___that it cannot survive. A species that is in___40___of dying out is called an endangered（濒危的）species.