学进去

   What does the word ecology mean? It was ___________ by Ernst Haeckel, a German biologist. He joined two Greek words: oikos, meaning “house”, and logie, meaning “the study of”. Together they mean “the study of the house”. The “house” Haeckel had in mind is our ___________, Earth. Earth is home for all living things—humans, animals, plants, and even tiny microbes.

To study a house is to learn how its residents（居民）use it. An ecologist is a scientist who studies the ___________ between organisms （生物）and their environment. The environment is an organism’s surroundings. It may ___________ water, gases, rocks, and temperature.

Ecologists also study the balance of using the environment while protecting it.

An ecologist once asked a boy ___________ he thought it meant to protect the environment.

The boy said, “You go into the forest and look for somebody who wants to cut down a tree. You take away his axe. You tell him about how ___________ trees are. You say they are good for natural beauty, saving soil, and giving shelter to birds and other animals. ”

“ Good answer,” said the ecologist, “___________ it may not be easy to find a woodcutter to talk to. Also, remember that sometimes it’s ___________ to cut down a tree. If we cut down too many trees, the forest will disappear. If we don’t cut down any trees, we won’t get any resources from the forest. We have to find the right ___________. ”

“I get it,” the boy said. “We need the forest’s ____________ for wood and paper or we might not have desks or notebooks for school.”

“Exactly—and school is a good place to learn about ecology,” added the ecologist. “Then you will know how to protect the natural environment.”