In the 13th century, Marco Polo saw many wonderful things in China. One of the things he discovered was money made of paper. People in the West did not have such kind of money until the 15th century. However the Chinese began to use it in the 7th century.

Paper was invented by a Chinese man called Cai Lun almost 2,000 years ago. But it was not made in Europe until the year 1100. Four hundred years later, a German discovered that he could make the best paper from trees. After that countries rich in forests, such as Canada, Sweden, America, Finland became the most important ones in paper making.

Paper can be used in many ways. The common uses include newspapers, magazines and books. But do you know that paper can be used for keeping warm? In Finland, the farmers wear paper boots to keep their feet warm in the snow. And even houses can be insulated (使绝缘) from heat or cold with paper.

However, we have to understand that paper still comes from trees now. If we keep on wasting so much paper, there will not be any trees left on the earth someday in the near future. Every day people throw away about 2,800 tons of paper in our city. It takes 17 trees to make one ton of paper. This means that we are cutting down nearly 48,000 trees every day. The fact is that it takes more than 10 years for a tree to grow.

So we must start saving paper right now. We can use both sides of every piece of paper. We can make useful things out of used paper. We can use china cups instead of paper ones. When shopping, we can use fewer paper bags and reuse them if we have some.

In short, we should keep a balance between using paper and protecting trees, and do it now before it is too late.

【小题1】When did people in the West have paper money?

A．In the 5th century.	B．In the 13th century.
C．In the 7th century.	D．In the 15th century.

【小题2】Why did America become an important country in paper making?

A．Because it had a large population.	B．Because it was a large country.
C．Because it had lots of forests.	D．Because it was a rich country.

【小题3】What is paper used for in Finland?

A．Keeping warm.	B．Making newspaper.
C．Reducing waste.	D．Making books.

【小题4】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Seventy trees are needed to make one ton of paper.

B．Marco Polo found money made of paper in China.

C．Used paper can not be used again.

D．It takes five years for a tree to grow.

【小题5】What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Save Paper	B．History of Making Paper
C．Information of Paper	D．The Use of Paper