A green leaf is an interesting example in that while the green is reflected, the other wavelengths of light are used to power the chemical manufacturing process called photosynthesis. This is the source of all the food supply on earth. Sometimes light is not reflected or absorbed, but is transmitted through an object, a transparent material like glass or water or plastic. If a beam of light goes through another material at an angle you will notice if you look closely enough that the light is bent into a new path as it goes through. We say the light is refracted.
Different materials refract light differently.
Since air itself is a different material from the vacuum of space, when light rays coming from the sun enter the earth's atmosphere at a large angle, they are bent into the earth in a long, slow curve. This leads to the surprising fact that when you watch the sun set you are not seeing the sun where it really is at all. The fish is actually at point A, as you will discover if you try to touch it. Observant people have noticed the reflection and refraction of light for thousands of years, and it took only a small step before a few people began putting this knowledge to practical use. They made light do useful things by using a curved lens of glass, for instance, to bend the rays of light so that you can see an image of an object, be it star or insect, much larger than it appears to your unaided eye.