The Sydney Opera House is a very famous building in the world．It has become Sydney's best-known landmark and international symbol．The Opera House with a " sailing roof" was designed by a famous Danish architect(丹麦建筑大师),Utzon．The base for the building was started in 1959, years before the designs were finished．Utzon spent four years designing the Opera House．In 1962, the designs were finalized(定稿)and the construction began．In 1967, they started the decoration inside．It took 14 years in total to build the Opera House．Queen Elizabeth II officially opened it on October 20th, 1973．

　　The Sydney Opera House cost around ＄100 million and was paid for by the public．6,225 square meters of glass was used to build it．The Opera House includes 1,000 rooms．It is 185 meters long and 120 meters wide．The building's roof sections weigh about 15 tons．Each year, this fantastic building attracts 200,000 tourists to come for a visit or enjoy events in it．

　　The Opera House reaches out into the harbour(港湾)．It is amazing and unforgettable, offering people a strong sense of beauty．

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★生词提示：valid有效的

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　　On the first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't know．I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder(肩膀)．“Hi, girl! My name is Rose, I'm 87 years old．”

　　“Why are you in college at such a young age?” I asked jokingly．

　　“I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!”she replied．

　　Rose became a college symbol(象征)this year and she easily on her from the other students．

　　At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football party．I'll never forget what she taught us．

　　“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing．There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy and achieving success．You have to laugh and find humor(幽默)every day．You've got to have a dream．When you lose you dreams, you die!”she said．

　　“There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up．If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do anything, you will turn 20 years older．If I am 87 years old, and stay in bed for a year, and never do anything, I will turn 88．Anybody can grow older．But every minute counts for young men,” she added．

　　She ended her speech by singing The Song of Rose．She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live then out in our daily lives．

　　At the year's end, Rose finished the college education she had begun all those years ago．One week after graduation Rose did peacefully in her sleep．

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　　The designer of the Apple Computer, Steve Jobs, was not quite successful in his early years．He was not among the best students at school, and from time to time he got into trouble with either his schoolmates or his teachers．But he was full of new ideas, which few people saw the value of．Things remained the same when he went up to college and he dropped out halfway．

　　Steve Jobs worked first as a video game designer at Atari．He worked there for only a few months and then he set out to tour India．He hoped that the trip would give him more ideas and give him a change in life for the better．

　　After he returned from India, he begin to live on a farm in California．And then, in 1975, Steve Jobs set about making a new type of computer．Along with his friend Stephen Wozniak, he designed the Apple Computer in his bedroom and built it in his garage(车库)．He gave the name “Apple” because it reminded him of a happy summer he once on an orchard(果园)in Oregon．

　　His Apple Computer was so successful that Steve Jobs soon became worldwide famous．But unluckily, he died of illness in 2011．

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　　A small , white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree and it has been there for the past ten years or so．

　　It all began because my husband Justin hated Christmas－oh, not the true meaning of Christmas．Overspending was one thing, but compared to the difficult experience of choosing gifts－running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and a pair of gloves for Grandma…, spending money is nothing．I felt too tired to think of any special gifts．

　　Knowing Justin felt the same way, I decided one year not to buy the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so on．I reached for something special just for Justin．The inspiration came in an unusual way．

　　Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling(摔跤)at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored(赞助)by an inner-city church．These youngsters, dressed in such worn-out shoes that shoe strings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, while our boys were in their blue and gold uniforms and new wrestling shoes．

　　As the match began, I was shocked to see that the other team were wrestling without wearing helmets(头盔)to protect their ears．Well, our boys ended up defeating them．We took every weight class．

　　Justin, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said．“They have a lot potential(潜力), but losing like this could take the heart out of them．” Justin loved kids－all kids, and he knew them, having coached little league football and baseball．That's when the idea for his present came．That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought different kinds of wrestling helmets and shoes．I sent them to inner-city church without leaving my name．

　　On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Justin what I had done and that was his gift from me．His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and since then the envelope has become the highlight of our Christmas．

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　　One afternoon I toured an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting．I was looking forward to a quiet view of the art works．

　　A young couple viewing the paintings ahead of me chatted nonstop between themselves．I watched them a moment and decided the wife was doing all the talk．I admired the husband's patience for putting up with her continuous talk．Distracted by their noise, I moved on．

　　I met with them several times as I moved through the different rooms of art．Each time I heard her constant burst of words, I moved away quickly．

　　I was standing at the counter of the museum gift shop making a purchase when the couple came near to the exit．Before they left, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a white object．He extended it into a long stick and then tapped his way into the coatroom to get his wife's jacket．

　　“He's a brave man．”The clerk at the counter said,”Most of us would give up if wewere blinded at such a young age．During his recovery he made a promise that his life wouldn't change．So , as before, he and his wife come in whenever there's a new art show．”

　　“But what dose he get out of the art?”I asked,“He can't see．”

　　“Can't see? You're wrong．He sees a lot．More than you or I do．”The clerk said,“His wife describes each painting so he can see it in his head．”

　　I learned something about patience, courage and love that day．I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to a person without sight and the courage of a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life．And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away hand in hand．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。

　　Saturday morning was bright and fresh．There was a song in every heart, cheer on every face, and a spring in every step．

　　Tom appeared with a bucket of white paint in one hand and a brush in the other．His Aunt Polly told him to paint the fence around the garden．It was thirty yards long and nine feet high．He felt very depressed．

　　Then he had a wonderful idea．He picked up his brush and started to work．

　　Soon Ben came along the road．He was happily eating an apple．He stopped to look at Tom．Tom went on painting and pretended(假装)not to see Ben．

　　“I'm going swimming,” said Ben．“Do you want to go swimming, Tom? But I guess you can't．You have to stay and work, don't you?”

　　“Work?” Tom said．“This isn't work．I'm enjoying myself．Does a boy get a chance to paint a fence like this every day?”

　　Ben thought about this．Tom continued painting carefully．Sometimes he stopped, stood back to look at the fence like an artist, and then added a bit more paint in just the right place．Ben was watching Tom paint with great interest．He was getting more and more eager to have a try himself．

　　After a while, Ben asked Tom if he would let him paint a little．Tom thought about it, and said,

　　“No, Ben, I can't．You see．Aunt Polly wants it to be done well．Aunt Polly said that I must paint it with great care．”

　　“Oh, please, Tom,” begged Ben．“I can do it．I'll be really careful．Just let me try．I'll give you half of my apple．Well, I'll give you all of it!”

　　“Well, all right, Ben,” said Tom．“You must be very careful．”

　　He gave Ben his brush with worry on his face but joy in his heart．He sat down under the tree, and started to eat Ben's apple．All day, boys came to make fun of Tom, but they ended up staying to paint．When Ben got tired, Billy was waiting．He gave Tom a kite for a chance to paint．Then Johnny offered him twelve marbles, and so on．

　　By late afternoon Tom had gained all sorts of toys, and the fence had gained three coats of paint．Later Aunt Polly came to look at the painted fence．She was so pleased with Tom's work that she gave Tom a large cake!

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳答案。

　　1．Where are the rainforests?

　　Rainforests cover six per cent of the Earth's surface．There are rainforests in many parts of the world but the biggest forests are in South America, Africa and South East Asia．There aren't any rainforests in Europe or North America．

　　2．What's in the rainforests?

　　About 75％ of all the types of animals that we know come from rainforests．Thousands and thousands of animals live in rainforests．There are many very beautiful birds, insects and reptiles．Many of them live in the trees, more than 30 metres from the ground．There are also thousands of different plants－and lots of tall trees! It is always hot in a rainforest and

　　the ground is always wet．It is also dark．

　　3．Why are the rainforests important?

　　The rainforests are very important for us．We need them! The trees and other plants in the forest help to make the air that we breathe．They give us wood, rubber, fruits and many of our medicines．

　　4．________________

　　Unfortunately, in many places, the rainforests are in danger．For example, many years ago there was a large rainforest in Java．There were thousands of different plants and animals in the forest, but now there is nothing．People chopped down the trees because they wanted to grow rice．Many animals lived in the rainforest．Some of them went to other parts of Java but many of them disappeared－forever．The same thing is happening now in many other parts of the world．The rainforests are in danger．

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