阅读理解

　　I have a friend called Mark．Last Sunday it was a beautiful day．When it got too hot, Mark rolled up his sleeves．I was very surprised to see that he had a tattoo!Then he told me he has lots of tattoos．He has tattoos on his arms, legs, chest and back．So of course I asked him lots of questions about the tattoos!

　　“It was ten years ago,” he said, “I remember I was on an island in the middle of the sea．I chose a dolphin tattoo because I wanted to have something about the sea．”

　　“I liked the idea of doing more designs about the sea．So after the dolphin I had an octopus, and then a starfish．These are on my left leg．Then, over my left arm I had lots of fish swimming together．They took a long time to do．I also have a crab and a lobster too!”

　　“Most recently I got a mermaid．It was finished two weeks ago．I saw a painting of a beautiful mermaid in a museum．I took a photograph and then decided to get a tattoo．I made the design a little simpler．”

　　“People ask me if getting a tattoo hurts．It depends．If you feel relaxed then it’s OK．But if you’re tired or nervous then you feel it more．It also depends where on the body the tattoo is done．”

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　　A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car, Paul?” he asked．

　　Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas．” The boy was surprised．“You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing?Boy, I wish…”He hesitated．

　　Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that．But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly．

　　“I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that．” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”

　　“Oh yes, I’d love that．”

　　After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Paul, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

　　Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car．But Paul was wrong again．“Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked．

　　He ran up to the steps．Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast．He was carrying his little crippled brother．He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car．

　　“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs．His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent．And some day I’m going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas window that I’ve been trying to tell you about．”

　　Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car．The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride．

注：urchin顽童　hesitate犹豫　neighbour邻居　crippled残疾　cent美分

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　　“ Cool ” is a word with many meanings．Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little bit cold．As the world has changed, the word has had many different meanings．

　　“ Cool ” can be used to express feelings of interest in almost anything．

　　When you see a famous car in the street, maybe you will say, “It’s cool．” You may think, “He’s so cool, ”when you see your favourite footballer．

　　We all maximize(扩大)the meaning of “cool”．You can use it instead of many words such as “ new ”or “ surprising ”．Here’s an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used．A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall (瀑布)they had visited．On one student’s paper was just the one sentence, “It’s so cool．” Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt．

　　But the story also shows a scarcity(缺乏)of words．Without “cool”, some people have no words to show the same meaning．So it is quite important to keep some credibility(可信性)．Can you think of many other words that make your life as colourful as the word “cool”?I can．And I think they are also very cool．

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阅读理解

　　The students were having their chemistry(化学)class．Miss Li was telling the children what water was like．After that, she asked her students, “What’s water?” No one spoke for a few minutes．Miss Li asked again, “Why don’t you answer my question?Didn’t I tell you what water is like?”

　　Just then a boy put up his hand and said, “Miss Li, you told us that water has no colour and no smell．But where to find such kind of water?The water in the river behind my house is always black and it has a bad smell．” Most of the children agreed with him．

　　“I’m sorry, children”, said the teacher, “Our water is getting dirtier and dirtier．That’s a problem．”

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　　It is a very common thing for a person to have a good friend．My good friend is Diana．She is a rich and proud girl．She often thinks that she is too good for anyone, so nobody wants to be her friend．

　　One day after school, I was waiting for Diana when Vivien came up to me．She gave me a biscuit．I accepted it．We talked and joked, and from then on, I began to spend more time with Vivien than with Diana．I felt a little uneasy．

　　After a few days, I went to see Diana for some snacks when Vivien came and sat with me．She offered me a sandwich．She also offered one to Diana, but Diana refused it．She walked away．I was angry with Diana for being so rude and thoughtless．

　　“Never mind,” Vivien said, “I’m used to it．”

　　After school, I tried to catch up with Diana．While walking home, I tried to correct her attitude, but she would not listen to me．She said, “Go and join your ‘dear’ Vivien．I know you make new friends and forget the old ones．”

　　For the next few weeks, we did not talk to each other．Then, one day, Diana came to Vivien and me, saying, “I’m really sorry about what I did．I’m a spoiled(宠坏的)girl, but I also need good friends just like you．Would you please forgive(原谅) me?” Vivien and I looked at each other and smiled．From then on, Diana, Vivien and I have been best friends．

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阅读理解

　　Why do we need to throw less away?There are two reasons．One is that some resources(资源)are nonrenewable(不可再生的)That means there is only a certain amount of that resource in the world．One example of this is oil．When we use up all the oil in the world, there will be no more．

　　There is another reason for throwing less away．All of our trash has to be put somewhere．Often, it is put into garbage dumps(垃圾场)．Much of that trash will be there for hundreds of years．The dumps will be filled up with all this trash．

　　There are three ways to cut down on trash．

　　One way is to recycle．When you recycle something, it means it is made into another shape and used again．Old newspaper may become paper bags．A glass jar can be melted(熔化)and made into a bottle．

　　Another way to cut down on trash is to reuse things．You can wash and use again a bottle that can hold mustard(芥末酱)or something else．

　　The third way to cut down on trash is to reduce the amount of trash you make, stop buying thing that you don’t need in the first place．That reduce the amount of the earth’s resources that you use．

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　　I was sleeping soundly last night when I was awakened by someone’s groans(呻吟)．I listened, and heard it was from Sam, a student from Africa．I really wanted to go on sleeping, as I had insomnia(失眠)and had just fallen asleep, but I couldn’t because Sam groaned louder and louder, showing he was seriously ill．

　　At that time, Robbie, a student from China, also got up to help．We found some pills, got some water, and helped him sit up to take them, hoping this would make his pain go down a little and get over the difficult time．If only daytime would come soon, everything would become easier．

　　Things went contrary(相反)to our wishes．Sam’s condition developed from bad to worse．We telephoned the emergency service, and in no time an ambulance stopped in front of our gate．We helped the medical(医疗)workers carry Sam to the vehicle, and then both Robbie and I got in and took Sam to the hospital．

　　We helped him go through many medical examinations．After all kinds of tests, we were told that the final diagnosis(诊断)was appendicitis(盲肠炎)．Luckily, Sam didn’t need an operation because we brought him to the hospital in time．He got timely treatment．

　　After Sam felt much better, we rushed back to prepare ourselves for the class．We were a little tired, but we had certainly done something good, something right．

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　　From the time we were babies we have been taught manners．We are taught how to hold a knife and fork and not to talk with our mouths full．We are taught how to shake hands and when to stand and when to sit and the way to introduce people．

　　Sometimes good manners in one place are very bad manners somewhere else．Almost everywhere eating together means that people are very friendly to each other．But in parts of Polynesia(波利尼西亚)it is bad manners to be seen eating beside each other．So they politely turn their backs to each other when they are taking food．

　　Some East Africans spit four times as a kind of blessing(祝福)．They do it to show that they want a sick person to get well, or to bless a new-born baby．In most other places, spitting means something completely different．It usually shows an unhealthy habit．In many countries, it may mean that you hate someone．

　　When we go to visit someone we say “ Hello!” Or “ How are you?” or things like that．

　　But if you are visiting an East African village, everyone will be very careful not to pay attention to you, The polite thing there will be for you to go quietly, without speaking to anyone, and sit beside your friend．You should wait until he has finished what he is doing and then he will begin talking to you．

　　In a village in Arab, a visitor will walk behind all the tents until he gets to the one he wants to visit．If he passes in front, he will be invited into each tent and asked to eat．It is rude to refuse．

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阅读理解

　　Henry was a carpenter(木匠)of our village．Once I asked him to make a dining table for my wife．He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows．When I arrived home that evening, Henry was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for his work．

　　My wife said to me, quietly, “ That’s his ninth cup of tea today．” But she said loudly, “It’s a beautiful table, dear, isn’t it?”

　　“I won’t decide about that until I see that bill．” I said．

　　Henry laughed and gave me his bill for the work．It said：

　　BILL One dining table June 10, 1995 Cost of wood 17.00 Paint(油漆)1.50 Work, 8 hours(1 an hour)8.00 Total(总计)36.50．

　　When I was looking at the bill, Henry said, “it’s been a fine day, hasn’t it?Quite sunny．”

　　“Yes, ” I said．“I’m glad it is only the 10th of June．”

　　“Me too, ”, said Henry．“You wait－it’ll be a bit hotter by the end of the month．”

　　“Yes．Hotter－and more expensive．Dining tables will be 20 more expensive on June 30^th, won’t they, Henry?”

　　Henry looked hard at me for half a minute．There was a little smile in his two blue eyes．I gave his bill back to him．

　　“If it isn’t too much trouble, Henry, ” I said, “ Please add it up again．You can forget the date．”

　　I paid him 26.50 and he was happy to get it．

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