阅读理解

　　Krakatau Volcano(克拉克托火山)is in a small island in Indonesia．It had been peaceful for about 200 years before it erupted(爆发)in 1883．

　　The first signs of the activity of the volcano appeared in May 1883, when fire and smoke could be seen at the top of the mountain．Great noise could be heard even in Jakarta a hundred miles away．Later the activity grew much greater．The peak(山顶)was covered with smoke and fire; the smoke at one time was seventeen miles high in the air．The lava－soft and hot rock－shot up into the air and roiled down the sides of the mountain．

　　The mouth of the volcano was not at the peak of the mountain but on its side, close to the sea．As it grew bigger and bigger with the eruption, the sea water got into it．When the sea water reached the lava inside the volcano, it made the upper part of the lava colder and harder．And this sealed off(封住)the rest of the lava below．As the inside of the lava could not break through the seal, the pressure(压力)built up until the mountain blew up．

　　The eruption of the volcano was followed by several earthquakes which brought about bad result．About 36 000 people were killed and many towns and villages near the sea were completely destroyed by the great waves which the earthquake caused．

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　　Good afternoon, and welcome to England．We hope that your visit here will be a pleasant one．Today, I would like to draw your attention to a few of our laws．

　　The first one is about drinking．Now, you may not buy alcohol in this country if you are under 18 years of age, nor may your friends buy it for you．

　　Secondly, noise．Enjoy yourselves by all means, but please don’t make unnecessary noise, particularly at night．We ask you to respect other people who may wish to be quiet．

　　Thirdly, crossing the road．Be careful．The traffic moves on the left side of the road in this country．Use pedestrian crossing and do not take any chances when crossing the road．My next point is about litter(throwing away waste material in a public place)．It is an offence to drop litter in the street．

　　When you have something to throw away, please put it in your pocket and take it home, or put it in a litter bin．Finally, as regards smoking, it is against the law to buy cigarettes or tobacco if you are under 16 years of age．

　　I’d like to finish by saying that if you require any sort of help or assistance, you should contact your local police station, who will be pleased to help you．

　　Now, are there any questions?

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阅读理解

　　A man named Smith was sitting on his roof during a flood, and the water was up to his feet．Before long a fellow in a canoe passed and shouted, “Can I give you a lift to higher ground?”

　　“No, thanks, ”said Smith．“I have faith in God and he will save me．”

　　Soon the water rose to Smith’s waist．At this point a motor boat pulled up and someone called out, “Can I give you a lift to higher ground?”

　　“No, thanks, I have faith in God and he will save me．”

　　Later a helicopter flew by, and Smith was now standing on the roof with water up to his neck．

“Grab the rope, ”shouted the pilot．“I’ll pull you up．”

　　“No, thanks, ”said Smith．“I have faith in God and he will save me．”But after hours of struggling with water, poor exhausted Smith drowned and went to his reward．As he arrived at the Pearly Gates, Smith met God and complained about this．“Tell me, God, ”he said, “I had such faith in you to save me and you let me drown．What happened?”

　　To which God replied, “What do you want from me?I sent you two boats and a helicopter．”

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　　Allen：I've never been a big fan of the bears, especially the vacation show．On my last trip to Disneyland(1999)we passed it by, because we didn't want to spend the time on something we didn't really enjoy．If we'd known it would be closed by our next visit, I'm sure we would have watched it one more time．I was just making the point that it wasn't until Disney announced the closing that this feeling suddenly sprang(弹跳)up for the Country Bear show at Disneyland．

　　But I think the idea of keeping some attractions(名胜古迹)open forever regardless of(不顾及)the number of visitors it gets is a mistake．We all have great memories of the Bears, but clearly very few kids today(or I should say families today)are making those same memories from this show．That may be a sad fact, but it's a fact．For whatever reason, the show doesn't pull in the numbers．Isn't it right to use the Country Bear space to bring in a more popular attraction so that more kids today can make those magic memories of an attraction THEY like?Otherwise aren't we just telling kids today that they“have to”make great memories of the Bears, when it's obvious that the kids themselves are not enjoying the Bears like we did．

　　Roger：I am very disappointed that they have decided to retire the Country Bear Play-house．I remember going to the show as a child, and still enjoyed it as a teenager, and now young adult．It is true that there aren't a lot of shows left at DL and with this one closing even less．Being at DL does require a lot of walking, and it is nice to have a few attractions that are a place to sit and enjoy a good show．I understand that DL has to develop, but there has to be some history to the Disneyland that Walt Disney first designed．There should be some parts of DL that just never go away, and this is one of them．By the time I have children it looks like there won't be any attractions that I can say I went to as a child at the rate they are going．

　　Now the Bears are leaving．What I want to say is：stop trying to compete with everyone!DL is the best, because of attractions like the Country Bears．If DL insists on destroying all of its magic to make way for the latest, well, then it might as well be just another theme(主题)park．

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　　Gestures are the silent language of every culture．We point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to say．It is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood．

　　In the US, people greet each other with a handshake in a formal discussion．The handshake must be firm．If the handshake is weak, it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness．Friends may place a hand on the other's arm or shoulder．Some people, usually women, greet each other with a hug(拥抱)．

　　Space is important to Americans．When two people talk to each other, they usually stand about 2.5 feet away and at an angle, so they are not facing each other directly．Americans get uncomfortable when a person stands too close．They will move back to have their space．If Americans touch another person by accident, they say,“Pardon me．”or“Excuse me．”

　　Americans like to look at the other in the eyes when they are talking．If you don't do so, it means you are bored, hiding something, or are not interested．When you stare at someone, however, it is not polite．

　　For Americans, thumbs-up means“yes”,“very good”or“well done”．Thumbs-down means the opposite．To call a waiter, one might put up one hand to head level or above．To show you want the check, make a movement with your hands as you are signing a piece of paper．It is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger(食指)．Americans shake their index fingers at children when they scold them and pat them on the head when they admire them．

　　Learning a culture's body language is sometimes confusing(困惑的)．If you don't know what to do, the safest thing to do is to smile．

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　　As she walked round the huge department store, Edith thought how difficult it was to choose a suitable Christmas present for her father．She wished that he was easy to please as her mother, who was always delighted with perfume(香味)．

　　Besides, shopping at this time of the year was a most disagreeable experience, people trod(踩，践踏)on your toes, poked(戳)you with their elbows(肘)and almost knocked you over in their haste(匆忙)to get to a bargain ahead of you．

　　To have a rest, Edith stopped in front of a counter where some attractive ties were on sale．“They are real silk．”the assistant assured her, trying to persuade her to buy one．“Worth double the price．”But Edith knew from past experience that her choice of ties hardly ever pleased her father．

　　She had to move on then quite by chance stopped where a small crowd of men had gathered round a counter．She found some pipes of good quality were on sale and the prices were very reasonable．Edith did not hesitate for long, although her father only smoked a pipe occasionally．She knew that this was a present which was sure to please him．

　　When she got home, with her small but well-chosen present hidden in her handbag, her parents were already at the table having supper．

　　Her mother was in an especially cheerful mood．“Your father has at last decided to give up smoking,”she said to her daughter．

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　　A serious threat(威胁)to farmers in many parts of the world is erosion．Erosion occurs if a large area of land is cleared of trees and is then badly treated by the farmers．The rain and winds may gradually wash away, or blow away, much of the topsoil．When thin happens, crops of wheat or corn become weaker and weaker until nothing grows well．If erosion continues, it will turn good land into a desert．

　　In the past, when erosion appeared, farmers sometimes moved to a new place to farm．Sometimes they could not move, but continued to try to grow food in the unhealthy soil．This caused them to sink into poverty．Soon some people realized that there was little rich, fertile(肥沃的)soil in the world, government began to try to stop erosion．

　　One of the first experiments to stop erosion began in the United States in 1933．The experiment was carried out in the area of the Tennessee River．Floods and bad farming in this area had destroyed land that had once been rich．As a result, most of the people living around the Tennessee River were very poor．The government built big dams across the river and stored the water for use during the dry season when there was no rain．The government workers also helped farmers to fertilize their soil and to learn new farming methods which could stop erosion．

　　At the beginning, the farmers were not interested．But soon, good healthy crops began to appear on the land where new methods were used．Ten years after the extremely prosperous(繁荣的)harvest, the great success of this experiment had led similar projects in the other parts of the world．

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阅读理解

　　Florence Nightingale was born in 1820, and died at the age of 90．When she was a young girl, hospitals were not as they are now, and nurses were sometimes very careless．The doctors, especially the army doctors, did not know enough about healing(治疗)wounds and curing diseases．A great many of the poor soldiers in the Crimean(克里米亚半岛的)War died of wounds and fever because the doctors were not skillful enough to cure them．

　　When Miss Nightingale was a little girl, she used to visit the poor people near her house and look after them when they were ill．

　　She wanted very much to be a nurse．But her father didn't like her to be a nurse．He had plenty of money and let her travel to many other countries．He hoped she would forget about wanting to be a nurse．

　　Wherever she went, she visited hospitals and worked in them．She learned all she could because she was very sad to hear about the poor English soldiers dying in the crowded hospitals．Then she was placed in charge of a small hospital in London．

　　She wrote to some very important people and at last one of her friends, who was the Minister of War, allowed her to go and look after the wounded soldiers．She picked the best nurses she could find and took them with her．They found the hospital crowded and dirty．There was not enough medicine．There were not enough bandages(绷带)．

　　There was not even enough food．Miss Nightingale and her nurses had to work very hard indeed．

　　She fell ill because she had worked too hard for a very long time．When she came back to England, however, she started to train nurses in all the hospitals．Soon all the big hospitals in England had their own training-schools for nurses．Hospitals became clean and cheerful places and nurses were much more skillful．Today Florence Nightingale is remembered by nurses all over the world as the founder of modern nursing and one of the founders of Red Cross．

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　　In 1956 CBS and the Los Angeles Turf Club(Santa Anita)asked for the lease(租出)on the Ocean Park Pier and they proposed to build a $ 10,000,000 sea theme park to compete with Disneyland．They closed the pier after Labor Day, hired the best amusement park designers and Hollywood special effects experts and began to design new attractions for the theme park．More than 80 special effects men, scenic designers and artists worked for more than a year on the project．

　　They like Disney, found corporate sponsors(赞助商)to share the expenses of some of the exhibits．To save money they rebuilt existing buildings and joined six of the old attractions into the design; the roller coaster merry-go-round, Toonerville Fun House, Glass House, twin diving bells, and Strat-o-liner ride．They called the new park Pacific Ocean Park．

　　The 28 acre park was decorated throughout in a sea-green and white art modern look．Its entrance set among fountains, sculptures(雕塑)and large sea horse and clam(蛤)shell decorated frieze(建筑物上端的带状装饰)，set the mood for the wonders within．The ticket booth in Neptune's Courtyard was set under a six legged concrete starfish(海星)covering．Plastic bubbles and sea horses decorated its top．All day admission was ninety cents for adults; less for children．This included entry to the park, Neptune's Kingdom, the Sea Circus and the Westinghouse Enchanted Forest exhibit．Other rides and attractions were at additional costs．

　　Opening day on Saturday July 28,1958 drew 20,000 curious people and dozens of Hollywood celebrities(名人)．Sunday's 37,262 paying customers brought traffic jams to the area．During the first six days it outperformed Disneyland in attracting customers．

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　　Long before any recorded human history in Yellowstone, a massive(巨大的)volcanic eruption spat out a great amount of ash that covered all of the western U．S．, much of the Midwest, northern Mexico and some areas of the eastern Pacific．The eruption lowered that of Mt．St．Helens in 1980 and left a hole 30 miles wide by 45 miles long．

　　That climactic event occurred about 640,000 years ago, and was one of many processes that shaped Yellowstone National Park－a region once said to be“the place where hell bubbles(起泡)up．”Geothermal(地热的)wonders, such as Old Faithful, are evidence of one of the world's largest active volcanoes．These exciting features puzzled the park's earliest visitors, and helped lead to the creation of the world's first national park．

　　Fur trappers'(捕获者)fantastic tales of cauldrons(大锅炉)of bubbling mud and roaring geysers(间歇泉)sending steaming feathers skyward made their way back east．Several expeditions were sent to look into it, opening the West to further exploration and exploitation．In 1871, Ferdinand Hayden led an expedition that included artist Thomas Moran and photographer William H．Jackson．They brought back images that helped convince(使信服)Congress that the area known as Yellowstone needed to be protected and preserved．

　　In 1872, President Ulysses S．Grant signed a law declaring that Yellowstone would forever be“devoted and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people．”

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