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(顽童)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 anything．Boy, I wish…”He hesitated(犹豫)．

　　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 neighbours 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(残疾)brother．He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car．

　　“There he 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 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 three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride．

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　　A couple of years ago, I received a ＄600 insurance dividend(保险股息)．Sitting at the kitchen table, my wife and I discussed what we might do with the money．I realize now that the refrigerator overheard(偷听)our talk．The very next day it went wrong．The repairman told us we needed a new unit．Cost：＄600．Not long after we got a refund(偿还款)from a shop, enough to pay for a trip in Mexico．“I've something to tell you,”I said to my wife, in a low voice．“How about the living room?”she suggested．I remembered the colour TV set is there．“No, not there．Let's go out．”I showed her the check as we stood on the driverway．We held each other excitedly and hardly noticed the rain．My car was parked within 5 meters．I didn't think anything about it at the time．As I started for the train the next day, the car began making strange sounds．Changing the engine cost about ＄1000．

　　Then I looked through our financial(财务的)records．I discovered that during the last ten years we spent all our“found money”(外财)replacing a hot water heater, a television and a stove．

　　I never mention money in front of our mechanical equipments．But if this article is published and I am paid for, the word processor(文字处理机)is going to go for sure．It'll know．

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　　The home computer industry has been growing rapidly in the United States for the last ten years．Computers used to be large, expensive machines that were very difficult to use．But scientists and technicians have been making them smaller and cheaper while at the same time they have been made easier to use．As a result, their popularity has been increasing as more people have been buying computers for their homes and businesses．Computers have been designed to store information and to compute problems that are difficult for human beings to work out．Some have voices that speak with the operators．Stores use computers to keep records of their inventories and to send bills to their customers．Offices use computers to copy letters, record business and keep in touch with other offices．People have been using computers in their homes to keep a record of the money they spend．

　　One important new use for computers is for entertainment．Many new games have been designed to be played on the computers．People of all ages have been playing these games．People also have been buying home computers to play computer games, watch movies and listen to concerts at home．They have become very popular indeed．

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　　Habits, whether good or bad, are gradually formed．When a person does a certain thing again, he is driven by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly, then a habit is formed．Once a habit is formed, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get rid of．It is therefore very important that we should pay great attention to the formation of habits．Children often form bad habits, some of which remain with them as long as they live．Older persons also form bad habits as long as they live, and sometimes become ruined(毁坏)by them．

　　There are other habits which, when formed in early life, are of great help．Many successful men say that much of their success has something to do with certain habits in early life, such as early rising, honesty and so on．

　　Among the habits which children should not form are laziness, lying, stealing and so on．These are all easily formed habits．Unfortunately older persons often form habits which should have been avoided(避免)．

　　We should keep from all these bad habits, and try to form such habits as will be good for ourselves and others．

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Dear editor,

　　You can find language pollution whenever you open a newspaper or turn on your TV set, listen to a popular song at various advertisements．Language pollution exists(存在)almost everywhere and can be seen in the following place：

　　1．Chinese characters are written in the complex from．Although simplified Chinese characters were accepted for using years ago, it seems that more and more people like Chinese characters written in the complex form．

　　2．Many goods are produced in China but carry foreign names, which sound strange and have no meaning at all．

　　3．Words and expressions being used have a bad meaning．“Ba”, which means bully in Chinese, is one example．Now there are a lot of goods, restaurants even, factories or films, with“Ba”in their names．

　　4．There are too many incorrect grammatical expressions．Some films have strange names and incorrect grammatical structures．“Ai ni mei shang liang”, which means“I love you without consulting”, is grammatically incorrect and this kind of expression is now becoming popular．Some language experts point out that language pollution must be done away with, which is an idea shared by myself and many others．

Fan Yongqin, Jiangsu

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阅读理解

　　In October, 1961, at Crowley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, an old, deaf gentleman named William E．Hoy stood up to throw the first ball of the World Series．Most people at Crowley Field on that day probably did not remember Hoy because he had retired(退休)from professional baseball 58 years earlier, in 1903．However, he had been an outstanding player and the deaf people still talk about him and his years in baseball．

　　William E．Hoy was born in Houckstown, Ohio, on May 23, 1862．He became deaf when he was two years old．He attended the Columbus Ohio School for the deaf．After graduation, he started playing baseball while working as a shoemaker．

　　Hoy began playing professional baseball in 1886 for Oshkosh(Wisconsin)of the Northwestern League．In 1888, he started as an outfielder(外场手)with the old Washington Senators．His small figure and speed made him an outstanding base runner．He was very good at stealing bases during his career．In the 1888 major league season, he stole 82 bases．He was also the Senators’ leading hitter in 1888．Hoy was clever; he threw right-handed and batted(击球)left-handed．On June 19,1889, he threw out three batters at the plate from his outfield position．The arm signals used by judges today to show balls and strikes began because of Hoy．The judge lifted his right arm to show that the pitch was a strike, and his left arm to signal that it was a ball．

　　For many years, people talked about Hoy’s last ball game in 1903．He was playing for Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast Winter League．It was a memorable game because Hoy made a wonderful play which won the game．It was a very foggy night and, therefore, very hard to see the ball．In the ninth inning(棒球的一局)，with two men out, Hoy managed to catch a fly ball to make the third out in spite of the fog．Los Angeles defeated their opposition and won the game．

　　After he retired, Hoy stayed busy．He ran a dairy farm near Cincinnati for 20 years．He also became a public speaker and traveled giving speeches．Until a few years before his death, he took 4-10 miles’ walks several mornings a week．On December 15, 1961, William Hoy died at the age of 99．

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阅读理解

　　Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that he planned to give away almost all of his fortune，largely to the cause of global health，during the course of his lifetime．With an estimated(估计)worth of more than $40 billion，according to Forbes，the project will be no small fate(功绩)for Gates．Having already provided the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with $24 billion to address global health issues，Gates said that finally his entire fortune will be put towards the cause except“a few percent left for the kids”．

　　So what has made the richest man in the world to channel his resources so heavily into one interest?Gates believes that “the equality of opportunity”in which Americans take such pride needs to extend to other nations around the world．Improving the health of the populations，he says，has proven to be an essential(基本的)method in helping poor countries to be financially successful．“National borders allow inequalities，”said Gates．“We all need to take a more global view，rather than just saying my country is doing well．We have to step up these health issues，knowing how few resources are going into them．”

　　Gates said that both his parents set up an example for him as a child．His father，William H．Gates，was the head of the local Planned Parenthood，and his mother，Mary，volunteered for the United Way．As he gathered his fortune，Gates knew he would finally want to give back as well，but he didn’t expect to devote himself whole-heartedly to one project until he was about 60．

　　However，Gates，47，began to question his ability to wait that long．“It seemed there was a real time urgency，”Gates said．“I started to think，how many lives could I save before then?”

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阅读理解

　　We learned something was happening when one of the ship’s officers came up to the chief engineer, who was sitting at the table, and spoke to him in a low voice．The chief engineer got up at once, and with a short excuse, left the dining-room．We thought that there had been an accident or that a fire had broken out．We soon noticed that the ship was slowing down, and then, with a sudden violent motion, it began to turn around, some of the passengers stopped eating and rushed up to the deck．Others crowded around the ship windows and we finally joined the watchers．

　　It turned out that one of the sailors had seen a man in the ocean some distance from the ship．The captain had then ordered the ship to be turned around at once．A lifeboat had already been lowered into the water．In it were four sailors, an officer and the ship’s doctor．About two hundred yards away, the man was seen holding on something that looked like a broken part of a small fishing boat．

　　The lifeboat finally reached the man, who was then pulled into the boat．Why, then, was the man floating on the ocean?He had missed the ship and decided to try to catch it in his fishing boat, and he made it!

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