阅读理解

　　The Japanese view of aging is markedly different from that in the United States．In contrast to the aged in America, the elderly in Japan occupy a position of honor．In part, this respect for age is based on ancient social and religious traditions not readily adaptable to our culture．But there are specific Japanese programs and practices that we might as well as import．

　　Old people in the United States may not be given much respect because they often lack status．Strongly encouraged to leave their jobs at sixty－five, many then occupy the lower rungs of the economic ladder．In Japan the able－bodied continue to work or to help their families in the home．In addition, they are guaranteed a minimum income, receive free annual health examinations, and are entitled to completely free medical care after age seventy．We could benefit by following Japan's lead here, especially in providing more job opportunities for the aged．

　　We Americans might also profit by copying the Japanese example of fully integrating(综合)the elderly in our daily lives．In Japan 75 percent of the old live with their children, as opposed to only 25 percent in the United States．For those who do live alone, the Japanese have established programs to assure that they receive daily visits or calls．To encourage the active involvement of all older citizens in social activities, the government subsidizes Elders Clubs and sports programs．Through these programs the aged supply each other with mutual support and gain a sense of self－pride．

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阅读理解

　　Several years ago, my parents, my wife, my son and I ate at one of those restaurants where the menu is written on a blackboard．After a wonderful dinner, the waiter set the check in the middle of the table．That's when it happened：my father did not reach for the check．

　　Conversation continued．Finally I realized that I should pick up check!After hundreds of restaurant meals with my parents, after a lifetime of thinking of my father as the one with dollars, it had all changed．I reached for the check, and my view of myself suddenly changed．I was an adult．I was no longer a kid(child)．

　　Some people mark off(区分)their lives in years, I measure mine in small events．I didn't become a young man at a particular age, like 16, but rather when a kid who wandered in the streets called me“mister．”These events in my life are called“milestones(里程碑)”．

　　There have been other milestones．The cops(policemen)of my youth always seemed big, even huge, and of course they were older than I was．Then one day they were suddenly neither．The day came when I suddenly realized that all the football players in the game I was watching were younger than I was．They were just big kids．With that milestone gone was the dream that someday, maybe I, too, could be a football player．Without ever having reached the hill, I was over it．

　　I never thought that I would fall asleep in front of the TV set as my father did．Now it's what I do best．I never thought that I would go to the beach and not swim, yet I spent all of August at the shore and never once went into the ocean．I never thought that I would appreciate opera, but now the combination of voice and orchestra(乐队)attract me．I never thought that I would prefer to stay home in the evenings, but now I find myself passing up parties．I used to think that people who watched birds were strange, but this summer I found myself watching them, and maybe I'll get a book on the subject．I feel a strong desire for a religious belief that I never thought I'd want, feel close to my ancestors(祖先)long gone, and echo my father in arguments with my son．I'll still lose…．

　　One day I bought a house．One day－What a day!－I became a father, and not too long after that I picked up the check for my own father．I thought then it was a milestone for me．One day, when I was a little older, I realized it was one for him too, another milestone．

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阅读理解

　　The United States has been criticized for its treatment of its elderly citizens．Although in many other countries the elderly usually live with their children's families, many older Americans live alone, without the close companionship of their children．This situation is sometimes blamed on the“selfishness”of the younger generation, but a closer look shows that many of the elderly prefer to maintain their independent lives．

　　Research on the situation of the elderly in America has shown that while grandparents are delighted to be visited periodically by their children and grandchildren．They prefer to continue living in the surroundings that they are familiar with．This suggests that children should permit their parents to live alone if they wish to, but should encourage them to maintain close ties to the rest of the family．

　　Another surprising result of research on the elderly in the United States has been the very positive influence which pets have been found to have on the elderly people that they live with．It has been shown that elderly people who care for small pets, such as cats and dogs, live longer, are healthier, and have better attitudes towards their lives than similar elderly people without these companions．

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阅读理解

　　“Let's go down one more, push your enter key…”says a volunteer helping senior citizens work a web session on the Internet．

　　David Lansdale had found a way to light up the lives of the elderly．He gets them wired to the Internet．“If you hit your enter key, it will bring up this particular e－mail…”

　　Pauline Allen is one of those who has started using the Internet,“I thought I was through with life, I was ready for a rocking chair, because I was 86 years old．And I haven't found the rocking chair yet．”“You found the keyboard?”asks the reporter．“That's right, I found the keyboard．”

　　The average age for Lansdale's students is around 68．All are in nursing or assisted care homes．He used family relationships to introduce them to the World Wide Web．

　　David Lansdale says,“Here they are in California, the family was back in New York, the opportunity to connect, to cross the time and space, was incredibly precious opportunity to them．”

　　“I hear you are so beautiful．”Lillian she writes an e－mail to a newborn great－granddaughter．Working with one another, the senior learn as a group．They learn to master the Internet and to overcome what Lansdale calls the maladies of the institutionalized：loneliness, helplessness, boredom, and loss of memory．

　　Mary Harvey says,“Bingo just doesn't interest me．But this does, believe me, this does．”

　　Ninety－four－year old Ruth Hyman is a star pupil and instructor．She says,“When I send a letter to my grandchildren, and great grandchildren, they hang it up in their offices, just like I used to hang their drawings on my refrigerator．Ha, ha．”

　　David Lansdale says,“There's a collective benefit．There is an element of treatment．Remember we started as a support group．”

　　Dixon Moorehouse says,“I just wish I was 15 years old and getting to learn all this．”The senior call their weekly meetings Monday Night Live．And many say the meetings have given them new life．

　　Ruth Hyman says,“Three years ago, they told me I wasn't going to live．But I showed them, and got work, and I've worked ever since．”

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　　What makes a person a scientist?Does he have ways or tools of learning that are different from those of others?The answer is“no”．It isn't the tools a scientist uses but how he uses these tools which makes him a scientist．You will probably agree that knowing how to use a power is important to a carpenter(木匠)．You will probably agree, too, that knowing how to investigate(调查)，how to discover information, is important to everyone．The scientist, however, goes one step further; he must be sure that he has a reasonable answer to his questions and that his answer he gets to many questions is into a large set of ideas about how the world works．

　　The scientist's knowledge must be exact．There's no room for half right or right just half the time．He must be as nearly right as the conditions permit．What works under one set of conditions at one time must work under the same conditions at other times．If the conditions are different, any changes the scientist observes in a demonstration(实证)must be explained by the changes in the conditions．This is one reason why investigations are important in science．Albert Einstein, who developed the Theory of Relativity, arrived at this theory through mathematics．The accuracy(正确性) of his mathematics was later tested through investigation．Einstein's ideas were proved to be correct．A scientist uses many tools for measurements．Then the measurements are used to make mathematical calculations(计算)that may test his investigations．

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　　A young man named Charles Lyell had different ideas．He wrote a book about them called Principles of Geology．The earth, according to Lyell, was not only thousands of years old, it was millions of years old．As to(关于)the common belief that changes in the earth's surface happen suddenly because of a single earthquake or flood, he said that this might happen once in a while, but usually these changes took place very slowly．He believed that the surface of the earth had been changing from the beginning of time．The changes, he said, were caused by the long-term action of the winds and seas, and by forces such as volcanoes breaking out under the earth's surface．Once in a great while he thought, a mountain might appear for the first time after an earthquake．But usually mountains would rise slowly and steadily．Professor Henslow was interested in Lyell's ideas, but he did not actually believe them．Charles Darwin could not make up his mind about them．But they set him thinking along lines which would later change the beliefs of thoughtful people all over the world．

　　At Cambridge, Charles Darwin studied just enough to pass the examination, and received his college degree in 1831．During this time, he had become more and more interested in geology．At the end of the school year, he went to North Wales with one of his teachers to examine the rock formations(构成)and to search for fossils(化石)．Fossils are the remains of ancient living things．They are usually found fixed in rocks in the earth's crust(地壳)．Fossils may be of animals, such as fish, insects, birds, or humans．They may be of plants from tiny leaves to huge trees．When a living creature dies, it usually decays(腐烂)or is eaten by animals．However, if it sinks into a riverbed or is quickly covered by the blowing sands of a desert storm, the bones are kept up in the earth．Over many years the soft inner parts of a bone disappear, leaving the inside hollow．Water containing mineral enters into the hollow．Slowly the mineral hardens and makes the bone hard and heavy, like stone．

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阅读理解

　　The plan：turn Mars into a blue world with streams and green fields, and then fill it with creatures(生物)from the earth．

　　This idea may sound like something from a science fiction(科幻小说)，but it is actually being taken seriously by many researchers．This suggested future for the “red planet” will be the main topic for discussion at an international conference hosted by NASA(美国宇航局)this week．Leading researchers as well as science fiction writers will attend the event．It comes as NASA is preparing a multibillion-dollar Mars research programme．

　　“Turning Mars into a little earth has long been a topic in science fiction, ” said Dr Michael Meyer, NASA's senior scientist for astrobiology(太空生物学)．“Now, with scientists exploring the reality, we can ask what the real possibilities of changing Mars are．”

　　Most scientists agree that Mars could be turned into a little earth, although much time and money would be needed to achieve this goal．

　　“We are destroying our own world at an unbelievable speed and now we are talking about ruining another planet, ”said Paul Morin, of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, UK．

　　Over the past months, scientists have become increasingly confident they will find Martian life forms．Europe and America's robot explorers have found proof that water, mixed with soil, exists in large amounts on the planet．

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　　Prediction(预言)has always been a serious business．In the old days, astrologers (星占学家)were employed(从事于)to predict the future．Today futurologists(未来学家)make scientificall based predictions which are taken seriously．Basically, the methods used in the past and those used today are similar．You look at what is happening in the present and then project(设想)into the future．

　　Take something like the motor-car, for example．It's obviously wasteful, noisy, dangerous, etc．So perhaps in the future it will have been replaced by something better．Projecting in the same way we can say that the common cold will have been cured; pollution will be got rid of; Antarctica will have been developed; money will have been replaced by credit cards; floating cities will have been built; the Jupiter(木星)will have been visited ;a cure for cancer will have been discovered．The world's mineral supplies will have been used up, and so on．But only one thing is really certain：most of us will have been completely forgotten!

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　　Among the four skills in learning English, which of these is the “Odd-Man-Out”?The answer is speaking．The other three you can do alone on your own．But you can't really speak alone!Speaking to yourself can be “dangerous” because men in white coats may come and take you away!

　　Where can you find people to speak English?And how can you practise speaking when you are alone?

　　At school if you pay to go to a language school, you should use the chance to speak．If your teacher asks you to speak in pairs or groups with other students, try to say as much as possible．Don't worry about your mistakes．Just speak!

　　Conversation Clubs　Many cities around the world have conversation clubs where people can exchange one language for another．Look in your local newspaper to find a conversation club near you．They are usually free although some may charge a small entrance fee．

　　Shopping　Even if you don't want to buy anything, you can ask questions about products that interest you in a shop．“How much does this cost?” “Can I pay by cheque?” Often you can start a real conversation－and it costs you nothing!

　　Cafe and Bars　There are often American, Britain, Irish and Australian bars in many large cities．If you can find one, you'll probably meet many people speaking English as a first or second language．

　　Language is all around you　Everywhere you go, you find language．Shop names, street names, advertisements, notices, and car numbers…．When you walk down the street, practise reading the words and numbers that you see．Say them to yourself．It's not exactly a conversation, but it will help you to “think” in English．But don't speak too loud!

　　Songs and Video　Repeat the words of an English-language song singing with the music until it becomes automatic．It's good practice for your memory and for the mouth muscles that you need for English．

　　Above all, speak as much as possible!Make as many mistakes as possible!When you know that you have made a mistake, you know that you have made progress!

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阅读理解

　　Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was born at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16,1775, and died on July 18,1817．She began writing early in life, although the prejudices(偏见)of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously (匿名)．

　　But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath's many famous local people and visitors．She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806, Bath was her home．Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set in Bath．The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels．Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen's Bath can be enhanced(增强)by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street．Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen's time and the importance of Bath in her life and work．

　　The Center has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society．After your visit to the Center, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts．Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy．

　　You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen's Bath, which is a great way to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath．The tour lasts about one and a half hours．The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped．

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