The Great Hanshin-Awaji(阪神)Earthquake at 5∶46 a.m.on January 17, 1995, Kobe(神户)and its surrounding areas suffered a killer earthquake．Only two other events in this century, the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 and World War Ⅱcaused more deaths in Japan than this earthquake．The epicenter(震源)was at the northern tip of Awaji Island．The quake registered(记录)7.2 on the Richter(里氏震级)．The greatest amount of damage was seen in the Japanese port city of Kobe, and at final count 6348 people had lost their lives．

　　The people of the area were quite unprepared for such a big earthquake．Experts had said that most modern buildings would be quite safe even from an earthquake as strong as the Great Kanto Earthquake．This was clearly not true．Television cameras showed the many buildings that had fallen over on its side looking as if it had been pushed over by a giant(巨人)．

　　Thousands of people were homeless．However, some of the finest human qualities were seen in the time of crises(moment of great danger)．People formed long lines for water and other supplies．They shared what they had with one another．People from young to old stopped to talk to each other and give a few encouraging words．The people living in the area knew that their old life had been destroyed．They believe they can rebuild their life, and a better one．

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　　This is a time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents．Can you find a little extra to give?On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help．

　　Littleton Children’s Home

　　We DON’t want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes．IN GOOD CONDITION would be welcome．

　　Also we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests．You have so much－will you share it?

　　Phone Sister Thomas on 55671

　　Children’s Hospice

　　We look after a small number of very sick children．This important work needs skill and love．We cannot continue without gifts or money to pay for nursing staff．We also need storybooks and toys suitable for quiet games．

　　Please contact The Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road．

　　Street Food

　　In the winter, it’s no fun being homeless．It’s even worse if you’re hungry．We give hot food to at least fifty people every night．It’s hard work, but necessary．Can you come and help?If not, can you find a little money?We used a very old kitchen, and we need some new saucepans．Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed．

　　Contact Street Food, C10 Mare’s House, Elming Way．Littleton Phone 27713

　　Littleton Youth Club

　　Have you got an unwanted chair?A record player?A pot of paint?

　　Because we can use them!

　　We want to get to work on our meeting room!

　　Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us．

　　Thank you．

　　The Night Shelter

　　We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go．We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street．Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money．Can you let us have a few pounds?Any amount, however small, will be such a help．

　　Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton．Please make check payable to night shelter．

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Reading comprehension(阅读理解)

　　Sad stories are not very nice to read about, but if we think and talk about them, we may be able to prevent more accidents．

　　How can fire or hot things be a danger in the house?Matches, of course, are always dangerous in the hands of young children．A little fire on waste land can easily get out of control．A wind comes, sparks(火花)are blown on to the roof of a house, and the whole building may be burnt to the ground before you can even call the fire brigade．Kerosene(煤油)lamps, too, can be very dangerous．Quite recently there was a bad accident in a village house．The mosquito-net(蚊帐)over a baby’s bed was blown against a lamp and caught fire．The bed-clothes and even the clothes of the baby were burnt before the fire was discovered．

　　Long grass rubbish round a house can also lead to a big fire, as most people know．However, not everybody is careful with such things as paper bags and toys; these burn up in a flash if you hold them near a fire．

　　Young children often reach up to a table to take a bottle down by its handle．If the bottle or pot is full of boiling water, you can guess what will happen．Similarly, when a baby’s bath is prepared, cold water should be put in first．If any hot water has to be used, this should be put into the bath after the cold water and not before it．

　　Many fireworks(烟花)can lead to blindness or other injuries, especially those which are pushed into bamboo sticks．Wooden spears or swords should be used only by children with sense enough not to injure other people．

　　Very young children often have to be watched carefully．They put everything they find into their mouths to see whether it can be eaten, or sucked!Medicines have to be put out of their reach．A pill which might be harmless for an adult can sometimes kill a baby．Older children have to be careful when drinking from a bottle．Some of them walk about as they drink．Tip up the bottle to get the last drop out, then fall over something on the ground．If they are unlucky, they fall in such a way that the broken glass makes a horrible wound in the face or neck．

　　This is not a complete list of the dangers in and near a house, but it is enough to remind you to be careful．

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　　In a small town far away, a man stole some money from a house．The police began to look for the thief, and they found him in two days．They brought him to the police station and found some of the money in his coat．

　　There was a new policeman at the police station, and they wanted to give him some work．

　　“Take this thief to the city,”said one of them．“You must go there by train, and it goes very soon．Don’t be late．”

　　The policeman and the thief set out along the road to the station．On their way they came to a shop．In this shop bread was sold．

　　“We have no food, and we must eat something in the train”．said the thief,“It’s a long way to the city and it will take a long time．I’ll go into this shop and buy some bread．Then you and I can eat it in the train．Wait here for me．”

　　The policeman was glad．“I’ll have some food in the train,”he thought．“Be quick,”he said to the thief．“We haven’t much time．”

　　The thief went into the shop, and the policeman waited in the street for a long time．But then he began to think about the train, and at last he went into the shop．

　　“Where’s that man who came in here to buy some bread?”asked the policeman．

　　“Oh, he went out of the back door,”said the shopkeeper．

　　The policeman ran out of the back door, but he could not see the thief．He ran down the road but he could not find him．So he had to go back to the police station and tell the others about it．They were very angry with him and he was very unhappy．

　　All the police of the town began to look for the thief again, and they soon caught him．They brought him back to the police station and called the same policeman．

　　“Now,”said one of them angrily,“take him to the city, and don’t lose him again!”

　　The policeman and the thief set out again along the same road to the station, and they came to the same shop．

　　“Wait here,”said the thief．“I want to go into that shop and buy some bread for our journey．”

　　“Oh, no,”said the policeman．“You did that before, and you ran away．This time, I’ll go into the shop and buy the bread, and you must wait here for me．”

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　　A good friend of mine lives with six hundred wild animals on a Greek island．Ever since he left school(where I first knew him)he has traveled all over the world collecting animals for his very own zoo．He hoped to collect two examples of every kind of animal on his island, like Noah before the Great Flood．But the flood that my friend was afraid of, was a flood not of water, but of people．I think you have heard of my friend; he writes books about his travels, and about the wild and wonderful animals that he collects．The money from the books helps to pay for all the food that these animals eat．

　　My friend told me that when he was out looking for water last week(there is not enough water on the island, though there is plenty all round it), he found oil．He needs money for his travels, and for his zoo, and a little oil would buy enough water for all his life; but he knows that if he tells anybody else about it, it will be the end of his zoo, and his life’s work．

　　So, if I know my friend, he will not tell anybody(except you and me)about what he found－because oil and water do not mix．

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Reading comprehension(阅读理解)

12 Park Garden

London SW1

30th March, 2004

Miss S．Carter

Espana Holidays

43 Market square

London SW3

Dear Miss Carter,

　　Following my telephone conversation with you yesterday, we have decided that we would prefer to go to Malaga for our holiday rather than Canada．Of the hotels you suggested, we think that the San Carlos would suit us best．

　　We should like to stay for a fortnight from the 23rd July．Our party will consist of myself, my wife Sheila, our 11-year-old son, Timathy, and our 10-year-old daughter, Mary and my sister, Mrs Anna Harvey and her two sons, Richard and Edward, aged 13 and 14．We shall, therefore, require two double rooms and a 3-bedded room for the boys．

　　I think it would be more satisfactory for us to have half-oard, as we are unlikely to be in for all meals, and we want to sample the local food．

　　You said our flight would leave from Gatwick．Perhaps you would let me know how long it takes to fly to Malaga and the departure time．

　　I understand that, if I should decide to hire a car, you can arrange for it to be at the airport for our arrival．

　　I enclose the completed booking form and check to cover the deposit of ￡25 per person required at time of booking．I should be glad to receive confirmation of booking at your earliest convenience．

Yours sincerely,

Frank Simpso

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　　James Cleveland Owen was the son of a farmer and the grandson of black slaves．His family moved to Cleveland when he was 9．There, a school teacher asked the youth his name．

　　“J．C．,”he replied．

　　She thought he had said“Jesse”, and he had a new name．

　　Owens ran his first race at age 13．After high school, he went to Ohio State University．He had to work part time so as to pay for his education．As a second-year student, in the Big Ten games in 1935, he set even more records than he would in the Olympic Games a year later．

　　A week before the Big Ten meet, Owens accidentally fell down a flight of stairs．His back hurt so much that he could not exercise all week, and he had to be helped in and out of the car that drove him to the meet．He refused to listen to the suggestions that he give up and said he would try, event by event．He did try, and the results are in the record book．

　　The stage was set for Owens victory at the Olympic Games in Berlin the next year, and his success would come to be regarded as not only athletic(体育的)but also political．Hitler did not congratulate any of the African-American winners．

　　“It was all right with me,”he said years later．“I didn’t go to Berlin to shake hands with him, anyway．”

　　Having returned from Berlin, he received no telephone call from the honored by the United States until 1976, four years before his death．

　　Owens Olympic victories made little difference to him．He earned his living by looking after a school playground, and accepted money to race against cars, trucks, motorcycles, and dogs．

　　“Sure, it bothered(烦扰)me,”he said later．“But at least it was an honest living．I had to eat．”

　　In time, however, his gold medals(奖牌)changed his life．“They have kept me alive over the years,”he once said．“Time has stood still for me．That golden moment dies hard．”

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　　Education for Japanese children is free for the first nine years and all children must go to school for six years of primary schooling and three years of secondary schooling．In the primary and secondary schools, about 99.9 per cent of school-age children are present．School usually begins at 8 o’clock in the morning and ends at 3 o’clock in the afternoon on weekdays and at noon Saturdays．The school year begins in April and ends in March．There is a summer holiday in August and a winter holiday during the New Year season．

　　After nine years of schooling, students can enter the three-year high school by passing an examination and by paying a small charge each year．After high school, students can go on to study at various types of colleges, usually for four years．There are also two-year junior colleges．

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Reading comprehension(阅读理解)

　　When I was sixteen years old, I made my first visit to the United States．It wasn’t the first time I had been abroad．Like most English children I learned French at school．And I had often been to France, so I was used to speaking a foreign language to people who didn’t understand English．But when I went to America I was really looking forward to having a nice easy holiday without any language problems．

　　How wrong I was!The misunderstandings(误解)began at the airport．I was looking for a public telephone to give my American friend Danny a call and tell her that I had arrived．A friendly old man saw me looking lost and asked if he could help me．

　　“Yes,”I said,“I want to give my friend a ring．”

　　“Well, that’s nice,”he said．“Are you getting married?But aren’t you a bit young?”

　　“Who is talking about marriage?”I replied．“I only want to give my friend a ring to tell her I’ve arrived．Can you tell me where there’s a phone box?”

　　“Oh!”he said,“there’s a phone downstairs．”

　　When at last we met, Danny explained the misunderstandings to me．

　　“Don’t worry,”she said to me．“I had so many difficulties at first．There are lots of words which the Americans use differently in meaning from British．You’ll soon get used to all the funny things they say．Most of the time British and American people understand each other!”

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Reading comprehension(阅读理解)

Language as a System of Symbols

　　Of all systems of symbols(符号)，language is the most highly developed．It has been pointed out that human beings, by agreement, can make anything stand for anything．Human beings have agreed, in the course of centuries of mutual(相互的)dependency, to let the various noises that they can produce with their lungs, throats, tongues, teeth, and lips systematically stand for certain happenings in their nervous systems．We call that system of agreements language．

　　There is no necessary connection between the symbol and that which it stands for．Just as social positions can be symbolized by feathers worn on the head, by gold on the watch chain, or by a thousand other things according to the culture we live in, so the fact of being hungry can be symbolized by a thousand different noises according to the culture we live in．

　　However obvious these facts may appear at first glance, they are actually not so obvious as they seem except when we take special pains to think about the subject．Symbols and the things they stand for are independent of each other, yet we all have a way of feeling as if, and sometimes acting as if, there were necessary connections．For example, there are people who feel that foreign languages are unreasonable by nature：foreigners have such funny names for things, and why can’t they call things by their right names?This feeling exhibits itself most strongly in those English and American tourists who seem to believe that they can make the natives of any country understand English if they shout loud enough．Like the little boy who is reported to have said：“Pigs are called pigs because they are such dirty animals,”they feel the symbol is inherently(内在地)connected in some way with the things symbolized．

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