阅读理解

　　On June 5,1981 the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, U．S．announced the presence of a rare, infectious disease in five American homosexuals(同性恋)．Soon doctors were finding similar cases all over the country and the world．The AIDS epidemic(流行病)had officially begun．By 1983 it was clear that AIDS had spread around the world．More than twenty years later, AIDS has left twenty-six million dead and another forty million infected．AIDS has become the worst medical disaster ever experienced by mankind．

　　Hundreds of young people between the ages of 20 and 45 died each week during the early years of the U．S．AIDS．More than 600 000 cases of AIDS have been reported since 1981 in the United States, and it is estimated that there may be as many as 900 000 Americans infected with HIV．

　　Though the rate of HIV infections continues to increase in the United States, the number of AIDS cases has fallen sharply since 1996, when antiretroviral drugs came into the market．Unfortunately, the AIDS epidemic continues today in Africa and much of Asia, where antiretroviral treatment is not available and health care is far from enough．AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, and the No．1 cause of death due to infectious disease．

　　HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was first separated in 1983 by a team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris．That discovery made it possible to develop a test for AIDS and trace back to victims who may have died before doctors were aware of the disease．

　　However, scientists still don’t know exactly how and where AIDS started．Finding the source of AIDS could be important in developing a vaccine(疫苗)and be important in mapping the future course of the epidemic．

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阅读理解

　　I had my first job at the age of thirteen, when a friend of my mother’s who owned a bookshop hired me for six hours a week to help her in the shop．I was very proud to earn my own pocket money and my parents never interfered(干涉)with how I spent it, even when I was spending it foolishly．They believed that by earning money, spending it, and learning from my mistakes．I would become more mature and responsible about how to handle work, relationships with others, and money．

　　Like many American parents, my parents also let me and my brothers do things over which they worried a great deal．When I was sixteen, for example, after I finished high school and before I entered university, I wanted to spend the summer months traveling around Europe．My mother was against the idea of my traveling alone at such a young age, but my father felt that it would be a great experience for me．In the end, my father won the argument on the condition that I limited my traveling to France, my mother’s home, where I had many uncles, aunts and cousins spread out through the country who could provide shelter and help if I needed it．

　　Three years later, when he was eighteen, my younger brother decided to take a year off after his first year in university and travel through the United States and the Caribbean．Again my mother was very worried and not eager to see my brother leave school, but my father encouraged him and my brother had a fascinating year working his way on trains and ships to earn passage to different ports and cities, and discovering many fascinating places and people．

　　These kinds of experiences are probably rare for children in many countries but in the US they are fairly common．Most parents start pushing their children at a young age to do small things by themselves．By the time they have finished high school, many American kids have already had part-time jobs, traveled around the US or other countries on their own, selected the university they plan to attend and maybe even decided on their future career, and so on．

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阅读理解

　　Then by chance, Darwin read a book by Malthus, an Englishman．The book was forty years old, and Malthus was already dead．But it suddenly pushed Darwin nearer to some answers．Malthus said, “The number of people in the world can grow very quickly．Just think, a man and his wife could have ten children．When these ten grow up, every one of them could have ten more children．So now we have a hundred children．Again, if every one of these has ten children, we will have a thousand children and this can continue．We will have more and more people．”

　　All this could happen．But did it? Malthus said, “No．It doesn’t happen in the real world．The number of people remains almost the same．Why? The reason is this．We just can’t grow food quickly enough．Soon there’s not enough food．So some people can’t eat．They die before they bring any more children into the world．”

　　These ideas came at just the right time for Darwin．He asked one more question：Which people will die before they have children? For Malthus, this was not an important question．But for Darwin, it was very important．

　　He asked, “Which people will have children? Why does this man have children, and why does that man not have any? ”And soon of course he was thinking of the Galapagos finches(雀类鸟)again．

　　“The number of finches remains almost the same．So usually two birds must give us only two new birds．But a finch lays more than two eggs．Which two young birds will live, and give us more eggs? Which will not?”

　　The answer is some birds can’t get enough food－they will die．But why can’t they get enough? Why are some birds better than them? The birds in one family are not quite the same．Some are stronger, some are quicker, some are bigger, some have longer beaks, some have lighter bodies．The best birds will live．

　　And always an answer brought with a question：What is “best”? Darwin now had his list of facts and questions, answers and ideas．Could he put them together and make a clear story? Could he explain the evolution(进化)of the finches?

　　He could and he did．

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　　Working long hours can greatly increase the risk of suffering injury or illness, a study says．Workers who do overtime were 61％ more likely to become hurt or ill, once factors such as age and gender were taken into account．And working more than 12 hours a day raised the risk by more than a third, the University of Massachusetts found．

　　Report co-author Allard Dembe said risk was not necessarily associated with how hazardous the job was．“The results of this study suggest that jobs with long working hours are not more risky merely because they are concentrated in inherently hazardous industries or occupations．”

　　And he said the findings, published in the Occupational and Environmental Health journal, supported initiative such as the 48-hour European Working Time Directive to cut the number of working hours．

　　From the records, researchers found 5139 work-related injuries and illnesses, ranging from stress to cuts, burns and muscle injuries．More than half of these injures and illnesses occurred in jobs with extended working hours or overtime．The researchers concluded that the more hours worked, the greater the risk of injury．But they did not find that lengthy commutes to and from work had any impact on illness and injury．

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　　If you have been joining in chat room conversations, or trading email with web pals(网友), you have become one of the millions who write in a particularly short form of English．

　　And you’re got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF(＝sense of humor failure)to describe Internet newcomers who don’t understand you．

　　Across the globe, every night teenagers and their eldersare “talking” online, many of them all talking at the same time．

　　It’s fast：try talking to six people at once．It’s brief：three or four words per exchange．It takes wit, concentration and quick fingers．

　　And it requires tremendous linguistic economy(语言省略)．There’s neither time nor space for explanations．Why consume precious key-strokes(键盘敲击)telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB(＝be right back)will do?

　　Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI(＝pardon me for jump in)．

　　Interested in whom you are talking to? Type A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal’s age, sex and location．You might get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal．

　　If something makes you laugh, say you are OTE(＝on the floor), or LOL(＝laughing out loud), or combing the two into ROTFL(＝rolling on the floor laughing)．

　　And when it is time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG(got to go)or TTYL(＝talk to you later)．

　　People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can．Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing emotion, as it takes, more time to hold down the “shift” key and capitals．Punctuation(标点)is going, too．

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阅读理解

　　This Thursday, Irena Sendler will be honoured for her work as a smuggler(偷运者)．During World WarⅡ, the Polish social worker smuggled nearly 2500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw ghetto(聚居区)．She gave them new identities, found them safe places with good-hearted Christians, and kept the children’s real names buried in jars in her neighbours’ gardens．(The play, Life in a Jar, based on her story, is being performed．)At 93, Sendler lives in a Warsaw nursing home and is too weak to travel to Washington D．C．to receive the 2003 Jan Karski Award for Valor and Compassion from the American Center of Polish Culture．One of the children she saved will accept the award for her．

　　You risked your life to save the children．

　　I was taught by my father that when someone is drowning, you don’t ask if they can swim, you just jump in and help．During the war, everyone was drowning, but mostly the Jewish children．

　　How did you persuade parents to give up their children?

　　I had to answer honestly that I didn’t even know if we would get past the grades．

　　What was the most frightening moment?

　　When I saw a priest(牧师)in charge of an orphanage for Jewish children in the ghetto walk with them out to be killed．The children were in their best Sunday suits．The priest was killed with them．

　　How did you get the children to behave as you smuggled them out?

I told the older children to act as if they were sick and sometimes gave the younger ones a sleeping pill．They were told to remember their new names．I also told the children to tell guards they had only been visiting a servant in the ghettoand were going back to their real homes outside．

　　Did you tell your own two children what you did?

　　I never told them．Only when my daughter went to Israel did she learn all about me．I thought it was only normalto do so．And it was a very painful subject．It was always on my mind that I couldn’t do more．

－Samantha Levine

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阅读理解

　　Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be simple fact? Do you argue whether it’s cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit?

　　If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant．The first blind man who felt the elephant’s trunk said it was like a snake．The second who felt the elephant’s side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear as he touched the animal’s tusk．The fourth, who caught hold of the elephant’s tail insisted that it was like a rope．The fifth man said it looked like a tree as he put his arms around one of the elephant’s legs．The sixth, who was tall and got hold of the elephant’s ears, said it was like a huge fan．

　　Each man’s idea of the animal came from his own experience．So if someone disagrees with you about a “simple fact”, it’s often because his experience in the matter is different from yours．

　　To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a “simple fact”, try this simple experiment．Get three large bowls．Put ice water in one．Put hot water in the second．Put lukewarm water in the third．Now put your left hand in the ice water．Put your right hand in the hot water．After thirty seconds, put both hands in the lukewarm water．Your right hand will tell you the water is cold．Your left hand will tell you it’s hot!

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　　The Marches were a happy family．Poverty, hard work, and even the fact that Father March was away with the Union armies could not down the spirits of Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, and Marmee, as the March girls called their mother．

　　The March sisters tried to be good but had their share of faults．Pretty Meg was often displeased with the school children she taught; boyish Jo was easy to become angry; golden-haired schoolgirl Amy liked to show up; but Beth, who kept the house, was loving and gentle always．

　　The happy days passed and darkness came when a telegram arrived for Mrs．March．“Your husband is very ill, ”it said, “come at once．”The girls tried to be brave when their mother left for the front．They waited and prayed．Little Beth got scarlet fever(猩红热)when she was taking care of a sick neighbor．She became very ill but began to recover by the time Marmee was back．When Father came home from the front and at that joyful Christmas dinner they were once more all together．

　　Three years later the March girls had grown into young womanhood．Meg became Mrs．Brooke, and after a few family troubles got used to her now state happily．Jo had found pleasure in her literary efforts．Amy had grown into a young lady with a talent for design and an even greater one for society．But Beth had never fully regained her health, and her family watched her with love and anxiety．

　　Amy was asked to go and stay in Europe with a relative of the Marches’．Jo went to New York and became successful in her writing and had the satisfaction of seeing her work published there．But at home the bitterest blow was yet to fall．Beth had known for some time that she couldn’t live much longer to be with her family, and in the springtime she died．

　　Now came from Europe that Amy and Laurie, the grandson of a wealthy neighbor, had planned to be married soon．Now Jo became even more successful in her writing and got married to Professor Bhaer, and soon afterwards founded a school for boys．

　　And so the little women had grown up and lived happily with their children, enjoying the harvest of love and goodness that they had devoted all their lives to．

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