阅读理解

　　Microsoft founder Bill Gates said that he planned to give away almost all of his vast fortune(财产), largely to the cause(事业)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 feat(功绩)for Gates．Having already provided the Bill ＆ Melinda Gates Foundation with ＄24 billion to address global health issues, Gates said that eventually(最终地)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 Americanstake such pride needs to extend to other nationsaround 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 Untied Way．As he gathered his fortune, Gates knew he would eventually 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?”

阅读理解

　　You’ve probably heard of a lot about the Internet, but what is it?

　　The Internet is a computer network that uses the telephone system to connect together millions of computers around the world．

　　Maybe that isn’t very exciting but once you’re connected to the Internet, there are lots of different things you can do．You can send electronic messages or “e-mails” to your friends(as long as they’re on the Internet, too), or you can sort through all kinds of information on something called the World Wide Web(WWW万维网)．

　　You don’t need to know how the Internet works in order to use it, but if you understand the basics, it may help you work out any technical problems you have, and of course you can help your friends with your Net knowledge!

　　You may think that your telephone is just for talking．But as long as you have the equipment, you can use a telephone line to send computer data(数据)as well as sounds．If you connect your computer with the telephone system it can receive information from, and send information to other computers(as long as they are connected with the telephone system, too)．

　　Because there is not an organization which operates the Internet, no one exactly knows how many people are connected to it．It’s thought that there could be 60 million people on the Net, connected up to over 15 million computers!

阅读理解

　　Personal computers and the Internet give people new choice about how to spend their time．Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about．I know this from personal experience．

　　E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings．My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office．This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool．

　　The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends．Say you do something funny－see a great movie perhaps－and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it．If you call each one, you will get tired of telling the story．

　　With e-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested．They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to．They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience．

　　E-mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away．More than a few parents use e-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college．

　　We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch．They don’t eliminate(排除)any of the old ways．

阅读理解

　　The first morning I awoke in the house where Cathy Freeman once lived－in Miller Street, Richmond, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, my eye caught upon a black and white sticker, with a name and number on it, pasted(粘贴)to a mirror beside the bed．The number and word were “48.60, Atlanta”．Cathy had typed the famous prediction(预言)on a sticker ages before the 1996 Olympic Games, as an affirmation(断言)of the time she wanted to run in the 400m final．

　　Cathy thought she was typing the time that black French woman, the pretty MarieJose Perec, had run to win the 400m gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992．She believed she’d have to aim to run at least that fast in Atlanta but she got it wrong．Perec ran slower, 48.83 seconds in Barcelona．But what matter? The power of the mind!In Atlanta Cathy ran what she typed, or near enough, 48.63．To gaze(注视)at that time, still there, to see her grand ambition(抱负)－it was then a whole second faster than she had run before－was to become history．As I stood there I saw her once more in slow motion, in Atlanta, pushing herself to the edge, and beyond．Above the number was another sticker with the words “World’s Greatest Athlete”．They were the words Cathy had copied from an old sticker that her mother had given her as a teenager, a legend(座右铭)to paste on her bedroom wall to flow into her daughter’s mind, and it had worked．

阅读理解

　　Liu Xiang, a 21-year-old Chinese athlete, got the gold medal of the fascinating men’s 110m hurdles(跨栏)before a crowd of 70 000 at the OlympicStadium in the 28th Olympics in Athens late Friday local time．He clocked an excellent 12.91 seconds to equal the world record set by Britain’s Collin Jackson in 1993．

　　It is the first gold Chinese men’s athlete has ever won from the track and field in the Olympics history．China has won over 100 gold medals from the summer OlympicGames since 1984 but its male athletes only got one medal from Olympics’ most popular sport．

　　The Shanghai native, with his father a truck driver and mother an outofwork housewife, loved sports when he was very little．Liu was selected to the Junior Sports School of Putuo District of Shanghai to practice jumping as a fourth grader in the primary school．But after a bone test showing that he will not be able to becomea tall man, Liu was asked to give up sports one year later, although he had won the national champion at that level．

　　In 1998 when he attracted coach Sun Haiping’s attentionas a 15-year-old jumper．Sun was a well known hurdle coach and he believed a star was born at the first sight of Liu．He visited Liu’s parents several times and finally persuaded them to let Liu transfer to the 110m hurdles．

　　After only three years, Liu launched his career in style in the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2001 by breaking the world youth and Asian record with a time of 13.12．

　　But the first warning he sent to the world was his bronzewinning feat(战绩)at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, England, last year．

　　In 2004, Liu won the silver in the world indoor championships in Budapest in March．Two months later, he proved the winner in a race against American great Allen Johnson in the IAAF Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan, where he clocked a new Asian record and world’s season best time of 13.06 seconds．

　　He went on to win two Johnson absent races in Lille, France, on June 26 and Zagreb, Croatia, three days later．He put up an exciting show at the Golden Gala meet in Rome on July 3, when he and Johnson clocked an identical time of 13.11．Race officials had to examine a photo finish to declare Johnson the winner．Liu did a better job of clearing the hurdles than Johnson, but Johnson’s stronger start ended up making the difference．The race boosted(提高)Liu’s optimism for the Olympics, although Johnson bettered his season best time by 0.01 second in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 6．

　　The world has put the Olympics a Johnson-Liu duel but surprisingly Johnson crashed out of the Games after falling at the ninth hurdle at round 2．Johnson’s early exit paved the way for Liu’s win．He finally took the gold medal and put a Chinese man’s name on the record book．

阅读理解

　　Beijing is to spend up to US ＄20 billion to change the Chinese capital into a 21th century one for the 2008 Olympics．

　　The government managed to host the 2008 games．The general aim is for Beijing to have the same environmental standards as Paris, London or Washington by 2008．

　　Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to pipe natural gas to the city’s home, taking away dirty coal burning gradually while 60 000 buses will be changed to liquefied gas．

　　The money also will be used for relocating the polluting factories and building green belts．By 2008 around 90 percent of Beijing’s waste will be treated, compared to only 40 percent at present．

　　Olympic officials have already announced that around 50 large projects are being dealt with to improve traffic congestion and cut down pollution．They include construction of Beijing’s first light railway, a 40.5kilometer line which is expected to be completed in 2005．

　　Beijing besides, plans to build an 82.25-kilometer-long subway to add to the existing 53 kilometres．Nine major roads will be rebuilt or widened．

Beijing also plans to build a 70-meter-wide green belt along the waterways to protect water quality as well as increase the green areas．

阅读理解

　　In ancient Greece, there were four major athletic meetings and the Olympic meeting played the most important part in the lives of the people．As time passed, the Olympic meeting gradually lost its local character and became first a national event and then international．No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go but some official records date from 776 BC．

　　The Games took place every four years on the plain by Mount Olympus．Thousands of people came from all parts of the Greek world to watch the games．The winner of the foot race had the great honour of giving his name to the year of his history．

　　After a long history of almost 1200 years, the Games were stopped for religious(宗教的)reasons．It was then decided in 1896 to start the Olympic Games again．The meeting was held in Athens and 311 athletes from 13 countries took part in it but the idea of such an international meeting attracted the world’s attention．Afterthe 1908 London Olympics, many nationssent their best athletes．Although the Games have been time and again threatened by some unfavourable political events the Games have taken place every four years．

　　Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn．As the biggest international gathering of any kind in the world, athletes from different countries play games together and this provides them with good chances to learn to live together．The friendly feelings in the Olympic Village make people think of the world as one big family．The Olympic Games will be hosted in Beijing in 2008．It is believed that the Games will be a wonder of the world．

阅读理解

　　The first morning I awoke in the house where Cathy Freeman once lived－in Miller Street, Richmond, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, my eyes caught upon a black and white sticker, with a name and number on it, pasted(粘贴)to a mirror beside the bed．The number and word were “48.60, Atlanta”．Cathy had typed the famous prediction(预言)on a sticker ages before the 1996 Olympic Games, as an affirmation(断言)of the time she wanted to run in the 400m final．

　　Cathy thought she was typing the time that black French woman, the pretty MarieJose Perec, had run to win the 400m gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992．She believed she’d have to aim to run at least that fast in Atlanta but she got it wrong．Perec ran slower, 48.83 seconds in Barcelona．But what matter? The power of the mind!In Atlanta Cathy ran what she typed, or near enough, 48.63．To gaze(注视)at that time, still there, to see her grand ambition(抱负)－it was then a whole second faster than she had run before－was to become history．As I stood there I saw her once more in slow motion, in Atlanta, pushing herself to the edge, and beyond．Above the number was another sticker with the words “World’s Greatest Athlete”．They were the words Cathy had copied from an old sticker that her mother had given her as a teenager, a legend(座右铭)to paste on her bedroom wall to flow into her daughter’s mind, and it had worked．

阅读理解

　　Liu Xiang, a 21year old Chinese athlete, got the gold medal of the fascinating men’s 110m hurdles(跨栏)before a crowd of 70 000 at the Olympic Stadium in the 28th Olympics in Athens late Friday local time．He clocked an excellent 12.91 seconds to equal the world record set by Britain’s Collin Jackson in 1993．

　　It is the first gold Chinese men’s athlete has ever won from the track and field in the Olympics history．China has won over 100 gold medals from the Summer Olympic Games since 1984 but its male athletes only got one medal from Olympics’ most popular sport．

　　The Shanghai native, with his father a truck driver and mother an out of work housewife, loved sports when he was very little．Liu was selected to the Junior Sports School of Putuo District of Shanghai to practise jumping as a fourth grader in the primary school．But after a bone test showing that he will not be able to become a tall man, Liu was asked to give up sports one year later, although he had won the national champion at that level．

　　In 1998 when he attracted coach Sun Haiping’s attention as a 15yearold jumper．Sun was a well-known hurdle coach and he believed a star was born at the first sight of Liu．He visited Liu’s parents several times and finally persuaded them to let Liu transfer to the 110m hurdles．

　　After only three years, Liu launched his career in style in the IAAF Grand Prix in Lausanne in 2001 by breaking the world youth and Asian record with a time of 13.12 seconds．

　　But the first warning he sent to the world was his bronze-winning feat(战绩)at the world indoor championships in Birmingham, England, last year．

　　In 2004, Liu won the silver in the world indoor championships in Budapest in March．Two months later, he proved the winner in a race against American great Allen Johnson in the IAAF Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan, where he clocked a new Asian record and world’s season best time of 13.06 seconds．

　　He went on to win two Johnson?absent races in Lille, France, on June 26 and Zagreb, Croatia, three days later．He put up an exciting show at the Golden Gala meet in Rome on July 3, when he and Johnson clocked an identical time of 13.11 seconds．Race officials had to examine a photo finish to declare Johnson the winner．Liu did a better job of clearing the hurdles than Johnson, but Johnson’s stronger start ended up making the difference．The race boosted(提高)Liu’s optimism for the Olympics, although Johnson bettered his season best time by 0.01 second in Lausanne, Switzerland, on July 6．

　　The world has put the Olympics a Johnson-Liu duel but surprisingly Johnson crashed out of the Games after falling at the ninth hurdle at round 2．Johnson’s early exit paved the way for Liu’s win．He finally took the gold medal and put a Chinese man’s name on the record book．

　　(Chinadaily．com．cn/Xinhua)Updated：2004 08-28 02：57

阅读理解

　　Beijing is to spend up to US ＄20 billion to change the Chinese capital into a 21st century one for the 2008 Olympics．

　　The government managed to host the 2008 games．The general aim is for Beijing to have the same environmental standards as Paris, London or Washington by 2008．

　　Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to pipe natural gas to the city’s home, taking away dirty coal burning gradually while 60 000 buses will be changed to liquefied gas．

　　The money also will be used for relocating the polluting factories and building green belts．By 2008 around 90 percent of Beijing’s waste will be treated, compared to only 40 percent at present．

　　Olympic officials have already announced that around 50 large projects are being dealt with to improve traffic congestion and cut down pollution．They include construction of Beijing’s first light railway, a 40.5 kilometer line which is expected to be completed in 2005．

　　Beijing besides, plans to build an 82.25kilometer long subway to add to the existing 53 kilometres．Nine major roads will be rebuilt or widened．

　　Beijing also plans to build a 70-meter-wide green belt along the waterways to protect water quality as well as increase the green areas．