阅读理解

　　One Sunday, Mark decided to go sailing in his boat with his friend Dan, but Dan happened to be away．Dan’s brother John offered to go instead though he did not know anything about sailing．Mark agreed and they set out to sea．

　　Soon they found themselves in a thick fog．Mark was sure they would be hit by a big ship．Fortunately he saw a large buoy(浮标)through the fog and decided to tie the boat to it for safety．As he was getting onto the buoy, however, he dropped the wet rope．The boat moved away in the fog carrying John, who did not know how to use the radio．He drifted(漂流)about and was not seen until twelve hours later．

　　Mark spent the night on the buoy．In the early morning he fell asleep．He was having a bad dream when a shout woke him up．A ship, the Good Hope, came up and he climbed onto it and thanked the captain．The captain told him that John had been picked up by another ship and the ship’s captain had sent out a message．“Without the message I would not have found you on the buoy,” he said．

阅读理解

　　After 60 hours without sleep, flying at 17 000 feet over India, Judith began to hallucinate(使产生幻觉)．Faces of relatives and friends began to appear around her．But even if she was physically and mentally worn out, she decided to continue her record breaking round-the-world flight and fly on to Sri Lanka．

　　“I had planned to land in India, ”she says, “but I couldn’t take the risk of being delayed．” Later in the flight Judith found herself flying through a storm during which the plane was struck by lightning．“In all many years of flying, I’ve never been so frightened,” she says．

　　And then, within four hours in Australia, there was something wrong with the engine, which nearly forced her down into the ocean．On reaching Sydney, Judith decided she was able to fly on and when she finally touched down at London, Heathrow, her tiny single-engine plane had taken her over 27 000 miles in 15 days．She had broken 29 world records including the fastest-ever-round-the-world flight by a woman．During those 15 days she had slept for less than 40 hours．

阅读理解

What is language for? Some people seem to think it’s for practising grammar rules and learning lists of words－the longer the lists, the better．That’s wrong．Language is for the exchange(交流)of ideas and information．It’s meaningless knowing all about a language if you can’t use it freely．Many students I have met know hundreds of grammar rules, but they can’t speak correctly or fluently(流利地)．They are afraid of making mistakes．One shouldn’t be afraid of making mistakes when speaking a foreign language．Native speakers make mistakes and break rules, too．Bernard Shaw once wrote, “Foreigners often speak English too correctly．”But the mistakes that native speakers make are different from those that Chinese students make．They’re English mistakes in the English language．And if enough native speakers break a rule, it is no longer a rule．What used to be wrong becomes right．People not only make history, they make language．But a people can only make its own language．It can’t make another people’s language．So Chinese students of English should pay attention to grammar, but they shouldn’t overdo(做过头)it．They should put communication(交际)first．

阅读理解

　　Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how language first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened．However, we do know a lot about language, the language of today and also the language of earlier times．There are probably about three thousand languages in the world today．Chinese is the language with the most speakers．English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by millions of people．On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers．

　　There are several important families of languages in the world．For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European．The original(最初的)language of this family was spoken about 4500 years ago．Many of the present-day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4500 years ago．

　　Languages are always changing．The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago．In time, some even die out completely．About 1000 years ago English was a little- known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe．

　　If a language has a large number of speakers, or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas．That is, the language may have several dialects．Chinese is a good example of dialect differences．Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by millions of speakers．The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China cannot understand speakers from other parts．

阅读理解

　　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．”

阅读理解

　　A study of English learning problems was carried out among a total of 106 foreign students．It shows that most students considered understanding spoken English to be their biggest problem on arrival．This was followed by speaking．Writing increased as a problem as students discovered difficulties in writing papers that they were now expected to hand in．Reading remained as a significant(显著的)problem．

　　The information gained helped us in determining where special attention should be paid in our course．Although many students have chosen to join the course with a reasonable motivation(动机), we considered it important to note what seemed to encourage interest．Nearly all the students have experienced some kind of grammar-based English teaching in their own country．To use the same method would be self-defeating because it might reduce motivation, especially if it has failed in the past．Therefore a different method may help because it is different．

　　Variety of activity was also seen as a way of maintaining(保持)or increasing motivation．Several years ago we had one timetable that operated throughout, but we soon found that both the students and the teachers lost interest by about halfway through the ten weeks．This led us to a major rethink, so finally we brought it into line with the expressed language needs of the students．

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!”

阅读理解

　　Attitude is an internal(内在的)state that influences the choices of personal action made by the individual(个人)．Some researchers consider that attitudes come from differences between beliefs and ideas; others believe that attitudes come from emotional states．Here, we focus on the effects of attitudes upon behavior, that is, upon the choices of action made by the individual．

　　The kinds of actions taken by human beings are obviously influenced greatly by attitudes．Whether one listens to classical music or rock, whether one obeys the speed limit while driving, whether one encourages one’s husband or wife to express his or her own ideas－all are influenced by attitudes．These internal states are acquired(获得)throughout life from situations one is faced with in the home, in the streets, and in the school．

　　Of course, the course of action chosen by an individual in any situation will be largely determined by the particulars of that situation．An individual who has a strong attitude of obeying laws may drive too fast when he is in a hurry and no police cars in sight．A child who has a strong attitude of honesty may steal a penny when he thinks no one will notice．But the internal state which remains unchanged over a period of time, and which makes the individual behave regularly in a variety of situations, is what is meant by an attitude．

　　Attitudes are learned in a variety of ways．They can result from single incidents, as when an attitude toward snakes is acquired by an experience in childhood at the sudden movement of a snake．They can result from the individual’s experiences of success and pleasure, as when someone acquires a positive attitude toward doing crossword puzzles by being able to complete some of them．And frequently, they are learned by copying other people’s behavior, as when a child learns how to behave toward foreigners by observing the actions of his parents．Regardless of these differences, there is something in common in the learning and modification(修正)of attitudes．

阅读理解

　　Betty and Harold have been married for years．But one thing still puzzles old Harold．How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa, talking, go out to a ball game, come back three and half hours later, and they’re still sitting on the sofa?Talking?

　　What in the world, Harold wonders, do they have to talk about?

　　Betty shrugs．Talk?We’re friends．

　　Researching this matter called friendship, psychologist Lillian Rubin spent two years interviewing more than two hundred women and men．No matter what their age, their job, their sex, the results were completely clear：women have more friendships than men, and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is“marked and unmistakable．”

　　More than two-thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed could not name a best friend．Those who could were likely to name a woman．Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend, and almost always it was a woman．More married men than women named their wife/husband as a best friend, most trusted person, or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress(感情危机)．“Most women, ”says Rubin, “identified(认定)at least one, usually more, trusted friends or whom they could turn in a troubled moment, and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives．”

　　“In general, ”writes Rubin in her new book, “women’s friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support, but men’s relationships are marked by shared activities．”For the most part, Rubin says, interactions(交往)between men are emotionally controlled a good fit with the social requirements of“manly behavior．”

　　“Even when a man is said to be a best friend, ”Rubin writes, “the two share little about their innermost feelings．Whereas a woman’s closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage, it wasn’t unusual to hear a man say he didn’t know his friend’s marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on the sofa．”

阅读理解

　　Many teenagers(青少年)feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends．They believe that their family members, especially their parents, don’t know them as well as their friends do．In large families, it is often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for advice．

　　It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or many friends．Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone．This communication(交际)is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members．

　　However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them．Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends．The question of “choice” is an interesting one．Have you ever thought of the following questions?

　　Who choose your friends?

　　Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?

　　Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?