阅读理解

　　Shundagarh is a village on India’s east-facing coast．It is a village of simple mud and grass houses built on the beach just above the waterline．The Khadra Hills rise immediately behind the village, to a height of one hundred and fifty meters．A simple, good-hearted old man, whose name was Jalpur, farmed two small fields on the very edge of these hills．From his fields he could see the fishing boats that travelled up and down the coast．He could see the children playing on the sands, their mothers washing clothes on the flat stones where the Shiva River flowed into the sea, and their fathers landing the latest catch or repairing nets and telling stories that had no end．

　　All Jalpur owned in the world were the clothes he wore day in and day out, the miserable(糟糕的)hut that he slept in at night, a few tools and cooking pots－and his fields．The corn that he grew was all that made life possible．If the weather was kind and the harvest was good, Jalpur could live happily enough－not well, but happily．When the sun was fierce, and there was little or no rain, then he came close to the line between life and death．

　　Last year the weather had been so kind, and the harvest promised to be so good, that Jalpur had been wondering whether he could sell all that he had and live with his son farther up the coast．He had been thinking about doing this for some years．It was his dearest wish to spend his last days with his son and his wife．But he would go only if he could give; he would not go if it meant taking food out of the mouths of his grandchildren．He would rather die hungry than do this．

　　On the day when Jalpur decided that he would harvest his corn, sell it, and move up the coast, he looked out to see and saw a huge wave, several kilometers out, advancing on the coast and on the village of Shundagarh．Within ten minutes everyone in Shundagarh would be drowned．Jalpur would have shouted, but the people were too far away to hear．He would have run down the hill, but he was too old to run．He was prepared to do anything to save the people of Shundagarh, so he did the only thing that he could do：he set fire to his corn．In a matter of seconds the flames were rising high and smoke was rising higher．Within a minute the people of Shundagarh were racing up the hill to see what had happened．There, in the middle of his blackened cornfield, they found Jalpur, and there they buried him．

　　On his grave, they wrote the words：Here lies Jalpur, a man who gave, living；a man who died, giving．

阅读理解

　　I came to study in the United States a year ago．Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor-and go to court(法庭)．

　　After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me．I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day．But the next day, he asked me to pay him ＄200 for what he had done．I was astonished．He had good reasons to charge me, he said．And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer．And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer．Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him．

　　But every time I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes．He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another．Yet he charged me ＄ 155 each time．The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me ＄ 215．

　　My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met．But after that he avoided seeing me at all．He knew very well the other part was responsible for the accident; yet he hardly did anything．He simply waited to collect his money．He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss(解雇)him．And he made me pay him ＄770．

　　Now I had to act as my own lawyer．Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America．Knowing that, they played for time,…and I left without getting a cent．

　　My experiences taught me two things about America：firstly, in a country like America money is everything．It is more important than friendship, honour or professional morality(职业道德)．Secondly, foreigners are still being unfairly treated．So when we talk about America, we should see both its good and bad sides．

阅读理解

　　Many teachers believe that the responsibility for learning lies with the students．If a long reading assignment is given, teachers expect students to be familiar with the information in the reading even if they do not discuss it in class or give an examination．Courses are not designed only for students to pass exams．The ideal student is considered to be one who is motivated(有动机的；目的明确的)to learn for the sake of learning, not the one interested only in getting high grades．Grade-conscious students may be frustrated(受挫)with teachers who do not believe it is necessary to grade every assignment．Sometimes homework is returned with short written comments but not with a grade．Even if a grade is not given, the student is responsible for learning the material assigned．

　　When research is assigned, the professor in the United States expects the students to take the initiative(积极性)and complete the assignment with less guidance．It is the student’s responsibility to find books, magazines, and articles in the library．Professors do not have the time to explain how a university library works, but they expect students, particularly graduate students, to be able to use all the reference materials in the library．

　　Professors will help students who need it, but prefer that their students not be over-dependent on them．In the United States, professors have other duties besides teaching．Often they are responsible for management within their department．In addition(此外), they may be required to publish articles and books．Therefore the time that a professor can spend with a student outside of class is limited．If a student has problems with classroom work, the student should either approach(接近)a professor during office hours or make an appointment．

阅读理解

　　From the moment that an animal is born it has to make decisions．It has to decide which of the things around it are for eating, and which are to be avoided; when to attack and when to run away．The animal is, in fact, playing a very dangerous game with its environment, a game in which it must make decision－a matter of life or death．

　　Animals’ ability to act reasonably is believed to come partly from what we may call “genetic(遗传性的)learning”, which is different from the individual(个体的)learning that an animal does in the course of its own lifetime．Genetic learning is learning by a species－animals of the same kind－as a whole, and it is achieved by selection of those members of each generation that happen to act in the right way．However, the role of genetic learning depends upon how similar the future environment is to the past．The more important individual experience is likely to be, the less important is genetic learning as a means of getting over the problems of the survival game．Because most animals live in ever changing environments from one generation to the next, it is not surprising to find that very few species indeed depend wholly upon genetic learning．

　　In the great majority of animals, their particular ways of acting in a new environment are a compound(复合体)of individual experience added to the action patterns animals are born with．That is why animals can survive．

阅读理解

　　Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert, seeking a million in prize money．To win, they had to finish the 142-mile race in less than 10 hours．Teams and watchers knew there might be no winner at all, because these vehicles were missing a key part－drivers．

　　DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, organized the race as part of a push to develop robotic vehicles for future battlefields．But the Grand Challenge, as it was called, just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance．One had its brake lock up in the starting area．Another began by throwing itself onto a wall．Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles．

　　One turned upside down．One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote(远距离的)control．One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence; another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock．The “winner,” if there was any, reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long, narrow hole, and the front wheels caught on fire．

　　“You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things, ” says Reinhold Behringer, who helped design two of the car-size vehicles for a company called Sci-Autonics．“Even ants(蚂蚁)can do all these tasks effortlessly．It’s very hard for us to put these abilities into our machines．”

　　The robotic vehicles, though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance, had trouble figuring out fast enough the blocks ahead that a two-year-old human recognizes immediately．Sure, that very young child, who has just only learned to walk, may not think to wipe apple juice off her face, but she already knows that when there’s a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table, and that when she gets to the cookie it will taste good．She is more advanced, even months old, than any machine humans have designed．

阅读理解

　　Goods must be of proper quality, must be as described on the package and must be fit for any particular purpose made known by the seller．Those three rules used for the goods you buy can also be used for the goods you get on hire, or for the goods you get as part of a service．

　　There are also rules which deal with the standard of services you get from－travel agents, shoe repairers, hairdressers and builders．These tell you what you should expect from any service you pay for．

　　A person providing a service must do so：

　　－With reasonable care and skill．You should expect a proper standard of workmanship(工艺)．A new house should have straight walls and the roof must not leak．

　　－Within a reasonable time．A shop should not take three months to repair your TV．You can always agree upon a completion time with the supplier of the service．

　　You, the customer, must pay：

　　－A reasonable charge for a service, where no price has been fixed in advance．A trader can not expect a large payment for a small job．

阅读理解

　　When Babbage was working at Cambridge, a new idea occurred to him．He wanted to construct a calculating machine to work out the solutions(解法)to maths problems not only with correctness but also with a speed beyond the power of any human mind．His machine could solve problems involving(涉及)long rows of figures in one continuous operation(运算)．

　　In 1822 Babbage exhibited his invention and won a prize from the government．After that, he immediately started to work on a larger machine designed to solve more difficult problems．Although he received some money left by his father, the money was not enough to support his design．He wrote to the government about his plan and was given ￡2500 to start with, a sum worth much more in those days than it is now．

　　Babbage continued his work in London for four years．Then his health broke down, and he had to take a long holiday abroad．When he returned to London in 1828, he was at the end of his resources．Many bills remained unpaid．His chief assistant and co-workers quarreled with him and left with many expensive tools．For one year no work was done．During this period, Babbage, whose mind was always active, suddenly thought of a completely new idea for the machine．He rushed to meet the government officials to explain his new idea．But this time, they were unwilling to help him．For eight years, they refused to say whether they wanted the machine or not, and their final answer was “No”．

　　From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the position of professor at Cambridge very successfully．But his greatest work was the unfinished calculating machine which stood covered in dust in his house．It was the beginning of the modern computer．

阅读理解

　　When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses．However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat．

　　Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built．In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock(家畜)．During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses．The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well．The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live．By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat．

　　People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock．However, home builders use the fact that heat rises．This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas．Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks．As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat．They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses．So these houses are energy-saving．

　　House-building becomes a great challenge(挑战)to building designers and energy engineers．They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology．And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy-saving houses．