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　　Festival activities programme

　　TIME AND PLACE

　　October 24～30

　　Oct．24, 30：　9∶00 a.m.－4∶00 p.m.

　　Oct．25～29：　12∶00 p.m.-9∶00 p.m.

　　At Kerry Centre Hotel

　　(1)English Taster Lesson

　　(2)Food health-keeping method presentation

　　Computer area

　　(3)E-Photography and Techno-Music

　　(4)Education Software Demonstration

　　Internet training area

　　SINA and Capital On-Line will provide Internet training for the public．The focus will be on browsing the Internet; how to find useful information on the web; and how to design an elementary web page．

　　Foyer activity area

　　(5)The student from Beijing TV University for the aged will provide a calligraphy(handwriting)demonstration．

　　(6)Children activities．

　　Lectures

　　21st Century, the educational weekly of China Daily, will invite experts from English-speaking countries to hold lectures from 18∶30 to 20∶30 on October 27 to 29 and in the daytime on October 30．

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　　Saturday 28 April, 2001：Dennis Tito was setting off on his holiday．Mr．Tito’s journey was certainly unusual!So was the transport he chose, and the price of his trip．

　　The 60-year-old multi-millionaire from New York was sitting on board a Russian spaceship．He was on a journey to the International Space Station．It might have been a routine(常规的)trip for the two astronauts who were traveling with him, but for him it was certainly no ordinary journey．Dennis Tito was the first tourist ever in space, and he had paid the sum of ＄20 million to go there．As the spacecraft left the earth’s atmosphere, Tito drank a glass of fruit juice to celebrate and looked down at the earth’s blue-green surface．Two minutes later, he was sick．Luckily it was only a minor problem．He soon recovered, and from then on enjoyed a smooth journey．When he arrived at the space station, there was a big smile on his face．“A great trip!”he commented．“I love space．”

　　For a long time space travel was something for heroes．But all this is going to change．Companies like ProSpace are investing(投资)large amounts of money in space travel．They want space and space travel to belong to the public, not just governments．There are other plans, like voyages through space from one side of the world to the other．Maybe we will be able to depart(离开)from New York at nine o’clock in the morning, and arrive an hour later－in Tokyo!Such a schedule(时刻表) would allow the business traveler to return to New York on the same day, and still have eight hours for a meeting!

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　　Before a new type of airplane goes into service, every part of it is tested again and again．But there are two tests that are more important than all the others．

　　The first is called the“tank test”．A modern airplane must fly very high in the sky．Air must be pumped into the plane so that the passengers can breathe．The metal structure of the plane has to be very strong for this reason．When the plane is filled with air, the air presses(挤压)against the skin of the plane inside．The pressure on a small window is like a huge foot that is trying to get out．If a small part of the plane were to fail, the plane would explode(爆炸)in the sky．To test the structure of the plane, the plane is lowered into a huge tank or container of water．Then it is filled with air．The pressure inside the plane is greater than it ever will be when it is high up in the air．Finally, there is an explosion．This does not cause so much damage inside the water tank as it would anywhere else．Engineers can discover which part of the plane has broken．Then that part is made stronger．

　　The most dangerous test happens when the new plane is going through test flights in the air．The test pilot must find out exactly what happens when the engines(发动机)are all shut off at once．The plane begins to fall like a stone．It is the pilot’s job to find out how he can get control of the plane again．These two tests are examples of how planes are made safe before they ever carry passengers．

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　　Tom Brown was a good boxer(拳击手)，he had a pair of strong fists(拳头)that he never used at ordinary times．He was very successful in boxing and had won many games．

　　On one of his holiday trips in a small town, he happened to see two men beating a young lady when he was driving his car along a black street．Mr．Brown immediately stopped the car and rushed out to help the girl．

　　“Get in my car,”Mr．Brown shouted to the girl．“Drive to the police station．Quick!”

　　When the policemen came, they found two men had gone and a young gentlemen lying on the ground, beaten black and blue．

　　“Why, this is Mr．Brown, the famous boxer!”one of them recognized him．

　　“Why didn’t you fight back but let them hit you like this?You are strong enough to beat four of them with your fists!”

　　“But I haven’t got my gloves(手套)．A boxer must never go to fight without his gloves on．That’s one of our rules,”answered Mr．Brown．

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　　Basketball legend Michael Jordan arrived in Beijing on Monday night to begin his first Asia tour．

　　A five-time winner of the NBA’s most valuable player award, Jordan’s schedule covers four public activities in the capital on Tuesday and Thursday．

　　Among his stops is an appearance at a ceremony to donate funds for the rebuilding of the Beijing Dongdan Sports Centre Wednesday morning．On Thursday he will attend a media conference in the morning and visit the “Jordan’s sports career” fan exhibition in the afternoon．He will also go to Beijing Worker’s Gymnasium to present an award to the champion of the second Nike China High School Men’s Basketball League．Jordan will also use the tour to speak to youth about the constant struggle to succeed and the importance of hard work on and off the court．

　　“If you want excellence in everything you do, the sky is the limit, ”said Jordan．“During my tour of Asia, I want to pass along this knowledge and encourage youth around the world that positive energy and high aspirations will lead to excellence．”

　　The tour continues to Hong Kong and Taiwan on May 21 and 22 before concluding in Tokyo on May 23．

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阅读理解

　　China’s first astronaut 38-year-old Yang Liwei returned safely to earth Thursday morning, when his craft Shenzhou Ⅴ touched down as scheduled after more than 21 hours in the earth’s orbit．

　　Chinese premier Wen Jiabao called the landmark debut flight a “complete success”．The descent capsule(返回舱)carrying Yang Liwei touched down on the grasslands of the Gobi Desert, in central Inner Mongolia at 6∶23 a.m.Thursday(Beijing Time), the Beijing-based China’s Aerospace Command and Control Center said．

　　Minutes later, Yang grabbed the capsule hatch with his hand, pulled himself out, smiled and waved at recovery teams and reporters．“It is a splendid moment in the history of my motherland and also the greatest day of my life, ” Yang, a former fighter pilot from Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, said immediately after emerging．

　　In an interview with CCTV, China’s state television, Yang said he was “feeling excellent”．Shenzhou Ⅴ landed at dawn, 4.8 kilometres(3 miles)from its designed landing target, the officials said．“The spaceship operated well, ” the astronaut Yang Liwei said in his first publicized comments, “I feel very good and I am proud of my motherland．” After a physical exam on spot, Yang’s condition was found as “good”．Li Jinai, the commander of China’s manned space program, called Yang a “space hero” and a “national hero”．Following Yang’s touchdown China’s premier Wen Jiabao immediately spoke to Yang from Beijing’s command and control centre and offered his congratulations．

　　Within hours, Chinese space officials announced that the country’s space dreams will continue with a “Shenzhou Ⅵ” mission，most possibly within a year．They said China also had worked out plans to conduct space walking by its astronauts，and eventually build up a space station．However, Chinese scientists ruled out building a space shuttle，like the United States．

　　Yang’s flight came four decades after the former Soviet Union and the United States pioneered manned space flight．Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth in April 1961．One month later，the United States launched Alan B．Shepard Jr．

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　　Most painters discover a style of painting that is fit for them and stick to that, especially if people admire their pictures．But Picasso, the great Spanish painter, was like a man who had not yet found his own particular style of painting．He kept on struggling to find the perfect expression till his death in 1973．

　　Some of Picasso’s paintings are rich, soft colored and beautiful．Others are ugly and cruel and strange．But such paintings allow us to imagine things for ourselves．They force us to say to ourselves,“What does he see that makes him paint like that?”And we begin to look under the surface of the things we see．

　　Picasso painted thousands of pictures in different styles．Sometimes he painted the natural look of things．Sometimes he seemed to break them apart and throw the pieces in our faces．He showed us what the mind knows as well as what the eyes see．At the age of 90, he remained as curious about the world as he had been when he was young．That is why people have called him “the youngest painter in the world”．

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阅读理解

　　Alexander Bell travelled to Washington D．C．to visit Joseph Henry, one of the greatest scientists of the day．

　　Joseph Henry had never met the tall, thin, dark haired young man who walked with a quick step into his office that March day in 1875．But he had heard of the Bell family and their successful teaching methods with the deaf．He was soon impressed(留下深刻印象)by the carefulness of his young visitor who explained his theory of sending voices by electricity．When Bell had finished his explanation, Henry said, “You have the idea for a great invention．Work at it．”

　　“But, sir, there are mechanical(机械的)difficulties to overcome(克服)that would require a knowledge of electricity and I don’t have it．”

　　“GET IT!”was the great scientist’s advice．“Without these two words of encouragement, ”Bell said later, “I should never have invented the telephone．”

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　　Workaholism is a big problem because, like any addiction(瘾)，it can be very dangerous and can affect certain parts of your life．Workaholics usually spend a lot of time in their offices; some of them spend 60 to 70 hours a week there, and others stay even longer．

　　There is a difference between people who spend that much time at work because they have to and people who do it because they actually enjoying working long periods of time．

　　People who work a lot because they have to usually work that much because they need money for their rent, their car payments, or their children’s education．Those who have to work to pay expenses are the ones who have health problems like stress or even heart attacks．On the other hand, the people who just enjoy working usually don’t have as many health problems．

　　However, there is a problem that these two types share, and that is family problems．These problems are usually caused by the absence of this person at home．This can lead to divorce(离婚)and cause problems for their kids．

　　I think that workaholics should realize they have a problem and try to get some help from families and support groups．They need to learn that there are more things in like than work, like spending time with their families or having a hobby．Then they could break their addiction and also solve their family problems．

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　　Do you have bright ideas?Ideas or inventions that change society or, at least, make life easier for somebody?Perhaps we all do sometimes, but we don’t often make the idea a reality．Recently, in Britain, there was a competition called British Designers for Tomorrow．The competition encourages young people to carry out their bright ideas．There were two groups in the contest：Group One was for schoolchildren under 16; Group Two was for schoolchildren over 16, and there were eleven prize-winners altogether．

　　Neil Hunt, one of the prize-winners, was called “Sunshine Superman(超人)”．It’s important when people study the weather to be able to record sunshine accurately．We need to know how many hours of sunshine we have and how strong it is．Most sunshine recorders only record direct sunlight．Neil’s is more accurate(精确的)and this is very important for research into the way of using solar(太阳的)power．

　　You can do so much with animated cartoon．Look at Simon West’s idea for animated road signs．He uses pictures which appear to move as you go nearer to or farther from them．This isn’t a new idea．But it is new to use these pictures on road signs．“We found that people were more likely to see moving signs, ”said Simon．So now, you can really see rocks falling, trains moving, horses running or a car falling over the edge of a cliff(悬崖)．Quite a warning!

　　The ideas in the competition were so inventive that we are surprised that British industry doesn’t ask more schoolchildren for suggestions．Perhaps this will be the start of “pupil power!”

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