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　　Queensland

　　Australia's fastest growing state is home to 3.6 million people, taking up around 25％ of the continent's area．Whether you're after adrenalin-pumping adventure, relaxing on sun-kissed beaches, trekking through ancient rainforest or snorkeling(潜水)on the Great Barrier Reef, there's an experience just waiting to become YOUR treasured memory．Where else but Queensland?

　　Victoria＆Melbourne

　　Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, is a city of spectacular 19th-century buildings alongside contemporary structures and surrounded by large areas of parkland．It is home to more than three million people from more than 200 nations．Take a walk or a tram(电车)ride and enjoy a delicious meal, wonderful architecture, beautiful parks and gardens, and fabulous shopping．

　　Sydney

　　Incorporating(合并)the harbour's islands and much of the foreshore, Sydney Harbour National Park brims with picnic areas, bays, harbour pools and beaches to relax in．It's where ferries, yachts, cruise vessels, jet boats, catamarans(双体船)and kayaks(皮船)all jostle(争夺)for a piece of the world's best harbour, and you can enjoy a picnic surrounded by the harbour．

　　Tasmania

　　Tasmania is a land apart－a place of wild and beautiful landscapes; friendly, welcoming people; a pleasant, temperate climate; wonderful wine and food; a rich history; and a relaxed island lifestyle．Whether travelling the ancient and varied terrain of the Kimberley to the towering forests of the southwest, from the unique coral reefs off our coast to the endless red plains and dunes(沙丘)of our try heartland, you'll find amazing series of outdoor experiences and enjoyable holidays．

　　Northern Territory＆Darwin

　　Australia's Northern Territory is a vast region with different geography．It stretches from the tip of the north coastline to the Outback．Waterfalls, interesting rock formations including Uluru(Ayers Rock), native wildlife and parklands are commonplace throughout．Darwin is the capital of Australia's Northern Territory－its relaxed atmosphere and location make it the perfect centre for touring the area．

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　　It happened to be a beautiful summer afternoon, and Mr Phillip was taking a walk in the downtown area of Paris, capital of France．

　　When he turned to a street corner, he heard the voice of a lovely French singer coming from a nearby restaurant．The sweet music attracted him, so he went into the restaurant to hear it better．Mr Phillip sat down quietly at a table near the door．Noticing the waiter come over, he ordered a glass of French wine．

　　The waiter returned with the glass of wine and put it on the table．Mr Phillip started drinking the wine slowly and watching the other people in the restaurant．There were three customers sitting at a table near him．He could tell by their accents that one of them was an American, one was an Englishman and the third man was a funny-looking stranger．The polite waiter served each of the three men a glass of beer．By chance, there was a fly in each glass．

　　Out of curiosity, Mr Phillip watched carefully what they were going to do．To his amusement, he found that each of them took a quite different attitude．The American picked up his glass, took a hard look at the fly, and then poured the fly and half of his beer on the floor．The Englishman looked into the glass, noticed the fly and reached for a spoon, with which he took the fly out of the beer and drank the rest of it．And the stranger noticed the fly in the beer, picked it with his fingers, squeezed(挤压；挤塞)it carefully in order to save every drop of beer, then drank it up．

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　　Can you understand the beginning of this essay(短文)?

　　“My smmr hols wr CWOT．B4, we usd 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & 3 kds FTF．”

　　The Scottish teacher who received it in class had no idea what the girl who wrote it meant．The essay was written in a form of English used in cellphone text messages(短信)．Text messages(also called SMS)through cellphones became very popular in the late 1990s．At first, mobile phone companies thought that text messaging would be a good way to send messages to customers, but customers quickly began to use the text messaging service to send messages to each other．Teenagers in particular enjoyed using text messaging, and they began to create a new language for messages called“texting．”

　　A text message is limited to 160 characters, including letters, spaces, and numbers, so messages must be kept short．In addition, typing on the small keypad of a cellphone is difficult, so it's common to make words shorter．In texting, a single letter or number can represent(代表)a word, like“r”for“are,”“u”for“you,”and“2”for“to．”Several letters can also represent a phrase, like“lol”for“laughing out loud．”Another characteristic(特征)of texting is the leaving out of letters in a word, like spelling“please”as“pls．”

　　Some parents and teachers worry that texting will make children bad spellers and bad writers．The student who wrote the essay at the top of this page said writing that way was more comfortable for her．(The essay said,“My summer holidays were a complete waste of time．Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend, and their three kids face to face．”)

　　Not everyone agrees that texting is a bad thing．Some experts say languages always develop, and this is just another way in which English is changing．Other people believe texting will disappear soon．New technology for voice messages may soon make text messages a thing of the past．

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　　HONG KONG－The visiting Chinese gold medal winners displayed(展示)their superb sports skills again in Hong Kong on Saturday morning, whose performance impressed over 5, 000 Hong Kong spectators(观众)face to face as well as tens of thousands of viewers through TV live broadcast．

　　The enthusiasm(热情)for the Olympic Games was rekindled(重新点燃)in Hong Kong as Chinese mainland's Olympic gold medal winners on Saturday made their appearances and met the public．As part of their visit to Hong Kong, they put on demonstrations(示范)of table tennis, badminton, diving and gymnastics．

　　More than 5, 000 people watched their performance, while tens of thousands of viewers watched the TV live broadcast at home or elsewhere．

　　The gold medal winners also had exchanges with young Hong Kong athletes．Some of them took part in the sports-for-fun activities with the gold medal winners in table tennis, badminton and gymnastics．

　　China's Olympic gold medal winners arrived in Hong Kong on Friday, starting their three-day visit to the city．

　　“I hope the Hong Kong public can use this opportunity to share the joy and pride of their country,”Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Chief Executive Donald Tsang said．

　　All the 63 gold medal winners from the Beijing Olympic Games took part in the flag-raising ceremony at the Golden Bauhinia Square on Saturday morning．

　　After the sports demonstration, they met the public at a Gala Show at the Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday afternoon．

　　The gold medal winners will leave for Macao on Sunday afternoon after visiting Disneyland and the Ocean Park, two of Hong Kong's famous theme parks．

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　　Why will we build to the sky, underground, and on the water?

　　It's a matter of practicality．Cities are places where a large number of people live closely in one environment．They have to be planned in a manageable way．For areas like Japan, preventing cities from earthquakes and practical concerns, such as how to house 120 million people efficiently(有效地)gave rise to these new city plans．

　　What will happen to the cities we live in today?

　　The cities of the future will not replace the cities we know today．Instead, mile-high cities(空中城市)will allow us to efficiently control and manage energy by using more efficient heating and cooling systems．They will enable residents(居民)to travel less, and thus create less pollution．“Old”cities may start to look at these new cities．Perhaps“minicities”will suddenly appear and begin to exist within the“old”cities and certain neighborhoods will be redesigned．This could mean a combination of aboveground and underground facilities(设施)．

　　What will the mile-high city be like?

　　You'd live in the middle of a city but within a small town．You could get on an elevator to go to the movies or even to another town and your mother or father wouldn't have to go with you．Inside the town, new, fun means of transportation－like a sky car－would allow you to go from your fifth floor to someone's fifth floor．The mile-high city is an environmentalists' dream．It will change the landscape．

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　　It's simply amazing what a cellphone can do these days．Teenagers know this better than anyone．They'll tell you their super-thin phones are really pocket-sized entertainment systems．They can listen to music, watch music videos, and play computer games．They can take photographs and send text messages to their friends．Business people know this, too．For them, cellphones are really high-tech business tools．They can review business documents and read e-mails．They can check their appointment calendar and get directions to a client's office．

　　Welcome to the age of the“smartphone”．In less than five years, cellphones have developed far beyond their original function as a communication tool．And more features are being added all the time．

　　Some consumers love to keep up with the changing technology．They're always eager to get the next must?have model．But all this change has left other people confused．Cellphone users often don't know all the features their phones include．Recent consumer surveys suggest that many people still only use their phones for talking and text messaging．

　　TODAY'S FEATURES

　　So what features do cellphones have these days?That depends on the model, of course．But standard features include a digital camera, MP3 player and PDA．Newer models also have video-recording capability．Some even have GPS．So if you need to know how to get somewhere, just check your phone for directions．

　　Perhaps most importantly, some phones offer wireless Internet access．That means you can use your phone to read and send e-mail and browse the Web．You can download music, games and video files．You can even watch short“made-for-phone”dramas．

　　TOMORROW'S FEATURES

　　Even more powerful features are on the horizon．Someday soon your phone could also pay for your meals．A new technology would store your credit and bank account information on your cellphone．You could then use your phone much like a credit card．Use it to pay for a meal or purchase new clothes．Or better yet, buy that new cell phone you've been wanting．

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　　No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements．Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste, we are no longer free to choose the things we want, for advertising exerts(施加)some influence on us．In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product, advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified(分类)all our little weaknesses．

　　Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing．An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely(很少)go wrong．These days, advertisers not only offer free samples, but free cars, free houses, and free trips round the world as well．They design hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money．Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to draw the attention of millions of people in this way．

　　During a radio programme, a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory．They offered to pay ＄10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener．The response to this competition was active．Before long, biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory．One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow．It weighed nearly 500 pounds．All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed．The largest was 713 pounds．It seemed certain that this would win the prize．But just before the competition closed, a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly large biscuit which weighed 2, 400 pounds．It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1, 000 pounds of flour, 800 pounds of sugar, 200 pounds of fat, and 400 pounds of various other ingredients．The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had expected, for they bought the biscuit from the student for＄24, 000．

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　　Jean is a bright young woman who comes from a rich and famous family．She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy．Well, almost everything．The problem is that Jean's family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her．In fact, Jean is quite lonely．So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ．She likes being anonymous(匿名的), talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life．She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often．

　　Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ．His name was David and lived in San Francisco．David was full of stories and jokes．He and Jean had a common interest in rock music and modern dance．So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time．Of course, they wanted to know more about each other．David sent a picture of himself：He was a tall, good looking young man with big, happy smile．As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other．

　　When Jean's father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday．She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite rock singer．But when she knocked on David's door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!

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　　T-shirts out; uniforms in School uniforms are becoming more and more popular across the U．S．A．．That's no surprise, because they offer many benefits．

　　They immediately end the powerful social sorting and labeling(标记)that come from clothing．If all students are dressed in the same way, they will not pay too much attention to their clothing, and some of them will not be laughed at for wearing the“wrong”clothes．

　　Some people are against the strict rule of school uniforms, but they do not realize that students already accept a kind of rule－wanting to look just like their friends．The difference is that the clothing students choose for themselves creates social barriers; school uniforms tear those barriers down．

　　As in other places, uniforms remind the wearers of their purposes and duties．For example, when a man or woman puts on a police uniform, he or she becomes, for a time, the symbol(象征)of law and order．The uniform means to the wearer his or her special duties and sends the same message to everyone the wearer meets．People with different jobs wear uniforms of one kind or another．For students, the school uniform reminds them that their task for the six or seven hours they are in school is to get an education．

　　Some parents are unhappy about uniforms, saying that school uniforms will affect their children's“creativity”．First, as noted above, the clothes students choose to wear do not necessarily express their individuality(个性)．They just copy their classmates．Second, students have the rest of the day to be as creative as they like．While they're in school, their job is to master reading, writing, and maths; this would take up all the creativity they have．Mastery of those skills will be good for the students to build up their creativity in every way．