Perhaps the most extraordinary building put up in the 19^th century was the Crystal Palace which was built in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851．The Crystal Palace was different from all the other buildings in the world, for it was made of iron and glass．It was one of the biggest buildings of all the time and a lot of people from many countries came to see it．Plenty of goods were sent to the exhibition from all parts of the world．There was also a great deal of machinery on show．Though in those days, traveling was not as easy as it is today；steamboats carried thousands of visitors across the Channel from Europe．On arriving in England, they were taken to the Crystal Palace by train．There were six million visitors in all, and the money from the exhibition was used to build museums and colleges．Later, the Crystal Palace was moved to the South London．It remained one of the most famous buildings in the world until it was burnt down in 1936．

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　　In the United States．30 percent of the adult population has a“weight problem”．To many people, the cause is clear：We eat too much．But scientific evidence(科学证明)does little to support this idea．Going back to the America of 1910, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food．In those days people worked harder physically(体力地), walked more, used machines much less, and didn’t watch television．

　　Several modern studies, moreover(此外), have shown that fatter people don’t eat more on average than thinner people．In fact, some investigations, such as a 1970 study of 3, 545 London office workers, report that, on balance, fat people eat less than slimmer(苗条)people．

　　Studies show that slim people are more active than fat people．A study by a research group at Stanford University School of Medicine found the following interesting facts．

　　The more the men ran the greater loss of body fat．

　　The more they ran, the greater their increase in food intake(吸收)．

　　Thus those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost greatest amount of body fat．

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　　Colour helps you see things．But man and some monkeys and apes(猿)are the only mammals(哺乳动物)that can see colour．To any other mammal, such as the dog, the world looks like a black-and-white photo．Dogs hunt mainly by listening and sniffing(闻)．

　　Like other animals, dogs see best when things move, the animals they hunt seem to know this．A hunted rabbit or deer will“freeze”．Then the dog may not see it at all．

　　Birds can see colour．They need to, because they fly and need to find places to land．Colour helps them judge distance and shape．In this way they are able to catch bugs(昆虫)in the air or to light on branches．

　　Some birds see things even better than you do．The birds that eat bugs can see them from far away．And even a very young bird can see a hawk high in the sky．So sharp eyes and a sense of colour help birds find food and also help them find where their enemies are．

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　　Dick was a twenty-year-old man．His father was a teacher and taught chemistry in a middle school and his mother worked in a shop．They live a happy life until his parents died one night when suddenly an earthquake broke out．Luckily his sister took him to see their aunt in the city and they did not stay at home．Everything was destroyed in the earthquake and the two children got into trouble．Thanks to their aunt who was not rich enough, they grew up but they lived a hard life．His sister was so sad that she became a nun(修女)．After he finished middle school, he was introduced to an owner of a hotel and began to work there．

　　One day the young man fell to the ground while he was cleaning a window on the second floor．He was sent to the hospital and the doctor looked him over．One of his legs was broken and he had to be in hospital．He said to the nurse,“I’m a poor man, madam．Arrange a third-class ward(安排一个三等病房)for me, please．”

　　“Can’t anybody help you?”

　　“No, madam,”answered Dick．“I have only a sister．She’s nun and she’s poor, too．”

　　“I don’t think so,”the nurse said angrily．“Nuns usually marry God．And God is the richest in the world, you know!”

　　“Well, then,”Dick said with a smile．“Please arrange a first-class ward for me and post the bill(账单)to my brother-in-law．”

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　　We know mosquitoes very well．Mosquitoes fly everywhere．They can be found almost all over the world，and there are more than 2,500 kinds of them．

　　No one likes the mosquito．But the mosquito may decide that she loves you．She？Yes, she．It’s true that the male mosquito doesn’t bite(咬)and only the female mosquito bites because she needs blood to lay eggs．She is always looking for things or people she wants to bite．If she likes what she finds, she bites．But if she doesn’t like your blood, she will turn to someone else for more delicious blood．Next time a mosquito bites you，just remember you are chosen．You’re different from the others!

　　If the mosquito likes you, she lands on your body without letting you know．She bites you so quickly and quietly that you may not feel anything different．After she bites，you will have an itch(痒)on your body because she puts something from her mouth together with your blood．By the time the itch begins，she has flown away．

　　And then what happens？Well，after her delicious dinner，the mosquito feels tired．She just wants to find a place to have a good rest．There, on a leaf or a wall, she begins to lay eggs, hundreds of eggs．

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William Shakespeare, the great English writer of drama(戏剧), was born in 1564 in Stratford-on-Avon．We do not know everything about Shakespeare’s early life．But we know that he studied at the Grammar School in Stratford, and that he became interested in the theatre when he was still a boy．In 1586, Shakespeare went to London, where he worked in a theatre for some years before he began to write his own plays．Shakespeare soon became well-known in London．Every play he wrote was very good and new to the people of the capital．Queen Elizabeth liked Shakespeare’s plays．By the end of the 16th century, Shakespeare and his friends had enough money to build their own theatre．But we must think that Shakespeare had no difficulties in his life．Some writers were against him because their plays were worse than his．

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Kleptomania is an illness of the mind that gives a person the desire to steal．Such a person is not really a thief．They are sick and cannot help themselves．All small children act naturally and as they grow up they normally learn to control their actions．People with kleptomania for certain medical reasons have failed to develop control over their desire to take things that do not belong(属于)to them．With medical help they may become normal citizens(公民)again．The things that a kleptomaniac steals are seldom of great value．They often give away what they have stolen or collect objects without using them．

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　　Africa is now facing many problems．People are suffering(遭受)from a shortage(短缺)of food．They do not have enough health care．Deserts(沙漠)are spreading(扩大)in many places．In Africa millions of people starved(饿)to death, and two thirds of them were children．Harry Belafonte, a famous singer in America, felt sad when he saw a film about the starving people in Africa．He said to himself,“I should do something to help them．What can I do？”He thought of a record would help the starving people in Africa．Those famous singers and musicians were always very busy．“How can you gather them？”everyone said to Belafonte．But they were willing to come to the event(活动)from all over the country．

　　Then who wrote the words and music for the record？

　　During the Christmas holidays in 1984, Michael Jackson and Lionel Riche were writing the words and music for the record at Jackson’s home in Los Angeles．They often talked about the music far into the night．When they finished the music, they called it“We Are the World.”On the evening of January 28^th, 1985, forty-five superstars made a historical(历史性的)recording in a Hollywood studio．“Everyone should do something active like this.”Said Cyndi Lauper．“We have to be the voice,”Stevie Wonere said,“to help those people that have lost their future.”A sign was put at the door of the studio：“Please cheek you ego(自我)at the door!”

　　At 10 p.m．they began their work．They finally finished recording at 8 a.m．that morning．Just at that moment Diana Ross sat down with tears in her eyes and said．“I just don’t want this to end!”

　　On April 5, more than 800 radio station all over the world played“We Are The World”at the same time．

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Shark O’Neill of NBA

　　Wherever he appears, people will get shocked at the sight of him－a black colossus(巨人)or an iron tower．

　　With a height of 2.16 meters and a weight of 138 kilograms, he wears shoes size 57 that are like two small boats．His hands are as large as two cattail leaves(香蒲叶)．He always shakes hands carefully and gently with others for he is afraid of hurting them．He smiles gently so that his resonant(洪亮的)voice won’t frighten them．He even begins his chatting with care．

　　Shark O’Neill, 22, has become a new famous NBA player and is a rising superstar or a dark horse．Now he has signed a 7-year contract worth $40 million with the Orando Magics．In addition, he will get another huge amount of $ 30 million from the advertisements all over the world．The NBA experts think he’ll be a billionaire(亿万富翁)at the age of 25, the highest record of its kind．

　　Shark O’Neill’s mother is busy answering and handing almost 1000 letters a day which come mainly from his fans, while his father, Phillip, is in charge of O’Neill’s business management．Phillip, who himself was an excellent basketball player before, trained his son to be a world famous player．It is his father who pushed O’Neill to the throne(宝座)of NBA．

　　O’Neill succeeds．He is another superstar after Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson of NBA．

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　　David Beckham was born in 1975 in London, at a place called Leytonstone．When he was a young boy, his greatest passion was in football．He played it whenever he had the chance．Sometimes he would go and watch a game with his friends．When David Beckham was 12 years old, he won the Bobby Charlton Soccer Skills award(奖金)．This was an important step forward for this young boy, and it led him to go for a visit to a football training camp in Spain．As a boy he played for schools of Essex and also for his county team．

　　In 1991, he became a trainee with Manchester United．This meant that he could practice football as much as he wanted to and play for the highly successful Manchester United Youth Cup team and Under-21 team．In April, 1995 he played his first football league game against Leeds Untied．During 1995 and 1996, David became a regular member of the team and Manchester United won in both football seasons, with David scoring many goals．

　　His goals made him a household name．In the first game of the 1996～1997 season, he scored an surprising goal from beyond the halfway line; seeing the goalkeeper a little way out of his goal, Beckham became famous overnight．He continued to score astonishing goals, especially from free-kicks．The speed of one of his shots was timed at 157 kph．He also had the ability to make the ball go from left to right, or right to left, whenever he chose．Goalkeepers were never sure where the ball was going, and it regularly ended up in the goal．

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