阅读理解：

　　Most people agree that the direct, assertive(过分自信的)American personality is a virtue, but it sometimes surprises foreigners．In many cultures, respect for older people or those in positions of authority keeps others from expressing their true feelings．But in the U.S, children often argue with their parents, students may disagree with their teachers, and citizens may express opposition to the actions of the government．If the soup has a fly in it or the meat is too tough to chew, the diner can complain to the waiter, if the boss makes a mistake, an employee will politely point it out．

　　Some straight talk about the American character must include the admission that Americans have their faults．The extremely competitive nature of Americans is probably their worst fault．Of course, competition isn’t always bad．As a matter of fact, it promotes excellence by encouraging individuals and businesses to try to do their best．But the desire to get ahead of others sometimes causes people to do things that are unkind and even dishonest．Also, Americans admire what is practical, fast, efficient, and fresh．Sometimes they fail to understand and appreciate practices that have greater respect for more traditional, leisurely ways of doing things．On the other hand, people from other cultures may dislike the practical, challenging American lifestyle.

　　Despite culture differences, most foreigners give Americans credit for their virtues．Americans are generally viewed as friendly, adaptable, energetic, and kindhearted．Most newcomers to the U.S．like Americans, and the feeling is usually mutual．Perhaps the greatest American virtue is a deep interest in new ideas and new people．In a nation of immigrants, the foreigner does not remain an outsider for long．

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　　By choosing to let go of the past, we can sweep out all the ashes that weigh us down and affect every aspect of our health, our relationships, and our peace of mind．

　　My friend Jean was divorced after a thirty-year marriage that produced three daughters, one son and eight grandchildren．Because she had actually raised them single-handedly, Jean was hurt and angry that the children didn’t take her part after the divorce．For months she refused to attend any family celebration to which her former husband Jim was also invited．When I reasoned that her children’s understanding of the relationship with and between the parents was probably altogether different from hers, she stuck to the belief that she was right．

　　One day Jean called in tears．“Saturday is my granddaughter’s birthday, and I really want to be with her, but I can’t bring myself to face my former husband.”“Jim isn’t the problem,”I said gently,“its false pride．Instead of holding on to the painful past, which is over and done, let the feelings go and get on with your life．You’re depriving yourself of the joy of sharing in these important occasions, while Jim feels free to experience them．Tell me, would you rather be right, or be happy?”

　　That must have done the trick because when Saturday arrived, Jean appeared at her daughter’s home carrying her famous chocolate-chip cookies and a beautiful birthday cake．

　　How great it feels to let go!How energizing!And the more we practice the art of letting go of all negativity, the better able we become to devote our thoughts, our time, and our energy to living joyfully in the present, what ever age we happen to be．

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　　A lucky traveler, two smart tigers and a student hero are all waiting for you：they’re in this summer’s films．If you can’t stay cool, then come and join them in one of these hot new films．

　　Here’s a look at some of the best ones：

　　Around the World in 80 Days

　　US release(发行)date：June 16

　　Kungfu star Jackie Chan is back to take you on a trip around the world!In this film, he plays a man named Passepartout．He goes with an Englishman, Phileas Fogg, on a race around the world!

　　Fogg has made a bet with some people in London．He bet he could make the trip in only 80 days by using all kinds of things：boats, trains, hot-air balloons and elephants!

　　Along the way, Passepartout uses his kungfu to keep Fogg safe from bad people．On their trip, they pass through France, Turkey, India, China, America and more!

　　Two brothers

　　US Release date：June 25

　　Two twin tigers are born in a forest．They ere close brothers, but one day some men catch them and take them away to different places．

　　The stronger brother is sold to a circus(马戏团)and has to live in a cage．The shy one becomes a little boy’s pet(宠物)and best friend．

　　But an accident happens, and another man takes him away．He teaches him to fight．

　　One day, when the two brothers grow up, they meet again in a fight!What will they do?

　　Spider-Man 2

　　Us Release Date：June 30

　　Spider-Man is back, and he’s got new bad guys to fight in New York City!

　　In the 2002 film“Spider-Man,”a spider bites the high school student Peter Parker．After that, he can do things spiders can do, like walk on walls．And he knows when danger is close by．

　　In“Spider-Man 2, H Peter is in college．He doesn’t want people to know he is Spider-Man, but it’s not easy．Also, he’s trying to win the love of the beautiful Mary Jane Watson．But it seems nothing is easy for him．

　　Things get harder．A man, Dr Otto Octavius, comes．He changes into a huge octopus(章鱼)!Can Spider-Man beat Octavius and win Mary Jane’s heart?

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阅读理解

　　Like most July days, it was hot．I stepped into a tiny ice-cream shop to cool off with a chocolate ice-cream．It was a very old-time store with little round tables and chairs．

　　As I entered, I found a very old woman bent over a table near the door．Her back was so badly twisted(弯曲)by some misfortune that her face nearly touched the tabletop．I sat down facing her a couple of tables away．

　　“Poor woman,”I thought．“What does she get out of life?Why does God let people live so long past their prime?”

　　As I thought, another aged lady entered the shop and sat down with her．Soon the two of them were talking about childhood days．They talked of how little the shop had changed in 70 years...In minutes, the two of them were shaking with laughter．

　　I looked again at the first woman, then in the mirror on a nearby wall, catching a picture of myself．I was wearing a dirty shirt．She was well dressed in white, her face carefully made up and her hands shining with gold rings．I was sad．She was laughing, smiling．I was putting the pieces of my life together．She had millions of wonderful memories to recall．I sat alone．She was sharing the day with a good friend．In secret I was worried about getting old．She was old, but it wasn’t hurting her．As I left the shop, I thought of my foolish question about God letting people live past their prime．Why, that woman was more alive, more sensitive to life, than I was．Age has not bent her spirit．

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　　From email to online shopping, you may think you’ve heard everything there to know about the electronic frontier(新领域)．But with hundreds of thousands of Web pages being added weekly, there are plenty of surprises out there．Here are some of the most intriguing(有迷惑力的)．

　　Put your kid on a greeting card．Here is how：simply take some pictures with a regular camera, and then ask the photo service to develop them digitally(数字化)．For a small fee, you’ll receive your photos on a desk．Put that into your computer and, with a few clicks of the mouse, you can view your photos on the screen．With a few more keystrokes, you can attach the photos to email and send them to friends and relatives worldwide．

　　Sign on to one or several greeting card’s Websites(www．cardcentral.net is an index of more than 1200 electronic card sites)and create an electronic birthday or holiday card．Using your digital photos, you can paste your grandchildren onto the cover．

　　If you don’t want to use your own photos, go to cards.amzon.com to browse(read through)hundreds of images in over 30 categories, all of which you can attach to an electronic greeting card for free．For a nominal fee you can choose from a library of 75,000 images as www.photodisc.com．

　　Call Australia for free．To have a telephone conversation over the Internet, the person you want to talk to no longer needs a computer．Now all you need to talk to someone in Sydney is one computer with speakers, a microphone, a sound card and some software(available at www.vocaltec.com or Microsoft.com)．Typically, you’ll pay a monthly fee(usually under $20)to a service provider, but after that, the calls themselves are local．Sound quality is the same as that of a cell phone．

　　Even if you don’t have a computer, you can still use the Web to reduce your long distance phone costs．Some companies offer a service that lets you use an ordinary phone to call another ordinary phone, but charge only a few cents per minute for US calls, because they send them through the Internet．

　　Today 48 percent of American homes have computers… a figure that is expected to climb to 60 percent by 2003．And by the end of the next decade, Americans will-likely be spending more time shopping, banking, investing and learning on the Internet than in the real world．If you can’t do or find something on the Net today, you probably can tomorrow．

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阅读理解：

　　B Glynis Davis：I first piled on the pounds when I was in the family way and I couldn’t lose them afterwards．Then I joined a slimming club．My target was 140 pounds and I lost 30 pounds in six months．I felt great and people kept saying how good I looked．But Christmas came and I started to slip back into my old eating habits．I told myself I’d lose the weight at slimming classes in the new year but it didn’t happen．Instead of losing the pounds, I put them on．I’d lost willpower and tried to believe that the odd bag of crisps didn’t make any difference---but the scales don’t lie．

　　Roz Juma：To be honest, I never weigh myself any more I’ve learnt to be happy with myself．It seemed to me that I would feel sorry about every spoonful of tasty food that passed my lips．My idea is simple．You shouldn’t be too much thinking about food and dieting．Instead, you should get on with life and stop dreaming of a supper-thin body．This is obviously the size I’m meant to be and, most of all, I’m happy with it．

　　Lesley Codwin：I was very happy about winning Young Slimmer of the Year．I’d look in the mirror unable to believe this slim lady was me!That might have been my problem---perhaps from then on I didn’t pay any attention to myself．Winning a national competition makes everything worse, though, because you feel the eyes of the world are fixed upon you．I feel a complete failure because I’ve put on weight again．

　　Ros Langfod：Before moving in with my husband Gavin, I’d always been about 110 pounds, but the pleasant housework went straight to my waist and I put on 15 pounds in a year．Every so often I try to go on a diet … I’m really good in a few days, then end up having the children’s leftovers or eating happily chocolate---my weakness．I’d like to be slim, but right now my duty is the children and home．I might take more exercise when my kids are older．

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　　Hiring a self-drive car really adds to the enjoyment of your holiday．There are so many places of interest to visit, and if you enjoy seeing more than just the city center there’s no better way to explore than by car．

　　Condition of Hire

　　The shortest rental period at these specially low prices is three days．For prices for periods of one or two days you only see our representative at the hotel．

　　Car hire must be booked six weeks or more before arrival in London to guarantee a car．But if you have been unable to make a booking in advance, please see our representative at the hotel who may still be able to help you．

　　The car types on the sheet are examples of the types of cars in each price range, but a particular car cannot be guaranteed．

　　Upon delivery the driver(s)will be asked to sign the car hire company’s Conditions of Hire．

　　If you decide to hire a car, just fill in the Booking Form and return it to us．A booking fee of ￡12 as part of the car hire cost is required．

　　Should you be forced to cancel your car hire booking after payment in full(two weeks before date of hire), a cancellation charge of ￡12 will be made．

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阅读理解

　　Looking back on my childhood, I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made．Although we were all brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects．Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages．I was not an early reader and I could not do mental arithmetic．

　　Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary．I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys．Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door．But I do have a clear memory of the dogs, the farm animals, the local birds, and above all, the insects．

　　I am a naturalist, not a scientist．I have a strong love of the natural world and my enthusiasm had led me into varied investigations．I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries．Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind．Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle, because it all seems to fit together．This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some might honor with the title of scientific research．

　　But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist：one of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack．A scientist, up to a certain point, can be made．A naturalist is born．If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds．

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　　Doors and windows can’t keep them out; airport immigration officers can’t stop them and the Internet is a complete reproduction soil．They seem harmless in small doses, but large imports threaten Japan’s very uniqueness, say critics．“They are foreign words and they are infecting the Japanese language”．

　　“Sometimes I feel like I need a translator to understand my own language,”says Yoko Fujimura with little anger, a 60-year-old Tokyo restaurant worker.”It’s becoming incomprehensible”．

　　It’s not only Japan who is on the defensive．Countries around the globe are wet through their hands over the rapid spread of American English．Coca Cola, for example, is one of the most recognized terms on Earth．

　　It is made worse for Japan, however, by its unique writing system．The country writes all imported utterances(言论)except Chinese in a different script called katakana(片假名)．It is the only country to keep up such a difference．Katakana takes far more space to write than kanji the core pictograph(象形文字)characters that the Japanese borrowed from China 1,500 years ago．Because it stands out, readers complain that sentences packed with foreign words start to look like extended strings of lights．As if that weren’t enough, katakana terms tend to get puzzling．

　　For example, digital camera first appears as degitaru Kamera．Then they became the more ear pleasing digi kamey．But kames is also the Japanese word for turtle．“It’s very disappointing not knowing what young people are talking about,”says humorously Minoru Shiratori, a 53 year old bus driver．“Sometimes I can’t tell if they’re discussing cameras or turtles．”

　　In a bid to stop the flood of katakana, the government has formed a Foreign Words Committee to find suitable Japanese replacements．The committee is slightly different from French style language police, which try to support a law that forbids advertising in English．Rather, committee members and traditionalists hope a nonstop campaign of persuasion, gentle criticism and leadership by example can turn the tide．

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Guide to Restaurants in New York City

　　Nearly 1,000 restaurants are included in this latest edition of the most trusted guide to eating well in New York．Brief reviews by the city’s most respected food writers are made more readable by what cannot be found in any other restaurant guide, including：suggested dishes final bill．Hardcover.$14.95．

　　A guided tour of everyday technology from the pages of the New York Times Circuits section, with easy to understand explanations of the inner workings of computers, CD players, ATM’s, digital cameras and 76 other devices, 100 illustrations，St．Martin’s Press．195 pages．Hardcover．

　　The New York Times Book of Natural Disasters

　　The book gathers together the paper’s finest articles about humankind’s quest to understand natural disasters．Possible causes and effects of global warming are studied, as is the surprising force of nature’s violent excitement in such phenomena as hurricanes, forest fires, sinkholes and others．Illustrated, soft cover, 216 pages,$16.95．

　　Campaigns：A Century of Presidential Races

　　Every campaign since 1900－including the historic 200 races－in images from the New York Times Photo Archives．With 350 photos, contemporary newspaper reports and an introduction by prizewinning historian Alan Brinkley DK Publishing．410 pages．Hardcover．

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