阅读理解

　　When Rikke Dausen in Denmark goes to get some milk from the fridge, she has trouble getting past the refrigerator door．But it’s not because of any physical obstruction(障碍)．It’s usually because the PC monitor in her refrigerator’s door has informed her that a new email message has arrived．

　　Rikke and her husband are taking part in a six-month trial sponsored(赞助)by a Danish firm and two Swedish partners．They hope to show that computers can be put to much more practical daily use than most people think．Fifty families and singles were provided with a free model known as the“Screenfridge”for the duration of trial．

　　“It’s really very clever,”says Rikke．She can call up email, news reports, sales items at the supermarket or addresses out of the endless ocean of Internet possibilities．“I’m not the type who wants to sit in front of the computer and wait 10 minutes for the modem to connect,”she says．

　　The creators of the Screenfridge aim at this type of buyer．They think that the machine should attract people who have limited time to solve technical problems or surf online．

　　The PC that is built into the door is very small．It is only two centimeters wide, and completely silent．

　　Everything moves quickly, as Rikke admits．Well, the whole thing is really just an amusement, she says．But when the thing is gone after the test, it will be a pain to have to go down in the basement again to download my email．

　　The Screenfridge is due to hit the market sometime in early 2003．

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阅读理解

　　Bond had walked for only a few minutes when it suddenly occurred to him that he was being followed．There was no evidence for it except a slight headache and a little knowing the people near him but believed in his sixth sense and he at once stopped in front of the shop window he was passing and looked occasionally back along 46th Street．Nothing but a lot of miscellaneous people moving slowly on the sidewalks, mostly on the same side as himself, the side that was back from the sun．There was no sudden movement into a doorway, nobody wiping his face with a handkerchief to avoid recognition, nobody bending down to tie a shoelace．

　　He went on and turned into the Avenue of the Americans, stopping in the first doorway, the entrance to a woman’s underwear store where a man in a blue suit with his back to him was examining the black lace paints on a particularly realistic-dummy(模型)．

　　And then something grasped his arm and a voice came,“All right, Limey．Take it easy unless you want lead for lunch,”and he felt something press into his back just above the kidney．

　　There was a tap as his fist was caught in the other man’s left hand, and at the same time as the contact telegraphed to Bond’s mind that there could have been no gun, there came the well remembered laugh and the lazy voice saying：“No good, James．The angles have got you．”

　　Bond straightened himself slowly and for a moment he could only gaze into the smiling face of Felix Leiter with blank dis-belief, his built-up tension(紧张)slowly relaxing．

　　“So you were doing a front tail, you bastard(赝品)，”he finally said．

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阅读理解：

　　Buying insurance is a way in which people can protect themselves against large losses．Protection against fire is one kind of insurance．Large numbers of people pay small sums of money to an insurance company．Although thousands of people have paid for fire insurance, only a few will lose their homes by fire．The insurance company will pay for these homes out of the small sums of money it had collected．

　　The first modem fire insurance company was formed in London in the 1740s．A great fire had just destroyed most of the city and people wanted protection against further losses．The first company grew rapidly．Some other companies were founded in other areas．

　　Benjamin Franklin helped form the first fire insurance company in America in 1752, and then a new kind of insurance for farmers was suggested．The new insurance would provide protection against the loss of crops from storms．

　　Later on another new insurance company was started in America．This company, which offered life insurance, collected small sums of money regularly from many different men．If a man died, his family was given a large sum of money．

　　Over the years, insurance companies have offered new kinds of insurance protection．The new kinds of insurance cover from such accidents as car and plane crashes．Today, most people have some kind of insurance．

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　　The desire to make explorations is born with man．Wherever his imagination goes, man also has a strong wish to go．A large part of human history is connected with the exploration of the world in which we live．Again and again people have set out with surprising courage and patience to look into unknown regions and lands to see what had not yet been seen, to make known the unknown．With kites, balloons and aircraft they left the ground to pass through the lower atmosphere．Now the outer space receives their attention．

　　Why should man take the trouble of conquering space?It is hard to list the specific practical benefits that will result in．But one knows, from past experience in other areas, that man will surely see and discover new things in space that will increase our scientific knowledge, and this new knowledge will find its way into valuable practical uses．What we learn about man himself, from his experience in space, and from the effects of space and the space flight environment on him, will be extremely valuable．The new techniques developed to cany out the exploration of space, and to keep man alive in space, will certainly find practical uses in everyday life in some way．The areas that will benefit are manifold．They include communication, generation of power, transportation and travel, food production, materials, fuels and many others．But to say definitely just what the practical results will be is almost impossible．

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　　Tokyo：the world’s oldest man, retired Japanese silkworm breeder Yukichi Chuganji, died in his home at the age of 114, on Monday．Family members found him dead on his mattress．Born on March 23, 1989, Chuganji worked as a silkworm breeder and bank employee after leaving school．He also served as a community welfare officer．He had been in good health, talking daily with his family members．

　　Washington：every American dislikes people who talk on cellphones while driving, even those are guilty of the practice．In the State of New Jersey, 84 percent of 968 cellphone owners said in a recent telephone survey that they would support a state ban on the use of cellphones while driving．However, 42 percent of cellphone owners also said they used the devices“very often”or“sometimes”while driving．Although most agree that the banning is good, only 38 percent believed such a ban would be easy to enforce．

　　New York：a woman in the US who was being attacked by a vicious dog said she was saved from further harm when her 13-year-old daughter distracted the canine by screaming“ You want a piece of me?”and kicked it repeatedly in the head．Jane Howell said she and her daughter, Elizabeth, were taking a walk around the neighbourhood on Saturday, evening when they came across the big dog, unchained．

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　　ENGLAND coach Sven-Goran Eriksson faces an anxious wait to see if David Beckham will be available for England’s Euro 2004 qualifier against Turkey on October 11．Beckham injured his right foot in Real Madrid’s 0-2 loss to Valencia on Saturday in Madrid．He landed heavily on his foot, bruising the instep, after the studs of his left boot caught in the turf as he took a free-kick late in the game．

　　CHINA’S hope of snatching its first-ever ATP(Association of Tennis Professionals)tide was dashed on Sunday as Zhu Benqiang and Zeng Shaoxuan were beaten 2-6,4-6 by Australia’s Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley in the doubles final of the Shanghai Heineken Open．But the event was a historic achievement for China anyway, as prior to it, no Chinese player had made it to the final of an ATP tour event．“We need more time to get used to the way foreign players play,”said 22-year-old Zeng．“We are still young, which means we have many opportunities to improve ourselves,”he said．

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　　In the past ten years, America’s National Basketball Association(NBA)has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players．

　　When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball．This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters(花名册)will be filled by non-Americans．NBA commissioner David Stem happily embraces the trend(趋势)．On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010．

　　The NBA is now planning to take China by storm．

　　“Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,”said Stern．The strategy(战略)in China is television．“We’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite．”The success of Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China．The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing and Shanghai．The NBA knows that it needs a global market to compensate for tough times on home soil．

　　“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout(揽得人才)internationally,”said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations．“It has increased the level of competition here．”As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their American peers(同行)．Others, such as the Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming－number one draft pick in 2002－and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic－number two overall in this year’s draft－are icons(偶像)in-waiting．It is the ultimate revolution－the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball．(21st Century 2003－11－6)

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　　When China launches its Shenzhou VI spaceship, it will most likely carry two astronauts and stay in space for five to seven days, according to Wang Yongzhi, the chief designer of the country’s manned spacecraft．

　　In an interview with local media, Wang spoke highly of the team of researchers based in Shanghai, who designed Shenzhou V’s main engine．

　　Asked whether Yang Liwei, China’s first astronaut who blasted into space a month ago from Jiuquan, Gansu Province, will be picked again for the second mission, Wang said the final decision will be made only 16 hours before the launch, so“it is still too early to say”．

　　Yang, on his first trip to Shanghai, said he was touched by the enthusiasm of the local people．He said he was also impressed by the city’s cosmopolitan and high-tech outlook．

　　Reminded by local journalists of his non-stop schedule since he returned to earth－touring around the country and giving speeches－Yang said that it was part of his responsibility to spread the message of encouragement to his compatriots．

　　Meanwhile, lured by the visiting space program team, 130,000 people have thronged the round-the-clock, two-day space exhibition at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum since the free show opened on Tuesday．

　　Among them, more than 70,000 visited between 6 pm and 6 am despite the biting cold, curious to see“what the country’s first manned spaceship looked like”．

　　“It’s incredible!”Li Jun, an exhibition official, told Shanghai Daily yesterday．“We never expected such a huge number of visitors, especially since they queued up in these freezing conditions．”

　　Chen Dafu, 58, who traveled all the way from suburban Qingpu District, said：“It’s been worth it．The space exhibition was an eye-opener for me．As a Chinese, I was so happy when Yang returned to Earth safely．”Also yesterday, Yang and his peers gave emotional speeches at the Shanghai Exhibition Center to more than 2,000 senior government officials and residents from various fields．They also took a cruise along the Huangpu River last night．(China Daily 2003－12－20)

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　　It’s not only rocket scientists and journalists who are following the course of“Shenzhou V”,or“Divine ship/vessel V”．There are also lexicographers, or dictionary compilers．The flight of the Spacecraft last week might help put some new words into orbit．

　　One of them is a western media coinage used to refer to the Chinese astronauts．It’s a combination of the Chinese pinyin“taikong”, meaning space, and the English“astronaut”, from classical Greek：“star sailor/navigator”, for people who was going into space as a career．

　　In the Reuters and AP reports of October 15,“taikonaut”was used as a proper noun．For example：

　　The long March 2F rocket carrying“taikonaut”Yang Liwei lifted off into a clear blue sky over the Gobi desert at 9 am and entered its orbit 10 minutes later．

　　A Long March 2F rocket called the Shemhou V－“divine ship”in Chinese－carried a single“taikonaut”named Yang Liwei, 38, following Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American Alan Shepard in 1961．

　　The word“taikonaut”is not a newly coined term．It first emerged in November, 1999, when China launched its first unmanned“Shenzhou I”spacecraft．

　　At that lime, some English news media predicted that China would soon launch a manned space flight and created the word“taikonaut”for the Chinese astronauts．It was then borrowed by the Germans media．

　　But it was left out of mainstream dictionaries, such as the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Cambridge Advanced English Learner’s Dictionary．

　　However, the launch of the“Shenzhou V”will most likely help boost its status since there is already a word referring specifically to Russian astronauts in the dictionary entry．

　　An astronaut of Russian(or the former Soviet Union)is called a“cosmonaut”, from the Russian“kosmonaut”．The word was derived from classical Greek：“kosmonaut”(universal)and“nautes”．One might argue that“cosmonaut”is a Russian variation on the earlier word“astronaut”．

　　On March 14,1995, US astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to ride into space on-board a Russian launch vehicle, arguably making him the first American cosmonaut．

　　And if this trend of coinage continues, more English variations for astronaut will appear as more countries are able to send their own astronauts into outer space, what would Western journalists call an astronaut from India or Africa?We’ll have to wait to see．

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　　Last week, about 600 teenagers in the US imagined a future changed by technology in which their lessons are taught by robots and they learn about celebrities and alien languages．They believe they will use jet packs(喷气背包)，and hoverboards(旋转飞盘)，as everyday transport．

　　All the participants of the survey are teenagers born into the Internet age．The study is to show how the first cyber(计算机的)generation dream about a future life created by advanced technology．

　　Most believe there will still be schools to go to, but that technology will play an increasingly important role in learning．The 600 teens surveyed think there will still be teachers, but 37 per cent imagine them to be robots．Some 24 per cent believe that teachers will still be human but they will have interchangeable microchips(微型芯片)so that one person can teach all subjects．

　　More than one in two believe hoverboarding will be popular, while one-third say that wearing rocket boots will be their favourite activity．Another third think jet packs will be popular．Nearly 30 per cent think football and bike-riding will remain popular．

　　When it comes to the curriculum, they think future generations will be learning about robot building(63 per cent),alien languages(47 per cent),celebrities(26 per cent)and R&B music(22 per cent)．

　　Children will wear virtual reality helmets(可视头盔)to bring lessons to life, say 40 per cent, while over 20 per cent believe they will not need lessons because microchips implanted(植入)in their head will send relevant(相关的)information into the brain．

　　Matt Whyman, adviser to the chief medical officer on youth issues at American Online, said：“The kids seem very aware of the liberating qualities of technology．”

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