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　　There are few places on the earth where nature can be seen in almost primitive(原始的)condition．One is the Galapagos Islands, where, largely unspoiled by man．Strange and unusual birds, animals and plants settle and grow, many of which are found nowhere else in the world．These islands lie directly on the Equator, about 1000 kilometers west of the mainland of South America．

　　But the Galapagos is now facing a crisis(危机)．Its human inhabitants, who live on the island of Santa Cruz, want to develop the business and tourist possibility of the islands．Recently, they have been having a bitter struggle with the naturalists who work at the Charles Darwin Research Center, also on Santa Cruz．The naturalists want to keep the islands’ wildlife alive, which is already suffering as a result of human activities．

　　The animals’ greatest danger used to be sailors who, hundreds of years ago, plundered(掠夺)the islands for food．They wiped out about 250 000 Giant Tortoises, causing extinction(毁灭)of several species which lived on some of the smaller islands．The last survivor, an 80-year-old Giant Tortoise called Lonely George, lives under the protection of naturalists at the Darwin Center．

阅读理解

　　Without the proper planning, tourism can cause problems．For example, too many tourists can crowd public places that are also enjoyed by the inhabitants of a country．If tourists create too much traffic, the inhabitants become annoyed and unhappy．They begin to dislike tourists and to treat them impolitely．They forget how much tourism can help the country’s economy．It is important to think about the people of a destination(目的地)country and how tourism affects them．Tourism should help a country keep the customs and beauty that attract tourists．Tourism should also advance the well-being(health and happiness)of local inhabitants．

　　Too much tourism can be a problem．If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry．This means that other parts of the country’s economy can suffer．On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs．Businesses can also lose money．It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first-class roads, and other support facilities(设施)needed by tourist attractions．For example, a major international-class tourist hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build．If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel will lose money．

　　Building a hotel is just a beginning．There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers(阴沟)to handle waste, and water．All of these support facilities cost money．If they are not used because there are not enough tourists, jobs and money are lost．

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　　Fat on human beings is distributed in different ways．Some fat people have a large stomach and no waistline－which makes them look round, rather like apples．Others are fatter below the waist, which makes them appear pear-shaped．

　　There are two types of fat：external fat(fat under the skin)and internal fat(fat inside the body wall)．Doctors, who have been examining the relationship between health and fatness, have found that the ‘pears’ have less internal fat, but the ‘apples’ have more internal fat than external fat．This seems to be what causes the health problems．

　　The best treatment for fatness is to reduce the internal fat．But unfortunately, it seems that dieting simply makes an apple-shaped person into a smaller apple and a pear-shaped into a smaller pear．At the moment there is no known way of reducing the internal rather than external fat．

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　　In most cultures, when you meet acquaintances for the first time during a day, it is normal to greet them．The main purpose of this greeting is to build up a good relationship between the people concerned, and each language usually has a number of set phrases which can be used for this purpose．Sometimes there can be considerable differences in the type of phrases which can be used, and cultural misunderstanding can easily result．The following is a true example．

　　A young British woman went to Hong Kong to work, and at the time of her arrival she knew nothing ?about? the Chinese culture or language．On her way to school one day she went to the bank to get some money．To her surprise, the bank clerk asked her if she had had her lunch．She was extremely surprised at such a question because in the British culture it would be regarded as an indirect invitation to lunch．Between unmarried young people it can also indicate the young man’s interest in dating the girl; so since this bank clerk was a complete stranger to the British girl, she was very much surprised and hastily commented that she had eaten already．

　　After this she proceeded to school and was even more surprised when one of the teachers asked her the same question．By now, she realized that it could not be an invitation, but was puzzled as to why they asked it．In the following days, she was asked the same question again and again, and she spent hours trying to work out why so many people kept asking her this．

　　Eventually she came to a conclusion：the people must be concerned about her health．She was somewhat underweight at the time, and so she concluded they must be worried that she was not eating properly!Only much later did she discover that the question had no real significance at all－it was merely a greeting．

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　　There are two types of twins; identical and non-identical twins．Identical twins are formed from a single egg in mother’s body which divides to form two separate babies．Identical twins look the same, and are often dressed by their parents in clothes of the same colors．It is often difficult to tell identical twins from each other, even when they are standing side by side．Non-identical twins come into being when the mother produces two separated eggs at a time, both of which grow to form babies．In this case the twins look like normal brothers and sisters and are easy to tell one from the other．

　　In the 1970s and 1980s a scientist did some research into twins．He invited many pairs of identical twins to university and asked them to take part in a week of tests．He was particularly interested in adopted(收养)twins who had been separated at birth．He would give the twins different kinds of tests to study their speed of thinking, their speech, their memory, the ways they saw and heard different things, and so on．Time and time again he found separated twins who preferred clothes of the same color, used the same kind of shaving soap, wore the same shaped square glasses and the same colored socks．

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　　It is unbelievable how popular English is in Venezuela(委内瑞拉)．Now we have a kind of language mixture between English and Spanish．

　　In the Venezuelans’ daily conversations, they often use English words with Spanish verb endings．For example, if they send a fax(传真), they use the word faxear, or if they have to click on the screen of their computer, they say clickear．

　　Also, they use simple English words in some Spanish sentences．You might hear someone say, “Voy a comprar unos jeans in el mall”which means“I’m going to buy some jeans in the mall,”or“Okey, vamos”which means“OK, let’s go”．

　　In addition, you see English names everywhere for restaurants, Crystal Ranch, stores, Area Company, gymnasiums, Sport Center, Athletic Center, malls, The Country, and night clubs, Studio Fifty Four．In Caracas(加拉加斯), there is a very fashionable neighborhood named Las Merce des, where each street has an American name like New York or Fifth Avenue．Therefore, when you go shopping, you can see signs in English in the windows of stores, such as On Sale．

　　In some Latin American countries, the increasing influence(影响)of English is a question often argued about．But in Venezuela, however, this is not the case．Venezuelans are open to receiving different cultural influences such as European fashion(时装)and British music．Moreover, many Venezuelans don’t know where the words come from．They have been using them for years as a part of their language．

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　　Every year just after Christmas the January Sales start．All the shops reduce their prices and for two weeks, they are full of people looking for bargains．My husband and I do not normally go to the sales as we don’t like crowds and in any case are short of money as we have to buy lots of Christmas presents．

　　Last year, however, I took my husband with me to the sales at the large shop in the center of London．We both needed some new clothes and were hoping to find a television set．When we got to the station, I left my husband and started looking around the shops．Unfortunately all the clothes were in very large sizes and so were not suitable for me．But I did buy a television at a very cheap price, so I felt quite pleased with myself．

　　When I arrived at the station, my husband was not there．So I sat down in a nearby cafe to have a cup of tea．I quickly finished my tea when I saw my husband and went out to meet him．He looked very happy．Then I saw he was carrying a large and heavy cardboard box．“Oh, dear!” I thought．Yes, we had no new clothes but two televisions．We shall not be going to the sales again．

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　　A picture, a calendar or even a balloon may be the best way for millions of people living in China’s vast country areas to learn about AIDS, one of the biggest threats to public health in the world today．

　　China has decided to use user-friendly methods including exhibitions, VCDs and TV programmes to spread knowledge of the disease across the nation to try to keep it in check．

　　Educating people nationwide about AIDS is the top priority(优先权)to prevent the disease from getting out of hand．The farmers will be given knowledge in the easiest way that they can understand．?

　　A recent survey from the commission(调查团)of more than 7000 people in China showed that nearly 20 percent of them had never heard of AIDS before．Just over 71 percent said they knew AIDS was highly infectious(传染的), but most of them had no clear idea of how the disease could be spread．Just over 62 percent said they knew they could do things in advance to prevent them catching AIDS but they didn’t know what these measures were．

　　The month-long survey, carried out last December, talked to people in seven countries and cities across China including both developed coastal areas and the less-developed inland areas．The interviewees ranged from 15 to 49 years old, and country residents(居民)were about 63％ of the total surveyed．?

　　Chinese people, especially those in the country, have very little knowledge about what AIDS is all about, not to mention prevention and treatment．By the end of last year, there were 22 517 known HIV/AIDS cases in China．However, more than 6 000 000 people in China have been infected．

　　Since 1985, China has discovered 880 patients with AIDS－466 of them have died．Sharing needles, prostitution(卖淫)and contaminated blood transfusions(输血传播)are major ways for HIV to spread．A lack of education has been the biggest difficulty against nationwide efforts to prevent AIDS, especially in the countryside．

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　　Anybody running a company knows that a well-planned conference can greatly improve the performance of that business．The main reason for this is that it takes your employees away from the daily workplace and offers them somewhere fresh for a short time．However, unless the conference is well thought out it will not have the best results and you will have wasted a great deal of money．

　　The first step is to find the right place．Can your employees easily reach the conference center?Is it near a railway station?Is it close to a good fast road?Has it plenty of suitable parking space?If you are going to choose a hotel, then perhaps the hotel has cheaper rates at weekends or, if it is a popular tourist area, midweek rates may be cheaper．

　　Another important requirement is food and drink．Breakfast is a time when people can relax before the day’s work begins, but you may not want a long break for lunch in the middle of the day．Buffet(自助)lunches are very popular for this reason．Then there is dinner, which most employees consider a reward for a day’s hard work!

　　Whatever your needs are, it is essential to think ahead if you want a successful conference．

阅读理解

　　A beggar followed a lady and asked her for some money．She refused, so he turned away sadly and said he must do what he had made up his mind to do．

　　At these words, the lady was greatly frightened for she was afraid of her life．So she called him back and gave him a dollar．The beggar took the money, put it into his pocket, and thanked her a great deal．“You have saved me from a horrible fate, ” he said．The lady asked what he meant．The beggar answered, “Madam, I have been begging all day, but no one pitied me except you．Without this dollar you gave to me, I should have had to go to work now!”