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　　“High tech” and “state of the art” are two expressions that describe very modern technology．High tech is just a shorter way of saying high technology．And high technology describes an invention, system or device that uses the newest ideas or discoveries of science and engineering．What is high tech?A computer is high tech．So is a communications satellite．A modern manufacturing system is surely high tech．High became a popular expression in the United States during the early 1980’s．Because of improvements in technology, people could buy many new kinds of products in American stores, such as home computers, microwave ovens, etc．

　　“State of the art” is something that is as modern as possible．It is a product that is based on the very latest methods and technology．Something that is “state of the art” is the newest possible design or product of a business or industry．A state of the art television set, for example, uses the most modern electronic design and parts．It is the best that one can buy．

　　“State of the art” is not a new expression．Engineers have used it for years, to describe the best and most modern way of doing something．Millions of Americans began to use the expression in the late 1970’s．The reason was the computer revolution．Every computer company claimed that its computers were“state of the art”．

　　Computer technology changed so fast that a state of the art computer today might be old tomorrow．The expression “state of the art” became as common and popular as computers themselves．Now all kinds of products are said to be “state of the art”．

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　　Darby, Pennsylvania－A Pennsylvania woman spent the better part of an hour shopping at a neighbourhood grocery store without realizing that a passer-by had stuck a knife into her neck．

　　Darlane Jones, 62, set out from home on foot when a running passer-by slapped her on the back of the neck．She kept on going, as if nothing had happened．

　　Jones walked to the Acme supermarket in the nearby community of Yeadon, just outside Philadelphia．She bought a package of Oreocookies and a newspaper before making the half-mile return journey to her house．

　　Only after she got home did her daughter notice the handle of a kitchen knife sticking out of her mother’s neck．The daughter yanked(猛拉)out the blade, releasing a gush(涌出)of blood．She then rushed her mother to the hospital．She was in fair condition last Saturday．

　　“Five or six people walked right past her without even noticing,” said Darby Police Chief Robert Smythe．

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　　When I was a boy, I belonged to the Boy Scouts(童子军), so I used to go camping every summer, and once something happened which I have never been able to explain．

　　We were camping beside a river．After arriving, we all rushed down to the river and had a swim．Standing by the river, we noticed that it was surrounded by cliffs．If someone wanted to reach the river at this point, he had to walk past our camp．

　　Several days later, the scoutmaster had to be away for a day．That afternoon, we had supper early．We were sitting round the fire, eating and talking, when a man walked past and sat down towards the river．We all felt that this man looked very strange, but, because each of us was afraid of looking very stupid, no one said anything．

　　We ate rather slowly, taking as long as possible．After finishing, we collected our plates together so that we could take them to the river where we always washed them．But no one moved towards the river－we stood looking at each other ashamed．Then all shouting at once, we agreed how strange he looked and we wondered what he could be doing by the river．We knew that he could only return by passing through our camp．

　　An hour passed．Then one of the boys suggested we should creep(悄悄移动)down by the river so that we could see what the man was doing．Moving very slowly and keeping in the shadow, we crept down towards the bank．One boy climbed a tree so that he could see everything clearly．He called to us that there was no one there, so we ran down to the bank, looking everywhere carefully．We could not understand where the man had gone．

　　When it got dark, we went back to our camp feeling bewildered．We told the scoutmaster what had happened in the evening．Smiling, he doubted that we had seen the man, but finally suggested we go and look again, but there was no one there．

　　Many years have passed, but I still remember it as if it were yesterday．What did we see? I do not know．

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　　Mars is not that it seems the dry old planet we once believed it to be．Astronauts who are expected to go there in the next ten years may find plenty of water to get their thirst away．If there is water, it will be much more possible to find life on Mars．

　　This is the view of 40 geologists who have been analyzing thousands of pictures and other scientific information gained by robot explorers in the 1960s and 1970s．

　　At first scientists thought the red planet was as lifeless as the moon with dust storms blowing over the large sandy deserts．But now the picture is very different with mountains and valleys cut by glaciers(冰川)and rivers running deep underground．

　　In a report on the analysis of the Martian pictures Dr Michael Car of the US says, “ I believe there is lots of water on Mars．”Water will be in the form of ice．But it could save explorers from having to take water with them．

　　The report says that Mars probably had a warmer climate in ages past, because of its axis(轴线)having been more tilted(倾斜)towards the sun．

　　No convincing signs of plant or animal life have been found by instruments landed on Mars, though only nearby area of landing instruments could be examined．

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　　Time talks．It speaks more plainly(明白地)than words．Time communicates(交流)in many ways．

　　Consider the different parts of the day, for example．The day when something is done can give a special meaning to the event．Factory managers in the United States fully realize the importance of an announcement made during the middle of the morning or afternoon that takes everyone away from his work．

　　In the United States, it is not customary to telephone someone very early in the morning．If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very urgent and requires immediate attention．It is the same with telephone calls made after 11：00pm．If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he probably thinks it is a matter of life or death．The time chosen for the call communicates its importance．

　　The meanings of time differ in different parts of the world．Thus, misunderstanding arises(出现)between people from cultures that treat time differently．In the United States, people tend to think of time as something fixed in nature, something from which one can not escape．As a rule, Americans think of time as a road into the future, along which one progresses．The road has many sections, which are to be kept separate “one thing at a time”．Thus, an American may feel angry when he has made an appointment(约会)with someone and then finds a lot of other things happening at the same time．

　　Americans look ahead and are concerned almost entirely with the future．The American idea of the future is limited, however．It is the foreseeable future and not the future of involving(牵连)many centuries．

　　Since time has much different meanings in different cultures, communication is often difficult．We will understand each other a little better if we can keep this fact in mind．

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　　Some people say that seals are the fairies of the sea and should not be killed．The seals are the cleverest creatures that have ever been found in the sea．“In the Kingdom of the Seals” is an English fairy story by Donald A．Mackenzie．It tells of a seal hunter who wounds a seal．The seal swims away with the hunter’s knife still in its back．That evening a stranger on a black horse calls at the home of the seal hunter and takes him to the edge of a cliff．Suddenly the seal hunter finds himself falling．He falls to the bottom of the sea．

　　The stranger changes into a seal and leads him towards a huge underwater palace．Inside the palace he sees an old grey seal lying on a bed in terrible pain．Beside the bed is a knife which the hunter recognizes as his own．He is ashamed of his cruelty and begs forgiveness of the old seal．Because this is a fairy story the wound is healed when the seal hunter lays his hand on it and wishes．The old seal regains his strength straight away．The seal hunter promises never to hunt seals again．Then he is led back to dry land．When he gets home he finds his pockets are filled with pearls．

　　So much for the story － what about the reality？True seals are earless．There are 18 species of earless seals．Fur seals are not true seals．Fur seals feed mainly on krill－a small type of shrimp．When diving for food seals have been known to reach depths of 300 meters, but throughout the breading season of several weeks, male seals do not eat or drink．

本文是记叙文。文章讲述了一个关于海豹的神话故事，结尾时介绍了一些海豹的知识。

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In England recently three foreigners came to a bus stop．About 5 minutes later the bus they wanted came along．They prepared to board it．Suddenly there was a loud noise behind them．People rushed on to the bus and tried to push them out of the way．Someone shouted insulting remarks about foreigners．The bus conductor came rushing down the stairs to see what all the trouble was about．The three foreigners looked puzzled and embarrassed．No one had told them about the British custom of queuing for a bus so that the first person who arrived at a bus stop is the first person to get on the bus．Learning the language of a country isn’t enough．If you want to have a pleasant visit, find out as much as possible about the manners and customs of your hosts．You will probably be surprised just how different they can be from your own．A visitor to India would do well to remember that people there consider it impolite to use the left hand for passing food at table．The left hand is supposed to be used for washing yourself．In Europe it is quite usual to cross your legs when sitting talking to someone．Doing this when meeting an important person in Thailand, however, could cause offense．Attitudes to women vary considerably around the world．In Japan, for example, it is quite usual for men to plan evening entertainments for themselves and leave their wives at home．In Europe such attitudes are disappearing．

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　　The Man of Many Secrets－Harry Houdini－was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century．He was a man famous for his escapes-from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water．He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America．Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks．

　　Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers．It was simply strength．He had ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers．He could move his body into almost any position he wanted．

　　Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891．He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York．They called themselves the Houdini brothers．When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant．But for a long time they were not successful．Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898．Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspaperman to watch．

　　It was the publicity that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success．

　　Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains．But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors．Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck－and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, passed quickly from her mouth to his．

　　Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame．He arranged to escape from the local jail of every town he visited．In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full．What was the result? World-wide fame, and a name remembered today．

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　　American scientist Morse Solomon has developed an unusual method to make meat softer．First, put a kilogram or more of firm meat in a container filled with water．Add a small amount of explosives．Then, mix carefully and explode．

　　No, Mister Morse is not attempting to destroy the meat．Instead, he is making it softer and also killing harmful bacteria．Mister Solomon is a meat scientist with the United States Agricultural Research Service．He began to explore the use of shock waves to soften meat ten years ago．His method is called the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process．The theory is simple．Shock waves from an explosion travel through water to the meat．The shock waves tear small pieces of muscle and other particles away from the meat．This makes the meat softer and easier to eat．The shock waves also reduce the amount of bacteria in the meat．The Department of Agriculture says the process could increase food safety for companies that sell meat．Uncooked meat may contain organisms such as the Escherichia coli bacteria, also known as E．coli．E．coli can make people sick if they eat meat that is not well cooked．The Hydrodynamic Pressure Process may help reduce concerns about harmful bacteria in meat．

　　Other American scientists attempted to improve the process．They used a thick-walled metal container that was buried in the ground．This device did not improve the quality of the meat as much as the simpler method．However, the scientists found there seemed to be fewer bacteria in the meat than before the process．Scientists had demonstrated that the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process could improve large pieces of meat．Next, they wanted to see if the process reduced bacteria levels in smaller pieces of ground beef that is used to make hamburgers．Their tests showed a reduction of bacteria in ground beef products．Other studies showed that ground beef containing E．coli had no measurable levels of the bacteria after the treatment．

　　The Hydrodynamic Pressure Process does not kill all bacteria in the meat, however．Mister Solomon says some good bacteria remain．The agricultural scientists say more studies are needed to see if the method could be used in the meat processing industry．

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　　LONDON(Reuters)－Organic fruit, delivered right to the doorstep．That is what Gabriel Gold prefers, and he is willing to pay for it．If this is not possible, the 26-year-old computer technician will spend the extra money at the supermarket to buy organic food．

　　“Organic produce is always better, ” Gold said．“The food is free of pesticides(农药), and you are generally supporting family farms instead of large farms．And more often than not it is locally(本地)grown and seasonal, so it is more tasty．” Gold is one of a growing number of shoppers buying into the organic trend, and supermarkets across Britain are counting on more like him as they grow their organic food business．But how many shoppers really know what they are getting, and why are they willing to pay a higher price for organic produce?Market research shows that Gold and others who buy organic food can generally give clear reasons for their preferences－but their knowledge of organic food is far from complete．For example, small amounts of pesticides can be used on organic products．And about three quarters of organic food in Britain is not local but imported(进口)to meet growing demand．“The demand for organic food is increasing by about one third every year, so it is a very fast-growing market, ” said Sue Flock, a specialist in this line of business．