阅读理解

　　Millions of people visit Yosemite National Park every year to see the tall waterfalls and mountains．These mountains are a splendid sight when viewed from the valley floor．Lots of stores, hotels, and restaurants are needed to handle the crowds．Also, water, roads, and other service systems are part of the infrastructure(基础设施)that must be maintained．

　　Unfortunately, these systems are starting to break down．It’s not just in Yosemite but in national parks around the nation．

　　Yosemite is thirty years old according to Dennis Galvin, a National Park Service worker．The park is not only old but worn out．Two or three times as many visitors come every year．That is too many visitors for the park to deal with．

　　Four years ago a storm washed out a water pipeline in the Grand Canyon．The National Park Service had to send water trucks to provide water for the visitors．Last month pipes almost broke again and roads had to be closed for a while．

　　Why hasn’t the National Park Service kept up the park repairs? There is a lack of money．The United States has 378 monuments, parks, and wilderness areas．Between three and four billion dollars are needed for repairs．

　　Yosemite is one national park that does have money for repairs．It has two hundred million dollars but cannot spend it any way it chooses．When the park workers started widening the road, they were forced to stop by the Sierra Club．The club claimed that the road work was damaging the Merced River that runs through the park．

　　A Sierra Club lawyer, Julia Olson, feels that the infrastructure needs to be moved out of Yosemite．That way less pressure will be put on the already crowded park．

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　　If you walk slowly through downtown Helsinki(赫尔辛基)during the day, taking in the splendid 19th century buildings, white boats and noise of passing trams(有轨电车), you will start to understand why it is called a city of two colors：white and blue．

　　The sea is always present in Helsinki．When you take a walk over the great open space of the central square, you will hear seabirds screaming．When you take the tram, suddenly and unexpectedly, you are faced with a calm, shining blue sea．You may notice that people in Helsinki do not rush about as in other cities．Instead, they walk along the roads, politely letting other people by．

　　A usual way to see Helsinki for the first time is to start out by the boats．You will walk by the elderly women selling fish and vegetables in the market square and find yourself in front of a beautiful park．You may enjoy a pleasant walk in the park for a few hours and then take the tram．Trams are the perfect way to get around in Helsinki．Watching the old houses, parks, theatres, churches, shops, restaurants and people in the streets, you may have a slightly sad film feeling to it．

　　The pale summer nights are another wonder in the city．Following the waterfront(滨水区)of the city after sunset, you couldn’t help stopping and listening to the sweet silence, interrupted only by the screaming seabirds and leaving fishing boats．

　　However, in some way, Helsinki is also the most modern city in northern Europe．You will surely want to visit the white Glass Palace, the modern art museum, and all those extremely popular cafes and design stores．

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　　If you know that a company is making something that destroys the rainforests, stop buying it．This is called a boycott(抵制)．

　　In 1987, RAN led a national boycott of Burger King．Burger King was importing(进口)cheap beef from South American countries where rainforests are cut to raise cattle．During the boycott, many people stopped eating at Burger King．After sales went down, Burger King said he would stop importing beef from rainforest countries．People discovered they had the power to change things through what they bought．

　　The written word is also very powerful．Write a letter to the President of the company you are boycotting! They do pay attention to your letters．So do city officials, congress(国会)people and senators(参议员)．

　　In 1989, Scott Paper Co．wanted to use the rainforest land in Indonesia．Scott was going to cut down the rainforest and plant eucalyptus(桉树)trees, which grow fast, to make paper products．25 000 indigenous(土生的)people would have lost their homes．RAN started a letter writing campaign(运动)asking people to write the President of Scott Paper Co．After receiving hundreds of letters and phone calls, Scott canceled(取消)the project．Two million acres of rainforest were saved．

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　　America is growing older．Fifty years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older．Today, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65．The aging of the population will affect American society in many ways－education, medicine and business．Quietly, the aging of America has made us a very different society－one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior(行为)is suitable at various ages．

　　A person’s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health．There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family．The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be．It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29-year-old university president or a 35-year-old grandmother, or a 70-year-old man who has become a father for the first time．Public ideas are changing．

　　Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother or my father was at my age．” No one says “act your age” any more．We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways．

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　　What makes a person a scientist? Does he have ways or tools of learning that are different from those of others? The answer is “No”．It is not a tool a scientist uses but how he uses these tools which makes him a scientist．You will probably agree that knowing how to use a power is important to a carpenter(木匠)．You will probably agree, too, that knowing how to investigate(调查), how to discover information, is important to everyone．The scientist, however, goes one step further, he must be sure that he has a reasonable answer to his question into a large set of ideas about how the world works．

　　The scientist’s knowledge must be exact．There is no room for half right or right just half the time．He must be as nearly right as the conditions permit．What works under one set of conditions at one time must work under the same conditions at other times．If the conditions are different, any change the scientist observes in a demonstration(证明)must be explained by the change in the conditions．

　　This is one reason that investigations are important in science．Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity, arrived at this theory through mathematics．The accuracy(准确)of his mathematics was later tested through investigation．Einstein’s ideas are shown to be correct．A scientist uses many tools for measurements．Then the measurements are used to make mathematical calculations(计算)that may test his investigations．

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　　When Lew Alcindor was 13, and obviously still growing, a group of schools began offering him scholarships(奖学金)．The Alcindor decided to send their only child to Power Memorial Academy, a small school on Manhattan’s West Side．

　　At Power, Alcindor came under the control of Coach Jack Donohue, a strict young man who already gained his fame as one of the best coaches in the city．Donohue brought Alcindor along slowly．As a first year student, the boy was not able to do much but wave his long skinny arms and shoot a basket now and then．But by the second year, when he was 15 years old and nearly 7 feet tall, Alcindor was quick and skillful enough to make the high school all American team and to lead Power to an undefeated season．

　　From then on he simply got better．Some rival coaches(对方教练)used to take their teams quickly away from the floor before Power warmed up so that their players would not see him any sooner than they had to．Wearing size 16D shoes and sucking a lollipop(棒棒糖), Alcindor would loosen up by starting his leaping lay ups(擦板球)．Then he would casually shoot the ball with either hand, to the delight of the fans．

　　When reporters and photographers began to follow Alcindor closely, Donohue protected his boy firmly．He simply ordered Lew to talk to no member of the press, and this suited Lew fine．

　　He was not comfortable talking to grown ups, perhaps because he towered over them．

　　Discouraged photographers began following him in secret as though he were an easily frightened giraffe．Once after ducking into a subway to escape, Alcindor told a friend that it was all becoming like policemen and robbers．“People want you not for yourself, ”Donohue warned him, “but because you’re a basketball player．Don’t forget that．”

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　　As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food．Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more．

　　Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping(录像)the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes．They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children．But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make．That can have an important effect on the children．“In general the more question asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores．” Lewis says．“And the more children there are, the less question asking there is．”

　　The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings(兄弟姐妹)．Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention．“Middle children are invisible, ” Says Lewis, “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are the middle child．” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention：“When the TV is on．”Lewis says, “dinner is a non event．”

阅读理解

　　One day a few years ago a very funny thing happened to a neighbor of mine．He was a teacher at one of London’s big medical schools．He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture．

　　He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton(人体骨架)to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase(箱子)．At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper．He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop．

　　When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake．H often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert．

阅读理解

There was ice on the road, and the doctor’s car hit a tree and turned over three times．To his surprise, he was not hurt．He got out of the car and walked to the nearest house．He wanted to telephone the garage(汽车修理站)for help．The door of the house was opened．“Oh, doctor, ” she said, “I have only just telephoned you．You must have a very fast car．You have got here very quickly indeed．There has been a very bad accident(事故)on the road outside．I saw it through the window．I am sure the driver will need your help．”

阅读理解

　　The Marches were a happy family．Poverty, hard work, and even the fact that Father March was away with the union armies could not down the spirits of Meg, Jo, Amy, and Marmee, as the March girls called their mother．

　　The March sisters tried to be good but had their share of faults．Pretty Meg was often displease with the schoolchildren she taught; boyish Jo was easy to become angry; golden haired schoolgirl Amy liked to show up; but Beth, who kept the house, was loving and gentle always．

　　The happy days passed and darkness came when a telegram arrived for Mrs．March．“Your husband is very ill, ” it said, “come at once．” The girl tried to be brave when their mother left for the front．They waited and prayed．Little Beth got scarlet fever(猩红热)when she was taking care of the sick neighbor．She became very ill but began to recover by the time Marmee was back．When Father came home from the front and at that joyful Christmas dinner they were once more all together．

　　Three years later the March girls had grown into young womanhood．Meg becameMrs．Brooke, and after a few family troubles got used to her new state happily．Jo had found pleasure in her literary efforts．Amy had grown into a young lady with a talent for design and an even greater one for society．But Beth had never fully regained her health, and her family watched her with love and anxiety．

　　Amy was asked to go and stay in Europe with a relative of the Marches．Jo went to New York and became successful in her writing and had the satisfaction of seeing her work published there．But at home the bitterest blow was yet to fall．Beth had known for some time that she couldn’t live much longer to be with the family and in the spring time she died．

　　News came from Europe that Amy and Laurie, the grandson of a wealthy neighbor, had planned to be married soon．Now Jo became ever more successful in her writing and got married to Professor Bhaer and soon afterwards founded a school for boys．

　　And so the little women had grown up and lived happily with their children, enjoying the harvest of love and goodness that they had devoted all their lives to．