Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy．Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs．Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs．Even judges are softer on attractive defendants．But in the executive(主管的)circle, beauty can become a liability．

　　While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman．

　　Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success．

　　Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck．

　　All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives．Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes．

　　Why are attractive women not thought to be able?An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the“manly”qualifies required．

　　This is true even in politics,“When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,”says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates(候选人)．She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness．The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices．They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them．

　　The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes．

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阅读理解

　　The Fourth“21th Century Cup”National English Speaking Competition is to be held in Shanghai．

　　Organizers：China Daily and Shanghai Broadcasting Network．

　　Co-ordinater：China University English Speaking Association(CUESA)．

　　Co-sponsors(联办单位)：English Speaking Union(ESU), Lotus Software(China)Co．Ltd．, Times Publishing Group of Singapore, Hilton Shanghai, Pearson Education, Foreign Language Teaching ＆Research Press．

　　Date：March 26(Friday), 1999．

　　Place：Hilton Shanghai．

　　Competition Format(形式)：Each student will present a prepared speech on the given topics, followed by a three-minute off-hand speech and a three-minute question and answer period with the judges．

　　Prepared speech period：six minutes．

　　Q ＆A period：three minutes．

　　Speech topic：People and Nature：In search of harmony(和谐)in a new age＋your personal opinion．(Topics for the off hand speech will be given on the day of competition)．

　　Prizes：Besides books and certificates(证书)，the top two winners will be offered scholarships(奖学金)to travel to the annual international English-speaking competition which will be held by the English Speaking Union in London in May, 1999．The third and fourth place winners will be offered a study trip to Singapore, sponsored by the Times Publishing Group．The fifth through 10th place winners will be offered cash prizes．All the competitors will receive certificates from the English Speaking Union and book prizes provided by Pearson Education and Foreign Language Teaching ＆Research Press．The teachers of the top winners will also receive a one-year membership to the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language(IATEFL)

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　　This is not the world we know．The World is controlled by computers．Men and women can be seen, but they are following the orders given to them by machines．The machines were designed by mad scientists．but at some point even the mad scientists were taken by their super inventions．

　　Does this scenario sound familiar?You have probably read something like it in magazines or science fiction books, or seen it in a science fiction film．Why is the film so popular?One of the reasons is undoubtedly that it reflects the fears of many people; fear of the unknown, fear of what is not understood or, at least, fear of something that is only partially comprehended．This fear is perhaps not very different from the way witches and black cats were feared in the Middle Ages．

　　The fact is that every day it seems that computers take control of another area of our lives．Some factory jobs fire now done by robots and the robots are controlled by computers．Our bank accounts are managed by computers．At the airport．our tickets are issued and our seats fire assigned by a computer．Certainly, many of these operations are made more efficient by computers, but our admiration is sometimes combined with feelings of insecurity．And this insecurity is caused by the fact that we do not know how computers do these things, and we really don't know what they might do next．

　　But we can find out how computers work and once we understand them, we can use computers instead of worrying about being used by them．Today, especially in the United States, there is a new generation of computer geniuses who know exactly how computers get things done．These young men and women, usually university students, are happy to sit for hours, sometimes for days, designing programs, not eating, not sleeping, but discovering what can be done by the wonderful slaves which they have learned to dominate．These computer geniuses, or“hackers”as they call themselves, have learnt to exploit me computer and constantly search for new tasks for their machines．

　　Hackers are in no danger of being taken over by a supercomputer which they may invent．They already have their computers under control．One computer program which was designed by a hacker became honorary member of the United States Chess Federation．Another ex-hacker, Steven Jobs, former owner of Apple Computer Company, used his computers to make him a millionaire before he was thirty．With such knowledge on the human side．It seems we have little to fear from machines．

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In the past, when people had problems, they went to their families or friends to get advice．Today it is possible to get advice from radio shows, TV programmes and telephone hot lines, too．A hot line is a telephone line that offers a direct way of getting in touch with advisers．Most hot lines are completely anonymous－callers do not have to say their names or telephone numbers．Most hot lines are usually free, too．Callers do not have to pay for the advice or the phone calls－even if the calls are long distance (距离)．At some hot lines, the advisers are volunteers(志愿者)．Other hot lines pay their advisers for their work．Usually the advisers are full-job people with years of education and experience, but sometimes, the advisers have only taken a short class before starting to work on the hot line．All the advisers listen to people and help them solve(解决)their problems．

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阅读理解

　　I've been struck, living in Silicon Valley(硅谷)and spending time in other high-tech regions(地区)，by how each region can be studied with respect to the quality and varieties of its knowledge producers and knowledge consumers(消费者)．

　　The classic way to judge knowledge production in a region is to list all the educational institutions, one can think of universities and colleges, schools, libraries, museums, civic centers mand to see these as the region's producers of knowledge, with the region's citizens, students, firms, government, and voluntary organizations as their consumers．

　　But in most regions I visit today, there is a rich interaction between the knowledge producers and knowledge consumers．If the region is geographically compressed(压缩的)enough, you start to get all kinds of informal, face-to-face connections between knowledge producers and consumers－students work part-time in surrounding firms, new firms spin out of universities, employees are retrained on campuses, different people go to different public gathering places, and so on．In the 1970s and 1980s, we were lost in science parks; in the 1990s, all these connections produce what I think of as learning parks．Such learning parks bring increasingly rich intellectual(智力的)and educational opportunities to their region．

　　If top-quality schools and universities once invested(投资)money in science parks, we now see learning parks pushing resources the other way．In the relation between leading-edge firms and universities, for example, the firms increasingly provide temporary(临时的)professors, guest lecturers, internships(实习期)for students, vacations for faculty, and workplace experiences for scholars of all ages．So the traditional producers of knowledge(the teachers)are also becoming consumers of the knowledge that their traditional consumers(graduate students, firms in the region)produce．This is very healthy indeed．

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　　Some people believe that international sports create goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together．Others say that the opposite is true：that international competitions encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred．There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sports encourage international brotherhood．Not only was there the tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused mainly by minor national competitions．

　　One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation(愤慨)after a hockey final．There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the loser's objection to the final decision．They were sure that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents' victory was unfair．Their manager was very angry and he said,“This wasn't hockey．Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished．”The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension(停赛)of the team for at least three years．

　　The American basketball team announced that they would not give up the first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their competition．The game had ended in disturbance(骚动)．It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play．A Russian player popped the ball into the basket．It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match．An appeal jury discussed the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand．The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals．

　　Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sports are played competitively rather than for the love of the game．The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for．But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism(爱国主义)．

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　　Do you want to live another 100 years or more?Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span(跨度)．

　　“I think we are knocking at the door of immortality(永生)，”said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future．“I think by 2075 we will see it and that's a conservative estimate(保守的估计)．”

　　At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology(纳米技术)make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what has been possible in the past．“There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years,”he said．“Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years．”

　　However, many scientists who specialize in ageing are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years．Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death．

　　Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live．“It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?”said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Centre．“At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all．”

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　　Brown tree snakes are causing problems to the people who live on the Island of Guam(关岛)．The snakes can grow to 10 feet in length．They hide from bright light during the day．At night, they come out looking for food．They climb trees and telephone poles．They slither(蜿蜒地滑行)through pipes into houses．They crawl along electric power lines, causing serious accidents．

　　There are millions of these snakes．They eat birds, lizards(蜥蝎)and other small animals．Scientists say that many kinds of birds that once lived on Guam are now extinct(灭绝的)．

　　Brown tree snakes were brought to Guam incidentally by ships coming to Guam from other places．Scientists are trying to find ways to control the number of brown tree snakes before they do more damage．

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　　EVENTS(赛事)

　　Bicycle tour(旅行)and race

　　A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27(Sat．＆Sun．)．At 5∶30 A.m.the riders will leave Tian' anmen square and ride the first 35 kilometre as a training leg．Then the next 55 kilometres leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive(竞争性的)part of the tour, the riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli．

　　The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometres．Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper．Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside．At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing．

　　Cost：200 yuan

　　Telephone：64675027

　　Brazilian footballers

　　The Brazilian Football Club will play Beijing Guo'an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26．The club has four national team players．Also coming is 1994 US World Cup Star Romario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes．

　　Ticket prices：60,100,150 yuan

　　Time/Date：4∶30 p.m．August 26(Sat．)

　　Telephone：65012372

　　Rock Climbing

　　The Third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26－27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training．More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan,

　　Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it．A Japanese team will an exhibition climbing．Free for spectators(观众)．

　　Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou．

　　Time/Dates：9－12 A.m．August 26 and 27

　　Telephone：67143177,67144850, Wang Zhenghu A．

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　　Do people in your country hug(拥抱)and kiss on the street?In some countries, it is common for people to show feelings of love in public places．In the United States, for example, two people have hands“make out”or“neck”on the street, in the park, in restaurants, and even on trains and buses!But in some other countries, people never show feeling of love in public places because their custom(习俗)doesn't permit this．For example, in Korea and China, custom doesn't permit people to do so．So they sometimes feel very surprised when they see Americans hug and kiss on the streets．

　　In some countries, friends show physical feelings of love to each other．In some south American countries, woman friends walk arm in arm when they walk along the street．In Italy and Russia, man friends often kiss each other on both faces when they meet．In most customs, men don't kiss or hug but they usually shake hands or pat each other on the back．

　　People around the world are various in the amount, manner, and situations which they touch each other．

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