阅读理解

　　Kimiko Fukuda always wondered what her dog was trying to say．Whenever she put on makeup, it would pull at her sleeve．

　　Now, the Japanese girl thinks she knows．When the dog barks, she glances at a small electronic gadget(小机械)．The following “human” translation appears on its screen：“Please take me with you．”?

　　“I realized that was how he was feeling,” says Fukuda．

　　The gadget is called Bowlingual, and it translates dog barks into feelings．People laughed when the Japanese toy-maker Takara Company made the world’s first dog-human translation machine in 2002．But 300 000 Japanese dog owners bought it．More customers are expected when the English version(型号)is launched this summer．

　　“Nobody else had thought about it, ” said Masahiko Kajita, who works for Takara．“We spend so much time training dogs to understand our orders; what would it be like if we could understand dogs?”?

　　Bowlingual, one of US Time magazine’s 42 coolest inventions of 2002, has two parts．A wireless microphone is attached to the dog’s collar(项圈), which sends information to the gadget held by the owner．The translation is done in the gadget using a database(数据库)containing every kind of bark．

　　Based on animal behavior research, these noises are divided into six kinds：happiness, sadness, frustration(沮丧), anger, declaration and desire．

　　Each one of these emotions is then linked to a phrase like “Let’s play,” “Look at me,” or “Spend more time with me．” In this way, the database scientifically matches a bark to an emotion, which is then translated into one of 200 phrases．

　　When a visitor went to Fukuda’s house recently, the dog barked a loud “bow wow”．This is translated as “Don’t come this way”．It was followed by “I’m stronger than you” as the dog shouted angrily and sniffed at the visitor．

　　The product will be on sale in the US pet stores this summer for about US ＄120．

　　It can store up to 100 barks, even recording the dog’s emotions when the owner is away．Meanwhile, the Meowlingual, aimed at cat owners, will be available(可提供的)in November．

　　However, the translations are never completely accurate．“We can’t say it’s 100 percent right, ” said Yoko Watanabe of Takara．“You can’t really understand how a dog feels unless you become one yourself．”

阅读理解

　　When I was small and my grandmother died, I couldn’t understand why I had no tears．But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying．

　　So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain．Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying．

　　Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional health, and crying seems to work well．One study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying．

　　Besides, tears attract help from other people．Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendly and they are more ready to provide support and comfort．Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don’t even know we’re very sad until we cry．We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them．

　　Just as crying can be healthy, not crying－holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering－can be bad for physical health．Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses．If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry．But when you feel like crying, don’t fight it．It’s natural－and healthy－emotional response．

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　　On a grassy plain in South Africa, thousands of miles from home, two pairs of zoo-bred South China tiger cubs－one-year-old Hope and Cathay and six-month-old Tiger Woods and Madonna－are learning to hunt in the wild．The hope is that they will one day pass on their skills to their young, allowing the next generation to get back to wildlife reserves(保护区)in China．

　　A survey shows that the tigers are in more danger of dying out than China’s most famous animal, the giant panda．Forty years ago, about 4000 South China tigers lived in the wild．Today there are only about 30．An additional 64 live in 19 zoos in China, which are all descendants(后代)of six wild animals seized in 1956．

　　The cubs were born in zoos in China and removed from their mothers when they were three months old．Their first home in South Africa was a one-acre camp where they stayed for a month．Their next home was a ten-acre area, where they lived for three months to help them gradually get used to life outside a cage．

　　When the cubs first arrived in South Africa, they didn’t even want to leave their cages．It took weeks to get them to eat chicken, used as they were to being fed beef at the zoo in China where they were born．It took months of practice to hunt a live animal and then make the link between the kill and food．Now just a few months on, and living in a 150-acre camp, they have become remarkably skilled hunters．

　　All four animals will finally return to zoos in China while the pioneering pairs’ cubs will grow up completely wild．The aim is for the first rehabilitated tigers to go to reserves developed in China by 2008, when the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing．

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　　The students came by subway and skateboard, a river of eighth graders pouring into Stuyvesant High School to take part in the entrance exams for New York City’s specialized high schools．They chatted and laughed or waited in nervous silence．

　　Similar scenes could be found Saturday and yesterday in five schools, as at least 23 000 students took the highly competitive entrance exams for 3000 slots at six of the seven specialized schools．

　　Some students went in nervous and came out confident(有信心的)．And some went in cocky and came out looking defeated．Some anxious parents waited in their cars as their children took the 150-minute test．Others kissed their kids goodbye and went shopping．

　　Some students had taken expensive courses to prepare for the test; others just rolled out of bed and showed up．Some were an hour earlier; others arrived, rushing, their parents shouting：“Hurry!Hurry!Hurry!” with minutes to spare．

　　One latecomer was Damon Hardjowirogo, 13, an eighth grader at Simon Baruch Middle School on East 21st Street．He had ridden his skateboard to Stuyvesant Saturday morning and shown up at 8∶20 a. m. for the 9 a. m. test．(Students were advised to arrive at 7∶30 a. m.)Rather than wait at the end of the line, he found an opening and cut in．

　　“No one was paying attention,” Damon said, laughing．

　　Ryan Patterson, 13, got an earlier start yesterday morning．Hoping to get into Stuyvesant or Bronx Science, she said, she began preparing for the exam this summer and didn’t stop until her mother forced her to put away her books and go to bed on Saturday night．

　　“She woke me up at 4∶30 this morning,” said Ryan’s mother．“She didn’t want to wait．She was excited．I was the one complaining because I had to get up．”

　　As the lines flowed into school, parents hugged and kissed their kids goodbye while police officers barked into bullhorns：“We have 3300 students and 3300 parents．Parents, please go home!”?

　　When the tests ended, a gust of students burst from the school．Waiting parents clapped, and the students flipped open their mobile phones(forbidden during the tests), looked around the crowds for their families and just delighted that they were done．

阅读理解

　　All living things must fight to stay alive．They have to feed on something and at the same time avoid being eaten．Therefore they have to solve this big problem of staying alive in their own way．

　　The danger of being eaten in the sea is great．Those plants and animals that do survive usually reproduce very fast and in great numbers．

　　Certain sea animals have defensive devices(装置)which help them to survive．The jelly fish have poisonous tentacles(触角)which are used for attack and defence．

　　Another method of survival which sea plants and animals use is disguise(伪装)．They usually have the same colour as their surroundings．

　　In order to stay alive, animals need to have good senses．Fishes have sharp eyes．Almost all animals are sensitive to touch．Fishes judge movements in the water by means of their lines．Fishes and other sea animals can hear well and many of them can make different types of warning sound．

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　　East Asia School of Business is pleased to announce that it will soon be offering Computer Studies Programs of NCC Education．NCC Education was formerly the education division of the National Computing Center, United Kingdom．

　　NCC Education Ltd．is one of the world’s leading independent training providers of IT certification(证书)offering high quality training and education programs．It operates with, and through, over 300 training partners in 45 different countries and has over 150 000 students who have passed the NCC standard test each year．

　　NCC International Diploma(文凭)in Computer Studies

　　Course Aim

　　This is a one-year course that provides a foundation in Information Technology．The course aims at delivering well-trained people with effective and practical business oriented IT skills of making a real contribution in the work place，giving those who take part the opportunity to specialize in particular technical and business choices, and setting an international standard of high quality training leading to qualifications(资格)recognised worldwide．

　　Requirements?

　　Entry Requirements?

　　GCE “A” Levels or 4 GCE “O” Levels or equal credit(学分)in English

　　Students(above 21 years)with at least one GCE “O” Level

　　Course Requirements

　　In fulfillment of the requirements of this diploma program, the student is required to complete a total of 8 modules and one practical project．

　　Course Duration

　　There are two modes of study, that is, 12 months for full-time students and 15-18 months for part-time students．Each module requires 120 hours of studying including lectures, tutorials, practical course work and private study．

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　　Eye injuries from paintball games have increased among children, even as the protective equipment for the sport has improved, according to a study released yesterday in the journal Pediatrics．

　　The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated(估计)the number of emergency room visits for eye injuries caused by paintballs at 545 in 2001 and more than 1200 in 2003．More than 40 percent of those injuries were believed to involve children, the study said．

　　Paintballs are marble-sized gelatin capsules filled with water-soluble paint．They are fired at a speed of up to 300 feet a second, the study said．Being so small, they can fit inside the bones meant to protect the eyes．

　　The study’s author, Dr．David A．Listman of St．Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, said paintball shopping centers had generally switched to full face masks(面罩), which have become more effective at protecting the eyes than earlier gear．But most injuries now occur in backyard play, which is more likely to involve teenagers or children．“The injuries being seen are mostly in people who did not wear the proper, or for that matter any, safety equipment,” Dr．Listman said．

　　“Those injuries can involve permanent(永久性的)damage to sight, ”he said．

　　Dr．Listman said he believed that paintball guns should be restricted to regulated places．In the absence of such action, parents should limit children’s access to the guns and insist on proper protection．“Paintball guns should be treated with the same respect as any other firearm, ” he said．“These are the only guns that are made to shoot at your friends．”

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　　Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did fools’ experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic that other people just thought they were foolish?

　　Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or the solution(解决办法)to a problem．Sometimes, they really do know an answer or a solution, but without thinking they are important．

　　Charles Darwin didn’t settle for(满足于)just thinking he knew something．And, he believed all things could be important however simple they seemed to be．

　　Suppose you drop sheets of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape．If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way．Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight(紧的)little ball and let it drop along with the other sheets．What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn’t be worth anything．

　　But this simple experiment is important．It explains part of our present day understandings of physics, ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton．And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek physics．

　Scientist sometimes stops to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them．Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations of science．

阅读理解

　　Tutankhamun was a king who governed Egypt around 1361 BC．He was very young when he died and governed Egypt for only nine years．Although he was unimportant compared to many of the great governors of Egypt, Tutankhamun is now one of the most famous names in ancient Egyptian history．

　　More than 100 years ago, archaeologists(考古学家)were uncovering surprising finds in a dusty valley near the River Nile called The Valley of the Kings．By the 1900s, many people felt that all the hidden treasure in the valley had been found．However, one British archaeologist, Howard Carter, was sure that the tomb of Tutankhamun was still lying undiscovered in the valley．With the support of his rich patron(资助人), Lord Carnarvon, he searched for eight long years．

　　Finally, in November 1922, one of Carter’s workmen discovered some stone steps leading down under the ground．Could this be the tomb they had been looking for?

　　Carter and his workers dug down, uncovering more and more steps．Finally they came to a door．On the door was the name they had been hoping to find－Tutankhamun．Carter and Carnarvon were excited, but they knew that they could still be disappointed．Almost all of the tombs discovered in the valley so far had been broken into by thieves, and much of the priceless treasure was stolen．The archaeologists broke through the door and continued down a long corridor to another door．Carter carefully made a small hole and pushed a candle through．As the light shone into the room inside, he could hardly believe his eyes．He saw a gold throne covered in jewels, gold chariots, and many beautiful vases and statues．

　　During more searching over the next few months they discovered another three rooms, all-full of treasure．One held the most incredible find of all：the golden coffin containing the mummy(木乃伊), or preserved body, of the young king．Carter had discovered the most complete and valuable collection of ancient Egyptian treasure ever found．His long search was over．

阅读理解

　　People fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in 1944, when she starred in National Velvet－the story of Velvet Brown, a young girl who wins first place in a famous horse race．At first, the producers of the movie told Taylor that she was too small to play the part of Velvet．However, they waited for her for a few months as she exercised and trained－and added three inches to her height in four months! Her acting in National Velvet is still considered the best by a child actress．

　　Elizabeth Taylor was born in London in 1932．Her parents, both Americans, had moved there for business reasons．When World War Ⅱ started, the Taylors moved to Beverly Hills, California, and there Elizabeth started acting in movies．After her success as a child star, Taylor had no trouble moving into adult(成人)roles and won twice for Best Actress：Butterfield 8(1960)and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?(1966)．

　　Taylor’s fame(名声)and popularity gave her a lot of power with the movie industry, so she was able to demand very high pay for her movies．In 1963, she received ＄51 million for her part in Cleopatra－the highest pay received by any star up to that time．

　　Elizabeth Taylor is a legend(传奇人物)of our time．Like Velvet Brown in National Velvet, she has been lucky：she has beauty, fame and wealth．But she is also a hard worker．Taylor seldom acts in movies any more．Instead, she puts her time and efforts into her businesses, and into helping others－several years ago, she founded an organization that has raised more than ＄40 million for research and education．