阅读理解

　　Traveling can be a way to gain life experiences, especially during Spring Break － a week long school vacation in the United States．But what if you’re a student and don’t have enough money for a trip?Don’t worry．Here are some useful suggestions．

　　·Save：This probably is the most important preparation for traveling．Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you’ll have more choices about where to go and how to get there．

　　·Plan ahead：Don’t wait until the last minute to plan your trip．Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice．Giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security(安全)and savings．

　　·Do your homework：No matter where you go, research the places you will visit．Decide what to see．Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants．

　　·Plan sensibly：Write down what you expect to spend for food and hotels．Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything．

　　·Travel in groups：Find someone who is interested in visiting the same places．By traveling with others you can share costs and experiences．

　　·Work as you go：Need more money to support your trip?Look for work in the places you visit．

　　·Go off the beaten path：Tourist cities may be expensive．You may want to rethink your trip and go to a lesser-known area．Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights．

　　·Pack necessary things：The most important things to take are not always clothes：Remember medicine in case you get sick and snacks in case you cannot find a cheap restaurant．

　　·Use the Internet：The Net can help to save money．Some useful websites include www．Travelocity．com, www．bargains-lowest fare．com and www．Economic travel．com．

　　By planning sensibly, even students can enjoy the travel．Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime．

阅读理解

　　Children who use mobile phones risk suffering memory loss, sleeping disorders and headaches, according to research published in the medical journal(期刊)The Lancet．

　　Physicist Dr Gerard Hyland raised new fears over radiation caused by mobile phones and said under-18-year-olds, who represent a quarter of Britain’s 25 million mobile users, were more vulnerable(脆弱)because their immune systems(免疫系统)were less robust．

　　Radiation is known to affect the brain rhythms(节律)and children are particularly vulnerable．

　　The effect of microwaves(微波)from a mobile phone is a bit like interference on a radio．It has an impact on the stability(稳定)of cells in the body．The main effects are neurological(神经病学的), causing headaches, memory loss and also sleeping disorders．

　　He said there was too much uncertainty about the potential(潜在的)dangers of mobile phones．

　　“If mobile phones were a type of food, they simply would not be licensed(许可)because there is so much uncertainty surrounding their safety, ” he said．

　　Hyland’s findings came as the government carried out a new task force to study the possible risks of mobile phones．

　　A government commissioned(政府委托)inquiry into potential risks said in May that children should be discouraged from using mobile phones．

　　Fresh evidence about the impact of mobile phones on children’s brains follows research in early November showing that hands-free mobile phone kits(用品)can significantly boost(促进)the brain’s exposure to radiation．

　　Scientists agree that electromagnetic(电磁)radiation from mobile phones warms brain tissue(组织)although it remains unproven that they pose a human health risk．

　　But Hyland said the real risk was from low intensity(强度)radiation known as non-thermal(热的)radiation, not brain heating．

阅读理解

　　These strategies will help you learn how to take tests and show what you know．

　　MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS

　　Make the best answer from the list of choices for a multiple-choice test．

　　1．Read Test Directions Carefully?

　　Directions tell what you need to do．Words like best, always, only, all and never will help you find the correct answer．Sentences with those words are usually not true．

　　2．Plan Your Time?

　　Pass over hard questions．If you have time, you can go back to them later．

　　3．Read Items(题干) Again

　　If you are not sure about an answer, read the item again．Think about all the answer choices．Which one seems best?

SHORT-ANSWER TESTS

　　In a short-answer test, write a word, a group of words, or a sentence to answer a question; look for key words like who or what that tell you what to write in the answer．

PASSAGE-WRITING TESTS

　　For a passage-writing test, write one or more paragraphs to answer one question．

　　1．Study the Item and Key Words?

　　Read the question two times or more．Look for key words that tell you exactly what to do．You might see prompts(提示)like these：

　　2．Plan Your Answer?

　　Think about the key words and topic．Write everything you know about the topic on a piece of your own paper．This can help you organize your writing．

　　3．Write the Passage?

　　Use the words in the prompts to write a beginning．Then use what you know about the topic to write your passage．

　　●Write a topic sentence for each paragraph．

　　●Write the important information in the body．

　　●Read your passage before you hand it in．

　　You may try these strategies in today’s test．We hope you’ll have a great success．Good luck!

阅读理解

　　Weekend－one day out

　　A walk along the Wall

　　Beijing Hikers are organizing a hike in a village along the Great Wall in Changping District, north of downtown Beijing．The walk will take around three hours covering a distance of 10 kilometres．

　　Time：8∶30 am-4∶30 pm, Dec．4

　　Cost：200 yuan(US＄25)per adult, 150 yuan(US＄18.50)for under 12s．

　　Meeting place：8∶30 am in front of Starbucks at Lido Holiday Inn, Jiangtai Lu

　　To sign up(one day before the hike)and get more information, contact Huijie at info@beijinghikers．com or 139-100-25516．

　　Skiing and hot springs

　　Cycle China plans a day’s skiing fun at a resort around Beijing followed by an outdoor hot spring bath for your sore body．

　　Cost：350 yuan(US＄43.40)

　　Time：8 am-6∶30 pm, Dec．4

　　Location：Meet at the office of Cycle China, opposite the east gate of Jingshan Park, Xicheng District

　　For more information and reservation, email reserve @ cyclechina．com or call 139-1188-6524．

　　Horse riding

　　This is a trip to a professional horse-riding club with well-trained bilingual instructors, offering lessons to people who love riding and those willing to learn more．The club is located in Hebei Province next to the Kangxi Grassland．

　　Time：1∶30 pm-4∶30 pm, Dec．4

　　Cost：330 yuan(US＄40.74)including one hour’s riding, transportation, guide, lunch

　　To sign up and get more information, contact Lucy at 8580-5080, 130-1117-1326 or lucy@highclub．cn

阅读理解

　　You’re out to dinner．The food is delicious and the service is fine．You decide to leave a big fat tip．Why? The answer may not be as simple as you think．

　　Tipping, psychologists(心理学家)have found, is not just about service．Instead, studies have shown that tipping can be affected by psychological reactions to a series of different factors(因素)from the waiter’s choice of words to how they carry themselves while taking orders to the bill’s total．Even how much waiters remind customers of themselves can determine how much change they pocket by the end of the night．

　　“Studies before have shown that mimicry(模仿)brings into positive feelings for the mimicker, ” wrote Rick Van Baaren, a social psychology professor．“These studies show that people who are being mimicked become more generous(大方的)toward the person who mimics them．”

　　So Rick Van Baaren divided 59 waiters into two groups．He requested that half serve with a phrase such as, “Coming up! ” Those in the other half were instructed to repeat the orders and preferences back to the customers．Rick Van Baaren then compared their take-home．The results were clear－it pays to mimic your customer．The copycat waiters earned almost double the amount of tips to the other group．

　　Leonard Green and Joel Myerson, psychologists at Washington University in St．Louis, found the generosity of a tipper may be limited by his bill．After research on the 1000 tips left for waiters, cab drivers, hair stylists, they found tip percentages in three areas dropped as customers’ bills went up．In fact, tip percentages appear to plateau(达到稳定水平)when bills topped ＄100 and a bill for ＄200 made the worker gain no bigger percentage tip than a bill for ＄100．

　　“That’s also a point of tipping, ” Green says．“You have to give a little extra to the cab driver for being there to pick you up and something to the waiter for being there to serve you．If they weren’t there you’d never get any service．So part of the idea of a tip is for just being there．”

阅读理解

　　Good tool design is important in the prevention of overuse injuries．Well-designed tools and equipment will require less force to operate them and prevent awkward(别扭的)hand positions．They will allow the worker to keep the elbows(肘)next to the body to prevent damage to the shoulder and arm．

　　Overuse injuries can therefore be prevented or reduced if the employer provides, and workers use tools as follows：

　　●power tools rather than having to use muscle(肌肉)power

　　●tools with specially designed handles allow the wrist(手腕)to keep straight(See the picture)．This means that hands and wrists are kept in the same position as they would be if they were hanging relaxed at a person’s side

　　Picture：Bend the tool, not the wrist

　　●tools with handles can be held comfortably by the whole hand．This means having a selection of sizes－remember that tools that provide a comfortable firm hold for a person with a very large hand may be awkward for someone with a very small hand．This is a particularly important consideration for women who may use tools originally designed for men

　　●tools that do not press fingers(or flesh)between the handles and whose handles do not have sharp edges or a small surface area．

Project Making a booklet about fitness

Dying to be thin…

阅读

　　Is there anything more important than health? I don’t think so．Wise people say, “Health is the greatest wealth．” You can’t be good at your studies or work when you are ill．

　　If you have a headache, toothache, backache, earache or bad pain in the stomach, if you complain of a bad cough, if you run a high temperature and have a bad cold, if you suffer from high or low blood pressure, I think you should go to the doctor．

　　The doctor will examine your throat, feel your pulse, test your blood pressure, take your temperature, sound your heart and lungs, test your eyes, check your teeth or have your chest X-rayed．After that he will advise some treatments, or some medicine．The only thing you have to do is to follow his advice．

　　Speaking about doctor’s advice, I can’t help telling you a funny story．

　　An old gentleman came to see the doctor．The man was very ill．He told the doctor about his weakness, memory loss and serious problems with his heart and lungs．The doctor examined him and said there was no medicine for his disease．

　　He told his patient to go to a quiet place for a month and have a good rest．He also advised him to eat a lot of meat, drink two glasses of red wine every day and take long walks．In other words, the doctor advised him to follow the rule：“Eat at pleasure, drink with measure and enjoy life as it is．” The doctor also said that if the man wanted to be well again, he shouldn’t smoke more than one cigarette a day．

　　A month later the gentleman came into the doctor’s office．He looked cheerful and happy．He thanked the doctor and said that he had never felt a healthier man．

　　“But you know, doctor, ” he said, “it’s not easy to begin smoking at my age．”

Project Writing an advice letter?