阅读理解

　　The Sahara Festival is a celebration of the very recent past．The three-day event is not fixed to the same dates each year, but generally takes place in November or December．It is well attended by tourists, but even better attended by locals．

　　During the opening ceremonies, after the official greetings from the government leaders, people who attend the festival begin to march smartly before the viewing stands, and white camels transport their riders across the sands．Horsemen from different nations display their beautiful clothes and their fine horsemanship．One following another, groups of musicians and dancers from all over the Sahara take their turn to show off their wonderful traditional culture．Groups of men in blue and yellow play horns and beat drums as they dance in different designs．On their knees in the sand, a group of women in long dark dresses dance with their hair：their long, dark, shiny hair is thrown back and forth in the wind to the rhythm of their dance．

　　The local and visiting Italian dogs are anxious to run after hares．The crowd is on its feet for the camel races．Camels and riders run far into the distance, and then return to the finish line in front of the cheering people．

　　Towards the evening, there comes the grand finale of the opening day, an extremely exciting horserace．All the riders run very fast on horseback．Some riders hang off the side of their saddles．Some even ride upside down－their legs and feet straight up in the air－all at full speed．Others rush down the course together, men arm in arm, on different horses．On and on they went．So fast and so wonderful!

阅读理解

　　Forget the meaningless used words and empty promises．From the time marketing began, there has never been a shortage of self-appointed experts who claim to have identified the words that will unlock your customers’ wallets．In the Internet age their advice is even easier to get．They promise that words such as “you,” “guarantee,” “easy,” “limited-time,” and the old standby, “free,” will produce surefire results．If only it were that simple．

　　As a smart business person, you probably know that there are no such things as magic words．But there’s something else you should know：Not only do magic advertising words not exist, several of them actually work against you．And chances are, you’re using at least one of them in your advertising now．

　　Here are the advertising words you should never use：

　　Quality

　　This may be the most overused word in advertising, which is the primary reason why you should stay away from it．What exactly does “quality” mean?In a Lexus, it may mean hand-crafted finishes, supple seats, or a smooth ride．In a Hyundai, it’s more about the extended warranty than anything．

　　The point is this：every product worth buying is a quality product．It may be high-priced quality or it may be low-priced quality, but it’s quality either way．That means every company believes it can use the word “quality” in its advertising．Too many have, and as a result, now it has become just seven empty letters．

　　Value

　　Like quality, value has been ruined by overuse．Go back to the Lexus and the Hyundai examples－which car is the better value?It depends on the buyer, on the purchase occasion, and on what features and benefits value is being judged．Both vehicles are good values depending on the purchase context．

　　Or take another industry, retail：Wal-Mart provides good value, but so does Tiffany．Value, like quality, is in the eye of the beholder, and every product or service has its own value equation．Saying “we provide the best value” is, therefore, virtually meaningless．

阅读理解

　　To explain why he liked his art teacher best, 16-year-old Dainzin Tanam could not write more words than a simple sentence “Because he teaches me painting．”

　　In the eyes of his teachers at the Lhasa Special Education School, the deaf boy was a little painter．Five years ago, however, all Tanam could do was to stay in bed until noon, and then stare at the sky through the window, waiting for his parents’ return．

　　His mother Yangzom said she had no other choice but to lock him in the house every day as she and her husband had to work and they did not want to allow the boy to roam(闲逛)the streets．

　　“Every day when I came back home and saw my lonely poor son, I felt my heart hurt．But now I can finally feel a bit relieved, ” the mother said．She said it was the school that changed his son．“Without the school, I dared not imagine how my son would be now．”

　　With a governmental fund of 4.5 million yuan, the special education school was founded in 2000．The only government-run school for handicapped children in Tibet now has 28 teachers and 120 school children in nine classes of 5 grades．Eight classes in the school are for deaf kids and the rest one is for blind kids．

　　Students can enjoy free food, boarding, clothing and medical services in the school, which is open to deaf and blind children from all over the autonomous region．

　　Tibetan sign language and Tibetan Braille are basic courses here．Children also have Tibetan, Chinese, mathematics, science, painting, dancing and sports lessons．

　　A “black and white” textbook seemed appealing among the colorful books in Tanam’s schoolbag．The text was handwritten．

　　It was the Tibetan language textbook compiled and written by teachers themselves．

　　“As textbooks for students in ordinary schools sometimes are too abstract and hard for our kids to understand, two other Tibetan language teachers and I compiled the textbook to make things easier for them,” said teacher Dawa．

　　Those books with the love of all the teachers, though not spoke out, will surely help children enjoy their life by supporting themselves after leaving the school．

阅读理解

　　The IAB continues to grow…

　　Over the past 3 years, the IAB(Interactive Advertising Bureau)has experienced great growth and is now looking to add new industry leaders to our 12-member team．Member companies include：AOL, Disney(ABC/ESPN．com), DoubleClick, Forbes．com, Google, MSN, NY Times．com, Yahoo and over 200 others．

　　The IAB is looking for people who are driven and have a strong idea to help the industry and the IAB members to grow better．Also we are developing programs that will impact the industry for the next 100 years．

　　If you refer a friend to the IAB you could get ＄1000．Send your friend’s resume to us．

　　The following positions are currently available：

　　Assistant Marketing Manager

　　The Interactive Advertising Bureau(IAB)is looking for an Assistant Marketing Manager who will work with the director, in creating programs around events, membership, research and product launches．

　　Director of Public Policy

　　The IAB is looking for an experienced and driven director of Public Policy who will be responsible for providing leadership to our membership．The role will be concentrated on organizing and coordinating the IAB membership．

　　Role will report to the CEO and will work closely with members of the board and membership in addition to other IAB department heads．Public Policy is viewed as an increasingly critical role for the IAB．

　　Director, Public Relations

　　The IAB is seeking a seasoned public relations professional who will lead all public relations, corporate communications, media relations and some internal communications efforts on behalf of the IAB．This role is extremely high-profile and serves as the primary voice of the IAB．This position is relied on to continue to build and maintain IAB’s image as the leading interactive trade association．

　　Role would be the sole PR practitioner and will report to the VP of Marketing and the CEO．

　　Manager, Interactive Design

　　The IAB is seeking a professionally trained interactive designer experienced in developing high-concept and original designs for websites, project logos, newsletters, and email marketing campaigns．

　　For a full job description, Click here(．doc file)

阅读理解

　　So long as teachers fail to distinguish between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves．Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them．It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading．Douglas insists that“Reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible”．

　　Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes．They differ in kind and function．The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to devise the most efficient system for teaching themselves to read．Teaching is also a public activity．It can be seen and observed．

　　Learning to read involves all that each individual does to make sense of the world of printed language．Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny．

　　If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in the quest(探索)for knowledge？Smith has one principal rule for all teaching instructions．“Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children．”

　　When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teachers fulfill them appropriately, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is eliminated．Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the opportunity to solve the problem of leaning to read by reading．

阅读理解

　　Engineers on Friday moved a 3200-year-old statue of Ramses Ⅱ．The statue had stood for more than 50 years in a overcrowded square in the centre of Cairo．Its new home will be at a quiet place next to the Great Pyramids．Thousands came out to watch the statue making its 20 kilometer journey．

　　It took 10 hours for the 11 meter, 83 ton statue to travel through downtown Cairo and cross the Nile River．

　　The statue was moved, in one piece, on two flatbed trucks and was put in place with a steel cage．To protect the grand statue on its journey, countless small pots had to be fixed, fences removed, and trees cut down．Its final resting place will be next to the Giza pyramids at the site of the new Egyptian Museum．

　　Ramses Ⅱ was one of ancient Egypt’s most impressive pharaohs(法老)．He had eight wives and 120 children．During his more than 60-year government, Egypt was successful at home and abroad．Considered one of Egypt’s greatest warriors, he is also known as a man of peace, signing what is believed to be the world’s first peace treaty(条约)．

　　The statue shows Ramses with one foot forward, walking boldly．But over the past 54 years a concrete jungle had grown up around him．The statue was surrounded by a major highway overpass and a hotel．Underground lines ran directly under the monument．

　　Egypt’s director of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, says the statue had to be moved to protect it from environmental damage, and to give it a more appropriate home．

　　“The statue is in danger, ” he said．“We are moving it to save it, but we are also moving it to respect it, because the ancient Egyptians, when they made a statue they did not intend to put it in a square．The statue has spiritual values．It has to be in their original location．The idea of putting statues in squares of towns is completely wrong．Statues were made to be in temples or tombs．”

阅读理解

　　The chief medical officer for England, Sir Liam Donaldson, today called for a new crackdown on tobacco smuggling(走私)to stop illegal imports of cigarettes undermining(影响)efforts to reduce smoking-related illnesses．

　　Sir Liam said the government and other European Union(EU)member states needed to introduce tighter controls to reduce the widespread availability of cheap illegally imported cigarettes．

　　Up to 25％ of cigarettes and 75％ of hand-rolled tobacco consumed in England have avoided UK taxes and duties, according to the chief medical officer’s(CMO)fourth annual report on the state of public health．

　　The street price of a smuggled pack of a leading brand of cigarettes is 2.50 while the legal price is 4.89．

　　Sir Liam said：“Smuggled and cheap tobacco undermines health and health inequality goals by making tobacco widely available at much cheaper prices．”

　　“Traditionally, taxes, duties and price increases on tobacco have reduced tobacco consumption and been highly effective as an additional discouragement, but the availability of smuggled and cheap tobacco erodes these efforts to help people stop smoking．”

　　“I would like to see closer cooperation between UK Revenue and Excise and other EU member states in dealing with this problem．”

　　Sir Liam’s report also called for public services to provide more healthy and appetising meals．

　　Public services spend up to 2bn a year on buying food and catering services－7％ of all UK spending on catering．The CMO said the NHS, local authorities and prisons should use this power to promote healthier eating．For example, hospitals should buy more fruit, he said．

　　The CMO said, “The section serves over 1．8bn meals a year－they need to be healthier and more nutritionally balanced．The public section should use its huge financial muscle, as a purchaser and obtainer, to improve the nation’s health．”

阅读理解

　　Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good．

　　Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers．It is also changing the way we interact(交流)and build relationship．These are a few of recently recognized features of email, say experts, that should cause individual and organizations to rethink the way they use email．

　　“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits, ”says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at American University．She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation(标点符号)and sentence structure of emails reflect a growing unconcern to the way we write．

　　Baron argues that we should not forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in emails．“The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing, ” the professor says．

　　Others say that despite its poor prose(文字), email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t：it has made writing fashionable again．

　　“Email is a critical new communication technology, ” says Ian Lancashire, a University of Toronto professor of English．“It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email．It is the purest form of written speech．”

　　Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen．He says this is because of email’s close similarity to speech．“It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire, ” he says．

　　Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble．

　　In the US, the number of emails sent in a day exceeds(超过)the number of letters mailed in a year．But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact．

阅读理解

　　Norah had a cottage on a cliff above a big bay．In winter it could be very nasty because of strong winds and sea spray．In fact, when a gale was blowing, Norah and her husband got used to sleeping in a small room downstairs, because their bedroom upstairs, which faced the gales, had a very big window, and they were afraid that an extra violent gust might break it and blow pieces of broken glass over them．

　　Also, the salt spray from the sea put an end to many of the colourful plants Norah planted in her garden．She tried putting up a fence to protect them, but the wind just hit it, went up over the top and then down the other side, so in the end she filled the garden with trees and bushes that liked salt．

　　But most of the summer Norah enjoyed her cottage and garden very much．At weekends she could sit out of doors in the sun, looking at the beautiful view, with interesting ships and boats passing by, and she could very easily cycle down to the sea for a swim．

　　Now, Norah and her husband had plenty of friends and relations．In the summer lots of them used to come to enjoy the beautiful place, and in the end it really became quite annoying for Norah and her husband．When they were at home, they found friends and relations arriving, expecting to be given unlimited drinks and meals, and to sit in the sun for hours, talking as if Norah and her husband had nothing else to do but entertain and listen to them．

　　This went on for several years．Norah did not wish to appear rude by refusing to let her friends and relations in, but on the other hand, she was getting tired every summer．

　　Then one day Norah was complaining about this to her hairdresser while she was doing her hair．“You’re disturbed by too many uninvited guests, are you?”said the hairdresser．“Why don’t you try my way of escaping?”

　　“What’s that?” asked Norah．

　　“Well, ” the hairdresser answered, “when the bell rings, I put on my coat and take my shopping bag．If it’s someone I don’t want to see, I say innocently, ‘I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go out．’ But…”?

阅读理解

　　My topic today is the Internet．It was prompted(引出)by the first letter, which I am unable to answer fully for the reasons given!

　　Dear David,

　　I am a middle school student．Now I am preparing for a writing competition．Could you please check the mistakes in my article about using the Internet and give me some advice? Thank you．

　　No name

　　David writes：I am very sorry to say that I think it would be very unfair for me to help you win a competition－unfair to the other competitors!

　　But I will say that your article is very interesting and I wish you good luck．Your article makes some good points that deserve talking about in this column!

_________________

　　Dear David,

　　I’m now learning English by myself．Can you introduce some useful websites where I can make friends with foreigners? Please help me．

　　Moonlight

　　David writes：Well, dear Moonlight, I bet you made a good choice by using the Net in your self-studies．Two very good websites I would suggest to you are：

　　www．britishcouncil．org．cn and www．britishcouncil．org/learnenglish．

　　By the way, for those readers interested in the teaching of English, there is an Internet discussion group called ELTCSChi-L(English Language Teaching Contacts Scheme China List)．

　　And also, a healthy warning to all my readers：If over-used, the Internet can be a WOMBAT－A Waste of Money, Brains and Time!