阅读理解

　　People tend to be more impressed by evidence that seems to confirm some relationship．Thus many are convinced their dreams are prophetic(预言的)because a few have come true; they neglect or fail to notice the many that have not．

　　Consider also the belief that “the phone always rings when I’m in the shower”．If it does ring while you are in the shower, the event will stand out and be remembered．If it doesn’t ring, that nonevent probably won’t even register．

　　People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world．Consider, for example, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths “happen in threes”．Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period．If three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their “happening together” is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched．Flexible end points reinforce such beliefs．

　　We also tend to believe what we want to believe．A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average persons．Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use criteria that works to our advantage．As economist Thomas Schelling explains, “Everybody ranks himself high in qualities he values：careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy．This way everyone ranks high on his own scale．”

　　Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautious in drawing conclusions．The “evidence” of everyday life is sometimes misleading．

阅读理解

　　Don’t go to Kauai．Go to any of the other Hawaiian Islands－Maui, Lanai, the Big Island－but leave Kauai for us．The weather on Kauai is so unpredictable(不可预测的)that sometimes it rains all day－in fact, it’s the second-wettest spot on the earth．Yes, there are giant double rainbows all the time, and the sunlight through the clouds is magical．But if you are not interested in these, go somewhere else．You just can’t control the nature on Kauai, and who wants to surrender(屈服)to the nature when you could be at a fine hotel, lying in a comfortable chair next to a swimming pool, with food served upon request?

　　So what if Kauai produces surf champions the way Texas produces cowboys？Most of its 300 white-sand beaches are unmarked．Unless you connect with the local people, the hidden spots are hard to find．While Hanalei is the most beautiful town you’ve ever dreamed of, you can forget about discos and clubs．Worse, it doesn’t have one single four-star restaurant．What it does have is the original drive－through places where you pass by a rambutan tree(红毛丹树), and pick a piece of fruit．

　　Shopping in Kauai? Forget it－unless you are interested in shell necklaces and beautifully carved wood bowls．Kauai is not about pampering．It’s about going natural and finding the nature within you．It’s a do-it-yourself place that offers walking along the coast, diving and swimming in the Pacific Ocean, and lying on the beach．

　　Don’t go to Kauai unless you have a lot of time, because there’s only one road, which can be slightly dull．It winds through the beautiful scenery of waterfalls, rivers flowing into the ocean, and taro(芋头)fields．You have no choice but to look at everything, because the speed limit is 35 m. p. h．

　　If you’re not interested in color, don’t bother with Kauai, because that’s what you get－red roads, blue oceans, and a hundred different shades of green．It’s like diving on land．Many people on Kauai believe that this is Lemuria－a lost island in the Atlantic．Can you imagine? Those Hawaiians, surfers, New Agers, and people who love nature and beauty and want a different quality of life－what do they know, anyway? Forget about it－you’re not going to like it．Go somewhere else．Leave Kauai for us．

阅读理解

　　On the New York set of the film Hide and Seek, ten-year-old Dakota Fanning spends her time playing a deeply disturbed girl who deals with her mother’s suicide(自杀)by creating an imaginary friend, who may not frighten her family．

　　Today, though, she has the day off．“This week I only worked two days, ” says Fanning, sitting in a sofa in her hotel’s library, “but I get bored when I’m not working．Especially because it’s cold here and I can’t do anything, you know? So, I’ve been knitting(编织)－all day, every day．” The actress, who’s held her own opposite Oscar winners such as Sean Penn and Denzel Washington, recently mastered the fine art of scarves(围巾)．Though she’s about ready to move on to hats, she first plans to make a souvenir(纪念品)scarf for Robert De Niro, who plays her father in the film．“He’s the nicest guy you’d ever meet in your entire life, ” she says, her voice dropping to a whisper．“I would make him a brown one．”

　　Like any other fifth-grader, Fanning spends several hours a day going to school．In addition to her personal trailer(活动住房)－which is kept well-supplied with hot chocolate packets, lemon Gatorade, and a TV that doesn’t always work－she has another trailer where her teacher, Jan, conducts classes in history, spelling, reading, math, science and health．“We have this big board where we have a calendar(日历), ” Fanning says．“When we were here in January, I wrote the calendar in all blue．February was red, and March was green．”

　　On this particular morning, she had a spelling test．“There was a topic for each of the word lists,” she says, sitting on her knees．“This one was flowers－they were all names like oxygen, carbon dioxide, chrysanthemum(菊花)…” Chrysanthemum? “Well, they didn’t make me spell that one．They just had me fill in the ‘e’．But I can spell it：c-h-r-y-s-a-n-t-h-e-m-u-m．”

阅读理解

　　Since 1989, University of Phoenix Online has offered online degree programs to working adults around the country．You attend class whenever and wherever you want via the Internet for complete flexibility(灵活性)and convenience．

　　Earn your degree via the Internet for more career opportunities and higher income potential(可能的)with University of Phoenix Online．

　　We offer Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting, Administration, Marketing, Information Technology, E-Business plus many others．

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　　A cumulative(累积的)undergraduate GPA of 2.5 or better

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　　A minimum score of 550 on the paper-based exam or 213 on the computer-based exam of the Test of English as a Foreign Language(TOEFL)for non-native speakers of English

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阅读理解

　　The discovery of a dwarfed(矮个的)“human being” who lived in Flores, Indonesia, up to 18 000 years ago is changing the way we think about the human family．This “Flores Human” was three foot tall and her brain was smaller man that of the average chimp(黑猩猩), yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives．They seem to have made tools, worked together to find food and cook it, and perhaps even buried their dead with ceremony．

　　It was a major surprise to find tools associated with the new human family member．The tools are like those formerly seen only with European fossils(化石)from our own species, Homo sapiens(智人), and the oldest of them were made 94 000 years ago．Homo sapiens is thought to have arrived in the island about 40 000 years ago, much too late to be responsible for the tools．If this tiny human made the tools, then the inside structure(结构)of its brain must have been more like our own than a chimp’s, despite being just a third the size of ours．

　　This “new human” was suspected to be a dwarfed branch of Homo erectus(直立人)．When creatures are separated in regions with rare resources but few enemies, being big is a disadvantage, and evolution tends to shrink them, a process known as island dwarfing．Could natural selection make a human smaller while keeping－even improving－mental ability? Quite possibly, believes Christopher Wills of the University of California．

　　Has the “Flores Human” even shown the ability of language? “I find it difficult to imagine that people could make tools, use fire, and kill large animals without fairly advanced communication,” Wills says．Did “Flores Human” possess the basic components of human culture－such as the burying of the dead with ceremony? Emiliano Bruner of the Italian Institute points out that Indonesia’s hot, wet environment is bad for fossilization．It is reasonable to assume, he says, that the 18 000-year-old bones of the most complete Flores woman were well-preserved because she was buried with special care．

阅读理解

　　The coyote(丛林狼), that clever animal of wide-open spaces, has come to the nation’s capital．In fact, coyotes have spread to every corner of the United States, changing their behaviors to fit new environments and causing researchers to deal with a troublesome new kind of creature：the city coyote．

　　The coyote originally lived in the middle of the continent．One of its most obvious characters is its smartness, which has made the animal a notorious(臭名昭著的)pest．Hunters trapped, shot and poisoned more than a million coyotes in the 1900s．It’s still one of America’s most hunted animals．Yet the coyote has survived．How has the coyote shown this extraordinary ability? “I guess if you wanted to use one word, it’d be plasticity,” says Eric Gese, an expert at Utah State University．Coyotes can live alone, in pairs, or in large packs like wolves; hunt at night or during the day; occupy a small region or an area up to 40 square miles; and live on all sorts of food, from lizards(蜥蜴)and shoes, to ants and melons．

　　Unbelievably people helped coyotes increase when they killed most of the wolves in the United States．The spreading of coyotes into city areas, though, is recent．They travel at night, crossing sidewalks and bridges, running along roads and ducking into culverts(钻入涵洞)and underpasses．No one knows why coyotes are moving into cities, but experts explain that cleverer, more human-tolerant(不怕人的)coyotes are teaching urban survival skills to new generations．

　　Occasionally, coyotes might attack human beings．There have been about 160 attacks on people in recent years．Therefore, people have been consistently told not to feed coyotes or leave pet food unsecured．That, plus a large trapping program in the neighborhood, has cut down on the coyote population．

阅读理解

　　The first morning I awoke in the house where Cathy Freeman once lived－in Miller Street, Richmond, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, my eyes caught upon a black and white sticker, with a name and number on it, pasted(粘贴)to a mirror beside the bed．The number and word were “48.60, Atlanta”．Cathy had typed the famous prediction(预言)on a sticker ages before the 1996 Olympic Games, as an affirmation(断言)of the time she wanted to run in the 400 m final．

　　Cathy thought she was typing the time that black French woman, the pretty Marie-Jose Perec, had run to win the 400 m gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992．She believed she’d have to aim to run at least that fast in Atlanta but she got it wrong．Perec ran slower, 48.83 seconds in Barcelona．But what matter? The power of the mind! In Atlanta Cathy ran what she typed, or near enough, 48.63．To gaze(注视)at that time, still there, to see her grand ambition(抱负)－it was then a whole second faster than she had run before－was to become history．As I stood there I saw her once more in slow motion, in Atlanta, pushing herself to the edge, and beyond．Above the number was another sticker with the words “World’s Greatest Athlete”．They were the words Cathy had copied from an old sticker that her mother had given her as a teenager, a legend(座右铭)to paste on her bedroom wall to flow into her daughter’s mind, and it had worked．

阅读理解

　　The Tang Dynasty was probably the period when the Silk Road was at its busiest．One important center on the road was the city of Chang’an, where present-day Xi’an now stands．Chang’an was the capital city of this dynasty and by about 750 AD it had become a strong and successful capital of around two million people．Because of the chances for trade, a number of foreigners from countries bordering China lived in the city．

　　The markets at this time in Chang’an were perhaps the most exciting markets anywhere in the world．They sold goods from India, Africa, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Iran and other Arab countries and many items in the markets would have been completely new to some of the buyers．Interesting animals were sold together with exotic(奇异的)plants and strange medicines．Dried animals, dried foods and dried plants were laid out for sale next to rare seeds and spices(物种)．But besides the hope to trade, which drew people together, China was still largely a mysterious(神秘的)country to the outside world and certainly the secret of the silk making was still unknown．

　　The route(路线)to the west followed different paths but the traders would have traveled from places to places, always looking for routes both to water and protection．However, the Ming Dynasty had its policy of isolation(闭关), together with the growth of Islam(伊斯兰), reduced the traffic along this ancient land route．Instead, sea routes became more popular and in the early 15th century there were many Chinese ships trading silk and other goods along the coasts of India, Arabia and Africa．

阅读理解

　　On September 22, 1986, Jay Brunkella, a police officer in the Rogers Park district in Chicago, was shot during a drug arrest and died．Shortly afterwards, a fellow officer Ken Knapcik, a 20 year veteran(老警官)of the force, returned home after work to find a note from his 15-year-old daughter on the dinning table．

　　Dad－This poem comes directly from my heart．I love you so much! It scares and amazes me that you go out every day and risk everything to provide us with all that we have．I wrote this to express how much I love you and how much lost I’d be without you－Laura．P．S．

　　Hey, let’s be careful out there．

　　Titled “The Ultimate Cop”, Laura’s poem was dedicated “To all the cops in the world who have daughters who love them with all their hearts．And especially to my dad”．It was about a police officer’s daughter who sees on the night time news that her father has been shot．Part of poem：“Daddy, my Daddy, can you hear me cry? Oh, God, I need my Daddy, please don’t let him die．”

　　Ken Knapcik stood alone as he read the poem．“It took me several minutes, ” he said．“I’d get through part of it and have to stop before I could go on．I was weeping．She had never told me she was scared．” He took the poem to work the next day and showed it to his fellow officers．“I’ve never seen so many grown men cry．Some couldn’t finish it．”

　　Knapcik keeps Laura’s poem in the pocket of his police jacket．He takes it with him every time he leaves the house for a new shift．“I don’t want to be out there without it,” he said, “I’ll probably carry it with me forever．”

阅读理解

　　One day an ordinary dog appeared in the ticket office at Campiglia, a busy railroad station on Italy’s main line．A ticket agent named Elvio greeted the strange dog in a friendly way, so the dog decided to stay．From that day on, the dog became Elvio’s shadow and was named Lampo．

　　Lampo kept Elvio company(陪伴)inside the ticket office．When the weather was warm, he would enjoy himself in the sun on the train platform．When it came time for Elvio to return home on the train at night, Lampo ran after the train for a long way and then sadly gave up and went back to the station．

　　One night as Elvio was riding home on the train, he noticed that Lampo was lying at his feet．Afraid that the conductor would see the dog on the train and shout at him, Elvio pushed Lampo under a seat．Luckily, the conductor did not notice the dog．Lampo came home with Elvio and met his family．Then, after a short visit, Lampo boarded the last train and went back to the station．Lampo quickly learned all of the train schedules(时刻表)．He would ride home from work with Elvio every night and then ride back to the station alone．Every morning Lampo arrived at Elvio’s house in time to walk his young daughter, Mivna, to school．The faithful dog would then take another train to Campiglia to spend time with his master, then travel again to accompany Mivna home from school at 11：30．

　　Soon, Lampo began to take the trains all over Italy．Lampo became famous among the men who worked on the railroad, as his journeys became more frequent, complicated and mysterious．No one could explain why he traveled or how he always found the right train back to Campiglia．People decided that Lampo was a unique dog．

　　Some of the railroad officials were against Lampo’s illegal travels．They were afraid he would bite a passenger or cause some other problems．Finally, the stationmaster threatened to call the dog-catcher if Elvio didn’t get rid of the dog．

　　Elvio decided to put Lampo on a train going as far away as possible．Months went by and Lampo did not come back．Mivna missed him very much and prayed for his return．Finally one day, a sad, very thin, tired Lampo returned to Elvio’s office．Everyone, even the stationmaster, was sorry about what had happened．From then on, Lampo was allowed to ride the trains whenever he wanted．After seven years, Lampo grew old, and he began to need Elvio’s help to board the train．

　　One day Lampo was seen lying dead on the tracks．A year later, a life-sized statue of Lampo was set up at Campiglia station．