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　　The publication of“Harry Potter and the Half - Blood Prince”gladdens booksellers across China．The British and American editions were No．1 and No．3 respectively on the sales chart of the Beijing Xidan Book Building last week．The book's poster is highlighted and news about the book can often be heard on the radio．

　　Why is the book so attractive to children? With curious mood , the author got a copy of“Harry Potter”．Originally , I wanted to glance over it and made some criticisms．But , out of expectation , the author has been deeply attracted by the magic world．On the other hand , one cannot help asking：where is our own“Harry Potter”?

　　The Chinese nation has a history of 5 , 000 years , which cannot be regarded as short and its culture as not profound．With a vast market of youngsters , China did publish many books popular among children．However , why are the present works not as good as those imported?

　　There come two major reasons：Firstly , quite a number of children’s books are of strong sense of teaching , and lack interest and entertainment．Children often have a feeling of being“educated”．No wonder they don't like them．Secondly , children’s reading materials involving“idiom stories”and "Chinese talents’ stories" , though always in different covers , are usually much the same or plagiarized (剽窃)．One knows the ending as early as in the beginning．In final analysis , the authors of the books seldom take children’s requirements into consideration．

　　As a matter of fact , each child has his own wonderful imagination．They long to understand the world and nature．Similarly they have their own choices．They dislike similar stories , even if the stories are excellent．First - class reading for children should be very interesting , which contains knowledge and the essence (精髓) of national culture , which are presented in children’s language．

　　Market is a touchstone for products．The theory also holds true for cultural products．It is hoped that the authors of children's books can learn something from the good market of“Harry Potter”and write out more and better books loved by children．

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阅读理解

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　　United States President George W．Bush is expected to issue a directive in the next few weeks．It will give the US Air Force a green light for the development of space weapons , US media reported last week．

　　This would potentially start a new global arms race , some experts have warned．

　　To keep that from happening , last Wednesday the White House explained that it was not considering putting weapons in space．It said it was making a shift in US space policy to allow for protection of satellites．

　　But some defense analysts and arms control advocates argue that the policy will pave the way for the US to put both defensive and offensive (攻击性的) weapons in space．

　　“No one should be fooled,”said Theresa Hitchens , an American weapons expert．

　　The US is now restricted by a 1996 directive signed by President Bill Clinton．Plans for space weapons were vetoed (否决) by the Clinton cabinet．The directive emphasized the peaceful use of space , in agreement with almost unanimous (一致的) global opinion．

　　The US military has placed importance on space and has sent up numberous satellites for troop communications and to provide intelligence and data to guide bombs to their targets．

　　The US Air Force wants to develop space - based weapons that could strike targets anywhere in the world within 90 minutes of receiving the order to open fire．

　　These new weapons under development cover a wide range．They include hunter - killer satellites and orbiting weapons．And they use lasers , radio waves , or even dense metal tubes , known as “Rods from God”, dropped from space to do the damage．

　　There are many barriers to the setting up of this kind of program , experts say．

　　First is the coast．It is estimated that the budget may be US $220 billion to US $ 1 trillion (万亿)．

　　The technical difficulties of developing reliable space weapons are also a problem．

　　And , the program will draw strong criticism from around the world．Experts worry about starting a space arms race．

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阅读理解

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　　Sometimes people call each other “scared - cat”, but have you ever thought about this expression? When a cat is frightened , its heart starts beating faster , its muscles get tense , and there are changes in the chemicals in its blood - stream．

　　Although the cat doesn’t realize this , its body is getting ready for action．

　　If the danger continues , this animal will do one of the two things．It will defend itself , or it will run away as fast as it can．

　　Something like this also happens to people．When we are excited , angry , scared , or aroused by other emotions , our bodies go through many physical changes．Our hearts beat faster , and our muscles get tense．All of these changes make us more alert and ready to react．We , too , get ready to defend ourselves or run．

　　Human beings , however , have a problem that animals never face．If we give way to our feelings and let them take over , we can get into trouble．Have you ever said something in anger－or hit somebody－and regretted it later? Have you ever shouted at a teacher , told somebody you were lonely , or said you were in love , and then wished later you had kept your mouth shut? It isn’t always wise to express your feelings freely．

　　Does this mean that it’s smarter always to hide our feelings? No! If you keep feelings of anger , sadness , and bitterness hidden away or bottled up inside , your body stays tense．Physical illnesses can develop , and you can feel churned up inside．It can actually be bad for your health．

　　Feelings that you keep all bottled up inside , don’t just go away．It’s as if you bought some bananas and stuck them in a cupboard．You might not be able to see them , but before long you’d smell them．And if you opened the cupboard , chances are you’d see little fruit flies hovering (盘旋) all over them．They’d be rotten．

　　You can try to treat emotions as if they were bananas in the cupboard．You can hide them and you can pretend they don’t exist , but they’ll still be around．And at last you’ll have to deal with them , just like those bananas．

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　　It seems that the Great Wall is the place to rock．There will be two parties held on the Great Wall this month．

　　Great Wall I

　　The latest Great Wall party is sponsored (主办) by the Club and Elektrobeat and held at Jinshanling．Local DJ Mark , as well as guests Slab from Australia , Usami and Bobby from Hong Kong will spin the sounds．All drinks are priced at 20 yuan (US $ 2．4)．

　　Tickets：200 yuan (US $ 24) , including bus ride there and back plus entrance fee to the Great Wall．

　　T / D：8 pm to 2 a m , Sept．20．

　　Pre - sale tickets are available at：Public Space 6416 - 0759; Neo Lounge 6416 - 1077

　　Location：Buses leave at 5 pm on Saturday , Sept．20 from Neo Lounge , 99 Xinfuncun Zhonglu , Sanlitun , Chaoyang District．

　　For more info：www．elektrobeat．com

　　Great Wall II

　　The other party at the end of the month at Jinshanling will be kick - started with live performances by Askar , Brain Failure , Longkuan , Beijing Talking and the Yi band．

　　Dance till dawn to the groovy (绝妙的) sounds of DJs Ben , Mickey Zhang , Will , Cheese , Gao Hu and Huang Weiwei．

　　T / D：8 pm to 2 am , Sept．27．

　　Tickets：350 yuan (US $42) or 300 yuan (US $ 36) for groups of 10 or more , 500 yuan (US $ 60) at the door and VIP tickets 600 yuan (US $ 72) , transportation included．

　　Location：Buses depart from the north gate of Workers’ Stadium at noon , 2 pm , 4 pm , Sept．27．

　　For more info：contact Li Zhenhua at lzh @ msgp．org or call 133 - 2119 - 1731．

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　　Houston Rockets center Yao Ming carried it the last part of the Beijing relay , into the Summer Palace．There were 148 torchbearers for the 50 - kilometer relay , which went past the Temple of Heaven , the city’s Hutong , and the 2008 Olympic Games sites．Yu Zaiqing ran the first leg from the east gate of the Great Hall of the People．Other participants included table tennis player Deng Yaping and gymnast Sanglan．Then there were the ordinary folk , including 66 - year - old Wang Gongquan and 14 - year - old Ye Lu．

　　Wang came to study maths in Peking University at the age of 19 and devoted himself to software development at the Chinese Academy of Science after graduation．He has been enjoying his morning jog for 60 years．

　　Ye Lu was an“environmental protection guard”during Beijing’s bid for the Olympic Games．Ye organized her classmates to pick up discarded batteries around shopping centers and took part in the“Desert Today , Oasis (绿洲) Tomorrow”campus tour．She has also volunteered for environmental protection programme organized by the China Children’s Center．During Beijing’s bid for the Olympics , she spoke about her feelings on China Central Radio．She also appeared in TV shows for the Olympics．Wang and Ye are influencing people with their Olympic spirit．

　　The flame was lit on March 25 and taken to the Athens stadium where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896．It began its 78 , 000 - kilometer trek across six continents and 33 cities when it left Greece on June 2．

　　From China , the torch goes on to India and winds its way through Africa , America and Europe before returning to Greece for the countdown (倒计时) to the lighting of the flame in Athens on August 13．

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　　Is it possible to persuade mankind to live without war? War is an accident custom which has existed for at least six thousand years．It was always civil and usually foolish , but in the past the human race managed to live with it．Modern skill has changed this．Either man will stop war , or war will stop man．For the present , it is nuclear weapons that cause the greatest danger , but bacteriological (细菌的) or chemical weapons may , before long , offer an even greater threat．If we succeeded in stopping war , there would be no danger for us．To do this , we need to persuade mankind to look upon international questions in a new ways , not by contests of force , in which the victory goes to the side which is most skillful in massacre (大屠杀) , but by arbitration (仲裁) in accordance with agreed principles of law．It is not easy to change old mental habits , but this is what must be attempted．

　　There are those who say that the adoption of this or that ideology (意识形态) would prevent war．I believe this to be a complete error．All ideologies are based upon beliefs without proof which are , at best , doubtful , and at worst , totally false．Those people who believe them are willing to go to war in support of them．

　　The movement of world opinion during the past two years has changed very largely such as we can welcome．It has become a common belief that nuclear war must be avoided．Of course , very difficult problems remain in the international world , but the spirit in which they are being approached is a better one than it was some years ago．It has begun to be thought , even by the powerful men who decide whether we shall live or die , that agreements should be reached even if both sides do not find these agreements wholly satisfactory．It has begun to be understood that the important conflict nowadays is not between East and West , but between Man and the H - bomb．

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　　When building houses , people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also

　　the building materials and the fashions for their houses．However , since electricity became more and more expensive , people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat．

　　Now , houses of an old yet new type have been widely built．In some parts of the world , people share their houses with their livestock (家畜)．During cold weather , they gather their cows , goats , or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses．The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well．The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses , where people live．By sharing their houses with their livestock , people gain a source of heat．

　　People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock．However , home builders use the fact that heat rises．This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas．Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor , builders fill it with large rocks．As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather , these rocks take in heat．They also give off the heat , and , of course , the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses．So these houses are energy saving．

　　House building becomes a great challenge (挑战) to building designers and energy engineers．They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology．And someday in the future , people will be able to live in more energy saving houses．

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　　I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job．I also think my work is important．There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career．

　　I wasn’t an excellent student because I didn’t do much schoolwork．In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn’t have much to offer．I just accepted that I wasn’t the type to have a career．

　　I then found myself a job , looking after two little girls．It wasn’t too bad at first．But the problems began when I agreed to live in , so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening．We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week , she’d give me time off the next．But unfortunately , it didn’t often work out．I was getting extremely tired and fed up , because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children．

　　One Sunday , I was in the park with the children , and met Megan who used to go to school with me．I told her about my situation．She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification (资格证书) if I wanted to work with children．I didn’t think I would be accepted because I didn’t take many exams in school．She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful．My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part - time course．I had to leave my job with the family , and got work helping out at a kindergarten．

　　Now I have got a full - time job there．I shall always be thankful to Megan．I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career , even if you are not top of the class at school．

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　　When a rather dirty, poorly dressed person kneels at your feet and puts out his hands to beg for a few coins, do you hurry on, not knowing what to do, or do you feel sad and hurriedly hand over some money? What should our attitude to beggars be? There can be no question that the world is full of terribly sad stories．It must be terrible to have no idea where our next meal is going to come from．It seems cruel not to give some money to beggars．

　　Certainly, most of the world’s great religions (宗教) order us to be open - hearted and share what we have with those less fortunate than ourselves．But has the world changed? Maybe what was morally right in the old days, when one knew exactly who in the village had suffered misfortune and needed help, is no longer the best idea．Quite a few people will not give to beggars．Let us look at their arguments．

　　First, some believe that many city beggars dress up on purpose to look pitiable and actually make a good living from begging．Giving to beggars only encourages this sort of evil (恶行)．Secondly, there is the worry that the money you give will be spent on beer, wine or drugs．Thirdly, there is the opinion that there is no real excuse for begging．One might be poor, but that is no reason for losing one’s sense of pride and self - dependence．

　　Related to this is the opinion that the problem should be dealt with by the government rather than ordinary people．Some people think beggars should go to the local government department and receive help．

　　It is hard to come to any final conclusion; there are various cases and we must deal with them differently．A few coins can save a life in some situations, and even if the money is wasted, that does not take away the moral goodness of the giver．

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