阅读理解

　　A small town in southwest Britain is banning(禁止) plastic bags in an attempt to help the environment and cut waste－a step that environmentalists believe is a first for Europe．

　　Shopkeepers in Modbury population 1,500, agreed to stop handing out disposable plastic bags to customers on Saturday．They said paper sacks and cloth carrier bags would be offered instead．

　　Last month, San Franciso became the first U．S．city to ban plastic grocery bags．Internationally, laws to discourage the use of plastic bags have been passed in parts of South Africa and Ireland, where govermments either tax shoppers who use them or fine companies that hand them out．Bangladesh already bans them, and so do at least 30 remote Alaskan villages．

　　Modbury, about 225 miles southwest of London, has also declared a bag ammesty(宽限期), allowing local people to hand in plastic bags that have piled up at home．They will be sent for a recveling．

　　The Modbury ban was the idea of Rebecca Hosking, who saw the effect of bags on manne life while working in the Pacific as a wildlife camerawoman．She said response(反应) in the town so far had been “really positive”．

　　“Modbury is quite an old-fashioned town and a lot of people have wicker baskets to go out shopping anyway,” Hosking told Sky News Television．

　　The Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research agency, states that 100 billion plastic bags are thrown away each year in the United States alone．More than 500 billion are used yearly around the world．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me．I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time．I know kids who have been shot or beaten up．I have friends who ended up in prison．I could have ended up that way, too, but

　　Mr．Clark wouldn’t let that happen．

　　Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, the scoresof our whole class rose．One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem．Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full．We did not want to let him down．

　　Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year．He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award．But when the time came to draw names, Mr．Clark said, “You’re all going．”

　　On graduation day, there were a lot of tears．We didn’t want his class to end．In 2001, hemoved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch．He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55．In 2003,

　　Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages(孤儿院)．It was the most amazing experience of my life．It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

Hunting

　　The days of the hunter are almost over in India．This is partly because there is practically nothing left to kill, and partly because some steps have been taken, mainly by banning tiger-shooting, to protect those animals which still survive．

　　Some people say that Man is naturally a hunter．I disagree with this view．Surely out earliest fordfathers, who at forst possessed no weapons, spent their time digging for roots, and were no doubt themselves often hunted by meat-eating animals．

　　I believe the main reason why the modern hunter kills is that he thinkds people will adminre his courage in overpowering dangerous animals．Of course, there are some who truly believe that the killing is not really the important thing, and that the chief pleasure lies in the joy of the hunt and the beauties of the wild countrysidel．There are also those for whom hunting in fact offers a chance to prove themselves and risk death by design;these men go out after dangerous animals like tigers, even if they say they only do it to rid the countryside of a threat．I can respect reasons like these, but they are clearly different from the need to strengthen your high opinion of yourself．

　　The greatest big-game hunters expressed in their writings something of these finer motives(动机)．One of them wrote．

　　“You must properly respect what you are after and shoot it cleanly and on the animal’s own territory(领地)．You must fix forever in your mind all the wonders of that particular day．This is better than letting him grow a few years older to be attacked and wounded by his own son and eventually eaten, half alive, by other animals, Hunting is not a cruel and senseless killing – not if you respect the thing you kill, not if you kill to enrich your memories, not if you kill to feed your people．”

　　I can understand such beliefs, and can compare these hunters with those who hunted lions with spears(矛)and bravely caught them by the tail．But this is very different from many tiger－shoots I have seen, in which modern weapons were used．The so－called hunters fired from tall trees or from the backs of trained elephants．Such methods made tigers seem no more dangerous than rabbits．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

The Best of Friends

　　The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families．But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opppsite of the popularly held image(印象)of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels．

　　An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past．”We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seen to be about their families, ”said one member of the research team．”They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的)and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds;they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well．There’s more negotiation(商议)and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process．They don’t want to rock the boat．”

　　So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to theat their children as friends．”My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me, ”says 17-years-old Daniel Lazall．”I always tell them when L’m going out clubbing．As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it．”Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees．”Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation．For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night．But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that．”

　　Maybe this positive view of family life shoululd not be unexpected．It is possible that the idea of teenages rebellion is not rooted in real facts．A researcher comments, ”Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in out social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings．But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled．The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change fromm helping out with the family business to taking it over．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar(美洲豹)saw Jeb and his son, Tom before they saw it．Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar, It worked．The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too．

　　Jeb let go of his kacked, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross．Now the cougar’s enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb．

　　“Tom, no”shouted his father．

　　But Tom brokd and ran and that’s the last thing you do with a cougar．The second Tom broke free, Jeb threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock．They hit each other in mid-air and both fell, The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, fotgeiting about Tomm, which was what Jeb wanted．

　　Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined manstands a chance, even with just his fists．As the cougar’s claws(爪子)got into his left shoulder, Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit hard．The animal howled(吼叫)and put its head back．Jeb followed up with his other fist．Then out of the corner of his eye．Jeb saw Tom．The boy was running back to help his father．

　　“Knife, Tom, ”shouted Jeb．

　　The boy ran to his father’s bag, while Jeb strated shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar’s attention away from Tom．Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb．The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms．Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar’s back．It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains．

　　The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

The Book Of Life

　　So far, scientists have named about 1．8 million living species(物种), and that’s just a small number of what probably exists on Earth．With so many plants, animal, and other living things covering the planet, it can be tough to figure out what type of grass is growing by the roadside or what kind of bird just flew by．

　　A soon-to-be-started Web site might help．An international term of researchers has announced the creation of Web-based Encyclopedia(百科全书)of Life (EoL)．The project aims to list every species on Earth in a single, easy-to-use reference guide．

　　To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases(数据库)that already exist．And eventually, in special sections of the site, non-scientists with specialized knowledge will come to helf．Bird-watchers, for example, will be able to input what birds they’ve seen and where．To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate, scientists will review much of the information added to it．

As the EoL develops, you might find it useful for school．Projects, The site will feature(以为特色)special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems in their neighborhoods．Another convenient feature of the EoL is that you’ll be able to pick the level of detail you want to see to match your interests, age, and knowledgs．

　　It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describes and analyze species．The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new fool will speed up that process．

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　EXERCISE IN EXACTLU 4 MINUTES PER DAY!

　　$14, 615

　　TIME IS IT．Over 92% of people who own exercise equipment and 88% of people who own health club memberships do not exercise．A 4-minute complete workout is no longer hard to believe fot all the pelple who have bought our excellent Range for 30 days end up buying it, due to the health benefits experienced during that tryout and the ROM performance score that tells the story of health and fitness improvement．At under 20 cents per use the 4-minute Rom exercise is the least expensive full body complete exercist a person can do, How do we know that it is under 20 cents per use?Over 90%of Rom machines go to private homes, but we have a few that are in commercial use for 12 years and they have endured over 80, 000 ueses each, without need of repair．The ROM 4-minute workout is for people from 10 to over 100 years old and highly trained athletes as well, The ROM balances blood sugar, and repairs bad backes and shoulders．Too good to be true?Get out free video and see for yourself．The best proof for us is that 97%of rentals become sales．Please visit our website at www.fitness.com or call(800)123-6460/

　　Pactory Showroom：EOMFAB．823 Main Street, Batom Ronge, LA70893

　　Fax(800)123-6461　　Email：sakes@fitness．com

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Meeting people from another culture can be difficult．From the beginning, people may send the wrong signal(信号)．Or they may pay no attention to signals from another person who is trying to develop a relationship．

　　Different cultures emphasize(强调)the importance of relationship building to a greater or lesser degree．For example, business in some countries is not possible until there is a relationship of trust．Even with people at work, it is necessary to spend a lot of time in "small talk", usually over a glass of tea, before they do any job．In many European countries －like the UK or France －people find it easier to build up a lasting working relationship at restaurants or caf6s rather than at the office．

　　Talk and silence may also be different in some cultures．I once made a speech in Thailand．I had expected my speech to be a success and start a lively discussion; instead there was an uncomfortable silence．The people present just stared at me and smiled．After getting to know their ways better, I realized that they thought I was talking too much．In my own culture, we express meaning mainly through words, but people there sometimes feel too many words are unnecessary．

　　Even within Northern Europe, cultural differences can cause serious problems．Certainly, English and German cultures share similar values; however, Germans prefer to get down to business more quickly．We think that they are rude．In fact, this is just because one culture starts discussions and makes decisions more quickly．

　　People from different parts of the world have different values, and sometimes these values are quite against each other．However, if we can understand them better, a multicultural environment(多元文化环境)will offer a wonderful chance for us to learn from each other．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art．My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant．What she meant was not that we could take drawing classes or painting classes but that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum．Before each visit to the museum, she made us read about artists and painting styles(风格)．It was almost as bad as being in school．Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?

　　First we had to read about ancient Egyptians(古埃及人)and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum．My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested．Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing．We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly(鬈曲的)hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings．I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art．

　　On our last visit to the museum, something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary．In it, a woman was reading to a child．The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother' s expression how happy she was just to be with the child．I couldn't stop looking at this painting ! I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worth looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　As societies develop, their members start to see things not so much according to what they need, but according to what they want．When people have enough money, these wants become demands．

　　Now, it' s important for the managers in a company to understand what their customers want if they are going to develop effective marketing strategies(策略)．There are various ways of doing this．One way at supermarkets(超市), for example, is to interview(采访)customers while they're doing their shopping．They can be asked what they prefer to buy and then the results of the research can be studied．This provides information on which to base future marketing strategies．It' s also quite normal for top managers from department stores to spend a day or two each month visiting stores and mixing freely with the public, as if they were ordinary customers, to get an idea of how customers act．

　　Another way to get information from customers is to give them something．For example, some fast food restaurants give away tickets in magazines or on the street that permit customers to get part of their meal for nothing．As well as being a good way of attracting customers into the restaurants to spend their money, it also allows the managers to get a feel for where to attract customers and which age-groups to attract．

　　Another strategy used at some well-known parks such as Disneyland is for top managers to spend at least one day in their work, touting the park dressed as Mickey Mouse or something like that．This provides them with a perfect chance to examine the scene and watch the customers without being noticed．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)