阅读理解

　　It's great fun to explore(探索)new places－it feels like an adventure, even when you know you're not the first to have been there．But make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles．

　　● Do the map reading if you're being driven somewhere．It'll be easier if you keep turning the map so it follows the direction you' re traveling in．Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn, or you'll have to move to the back seat．

　　● Get a group of friends together and go exploring．You'll need a good map, a compass(指南针)，a raincoat, a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of spare cash for emergencies(应急现金)．Tell someone where you're going before you set out and let them know what time you expect to be back．The test is in not getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up．

　　● See if your school or a club organizes orienteering activities, in which you need a map and a compass to find your way．This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B(and B to C, etc．)in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity．Either way, it's not only good fun, but a great way to keep fit．

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阅读理解

　　Jim suffered heart problems．In conversation he expressed little joy and it seemed that his life was drawing to a close．

　　When his heart problems led to operation, Jim went through it successfully, and a full recovery was expected．Within days, however, his heart was not beating properly．Jim was rushed back to operation, but nothing was found to explain the cause of his illness．He died on the operating table on the day before his 48^th birthday．

　　Dr．Bruce Smoller, a psychologist(心理学家)，had had many conversations with him, and the more he learned, the stranger he realized Jim's case was．When Jim was a child, his father, a teacher, suffered a heart attack and stayed home to recover．One morning Jim asked his father to look over his homework, promising to come home from school at noon to pick it up．His father agreed, but when Jim returned his father had died．Jim's father was 48．

　　"I think all his life Jim believed he killed his father," Dr．Smoller says．"He felt that if he had not asked him to look at his homework, his father would have lived．Jim had been troubled by the idea．The operation was the trial(判决)he had expected for forty years．" Smoller believes that Jim willed himself not to live to the age of 48．

　　Jim's case shows the powerful role that attitude(态度)plays in physical health, and that childhood experiences produce far-reaching effect on the health of grown-ups．Although most cases are less direct than Jim's, studies show that childhood events, besides genes, may well cause such midlife diseases as cancer, heart disease and mental illness．

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阅读理解

　　I believe that my country, Poland, is a perfect example for a place where food is particularly important．When we were little children, we began to understand how much a loaf of bread meant to our parents－to some it might sound silly but for me the custom of kissing bread before you started cutting it was simply amazing．It's not so common nowadays to treat food that way, since you hardly ever bake your own bread．Besides, everyone would call you crazy if you tried to kiss every bread roll before you ate them!But though we no longer make our food from scratch(起点), some customs have been kept--that's why I feel so sorry every time I have to throw any food away－even though I no longer live with my parents and nobody would blame me for this anymore!

　　Many people of our nation are still working as farmers, eating what they grow and harvest and therefore enjoying everything more．It's widely known that you value more anything that needs your effort in the first place．In most homes in Poland, especially those of farmers, the whole family would try and have their meals together--extremely difficult now, but so rewarding(值得)!You can share other members' troubles and successes, give your children some attention, or just sit down for a moment instead of rushing through life aimlessly．Furthermore, your body, and stomach in particular will be very grateful(感激)for such a time!

　　In Poland, a wedding, Christmas or even a birthday is celebrated with a great meal．Women in the house get together and cook, sometimes for a few days before the event, and the extremely good or unusual food will be remembered and widely talked about．

　　You cannot over-value the importance of food in the country．What's more, almost everyone in Poland will be as interested in the topic as I am．

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Reading Comprehension

　　The traditional tent cities at festivals such as Glastonbury may never be the same again．In a victory of green business that is certain to appeal to environmentally-aware music-lovers, a design student is to receive financial support to produce eco-friendly tents made of cardboard that can be recycled after the bands and the crowds have gone home．

　　Major festivals such as Glastonbury throw away some 10,000 abandoned tents at the end of events each year．For his final year project at the University of the West of England, James Dunlop came up with a material that can be recycled．And to cope with the British summer, the cardboard has been made waterproof．

　　Taking inspiration from a Japanese architect, who has used cardboard to make big buildings including churches, Mr．Dunlop used cardboard material for his tents, which he called Myhabs．

　　The design won an award at the annual New Designers Exhibition after Mr．Dunlop graduated from his product design degree and he decided to try to turn it into a business．

　　To raise money for the idea, he toured the City’s private companies which fund new business and found a supporter in the finance group Mint．He introduced his idea to four of Mint’s directors and won their support．Mint has committed around ￡500,000 to MyHab and taken a share of 30 per cent in Mr．Dunlop’s business．The first Myhabs should be tested at festivals this summer, before being marketed fully next year．

　　Mr．Dunlop said that the design, which accommodates two people, could have other uses, such as for disaster relief and housing for the London Olympics．

　　For music events, the cardboard houses will be ordered online and put up at the sites by the Myhab team before the festival-goers arrive and removed by the company afterwards．They can be personalized and the company will offer reductions on the expense if people agree to sell exterior(外部的)advertising space．

　　The biggest festivals attract tens of thousands of participants, with Glastonbury having some 150,000 each year．Altogether there are around 100 annual music festivals where people camp in the UK．The events are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious．

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Reading Comprehension

　　Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week．

　　The bad news：Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday．The good news：With the introduction of a “forever stamp,” it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or-3-cent stamps to make up postage differences．

　　Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp．As the name implies, “forever stamps” will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up．

　　The new “forever stamp” is the United States Postal Service’s(USPS)answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases．The May increases will be the fifth in a decade．Postal rates have risen because of inflation(通货膨胀)，competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS．

　　The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the “forever stamp” and the savings from not printing as many 2-or-3-cent stamps．“It’s not your grandfather’s stamp,” says Mr．Saunders．“It could be your great-grandchildren’s stamp．”

　　Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps．

　　Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he’s interested in the public’s reaction．“This is an entirely new class of stamps．” Mr．Schilling says．He adds that he’ll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich－the volume printed will be too large for collectors．“We won’t be able to send our kids to college on these,” he says, laughing．

　　The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision, but tends to follow its recommendations．No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps．

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Reading Comprehension

(You may read the questions first,)

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Reading Comprehension

　　What do you want to be when you grow up?A teacher?A doctor?How about an ice-cream taster?

　　Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream．Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years．Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality．During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream－as well as for developing over 75 flavors(味道)．

　　Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right?No－there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry．He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field．

　　In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples．He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉．Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup．”

　　While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance．“Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains．He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!

　　Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy－working at one cool job．

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阅读理解

　　Lest year more than one million Filipinos worked abroad as servants, nurses, sailors and in other difficult but low paid jobs．Southeast Asians leave their poorer countries for their richer neighbours．

　　Many of these wage earners return in the end．In the meantime, they send home huge amounts of money-in the Philippines’ case, over 10％ of its GDP．Between January and November, the amount was up 18％ on the same period of 2005, Poverty and unemployment are still bigh in the Philippines and other labour exporring(劳务输出)countries．They would be far worse but for this outflow of bodies and inflow of doflars As for those Asian countries that inport(输入)labour,as in Europe, falling birth rates mean they are going to need more foreign workers．

　　On Jamuary 13th leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)signed an agreement to help migrant(流动的)workers-with the realization that the flow of labour between their countries is a growing problem that they cannot blame on outsiders．A 2005 study showed that 8．4 million Southeast Asians worked outside their home countries, but this did not include the huge numbers of Indonesians doing so without papers．So the true total is probably rather higher．

　　Of the ten ASEAN countries, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Carnbodia, Victram and Lacs export labour, Singapore and Brunci import it, and Thailand and Malaysia do both．Sriracaki of the UN’s Internstional Labour Organiztion points out that, in the next ten years,the total labour foree of the worker expotting countries should grow by about a third．It makes semse to work on the problem before it gets out of control．

　　People in the receiving countries seem to be worried about competition for their jobs．Most Thais said theit government should admit(准入)no more foreign workers, and a few thought otherwise．Even in Singapore,just over ball of people are against adunitting more foreign workers．Malaysians think that the incrcase in foreign workers has worsened crime rates(犯罪率)．

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阅读理解

　　Teens don’t understand the big fass(小题大做)．As the first generation to grow up in a wired world,they hardly know a time when computers weren’t around, and they cagerly eatch the chance to spend hours online, chatting with friends,So what?

　　But researchers nationwide are increasingly worried that teens are becoming isolated(孤寂)，less skillful at person-to-person relationships, and perhaps numb(麻木)to the chcatings that are so much a part of the e-mail world．“And a tenn’s sense of self and values may be changed in a world where personal connections can be limitless,”said shetty Turklt．

　　Another resarcher, Pobert Kraut, said he’s worried about the“opportunity costs”(机会成本)of so much online time for youths．He found that teens who used computers, even just a few hours a week, showed incrcased signs of loneliness and socol isolation．“Chatting onine may be better than watching television, but it’s worse than hanging out(闲逛)with real friends,”he said．

　　Today’s teens, however, don’t see anything strange in the fact that the computer takes up a central place in their social lives,“School is busy and full of pressurs．There’s almost no time to just hang out．”said Parker Rice, 17．“Talking online is just catch up time．”

　　Teens say they feel good about what they say online or taking the time to think about a reply．Some teens admit that asking someone for a date, or breaking up, can be easier in message form, though they don’t want to do so．But they insist there’s no harm．

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阅读理解

　　When former American President Bill Clinton traveled to South Korea to visit President Kim Young Sam, be rcpeatedly referred to the Korean president’s wife as Mrs．Kim．By mistake, Prcsident Chnton’s advisers thought that Koreans have the same naming customs as the Japanese．Clinton had not been told that, in Korea, wives keep their family names．President Kim Young Sam’s wife was named Sohm Myong Suk．Thercfore, she should be addressed(称谓)as Mrs．Sohn．

　　President Cuntot arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture gears．His failare to follow Korean customs gave the imprassion that Korea was not as important to him as Japan．

　　In addition to Koreans．Some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names．This practice often puzzles(使困惑)English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil’s parents．They become puzzled about the student’s correct last name．Placing the family name first is common among a number of Asian cultures．

　　Mexican naming customs are different as well．When a woman marries,she keeps her family name and adds her husband’s name after the word de(of)．This affects(影响)how they fill in forms in the United States．When requested to fill in a middle name, they generally write the father’s family name．But Mexicans are addressed by the family name of the mother．This often causes puzziement．

　　Here are a few ways to deal with such difficult situations：don’t always think that a married woman uses her husband’s last name．Remember that in may Asian cultures,the order of first and last names is reversed(颠倒)，Ask which name a person would prefer to use．If the name is difficult to pronounce,admit it, and ask the person to help you say it conectiy．

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