阅读理解

　　A young woman was driving through the lonely countryside．It was dark and raining．Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding her hand out as if she wanted a lift．

　　“I can't leave her out in this weather,” the woman said to herself, so she stopped the car and opened the door．

　　“Do you want a lift?” she asked．The old woman nodded and climbed into the car．After a while, she said to the old woman, “Have you been waiting for a long time?” The old woman shook her head．“ Strange.” thought the young woman．She tried again．“ Bad weather for the time of year,” she said．The old woman nodded．No matter what the young woman said, the hitchhiker(搭车者)gave no answer except for a nod of the head or a shrug．

　　Then the young woman noticed the hitchhiker's hands, which were large and hairy．Suddenly she realized that the hitchhiker was actually a man! She stopped the car．“I can't see out of the rear screen,” she said, “Would you mind clearing it for me?”

　　The hitchhiker nodded and opened the door．As soon as the hitchhiker was out of the car, the terrified young woman raced off．

　　When she got to the next village she pulled up．She noticed that the hitchhiker had left his handbag behind．She picked it up and opened it．She gave a gasp, inside the bag was a gun．

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阅读理解

　　A classic series of experiments to determine the effects of overpopulation on communities of rats was conducted by a psychologist, John Calhoun．In each experiment, an equal number of male and female adult rats were placed in an enclosure(场地)．The rat populations were allowed to increase．Calhoun knew from experience approximately how many rats could live in the enclosures with out experiencing stress due to overcrowding．He allowed the population to increase to approximately twice this number．Then he fixed the population by removing the children that were not dependent on their mothers．At the end of the experiments, Calhoun was able to conclude that overcrowding cause a breakdown in the normal social relationships among rats, a kind of social disease．The rats in the experiments did not follow the same patterns of behavior as rats would in a community without overcrowding．

　　The females in the rat population were the most seriously affected by the high population density(密度)．For example, mothers sometimes deserted their children, and, without their mothers' care, the children died．The experiments showed that in overpopulated communities, mother rats do not behave normally．Their behavior may be considered diseased ad pathological(病理学的)．

　　The leading males in the rat population were the least affected by over population．Each of these strong males claimed an area of the enclosure as his own．Therefore, these individuals did not experience the overcrowding in the same way as the other rats did．However, leading males did behave pathologically at times．Their antisocial(反社会)behavior consisted of attacks on weaker male, female, and immature rats．This unusual behavior showed that even though the leading males had enough living space, they too were affected by the general overcrowding．

　　Non-leading males in the experimental rat communities also exhibited unusual social behavior．Some withdrew completely, avoiding contact with other rats．Other non-leading males were too active, chasing other rats and fighting each other．

　　The behavior of the rat population has similarity in human behavior．People in densely(密)populated areas exhibit unusual behavior similar to that of the rats in Calhoun's experiments．In large urban areas, such as New York City, London, and Cairo, there are deserted children．There are cruel, powerful individuals, both men and women．There are also people who withdraw(缩回)and people who become too active．Is the major cause of these disorders(混乱)overpopulation? Calhoun's experiments suggest that it might be．In any ease, social scientists and city planners have been influenced by the results of this series of experiments．

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阅读理解

　　Uncertainty spreads through our lives so thoroughly that it dominates(支配)our language．Our everyday speech is made up in large part of words like probably, many, soon, great, little．What do these words mean?

　　Such verbal imprecision(不精确)is not necessarily to be criticized(批评)．Indeed, it has a value just because it allows us to express judgments when a precise quantitative(数量的)statement is out of the question．

　　We have been trying to pin down by experiments what people mean by these expressions in specific contexts, and how the meanings change with age．For instance, a subject is told “There are many trees in the park” and is asked to say what number the word may mean to him．Or a child is invited to take “some” sweets from a bowl and we then count how many he has taken．We compare the number he takes when he is alone with the number when one or more other children are present and are to take some sweets after him, or with the number he takes when told to give “some” sweets to another child．

　　First, we find that the number depends, of course, on the items involved．To most people some friends means about five, while some trees means about twenty．However, unrelated areas sometimes show parallel values．For instance, the language of probability seems to mean about the same thing in predictions about the weather and about politics：the expression is certain to(rain, or be elected)indicates to the average person about a 70 per cent chance; is likely to, about a 60 per cent chance; probably will, about 55 per cent．

　　Secondly, the size of the population of items influences the value assigned to an expression．Thus, is we tell a subject to take “a few” or “a lot of” glass balls from a box, he will take more if the box contains a large number of glass balls than if it has a small number．But not proportionately(相称的)more：if we increase the number of glass balls eight times, the subject takes only half as large a percentage of the total．

　　Thirdly, there is a marked change with age．Among children between six and fourteen years old, the older the child, the fewer glass balls he will take．But the difference between a lot and a few widens with age．This age effect is so consistent that it might be used as a test of intelligence．

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阅读理解

　　Municipal(市政府)regulations(规章)normally ban anything from smoking in public places to parking in certain areas．But officials in the Brazilian town of Biritiba Mirim, 70 km(45 miles)east of Sao Paulo, have gone far beyond that．They plan to prohibit residents from dying early because the local cemetery(墓地)has reached full capacity(容量)．

　　There's no more room to bury the dead, they can't be cremated(火化)and laws forbid a new cemetery．So the mayor has proposed a strange solution：outlaw death．Mayor Roberto Pereira says the bill(议案)is meant as a protest against federal regulations that prohibit new or expanded cemeteries in preservation areas．“They have not considered taken local demands”, he claims．

　　A 2003 decree(法令)by Brazil's National Environment Council forbids burial grounds in protected areas．Mr．Pereira wants to build a new cemetery, but the project has been stopped because 98% of Biritiba Mirim is considered a preservation area．

　　Biritiba Mirim, a town of 28,000 inhabitants(居民), not only wants to prohibit residents from passing away．The bill also calls on people to take care of their health in order to avoid death．“I haven't got a job, nor am I healthy．And now they say I can't die．That's ridiculous,” Amarildo do Prado, an unemployed resident said．

　　The city council is expected to vote on the regulation next week．“Of course the bill is laughable, illegal, and will never be approved,” said Gilson Soares de Campos, an assistant to the mayor．“But can you think of a better resolution to persuade the government to change the environmental decree that is prohibiting us from building a new cemetery?” The bill states that “offenders(冒犯者)will be held responsible for their acts”．However, it does not say what the punishment will be．

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阅读理解

　　Even cell phone users get annoyed at others who yak on their cell phones about their personal business in public．A survey finds that these people don't think they are among the callers who get on other people's nerves．

　　In the US, 26 percent of people surveyed can't imagine life without their cell phones．Young adults are leading a revolution in how Americans use their cell phones．

　　“I've got everything on my phone,” said mark Madsen, a 24-year-old college student from Chattanooga, Tennessee．“I use it mostly for the phone．But I also play video games and use the MP3 player．I pretty much use it all the time.”

　　More than half use them to take pictures and almost half to play games．They use these features, as well as Internet connections．

　　“We think of them as mobile phones, but the personal computer, the mobile phone and the Internet are merged(并入)into some new medium like the personal computer in the 1980s or the Internet in the 1990s,” said Howard Rheingold, an author who has taught at Stanford University and written widely about the effects of technology．

　　Most cell phone owners prize them for traditional purposes like staying in touch with family and friends and helping in an emergency．Two-thirds say they would really miss their cell phones if they didn't have them．Even more, three-fourths of cell phone users say they've used them in an emergency and they really helped．

　　“My cell phone is almost a necessity－sometimes a pain but a necessity,” said Sandra Moore of Colorado Springs, Colorado．“It's convenient to communicate with people; you can reach them almost anytime.”

　　“But that means in the other way that people can reach me anytime,” she complained．

　　People say too many people try to get in touch with them on their cell phone－just one of many headaches balanced against the cell phones' advantages．

　　More than 36 percent of people say they are sometimes shocked at the size of their service bill．

　　“People tend to talk louder on the phone．That's quite annoying,” said Pamela Sorenson, a 57-year-old resident of Bellingham, Washington．“I often hear young people talking about personal things I don't want to know about.”

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阅读理解

Greetings!

　　This romantic getaway story is actually the story of how I met my wife, Jessilyn, and the events that followed．

　　We met in the spring of 1999 in a chat room．With her living in Ohio, and my living in Rhode Island, it had all the making of a “long-distance relationship”．As time went on, we grew closer to each other, and both of us have the feeling that this is something much more than a mere online relationship．We agreed to meet face to face, and our initial meeting went as well as expected．We both knew that at this point we were in love with each other, and eventually decided to live together．Since she had grown tired of the Mideast, we decided that she would pack up and move to Rhode Island to live with me．

　　Halfway through her road trip, her car broke down in Buffalo, New York．Trapped there, and low on cash, she called me to tell me the situation．I not being one to let a minor(较小的)inconvenience stand in my way, made a plan to rent a vehicle and drive out to Buffalo to get her．After a nine-hour ride, I eventually arrived at the hotel where she was staying．We spent the night there, and drove back to Rhode Island in the morning．We married right away, and three months later, she was pregnant! Our little girl is now 10 months old．Jess and I continue to have a strong, healthy relationship, and things couldn't be better!

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　　In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition．Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity．Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another and that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people．

　　I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills．For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs．In their single-mined pursuit of success, the developing of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten．

　　However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude．In a culture that values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition．Amongst the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society．Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail．They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success．By not trying, they always have an excuse：“I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try．” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot．Such a loss would be a measure of their worth．Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves．Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others．Both are afraid of not being valued．Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition．

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　　In some ways, the United States has made some progress．Fires no longer destroy 18,000 buildings as they did in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, or kill half a town of 2, 400 people, as they did the same night in Peshtigo, Wisconsin．Other than the Beverly Hill Supper Club fire in Kentucky in 1977, it has been four decades since more than 100 Americans died in a fire．

　　But even with such successes, the United States still has one of the worst fire death rates in the world．Safety experts say the problem is neither money nor technology, but the indifference(无所谓)of a country that just will not take fires seriously enough．

　　American fire departments are some of the world’s fastest and best equipped．They have to be．The United States has twice Japan’s population, and 40 times as many fires．It spends far less on preventing fires than on fighting them．And American fire-safety lessons are aimed almost entirely at children, who die in large numbers in fires but who, against popular beliefs, start very few of them．

　　Experts say the error is an opinion that fires are not really anyone’s fault．That is not so in other countries, where both public education and the law treat fires as either a personal failing or a crime．Japan has many wood houses; of the 48 fires in world history that burned more than 10,000 buildings, Japan has had 27．Punishment for causing a big fire can be as severe as life imprisonment．

　　In the United States, most education dollars are spent in elementary schools．But the lessons are aimed at too limited a number of people; just 9 people; just 9 percent of all fire deaths are caused by children playing matches．

　　The United States continues to depend more on technology than on laws or social pressure．There are smoke detectors in 85 percent of all homes．Some local building laws now require home sprinklers(喷水装置)．New heaters and irons shut themselves off if they are tipped．

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　　Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them．Their value－this can’t be repeated too often－are not necessarily our values．Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things．The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with rotting food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms．But is it interfering(干涉)with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of?Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old．

　　Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed．The body is like a car; it needs more mechanical maintenance(保养)as it gets older．You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts．But never forget that such operations are painful experience, however good the results．And at what point should you stop treating the old body?Is it morally right to try to push off death by pursuing the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die?You cannot ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel their duty to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope．

　　When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun．

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阅读理解

　　The internet has led to a huge increase in credit-card fraud．Your card information could even be for sale in an illegal Web site．Web sites offering cheap goods and services should be regarded with care．On-line shoppers who enter their credit-card information may never receive the goods they think they have bought．

　　The thieves then go shopping with your card number－or sell the information over the internet．

　　Computer backers(黑客)have broken down security systems, raising questions about the safety of cardholder information．Several months ago, 25, 000 customers of CD Universe, an on-line music retailer, were not lucky．Their names, addresses and credit-card numbers were posted on a Web site after the retailer refused to pay US ＄157, 828 to get back the information．

　　Credit-card firms are now fighting against on-line fraud．Master-card is working on plans for Web-only credit card, with a lower credit limit．The card could be used only for shopping on-line．

　　There are a few simple steps you can take to keep from being cheated．

　　Ask about your credit-card firm’s on-line rules：Under British law, card holders are responsible for the first US ＄78 of any fraudulent spending．

　　And shop only at secure sites：Send your credit-card information only if the Web site offers advanced secure system．

　　If the security is in place, a letter will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen．The Web site address may also start with https：/-the extra “s” stands for secure．If in doubt, give your credit-card information over the telephone．

　　Keep your password safe：Most online sites require a username and password before placing an order．Treat your passwords with care．

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