阅读理解

　　Last week my youngest son and I visited my father at his new home in Tucson, Arizona．He moved there a few years ago, and I was eager to see his now place and meet his friends．

　　My earliest memories of my father are of a tall, handsome, successful man devoted to his work and family but uncomfortable with his children．As a child I loved him; as a school girl and young acuh(成年人)I feared him and felt bitter about him He seemed unhappy with me unless I got straight A’s and unhappy with my boy friends if their fathers were not as“successful”as he was．Whenever I went out with him on weekends, I used to struggle to think up things to say, feeling on guard．

　　On the first day of my visit, we went out with one of my father’s friends fot lunch at an outdoor cafe．We walked along that afternoon, did some shopping ate on the streel table, and laughed over my son’s funny facial expressions Gone was my father’s critical(挑剔的)air and strict rules．Who was this person I knew as my father, who seemed so friendly and interesting to be around?What had held him back before?

　　The next day my dad pulled out his childhood pictures and told me quite a few stories about his own childhood, Although our times together became easier over the years, I never felt closer to him at that moment．After so many years, I’m at last seeing another side of my father．And in so doing, I’m delighted with my new friend．My dad in his new home in Arizona is back to me from where he was．

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　　30 N．Carroll Street on Madison’s Capitol Square

　　Discover Wisconsin’s history and culture(文化)on four floors of exhibits．Open for public program．Admission is free．

　　Open Tuesday through Saturday, 9∶00 am－4∶00 pm．

　　(608)264-6555　www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum

　　612 Seventh Ave．, New Glarus

　　The Swiss Historical Village offers a delightful look at pioneer life in America’s heartland．14 buildings in the village give a full picture of every day life in the nineteenth-century Midwest．

　　Tue．－Fri．, May 1^st－October 31^st, 10∶00 am－4∶00 pm．Admission is ＄20．

　　(608)527-2317　www.swisshistoricalvillage.com

　　6858 Paoli Rd．, Paoli, WI

　　One of the largest collections of fine arts and crafts(手工艺品)in Wisconsin．Over 5000 sp．ft．of exhibition space in a historic creamery．While visiting enjoy a wonderfully prepared lunch at our cafe overlooking the Sugar River．Just minutes from Madison!

　　Gallery open Tue．–Sun．, 10∶00 am－5∶00 pm．

　　Cafe open Wed．–Sat．, 11∶00 am –3∶00 pm．

　　Sun．brunch with wine, 10∶00－3∶00 pm．

　　(608)845-6600　www.artisangal.com

　　239 Whitney St．, Columbus

　　World-class exhibit－2000 quality souvenirs(纪念品)marking Chicago’s 1893 World Columbian Exhibition．Tour buses are always welcome．

　　Open daily, 8∶15 am－4∶00 pm．

　　(920)623-1992　www.columbusantiquemall.com

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　　Something in chocolate could be used to stop coughs and lead to more effective medicines, say UK researchers．

　　Their study found that theobromine, found in cocoa, was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs than codeine, which was considered the best cough medicine at present．

　　The Imperial College London researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatment．“While coughing is not necessarily harmful(有害的)it can have a major effect on the quality of life, and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem,” said Professor Peter Barnes．

　　Ten healthy volunteers(志愿者)were given theobromine, codeine or placebo, a pill that contains no medicine, during the experiment．Neither the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill．The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin, which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicine are stopping coughs．

　　The team found that, when the volunteers were given theobromine, the capsaicin need to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group．When they were given codeine they need only slightly higher levers of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo．

　　The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a verve activity(神经活动)，which cause coughing．They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments, theobromine caused no side effects such as sleepiness．

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　　Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)？When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important in formation that should be included, he can give you a false picture．

　　For example, some might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票)．It was great．I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for on e hundred dollars!”

　　This guy’s a winner, right?Maybe, maybe not．We then discover that he bought ＄200 worth of tickets, and only on e was a winner．He’s really a big loser!

　　He didn’t say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose．That’s called a half-truth．Half-truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest．

　　Some politicians often use this trick．Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs．Then she seeks another term．One of her opponents(对手)says, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” that’s true．However, and honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs．”

　　Advertisers(广告商)will sometimes use half-truths．It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth．An advertisement might say, “Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache．” It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company．

　　This kind of deception happens too of often．It’s a sad fact of life：Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well．

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　　The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts had found．Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received．

　　Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany’s University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent(口音)changers recorded over the past half century would take place within one person．“As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said．

　　He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels(元音)had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years．“Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago．But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don’t notice from year to year．”

　　“We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper．“In 1952 she would have been hears saying ‘thet men in the bleck het’．Now it would be ‘that man in the black hat’．And ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’．In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’．”

　　The Queen’s broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries．Each Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch．(传统火鸡午餐)．

　　The results were published(发表)in the Journal of Phonetics．

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阅读理解

　　There was a story many years ago of a school teacher－Mrs．Thompson．She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same．But that was a lie．There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard．He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath．She did not like him．

　　Then Mrs．Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother．Mrs．Thompson was ashamed of herself．She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too．It was his mother’s perfume(香水)。

　　Teddy said, “Mrs．Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to．” After the children left she cried for at least an hour．On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math．Instead, she began to teach children．

　　Mrs．Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy．The boy’s mind seemed to come alive．The more she encourage him, the faster he improved．By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class．

　　Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy．He wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole lift．He went to college．Mrs．Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed, Theodore F．Stoddard, M．D．(医学博士)．

　　The story doesn’t end there．On his wedding day, Dr．Stoddard whispered in Mrs．Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs．Thompson, for believing in me．You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference．”

　　Mrs．Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong．You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference．I didn’t know how to teach until I met you．”

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　　There’s always been tension(紧张)－throughout our history－a kind of tension between private development and government control, especially when it comes to development of land for agriculture．

　　Catherine Parr Traill－an expert in the nineteenth century－said that the natural beauty of Canada’s wilderness would disappear because of agricultural development．But, fortunately for us, what Catherine Parr Traill had said turned out to be not entirely true．The Quinte Wildflower Project proves that people can come together to keep the beauty of the wilderness．The project continues a trend(趋势)to beautify North American highways that goes all the way back to the 1960s and the beginning of the Adopt-a-Highway programs, the programs that use volunteers to clean up the litter along roadsides．Since the sixties, beautification programs have been broadened to include the planting of native flowers and shrubs(灌木)

　　The Quinte Wildflower Project is the largest roadside planting of wildflowers in Ontario．The project was born in 1996, with the help of private sponsors(赞助人)and government gardening experts．Areas along an 18-kilometer stretch of Highway 401－from Trenton to Belleville－most of the sites were planted with one of two native wildflower seed mixtures．Both seed mixtures produce flowers that require little care and are hardy enough to grow in roadside conditions．Each seed mixture contains several different species, and wildflowers grow well, so there’s a steady show of colors from June to October．

　　The Quinte Wildflower Project has been a huge success．Its greatest success has been in attracting both public interest and private sponsors．It shows that government and citizens can work together and that their joint efforts can and do work．

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　　Researchers study television to understand its effects on viewers and to measure its effectiveness in selling products．Much of the research on TV audiences is market research, paid for by companies with something to sell．Let me repeat; research on television is supported largely by advertisers．

　　The television industry depends on advertising money to run, and this relationship influences what television offers viewers．Advertisers aim to reach mass audiences and particular social groups．In turn, the television tries to meet the needs of advertisers, because pleasing the advertisers is nearly as important as pleasing the pubic．This means advertisers have a lot of control over what programs are made and when they are shown．

　　Television is the most effective marketing tool ever created．Many advertisement apply basic psychology(心理学)by sort of turning to our insecurities and desires．Ads convince us that the things we once thought were luxuries(奢侈)are now necessities．Television is highly programs as well．Using expert market research, programmers and advertisers sort of paint a picture of life centered on material possessions．This kind of life may look attractive and desirable, but it’s all at the expense of personal relationships．

　　As you probably can tell, I prefer to agree with critics(评论家)of the media．Advertising does create false needs, and products we really need don’t require advertising．Television advances consumerism(消费至上)．It shows us things, things, and more things．It encourages treed and envy．Television helps create a wasteful society, where things are thrown out long before they are worn out．

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　　We’ve organized the following information to help you prepare for your arrival at Boston College．Please feel free to contact(联系)our Admissions Office at any time over the coming months with any questions．

　　Please return the Acknowledgement Form sent with you acceptance letter to Dean Robert Howe, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, McGuinn Hall 221,140 Commonwealth Avenue, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467．

　　■For Ph．D．Acceptances and Master’s Acceptances with funding, we ask you reply by April 25, 2008．

　　■For Master’s Acceptances without funding and Non degree Acceptances, we ask you to reply by May 31, 2008

　　■You should also contact your department to receive any department information．

　　After you return your Acknowledgment From, you should receive a letter containing your BC Username and Eagle ID number．With this information you can reach email and Agora．In Agora, BC’s online community．You can update your student information, check your student account(账目), and register(登记)for classes．

　　The Office of Student Services issues(发行)your BC Eagle One Card．This ID card acts as your campus library card and meal card．

　　Student Services’ website offers a complete listing of courses for the school year, as well as student forms and other important student information．The Office of Student Services also handles billing．

　　Housing

　　……

　　CLICK HERE for more information．

　　If we can bi of any more help to you, just contact us．Congratulation again！We look forward to you joining our University！

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　　One of the major problems in our economy(经济)is inflation, a situation in which prices are going up faster than wages(工资)．Thus, a person has to work more hours to pay for the same thing．

　　For example, let’s say that this year a loaf of bread costs $1.00 and average salary in the United Sates is $10.00 per hour．That means a person could earn enough money to buy a loaf of bread in one-tenth of an hour, or six minutes．Then, halfway through the year, the price of the bread goes up to $1.25, while wages stay the same．That means that a person now has to work one-eighth of an hour－seven and a half minutes to buy the same loaf of bread．

　　Now let’s say that at the end of the year, wages go up to $11.00 per hour, but the price of bread goes up to $1.50．Now a person has to work more than one-seventh of an hour－over eight minutes－to buy loaves of bread, employees will have less money left over to buy other things, Inflation means that the same money buys fewer things and everybody’s standard of living goes down, even if salaries are going up．

　　Some kinds of inflation are worse than others．Moderate inflation does not distort(祖曲)relative prices or incomes seriously．Galloping inflation happens rapidly, say at a rate of 100percent or more within a year．And then there’s hyperinflation－inflation so serious that people try to get rid of their currency(货币)before prices rise further and make the money worthless．Times of hyperinflation are usually characterized by social and political disorder．

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