Small discoveries in Indonesia are causing a stir in the science world．Researchers have unearthed(挖掘)tiny bones that they believe belong to an entirely new human species．If that’s true, it will change how we think about our ancestors．

　　Clues that the little people may have lived long ago were first revealed last year in the scientific journal Nature．Scientists said that they had found the bones of a three-foot-tall female on the island of Flores, in Indonesia．When they looked more closely, they saw that the nearly complete skeleton(骨骼)belonged to a full-grown adult．Researchers named her Hobbit, after the tiny heroes of the Lord of the Rings books．

　　Now the team is saying it has unearthed even more pieces of the puzzle, including a jawbone and parts of arms, legs and hands from several individuals, as well as stone tools．They reported their find in Nature this month．“The new evidence makes it very clear that these people are a new species, distinct from modern humans,” Peter Brown, a scientist on the team, said．They named these ancient humans Homo floresiensis．

　　Brown says that these little people lived as recently as 12,000 years ago．If Homo floresiensis was a different species from modern humans, that would make our family tree bigger than we knew．It means, says Brown, that “until recently, a relative shared the planet with us．”

　　Many scientists think a new species is unlikely．Some argue that the bones must have belonged to modern humans whose small size was the result of a genetic problem．

　　Daniel E．Lieberman, a scientist at Harvard University, thinks that the debate over the discovery is healthy．He believes that the questions and arguments raised by critics will help us learn more about these unusual skeletons．“Disagreement is an important part of the scientific process,” Lieberman said．“As far as I’m concerned, the story’s only just begun．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Reading Comprehension

　　One night, Mrs Riley, an elderly woman, was walking along a dark, London street．She was carrying her handbag in one hand and a plastic carrier bag in the other．There was nobody else in the street except two youths．They were standing in a dark shop doorway．One of them was very tall with fair hair, the other was short and fat with a beard．

　　The youths waited for a few moments, and then ran quickly and quietly towards Mrs Riley．The tall youth held her from behind while the other youth tried to seize her handbag．

　　Suddenly, Mrs Riley threw the tall youth over her shoulder．He crashed into the other youth and they both landed on the ground．Without speaking, Mrs Riley struck both of them on the head with her handbag, and walked calmly away．

　　The two surprised youths were still sitting on the ground when Mrs Riley crossed the street towards a door with a lighted sign above it．Mrs Riley paused, turned round, smiled at the youths and walked into the South West London Judo (柔道)Club．

(1)

(2)

(3)

　　Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush．Through her on efforts, her letter was reproduced on over 250 donated billboards(广告牌)across the country．

　　The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment(Kids F.A.C.E.)in 1989．There are now 300,000 members of Kids F.A.C.E.world wide and it is the world’s largest youth environmental organization．

　　Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a “Children’s Forest” project in every national park．In 1992, she was invited one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the future Program．In 1993, she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute．

　　Since the organization started, Kids F.A.C.E.members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees!Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kids’ Yards－the creation of backyard wildlife habitats(栖息地)and now Kids F.A.C.E.is involved in the exciting Odyssey, which is a great way to start helping．

　　“We try to tell kids that it’s not OK to be lazy,” she explains, “You need to start being a response, environmentally friendly person now, right now, before you become a resource-sucking adult．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　It was the summer of 1965．Deluca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend．Buck asked Deluca about his plan for the future．“I’m going to college, but I need a way to pay for it,” Deluca recalls saying．“Buck said, ‘you should open a sandwich shop．’ ”

　　That afternoon, they agreed to be partners．And they set a goal：to open 32 stores in ten years．After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for ＄1,000．Deluca rented a storefront(店面)in Connecticut, and when they couldn’t cover their start-up costs, Buck kicked in another ＄1,000．

　　But business didn’t go smoothly as they expected．Deluca says, “After six months, we were doing poorly, but we didn’t know how badly, because we didn’t have any financial controls．” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs．

　　Deluca was managing the store and to the University of Bridgeport at the same time．Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York．They’d meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running．“We convinced ourselves to open a second store．We figured we could tell the public, ‘ We are so successful, we are opening a second store．’” And they did－in the spring of 1966．Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error．

　　But the partners’ learn-as-you-go approach turned out to be their greatest strength．Every Friday, Deluca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their supplies．“It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn’t necessary but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out,” Deluca says．

　　And having a goal was also important．“There are so many problems that can get you down．You just have to keep working toward your goal,” Deluca adds．

　　Deluca ended up founding Subways Sandwich, the multimillion-dollar restaurant chain．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert(警报)system using text messages delivered to cell phones．

　　Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years, particularly among young people．The wireless industry’s trade association, CTIA, estimates(估计)more than 48 billions text messages are sent each month．

　　The plan comes from the Warning Alter and Response Network Act, a 2006 federal law that requires improvement to the nation’s emergency alter system．The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission(FCC)with coming up with new ways to alter the public about emergencies．

　　“The ability to deliver accurate and timely warning and alters through cell phone and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before, and during, disasters and other emergencies,” FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan．

　　Participation in the alter system by carriers－telecommunication companies－is voluntary, but it has received solid support from the wireless industry．

　　The program would be optional for cell phone users．They also may not be charged for receiving alters．

　　There would be three types of messages, according to the rules．

　　The first would be a national alter from the president, likely involving a terrorists attack or natural disaster．The second would involve “approaching threats,” which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings．The third would be reserved for child abduction(绑架)emergencies, or so-called Amber Alerts．

　　The service could be in place by 2010．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Young adult filmmakers all hope to show their works in international festivals like Sundance and Toronto．But what about really young filmmakers who aren’t in film school yet and aren’t, strictly speaking, eve adults?

　　They are at the heart of Wingspan Arts Film Festival tomorrow, in a setting any director might envy：Lincoln center．Complete with “red carpet” interviews and various awards, the festival has much in common with events for more experienced moviemakers, except for the age of the participants：about 8 to 18．

　　“What’s really exciting is that it’s film for kids by kids,” said Cori Gardner, managing director of Wingspan Arts, a nonprofit organization offering youth arts programs in the New York area．This year the festival will include films not only from Wingspan but also from other city organizations and one from a middle school in Arlington, Virginia．“We want to make this a national event,” Ms．Gardner added．

　　The nine shorts to b shown range from a Claymation biography of B．B．King to a science fiction adventure set in the year 3005．“A lot of the material is really mature,” Ms．Gardner said, talking about films by the New York branch of Global Action Project, a media arts and leadership-training group．“The choice is about the history of a family and Master Anti-Smoker is about the dangers of secondhand smoke．” Dream of the Invisibles describes young immigrants’(移民)feelings of both belonging and not belonging in their adopted country．

　　The festival will end with an open reception at which other films will be shown．These include a music video and a full-length film whose title is Pressure．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　If you boss asks you to work in Moscow this year, he’d better offer you more money to do so－or even double that depending on where you live now．That’s because Moscow has just been found to be the world’s most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting．

　　Using the cost of living in New York as a base, Mercer determined Moscow is 34.4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment(娱乐)．

　　A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs ＄4,000 a month; a CD ＄24.83, and an international newspaper ＄6.30, according to Mercer．By comparison, a fast food meal with a hamburger(汉堡包)is a steal at ＄4.80．

　　London takes the No．2 place, up from No．5 a year ago, thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar．Mercer estimates(估算) London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days．Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo, both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York, while No．5 Hong Kong is 19 percent more costly．

　　Among North American cities, New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world’s most expensive cities．But both have fallen since last year’s study－New York came in 15^th, down from 10^th place, while Los Angeles fell to 42^nd from 29^th place a year ago．San Francisco came in a distant third at No．54, down 20 places from a year earlier．

　　Toronto, meanwhile, is Canada’s most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82^nd place worldwide．In Australia, Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No．21 worldwide．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　Far from the land of Antarctica(南极洲)，a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean．At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod．

　　For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish．How does it live where most fish would freeze to death?It must have some secret．The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow．Now it seems we have an answer．

　　Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish．Scientists studied the fish’s blood and measured its freezing point．

　　The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of－1.88℃ and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it．The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to－2.05℃．That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture．

　　The scientists’ next research job was clear：Find out what in the fish’s blood kept it from freezing．Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein(蛋白质)never before seen in the blood of a fish．When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature．When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point．

　　Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein．It has many small sugar molecules(分子)held in special positions within each big protein molecule．Because of its sugar content．It is called a glycoprotein．So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein．Or AFGP．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　Tom was one of the brightest boys in the year, with supportive parents．But when he was 15 he suddenly stopped trying．He left school at 16 with only two scores for secondary school subjects．One of the reasons that made it cool for him not to care was the power of his peer(同龄人)group．

　　The lack of right male(男性的)role models in many of their lives－at home and particularly in the school environment(环境)－means that their peers are the only people they have to judge themselves against．

　　They don’t see men succeeding in society so it doesn’t occur to them that they could make something of themselves．Without male teachers as a role model, the effect of peer actions and street culture(文化)is all-powerful．Boys want to be part of a club．However, schools can provide the environment for change, and provide the right role models for them．Teachers need to be trained to stop that but not in front of a child’s peers．You have to do it one to one, because that is when you see the real child．

　　It’s pointless sending a child home if he or she has done wrong．They see it as a welcome day off to watch television or play computer games．Instead, schools should have a special unit where a child who has done wrong goes for the day and gets advice about his problems－somewhere he can work away from his peers and go home after the other children．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)