China blasts off first data relay satellite

　　China launched the countries first data relay satellite “TianlianⅠ” Friday night．

　　China’s first data relay satellite “TianlianⅠ”was launched on a Long march-3C carrier rocket from the Xichang satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 11∶35 p.m, 25 April, 2008．

　　The satellite was launched on a a Long march-3C carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 11∶35 p.m．(Beijing Time)

　　The satellite will not go into function though until the Shenzhou Ⅶ mission scheduled for the second half of 2008．

　　Developed by China Aerospace science and technology Corporation, the satellite is the countries first ever data relay satellite．It will increase the time Shenzhou Ⅶ spaceship in communication with the ground, and improve the amount of data that can be transferred, according to Zhang Jianqi, top official with China’s space programs．

　　“The Yuanwang space tracking ships along with China’s over ten ground observation stations can only cover 12 percent of Shenzhou Ⅶ spaceship’s orbit in the space,”Zhang said．The “TianlianⅠ” satellite alone, according to Zhang, can cover 50 percent of the orbit of Shenzhou Ⅶ,or any other China's spacecrafts．

　　With the help of the satellite, scientists can get more scientific data collected by our satellites without delay, and can know earlier when a malfunction is taking place in China’s spacecrafts, said zhang．

　　The launch is the 105th mission of China’s Long March series of rocket, and the first mission of the Long March-3C carrier rocket．

　　The 55-meter carrier rocket with two boosters(推进器)is capable of launching satellites weighed between 2,600 kilograms to 3,800 kilograms into space．

　　A total of seven Long March-3C carrier rockets are now in production, and will carry “several domestic and foreign satellites” to the space, said Chen Mingkang, chief designer of the rocket, without further details．

　　China has planned 10 space launches this year including the Shenzhou Ⅶ spaceship．

　　China began its manned space program in 1999．It successfully sent Yang Liwei into orbit on the ShenzhouⅤspacecraft in 2003．

　　Two years later, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng complted a Chinese record of five-day flight on the Shenzhu Ⅵ．All returned safely．

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　　The Eiffel Tower is one of Europe's most famous buildings．It stands in the Champ de Mars, a park near the River Seine in Paris．It is 300 meters tall and was built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel for the Paris Universal Exposition in 1889, or" expos" as we now call them, and these " expos" are places where people can see new inventions, new kinds of art, and new kinds of food．

　　Because the tower was such a tall building, Eiffel wanted to make it easy for people to get to the top．He wanted to use an elevator, which was a very new invention at the time．Eiffel asked Elisha Otis to design an elevator to the first and second platforms of the building．Unfortunately, the French government did not like the first design that Otis showed them, and they world not let him put the elevator in．By early 1889, the first visitors had to climb hundreds of stairs to get on the first and second platforms of the tower．

　　The Eiffel Tower cost over a million US dollars——a lot of money at that time．People who invested in the building were worried that they would not get their money back．However, in the first year they got much more than their money back．Thousands of tickets were sold to people who wanted to go up and look at the view from the top．

　　The opening of the Eiffel Tower took place on 10 June 1889．Eiffel himself lived in the tower where he had his own apartment．Many kings and queens visited the tower during the opening and, of course, they visited Eiffel's apartment．Although Eiffel designed the tower for people to visit, it was also used for scientific experiments．Nowadays, the tower gets twice as many visitors as the other very famous building in Paris——the Louver．

　　The Writer Oscar Wilde said that he liked the Eiffel Tower because it was the only place in Paris from which he could not see the Eiffel Tower!

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阅读理解

　　What is your favourite colour?Do you like yellow, orange, red?If you do, you must be an optimist, a leader, an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement．Do you prefer greys and blues?Then you are probably quiet, shy and you would rather follow than lead．If you love green, you are strong-minded and determined．You wish to succeed and want other people to see you are successful．At least this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of colour preference, and the effect that colours have on human beings．

　　They tell us that we don’t choose our favourite colour as we grow up．If you happen to love brown, you did so as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly．

　　A yellow room makes us feel more cheerful and more comfortable than a dark green one, and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day．On the other hand, black is depressing．Light and bright colours make people not only happier but more active．It is a fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or dark grey．

　　Remember, then, that if you feel low, you can always brighten your day or your life with a new shirt or a few colourful things．Remember also that you will know your friends and your enemies better when you find out what colours they like and dislike．And don’t forget that anyone can guess a lot about your character when you choose a piece of handkerchief．

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　　Come and see the African elephants and the new tigers from India．The Arctic bears are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from Zaire are waiting to throw things at you．The hyenas from Tanzania are waiting to laugh at you, and the giraffes from Zambia are waiting to look down on you．

　　Tickets

　　Adults：￡1.20

　　Children：Over 12∶80 pence

　　Under 12：Free

　　Opening Time：9∶00 a.m.～4∶00 p.m．Except Fridays, 10∶00a.m.～3∶00 p.m．

　　KEEP THE ZOO CLEAN!

　　DO NOT FEED, TOUCH OR GO NEAR THE ANIMALD!

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　　People enjoy talking about “firsts”．They like to remember their first love or their first car．But not all firsts are happy ones．

　　One of history’s bad but important firsts was the first car accident．Cars were still young when it happened．The accident took place in New York City in May 1896．A man from Massachusetts was visiting the city in his new car．At the time, bicycle riders were still trying to get used to the new set of wheels on the road．No one was sure who was to blame(责备)for it．Anyway, the bike and the car hit each other hard．The man on the bike was injured．The driver of the car had to stay in jail and wait for the hospital report on the bicycle rider．Luckily the rider was not killed．Three years later, another car accident took place．It was again in New York City．A man named Henry Bliss stepped off a streetcar．He was hit by a passing car．Once again, no one was sure just how it happened or whose fault(过失)it was．The driver of the car was put in jail．Poor Mr Bliss became the first person to die in a car accident．

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阅读理解

　　What do you hear?Sounds all around you!You can hear the sound of traffic, the wind in the trees, a dog barking, your own breathing and lots of other things．

　　But what is sound?Sound happens when something vibrates(振动)or shakes．We can make something vibrate by hitting it．Try this experiment．Put your ruler on your desk so that part of it sticks out(伸出)over the edge．Put your hand on the part of the ruler that is on the desk．Now pull the part that is sticking out over the edge down, and then let it go．The part you let go will vibrate．It will move up and down very quickly, and give out sound．

　　The part of the ruler sticking out over the edge of the desk produced the sound．If you make that part longer, you will hear a lower sound．When you shorten it, you will hear a higher sound．Why does this happen?

　　When you shorten the ruler, it will vibrate more quickly．When something vibrates more quickly it produces a higher sound．If you lengthen the ruler, it will vibrate more slowly．When something vibrates more slowly, it produces a lower sound．

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　　Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water．To be human is to think．But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it．Thinking about drinking is the key to critical(判断性的)thinking．When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes(过程)．Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others．Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education．

　　The word “critical” here has a special meaning．It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong．The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen-beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning．

　　Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity．If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker．If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker．

　　Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning are processes of deep and careful consideration．They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today’s world：fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film．If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence(智力)，you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein．The first time Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein．Hoffman was too nervous to speak．But Einstein immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying, “Please go slowly．I don’t understand things quickly．”

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　　The following conversation is between Susan Russell-Robinson from the US Geological(地质学的)Survey and Barbara Reynolds from USA Today．

　　Q：Why, after 600 years of no activity, did Mount Pinatubo in Philippines erupt(喷发)in 1991?

　　A：Volcanoes(火山)each have their own eruption styles．This volcano probably has a rule which makes it erupt in the order of every 500 to 1000 years, but a volcano in Hawaii seems to erupt every year, and some of the Alaskan volcanoes might erupt every 10 or 20 years．

　　Q：So nothing caused it?

　　A：There’s nothing out of the ordinary．If you were to take an ordinary calendar year, 50 to 75 or 80 volcanoes erupt around the world every year．There are 20 to 30 volcanoes every month that show signs of unrest．That might be a full-blown eruption or a whole host of activities like that．

　　Q：What is “the ring of fire”?

　　A：If you look at where active volcanoes are placed around the world, there are somewhere between 500 and 600 of them．There is what appears to be almost a necklace that goes around the Pacific Ocean．It makes a ring where 60％ of the world’s volcanoes lie．

　　Q：Why such a concentration(集中)there?

　　A：That’s based on a theory that the oceans and the continents are like separate pieces．When continents and when that happens it seems to produce magma(熔岩)at depth and then you have volcanoes in the same ring．

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Dog Translation Products Coming to U．S．

　　A Japanese toy maker declares that they have developed a gadget that translates dog barks into human language and plans to begin selling the gadget——under the name of Bowlingual——in U．S．pet stores and gift shops this summer．

　　Tokyo-based Takara Co．Ltd．says about 300, 000 of the dog translator gadgets have been sold since it was on sale in Japan late last year．It is forecasting far bigger sales once an English language translation for dogs comes to America in August．The United States is home to about 67 million dogs, more than six times the number in Japan．

　　"We know that the Americans love their dogs so much, so we don't think they will mind spending ＄120 on this product," the Takara marketing manager said during an interview at a recent pet products conference in Atlanta．

　　Regarded as one of the coolest inventions of 2002 by Time magazine, Bowlingual is made up of a 3-inch long wireless microphone that is fastened to a dog collar and sends out sounds to a small console(控制台)that is connected to a database(数据库)．The console divides each bark into six emotional types——happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, threat and desire——and shows common phrases, such as "You're ticking me off," that fit the dog's emotional state．

　　Takara says it has spent millions of dollars developing the gadget in cooperation with famous sound experts and animal behaviorists．

　　One thing that does appear certain is that the markets for animal translation products will likely remain a dog's world since Takara has no plans to develop a similar gadget for cats．"They are too unpredictable(反复无常), " the marketing manager said．

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