The word conservation has a thrifty(节俭)meaning．To conserve is to save and protect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such good condition that others may also share the enjoyment．Our forefathers(祖先)had no idea that human population would increase faster than the supplies of raw materials; most of them, even until very recently, had the foolish idea that the treasures were“limitless”and “inexhaustible”．Most of the citizens of earlier generations knew little or nothing about the complicated, and delicate system that runs all through nature, and which means that, as in a living body, an unhealthy condition of one part will sooner or later be harmful to all the others．

　　Fifty years ago nature study was not part of the school work; scientific forestry was a new idea; timber was still cheap because it could be brought in any quantity from distant woodlands; soil destruction and river floods were not national problems; nobody had yet studied long- term climatic cycles in relation to proper land use; even the word“conservation”had nothing of the meaning that it has for us today．

　　For the sake of ourselves and those who will come after us, we must now set about repairing the mistakes of our forefathers．Conservation should, therefore, be made a part of everyone’s daily life．To know about the water table in the ground is just as important to us as a knowledge of the basic arithmetic formulas．We need to know why all watersheds need the protection of plant life and why the running current of streams and rivers must be made to benefit the soil fully before they finally escape to the sea．We need to be taught the duty of planting trees as well as of cutting them．We need to know the importance of big, mature trees, because living space for most of man's fellow creatures on this planet is figured not only in square measure of surface but also in cubic volume(立方)above the earth．In brief, it should be our goal to restore as much of the original beauty of nature as we can．

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　　The reason New Zealand business people often struggle when they go overseas is probably that the business environment here isn’t tough enough．That is the theory of billionaire Graeme Hart, who has successfully built an international company．

　　Hart believes it is wrong to focus on the difficulties New Zealand business people often have in Australia．In his view it is more that“New Zealanders are challenged when they go offshore”and Australia happens to be the first place most go to．“The reason is straightforward,”he says．“New Zealand is a really cool country, it’s a nice place in many, many regards, but no least of all to do business．It’s not a really tough business environment．”Unfortunately, that means people who run successful business in this country find conditions difficult elsewhere．

　　Hart says in his early days of stepping outside New Zealand“I got my nose bloodied all over my face a few times．But that’s just part of the process．If you’re able to stay the course then over time, you toughen up and you become more familiar with the environment that you’ve chosen to operate it, be it Australia or anywhere else．You just learn the rules of a different playground．”

　　However, he says the situation is changing because, like the rest of the world, New Zealand is increasingly a part of the global village．“Our exposure to business offshore has increased substantially over the last 10 to 20 years and in another 10 to 20 years we’ll be that much more experienced．It’s just that we’re perhaps a little bit behind the rest of the world in terms of stepping out into those bigger playgrounds．”But, he says, it has to happen and“we’re becoming better businessmen for stepping offshore…I’m a better businessman for stepping offshore”．

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　　Organizers：China Daily and Shanghai Broadcasting Network．

　　Co–ordinater：China University English Speaking Association(CUESA)

　　Co–sponsors(联办单位)：English Speaking Union(ESU), Lotus Software(China)Co．Ltd．, Times Publishing Group of Singapore, Hilton Shanghai, Pearson Education, Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press．

　　Date：March 25(Friday), 2005．

　　Place：Hilton Shanghai．

　　Competition Format(形式)：Each student will present a prepared speech on the given topic, followed by a three–minute off–hand speech and three–minute question and answer period with the judges．

　　Prepared speech period：six minutes．

　　Q &A period：three minutes

　　Speech topic：People and Nature：In search of harmony in a new age in your personal opinion．(Topic for the off–hand speech will be given on the day of competition)．

　　Prizes：Besides books and certificates, the top two winners will be offered scholarships to travel to the annual international English–speaking competition which will be held by the English–speaking Union in May, 2005．The third and fourth place winners will be offered a study trip to Singapore, sponsored by the Times Publishing Group．The fifth through 10^th place winners will be offered cash prizes．All the competitors will receive certificates from the English Speaking Union and book prizes provided by Pearson Education and Foreign Language Teaching & Research Press．The teachers of the top winners will also receive a one–year membership to the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language(IATEFL)

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　　Three pilot whales are believed to be swimming freely off the Atlantic Coast today．Their names are Tag, Notch, and Baby．These seagoing mammals are among the lucky survivors of whale–stranding last December at Cape Cod．

　　As many as 60 pilot whales swam ashore．Scientists are still trying to find out why whales have this self–destructive behavior．Many of the whales died on the beach–crushed by their own weight．Whale experts found Tag, Notch．and Baby alive．The three were believed to be too young to survive only by themselves if returned to sea．

　　The three whales were taken in a van to the New England Aquarium in Boston．There were kept in a special tank for seven months．Only a few people worked with the whales so that they would not become too accustomed to human beings．

　　Early this past summer the three whales were pronounced fit enough to be returned to the Atlantic Ocean．A month after their release, the whales were spotted．They were found in a group of 50 whales about 600 miles from where they had been set free．

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阅读理解

　　Short people, studies have shown, are more likely to have a stroke, suffer from high blood pressures and heart disease and be bullied in school．

　　Now, researchers report that short people－at least in the past－were also more likely to die at a younger age than their taller peers．

　　Their study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology(流行病学)and Community Health, found that short bones have something to do with short life for more than 1,000 years．The conclusion was based on 490 sets of adult skeletal remains from an archaeological site in northeastern England, YC dating from the 9th century to about 1850．

　　About 55％ of men and 73％ of women died before the age of 45, and 39％ of men and 56％ of women died before age 30．The risk of death before age 30 declined as bone length increased．

　　“This study provides evidence from an archaeological sample that long bone length is connected with age at death-those with smaller bones tend to die younger,”according to Dr．D．J．Gunnell of the university of Bristol in the UK and colleagues．

　　While it is not clear why short stature might be linked to earlier death, the researchers point out that height is an indicator of childhood nutrition, which may have long-lasting effect on health．

　　“Mechanism(身体结构)for height-mortality associations in the past may differ from those today, for example, short stature may have increased the risk of death in childbirth and this may explain the higher risk of premature mortality in women,”Gunnell and colleagues write．

　　“However, short bones, it would appear, have always been a marker of a short life,”the authors conclude．

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阅读理解

　　The average person learns most of the 30,000～40,000 words whose meaning he or she recognizes by hearing them or getting familiar with them in the context or simply absorbing them without conscious effort．The best way to build a good vocabulary, therefore, is to read a great deal and to participate in a lot of good talks．There are relatively few words that we learn permanently by purposefully referring to dictionaries or keeping word lists．However, even those extra few are of value, and no one will make a mistake by working on developing a larger vocabulary．Here are some suggestions of how to do it．

　　Read plenty of good books．When you come across a new word, or a new meaning of an old word, stop and see if you can understand it from its context．If you can’t, and if you can manage without interrupting the thought of the book too much, look it up in a dictionary or ask somebody and then repeat its meaning to yourself a couple of times．If you are really conscientious, write the word and its meaning in a personal vocabulary list-preferably using it in a sentence, or you can keep a special vocabulary notebook．Go over the list from time to time．Further, try to use a new word in writing or conversation a few times over the next several days．

　　Listen to good talks and be alert to new words you hear or to new meanings of words you already know．Then treat them just as you do the new words you read．

　　Learn and be alert to the parts of words：prefixes, suffixes and roots．Knowing them enables you to make intelligent guesses about the meaning of words．

　　If you are studying a foreign language, be alert to words in that language which relate to words in English．English has inherited or borrowed much of its vocabulary of 500,000～600,000 words from Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and German．

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　　Holiday houses in Mallorca sailing and fishing port-quiet even in summer season．Beautifully situated houses with sights of sea and mountains, yet near to shops and restaurants．Cars and bicycles for hire．Sailing and sports clubs nearby．

　　Luxury coach(-carriage)trips of Italy, out of normal holiday season．21days to visit five Italian cities starting from London 1 st May, 1 st September．The trips are guided by profess or Martin Davis．Head of Italian Studies, London University．See the arts and culture of historic Italy．KIBBUTZ HOLIDAYS IN ISRAEL(以色列)

　　Working holidays on a kibbutz(co-operative farm)in Israel．All nationalities welcome for one to three months, if prepared to work morning with kibbutz members．Accommodation(住宿), food and trips to historic sights all provided free-you pay only for the special low-cost return flight．

　　Two-week holidays in the Hotel Splendid, on a lovely beach with golden sands and deep-blue sea．Tennis, golf, sailing and all water sports, trips around the island arranged．Near to town of Castries with lively evening entertainment-dancing．

　　1 st November-31 st March＝￡ 720 per person

　　1 st April-30th October＝￡ 850 per person

　　Jack and his wife Mary, who have recently retired, want to see places of cultural and historic interest abroad, but Mary hates flying．

　　Peter and Maria, university students, want to travel as far as possible on little money, and would like to get to know a country by working there for three months with other young people．

　　Michael, a young computer programmer, has been working hard and needs a holiday to relax in winter．He would like to go somewhere warmer and sunny, where he can swim in the sea, and he enjoys sports and dancing．

　　Herry and Kate, both teachers, and their two sons, have to take their holiday during the school summer holidays．There must be plenty for the boys to do, although Harry and Kate just want to have beautiful scenery, good food and wine-and peace．

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阅读理解

　　American women experience a great variety of lifestyle．A typical American woman may be single．She may also be divorced or married．She may be a homemaker, a doctor, or a factory worker．It is very difficult to generalize about American women．However, one thing that many American women have in common is their attitudes about themselves and their roles in American life．

　　Historically, American women have always been very independent．The first settlers to come to New England were ten young couples that had left behind their extended families．The women were alone in a new, undeveloped country with their husbands．This has two important effects．First of all, this was the uncivilized environment that demanded every person to share in developing it and in survival．Women worked with their husbands and children to make themselves accepted in this new land．Second, because they were in a new land without the established influence of older members of society, women felt free to step into nontraditional roles．

　　This role of women was strengthened in later years as Americans move west again, leaving families behind and meeting a new environment．Even later, in the east, as new settlers arrived, women often found jobs more easily than men．Women became the supporters of the family．

　　Within the established lifestyle of the industrialized twentieth century, the strong role of women was not attractive as in the early days of the country．Some women stepped into the men’s jobs as factory and business workers．After the war, some women stayed in these positions, and others left their jobs with a new sense of ability．

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　　TORNTO, Canada People eat more when they are glued to the television, and the more entertaining the program, the more they eat, according to a recent research．

　　It seems that distracted brains do not notice what the mouth is doing, said Dr．Alan Hirsch, neurological(神经学)director of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago．Hirsch explored the impact of smell, taste and eating behaviors while watching TV by measuring potato chip consumption．Forty-five volunteers ate as many chips as they wanted during five minute intervals over three-week periods while they watched monologues by late-night talk show hosts David Letterman and Jay Leno．They also were given chips to eat when the television was off．

　　Hirsch found people ate an average of 44 percent more chips while watching Letterman and 42 percent more while viewing Leno, than when they did not watch TV．

　　“If you can concentrate on how the food tastes you’ll eat less because you’ll feel full faster,” Hirsch said, “So if that’s the case, let’s look at the opposite．What if you’re distracted?If you’re distracted, in theory, then you’d eat more．”

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　　Recently some American schools have made changes in the traditional school year to improve student learning．

　　Some have extended the school year, or reorganized it to avoid a long summer break．Another choice is to extend the school day．A new report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University examines research into how effective this is．

　　The traditional school day has not changed much in more than a century．Activities or special programs might mean a longer day．But younger children usually go to school from about nine o’clock in the morning until about three in the afternoon．Older ones are traditionally in school from about seven a．m．until around two p．m．

　　Some high schools have changed to later start times because of findings that teenagers learn better that way．But the new report says results have been mixed．Teachers say students are more awake．But students say the changes interfere with after-school activities or jobs．

　　By 2001, almost one-third of all secondary schools had some form of block scheduling．The idea is to provide longer periods in the school day to teach basic subjects．More class time should mean better results．This is the thinking, at least．Yet a 2001 study found that secondary schools with traditional schedules had higher test scores by comparison．Schools with block scheduling did have higher scores in science, though．．

　　Experts say it is what educators do with the extra time that has the largest effect on student learning．They note a criticism that education leaders often make scheduling changes without changing the learning environment of a school．

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