阅读理解

　　Most people have heard of Shakespeare and probably know something of the plays that he wrote．However, not everybody knows much about the life of this remarkable man, except perhaps that he was born in the market town of Stratford-upon-Avon and that he married a woman called Anne Hathaway．We know nothing of his school life．We do not know, for example, how long it lasted, but we presume(推测)that he attended the local grammar school, where the principal subject taught was Latin．

　　Nothing certain is known of what he did between the time he left school and his departure(出发)for London．According to a local legend, he was beaten and even put in prison for stealing rabbits and deer from the estate of neighboring landowner, Sir Thomas Lucy．It is said that because of this he was forced to run away from his native place．A different legend says that he was apprenticed(做学徒)to a Stratford butcher, but did not like the life and for this reason decided to leave Stratford．

　　Whatever caused him to leave the town of his birth, the world can be grateful that he did so．What is certain is that he set his foot on the road to fame when he arrived in London．It is said that at first he was without money or friends there, but that he earned a little by taking care of the horses of the gentleman who attended the plays at the theatre．They stopped and spoke to him．They found his conversations so brilliant(有才气的)that finally he was invited to join their company．

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　Ever since humans have lived on the earth, they have made use of various forms of communication．Generally, this expression of thoughts and feelings has been in the form of oral speech．When there is a language barrier(障碍), communication is completed through sign language in which motions stand for letters, words, and ideas．Tourists and the people unable to hear or speak have had to turn to this form of expression．Many of these symbols of whole words are very lively and exact and can be used internationally; spelling, however, cannot．

　　Body language sends ideas or thoughts by certain actions, either meaningfully or not．A wink(眨眼)can be a way of showing that the party is only joking．A nod means agreement, while shaking the head indicates disagreement．

　　Other forms of nonlinguistic(非语言的)language can be found in Braille(a system of raised dots read with the fingertips), signal flags, Morse code, and smoke signals．Road maps and picture signs also guide and warn people．While language is the most common form of communication, other systems and techniques also express human thoughts and feelings．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　The terrible college entrance exam is not only a big challenge(挑战)for Chinese high school students, but also a very important exam in the lives of South Korean students．

　　Although the long, cold winter has already started in South Korea, the annual(一年一度的)national exams have made the atmosphere very heated．

　　More than 675,000 South Korean high school graduates took the college entrance exam last Wednesday．They usually take exams in Korean, maths, sociology(社会学), history and foreign languages．

　　Officially there is one college place for every 1.33 students．But because all the students want to go to the top universities in the country, the competition can reach one place for 10 students．The students want to attend these colleges for both their famous names and better job opportunities．

　　Because students face fierce competition, they have to study very hard to realize their dreams．Park Seung said he and his classmates often go to school before 7∶30 A．m．After school has finished at 6∶30 p.m．, most of them go to the library to continue their study instead of returning home．Since many libraries in South Korea are open 24 hours a day, they often stay long into the night．Many of the Senior 3 students only sleep for three to four hours a day．

　　“I feel a lot of pressure，but I have to study very hard in order to make my dream come true．This is my lifetime goal and it will be a turning point in my life which could decide my future,”Park said．

　　The exam day is a very serious day for the whole of South Korea．Vehicles are not allowed within a 200-metre radius(范围)of all the test sites to make sure the students have quiet surroundings．Tooting(吹奏)of horns is forbidden, even airplanes are ordered to avoid landing and take-off near the test sites during listening comprehension test hours．

　　Students are told their scores in December before they apply for college．This is followed by face-to-face oral tests．There are public and private universities in South Korea．Many private universities are well-known, but their fees can be 18, 000 yuan each term．This has made a lot of students think again．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Difficult times often bring out the best in people．And this was the case for basketball star Yao Ming, who hosted a television show in Shanghai that raised US＄300,000 to help researchers find a cure for SARS．Fundraising, or charity, is an act of goodwill towards others．Charities in the West have more flexible ways．Look at a typical day for Ruth, a wealthy woman in the UK, for example．Ruth wakes up in the morning and collects her post．There’s a letter addressed to her with a picture of a half-dead, beaten horse．It’s from a charity asking Ruth to donate money to save the animals．The door bell rings and there, on Ruth’s doorstep, is an old woman asking for money to help the aged．She turns on the television, hears sad music and sees a picture of a wide-eyed child dying of hunger in Africa with an appeal for money to help the child．Ruth then goes shopping for a dress to wear to that evening’s large party for the rich and famous．The ticket cost her a small fortune, but she doesn’t mind because most of the money is going to a charity that fights AIDS．She feels good about going because she’s helping the sick．Within five minutes of walking down the street, Ruth has passed a charity shop．She doesn’t stop because she doesn’t think she’d find a suitable dress there－it’s full of old, secondhand clothes．But, many other people enter and but all sorts of bargains．Edna, a little old lady, looks after the shop．Any profit it has made goes to a cancer charity．Now that she has retired, she has plenty of spare time to offer her services for free．

　　For people like Yao Ming, Ruth and Edna, charity is a virtue that holds the same importance in life as faith and hope．“As you look back on your life, the moments that stand out are the moments when you have done things for others,”said Scottish author Henry Drummond．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Not even Dan Brown and his Da Vinci code-breakers(密码破译者)dared deal with the mystery of Mona Lisa’s smile．But Nicu Sebe, a computer expert at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, did．He used ‘emotion recognition’ software to process the famous painting and found Mona Lisa happy(83 per cent)and slightly disgusted(厌烦的)(9 per cent)．

　　Faces show emotions．Psychology, computer science, and engineering researchers are joining forces to teach machines to read expressions．If they succeed, your computer may one day“read”your mood．Machines equipped with emotional skills could also be used in teaching, gaming, mind-reading, etc．

　　“Mind Reader”, a system developed by Rosalind Picard at MIT(the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)in the US, uses input from a video camera to do real-time analysis of facial expressions．It reports on whether you seem“interested” or“agreeable”or if you’re“confused”．The system can help people recognize others’ emotions．Picard says this means we could teach a machine to be as sensitive as a human．In fact, a machine can be even smarter than people since it can tell if a person is lying or just“performing”by analyzing one’s facial movements．

　　Jeffrey Cohn, a psychologist at the University of Pittsburgh, uses the Facial Action Coding System to recognize human emotions．The system sorts more than 40 action units(AUS)of the face to tell people’s real emotions．He studied a videotape of a criminal who said to be sad about the murder of several family members and tried to pin the blame on someone else．But Cohn saw no real sadness in the woman’s face．

　　Sadness is a group of AUS that is difficult to do at the same time．You have to pull down the corners of your lips while bringing your eyebrows together and raising them．What the woman did was raise her cheeks to make a lip curl(撇嘴)．Her brows stayed smooth．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Mike Ingram had been a guard on the Ohio State football team in the late 1950s．I believe he may have been captain in his senior year．He is a tough-looking guy, a hero in Columbus, a brave fighter in a red-and-gray uniform．

　　One holiday season Jack and I had been at the F & R Lazarus department store downtown, and we saw, carrying a tall pile of boxes, someone who clearly was working in the Lazarus stockroom(仓库)．It was Mike Ingram, post-Ohio State football player．

　　We stared－how could we help it?And Mike Ingram stopped in his track, looked right back at us, and said, with bite in his tone：“Yeah, it’s me．”Meaning：Go ahead and stare if you must．

　　Couldn’t really blame him．There was nothing wrong with what he was doing-he was earning some money in the stockroom．But he was out in the world now, he wasn’t where he had been when everything was bathed in sunlight; he was in Ohio Stadium, hearing the supporting shouts from 78,000 people who loved him and his teammates．He had moved past that first of life’s roles, as everyone does．It was his misfortune to have been famous very early; there must have been dozens and dozens of men in their twenties working in the Lazarus stockroom that holiday season, but Mike Ingram was the one sure to attract curious passers, because he was no longer who he was supposed to be．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Last Sept．11 was an important day too．After unknown gunmen attacked aid workers from the Nobel Prize-winning Medicines sans Frontiers at a roadblock on that day, most of the international aid groups helping Darfur’s 6 million people stopped using the roads．On Dec．18, unknown gunmen attacked the southern town of GereidA．More than 70 aid workers then pulled out of the refugee(难民)camp there－Darfur’s largest, with 130,000 people－leaving only 10 Red Cross employees behind．Yet at the time no one said what had really caused the sudden pullbacks．

　　Damaging has become surprisingly common in Darfur, where 200,000 Africans have been killed and a third of the population have been sent fleeing into camps in three years of war．But the attacks on international aid workers suggested a dramatic and dangerous start－to attack on purpose those helping to keep Darfur’s millions of refugee alive．A dozen people from foreign NGOs(non-governmental organizations)have been killed in just the past six months, more than previous years．There are about 14,000 aid workers in Darfur now, the majority of them Sudanese, working for foreign NGOs and U．N．agencies and delivering ＄1 billion a year in aid．Just a few more terrible attacks could throw that into jeopardy．Last week 14 U．N．offices working in Darfur made a clear warning that“the humanitarian(人道主义)organization cannot possibly make certain the survival of the population in Darfur if aid workers don’t feel safe．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　LONDON(Reuters)- British Government anti-smoking posters featuring men and women with fish hooks(钓鱼钩)through their mouths attracted one of the highest numbers of complaints the advertising standards watchdog has ever received．Nearly 800 complaints were made about a series of posters, TV, newspaper and Internet ads which many felt were offensive and distressing, particularly to children．

　　It was the highest number of complaints received by the Advertising Standards Authority(ASA)since a KFC ad in June 2005 which featured people singing with their mouths full, which reached the highest ever number with 1,671．

　　“The average smoker needs over five thousand cigarettes a year．Get unhooked,”the posters read．The Department of Health had commissioned(授权)the anti-smoking ads in an attempt to shock smokers into breaking the habit．

　　The government said it was believed people would not be seriously offended by the ads, particularly because they aimed to protect people from the damaging effects of smoking．It had taken measures to ensure the posters would not be placed near schools．Nevertheless, 152 people said the posters had upset their children．The ASA upheld(支持)those complaints, saying the posters could easily be seen by children．It did not, however, consider the ads went against its decency code(得体原则)．

　　In a series of TV ads, run by the government, along the“hooked”theme, men and women were shown being dragged along the floor with a hook inside their cheeks．The ASA received 103 received 103 complaints from people saying these ads upset children．The Department of Health had improved the images by ensuring that the hooks were not shown to pierce(穿透)people’s skin, and around children’s programmers, the ads had been cleared by the Broadcast Advertising Clearance Center．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Be sure to book a table if the restaurant you choose is an expensive or a popular one．You will feel embarrassed to show up without booking and having to wait for a table, leaving very bad impression on your friend, especially your girl friend．Also, be sure to check to see if you need to be properly dressed and tell your friend ahead of time what to wear．

　　When your food arrives, proper dining manners make you eat at a right pace so that you have time to talk．A good measure of how fast you should eat is to count 10 seconds between each mouthful and it’s bad manners if you eat too fast and then spend the rest of the time watching your friend eat．

　　Don’t make noise when having soup and chewing, or chew with your mouth open．

　　Your napkin(餐巾)should be placed on your lap at all times．Don’t put it in any other place．If you have to get up, place it neatly on your seat．

　　When eating, put your fork straight in your mouth．Don’t place your fork in the side of your mouth as it increases the chances of dropping your food, which could be very embarrassing．If you get food stuck in your mouth, don’t pick it out with your fingers or fork at the table．Excuse yourself and go to the restroom and get it out with a toothpick．

　　When dining, keep your eyes on your friend at all times and try to smile between mouthfuls．Sometimes, you should make an effort to show some interest and ask questions like,“How do you like the beef?”If she needs, you are the one who is supposed to flag down the waiter by a gentle wave of the hand until someone notices you．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)