阅读理解

　　The wheelchair-bound young man, a patient of mine, was pushed to the lectern(演讲台)at the high school to deliver his commencement address．His face still partially paralyzed(瘫痪), he spoke in a soft voice．But Mark Orsini delivered a powerful speech and received a thunderous applause from his fellow students, who had wondered if he'd live to graduate．

　　The18-year－old had developed Guillain-Barre syndrome(综合病症), which can cause paralysis．Soon he was almost completely paralyzed．

　　His parents insisted that he was a fighter．He'd get through this and go on to attend Dartmouth．But meanwhile, immobile and on a ventilator(呼吸器), how was he going to ask questions or be involved in his care?

　　The solution was remarkable：The Orsinis would sit at Mark's side and recite the alphabet．When they got to a letter Mark needed to spell a word, he'd nod “yes．”They'd write it down, then start over and wait for him to nod again．They never lost patience and Mark was involved with every decision．Standard treatment hadn't helped, so I proposed a risky procedure to filter(过滤)his blood．

　　After treatment he showed improvement and soon he could move his toes, his legs and then his arms．

　　Mark has graduated from Dartmouth．I saw him in my office some time ago, and he was feeling great．But there was a lot left unsaid．I wanted to say I was in awe of him, and that his parents were some of the most amazing people I'd ever met, sitting by his bed for hours, patiently listening to their child speak letter by letter．I wanted to tell him of my shame when my children tried to talk to me and I brushed them off because I didn't have time to listen．I wanted to say I'd never forget him or his parents．But words failed me．

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阅读理解

　　Just 7 km east of Sydney's city centre lies Australia's most famous beach——Bondi, with its glorious strip of golden sand and blue water．Other delightful surf beaches and small bays stretch south to Maroubra, while the harbour suburbs to the north offer sandy bays and the bushland of Sydney Harbour National Park．The life saving movement was founded in Australia in the early 1900s, and now Bondi and Bronte each claim to be the world's first surf club．

1．Beaches

Surf and sand from Bondi to Maroubra, plus calm harbour beaches．

●With its rolling surf and long arc of sand, Bondi is the region's best-known beach and the liveliest of all the ocean suburbs．

●Four more surf beaches lie south of Bondi－Tamarama, Bronte, Coogee and Maroubra－as well as calmer Clovelly and Gordons Bay．

2．

Lively beachfront dining and shopping strips, and charming harbours．

●Bondi, Bronte, Coogee and Maroubra all offer a delightful seaside town atmosphere－complete with beachwear and surf shops, pubs and outdoor cafes．

●Take a boat from Circullar Quay to one of the harbour suburbs－there is Rose Bay with its parks and harbourside restaurants, Vaucluse, home of 1820s Vaucluse House, and Watsons Bay, with a famous seafood restaurant and wonderful views up the harbour．

3．Inland

Shops, cafes, restaurants, parks and several major attractions．

●Paddington and Woollahra are famous for their cafes, small shops, art galleries, markets and nearby Centennial Park, one of Sydney's largest open spaces．

●Visit Bondi Junction for its largest shopping centre and cinema complex．

4．Activities

From surfing and diving to walks, golf and seaplane rides．

●Learn to surf at Bondi, Bronte or Coogee, go diving at Gordons Bay(where there is an underwater trail), or watch a summer surf carnival．

●Play golf at Bondi Beach, Rose Bay or Moore Park, enjoy a game of tennis, and go horse riding at Centennial Park．

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　　These courses are aimed at students who wish to improve their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills and are offered at the following levels：

　　BEGINNERS

　　ELEMENTARY(初级)

　　PREINTERMEDIATE

　　INTERMEDIATE

　　UPPER-INTERMEDIATE

　　Studying one of the above courses will enable you to use English more confidently and competently(胜任地) on a daily basis．

　　Try our free online test to see which level you are at－CLICK HERE．

　　This course builds on communicative confidence and competence and is aimed at students who wish to develop the important skills of speaking and listening．

　　Emphasis is also placed on pronunciation, with activities designed to meet the needs of students of different nationalities, who need to focus on different areas．

　　CLICK HERE to register(注册) for a General English course．

　　Send me info on：English Courses, Summer Courses, French Courses, Italian Courses, Spanish Courses, Japanese Courses, German Courses, Dutch Courses, Polish Courses．

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　　In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition(学会)of each new skill－the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing．It is common that parents hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child．This might happen at any stage．A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, and a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads．On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural love for life and his desire to find out new things for himself．

　　Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children．Some may be especially strict in money matters; others are severe(严厉的)over time of coming home at night or on time for meals．In general, the controls imposed(强加的) represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness．

　　As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching．To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality．Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”．If they are not sincere and do not practise what they say, their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some degree fooled．

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　　Will you get a good job? What will you do? Many new graduates feel lost when they consider the endless list of career choices．They’ve invested(投资)a lot of money for their diploma(文凭) and now an important question stares them in the fact．

　　I’ve seen so many now graduates who do not know how to use the degree they have just earned．An example was Dave, who loved sports and had played baseball throughout his college years．He had his heart set on working for Nike．But he had never made clear in his own mind what kind of job he could do for Nike, so nothing ever happened．Another example was Allison, who was a history major．She wanted to work as an event planner but, unfortunately, no one hired her．Why? No experience．

　　Failing to do some solid(固定的)career exploration first, to get a clear idea of the kinds of jobs you can do, is a big mistake that many college students make．After our advice, Dave and Allison both found their jobs．Follow these effective strategies：

　　－Identify(确定) the job you want．Conduct research．Ask parents to advise you on actual(实际的)job duties．Think about what your natural ability is, and look for positions where you can use them．

　　－Don’t depend on the Internet．New studies from the Department of Labor state that only 4％of jobseekers found their job on the Internet．The fact is that 63％of all jobs are filled by contacts．

　　－Employers are making quick decisions．Most people lose the job in the first minute of the interview．It’s deadly to let the employers focus quickly on how well you can perform the job．

　　－Practice your interviewing skills．Be ready for the tough questions by first writing out good answers to possible questions and having a role-playing interview with your friend．

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　　The largest bird that cannot fly also happens to be the largest living bird in the world．This is the huge North African ostrich(鸵鸟)．When the male, or cock, is fully grown, he reaches a height nearly eight feet and many weigh close to three hundred pounds．His wings are very small and the wing feathers are very soft, therefore he does not fly．

　　You have probably heard the old saying about the “foolish ostrich burying his head in the sand”．Well, the ostrich is not nearly as foolish as he is said to be．In the daytime, when the hen is sitting on the eggs, she does not want to be seen; but, instead of sticking her long neck up into the air, she bends her neck and head down and presses flat along the sand．That way, she can best protect the eggs and herself．

　　Because the ostrich cannot fly up into the air to escape from danger on the ground, he has to remain alert (警惕的)at all times．Luckily, he has very sharp eyesight and hearing．As he lives in the desert and open plains, he can stop danger in time to race away．The ostrich can run so fast that it almost seems as if he were flying．

　　Sometimes, when a person has a small appetite(食欲), we say that he “eats like a bird”．That bird is not the ostrich! An ostrich will eat anything under the sun．When an ostrich died in a zoo, scientists cut it open to see what it had eaten．Here are some of the things found in the bird’s stomach：three pieces of wood, part of a film roll, a nail, a screw, a French coin, three handkerchiefs, four pennies, part of a chain and eighteen pieces of wire．

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　　One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach．He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun, catching a fish．

　　About that time, a businessman came，walking down the beach，trying to relieve(释放)some of the stress of his workday．He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family．

　　“You aren’t going to catch many fish that way, ”said the businessman to the fisherman．“You should be working rather than lying on the beach! You can get bigger nets and catch more fish．You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat．Which will then result in larger catches of fish?”

　　“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman．The businessman was beginning to get a little angry with the fisherman’s question．“You can buy a bigger boat，and hire some people to work for you! And you can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!” he said．

　　Again the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?” The businessman shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset．You won’t have a care in the world!”

　　The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said,“And what do you think I’m doing right now?”

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　　You can’t buy happiness but it looks like you can at least inherit(遗传) it, British and Australian researchers said on Thursday．

　　A study of nearly 1,000 pairs of identical and non-identical twins found genes control half the personality traits(特性) that make people happy while factors such as relationships, health, and careers are responsible for the rest of our well-being．

　　“We found that around half the differences in happiness were genetic,” said Tim Bates, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh who led the study．“It is really quite surprising．”

　　The researchers asked the volunteers－ranging in age from 25 to 75－a series of questions about their personality, how much they worried and how satisfied they were with their lives．

　　Because identical twins share the same genes and fraternal twins do not, the researchers could identify common genes that result in certain personality traits and predispose people to happiness．

　　People who are sociable, active, stable, hardworking and conscientious tend to be happier, the researchers reported in the journal Psychological Science．

　　“What this study showed was that the identical twins in a family were very similar in personality and in well-being, and by contrast, the fraternal twins were only around half as similar,” Bates said．“That strongly implicates genes．”

　　The findings are an important piece of the puzzle for researchers trying to better understand depression and what makes different people happy or unhappy, Bates said．

　　“People with positive inherited personality traits may, in effect, also have a reserve of happiness to draw on in stressful times,” he said．

　　“An important implication is that personality traits of being outgoing, calm and reliable provide a resource, we called it ‘affective reserve’ that derives future happiness，” Bates said．

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　　Tess was eight years old．Her little brother Andrew was very sick and their parents were completely out of money．She heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother, “Only a miracle can save him now．”

　　Tess took her money and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall’s Drug Store．

　　“And what do you want?” the chemist asked in an annoyed tone of voice．“I’m talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven’t seen for ages．”

　　“Well, I want to talk to you about my brother,” Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone．“He’s really sick．He has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now．So how much does a miracle cost?”

　　“We don’t sell miracles here, little girl．I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” the chemist said, softening a little．“Listen, I can help you．” The chemist’s brother was a well-dressed man．He asked, “What kind of a miracle does you brother need?”

　　“I don’t know,” Tess replied．“Mommy says he needs an operation．But my Daddy can’t pay for it, so I want to use my money．”

　　“How much do you have?” asked the man from Chicago．“One dollar and eleven cents,” Tess answered．“And it’s all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to．”

　　“Well, what a coincidence(巧合),” smiled the man．“A dollar and eleven cents－the exact price of a miracle for little brother．Take me to where you live．Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need．”

　　That man was Dr．Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon in neurosurgery (神经外科)．The operation was completed without charge and it wasn’t long until Andrew was home again and doing well．

　　Tess smiled．She knew exactly how much a miracle cost…one dollar and eleven cents…plus the faith of a little child．

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　　Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing．Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff(花岗岩悬崖)．In spite of her fear, she put on the clothes, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock．Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breath．As she was hanging on there, the safety rope suddenly touched Brenda’s eye and knocked out her contact lens(隐形眼镜)．

　　Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her．Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn’t there．Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry．She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it．

　　When she got to the top, her friend Helen examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens that could be found．She sat down, discouraged, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff．She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth．”

　　At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff．One of them shouted out, “Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?” Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it．

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