阅读理解

　　When Ben delivered milk to my home one morning before Christmas, he wasn't his usual sunny self．He told me a customer had left without paying the bill, ＄79, nor leaving her new address．So it meant that he had to cover the loss．

　　“She was a pretty woman,”he said,“with six children and another on the way．She was always saying．‘I'm going to pay you soon when my husband gets a second job．'I believed her, but she left．Isn't it annoying?”

　　“Give her the milk．Make it a Christmas present to the kids who need it．”I said．

　　The holidays came and went．On a sunny January morning two weeks later, Ben was rushing to deliver milk when he saw a woman running down the street, waving money．He recognized her immediately--the woman who didn't pay her bill．

　　“I'm so sorry．”she said．“I really have been meaning to pay you．”

　　She explained that her husband had come home one night and announced he' d found cheaper apartment．He' d also got a new job．With all that happened, she' d forgotten to leave the new address．“But I've been saving,”she said．“Here's ＄20 toward the bill．”

　　“That' s all right,”Ben replied．“It's been paid．”

　　“Paid!”she exclaimed(惊叫)．“What do you mean? Who paid it?”

　　“I did,”Ben said,“It went to the children as a Christmas present!”

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阅读理解

　　A person has two hands, two legs and two eyes, but it is only at first sight that a human being is symmetric(对称的)．Firstly, we have a leading hand, the right one for the majority of people．Secondly, we have a leading eye．It has been found that the right eye is the leading one for about two thirds of all people, and the left one for one third of all people．The experiment involved only right-handed students．Some of them had a right leading eye, and the others had a left leading eye．All of the subjects in this experiment were asked to read a passage on the computer screen, the passage being placed either in the right or in the left part of the screen．It turned out that the“left-eyed”subjects read the text quicker when it was placed on the left, than when the passage was placed on the right．As for the“right-eyed”individuals, no such differences were noticed with them．

　　More detailed analysis has since proved that when the“left-eyed”people were reading the left-side text, the brain perceived more symbols than in case of reading the right-hand text．This is directly connected with the speed of reading as the more symbols a glance perceives, the quicker a person reads．There is one more sign of the successful execution of reading：in the course of reading, the reader's glance periodically(周期性的)returns back to words already read．Thus, in the left-sided text, the“left-eyed”subjects made fewer returns than they did in the right-sided text, which meant they were more successful in recognizing“left”text than“right”text．In addition to this, the majority of the“left-eyed”persons performed faster quick eye movements to the left than to the right．

　　It allows designers to take the leading eye into account when producing various kinds of video-products．

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阅读理解

　　Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men's hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age．

　　The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women's longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts do not lose their pumping power with age．

　　“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20－25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,”said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK．

　　“Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat．Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,”said Goldspink．“This is part of the ageing process．”

　　What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells．A healthy 70-year-old woman's heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one's．

　　“This gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,”said Goldspink．

　　They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease．

　　The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink．

　　The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise．Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age．

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阅读理解

　　It was an early September day, cool and bright and just right for running, and I was in the first few miles of a 10-mile race over a course with a few high hills．Still, I felt energetic; despite the hills it was going to be a fine run．

　　Just ahead of me was Peggy Mimno, a teacher from Mount Kiseo, New York．She was also running easily, moving along at my speed．The pace felt comfortable, so I decided to stay where I was; Why pay attention to pace when she was setting such a nice one? I'd overtake(追上)her later on when she was tired．

　　So I ran behind her．The course headed north for miles, wandered west for a hilly mile, then turned south again along a winding road．The race was getting harder．We had four miles left and already it was beginning to be real work．

　　Peggy overtook a young runner．She seemed to know him, for they exchanged a few cheerful words as she passed him．Their exchange worried me．You don't chat during a race unless you are feeling good, and Peggy simply was．

　　Still, I was close enough to overtake her if she was tired, so I didn't give up hope completely．We were getting nearer to a long, punishing hill now and it would be the test．We were a mile from the finish line, so whatever happened on the hill would almost determine who crossed it first．

　　As I moved up the hill, my attention wandered for a few minutes．When I looked up, Peggy was moving away－first five yards, then ten, then more．Finally it was clear that there was no hope of catching her．She beat me soundly．

　　There is an important lesson in that race．Women are thought to be weaker, slower and not nearly as skilled in sports．Yet as Peggy Mimno so clearly showed, the similarities between men and women runners are more important than differeces．I have run with a number of women, and I can say it is often hard work．

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阅读理解

　　When researchers made their first clone of an animal, Dolly the Sheep, in 1997, one doctor said,“The genie(妖怪)is out of the bottle．”But then he tried to actually create the“genie”by making a human clone．

　　Dr．Panayiotis Zavos told the public on October 5 that he could create the first cloned human before the end of the year．He is an expert on human copying and raising from the University of Kentucky in the United States．

　　His workers have been stopped from carrying out research in most European Union countries, but Zavos said that fact was not slowing progress．

　　“It is going well enough so we may try the first production of cloned embryos(胚胎)in the very near future．That is, three or four months from now,”Cypriot-born Zavos said．He moved to the United States over 30 years ago．

　　Human cloning could, in effect, create a copy of another living or dead person．But Zavos insisted there was nothing harmful in the project．As an expert on human reproduction, he said he is only interested in helping couples who cannot naturally have babies to have a child．“We are not interested in cloning people like Bin Laden, Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan,”the doctor added．

　　“We are only interested in helping a father who does not have the ability to have a biological child of his own．”

　　Zavos said thousands of childless people from all over the world are helping in their research．He would not say where the research is under way, but indicated that it is in more than one country．

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阅读理解

　　Several years ago, I worked for a trucking company as a driver．It was my habit to spend a couple of hours maintaining(保养)my truck on Saturdays．As I was under the truck greasing(上油)it, I noticed the owner's elderly father making his way over to his grandson's truck next to mine．

　　The old man was in his high eighties, had been a fishing-lover all his life, and had come out to ask the kid to take him fishing after work．The grandson told him all about how much he would love to do that, but he just couldn't that day due to his tasks．The old man accepted the answer and slowly went off to the house．

　　A few minutes later, the father came out and asked his son what the old man had wanted．After telling the story, the kid ended it with telling his dad,“I'm not taking that old man fishing! It's worse than taking a kid．”

　　That just broke my heart．I quit working immediately and got everything ready for fishing as quickly as I could．After that, I went to knock on the door and invited him fishing．

　　Two weeks later, the old man died．His family told me later that all he talked about during that time was his fishing trip．

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阅读理解

　　All plant cells are capable of taking up water．Even dead ones do to a certain degree．Absorption(吸收)of water by dead cell walls makes wood become larger．In common land plants, the living cells of roots take up most of the water．Land plants without roots do exist, however．Those greenish-yellow lichens(苔藓)you see on rocks in the high mountains have no roots．Half a billion years ago, when water plants started to enter the land, the first land plants did not have roots．

　　Even among the flowering plants, one finds rootless forms．These flowering plants are“the higher plants”because they evolved(进化)recently and are thus considered higher on the evolutionary scale(进化度)．In the Peruvian desert, there grows one of these rootless higher plants, a bromeliad．It is a relative of the pineapple．Even if this plant had roots, they would be of no use, because where the plant grows, it never rains．The plant gets its water only from the dew(露水)it collects at night, when its leaves cool off．Such rootless plants, of course, can be moved with ease, but they will only grow when they are placed out in the open．If they are placed too near a house, the radiation from the heat of the house prevents the leaves from cooling and so prevents dew from forming, and the plant dies．In the southern United States and in Puerto Rico, one sees bromeliads growing high above the streets on the insulation(绝缘物)of electric wires．These plants get their water from rain, and the only soil they ever come in contact with is the dust that may blow on their leaves．

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阅读理解

　　A serious problem for today's society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives．It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society．I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem．

　　First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees．To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose．But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs．

　　Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual．This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement．This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years．This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor．

　　In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly．This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions(养老金)．Furthermore, some in-situation should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them．Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer．The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young．

　　One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent．

　　To sum up, all these options(选择)have advantages and disadvantages．Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations．

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阅读理解

　　Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor．Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say,“My spoken English is poor．”However, their spoken English does not have to remain“poor”!I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English．

　　First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary．Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary．However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive．Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know．

　　Second, they are afraid of making mistakes．Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous．Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY(准确性)．Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly．However, in speaking your aim is fluency．You want to get your message across, to talk to someone in English, as quickly and as well as you can, even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense, but it doesn't matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances for any mistakes he hears．

　　The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening．You have one mouth but two ears! All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking．

　　Forth, most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners．Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor．If you have this proactive outlook, then you will see English opportunities wherever you go．

　　If you do not use your English beyond the classroom you will forget what English you know．Remember：USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more．

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阅读理解

　　Student Puts School President On eBay

　　An Ohio State University student has put their school president on the online auction(拍卖)site eBay．Bidding started at a penny and the seven-day auction had 64 bids from 19．bidders topping out at almost ＄100 million．

　　Skydiver, 96, Hurt In Attempt To Set Record

　　In Washington, a 96-year-old man aiming to become the oldest person to make a solo skydiver had a rough landing and suffered a dislocated shoulder, but otherwise safe．

　　Pets Fight In Car, Cause Wreck

　　An American Lovell man was moving to his new home with all his belongings packed into his car when his pet cat got loose, found his pet snake and started fighting inside the car, causing him to lose control and crash into a narrow ditch(沟)．

　　Thieves Steal Built-In Swimming Pool

　　When a Norwegian family visited their mountain cabin over the weekend, they discovered a big hole in the yard in place of the built-in swimming pool that had been installed 20 years ago．

　　Man Burns Down Home Over No Gifts

　　In Southampton, Long Island, Wednesday．A man, angry that he got no presents for

　　Christmas, burned down his parents' home early Christmas morning．

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