阅读理解

　　Many Chinese students who have learnt English for more than ten years are still unable to speak English very well when they meet a foreigner．They seem to have mastered the basic language structure(结构), but a conversation in English will make them feel uneasy．They are afraid that other people might find out their mistakes．

　　It's uncommon that many students who are bad speakers of English can write English perfectly．This proves that they are unable to organize their idea in English．The center of the problem is that they lack practice and confidence(自信)．

　　Why should you be afraid?Do you fear those foreigners with whom you are speaking?Don't be shy, they will not laugh at you just for a little mistake you make．The best way to get rid of trouble is to learn to speak by speaking more．I am sure that constant practice will help you succeed．

阅读理解

Here is a menu for a fast food restaurant．The prices are in American money, called dollars and cents．There are 100 cents in a dollar．

阅读理解

　　Jackie Chan was born on April 7, 1954, in Hong Kong, China．His parents left mainland China for Hong Kong a short time before he was born．His parents named him “Chan Kong-sang”, which means “born in Hong Kong”．They wanted to celebrate a safe trip to Hong Kong．

　　At first, Jackie's family lived in the French Embassy．His father was a cook, and his mother was a housekeeper．When Jackie was seven years old, his family moved to Australia．His father got a job in the American Embassy．Later, back in Hong Kong, Jackie's father sent him to the China Drama Academy．Jackie studied and worked 19 hours a day．The students practiced Kung Fu and learned how to do many stunts(特技表演)there．

　　When Jackie was 17, he began to do dangerous stunts for films．In the early 1980's, Jackie went to Hollywood, but he wasn't very successful．He went on to make films in Hong Kong and had great success．Finally in the late 1990's, Jackie Chan became famous in the USA．Today, Jackie Chan has both Chinese and American fans, and his films make millions of dollars．

阅读理解

　　ARIEL, West Bank：A suicide bomber blew up near Israeli soldiers outside a Jewish settlement in the West Bank yesterday, killing at least three people and wounding about 30 others, the settlement’s mayor and rescue workers said．

　　“A suicide bomber came and there were many soldiers…and he blew himself up．” said Ron Nachman, mayor of the settlement of Ariel．“Soldiers were among the casualties．”People on the spot said the bomber blew up after soldiers eating at a food stand in a petrol station at the entrance of the settlement found him．According to some people on the spot accounts reported by Israeli media, a soldier shot and wounded the bomber, who then exploded．

　　The Magen David Adorn ambulance service said at least three people were killed and at least 30 wounded in the blast, which set the bomber burning at Ariel, about 25 kilometers east of Tel Aviv．

　　A fire brigade official said：“The bomber was still burning when we got there and we put out the fire immediately．”

　　Meanwhile, a blast shook homes in Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp early yesterday, damaging buildings but causing no injuries, Palestinian sources said．They said the bomb was planted outside the home of a member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction in Ain el-Hilwch camp, and exploded while the family was sleeping．

阅读理解

　　They crossed in front of me as I was driving out of the store parking lot．My first reaction was filled with anger at being delayed for a whole ten seconds．But I quickly became patient when I realized that this was an elderly couple．

　　The man leaned on his wife who walked in front of him．He not only used her for support but it was obvious that he was blind．The two of them worked as one－each needing the other to function in this fast-changing world．

　　That little example of true strength changed my whole personal perception(理解)of life that day．Suddenly I wasn’t so mad about having to work a few extra hours on Saturdays．I had my strength, and I was still relatively young．

　　That picture of those two elderly people walking with dignity(尊严)and strength stayed with me the entire week．My life wasn’t so bad after all．I had my health and a good job．I had a wonderful, supportive wife．I started to think－not only was I lucky to have these all, but also was that wonderful old couple, who, despite the trials and sufferings of a long life, still had the love and support of each other to carry them through this world．

　　There are so many people out there just like that couple．My wife and I sometimes picture ourselves in our old age, walking arm in arm into the sunset．That image always gives us a warm feeling of comfort．Just remember, none of us would be here if it wasn’t for our elders．We all should spend a little extra time and patience when it comes to helping our elder friends．

阅读理解

　　He was the baby with no name．Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the salvage(救援)workers that they called him “our baby．” In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave(墓), carved with the words：“To the memory of an unknown child．” He has rested there ever since．

　　But history has a way of uncovering its secrets．On Nov．5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave．“This is our baby,” says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker．She grew up hearing stories about a great-aunt named Maria Panula, 42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband．According to the information Mrs．Schleifer had gathered, Panula gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children-including a 13-month-old boy named Eino from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing．"We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer．

　　Now, using teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the DNA from the Unknown Child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies．The result of the test points only to one possible person：young Eino．Now, the family sees：no need for a new grave．"He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer．"They've taken care of him for 90 years．"

　　Adapted from People, November 25, 2002

阅读理解

Make a five-minute film and win!

　　Do you love the summer holidays but hate being bored?Then why don’t you enter the Film Street Summer Shorts Competition by making a short film this summer with your family and friends?

What you have to do

　　To enter the competition, you have to make a short film that is around 5 minutes long(It can be shorter but not longer!)on a digital camera, or mobile phone．

Awards

　　The best short film entered into our competition will be shown in Film Street’s Cinema and you’ll win a Cine world Cinema pass for yourself and three more for other members of your filmmaking crew．If you have a Cine world Cinema pass, you can watch as many films as you like for a year, for free, at any Cine world Cinema．

Rules

　　We can’t show films that tell others about either your, or any other kids’, name or address．

　　We can’t show films that hurt, harm or insult other people．

　　We can’t show films that have bad language．

Copyright Checklist

　　Getting permission to use someone else’s work in your film can be expensive, so check your film to make sure that：

　　Your film is original and you haven’t copied someone else’s．

　　There are no scenes of branding on shop signs, books, magazines or CDs．

　　There are no scenes of someone else’s artwork．

Address and Date

　　Post your finished film on tape, CD or DVD by Monday, October 1st, 2008 to：

　　Film Street Summer Shorts Competition

　　First Light Movies

　　Unit 6, Third Floor, The Bond

　　180－182 Fazeley Street

　　Birmingham

　　So what’s stopping you?Start making your Film Street Summer Short now!

　　On a Friday night, a poor young artist stood at the gate of the New York railway station, playing his violin．The music was so great that many people stopped to put some money into the hat of the young man．

　　The next day, the young artist came to the same place, and put his hat on the ground gracefully．Different from the day before, he took out a large piece of paper and laid it under his hat．Then he began to play the violin．It sounded more pleasant than ever．

　　Soon he was surrounded with people who were attracted by the words on that paper．It said, “Last night, a gentleman named George Sang put an important thing into my hat by mistake．Please come to claim(认领)it soon．”

　　After about half an hour, a middle-aged man rushed through the crowd to the violinist and said, “Yes, it’s you．I knew that you were an honest man and would certainly come here．” The young violinist asked calmly, “Are you Mr George Sang?” The man nodded．The violinist asked, “Did you lose something?” “It’s a lottery ticket(彩票),” said the man．The violinist took out a lottery ticket on which George Sang’ s name was seen．“Is it?” he asked．George nodded and took the lottery ticket and kissed it, then danced with the violinist．

　　The violinist was a student at an arts college and had planned to attend advanced studies in Vienna．Later his classmate asked the violinist, “At that time you needed money to pay the tuition(学费)and you had to play the violin in the railway station every day to make money．Why didn’t you keep the lottery ticket for yourself?”

　　The violinist said, “Although I don’t have much money, I live happily．But if I lose honesty I won’t be happy forever．” Through our lives, we can gain a lot and lose so much．But being honest should always be with us．

　　The American book Who Moved My Cheese has been a bestseller all over the world．It teaches people how to face changes in their lives．Now its author Spence Johnson has written a book just for teens．The book tells us that when facing change in our lives, like a new school or new friends, don’t be afraid．Instead, use this change to make a better life．The book gives an example of a change at school．A school is changing from having two terms to three terms because there are too many students．

　　Several teens are talking about this．Most of them are unhappy and worried．But Chris is not．He laughs and tells a story about two mice, two “little people” and some cheese．

　　The four are in a maze looking for the cheese．Here, cheese means something important in life, like moving to a new class or getting into college．But they find the cheese is gone．The mice realize that they can’t change what has happened and have to find more cheese．This means finding different dreams．The little people, however, can’t do this．They are afraid of change so they find no cheese．

　　After Chris finishes the story, the friends understand one thing：to get more cheese, move in a new direction quickly．His friends understand how this can be used in the changes all teens face, such as doing well at school or having good relationships or just feeling good about yourself．

OUR PROMISE

　　Making your stay a complete success is our goal．Just let our manager on duty of front-desk staff know if any part of your stay isn’t satisfactory．We promise to make it right or you won’t pay for that part of your stay．

FORGET SOMETHING?

　　If you forget to pack any standard toiletry item(tooth brush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor or comb), just call the front-desk and we’ll get you a free replacement(替代)right away．

PLEASE REUSE THE TOWELS

　　We invite you to join with us to save water by using your towels(毛巾)more than once．

　　In addition to decreasing water and energy waste, you can help us reduce the amount of waste water that must be recycled within our community．

　　Please hang the towels up if you wish to take part in the program——if not, simply leave them on the floor．

　　We appreciate your help!

PLEASE CHANGE THE SHEETS TODAY

　　The Project Planet Program is an effort of this hotel to protect the environment through saving water and decreasing waste water．If you are staying with us more than one night, as part of the Project Planet Program, we will wash your sheets every three days．

　　If you would prefer not to take part in this program, simply hang this card on the outside of your door and sheets will be changed right away．As always sheets are automatically changed after every guest checks out．

　　We appreciate your help!