阅读理解

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Whereas the most important holiday in China is Spring Festival(also known as the Chinese New Year), America's most popular holiday is Christmas．

　　As Chinese kids get “lucky money” from their parents and relatives, American children get Christmas presents from Santa Claus．

　　From early November until January, American homes and stores are decorated with Christmas trees and colorful lights．Similarly, Chinese homes are decorated with Spring Festival couplets and streets are full of red lanterns．

　　Easter was borrowed from the Pagan Festival celebrating the rebirth of the sun．It was adapted by Christianity to be interpreted as the resurrection of Jesus．One American tradition associated with Easter is the Easter egg hunt．Brightly colored eggs are hidden for children to try to find．Sometimes hidden amongst the other eggs is what we call “a lucky egg”．If you find the lucky egg, you win a prize．

　　Sending cards for special occasions-such as Christmas, New Year, Mother's Day, and birthdays-has been an American tradition．But sending cards is less common than before since computers have become so popular．

阅读理解

　　A man heard that a certain government wanted a clerk, so wrote and asked for the position．But while he was waiting for an answer, a friend of his introduced him to the head of the department, who gave him the job．Several months later, while the man was working in the department, he got a letter that had been sent to him from the place he used to live in．This letter said,

　　“Dear sir,

　　We are sorry to have to tell you that we cannot offer work in this department because we do not think that you would be able to do the work successfully．

　　Your faithfully．”

　　The man laughed, but when he looked at the letter more carefully, he saw that he had signed it himself．

阅读理解

　　I am a good mother to three children．I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent．

　　I no longer consider myself the centre of the universe．I show up．I listen．I try to laugh．I am a good friend to my husband．I have tried to make marriage vows(誓约)mean what say．I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me．Without them, there would be nothing to say you today．

　　So here's what I wanted to tell you today：Get a life．A real life, not a desire of the next promotion(提升), the bigger paycheck(报酬), the large house．

　　Get a life in which you are not alone．Find people you love, and who love you．And remember that love is not leisure(休闲), it is work．Pick up the phone．Send an e-mail．Write a letter．And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted．

　　It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes．It is so easy to exist instead of to live．I learned to live many years ago．Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my choice, it would never have been changed at all．And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all．

　　I learned to love the journey, not the destination．I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and totally．And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned．By telling them this：Read in the backyard with the sun on your face．Learn to be happy．And think of life as a deadly illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived．

阅读理解

　　The earth is our home．We must take care of it．This means keeping the land and water clean．

　　Pollution is a “dirty” word．To pollute means to make things unfit or unclean to us．Pollution comes in many ways．We use it, smell it, taste it and drink it．Pollution is beginning to threaten our health, our happiness and our life．

　　Man has been polluting the earth from the time when he first made fire, washed his clothes in the river and threw his waste on the ground．When land was used up or water became dirty, men moved to another place．At first the problem was not so serious because there was plenty of clean air, land and water．There weren't so many people then and their wants were fewer．All the dirty things could be absorbed(吸收)by nature and soon covered over．But this is no longer true．The increase of population and development of industry have changed that．Man is slowly poisoning his surroundings．

　　Through the use of poison, man has polluted the land, killing the animals．By putting dirty water and chemicals into river and lakes we have polluted our drinking water, killing the fish．

　　Our increasing population is part of the problem．More people, more waste．

　　Where is this all to end?Are we turning the world into a big rubbish dump, or is there any hope that we can get rid of the pollution?Fortunately, millions of people have been warned of pollution．Large numbers of people are now working hard to bring pollution under control．

阅读理解

　　Many American presidents in the 19^th century were born in poor families．They spent their childhood in little wooden rooms．They got little education．Washington and Lincoln, for example, seldom went to school and they taught themselves．Lincoln once did jobs of a worker, shop-keeper and postmaster in his early years．

　　A large number of American presidents had experiences in the army．The two best known were Ulysses Grant and Dwight D．Eisenhower．Grant was a general in the American Civil War and Eisenhower was a hero in the Second War．It happened that they graduated from the same school－West Point Military Academy(西点军校)．

　　One may be surprised to learn that both of them did not do well in the school．Eisenhower, for example, was once fined(punished to pay money)because he broke the rules of the school．

　　The jobs of the U．S．presidents are tiring．He must keep an eye on anything important that happens both at home and abroad．Every day, a lot of work waits for him to do and he has to make many important decisions．

　　When Franklin Roosevelt was a child, he was once brought to visit President Taft．The old president said to him, “When you grow up, you should not be president．It's a tiring job．”

阅读理解

　　History is full of cases where dreams have been a pathway to creativity and discovery．A striking example is provided by Dr．Otto Loewi, a pharmacologist and winner of a Nobel Prize．Loewi had spent years studying the chemical transmission of nerve impulses(脉搏)．A major breakthrough in his research came when he dreamed of an experiment three nights in a row．The first two nights he woke up and wrote down the experiment quickly and untidily on paper．But the next morning, he couldn't tell what the notes meant．On the third night, he got up after having the dream．This time, instead of making notes he went straight to his laboratory and performed the important experiment．Loewi later said that if the experiment had occurred to him while awake he would not have given it another thought．

　　Loewi's experiment gives some insight into using dreams to produce creative solutions．Nervous feelings are reduced during dreaming, which may be especially useful in solving problems that require a fresh point of view．

　　Being able to take advantage of dreams for solving is improved if you “set” yourself before retiring．Before you go to bed, try to think intently about a problem you wish to solve．Bury yourself in the problem by stating it clearly and reviewing all relevant information．Then use the suggestions listed in the previous section to catch your dreams．Although this method is not guaranteed to produce an original solution or a new insight, it is certain to be an adventure．About half of a group of college students using the method for a week recalled a dream that helped them solve a personal problem．

阅读理解

　　The British National Health Service(NHS)was set up in 1948 and was designed to provide equal basic health care, free of charge, for everybody in the country．Before this time health care had to be paid for by individuals．

　　Nowadays central government is directly responsible for the NHS although it is administered by local health authorities．About 83 percent of the cost of the health service is paid for by general taxation and the rest is met from the National Insurance contributions paid by those in work．There are charges for prescription and dental care but many people, such as children, pregnant women, pensioners, and those on Income Support, are exempt from payment．

　　Most people are registered with a local doctor(a GP, or General Practitioner)who is increasingly likely to be part of a health centre which serves the community．

As the population of Britain gets older, the hospital service now treats more patients than before, although patients spend less time in hospital．NHS hospitals－many of which were built in the nineteenth century－provide nearly half a million beds and have over 480, 000 medical staff．The NHS is the biggest employer in Europe although Britain actually spends less per person on health care than most of her European neighbours．

　　During the 1980s there was considerable restructuring of the Health Service with an increased emphasis on managerial efficiency and the privatization of some services(for example, cleaning)．At the end of the 1980s the government introduced proposals for further reform of the NHS, including allowing some hospitals to be self-governing, and encouraging GPs to compete for patients．Patients would be able to choose and change their family doctor more easily and GPs would have more financial responsibility．The political questions continue of how much money should be provided to support the NHS and where it should come from．

阅读理解

　　Last August, Joe and Mary Mahoney began looking at colleges for their 17-year-old daughter, Maureen．With a checklist of criteria in hand, the Dallas family looked around the country visiting half a dozen schools．They sought a university that offered the teenager's intended major, one located near a large city, and a campus where their daughter would be safe．

　　“The safety issue is a big one,” says Joe Mahoney, who quickly discovered he wasn't alone in his worries．On campus tours other parents voiced similar concerns, and the same question was always asked：what about crime? But when college officials always gave the same answer－“That's not a problem here．”－Mahoney began to feel uneasy．

　　“No crime whatever?” comments Mahoney today．“I just don't buy it．”Nor should he：in 2006 the U．S．Department of Education had reports of nearly 400,000 serious crimes on or around our campuses．“Parents need to understand that times have changed since they went to colleges,” says David Nichols, author of Creating a Safe Campus．“Campus crime mirrors the rest of the nation．”

　　But getting accurate information isn't easy．Colleges must report crime statistics(统计数字)by law, but some hold back for fear of bad publicity, leaving the honest ones looking dangerous．“The truth may not always be obvious,” warns S．Daniel Carter of Security on Campus, Inc．, the nation's leading campus safety watchdog group．

　　To help concerned parents, Carter promised to visit campuses and talk to experts around the country to find out major crime issues and effective solutions．

阅读理解

　　Who's in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it's other people－society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community．We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course．We were brainwashed．We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us．As Oscar Wilde puts it,”Most people are other people．Their thought are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry(模仿), their passions a quotation．”

　　So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good．We long for this good feeling like a drug－we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can．Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives．failing to do the things we really want to．Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix(一剂毒品), we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval．

　　But, just as with any drug, there is a price to pay．The price of the approval drug is freedom－the freedom to be ourselves．The truth is that we cannot control what other people think．People have their own agenda, and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you．Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand．Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time．The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process．

　　So how can we take back control? I think there's only one way－make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think．We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values－not values imposed from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within．If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic, effective, purposeful and happy life．

阅读理解

　　It was Monday．Mrs．Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house．

　　Considering that there was no better way, Mrs．Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it “Give my dog half a pound of meat．” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently, “Take this to the butcher, and he's going to give you your lunch today．”

　　Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's．It gave the paper to the butcher．The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to．The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once．

　　At noon, the dog came to the shop again．It gave the butcher a piece of paper again．After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more．

　　The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon．And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth．This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers(顾客)．

　　But, the dog came again at four o'clock．And the same thing happened once again．To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper．The butcher felt a bit puzzled．He said to himself, “This is a small dog．Why does Mrs．Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”

　　Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!