阅读理解

　　Many of the world's pollution problems have been caused by the crowding of large groups of people into the cities．Supply for the needs of the people leads to further pollution by industry．If the rapid increase of world population in countries continues at the present rate, there may be much greater harm to human beings．Some scientists speak of the increase in numbers of people as “population pollution．”

　　About 2,000 years ago, the world population was probably about 250 million．It reached a billion in 1850．By 1930 the population was two billion．It is now three and a half billion．It is expected to double by the year 2,000．If the population continues to grow at the same rate, there will be 25 billion in the world a hundred years from now．

　　Man has been using the earth's resources more and more rapidly over the past years．Some of them are almost used up．Now many people believe that man's greatest problem is how to control the growth of the population．The material supplies in the world will be far from enough to support the human population, in time to come, if the present rate of increase continues．Already there is overcrowding in many cities and starvation in some countries．Should man's population keep on growing so rapidly as before?Many people believe that human survival in the future depends on the answer to this question．

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　　EVENTS(赛事)

　　Bicycle tour and race

　　A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27(Sat．& Sun．)．At 5∶30 am, the riders will leave Tian'anmen Square and ride the first 35 kilometres as a training leg．Then the next 55 kilometre leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive part of the tour．The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli．

　　The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside of Nandaibe, covering a distance of 20 kilometres．Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper．Sunday morning is free for play at the seaside．At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Beijing．

　　Cost：200 yuan Telephone：4675027

Brazilian footballers

　　The Brazilian Football Club will play Beijing Guo'an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26．The club has four national team players．Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Romario ho has promised to play for at least 45 minutes．

　　Ticket prices：60,100,150 yuan

　　Time/Date：4：30 pm, August 26(Sat．)Telephone：5012372

　　Rock climbing

　　The Third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26-27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training Base．More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it．A Japanese team will give an exhibition climbing．Free for spectators(观众)．

　　Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou．

　　Time/Dates：9-12 am, August 26 and 27

　　Telephone：7143177, 7144850, Wang Zhenghua

阅读理解

　　Macao is only forty miles from Hong Kong and it is easy to reach．You can get there by sea．It is an interesting place and it had a long history．Macao is part of China and most people living there are Chinese．

　　The first Europeans to go to Macao came from Portugal．More than four hundred years ago the Portuguese went there to trade with China．Some settled and made their homes there．They built strong forts to guard the city and the harbor．They also built churches, schools, hospitals and other places．Slowly the city grew．People from many countries came to live and work in Macao．

　　Today many people visit Macao．Some only go there to watch dog-racing or motor-racing or to gamble with their money．But Macao is a quiet and peaceful place．It is pleasant just to walk around and look at old buildings and forts．You feel you are back in the old days．Of course, some of the buildings are now in ruins．The Church of St．Paul has only the front wall with many steps leading up to it．But it is still interesting to see．

　　When you are hot and tired, there are small cool gardens to rest in．when you are hungry, there are good restaurants with many kinds of food．Nearby there are some islands, which are also nice and are easy to get to．There is certainly a lot to do in Macao．

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　　Bacteria(细菌)are extremely small living things．While we measure our own sizes in inches or centimeters, bacterial size is measured in micron．One micron is a thousandth of a millimeter; a pinhead is about a millimeter across．Rod-shaped bacteria are usually from two to four microns long, while rounded ones are generally one micron across．Thus, if you magnified a rounded bacterium a thousand times, it would be just the size of a pinhead, while a grown-up human enlarged by the same amount would be over a mile tall．

　　Even with an ordinary microscope(显微镜), you must look closely to see bacteria．Using a magnification of 100 times, one can hardly find bacteria．Nor can one make out anything of their structure, of course．Only by using special colors, can one see that some bacteria have “hairs” called flagella．Others have only one flagellum．The flagella move round a central point, pushing the bacteria through the water．Many bacteria lack flagella and cannot move about by their own power, while others can move along over surface by some little-understood “machinery”．

　　From the bacterial point of view, the world is a very different place from what it is to humans．To a bacterium, water is as thick as molasses(糖浆)is to us．Bacteria are so small that they are affected by the movements of the chemical molecules(分子)around them．Bacteria under microscopes, even those with no flagella, often jump up and down in the water．This is because they knock with the water molecules and are pushed this way and that．

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　　One silly question I simply can't stand is “How do you feel?” Usually the question is asked of a man in action－a man on the go, walking along the streets, or busily working at his desk．So what do you expect him to say?He'll probably say, “Fine, I'm all right,” but ‘you have put a bug in his ear'－maybe now he's not sure．If you are a good friend, you may have seen something in his face, or his walk, that he overlooked(忽略)that morning．It starts worrying him a little．First thing you know, he looks in a mirror to see if everything is all right, while you go merrily on your way asking someone else, “ How do you feel?”

　　Every question has its time and place．It's perfectly acceptable, for instance, to ask “How do you feel?” if you're visiting a close friend in the hospital．But if the fellow is walking on both legs, hurrying to make a train, or sitting at his desk working, it's no time to ask him that silly question．

　　When George Bernard Shaw, the famous writer of plays was in his eighties, someone asked him” How do you feel?” Shaw put him in his place．“When you reach my age”, he said, “either you feel all right or you're dead．”

阅读理解

　　As prices and building costs keep rising, the "do-it-yourself"(DIY)trend in the US continues to grow．

　　"We needed furniture for our living room," says John Ross," and we just didn't have enough money to buy it．So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs．" John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days．They are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high．The Rosses took a 2-week course for ＄280 at a night school．Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house．Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died．He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory．Last month, he received a car repair bill for ＄420．" I was deeply upset about it．Now I've finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself．"

　　John and Jim are not unusual people．Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living．If you want to become a "do-it-yourselfer", you can go to DIY classes．And for those who don't have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself．

阅读理解

　　We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book．Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down．While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold．She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop．She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors．"

　　"Yes, I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them," the nurse answered．She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working late?"

　　Mum just pushed harder, each swipe(拖一下)of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall．I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book．

　　After a long time Mum came back．Her eyes were shining．She quickly put the mop back and took my hand．As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you．"

　　Outside, Mum told me, "Dagmar is fine．No fever．"

　　"You saw her, Mum?"

　　"Of course．I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow．Dad will stop worrying as well．It's a fine hospital．But such floors!A mop is no good．You need a brush．"

阅读理解

　　You are watching a film in which two men are having a fight．They hit one another hard．At the start they only fight with their fists．But soon they begin hitting one another over the heads with chairs．And so it goes on until one of the men crashes through a window and falls thirty feet to the ground below．He is dead!Of course he isn't really dead．With any luck he isn't even hurt．Why?Because the men who fall out of high windows or jump from fast moving trains, who crash cars of even catch fire, are professionals．They do this for a living．These men are called stuntmen(特技替身演员)．That is to say, they perform tricks．There are two sides to their work．They actually do most of the things you see on the screen．For example, they fall from a high building．However, they do not fall on to hard ground but on to empty cardboard boxes covered with a mattress(床垫)．Again, when they hit one another with chairs, the chairs are made of soft wood and when they crash through windows, the glass is made of sugar!But although their work depends on trick of this sort, it also requires a high degree of skill and training．Often a stuntman' s success depends on careful timing．For example, when he is "blown up" in a battle scene, he has to jump out of the way of the explosion just at the right moment．

　　Naturally stuntmen are well paid for their work, but they lead dangerous lives．They often get seriously injured, and sometimes killed．A Norwegian stuntman, for example, skied over the edge of a cliff a thousand feet high．His parachute(降落伞)failed to open, and he was killed．In spite of all the risks, this is no longer a profession for men only．Men no longer dress up as women when actresses have to perform some dangerous action．For nowadays there are stuntgirls too!

阅读理解

　　When I asked my daughter which item she would keep; the phone, the car, the cooker, the computer, the TV, or her boyfriend, she said “the phone”．Personally, I could do without the phone entirely, which makes me unusual．Because the telephone is changing our lives more than any other piece of technology．

　　Point 1 The telephone creates the need to communicate, in the same way that more roads create more traffic．My daughter comes home from school at 4∶00 pm and then spends an hour on the phone talking to the very people she has been at school with all day．If the phone did not exist, would she have anything to talk about?

　　Point 2 The mobile phone means that we are never alone．“The mobile saved my life,”says Crystal Johnstone．She had an accident in her Volvo on the A45 between Otley and Skipton．Trapped inside, she managed to make the call that brought the ambulance to her rescue．

　　Point 3 The mobile removes our secret．It allows marketing manager of Haba Deutsch, Carl Nicolaisen, to ring his sales staff all round the world at any time of day to ask where they are , where they are going, and how their last meeting went．

　　Point 4 The telephone separates us．Antonella Bramante in Rome says, “We worked in separate offices but I could see him through the window．It was easy to get his number．We were so near——but we didn’t meet for the first two weeks!”

　　Point 5 The telephone allows us to reach out beyond our own lives．Today we can talk to several complete strangers simultaneously(同时地)on chat lines(at least my daughter does．I wouldn’t know what to talk about)．We can talk across the world．We can even talk to astronauts(if you know any)while they’re space-walking．And, with the phone line hooked up to the computer, we can access the Internet, the biggest library on Earth．

阅读理解

　　The Seventh “21^st Century Cup” National High School Speaking Competition was held in Hangzhou on April 18 and 19．The 46 talented finalists(参加决赛者)excited the listeners with their good command of English when they were talking about the topic It is a Small World．

　　It was no surprise that the Whenchuan earthquake, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the financial crisis were often referred to in their speeches．

　　However, those who formed arguments based on their personal experiences tended to win．

　　The 16-year-old champion Xu Jiru from Nanjing Foreign Language School told a story about working as a delegate(代表)of different countries in a Model Untied Nations society．And the 17-year-old second place Xu Xinwei from Shanghai Foreign Language School Affiliated to Shanghai International Studies University referred to his voluntary job during the 2007 Shanghai Special Olympics World Summer Games．

　　Finalists also showed sharp and creative insight(洞察力)when they answered different questions thrown at them in the inpromptu(即兴的)part of the contest．

　　For example, the champion Xu was asked to say who she would choose if she could talk to a famous person．She chose Liu Xiang and said she hoped she would find out the real reason for his missing out on the Olympics．

　　However, the second place Xu had to decide whether he agreed to forbid Spanish bullfighting because it was curel even if it was exciting and the players were very brave．Although bullfighting is a part of the Spanish culture, Xu suggested excluding the killing from the sport．

　　“We are not looking for black and white, yes and no answers．We want students to think further and create something,” said Joyce Slayton Mitchell, one of the judges．