阅读理解

　　If you can speak English, you know a lot of English words．You can read, speak and understand．But there is another kind of language you need to know－the language of the body, a part of what is called non-verbal communication．All over the world, people“talk”with their eyes．When Japanese people meet, they put their hands together．What do the American and the British do?

　　Americans are more informal than the British．They like to be friendly．They use first name, they ask questions and they talk easily about themselves．When they sit down, they like to relax in their chairs and make themselves comfortable．

　　British people are more quiet．They take more time to make friends．They like to know you before they ask you home．

　　When British and American people meet someone for the first time, they shake hands．They do not usually shake hands with people they know well．Women sometimes kiss their women friends, and men kiss women friends(on one cheek only)．When a man meets a man friend, he just smiles, and says“Hello”．Men do not kiss each other．Even fathers and sons do not often kiss each other．

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　　What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology．With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time, Death will come mainly from accidents murder and war．Today’s leading killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memories．

　　In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days．But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times．How long can humans live?Human brains were known to decide the final death．Cells are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever．But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine．Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs．The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on－in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones．

　　It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future．

阅读理解

　　Many times my friend June would say,“If I ever get rich, I’m getting a completely new wardrobe and moving into a bigger apartment．”I thought of her words and her chances of being rich are about as good as mine．But, to everyone’s surprise, a few years ago June did come into a large inheritance(遗产)．

　　At first June said very little about the money．As the initial(最初的)shock disappeared, she became excited．June is a great believer in making lists, so I wasn’t surprised to find her writing down all the ways she would spend her new wealth．

　　As time went on, what had been midway down the column was now at the top．At last, I said to her,“You know, it isn’t necessary to spend all your inheritance at once．Take some time; think about it．”“I know, I know,”she answered with a little bit anger．

　　Then one morning June called．“I’ve decided how I want to use my new inheritance．I want to see what you think,”she said．This wasn’t something I looked forward to, but we had been friends so long．

　　As we sat, June spread a sheet of paper on the table．To my great surprise, she had written only two words：Charities(慈善), and Grandchildren－in that order．Though I had vowed(发誓)to keep quiet, I couldn’t keep from asking how she came to this decision．

　　“Well,”she said,“I took your advice and thought about it．”She added,“Helping others means a lot to me, so I’m hoping this gift will help people in need．”

　　I interrupted．“But what about this big apartment you most hope to have?”

　　“At first it was hard, but it doesn’t seem as important any more,”she answered with a smile．

　　Then June moved her hand, and I could see a few words written in tiny letters at the bottom of the page．After having a look at the small print, I burst into laughter．June had written：AND one new wardrobe．

阅读理解

　　Blogging has become something of a big thing in the last few years．Just like the Internet was 10 years ago, blogging is popular with an underground culture that is doing it for love and passion．

　　Blogging is a way of collecting links to webpages and sharing thoughts and ideas with people online．Blogs are basically online journals or diaries which are created for sharing information and ideas．

　　Dominic, a fifth-grade student, writes：“The blogs give us a chance to communicate between ourselves and inspire us to write more．When we publish on our blog, people across the entire world can respond by using the‘comments’link．In this way, they can ask questions or simply tell us what they like．We can then know if people like what we write and this indicates to us where we can improve．By reading these comments, we can discover our weaknesses and our strengths．Blogging is an opportunity to exchange our points of view with the rest of the world rather than just people in our immediate environment．”

　　Blogging is sweeping the Internet．A recent report noted that at least three million Americans have created blogs, with similar numbers being seen worldwide．

　　Two years ago, Andrew Sullivan decided to set up a Web page himself and used“Blogger．com”to publish some daily musings(冥想)to a readership(读者人数)of a few hundred．He worked hard at the blog for months for no financial reward．But the result is that he is now reaching almost a quarter of a million readers a month and making a profit．

　　Think about it for a minute：Why not build an online presence with your daily musings and then tell your first book through print-on-demand(POD)technology direct from your Web site? Why should writers go to newspapers and magazines to get an essay published when they can simply write it themselves, change it into a PDF file, and charge a few bucks per download?

　　This, at least, is the idea：a publishing revolution more profound than anything since the printing press．“Blogger．com”could be to words what Napster was to music－except this time, it’ll really work．

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A World of Color

　　No matter where you go, colors are everywhere! And while the colors may be the same, their meanings change depending on the country．

　　Colors mean different things in different countries．No matter what the meaning is, color adds interest to our lives and makes them brighter．

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　　Ron never intended to become a teacher．“All I wanted was a life filled with adventure,”he once explained．Ron’s first teaching job came after he unwillingly visited a school near his home in North Carolina．A student asked if Ron would be his teacher, and Ron couldn’t turn him down．He accepted the job and the change of raising the class’s low test scores．Ron’s unique methods not only raised test scores but also gained worldwide attention．

　　Five years later, Ron moved to Harlem, a low-income neighborhood in New York City．The schools there lacked good teachers, which affected students’ academic performance．Ron made an effort to connect with his students by visiting their families and learning their recess(课间的)games．His students responded by studying harder and performing better．

　　Because of his accomplishments in North Carolina and Harlem, Ron Clark has become one of the most distinguished teachers in America．But, more than anything else, he has become famous for his book called The Essential 55．

　　The essential 55 are Clark’s rules for everything from having good manners to having a good attitude．The book includes rules such as addressing adults as“sir”and“ma’am”, making eye contact, and speaking politely on the phone．The rules not only cover classroom behavior and manners but also encourage students to live life to the fullest．Rule 51 says,“Live so that you will never have regrets．”And Rule 55, simply states,“Be the best person you can be．”

　　Published in over 25 countries, The Essential 55 has inspired teachers to affect the lives of all of their students．Ron Clark is now starting a new school in Atlanta, Georgia－probably his biggest adventure yet!

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　　For 16-year-old Li Miaomiao, sore feet from wearing high heels for hours at a time and an achy jaw from constant smiling are worth the chance of presenting a medal to hang around an athlete’s neck during the Beijing Olympics．

　　The willow-thin high school student is one of 34 Chinese girls“training”to be an Olympic medal presenter at the Beijing Foreign Affairs School(BFAS), one of several state-run colleges charged with producing camera-friendly girls for awards ceremonies．

　　When not balancing books on her head to improve posture(体态)during medal presentation rehearsal(预演)sessions, Li and her class-mates study English, receive cultural training and look at pictures of past medal presenters and their uniforms．

　　Most important for Li, though, is the smile．

　　“I practice at home, and smile to the mirror for an hour every day,”Li said, beaming radiantly in a red waistcoat and high heels on the sidelines of a class．“I want to present my smile to the world, and let them know that the Chinese smile is the warmest．”

　　Apart from common-sense communication tips, such as looking directly at someone while talking to them, students are also informed the perfect smile consists of“only showing the eight top teeth”．

　　For Li Miaomiao, the perfect smile comes naturally – after having practiced for hours in the mirror．It no doubt helped Li become one of only seven girls chosen from dozens of applicants to present medals to winning boxers at an Olympic test event．

　　Being 16, Li is technically ineligible to become an Olympic medal presenter, where guidelines call for 18-25 year-old university students．But she rates herself a competitor, anyway．“I’m very confident．I think I have an 80 percent chance,”she said, flashing a winning smile．

阅读理解

　　Culture is a huge factor in determining whether we look someone in the eye or the kisser to interpret facial expressions, according to a new study．

　　For instance, in Japan, people tend to look to the eyes for emotional indications, while Americans tend to look to the mouth, says researcher Masaki Yuki, a behavioral scientist at Hokkaido University in Japan．This could be because the Japanese, when in the presence of others, try to suppress(抑制)their emotions more than Americans do, he said．In any case, the eyes are more difficult to control than the mouth, he said, so they probably reveal more about a person’s emotional state even if he or she is trying to hide it．

　　As a child growing up in Japan, Yuki was fascinated by pictures of American celebrities．

　　“Their smiles looked strange to me,”Yuki told Live Science．“They opened their mouths too widely, and raised the corners of their mouths in an exaggerated(夸张的)way．”

　　Japanese people tend to shy away from direct displays of emotion, and rarely smile or frown with their mouths, Yuki explained, because in Japan high value is placed on conformity(从众随俗), humbleness and emotional suppression, qualities that are thought to promote better relationships．

　　So when Yuki entered graduate school and began communicating with American scholars over e-mail, he was often confused by their use of emoticons such as smiley faces :)and sad faces, or :(．

　　“It took some time before I finally understood that they were faces,”he wrote in an e-mail．In Japan, emoticons tend to emphasize the eyes, such as the happy face(^_^)and the sad face(;_;)．“After seeing the difference between American and Japanese emoticons, it dawned on me that the faces looked exactly like typical American and Japanese smiles,”he said．

阅读理解

　　Sometimes, something that is considered to be negative turns out to be an advantage on the job．Though he is only l8 years old and blind, Suleyman Gokyigit is among the top computer technicians and programmers at InteliData Technologies Corp．, a large software company with several offices across the United States．

　　“After our company united with another one last October, two different computer networks were driving us crazy,”recalls Douglas Braun, the InteliData president．“We couldn’t even send e-mail to each other．”In three weeks Mr Gokyigit created the software needed to connect the two networks．“None of the company’s 350 other employees could have done the job in three months,”says Mr．Braun．“Suleyman can ‘see’ into the heart of the computer．”

　　Mr．Gokyigfi’s gift, as Mr．Braun calls it, is an unusual ability to form an idea of the inside of a machine．“The computer permits me to reach out into the world and do almost anything I want to do,”says Mr．Gokyigit

　　The young programmer is at home with hardware as well, thanks partly to a highly developed sense of touch．Mitzi Nowakowski, an office manager at InteliData, remembers how he easily disconnected and reconnected their computer systems during a move last year．“Through feel, Suleyman can find the position of connectors, pins and wires much faster than most other people with sight,”he says．

　　Much of the student programmer’s speed comes from his ability not to be interrupted while at the computer．When typing, he listens carefully to the synthesizer(合成器)．His long, thin fingers fly over the keyboard．“Nothing seems to shake his attention,”says Mrs．Nowakowski, his boss．

　　Mr．Gokyigit is the only company employee who is available(可找到的)24 hours a day．“We consider him our top problem solver．”says Mr．Braun．

阅读理解

　　“What If”questions can help you think about what to do in case something should happen．There are no right answers because every case is different．Use the questions with your parents or with friends and decide what you think might work?Think of your own solutions and make up new“What If”questions to answer．

　　1)You are walking to school and a gang of older bullies(person who uses his strength or power to frighten or hurt weaker people)demands your money

　　Do you：

　　a．Shout and run away?

　　b．Give them the money?

　　Give them the money(or other possessions)－your safety is more impoaant than money．

　　2)You are in the school toilet and an older student comes in, beats you and then tells you not to do anything or’you’ll get worse’．You know who the person is and you have never done anything to him/her．Do you：

　　a．Wait until the person leaves and then tell a teacher?

　　b．Get it a fight with him/her?

　　c．Accept what happened and don’t tell?

　　Tell the teacher－you didn’t deserve to be beaten and the bully was wrong to do it．If you don’t tell, the bully will just keep on beating up other kids．

　　3)A gang of bullies gets you alone and starts beating you．Do you：

　　a．Do nothing－just take it?

　　b．Fight back?

　　c．Shout to attract attention?

　　d．Watch for your chance and run away?

　　You must decide．but c．＆．d．together could work very well．It would be quite difficult to a whole gang of bullies and you might be hurt badly if you did．

　　4)Someone in your class always makes rude comments about you and says them loud enough for you(and others)to hear．It really upsets you．Do you：

　　a．Ignore the comments?

　　b．Face the bully and tell him/her off?

　　c．Tell the teacher?

　　d．Hit the bully on the nose?

　　You may feel like beating the bully, but you’ll probably be the one to get into trouble if you do．Try a first－ignoring comments is difficult, but can work if the bully gets tired of trying to get you to be angry or cry or show some reaction．Your teacher should be told about the comments because no one should make hurtful comments to others．If you are feeling brave, tell the bully off．Try practising in the mirror to get the right effect!