阅读理解

　　Students often meet with questions as follows：bullied by someone, worried about a weak subject, puzzled by family problems or concerned about pets at home．All the questions above may make you not concentrated on your study．Who can you turn to if you are such an unlucky student?A great person to share your thoughts and feelings with is your school counselor(顾问)．

　　Add school counselors to the list of people you can turn to when you need help．They know how to listen and can help kids with life's challenges(挑战)．Counselors have special training in how to help kids solve problems, make decisions, and stand up for themselves．That doesn't mean your counselor will wave a magic wand and the problem will go away．But it does mean he or she will help you cope with it．Coping is an important word to know．Sometimes, kids and grown-ups have difficult problems．Coping means that　someone is　trying to handle these problems and make things better．

　　Your school counselor is available for you and wants to make your school experience the best it can be．The counselor's job is to take your problem seriously and help you find a solution．The counselor also wants to help you learn as much as you can in class, be a contributing member of the school community, and be a positive influence on your environment．

阅读理解

　　Honestly, since my son was born, I have thought a lot about how to raise a child．I once heard a story that told about when a baby was born．The story said that when a baby was born, a new master was born．The parents of that baby would become the servants．The question is：Why?Based on my observation, this phenomenon is true．Most parents who don't pay much attention to their kids have difficulties with their kids' attitude．

　　I'll make a comparison of how two families raise their children．The first one is a family with three children．Both mother and father never say“No”to their children's demands．As a result, all of their children became stubborn and won't listen to their parents' words,“We can't．”

　　The second family educated their children strictly from one year old to high school．The parents never approved or agreed directly to give their children what they wanted．They always postponed one or two days, even if they could afford it．Due to the way their parents educated them, these children understood that if they wanted something, they had to wait or they had to make an effort first．As a result, all the kids from the second family successfully graduated from university on time．

　　In my opinion, if we want to be successful parents and raise our children well, we have to start disciplining them when they are toddlers but not wait until they become teenagers．

阅读理解

　　Just the mention of the TOEFL, GRE and GAMT exams brings a thought of long hours of dull paper work．But that idea is becoming increasingly out of date．As planned, computerized tests will begin next year which will bring a series of changes from test psychology to scoring techniques．

　　From computer - equipped rooms, examinees will answer the questions on a computer．If they are sure about their choices, they can pass to the next question by pressing the entry(条目)“next”．Then another question will be randomly(任意地)selected from a vast test item bank and appear on the screen．After answering all the questions, examinees can choose the entry“quit”if they are not satisfied with their performance, or“score”if they want to see the result．Scores will be calculated immediately and appear on the screen．By that point, student's marks are official－there is no going back．

　　Since they greatly shorten the painful waiting process-which used to be two or three months, computerized tests have won worldwide popularity．Besides, there will be no rushing to the registration offices(登记处)for these exams．Computerized tests will be given every workday in an exam center with all three kinds of tests being held in the same room．All test takers need to do is to call the exam center and book their seats for a particular day．

　　In addition it will become technically possible to apply new testing procedures．In the past, each examinee had the same set of test items despite differences in their ability．Under a computerized system, however, if the computer judges an answer is right, a question of a relatively difficult nature will follow．But if an examinee continues to give wrong answers and is judged as un-qualified by the computer system, he will be automatically denied the chance to go further in the test．

阅读理解

　　Some people believe that international sports creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together．Others say that the opposite is true：that international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred．There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sports encourages international brotherhood．Not only was there the tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests．

　　One country received its second-place medal with visible indignation after the hockey final．There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions．They were convinced that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents' victory was unfair．Their manager was in a rage when he said：“This wasn't hockey．Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished．”The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension of the team for at least three years．

　　The American basketball team announced that they would not yield first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their contest．The game had ended in disturbance．It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play．A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the basket．It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match．An appeal jury debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand．The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals．

　　Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game．The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for．But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism(爱国主义)．

阅读理解

　　Communications technologies are far from equal when it comes to conveying the truth．A recent research shows people tend to tell more lies in phone conversations than they are in emails．The fact that emails are automatically recorded and can come back to haunt you appears to be the key to the finding．

　　Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, asked 30 students to keep a communications diary for a week．In it they noted the number of conversations or email exchanges they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and confessed to how many lies they told．Hancock then worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium．He found that lies made up 14 percent of emails, 21 percent of instant messages, 27 percent of face-to-face interactions and an astonishing 37 of phone calls．

　　His results to be presented at the conference on human-computer interaction in Vienna, Austria, in April, have surprised psychologists．Some expected emailers to be the biggest liars, reasoning that because deception makes people uncomfortable, the detachment(非直接接触)of emailing would make it easier to lie．Others expected people to be more in face-to-face exchanges because we are most practiced at that form of communication．

　　But Hancock says it is also crucial whether a conversation is being recorded and could be reread, and whether it occurs in real time．“People appear to be afraid to lie when they know the communication could later be used to hold them to account,”he says．This is why fewer lies appear in email than on the phone．

　　“People are also more likely to lie in real time in an instant message or phone call than if they have time to think of a response,”say Hancock．He found many lies are spontaneous responses to an unexpected demand, such as,“Do you like my dress?”

　　Hancock hopes his research will help companies work out the best ways for their employees to communicate．For instance, the phone might be the best medium for sales where employees are encouraged to stretch the truth．But, given his result, work assessment where honesty is a priority, might be best done using email．

阅读理解

　　“I never expected that I would be so busy．Why can't there be 25 hours in a day?”complained Liu Ran in Hong Kong as mid－term exams were going on．

　　The 18-year-old girl was Shandong Province's top scorer in this year's college entrance examination．After graduating from Tai' an No．1 High School, she chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong, although two famous universities in mainland promised her a place．

　　“I want to experience a more international school and social life in Hong Kong．I'm majoring in(主修)journalism, so Hong Kong will surly help widen my horizons,”Liu said．

　　It is two months since Liu first set foot on Hong Kong．She missed home a lot at the beginning, because of the food and language problems．

　　“The canteen offers mostly Western or Guangdong food, but it's convenient to cook for ourselves in our dormitory if we like．People speak Cantonese and almost all classes are in English,”Liu explained．

　　Her English and Cantonese are now both improving, but she still needs more time to adapt to the new environment．

　　“I'm happy that I made the right decision to study here．With a mix of the Eastern and Western cultures, there is so much to discover and learn,”she said．

　　Liu has 18 credit hours of classes every week and 23 non－credit hours every other week．She has signed up for four associations including the Chinese Language Debating Team and the drama club．Essays, book reports and presentations also take plenty of time to prepare．

阅读理解

　　Everybody has to buy or sell things sometimes．Even students who are usually not very rich, have to learn something about making purchases intelligently．As a student, you may find, for example, that you need to a walkman or winter clothing．You may want to buy a television or a used car．Of course, you want to get good value for your money．If you are considering a major purchase, or any purchase you should remember several important things．

　　※Study first, and then decide what to buy．You can learn a lot just by reading books and advertisements．

　　Remember that a high quality product will probably last longer and work better．Of course, for a superior product you are expected to pay more．An inferior product may not give you the same quality, but the price could be low．A poor quality product could be expensive and a valuable one could be on sale at a greatly reduced price．

　　※Don't worry．Take your time．After you decide what product you want to buy, go to many different stores．If you cannot find the product you want, you try to order it directly from the factory or ask the store to order it for you．

　　Look for a good deal．If you wait, you may probably find that your product will go on sale and you may be able to save 10,20, or even 50 percent of the original price．

　　Finally, before you buy, make sure that that product is guaranteed．If you find the lowest possible price, you will generally be happy with your purchase and also keep more money in the bank．

阅读理解

Kleptomania is an illness of the mind that gives a person the desire to steal．Such a person is not really a thief．They are sick and cannot help themselves．All small children act naturally and as they grow up they normally learn to control their actions．People with Kleptomania for certain medical reasons have failed to develop control over their desire to take things that do not belong to them．With medical help they may become normal citizens again．The things that a Kleptomaniac steals are seldom of great value．They often give away what they have stolen or collect things without using them．

阅读理解

　　For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house．Some deal with the situation by watching TV．Some may hide．But all of them have something in common．They spend part of each day alone．They are called latchkey children．They're children who look after themselves while their parents work．And their bad condition has become a subject of concern．

　　Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school．She said,“We had a school rule against wearing jewelry．A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached．I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts．There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant．”Slowly, she learned they were house keys．

　　She and her husband began talking to the children who had them．They learned of the impact(影响)working couples and single parents were having on their children．Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone．One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared．Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety．

　　The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding．It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet．The second is TV．They'll often play it at high volume．It's hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs learned．Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone．

阅读理解

　　Education is not an end, but a means to an end．In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them．Our purpose is to fit them for life．

　　In some modern countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for all－one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation．But we can already see that free education for all is not enough; we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degree; they refuse to do what they think“low”work; and, in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries．But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor; we can live without education, but we die if we have no food．If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns…

　　In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability and, secondly, that we can realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that is very bad to be ashamed of one's work．Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society．