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　　One of Britain's bravest women told yesterday how she helped to catch suspected(可疑的)police killer David Bieber-and was thanked with flowers by the police．It was also said that she could be in line for a share of up to ￡30,000 reward money．

　　Vicki Brown, 30, played a very important role in ending the nationwide manhunt．Vicki, who has worked at the Royal Hotel for four years, told of her terrible experience when she had to steal into Bieber's bedroom and to watch him secretly．Then she waited alone for three hours while armed police prepared to storm the building．

　　She said,” I was very nervous．But when I opened the hotel door and saw 20 armed policemen lined up in the car park I was so glad they were there．”

　　The alarm had been raised because Vicki became suspicious(怀疑)of the guest who checked in at 3 pm the day before New Year's Eve with little luggage and wearing sunglasses and a hat pulled down over his face．She said, He didn't seem to want to talk too much and make any eye contact(接触)．Vicki, the only employee on duty, called her bosses Margaret, 64, and husband Stan McKale, 65, who phoned the police at 11 pm.Officers from Northumbria Police called Vicki at the hotel in Dunston, Gateshead, at about 11∶30 pm to make sure that this was the wanted man．Then they kept in touch by phoning Vicki every 15 minutes．

　　“It was about ten past two in the morning when the phone went again and a policeman said ‘Would you go and make yourself known to the armed officers outside?' My heart missed a beat．”

　　Vicki quietly showed eight armed officers through passages and staircases to the top floor room and handed over the key．

　　“I realized that my bedroom window overlooks that part of the hotel, so I went to watch．I could not see into the man's room, but I could see the passage．The police kept shouting at the man to come out with his hands showing．Then suddenly he must have come out because they shouted for him to lie down while he was handcuffed(带上手铐)．”

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　　The private automobile(私家车)has long played an important role in the United States．In fact, it has become a necessary and important part of the American way of life．In 1986, sixty-nine percent of American families owned at least one car, and thirty-eight percent had more than one．By giving workers rapid transportation, the automobile has freed them from having to live near their place of work．This has encouraged the growth of the cities, but it has also led to traffic problems．

　　For farm families the automobile is very helpful．It has made it possible for them to travel to town very often for business and for pleasure, and also to transport their children to distant schools．

　　Family life has been affected(影响)in various ways．The car helps to keep families together when it is used for picnics, outings, and other shared experiences．However, when teenage children have the use of the car, their parents can't keep an eye on them．There is a great danger if the driver has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs, or showing off by speeding or breaking down traffic laws．Mothers of victims(受害者)of such accidents have formed an organization called MADD(Mothers Against Drunk Driving)．These women want to prevent further tragedies(悲剧)．They have worked to encourage the government to limit the youngest drinking age．Students have formed a similar organization, SADD(Students Against Drunk Driving)and are spreading the same message among their friends．

　　For many Americans the automobile is a necessity．But for some, it is also a mark of social position and for young people, a sign of becoming an adult．Altogether, cars mean very much to Americans．

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　　Handshaking, though a European practice, is now often seen in big cities of China．Nobody knows exactly when the practice started in Europe．It is said that long long ago in Europe when people met, they showed their unarmed(无武器的)hands to each other as a sign of goodwill．As time went on and trade in cities grew rapidly, people in cities began to clap each other's hands to make a deal or to reach an agreement．The practice was later changed into shaking hands among friends on meeting or leaving each other．“Let's shake(hands)on it” sometimes means agreement reached．

　　Do the Europeans shake hands wherever they go and with whomever they meet?No．Sometimes the Chinese abroad reach out their hands too often to be polite．It is really very impolite to give your hand when the other party, especially when it is a woman, shows little interest in shaking hands with you and when the meeting does not mean anything to him or her．Even if, for politeness, he holds out his unwilling hand in answer to your uninvited hand, just touch it slightly．There is generally a misunderstanding(误解)among the Chinese that westerners are usually open and straightforward, while the Chinese are rather reserved(保守的)in manner．But in fact some people in western countries are more reserved than some Chinese today．So it is a good idea to shake hands with a westerner only when he shows interest in further relations with you．

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　　My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died．As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him．But the more I tried, the more he pulled away．When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year．At this rate he would never graduate．I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him．Nothing worked．

　　One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and pleaded for help．“Please God, I can't do anything more for my son．I'm at the end of my rope．I'm giving the whole thing up to you．” I was at work when I got a phone call．A man introduced himself as the headmaster．“I want to talk to you about Karl's absences．” Before he could say another word, I choked up and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger．“I love my son but I just don't know what to do．I've tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked．It's out of my hands．” For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line．The headmaster seriously said, “Thank you for your time”, and hung up．

　　Karl's next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades．Finally, he even made the honor roll．In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl．I noticed that his teachers were astonished at the way he had turned himself around．On our way home, he said, “Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?” I nodded．“That was me．I thought I'd play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you．That's when I knew I had to make you proud．”

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　　You're in a department store and you see a couple of attractive young women looking at a sweater．You listen to their conversation：

　　“I can't believe it－a Lorenzo Bertolla!They are almost impossible to find．Isn't it beautiful?And it's a lot cheaper than the one Sara bought in Rome．”

　　They leave and you go over to see this incredible sweater．It's nice and the price is right．You've never heard of Lorenzo Bertolla, but those girls looked really stylish．They must know．So, you buy it．You never realize that those young women are employees of an advertising agency．They are actually paid to go from store to store, talking loudly about Lorenzo BertoHa clothes．

　　Every day we notice what people are wearing, driving and eating．If the person looks cool, the product seems cool, too．This is the secret of undercover(暗中影响的)marketing．Companies from Ford to Nike are starting to use it．

　　Undercover marketing is important because it reaches people that don't pay attention to traditional advertising．This is particularly true of the MTV generation－consumers between the age of 18 and 34．It is a golden group．They have a lot of money to spend, but they don't trust ads．

　　So advertising agencies hire young actors to“perform”in bars and other places where young adults go．Some people might call this practice deceptive, but marketing executive Jonathan Ressler calls it creative．“Look at traditional advertising．Its effectiveness is decreasing．”

　　However, one might ask what exactly is“real”about of young women pretending to be enthusiastic about a sweater?Adverting executives would say it's no less real than an ad．The difference is that you know an ad is trying to persuade you to buy something．You don' t know when a conversation you overhear is just a performance．

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　　It was once thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and/or heavy automobile traffic．Today, we know that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is literally worldwide．On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the entire eastern half of the United States and led to health warnings even in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing and automobile traffic．In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be affected by air pollution．Some scientists feel that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels(coal and oil)creating a greenhouse effect-holding in heat reflected from the earth and raising the world's average temperature．If this view is correct and the world's temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be under water．

　　Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particulate matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth's temperature-a result that would be equally disastrous(灾难的)．A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas．At present we do riot know for sure that either of these conditions will happen(though one recent government report prepared by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very likely)．Perhaps, if we very lucky, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world's temperature will stay about the same as it is now．

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　　Net Library Is a library that lends out digital books．It treats a digital like a paperback copy．It charges libraries per book per copy and gives publishers a cut of the total income．

　　From the consumer's point of view, this means that if more than, say, five people want the latest Danielle Steel romance novel, other people who request that book will get a message saying the title can't be found．

　　It's a model many publishers seem to have embraced．More than 350 gave the company rights to hand out their digital works and McGraw-Hill Corporation and Houghton Mifflin Corporation have put money in the company．The California public libraries and about 1,800 others across the US are trying out the Net Library service．

　　Some librarians criticize the New Library model．Stanford University librarian Michael Keller argues that the company is creating an unnatural fear of digital woks; which is contrary to the ideas of the Internet．

　　Keller and some other librarians argue for the e-book vision set forth by E-Brary．E-Brary is starting a service mat lets us users read books for free．

　　But it will charge about 25 cents a page when a person tries to print out material or copy and paste it into a different file or tries to download copy onto a computer．

　　Christopher Warnock, chief executive of E-Brary, believes most consumers won't want to buy entire books, only the parts that interest them．

　　“There's not really a lot of good m owning an electronic file and having to store it and manage it．It doesn't make sense．”he said．

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　　“Time is a problem for children,”states a news report for a new Swiss watch．Children in some countries“learn time slowly”because“they don't wear watches”and“parents don't really know how to teach them time．”The children grow up with this handicap and become adults-and then can't get to work on time．Is there an answer to this problem?Of course-it's the Flick Flak, made by a famous Swiss watch company．

　　The Flick Flak is being marketed as something teaching watch for children aged 4 to 10．The watch itself does not teach children how to tell time, of course; it merely“takes their imagination”by presenting the“hour”hand as a beautiful red girl named Flak and the“minute”hand as a tall blue boy named Flick．Flick points to related“blue”minutes on the dial, while Flak points to“red”hour numbers．The characters and colors combined with parental help, are supposed to teach young children how to tell time．

　　The watch comes equipped with a standard battery and a nylon band(尼龙表带)．Peter Lipkin, the United States sales manager for the Flick Flak, calls it“childproof：if it gets dirty you can throw the whole watch in the washing machine．”The product is being sold in select department stores in Europe, Asia and the United States for a suggested price of ＄25．Parents who buy the watch may discover that it is one thing to tell time; it's quite another for them to be on time．

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　　Read the following reviews for movies that are showing at the moment．And then answer questions．

Happiness(Romance)★★★★

　　Happiness tells the story of two people(Lisa Turbot and Danny Roy)who work for different advertising companies．They talk on the phone all the time and don't like each other．But then they correspond by email and fall in love．This movie will be very popular with teenagers and people who like romances．It also has beautiful music．

I Scream(Thriller)★★

　　In I Scream, Paul(Colin Jacks)is a young man who joins a thriller club．Each of the members tries to frighten the others．Paul is told to stay in an old house for the night．This movie is very frightening but also quite silly．It doesn't make sense for Paul to stay m the house when things start to go wrong．Only for people who like thrillers．

Paul's Heroes(Comedy)★★★

　　This is a very funny war movie set in World War Two．Six soldiers(including Sammy Turblow)have to get to Italy to take secret messages to the American army there．During the movie, they dress up as women and fight with Italian workers．You can guess the ending, but it's great fun getting there．

________(Drama)★★★★

　　This is a very good drama with Jack Ross, who pays a hard-working truck driver．His wife becomes ill and he has to find a doctor who can help her．m his travels he meets Dr．Lloyd(Phil Driver)who has found the cure for the illness, but Jack Ross has only twelve hours to get the medicine back to his wife on the other side of America．This is an excellent movie, which is very exciting．

Reading comprehension

　　“I'm very tired from working here,” said Jean to her friend Kate, “I'm on my feet from morning to night．For the first quarter of the day, I clean up the counter(柜台)and set the tables．For the next quarter, I help in the kitchen．For the second half of my workday, I take orders at the counters．”

　　“Kate, I wish I had your job,” Jean went on．“For four hours you just sit at the cash register (收款台)taking in money．”

　　“But I spend two more hours in the kitchen(厨房)than you do, ”said Kate．“It's tiring to cook over a hot stove．I don't think you'd really want my job．In fact, I'd like your job．”