阅读理解

　　Each Indian(印第安人)was supposed to keep his birth name until he was old enough to earn one for himself．But his playmates(游戏伙伴)would always give him a name of their own．No matter what his parents called him, his childhood friends would use the name they had chosen．Often it was not pleasing, such as Bow Legs or Bad Boy．But sometimes a name fit so well that the youngster found it difficult to shake it off．If he could not earn a better one from a war later, he could be stuck with a name like Bow Legs for the rest of his life．

　　The Indian earned his real name when he was old enough for his first fight against the enemy．His life name depended on how he acted during this first battle．When he returned from the war, the whole tribe would gather and observe the ceremony in which he would be given his name by the chief．If he had done well, he would get a good name．Otherwise he might be called Crazy Wolf or Man-Afraid-Of-a-Horse．So an Indian's name told his record or described the kind of man he was．

　　A man was given many chances to improve his name, however．If in a later battle he was brave in fighting against the enemy, he was given a batter name．Some of our great fighters had as many as twelve names－all good and each better than the last．

　　An Indian's names belonged to him for the rest of his life．No one else could use them．Even he himself could not give them away because names were assigned by the tribe, not the family．So no man could pass on his name unless the chief and the tribe asked him to do so．

　　Sometimes an Indian would be asked to give his name to a son who had performed a noticed deed．I know of only three of four times when this happened．It is the rarest honor for a person－the honor of assuming(承担)his father' name．

阅读理解

　　Dog owners now have a little help understanding their furry friends．A new device(装置)called Bow-Lingual“translates”dog barks into English, Korean or Japanese．Bow-Lingual Japanese inventors spent much time and money analyzing dog barks．They found that dog noises can be broken down into six different emotions：happiness, sadness, frustration, anger, assertion and desire．

　　Part of the Bow-Lingual device hangs on the dog's collar．The other part is a handle-held unit for the owner．When the dog barks, the unit displays translated phrases．

　　Some people have scoffed at Bow-Lingual．“Who would pay ＄120 to read a dog's mind?”they ask．

　　But those who have purchased(购买)Bow-Lingual praise the device．Pet owner Keiko Egawa, of Japan, says it helps her sympathize(同情)with her dog Harry．“Before we go to the park, he always says he wants to play,”says Egawa,“and after a walk, he always says he is hungry．”

　　Bow-Lingual is not yet available(可用的)in Chinese．So you'd better keep studying Studio Classroom, or soon your dog may know more English than you do!

阅读理解

　　By the time a student starts to apply(申请)for a US university, much of his or her record, including grades and after-school activities, has been set in stone．For this reason, the student must in his or her first year of high school start getting ready for college．He or she also has to decide on the non-academic(非学业的)tasks, which are important to improve the student's chances of getting in．

　　When it comes to high school activities, quality is better than quantity(数量)．Admissions(录取)officers do not want to see a student who has joined dozens of organizations(组织)for a short period of time．

　　Many students try to do this towards the end of their high school．But schools want to see a student who has been with one organization for all or most of high school．A student who can do this shows maturity(成熟)．It is the quality that admissions officers look for as it is one of the markers of future success．

　　Schools want to see a student who has taken on a leadership role in an organization．A student can show leadership by taking on any role that needs extra commitment(奉献)and responsibility．

　　If you do not have a great title(头衔)such as president, be sure to explain any leadership roles you have taken．This kind of involvement(参与)in school activities shows you are the responsible person that admissions officers look for．

　　Admissions officers like an application(申请)to be consistent．For example if there is a high school activity you particularly(特别地)love, it would help if that activity matches your future academic and career interest．

　　Of course not everything needs to be consistent．Otherwise(否则)the student would be narrow and this is not what schools are looking for．However, you cannot have different parts of your application saying conflicting(矛盾的)things．

阅读理解

　　As many as one in five US teenagers have some degree of hearing loss, according to researchers．

　　They say the problem is growing．

　　Teenagers really don't pay attention to how much noise they are exposed(暴露)to, Josef Shargorodsky of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston told Reuters．“Often people won't notice it, but even slight hearing loss may affect language development,”said Shargorodsky, one of the researchers．

　　The study compared surveys from the early 1990s and the mid-2000s．Each included a few thousand teenagers．In the first survey, about 15 percent of teenagers had some degree of hearing loss．Some 15 years later, that number had risen by a third, to nearly 20 percent．

　　“This certainly is big news,”said Alison Grimes, an ear doctor．Hearing loss is very common in old people, Grimes said, but she added that it was worrying to see it happen in the younger age group．

　　In babies and young children, hearing problems are known to slow language development．The science is less clear for teenagers, but it is easy to imagine how being hard of hearing could affect learning, said Grimes,．

　　The reasons for the rise are still unclear．When researchers asked teenagers about noise exposure-on the job, at school or from activities, for example-the teenagers didn't report any change．But Shargorodsky said that might not be true．“We knew from before that it is difficult to ask this age group about noise exposure-they underestimate(低估)it．”Few people would call it noise when they listen to music on their MP3 player, for example．“There is a difference between what we think is loud and what is harmful to the ear,”said Grimes．

　　Although it's not clear that the MP3 players cause teenagers' hearing loss, Grimes said it was still a good idea to turn down the sound and take short breaks from listening．

阅读理解

　　I received pictures of my daughter floating(漂浮)on a lake in California．Right there under the sun during the hottest time of the day, she has only her swimsuit to cover her．

　　When I showed it to my students, it was as if I had shown them scenes from a horror(恐怖)movie．

　　“But she will get dark,”they said．

　　“That's what she wants,”I told them．“We think darker skin(肤色)is beautiful．”

　　They looked at me in disbelief．It was as if I came from the moon．

　　For years, American girls spend their summer trying to get as tanned(晒黑)as possible．In China, on the other hand, girls use umbrellas all year round．

　　What in the world is going on?

　　The pale skin we think looks unattractive(不漂亮)is what Asian women want．Both groups want to meet their culture's standard(标准)of beauty．

　　In the US, if you can afford to go on vacation in the summer, you head for a river, a lake or a beach, where you try to get as much sun as possible．If you are rich you take a winter vacation in some sunny spot．Your winter tan shows your wealth．

　　In China, once upon a time, the few wealthy were the ones who didn't have to work out in the hot sun．So the whiter the skin, the richer the woman．The folk opera performers who play these ladies wore lots of white makeup(妆容)．The tradition survives to this day．

　　So it comes naturally that none of my students wishes to follow the Western ways in this regard．

　　But now I am noticing that a new business-the tanning booth(美黑店)-started up in China．I admire those brave enough to define(给…下定义)their own idea of beauty, but I do wonder what their grandmothers would have to say to them about it!

阅读理解

　　My school makes students take one religion(宗教)class every year．But religion is really hard, especially with Mr Frank Smith for a teacher．

　　Mr Smith is 55 years old, with grey hair and a moustache(胡子)．He always wears a blue school T-shirt, shorts and tennis shoes with long white socks．My friends say he looks like a cat．

　　In his class, we did yoga(瑜珈)and meditation(冥想)(actually most of the children in my class lay on the ground sleeping), tasted some strange tea, had classes outside in the garden, and watched videos and movies about Tibetan Buddhism(藏传佛教), God, and so on．

　　It was fun sometimes．However, the course(课程)was quite hard when it came to tests．The girls often worked until one or two o'clock in the morning on nights before the tests, but they still got bad scores．

　　When our test scores were bad, he would give us some makeup assignments(补考作业)．Once I got a B, which I thought was bad, so I asked Mr Smith for an assignment to bring up my grades．

　　As a matter of fact, his assignments were often worse than the tests．The tests were just a lot of multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, or short essays(文章)．But his assignments usually included a speech in class．

　　I was not afraid of public speaking, yet it took me three days to collect the information, two days to write the speech, one day to make a PowerPoint and several hours to prepare．I knew my presentation(课堂展示)was good, because I saw Mr Smith's big smile when he listened to me．He gave me an A at last．

　　After finishing the course, I may not remember how hard it was or the meaning of some vocabulary．But through Mr Smith, I learned a lesson that will be with me my whole life．That is：no matter what we do, we need to put our hearts into it, and then our work will pay off．

阅读理解

　　Do not live in the past whether you are thinking about your personality or your life; success means focusing on the here and now．While it is important to acknowledge the choices and experiences which resulted in you being where you are today, it is equally important not to allow yourself to become so caught up in thoughts of the past that the present day passes you by．

　　Self-motivation is the key to ensuring that you do not continue repeating the same mistakes．You may have had one or more errors in judgment which led you to take the wrong path, or to make mistakes that were not in your best interest．You can acknowledge this without rehashing(重复谈论)them over and over again in your mind, and simply be determined to make different, better decisions today．

　　Then is over; this is now．The less time and effort you put into looking at the past, the more you will have for living and experiencing this day．You will also find that letting go of the past will give you a deeper sense of strength．Instead of allowing past mistakes and worries to drain your energies, you will have a renewed energy to live your life to the fullest and enjoy it more．

　　Being content with yourself and optimistic(乐观的)about your future is not difficult．Whatever is in the past is over; learn from it and move on．When you are self-motivated enough to do this, you will see that moving ahead is the best definition of living life．

　　With that said, what can you do now?Sure it is easy for me to tell you to forget the past, yet it is a whole different practice to actually do it．Life is a complex set of events, much of which of course is real, yet a large amount is just your view of what really happened．

　　The first step in trying to minimize(最小化)the effects of your past in order to concentrate on your future is to find out how much of the past that you are certain happened was just mistakes on your part．

阅读理解

　　Read a whole book in English?Me?

　　Yes, you．Believe it or not that may be easier than you think．Not all classics are too difficult or complicated．So you're not limited to simplified versions(简写本)．And the easier books are not for young children．

　　Books in their original versions(原著)may send you to the dictionary．And you might not understand everything you read．But reading one from cover to cover will give you a real sense of accomplishment．The key is to find the right books．Let's take a look at these．

　　The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe(C.S.Lewis)

　　Stepping into an old wardrobe, four English schoolchildren find themselves in the magical world of Narnia．In this delightful land, they find friends among the many talking creatures．

　　The children soon discover, however, that Narnia is ruled by the White Witch．Edmund, one of the children, falls under her power．Who can free Narnia?Only Aslan, the great and noble lion．He alone knows the Deeper Magic．But the children themselves must help fight the battle against the White Witch and those who save her．

　　The Old Man and the Sea(Ernest Hemingway)

　　Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, hasn't caught any fish in more than 80 days．Sailing far out from land, the old man hooks an enormous fish．That begins an agonizing three-day battle．First he struggles against the great fish．Then he must fight off the sharks that circle the little boat and threaten to eat his fish．Exhausted and bleeding, the old man arrives back at shore．But his fish, his beautiful fish…

　　Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for this superb story of strength and courage, of victory and regret．

　　A Wrinkle in Time(Madeleine Lingle)

　　Meg's father, a US government scientist, has been missing for many months．He had been experimenting with time travel when he mysteriously disappeared．

　　Now Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin will try to rescue him．But first they must outwit the forces of evil they encounter on their journey through time and space．Can they find Meg's father before it is too late?

　　This novel is more than just a science-fiction adventure．It's an exploration of the nature of our universe．

　　The Pearl(John Steinbeck)

　　One day Kino, a poor Mexican pearl diver, finds a magnificent pearl．With it he dreams of buying a better life, new clothes and schooling for his son．Instead it brings only evil．His wife pleads with him to get rid of it．“No,”says Kino．“I will have my chance．I am a man．”But when he kills a man who is trying to steal the pearl, Kino and his wife must run for their lives．

　　This tale of dreams, justice and the power of greed is told simply and beautifully．

　　The Long Winter(Laura Ingalls Wilder)

　　It's winter, 1880-8-1, on American's northern prairies．Mr.and Mrs.Ingalls and their four girls stay near the kitchen stove to keep warm．Heavy snowstorms cut them off even from neighbors．With the trains stopped, no supplies can reach the town．Food and fuels are running out．Day after day the girls must grind wheat for bread and twist hay to burn．At times they nearly lose the battle to keep their spirits up．

　　This story provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of early American settlers．

阅读理解

　　Some people who find themselves unable to solve a problem react(反应)by just giving up．But it is not good to escape from problems by giving up or by making excuses for failures．You may be sure that all young people go through the same difficult process that you are going through：meeting new situations, developing new skills, and testing their abilities．

　　If you are unhappy about something, face it．Try to state the problem in a few words, so that you will know exactly what you are up against．Then see if you can“put your finger”on the cause of your unhappiness．

　　In many cases, we only“think”there is no solution to a particular problem．But often we can overcome the problem and achieve the goal by making a direct attack．

　　For example, a boy wanted to be a debater(辩论家)．When he tried out for the debating team as a freshman, the coach thought he was hopeless．He was shy; he had a high-pitched voice; and his posture(体态)was poor．Although he was given little hope of success, he took advantage of every opportunity to debate．He studied successful speakers and sized up his own weaknesses and assets．Then he spent many hours learning all the facts on the topics for debate, and worked at developing good posture and at speaking clearly．By his junior year, he made the school debating team, and in his senior year he was on the winning team in his state．He achieved his goal because he had made a direct attack upon his problem．

　　Although direct attack is often the best way to meet problems, we have to be realistic in judging situations．Sometimes it is necessary to change the tactics(策略)or the goal．

　　A girl who has plain features may decide that she cannot win popularity with her face, and so she may try to develop an interesting personality, which eventually will get her much further．In this situation, she must change her method of achieving her goal．

　　So, although direct attack is often the best way to handle problems, it is important to study the situation and make a wise decision about what to do．

阅读理解

　　English as a second language(ESL)websites for children can help build vocabulary, teach correct spelling and pronunciation of words, and assist with basic grammar such as understanding sentence structure, parts of speech, tenses, and singular and plural word forms．English learning websites for children include：

　　●ESL Kid is an organized website that serves as a comprehensive directory of English as a second language resources for children, teachers, and parents．There are categories for different subjects, such as ABC games, dictionary, spelling, literature and music．Since this is just a directory, parents should help children explore the sites linked to it．

　　●MES Games has several categories of interactive games．Some games are more suited to younger children and beginning learners, such as the vocabulary building games in which players must first listen to a spoken word and then identify the correct items．More advanced children will enjoy online sport games based on grammar concepts that go with multiple choice questions．

　　●ESL Kids Lab has many resources for helping children learn English as a second language．These include free video English lessons categorized by grade level, ideas for games, and printable worksheets．However, the inferiority of this website is also obvious－it contains lots of advertisements．

　　●ESL Kid Stuff has a variety of resources, including a list of select online English learning games and song lyric sheets．Downloading worksheets and flashcards requires a yearly membership fee, however．

　　●English Interactive lets children and beginning ESL students click on words to hear their pronunciation and build essential vocabulary skills．After viewing the words, students can try an interactive quiz．

　　●English Vocabulary Games has a variety of interactive games designed to help ESL children build vocabulary．