阅读理解

　　ECO-friendly technology was the hottest trend at the 39th Tokyo Motor Show, which opened last Friday．

　　About 240 car manufacturers from 13 countries presented new models．Most were powered by hybrid(混合的), fuel cell(燃料电池)and electrical systems．Carmakers are championing more environmentally models amid increasing oil prices and environmental concerns．

　　“It's now carmakers' social responsibility to protect the environment,”said Mazda president Hisakazu Imaki．

　　Seventy-nine cars and motorcycles are being presented to the public for the first time, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association．

　　The organizing association said the biennial(两年一次的)show, due to end on November6,was sure to have a large impact on the automobile industry．

　　Manufacturers are currently competing in the shift from gasoline-run engines to hybrid, fuel cell or electricity-powered systems．

　　Mazda has a new sports vehicle, which runs on a hybrid electric-petrol system．It is also showing a gasoline-hydrogen run sports car．

　　A member of the Ford family, Mazda plans to market a hybrid version of the Tribute sport utility vehicle(SUV)next spring and enhance its co-operation with Ford in hybrid systems development．

　　Honda's fuel cell sedan(轿车)on show uses a hydrogen-oxygen fuel．The system only sends water out its exhaust(尾气), a better solution for the environment and less polluting than hybrids．

阅读理解

　　When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from China．

　　When India had not opened up its markets to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans．Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now．

　　Still, her answer surprised me,“Green tea．”

　　As long as I can remember she didn't even drink Indian tea．

　　I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story．My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses．

　　At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian．It was a strange country．

　　How things change!And how soon!

　　Now every town of any size seems to have a“China Market”．And everyone is talking about China．

　　The government of India has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done．A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment(投资)and such a step would“work wonders as it did for China．”

　　But it's a two-way street．I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Bangalore to train in software．Meanwhile, all the Indian IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China．

　　No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, was expected to hit about US ＄15 billion for last year and US ＄20 billion by 2008, a goal set by both governments．

　　No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian(中印)century as the two countries started on January 1 the Sino-Indian Friendship Year．

　　But what is still a wonder to me is my mother drinking Chinese tea．

阅读理解

　　The Internet has led to a huge increase in credit-card(信用卡)fraud．Your card information could even be for sale in an illegal web site(非法网站)．

　　Web sites offering cheap goods and services should be regarded with care．

　　On-line shoppers who enter their credit-card information may never receive the goods they thought they bought．The thieves then go shopping with your card number-or sell the information over the Internet．Computers hackers(黑客)have broken down security(安全)systems, raising questions about the safety of cardholder information．Several months ago, 25,000 customers of CD Universe, an on-line music retailer(零售商), were not lucky．Their names, addresses and credit-card numbers were posted on a Web site after the retailer refused to pay US ＄157,828 to get back the information．

　　Credit-card firms are now fighting against on-line fraud．Mastercard is working on plans for Web-only credit card, with a lower credit limit．The card could be used only for shopping on-line．However, there are a few simple steps you can take to keep from being cheated(欺骗)．

　　Ask about your credit-card firm's on-line rules：Under British law, cardholders have to pay the first US ＄78 of any fraudulent(欺骗性的)spending．

　　And shop only at secure sites; Send your credit-card information only if the Web site offers advanced secure system．

　　If the security is in place, a letter will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen．The Web site address may also start https：//-the extra“s”stands for secure．If in doubt, give your credit-card information over the telephone．

　　Keep your password(密码)safe：Most on-line sites require a user name and password before placing an order．Treat your passwords with care．

阅读理解

　　In recent years, especially during the l960s, there was much discussion about“the brain drain(排干, 流失),”which dealt with the problem of students and learned people who left their own countries for other countries that offered better chances for study, research, and employment．For example, according to a report from U.N., between 1962 and l966 more than 50 percent of all engineering graduates of Iran and 14 percent of Iranian scientists left their country for work abroad．Over 30 percent of Chilean engineers and 15 percent of Turkish physicians also went to work in other countries．Probably the greatest brain drain occurred among young scientists who had gone abroad to study．Many of them had planned to return to their countries to teach but chose to remain in more industrialized nations where they were able to continue their work and their research in fields in which there were no job possibilities at home．The countries that attracted most of these scientists were the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, and Australia．

　　Recent studies show that the brain drain to the United States may be decreasing．Many foreign scientists are going home again, and in some cases American scientists are leaving the United States for employment in other countries．The main reasons are that good jobs are becoming fewer here, money for national research has been sharply cut, and university fellowships reduced too．However, in the field of medicine the drain to the United States still goes on．Today more than one of every five American doctors is foreign-born, and several thousand foreign doctors immigrate to the United States each year．Over eighty countries have asked the State Department to send students who are skilled in important fields such as medicine back home when their study programs are over．

阅读理解

Erik Weihenmayer was born with an eye disorder．As a child his eyesight became worse and then, at the age of 13, he lost his sight completely．However, he did not lose his determination to lead a full and active life Erik became an adventurer．He took up parachuting, wrestling and scuba diving．He competed in long-distance biking, marathons and skiing．His favorite sport, thought, is mountaineering．As a young man, Erik started to climb mountains．He reached the summit of Mount McKinley in 1995 and then climbed the dangerous 1000-metre rock wall of EI Capitan．Two years later, while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya with his girlfriend, they stopped for a time at 13,000 feet above sea level-in order to get married．In 1999, he climbed Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in South America．And then , on May 25, 2001, at the age of 33, Erik successfully completed the greatest mountaineering challenge of all．He climbed Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world．Erik invented his own method for climbing mountains．He carries two long poles：one to lean on and the other to test the way ahead of him．The climber in front of him wears a bell to guide him．Erik is a good team member．He does his share of the job, such as setting up tents and building snow walls．Although he could not enjoy the view, Erik felt the excitement of being on the summit of Everest．He hopes that his success will change how people think about the blind．“When people think about a blind person or blindness, now they will think about a person standing on top of the world．”

阅读理解

　　It was a village in India．The people were poor．However, they were not unhappy．After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries．

　　Then one day．Some visitors from the city arrived．The told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog's legs．However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other place．

　This seemed like money for nothing．There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers．All they had to do was catch them．Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs．Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money．For the first time, the people were able to dream of a batter future．But the dream didn't last long．

　　The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well．More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately．

　　The villagers decided that they couldn't just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak．They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides(杀虫剂)and medicines．Soon there was no money left．

　　Then the people realized what was happening．It was the frog．They hadn't been useless．They had been doing an important job－eating insects．Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly．They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases．

　　Now, the people are still poor．But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs．These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning．

阅读理解

　　The most important use of drifting(漂流)bottles is to find ocean currents．When the position and direction of currents are known, ships can use the forward movement of a current or stay away from currents that would carry them off their course．Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to use bottles in the study of currents．He wondered why British mall ships needed a week or two longer than U.S.ships needed in order to cross the Atlantic Ocean．Franklin thought the Gulf Stream(墨西哥湾流)might explain this difference．

　　Franklin talked with captains of U.S.ships．He found that they knew each turn of the Gulf Stream．They used the current in every possible way．From his talks with the captains．Franklin made his first map of the Gulf Stream．Then he checked his map by using sealed(密封的)bottles．The map that he finally made is still used, with only a few changes, today．

阅读理解

　　Have you ever suddenly felt that someone you know was in trouble-and he was?Have you ever dreamed something that came true later?Maybe you have ESP(超感官知觉)．

　　ESP stands for Extra Sensory Perception．It may be called a sixth sense．It seems to let people know about events before they happen, or events that are happening some distance away．Here is an example．A woman was doing washing．Suddenly she screamed,“My father is dead!I saw him sitting in the chair!”Just then, a telephone came．The woman's father had died of a heart attack．He died sitting in a chair．

　　There are thousands of stories like this on record．Scientists are studying them to find out what is behind these strange mental messages．Here's another example－one of hundreds of dreams that have come true．

　　A man dreamed he was walking along a road when a horse and carriage(马车)came by．The driver said,“There's room for one more．”The man felt the driver was dead, so he ran away．The next day the man was getting on a crowded bus．The bus driver said,“There's room for one more．”Then the man saw the driver's face was the same face he had seen in the dream．He wouldn't get on the bus．As the bus drove off, it crashed and burst into flames．Everyone was killed!

　　Some people say stories like these are lies or coincidences．Others, including some scientists say that ESP is true．From studies of ESP, we may someday learn more about the human mind．

阅读理解

　　Tell a story and tell it well, and you may open wide the eyes of a child ,open up lines of communication in a business, or even open people's mind to another culture or race．

　　People in many places are digging up the old folk stories and the messages in them．For example, most American storytellers get their tales from a wide variety of sources, cultures, and times．They regard storytelling not only as a useful tool in child education, but also as a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as those whose culture may be very different from their own．

　　“Most local stories are based on a larger theme,”American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says,“Cinderella(灰姑娘),or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness, appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world．”

　　Working with students in schools, Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories．She works with prisoners too, helping them know who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write, direct, and act in their own lives．If they don't like the story they are living, they can rewrite the story．Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers．“For every advance in business,”she says,“there is a greater need for communication．”Storytelling can have a great effect on either side of the manager-worker relationship, she says．

　　Pugh spent several years in Nigeria, where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there．The benefits of storytelling are found everywhere, she says．

　　“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture,”she says．“What I do is to focus on the value of stories that people can translate into their own daily world of affairs．We are all storytellers．We all have a story to tell．We tell everybody's story．”

Read the advertisements carefully．Then answer the following questions．