阅读理解

　　A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck．One of the pots had a crack(裂缝)in it, and whole the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck．One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full．

　　For two years this went on daily, with the water bearer delivering one and one-half pots full of water to his masters house．Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made．But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do．After two years of what it had perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke one day to the water bearer by the stream．

　　“I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you．”

　　“Why?”asked the bearer．“What are you ashamed of?”

　　“I have been able for these last two years to deliver only half my load, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house．Because of my flaws, you have to do all this work, and you do not get full value for your efforts,”the pot explained．

　　The water bearer felt sorry for the cracked pot, and in his compassion, he said,“As we return to the masters house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path．”Indeed, as they went up the hill, the cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some．But, at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had still leaked half of its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure．The bearer said to the pot：“Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?That is because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it．I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you have watered them．For two years I have been able to pick those beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table．Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house．”

阅读理解

　　NANNING

　　Motor wreck(失事)

　　Eighteen people died and 16 were injured yesterday when a farm vehicle left a mountain road and plunged(冲入)100 meters into a valley．The accident happened in Fenshan country, in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region．Police said 17 people, including the driver, died instantly and another died on the way to hospital．Fifteen of the injured passengers are in serious condition．

　　BEIJING

　　New Library

　　A new library named after Hong Kong industrialist Xu Rongmao opened yesterday at the Beijing Chemical University．Xu donated(捐款)5 million yuan(US＄604 594)for the building of the Rongmao Library, which covers 8 000 square meters and has over 900 seats．

　　Xu's Overseas Investment Group has also donated US＄1.21 million to set up an education fund(基金)for the university．

　　BEIJING

　　Empty Tomb

　　A live broadcast of the opening of the ancient Laoshan Tomb of the Han Dynasty(206BC～220AD)was cancelled(取消)when the tomb was confirmed(证实)to be empty．Experts believe that most of the relics in the tomb had been taken by grave robbers．A previous live show of digging part of the tomb attracted a large audience, but few cultural relics were found．That the television stations have not been ready for the live show scheduled around September 20 also was a reason for the cancellation, officials said．

阅读理解

It's Pigs' Hometown

　　The story happened during the Second World War．An old man lived in a small town of Germany．He had three sons and they all worked in the same factory where he had worked．After the war had begun, his sons were all made to join the army one after another and they all died in the fights．The old man was very sad．He didn't have enough food and was often hungry．And nobody helped him and he didn't know to go on living．

　　It was a very cold winter night．The old man couldn't go to sleep．He had been hungry for two days and it was so cold in his room that ice could be seen．He had go get up and began to run in the room until he lay down on the floor．The next morning he had to beg from door to door．He had been to a lot of cities and knew a lot．

　　Once he came to a village, but the villagers were all poor and couldn't give him anything．He was too hungry to go to another village．He thought hard and found a way．He came to a police station and called out“Hitler is a pig!”

　　Out came an old policeman at once．He took the old man into a room, gave him some bread and a cup of tea．Then he said,“Don't say so in our village, sir!”

　　“I'm sorry, sir”, said the old man．“I don't know it's Hitler's hometown．”“No, no, sir”, the policeman said in a hurry,“It's a pig's hometown!”

阅读理解

　　World Reading Day was set up by the UNESCO in 1995 ti encourage people, especially teenagers, to discover the pleasure of reading．It is also the day to honor great writers, for example, William Shakespeare, born or dead on that day．

　　Many countries celebrated World Reading Day．Take the UK as an example, on that day, millions of schoolchildren can buy books of special price, a much lower price than usual, in any bookstore．It has been done every year since 1998．World Reading Day 2010 in the UK will take place on Thursday 4th March．Please note that this date applies to the UK and Ireland only．The initiative is so well established in schools there that they want to make sure that the Day happens in term time to really make the most of this opportunity to celebrate books and reading．Most other countries hold World Reading Day on 23 rd April every year．

　　World Reading Day is also celebrated in China．Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, an avid reader, does lots of reading every day though he is very busy．On World Reading Day 2009 he encouraged citizens to do more reading．Wen suggested that young people should spend more time reading．“Books cannot change the world, but people can change the world by changing themselves through reading．”

　　Reading can benefit people in many ways．Reading helps us to follow the latest developments of science and technology．Reading gives us information about other cultures and places of the world．Reading is also one of the most important ways to learn a foreign language like English．

　　“Reading makes a full man”(Bacon, 1597)．Books, magazines, newspapers and other kinds of reading materials can help us to know more about the out side world and perfect us．Therefore, it is necessary for us to spend time on reading every day．

阅读理解

　　I travel a lot, and I find out different“styles”(风格)of directions(方向)every time I ask“How can I get to the post office?”

　　Foreign tourists are often confused(困惑)in Japan because most streets there don't have names; in Japan, people use landmarks(地标)in their directions instead of street names．For example, the Japanese will say to travelers,“Go straight down to the corner．Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market．The post office is across from the bus stop．”

　　In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks．There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles．Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances．In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say,“Go north two miles．Turn east, and then go another mile．”

　　People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles．“How far away is the post office?”you ask．“Oh,”they answer,“it's about five minutes from here．”You say,“Yes, but how many miles away is it?”They don't know．

　　It's true that a person doesn't know the answer to your question sometimes．What happens in such a situation?A new Yorker might say,“Sorry, I have no idea．”But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers“I don't know．”People in Yucatan believe that“I don't know”is impolite．They usually give an answer, often a wrong one．A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!

阅读理解

Many young people want to be pop stars．Pop stars are rich．Many people think they are enjoying a happy and easy life．In fact, they have very hard lives．They spend much of their time on travel．Sometimes the travel is interesting, but in most time it is boring to pop stars．The following chart(表格)is a day's life of a pop star．

阅读理解

　　It was Monday．Mrs Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house．Considering that there was no better way．Mrs Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it“Give my dog half a pound of meat．”Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently：“Take this to the butcher(*person whose job is selling meat)．and he's going to give you your lunch today．”

　　Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's．It gave the paper to the butcher．The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to．The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once．

　　At noon, the dog came to the shop again．It gave the butcher a piece of paper again．After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more．

　　The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon．And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth．This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers(*people who buy sth.from a shop)．

　　But, the dog came again at four o'clock．And the same thing happened once again．To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper．The butcher felt a bit surprised．He said to himself,“This is a small dog．Why does Mrs Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”

　　Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!

阅读理解

　　A beautiful and very successful actress(女演员)was the star for a new musical show．Her home was in the countryside, but she did not want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the centre of the city, got some beautiful furniture(家具)and got a man to paint the rooms in new colours．

　　It was very difficult to get tickets for her show, because everybody wanted to see it．So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats．She hoped that this would make him work better for her．He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of the month, when she got the painter's bill(账单)．At the bottom of it were these words：“Four hours watching Miss Hall sing and dance：3 pounds,”with this note：“After 5 p.m., I get 15 shillings(先令)an hour instead of 10 shillings．”

阅读理解

　　Hi, boys and girls!Do you know how to be a healthy kid?Here are some rules you should follow．

　　First, eat different foods, especially fruit and vegetables．You may have a favorite food, but you should eat something different．If you eat different foods, you will probably get more nutrition(营养)your body needs．

　　Second, drink water and milk as often as possible．When you're really thirsty, cold water is the best．

　　Third,“listen”to your body．How do you feel when you are full?When you are eating, feel how your body feels．When your stomach feels full, eating too much will not make you feel comfortable and will make you fat．

　　Fourth, limit(限制)screen time．Screen time is the time you watch TV, DVDs and videos, or using computers．It is good to take more exercise such as playing basketball, riding and swimming．You can't watch TV for more than two hours a day．

　　Fifth, be active．One thing you should do is to find out which activity you like best．Find ways to be active every day．Follow these rules and you can be a healthy kid．

阅读理解

　　I was in a terrible mood．Two of my friends had gone to the movies the night before and hadn't invited me．I was in my room thinking of ways to make them sorry when my father came in．“Want to go for a ride, today, Beck?It's a beautiful day．”

　　“No!Leave me alone!”Those were the last words I said to him that morning．

　　My friends called and invited me to go to the mall with them a few hours later．I forgot to be mad at them and when I came home to find a note on the table．My mother put it where I would be sure to see it．“Dad has had an accident．Please meet us at Highland Park Hospital”．

　　When I reached the hospital, my mother came out and told me my father's injuries were extensive．“Your lather told the driver to leave him alone and just call 911, thank God!If he had moved Daddy, there's no telling what might have happened．A broken rib(肋骨)might have pierced(穿透)a lung…．”

　　My mother may have said more, but I didn't hear．I didn't hear anything except those terrible words：Leave me alone．My dad said them to save himself from being hurt more．How much had I hurt him when I hurled those words at him earlier in the day?

　　It was several days later that he was finally able to have a conversation．I held his hand gently, afraid of hurting him．

　　“Daddy…I am so sorry…．”

　　“It's okay, sweetheart．I'll be okay．”

　　“No,”I said,“I mean about what I said to you that day．You know, that morning?”

　　My father could no more tell a lie than he could fly．He looked at me and said．“Sweetheart, I don't remember anything about that day, not before, during or after the accident．I remember kissing you goodnight the night before, though．”He managed a weak smile．

　　My English teacher once told me that words have immeasurable power．They can hurt or they can heal．And we all have the power to choose our words．I intend to do that very carefully from now on．