阅读理解

　　As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation．Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down．But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body．

　　Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it．In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be．A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life．It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health．

　　The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual．Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities, others lose heart at the first sign of unusual difficulties．When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically．In fact we make choice between“flight or fight”and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between life or death．The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response．It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered．Since we can't remove stress from our lives(it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it．

阅读理解

　　A week ago, I had the great pleasure of reading an e-book, When Money Talks, Listen!By Rich Ezzo．It took only about an hour to read．

　　When I first received a copy, I thought it was a Get Rich Quick type of publication．Nothing is wrong with Get Rich Quick, but my mind just doesn't chase after dreams of wealth．I think that if God ever wants me to be rich, he knows where to find my purse．

　　When I began reading When Money Talks, Listen!, I was overjoyed to find that Rich Ezzo isn't money hungry either．He, too, is hungry far more important than money．

　　Since I love this e-book so much, why wait a week to write the review?Simple．I wanted to see if the effect it had on me was a keeper．After reading the last word of the e-book, I totally agreed with the subtitle which promised to forever change the way we thought about money．I had so many thoughts running around my mind that I had to install(安装)a stoplight to stop some while others made their way into the picture, then I yielded(让路)them as a few ones arrived in town．I had a mental traffic jam, which only goes to show how slow the traffic usually is．

　　It has been a week and the effect is the same．I truly do look at money differently and have even done a few things differently this week．This is an e-book you'll want to read, I promise．I often recommend books to my daughter, and this is one that I didn't just“suggest”－I left it open at the bottom of the computer and told each one,“Read it, you'll love it．”

　　I would never point someone in a direction I wouldn't go myself．I urge you to visit the author's website, Myster Money, and to download the e-book．You won't regret it．

阅读理解

　　A woman renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk's office was asked to state her occupation．She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself．

　　“What I mean is,”explained the recorder,“do you have a job, or are you just a…”

　　“Of course I have a job,”said Emily．“I'm a mother．”

　　“We don't list‘mother’as an occupation…‘housewife’covers it,”said the recorder．

　　One day I found myself in the same situation．The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title．“What is your occupation?”she asked．

　　The words simply popped out．“I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations．”

　　The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair．

　　I repeated the title slowly, and then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire．

　　“Might I ask,”said the clerk with new interest,“Just what you do in this field?”

　　Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply,“I have a continuing program of research(what mother doesn't), in the lab and in the field(normally I would have said indoors and out)．Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities(any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day(24 is more like it)．But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money．”

　　There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out．

　　As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up(依托)by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants－ages 13, 7, and 3．

　　Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model(a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern．

　　I felt proud!I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable(不可缺少的)to mankind than“just another mother．”

　　Motherhood…What a glorious career!Especially when there's a title on the door．

阅读理解

　　Throughout the history of the arts, the nature of creativity has remained constant to artists．No matter what objects they select, artists are to bring forth new forces and forms that cause change-to find poetry where no one has ever seen or experienced it before．

　　Landscape(风景)is another unchanging element of art．It can be found from ancient times through the 17th-century Dutch painters to the 19th-century romanticists and impressionists．In the 1970s Alfred Leslie, one of the new American realists, continued this practice．Leslie sought out the same place where Thomas Cole, a romanticist, had produced paintings of the same scene a century and a half before．Unlike Cole who insists on a feeling of loneliness and the idea of finding peace in nature, Leslie paints what he actually sees．In his paintings, there is no particular change in emotion, and he includes ordinary things like the highway in the background．He also takes advantage of the latest developments of color photography(摄影术)to help both the eye and the memory when he improves his painting back in his workroom．

　　Besides, all art begs the age-old question：What is real?Each generation of artists has shown their understanding of reality in one form or another．The impressionists saw reality in brief emotional effects, the realists in everyday subjects and in forest scenes, and the Cro-Magnon cave people in their naturalistic drawings of the animals in the ancient forests．To sum up, understanding reality is a necessary struggle for artists of all periods．

　　Over thousands of years the function of the arts has remained relatively constant．Past or present, Eastern or Western, the arts are a basic part of our immediate experience．Many and different are the faces of art, and together they express the basic need and hope of human beings．

阅读理解

　　Photos that you might have found down the back of your sofa are now big business!

　　In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince's photograph of a photograph, Untitled(Cowboy), was sold for ＄1, 248, 000．

　　Prince is certainly not the only contemporary artist to have worked with so-called“found photographs”－a loose term given to everything from discarded(丢弃的)prints discovered in a junk shop to old advertisements or amateur photographs from a stranger's family album．The German artist Joachim Schmid, who believes“basically everything is worth looking at”, has gathered discarded photographs, postcards and newspaper images since 1982．In his on-going project, Archiv, he groups photographs of family life according to themes：people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on．

　　Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion(捍卫)found photographs．One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷)an angry note intended for some else：“Why's your car HERE at HER place?”The note became the starting point for Rothbard's addictive publication, which features found photographs sent in by readers, such a poster discovered in our drawer．

　　The whole found-photograph phenomenon has raised some questions．Perhaps one of the most difficult is：can these images really be considered as art?And if so, whose art?Yet found photographs produced by artists, such Richard Prince, may riding his horse hurriedly to meet someone?Or how did Prince create this photograph?It's anyone's guess．In addition, as we imagine the back-story to the people in the found photographs artists, like Schmid, have collated(整理), we also turn toward our own photographic albums．Why is memory so important to us?Why do we all seek to freeze in time the faces of our children, our parents, our lovers, and ourselves?Will they mean anything to anyone after we've gone?

阅读理解

　　The Svalbard Global Seed Vault had its first birthday on Feb.26, an anniversary it celebrated by receiving 90,000 new samples of seeds．The Vault is a repository(储藏室)of samples from national seed banks across the globe-almost every country in the world has one．Their purpose, of course, is to back up native plant varieties．If climate conditions change, or a disease threatens crops currently in use, plant breeders can go to seed banks to try to grow new crops．The seed diversity preserved in these banks can mean the difference between feast and famine．

　　But these banks tend to be located in developing countries, where budgets are tight and conditions are less than stable．One disaster-like the invasion of Iraq, in the aftermath(不幸事件)of which a seed bank containing ancient varieties of wheat was destroyed-and seeds can be lost forever, often before scientists even know what they have．“That's like burning books before we open them,”says Cary Fowler, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust．

　　Svalbard is the best help－or, as Fowler calls it, the“Noah's Ark of seeds”．The Vault stands on the far northern Norwegian island of Longyearbyen, where the Arctic cold would help keep the seeds viable(能发育的)if the eletricity that powers the vault's cold storage should fail．(Seeds can remain dormant but usable for centuries if they're kept cool and dry．)The location isn't an accident－should something truly horrific happen, from extreme climate change to nuclear war, remote Svalbard should remain protected, and capable of restarting global agriculture．“It's a kind of insurance policy,”says Fowler．

　　But it's not just a plan B in case of global catastrophe．Fowler believes that global warming will take a toll on agriculture．To keep growing food, we'll need to make use of crop varieties better equipped to resist heat and drought; breeders sifting through(筛选)Svalbard's unparalleled collection of seeds today may descover tomorrow's crops．“This isn't just a time capsule,”says Fowler．“It's a living institution, built to address individual catastrophes, as well as golbal ones．”

阅读理解

　　Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another．Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open．People here change jobs and move house quite often．As a result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time, and they need to get to know people quickly．So it's normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal．

　　On the other hand there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long-term relationships are more important．A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business．But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society．

　　To Americans, both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first．On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it's no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don't want to answer．

　　Cross-cultural differences aren't just a problem for travelers, but also for the flights that carry them．All flights want to provide the best service, but ideas about good service are different from place to place．This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with．

　　Some societies have‘universalistic’cultures．These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way．

　　‘Particularistic’societies, on the other hand, also have rules, but they are less important than the society's unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person．So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person．

　　This difference can cause problems．A traveler from a particularistic society, India, is checking in for a flight in Germany, a country which has a universalistic culture．The Indian traveler has two much luggage, but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family．He expects that the check-in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him．The check-in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage, it wouldn't be fair to the other passengers．But the traveler thinks this is unfair, because the other passengers don't have his problem．

阅读理解

　　The website YouTube was created in 2005 and became an overnight success．Google bought YouTube for more than ＄1,600,000 the following year．In May, YouTube announced that two billion videos were watched each day．

　　In June, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City announced it would hold a competition among YouTube videos．Now, the judges have chosen the top 125 videos．

　　The Guggenheim and YouTube launched the competition called“YouTube Play．A Biennial(两年一度)of Greative Video．”The information technology companies HP and Intel are supporting the event．23,000 videos entered the competition．They represented 91 countries and every possible style of movie making．

　　The rules of the competition were few．Video makers had to be eighteen years or older．They could enter only one video．It had to be no more than ten minutes long．Any language, subject, sound, and style were considered．

　　Eleven people are judging the videos．They include artists, musicians, and filmmakers．Laurie Anderson is all three．She says all her art starts with a story, so she looks for a story as she judges the videos．

　　Other judges include the filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, the band Animal Collective, and artist and filmmaker, Shirin Neshat．

　　New Jersey artist Dahlia Elsayed's video is one of the finalists．She used the camera in her computer to record herself describing her daily food desires for one month．The video is simple, short, and interesting．

　　A frightening, but beautiful video came from Chile．The video by Niles Atallah, Joaquin Cocina Varas, and Cristobal Leon is called“Luis”．It is an animated ghostly story of a tense, angry boy．It is very dark, but impossible to stop watching．

　　“Mars to Jupiter”is a video from Canada by Sterling Pache．It is about a survivor of the 1994 genocide(种族屠杀)in Rwanda．The video explores how her past still haunts(萦绕)her．

　　Other chosen videos are from France, Spain, Taiwan, Australia, and Israel．Almost thirty countries are represented．You can see them if you link to YouTube Play from our website at voaspecialenglish.com．

　　People can also see the 125 videos at the Guggenheim museums in New York; Bilbao, Spain; Berlin, Germany; and Venice, Italy．

　　On October 21, the YouTube Play judges will announce the final twenty winning videos at a special event at the Guggenheim in New York．The videos will be on view there until October 24．

阅读理解

　　BEIJING.Oct.14(Xinhua)－A total of 120 middle school students from 35 countries will attend the final of an international China language contest, to be held in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality from Oct.16 to 30．

　　The candidates, aged from 15 to 20, must be from foreign countries and not native Chinese speakers, said a statement issued by the Chinese Language Council(CLC), the contest's organizer, here Thursday．

　　All of the candidates have passed the preliminary contests(初赛)held in their own countries．

　　According to the organizer, the competition will have a top prize, five second prizes, 10 third prizes and a dozen prizes for special talents．The organizer will also launch an online vote for“the most liked candidate．”

　　It was the third year China has held the contest．

　　“The competition not only tests the proficiency of Chinese language but also the candidates'capability to communicate across different cultures,”the statement said．

　　All the candidates in the final will receive scholarships from the Chinese government, said Hu Hangyu, an official with the Education Bureau of the Chongqing Municipality, jointly organizing the contest．

　　They will also meet local Chinese students and live with Chinese families, Hu said．

　　“The competition is to meet the increasing demand for Chinese learning by foreign youngsters,”said Xu Lin, the CLC director．

　　The CLC has also hosted similar contest for foreign college students since 2002．

　　China has been working to promote Chinese language learning abroad over the past few years．According to the CLC, the country had 282 Confucius Institutes and 272“Confucius Classrooms”in 88 countries and regions as of 2009 since the first one was established in 2004．

阅读理解

　　“Dr.Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?”

　　The usual laughter followed, and people stirred(骚动)to go．Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was．

　　“I will answer your question．”

　　Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter．And what he said went like this：

　　“When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village．One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror．A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place．

　　I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece．This one, and, by scratching it on a stone, I made it round．I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine－in deep holes and crevices(裂缝)and dark closets．It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find．

　　I kept the little mirror, and, as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game．As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life．I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light．But light－truth, understanding, knowledge－is there, and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it．

　　I am a fragment(碎片)of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know．Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world－into the black places in the hearts of men－and change some things in some people．Perhaps others may see and do likewise．This is what I am about．This is the meaning of my life．”