阅读理解

Dear Cary,

　　I'm writing because I've understood you've struggled with alcoholism(酗酒)．I've been fighting mine ever since I went through 9-11．After that, I've been more or less useless professionally-I'm a lawyer-and have had to resign from my job because I was discovered passed-out drunk in front of my computer．I've taken some medicine and it has helped somewhat．I can manage about a month without drinking, but after that I end up having a crazy stage where nothing matters except drinking．After a week or so of heavy drinking, I start having nightmares．After that, it's a week of not being able to get out of bed．

　　I was supposed to travel to a conference but didn't make it because I got so drunk at the airport that I fell down on my face and spent the rest of the day in the emergency room．I have been hiding from my family since then．Fortunately they won't be expecting me to come back for a week or so．Otherwise, they would notice the bump on my forehead and two black eyes．

　　I don't really know what I'm asking you．Cary, I need a way out that doesn't involve causing pain to my family．I'm taking medicine, but I still have these attacks every few months．If there's alcohol in the house, I can't stay away from it．It seems that this will never end．I'm afraid of what will happen if something bad happens, like a family member dying, or getting fired again．

　　Thanks for reading．

Yours

T

阅读理解

　　China news, Beijing, Feb．9-Housing price in China has always aroused heated discussions among property developers and ordinary Chinese．To many property developers and local government officials, housing price in China is still low compared with many developed countries．However, the average housing price in the United States is only 8,000 yuan per square meter, while in China, it is even higher than in the United States．This shows that there are some bubbles(泡沫)in Chinese real estate market, the International Finance News reported．

　　Although the average price of residential houses in the United States, after converted to Renminbi, is about 8,000 yuan per square meter, the houses in US are not sold in terms of building area, as most Chinese property developers do when they sell their houses．If US property developers sell their houses according to the building area, then the housing price will be even lower than 8,000 yuan per square meter．In most big Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, houses are sold at a price even higher than those in the US．

　　The high housing sales price in large cities in China proves that Chinese real estate market does have some bubbles．Moreover, Chinese houses can not be compared with houses in US in terms of building quality, environment and supporting facilities．Furthermore, it should be noted that American people's average income is several dozen times higher than that of Chinese people．How can the Chinese afford to buy a house which is even more expensive than that sold in US?

　　At the beginning of 2007, Chinese government issued a set of policies that aimed to benefit the public．Now in order to reduce the high housing prices, the government can regulate(控制)the real estate market by raising tax on property industry and controlling the release of loans and lands to property developers．At the same time, the government should allow people to build more houses through various fund-raising channels, such as funds collected from buyers or raised by working units．By applying these multiple means, it is expected that the high housing prices can be lowered．

阅读理解

　　“If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it!”

　　That may seem a strange thing to say．But touching things can help you to see them better．

　　Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round．But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is．You can feel how heavy the glass is．When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it．With your skin, you can feel better．For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket．You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too．You can even feel sounds against your skin．Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music?They must like to feel the sounds of music．

　　All children soon learn what“Don't touch!”means．They hear it often．Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up．In shops, we touch things we might buy：food, clothes．To see something well, we have to touch it．The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too．You know this when you walk on warm sand, cool grass or a hard floor．All feel different under your feet．

　　There are ways of learning to see well by feeling．One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin．Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin．At first, it is not easy to feel these things．You are too used to them!

　　Most museums are just for looking．But today some museums have some things to touch．Their signs say,“Do touch!”There you can feel everything on show．

　　If you want to see better, reach out and touch．Then you will really see!

阅读理解

　　The Piccadilly line to Heathrow(伦敦希思罗机场)is not only the most convenient way to travel but also the most cost-effective．So the next time you're travelling to Heathrow, make sure you fly Piccadilly line．

　　Your Piccadilly flight features：

　　●Departures from 36 stops on the Piccadilly line, or from over 200 stations only one change way

　　●Service every 5 minutes to and from Heathrow throughout the day

　　●Journeys from central London taking less than 50 minutes

　　●Only ￡3.70 for a single adult fare

　　●See tables below for journey times

　　Fares to and from central London

　　●Adult single ￡3.70

　　●Child single ￡1.50

　　If you are traveling as a group, then you are allowed to use the Family Travelcard, which means each adult can travel for ￡3.40 and each child for ￡0.80．

　　The group must consist of 1 or 2 adults travelling with 1-4 children(from 09∶30 Monday-Friday and at any time weekends and Public Holidays)．

　　Members within the group do not need to be related．

阅读理解

　　He only finished fourth in this year's Super Boy talent show．But it didn't stop him capturing the hearts of thousands of fans．He can hit high notes with ease．And he is very modest．Zhang Jie,25,shed(流)sweat and tears all the way through the competition, but he never gave up．

　　“No matter how life treats him, he always fights back bravely,”said Wu Chunyan, a Senior 2 student in Hubei．“He has never lost his dream of being a singer．”The road to fame is always rocky, and Zhang is no exception．As a college student he was majoring in tourism．He was considering becoming a tourist guide after graduation until he entered a singing competition．

　　His life changed after he competed in My Show．He won first place and signed with a record company．“I was very excited and regarded it as a way to take me closer to my dream,”he said．But the company gave him little money to make music and slowly began to ignore him．Zhang even borrowed money to buy costumes．“Life has its ups and downs．But the tough reality only makes me stronger,”he said．

　　He forgot he was once a champion of a talent show and joined Super Boy．His decision got support from his family who worked hard to make ends meet．His mother sold rice noodles on a street in his hometown, but she said she would“support him forever．”

　　“I have the dream to buy a large house for my parents, where my mom can get a large window sill to grow flowers,”said Zhang．

阅读理解

　　“Life is speeding up．Everyone is getting unwell．”

　　This may sound like something someone would say today．But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it．

　　We all love new inventions．They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives．

　　But have all these developments really improve the quality of our lives?

　　Picture this：You're rushing to finish your homework on the computer．Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder．Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work．Now you have to stay up all night to get it done．How calm and happy do you feel?

　　Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired．Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier?Perhaps because they lead simpler lives．

　　One family in the UK went“back in time”to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today．The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house．They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones．

　　The grandmother, Lyn, said,“It was hard physically, but not mentally．”She believed life was less materialistic．“The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,”She said．The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer．Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a“fashionable, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things．”

　　Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!

　　Don't be available all the time．Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day．Don't check your e-mail every day．

　　Don't reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can．It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying．

阅读理解

　　Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population．Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago．Because more people live longer, there are more people around at any given time．In fact, it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birthrates, that has led to the population explosion．

　　Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load．In all societies, people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them．In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die．In times of famine(饥荒), infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved, but if the parents survived they could have another child．In most contemporary(当代的)societies, people feel a moral responsibility to keep people alive whether they can work or not．We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work; we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age．Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement, somebody else must support them．In America many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty．Older people have more illness than young or middle-aged people; unless they have wealth or private or government insurance, they must often“go on welfare”if they have a serious illness．

　　When older people become senile(衰老的)or too weak and ill to care for themselves, they create grave problems for their families．In the past and in some traditional cultures, they would be cared for at home until they died．Today, with most members of a household working or in school, there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person．To meet this need, a great many nursing homes and convalescent(疗养的)hospitals have been built．These are often profit-making organizations, although some are sponsored(主办)by religious and other nonprofit groups．While a few of these institutions are good, most of them are simply“dumping(倒垃圾的)grounds”for the dying in which“care”is given by poorly paid, overworked, and under-skilled personnel．

阅读理解

　　There are various reasons why cancers appear to be on the increase．For one thing, though their sufferers are to be found in all age groups, cancers are particularly likely to attack persons in their middle and advanced years．Naturally, since people live longer these years, there are more cancer sufferers than before．Again, with better methods of diagnosis(诊断), doctors can more easily recognize cancerous growths that would formerly have passed unnoticed or that would have been wrongly diagnosed．It is also believed that certain habits and conditions of modern living, including heavy smoking and the pollution of the air, may leave people living in more cancer-causing conditions than before．

　　We all look forward to the day when a simple medical test can find cancer while it is still small．Researchers around the world are working on such a test．Most of their work deals with the examination of the blood．

　　Researchers in Boston have found something in the blood of cancer patients that does not appear in healthy persons．The test showed which persons had cancer and which did not．It was correct more than 90 percent of the time．The researchers believe the test may be able to show cancer very clearly in its development．Cancers discovered early usually can be treated successfully．The test examines very small bits of fat in the blood called lipids(脂质)．Cancers seem to change lipids although doctors do not know why．The test showed differences between the lipids of the persons with cancer and the lipids of those without cancer．The researchers say the new test could be a step to develop a simple way to check patients for cancer before the disease shows on an X-ray．

阅读理解

　　Each week, this program explains the many meanings of English expressions．Today's expressions include a very important word－“heart”．We will try to“get to the heart of the matter”to better understand the most important thing about words and their stories．So“take heart．”Have no fear about learning new expressions．Besides, popular English words can be fun．There is no need for a“heavy heart．”Such feelings of sadness would only“break my heart,”or make me feel unhappy and hopeless．

　　Now, let us suppose you and I were speaking freely about something private．We would be having a“heart to heart”discussion．I might speak from“the bottom of my heart,”or say things honestly and truthfully．I might even“open up my heart”to you and tell you a secret．I would speak with“all my heart”．

　　When a person shares her feelings freely and openly like this, you might say she“wears her heart on her sleeve”．Her emotions are not protected．

　　If we had an honest discussion, both of us would know that the other person's“heart is in the right place．”For example, I would know that you are a“kind-hearted”and well-meaning person．And, if you are a very good person, I would even say that you have“a heart of gold．”However, you might have a“change of heart”based on what I tell you．Our discussion might cause you to change the way you feel about something．

　　But, let us suppose you get angry over what I tell you．Or worse, you feel no sympathy or understanding for me or my situation．If this happens, I might think that you have a“heart of stone．”And, if you say something to make me frightened or worried, my“heart might stand still”．

阅读理解

　　Fear and its companion pain are two of the most useful things that men and animals possess, if they are properly used．If fire did not hurt when it burnt, children would play with it until their hands were burnt away．Similarly, if pain existed but fear didn't, a child would burn himself or herself again and again, because fear would not warn himself or herself to keep away from the fire-that had burnt himself or herself before．A really fearless soldier－and some do exist is not a good soldier because he is soon killed; and a dead soldier is of no use to his army．Fear and pain are therefore two guards without which men and animals might soon die out．

　　In our first sentence we suggested that fear should be properly used．If, for example, you never go out of your house because of the danger of being knocked down and killed in the street by a car, you are letting fear rule you too much．Even in your house you are not absolutely safe：an aero plane may crash on your house, or ants may eat away some of the beams in your roof so that the latter falls on you, or you may get cancer!

　　The important thing is not to let fear rule you, but instead to use fear as your servant and guide．Fear will warn you of dangers; then you have to decide what action to take．

　　In many cases, you can take quick and successful action to avoid the danger．For example, you see a car coming straight towards you．Fear warns you, you jump out of the way, and all is well．

　　In some cases, however, you decide that there is nothing that you can do to avoid the danger．For example, you can't prevent an aero plane crashing onto your house．In this case, fear has given you its warning; you have examined it and decided on your course of action, so fear of this particular danger is no longer of any use to you, and you have to try to overcome it．