阅读理解

　　Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea．People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive．It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity．Some of them were not sure how to use it．They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves．Then they served them mixed with butter and salt．They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches．

　　Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century．During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it．

　　At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea．Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added．She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk．Because she was such a great lady her friends thought they must copy everything she did, so they also drank their tea with milk in it．Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk．

　　At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess(公爵夫人)found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o’clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it．She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born．

阅读理解

　　As we all know, it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of the Independence．He wrote it in two weeks, and after a few changes, it was accepted by the Congress．As a result, he became famous．

　　Born in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, a brilliant student at school and almost talented lawyer later, was much interested in politics．

　　Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia in 1779, and he was sent to France as the representative of the American government in 1784．Sixteen years later, at the age of 57, he was elected president after Washington and Adams．

　　Far from a handsome man, he was tall with long arms and big hands．Jefferson, who was an amusing talker in conversation but a poor speaker, was generally good-natured．

　　Jefferson was regarded as a defender of freedom on America．As a president, he protected the right of free speech．Interestingly enough, in his eight years as President, Jefferson never vetoed a bill which Congress had passed．He did a lot in organizing the new University of Virginia．

　　Thomas Jefferson died on July the fourth, 1826, the 50th anniversary of American Independence．

阅读理解

　　More than seven hundred years ago, the Prince of Wales had a very big and brave dog called Gelert．One day the Prince wanted to go hunt-ing with his men．He told his dog to stay at home and look after his baby son．The baby was in a wooden cradle, which was like a small bed．When the Prince came back from hunt-ing, Gelert ran out to meet his master．He wagged his tail and jumped up to put his paws on the Prince's chest．Then the Prince saw the blood on Gelert's jaws and head．

　　"What have you done?" the Prince said．He rushed into his house and looked for his baby son．The cradle was lying on its side on the floor．The clothes were torn and there was blood on them．

　　"So you have killed my son?" the Prince said angrily．"You unfaithful dog!" He took out his sword and killed the dog．Just as Gelert was dying, he managed to bark．Then the Prince heard a baby call to the dog．

　　The Prince ran out of the house and saw his son lying on the ground unhurt．Near him was a dead wolf．Then the Prince knew that Gelert had defended the baby and killed the wolf．

　　The Prince ran back into the house but he was too late．Gelert was dead．The Prince was very sad indeed．Tears ran down his face when he realized 'he had killed his faith-ful friend．The Prince carried the body of his brave dog to the top of a mountain and buried him there．After this, the Prince never smiled again．Every morning at dawn, he walked up the mountain and stood by the dog's grave for a few minutes．

　　If you go to Mount Snowdon in Wales, people will show you where Gelert is buried．There is a sign by his grave．It reminds peo-ple of a brave and faithful dog．

阅读

　　A “blogger” is a person who writes on an Internet computer Web site called a “blog”．The word “blog” is a short way of saying Web log, or personal Web site．Anyone can start a blog, and they can write about anything they like．

　　There are millions of blogs on the Internet today．They provide news, information and ideas for many people who read them．They contain links to other Web sites．And they provide a place for people to write about their ideas and react to the ideas of others．

　　A research company called Perscus has studied more than 300 Web logs．It says that blogs are most popular with teenage girls．They use them to let their friends know what is happening in their lives．The study also says that more than 100,000 bloggers stopped taking part in the activity after a year．

　　However, some people develop serious blogs to present political and other ideas．For example, the Republican and Democratic parties in the southern state of Kentucky recently started their own blogs．And American companies are beginning to use blogs to advertise their products．

　　At the same time, some long-standing blogs have ended last week; blogging leader Dave Winer closed his free blog service “weblogs．Com”．He says the site became too costly to continue．He started the blog four years ago．And thousands of people had written on it．They are now upset because they did not know that the site was closing．

　　One blog that is still going strong is called Rebecca’s Pocket．Rebecca Blood created the Website in 1999．She wrote about the history of blogs on the site．That article led to a book called “The Weblog Handbook”．It has been translated into four languages so far．

　　Ms．Blood says Rebecea's Pocket gets about 30,000 visitors a month．She writes about anything and everything--politics, culture and movies．She recently provided medical advice．And she wrote about how to prevent people from stealing money from on-line bank accounts．

阅读

　　It is important for Americans to thank other people for favors even if what the other person did was very small．Both children and older people should be thanked for any kind act．The person accepting the thanks usually says something to make the favor seem small, or says that it was his pleasure to help you, or simply, “You’re welcome．”

　　It is equally important to apologize when you have hurt or disappointed someone．When possible, you should always add a reasonable explanation or excuse for your behavior．When there is some loss or damage to personal property(财产), the person responsible(负责)for the loss should both apologize and offer to pay for the item．

　　Most of the time the other person accepts the apology graciously and doesn’t show any disappointment or anger．But if the problem was really serious or it happened several times before, the person might say something how he feels．

阅读

　　One night about nine o'clock, Dr．Eyck, a surgeon(外科医师), had a phone call from Dr．Haydon at the hospital in Clens Falls．The surgeon was asked to go there at once to operate on a very sick boy who shot himself while playing with a gun．

　　The doctor was soon on his way to Clens Falls．it was sixty miles away．And it was snowing heavily in the city．The surgeon thought he could get there before 12 o'clock．

　　A few minutes later, the doctor was stopped by a man in an old black coat．Gun in hand, the man ordered the doctor to get out．Then the man drove the car down the road, leaving the doctor in the falling snow．

　　It was after two o'clock in the morning when the doctor arrived at the hospital in Clens Falls．Dr．Haydon told him that the boy had died an hour before．

　　The two doctors walked by the door of the hospital waiting room．There sat the man in the old black coat with his head in his hand．

　　"Mr．Cunningham," said Dr．Haydon to the man, "this is Dr．Eyck．He is a surgeon who came all the way from Albany to save your boy．"

阅读理解

　　We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter．We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine．Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack．Sometimes it is an ingredient in the main course of a meal．Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken．The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices like chili peppers．

　　Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree．The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say“Ugh!”and run away．Workers must first dry and then roast the beans．This removes the bitter taste．

　　The word“chocolate”comes from a Mayan word．The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico．They valued the cacao tree．Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink．

　　When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too．Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine．No one had the idea of adding sugar．The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes．Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion．

　　In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao．It quickly became a cheap and popular drink．Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate．Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together．People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better．

　　Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie．Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and of course an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce．

阅读理解

　　Once many years ago, I pulled a family out of a burning car somewhere in Wyoming．Last week I received a telephone call from a woman who could not stop crying as she told me that one of my stories had saved her son from committing suicide．In closing she called me a hero．

　　That got me thinking about what a hero is．Was I a hero because I pulled a family from a burning car?If so, how could I be a hero just because I wrote a story that saved someone's life?

　　Today I decided to look up the word“hero”in the dictionary to see exactly what it meant．It read“a person who does something brave”．As I read on, it also said“a person who is good and noble．”

　　That statement impressed me more than the part about being brave．So I thought about something very important．Say I was walking into the local Wal-Mart Store and I happened to open, and hold the door for someone as a courtesy．As they passed by, I say,“How are you today?”Most of the time that would be no big deal, but this time let's say it was for someone who was deeply depressed and near the end of the rope．That may have very well been the only kindness or courtesy shown to them in a very long time．

　　Having been near“the end of my rope”, after my marriage of twenty years ended, I was in such a condition．I was within hours trying to get up enough courage to end the pain and misery．When I returned home, someone had sent me a card in the mail which told me how much they would appreciate me as a friend．That wonderful card probably saved my life．That person, without even knowing it, saved a life and became a hero．

　　The many stories I kept writing in the following years saved the life of a teenage boy．In turn that makes the person who sent me the card a double hero．I suppose that is why I fight so hard to help the children now living in orphanages(孤儿院)．Most children come out of these institutions with a very hard and bitter attitude against the world．The gifts we send them let them know that they have not been forgotten．Hopefully, most of them will never hurt anyone because of the kindness shown to them by those of us who cared．If it works, we will also become“heroes”．

　　Gee, who would have ever thought that anyone can become a hero, and possibly save a life, just by being kind and courteous to others?The best part of all is that becoming a hero is free to all who wish to wear such an honor．

阅读理解

　　Our grand China tour will show you a different China!

　　But you are required to present a US passport when entering China．For some important information on how to apply for a passport, see the following forms．

阅读理解

　　“Choo, Choo!”Here comes the Chunnel train．Get aboard if you want to learn more about this underground transportation system．This is an unusual form of transportation, because it is a tunnel that trains travel through and not an actual form of transportation．

　　The Chunnel is actually the English nickname for the Channel Tunnel．In French, it is called le tunnel sous la Manche．It is a rail tunnel beneath the English Channel at the Straits of Dover．It connects Cheriton in Kent, England with Sangatte in northern France．It is the second longest rail tunnel in the world．

　　Did you know that the British and the French had a race while they were building the Chunnel?The race was to see who could get to the middle of the tunnel first．The British won by a little bit．It took 15,000 workers over seven years to dig the tunnel．The tunnel was finished in 1994．

　　The completed Chunnel cost about ＄21 billion．But it all paid off, because it became very popular, very quick．Millions of people use it．Now it is getting even more popular．

　　There are three complete tunnels in the Chunnel．The two outside ones are the passenger trains．The small inner one is a guidance train．The guidance train is not used for transportation．Each track is exactly parallel to each other．

　　There are four different train systems in the Chunnel．The Eurostar is a high speed passenger service that connects London, Paris, Brussels, and Lille．The Eurotunnel shuttle is a rail ferry service．These shuttles carry cars．These are railcars that allow drivers to drive their vehicles on and off．There are also two Eurotunnel goods service trains．

　　Now you know more about the Chunnel．Everybody off, this is the last stop．