阅读理解

　　At a meeting, a well-known speaker lifted up a bill of 20 dollars before starting his speech．

　　Facing 200 people, he asked,“Who wants this 20-dollar bill?”A great many hands were put up．Then he continued to say,“I intended to give it to any one of you, but allow me to do a thing before giving it to you．”Suddenly he crumpled(揉)it into a round mass．Then he asked,“Who wants it?”Still some hands were lifted up．

　　He asked again,“Well, how could it be if I do it like this?”he threw the bill onto the ground, stepped on it and twisted it．As he picked it up, the bill had become not only dirty but wrinkled．

　　“Who still wants it?”Still a few people put up their hands．

　　“My dear friends, you have had a meaningful class．No matter how I treated this bill, you still want it, because it is worth 20 dollars．On your life road, you may be knocked down(击垮)or even broken into pieces by your determination or unfavorable situations．We may feel ourselves worth nothing, but, my darling, remember that whatever happens in the future, you should never lose your value(价值)in the God's heart．You're particular－never forget it．”

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　　Honesty is the best policy, as the English saying goes．Unfortunately, honesty often leaves us when no one is watching, British psychologists reported last week．

　　Researchers at UK's Newcastle University set up an experiment in their psychology department's coffee room．

　　They set a kettle, with tea, coffee and milk on the counter and hung up a sign listing the price for drinks．People helping themselves to a cup of tea were supposed to put a few cents in the box nearby．

　　The scientists hung a poster above the money box, and changed each week between pictures of gazing(注视的)eyes and pictures of flowers．The researchers found that staff paid 2.76 times more for their drinks when the image of the eyes was hung．

　　“We were shocked by the size of the effect,”said Gilbert Roberts, one of the researchers．

　　Eyes are known to be a powerful perceptual(知觉的)signal for humans, scientists say．

　　“Even though the eyes were not real, they still seemed to make people behave more honestly,”said Melissa Bateson, a behavioral biologist and leader of the study．

　　Researchers believe the effect throws light on our evolutionary(进化的)past．It may arise from behavioral characteristics that developed when early humans formed social groups to strengthen their chances of survival．For social groups to work, individuals had to co-operate, rather than act selfishly．“There's an argument that if nobody is watching us, it is in our interests to behave selfishly．But when we're being watched we should behave better．So people see us as co-operative and behave the same way towards us,”Bateson said．

　　The new finding indicates that people have a striking response to eyes．That might be because eyes and faces send a strong biological signal we have evolved to respond to, Bateson said．

　　The finding could be put to practical use．For example, images of eyes could ensure ticket sales on public transport and improve surveillance(监视)systems to deter antisocial(反社会)behaviour．

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　　I like to feed the birds on my balcony; I live in an apartment and can't have any pets as it is against the rules．I mainly get sparrows and a couple of pigeons(鸽子)．All bring joy to my heart．

　　The other day, one pigeon got himself stuck in my balcony fence(护栏)．I thought he was dead．It made me san and then, when I went outside, he started to struggle, and my heart was filled with joy．

　　As I approached the bird, he froze, perhaps in fear．I like to think that he could feel the sense of my not wanting to harm him．I gently placed my hand under him and lifted him up to set him free．He flew up to the roof of my flat and watched as I put the usual seeds out．Though still in pain, he came right back down to my balcony and ate his breakfast with the rest of the birds．

　　It was amazing that my little feathered friend recovered from the situation．He didn't sit on the roof looking down at the evil balcony that had tried to trap him．Down he came to eat his breakfast and live the life he was meant to live．

　　Another thing I have noticed is that while feeding, some birds tend to chase(追逐)the others away．The funny part is that they can't chase all of them away and that while they are so busy doing this, they are missing out on the food．

　　How often do we behave like that in life?Instead of just getting on with the job, we watch and attack others．Then we find that while we have been busy trying to prove how good we are, all of a sudden a quiet achiever has managed to do the job and harvest the rewards we were so trying to get．

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　　In the world of fairy tales, great and powerful men are often helped to victory by the small and weak．But in the US it has happened for real．

　　Nine-year-old Noah McCullough from Texas, has taken on the role of speaking to the public in support of President George W．Bush's social security reforms．

　　On February 25 he signed an agreement with the American Congress(国会)to work for the White House as a volunteer．“What I want to tell people about social security is not to be afraid of the new plan,”Noah said．“It may be a change, but it's a good change．”

　　Besides this task, he already has a higher goal．He plans to run for the White House in 2032．So far, Noah seems to have a very bright future．

　　Despite his age, Noah already has his firm opinion on running the US．“I firmly believe that the combination of large business and small governments creates a peaceful and present society because industry can stimulate(刺激)economic growth,”he said．

　　Noah's politics do not come from his parents．“He is very patriotic(爱国的)and very republican,”said Noah's mother, Donna McCullough．“It's the way he was born．”

　　Noah's interest began after a mock(模拟)election in the kindergarten when he was five years old．Now he has read more than 3,000 books on presidential history．He can recite the names of all 43 American presidents．He can also describe the achievements and events that took place during a president's term of office．

　　His unusual experiences in the presidential campaign last year made him a famous figure．He was a member of Bush's presidential campaign team．He gave speeches at the Republican convention(大会)and followed Bush around on his tour of 27 states．President Bush thinks highly of the boy, saying that he is“the miracle kid of the White House”．

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　　Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago．He studied the observations of comets(彗星)which other scientists had made．The orbit(轨道)of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem．He could not figure it out．Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems．

　　However, Halley had a friend named Isaac Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician．Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it．He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse(椭圆形)．

　　Now Halley set to work．He figured out(解决，计算出)the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists．He made a surprising discovery．The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit．Yet their appearance had been 75 to 76 years apart．

　　This seemed very strange to Halley．Three different comets followed the same orbit．The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets as people thought．He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times．The comet had gone away and had come back again．

　　It was an astonishing idea!Halley felt certain to make a prediction(预言)of what would happen in the future．He decided that this would appear in the year 1758．There were 53 years to go before Halley's prediction could be tested．In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky．Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before．Ever since then that comet had been called Halley's comet, in his honor．

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　　It was a quiet village in which there was a military camp．It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains around．Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers．But it was difficult for the young men to go outside．Mr．White, an officer of forty, was strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp．

　　Once Mr．White was ill in bed．He couldn't work and a young officer, Mr．Hunt, began to train the new soldiers instead of him．He knew the young men well and let nine soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday．But night fell and none came back to the camp．He was worried about it and stood at the gate．It was five to twelve when Mr．Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening with the young men．He started the car quickly and set off．At that moment the nine soldiers came back．It seemed they were all drunk．Of course they found the officer was angry．

　　“I'm sorry, sir,”said the first soldier．“I left the town on time．But something was wrong with my bus on my way here．I had to buy a horse and made it run fast．Bad luck!It died and I had to run back．”

　　And the other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons．It was the last soldier's turn．He said,“I'm sorry, sir．I got on a bus on time, but…”

　　Having heard this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once．He called out,“If you say something was wrong with your bus, I'll punish you at once!”

　　“No, no, sir,”said the young man．“My bus was all right, but the dead horses were in its way!”

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　　Music is an international language．The songs that are sung or played by instruments are beautiful to all people everywhere．

　　Popular music in America is what every student likes．Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class and at lunch．Students with cars buy large speakers(扬声器)and play the music loudly as they drive on the street．

　　Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work．They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, politics, and activities of the American people．But most of the radio broadcast is music．

　　Pop or popular music singers make much money．They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in every state．Once the popular singer is heard throughout the country, young people buy his or her tapes．Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer．Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her．Now the singer has become a national star．

　　Besides pop music, there are two other kinds of music that is important to Americans．One is called folk music．It tells stories about the common life of Americans．The other is called western or country music．This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching．Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music．

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　　Once a boy's high school career was continually interrupted, for his father is a horse trainer, who would go from stable(马厩)to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch(牧场), training horses．When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up．

　　He wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning a horse ranch someday．He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track．Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch．

　　Next day he handed it in to his teacher, but two days later when he received his paper back he found a large red F with a note that read,“See me after class”on the front page．

　　The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked,“Why did I receive an F?”The teacher said,“This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you．Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money．You have to buy the land．There's no way you could ever do it．”Then the teacher added,“If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade．”

　　The boy went home and thought about it long and hard．He asked his father what he should do．His father said,“Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this．However, I think it is a very important decision for you．

　　Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all．He stated,“You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream．”

　　Many years later, that same school teacher brought 30 kids to camp out on the boy's ranch for a week．He received a warm welcome there．When the teacher was leaving, he said,“When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer．During those years I stole a lot of kids' dreams．Fortunately you had enough gumption(进取心)not to give up on yours．”

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　　People say that teenagers are no good．They make much noise in shops; they drive wildly up and down in the streets．And at times, some of these things are true．But there are also hard moments in the life of a teenager．

　　A teenager is neither a lovely child, nor a respectable grown-up person．The members of her family consider a teenager a source of trouble．She feels that she has grown up．But she is told that she is just a child and she knows nothing．She sees her elders doing what they like．When she wants to do what she likes, the elders tell her that she should do only what she is told to do．To be a teenager means to be everybody's servant and nobody's master．Elders in the family and in the neighbourhood order a teenager to run errands(跑腿)for them．If he refuses to carry out the orders of his elders, he will be punished．If he behaves like a child, he is told that he is grown up and that he should not be childish．If he hehaves like a grown-up man, he is told that he is disrespectful(失礼)．

　　A teenager becomes a lonely creature in the family．Children enjoy all the love of elders in the family．The teenager gets no love and no respect．So she often runs away from home and finds some joy in the company of the girls of her age．

　　The trouble with teenagers is that they haven't learnt to be controlled．There are too many rules and regulations for us to obey．It hasn't yet occurred to us to run a zigzag(曲折)pattern．Although we teenagers have a miserable time with our family members and elders, we have a very good time with our friends and in schools and colleges．So we teenagers spend most of our good time and have fun with our friends and classmates rather than with parents．

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　　The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled(贴…标签)by anthropologists(人类学家)．Descriptions like“Palaeolithic Man”．“Neolithic Man”,etc．neatly sum up whole periods．When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label“Legless Man”．Histories of the time will go something like this：“in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs．Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age．There were lifts in all large buildings to prevent people from walking．And the surprising thing is that they didn't use their legs even when they went on holiday．”

　　The future history books might also record that we were deprived(剥夺)of the use of our eyes．In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way．Air travel gives you a bird's-eye view of the world．When you travel by car or train, an unclear picture of the countryside constantly dirties the windows．Car drivers, especially, are mixed with the urge to go on and on：they never want to stop．The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says“I've been there．”You mention the farthest, and someone is sure to say“I've been there”－meaning,“I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else．”

　　When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing：you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place．But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless．You want to move on again．By traveling like this, you won't experience anything．The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present．

　　For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing：he arrives somewhere with every step he makes．He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body．At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical tiredness．He knows that sound, satisfying sleep will be his：the just reward of all true travelers．

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