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　　Elvis lives．At least he does today, in the hearts of tens of thousands showing their faithful love for the King on the 25^th anniversary of his death．Refusing to let go of fond memories, fans are once again flooding to Graceland, Elvis’ house．This annual event is informally known as “Dead Elvis Week”, an almost religious journey in memory of Elvis’ death on August 16, 1977．

　　Feeling like a cross between an Easter night and Mardi Gras, the week of sadness is hardly a sad affair．In fact, it includes all kinds of parties, concerts, and memorials．The highlight, however, is a candlelight night that more than 10, 000 fans from all over the world took part in．In twos and threes, they walk up to the small poolside garden where Elvis is buried．“The King of Rock’n’ Roll” may be dead, but for these devotees, he is never truly gone．

　　Elvis Aaron Presley wasn’t born a king．As a matter of fact, he grew up dirt-poor in rural Tennessee．Legend(传奇)has it that Elvis was working as a truck driver in Memphis when he made his first recording：a late birthday gift for his mother．Later, when the owner of Sun Records, Sam Phillips, heard Elvis’ stirring voice, he thought he had finally found what he had been looking for－a white man who sounded black．Phillips boasted(夸口)that with Elvis on his label, he would make a million dollars．

　　Early Sun recordings had Elvis on songs and guitar, supported by another guitar and a stand-up bass．He was playing the kind of material he would one day become famous for：blues and country songs．It was a long way from the white jumpsuits and Las Vegas-style concerts everyone now connects with Elvis．But those early recordings helped what the world now knows as rock’n’roll come into being．

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　　The traffic follows the “keep right rule”．While driving, drive on the right side of the road．On one-way, multiple lanes(车道)road, the right-most lane would be slowest and left-most lane is fastest．

　　Though indicators(车的指示灯)are used for the purpose of showing which direction you are going, knowing some hand signals is very important and are usually always asked in a driving test．When you want to turn right, you can put your left hand out of the window and point upward．When you want to make a left turn, you can reach your left arm out of the window and point to the left．If you want to slow down or stop, you can just point downward．

　　Yellow school buses have flashing red lights and stop signs that reach out from the driver’s side．The drivers use these warning signals when letting pupils on and off．No matter which side of the road you are traveling on, if you come upon a school bus with its lights flashing and a stop sign used, you must stop．It’s the law．Remain stopped until the lights stop flashing or the stop sign is removed．

　　Using horns is not common in America．Actually they are very rarely used．You may use your horn to warn walkers or other drivers of possible trouble or to avoid accidents．Do not use your horn to express anger or complain about other drivers’ mistakes or to try to get a slow driver to move faster．

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　　Creativity is the key to a brighter future, say education and business experts．Here is how schools and parents can encourage this important skill in children．

　　If Dick Drew had listened to his boss in 1925, we might not have a product that we now think of as of great importance：a new type of tape．Drew worked for the Minnesota Mining company．At work he developed a kind of material strong enough to hold things together．But his boss told him not to think more about the idea．Finally, using his own time, Drew improved the tape, which now is used everywhere by many people．And his former company learned from its mistake．Now it encourages people to spend 15 percent of their work time just thinking about and developing new ideas．

　　Creativity is not something one is just born with, nor is it necessarily a character(特征)of high intelligence．The fact that a person is highly intelligent does not mean that he uses it creatively．Creativity is the matter of using the resources one has to produce new ideas that are good for something．Unfortunately, schools have not tried to encourage creativity．With strong attention to test results and the development of reading, writing and mathematical skills, many educators give up creativity for correct answers．The result is that children can give back information but cannot recognize ways to use it in new situations．They may know the rules correctly, but they are unable to use them to work out practical problems．

　　It is important to give children choices．From the earliest age, children should be allowed to make decisions and understand their results．Even if it’s choosing between two food items for lunch, decision-making helps thinking skills．As children grow older, parents should let their children decide how to use their time or spend their money, but not help them too much if they make the wrong decision．The child may have a hard time, but that is all right．This is because the most important character of creative people is a very strong desire to find a way out of trouble．

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　　I was driving home one evening at about 5, caught in traffic, and the car started to die－I hardly managed to get into a gas station, glad only that I would have a warm spot to wait for the tow truck(拖车)．Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the “ Quickie Mart” building, then suddenly she slipped(滑倒)on some ice and fell down, so I got out to see if she was okay．

　　When I got there, it looked like she had been overcome by weep than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked exhausted with dark circles under her eyes．She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up and gave it to her．It was a coin．

　　At that moment, everything came into focus(变得清晰)for me：the crying woman, the ancient Suburban(雪佛兰汽车)packed full of stuff and three kids in the back, and the gas pump(汽油泵)reading ＄4.95．

　　I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying “I don’t want my kids to see me crying,” so we stood at the other side of the pump from her car．She said she was driving to California for Christmas and that things were very hard for her right now．

　　I took out my credit card and swiped(刷磁卡)it through the card reader on the pump so that she could fill up her car completely, and I bought two big bags of food for her kids in the car who attacked it like wolves．While it was fueling, she asked, “So, are you an angel or something?” I said, “At this time of year, angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses common people．”

　　It was unbelievable to be part of someone else’s miracle．And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem．Sometimes, angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter(摆动)of their wings．

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　　When you’re curious about something, and want to know more about it, you can use the way of asking questions．Asking questions is the first step to make discoveries and find interesting answers．The steps below can guide you during the research．

　　Step 1 On a note card or piece of paper, write down the subject that you are interested in．Just get the main idea down．For example, you might write：

　　Discover more about dinosaurs．

　　Step 2 Next, stop and think for a moment about what you already know about your subject．List what you already know like the sentences below：

　　(1)Dinosaurs lived long before human beings appeared．6

　　(2)Dinosaurs lived on the earth for more than 150 million years．

　　(3)Some dinosaurs fed on plants, some on meat．

　　Step 3 What can you do with what you want to learn? By asking questions．On your paper, start writing down questions about the dinosaurs as you think of them：

　　(1)What’s the best weather for dinosaurs to live in?

　　(2)How many kinds of dinosaurs are there?

　　(3)Have dinosaurs really disappeared?

　　Step 4 Armed with your list of questions, you can now go to the nearest library or computer to begin your research．As you learn more about your subject, you’ll probably discover some new questions．For example, you might discover that dinosaurs disappeared about 65 million years ago．Why? What happened? Asking new questions can help you research your subject more widely．

　　The next time you find something interesting to research, take time to organize your thinking by asking good questions．And remember－learning more always brings more questions．

【题干1】

When you do some research, you should take the following steps：_________．

①list what you want to know

②choose a research subject

③list what you already know

④discover new problems

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　　Plants are very important living things．Life could not go on if there were no plants．This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight．Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight．Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals．Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live．This is why we find that there are so many plants around us．

　　If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants：flowering plants and non-flowering plants．

　　Flowering plants can make seeds．The seeds are protected by the fruits．Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds．But a few fruits have no seeds at all．An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit．

　　Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds．They grow from spores(胚芽)．Spores are very small．Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air．We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds．When these spores are all on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants．

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　　Mr．Peter Johnson, aged twenty-three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water．Mr．Johnson took the only escape route--through the boot(后备箱)．

　　Mr．Johnson’s car had finished up in a ditch(沟)at Romney Marsin, Kent after skidding on ice and hitting a bank．“Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly,” Mr．Johnson said．“I couldn’t force the doors because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in．”

　　Mr．Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home, Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot．Then he began his struggle to escape．

　　Later he said, “It was really a halfpenny that saved my life．It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew the back seat to get into the boot．I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came．”

　　It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot．Then Mr．Johnson found a wrench(扳手)and began to work on the boot lock．Fifteen minutes passed by．“It was the only chance I had．Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in．I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled clear as the car filled up．”

　　His hands and arms cut and bruised(擦伤), Mr．Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer’s wife, Mrs．Lucy Bates．Huddled in a blanket, he said,“That thirty minutes seemed like hours．” “Only the tips of the car wheels were visible”, police said last night．The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch．

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　　Dear iPhone 4 Users,

　　The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product in Apple’s history．It is the best smartphone ever, and most users have told that they love it．So we were surprised when reading reports of reception(信号接收)problems, and we immediately began researching them．

　　To start with, holding tightly(紧紧地)almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars of signal strength．This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many other phones．But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way．This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have said the iPhone 4 has a faulty antenna(天线)design．

　　Upon research, we find that the formula(公式)we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong．Our formula usually mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength．The big drop in bars is because the high bars were never real in the beginning．

　　We will give a free software update to correct the formula．This software update(软件升级)will also be available for iPhone 3GS．If you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of buying and get all your money back．

　　Thank you for your patience and support．

Apple

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　　There was once a professor of medicine, who was very strict with the students．Whenever he took the chair on the exam committee(担任考试委员会主席), the students would be in fear, because he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave．A student would be lucky enough if he or she could receive a good mark from him．At the end of the term, the students of medicine would take their exam again．Now a student entered the exam room and got seated before the committee．This student was a little nervous as he knew it would not be so easy to get through the exam at all．

　　The professor began to ask．The student was required to describe a certain illness, his description of which turned out to be OK．

　　Then the professor asked about the cure(药剂)for illness, and the student, too, answered just as right．

　　“Good,” said the professor, “and how much will you give the patient?”

　　“A full spoon”, answered the student．

　　“Now you may go out and wait for what you can get．”, said the professor．At the same time, the committee discussed carefully the answers the student had given．Suddenly the student noticed that there was something wrong with his last answer．“ A full spoon is too much,” he thought to himself．Anxiously he opened the door of the room and cried, “Mr．Professor, I’ve made a mistake! A full spoon is too much for a patient．He can take only five drops．”

　　“I’m sorry, sir．” said the professor coldly, “But it’s too late．Your patient has died．”

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　　Nothing can spoil a vacation quicker than losing your money or credit cards．A few simple steps before you head out of the door can help protect your cash, card and personal information while you’re traveling．

　　Paul Stephens, a policy analyst San Diego, notes that people spend a lot of time planning their trips, from buying guidebooks to finding just the right beach outfits(装备)．“But their eyes glaze(呆滞)over when the subject of keeping money safe comes up,” he said．

　　“Why not take a few minutes to do something that could probably save your vacation?” Stephens asked．“In most cases, they can go on your to-do list with ‘buy travel bags’ and everything else,” he added．

　　The top recommendation is to clean your wallet．Remove unnecessary credit cards and any other unneeded documents that could compromise(危及…的安全)your identity if lost or stolen while you’re on vocation．

　　Then make a photocopy of the cards you’ve decided to take along and keep it in a secure location with you(not in your wallet)or leave it with a trusted relative or friend back home．Then you will know who you need to contact and how to reach it if your wallet is missing．

　　“Travelers should never leave their wallets or any identifying documents in their hotel room when they’re not there,” he said．“Choose a hotel with a safe to keep your valuable things in．Or keep your wallet and documents with you at all times．”

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