阅读理解

　　There was once a blind man, who did a lot of traveling alone．He was making his first trip to Texas and happened to be seated next to a Texan on the flight．

　　The Texan spent a lot of time telling him how everything was bigger and better in Texas．After the blind man reached his destination, a large resort(度假)hotel, he was very excited about being in Texas．

　　The long trip had worn him out a little so he decided to stop at the bar for a small soda and a light snack before going up to his room to sleep．

　　When the waitress set down his drink, it was in a huge cup．“Wow, I had heard everything in Texas is bigger,” he told her．

　　“That’s right,” she replied．The blind man ate his snack and finished his drink．After drinking such a large amount, it was natural that his next stop was to be the restroom．He asked the waitress for directions．She told him to turn left at the corner, and then take the second door on the right．

　　He reached the first door and continued．A few steps later he stumbled(绊倒)slightly and missed the second door and ended up going through the third door instead．Not realizing he had entered the swimming area he walked forward and immediately fell into the swimming pool．

　　Remembering that everything was bigger in Texas, he had his head above water and started shouting “Don’t flush(冲洗)! Don’t flush!”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Self-employed private physicians who charge a fee for each patient visit are the foundation of medical practice in the United States．Most physicians have a contract relationship with one or more hospitals in the community．They send their patients to this hospital, which usually charges patients according to the number of days they stay and the facilities(operating room, tests, medicines that they use)．Some hospitals belong to a city, a state or, in the case of veteran's hospitals, a federal government agency．Others are operated by religious orders(教会)or other non-profit groups．

　　Some medical doctors are on salary．Salaried physicians may work as hospital staff members, or residents, who are often still in training．They may teach in medical schools, be hired by corporations to care for their workers or work for the federal government's Public Health Service．

　　Physicians are among the best paid professionals in the United States．In the 1980s, it was not uncommon for medical doctors to earn incomes of more than ＄ 100 000 a year．Specialists, particularly surgeons, might earn several times that amount．Physicians list many reasons why they deserve to be so well rewarded for their work．One reason is the long and expensive preparation required to become a physician in the United States．Most would-be physicians first attend college for four years, which can cost nearly ＄ 20 000 a year at one of the best private institutions．Prospective physicians then attend medical school for four years．Tuition alone can exceed ＄ 10 000 a year．By the time they have obtained their medical degrees, many young physicians are deeply in debt．They still face three to five years of residency(实习阶段)in a hospital, the first year as an apprentice physician．The hours are long and the pay is relatively low．

　　Setting up a medical practice is expensive, too．Sometimes several physicians will decide to establish a group practice, so they can share the expense of maintaining an office and buying equipment．These physicians also take care of each other's patients in emergencies．

　　Physicians work long hours and must accept a great deal of responsibility．Many medical procedures, even quite routine ones, involve risk．It is understandable that physicians want to be well rewarded for making decisions which can mean the difference between life and death．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Pushy parents and teachers who “hothouse” the under-5s risk causing damage to the children’s long term development, a leading education expert said．

　　Lilian Katz, Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, said that four-year-olds engaged in reading and writing went on to perform worse academically than those engaged in imaginative learning．They scored higher in tests at the age of 5, but children whose first year at school was stimulating outstripped them four years later．

　　The findings suggest that the government's structured approach to early years' learning could be storing up problems for children．They also raise serious questions about the plan for all children to be able to read by the age of 6．

　　In many countries formal teaching does not start until children are 6 or 7 and have improved their social and manual skills．Children start learning to read and write at 6 in the United States, France and Germany, and at 7 in Finland and Sweden．

　　Professor Katz said that in many schools the courses were "boring children to tears"．Much academic teaching required children to learn by memorizing pieces of information out of context, she said．Teaching in reception class should instead allow children to develop their intellect by exploring their environments and asking questions．

　　"Research suggests the benefits of formal academic instruction for four- and five-year-olds seem to be promising when they are tested early, but considerably less so in the long term．When these children are followed over a period of three or more years, those who had early experience in more intellectually engaging curricula were more likely to do well in school than their peers, who had received early academic instruction．" She advocates teaching children through first-hand experience and play, in mixed-aged classes．This can include puppet shows, drawing or running a pretend shop in the classroom．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony(交响乐)that came out of a “very dark time”, including her decision to give up trying to have children．“People have suggested I could adopt, ” Brightman says．“But work is central to my life now．And so I am going to put it to one side．After a while not having children becomes the norm and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different．I’m not hurt by not having children．My life and career are incredibly rich．”

　　Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted(father a property developer who later committed suicide), she says：“I was gifted as a child, and very musical．I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts．At 5，I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume．” She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school．

　　Brightman led the saucy dance troupe(辣妹三人舞)Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978．At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart．“I was probably in love but I can’t remember．Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22．It didn’t really work out．” In 1981 she was spotted by Lloyd Webber．She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera．They married in 1984．

　　Brightman says she felt hostility(敌意)“from the beginning．I haven’t tried to understand it．I’ve done very well everywhere else, especially the US, where I now live, I just accept it for what it is．The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it．But I don’t miss it, although I miss my family．Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do．I get on with it．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　When six the very best students from different cities in Guandong province all together chose universities in Hong Kong; when the very best student of Beijing picked up HK University while giving up the nearby Peking or Tsinghua University; when the highest enrollment(录取)rate of Hong Kong Science and Industry University reached 48：1, it’s the high time to ask where the real education heaven for students in China is．

　　Years ago, the answer certainly would be “Peking or Tsinghua University”．But now no one could give the exact reaction without hesitation．The only sure thing is that HK universities have gradually showed an unusual attraction to a great many mainland students．

　　It’s no doubt to call this HK craze(狂热), which is even out of the expectation of those HK universities themselves．

　　How can HK universities shake the steady foundations of Peking and Tsinghua and attract so many mainland students?

　　First, Hong Kong universities offer large-amount scholarship, especially for the top students who can receive the sum scholarship as much as 400, 000 HK dollars．Since higher education has become a kind of heavy burden of many families, it’s easy to understand why the reaction to the generous offering of HK universities is great．

　　Second, most HK universities receive professors and students from all over the world and carry out bilingual(双语)education．This kind of excellent language atmosphere is another attraction for mainland students．

　　Further more, university students in Hong Kong have a better chance to study abroad as exchange students．

　　Can mainland top universities like Peking or Tsinghua University calm as before when facing the unexpected competition from HK? Will they take relevant measures to win back the top students who once help them set the worldwide reputation? Time will explain it．

　　The fierce competition brought by HK universities can be a good thing for an entire improvement of education in China．After the awakening and action taking of mainland universities, they can perform better together with HK universities．

　　At least, it reminded the mainland universities the tuition fees(学费)are among students’ top concern when they are choosing universities．It’s time to move．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　This hotel in the trees is famous in the world．Peop1e who know very little about Kenya, know of Treetops．When King George VI died, Princess Elizabeth was staying on the Treetops, and when she came down from there, “She succeeded him as the queen of the country”．This hotel in the middle of the forest shows the pleasure of Africa．When you visit it, you will be sent into the heart of the forest by hotel buses, and then a guide, with a gun to protect you against big game, will go with you to the Treetops．Before and after dinner, for the whole night if you wish, you can sit on the corridor(走廊), watching animals come to the water pool．The earliest hotel Treetops was built round a large tree on the opposite side of the water, but that was destroyed by fire and the new hotel Treetops, which is built round several trees, is much bigger．

　　The dining room at Treetops is small, and the waiters cannot walk round to serve guests, a clever “railway service” has been invented．Guests take their food as it passes slowly in front of them, along a line in the center of the table．

　　There are many animals around the Treetops．When you visit them, you can see：

　　－Animals and their babies are waiting to greet the guests．

　　－Animals, enjoying the Treetops pool in the daylight．

　　－A long bodied, long ring tailed very active cat-like animal is a special one coming out at night．He hunts and eats anything he can overpower and is very destructive．He lives in the trees at Treetops．He comes for his food every evening．Do not get too near to him, as his teeth and claws(爪)can do you harm．These animals can be trained and become lovely pets．

　　－Some other animals who have a thick coating of fur to keep them warm in the cold forest nights．

　　－Many buffaloes(水牛)coming to the Treetops for water and salt during the day or night．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Most children, even the youngest of children, are delighted to be around cats and dogs．But these pets carry plenty of germs and allergens(过敏原), prompting researchers to ask：Are cats and dogs really safe for children?

　　A study finds that, contrary to many parents' fears, owning cats or dogs does not increase a child's risk of developing allergies, and in fact, may actually protect them．The study's lead author, Dr．Dennic Ownby of the Medical College of Georgia, says that even he was "very surprised" by the results．Ownby and colleagues followed more than 470 children from birth to age 6 or 7, comparing those exposed to cats and dogs during their first year of life to those who were not．

　　By using skin-prick tests for detecting common allergies, the researchers found that, contrary to what many doctors had been taught for years, children who had lived with a pet were not at greater risk．

　　Even more remarkable, children who had two or more dogs or cats had an even greater reduction, up to 77 percent, in risk of allergies．Researchers suggest this protective effect may be the result of early exposure to lots of bacteria that are carried by dogs and cats．Exposing young children to these bacteria helps" exercise" their immune systems early in life so that they're better able to resist allergic diseases later．

　　There's something very important in that first year of life when the immune system is developing that we can retrain it away from an allergic response, said Dr．William Davis．

　　And while researchers are not encouraging parents to buy dogs or cats just to reduce a child's allergy risk, they say if a family already has one or more animals, there's no need to get rid of them．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　My elder brother Steve, in the absence of my father who died when I was six, gave me important lessons in values that helped me grow into an adult．

　　For instance, Steve taught me to face the results of my behavior．Once when I returned in tears from a Saturday baseball game, it was Steve who took the time to ask me what happened．When I explained that my baseball had soared through Mrs．Holt’s basement window, breaking the glass with a crash, Steve encouraged me to confess(承认)to her．After all, I should have been playing in the park down Fifth Street and not in the path between buildings．Although my knees knocked as I explained to Mrs．Holt, I offered to pay for the window from my pocket money if she would return my ball．I also learned from Steve that personal property is a sacred(神圣的)thing．After I found a shiny silver pen in my fifth-grade classroom, I wanted to keep it, but Steve explained that it might be important to someone else in spite of the fact that it had little value．He reminded me of how much I’d hate to lose to someone else the small dog that my father carved from a piece of cheap wood．I returned the pen to my teacher, Mrs．Davids, and still remembered the smell of her perfume as she patted me on my shoulder．

　　Yet of all the instructions Steve gave me, his respect for life is the most vivid in my mind．When I was twelve, I killed an old brown sparrow in the yard with a BB gun．Excited with my accuracy, I screamed to Steve to come from the house to take a look．I shall never forget the way he stood for a long moment and stared at the bird on the ground．Then in a dead, quiet voice, he asked, “Did it hurt you first, Mark?” I didn’t know what to answer．He continued with his eyes firm, “The only time you should even think of hurting a living thing is if it hurts you first．And then you think a long, long time．” I really felt terrible then, but that moment stands out as the most important lesson my brother taught me．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解：

　　Are you a man or a mouse? When people ask this question they want to know if you think you are a brave person or a coward(胆小鬼)．But you will never really know the answer to that question until you are tested in real life．Some people think they are brave, but when they come face to face with real danger, they act like cowards．Other people think of themselves as cowardly, but when they meet danger, they act like heroes．

　　Lenny Sputnik had always thought of himself as a nervous person．He got worried before examinations．He worried about his job and his health．All he wanted in life was to be safe and healthy．Then, on 15th January 1982, a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington．Lenny went to the river to see what was happening．Then he saw a woman in the ice-cold water．Suddenly Lenny did not feel afraid．He kept very calm and did a very courageous thing．He jumped into the Potomac, swam to the woman, and kept her head above the water．Seventy-eight people died that day．Thanks to Lenny Sputnik, it was not seventy-nine．

　　When you are in a very dangerous situation and feel afraid, the body automatically produces a chemical in the blood．This chemical is called adrenalin．With adrenalin in the blood system, you actually feel stronger and are ready to fight or run away．However, when you are completely terrified, the body can produce too much adrenalin．When this happens, the muscles become very hard and you find that you cannot move at all．You are then disabled with fear．That is why, when we are very frightened, we sometimes say that we are ‘petrified’．This word comes from the Greek word ‘peters’ which means ‘stone’．We are so frightened we have become like stone．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)