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　　The small coastal town of Broome, in northwest Australia, is a remote village in the vast countryside．

　　There are no traffic jams and hardly any roads．There is only the massive Australian wild land, where some houses are 500 miles apart and some driveways are 50 miles long．

　　There seem to be only two main sources of entertainment out here：the sunset at the beach and Sun Pictures．

　　Sun Pictures is a very different movie theater：The seats are park benches and deck chairs, but you’re also welcome to sit on the grass．

　　It is the world’s oldest outdoor movie garden．Sun Pictures was built in 1916 on the other side of the globe from Hollywood．All the big films were shipped here and the lonely country was amazed．

　　Broome resident Pearl Hamaguchi has never traveled far from home．But in the Sun Pictures chairs, under the deep blue night sky, she has been almost everywhere．

　　“And we came back excited about Gregory Peck, ” she recalled．

　　This is one of the few places left in the world where you can see two sets of stars at the same time－one set in the sky, the other in the film．

　　Each night, dozens of people from around the world line up at the old wooden stand, with no computer in sight, and buy their tickets to the latest films．

　　Sun Pictures is also a museum, exhibiting projectors(放映机)that date back to the silent films, a portrait gallery of the famous people who never knew about this place－even though they came here all the time．

　　Every once in a while, I’m told, you might find a non-ticket holder in your seat．That’s why it’s always a good idea to shake out your chair to make sure there are no spiders or scorpions．

　　“We’ve only had a couple of scorpion incidents but no one’s been stung yet, ” said Aaron Mestemaker, a tourist visiting from Michigan．

　　Sun Pictures is a holy hall of movie history and a reminder that air conditioning and carpet are no match for grass and fresh air－even when the lizards steal the scene．

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　　More American people take their troubles with them on holiday, according to a new survey．Although 40 percent said that the main reason for going away is to escape pressure(压力)from work, almost all said they worry more than they do at home．Only four in every 100 said that they are happy and free of care．

　　The most common worry is burglary(入室盗窃), with four out of 10 worrying about their homes being broken into while they’re abroad．More than a quarter fear they will feel crazy with some other noisy and rough holiday-makers and 22 percent worry they may be attacked or their possessions will be missing．One in five think the car may break down; and the same number worry about the chances of bad weather．

　　The survey also showed that the stay-at-home Americans are no more．Three out of every five want to have a holiday abroad, a great increase from the figures only three years ago．The hotel holiday is still a winner, with about one third of all Americana preferring to go on a self-catering(自助)holiday．

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　　Television has changed our lives in many ways．Many people now spend more time watching TV than doing anything else．Researchers in the USA has estimated(估计)that when most students leave school they have spent 11,000 hours in the classroom and 22,000 hours watching television．But what effect does this have?

　　Benefits(好处)of television：

　　1．Television helps us to learn more about the world and to know and see many mew things．Television can offer present information to us in a more effective way than books．It can also make things more memorable．

　　2．It entertains(使欢乐)us．It is an enjoyable way to relax．For millions of people around the world, television is a source of companionship and helps them to cope with everyday life．

　　3．It has increased the popularity of sports and arts．

　　4．It has made us aware of our global responsibilities．In 2000, for example, 1．5billion people in 147 countries watched a TV pop concert and helped to collect more than ＄100million for people in Africa．

　　Dangers：

　　1．Television can make us passive(消极的)．We don't have to think and our brains become lazy．

　　2．It encourages us to buy things that we don’t need, and can make us unhappy with our own life．

　　3．It takes time away from activities such as reading, conversation, and games．

　　4．It gives a false picture of society．A study in 2003 showed that people who watch a lot of TV are more afraid of crime．They also think that there is a lot more crime than there really is．

　　5．Some critics(批评家)say that television make people violent．A ten-year study in the United States showed that children who watch violent television programmes are more likely to be violent themselves．

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　　The British are very polite and have good manners－they are never tired of saying “Thank you”, “I am sorry”, or “Excuse me．” They have good table manners．They enjoy their breakfasts and most of all the traditional tea around 4 or 5 o’clock．

　　The normal working week has five days．Factory workers usually start at 8 am and offices, shops and schools open at 9 am．Workers have 3 weeks’ holidays and professional workers(people with higher education)have usually longer holidays(a month or more)．Except these holidays they have public holidays：e．g．New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day．

　　An average Englishman like to live in his own house．Houses are made of red bricks, stone and wood．The house usually has from 4 to 6 rooms, two floors, small front and back gardens．On the ground floor there is a hall, a kitchen, a living room with a fireplace and on the first floor there are parents’ and children’s bedrooms and a bathroom．The prices of houses depend on the area－the most expensive are the houses in London and South England(about 200,000 pounds); smaller houses in other areas may cost about 50,000 pounds．

　　Social Welfare－The National Health Service gives largely free treatment for everyone living in Britain．People can choose their family doctors．In case of emergency you can call the ambulance by dialing 999 from everywhere．Health centres are run by local authorities．About 7 percent of hospitals, dentists and family doctors work as private．

　　There are about 130 daily and Sunday newspapers and a lot of weekly papers and magazines．The oldest newspaper is The Times．Other famous newspapers are Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Financial Times, etc．

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　　Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again．They want to bring water to the deserts, so people can live and grow food．They are learning a lot about the deserts．But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time．Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time．

　　Why is more and more land becoming desert? Scientists think that people make deserts．People are doing bad things to the earth．

　　Some places on the earth don't get much rain．But they still don't become deserts．This is because some green plants are growing there．Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places．Plants don't let the sun make the earth even drier．Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away．When a bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water．Without plants, the land can become desert more easily．

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　　In Canada you can find dogs, cats, horses, etc．in almost every family．These are their pets．People love these pets and have them as their good friends．Before they keep them in their houses, they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections(注射)so that they won't carry disease．They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store．Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food．When you visit people's houses, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them．You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden．All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal．They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada．They have a law against killing wild animals．If you killed an animal, you would be punished．If an animal happened to get run over by a car, people would be very sad about it．

　　People in Canada have many reasons to like animals．One of them might be：Their family ties are not as close as ours．When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life．Then the old will feel lonely．But pets can solve this problem．They can be good friends and never leave them alone．

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　　Dear Mr．Barton,

　　I’m writing in the name of the residents’ association to inform you of our feelings regarding your behaviour．We’ve really had just about enough of you．Although we have tried to speak to you civilly on several occasions, you have always responded with a stream of verbal abuse．

　　Ever since you moved in three months ago, you have shown very little consideration for the other residents of the building，despite numerous complaints．For the past six weekends in a row，you have held extremely noisy parties，which have not finished until the early hours of the morning．It’s just not on! As you are aware, most of the people here are old people or have very young children，and the noise keeps them awake all night．You don’t have to be so noisy, do you?

　　Last weekend the situation deteriorated further when two of your acquaintances were involved in a fight on the first floor landing．The disturbance was so bad that the police had to be called．What’s more, your mates left the stairs in a terrible state－they even broke two windows on their way out! We feel that this type of bad behaviour is unbearable．

　　We strongly recommended that you arrange payment for this damage to the windows，soon．If you don’t and you carry on being a nuisance, we will kick you out! Legal steps will be taken if necessary．

Yours sincerely

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　　●A swimming coach from Moldova is looking for a job in Beijing．Qualifications as：Coach/Judge at National Standard; Olympian(Ranking 12th in the world in 1995), World Cup Silver Medalist．Experienced children’s coach at all levels; Qualified driver(B, C, D, E categories); Bodybuilding instructor; Fluent in Russian, English, French, Ukrainian．

　　Contact Max Cazmirciuc at：13126711168 or email：mcazmirciuc@yahoo．com

　　●A retired president and CEO of two Canadian companies, interested in teaching English or French in China．

　　Cellphone：13520559132, email：Jeanguyfurois@aol．com

　　●Web design graduates are available．For details visit：www．inhb．com, or call Liu or Tang at：0311-3160000．Email：luogq@beinfo．net

　　●Female Beijinger, 39, has a decade’s experience in import-export business, human resources management, interpretation and secretarial work．I have a good command of computer skills and am good at English, both writing and speaking．

　　Mobile：13611163663

　　●Laid-off workers are providing PC maintenance services such as system upgrade, virus detection and removal, data copying and recovering, system utilization and security．

　　Call：67327317

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　　I love my blackberry－it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me．I also love my laptop computer, as it holds all of my writing and thoughts．Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices and truly communicate with others．

　　On occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers．My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas．Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom, I have a rule－no laptop, iPads, phones, etc．When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy．

　　Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology．There’s a bit of truth to that．Some students assume that I am anti-technology．There’s no truth in that at all．I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students．

　　The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions and truly engage complex ideas．Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas．I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas．I want them to push each other to think differently and make connections between the course the material and the class discussion．

　　I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create．Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge, they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom．

　　I’m not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I’m sticking to my plan．A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up．

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　　Joanne was stuck in a traffic jam in central Birmingham at 5∶30 and at 6∶30 she was expected to be chairing a meeting of the tennis club．At last, the traffic was moving．She swung quickly racing to her house．As she opened the door, she nearly tripped over Sheba．

　　“Hey, Sheba,” she said, “I've got no time for you now, but I'll take you out as soon as I get back from tennis club．” Then she noticed Sheba seemed to be coughing or choking．Obviously, she could hardly breathe．Immediately, Joanne realized she would have to take her to the vet．

　　When she got there, the vet was just about to close for the day．Seeing the state of Sheba, Dr．Sterne brought her quickly into his office．

　　“Listen, doctor, I'm really in a rush to get to a meeting, can I leave her with you, and go and get changed? I'll be back in ten minutes to pick her up, and then I'll take her on to the meeting with me．Is that OK?”

　　“Sure．” said the doctor．

　　Joanne made the quick trip back to her house in a couple of minutes．As she was once more entering the hallway, the phone by the door began to ring．

　　“This is Dr．Sterne,” said an anxious voice．“I want you to get out of that house immediately, ”said the doctor's voice．“I'm coming round right away, and the police will be there any time now．Wait outside!”

　　At that moment, a police car screeched to a stop outside the house．Two policemen got out and ran into the house．Joanne was by now completely confused and very frightened．Then the doctor arrived．

　　“Where’s Sheba? Is she OK?” shouted Joanne．

　　“She’s fine, Joanne．I took out the thing which was choking her, and she’s OK now．”

　　Just then, the two policemen reappeared from the house, half-carrying a white-faced man, who could hardly walk．There was blood all over him．

　　“My God,” said Joanne, “how did he get in there? And how did you know he was there?”

　　“I think he must be a burglar．” said the doctor．“I knew he was there because when I finally removed what was stuck in Sheba’s throat：it turned out to be three human fingers．”

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