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　　It was midnight in Paris and we were rolling toward Avenue Bosguet．As we came to the Pont Alexandra Ⅲ, the taxi slowed down, for the traffic light was red against us, and then, without stopping, we sailed through the red in a sudden burst of speed．The same performance was repeated at the Alma Bridge．As I paid the driver, I asked him why he had driven through two red lights．

　　“You ought to be ashamed of yourself, breaking the law and endangering your life that way．” I protested．

　　He looked at me, astonished, “Ashamed of myself? I am a law abiding(守法的)citizen and have no desire to get killed either．” He cut me off before I could protest．

　　“No, just listen to me before you complain．What did I do? Went through a red light．Well, did you ever stop to consider what a red light is? What it means?”

　　“Certainly,” I replied．“It’s a stop signal and means the traffic is rolling in the opposite direction．”

　　“Half-right,”said the driver, “But incomplete．It’s only an automatic(自动的)stop signal．And it does not mean that there is cross traffic．Did you see any cross traffic during our trip? Of course not．I slowed down at the light, looked carefully to the right and to the left．Not another car on the street at this hour．Well, then! What would you have me do? Should I stop like a stupid animal because an automatic, brainless machine turns red every forty seconds? No, sir,” he shouted, “I am a man, not a machine．I have eyes and a brain and judgment, given me by God．Ashamed of myself, you say? I would only be ashamed of myself if I let those blinking lamps do my thinking for me．Good night,sir．”

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　　When Omega was born in Uganda, she did two things：Smile and then sing．When Omega was 4 years old, her talent(天赋)for music was recognized, so she became one of the youngest members of the first African Children’s Choir(合唱团)．She traveled the world with the choir, and it was from this experience that she grew into a singer today．

　　Although having a beautiful voice, she had to find other ways besides music to earn a living at first．When she was 16, her parents sent her to the USA to study．Like her mother, Omega wanted to become a doctor and do something meaningful in her country of Uganda．

　　However, like many artists, music was so much a part of her that she had to choose．With encouragement from her family and friends, she opened her own production company(制作公司)after graduation．Since then, she has been working as an artist．Her songs make people feel good about life．Apart from that, she is also interested in health care and education．Omega is one of those Ugandan females who are showing the world their valuable talents．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Hans was an honest fellow with a funny round good-humored face．Living alone, every day he worked in his garden．In all the countryside there was no garden so lovely as his．All sorts of flowers grew there, blooming in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower’s place, so that there were always beautiful things to see, and pleasant odors to smell．

　　Hans had many friends, the most devoted being the Miller．So devoted was the rich Miller to Hans that he’d never go by his garden without plucking a large bunch of flowers or a handful of sweet herbs, or filling his pockets with fruits．The Miller used to talk about noble ideas, and Hans nodded and smiled, feeling proud of having such a friend．

　　The neighbors thought it strange that the rich Miller never gave Hans anything in return, though he had hundreds of sacks of flour, many cows and sheep, but Hans never troubled his head about these, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to all the wonderful things about the unselfishness of true friendship．

　　In spring, summer, and autumn Hans was very happy, but when winter came, and he had no fruit or flowers to sell, he suffered from cold and hunger．Though extremely lonely, the Miller never came to see him then．

　　“There’s no good in going to see Hans while the snow lasts．” The Miller said to his wife, “When people are in trouble they shouldn’t be bothered．So I’ll wait till the spring comes when he’s happy to give me flowers．”

　　“You’re certainly very thoughtful,” answered his wife, “It’s quite a treat to hear you talk about friendship．”

　　“Couldn’t we ask Hans up here?” said their son．“I’ll give him half my meal, and show him my white rabbits．”

　　“How silly you are!” cried the Miller．“I really don’t know what’s the use of sending you to school．If Hans came up here, and saw our warm fire, our good supper, and our red wine, he might get envious, and envy is a most terrible thing, and would spoil anybody’s nature．I am his best friend, and I’ll always watch over him, and see that he’s not led into any temptation．Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me for some flour．Flour is one thing, and friendship is another, and they shouldn’t be confused．The words are spelt differently, and mean quite different things．Everybody can see that．” He looked seriously at his son, who felt so ashamed that he hung his head down, and grew quite scared, and began to cry into his tea．

　　Spring coming, the Miller went down to see Hans．Again he talked about friendship．“Hans, friendship never forgets．I’m afraid you don’t understand the poetry of life．See, how lovely your roses are!”

　　Hans said he wanted to sell them in the market to buy back his things which were sold during the hard time of the winter．

　　“I’ll give you many good things．I think being generous is the base of friendship．” said the Miller．“And now, as I’ll give you many good things, I’m sure you’d like to give me some flowers in return．Here’s the basket, and fill it quite full．”

　　Poor Hans was afraid to say anything．He ran and plucked all his pretty roses, and filled the Miller’s basket, imagining the many good things promised by the Miller．

　　The next day he heard the Miller calling：“Hans, would you mind carrying this sack of flour for me to market?”

　　“I’m sorry, but I am really very busy today．”

　　“Well,” said the Miller, “considering that I’m going to give you my things, it’s rather unfriendly of you to refuse．Upon my word, you mustn’t mind my speaking quite plainly to you．”

　　Poor Hans was driven by his friendship theory to work hard for his best friend, leaving his garden dry and wasted．

　　One evening Hans was sitting by fire when the Miller came．

　　“Hans,” cried the Miller, “My little boy has fallen off a ladder and hurt himself, and I’m going for the Doctor．But he lives so far away, and it’s such a bad windy night．It has just occurred to me that you can go instead of me．You know I’m going to give you my good things, so you should do something for me in return．”

　　“Certainly,” cried Hans．He struggled into the stormy night, and got the doctor to ride a horse to the Miller’s house in time to save the boy．However, Hans got lost in the darkness, and wandered off into a deep pool, drowned．

　　At Hans’ funeral, the Miller said, “I was his best friend．I should walk at the head of the procession．” Every now and then he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail．“If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about ＄ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas．And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza．”

　　Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers．Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year．“We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity．”

　　You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet．Consider：books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets．And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch．A company called FinalThoughts．com offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”．

Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable(能预测的)future．Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than ＄75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation．Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52％ of those connected to the Internet．Most kids use computers to play games(some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left．

　　What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back．“The Internet is just 20％ invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum．“The last 80％ is happening now．”

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　It is easy for us to tell our friends from our enemies．But can other animals do the same? Elephants can! They can use their sense of vision and smell to tell the difference between people who pose a threat and those who do not．

　　In Kenya, researchers found that elephants react differently to clothing worn by men of the Maasai and Kamba ethnic groups．Young Maasai men spear animals and thus pose a threat to elephants; Kamba men are mainly farmers and are not a danger to elephants．

　　In an experiment conducted by animal scientists, elephants were first presented with clean clothing or clothing that had been worn for five days by either a Maasai or a Kamba man．When the elephants detected the smell of clothing worn by a Maasai man, they moved away from the smell faster and took longer to relax than when they detected the smells of either clothing worn by Kamba men or clothing that had not been worn at all．

　　Garment color also plays a role, though in a different way．In the same study, when the elephants saw red clothing not worn before, they reacted angrily, as red is typically worn by Maasai men．Rather than running away as they did with the smell, the elephants acted aggressively toward the red clothing．

　　The researchers believe that the elephants’ emotional reactions are due to their different interpretations of the smells and the sights．Smelling a potential danger means that a threat is nearby and the best thing to do is run away and hide．Seeing a potential threat without its smell means that risk is low．Therefore, instead of showing fear and running away, the elephants express their anger and become aggressive．

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How often do you travel by plane？

　　How much electricity do you use? These days everyone is worried about the size of their carbon footprint．In order to reduce global warming we need to make our carbon footprints smaller．But how much CO₂ are we responsible for?

　　A new book by Mike Berners Lee(a leading expert in carbon footprint)might be able to help．How Bad are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything looks at the different things we do and buy, and calculates the amount of CO₂ all of the following created：the ingredients, the electricity used in the brewery, the equipment, the travel and commuting of the beer, and the packaging．It’s amazing how many different things need to be included in each calculation．And it’s frightening how much carbon dioxide everything produces．

　　But all of this can help us decide which beer to drink．From Berners-Lee’s calculations, it’s clear that a pint(568ml)of locally-brewed beer has a smaller carbon footprint than a bottle of imported beer．This is because the imported beer has been transported from far away, and it uses more packaging．The local beer only produces 300g of CO₂, but the imported beer produces 900g! So, one pint of local beer is better for the environment than three cans of cheap foreign lager from the supermarket．

　　Berners-Lee has even calculated the carbon footprint of cycling to work．Nothing is more environmentally-friendly than riding a bike, surely? Well, it depends on what you’ve had to eat before．To ride a bike we need energy and for energy we need food．So if we eat a banana and then ride a kilometer and a half, our footprint is 65g of CO₂．However, if we eat bacon before the bike ride, it’s 200g．In fact, bananas are good in general because they don’t need packaging, they can be transported by boat and they grow in natural sunlight．

　　So, does this mean that cycling is bad for the environment? Absolutely not, for a start, if you cycle, you don’t use your car, and the fewer cars on the road, the fewer traffic jams．And cars in traffic jams produce three times more CO₂ than cars traveling at speed．Cycling also makes you healthy and less likely to go to a hospital．And hospitals have very big carbon footprints!

　　So maybe it’s time for us all to start making some changes．Pass me a banana and a pint of local beer, please．

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　　Human remains of ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under a law that threatens research into the history of humans in Britain, a group of leading archeologists(考古学家)says．In a letter addressed to the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, 40 archaeologists write of their “deep and widespread concern” about the issue．It centers on the law introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2008 which requires all human remains unearthed in England and Wales to be reburied within two years, regardless of their age．The decision means scientists have too little time to study bones and other human remains of national and cultural significance．

　　“Your current requirement that all archaeologically unearthed human remains should be reburied, whether after a standard period of two years or a further special extension, is contrary to basic principles of archaeological and scientific research and of museum practice,” they write．

　　The law applies to any pieces of bone uncovered at around 400 dig sites, including the remains of 60 or so bodies found at Stonehenge in 2008 that date back to 3,000 BC．Archaeologists have been granted a temporary extension to give them more time, but eventuallly the bones will have to be returned to the ground．

　　The arrangements may result in the waste of future discoveries at sites such as Happisburgh in Norfolk, where digging is continuing after the discovery of stone tools made by early humans 950,000 years ago．If human remains were found at Happisburgh, they would be the oldest in northern Europe and the first indication of what this species was．Under the current practice of the law those remains would have to be reburied and effectively destroyed．

　　Before 2008, guidelines allowed for the proper preservation and study of bones of sufficient age and historical interest, while the Burial Act 1857 applied to more recent remains．The Ministry of Justice assured archaeologists two years ago that the law was temporary, but has so far failed to revise it．

　　Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at Sheffield University, said：“Archaeologists have been extremely patient because we were led to believe the ministry was sorting out this problem, but we feel that we cannot wait any longer．”

　　The ministry has no guidelines on where or how remains should be reburied, or on what records should be kept．

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　　I went on line to check if my pay was in my bank account(账户)．To my amazement I discovered that not only had I been paid, but a company I’d never worked for had also paid me! I know I would have been beside myself(情绪失控)if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person．Easier said than done．

　　The bank couldn’t help as it “wasn’t a bank problem．” The human-resource department at the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn’t have enough details．I rang the bank again．Thankfully I had a sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for．

　　I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel．I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he’d tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error．He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves．

　　We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me．Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his．I never had any intention of keeping Daniel’s pay but red tape(繁琐手续)made it difficult to do the right thing．It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn’t do－admit a mistake has occurred and fix it．

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　　Job sharing refers to the situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job．The two people willingly act as part-time workers, enough hours between them to fulfill the duties of a full-time worker．If they each work half the job, for example, they each receive 50 per cent of the job’s wages, its holidays and its other benefits．

　　Job sharing differs from conventional part-time work in that it occurs mainly in the more highly skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment．

　　Job sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which refers to increasing the number of jobs by reducing the number of hours of each existing job, thus offering more positions to the growing number of unemployed people．Job sharing, by contrast, is not designed to address unemployment problems; its focus, rather, is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time for other activities．

　　As would be expected, most job sharers are women．A survey carried out in 1988 by Britain’s Equal Opportunities Commission showed that 78 per cent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were between 20 and 40 years of age．Subsequent studies have come up with similar results．Many of these women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to seek part-time work because it would have meant lower status．Job sharing also offered an acceptable shift back into full-time work after a long absence．

　　The necessity of close cooperation when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work quite different from conventional one-position jobs．However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner before applying for a position．Moreover, there must be a fair division of both routine tasks and interesting ones．In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat each other as equals．

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　　“People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help deal with climate change,” the world’s leading authority on global warming has told The Observer．

　　Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further．

　　Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel’s chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions(排放)and other environmental problems associated with raising cattle and other animals．“It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport,” he said．

　　The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions．These are produced during the production．For example, ruminants(反刍动物), particularly cows, give off a gas called methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than CO₂．

　　Pachauri can expect some opposite responses from the food industry to his advice, though last night he was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode．“I have a little bit and enjoy it,” said Torode．“Too much for any person is bad．But there’s a bigger issue here：where the meat comes from．If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food, we’d save a huge amount of carbon emissions．”

　　Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said government could help educate people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it should not regulate．“Eating less meat would help, there’s no question about that,” Watson said．

　　However, Chris Lamb, head of marketing for pig industry group BPEX, said the meat industry had been unfairly targeted and was working hard to find out which activities had the biggest environmental impact and reduce them．“Some ideas were contradictory,” he said．“For example, one solution to emissions from cattle and other animals was to keep them indoors, but this would damage animal welfare．Climate change is a very young science and our view is there are a lot of simple solutions being proposed．”