阅读理解

　　The first English week at our school started on May 4th, 2009．The whole school was filled with an English learning atmosphere．A series of activities was held．There were handwriting activities, story writing, English songs, role playing in English, and so on, all the teachers and students were very happy．They spoke English, sang English songs and enjoyed all the activities．

　　Handwriting was for the students in lower grades．Although most of them couldn’t write so well, they were all very careful about it．In the show window, there were a lot of colorful handwritten papers．They copied some articles from books or newspapers．And then they decorated them with pictures in different colors, and some even put their own photos on them．How cute and lovely they looked!

　　Story writing was for students in Grade 7 and Grade 8．These students are always fond of cartoons, so they got interested in this activity．Reading the stories they made up, all the visitors couldn’t help speaking highly of them．

　　The most important event was the English show on the last day．The students and teachers presented(上演)a lot of English songs and English operas．Each program won storms of applause．

　　One week is not very long, but all the students and teachers learned a lot．Just as the headmaster said, “It is a helpful week．It will certainly lead us to enjoy and learn more from our English studies．”

阅读理解

　　I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as Mother sat doing letters．Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world．

　　Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother．“But the desk”, she said, “is for Elizabeth”．

　　I never saw her angry, never saw her cry．I knew she loved me, she showed it in action．But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter．

　　They never happened．And a gulf opened between us．I was “too emotional”(感情易激动的)．But she lived “on the surface”

　　As years passed and I had my own family, I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family．I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me．

　　I posted the letter and waited for her answer．None came．

　　My hope turned to disappointment，then little interest, finally, peace－it seemed that nothing happened．I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother．I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not．

　　Now the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work, I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside－a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times．

　　Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words．

阅读理解

阅读理解

　　The 32nd Hong Kong Art Festival, to be held early next year, will be based on the theme of “family”．

　　The art festival, considered to be Asia’s best, began in 1973．

　　“We hope that people from Beijing and from all over the world will go to Hong Kong to enjoy the multiple performances in our art festival,” Douglas Gautier, the festival’s management director, said in a press conference in the capital．

　　In the 29 days of the festival, which runs from February 8 to March 7, 2011, the audience can choose from 111 performances of 51 programmes staged by 700 foreign performers, 450 local artists and 160 actors from the mainland．

　　Programmes vary from classical music, jazz, world music, Western and Peking opera, drama and dance to outdoor spectaculars(观众)．

　　The programmes include Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, Shakespeare’s drama Romeo and Juliet, the ballet Mozartina and African dances, to name just a few．

　　The lineup(阵容)includes the English Touring Theatre, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Ballet, The Spanish National Dance Troupe, as well as pianists Angela Hewitt and Marc-Andre Hamelin, and saxophonist Jan Garbarek．

　　In an effort to increase attendance, hotels and airlines are offering discount packages along with art festival ticket sales, most of which are at 20％ and 30％ discounts．

　　For more information, please check：www．hk artsfestival．org

阅读理解

　　I had looked forward to this day for a long time．Finally, I, Kirsty Sturart, would stand on the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe．Although I climbed often in my native Scotland, this was my first trip to the Alps．My companions－Jean Pierre, Maurice Gautier, and Mary Sargent－and I left our camp early and planned to reach the top by late morning．

　　As we neared the top, large clouds gathered and it began to snow．We found shelter and decided to wait for the snow to stop．After three hours, however, we decided to go back and try again the next day．We started down the mountain in the thick snow．Jean Pierre forgot his sunglasses and went back to look for them．As he was returning to us, he started to fall．

　　His fall started an avalanche(雪崩)and it was falling towards us! I was swept away by the heavy snow．Jean Pierre hurried down to me．“Are you OK?” he asked．

　　“I think I broke my leg,” I answered．

　　“I’d better radio for help!” he said．“Where are the others?” We couldn’t see Maurice or Mary anywhere．

　　Jean Pierre called the emergency radio number, and the police said they would send help right away．It seemed like hours, but only minutes later we heard the welcome sound of a helicopter．The helicopter couldn’t land on the mountainside, so they lowered two men, two dogs, and a stretcher(担架)．One man ran to me, but I told him to search for the others．The dogs were trained for avalanche rescue and soon began to dig crazily in the snow．

　　Bernardo, the lead dog, found Mary’s scarf and led the rescuers to her．Maurice was nearby．The men gave us hot drinks and warm blankets and then prepared to lift us into the helicopter．Two men inside the helicopter pulled us up with the ropes．I went first on the stretcher．

　　Once we were safely inside, the helicopter flew to the hospital in Chamonix．Our poor rescuers and their dogs had to climb all the way back down the mountain．Later we would find these brave men and thank them for saving our lives．

阅读理解

　　Dear Mrs．Huggett,

　　You may remember that we have discussed the noise your children make while practicing their musical instruments．You agreed to make sure that they would stop practicing in the evening．

　　You can imagine my surprise, then, when I realized that nothing had changed and the situation, was continuing as before．I find it difficult to stay in the house and I invent any excuse to go out in the evening to be away from the terrible noise．Although I like music, yet I have had quite enough, and to be frank, I am not prepared to put up with the situation any more．I think it is high time you realized your responsibilities as a member of the community(居民区), and I must warn you that unless you do something about the situation, I will be forced to take action of the law．

　　I have sent a copy this letter to my lawyer．

Yours sincerely

R．G．Barge

阅读理解

　　Farmer Joe was in his cart when he was hit by a truck．He decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to take the trucking company(which caused the accident)to court(法庭)．In court the trucking company’s lawyer was questioning Farmer Joe．“Didn’t you say, at the same scene of the accident,‘I’m fine’” said the lawyer．

　　Farmer Joe responded, “Well, I will tell you what happened．I had just loaded my favorite mule(骡子)Bessie into the…” “I didn’t ask for any details,” the lawyer interrupted, “Just answer the question．Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine’?”

　　Farmer Joe said, “Well, I had just got Bessie into the cart and I was driving down the road．．．”

　　The lawyer interrupted again and said, “Judge, I am trying to make clear the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the police on the scene that he was just fine．Now several weeks after the accident he is trying to cover the fact．I believe he is telling lies．Please tell him to simply answer the question．”

　　By this time the Judge was fairly interested in Farmer Joe’s answer and said to the lawyer, “I’d like to hear what he has to say about his favorite mule Bessie．”

　　Joe thanked the Judge and went on, “Well, as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my favorite mule, into the cart and was driving her down the road when this huge truck ran into the stop sign and pushed my cart right in the side．I was thrown into one side and Bessie was thrown into the other．”

　　“I was hurt so badly that I didn’t want to move．However, I could hear old Bessie breathing loudly and groaning(呻吟)．I knew she was in great pain．Shortly after the accident a traffic policeman came to the scene．He could hear Bessie groaning so he went over to her．After he looked at her, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes．Then the patrolman came across the road with his gun and looked at me．He said,“Your mule was in such pain that I had to shoot her．How are you feeling?”

阅读理解

　　Some strange, wild and wonderful stories coloured the news in 2010：

　　★A Copenhagen bus company has put "love seats" on 103 of its buses for people looking for a partner．"Even love at first sight is possible on the bus," said a spokesman for the company to explain the two seats on each bus that are covered in red cloth and a "love seat" sign．

　　★Shoppers at an international luxury fair(市场)in Italy, found a cell-phone-equipped golden coffin(棺材)among the items on display．The phones will help "the dead" contact relatives if they have been buried alive by mistake．

　　★A man in New York came up with a disarming(手无寸铁的)way to perform his latest bank heist, approaching the clerk’s window with a large bunch of flowers and handing over a note saying “give me the money!”

　　★ An Englishman who lost all his legs and arms in an electrical accident successfully swam across the Channel, a challenge he had been preparing for two years．The whole cost is 400 dollars．

　　★A set of artificial teeth(假牙)made for Britain's war-time prime minister Winston Churchill known as "the teeth that saved the world" sold for nearly 18,000 pounds(21,500 euros, 24,000 dollars)at auction(拍卖)．

　　★A British woman caused an Internet hate campaign after she was caught on camera dumping(抛弃)a cat in a rubbish bin．She was fined 250 pounds(400 dollars, 280 euros)after pleading guilty．

　　★The BBC apologized completely and without any doubts after a radio presenter jokingly announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died．

　　★Two Australian men needed surgery(手术)after shooting each other in the bottoms during a drinking session to see if it would hurt and they were charged 400 dollars separately．

　　★A Kuwaiti MP(议员)suggested state-aid for male citizens to take second wives, in an effort to reduce the large number of unmarried women in the oil-rich state．

阅读理解

First Day at School

　　It was my first day at school in London and I was half-excited and half-frightened．On my way to school I wondered what sort of questions the other boys would ask me and practiced all the answers：“I am nine years old．I was born here but I haven’t lived here since I was two．I was living in Farley．It’s about thirty miles away．I came back to London two months ago．” I also wondered if it was the custom for boys to fight strangers like me, but I was tall for my age．I hoped they would decide not to risk(冒险)it．

　　No one took any notice of me before school．I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say “hello”, but no one spoke to me．When a teacher called my name and told me where my classroom was, one or two boys looked at me but that was all．

　　My teacher was called Mr．Jones．There were 42 boys in the class, so I didn’t stand out there, either, until the first lesson of the afternoon．Mr．Jones was very fond of Charles Dickens and he had decided to read aloud to us from David Copperfield, but first he asked several boys if they knew Dickens’ birthplace, but no one guessed right．A boy called Brian, the biggest in the class, said：“Timbuktu”, and Mr．Jones went red in the face．Then he asked me．I said：“Portsmouth”, and everyone stared at me because Mr．Jones said I was right．This didn’t make me very popular, of course．

　　“He thinks he’s clever,” I heard Brian say．

　　After that, we went out to the playground to play football．I was in Brian’s team, and he obviously had Dickens in mind because he told me to go in goal．No one ever wanted to be the goalkeeper．

　　“He’s big enough and useless enough．” Brian said when someone asked him why he had chosen me．

　　I suppose Mr．Jones, who served as the referee(裁判), remembered Dickens, too, because when the game was nearly over, Brian pushed one of the players on the other team, and he gave them a penalty(惩罚)．As the boy kicked the ball to my right, I threw myself down instinctively(本能地)and saved it．All my team crowded round me．My bare knees were injured and bleeding．Brian took out a handkerchief and offered it to me．

　　“Do you want to join my gang(帮派)?” he said．

　　At the end of the day, I was no longer a stranger．

阅读理解

　　All sports people are under a lot of pressure to win, so they have to be spiritually strong．In the past, athletes only trained to get physically fit．Today, professional sports psychologists use scientific techniques(技术)to help athletes get spiritually fit too．

　　British player Johnny Wilkinson described some of the pressures he had felt．He played very well at the 2003 World Cup but after that he couldn't play well．He found that he had a terrible fear of failure．With the help of sports psychologists, he realized that reality changes depending on how we look at it and then everything went better．

　　In team sports, psychologists help players in different ways, one of which is to create a team spirit．“It's very difficult to get all the players to think in the same way, but when you see a team that works as a unit, everything happens naturally and easily, ” said Professor Dave Collins, a sports psychologist．

　　When there is a team spirit, the players all take responsibility and don't blame individual players for mistakes．In this way ,they feel more confident and can concentrate better．Sometimes players are under a lot of pressure in a game．For example, a player may have to take a penalty kick．To reduce his fear of making a mistake, sports psychologists use a method called visualization(可视化)．Psychologists simply ask players to imagine taking a perfect penalty．When players do this, certain areas of the brain become active．An interesting fact is that they are the same areas of the brain as when the player takes the real penalty．

　　Today sports psychologists have an important job to do．They help athletes become spiritually fit and develop a winning mentality(必胜信念)．Having a winning mentality can really make a difference between winning and losing．