阅读理解

　　BEIJING－China has half finished its goal to open 500 Confucius Institutes, the Chinese-language-promoting institutions named after ancient philosopher Confucius, an official said here Thursday．A total of 256 Confucius Institutes and 58 Confucius classrooms have so far been established in 81 countries, compared with China’s goal to have 500 such institutes as of 2010, said Xu Lin, director of the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language．

　　The number exceeded the planned 100 institutes as of 2008, said Xu, who is also general director of the Beijing-based Confucius Institute Headquarters．She said people across the world have shown great interests in the Chinese language in recent years．

　　"More than 100 countries and regions have asked us to open the institutes there after the World Conference on Sinology was held in Beijing in 2007．Many college presidents came to our headquarters for discussion," she said．

　　Vice Minister of Education Zhang Xinsheng said the charm of the Chinese language is based on the country’s culture and development．"People around the world want to study Chinese because they believe in a bright future of China," Zhang said．The Chinese government decided to set up Confucius Institutes in cooperation with foreign partners back in 2003 in a bid to promote the teaching of the Chinese language and the understanding of the Chinese culture worldwide．

　　Sponsored by China’s National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, the first such institute opened in Seoul, capital of the Republic of Korea, in 2004．Confucius Institutes worldwide have so far held 6,000 classes with more than 130,000 registered learners and organized 2,000 cultural activities with 1.4 million people attending, according to latest figures．

阅读理解

　　When scientists scan the global horizon, overfishing, loss of species habitat, water shortage, climate change, and invasive species(外来物种)seem to be the biggest threats to the earth．What will our world be like in 2050?

　　There are two features(特征)in the growth of world population．The United Nations estimates(预计)that by 2050, the population of European countries will decrease from the current 0.72 billion to 0.63 billion．Second, the population in developing counties is growing rapidly．By 2050, the population of Africa is expected to reach 1.8 billion, 0.9 billion more than its current population．

　　A recent research report published by the Unites Nations indicates that it is quite possible that the earth’s temperature is rising well above the previous estimate．

　　A research team from the University of Colorado used satellite data to estimate that the ice sheet will lose up 48 cubic miles by2050．In comparison, a city the size of Los Angeles uses one

　　cubic mile of fresh water every year．Ice shelves in Antarctic will have decreased by more than 7,200 square miles in the next four decades(十年)

　　Africa's rivers face dramatic change that will leave a quarter of the continent severely short of water by the middle of the century, according to a global warming study published today．

　　If you're already walking 5 km to the nearest stream to get water, by 2050, it's going to mean walking 30 km or moving your whole household closer to the water source．

　　The car has transformed(改变)the lives of people, but the planet is paying too high a price．Today there are 620 million private cars worldwide, to say nothing of buses, vans and lorries．With current growth trends that by 2050 there will be about three billion cars．

　　And by around 2050, the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will reach 550 ppm(pats per million)．Car using will increase global temperature between 1.4℃ and 4.8℃ and the sea levels will rise between 0.09 and 0.78 meters．

阅读理解

　　About 385,000 spectators(观众)are expected to travel to the 2012 Olympic Games in London on foot or by cycle, the Olympic Delivery Authority(ODA)said．

　　More than 4,400 spectators will cycle on peak days, according to the ODA．About 10,000 will walk．Experts believe it will be the largest number of people to cycle to an Olympic Games, which underlines the organisers' determination that it will be a largely "car-free" event．

　　Another multi-million-pound fund is being created to improve the Greenway, an area inside and next to the Olympic Park．The Greenway will give access to the Olympic Park for a fifth of spectators．Most improvements on the Greenway will remain after the Games．Mayor Boris Johnson hailed(欢呼)“The legacy of some fantastic new green ways of getting about the city”．

　　The first cycle road, linking green spaces in Hackney, will run for 7.2 miles from Finsbury Park to Victoria Park, where 5,000 free bike parking spaces will be created．From here, spectators will walk across the Greenway into the Olympic Park．The second path will run for 6.3 miles from Epping Forest across Wanstead Flats to the Olympic Park．

　　Six other cycle roads will be upgraded(加强), with clearer signs for walkers and cyclists．Roads will be widened to cope with traffic．The area north of the Olympic Park will get 2,000 bike parking spaces, with 200 spaces to the south．

阅读理解

　　Kong Zi, also called Confucius(551-479 B．C), and Socrates(469-399 B．C)lived only a hundred years apart, and during their lifetime there was no contact(联系)between China and Greece, but it is interesting to look at how the world that each of these great philosophers came from shaped their ideas, and how these ideas in turn ,shaped their societies．

　　Neither philosopher lived in times of peace, though there were more wars in Greece than in China．The Chinese states were very large and feudal, while the Greek city-states were small and urban．The urban environment in which Socrates lived allowed him to be more radical(激进的)than Confucius．Unlike Confucius, Socrates was not asked by rules how to govern effectively．Thus, Socrates was able to be more idealistic, focusing on issues like freedom, and knowledge for its own sake．Confucius, on the other hand, advised those in government service, and many of his students went out to government service．

　　Confucius suggested the Golden Rule as a principle for the conduct of life：” Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you．” He assumed that all men were equal at birth, though some had more potential than others, and that it was knowledge that set men apart．Socrates focused on the individual, and thought that the greatest purpose of man was to seek wisdom．He believed that the superior class should rule the inferior(下层的)classes．

　　For Socrates, the family was of no importance, and the community of little concern．For Confucius, however, the family was the centre of the society, with family relations considered much more important than political relations．

　　Both men are respected much more today than they were in their lifetimes．

阅读理解

　　Last week the manager of an old jeweler’s shop received a letter marked “personal”, so of course his secretary gave it to him unopened．As he was very busy, the letter lay on his desk till tea-time．Then he opened it and a ￡10 note fell out onto his desk．With the note was a short letter．This is what it said：

　　Dear sir,

　　In 1935 I got engaged．But unfortunately at that time there was a lot of unemployment and I lost my job．I was six months without a job and then I got work again．But of course was very short of money．I came to your shop to buy a wedding ring．The assistant brought some rings for me to look at, but she was called away for a moment, and I put one of the rings in my pocket．When she came back, I said I did not know the size of my girl-friend’s finger．So I left the shop without buying a ring．

　　My wife died a short while ago and the fact that I never paid for her ring has been on my conscience(良心)all these years．At the time the ring cost ￡2 so I reckon(估计)that is about ￡10 at today’s price．And I am sending you that amount．

Yours truly,

A customer

　　“Well, well, well,” said the manager, “life is full of surprises!”

阅读理解

　　Computers are very important to modern life．Many people think that in the future computers will be used in lots of everyday life．It is thought that we won’t have to go shopping because we will be able to get most things which are sold in shops on the Internet．There will be no more books because we will be able to get all texts from computers．The Internet will be used to play games, see films and buy food．Most telephone calls will be made by computers, too．

　　Some people are glad about these new ways of shopping and communicating．Others do not think that computers will replace our old ways．

　　Let’s look at books, for example, some people think that one day we will not read books made of paper．Instead, we will buy and read books using computers．We will read texts on small pocket computers．The computers will keep many different books in them at the same time．We won’t need to turn lots of pages and paper will be saved．Computerized books will be used more and more．

　　Is Internet shopping such a pleasure as going to the shop? Many people say it is not．It is a pleasure to go into shops and look at things you want to buy．It is also unlikely that many people will want to read large texts on our computers, because paper books will perhaps be more friendly．Maybe computers won’t change these two habits．

阅读理解

　　There are some parents who try to be their children’s best friends－dressing like them, acting like them and spending time with them．That can be dangerous．After all, children will have many friends, but only one mother and one father．A parent’s role should include：

　　● Knowing your children’s friends and their parents whenever possible．Children want to have independence, but growing up is a process, not an event．One of the things that help that process is to know their friends．Find opportunities, even if it’s just for a few minutes, to chat with them, individually or in a group．Remembering their names helps with future conversations with your children．

　　● Making your home a welcome place for other children to visit．We have always tried to make our home a place where our children and their friends can be together safely and with a little supervision(监管)．For our sons that has meant having good food and some games．For our daughters it has meant a television with a few soap operas．

　　● Drawing the line if your children are in a dangerous friendship that puts him or her at risk．Be aware of how your children react to their friends．If you feel that your children are at risk, jump in at once and help them find solutions that keep their self-respect．

　　● Involving friends in family activities．Occasionally invite your children’s friends along for a family activity．Taking their friends hiking, fishing or to a show can help strengthen relationships and help you feel comfortable with their friends．

　　● Enforcing family rules．Each family has its own rules and responsibilities．For example, teens should not go out with friends if their homework isn’t done．If there are younger children, they are watching how you deal with a child’s lack of responsibility and will expect the same treatment．

　　All in all, the teenage years can be fun and productive for parents．Your involvement in your children’s lives will partly determine their future success．

阅读理解

　　Do you want to see the pyramids in Egypt, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the glaciers in Alaska－and never pay for a hotel room? In 2004, four 20-somethings started a website to help other people do just that．The site is CouchSurfing．com．

　　The concept is simple．Log on to the CouchSurfing website, pick your destination and find somebody there who will allow you to sleep on their couch．You won’t have a hard time finding a host, says co-operator Daniel Hoffer．“ We have close to 200,000 members, and they are in more than 200 countries,” he says．

　　On a recent visit to CouchSurfer Alex Fisher’s apartment in Manhattan, a typical CouchSurfing situation was seen：a small, one-bedroom apartment with a mat in the corner．This week, Fisher’s apartment is host to two young women from Toronto－Amanda Charrion and Silvia Yee．

　　“It’s very good for the shoestring traveler,” Charrion says about her CouchSurfing experience．“It allows me to go out and visit new places and see new things where I don’t have to worry so much about the cost of everything．”

　　Fisher is a perfect host, offering all her CouchSurfing guests maps and restaurant recommendations, “I just think helping people out is great,” she says of her motivation for hosting．

　　But while it all sounds great, there are some questionable issues．You don’t really know too much about the person who is sleeping in the next room．And the only way to check out your host is by reading online reviews written by previous roommates．

　　Yee, who loves her CouchSurfing experience, quotes their parents’ words about the host, “They might cut people into little pieces．But it hasn’t happened．”

　　It hasn’t happened yet．Although the website claims that only 0.2 percent of the CouchSurfing experiences are negative, which might not be enough to convince everyone．

阅读理解

　　Our listener question this week comes from Vietnam．Quang Khoi asks about Murphy’s Law．Murphy’s Law says：“Everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong．” Like many other popular sayings, it is difficult to find one explanation for it．

　　Those trying to explain Murphy’s Law agree that it began in the United States Air Force, which says the expression was named after officer Edward Murphy．He was an engineer working on a project in space flight research in 1949．One story says Captain Murphy was commenting about the failure of some equipment he was using in an experiment．He reportedly mentioned the worker responsible by saying：“If there is a way to do it wrong, he will find it．” Another official heard this and called it Murphy’s Law．

　　Another story is found in a book called A History of Murphy’s Law by Nick Spark．It says members of the research team working with Captain Murphy created a similar phrase：“If it can happen, it will happen．” They called this Murphy’s Law．But Spark later said there are in fact many different explanations about who invented the expression．

　　Still, many stories say the first use of the term Murphy’s Law was at a press conference several weeks later．John Stapp was an Air Force captain at the time．He spoke to reporters about the tests completed by Captain Murphy and his team．Stapp said no one was injured during the tests because the Air Force considered “Murphy’s Law” before carrying out their experiments．He said this meant that they considered everything that could go wrong before a test and planned how to prevent those mistakes from happening．

　　Today, you can find examples of Murphy’s Law in everyday life．For example, you might say that if you drop a slice of buttered bread on the floor, it will always land with the buttered side down．

阅读理解

　　Now I’m proud to say that I am an extremely successful immigration lawyer at the age of 56．Looking back, I was fired quite a few times in my life．Though they all happened for very great reasons, I made rapid progress every time．

　　When I first came to America at a very young age, I could not speak English well, but I needed money．Therefore, I went out to look for jobs, mainly in some restaurants．In the late 1960s, Chicago did not allow waitresses to serve drinks if they were under the age of 21．In order to get the job, I lied to the manager and said that I was 21．I was really 19 at the time, and did not know the difference between a martini(马提尼酒)and a Manhattan(曼哈顿鸡尾酒)．Eventually I became the head waitress at a vegetarian hotel in Catskills, New York, after going through several jobs．

　　In the 1970s, I went to study law at a law school．After my graduation in 1976, I found it extremely difficult to find a good job．There were no, or very few, Asians practicing law, let alone Asian women practicing law．I was fired many times, but each time I learned something．My former bosses and I are still good friends, and now I have set up an extremely successful law company with some great people．

Being fired is not the worst experience．Usually there is a good reason：our destiny demands it to help us mature(成熟)．Every setback is an opportunity to gain and to learn．