阅读理解

　　Babies can seem pretty helpless．They can’t talk or use a spoon properly．They can’t go to the bathroom by themselves．

　　A long time ago, you were a baby yourself．But you’ve made the transition from a crying infant(婴儿)to an independent kid．As you’ve grown, your brain has undergone major changes．As a result, you know the difference between a cow and a car, an orange and a tennis ball．You can read, spell, and do math．

　　For years, scientists have been intrigued(激起兴趣)by how a baby’s brain develops．They’ve been trying to figure out how and when babies become learning machines and begin to make sense of the world．

　　Some researchers suggest that babies start off early．“The ‘smart baby’ camp believes that babies learn quickly,” says David Rakison, a psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh．“They do math－(simple)addition and subtraction－within the first 6 months．”

　　Other researchers argue that babies take their time, slowly learning what they need to know．

　　Scientists who specialize in brain development do agree on one thing：the ways in which babies sort(给…分类)objects into groups is a key sign of brain development．

　　And after years of studying how babies sort toys and other objects, Rakison has concluded that babies are “smart” in some ways and “dumb” in others．Babies are particularly good, he says, at learning things that are essential for survival, such as recognizing faces or dangerous animals．

阅读理解

　　There are many things that we do in our own culture and we never ask questions about．We do things without thinking about them because we have always done them in the same way．When we are in another culture or with people from a different culture, we see that people do things in many different ways．The first difference we notice is the forms of address that are used in the culture．The language that people use to address(向…讲话)each other tells us many things about a culture．

　　There are many ways of addressing teachers and students and of introducing oneself in other cultures．In many parts of the world, students must show politeness and respect for teachers; one way of doing this is not to use the teacher’s name．Some teachers in the US don’t think it is rude if their students call them by their first names．This may be their way of having a close informal relationship with students．In the US, one way to show closeness and friendliness is to use a person’s first name．

　　When Americans greet each other, introduce each other, and have conversations, they usually stand about an arm’s distance(about eighteen inches)to two feet(twenty-four inches)apart．This is not always a comfortable distance for people from other cultures, who may prefer less or more distance．

　　Every language has rules about speaking and every culture has rules about how people should communicate with each other．These rules are not usually written down, but are learned by people living together in one culture．When you learn about other cultural ways of doing things, you start to think about what you’ve been doing in your own language and culture．

阅读理解

　　It doesn’t matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive．That’s what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin．Al Herpin, it was said, never slept．Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves．

　　Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey．They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind．So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made．But they were surprised．Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping．In fact, he did not even own a bed．He never needed one．

　　The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers．The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness．They asked him many questions, hoping to find an answer．They found only one answer that might explain his condition．Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born．But that was all．Was this the real reason? No one could be sure．

　　Herpin died at the age of 94．

阅读理解

　　With a healthy image, handsome face and Japan’s coolest haircut, Takeshi Kaneshiro(金城武)is one of Asia’s most attractive stars．

　　When “Turn Left Turn Right”(《向左走向右走》)opens in Chinese cinemas next month, there’s no doubt the 29-year-old boy will get even more attention．

　　Takeshi stars as John, a lonely violin player who falls in love with a translator called Eve, played by Gigi Leung(梁咏琪)．

　　Many of Takeshi’s fans like to copy his haircut, clothes and even his smile．But they will find it hard to copy the way he plays the violin in the movie．He impressed his director to Kei Fung(杜琪峰)by learning to play the violin in a few weeks．

　　This attitude to hard work is one of the reason Takeshi is such a good role model for young people．Like many young people, he values friendship more than anything else．“My best friends are my former schoolmates,” he once said, “We became close when we were at school and will be friends forever．”

　　Besides his good looks and hairstyle, he is well known for his healthy image．He started his acting career at the young age of 15 but, unlike other pop stars, he has rarely behaved badly．He stays away from drugs, alcohol and cigarettes．Violence, rude words and dirty jokes seldom appear in his movies．

　　“I hated foreign language classes when I was in school, but now I find speaking several languages helps me a lot in my career,” he said．For someone who only took up acting, Takeshi has come far．No doubt his star will rise even higher．

阅读理解

　　As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself”(DIY)trend(趋势)in the U．S．continues to grow．

　　“We needed furniture(家具)for our living room．” Says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it．So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs．” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high．The Rosses took a 2-week course for ＄ 280 at a night school．Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house．

　　Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died．He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory．Last month, he received a car repair bill for ＄ 420．“I was deeply upset about it．Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself．”

　　John and Jim are not unusual people．Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living．If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes．And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself．

阅读理解

　　It’s school time again! You’re probably feeling excited and maybe a little sad that summer is over．Some kids feel nervous or a little scared on the first day of school because of all the new things：new teachers, new friends, and even a new school．Luckily, these “new” worries only stick around for a little while．Let’s find out more about going to a new school．

　　Most teachers kick off the new school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the stuff you’ll be doing that year．Some teachers give students a chance to tell something about themselves to the rest of the class, too．When teachers do the talking on the first day, they often go over classroom rules and school rules so you’ll know what’s allowed and what’s not．Please pay close attention

　　You might already know a lot of people in your classes on the first day, but it’s a great day to make a new friend, so try to say hello to kids you know and new ones that you don’t．Make the first move and you’ll be glad you did, and so will your new friend!

　　Seeing friends you haven’t seen in a while can make the first day a good one．You can make the day feel special by wearing clothes that you really like．Maybe you got a great T-shirt on one of your vacations, or a pair of sneakers(运动鞋)．It also can make you feel good to be prepared and have all the things you need, such as pencils, folders, and whatever else you’ll be needing．But make sure that you pack them the night before in case you don’t have time in the morning．

阅读理解

　　BUKHANNON, West Virginia－Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path in Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident．

　　Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates(最新报道)on the rescuers’ progress．

　　The miners were trapped at about 6∶30 a. m. and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a. m.－more than three hours after it happened．“It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine．

　　The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group．

　　At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p. m．Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later．

　　He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years．The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each．The company has not released the names of the miner．

　　The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect(remove)the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that．“We don't want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said．

　　The cause of the explosion was not immediately known．High level of carbon monoxide were detected shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided(减退), authorities said．

阅读理解

　　English is fast becoming the language of science around the world, but what is its future among everyday speakers? One expert points out that the percentage of native English speakers is declining(降低)while the languages of other rapidly growing regions are being spoken by increasing numbers of people．But English will continue to remain widespread and important．

　　However, British language scholar David Graddol says English will probably drop in dominance(主导)by the middle of this century to rank, after Chinese, about equally with Arabic, Hindi, and Urdu．“The number of people speaking English as a first language continues to rise, but it isn’t rising nearly as fast as the numbers of many other languages around the world, simply because the main population group has been largely in the less developed countries where languages other than English have been spoken,” he says．

　　In a recent article in the journal Science, Mr．Graddol noted that three languages that are not near the top of the list of the most widely spoken now might be there soon．These are Bengali, Tamil and Malay, spoken in south and southeast Asia．

　　David Crystal, the author of The Cambridge Encyclopedia(百科全书)of the English Language, says about 1．5 billion of the world’s six billion people speak it as a second tongue compared to the 400 million native speakers．But another expert on the English language says Mr．Graddol underestimates(低估)the future of its dominance．“All the evidence suggests that the English language snowball is rolling down a hill and is getting faster, but nobody quite knows what’s going to happen because no language has been in this position before．” He said．

阅读理解

　　Lake Champlain is on the borders of New York and Vermont．An explorer named Samuel De Champlain is regarded as the first person to see a monster in it．This is reported to have happened in 1609, but this may not have been the first sighting of the monster known as Champ．

　　A reporter in the 1960’s found that the sighting may not have been in the lake at all．It is more likely that the first sighting was off the coast of the St．Lawrence estuary(河口)．In all likelihood, the first sighting of the lake monster in the lake itself took place at Port Henry, New York, in 1819 by settlers in the territory．The sightings continued, and in 1883 the sheriff(州长)of Clinton County, Nathan Mooney, described witnessing “ an enormous snake that was 25 to 30 feet in length”．

　　Sandra Mansi and her husband were vacationing in Vermont．When the lake monster appeared, they took a picture of Champ．The picture was analyzed and it was concluded that the photo was real．It has been speculated(推测)that the monster may be a creature known as a plesiosaur(颈项龙), which lived many centuries ago．

　　Lake Champlain has depths of up to 400 feet, and is an outlet to the Atlantic Ocean．There is plenty of food there, which supports the existence of such a creature．Lake Champlain also has a water temperature that is ideal for such a creature．In recent years a smaller creature has been seen with the large one．Could there be a family of these creatures in the lake reproducing their yet unknown species now? Only time will give us the answers that we seek．

阅读理解

　　We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed ability teaching．On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched．We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming(把……按能力分班)pupils．It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates．It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child．After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

　　Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual ability．This is only one aspect of their total personality．We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability．We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning．

　　In our classrooms, we work in various ways．The pupils often work in groups：this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills．They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively．The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher．

　　Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed．They also have some formal class teaching when this is appropriate．We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently．An advanced pupil can do advanced work：it does not matter what age the child is．We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal．