Reading Comprehension

　　Between ten and midnight the United States is politically leaderless——there is no center of information anywhere in the nation except in the New York headquarters of the great broadcasting companies and the two great wire services．No candidate and no party can afford the investment on election night to match the news-gathering resources of the mass media; and so, as every citizen sits in his home watching his TV set or listening to his radio, he is the equal of any other in knowledge．There is nothing that can be done in these hours, for no one can any longer direct the great strike for America’s power; the polls(选票)have closed．Good or bad, whatever the decision．America will accept the decision——and cut down any man who goes against it, even though for millions the decision runs contrary to their own votes．The general vote is an expression of national will, the only substitute for violence and blood．Its decision is to be defended as one defends civilization itself．

　　There is nothing like this American expression of will in England or France, India or Russia or China．Only one other major nation in modern history has ever tried to elect its leader directly by mass, free, popular vote．This was the Weimar Republic of Germany, which modeled its unitary vote for national leaders on the American practice．Out of its experiment with the system it got Hitler．Americans have had Lincoln, Wilson and two Roosevelts．Nothing can be done when the voting returns are flooding in; the White House and its power will move to one or another of the two candidates, and all will know about it in the morning．But for these hours history stops．

Reading Comprehension

　　Some people believe that international sport brings about good will between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together．Others say that the opposite is true：that international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred．There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sport encourages international brotherhood．Not only was there the terrible incident with the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by those incidents caused mainly by minor national contests．

　　One country received its second - place medal with great anger after the hockey final．There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions．They were certain that one of their goals should not have been dismissed and that the opposite side’s victory was unfair．Their manager was angry when he said：“This wasn’t hockey．Hockey and the International Hockey Society are finished．”The president of the society said later that such words could result in the pause of the team for at least three years．

　　The American basketball team announced that they would not give away first place to Russia, after a fighting end to their contest．The game had ended in quarrel．It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play, A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player beat it into the basket．It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match．The judges discussed the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand．The American players then decided not to receive the silver medals．

　　Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played for honors or money rather than for the love of the game．The suggestion that sportsmen should compete as individuals, or in non national teams, might be too much to hope for．But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages dangerous nationalism．

Reading Comprehension

　　Life on land probably began about 430 million years ago, though it has existed in the water for perhaps as much as 3,000 million years．When we think of the first thing on land, we probably think of strange animals coming out of the oceans, but in fact no animals could have been living if plants had not been on land first．Plants had to be on land before animals arrived．They supplied the first land animals with the surrounding and food necessity, since they, the plants, are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy．

　　The first plants to exist out of the water were probably certain kinds of algae(海藻)which were followed by other plants that grew close to the ground and needed water in which to reproduce．Once the move to land had been made, however, evolution(进化)took place quickly．By the end of 100 million years, plants had developed their roots, and some had got tree -like forms since height was very important in gaining sunlight．About 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered with forests of huge trees．In most ways they were like modern trees．They had roots, leaves, wood, but mostly they had not developed seeds．

Reading Comprehension

　　The opinion of many engineers is that the architects that designed the New York World Trade Center Twin Towers did a good job in designing the buildings．The buildings were safe from the hazards envisioned(预想到的)at the time．Indeed, they were designed to withstand the force of aircraft that might crash into them．They were not however, designed to withstand the effects of the very high temperatures produced by the ignition(点燃)of aviation fuel carried by the aircraft．

　　Steel lightly covered with concrete is the main structural part of the towers and steel loses a lot of structural strength when heated to 1100 degrees Centigrade and beyond, as it was．To protect the steel the towers beams were coated with a few centimeters of concrete．That insulation(隔离)was to provide structural state of being complete for at least 1 hour of fire．The towers met that test．The south tower lasted 62minutes．The north, 103 minutes．Tragedy followed when not all could escape before the collapse．

　　Most experts agree that the Twin Towers were very well designed．Many also agree that the people planning the attacks were very knowledgeable and aimed the aircraft at a height that would produce the most damage．The aircraft crash and the resulting fuel fed fires were aimed at about the 90th floor．That was just high enough to insure that the upper floors would weaken with the heat and crack down, dropping into the remaining part of the building．

　　The mass of the falling top floors created such a falling load that some experts estimate it exceeded by 5 to 10 times normal bearing loads．The effect was like a giant hammer, each floor contributing more weight to be born by the next floor down．

　　Were the Trade Towers well designed? Engineers say yes．But, the public holds to the belief that architects will never again design a tall building without considering the effects of terrorist attacks of all potential kinds．That not only includes the ability of the structure to withstand attack but the means to allow the buildings occupants to escape in time to survive．

Reading Comprehension

　　NOT all memories are sweet．Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences．Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars．Often they relive these experiences in nightmares．

　　Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help people forget bad memories．The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience．They hope it might reduce, or possibly erase(抹去), the effect of painful memories．

　　In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France．The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain．So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased．

　　The research has caused a great deal of argument．Some think it is a bad idea, while others support it．

　　Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war．They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories．

　　“Some memories can ruin people’s lives．They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare．They usually come with very painful emotions,” said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School．“This could relieve a lot of that suffering．”

　　But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity(特质)．They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past．

　　“All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are, I’m not sure we want to wipe those memories out,” said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist．

Reading Comprehension

　　Our children and grandchildren may not have a chance to visit many of the most famous places around the world．War, weather, age, traffic and pollution damage these famous places．Looking after these places often costs more than one country can afford．

　　In the early 1970s, world governments decided that if they joined together, they would be able to preserve our history．If every country paid some money, they said, it would be possible to look after important historic places．Also, if they discovered that a monument needed urgent help, they would have money for repairs．For these reasons, countries around the world united to form the World Heritage Organization in 1972．Today, the organization helps to maintain and restore the most important places from our history．

　　However, one of the biggest problems for historic places is vandalism．People sometimes enter the sites and destroy or damage the buildings．At some sites, such as Stonehenge(巨石阵)in England, governments have built high fences to protect the site from vandals．

　　There are many different ideas about how to solve the problem of vandalism．Stone experts say that if guards patrolled the sites, vandals would not be able to get in．Some experts say that if they fixed more television cameras, they would not need so many guards．Other experts say that the best solution is education．If people learned to respect history, they would not destroy or damage it．They would also want to spend money looking after old places．For this reason, the World Heritage Organization helps to spread information about the value of historic sites．

阅读理解

　　So Christmas is over for another year．We have eaten the last turkey, sandwich, cleared away the last piece of wrapping paper．Sad, isn't it?But there was one part of Christmas I wasn't sorry to say goodbye to－and that was the television advertisement．

　　They started in November and they carried on for six weeks．Every time we turned on the television, a sweet voice would suggest some new , very expensive gift that they claimed was all we needed to make our Christmas complete．

　　I could put up with all the adult gift suggestions．After all, we are all supposedly mature(成熟的)people, and if we are foolish enough to fall for what we hear on the TV adverts, that's our problem．

　　But what I found really worried was the kids' toy commercials．Every kid under the age of ten was exposed repeatedly to advertising．Every time there was a break in one of the television programs, he'd be persuaded softly to ask his Mum for this new Christmas toy．“Tell her that if she doesn't buy it for you, she is a failure as a mother．”

　　Going through children is the most secret way of advertising．Kids are easily influenced, have not sense of money and an emotional hold over their parents that advertising companies control shamelessly．It's time something was done to prevent this．

阅读理解

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阅读理解

　　Animals seem to have the sense to eat when they are hungry and they do not eat more than their bodies need．It has been shown that rats will, when given a choice over a period of time, prefer water with vitamins(维生素)to water without vitamins, even though there is no difference in taste or smell between the two water bottles．When a sweet smell was added to the vitamins-enriched water, the rats did seem to develop a taste for it and kept drinking it, even after the vitamins were changed to the clear water．In time(最后), however, they broke the habit and went back to where the necessary vitamins were．

　　In experiments, babies of 6 to 12 months old were placed in a room with a wide choice of baby food before them．They were given whatever food they pointed to or appeared interested in．We are told that at first they showed some unusual eating habits, but that over a period of time they managed to choose a well-balanced diet．

　　So in choosing food, rats and babies do seem to know and act on what's best for them．Clearly, there is a kind of “body wisdom”, which humans soon lose．Most of us do not eat as wisely as we could．Many of our food preferences are culturally determined and influenced by old habits．Some people eat foxes, dogs and blackbirds, while we eat cows and pigs．So what people eat and how many they eat seem to be greatly influenced by what is going around them．

阅读理解

　　In the last fifty years, a lot of people have left Europe and gone to live in Australia．One of them was a Hungarian man．He lived in Australia for a long time, and he had a lot of good friends there．He always said to them, “Australia is beautiful, but Hungary is beautiful, too．” Then one year he said to his friends, “I'm going to go back to Hungary to visit my home town．” All his friends said to him, “We want to go with you, because you often say Hungary is a beautiful country, and we want to visit it．” The Hungarian Australian took his friends from Sydney to Rome in a big plane, and then they went from Rome to Budapest in a train as they wanted to see the mountains, and the villages and the towns．

　　They stayed in Budapest nearly a week, and they liked it very much．One day they went to the zoo in Budapest and saw two kangaroos there．

　　These Australians were very happy because kangaroos were from their home town．They said to them, “Come here, old friends!Come and see your Australian brothers!” But the kangaroos did not move．

　　But then the Hungarian Australian spoke to them in Hungarian, “Come here!” he said, and both of the kangaroos ran to him．

　　The other Australians laughed and said, “Look at that．They're Australians, but they only know Hungarian!”