阅读理解

　　When I was a little girl, people used to send me lots of presents．There were plenty of gifts from relatives, but some came from salesmen, who tried to improve relations with my father, the vice president of a Midwestern department store chain．

　　All pleasure I expressed upon unfolding a package was silenced when I learned about Mom's law．For each and every present there must be an inescapable thank-you note．It took a lifetime to learn Mother's real lesson：There is no law requiring people to send me gifts or treat me nicely, and for their thoughtfulness alone they deserve acknowledgement．I must show that I appreciate what they have done．

　　In writing notes, either to family members or to gift-givers whose names I could not attach to a face, timeliness was the most important．If Mom asked when I was going to write a note, my wrong answer was, “When I feel like it．” She informed me that the giver needed to know that the gift had arrived safely through rain or snow or heat or gloom(幽暗)of the night．

　　My note also needed to answer the giver and recognize his or her thoughtfulness, creativity or generosity．(Grandma, you're so good at knotting! It must have taken you weeks to make that blanket for me．Thank you!)Next, the note had to contain some kind of use for the gift itself．Even if I didn't like it, I would have to find some positive quality．(Aunt Sally, your sweater is so soft that I never want to stop touching it．)Finally, I had to say something about myself to show that I was not just doing my duty but also being honest．I still remember the day when a friend of Mom's called to compliment me for a thank-you note I'd written．

　　Later, writing a thank-you note was no longer a task for me to do with, but a process that made me feel cared for and reminded me that I was caring．A thank-you note is not only for others, but for myself as well．

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　　Just 7km east of Sydney's city center lies Australia's most famous beach-Bondi, with its glorious trip of golden sand and blue water．Other delightful surf beaches and small bays stretch south to Maroubra, while the harbor suburbs to the north offer sandy bays and the bushland of Sydney Harbour National Park．The life saving movement was founded in Australia in the early 1900s, and now Bondi and Bonte each claim to be the world's first surf club．

1．Beaches

　　Surf and sand from Bondi to Maroubra, plus calm harbour beaches．

　　●With its rolling surf and long area of sand, Bondi is the region's best-known beach and the liveliest of all the ocean suburbs．

　　●Four more surf beaches lie south of Bondi-Tamarama, Bronte, Coogee and Maroubra as well as calmer Clovelly and Cordons Bay．

2．

　　Lively beachfront dining and shopping strips, and charming harbours．

　　●Bondi, Bronte, Coogee and Maroubra all offer a delightful seaside town atmosphere complete with beachwear and surf shops, pubs and outdoor cafes．

　　●Take a boat from Circullar Quay to one of the harbour suburbs－there is Rose Bay with its parks and harbourside restaurants, Vaucluse, home of 1820s Vaucluse House, and Watsons Bay, with a famous seafood restaurant and wonderful views up the harbour．

3．Inland

　　Shops,cafes, restaurants, parks and several major attractions．

　　●Paddington and Woollahra are famous for their cafes, small shops, art galleries, marketsand nearby Centennial Park, one of Sydney's largest open spaces．

　　●Visit Bondi Junction for its largest shopping center and cinema complex．

4．Activities

　　From surfing and diving to walls, golf and seaplane rides．

　　●Learn to surf at Bondi, Bronte or Coogee, go diving at Gordons Bay(where there is an underwater trail), or watch a summer surf carnival．

　　●Play golf at Bondi beach, Rose Bay or Moore Park, enjoy a game of tennis, and go horse riding at Centennial Park．

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　　The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, even though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today．

　　Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary．After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready．

　　As she walked slowly to the elevator, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old sheets that had been hung on her window．“I love it,” she said with the happiness of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy．

　　“Mrs．Jones, you haven't seen the room…just wait．”

　　“That doesn't matter,” she replied．“Happiness is something you decide ahead of time．Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged．It's how I arranged my mind．I have already decided to love it．It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up．Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away．” She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account．You take what you've put in．So, my advice to you would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories．Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank．” And with a smile, she said, “All my memories are happy ones．”

　　Mrs．Jones was always happy in the nursing home and she died at the age of 108．

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　　The Shanghai History Museum is putting on an exhibition to mark the 60th anniversary of the Long March．On show are more than 220 photos and 40 items that explain with picures how the communist Red Army drew back from its besieged(被围困的)bases in Jiangxi Province and fought its way to northern Shaanxi Province in the mid-1930s．Explanations are all in Chinese．The show will end on November 20．

　　Time：10∶00 am－4∶00 pm

　　Address：1286 Hongqiao Road

　　Admission：8 yuan for Chinese /15 yuan for foreigners

　　Eight elephants from Thailand are entertaining visitors at Changfeng Park by riding bikes, playing basketball, balancing on a beam, dancing and blowing a mouth-organ．People are encouraged to have a tug-of-war(拔河比赛)with the animals or lie on the ground and have the elephants walk over them．The elephants give three shows a day at 9∶30 am, 3∶30pm and 8∶00 pm and there is an additional show at 1：30 pm at weekends．The show will end on November 15．

　　Address：189 Daduhe Road

　　Admission：30-40 yuan

　　Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, swaying their bodies to music, kissing people and doing math by tapping their tails have made the dolphinarium in Peace Park an attraction for children．Seals and sea lions also perform．

　　Hours：10∶30 am, 4∶00 pm, and 7∶30 pm

　　Admission：20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children．

阅读理解

　　Trees are useful to man in three important ways：they give him wood and other useful things, they give him cool places, and they help to stop droughts and floods．

　　Unluckily, in many parts of the world, man has not found that the third of these points is the most important．Man wants to make money from trees, so he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had．And also, he is usually too careless to plant and look after new trees．So the forests slowly disappear．

　　This does not only mean that man will have fewer trees．The results are even worse：for where there are trees, their roots break up soil; make the rain in; and also bind the soil, thus stopping it from being washed away easily; but where there are no trees, the rain falls on hard ground and flows away, causing floods and carrying away the rich top-soil．When all the top-soil is gone, nothing is left but useless desert．

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　　Friendship Day truly calls for celebrations and is the perfect occasion to let your friends know how important they are and how cherished their friendship is．It is celebrated all over the world with much delight．Today the celebrations have gained so much popularity．In case you are thinking of how to celebrate Friendship Day, you will find many Friendship Day celebration ideas given below．

　　Take your friends along and plan a camping trip．Explore the outdoors with your friends and you can do plenty of activities like having a bonfire, go hiking, etc．Camping out in the open environment will make sure you have plenty of time in hand and have fun exploring new things together．

　　It is the time to celebrate and show everyone how special your friend is．Organize a party for the sake of friendship．Raise a toast for your friendship and prepare everything that your friend likes．Your friend will not forget this party for a lifetime!

　　What a good way to celebrate Friendship Day by watching a nice movie together with friends! If there is a good movie playing in the theaters, you can go there with your friends and also have lunch or dinner outside．If not, then you can get some cute movie DVDs on friendship and watch it at the comfort of your home．

　　Call your friends over and go through your albums．Recollect fond memories of childhood and how you became friends．Take a walk down the nostalgic lane and recollect fond memories like your first fights, amusing sleepovers, or your first movie together, etc．

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　　Singing songs is fun, but is it also useful? For learning English pronunciation, Mr．Joe thinks songs are the most useful way to learn．At the same time, you can learn some new words and phrases while singing songs．Mr．Joe has used songs to help himself learn French, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese．You should do the same．

　　Some vocabulary used in songs is not everyday English, so you have to be careful how you use song lyrics when you speak．Most words and sentences, though, are very useful．You don’t have to sing songs aloud if you are shy, but after learning a song you should be able to follow the words without looking at the lyrics．When you can do that, you have learned something valuable that you will never forget!

　　Some good songs to listen to are from the Beatles, John Denver and the Carpenters．Their songs are not too fast and the lyrics are close to normal spoken English．Just for fun, you can try Mr．Joe’s favorite singer, B．B．King．His songs are not easy at all! If you can understand even 80％ of “Why I Sing the Blues”, you are a very advanced student．

　　If you become good at singing English songs, you can try to go to karaoke and sing with your friends．When you are able to sing a song in another language, even if you don’t sing so beautifully, you will really impress other people!

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　　While football fans feel strongly angry and shocked about mistakes made by referees(裁判)because they cannot see clearly what has happened, a small German company is quietly pleased．

　　For Cairos Technologies, mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy．The company has developed a tiny chip(芯片)that fits inside a football and determines whether the ball has crossed the goal line, by being able to discover its exact location on the field．The world football organization, FIFA, has shown interest in the technology．It is very possible that the new technology will be used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany．

　　"We've been testing the technology at the main soccer stadium in Nuremberg for some time and more recently in an under-17 FIFA Cup in Peru," said Gunter Rohmer, a director of the company．"The technology has performed well, and we're pretty optimistic that it will be used at the games in Germany next year．"

　　The chip only weighs 12 grams, and is placed in the center of the football．It sends 2,000 signals a second to a receiver network of 12 antennas(天线), placed around the field．The receivers then send information about the ball's location to a central computer, and because it works in real time, it can immediately tell the referee whether a goal has been scored．The chip even can tell when the ball crosses the line in mid-air．Oliver Braun, one of the inventors of the chip, says that feedback from German referees was generally positive．Germany sports-wear giant Adidas is also optimistic about using this kind of chip in other ball sports．

　　FIFA aims to test the technology later this year at another game in Japan before deciding whether or not to introduce it in all 12 stadiums in Germany for next year's World Cup．

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　　If women are mercilessly exploited(剥削)year after year, they have only themselves to blame．Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores．Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion．

　　Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste．Many women spend large sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn．Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time changing their old-fashioned dresses．Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck-lines are lowered or raised, and so on．

　　No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society．Fashion designers are rarely concerned with necessary things like warmth, comfort and durability(耐用)．They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right．There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or picking her way through deep snow in high heeled shoes．

　　When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious．Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers．Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability(稳定耐用)? That is for you to decide．