阅读理解

　　When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor, Dr．Gibbs．He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known．He never invited us to play in his yard, but he was a very kind person．When Dr．Gibbs wasn't saving lives, he was planting trees．He owned a large field and wanted to make it a forest．

　　The good doctor had some interesting ideas about planting trees．He never watered his new trees．Once I asked why．He said that watering plants spoiled them, and that if you watered them, each baby tree would grow weaker and weaker, so you had to make things difficult for them and pick out the weaker trees early on．

　　He talked about how watering trees made for shallow(浅的)roots, and the trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of water under the earth by themselves．Deep roots were very important．So he never watered his trees．He’d planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he'd beat it with a rolled-up newspaper．I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree's attention．

　　Dr．Gibbs died several years after I left home．Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I watched him plant about twenty-five years ago．They're very big and strong now．

　　I planted some trees a few years back and carried water to them for a whole summer．After two years of caring too much, whenever a cold win blows in, they shake a lot．

　　Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons．Mostly I pray(祈祷)that their lives will be easy．But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer．I know my children are going to face difficulties．There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere, so what we need to do is to pray for roots that reach deep into the brave heart, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we could face it strongly and won't be beaten down．

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About Sports

　　All over the world people enjoy sports．Sports help to keep people healthy, happy and help them to live longer．

　　Sports change with the season．People play different games in winter and summer．Games and sports often grow out of people’s work and everyday activities．The Arabs use horses or camels in much of their everyday life; they use them in their sports, too．

　　Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them．Football, for example, has spread around the world．Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers．

　　Some sports or games go back to thousands of years, like running or jumping．Chinese boxing, for example, has a very long history．But basketball and volleyball are rather new．Neither one is a hundred years old yet．People are inventing new sports or games all the time．

　　People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game they often become good friends．Sports help to train a person’s character．One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace(体面)．

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　　Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight．A recent research has found a new recipe of success．According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young(less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly．Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog．

　　However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light．There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25％ of the homes, while argression and fighting were observed in 10％ of the homes．One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite．For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals submission．

　　In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behaviour．They are learning how to talk each other’s language．It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk ‘dog’, and dogs can learn how to talk ‘Cat’．

　　What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence．They can learn how to read each other’s body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than we previously suspected．Once familiar with each other’s presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa．They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom(梳理)each other．

　　The significance of the research on cats and dogs may go beyond pets ─ to people who don’t get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers．If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance．

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If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again．Everybody knows that．Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way．When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it．When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong．If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault(过错)．But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame(受责备), and few of us know that it is just his own fault．Have you ever found that some people can’t read or write but usually they have better memories? This is because they cannot read or write and they have to remember things; they cannot write things down in a little notebook．They have to remember days, names, songs and stories; so their memories are the whole time being exercised．So if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people：Practice remembering．

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　　Nick Petrels is a doctor in Montreal．He works 60 hours a week．He takes care of 159 patients a week in the hospital and at his office．He’s been a doctor for ten years．

　　Dr．Petrels gives his patients good medical advice．But he doesn’t just tell his patients what to do．He also sings to them on television！Dr．Petrels has his own TV show．The show is in Italian, English and French．The doctor starts the show with a song and then gives medical advice．He explains a medical problem or disease in simple language．After that, he sings another song．

　　Dr．Petrels produces and performs in his own show every week．The program is very popular with his patients and with people who enjoy his singing．His dream is to perform(表演)in Las Vegas．His favorite songs are love songs, and he has a compact disk of love songs that he wrote．Dr．Petrels says, “I always love to sing．All my problems are gone when I sing．”But when Dr．Petrels was young, his father didn’t want him to be a singer, so he went to medical school．

　　Some people tell Dr．Petrels he can help people more as a doctor．But Dr．Petrels says he helps people when he sings, too．“I like to make people smile．Sometimes it’s difficult to make a sick person smile．Medicine and entertainment(娱乐)both try to do the same thing．They try to make people feel good．”

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　　When many people are worried that there are no more heroes in the modern era(时代)，two university students who lost their lives to rescue drowning children have shown that heroes still exist(存在)．

　　According to the Inner Mongolia Morning Post，the tragedy(悲剧)occurred on the afternoon of December 14 when three school students skating on a frozen lake in Qingcheng Park in Hohhot fell through the ice into the freezing water．

　　More than 20 university students who happened to be near the spot immediately went to rescue the children．

　　Two children were quickly rescued，but the third died．The child’s body was not found for three hours．Two of the rescuers，Liu Ye and Hao Longbiao, also died of cold and exhaustion(筋疲力尽)．

　　The body of Hao who took the lead in jumping into the lake was not found until the next day．A student who was unwilling to tell his name said he and his classmates from the local college were taking photos at the lake．When they heard the children’s cries for help，they went to the ice hole hand in hand to rescue the children．But the ice kept breaking，causing most of them to fall into the icy water．

　　Local residents held mourning ceremonies(祭奠仪式)at the lake．Eight of the students were seriously affected by the freezing water and were being kept in hospital for further observation，but their lives were no longer in danger．

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　　Hans was an honest fellow with a funny round good-humored face．Living alone, every day he worked in his garden．In all the countryside there was no garden so lovely as his．All sorts of flowers grew there, blooming in their proper order as the months went by, one flower taking another flower’s place, so that there were always beautiful things to see, and pleasant odors to smell．

　　Hans had many friends, the most devoted being the Miller．So devoted was the rich Miller to Hans that he’d never go by his garden without plucking a large bunch of flowers or a handful of sweet herbs, or filling his pockets with fruits．The Miller used to talk about noble ideas, and Hans nodded and smiled, feeling proud of having such a friend．

　　The neighbors thought it strange that the rich Miller never gave Hans anything in return, though he had hundreds of sacks of flour, many cows and sheep, but Hans never troubled his head about these, and nothing gave him greater pleasure than to listen to all the wonderful things about the unselfishness of true friendship．

　　In spring, summer, and autumn Hans was very happy, but when winter came, and he had no fruit or flowers to sell, he suffered from cold and hunger．Though extremely lonely, the Miller never came to see him then．

　　“There’s no good in going to see Hans while the snow lasts．” The Miller said to his wife, “When people are in trouble they shouldn’t be bothered．So I’ll wait till the spring comes when he’s happy to give me flowers．”

　　“You’re certainly very thoughtful,” answered his wife, “It’s quite a treat to hear you talk about friendship．”

　　“Couldn’t we ask Hans up here?” said their son．“I’ll give him half my meal, and show him my white rabbits．”

　　“How silly you are!” cried the Miller．“I really don’t know what’s the use of sending you to school．If Hans came up here, and saw our warm fire, our good supper, and our red wine, he might get envious, and envy is a most terrible thing, and would spoil anybody’s nature．I am his best friend, and I’ll always watch over him, and see that he’s not led into any temptation．Besides, if Hans came here, he might ask me for some flour．Flour is one thing, and friendship is another, and they shouldn’t be confused．The words are spelt differently, and mean quite different things．Everybody can see that．” He looked seriously at his son, who felt so ashamed that he hung his head down, and grew quite scared, and began to cry into his tea．

　　Spring coming, the Miller went down to see Hans．Again he talked about friendship．“Hans, friendship never forgets．I’m afraid you don’t understand the poetry of life．See, how lovely your roses are!”

　　Hans said he wanted to sell them in the market to buy back his things which were sold during the hard time of the winter．

　　“I’ll give you many good things．I think being generous is the base of friendship．” said the Miller．“And now, as I’ll give you many good things, I’m sure you’d like to give me some flowers in return．Here’s the basket, and fill it quite full．”

　　Poor Hans was afraid to say anything．He ran and plucked all his pretty roses, and filled the Miller’s basket, imagining the many good things promised by the Miller．

　　The next day he heard the Miller calling：“Hans, would you mind carrying this sack of flour for me to market?”

　　“I’m sorry, but I am really very busy today．”

　　“Well,” said the Miller, “considering that I’m going to give you my things, it’s rather unfriendly of you to refuse．Upon my word, you mustn’t mind my speaking quite plainly to you．”

　　Poor Hans was driven by his friendship theory to work hard for his best friend, leaving his garden dry and wasted．

　　One evening Hans was sitting by fire when the Miller came．

　　“Hans,” cried the Miller, “My little boy has fallen off a ladder and hurt himself, and I’m going for the Doctor．But he lives so far away, and it’s such a bad windy night．It has just occurred to me that you can go instead of me．You know I’m going to give you my good things, so you should do something for me in return．”

　　“Certainly,” cried Hans．He struggled into the stormy night, and got the doctor to ride a horse to the Miller’s house in time to save the boy．However, Hans got lost in the darkness, and wandered off into a deep pool, drowned．

　　At Hans’ funeral, the Miller said, “I was his best friend．I should walk at the head of the procession．” Every now and then he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief．

阅读理解

　　Today, there's hardly an aspect of our life that isn't being upended(颠覆)by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail．“If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cast about ＄2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas．And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza．”

　　Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers．Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year．“We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity．”

　　You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet．Consider：books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets．And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch．A company called FinalThoughts．com offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”．

　　Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable(能预测的)future．Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than ＄75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation．Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52％ of those connected to the Internet．Most kids use computers to play games(some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left．

　　What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back．“The Internet is just 20％ invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum．“The last 80％ is happening now．”

阅读理解

　　I've been writing for most of my life．The book Writing Without Teachers introduced me to one distinction and one practice that has helped my writing processes greatly．The distinction is between the creative mind and the critical mind．While you need to employ both to get to a finished result, they cannot work in parallel no matter how much we might like to think so．

　　　Trying to criticize writing on the fly is possibly the single greatest barrier to writing that most of us meet with．If you are listening to that 5th grade English teacher correct your grammar while you are trying to seize a fleeting(稍纵即逝的)thought, the thought will die．If you capture the fleeting thought and simply share it with the world in raw form, no one is likely to understand．You must learn to create first and then criticize if you want to make writing the tool for thinking that it is．

　　The practice that can help you pass your learned bad habits of trying to edit as you write is what Elbow calls “free writing”．In free writing, the objective is to get words down on paper non-stop, usually for 15－20 minutes．No stopping, no going back, no criticizing．The goal is to get the words flowing．As the words begin to flow, the ideas will come from the shadows and let themselves be captured on your notepad or your screen．

　　Now you have raw materials that you can begin to work with using the critical mind that you've persuaded to sit on the side and watch quietly．Most likely, you will believe that this will take more time than you actually have and you will end up staring blankly at the pages as the deadline draws near．

　　Instead of staring at a blank screen start filling it with words no matter how bad．Halfway through your available time, stop and rework your raw writing into something closer to finished product．Move back and forth until you run out of time and the final result will most likely be far better than your current practices．

阅读理解

　　If you can read a clock, you can know the time of the day．But no one knows what time itself is．One way to think about time is to imagine a world without time．But there could be no movement, because time and movement cannot be separated．

　　In early human history, the only changes that seemed to repeat themselves evenly were the movements of objects in the sky．The most easily seen result of these movements was the difference between light and darkness．The sun rises in the eastern sky, producing light．It moves across the sky and sinks in the west, causing darkness．The appearance and disappearance of the sun was even and unfailing．The periods of light and darkness it created were the first accepted periods of time．We have named each period of light and darkness one day．People saw the sun rise higher in the sky during the summer than in winter．They counted the days that passed from the sun’s highest position until it returned to that position．They counted 365 days．We now know that is the time Earth takes to move once around the sun．We call this period of time a year．

　　They also developed a way to use the changing faces of the moon to tell time．The moon was “full” when its face was bright and round．The early humans counted the number of times the sun appeared between full moons．They learned that this number always remained the same---about 29 suns．We now know this period of time as one month．

　　Early humans hunted animals and gathered wild plants．They moved in groups or tribes form place to place in search of good．Then, people learned to plant seeds and grow crops．As hunters, people did not need a way to measure time．As farmers, however, they had to plant crops in time to harvest them before winter．They had to know when the seasons would change．So, they developed calendars．

　　No one knows when the first calendar was developed．But it seems possible that it was based on moons, or lunar months．