阅读理解

　　The first time I went for a walk around my father-in-law’s neighborhood was garbage day, and I was shocked to see what people were throwing out．

　　It was back in 1981, and I saw many people gathered in someone’s front yard．As I went nearer to see what was happening I got my first introduction to yard sales．For the few dollars I had in my wallet, I was able to buy a seven-inch black-and-white portable TV．I also bought a flashlight．

　　The following weekend, at another yard sale, I saw a 14-inch color TV being sold for almost nothing．I felt I could not miss the offer and bought it．Now I had two sets and couldn’t wait to see what else I could afford the next weekend．

　　Spring ended, and by then I had accumulated almost every type of electronic equipment I had always wished to have back home．

　　Then this new idea came to mind．I had heard about a man who traveled back home every few months．He drove a truck filled with boxes of new and used stuff that people were sending to relatives．So I told my father that I would send as many types of items as I could so that he could start his resale business．

　　Every few months I would gather several boxes of American “junk”－televisions, toasters, fans, hair dryers, etc．and send them home．As word got out about my father’s “trash” market, people all came to buy these things．

　　Three years later, when I visited my family for the first time since leaving home, I learned that many of the families in our neighborhood had a piece of “trash”．It proved that I had the responsibility to keep people back home up to date with the latest technology you no longer need．

阅读理解

　　Does a Tea Break Make You More Efficient?

　　China has been drinking tea since the time of Shennong, 5,000 years ago．Britain’s relationship with tea is much shorter, but tea enjoys pride of place as the UK’s national drink．According to the UK Tea Council, British people drink an average of three cups a day or a national total of 165 million cups every day．

　　With figures like these, it is no surprise that time spent taking tea affects the working day in Britain．A recent survey found that 24 minutes a day are lost to making, buying and drinking tea and coffee．That is, ￡400 a year is lost in working hours per employee, or 190 days over a lifetime．So, should employers be worried about this lost working time, or does the tea break make up in other ways?

　　One argument is that caffeine improves mental state：a drink of tea or coffee can make you active and focus on work．

　　Professor Rogers of the University of Bristol disagrees．After years of studying caffeine he sees nothing can prove that．“Workers would perform equally well if not drinking it at all,” he says．“But if they’re often drinking it and then go without, they’ll feel tired and won’t work well．”

　　Psychologist Cooper instead emphasizes the role tea breaks play in office life, and in building social relationships．“We need to make people more active and see other people．The tea break is one way of doing this,” says Cooper．

　　And Professor Rogers also points out the comfort effect of a hot drink：“We warm our hands on them on a cold day; they’re comforting and play a big role in our everyday life．Whatever the caffeine’s doing, I’d say these 24 minutes aren’t wasted．”

阅读理解

　　Water is very important to living things．Without water there can be no life on the earth．All animals and plants need water．Man also needs water．We need water to drink, to cook our food and to clean ourselves．Water is needed in offices, factories and schools．Water is needed everywhere．

　　There is water in seas, rivers and lakes．Water is found almost everywhere．Even in the desert part of the world, there is some water in the air．You can not see or feel it when it is a part of the air．The water in the seas, rivers and lakes is a liquid, the water in the air is a gas, and we call it water vapour(蒸气)．

　　Clouds are made of water．They may be made of very small drops of water．They may also be made of snow crystals(结晶体)．Snow crystals are very very small crystals of ice．Ice is frozen water．It is a solid．There can be snow and ice everywhere in winter．

　　Water may be a solid or a liquid or a gas．When it is a solid, it may be as hard as a stone．When it is a liquid, you can drink it．When it is a gas, you can not see or feel it．

根据短文内容，从A．B．C．D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

阅读理解

How to Become Cleverer

　　Once a boy came to ask a fisherman how to become cleverer, because his mother always called him “foolish boy”

　　“That’s easy,” answered the fisherm．an．“I know one way to make you become cleverer．”

　　“Really?”

　　“Of course．It is said a fish head is good for brain．If you eat one, you’ll become cleverer indeed．Pay only three pounds for one fish head．” The boy paid him three pounds and the fisherman cut off a fish head and handed it to him．

　　A raw fish head is not good－not even for a hungry boy to eat but the boy ate it up in two gulps．

　　“Do you feel anything?” asked the fisherman．

　　“Not in my head,” said the boy．

　　The boy lay on the ground and thought．“One whole fish costs only two pounds．I had paid him three pounds for the fish head．Why couldn’t I have the whole fish for soup, a head for brain and one pound left over?” He jumped up and shouted at the fisherman．“You thief! You are fooling me!” The fisherman laughed, saying, “The fish head works now, you see．”

根据短文内容，从A．B．C．D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

阅读理解

　　Many Chinese students who have learnt English for more than ten years are still unable to speak English very well when they meet a foreigner．They seem to have mastered the basic language structure(结构), but a conversation in English will make them feel uneasy．They are afraid that other people might find out their mistakes．

　　It's uncommon that many students who are bad speakers of English can write English perfectly．This proves that they are unable to organize their idea in English．The center of the problem is that they lack practice and confidence(自信)．

　　Why should you be afraid? Do you fear those foreigners with whom you are speaking? Don't be shy, they will not laugh at you just for a little mistake you make．The best way to get rid of trouble is to learn to speak by speaking more．I am sure that constant practice will help you succeed．

根据短文内容，从A．B．C．D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

阅读理解

　　One afternoon, Tim, my son, came home from school with a puzzled look on his face．I asked him what was the matter and he said, “Are all the people the same even though their skin colors are different?” I thought for a moment, then said, “I’ll explain．” I put apples of different colors on the table：first a red apple, then a green apple and at last a yellow apple．I looked at Tim．

　　“Tim, people are just like apples．They come in all different colors, shapes and sizes．See, some of the apples have been bumped(碰撞)and bruised(擦伤)．On the outside, they may not even look as delicious as the others．” As I was talking, Tim was checking each apple carefully．

　　Then, I took each of the apples and peeled them, putting them back on the table, but in a different place．

　　“OK, Tim, tell me which one is the red apple, the green apple and the yellow apple．”

　　Tim said, “I can’t．They all look the same now．”

　　“Now taste each of them．See if that helps you find out which one is which．”

　　Tim did so, and then a big smile came across his face．“People are just like apples! They are all different, but if you take off the outside, they’re quite the same inside．”

　　Now I see Tim has already understood me and I don’t need to say or do anything else．

　　From then on, when I help myself to an apple, it tastes a little sweeter than before．

　　What wonderful food for thought!

根据短文内容，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

阅读理解

　　Jealousy(妒忌)is a very common problem in daily life．It’s everywhere．For example, if someone does better than you, you will get annoyed because you want to be No．1．We may become jealous of a best friend’s top marks in an exam, or of the girl in art class who is praised by the teacher all the time．We get annoyed because these good things are happening to someone else but not to us．

　　It’s bad to feel jealous．We should be pleased with the things we have．But we still wish we had the money of this person and the talent of that person．Instead of sharing their happiness, we just feel jealous and unhappy with ourselves．And, too often, these feelings are expressed by speaking ill of the people we envy．(忌妒)

　　However, envy is also a kind of compliment to others．We see that other people have styles and talents different from our own．By comparing ourselves with others, we can know what we lack(缺乏)．And we can turn this comparison, the envy of others, into a kind of power．

　　Therefore, being a bit jealous of others lets us know what we are like and what we want to be like．It can push us to become what we really want to be．

根据短文内容，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

阅读理解

　　University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and it’s one of the top university in the world．There is no clear date when the university started, but teaching began at Oxford in some forms in 1096 and developed quickly from 1167．

　　There are 39 independent(独立的)colleges at Oxford, attracting students and learned men from across the world．There are over 100 libraries for the students and learned men to use．At University of Oxford, they also provide a number of money for the best students．Of course, if you want to study here, first you have to reach a certain level of English language．

　　College life at Oxford is very exciting but busy．The groups of college provide a friendly and welcoming home for students while the college are strict with students about their studies．Many Chinese students are studying here．The number of Chinese students at the university has grown quickly over the past 10 years．

根据短文内容，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。

阅读理解

What’s On Stage

　　An acrobatic show：To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe(剧团)will present “The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real．Chills will run down your spine(脊柱)as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge．

　　Time：7∶30 p. m., September 13-19

　　Place：Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District

　　Exhibitions

　　Joint Show：A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing．About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display．

　　Time：9∶00 a. m.－5∶00 p. m. until September 10

　　Place：Huangshicheng Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District

　　Oil paintings：The Wanfung Art Gallery will host a joint show of oil painting by 10 young and middle-aged artists．On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wondrous variety of life in unique styles．

　　Time：9∶00 a. m.－4∶00 p. m. until September 15

　　Place：136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District

　　Literature museum：The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an in-depth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949．

　　Time：9∶00 a. m.－4∶00 p. m., daily

　　Place：45 Anyuan Donglu, Chaoyang District(Shaoyaoju area)

　　Concerts

　　Beijing rocks：“The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month．Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals．The audience will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm．

　　Time：September 16

　　Place：The Olympic Center

　　Belgium Orchestra：La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orehestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world in memory of the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death．

　　Time：7∶30 p. m．September 11－14

　　Place：Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities

阅读理解

　　Scientists made a great break through this year in England when the first "test tube" baby was born．The birth was the result of many years of research by doctors．The doctors did the research in groups to help the women who cannot conceive a baby in the normal way．

　　What happened when the baby was born "from a test tube"? Well, the baby did not literally grow in a test tube．The first stage of the process was that the egg from the woman and the sperm from the man were put together in the test tube．After all, the embryo was put into the womb of a woman．This process was difficult．But it was successful, so the baby was eventually born, like any other, from a woman, only the woman wasn't the baby's real mother, but a sort of "carrier" of a baby produced by another couple．

　　Obviously, this method is to help the couples who can't have children because of physical problems in the woman．But very difficult moral problems arise in the kind of situation．Take it for instance, a case that happened this year．A couple who wanted a baby advertised for a woman to have a child by the father of the couple．They offered the woman a lot of money．The woman was made pregnant by artificial insemination; in this case, the woman "employed" to bear the child was its real mother．When the baby was born, the woman refused to give it back to the couple．But, in the eyes of the law, the woman had a right to keep the children because she was its biologic al mother．

　　You could argue that we should change the law to deal with this kind of situation．In earlier times, there were always healthy babies needing adoption, because family planning methods were not so effective as they are now．These days, however, most of the children who can be adopted are over six years old, often handicapped in some way．So a couple who want a young healthy baby cannot always adopt one, this is why the "test tube" baby is in demand．But is it normally right to use this method? Should we temper with nature in this way? Even if we change the law, would this be the right step to take?