阅读理解

　　There are two types of people in the world．Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy．This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds．

　　People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things．The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather．They enjoy all the cheerful things．Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things．Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied．By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend(or hurt)many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere．If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied．The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation．It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors．The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes．I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit．

　　Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck．Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect．This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments．If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success．Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes．If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings．These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others．If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them．Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels．

阅读理解

　　The Taj Mahal(泰姬陵)is considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest example of the late style of Indian architecture(建筑)．It is at Agra in northern India．It lies beside the River Jumna in the middle of gardens with quiet pools．

　　The Taj Mahal was built by the Mogul emperor(皇帝)Shah Jehan, who ruled India in the seventeenth century．It is in memory of his favorite wife, Arjumand Banu Bagam, known as Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631．The building, which was completed between 1632 and 1638, was designed by a local Muslim architect(建筑师), Ustad Ahmad Lahori．The whole building, with gardens and gateway structures, was completed in 1643．The Taj Mahal stands at one end of the garden tomb with marble(大理石)path．The room is softly lighted by the light that passes through double screens of carved marble set high in the walls．The building now is kept in good condition．

　　The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build．Shah Jehan planned a similar building, but in black instead of white, to lie on the other side of the river．But before it could be built, Shah Jehan was imprisoned(监禁)by his son and buried next to his wife in the Taj Mahal．

阅读理解

　　It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home．

　　If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right, then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons．Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent．

　　My daughter Carla’s fifth grade’s teacher made every child in her class feel special．When students received less than a prefect test score, she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed．

　　You can use the same technique when you evaluate your child’s work at home．Don’t always scold and give lots of praise instead．Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn’t done．If your child completes a difficult task，promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game．

　　Learning is a process of trying and failing and trying，and succeeding．If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure，they will learn faster and achieve success at last．

阅读理解

　　It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang．I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together inside the storm door on the top step．

　　“Any old papers, lady?” asked one of them．

　　I was busy．I wanted to say “no” until I looked down at their feet．They were wearing thin little sandals, wet with heavy snow．

　　“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa．”

　　They walked over and sat down at the table．Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor．I served them cocoa and bread with jam to fight against the cold outside．Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget．

　　The silence in the front room struck me．I looked in．The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it．The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady, are you rich?”

　　I looked at my shabby slipcovers．The girl put her cup back in its saucer carefully and said, “Your cups match your saucers．” Her voice was hungry with a need that no amount of food could supply．They left after that, holding their bundles of papers against the wind．They hadn’t said “Thank you．” They didn’t need to．They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful．Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence．But they matched．

　　I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup．Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job－these matched, too．

　　I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room．The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor．Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am．

阅读理解

　　That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco．There I was walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theater．With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines．I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time．As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco．City life had become too much for me．

　　As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold．I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers．Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets．

　　About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me．I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun．The street was empty．All I saw was a shining streetlight．Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster．Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been．It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk．

　　Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired any more．I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise．Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found．

　　Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me．When a voice called from the inside, “Alisa Camacho?” I thought I was dreaming．How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eyes．“Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape．

　　It was nearly 3 a. m. by the time I got into bed．I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had got my wallet back．I also had got back some enjoyment of city life．I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other．

阅读理解

　　“I usually put my mobile phone in my bag, and I often feel like it is ringing when in truth there is no phone call．Now I always want to keep it in my hand, being afraid that I might miss important calls or messages,” Miss Liu tells her doctor．

　　Miss Gu, a news worker, has to take her mobile phone with her all the time so as not to miss any calls from her office or readers．Day by day, she started to experience a great “panic” about her mobile phone．“Every night when I’m about to fall asleep, I often wake up with a start, feeling that my phone is ringing．Although I’m sure that I have turned it off, I still feel that it is ringing, clearly．”

　　The above phenomenon(现象)is what we call “mobile-phone acouasm(幻听)”．The mobile phone has now become a “new organ” in a white collar’s daily life, and “mobile-phone acouasm” has become a common phenomenon among office workers．

　　According to a report of China Youth Daily, “mobile-phone acouasm” most likely results from people’s dependency on hi-tech products．It is associated with certain professions, such as salesmen, consultants and journalists．They use mobile phones almost continuously．

　　Constantly(持续地)being in the “stand-by” mode, the strong psychological tension gives them acouasm．Meanwhile, a large number of this year’s graduates are joining the family of acouasm suffers due to the hard job-hunting experience．

　　“You know that the rings are not from your phone, but you always take it out and have a look．This is subconscious(潜意识)from your body sending you a signal, telling you that you must take a break to reduce your pressure,” Professor Sun Li from Huadong Normal University explains．

　　There are many ways to solve the problem．The professor says that the key is to deal with pressure from work．“This is just a kind of self-protection”; the most important thing is to find out the source of your pressure．And then take part in some activities that are not related to your work．You can do anything that can relax your body and mind．”

阅读理解

　　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!

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．

阅读理解

　　Thanksgiving is an important festival in North America．We interviewed several students from the US and Canada．Here is what they have told us about their Thanksgiving experiences．

　　“In America, Thanksgiving is celebrated every year at the end of November．It is to remember the first group of people from Europe to live in America．When they first arrived, they found the environment strange．But they learned to survive after some native American friends showed them how to grow and find food．Thanksgiving is meant to be a traditional celebration．”

　　“Thanksgiving is the first day of Christmas shopping．That means we have four weeks to buy Christmas presents for our families and friends．For me and my friends, the most important part of the festival is the big football game on TV．The match is watched by millions of people all over America．Thanksgiving is seen as an exciting day for football!”

　　In Canada, Thanksgiving is held on the 2nd Monday in October．On the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, many people go to church．Thanks is given for all the good things that happened to them during the year．I always give thanks for the nice big turkey I’m going to have at the family dinner! Like all festivals, Thanksgiving is about food!

　　On Thanksgiving Day, we have dinner with all our cousins, aunts and uncles．It is always very busy．Sometimes we have two Thanksgiving dinners because we go to both our grandparents’ houses．The dinner is usually attended by more than twenty people at each house! My mother and my aunts do all the cooking but the washing-up is done by me and my cousins．And that’s not an easy job! But I don’t mind because Thanksgiving is meant to be a time to give thanks．

阅读理解

　　Every kid wishes to be an adult．But now as grown-ups, some adults find they cannot leave childhood behind．They become "kidults"(kid＋adult)．Being a kidult has become a lifestyle-choice among young people across Asia．

　　Some kidults collect toys they once played with．Hello Kitty, Garfield, and Snoopy have many adult fans around the world．It is not unusual to see a 20-something woman with a big, Garfield-shaped cushion(靠垫)on her sofa or a Hello Kitty mobile phone accessory(挂件)．

　　Other kidults still enjoy children's stories and fairy tales．For example, Bloomsbury even published the Harry Potter novels with an adult cover．That way, no one else on the subway will know that an adult is actually reading a children's book!

　　"Kidults can be like vitamins to society．Adults who value their childhood and hold on to pure, child-like emotion may be needed in such a rough and dry society," said Lee Sojung, professor of Foreign Studies at Hankuk University(韩国外国语大学)．He added that kidult culture may fill the generation gap between adults and kids．It could give children and their parents books, movies, and cartoon shows to enjoy together．He may be right．

　　Tim Greenhalgh, a professor, explained that some kidults just refuse to grow up．They value childhood because life in a busy and stressful city frightens them．Kidults would like to forget their age and openly show their fear of society and adulthood．