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Book 1 Elixir written by Eric Walters

　　Twelve-year-old Roth becomes a friend of Dr．Banting and his assistant, Mr．Best, who are doing research on a cure for diabetes(糖尿病)．She finds herself torn between her sympathy for the animals being experimented on and her friendship with Banting and Best．

Book 2 George Washington Carver written by Elizabeth Macleod

　　Meet the “Peanut(花生)Specialist”, George Washington Carver, the inventor and professor who made over 325 products out of peanuts．Through his agricultural research, he also greatly improved the lives of countless black farmers in the southern United States．See also Macleod's Albert Einstein：A Life of Genius．

Book 3 The Inuit Thought of It：Amazing Arctic Innovations

　　written by Alootook Ipellie＆David MacDonald

　　Explore more than 40 ideas necessary to Inuit survival．From ideas familiar to us today to inventive concepts that shaped their lives, celebrate the creativity of a remarkably intelligent people．Also see other books：The Chinese Thought of It by Tingxing Ye and A Native American Thought of It by Rocky Landon and David MacDonald．

Book 4 Made in Canada：101 Amazing Achievements written by Bev Spencer

　　What things do we use daily that have a Canadian connection? Here are 101 common things that were invented in Canada or by a Canadian, including the Blackberry, alkaline(碱性)batteries and the Blue Box recycling program．

Book 5 Newton and the Time Machine written by Michael McGowan

　　Ten-year-old boy Newton has invented a time machine to see dinosaurs up close．But it disappears on a test run with his two huge friends, King Herbert and Queen Certrude, can he save them before time runs out?

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　　Have you ever been to the beautiful country of Holland and its capital Amsterdam? Anyone who has traveled to Amsterdam would probably agree on one thing：Amsterdam's story is a tale of two cities－one during the day and a completely different one at night．

　　When the sun is up, this largest city in the Netherlands sits quietly on the Amstel River．You can rent a bicycle, visit the Van Gogh or Anne Frank museum, or take a water taxi．But when the sun goes down, the partying begins．In the big clubs and in the coffee shops, tourists gather to talk politics and smoke．

　　Several areas of the city clearly show the two worlds that rule Amsterdam．And they're all within a short cab ride of each other．For example, Dam Square attracts daytime sightseers to its festivals, open markets, concerts and other events．Several beautiful and very popular hotels can be found there．And there's the Royal Palace and the Magna Plaza shopping mall．But at night party-seekers come to the square．Hip hop or funk music(疯狂音乐)is heard there．So if you come, be ready to dance．The clubs don't shut down until 4 am．

　　And while you're there, check out the various inexpensive ways to tour the city．Don't worry about getting lost．Although Dutch is the official language, most people in Amsterdam speak English and are happy to help you with directions．And you'll notice that half the people walking around in the streets are on bicycles they rent．Amsterdam also has a well-planned canal system．For about 10 dollars, you can use the canal bus or a water taxi to cruise(巡游)the “Venice of the North”．

　　The city has a historic past．One impressive(印象深刻的)place to visit is the Anne Frank House on Nine Street．It was there that the young Jewish girl wrote her famous diary during World War II．Visitors can view Anne's original diary and climb behind the bookcase to the room where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years．

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　　My friend Robert started a new job this week and he's been in the training class for two days．The employer has a very strict dress code－dark blue shirts and pants．

　　On the first day, an older gentleman in his class did not have the proper clothes and he was strictly told that he would be fired if he didn't have the right clothes the next day．He explained, “Sir, I had been told about this, but because of my larger size, it's sometimes difficult to find the right clothing for a price I can afford．”

　　Last night, Robert and I decided that this old man shouldn't lose the chance of work simply because he couldn't afford the clothes．I had some cash on hand and Robert took it with him this morning just in case it was needed．

　　When training started this morning, the trainer was ready to fire the older gentleman．“You have 10 minutes to be in proper clothes,” he was told．At this point, Robert spoke up and asked if he could have 10 minutes to get him the clothes．He then ran out to the store and bought the proper-sized pants and a shirt; he returned with both and gave them to the older man．

　　The older gentleman began to cry and told him that he couldn't accept such a gift from a stranger．Robert told him he had to because he had lost the receipt(收据)and couldn't return them－a little white lie．The pants were a perfect fit, the shirt was a bit tight but he was able to keep his job．

　　“My wife and I tried to gather together some money last night, but we didn't have enough to buy the clothes,” he told Robert．“It's unbelievable to me that a person would do such a thing for only knowing me a day!”

　　More unbelievable is how good it has made Robert and me feel to do this．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

Welcome to Franklin Hotel．To make your stay as enjoyable as possible, we hope you will use our facilities to the full．Dining Room：Breakfast is served in the dining room from 8 to 9∶30 am．Also the room staff may bring breakfast to your room at any time after 7 am．If this happens, please fill out a card and hang it outside your door when you go to bed．Lunch is from 12 to 2∶30 pm．Dinner is from 7∶30 to 9 pm．Room service：This operates 24 hours a day; phone the Reception desk, and your message will be passed on to the room staff．Telephones：To make a phone call, dial(按)0 for Reception and ask to be connected．We apologize for delays if the lines are very busy．There are also public telephones near the Reception desk．Tell Reception if early calls are needed．Shop：The hotel shop is open for presents, gifts and goods from 9 am to 5∶30 pm．Laundry：We have a laundry in the building, and will wash, iron and return your clothes within 24 hours．Ask the room staff to collect them．Bar：The hotel bar is open from 12 to 2 pm and 7 pm to 1 am．Banking：The Reception staff will cash cheques(兑现支票)and exchange any foreign money for you．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time．Then the telephone rings, you say hello, and the drama starts．The person on the other end has a depressing(令人沮丧的)tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to．You are still in a wonderful mood? Impossible!

　　Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness．It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time．

　　Life brings ups and downs, but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer．They only feel glad when they make others feel bad．No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect．

　　When you communicate with positive people, your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted．When the dagger(匕首)of a negative person is put in you．you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down．

　　Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people．This could be a co－worker, or relative．In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible．Sometimes it feels good to let out－your anger back to the negative person, but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won't feel ashamed of themselves about that．

　　Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized．The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to(附着)you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness．Life is too short to feel negative．Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible．

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Do you know anything about the history of weather? Don't look at the sky．Don't look for old weather reports．Looking at the tree rings is more important．Correct weather reports date back only one century, but some trees can provide an exact record of weather even further back．

　　It is natural that a tree would grow best in a climate with plenty of sunlight and rainfall．It is also expected that little sunlight or rainfall would reduce the growth of a tree．The change from a favorable to an unfavorable climate can be found out by the reading pattern of rings in a tree trunk．To find out the weather of ten years ago, you can count the rings of a tree trunk from the outside to the inside．If the tenth ring is far from the other rings, then it is certain that plenty of sunny and rainy weather occurred．If the rings are close together, then the climate was bad for the tree．

　　Studying trees is important not only for the history of weather, but also for the history of man．In an area of New Mexico you can find only sand－no trees or people．However, many centuries ago a large population lived there．They left suddenly．Why?

　　A scientist studied the pattern of the rings of dead trees that had grown there．He made up his mind that the people had to leave because they had cut down all the trees．Trees were necessary to make fires and buildings．So, after the people destroyed the trees, they had to move．

　　In this example studying tree rings uncovered an exciting fact about the history of man．

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　　When we think of creative people the names that probably spring to mind are those of men such as Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso, i．e．great artists, inventors and scientists－a select and exceptionally gifted body of men with rare talent and genius．The tendency to regard creativity and imaginative thinking as the exclusive province of a lucky few disregards the creative and imaginative aspects in the solution of many of the tasks we regularly have to face the discovery and development of new methods and techniques, the improvement of old methods, existing inventions and products．

　　Everyone has creative ability to some extent．Creative thinking involves posing oneself a problem and then originating or inventing a solution along new and unconventional lines．It involves drawing new analogies, discovering new combination, and/or new applications of things that are already known．It follows, then, that a creative person will exhibit great intellectual curiosity and imagination．He will be alert and observant with a great store of information which he will be able to sort out and combine in the solution of problems．He will be emotionally receptive to new and unconventional ideas and will be less interested in facts than in their implications．Most important of all he will be able to communicate uninhibitedly and will not be too concerned about other people's reaction to his apparently "crazy" notions．People called the Wright brothers mad but it did not stop them from becoming the first men to construct and fly a heavier-than-air craft．

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　　The first person to use the sun's energy on a large scale was the Greek, Archimedes．He used it to set fire to an attacking Roman fleet at Syracuse in 212B．C．He did this by means of a burning glass composed of small square mirrors made to move in all directions on hinges．In the early twentieth century, solar energy was used to power water distillation plants in Chile and irrigation pumps in Egypt．

　　Today over ninety-eight per cent of our energy comes from fossil fuels; coal, oil and natural gas．But coal and oil are not only fuels．They are also important raw materials for our chemical industries．People now think we should limit their use as fuel, otherwise the world's supply will soon run out．Consequently, much research is being done into the practical use of the sun for heating(and cooling)buildings．The less fossil fuel we use now, the more we will have for the future．

　　Solar energy is transmitted from the sun－through space－to earth by electromagnetic radiation．It must be converted to heat before it can be used．Various types of solar energy collectors(also called absorbers or absorber plates)are used to convert the sun's radiation to heat．Solar-heated hot water provides not only the building's hot-water requirements, but space-heating as well．This solar system, based on water-heating, works like this．Each of its collectors, placed on the roof, consists of a shallow fiberglass tray that holds a number of copper tubes under a special glass cover．The tubes are, in turn, fixed to a blackened metal surface which absorbs energy from the sun．The sun's rays, passing through the glass, heat the water in the tubes．

　　Since the energy is available only during the day and only then when there is not a great deal of cloud cover, the heat must be stored．This can be done in water, or in rock or pebble beds．The energy is stored in the hot water in the pipes．

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　　In the kitchen of my mother's houses there has always been a wooden stand with a small notepad and a hole for a pencil．

　　I'm looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother．Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did．Surely it can't be the same pencil?The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely the original one．

　　“I'm just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these year．” I say to her, walking back into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil．“You still use a pencil．Can't you afford a pen?”

　　My mother replies a little sharply．“It works perfectly well．I've always kept the stand in the kitchen．I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen in these days．”

　　Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently．My mother smiles and says, “One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty．One of the children must have taken the paper．So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back．It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on．”

　　This story－which happened before I was born－reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is, as a gifted mathematician．I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work．Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards．Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics．Those symbols have traveled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible exhibits at every meal．

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　　Mr Black was the manager of a hotel in Atlanta．One weekend all of the hotels were full because of a large business meeting being held in the city．On Sunday night, three men came into Mr Black's hotel and asked for rooms．Mr Black told them that there were no more rooms available．The men didn't know what to do because they had no place to stay in．

　　Mr Black wanted to help them．He remembered that there was an empty room at the far end of the first floor－Room 112．It was a very small room, and had rarely been used as a guest room before．So, be asked the three men if they would mind sharing that small room．They replied that they would be very much satisfied so long as there was a room for them to stay in for the night．

　　Mr Black then told them that the room would cost them ＄ 30 in total．On hearing this, each of the three men gave Mr Black ＄ 10 before they left for their room．

　　However, Mr Black soon began to think that ＄ 30 was really too much for that small room．He called his assistant over and said, “Here is ＄ 5．Give it back to the three men in Room 112．Each of them paid me ＄10．That's too much．”

　　The assistant took the money．While he was on the way to that small room, he thought, “How can three men divide ＄ 5?I'll give each of them only ＄ 1 and keep the ＄ 2 left to myself．The men will be happy to get anything back, and I can also make some money that way．After all, Mr Black will never know anything about it．” So, the assistant returned only＄1 to each of the three men．

　　Each man had first paid＄10．After the assistant returned＄1 to him, each man had actually paid only＄9．There were three men．＄9×3＝＄27．The assistant kept ＄2．＄27＋＄2＝＄29．Where is the missing dollar?