阅读理解

　　There were smiling children all the way．Clearly they knew at what time the train passed their homes and they made it their business to stand along the railway, wave to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penang．Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favorite relatives．This is the simple village people of Malaysia．I was moved．

　　I had always traveled to Malaysia by plane or car, so this was the first time I was on a train．I did not particularly relish the long train journey and had brought along a dozen magazines to read and reread．I looked about the train．There was not one familiar face．I sighed and sat down to read my Economics．

　　It was not long before the train was across the Causeway and in Malaysia．Johore Baru was just another city like Singapore, so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past．As we went beyond the city, I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green．Then the first village came into sight．Immediately I came alive; I decided to wave back．

　　From then on my journey became interesting．I threw my magazines into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life．Then everything came alive．The mountains seemed to speak to me．Even the trees were smiling．I stared at everything as if I was looking at it for the first time．

　　The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry．I looked at my watch and was surprised that it was 3∶00 pm．Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth．I looked at the people all around me．They all looked beautiful．When my uncle arrived with a smile, I threw my arms around him to give him a warm hug(拥抱)．I had never done this before．He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile．We walked arm in arm to his car．

　　I looked forward to the return journey．

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　　My friend’s grandfather came to America from Eastern Europe．After being processed(移民入境检查)at Ellis Island, he went into a cafeteria in Lower Manhattan to get something to eat．He sat down at a table and waited for someone to take his order．But nobody came to him．Later a woman with a plate full of food sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked．

　　“Start out at the end,” she said．“Just go along the line and pick out what you want．At the other end he’ll tell you how much you have to pay．”

　　“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend．“Life is like a cafeteria here．You can get anything you want only if you are willing to pay the money．You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you．You have to get up and get it yourself．”

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　　The world has changed and being intelligent isn’t normally equal to being a successful person．Look at the example of the blue whale：it has a huge brain, but it still doesn’t know how to avoid whalers or use its large size and weight to deal with those who try to use their body for profit．Scientists hold an opinion that the blue whale is just like some highly intelligent people who fail to succeed．Those highly intelligent people can’t succeed in life because they can’t communicate well with the world around them．

　　Intelligence is a word in life that makes you think you are better than others．Intelligence can blind these very people from how others view them．These people also think that the route to power and success results purely from intelligence and they sometimes live in a fantasy world that they create by their supposed brain power．

　　This is a distance that develops whether or not they realize it and sometimes, a person can be disliked simply because of his or her intelligence．This distance is sometimes so far apart that it gets to the position where they can’t listen to each other．One side thinks the other is stupid and the other thinks he/she is haughty(傲慢的)．And most of the time it is the intelligent people who lose themselves in this situation．They become unpopular with most of the people around them．This affects them in whatever they do and sooner or later they will lose their confidence．

　　It doesn’t help that they get a culture shock－especially when they leave college and realize success and richness don’t always and sometimes never come naturally with intelligence．While some might think this is a dramatic picture to paint, it is sometimes the end result of some people．

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　　Nickname：Hawaii’s Island of Adventure

　　Size：4,028 square miles

　　Population：148,677．The most heavily populated areas are Hilo on the east side and Kailua-Kona on the west．

　　Temperature：Averages between 71°F and 77°F year around．

　　Beaches：47; Golf Courses：20; Highest Peak：Mauna Kea, 13,796 feet．

　　Agriculture：The bulk(主体)of Hawaii’s farming products are grown and processed on the Big Island, including coffee, macadamia nuts and papaya．

　　Lodging：9,655 rooms total; Nightly rates range from ＄ 35－＄ 5,000．

　　Airports：Hilo International Airport on the east side and Kona International Airport on the west side．

　　Rental Cars：All of the nationally known rental car companies have locations at Hilo International and Kona International Airports as well as many resorts．In addition, Hilo, Kona and the major resort areas are serviced by taxis．

　　Resources：Call(800)648－2441 to order a video, poster, brochures and maps from the Big Island Visitors Bureau．See www．bigisland．org for Updated information．

　　Shopping：The large shopping centers are in Hilo, Kona, Waimea and the Kohala Coast．

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　　Important changes took place in the lives of women in the 19th century．When men went out from their farms to cities to seek jobs in industry, peasant women had to take over the sowing, growing, and harvesting of the fields as well as caring for cattle and raising their children．When women also moved to the cities in search of work, they found that it was increasingly separated by sex and that employment opportunities for women were limited to the lower-paid jobs．Later in the century, women in industry gathered mainly in cloth-making factories, though some worked in mining or took similarly difficult and tiring jobs．

　　In the 1800s, service work also absorbed a great number of women who arrived in the cities from the country．Young women especially took jobs as servants in middle-class and upper-class homes; and as more and more men were drawn into industry, domestic(家务的)service became increasingly a female job．In the second half of the century, however, chances of other service work also opened up to women, from sales jobs in shops to teaching and nursing．These jobs came to be done mainly by women．

　　For thousands of years, when almost all work was done on the family farm or in the family firm, home and workplace had been the same．In these cases, women could do farm work or hand work, and perform home duties such as child care and preparation of meals at the same time．Along with the development of industry, the central workplace, however, such as the factory and the department store, separated home from work．Faced with the necessity for women to choose between home and workplace, Western society began to give particular attention to the role of women as homemakers with more energy than ever before．

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　　When officials in Richmond, B．C．, Canada, told Stephen Covey about plans to participate in local citizens in their fight against youth crime, the leadership consultant(顾问)was doubtful．He was sure the city’s problems would prove “too complex” for ordinary people to make a difference．

　　But Covey forgot about the trim-tabbers-people who solve scaring problems through small acts．By arranging safe and fun places for youths to go, residents have lowered Richmond’s under-18 crime rate 32％ in the last year．Police in 53 countries are now studying the Richmond model．

　　What impresses Covey is that the people in Richmond chose to do something rather than sit back and complain．And that, he says, is how everyday people can exhibit “everyday greatness”．

　　A man going through a painful divorce chose to look outside himself and found a meaningful project where he could make a difference．Working with local businesses, he launched a program that helps disabled soldiers．Muriel Thomas Summers, the principal of A．B．Combs Elementary School in Raleigh, North Carolina, told parents and teachers on the concept of “character” education, stressing that academic achievement can’t be separated from principles of responsibility and purpose．In recent tests, 94％ of her students performed at or above grade level, compared to 67％ eight years ago．

　　To Covey, these everyday people are models because they weren’t afraid to take on scaring challenges．No matter how difficult it was, they chose to act．

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　　Dick lived in England．One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there．" "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked．"I don't know yet．" Dick answered．"Please send me your address from there in a telegram(电报)," his wife said．"All right," Dick answered．

　　He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city．He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram．He put the address of his hotel in it．

　　In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema．He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner．"

　　He found a taxi(出租车)and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel．

　　"Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know．So Dick got out and went into a post office．There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office．"

Choose the right answer

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Su Hua is studying at Cambridge, UK．She has bought a bicycle and is worried about security(安全)．Her friend, Kate, found this article and sent it to her．

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

　　Many people like to watch others play games．They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games．Often they get very excited when "their" player or team wins．

　　Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for(参加)them．Football, for example, has spread(展开)around the world．Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers．What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries．Think how many love to skate or ski(滑雪)in Japan, Norway or Canada．

　　Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping．Chinese wushu, 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．Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports．

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

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　　I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job．I also think my work is important．There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career(职业)．

　　I wasn’t an excellent student because I didn’t do much schoolwork．In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn‘t have much to offer．I just accepted that I wasn’t the type to have a career．

　　I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls．It wasn’t too bad at first．But the problems began when I agreed to live in, so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening．We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week，she’d give me time off the next．But unfortunately, it didn’t often work out．I was getting extremely tired and fed up, because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children．

　　One Sunday，I was in the park with the children，and met Megan who used to go to school with me．I told her about my situation．She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification(资格证书)if I wanted to work with children．I didn‘t think I would be accepted because I didn’t take many exams in school．She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful．My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part-time course．I had to leave my job with the family，and got work helping out at a kindergarten．

　　Now I’ve got a full-time job there．I shall always be thankful to Megan．I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career，even if you aren’t top of the class at school．