阅读理解

　　Freda Bright says, "Only in opera do people die of love．" It's true．You really can't love somebody to death．I've known people to die from no love, but I've never known anyone to be loved to death．We just can't love one another enough．

　　A heart-warming story tells of a woman who finally decided to ask her boss for a raise in salary．All day she felt nervous and late in the afternoon she summoned the courage to approach her employer．To her delight, the boss agreed to a raise．

　　The woman arrived home that evening to a beautiful table set with their best dishes．Candles were softly glowing．Her husband had come home early and prepared a festive meal．She wondered if someone from the office had tipped him off, or…did he just somehow know that she would not get turned down?

　　She found him in the kitchen and told him the good news．They embraced and kissed, then sat down to the wonderful meal．Next to her plate the woman found a beautifully lettered note．It read："Congratulations, darling! I knew you'd get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you．"

　　Following the supper, her husband went into the kitchen to clean up．She noticed that a second card had fallen from his pocket．Picking it off the floor, she read："Don't worry about not getting the raise! You deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you．"

　　Someone has said that the measure of love is when you love without measure．What this man feels for his wife is total acceptance and love, whether she succeeds or fails．His love celebrates her victories and soothes her wounds．He stands with her, no matter what life throws in their direction．

　　Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa said："What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family．" And love your friends．Love them without measure．

阅读理解

　　Among various programs, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television．And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style(风格)．But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows．

　　Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”．The contents on his show are as surprising as can be．For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level．Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives．

　　Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top．But Oprah goes in the opposite direction．The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality(质量)of life．Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors．

　　Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society．Jerry ends every show with a “final word”．He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show．Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable．

　　Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone．The show’s main viewers are middleclass Americans．Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tough problems．Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society．These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug．They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation．

阅读理解

　　Cloning is suggested as a means of bringing back a relative, usually a child, killed tragically．Some parents can understand that wish, but it must first be recognized that the copy would be a new baby and not the lost child．Here lies the difficulty, for the sad parents are seeking not a new baby but a return of the dead one．Since the original would be fondly remembered as having particular talents and interests, would not the parents expect the copy to be the same? It is possible, however, that the copy would develop quite differently．Is it fair to the new child to be placed in a family with such unnatural expectations?

　　Copying is also suggested as a means by which parents can have the child of their dreams．Couples might choose to have a copy of a film star, baseball player or scientist, depending on their interest．But because personality is only partly the result of genetic inheritance(遗传), conflicts would be sure to arise if the cloned child failed to develop the same interests as the original．What if the copy of Einstein shows no interest in science? Or the baseball player turns to acting? Success also depends upon fortune．What if the child does not live up to the hopes and dreams of the parents simply because of bad luck?

　　Every child should be wanted for itself, as an individual．In making a copy of oneself or some famous person, a parent is deliberately(深思熟虑地)specifying(详细说明)the way he or she wishes that child to develop．In recent years, particularly in the U．S．, much importance has been placed on the right of individuals to reproduce in ways that they wish．So I suggest there is a greater need to consider the interests of the child and to reject these proposed uses of cloning．

阅读理解

　　“The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato．Self-control is at the root of all the advantages．Let a man give in to his impulses(冲动)and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral(道德上的)freedom．

　　A single angry word has lost many a friend．When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself．If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger．Many a person has dropped dead in great anger．Fits of anger bring fits of disease．“Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad．” “Keep cool”, says George Herbert, “for fierceness(狂怒)makes error a fault．”

　　To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself．“Anger,” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly(愚蠢)and ends with regret．” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him．

　　Self-control is man’s last greatest victory．

　　If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything．Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling．If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also．

阅读理解

　　My friend must be the wisest woman on this planet, for she has lived up to the three words “Seize the moment”．Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven’t thought about it, or because they are unwilling to try something new．

　　My sister died a few years ago．We never did have lunch together．I can’t remember how many times I was refused when I called her to go to lunch．She would say to me：“I can’t, my brother．I have clothes on the line．” “My hair is dirty．I wish I had known yesterday．” “I had a late breakfast．” “It looks like rain．” Only after her death did I choose to be a little more flexible(灵活的)．

　　Life is not made up of things that you do at a particular time, but it demands variety and adventure．As we grow older, the list of promises made to ourselves may get longer．Perhaps one morning, when we wake up, we will find to our surprise that our life is full of “I’m going to”, “I plan to” and “Someday, when things are settled down a bit．”

　　My seize the-moment friend is open to adventure and ready at any moment to make a new start．She keeps an open mind about new ideas．Her great interest in life is contagious．With her around you, you may trade your bad feet for good shoes．

　　I have not touched ice cream for 10 years．The other day, I stopped off and bought a triple-decker(三层冰淇淋)．If my car had hit an iceberg(冰山)on the way home, I would have died happy．

阅读理解

　　BEIJING(Associated Press美联社)－China has a growing middle class, a tradition(传统)of expecting education and 21 million new babies every year．Selling educational toys should be easy．

　　While China may be the worlds biggest toy maker, many of the best are exported．Department stores here do not have enough high quality toys．It is said that the demand for educational toys is low．

　　A US company, BabyCare, is trying to change that with a new way to sell toys in China．

　　BabyCare works basically together with doctors in Beijing hospitals．People who join the company’s "mother club" can get lectures and newsletters on baby and child development at no extra cost, if they agree to spend 18 dollars a month on the company’s educational toys and child care books．

　　"We want to build a seven-year relationship with those people," said Matthew J．Estes, BabyCare’s president．"It starts during pregnancy(孕期), when the anxiety and needs are highest．" BabyCare works on a one to one basis．Doctors, nurses, and teachers paid by BabyCare advise parents, explain toys that are designed for children at each stage(阶段)of development to age six．

　　BabyCare opened its first store in China last June in a shopping center in central Beijing and another near Beijing Zoo．It plans to have 80 stores in China within six years．

　　It is a new model for China and develops a market in young children’s education and health that no other companies are in．

阅读理解

　　In the modern world more and more people meet the problem of identity．The most interesting example is that of a so－called “banana”, which refers to an American who has an Asian face but holds Western values．

　　In Shanghai, there now live a group of people from abroad．They look no different from the locals and speak fluent Chinese or even Shanghai dialect, but when it comes to writing Chinese characters, they are almost illiterate(文盲)．Jack is such an example．He never learned to read or write Chinese characters, which he finds mysterious and difficult．From time to time, he files to the US as he does not feel Shanghai is where he comes from．“But when I am in the States, I feel that’s not my home either,” he said．

　　At De Gaulle Airport in France, there is a Swiss man who has been living in the waiting – room for a long time because he lost h is passport during his travels．He was refused entry into several countries．But when he was eventually allowed to return to Swizerland, he refused to leave the airport．His reason was very simple－“I am sure who I am．I need no acknowledgement from others,” he said during an interview．For th is reason he was honored by the Western media as “the Hero of identity．”

　　As the Internet becomes more and more popular, the problem of identity becomes more serious．In a virtual world, people can have different addresses registered with different names．In the Internet chat room, even one’s gender(性别)is hard to determine．It seems that in the glohal village, people are saying hello every day to each other without knowing whom they are talking to．

　　What will be the next crisis(危机)of identity? With the development of cloning technology, it might be：who is the real “I”?

阅读理解

　　The secret of carrier pigeons’ unbelievable ability to find their way home has been discovered by scientists; the feathered navigators follow the roads just like we do．

　　Scientists now believe the phrase “as the crow flies” no longer means the shortest most direct route between two points．They say it is likely that crows and other birds also choose AA－suggested routes, even though it makes their journeys longer．

　　Scientists at Oxford University spent 10 years studying homing pigeons using global positioning satellite(GPS)and got a surprising result．The birds often don’t use the sun to decide their directions．

　　Instead they fly along motorways, turn at crossing and even go around roundabouts(绕道), adding miles to their journeys．

　　“It really has knocked our research team sideways to find that after a decade-long international study, pigeons appear to ignore their inbuilt directional instincts(本能)and follow the road system,” said Prof Tim Guilford, reader in animal behavior at Oxford University’s Department of Zoology．

　　Guilford said pigeons use their own navigational system(导航系统)when doing long distance trips or when a bird does a journey for the first time．

　　“But once homing pigeons have flown a journey more than once, they can fly home on a habitual route, much as we do when we are driving or walking home from work,” said Guilford．

　　“In short, it looks like it is mentally easier for a bird to fly down a road．They are just making their journey as simple as possible．”

阅读理解

　　When middle-aged Alex quit his job and made up his mind to become a self-employed writer, no one could tell for sure whether he would succeed or not．He found a cold storage room in a building, set up a used typewriter and settled down to work．

　　After a year or so, however, Alex began to doubt himself．He found it was difficult to earn his living by selling what he wrote．But Alex determined to put his dream to the test-even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．This is the shadow land of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there．

　　One day Alex got a call, “We need an assistant, and we’re paying ＄6,000 a year．” ＄6,000 was real money in 1960．It would enable Alex to get a nice apartment, a used car and more．Besides, he could write in his spare time．As the dollars were dancing in Alex’s head, something cleared his senses．He had dreamed of being a writer－full time．“Thanks, but no,” Alex said firmly and swiftly, “I’m going to stick it out and write．”

　　After Alex got off the phone, he pulled out everything he had：two cans of vegetables and 18 cents．Alex put the cans and cents into a paper bag, saying to himself, “There’s everything you’ve made of yourself so far．I’m not sure I ever felt so low．”

　　Finally his work was published in 1970．Instantly he had the kind of fame and success that few writers ever experience．The shadows had turned into focus of attention．

　　Then one day, Alex found a box filled with things he had owned years before．Inside was a paper bag with two cans and 18 cents．Suddenly he pictured himself working in that cold storage room．It reminds Alex, and anyone with a dream, of the courage and persistence it takes to stay the course(持续到底)in the shadow land．

阅读理解

　　The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them．It claims to provide visitors with an “aducation” through games and other entertainment．

　　A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo．"Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it．Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising．

　　Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities．Kids that age are also a big market for advertisers．

　　The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things：To identify the advertiser．To know what the advertiser is really saying．And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do．

　　Children learn these things through a video game．They create their own game character．They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes．Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards．The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level．

　　The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found．It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing．

　　One such area is food marketing．The Federal Trade Commission(FTC)says it is a big business．The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2009．

　　The FTC says children are important for three reasons．They buy products．They influence parents and caregivers to buy．And they are the future adult buyers of the products．

　　A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value．First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children．