阅读理解

Obama still smokes in secret

　　US President Barack Obama may have just made life more difficult for cigarette smokers, but he still smokes every now and then in secret．

　　Obama, who has publicly struggled to quit smoking, said he still hasn't completely kicked the habit even after signing a law this week that will set tough new rules for the tobacco industry．

　　“As a former smoker I constantly struggle with it．Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes．Am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No,” Obama said at a news conference．

　　“I don't do it in front of my kids, I don't do it in front of my family．I would say that I am 95 percent cured, but there are times where I mess up,” he said．

　　The new law gives the US Food and Drug Administration the power to strictly limit the making and marketing of tobacco products．

　　At a White House signing ceremony Monday, Obama said he was among the nearly 90 percent of smokers who took up the habit before their 18th birthday．

　　“Once you go down this path it's something you continually struggle with, which is exactly why the law we signed is so important because what we don't want is kids going down that path in the first place,” he said at the news conference．

　　Nearly 20 percent of Americans smoke and tobacco use kills about 440,000 people a year in the United States due to cancer, heart disease, and other serious diseases．

阅读理解

　　No one has enough, but everyone has all there is．We each have just twenty-four hours in a day．Time is not our problems, but what we do with the limited time we have is the issue．Many people spend their days on dozens of activities, but achieve very little because they aren't concentrating on right things．The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80：20 Rule shows us that typically eighty per cent of unfocused effort generates only twenty percent of the results．The remaining eighty per cent of the results are achieved with only twenty percent of the effort．To effectively manage your time, you need to change where you are spending your time．We all have the same amount of time every day．How you spend your time is how you spend your life．Here are time management strategies, which may be helpful．

　　Learn to say no

　　Politely say no should become a habit．Saying no frees up time for the things that are most important．

　　Make a “to-do” list

　　List the tasks that need to be done in order of their importance．Save other less important things for when you have time．

　　Minimize interruption

　　Plan ahead．Think through projects．Look for ways to “block” interruptions．For example, close your door, don't answer the phone or work in a different space．

　　Combine several activities

　　Try to do several activities at one time．While going to school，listen to taped notes．This allows up to an hour or two a day of good study review．While showering，make a mental list of the things．Above all，be creative，and let it work for you．

阅读理解

In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by "small talk"．Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation．In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather："Nice day, isn’t it?" "Terrible weather, isn’t it?" But there is something special about small talk．It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about．The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something．This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable．People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk．But people often disagree about religion or politics, so these are not suitable topics for small talk in English．The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place．At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching："Great game, isn’t it?" At bus stops, people may comment about the transport system："The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?" Greetings and small talk are an important part of conversation in any language．The way people greet each other and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another．This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language．We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it．

阅读理解

　　The Taj Mahal(泰姬陵)is a love story, a sad and beautiful one．If it didn’t exist, we would easily imagine that the story of its construction was simply a fairy tale．Three hundred years ago, there lived an Indian emperor called Shah Jahan．His wife was a beautiful and bright woman whom he loved greatly．Her title was Mumtazl Mahan：its shortened form Taj Mahan, means “pride of the palace”．In the year 1630 this beloved wife of the emperor died．He was so brokenhearted that he thought of giving up his throne(王位)．He decided out of his love for his wife, to build her the most beautiful tomb that had ever been seen．

　　　　He summoned(召集)the best artists and architects from India, Turkey, Persia and Arabia and finally, the design was complete．It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahan, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world．The building itself stands on a marble platform 29 meters square and 6-7 meters high．Towers rise from each of the four corners．The Taj itself soars another 61 meters into the air．It is an eight-sided building made of white marble．

　　The emperor planned to build an identical tomb of black marble for himself on the other side of the river connected by a silver bridge．However his son put him into a prison in the palace before he could finish, and for the rest of his life, he could only gaze across river at the tomb of his beloved wife．

阅读理解

　　We don't have beds in the space shuttle, but we do have sleeping bags．During the day, when we are working, we leave the bags tied to the wall, out of the way．At bedtime we untie them and take them wherever we've chosen to sleep．

　　On most space shuttle flights everyone sleeps at the same time．No one has to stay awake to watch over the space plane：the shuttle's computers and the engineers at the Control Office do that．If anything goes wrong．The computers ring a warning bell and the engineers call us on the radio．

　　On the space shuttle, sleep-time doesn't mean nighttime．During each ninety-minute flight around the earth, the sun "rises" and shines through our windows for about fifty minutes：then it "sets" as our flight takes us around the dark side of the Earth．To keep the sun out of our eyes, we wear black sleep masks．

　　It is surprisingly easy to get comfortable and fall asleep in space, and we sleep differently．Some sleep upside down, some sideways, some right side up．When it's time to sleep, I take my bag, my sleep mask, and my tape player with earphones and float up to the flight platform．Then I get into the bag, and float into a sitting position just above a seat, right next to a window．Before I pull the mask down over my eyes, I relax for a while, listening to music and watching the Earth go by under me．

　　When I'm in space I don't need as much sleep as I do on Earth Maybe that's because when I am weightless, I don't feel as tired．Or maybe it's because I'm excited to be in space and don't want to waste time sleeping．

阅读理解

　　Everyone would like to be a millionaire, a person with a lot of money, but can you imagine having over ＄30 million and only being 20 years old? Britney Spears from Kentwood, a small town in Louisiana, is only 20 years old．She is a world famous film star with not only ＄30 million but also a ＄2 million house in LA．At her young age, she can look after her family financially(经济上)all her life．This year is a big year for Britney．She is now on a 31-day tour of the US and every concert is a sell-out．That means she plays in front of a crowd of around 18,000 people every time．It’s a tiring schedule but brings her a lot．When touring, she goes to bed around 1 a．m．and then has a lie-in until 1 p．m．the next day．Her philosophy(人生观)is to take care of the body and relax but always make sure you work hard and have fun．

　　Spears is not pleased with only touring and selling nearly 40 million records so she decided to step into the movie business and try a bit of acting．She made an appearance in “Austin Power 3” this year and she is filming a teenage light play that will come out in March 2013．In this movie, she has a starring role．

　　For Britney, acting is another way to express herself and she is enthusiastic(热心的)about it all．If her movies are successful, her money in the bank is sure to grow by another few million dollars but she does it for the love, not the money, as she herself tells the reporters．

阅读理解

　　What’s black and white and read all over? Not newspapers, at least not anymore．In fact, if you’re like most young people, you probably don’t read the newspaper at all．

　　In one recent survey, just 19 percent of 18-to-34--year-olds said they read a newspaper every day, while 37 percent watch local TV news and 44 percent visit Internet news sites daily．As people turn more and more to new technologies, they turn the pages of newspapers less and less．

　　“There’s a revolution(革命)in the way young people get news,” says media consultant Merrill Brown．

　　Just a generation(一代人)or two ago, the newspaper was the main way that many people got their news．Now, nearly every home has at least one TV set．There’s high-speed, wireless Internet both at home and in many public places．

　　You no longer have to wait for a bundle of newsprint to arrive on your doorstep every morning．Thanks to new technology, if you want to know what’s going on in the world, you can get breaking news immediately in more ways than one．

　　So newspapers face a very big challenge．Raised on MTV and video games, today’s kids and young adults want flashy displays, special effects, quick information, and the chance to interact(互动)in real time, even when they’re reading about serious problems．

　　If newspapers can’t find creative ways to be more than just ink on paper, some experts suggest, they might disappear completely．

　　Traditional newspaper articles are supposed to be read from beginning to end, lack(缺乏)of interaction．With Web pages, on the other hand, there’s more freedom．You can look through the things you’re interested in, then follow links to other sources．You can join discussion groups, read other people’s opinions on a topic, or start a blog to express your own views．

阅读理解

　　Everybody hates rats．But in the earthquake capitals of the world – Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey－rats will soon be man’s new best friends．

　　What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs．Why? Because they can smell people．Dogs save lives．They help rescuers to find living people．But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces．So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives：the rat．

　　How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people．When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal(信号)．This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals．When rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive．The rat has smelled that person．

　　Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better．Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around．Rats are good at that．” Rats can also see in the dark．They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!

　　The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic．A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to, and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe．” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building(but only after an earthquake, of course．)

阅读理解

　　“I sometimes get up at three or four in the morning and I surf the net．”

　　“I often check my e-mail forty times a day．”

　　“I often spend more than three hours during one time on the net．”

　　“I spend more time in chat rooms than with my ‘real-life’ friends．”

　　Do you know any people like these? They are part of a new addiction(沉溺)called Internet addiction．Internet addicts spend at least thirty to forty hours online every week．The use of the Internet can be an addiction like drug use．People lose control of the time they spend on the Internet．

　　For example, one college student was missing for several days．His friends were worried，and they called the police．The police found the student in the computer lab, he was surfing the net for several days straight．

　　Studies show that about 6％ to 10％ of Internet users become addicted．And people worry about the teens because the Internet is changing the playing field for some of them．They spend more time in cyberspace(网络空间)than in the real world of friends and family．

　　Is “surfing the net’’ a hobby or an addiction for you? You may have a problem if you have these symptoms(症状)：

　　●You do not go to important family activities or you do not do school work because you like to spend hours on the Internet．

　　●You can’t wait for your next online time．

　　●You plan to spend a short time online，but then you spend several hours．

　　●You go out with your friends less and less．

阅读理解

　　Tsunami(海啸)is a natural disaster, which is a Japanese word that means “sea wave”．A tsunami is a huge sea wave that forms mainly in the Pacific Ocean area．People die and property is destroyed when a tsunami hits land．What causes these dangerous sea waves? Sometimes, tsunamis are caused when earthquakes take place underwater．Then, water begins to move up and down from the top of the ocean right down to the bottom．Waves begin to form, and each wave is called a tsunami．

　　A tsunami is less than one meter high and can move at a speed of almost 800 kilometers per hour while it is far out in the ocean．But the tsunami rises much higher and moves more slowly as it comes closer to land．

　　The weather bureau(气象局)warns people over the radio and television when a tsunami is heading for land．These warnings have helped save many lives．