阅读理解

　　Young Mr．Smith had an idea for his employer to save money for the company by increasing prices and selling goods of less value．If his employer liked the idea, Smith might be given more pay or even get a better job．

　　Business had been very slow．So his employer thought a few minutes．But then she shook her head．“I am sorry, Smith, ” she said．“It just will not wash．”

　　Most word experts agree that“it will not wash” means it will not work．Eric Partridge wrote that the saying probably developed in Britain in the 1800s, when Charlotte Bronte used “That won't wash, miss．” in a story．She seems to have meant that the colors in a piece of clothing couldn't be depended on to stay．

　　In nineteenth century England, the expression came to mean an undependable statement mainly to describe an idea．But sometimes it was used about a person．For example, a critic once said of the poet Robert Browning, “He won't wash．”

　　Happily for the young employee Smith, the employer “talked turkey” to him．She said, “Your idea would be unfair to our buyers．Think of another way to save money．”

　　A century ago, to talk turkey meant to talk pleasantly．Turkeys in the barnyard were thought to be speaking pleasantly to one another．In recent years, the saying has come to mean an attempt to teach something important．

　　Word expert Charles Funk tells how this change took place．A white man and an American Indian were shooting turkeys together．The white man began stating reasons why he should get all the turkeys for himself．But the American Indian stopped him．He told the white man, “Now, I talk turkey to you．”

　　Mr．Smith thought of a better idea after his employer talked turkey to him．He was given an increase in pay．So if your idea “will not wash, ” try “talking turkey” to yourself and come up with a better idea．

阅读理解

　　It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible．Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel．It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter．

　　Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too．It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving．On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting．A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm so necessary in modern traffic conditions．But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough．Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it．

　　However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous．Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time．The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to．

　　An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings．Unfortunately, modern drivers can't even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship．Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users．It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart．

阅读理解

　　One hot night last July, when our new baby wouldn't or couldn't sleep, I tried everything I could think of：a warm bottle, songs gentle rocking．Nothing would settle him．Guessing that I had a long night ahead of me, I brought a portable TV into his room, figuring that watching the late movie was as good a way as any to kill of the hours till dawn．To my surprise, as soon as the TV lit up, the baby quieted right down, his little eyes focused brightly on the tube．Not to waste an opportunity for sleep, I then tiptoes out of the room, leaving him to watch the actors celebrate John Bellushi's forty-fifth birthday．

　　My wife and I heard none of the baby that night, and the next morning when I went into his room, I found him still watching TV himself．

　　I found in my baby's behavior a symbol of the new generation．My wife and I had given him some books to examine, but he merely spit upon them．When we read to him, he did not feel comfortable．And so it is in the schools．We find that our students don't read and they look down upon reading and scold those of us who teach it．All they want to do is watch TV．After this experience with the baby, however, I have reached a conclusion：“Let them watch it!” If television is that much more attractive to children than books, why should we fight about it? Let them watch it all they want!

阅读理解

　　Most American students go to traditional public schools．There are about 88,000 public schools all over the US．Some students attend about 3000 independent public schools called charter schools．

　　Charter schools are self-governing．Private companies operate some charter schools．They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools．They receive tax money just as other public schools do．Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning．These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits them to operate．

　　Charter schools are different because they do not have to obey most laws governing traditional public schools．Local, state or federal governments cannot tell them what to teach．Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach them．Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools．

　　The Bush Administration strongly supports charter schools as a way to re-organize public schools that are failing to educate students．But some education agencies and unions oppose charter schools．One teachers' union has just made public the results of the first national study comparing the progress of students in traditional schools and charter schools．

　　The American Federation of Teachers criticized the government's delay in releasing the results of the study, which is called the National Assessment of Educational Progress．Union education experts say the study shows that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests than students in regular public schools．

　　Some experts say the study is not a fair look at charter schools because students in those schools have more problems than students in traditional schools．Other education experts say the study results should make charter school officials demand improved student progress．

阅读理解

　　You probably know you should say “please” and “thank you” at restaurants．You probably know the rules of a library．You know you should respect and be nice to your classmates．But do you have music manners?

　　You have to notice the sound of your music．You should not play your music so loud that everyone around you can hear it．Usually, when you play the music loud on an MP3 player, other people can't hear the words of the song．They just hear a loud sound．No one wants to listen to this．Very loud music can also be bad for your ears．So even if you are alone when listening to our MP3 players, you shouldn't turn it up too high．

　　You need to know when to turn your MP3 off and put it away．Libraries and schools don't allow MP3 players．There are other places, like museums, that don't have rules, but it would be rude to have your MP3 player on．Sometimes, it doesn't make sense to listen on your MP3 player at event．Why would you listen to music at a play, a movie or a sporting event? You would miss what is going on．

　　Once in a while it's okay just to take out one earphone and not the other．Imagine you are listening on your MP3 player when someone asks you the way．It would not be rude to take out one earphone, tell him the way, and put back the earphone and continue listening．You can also do this when you answer the telephone when it's not for you．

　　There are times when you need to decide what is best．For example, some people can listen to music on their MP3 players when reading books, while others think it is disturbing．In cases like this, you need to do what seems right for you．

阅读理解

　　Perhaps the only test score that I remember is the 55 when I was in high school．

　　The test was the final for a course．I remember waiting anxiously as my teacher Mr．Right passed out our papers one by one．It was a rather difficult test．I heard my classmates groaning, and I could tell by the groans that the scores weren't looking good．

　　Mr．Right put my paper on my desk．There in big red numbers, circled to draw attention, was my score, 55!

　　I lowered my head, and covered the score up quickly．A 55 is not something that you wanted your classmates to see．

　　“The scores were not very good, none of you passed,” Mr．Right said．“The highest score in the class was a 55．”

　　A 55．That's me!

　　Suddenly my sad look didn't look so bad．I had the highest score．I felt a lot better．

　　I walked home alone that day with the low but high score．My father knew that I had a big test that day and asked me as soon as I got home, “How did you do in your test?”

　　“I made a 55．” I said．

　　A frown(皱眉)now stood on my father's face．I knew I had to explain immediately．“But Dad, I had the highest score in the class,” I proudly stated．I thought that explanation would make a difference．

　　“You failed!” my father replied．

　　“But it's the highest!” I insisted．

　　“I don't care what scores others had, but you failed．What matters is what you do!” my father firmly said．

　　For years, my father was always that way．It didn't matter what others did, it only mattered what I did and that I did it excellently．

　　We often don't understand the wisdom of good parents until we ourselves stand in the parents' shoes．My father's words have carried me throughout life．

阅读理解

　　John sent his mother expensive presents on his mother's birthday every year．He liked to show her how rich he was．

　　“I must find something wonderful for her, and it must be the only one in the whole world．” John thought．

　　He advertised(登广告)in the newspapers．“Wanted－the best present for the woman who has everything．”

　　For many days his telephone did not stop ringing．People phoned him from all over the world．They wanted to sell him “the best present”．But they did not have anything that was the only one in the whole world．

　　Then less than a week before his mother's birthday, a man came to his office．He was carrying a cage, and in the cage there was a large bird．

　　“This bird,” the man said, “can speak ten languages and sing any pop song．There is no other bird like it in the world．”

　　“I will listen to it,” John said．“If what you said is true, I will buy the bird from you．”

　　The man spoke to the bird．“Talk to me in French,” he said．The bird spoke to him in French．“Tell me a joke in Japanese,” he said．The bird told him a joke in Japanese．“Sing a famous pop song,” he said．The bird sang a famous pop song．

　　“I'll buy it,” John said．“How much do you want?”

　　“One hundred thousand dollars,” the man said．This was a lot of money but John paid him．Then he sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card．

　　The day after his mother's birthday he phoned her．“Well, mother,” he said, “Is the bird wonderful?”

　　“Oh, it was delicious, dear,” she said．

阅读理解

　　The year is 2094．It has been announced that a comet(彗星)is heading towards the Earth．Most of it will miss our planet, but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of the Earth．

　　On 17 July, a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth's atmosphere(大气层)with a massive explosion．About half of the piece is destroyed, but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound．The sea boils and a huge hole is made in the sea bed．Huge waves are created and spread outwards from the hole．The wall of water, a kilometer high, rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour．Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people re drowned．

　　Before the waves reach South America, the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina．Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Mountains．The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean．The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes．Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead, but the north won't escape for long．Because of the explosions, the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero．Crops are ruined．The sun won't be seen again for many years．Wars break out as countries fight for food．A year later, no more than 10 million people remain alive．

　　Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth．The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years．Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared．Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space．The dinosaurs couldn't live through the cold climate that followed and they died out．Will we meet the same end?

阅读理解

　　Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to make war on Scotland．The Scots, a brave people, love their country．They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland．But there were too many of the Romans．It looked as if the Romans would win．

　　One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill．“We will rest here tonight, my men,” he said, “Tomorrow we will fight one more battle．We must win, or we will die．”

　　They were all very tired．So they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep．There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, they fell asleep．

　　The Romans were not asleep．Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill．Slowly they went up the hill．Closer they came to the sleeping Scots．They were almost at the top．A few minutes more the war would be over．Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle(蓟)．He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots．In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle．The fighting was hard, but it did not last long．The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland．

　　The thistle is not a beautiful plant．It has sharp needles all over it．Few people liked it．But the people of Scotland liked it so much that they made it their national flower．

阅读理解

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