阅读理解

　　From now on, never spend your precious time thinking of reasons for your failures and shortcomings．Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born．Only you have the power to make those seeds grow．

　　The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created：the human mind．Success is a choice and not a chance．You were born a winner．You were born rich．You can be a success if only you make the right choice．

　　You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem(自尊，自信)Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life．People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives．They are the perennial(长期的)victims and martyrs(受苦者)．They are leaves tossed(摇摆)by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather．

　　You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe that you are responsible for everything that happens in your life．Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance．Successful people realize that they are responsible．

　　Everything happens as a result of something．If we can identify the cause, we can control the effect．We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe．One generally rises to the level that one expects．We are responsible for setting our expectations．Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence．

　　If you associate with positive-thinking people, you are definitely going to achieve success．On the contrary, the opposite happens．We are responsible for finding, planting, and nurturing the seeds that contain future victory, born from setbacks．

　　In short, in all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible．Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it, you are on the road to success．

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　　Since the beginning of time, man has been interested in the moon．The Romans designed a special day to show admiration and respect to the moon．They called it “Moonday”, or “Monday”, as we know it today．Later, the great mind of Leonardo da Vinci studied the moon and designed a machine to carry a human to the moon．Leonardo said that one day a great machine bird would take a person to the moon and bring great honour to the home where it was born．

　　Four and a half centuries later, Leonardo's idea was realized．Apollo II took three Americans Collins, Aldrin, and Armstrong to the moon．The mission(任务)did fill the whole world with great surprise, as Leonardo had said it would．Numerous essays, articles, and books were written about man's first moon mission．But perhaps the most interesting story was one written before the event over 100 years before．

　　In 1865, French author Jules Verne wrote a story about the first journey to the moon．His story was very similar to the 1969 Apollo II mission．

　　Verne's spacecraft also contained three men——two Americans and a Frenchman．The spacecraft was described as being almost the same size as Apollo II．The launch(发射)site in Verne's story was also in Florida．The spacecraft in Verne's story was named the “ Columbiad”．The Apollo II command ship was called “ Columbia”．His account of sending the spacecraft into the space could easily have been written about how Apollo II was sent into the space．

　　Verne's story was the same as the actual event in several other respects．The speed of Verne's spacecraft was 36, 000 feet per second; Apollo's was 35, 533 feet per second．Verne's spacecraft took 97 hours to reach the moon; Apollo's time was 103 hours．Like Apollo's spacemen, Verne's spacemen took pictures of the moon's surface, relaxed on their seats, cooked with gas, and experienced weightlessness．They too came down in the Pacific and were picked up by an American warship．

　　What were the reasons for Jules Verne's extreme accuracy in describing an event 100 years or more before it actually occurred? He based his writings on the laws of physics and astronomy(天文学)．Nineteenth-century science and the vivid Verne's imagination gave people an unbelievably accurate preview of one of the greatest events of the 20th century．

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　　We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book．Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down．While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold．She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop．She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors．"

　　"Yes, I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them, "the nurse answered．She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working late?"

　　Mum just pushed harder, each swipe(拖一下)of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall．I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book．

　　After a long time Mum came back．Her eyes were shining．She quickly put the mop back and took my hand．As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you．"

　　Outside, Mum told me, "Dagmar is fine．No fever．"

　　"You saw her, Mum?"

　　"Of course．I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow．Dad will stop worrying as well．It's a fine hospital．But such floors!A mop is no good．You need a brush．"

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　　Just as the world's most respected scientific bodies have confirmed that the world is getting hotter, they have also stated that there is strong evidence that humans are driving the warming．Countless recent reports from the world's leading scientific bodies have said the same thing．For example, a 2010 summary of climate science by the Royal Society stated that：“There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity．”

　　The idea that humans could change the planet's climate may be counter-intuitive(与直觉不符的), but the basic science is well understood．Each year, human activity causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be released(释放)into the atmosphere．As scientists have known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanket．

　　Of course, the planet's climate has always been changing thanks to “natural” factors(因素)such as changes in solar or volcanic activity, or cycles relating the Earth's going around the sun．According to the scientific literature, however, the warming recorded to date matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes．

　　Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming observed so far, that would beg a difficult question．As Robert Henson puts it in The Rough Guide to Climate Change：“If some newly discovered factor can account for the climate change, then why can't carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases?

　　The only way to prove with 100％ certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths –　one with human influence and one without．That obviously isn't possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty．

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　　BEIJING－Seven prestigious(有声望的)universities in China announced Sunday that they would begin using the same independent exam－besides the national one－to test students hoping to gain entrance to them in 2011．

　　The seven are Peking University, Beihang University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Fudan University, Xiamen University and Hong Kong University．

　　Students who want to gain entrance to any of the seven universities will only have to sit one independent exam, according to the joint announcement．

　　"This will help lighten the students' load, otherwise they must take several exams for different universities," said the announcement．

　　Passing the exam could result in more than one interview chance, giving the students more opportunities to choose their favorite universities．

　　China's college entrance exam system is undergoing reform as universities aim to select students based on independent criteria(标准)rather than just using the results of the national exam．

　　In 2003, Peking University and another 21 universities were allowed to pilot(试用)the reform by using their own criteria to independently select five percent of their students．

　　Now nearly 80 universities across the country have the right to select talented students based on their own exams．

　　Education experts regard universities selecting students according to independent examinations as conducive(有助的)to better understanding where the students' talents lie．

　　Although this may be the case, it has also created problems as students may sit many different exams as they often apply for a number of universities．

　　To relieve(缓解)students from such pressures, the national education outline(2010-2020)released in July this year encourages high-level universities to group together to use the same exams．

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　　I had the meanest mother in the world．While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal(麦片粥), eggs and toast．Others had cokes and candy for lunch, while we had to eat a sandwich．As you can guess, my supper was different than the other kids'．But at least I was not alone in my suffering．My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did．

　　My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times．She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing．We had to wear clean clothes every day．Other kids always wore their clothes for days．We reached the height of disgrace(丢脸)because she made our clothes herself, just to save money．

　　The worst is yet to come．We had to be in bed by 9∶00 each night and up at 7∶45 the next morning．So while my friends slept, my mother actually had the courage to break Child Labor Law．She made us work．I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us．Through the years, our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing．My mother, however, would merely be content with black marks．None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout．

　　She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults．Using this as a background, I'm now trying to bring up my three children．I'm filled with pride when my children think I am mean because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world．

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　　While most high school students spend most of their time worrying about who likes who, and different relationships between their classmates, I choose to focus on my school lessons and sports．

　　When I was young, my mother encouraged me to develop and keep friendship with boys in order to build strong relationships．But she told me not to risk a good friendship with a boy with the title of boyfriend．It' s indeed a wise choice to stay friends with those of the opposite sex．In my opinion, even though some high school relationship might continue after graduation, the probability of them lasting much longer is so slim that there really is not a point to it．

　　Firstly you have to think about such a question－whether it is possible to hurt both of you, or even hurt both of your future husbands or wives．My second point is that you still can date if you hope marriage could possibly follow．Except this, there really is not any other reason for dating．Some students desire relationships for a chance to be romantic．While these are nice to have, there are many more important things at this point in our lives．

　　The titles of boyfriend and girlfriend put too much stress on a relationship between high school students．Just staying as common friends may be the best choice for us．I strongly recommend we should deal with it in an appropriate way and follow our teachers' advice if necessary．

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　　The campaign is over．The celebrations have ended．And the work for US president-elect Barack Obama has begun．

　　The 47-year-old politician rose to the highest post because of his stand against the war in Iraq and his plans to fix a weak economy．But what will the first 47-year-old African-American president do for race relations?

　　Obama's victory appears to have given blacks and other minorities a true national role model．For years, many looked to athletes and musicians for inspiration．As Darius Turner, an African-American high school student in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times, “Kobe doesn't have to be everybody's role model anymore．”

　　Recent polls(民意测验)also suggest that Obama's victory has given Americans new optimism about race relations．For example, a USA Today poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites “will finally be worked out”．This is the most hopeful response since the question was first asked during the civil rights revolution in 1963．

　　However, it's still too early to tell whether Obama's presidency will begin to solve many of the social problems facing low-income black communities．

　　Although blacks make up only 13 percent of the US population, 55 percent of all prisoners are African-American．Such numbers can be blamed on any number of factors on America's racist past, a failure of government policy and the collapse(瓦解)of the family unit in black communities．

　　It is unlikely that Obama will be able to reverse(扭转)such trends overnight．However, Bill Bank, an expert of African-American Studies, says that eventually young blacks need to find role models in their own communities．“That's not Martin Luther King, and not Barack Obama,” he told the Los Angeles Times．“It's actually the people closest to them．Barack only has so much influence．”

　　In the opinion of black British politician Trevor Phillips, Obama's rise will contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations in the US．

　　“When the G8 meets, the four most important people in the room will be the president of China, the prime minister of India, the prime minister of Japan and Barak Obama,” he told London's The Times newspaper．“It will be the first time we've seen that on our television screens．That will be a huge psychological shift(心理转变)for both the white people and the colored ones in the world．”

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　　People do not analyze every problem they meet．Sometimes they try to remember a solution from the last time they had a similar problem．They often accept the opinions or ideas of other people．Other times they begin to act without thinking．They try to find a solution by trial and error．However, when all these methods fail, the person with a problem has to start analyzing．There are six stages in analyzing a problem．

　　First the person must recognize that there is a problem．For example, Sam's bicycle is broken, and he cannot ride it to class as he usually does．Sam must see that there is a problem with his bicycle．

　　Next the thinker must define the problem．Before Sam can repair his bicycle, he must find out the reason why it does not work．For instance, he must determine if the problem is with the gears, the brakes, or the frame．He must make his problem more specific．

　　Now the person must look for information that will make the problem clearer and lead to possible solutions．For instance, suppose Sam decided that his bike does not work because there is something wrong with the gear wheels．At this time, he can look in his bicycle repair book and read about gears．He can talk to his friends at the bike shop．He can look at his gears carefully．

　　After studying the problem, the person should have several suggestions for a possible solution．Take Sam as an illustration．His suggestions might be：put oil on the gear wheels; buy new gear wheels and replace the old ones; tighten or loosen the gear wheels．

　　Eventually one suggestion seems to be the solution to the problem．Sometimes the final idea comes very suddenly because the thinker suddenly sees something new or sees something in a new way．Sam, for example, suddenly sees that there is a piece of chewing gum between the gear wheels．He immediately realizes the solution to his problem：he must clean the gear wheels．

　　Finally the solution is tested．Sam cleans the gear wheels and finds that afterwards his bicycle works perfectly．In short, he has solved the problem．

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