阅读理解

　　“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people undertand what it is to move．”said David Belle, the founder of parkour(跑酷)．

　　Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring．But what if making your morning jog a creative one? Like jumping from walls and over gaps, and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks ove ________ obstacles on the way．It is just because of Bond's wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide．

　　Yes, that's parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to anoth-er as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body．Parkour is considered an extreme sport．As its participants dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop．

　　Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds, but its participants see park-our much more than that．

　　Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy(理念)behind parkour．This is the same as life．You must detemine your destination, go straight, jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life, to reach the destination successfully．A parkour lover said,“I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything．”

　　Another hilosophy we've learnt from parkour is freedom．It can done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world．It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself that you earn energy and confidence．

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　　Most American students go to traditional public schools．There are about 88,000 pub-lic 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 tra-ditional 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 pub-lic schools that are failing to educate students．But some education agencies and unions op-pose charter schools．One teachers' union has just made public the results of the first nation-al 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．U-math education experts say the study shows that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests the students in regular public schools．

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

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　　From a very early age, some children exhibit better self-control than others．Now, a new study that began with about 1,000 children in New Zealand has tracked how a child's low self-control can predict poor health, money troubles and even a criminal record in their adult years．

　　Researchers have been studying this group of children for decades now．They observed the level of self-control the youngstrrs displayed．Parents, teachers, even the kids them-selves, scored the youngstrers on measures like“acting before thinking” and “Persistensce in resching goals．”

　　The study led by Moffitt of Duke University and colleagues followed 1,000 children from birth to age 32 in Dunedin, New Zealand．

　　“The children who had the lowest self-control when they were age three to ten, later on had the most health problems in their 30s,” Moffitt said, “and they had the worst financial situation, They were more likely to have a criminal record and to be raising a child as a sin-gle parent on a very low income．” Moffitt explained that self-control problems were widely observed, and weren't just a feature of a small group of misbehaving kids．

　　Moffitt said it's still unclear why some children have better self-control than others, though she said other resesrchers have found that it's mostly a learned behavior, with rela-tively little genetic influence．But good self-control can be set to run in families because chil-dren with good self-control are more likely to grow up to be healthy and prosperous parents．But the good news, Moffitt said, is that self-control can be taught by parents, and through school curricula that have been shown to be effective．

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　　For centuries, the body's blood has been linked closely with the emotions．People who show no human emotions or feelings, are said to be cold-blooded killer．For example, the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer．He seems to kill for no reason, and no emo-tion, as if taking someone's life as nothing．

　　Cold can affect other parts of the body．The expression“get cold feet” has nothing to do with cold or your feet．The expression means being afraid to do something you have de-cided to do．For example, you agree to be president of an organization．But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned, and all the work of the organization will be youre re-sponsibility．You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation．

　　The expression“give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instesd of speaking to him face to face．You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you．Or, to someone who has lied about you to others．

　　A cold fish is not a fish．It is a person．But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemo-tional and shows no love or warmth．A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone．Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted．Now a cold-hearted person is someone who has no sympathy．Several popular songs in recent years were abut cold-hearted men or cold-hearted women who, without feelings, broke the hearts of their lovers．

　　“Out in the cold”means not getting something that everybody else got．A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise-he was left out in the cold．And it is not a pleasant place to be．

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阅读理解：

　　It's a safe bet that a robot made your car and your computer．Pretty soon, they could be making your bed and breakfast, too．

　　Increasingly, engineers are saying that robots are going to move out of research departments and into your home．Companies including Sony and General Electric are working on designs for small robots．Products like Roomba, a robot that can clean floors, are flying off the shelves．

　　What's behind this new robot revolution(革命)? lt's partly a matter of technology．Devices(装置)that can recognize and answer human voice have been developed．There are now a few different ways for robots to move around．They can walk, crawl or ride on wheels．Robots are being made smaller and smaller．They are also becoming more and more able．

　　A bigger part of the story is on the demand(需求)side．From the day the television remote control(遥控器)was invented, people around the world have searched for new ways to be lazy．Take into consideration that more and more people can afford robots, and the time secms ripe to introduce robots to the ordinary family．

　　To be sure, robots that walk on two legs and talk like people are still a long way off．However, robots that do basic housework such as cleaning or gardening are sure to come out soon．One thing is certain-when these robots do come into our homes, it will change things forever．

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阅读理解：

　　We can make mistakes at any age．Some mistakes we make are about money．But most mistakes are about people．Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen? ”“When I got that great job, did Jim really feel good about it, as a friend? Or did he envy my luck? ”“And Paul-why didn't pick up that he was friendly just because I had a car? ”When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad．But when we look back, it's too late．

　　Why do we go wrong about our friends-or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning．And if we don't really listen, we miss the feeling behind the words．Suppose someone tells you, “You're a lucky dog．”That's being friendly．But“lucky dog”? There is a bit of envy in those words．Maybe he doesn't see it himself．But bringing in the“dog” bit puts you down a little．What he may be saying is that he doesn t think you deserve your luck．

　　“Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for”is another noise that says one thing and means another．It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole．But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn't important．It's telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven't got a date for Saturday night．

　　How can you tell the real meaning behind someone's words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking．Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice? His posture? The look in his eyes? Stop and think．The minure you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save another mistake．

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　　Firefly is just a name．They are actually very cool insects．And they are not even flies, they are beetles．They have a way of sending out light signals every now and then．If you see them at night on a tree, you might think it is a brightly lit Christmas tree．That is the kind of light these fireflies produce．

　　But the light they send out does not have heat, like the bulbs we use．The firefly's light is cold。Aetually these beetles could be the most efficient bulbs if only we knew how to use them．For almost all the energy they produce gets changed into bright lightcool light．

　　How do they do it? The back portion of their stomachs are transparent．There are cells of crystals or chemical substances inside which get broken down by enzymes．Some energy is released in the form of light．

　　The fireflies send out 1ight signals at fixed intervals．And the purpose behind it is to attract beetles for mating．But one firefly's signal is different from another's, depending on its sex and the type of family it belongs to．If a firefly sends a signal at a fixed interval but gets a response either too soon or too late, it will ignore the signal．It is like a perfect dance sequence．If you are faster or slower than your partner, the dance fails．

　　Fireflies come from two families of beetles．One family of fireflies is usually found in Europe．North Ameriea and Australia．They are found on trees．The other family of fireflies is found in the Pacific islands．There is another type of beetle which gives out a softer 1ight．It is called the glow worm．

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　　Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student．By using your time properly, you can do your homework more quickly．Learning to stuady is not difficult．

　　The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn．It doesn't mean that you must always like the subject．It does mean, however, that you must be willing to do whatever is necessary to learn．Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things．Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life．Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier．Sometimes a subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly．Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them．

　　Here's some advice for you：have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study, so that you can concentrate(集中)on your study without interruptions(中断，打断); have everything ready before you sit down to study-a dictionary, paper, a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start; read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things; when memorizing(记忆), first find out the main parts and then recite(背诵)the whole thing; check your homework after you finish it：never forget the importance of review and preview．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Exhausted and unhappy, you still have to squeeze a smile to your friends, or teachers．That's just life, you may think．But new research suggests that putting on a fake smile can worsen people's mood and even lower work efficiency．

　　Lead researcher Brent Scott with other researchers studied a group of bus drivers for two weeks．They tried to find out what happened when the drivers were involved in “surface acting” or fake smiling, and the opposite, “deep acting” which means people put on real smiles by recalling pleasant memories or thinking about their current situation more positively．

　　The results showed that on days when drivers were forced to smile, they felt depressed and didn't want to work．On days when they smiled due to positive thoughts, their mood improved a lot as well as their work efficiency．

　　The research goes against the popular belief among companies that employees should be cheerful to customers at all times．They include employees of shops, banks, call center workers and others who have face-to-face contact with members of the public．“Smiling for the sake of(为了)smiling can lead to emotional exhaustion and coldness, and that's bad for the organization, ” Scott told the Daily Mail．

　　The study also showed that women were harmed more by fake smiling than men．Their mood and work performance both worsened more．But they were helped more by deep acting-their mood became better and they worked more efficiently．

　　However, while deep acting seemed to improve mood in the short term, Scott says it's not a long-term solution for unhappiness．

　　“There have been some suggestions that if you do this over a long period that you start to feel inauthentic(不真实的), ” Scott said．“You may be trying to cultivate positive emotions, but at the end of the day you may not feel like yourself anymore．”

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　There are plenty of beauty schools throughout the country that can help you to start a career in cosmetology(美容业)．Nowadays, young people may not be able to afford a four-year college．Students can look forward to attending a beauty school program which will only take a few months to complete and start their career right away to earn money．

　　There can be many benefits of going to beauty school．The expense is much less than attending a four-year university．Besides, attending beauty school is mostly a hands-on(动手的)experience which appeals to many people．Some students don't like sitting all day listening to lectures and then having to study at night．What's more, most beauty school programs keep up with the changing trends and fashion．So you will always be working on different hair types which can be fun and will give you a lot of experience throughout the years of your career．

　　If you are worried about finding a job after graduation, many beauty schools will offer assistance for immediate job placement and give you peace of mind that you will not be stranded looking for a job．Most colleges and universities are not equipped to do that because of the large number of graduates each year．

　　Cosmetologists will also make a good salary．The average salary will depend on your location, but you may earn a salary around ＄3, 000-＄3, 500 a month．This is not including tips which could be ＄600 or more a month．

　　Not only can young people go to cosmetology school, but people of all ages can start this career．As you can see, there are many benefits of beauty schools that can be the perfect opportunity for anyone to become a great cosmetologist．

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