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　　When Boris left school, he could not find a job．He tried hard and pestered(纠缠)his relatives, but they had problems of their own．He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps．Boris grew annoyed, then depressed, then a little hardened．Still he went on trying and still he failed．He began to think that he had no future at all．

　　“Why don't you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him．“The world is a money-locker．You'd better find a way of opening it．”

　　“But what can I do?”

　　“Get out and have a look round．” advised his uncle in a vague sort of way．“See what people want; then give it to them, and they will pay for it．”

　　Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end．Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer．He worked hard, made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit．A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself．He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good：in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other snag(障碍)．But at long last, he managed to find an empty shop on a new estate where there were plenty of customers but no competition．

　　Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles．Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed．At last, Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside．

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　　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．

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　　Besides entertainment and beautiful lanterns, another important part of the Lantern Festival, or Yuanxiao Festival is eating small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour．We call these balls Yuanxiao or Tangyuan．Obviously, they get the name from the festival itself．It is said that the custom of eating Yuanxiao originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the fourth century, then became popular during the Tang and Song periods．

　　The fillings inside the dumplings or Yuansiao are either sweet or salty．Sweet fillings are made of sugar, Walnuts, sesame(芝麻), osmanthus flowers(桂花), rose petals, sweetened tangerine(橘子)peel, bean paste, or jujube paste(枣子酱)．A single ingredient or any combination can be used as the filling．The salty variety is filled with minced meat(肉末儿), vegetables or a mixture．

　　The way to make Yuanxiao also varies between northern and southern China．The usual method followed in southern provinces is to shape the dough of rice flour into balls, make a hole, insert the filling, then close the hole and smooth out the dumpling by rolling it between your hands．In North China, sweet or nutmeat stuffing is the usual ingredient．The fillings are pressed into hardened cores, dipped lightly in water and rolled in a flat basket containing dry glutinous rice flour．A layer of the flour sticks to the filling, which is then again dipped in water and rolled a second time in the rice flour．And so it goes, like rolling a snowball, until the dumpling is the desired size．

　　The custom of eating Yuanxiao dumplings remains．This tradition encourages both old and new stores to promote their Yuanxiao products．They all try their best to improve the taste and quality of the dumplings to attract more customers．

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　　Since 1989, Dave Thomas, who died at age 69, was one of the most recognizable faces on TV．He appeared in more than 800 commercials(商业广告)for the hamburger chain named for his daughter．“As long as it works, ” he said in 1991, “I'll continue to do those commercials．”

　　Even though he was successful, Thomas remained troubled by his childhood．“He still won't let anyone see his feet, which are out of shape because he never had proper-fitting shoes, ” Wendy said in 1993．Born to a single mother, he was adopted as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan．After Auleva died when he was 5, Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work．“He fed me, ” Thomas said, “and if I got out of line, he'd beat me．”

　　Moving out on his own at 15, Thomas worked, first as a waiter, in many restaurants．But he had something much better in mind．“I thought if I owned a restaurant, ” he said, “I could eat for free．” A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968．

　　In 1969, after breaking with Sanders, Thomas started the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, in Columbus, Ohio, which set itself apart by serving made-to-order burgers．With 6, 000 restaurants worldwide, the chain now makes ＄ 6 billion a year in sales．

　　Although troubled by his own experience with adoption, Thomas, married since 1954 to Lorraine, 66, and with four grown kids besides Wendy, felt it could offer a future for other children．He started the Dave Thomas Foundation(基金会)for Adoption in 1992．

　　In 1993, Thomas, who had left school at 15, graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida．He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party．The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed．

　　“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave, ” says friend Pat Williams．“He wasn't a great actor or a great speaker．He was just Joe Everybody．”

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　　Chinese people are now spending more time surfing the net than watching TV, according to results of a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS)published Thursday．

　　The survey, of citizens of five Chinese cities, found that 79 percent of interviewees use the internet for information, and 55.1 percent to read news on the internet．About 63 percent of the interviewees use e-mail．The average times spent surfing the net and watching TV were 2.73 hours and 1.29hours, respectively．

　　Only 10.4 percent reported use the internet primarily to send and receive email; 65.9 percent read online news; 62.2 quite often play games on-line．More and more people have taken an interest in the entertainment opportunities online．Up to 56.5 percent of interviewees quite often download music, and 53.5 percent get entertainment messages from the internet．

　　Yet the survey found that television is still the dominant mass medium．Seventy-nine percent of interviewees choose to watch TV to get information, and another 75 percent take newspapers as important as TV．

　　Five major web sites in the Chinese language, namely Sina, Sohu, Netease, Baidu and Yahoo are still ranked top ones by web users, and those that voted for Sina as the best among them were 30.9 percent．

　　Authorized statistics showed that web users in China have already exceeded 100 million, second to that of the United States．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Chocolate soap is supposed to be good for the skin．But it's not so good for the tongue．Unfortunately for the US soldiers of World War II, the chocolate bars the army gave them tasted like they were intended for use in the bath．

　　In the army's defense, it wasn't trying to win any cooking awards．In fact, it specifically ordered that its chocolate bars not be too delicious, so soldiers wouldn't eat them too quickly．These bars were created for survival, not taste．“They were awful, ” John Otto, a former army captain in World War II said．“They were big, thick things, and they weren't any good, but I had to be awful hungry after I tried them once．”

　　As unappealing as the chocolate bars were to some, others liked them．Samuel Hinkle, the chemist who created the chocolate bars, pointed out that the number of bars made were far greater than the army needed．“It soon became obvious that the generous American soldiers were sharing their valued possessions with their foreign friends, whether soldiers of other countries or local citizens．”

　　The bars turned many hungry Europeans into friends of the United States．“People wanted them, ” said Otto．“You'd give them to kids．In some places they were very hungry．And they sure helped relax people about American soldiers．”

　　Otto said he never saw a European turn his or her nose up at the chocolate．“It was food, ” he said．“At that time, everyone was very hungry．I saw German kids standing outside the U．S．army kitchen．They weren't begging, just standing there very politely．When we were done, the kids would eat the food out of the garbage．They were that hungry．”[来源：学*科*网]

　　Other Europeans did not see chocolate until well after the war ended．“We didn't see any Americans where I was, ” said Elizabeth Radsma, who was 25 years old when the Germans occupied her country, the Netherlands．“Even after the war, we saw only English．Maybe the Americans gave out some chocolate in the big cities, but we were only in a small town．Before the British, we saw only German soldiers．But chocolate? Don't make me laugh! Maybe in my dreams! ”

　　A soldier in the field might have responded “Be careful what you wish for”-and then gratefully bit down on a chocolate bar, the only food available for miles．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　A huge cloud of dust rose and an overpass disappeared．This was the scene in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province on May 17．Nine people were killed and 16 injured．

　　Things were similar last year in the Sichuan earthquake．Thousands of people were buried in the ruins and lost their lives．What if we could have warned them?

　　People are always trying their best to find a way of preventing buildings’ collapse．Better materials and technology help, but they are not a solution．

　　Just like humans, a building has its own life cycle from “birth” to “death”．If we know when a building is going to collapse, we can repair it in advance or get out of it before it falls．

　　Now, scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a material that turns red before it breaks．The invention could be used in things like climbing ropes or bridge supports．

　　The research was led by Nancy Sottos, a professor at the university's Beckman Institute, and Douglas Davis, a graduate research assistant．

　　The secret behind the color-changing material is a type of molecule(分子)．A molecule is a group of atoms held together by chemical bonds．Imagine you and your friends standing in a circle, holding hands．Each person stands for one atom, your hands represent the bonds, and the entire circle represents a molecule．If one person lets go of his or her hands, the molecule changes color．

　　The research team put the molecule into a soft material．When the researchers stretched(拉伸)the material, it turned bright red for a few seconds before it broke into two pieces．When they repeatedly stretched and relaxed the material, without breaking it, it only turned a little red．

　　The major problem is that light can get rid of the red color．When the team shone bright light on the molecule, the broken bond was fixed, and the color disappeared．

　　If the bright light keeps the red color from appearing, the material's warning system will be useless．Scientists still have a lot of work to do before the color-changing molecules can be used outside the lab．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　When l was learning calligraphy(书法)my teacher told me a story．

　　A calligrapher taught handwriting．One of his students who often practiced handwriting with old sheets of newspaper complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time．His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper．Maybe you'll write better．”

　　The student did as he was told．It really worked．He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious．He asked his teacher about the reason．The calligrapher answered, “When you used old newspaper to practice handwriting, you would think you were writing a draft．It didn't matter if you wrote badly as old newspaper was plenty in supply．In that case you wouldn't pay much attention to it．Now you use the best paper and you'll treasure it．Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity of chances and you'll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you'll do the handwriting much more attentively than practicing．Of course you’ve made rapid progress．”

　　Indeed, we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspaper”．We don't care if we scrawl and waste it, thinking that it will come endlessly-the“old newspaper”is inexhaustible(用不完的)．In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them．

　　Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used．In everyday life there's no chance for us to draft．That's because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed．

　　Every day of our life is something new．Let us take every day as a sheet of the best paper．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　There was a Bulgarian(保加利亚的)boy who was an exchange student in the USA．He lived with an American family．One day, he went to his room in the evening, and did his homework．His host-mom came to him and asked if he would like to go along to the movies．He wanted to go, so he shook his head from side to side, said “Yes”．His host-mom did a couple of steps back, and looked puzzled．

　　She thought that he didn't want to go out because he shook his head from side to side．However, he wanted to go out to the movies．Bulgarians shake their heads from side to side when they mean “yes”．People in other countries shake their heads from side to side when they mean “no”．

　　Gestures can have different meanings according to different cultures．For example, in America, putting your index finger(食指)and your thumb(拇指)in a circle is commonly used as an OK sign that means everything is all right．However, in France, that sign is used to express “nothing” or “zero”, which can have a negative meaning．

　　Generally speaking, gestures are a type of communication that uses a part of our body, and when speaking with people from other cultures, gestures can be important keys or clues to understand them．However, we need to understand that those gestures vary from culture to culture, and it is necessary for us to have an open mind in understanding the different gestures．

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　　Why are people interested in eating raw foods or whole foods? One reason is that eating these types of food reduces the risk of acid accumulation in your body．

　　Raw and whole foods are usually digested more efficiently than cooked and refined foods．When we cook foods, we destroy the natural enzymes(酶)that are part of the food in its raw form．These enzymes were intended by nature to help us digest the food．When we consume food without these natural enzymes, our bodies either digest the food improperly or allow too many nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream．In both instances, the result is obesity．When too many nutrients are absorbed at once, the body grows fat．Improperly digested food moves slowly through the digestive tract, where it becomes increasingly acidic．To protect its vital organs from this acidic waste, the body changes the acid into fat and stores it safely away from the organs．

　　Processed foods contain chemical elements, which might confuse the appetite mechanism that tells us when we've had enough to eat; as a result, people often overeat．Processed foods also upset the digestive cycle．The body will either identify these foods as allergens and then store them safely away from the organs as fat, or the remains of undigested food will become acidic and enter the bloodstream as acid waste, which will stick to the blood vessel walls and block the passage of vital oxygen and nutrients heading for the body's cells．The body's metabolism(新陈代谢)becomes inactive, and the result is weight gain and obesity．

　　The accumulation of acid in the digestive tract makes digestion increasingly inefficient．When that happens, even healthy foods can become acidic and the food allergies will become more common．

　　To stop this vicious circle in its tracks, people need to consume food and supplements that will neutralize the acid already accumulated in body．Eating the right types of raw and whole foods can help．It's also important to restore your enzyme balance．You need to identify and avoid the foods that cause acid accumulation and consume the foods that increase enzyme production．If you truly want to change and help your body heal itself, you need to take an active approach．

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