完型填空

Two minds with a single thought！

　　The young fisherman is thinking of a way to cross the stream without getting his 　　1　　 wet．The engineer is thinking of a 　　2　　 to get automobiles across the river without getting their wheels wet．You know the answer to 　　3　　 problems：a bridge．

　　The fisherman's bridge doesn't take 　　4　　 to build．Just place a board across the little stream and you 　　5　　 If the board is strong enough and if the fisherman doesn't 　　6　　 too much, all will be well．

　　Will the engineer 　　7　　 the same kind of bridge? You know he 　　8　　 and you know why．Automobiles are much heavier than 　　9　　 The river is much 　　10　　 than the stream．A long wood bridge just won't 　　11　　．It isn't strong enough．It would 　　12　　 and break under its own weight．The fisherman's problem is very 　　13　　．However, the engineer's is not．

　　But don't 　　14　　 sorry for the engineer．He doesn't have to 　　15　　 the very beginning with a long board．People have been thinking about bridges for thousands of years．They have designed many types of bridges．Each bridge is suited to its special 　　16　　．The engineer can choose the type best suited to the river and the 　　17　　 nearby．

　　What choice does he have, and why is one 　　18　　 than the others? One way for you to find out is to make a few bridges out of cardboard．They won't be strong enough to 　　19　　 a five-ton truck, but you will find out some of the main 　　20　　 of bridge design by doing some experiments．

阅读理解

　　For the last couple of weeks, I had been stuck in front of my computer working on a project that was very important to me．My every waking hour was consumed by the project and although I imagined that I would feel happy after completing parts of the project, I was confused to find that instead, I was feeling rather depressed．I tried a range of methods to help cheer myself up．I had a relaxing bath, cooked a delicious meal to enjoy with my family and even watched a lighthearted movie, but to no avail．It was only when I turned to meditation(沉思)for a solution that the answer came to me：turn to nature!

　　The very next day, I grabbed my camera and a bottle of water and set off to spend a few hours walking in a nature reserve, even though it was pouring with rain．Within a couple of minutes I felt alive again．To be honest．I felt like a young school girl again and had to stop myself from hopping along the path singing, “I’m singing in the rain．”a song I used to sing when I was a child．I think as adults we often try too hard to control our inner children and as a result we restrain(限制)our own spirits, which only leads to depression and stress．

　　Interestingly, it has been shown that people who spend 40 minutes walking in a nature reserve have a drop in their blood pressure levels．But this does not happen when they spend a similar amount of time walking in a busy city centre．

　　If you feel a little low in spirit and know that you have spent too much time indoors, relax completely, remove your shoes and let your inner child come out and play．

Reading Comprehension

　　Green-space facilities are contributing to an important extent to the quality of the urban environment．Fortunately it is no longer necessary that every lecture or every book about this subject has to start with the proof of this idea．At present it is generally accepted, although more as a self-evident statement than on the base of a closely-reasoned scientific proof．The recognition of the importance of green-spaces in the urban environment is a first step on the right way; this does not mean, however, that enough details are known about the functions of greenspaces in towns and about the way in which the inhabitants(居民)are using these spaces．

　　The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate(不成比例的)attention for forms of recreation far from home, whereas(但是)there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighborhood of the home．We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home．So it is obivous that recreation in the open air has to begin at the street door of the house．The urban environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory(强制性的)activities can also have a recreative aspect．

　　The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot of enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street door of your house is closed after you．

阅读理解

　　If you want to become a better reader, what should you know about speed or rate of reading?

　　Some people who read very rapidly may say, “I am a rapid reader．I can read an entire book in one evening．”Someone who reads slowly may say, “I read slowly, but I know what I read．I don’t miss a thing．”

　　The rapid reader may be a good reader when he reads story book for fun．But he may not be able to slow down enough to read directions carefully．He may read so rapidly that he does not take time to understand fully the ideas and information which it is important to remember．

　　The very slow reader may be good reader when he reads directions for making something．But he may take altogether too much time to read a simple story that is meant to be enjoyed but is not important enough to be remembered．

　　So you see, neither the reader who reads everything rapidly nor the one who reads everything slowly is really a good reader．

　　If you wish to become a better reader, here are four important things to remember about rate, or speed of reading．

　　1．Knowing why you are reading and what you are reading to find out will often help you to know whether to read rapidly or slowly．

　　2．Some things should be read slowly throughout．Examples are directions fox making or doing something; science and history books, which are full of importance．You must read such things slowly to remember each important step and understand each important idea．

　　3．Some things should be read rapidly throughout．Examples are simple stories meant for enjoyment; news, letters from friends, items or bits of news from local or home town papers, telling what is happening to friends and neighbors．

　　4．In some of your reading, you must change your speed fast to slow and slow to fast．As you go along．You will need to read certain pages rapidly and then slow down and do more careful reading when you come to important ideas, which must be remembered．