Australia---The vote for euthanasia(安乐死)was finally taken at 3:45 this morning. After six months’ argument and final 16 hours’ hot debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The bill was passed by the vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, the director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on through the group’s on-line service, Death NET. Hofsess says, “We posted it all day long, because this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”

The full import may take a while to understand. The NT Rights of the Terminally III law has left physicians and citizens trying to deal with its moral and practical meaning. Some have breathed sighs of relief, but others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste(匆忙,急忙) of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia — where an aging population, life extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part — other states are going to consider making a similar law to for euthanasia. In the US and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes(多米诺骨牌) to start falling.

Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as incurably ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54 year old Darwin man suffering from lung cancer, the law means he can get on with living without the fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says.

1.According to the text ,which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Australia now is the only country in the world to pass the law of euthanasia.

B. All people in Australia don’t have the same positive attitude to euthanasia.

C. Many patients will ask their doctors for euthanasia because they are afraid of death.

D. According to the law, if a patient requests death, his or her wish will be met after 48 hours.

2.The underlined sentence in Para 2, “observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.” means that observers are waiting to see ___________.

A. the result of the game of dominoes.

B. that people’s attitude to euthanasia will be changed.

C. that the bill about euthanasia in Australia will come to an end.

D. the similar bills will be passed in other countries.

3.Australia was the first country to pass the bill of euthanasia, but not USA or Canada. Which one is NOT the reason ?

A. In Australia, the technology of extending life is advanced.

B. In Australia, it is easy to deal with the moral and practical meaning.

C. In Australia, old people take up great part in the population of the whole country.

D. Australians gradually realize suffering from a terrible disease is worse than immediate death.

4.It can be inferred from the text that _____________.

A. when Lloyd Nickson dies, he will face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia.

B. physicians and citizens in Australia share the same view on euthanasia.

C. other countries are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia.

D. under the bill, patients requesting death are sure to be injected by deadly medicine.

5.What’s the author’s attitude to euthanasia?

A. Negative        B. Critical          C. Positive        D. Doubtful

 

W Taipei

The W Hotel is among the city’s big-name luxury(奢华) hotels. Futuristic and fancy, the W Taipei’s setting is reminding you of a Lady Gaga video; perhaps that explains why the singer insisted on staying here on a recent visit. There are eight room types to choose from, with names such as Fabulous and Extreme Wow. They vary wildly in style.

10 Zhongxiao E. Road, Sect. 5, Xin Yi Area Taipei City Hall MRT; +886 2 7703 8888; from NT$8,900 (US$299); www.wtaipei.com

Grand Hotel

If sleeping in landmarks is your thing, the Taipei Grand Hotel is a must. The Grand is an expression of classical Chinese art mixed with Western construction principles. The Grand Hotel is attractive and full of history, but rooms are aging, so don’t expect the inside to be as “grand” as the outside. You can enjoy yourself at a driving range of golf, year-round pools and no fewer than eight restaurants.

No. 1, Lane 1, Zhongshan N. Road, Section 4 shuttle from Yuan Shan MRT; +886 2 2886 8888; from NT$4,800 (US$165); www.grand-hotel.org

Dandy Hotel

From free drinks and snacks in the lobby(大堂) to seasonally themed decorations, this hotel takes care of the small touches. But what places the Dandy Hotel above others in the same price category（范围）are views over Da-An Park; they’re reminders of those of New York’s Central Park. Rooms with views are worth the extra money paid, but book early -- there are only two on each floor.

No. 33, Xin Yi Road, Sect. 3, Dongmen MRT; +886 2 2707 6899; from NT$2,340 (US$80); www.dandyhotel.com.tw

Homey Hostel

Taiwanese brother and sister Josh and Kelly make guests feel right at home at this bargain Hostel. According to them, their motive in starting the hostel was to make friends, which is why they can often be found in the public area chatting with guests. There's a small kitchen, public computer, free coffee and tea, and luggage storage.

1/F, No. 7, Lane 180, Tonghua Street,) Liuzhangli MRT; +886 91900 2116; dorms from NT$500 (US$17);  www.homeyhostel.com

1. May is fan of Lady Gaga, and she may probably stay in ________when in Taipei. 

A. W Taipei        B. Grand Hotel         C. Dandy Hotel  D. Homey Hostel

2. Which of the following words can best take the place of the underlined word “touches”?

A. ways  B. details C. senses           D. contacts

3.If you are a backpack traveller with a low budget, which would be your best choice?

A. W Taipei        B. Grand Hotel         C. Dandy Hotel          D. Homey Hostel

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according the passage?

A. Rooms in the W Hotel are of the similar style but with different fancy names.

B. The Taipei Grand Hotel is an excellent mixture of classic and modern construction.

C. It is the park-view rooms in the Dandy Hotel that make it quite unique.

D. The desire of helping strangers drives Josh and Kelly to open the Homey Hostel.

 

 

Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre

 

86 Todd Street

Tel：(08)8982 3408

www. aboriginalart. com. au

Admission Free. Tours from S5

Daily 9am一6pm

Closed Christmas Day only

The Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre includes a gallery showing Arrernte culture and an Aboriginal music museum. Learn to play a didgeridoo at the only Didgeridoo University in the world. You can have a go at spear throwing, try billy tea and damper and experiment with bush tucker.

Alice Springs School of the Air

 

 

80 Head Street

Tel：(08)8951 6834

Adult：$3.50 Child：$2.50 (5～16)

Mon ~ Sat 8.30am ~ 4.30pm

Sun 1.30pm ~ 4.30pm

Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day & New Year’s Day

They call it the biggest classroom in the world 1.3 million square kilometers — and for children living in isolated communities around the NT, it is the only classroom they know. This unique educational facility was the first of its type. Interpretive displays demonstrate the important role it has in the Outback. On school days you can hear lessons being broadcast.

Panorama Guth

 

 

65 Hartley Street

Tel：(08)8952 2013

Adult：$5.50 Child：$3.30 (6～16)

Mon ~ Sat 9am~5pm，Sun 12pm ~ 5pm

Closed 14 Dec ~ 31 Jan

An art gallery／Aboriginal museum, with a full 360～degree panoramic painting by artist Henk Guth. The painting measures 60 metres in circumference by 6 metres high, depicting scenic areas of Central Australia．Original oil paintings and reproductions are also for sale．

Red Centre Dreaming

 

 

Red Centre Resort

North Stuart Highway

Tel：(08)8950 5555

www. Aurora ~ resorts. com. au

Open all year

Experience the magic of Aboriginal culture with Aurora’s Red Centre Dreaming Dinner & Show. A high quality Aboriginal performance by traditional artists dancing, weaponry and didgeridoo playing are features of the show. Local artifacts and art are available for purchase. The evening includes three course meal, wine, soft drink and return transfers. Bookings essential.

66. What does the underlined word “didgeridoo” mean?

   A. a piece of music     B. a record     C. a musical instrument      D. a game

67. You can go to visit ______ on Christmas Day.

   A. Red Centre Dreaming               B. Panorama Guth

   C. Aboriginal Art & culture Centre       D. Alice Springs School of the Air

68. How much do you have to pay if you go to visit Alice Springs School of the Air with your family, in which there is your three-year-old brother and your ten-year-old sister besides your parents and you, an eighteen-year-old boy?

   A. $ 19.80.          B. $15.50.          C. $14.50.         D. $13.00.

69. What is special about Red Centre Dreaming?

   A. You can get information about it on the Internet.

   B. You need to book in advance.

   C. You can learn about Aboriginal culture.

   D. You can learn to play a didgeridoo.

70. If you are interested in art, you can go to ____.

   A. Alice Springs School of the Air or Panorama Guth

   B. Aboriginal Art & culture Centre or Panorama Guth

   C. Red Centre Dreaming or Alice Springs School of the Air

   D. Aboriginal Art & culture Centre or Alice Springs School of the Air

 

Here is an astonishing and signficant fact:Mental work alone can’t make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a few years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue(疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered thett blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day labourer, we could find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxing at the end of the day.

So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours f efforts as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired.

Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue come from our mental and emotional(情感的) attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists. J. A. Hadfield,says,“The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact,fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares,“One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”

What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired?Joy?Satifaction?No!A feeling of being bored,anger,anxiety,tenseness,worry,a feeling of nt being appreciated---those are emotions that tire sitting workers.Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue.We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.

1.What surprised the scientists a few years ago?

A．Fatigue toxinscould hardly be found in a labour’s blood.

B．Albert Eistein didn’t feel worn out after a day’s work.

C．The brain could wrk for many hours without fatigue.

D．A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins.

2.According to the authour,which of the following can make sitting worker tired？

A．Challenge mental work.

B．Unpleasant emotions.

C．Endless tasks.

D．Physical labor.

3.What’s the authour’s attitude towards the scientists’ ideas?

A．He agrees with them.

B．He doubts them

C．He argues against them.

D．He hesitates to accept them.

4.We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energic, sitting workers need to ______.

A．have some good blood

B．enjoy their work

C．exercise regularly

D．discover fatigue toxin

 

 

NEW YORK, May 19—A new, more destructive version of the “Love Bug ” virus is slowly spreading across the world, but so far the damage is small compared with its former version.

The new Love Bug virus creates disorder.

Richard Saunders of anti-viral firm Symantec said the virus only affected a dozen companies around the world.

“While it is a nasty virus, it’s not spreading anywhere near the rate Love But or (last year’s ) Melissa was spreading,” Saunders said.

“New Love” is similar in form to the Love Bug, which swept the world two weeks ago and caused more than $ 10 million in damages. But it’s much more destructive. The virus appears as an attachment to an e-mail whose subject begins with “FW”

If a user clicks on the attachment’s scroll-like icon（卷轴样的图标）, every file on his hard drive is destroyed.

“Basically, it’s going to destroy your machine, ” said Eric Chine, chief researcher at Symantec’s anti-virus lad in the Netherlands.

The Love Bug only killed a small set of files, including graphic files. This virus even wipes out the Windows operating system.

Attorney General Janet Reno warned the public at a news conference today to be careful of any suspicious e-mail with attachments. “Do not open it, even it comes from a trusted source.” she said.

Don’t Open That Attachments.

Like the Love Bug, after the e-mail attachment is opened and the virus is carried out, New Love sends itself to everyone in a victim’s Microsoft Outlook address book. Fortunately for users, the lesson is the same as from the Love Bug: If you see a message with an attachment whose name ends in vbs, with a scroll-like icon, don’t click on the attachment. Also like the Love Bug, this virus only affects computers running Windows 98, NT 4.0 Windows 95 with Internet Explorer 5.0 and can only spread if users rely on a Microsoft Outlook address book for e-mail. Microsoft will soon give a fix for Outlook that warns people or suspicious attachments, the company said.

 68. According to the passage, so far the new Love Bug virus _________.

A. has made the whole world disordered       

B. causes more damages than other forms of virus

C. is the newest and spreading the fastest 

D. has affected 12 companies around the world

69. Computer users are warned in this article _________.

A. not to suspect e-mails beginning with “FW” subjects

B. not to open attachment of doubtful e-mails

C. to stop using Microsoft Outlook address book  

D. to examine the Windows Operating System carefully

70. It can be suggested from the passage that _________.

A. the mail sent by a friend is surely free of the virus    

B. the Microsoft Company will take action against the virus

C. all computers running Windows 98 will be affected

D. the users can not find the way to deal with the Love Bug.

71. The author writes this passage in order to _________.

A. compare some types of virus                                 

B. explain how the Love Bug is formed

C. tell the readers something about a new virus   

D. remind computer companies to kill the virus