阅读理解

　　Part of David’s heart muscle grew thick and stiff, keeping the flow of blood．The disease David had lived with for 17 years was slowly keeping his heart from beating．

　　The night Flora bent forward in front of her computer, everybody else was asleep．For the price, or keeping her husband alive?To do that, she needed to search for the information：a place and someone to fix David’s damaged heart．And she needed to be lucky．

　　Finally, she found what she needed on a magazine’s web site．When David came into the study early the following morning, she said,“I’ve found it．”and handed him the papers．

　　David wondered if there was any other way．Then he thought about his wife and kids．He stared at the papers．Only he could make the choice：should he have the same surgery(外科手术)that had killed his father, or the one that no one works?This experimental treatment might be his best hope．

　　The operation theatre was kept freezing cold．David wasn’t frightened, just nervous．

　　He felt a burning pain, like a burning knife cutting through his heart…

　　On the EKG screen, the tiny valley in the middle of each peak(高峰)－showing a sign of David’s disease－smoothed out．For the first time in years, he had a normal arterial(动脉)pressure．

　　“That’s the most unus ualthing,”said Flora, excited by the results．

　　Three days later, David and Flora drove home after the fight from Houston．Their kids ran out to meet them．

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　　In the Caucasus(高加索)region of the Soviet Union, nearly 50 out of every 100, 000 people live to celebrate their 100th birthday, and many don’t stop at 100!By comparison, in American only 3 people out of 10, 000 reach 100．But these Soviet old people aren’t alone．The Pakistani Hunzas, who live in the Himalaya Mountains and the Uilcabambans of the Andes Mountains in Ecuador, seem to share the secret of long life, too．These peoples remain healthy in body and spirit despite the passage of time．While many elder persons in industrial societies become weak and ill in their 60s and 70s, some Georgians, aged 110 to 140, work in the fields beside their great great grand children．Even the idea of aging is foreign to them, when asked,“at what age does youth end?”most of these old people had no answer．Several replied,“well, perhaps at 80”, the very youngest estimate was age 60．

　　What accounts for this ability to survive to such old age, and to survive so well?First of all, hard physical work is a way of life for all these long lived people．They begin their long days of physical labor as children and never seem to stop．

　　All these people get healthful rewards from the environment in which they work．They all come from mountains regions．This reducedoxygen environment makes the heart and blood vessel system stronger．

　　Another factor that may contribute to the good health of these people is their isolation．To a great extent, they are separated from the pressures and worries of industrial society．Inherited factors also play some role．

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　　Let’s face it－English is a crazy language．There is no egg in eggplant(茄子)nor ham in hamburger; Neither apple nor pine in pineapple．English muffins(松饼)weren’t invented in England or French fries in France．Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat．

　　We take English for granted．But if we explore its paradox(似是而非的说法), we find that quicksand(流沙)can work slowly, boxing rings are square and guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is a pig．

　　If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

　　How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike?How can a person be“pretty ugly”?

　　You have to marvel at the unique lunacy(荒谬)of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on．Why is a“crazy man”an insult(侮辱), while to insert a comma and say“crazy, man”is a compliment(as when clapping for a Jazz performance)．

　　English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race(which, of course, isn’t a race at all)．That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible．And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it．

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　　China hopes S．Korea staying stable．

　　China hopes the political situation in the Republic of Korea remains stable, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao in Beijing on Friday．

　　The South Korean National Assembly stripped(剥夺)President Roh Moo-hyun of power on Friday by passing the first ever impeachment(弹劾、指责)bill against a president．

　　In response to a related question, Liu said this is an internal matter for the ROK．Amid(在……之中)loud shouting by opposition and heavy clashes(冲突)between lawmakers, National Assembly Speaker Park Kwanyong announced the result at around 03∶00 GMT．

　　He said 195 lawmakers of the total 271member parliament attended the ballot(投票), 193 voted for, while the other two voted against．Opposition parties take majority numbers in parliament．

　　According to rules, the bill was affirmed when two thirds of the 271 lawmakers voted for it．

　　With the passage of the bill, Roh has been suspended(停止)as the head of state, supreme commander of the army, president of cabinet meetings and coordinator of state affairs．

　　However, Roh will be allowed to reside in the presidential residence under the protection of the presidential secret service until the Constitutional Court issues a final ruling．

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　　Richard Gray was a famous explorer．He was also a millionaire．He had visited every country in the world．He had crossed the Antarctic, flown across the Atlantic by balloon, and climbed Mount Everest．Last year he decided to walk across Death Valley, the hottest place on Earth．He walked for days over the hot desert sand．One night he found the camp where he had been the night before．Gray had walked in a circle．He was lost．

　　Two days later he had drunk all his water．He couldn’t walk．He crawled to the top of a sand dune, and there he saw a man．The man was wearing smart, clean trousers, a white shirt and a tie．Gray crawled over to him．

　　“Water…water…”he said．

　　“I’m terribly sorry, old boy,”replied the man,“but I haven’t got any water with me．”

　　“Help me!”shouted Gary,“I’m a rich man…a millionaire…I’ll give you anything．”

　　“That’s very nice of you, old boy,”said the man．“Look, I can’t give you any water, but would you like to buy my tie?”

　　“A tie?Of course not!”screamed Gray, and crawled away．He crawled slowly up the next sand dune．His mouth was full of sand．His lips were cracked and dry．He couldn’t breathe．He reached the top of the dune and there he saw a huge good hotel．Girls were swimming in the large swimming pool．Beautiful fountains were all around the hotel．

　　“Is it a mirage?”he thought．“Am I dying?”He stood up and staggered down the dune．

　　A waiter in a shining white uniform came out of the door．

　　“Water…water…a bath!Food!”screamed Gray．

　　“I’m sorry, you can’t come into this hotel．”Said the waiter．

　　“Why not, I’ve got plenty of money…I’m a millionaire．”

　　“Ah”, replied the waiter,“but you aren’t wearing a tie!”

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　　How can you find out what is going on inside a person’ s body without opening the patient up?Regular X-rays can show a lot．CAT scans can show even more．They can give three-dimensional(三维)view of body organs(器官)．

　　What is a CAT scan?CAT stands for Computerized Axial Tomography(层面X线照相术)．It is a special X-ray machine that gets a 360-degree picture of a small area of a patient’s body．

　　Doctors use X-rays to study and examine diseases and injuries within the body．X-rays can find foreign objects inside the body or to take pictures of some organs inside if special things as dyes or special liquids are added to the organs to be X-rayed．

　　A CAT scanner, however, uses a beam(光束)of X-rays to give a cross-sectional view of a particular part of the body．A fine beam of X-rays is scanned across the body and circled around the patient from many different angles(角度)．A computer analyzes(分析)the information from each angle and produces a clear cross-sectional picture on the screen．

　　This picture is then photographed for later use．Several cross-sections, taken one after another, can give a clear“photo”of the entire body or of any body organs．The newest CAT scanners can even give a clear picture of active, moving organs just as a fast-action camera can“stop the action”giving clear pictures of what appear only mistily(模糊)to the eye．And because of the 360-degree pictures, CAT scans show 3-dimensional views of organs in a manner that was once only seen during surgery or autopsy(examining a dead body)．

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　　American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19, 2003．Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which has become one of London’s main tourist attractions．

　　Looking thinner and darker, 30 year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames(泰晤士河)and immediately went to hospital．He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process(过程)doctors say could be life threatening．He had been drinking only water since September 5．

　　A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s．He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends．

　　Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention．

　　In 1999, he was buried in a coffin(棺材)for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice．Last year he stood on top of a 25-meter pillar(柱子)in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes．

　　“I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they’re able to do what they can do,”he said．“They don’t realize we can survive．The human being is an amazing creation．”

　　But he seems to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box．He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste．

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　　Everyone has got two personalities－the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real．You don’t show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control your behaviour, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you．In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position．The important position is the one that you go to sleep in．

　　If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person．You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas．You don’t like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings．You’re quite shy and you aren’t very confident．

　　If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive(不坦率的)person．You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset．You’re very stubborn(顽固的), but you aren’t very ambitious．You usually live for today not for tomorrow．This means that you enjoy having a good time．

　　If you sleep curled up(卷曲), you are probably a very nervous person．You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often defensive．You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people．You prefer to be on your own．You’re easily hurt．

　　If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality．You know your strengths and weaknesses．You’re usually careful．You have a confident personality．You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get depressed．You always say what you think even if it annoys people．

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　　Tests administered(实施)to most elementary and high-school students in the United States exert(发挥)an unfavorable influence on science and math teaching, according to a new＄1 million study performed for the National Science Foundation．And because schools with high minority enrollments(入学)generally place a greater reliance(相信)on scores from these tests, the study finds, there tends to be“a gap in instructional emphases between high and low minority classrooms that differs from our national concern for the quality of education．”

　　George F．Madaus and his colleagues at Boston College analyzed not only the six most widely used national standardized tests, but also the tests designed to accompany(go with)the four most commonly used science and math texts in fourth-grade, eighth-grade, and high-school classrooms．Though curriculum(teaching program)experts argue that schools should place greater emphasis on problem solving and reasoning, the new study shows that the tests focus on lower-level skills－primarily mechanical memorization of routine formulas(公式)．

　　Researchers surveyed more than 2,200 math and science instructors, interviewing in depth some 300 teachers and administrators．Especially in schools with high minority enrollments, teachers reported feeling pressured to help students perform well on these tests．Some states judge schools and some schools determine teacher assignments(工作安排)based on students’ test scores．

　　“With so much worry,”Madaus says,“teachers feel forced to focus their instruction on drilling what the tests will measure－at the expense of the more valuable, higher-level skills．”

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　　Lucky is the man who has no“skeleton in his closet”．When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a“skeleton in his closet”．Some people may have more than one skeleton．

　　As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin．Sometimes, we get some hard facts．But more often we have to depend on guesswork．And that is true of this phrase, which came from England．

　　Before 1932, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体)of an executed(处决)criminal．

　　But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine．It was helping in the advance of modern medicine．The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices．

　　We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study．It became very important in his work．But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing．As a rule, the doctor would keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet．

　　After a time, people began to suspect(怀疑)every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet．From this suspicion, the phrase“a skeleton in the closet”took on a broader, more general meaning to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering．It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious．Well, that is one theory．

　　One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened．It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime．Well, one man’s guess is as good as another．But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac．

　　Balzac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover．The husband comes home by surprise．But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom．He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover．He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her．She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet．

　　The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet．His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive．But she will not change her story and admit her guilt．

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