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　　Americans have contributed to many art forms, but Jazz a type of music,is one that was not started in the United States．Blacks,who sang and played the music of their homeland,created jazz．

　　Jazz is a mixture of the music of Africa,the work songs the slaves sang and religious(宗教的)music．Improvisation is an important part of jazz．This means that musicians make the music up as they go along,or create the music on the spot．This is why a jazz song might sound a little different each time it is played．

　　Jazz bands formed in the late 1800s．They played in bars and clubs in many towns and cities of the South, especially in New Orleans．New Orleans is an international seaport,and people from all over the world came to New Orleans to hear jazz．

　　Jazz became more and more popular．By the 1920s, jazz was popular all over the United States．By the 1940s,you could hear jazz not only in clubs and bars,But in concert halls as well．Today, people from all over the world play jazz．Jazz musicians from the United States,Asia,Africa,South America,and Europe meet and share their music at festivals on every continent．In this way jazz continues to grow and change．

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　　When the musical sound rings out,you immediately reach for your pocket ready to have a chat．But although you probably use it all the time,have you ever stopped to think about the manners related to talking on the phone?

　　If you haven’t,here are some tips to guide you．

　　●Always give the person you are calling plenty of time to get to the phone before you hang up．If the person who answers is not the one you want, give your name and ask if you may speak to the person you want．

　　●Think about the time you call people．Try not to call too early in the morning(before about 9∶00)or too late at night(after about 9∶30)．Also try not to call at mealtimes．

　　●If you go by plane to visit your relatives at Christmas,remember to follow airline instructions．Cell phones must be turned off as soon as the plane doors are closed and remain so until the doors open again on arrival．

　　●When face-to-face with someone,do not talk on the phone．It is rude to be on the phone when a waiter is trying to take your order in a restaurant,or when you are returning the shoes you have just been trying on in a shop．

　　Finish any face to face business before taking a call．Continuing to use the phone while nodding to the person in front of you is quite impolite．

　　●When in a restaurant with your friends,keep phone conversations short．Make a call only if it is important．Practise speaking in a low voice．If no one looks your way, you’ve got it．

　　●If you got to a theatre,a concert or a cinema,consider the other people around you．Check that your phone is “off” before you enter．If you are expecting a very important call, you’re your phone on “vibrate”(振动)and run for the exit as soon as you feel it．If you forget both “off” and “vibrate”and your phone rings,don’t answer it,turn it off straight away．

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　　His teacher thought he was dumb(愚笨的)．Talent spotters(星探)thought he was ugly．But Jay Chou, 24, is now one of Asia’s hottest pop stars．

　　Last week he had the honour of being the first Asian male singer to make the cover of Time, a popular magazine based in the US．He has won more than 30 entertainment awards over the past two years．

　　Chou released(发行)his first album Jay in November 2000,and with two follow up albums－Fantasy and Eight Dimensions－ his music has come to rule the Asian pop world．

　　The entertainment industry has nicknamed him “a small heavenly king”．But Chou says, he is not a king, at least he wasn’t before he shot to stardom．As a boy, he was called “stupid”．His high school English teacher said young Chou had a learning disability．“He had very few facial expressions(面部表情)．I thought he was dumb．”

　　Chou did poorly at maths, science and English．But his mother noticed the quiet, shy boy was sensitive to music：when he heard western pop music, he seemed to vibrate(摇摆)．So she took Chou to a piano school at four years old．He practiced all the time, focusing on the keys the way other children focus on ice-cream．At the end of the high school, he failed his exams and didn’t go to university．

　　In a show he was seen playing the piano by a major Taiwanese entertainer, Jacky Wu．The 18-year-old Chou became a contract(签约)song writer for Wu’s music studio．There he spent one and a half years writing songs for famed artists such as a Valen Hsu and Coco Lee．

　　He proved that he could be more than a songwriter．His catchy tunes have mainstreamed(成为主流)rap and R&B in the Mando-pop world(华语音乐)．And his success proves that the music still matters more than looks and image．

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　　Music is an art that almost everyone enjoys．Everyone can make sounds by singing, banging a stick, plucking a tight string or blowing through a pipe．All over the world, many kinds of music have developed as people found out how to make sounds in different ways．There are so many kinds of music to hear that you can soon find a kind that you like．

　　People can get all kinds of feelings hearing music．Music can make you march or dance, it can make you feel happy or sad．More than other arts, music can affect(影响)your moods and feelings．This is why music is so popular．

　　Every country has its own kind of music．In France many people like dance-music played on the accordion(手风琴),and many Americans enjoy banjo music．Spain is famous for its guitar music, and India for the twanging sound of the sitar．

　　Many people like music in their own national style．But there are also people who enjoy classical music and pop music, which has spread throughout the world with the help of the record-player and radio．

　　However, there are still great differences between the music of the west and that of the east．Many of the instruments are very different．The guitar and the sitar are both instruments in which strings are plucked by fingers, but they do not sound alike．

　　The musical differences between east and west are not only in the instruments, but also in the ways the notes are put together．

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　　Popular music is very popular with American students．Almost every student carries small radios with earphones and listens to music before class, after class, and at lunch．Students with cars buy large speakers and play music loudly as they drive on the street．Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work．They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people．Most of the radio programmes are music．

　　Pop or popular music singers make much money．They make CDs or tapes which radio stations in many places broadcast(广播)．Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes．Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer．Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her．Now the singer has become a pop star．

　　There are other kinds of music that are popular among Americans．One is called folk music．It tells stories about the common life of Americans．Another is called western or country music．This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching．Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music．

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　　Millions of years ago dinosaurs(恐龙)lived on the earth．In the days of dinosaurs the whole earth was warm and wet．There were green forests and they could find enough to eat．Later, parts of the earth became cold and dry, and the forests there died．Then dinosaurs could not find enough to cat．This must be one reason why dinosaurs died out．

　　We can guess another reason．New kinds of animals came on the earth．Some had big brains and were fast and strong．They could kill dinosaurs．There may be other reasons that we don’t know about yet．Scientists are trying to make more discoveries about dinosaurs．

　　Dinosaurs were of many sizes and shapes(形状)．Some were as small as chickens, while some were about 90 feet long．

　　There were also terrible fights between dinosaurs．They might have happened more than 100 million years ago．Though there was no man to see any of the fights, we can be told by the animal’s footprints(足迹)that fight did take place．

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　　In many countries today, laws protect wildlife．In India, the need for such protection was realized centuries ago．

　　About 300 B．C．an Indian writer described forests that were somewhat like national parks today．The killing of beasts was carefully supervised(监视)．Some animals were fully protected．Within the forest, nobody was allowed to cut wood for building, burn wood for charcoal(木炭), or catch animals for their furs．Animals that became dangerous to human visitors were caught or killed outside the park so that other animals would not become uneasy．

　　The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before．About a thousand species of animals are in danger of extinction, and the rate(速度)at which they are being destroyed has increased．With mammals(哺乳动物), for example, the rate of extinction was about one species every fifty years from A．D．1 to 1 800, but now it is about one species every year．Everywhere, men are trying to solve the problem of protecting wildlife caring for the rapid growth of the world’s population．

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　　Years ago, many zoos kept all kinds of animals in small cages(笼子)．Small cages made it easy for people to see the animals, but a small cage is not a good place for an animal to live in．

　　Today zoos keep animals in different kinds of cages．The cages are very big and open．They usually have plants and a little lake．The cages look like the animals’ habitats(栖息地)．

　　Zoos help to protect all kinds of animals．They protect animals in the zoo and they protect animals in the wild．How do they do this?Zoos teach people how animals live in the wild．Zoos want people to help protect the animals’ wild habitats．

　　Many plants and animals are going extinct．Mammoths, which are related(有关联的)with Asia elephants, arc now extinct．There are no mammoths in the world today．Scientists say that seventy-four different kinds of living things go extinct every day!

　　Zoos are working together to stop animals from going extinct．

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　　A new study suggests that very young children who watch a lot of television may have attention problems later in school．

　　Children with attention problems cannot sit still or control their actions．They talk too much, lose things, forget easily and are not able to finish tasks．

　　People with attention problems may suffer a condition known as Attention Deficit Disorder(A．D．D．)．Experts say the cause of A．D．D．involves chemicals in the brain．Teachers say many children in the United States are showing signs of disorder．Some education researchers have been saying for years that watching television at a very young age could change the normal development of the brain．For example, they say that children who watch a lot of television are not able to sit and read for an extended period of time．

　　The new study tested the idea that television watching by very young children is linked to attention problems by the age of seven．It involved more than 1300 children．There were two groups of children, ages one and three．Researchers at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington reported the results in the publication Pediatrics(儿科)．They asked the parents how often the children watched television．The parents also described their children’s actions at the age of seven using a method that can tell if someone suffers Attention Deficit Disorder．

　　The children who watched a lot of television at an early age were most likely to have attention problems．Every hour of watching television increased the chances of having attention problems by about ten percent．

　　The researchers say that all the children with attention problems might not have A．D．D．But they still could face major learning problems in school．The findings support advice by a group of doctors that children under the age of two should not watch television．

　　One of the researchers says there are other reasons why children should not watch television．Earlier studies have linked it with children becoming too fat and too aggressive(好斗的)．Other experts say the new study is important, but more work needs to be done to confirm the findings and better explain the cause and effect．

　　本文描述的是儿童看电视对他们以后的一些消极的影响。孩子过早地看电视或者看电视过多都会导致孩子记忆力难以集中，多动，好斗，容易忘事等等。

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　　The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever．He sent his camera crew(摄制组)out one evening to film the sunset for him．

　　The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”

　　“No, sir,” the man answered．

　　The director was angry．“Why not?” he said．

　　“Well, sir,” one of the men answered．“We’re on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west．We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset．”

　　“But I want a sunset, ” the director shouted．“Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one．”

　　But then a young secretary had an idea．“Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards? Then it’ll look like a sunset．”

　　“That’s a very good idea!” the director said．Then he turned to the camera crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea．”

　　The camera crew went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay．Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director．“Here it is, sir, ” they said, and gave it to him．He was very pleased．

　　They all went into the studio．“All right, ” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye．Run the film backwards so that we can see the ‘sunset’ behind them．”

　　The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera crew to stop．

　　The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach．

　　本文描述的是一个导演想让他的男女主人公在一个日落的场景中永别，但是他们所在的位置只能够拍摄海上日出的场景，一个年轻人提议说可以拍摄日出的场景然后进行倒放就成了日落的场景了，但是效果却是鸟倒着飞，海浪往后退。