阅读理解

　　The English language is changing, and fast, thanks to the rapid progress of technology．We all have a choice：we can either bury our heads in the sand and spend the rest of our lives wishing Shakespeare were alive and well, or we can embrace(拥抱)the new English, enter into the spirit of the Internet age and call it “weblish”．

　　“You can’t avoid it, for the simple reason that whenever a new variety of language comes along, it inevitably impacts(冲击)on the language as a whole,” says Dr．David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics(语言学)at the University of Wales in Bangor, whose book “Language and the Internet” has just been published．

　　The trouble with keeping up with the new English is not so much that there are so many new words but that the old words no longer mean what we thought they did．In the past, if someone said they did not have Windows, you would have to suppose they lived in a cave．These days, it is probably because they use a Mac(which is a computer, not a raincoat)．Spam is as disliked as it ever was, but whereas it once meant an unappetizing(引不起食欲的)canned meat．It now stands for unwanted “junk” email．Spellings are changing, too．Not only is text messaging playing “hvc wth vrbs”[havoc(混乱)with verbs], but the conventions of email communication place little emphasis on “perfect spelling”．

　　Weblish loves to see nouns happily become verbs(“Please bookmark this site”), and verbs become nouns(“Send me the download”)．Verbs and prepositions are regularly thrown together to become new nouns or adjectives(dial-up, logon, print out, pull down, upload), while others are created from simply pairing nouns：cyberspace, ethernet, Internet, hyperlink, metatag, netspeak．

阅读理解

　　Here are some advertisements taken from a newspaper．

　　(1)Dear Drew Carter,

　　Your first year on this earth has been a pleasure ride for all of us．We love you!

　　Love,

　　Dad and Mum and many friends

　　(2)Lawlis-Clarke

　　Doctors Virgil and Marjorie Lawlis are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Diane Susan to Mr．Robert Brent Clarke, the son of Mr．and Mrs．James Clarke of Herford, Texas．

　　A spring wedding is planned in Houston．

　　(3)Isbell-Foss

　　Mr．and Mrs．Davis K．Isbell announce the marriage of their daughter Dang to Mr．Stanley Foss, the son of Mrs．John Sipe of Ada, Minnesota．

　　The wedding will be in early April at Abiding Love Lutheran Church．

　　(4)Story-Kurio

　　Miss Stephanie Story and Mr．Toll Warren Kurio were married on February 5, at half past seven o’clock in the evening at Highland Park Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas．The bride is the daughter of Mr．and Mrs．Herbert Brule Story Jr．of Dallas．The groom is the son of Mr．and Mrs．Gerald Stanley Kurio of Austin．

阅读理解

　　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．

阅读理解

　　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．

阅读理解

　　Popular music is very popular with American students．Almost all students carry small radios with earphones and listen 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．

阅读理解

　　Now satellites are used for meteorological purposes．They are in space, and are sending back the meteorological data(气象数据)and pictures to the earth, which will be processed(处理)by computers．This is the way how weather forecast is done．

　　Today, nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive information from satellites．The meteorologists(气象学家)with the help of computers work on the data from different localities(地方)and at different time to foretell the weather change even in a global scale(全球范围)．

　　So satellites are a great help to the meteorologists．Before satellites were invented, the scientists could only forecast the weather a day or two in advance．Now they can make long term forecasts with high reliability(准确)．

阅读理解

　　Television, or TV, the modern wonder of electronics(电子学),brings the world into your own home in sight and sound．The name TELEVISION comes from the Greek word TELE, meaning “far”, and the Latin word VIDERE, meaning “to see”．Thus, television means “seeing far”．Sometimes television is referred to as VIDEO, from a Latin word meaning “I see”．In Great Britain, the popular word for television is “telly”．

　　Television works in much the same way as radio．In radio sound is changed into ELECTROMAGNETIC(invisible light)waves(电磁波)which are sent through the air．In TV, both sound and light are changed into electromagnetic waves．Experiments leading to modern television took place more than a hundred years ago．By the 1920s,inventors and researchers had turned the early theories into working models．Yet it took another thirty years for TV to become an industry．

　　As an industry, TV provides jobs for hundreds of thousands of people who make TV sets and broadcasting equipment．It also provides work for actors, technicians(技术员),and others who put on programs．As an art(艺术), television brings the theater and other cultural(文化的)events into the home．

阅读理解

　　As prices and building costs keep rising, the do it yourself(DIY)trend(趋势)in the U．S．continues to grow．

　　“We needed furniture(家具)for our living room,” says John Ross, “And we just didn’t have enough money to buy it．So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs．” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high．The Rosses took a 2week course for ＄280 at a night school．Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house．

　　Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died．He has a full time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory．Last month, he received a car repair bill for ＄420．“I was deeply upset about it．Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself．”

　　John and Jim are not unusual people．Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living．If you want to become a “do-it-yourselfer”, you can go to DIY classes．And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourselves．

阅读理解

　　Shopping is not as simple as you may think! There are all sorts of tricks at play each time we reach out for that particular brand(品牌)of product on the shelf．

　　Coloring, for example, are various according to what the producers are trying to sell．Health foods are covered in greens, yellows or browns because we think of these as healthy colors．Ice cream packets are often blue and expensive goods, like chocolates, are gold or silver．

　　When some kind of pain killer was brought out recently, researchers found that the colors turned the cus-tomers off because they made the product look weak and ineffective．Finally, it came on the market in a dark blue and white package(包装)－blue because we think of it as safe, and white as calm．

　　The size of a product can attract a shopper．But quite often a bottle doesn’t contain as much as it appears to．

　　It is believed that the better known companies spend, on average, seventy percent of the total cost of the product itself on packaging!

　　The most successful producers know that it is not enough to have a good product．The founder of Pears soap, who for 25 years has used pretty little girls to promote their goods, came to the conclusion：“Any fool can make soap, but it takes a genius(天才)to sell it．”

阅读理解

　　CHINA DAILY

　　China’s First National English Language

　　Daily Newspaper

　　SUBSCRIPTIONS(订阅)WELCOME

　　ADVERTISEMENTS WELCOME

　　China Daily, distributed(发行)in China and abroad, welcome subscribers(订阅者)worldwide and in China．It aims at a readership of resident(定居)foreign diplomats, reporters, technicians, experts, businessmen and students as well as visitors to China．

　　China Daily gives timely reports to China’s political, economic(经济的),and cultural development．It also carries the world’s economic and sports news．The purpose of the paper is to improve understanding and friendship between the Chinese people and the peoples of other countries．

　　China Daily carries industrial and business advertisements．We offer space for advertising in our paper to promote(促进)development domestic(国内的)and foreign business．