阅读理解

　　One evening Mr．Green was driving in his car along a lonely country road．He had been to London where he had drawn ￡50 from the bank, and he was now returning home with the money which he had put in his pocket book．At the loneliest part of the road a man in shabby, badly-fitting clothes stopped him and asked for a lift．Mr．Green told him to get into the car and continued on his way．As he talked to the man he learned that he had been in prison for robbery and had broken out of prison two days ago．Mr．Green was very worried at the thought of the ￡50 that he had put in his pocket book．Suddenly he saw a police-car and had a bright idea．He had just reached a small town where the speed limit was 30 miles an hour．He pressed down the accelerator and drove the car as fast as it would go．He looked back and saw that the police-car had seen him and had begun to chase him．After a mile or so the police-car overtook him and ordered him to stop．A policeman got out and came to Mr．Green’s car．Mr．Green had hoped that he could tell the policeman about the escaped robber, but the man had taken a gun out of his pocket and had put it to Mr．Green’s back．The policeman took out his notebook and pencil and said he wanted Mr．Green’s name and address．Mr．Green asked to be taken to the police station but the policeman said, “No, I want your name and address now．You will have to appear at the police court later．”So, Mr．Green gave the policeman his name and address．The policeman wrote it down, put his notebook and pencil back in his pocket and gave Mr．Green a talk about dangerous driving．Then Mr．Green started up his car again and drove on．He had given up all hope of his ￡50, but just as he reached the outskirts of London, the passenger said he wanted to get out here．Mr．Green stopped the car, the man got out and said, “Thanks for the lift．You’ve been good to me．This is the least I can do in return．” And he handed Mr．Green the policeman’s notebook．

　　While the policeman had talked to Mr．Green, the thief had stolen the notebook．

阅读理解

　　Hawking has left much for Chinese to think about．British physicist Stephen Hawking, possibly the world’s most famous scientist after Albert Einstein, gave lectures in Zhejiang and Beijing in August．

　　An illness left him unable to move any part of his body except for three fingers．But his continuing efforts in the field of science have made many young people take him as their idol(偶像)．

　　His books, such as, A Brief History of Time, become bestsellers in Chinese bookstores．Hawking helps people expand their horizons and become interested in science, said Pan Yunhe, president of Zhejiang University．

　　Indeed, experts don’t think it is likely that Hawking’s lectures and far-reaching ideas will be easily understood by the common person．

　　But he has certainly sowed the seeds of science among many young people．

　　And the “Hawking fever” caused by his visit has made people ask：How can China produce more top scientists like Hawking?

　　“Training top scientists will take as much work to change society as to educate the scientists themselves, ”said Zhang Fan．Zhang has studied in the UK since 1999 and was a sophomore(大学二年级学生)at Trinity College in 2002．

　　In Britain, Zhang said, teachers inspire students to have a general understanding? of the subjects they are interested in．And they encourage students to develop new ideas, which helps them to nurture(培养)their creativity．

　　In China, the Ministry of Education has encouraged schools to provide quality education to develop students’ potential(潜能)．

　　“I hope teachers will pay more attention to helping us use our imaginations and solve problems on our own, ”said Lu Jie, a Junior student in Sanfan Middle School in Beijing．

阅读理解

　　One day a few years ago a very funny thing happened to a neighbor of mine．He is a teacher at one of London’s big medical schools．He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture．

　　He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert, the skeleton(人体骨骼)to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase(箱子)．At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper．He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop．

　　When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake．He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert．

阅读理解

　　Betty and Harold have been married for years．But one thing still puzzles(困扰)old Harold．How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa, talking, go out to a ballgame, come back three and a half hours later, and they’re still sitting on the sofa? Talking?

　　What in the world, Harold wonders, do they have to talk about?

　　Betty shrugs．Talk?　We’re friends．

　　Researching this result called friendship, psychologist Lillian Rubin spent two years interviewing more than two hundred women and men．No matter what their age, their job, their sex, the results were completely clear：women have more friendships than men, and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is “marked and unmistakable”．

　　More than two thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed would not name a best friend．Those who could were likely to name a woman．Yet three quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend, and almost always it was a woman．More married men than women named their wife/husband as a best friend, most trusted person, or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress(感情危机)“Most women,” says Rubin, “identified(认定)at least one, usually more, trusted friends to whom they could turn in a trouble moment,and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives．”

　　“In general,” writes Rubin in her new book, “women’s friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support, but men’s relationships are marked by shared activities．” For the most part, Rubin says, interactions(交往)between men are emotionally controlled－a good fit with the social requirements of “mainly behavior．”

　　“Even when a man is said to be best friend,” Rubin writes, “the two share little about their innermost feelings．Whereas a woman’s closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage, it wasn’t unusual to hear a man say he didn’t know his friend’s marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on a sofa．”

阅读理解

　　There is a lake near a forest in Sweden．The water in the lake is very clear and everything is quiet and still．On the far side of the water is some farmland and further away, across the field, is an old church built on a hill．It has just stopped raining．The brook flowing into the lake is full and there is still some half melted(半融化的)snow from last winter on the ground．

　　The reason the water is so clear, and everything is so quiet and still, is that most of the plants and animal life in and around the lake is dead．There are no birds because all the fish and insects(昆虫),which the birds need for food, have disappeared．Many trees in the forest are losing their leaves and bark(树皮),and are sick and dying．Others were blown down by the high winds of last winter．A farmer is working in a field planting something, but unless he plants a stronger kind of seed this year, the crop will be between 25 to 40 per cent lower than a few years ago．The stones of the old church tower are turning to powder and unless the lower is repaired soon, it will fall down．

　　All the death and destruction in this place is caused by the smoke coming out of factories and poisonous gases from cars and trucks．And yet this silent lake is hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest factory and highway．

阅读理解

　　In 1974, the price of petrol(汽油)in Britain rose by 120 percent：cars became expensive to run and train and bus fares(车费)increased．People who hadn’t used a bike since they were children decided that they would buy one．They discovered that biking could be enjoyable…and cheap．

　　Bike sales had been falling for many years－but suddenly everything changed．In 1975, British people spent more than ￡1 million on bikes．Bike traffic(交通)increased by 11 percent．

　　Bike fans compare(比较)cost of running a car with the cost of running a bike．They also say bike riding is a good form of exercise．In towns bikes can often be faster than cars or buses．The biker can ride through traffic blocks and at the end of his journey he doesn’t have to look for a parking space．Biking through the countryside is a real pleasure：the biker has time to see things that the motorist, driving at over 100 kilometres an hour never see．

　　But in the cities, biking can be dangerous．You need all attention and strong nerves, especially when a truck or a bus is trying to pass you．Since biking became popular again, there has been an increase in the number of accidents．

　　Bikers say the answer to the problem is to separate bikes from other traffic．Stevenage, a new town near London, has a system of “bikeways”, where only bikers are allowed to travel．However, in most towns, say bikers, the needs of the bike rider are overlooked．Bikers have formed into “action groups” in many towns in Britain．They want to persuade local departments－who are in charge of the roads and traffic in their areas－to make sure there are safe equipments for bikers．Or, they say, interest in biking will die．

阅读理解

　　One day a teacher was giving her young students a lesson on how the government works．She was trying to explain the principle of income tax．

　　“You see,” she began, speaking slowly and carefully, “each person who works must pay part of his or her salary to the government．If you make a high salary, your taxes are high．If you don’t make much money, your taxes are low．”

　　“Is that clear?” she asked．“Does everyone understand the meaning of income tax?” The students nodded．

　　“Are there any questions?” she asked．The students shook their heads．

　　“Very good,” she said．“Now, I would like you to take a piece of paper and write a short paragraph on the subject of income tax．”

　　Little Joey was a slow learner．He had lots of problems with spelling and grammar, but this time he at least seemed to understand the assignment．He grabbed his pen and after a few minutes, he handed the teacher the following composition：

　　Once I had a dog．His name was Tax．I opened the door and in come Tax．

阅读理解

　　Welcome to Adventureland!?

　　Everyone loves Adventureland! The Parks and Exhibitions were built for you to explore(探索), enjoy, and admire their wonders．Every visit will be an unforgettable experience．You will go away enriched, longing to come back．What are you going to do this time?

　　The Travel Pavilion

　　Explore places you have never been to before, and experience different ways of life．

　　Visit the Amazon jungle(丛林)village, the Turkish market, the Tai floating market, the Berber mountain house and others．Talk to the people there who will tell you about their lives, and things they make．You can try making a carpet, making nets, fishing…

　　The Future Tower

　　This exhibition shows how progress will touch our lives．It allows us to look into the future and explore the cities of the next century and the way we’ll be living then．Spend some time in our space station and climb into our simulator(模拟装置)for the Journey to Mars!

　　The Nature Park

　　This is not really one park but several．

　　In the Safari Park you can drive among African animals in one of our Range Cruisers：see lions, giraffes, elephants in the wild．Move on to the Ocean Park to watch the dolphins and whales．And then there is still the Aviary to see…

　　The Pyramid

　　This is the center of Adventureland．Run out of film, need some postcards and stamps? For all these things and many more, visit our underground shopping center．Come here for information and ideas too．

阅读理解

　　Everyone’s at it, even my neighbors．I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn’t done an eBay deal．So, I decided to try my hand at online auction(网上拍卖)．Buying for beginners：Sign up on www．ebay．co．uk．Most items(e．g．tables, computers, and books)ready for auction will come　with a picture and a short description; others may be marked with “Buy It Now” and have a fixed price．You can buy these right away．

　　If the item is being auctioned, you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bids(出价)for you．The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid, then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again．Auctions last up to 10 days and when they finish you get an email telling you whether you have won the item．

　　How to pay：Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a cheque or postal orders．The easiest way is through PayPal, an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card(信用卡)．

　　Selling made simple：If you plan to sell on eBay, it helps to include a picture of the item．I followed my friends’ advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10 day auction, starring on a Thursday．This way buyers had two weekends to bid．

　　The big things in life：It’s easy to post a small item, but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collected or sent by delivery men．Check the ways of delivery before you bid．

阅读理解

　　The weather in Britain changes very quickly．One day may be fine and the next day may be wet．The morning may be warm and the evening may be cool．You may go to bed with the stars shinning brightly, and wake up with rain falling heavily．This is what we mean when we say that the weather is very “changeable”．

　　In some parts of the world you can be quite sure what the weather is going to be like．You can make your plans for the next day or even for the next week, knowing exactly what sort of weather to expect．It is much more difficult to do this in Britain．It may be fine today and you may arrange to go to the countryside tomorrow．But when tomorrow comes you may find that you have to give it up because it is too wet．Making plans for activities out of door in Britain is therefore rather difficult．

　　People talk about the weather more in Britain than in most parts of the world．When two Englishmen are introduced to each other, if they can’t think of anything else to talk about, they talk about the weather．The weather is also considered a safe topic of conversation．If you do not know each other well enough to talk about personal matters, you can at least sound friendly by talking about the weather．When two people meet in the street and they have no time to stop and talk, they will often say something about the weather as they pass, just to show their friendliness．

　　As the weather is so changeable, it is of course quite important．It plays a big part in the lives of the British people．It has even been said that it is partly responsible for the character of the people．The British have to change their plans very often according to the weather and this has made them good at dealing with difficulties．But even if you can’t believe this story, you won’t have stayed in Britain long before you believe that the weather is certainly an important part of British life．Every daily newspaper publishes something about the weather．Both the radio and the television give reports on the weather several times each day．