阅读理解

　　Three Yale University professors agreed in a discussion that the automobile was what one of them called “Public Health Enemy No．1 in this country”．Besides polluting the air and overcrowding the cities, cars are involved in more than half the disastrous(灾难性)accidents, and they contribute to heart disease “because we don’t walk anywhere anymore”, said Dr．H．Richard Weinerman, professor of medicine and public health．

　　Speaking of many of these man-made dangers to the automobile, Arthur W．Galston, professor of biology, said it was possible to make a kerosene-burning turbine car that would “lessen(减少)smog by a very large factor”．But he expressed doubt whether Americans were willing to give up moving about the countryside at 90 miles an hour in a large vehicle(车辆)．“America seems wedded^② to the motor car－every family has to have at least two, and one has to be a convertible(敞蓬汽车)with 300 horsepower, ” professor Galston continued．“Is this the way of life that we choose because we treasure these values?”

　　For Professor Sears, part of the blame lies with “a society that regards profit(赢利)as a supreme value, under the illusion(错误的观念)that anything that’s technically possible is, therefore, morally justified(正当的)”．Professor Sears also called the country’s dependence on its modern automobiles “terrible economics” because of the large horsepower used simply “moving one individual to work”．But he admitted that Americans have painted themselves into a corner by allowing the national economy to become so dependent on the automobile industry．

　　“The solution”, Dr．Weinerman said, “is not to find a less dangerous fuel but a different system of inner-city transportation．Because of the increasing use of cars, public transportation has been allowed to wither(衰弱)and grow worse, so that if you can’t walk to where you want to go, you have to have a car in most cities, ” he declared．This, in turn, Dr．Weinerman contended^③, is responsible for the “arteriosclerosis(动脉硬化)” of public roads, for the pollution of the inner city and for the middle-class movement to the suburbs．

Ⅰ．Return of the white bikes！

Ⅱ．Solar Car Racing

Ⅲ．The Road to Destruction

Ship Wreck

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　　One February day in 1948, a radio operator on a ship picked up an SOS message．The message said：“Captain and all officers are dead．Entire crew is dead or dying．”Then there was a pause for several hours until the next message came through．It said：“Now I am also near death．” That was the last message from the ship．The radio operator was able to decipher (破译)which ship had sent the message and where it was．He told his captain who then gave orders for his ship to race to the rescue．The ship that had sent the SOS was a Dutch cargo ship, the Ourang Medan．It had been passing through the Malacca Strait on its way to Djakarta, Indonesia, at the time．

　　When the rescue ship reached the Ourang Medan, a rescue party climbed on board．They found all the ship’s officers in the chartroom (海图室)．They were all dead．It was as if they had been attending some kind of meeting with the captain and had suddenly been struck down．They all seemed to have died at about the same time．And all had their eyes wide open in horror at something they had seen just before they died．Some of them had arms pointing to the sky．Elsewhere, there were dead sailors all over the ship．They seemed to have died in the same way－suddenly, while looking at something horrific．

　　Before the bodies could be taken ashore for a full examination, the Ourang Medan exploded and sank．The reason for their deaths is still unknown．

快速阅读

A Trip by Balloon

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　　On July 1, 1859, four men, abundantly supplied with provisions, started on a trip by balloon from St．Louis to New York．At 7∶30, in the presence of thousands of spectators, the cords that kept the balloon earthbound were cut, and with considerable velocity it ascended to the height of two miles．Taking an easterly direction, it passed, in the course of the night and much of the next day, over Lake Erie and Niagara Falls．As it neared Lake Ontario the balloon encountered a hurricane, lost its ascending power, and rapidly sank toward the water．The provisions and some of the passengers’ clothing were tossed overboard．The balloon finally reached the shore, having traveled for 50 miles, just above the surface of the water．Here they were dragged over trees, hills and rocks, with their lives endangered every moment．Not one of them ever expected to reach the ground alive．

　　The whole distance traveled was 1200 miles, and the time taken to accomplish the journey was 19 hours, averaging a mile a minute．

　　One of the passengers, Mr．Wise, is perfectly satisfied with the success of the experiment, and believes that the Atlantic Ocean can be crossed by balloon．It is his intention to attempt such a voyage to England in the near future．Should he do so, there are few persons optimistic enough to believe he will succeed in his venture．

阅读理解

　　The journey to the moon has been the first step towards exploration(探险)in space．The distance between the Moon and Earth is very short indeed when compared with the distances between Earth and the other planes．Mars, the nearest planet to Earth is millions of miles away!Travelling to the planets will be man’s next aim．Such travels will be more challengingthan the trip to the moon and certainly more adventurous．

　　Recently, two American spaceships, Vikings 1 and 2, landed on Mars trying to discover whether that planet has any life on it．So far the signs of life on Mars has neither confirmed nor ruled out．Russians have discovered that the surface of Venus(金星)is so hot that it is almost certain that there is no life there．Also the atmosphere of Venus is extremely dense(稠)and the pressure is nearly a hundred times greater than that of the Earth’s atmosphere．

　　Scientists believe man may find planets which have the same conditions as those we have on Earth, but man should realize Earth will be his only home for a long time and begin to love and care for it．

　　宇宙飞行多么令人向往。宇宙的奥秘常给我们带来无限的遐想。我们能找到和地球一样的星球吗？我们能到地球以外的星球上做客吗？科学家们的回答是肯定的。

阅读理解

　　There are many problems connected with space travel．The first and greatest of them is gravity(重力)．If you let your pencil drop to the floor, you can see gravity in action．Everything is held to the earth by the force, which can be described by its weight．A rocket must go at least 2500 miles an hour to take anyone beyond the gravity of the earth into space．

　　Another problem is the strainthat a person feels when a rocket leaves the ground．Anything that is not moving tends to keep still．As the rocket leaves the ground, it pushes upwards strongly and the person in it is pushed back against the chair．Gravity gives the body a force equal to nine times its normal force．

　　Once out of the earth’s gravity, an astronaut is affected by another problem, weightlessness．Here, if a pencil drops, it does not fall．If a glass of water is turned upside down, the water will not fall out．All of us are used to gravity．Recent long flights have shown that the body needs special exercise in a spaceship．

阅读理解

　　Skateboards have been around since the 1970s, but they have recently become popular again．Many teenagers have discovered the skateboard as a result of TV shows, films, and competitions such as the X Games．The X Games are like Olympic Games for sports that are less familiar to us than sports like football and basketball．A new generation of sports is capturingthe hearts and minds of people who are willing to try something new．These new sports are called “extreme sports” and all centre on the “X-factor”－the pure joy of doing something that you did not think you could do and overcoming your fears．

　　Extreme sports are different from regular sports．Instead of simply trying to defeat the other team or set a new record, many extreme sports are about beauty, harmony and thrills．In fact, some extreme sports are not really “sports” at all, because they do not have clear rules about winning or losing．The goal of a “competition” may simply be to have fun and enjoy the excitement of trying something new．

阅读理解

　　In summer, millions of people will head for the beach．And while the ocean can be a great place to swim and play, it may also be useful in another way．Some scientists think that waves could help make electricity．

　　“Have you ever been on a surfboard or boat and felt yourself being lifted up by a wave?Or have you jumped in the water and felt the energy as waves crashed over you?” asked Jamie Taylor of the Wave Energy Group at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland．“There is certainly a lot of energy in waves．” Scientists are working on using that energy to make electricity．Most waves are created when winds blow across the ocean．“The winds start out by making little ripples (波纹)in the water, but if they keep on blowing, those ripples get bigger and bigger and turn into waves, ” Taylor said．“Waves are one of nature’s ways of picking up energy and then sending it off on a journey．”

　　When waves come towards the shore, people can set up dams or other barricades to block the water and send it through a large wheel called a turbine (涡轮)．The turbine can then power an electrical generator (发电机)．The United States and a few other countries have started doing research on wave energy, and it is already being used in Scotland．The resource is huge．We will never run out of wave power, besides, wave energy does not create the same pollution as other energy sources, such as oil and coal．

　　Oceans cover three quarters of the earth’s surface．That would make wave power seem perfect for creating energy around the world．There are some drawbacks, however．Jamie Taylor said that wave power still cost too much money．He said that its effects on animals in the sea were still unknown．Plus, wave power would get in the way of fishing and boat traffic．With more research, however, “many of these problems might be overcome, ” Taylor said．“Demand for energy to power our TVs and computers, drive our cars, and heat and cool our homes is growing quickly throughout the world．Finding more energy sources is very important, for traditional sources of energy like oil and gas may run out some day．”

　　In the future, when you turn on a light switch, an ocean wave could be providing the electricity!

阅读理解

　　About 1966 or so, a NASA(美国航空航天局)team doing work for the Apollo moon mission^⑩ took the astronauts near Tuba City．There the landscape of the Navajo Reservation(保留地)looks very much like the lunar surface．Among all the trucks and large vehicles were two large figures that were dressed in full lunar space suits．

　　Nearby a Navajo shepherd(牧羊人)and his son were watching the strange creatures walk about, occasionally being watched over by other NASA workers．The two Navajo people were noticed and approached by the NASA people．Since the shepherd and his son did not know English, they asked the NASA people who the strange creatures were．The NASA people told them that they were just men that were getting ready to go to the moon．The shepherd became very excited and asked if he could send a message to the moon with the astronauts．The NASA officials thought this was a great idea so they provided a tape recorder．After the man gave them his message, they asked his son to translate．His son would not．Later, they tried a few more people on the reservation to translate and every person they asked would chuckle(偷偷地笑)and then refuse to translate．Finally, with cash in hand someone translated the message．“Watch out for these guys, they have come to take your land!”

阅读理解

　　Today, roller skating is easy and fun．But a long time ago, it wasn’t easy at all．Before 1750, the idea of skating didn’t exist．That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin．Merlin’s work was making musical instruments．In his spare time he liked to play the violin．Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams．People called him a dreamer．

　　One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy ball(化装舞会)．He was very pleased and a little excited．As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party．He had an idea．He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room．

　　Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll．Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe．These were the first roller skates．Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin．

　　On the night of the party, Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin．Everyone was astonished to see him．There was just one problem．Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates．He rolled on and on．Suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall．Down fell the mirror, breaking to pieces．Nobody forgot Merlin’s grand entrance for a long time!