阅读理解

　　The view over a valley of a tiny village with thatched(草盖的)roof cottages around a church; a drive through a narrow village street lines with thatched cottages painted pink or white; the sight in parts of England．Most people will agree that the thatched roof is an essential part of the attraction of the English countryside．

　　Thatching is in fact the oldest of all the building crafts practiced in the British Isles(英伦诸岛)．Although thatch has always been used for cottages and farm buildings, it was once used for castles and churches, too．

　　Thatching is a solitary(独自的)craft(工艺), which often runs in families．The craft of thatching as it is practiced today has changed very little since the Middle Ages．Over 800 full-time thatchers are employed in England and Wales today, maintaining and renewing the old roofs as well as thatching newer houses．Many property owners choose thatch not only for its beauty but because they know it will keep them cool in summer and warm in winter．

　　In fact, if we look at developing countries, over half the world lives under thatch, but they all do it in different ways．People in developing countries are often reluctant to go back to traditional materials and would prefer modern buildings．However, they may lack the money to allow them to import the necessary materials．Their temporary mud huts with thatched roofs of wild grasses often only last six months．Thatch which has been done the British way lasts from twenty to sixty years, and is an effective defiance(反抗)against the heat．

阅读理解

　　How do you meet new people, make new friends, or find out about the latest bands?Here in the UK young people have traditionally done their socializing(社交)in bars and clubs．

　　However, there is a new generation growing up that finds it easier to manage their social lives on the net, using free websites like MySpace, Bebo or MSN Spaces．

　　The most successful social networking website in the UK is MySpace.com．As of May 2007, MySpace is the world's fourth most popular English-language website, attracting almost 3 million visitors per month．MySpace claims to have 95 million members with 500, 000 new members joining the community each week．

　　So how has it become so successful?Perhaps its secret is in its simplicity．Each new member can build their own page simply－uploading photos, videos and MP3 files．Then they describe themselves, listing their likes, dislikes, favorite bands, etc．．It's an easy way to hook up with people who share your interests．

　　While socializing is the key to MySpace's success, love of music is at the heart of the community．Indeed, most aspiring musicians in the UK upload their songs to the site, and with good reason：unsigned artists, Arctic Monkeys and Lilly Allen created such an attraction on the site that they were offered recording contracts and scored number one hits．

　　Here at learning English we feel that social network sites could be a great place to practice your English．Why not give it a try?You can tell us about your experience by filling in the new comments form at the top of the screen．

阅读理解

　　A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading．It is remarkable first for what it contains：the range of news from local crime to international politics, from sport to business to fashion to science, and the range of comment and special features(特写)as well, from editorial page to feature articles and interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre and music．

　　A newspaper is even more remarkable for the way one reads it：never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the text．

　　A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any reader is interested in．What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality(时事性), its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now．But immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it mean also that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than transient(短暂的)value．

　　For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper：what each person does is to put together out of the pages of that day's paper, his own selection and sequence, his own newspaper．For all these reasons, reading newspaper efficiently, which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness as you modify and apply the techniques of reading．

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　　According to the dictionary definition of“create”, ordinary people are creative every day．“To create”means“to bring into being, to cause to exist something each of us does daily”．We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way．First, this includes an awareness(意识)of our surroundings．It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world．This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture(质地), as well as taste, when we plan a meal．Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss．

　　A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things．If we believe the expression,“There is nothing new under the sun”, then the creativity is remaking or recombining(重组)the old in new ways．For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph．

　　A third part of creativity is the courage to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results．To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another．

　　These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities．

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　　Researchers have found that when the ship sank, Britons were much more likely to die than Americans and they think English manners could be to blame．

　　With the Brits queuing(排队)for a place in one of only 20 lifeboats provided for the 2, 223 on board, they were less likely than any other nationality to survive, according to the researchers．Americans, however, seem to have been happier to push their way to safety after the liner hit an iceberg while on her first voyage on April 14, 1912．Researcher Bruno Frey, of the University of Zurich, said：“The Americans at that time were not very cultured, while the English were still gentlemen．They would have been more likely to stand in a queue and wait their turn for boarding the lifeboats than Americans．”

　　While the British made up 53 percent of those on board, relatively fewer of them than expected were among the 706 survivors．The Americans, who made up a fifth of those on board, were 15 percent more likely to survive than the British．The Irish and the Swedes also fared(遭遇)better．

　　Professor Frey said：“We expected that the English passengers would have been more able to survive, because the ship was British built, the company was British and the crew was British．”The professor added that, contrary to his expectations, people remember their manners even in times of disaster．He said：“We really thought we'd be able to show that when it's a matter of life and death, the cultural norms(标准)disappear and the survival of the fittest comes into play．”

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　　Do you always forget where you placed your keys or your purse?What was the name of the movie you saw last week?The major cause of your forgetfulness may be linked to what you store in your body, not in your short-term memory bank．

　　Tests continue to show that people with enough Vitamin B2 do well in memory exams．The“B”could stand for“brain”, if you're one of many with limited instant recall．And the number one source of that vitamin is sunflower seeds．

　　Even when you're sleeping or relaxing, your brain is still at work．Although it makes up just two percent of your total body weight, it uses up to 30％ of the calories you take in each day．For it to work properly, it must be fed．Even if you're not a breakfast eater, that meal is the best way to prepare your brain for the day．A quick and easy English muffin with peanut and butter in it, a glass of milk, and an orange, might be what your brain may be asking you the first thing in the morning when you feel your head is in a fog．Having sunflower seeds and fruit between meals adds more muscle to that hungry, demanding organ．Vitamin B1 also helps the memory, and that is found in eggs, meat and nuts．In Chinese culture, walnuts(核桃)are known as the fruit for a long life because it is believed that they feed both the kidneys and the brain．And according to Chinese culture, if you keep those two important organs in good working order, you'll live longer．

　　However forgetful you are, just keep in mind the letter“B”, which will help you to“bear in mind almost everything”even on those days when life's challenges are sending you in a billion directions．

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Beach, Samba, Carnival(狂欢节)

　　It seems that Brazilians are always ready to party．Well, they've got a good reason to party now：Rio de Janeiro(or Rio for short), their second largest city, got the 2016 Olympics on October 2．This is the first time in the 120-year history of the modern Olympics that they will be held in South America．It seems the five Olympic rings make more sense now that they've included another continent．And, just as Beijing got the world's attention after receiving the 2008 Olympic nod(同意)in 2001, Rio de Janeiro's win has put the spotlight on Brazil．

　　Football

　　The colors green and yellow might make most people think of Brazil's football team rather than the national flag．But football in Brazil is more than sport, it's a way of life．The World Cup brings Brazilians together．Interestingly, the general elections(大选)in Brazil are usually held in the same year as the World Cup．Political parties try to take advantage of the patriotic enthusiasm(爱国热情)created by football and bring it into politics．

　　Carnival

　　“Live Your Passion(激情)”was the Rio team's slogan(口号)．The carnival is one of the most powerful images of Brazilian enthusiasm．It's held every year across the country, with street parades and exciting music．The parade in Rio is one of the world's biggest carnivals．Every February, tens of thousands of people go there for the event．

　　The economy

　　The Rio bid(申办)team set up a ＄14.4 billion(98 billion yuan)budget(预算)for the games－the largest of this year's bidding cities．What stands behind the big budget is Brazil's stronger economy．Brazil's is the largest national economy in Latin America, and has experienced a giant leap(飞跃)in the past few years．

阅读理解

　　Let us say there is something you don't know how to do．

　　In the past if you were determined to learn, you might have called a friend or relative, taken a night class or walked down to the local library for a research term．But now a host of websites are springing up to provide free practical advice on these subjects and actually anything else you can think of．

　　In one sense, these“how-to”sites represent(表明)a part of the growing world of online learning．This tradition found one of its earliest forms in the FAQs or Frequently Asked Questions files－that began on Usenet, the Internet's global discussion group．These FAQs, many of which still circulate(go round continuously), took a specific subject and explained it to complete novices．

　　But“how-to”sites take the FAQs idea in a somewhat different direction by addressing subjects that aren't necessarily related to discussion forums(论坛)．These sites take the style of a written tutorial(teaching period)and a tone of friendly advice．Possibly the biggest and best known of these sites is learn 2.com(www.learn2.com)．It offers nearly 1, 000 free tutorials and adds new ones frequently(经常)for a job interview．

　　At ehow.com(www.ehow.com)you can learn how to train for your first marathon, how to buy a vacation home, or how to make a movie in eight steps．

阅读理解

　　If there is one thing I'm sure about, it is that in a hundred years from now we will still be reading newspapers．It is not that newspapers are a necessity．Even now some people get most of their news from television or radio．Many buy a paper only on Saturday or Sunday．But for most people reading a newspaper has become a habit passed down from generation to generation．

　　The nature of what is news may change．What basically makes news is what affects our lives－the big political stories, the coverage of the wars, earthquakes and other disasters, will continue much the same．I think there will be more coverage of scientific research, though．It's already happening in areas that may directly affect our lives, like genetic(基因)engineering．In the future, I think there will be more coverage of scientific explanations of why we feel as we do－as we develop a better understanding of how the brain operates and what our feelings really are．

　　It's quite possible that in the next century newspapers will be transmitted(传送)electronically from Fleet Street and printed out in our own home．In fact, I'm pretty sure how it will happen in the future．You will probably be able to choose from a menu, making up your own newspaper by picking out the things you want to read－sports and international news, etc．．

　　I think people have got it wrong when they talk about competition between the different media．They actually feed off each other．Some people once foresaw that television would kill off newspapers, but that hasn't happened．What is read on the printed page lasts longer than pictures on a screen or sound lost in the air．And as for the Internet, it's never really pleasant to read something just on a screen．