阅读理解

　　Who’s in control of your life? For the majority of us, it’s other people – society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community．We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course．We were brainwashed．We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us．As Oscar Wilde puts it，“Most people are other people．Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions，their lives a mimicry(模仿)，their passions a quotation．”

　　So when people tell us how wonderful we are，it makes us feel good．We long for this good feeling like a drug－we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can．Therefore，we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives，failing to do the things we really want to．

　　But just as with any drug，there is a price to pay．The price of the approval drug is freedom－the freedom to be ourselves．The truth is that we cannot control what other people think．Furthermore，if we try to live by the opinions of others，we will build our life on sinking sand．Everyone has a different way of thinking，and people change their opinions all the time．The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process．

　　So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way－make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think．We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values－not values imposed(强加于)from the outside by others，but inborn values which come from within．If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic，effective，purposeful and happy life．

阅读理解

　　Sixteen years ago, Eileen Doyle’s husband, an engineer, took his four children up for an early morning cup of tea, packed a small case and was never seen or heard of again．Eileen was astonished and in a state of despair．They had been a happy family and, as far as she knew, there had been nothing wrong with their marriage．

　　Every day of the year a small group of men and women quietly pack a few belongings and without so much as a note or a goodbye close the front door for the last time, leaving their debts, their worries and their confused families behind them．Last year, more than 1,200 men and nearly as many women were reported missing from home－the highest in 15 years．Many did return home within a year, but others rejected the past completely and are now living a new life somewhere under a different identity．

　　To those left behind, this form of desertion(遗弃)is a terrible blow to their pride and self-confidence．Even the finality of death might be preferable．At least it does not imply rejection or failure．Worse than that, people can be left with an unfinished marriage, not knowing whether they will have to wait several years before they are free to start a fresh life．

　　Clinical psychologist Paul Brown believes most departures of this kind to be well planned rather than impulsive．“It’s typical of the kind of personality which seems able to ignore other people’s pain and difficulties．Running away, like killing yourself, is a highly aggressive act．By creating an absence the people left behind feel guilty, upset and empty．”

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　　JAZZ with the Mike Thomas Jazz Band at The Derby Arms．Upper Richmond Road West, Sheen．

　　DISCO Satin Sounds Disco．Free at The Lord Napier, Mort lake High St．, from 8∶00 a. m. to 8∶00 p. m．Tel：682-1158．

　　JAZZ Lysis at The Bull’s Head, Barnes．Admission 60p．

　　MUSICAL HALL at The Star and Garter, Lower Richmond Road, Putney, provided by the Aba Daba Music Hall company．Good food and entertainment fair price．Tel：789-6749．

　　FAMILY night out? Join the sing-along at The Black Horse．Sheen Road, Richmond．

　　JAZZ The John Bennett Big Band at The Bull’s Head, Barnes．Admission 80p．

　　THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion(手风琴)．Tel：789-4536

　　DISCO Satin Sounds Disco, free at The Lord Napier, Mort Lake High Street, from 8∶00 a. m. to 8∶00 p. m．

　　FOLK MUSIC at The Derby Arms．The Short Stuff and residents the Norman Chop Trio．Non-remembers 70p．Tel：688-4626．

　　HEAVY MUSIC with Tony Simon at The Bull, Upper Richmond Road West, East Sheen．

　　THE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you folk music on the electric accordion．

阅读理解

　　Brazil has become one of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth－but more by accident than design．While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard．

　　Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99％ a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93％ a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average．Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries．

　　Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas(通俗电视连续剧)and installment(分期付款)plans introduced in the 1970s．Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate．Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers of soap operas．Globo, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night．Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities．

　　“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction(生育), they describe middle and upper class values－not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working,” says Martine．“They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package．”

　　Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers．“This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible(不相容的)with unlimited reproduction,” says Martine．

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　　The Man of Many Secrets－Harry Houdini－was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century．He was a man famous for his escapes－from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water．He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America．Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks．

　　Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers．It was simply strength．He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers．He could move his body into almost any position he wanted．

　　Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891．He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York．They called themselves the Houdini Brothers．When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant．But for a long time they were not very successful．Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898．Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch．

　　It was the publicity(宣传)that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success．Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins．But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors．Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck－and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, passed quickly from her mouth to his．

　　Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame．He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited．In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full．What was the result? World-wide fame, and a name remembered today．

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　The Omega Teen Camp is much more than a traditional summer camp for teens．We have a unique and powerful summer programme for teenagers aged 13－17．Our summer camp programme is designed to help teenagers gain personal power, build self-confidence and self-esteem(自尊), while developing deep and lasting friendships．The Omega Teen Camp is about fun, connection, self－exploration and self－expression．

　　What makes the Omega Teen Camp unique?

　　●Participating in workshops and experiences．

　　●High quality instruction and leadership by dedicated counselor-teachers．

　　●A summer programme for teens that allows room for choice and spirit．

　　●An emphasis on the integration(综合运用)of body, mind and spirit．

　　●Omega teen camp offers everything teenagers and parents would expect from a Teen Summer Camp．Teens build confidence and self－esteem through fun and exciting activities．

　　●You will challenge yourself and find inner strength．You will settle into your body and learn new ways to move．

　　●If you are looking for a teen summer camp, Omega Teen Camp has the progressive summer programme for teens you have been looking for．

　　Our Back ground

　　The Omega Teen Camp is directly owned and operated by Omega Institute, in Rhinebeck New York．Omega is the nation's largest and most trusted holistic(全面的)education provider and is highly regarded for its pioneering work in such studies as holistic health, meditation(沉思), yoga, transformational psychology, spirituality, world music, and art．We are now offering teenagers a powerful summer programme similar to what we have been offering adults since 1977．

　　Our Location

　　The Omega teen Camp is located in Holmes, New York, ninety minutes north of New York City．We have a four-week summer camp programme running from July 16 through August 12．Teenagers can attend for either two or four weeks．

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Animals use communication to tell others about their territory, find a mate, make friends, let others know how they feel, start and stop fights, and warn others of danger．Here are some of the more unusual ways that animals talk．

　　Dogs bark, cats meow, birds chirp．We're pretty familiar with these forms of communication．But animals use sounds in other ways, too．To find a mate, the male ruffed grouse stands on a hollow log and beats his wings, making a drumming sound．The hollow log amplifies the sound so that it can be heard for up to a quarter of a mile．Mole rats(鼹鼠)use a banging sound for the opposite reason．They like to live alone．So they warn other mole rates to stay out of their way by banging(猛撞)their heads on the top of their tunnels(地道)．

　　Animals use touch to communicate in many ways．Biting, kicking, and hitting send obvious messages, but touch can also be used in friendly ways．Chimpanzees(黑猩猩)will touch hands to greet each other．Many primates groom each other as a way to show friendship, removing bits of dirt or insects from each other's fur．Elephant may touch trunks in greeting．

　　Dancing is another way to talk．When a bee wants to tell other bees where to find a good stash of nectar(花蜜), it performs a special dance, waggling its body and moving in ways that tell the other bees which direction to go and how far to fly．

　　Some creatures even put their message in lights．Each type of firefly has its own flashing code．This helps males and females find mates of the same species．The lights not only tell what kind of firefly it is, they also guide the insects to each other．Color can also be important．The cuttlefish turns different colors to show how it feels．When it's ready to fight, it turns a dark color．

　　Another way to communicate without actually being there is through smell．

　　A gazelle(瞪羚)has special scent glands(臭腺)near its eyes that it rubs on branches to mark its territory．When other gazelles pick up the smell, they realize that this territory has already been claimed．Many animals mark territory by smell, including domestic cats and their wild cousins．

　　The ways animals communicate are as varied as the creatures and the messages they want to send．By observing carefully, we can learn more about what they mean．

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　On November 15, 1904, patent(专利)#775, 134 was granted to KingC．Gillette for a safety“razor”．King Camp Gillette was born in Fond du loc, Wisconsin in 1885．To support himself when the family's home was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871, Gillette became a traveling salesman．This work led him to William Painter, the inventor of the disposable(一次性的)Crown Cork bottle cap, who assured Gillette that a successful invention was one that was purchased over and over again by satisfied customer．

　　In 1895, after several years of considering and rejecting possible inventions, Gillette suddenly had a brilliant idea while shaving one morning．It was an entirely new razor(剃刀)and blade(刀片)that flashed in his mind－a razor with a safe, inexpensive, and disposable blade．

　　It took six years for Gillette's idea to evolve．During that time, technical experts told Gillette that it would be impossible to produce steel that was hard, thin, and inexpensive enough for commercial development of the disposable razor blade．Then in 1901．MIT graduate William Nickerson agreed to try．

　　By 1903, he had succeeded．Production of the Gillette R safety razor and blade began as the Gillette Safety Razor Company started operations in South Boston Sales grew steadily．During World War I, the U．S．Government issued Gillette safety razors to the entire armed forces．By the end of the war, some 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades were put into military hands, thereby converting an entire nation to the Gillette safety razor．

　　Gillette's success formula was this－low prices, excellent advertising and automated manufacturing techniques．These are the foundations why we, a century later, are still buying Gillette products．

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Harry Porter has turned a whole new generation of children on to reading but editors at the Frankfurt Book Fair said the boy Wizard was proving a hard act to follow for authors．According to a poll(问卷)among children between the ages of 9 and 15.68 percent said that Harry Potter had made them feel like reading．

　　It is a happy event, it has developed the children's book market and not only helped books of that particular kind, but other genres(体裁)too．A competitor in the French market, Actes Sud Junior, said it had also felt the effect of the J．K．Rowling phenomenon among French children, though its current success was a German series translated as“Les Enquetes dea Main Noire”that gave junior readers mind riddles not magic．

　　In the United States, the same thing happened．If you go into a bookshop, you are told“read this while you wait for the next Harry Potter”or“if you have liked the last Harry Potter, you will like this too”．It has changed the market and become a way of selling books．And of course everybody is waiting to see what the next big thing will be．

　　“But Harry Potter has helped all of us．In England it is exactly the boys in the age group that were reading less that are now reading him．”Said Victoria Wilkins from Robert Frederick publishers．

　　And Gallimard's Pasquet says people are wrong to confine(把……限制在)the Potter books to the magic genre．“This is not the main thing in the books, they are first and foremost about relations between people．That is what makes them universal”

　　Other editors admit Harry Potter is still by far the biggest thing on the market and if they cannot match its great success－more than 300 million copies were sold even before the sixth book hit the shelves in July－they cannot complain either．

阅读短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　A British sculptor(雕刻家)has brought US President Barack Obama down to size．Talented Willard Wigan has carved Mr．Obama and his family into the eye of a 24－carat gold needle．

　　Speaking in Los Angeles, as he was about to launch his first American exhibition, Willard revealed(透露)：“My favorite piece has to be President Barack Obama and his family．I never thought I would see a black President in my life time, so this is historic and I wanted to celebrate that．”

　　The micro－sculptor's work is so small, you need a microscope to see it－it is invisible to the naked eye．But Willard creates it all by hand in an astonishing process．

　　It takes him up to three months to create each amazing and unique sculpture, which usually sits within the eye of a needle or on a pin head．

　　The personal sacrifice involved in creating pieces is almost unimaginable．Willard enters a meditative state in which his heartbeat is slowed, allowing him to reduce hand trembling and sculpt between pulse beats．

　　Even the reverberation(回声)caused by traffic outside can affect Willard's work, so he often works through the night when there is very small disturbance．

　　In the past he has created micro-sculptures of such stars as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, P Diddy, Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and even The Simpsons．But it is the President Obama sculpture that he is most proud of, having spent more than three months creating it especially for his US tour．“I think the Obama sculpture is my favorite of all time as it's the most significant piece that I have ever done．”

　　Willard's work has been described as“the eighth wonder of the world”．He started off his career at the tender age of five－when he would make houses for ants．

　　Willard, who is from Birmingham, was later honored with receiving an MBE from HRH Prince Charles for his services to art．

　　His exhibition and tour of the US begins this week and runs in Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston through to November．