阅读理解

　　It doesn't matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive．That's what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin．Al Herpin, it was said, never slept．Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves．

　　Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey．They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind．So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made．But they were surprised．Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day．They never saw Herpin sleeping．In fact, he did not even own a bed．He never needed one．

　　The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers．The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness．They found only one answer that might explain his condition．Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born．But that was all．Was this the real reason? No one could be sure．Herpin died at the age of 94．

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　　In 1970, my five brothers, my sister and I lived in the housing projects of Toronto with our parents．My father was a factory worker, and my mother stayed at home．Each year my father would dress up as Santa Claus and go through the streets of the projects sharing joy and candies with the children there．He loved it as much as they did!

　　But around the Christmas in 1970, my father was out of his job and money was tight．In fact, there was no money for Christmas and my parents weren’t sure what they’d provide for us．

　　That Christmas Eve, however, as usual, my father left the house dressed as Santa Claus．He knew that even though our Christmas would be hard, he could not disappoint the other kids in the neighborhood．

　　As my father left the house and went down the walkway, Santa Claus was walking up, with a great sack(袋)full of gifts for us! He said nothing, only smiled a sweet smile at my father, and wished him a Merry Christmas．The happy man handed Dad the sack and walked away down the block．

　　We never knew who the man was and who showed us great kindness on a snowy Christmas night．We do know, however, that without him we would have had nothing under the tree．His kindness gave my parents hope and showed us in a very real way the true meaning of Christmas．

　　Our family has never forgotten this kind stranger．Each year we tell the story of the mysterious Santa Claus and try to repay(报答)his gifts by giving gifts to others in need．

阅读理解

　　As students across the country have their yearly flu shots(打流感疫苗), doctors across the world are preparing against a possible outbreak of bird flu that few current vaccines(疫苗)will guard against．The likelihood of a bird flu spreading among humans is very high, the World Health Organization warned recently．European countries worry about bird flu very much, since many migratory birds(候鸟)start to fly back from the North．

　　There are at least 15 different types of bird flu virus around the world．The possible outbreak may be caused by a virus known as H5N1．It was first found to have spread from a bird to a human in Hong Kong in 1997．In addition to Asia, this bird flu has been found among birds in Romania, Turkey, Russia and Kazakhstan．

　　The outbreak in 1997 in Hong Kong was quickly controlled at a cost of 18 people ill and six dead．About 1.5 million chickens were collected in an effort to remove the source of the virus．But scientists say that the virus can change itself rapidly．Also, if the virus mixes with the human flu virus, it could be spread through person-to-person contact in the same way as ordinary human flu is spread．Bird flu can cause fever, coughing, sore throats and muscle aches in humans．With the introduction of vaccines, flu is not as deadly as it used to be．But throughout history it was a huge cause of death around the world．The outbreak of Spanish flu in 1918-19 killed about 40 to 50 million people worldwide．

　　Currently there is no vaccine against bird flu that can be used on humans．Scientists are working to develop one．This will probably take several months to complete and may not be ready in time to stop a widespread outbreak of the disease．

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Fading beauty

　　She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last for ever．But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa．

　　The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo Da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louvre Museum(卢浮宫博物馆)where it is housed．

　　“The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago, ” the museum said．Visitors have noticed changes but repairing the world’s most famous painting is not easy．Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state(化学状态)．

　　Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile．“It is very interesting that when you’re not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops, ” said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University．“It’s because direct vision(视觉)is excellent at picking up detail, but less suited to looking at shadows．Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows．”

　　However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile．Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France’s King Francis I in 1519．

　　In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louvre by a former employee, who took it out of the museum hidden under his coat．He said he planned to return it to Italy．The painting was sent back to France two years later．

　　During World War II, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces．

　　Like many old ladies, the Mona Lisa has some interesting stories to tell．

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　　Whitman was one of the most original and inspiring American poets, well known for his art and his role as a poet．He devoted himself to poetry praising the native American experience．As America’s first epic poem, Leaves of Grass ran nine editions with more than 400 poems all written in free forms, that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme．The tide implies rebirth, renewal, or green life．As Whitman once said, “Leaves of Grass was the outcropping of my own emotional and other personal nature - an attempt, from first to last, to put a person, a human being freely, fully and truly on record．”

　　For Whitman, science, democracy(民主)and spirituality(灵性)were the three things that underlay the structure of modern poetry．Whitman tried to combine the world of science, the democracy and the spiritual feeling of life into one, into his poetry．For Whitman, he poetic form should be free．Therefore, he threw aside the traditional form and had his own form．Both the form and content of his poems are revolutionary．With its frequent use of oral language and everyday events, his poem represented a turning point in the history of American poetry - poetry fashioned out of specially American experience in a clearly American idiom．Whitman’s unique poetic creation has developed a very significant tradition in American poetry．

　　In his poems, he celebrated new America rather than regretted it．He was against slavery, idolized(崇拜的)Lincoln, supported strikes, and combined the ideal of the common people and that of the ragged individual．

阅读理解

　　Several years ago, while attending a communication course, I experienced a most unusual thing．The instructor asked us to list anything in our past that we felt ashamed of, guilty about or regretted．The next week he invited participants to read their lists aloud．This seemed like a very private matter, but there’s always some brave soul in the crowd who would volunteer．The man next to me raised his hand and volunteered this story：

　　“While making my list, I remembered an incident from high school．I grew up in a small town in Iowa．There was a Sheriff in town that none of us kids liked．One night, my two friends and I climbed the tall water tank in the middle of town, and wrote on the tank in bright red letters：Sheriff Brown is a fool．The next day, the town arose to see our glorious sign．Within two hours．Sheriff Brown had my two friends and me in his office．My friends admitted what they did and I lied, denying the truth．No one ever found out．”

　　Nearly 20 years later, Sheriff Brown’s name appears on my list．I didn’t even know if he was still alive．Last weekend, I dialed information in my hometown back in Iowa．Sure enough, there was a Roger Brown still listed．I dialed his number．After a few rings, I heard：“‘Hello?’ I said, ‘Sherriff Brown?’ Pause．‘Yup．’ ‘Well, this is Jimmy Calkins．I want you to know that I did it．’ Pause．‘I knew it!’ he yelled back．We had a good laugh and a lively discussion．His closing words were：‘Jimmy, I always felt bad for you because your friends got it off their chest, and I knew you were carrying it around all these years．I want to thank you for calling me…for your sake．’”

　　Jimmy gave me much inspiration and I know that no matter how difficult the situation is, it is never too late to clear up the past and begin anew．

阅读理解

　　One morning, a young man leading a goat lost his way due to the thick mist．Then he met a blind man and asked whether he also lost his way．The blind man said, “I cannot see anything．Therefore, the mist doesn’t affect me．I followed the path in my memory and it never goes wrong．”

　　Happily the young man led the goat following him forward．The blind man asked where he was going．He said he wanted to sell his goat．“Male or female? How many years have you kept it?” The young man spoke without too much thought, “A female goat of 3 years!”

　　The young man was still following the blind man when he was grasped the hand by the blind man．He shouted ,“Here is the police station! Go into it and elaborate on how you stole the goat!”

　　The young man had been a thief for a long time and admitted the goat was stolen by him．He asked the blind man puzzlingly, “But how do you know I am a thief?”

　　The blind man smiled, “I have been keeping goats for decades and can tell one of them is male or female as well as their age according to their voices．The goat you led just now is obviously a male goat, but you said female．The goat is simply a little more than one year old, but you said you had kept it for three years．Moreover, the goat will bleat totally differently when he is led by a stranger instead of his owner．So I can tell the goat does not belong to you!” Only then did the thief understand the whole thing with his head dropped down．

阅读理解

　　Jones worked so hard that made the sparks fly from his hammer．The son of Mr．Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith and he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked．"Why don't you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks?" said the blacksmith．"Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you．" The lazy boy began to see what he could do．But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks．

　　Old Mr．Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods．He had to leave home and was forced to take up residence in another country．It so happened that in this village there were numerous shoemakers who were spending a lot of money to buy tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers' shoes．

　　Young Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers．He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in his workshop．The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer．"How funny it seems," he used to say, "even making tacks can bring a fortune．My trade is more useful to me than were all my former riches．"

阅读理解

　　Julio loves to visit his grandmother．He doesn’t get to visit her very often because his family lives in a city that is six hours away．His grandmother lives in a big wooden house on a farm．It is old and looks as if it has secret hiding places．

　　On the third Sunday of June ,Julio’s parents took him to his grandmother’s．Since it was summer vacation ,he was going to stay at grandmother’s for a whole mother! His cousins Mario and Linda would soon be arriving．They would also be staying at their grandmother’s this summer．

　　A big porch(走廊)wraps around two sides of the house．Julio sat in the porch swing．He could see the trees that circle the house．They had been planted as a windbreak．They protect the house from the wind and blowing dirt．The house is in the middle of a large ,flat field．

　　Julio watched the dirt road that leads to the house．He couldn’t wait for his cousins to get there!Mario was his age ,and Linda was a year younger．They had fun together．Last summer they spent one whole morning making a fort out of sacks of seed．Then Uncle Henry had taken them on a tractor ride．

　　Julio remembered another time with his cousins．They had gone out to explode the fields．Julio touched an electric fence and got a shock．Then they found an old snakeskin．Nothing like that ever happened at his own home!

　　Julio could smell the dinner that his grandmother was cooking．It made him hungry．

　　Finally he saw a cloud of dust coming up the road．“They ‘re here! There’re here!” He shouted．

阅读理解

　　If you have been joining in chat room conversations, or trading email with web pals(网友), you have become one of the millions who write in a peculiarly short form of English．

　　And you’ve got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF(＝sense of humor failure)to describe Internet newcomers who don’t understand you．

　　Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are “talking online”, many of them all talking at the same time．

　　It’s fast：try talking to six people at once．It’s brief：three or four words per exchange．It takes wit, concentration, and quick fingers．

　　And it requires tremendous linguistic economy(语言省略)．There’s neither time nor space for explanations．Why consume precious key-strokes(键盘敲击)telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB(＝be right back)will do?

　　Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI(＝pardon me for jumping in)．

　　Interested in whom you are talking to? Type A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal’s age, sex and location．You may get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal．

　　If something makes you laugh, say you are OTF(＝on the floor), or LOL(＝laughing out loud), or combing the two into ROTFL(＝rolling on the floor laughing)．

　　And when it is time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG(＝got to go)or TTYL(＝talk to you later)．

　　People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can．Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing emotion, as it takes, more time to hold down the “shift” key and capitals．Punctuation(标点)is going, too．