阅读理解

　　Besides going by car, there are three other ways to get across the country：planes, trains and buses．Air travel is the most expensive of the three but in many ways the easiest and most comfortable．There are hundreds of flights a day criss-crossing the country, and it is easy to make an order．You will get to your destination(目的地)quickly and find the services(服务)at the airports excellent．There will be connecting bus services to the center of town, car rental agencies and porters(出租公司和搬运工)．

　　Traveling by train is cheaper than by airplane．In the past, train service was poor but in recent years the government has changed the service with AMTRAK, the nationalized train system．You can travel first or second class．Your ticket is for the journey only, sleeping and dining conditions will be extra．The most inexpensive way to travel is by bus．Continental railways and Greyhound can buy special tickets that allow you unlimited travel for a certain period of time．In this way you can stop along the way to visit the places that interest you most．

　　If you do travel long distances, be ready for the time changes．There are four time zones(时区)in the continental USA, starting on the East Coast with Eastern Standard Time(EST), then moving west to Central Standard Time(CST), Mountain Standard Time(MST)．If you travel east to west, you gain one hour each time you enter a new time zone．

　　A good way to see the USA is by car．Americans love their cars and in the past fifty years they have developed a vast network of roads and freeways to help them reach their destinations．

　　As few visitors have their own cars, renting one is the next best thing．You will need a valid driver’s license(it is best to have an international driver’s license)and either international credit cards(信用卡)(Diners, American Express), or a deposit(存折)．

　　You should start out with a working knowledge of the road．You travel from state to state and this can be very exciting to a newcomer．For example, in some states it is legal(合法)to turn right at a red light if there is no closing traffic, while in other states you will be fined(罚款)for this action．

　　People can enjoy vast(广袤的)areas of wild beauty．Throughout the country, animal and plant life is now protected by law, Americans are learning to be conservationists(天然资源保护者)．

　　Thinking over．

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阅读理解

　　The name of every country has its own story or origin．And some of them are very interesting．To find out how the name Canada came about we must go back to the 16th century．At that time, the French dreamed of discovering and controlling more land of the world．In 1535, Francois I, King of France, ordered a navigator(航海家)named Jacpues Cartier to explore(探险)the New World and search for a way to India．

　　Cartier first arrived at the Gulf of the St．Lawrence．He did not know what to expect but he hoped that this gulf was just an arm of the ocean between two lands．If it was, he would soon be on his way to Far East．So he sailed up along the St．Lawrence River．However, instead of reaching Asia, he arrived at Quebec of Stadacona, as the Indians called it．It was at this time that the term“Canada”entered this country－it was clear that the word“Canada”came from the Indian word“kanata”, which means“village”．Cartier first used it when he referred to(谈到)Stadacona or Quebec．What a huge“village”Canada is!

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阅读理解

　　John Bull

　　In speaking of John Bull, an image immediately appears in our　mind．He is short and fat, with a tall hat on his head and a pair of boots on his feet．It is the nickname for Britain, but where does it come from?

　　Originally, John Bull denoted generally Britain or any Englishman in the seventeenth century, just as Uncle Sam refers to the U．S．A．in the nineteenth century and became the symbol of America in 1961．In the eighteenth century, a Scottish writer named John Arbuthnot(1667-1735), who wrote a book called“The History of John Bull”, in which he bitterly and vividly depicted the frankness, uneasiness(不安)and funniness of a gentleman called John Bull．He described him so vividly and with such remarkable truth to life that the nickname spread far and wide, and has become a synonym for Britain which everybody knows．In the nineteenth century, cartoonists displayed him in caricatures(漫画)so everyone now has a visual(形象的)image of him．

　　“Ladies First”

　　“Ladies First”is also a British custom, though it is less observed today than it used to be．The reason seems to be the fact that women are the equals of men in having the vote, taking paid employment and receiving higher education, but there is still the feeling that they need protection．It is still considered polite to let a woman go first, to protect her from traffic, to help her get on and get off the bus and to do many other things for her．

　　Talking about the weather

　　When you meet a person in Britain and do not know how to start your conversation, you may say, “It's a nice day, isn't it?”or“It looks like rain”, or you might say, “I hope the rain lets up soon”, or something like that．Why do the Englishmen usually talk about the weather?There are probably two reasons．One is the uncertainty of the weather．Some people even say, “One can experience four seasons in the course of a single day!”So you may laugh when you see in London that the Englishmen are wearing raincoats or carrying umbrellas on a bright sunny day．Another reason is that talking about the weather, unlike discussing politics, seems a way of being friendly, without getting heated．The weather is a subject which is quite safe to talk about．

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