閱讀理解

Some small children don't know it's not polite to laugh at(嘲笑)others．Some of them laugh at a lame(腳疾)or blind(盲)person, or someone in bad clothes．but as they grow up, they learn not to hurt people's feelings by laughing at their problems．They learn to laugh at other things．Most important, they learn to laugh at themselves．For example, you make a mistake and lose in a basketball match．Do you become angry? Or can you laugh at yourself and hope to do better next time? If you can, you've really grown up．

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閱讀理解

　　Mr Wu：Good morning, Bruce．Sit down, please．May I ask you some questions?

　　Bruce：Certainly．What do you want to know?

　　Mr Wu：First, When were you born, Bruce?

　　Bruce：On June 22,1980．

　　Mr Wu：Secondly, where were you born?

　　Bruce：In Sydney, Australia．

　　Mr Wu：Where was your father born?

　　Bruce：He was born in Sydney, too．

　　Mr Wu：When was he born?

　　Bruce：Sorry, I don't know．But I know he's about forty years old．

　　Mr Wu：I see．What does your father do?

　　Bruce：He's a doctor．He works in a hospital here．

　　Mr Wu：Is your mother working in China, too?

　　Bruce：No, she works in Sydney．She's coming to China soon．

　　Mr Wu：Oh, that's very good．I have no more questions．Thank you, Bruce．

　　Bruce：You're welcome, Nr Wu．Good-bye．

　　Mr Wu：Good-bye．

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　　Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends．Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr．Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests they both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager．

　　“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the latest film is really great．How do you like it?'” says Ballmer．“There was just a complete gap in taste．”

　　Film was not the only gulf．From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in their own circles．

　　Today, the generation gap(代溝)has not disappeared, but it is getting smaller in many families．Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago．Now they are common．And parent-child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood．

　　No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend．”

　　But family experts warn that the new equality(平等)between parents and kids may also result in less respect for parents．“There's still a lot of strictness and power on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College．“In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion(困惑)among parents．”

　　Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these changing roles and attitudes．They see the 1960s as a turning point．Great cultural changes led to more open communication that encourages everyone to have a say．

　　“My parents were on the ‘before' side of that change, but today's parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘a(chǎn)fter' side,” explains Mr．Ballmer．“It's not something easily carried through by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now．”

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閱讀理解

　　Tell a story and tell it well, and you may open wide the eyes of a child, open up lines of communication in a business, or even open people's mind to another culture or race．

　　People in many places are digging up(挖掘)the old folk stories and the messages in them．For example, most American storytellers get their stories from a wide variety of cultures and times．They think storytelling is not only a useful tool in child education, but also a meaningful activity that helps adults understand themselves as well as those whose culture may be very different from their own．

　　“Most local stories are based on a larger theme(主題)”．American storyteller Opalanga Pugh says, “Cinderella, or the central idea of a good child protected by her goodness, appears in various forms in almost every culture of the world．”

　　Working with students in school, Pugh helps them understand their own cultures and the general messages of the stories．She works with prisoners(囚犯)too, helping them know who they are by telling stories that her listeners can write, direct, and act in their own lives．If they don't like the story they are living they can rewrite the story．Pugh also works to help open up lines of communication between managers and workers．“For every step forward in business,” she says, “there is a greater need for communication．” Storytelling can have a great effect on either side of the manager＝worker relationship, she says．

　　Pugh spent several years in Nigeria, where she learned how closely storytelling was linked to the everyday life of the people there．The good points of storytelling are found everywhere, she says．

　　“I learned how people used stories to spread their culture,” she says．“What I do is to focus on the value of stories that people can translate into their own daily life．We all have a story to tell．We tell everybody's story．”

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　　Julia Hill, an American woman, was born in 1974．She was 23 years old when she discovered that a company wanted to cut down part of a forest in California．In the forest there were lots of redwood trees．One of the trees was 70 metres tall and 1000 years old．

　　Julia wasn't happy about this．She travelled to California and climbed up the tree．‘If I sit in the tree．' she said, ‘the company can't cut it down．' At the beginning, Julia planned to stay in the tree for two weeks．She lived in a small tree-house and her friends were very happy-they cooked food for her every day．She used her mobile phone to talk to her family and to news reporters．She stayed in the tree day and night．

　　Environmental organizations supported her, but other people weren't on her side and they tired to stop her．The company used a helicopter that stayed near her tree-house for a long time．The helicopter was very noisy and there was a lot of wind．Julia didn't like it, but she stayed in the tree．

　　In the end, she was successful．The company agreed not to cut down the redwood．Finally, after two years and eight days in the tree, Julia Hill climbed down and walked on the ground again．She and her friends were very happy．

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　　There is an interesting program on TV named “Animals and I”, which invites pet(寵物)keepers who are like their pets．Those who attend the program have to fill out the form and send pictures of their pets．The program received the following forms and pictures this week．

　　petpet's keeper

　　nameRubyRuby

　　age3 months6 years

　　descriptionPlaying balls and doing pull-upsPlaying balls and doing pull-ups

　　othersMom says both of the Rubies are naughty boys!

　　petpet's keeper

　　nameAndrewArthur

　　age1 year29 years

　　descriptionsleeping all dayworking all day

　　othersWe look alike, but we act differently．

　　petpet's keeper

　　nameDaveTom

　　age10 years50 years

　　descriptionguarding my houseguarding my neighborhood

　　othersMy wife says Dave and I like to “bark” all day long．

　　petpet's keeper

　　nameJackRose

　　age25 months25 years

　　descriptionquiet and shytalk ative

　　othersJack always listens to what I complain about．

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　　Satellites are an important part of our ordinary lives．For example, the information for weather forecasts is sent by satellite．Some satellites have cameras which take photographs of the Earth to show how clouds are moving．Satellites are also used to connect our international phone calls．

　　Computer connections of the World Wide Web and Internet also use satellites．Many of our TV programs come to US through satellites．Airplane pilots also sometimes use a satellite to help them find their exact location．

　　We use satellites to send television pictures from one part of the world to another．They are usually 35，880 kilometers above the equator．Sometimes we can see a satellite in the sky and it seems to stay in the same place．This is because it is moving around the world at 11,000 kilometers an hour-exactly the same speed that the earth rotates．A satellite must orbit the Earth with its antennae facing the earth．Sometimes, it moves away from its orbit，So there are little rockets on it which are used to put the satellite back in the right position．This usually happens about every five or six days．

　　Space is not empty!Every week, more and more satellites are sent into space to orbit the Earth．A satellite usually works for about 10－12 years．Satellites which are broken are sometimes repaired by astronauts or sometimes brought back to Earth to be repaired．Often，very old or broken satellites are left in space to orbit the Earth for a very long time．This is very serious because some satellites use nuclear power and they can crash into each other．

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　　I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to sit above the top of it．Mother sat writing letters．Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be a most wonderful thing in the world．

　　Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother．“But the desk,” she said again, “is for Elizabeth．”

　　I never saw her angry, never saw her cry．I knew she loved me; she showed in action．But as a young girl．I wanted to have heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter．

　　They never happened．And a gulf opened between us．I was “too emotional(易動感情的)”．But she lived “on the surface(表面)”．

　　As years passed and I had my own family．I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family．I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me．

　　My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace – it seemed that nothing happened．I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to Mother．I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not．

　　But the present of her desk told me, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work．I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside – a photo of my father and a one-paper letter, folded and refolded many times．It was my letter．

　　“In any way you choose, Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words．”

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閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中選出最佳選項。

　　Like to chew on pencils? It's a bad habit that you really should put a stop to．

　　On the other hand, schoolteachers may face a challenge that is how to improve their students’ attention

　　A British design company have launched(發(fā)布)a new product, to help children concentrate at school－pre－chewed pencils．The wooden pencils are priced at ￡1.50 for a pack of four．British design company Concentrate, who developed the product, say that pupils are less likely to put them in their mouths because thy have already been chewed．And they say this is a cheap but effective way of encouraging students to "get their teeth" into their lessons instead．

　　The company, which says it designs products to help kids at school and make clear why they get distracted or are unable to focus in class, claim(聲稱)the chewed end encourages them to get thinking right away．

　　“We know it's foolish but just get down to some concentrated thinking and who knows what might happen,” said company boss Mark Champkins．

　　“We began to look at the reasons that children might be distracted, uncomfortable or unable to concentrate in lessons－ and we set about designing some simple, cost－effective(劃算的)products to work out some of the problems．”

　　That way, you even don't want to put your mouth anywhere near it．At least, I don't think you'd have the stomach to, do you?

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閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項(A、B、C和D)中選出最佳選項。

　　After a serious earthquake happened, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to his son's school, only to find that the building where his son studied had collapsed and looked like a pancake．

　　He was shocked．He didn't know what he should do for a while, then he remembered the words he had said to his son, “No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you!” And tears began to fill his eyes．He started digging through the ruins(廢墟)．

　　As he was digging, other helpless parents and the firemen arrived and tried to pull him off the ruins, saying, “It's too late! They’re all dead! There's nothing you can do!” To them he replied with one line, “Are you going to help me now?” And then he kept on digging．

　　No one helped, however．He went on alone because he needed to know for himself：“Is my boy alive or is he dead?” He dug for eight hours…12 hours …24 hours… 36 hours…then, in the 39th hour, he pulled back a rock and heard his son's words．He shouted his son's name, “ARMAND!” He heard back, “Dad! ? ! It's me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry．I told them that if you were alive, you'd save me and when you saved me, they'd be saved．You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you! ’ You did it, Dad!”

　　“What's going on in there? How is it?” the father asked．

　　“There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad．We’re frightened, hungry, thirsty and thankful you’re here．When the building fell down, it made a triangle(三角), and it saved us．”

　　“Come out, boy!”

　　“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you'll get me! No matter what hap pens, I know you'll always be there for me!”

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