Australian Flag Designs by Readers of the Sun-Herald
We received dozens of responses after inviting readers to send in their designs for a new flag. The designs we received include:
James Anthony, Drummoyne
James reduces the Union Jack down in size and changes its shape to become a reminder of the British tradition rather than canceling it altogether. At the same time he suggests enlarging the stars of the Southern Cross. His design attempts to use the best of both worlds in a newly designed flag.
As he says, “the British part of the Australian Flag is too big and the Australian bits are too small. When you make the stars bigger the Australian flag can look impressive.”
Joe Bollen, Turranmurra
Joe’s flag has the main elements of a risen sun, white horizon(地平线), red earth at the base and the Southern Cross. He intends to make the risen sun a special Australian symbol on the flag. He believes it represents life. The Southern Cross shows that we live in the Southern Hemisphere. (半球)
Maria Ieraci, Sydney
Maria deleted the Union Jack but otherwise kept the flag as is with the Southern Cross and Federation Star. She says, ‘There is only one correct way to change the Australian flag” and that is “to drop the Union Jack ---- when Australia becomes a Republic”, which she hopes will be before 2010.
Ron Bennett, Sydney
Ron recommends using the Aboriginal colors but replacing their image of the sun with the map of Australia. He says, “Australia is unique being an island continent with an instantly recognizable outline at that” and “this will leave no doubt as to which country the flag belongs.”

1. 1.

   Which of the four designs can remind you of the past of the country?

   1. A.
      Joe’s
   2. B.
      Maria’s
   3. C.
      Ron’s
   4. D.
      Jame’s
2. 2.

   The Southern Cross in some of the designs represents _________.

   1. A.
      the spirit of the nation
   2. B.
      the position of the country
   3. C.
      the tradition of Britain
   4. D.
      the expectations of the people
3. 3.

   What does the Union Jack refer to?

   1. A.
      the British flag
   2. B.
      A former British ruler
   3. C.
      group of stars
   4. D.
      A former symbol of Australia

When a person walks, the movement of his head, trunk, hipbones and limbs are all reflected in changes in his body. A computer1these changes into a database. Later, the computers can2identify him according to these changes. This is a new biological identification method and it can quickly identify an examinee3disturbing him. It's especially suitable for use in airports and supermarkets.
Everybody's voice is4. When a person's voice is recorded by an instrument, its voice frequency spectrum is called his sound print. Like a fingerprint, everybody's sound print is different. How can computers5his sound? First, his voice is recorded, which allows the computers to become familiar with his voice. It will then turn his sound characteristics into a6of digits. These digits represent the frequency, pitch and rhythm of the person’s voice. These are the7on which the computers can distinguish¹ his voice from8.
When that person needs to be identified, after he says only one word or two, the computers can identify him. The computers can even identify sounds coming9the wires. This will provide a10guarantee to electric banks and electric purchases.
We often bring ID cards², work cards, or driver licenses with us to prove our identity. If all these cards are forgotten or lost, how can we prove11we are? In fact, it's not difficult to prove whom you are, because your body12has identifying markers. Some are physiological features, such as fingerprints, sounds, facial types and eye color. The computer can help to identify you. Suppose your features have already been stored in the database³. To identify you, we have to take your picture with a camera and send it to a computer for13. First, the computer needs to reposition this picture according to the position of your eyes⁴, and then starts to read themessage of your physiological features such as the14of your pupil⁵ to the whites of your eyes⁶ and the shape of his nose. Next, it seeks matching records from the database. Finally, it makes a15.

1. 1.
   1. A.
      checks
   2. B.
      stores
   3. C.
      revises
   4. D.
      modifies
2. 2.
   1. A.
      nearly
   2. B.
      approximately
   3. C.
      roughly
   4. D.
      accurately
3. 3.
   1. A.
      without
   2. B.
      with
   3. C.
      for
   4. D.
      in
4. 4.
   1. A.
      identical
   2. B.
      similar D unique D sole
5. 5.
   1. A.
      hear
   2. B.
      understand
   3. C.
      distinguish
   4. D.
      record
6. 6.
   1. A.
      , origin
   2. B.
      cause
   3. C.
      reason
   4. D.
      basis
7. 7.
   1. A.
      othre’s
   2. B.
      another’s
   3. C.
      each other’s
   4. D.
      one another’s
8. 8.
   1. A.
      at
   2. B.
      on
   3. C.
      in
   4. D.
      through
9. 9.
   1. A.
      cleverer
   2. B.
      tidier
   3. C.
      smarter
   4. D.
      safer
10. 10.
    1. A.
       how
    2. B.
       whom
    3. C.
       what
    4. D.
       where
11. 11.
    1. A.
       oneself
    2. B.
       themselves
    3. C.
       ifself
    4. D.
       himself
12. 12.
    1. A.
       processing
    2. B.
       copying
    3. C.
       coloring
    4. D.
       revising
13. 13.
    1. A.
       size
    2. B.
       type
    3. C.
       ratio
    4. D.
       shapr
14. 14.
    1. A.
       recommendating
    2. B.
       decision
    3. C.
       proposal
    4. D.
       contribution

The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audience could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever. He sent camera team out one evening to film the sunset for him.
The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”
“No, Sir,” the men answered.
The director was angry.  “Why not?”  he asked.
“Well,” one of the men answered, “we are on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”
“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”
But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards, Then it’ll look like a sunset.” “That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera team and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”
The camera team went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, Sir,” they said, and give it to him. He was very pleased.
They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the sunset behind them.”
The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera team to stop. The birds in the film were flying backwards away from the beach.
【小题1】One evening, the director sent his camera team out ______.

Part One: Cloze test.
Complete the blanks with the words or phrases in our textbook.
The City of the Future
What will the city of the future look like? No one knows     1    , and making predictions is a risky business. But one thing is certain --- they are going to get bigger before they get smaller. In the future, care for the environment will become very important     2     earth’s natural resources   3   . We will use lots of recycled materials, such as plastic, aluminium, steel, glass, wood and paper, and we will waste fewer natural resources. We will also have to   4   more
  5   alternative energy, such as solar and wind power. All this seems certain, but there are plenty of things about city life in the future which are not certain.
To find out what young people think about the future of urban life, a teacher at a university in Texas in the United States asked his students to think how they would run a city of 50,000 people in the year 2025. Here are some of the ideas they had:
Garbage ships  To   6   garbage problems, the city will   7   huge spaceships with waste materials and send them towards the sun, preventing landfill and environmental problems.
Batman Nets  Police will arrest criminals by firing nets instead of guns.
Forget smoking  No smoking will be allowed within a future city’s limits. Smoking will be possible only outside cities, and outdoors.
Forget the malls  In the future all shopping will be done online, and catalogues will have voice commands to place orders.
Telephones for life  Everyone will be given a telephone number at birth    8   will never change   9   where they live.
Recreation  All forms of recreation, such as cinemas, bowling, softball, concerts and others will be provided   10  by the city.
Cars  All cars will   11  by electricity, solar energy or wind, and it will be possible to change the colour of cars at the flick of a switch.
Telesurgery  Distance surgery will become common as doctors carry out operations from thousands of miles away, with each city having its own telesurgery outpatient clinic.
Holidays at home  Senior citizens and people with disabilities will be able to go anywhere in the world using high-tech cameras    12   their head.
Space travel  Travelling in space by ordinary citizens will be common. Each city will have its own spaceport.

Some diaries from Jackie Chan’s blog

January 4, 2009

  Lately I’ve been busy in Beijing having meetings to discuss my new movie. I also attended John Wu’s ceremony（典礼）of his new movie, Red Cliff, which took two years to complete. I’m good friends with the director John Wu and the main actor Tony Leung.

January 5, 2009

Today I went to record a television program for Beijing TV called Volunteers Across China. This TV program is a large-scale reality show that is based on the idea that “good people reap good rewards” and it hopes to encourage people to be more aware and help the “good people” who are in difficult situations.

January 6, 2009

     I’m very pleased to announce that my Jackie Chan automobile website is set up and officially operating! I hope that through this automotive website, I can get in touch with more people who want to buy cars.

January 7, 2009

Today, I went to record a song called Zhongguo Nian. This song was written by Chang Shilei. I sing this song together with Tan Jing. Chang Shilei is a naturally talented musician. He also has an interesting habit. His piano is placed next to his bed. When he wakes up, he plays the piano until he’s tired, and then he lies down on his bed to sleep.

January 9, 2009

Today I met with the producer and director of Longwei Xiaozi ,and I also brought along my friend’s daughter for a screen test. Although my friend’s daughter grew up in China, her English is very good and it just happened by chance that this movie needs a young actress for a part, so I took her along to audition（试演）.

1.What might be the best title for this passage?

A. My new movie.           B. My busy life.

C. My good friend.           D. My favorite song.

2. The TV program Volunteers Across China tries to

A. find some rich people who are able to help the poor.

B. encourage people to look after the young.

C. ask people to help “good people” who are in trouble.

D. make China more and more famous all over the word.

3.The underlined word “announce” in the third paragraph means

   A. tell sb sth officially

  B. tell sb what you think

C. tell sb to do sth

D. say that sth must happen

4.With whom does the author sing the song Zhongguo Nian ?

   A. John Wu.      B. Tony Leung.       C. Chang Shilei.       D. Tan Jing.

5.What can we infer from the text?

   A. It took the author two years to finish the movie Red Cliff.

B. People who are in trouble can ask Beijing TV for help.

C. Chang Shilei is a famous actor who is good at playing the piano.

D. Longwei Xiaozi needs a young actress for a part who can speak English well.