阅读理解

　　The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audiences 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 his camera crew(摄制组)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 man answered．

　　The director was angry．“Why not?” he said．

　　“Well, sir,” one of the men answered．“We’re 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 crew and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea．”

　　The camera crew 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 gave 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 crew to stop．

　　The birds in the film were flying backwards, and the waves on the sea were going away from the beach．

　　本文描述的是一个导演想让他的男女主人公在一个日落的场景中永别，但是他们所在的位置只能够拍摄海上日出的场景，一个年轻人提议说可以拍摄日出的场景然后进行倒放就成了日落的场景了，但是效果却是鸟倒着飞，海浪往后退。

阅读理解

　　A new study suggests that very young children who watch a lot of television may have attention problems later in school．

　　Children with attention problems cannot sit still or control their actions．They talk too much, lose things, forget easily and are not able to finish tasks．

　　People with attention problems may suffer a condition known as Attention Deficit Disorder(A．D．D．)．Experts say the cause of A．D．D．involves chemicals in the brain．Teachers say many children in the United States are showing signs of disorder．Some education researchers have been saying for years that watching television at a very young age could change the normal development of the brain．For example, they say that children who watch a lot of television are not able to sit and read for an extended period of time．

　　The new study tested the idea that television watching by very young children is linked to attention problems by the age of seven．It involved more than 1300 children．There were two groups of children, ages one and three．Researchers at Children’s Hospital in Seattle, Washington reported the results in the publication Pediatrics(儿科)．They asked the parents how often the children watched television．The parents also described their children’s actions at the age of seven using a method that can tell if someone suffers Attention Deficit Disorder．

　　The children who watched a lot of television at an early age were most likely to have attention problems．Every hour of watching television increased the chances of having attention problems by about ten percent．

　　The researchers say that all the children with attention problems might not have A．D．D．But they still could face major learning problems in school．The findings support advice by a group of doctors that children under the age of two should not watch television．

　　One of the researchers says there are other reasons why children should not watch television．Earlier studies have linked it with children becoming too fat and too aggressive(好斗的)．Other experts say the new study is important, but more work needs to be done to confirm the findings and better explain the cause and effect．

　　本文描述的是儿童看电视对他们以后的一些消极的影响。孩子过早地看电视或者看电视过多都会导致孩子记忆力难以集中，多动，好斗，容易忘事等等。

阅读理解

　　Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers．But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son：suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents．“The door to his room is always shut, ”Joanna noted．

　　Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter．“She used to cuddle up(蜷伏)with me on the sofa and talk, ”said Mark．“Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something．Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady．The problem is figuring out which time is which．”

　　Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what’s on their minds．“In fact, parents are first on the list, ”said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers．“This completely changes during the teen years, ”Riera explained．“They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last．”

　　Parents who know what’s going on in their teenagers’ lives are in the best position to help them．To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them．And they must give their children a mental break, for children also need freedom, though young．Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them．

　　本文谈论的是父母与孩子关系的问题。乔安娜和亨利发现他们的儿子与他们交谈少了而与朋友交谈多了。提娜与马克夫妇在他们14岁的女儿身上也发现了同样的问题。文章最后一段建议父母做孩子的朋友而不是管理者。