阅读理解

　　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(主题)”．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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阅读理解

　　People have always wanted to speak with animals．There are many books about this, especially children books．Now there are also movies, such as Dr．Doolittle．When you watch animals, it seems clear that they can communicate with each other．Many people wonder why people can’t also communicate with them．

　　Scientists know how some animals communicate．Bees, for example, use their bodies．They do a kind of dance to give information about food．Birds, on the other hand, share information with sounds．They use certain sounds to protect their homes and to stay together when they fly．Some male(雄性)birds use lovely songs to attract a female(雌性)．Other animals communicate with both body movements and sounds．For example, dogs wag(摇摆)their tails(尾巴)when they are happy, and they bark(吠)when they are excited．

　　People used to think it was possible to teach human language to animals．Parrots and other birds, for example, can learn to say words．But the birds just repeat the words．They don’t understand them．Some American scientists tried to teach English to chimpanzees, close relatives of human beings．However, this was impossible．Chimpanzees can’t move their mouths the right way．They could never learn to speak like people．

　　Then scientists tried to teach human language to chimpanzees in other ways．Some tried with American Sign Language(ASL)．Others tried with a simple computer．But chimpanzees could only learn to use a few words．They could never learn to use grammar．Their brains are very different from the brains of human beings．

　　Now some scientists are studying the same points between human and animal language．In fact, some animals use sounds like people do．Dogs, for example, use an unpleasant, low sound to tell other dogs to stay away．People, too, use that kind of voice to say the same things．A dog’s noisy bark communicates that something is happening．People use the same high tone when they shout,“Watch out!”

　　Scientists want to understand the language of other animals, such as whales and bears．To do this, they go out to the animals’ natural homes．They watch the animals for days or even years．They take pictures and make tapes recordings and share the information with other scientists．In this way, they hope to learn more about the way animals communicate, and maybe someday we’ll be able to communicate better with them．

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