Reading Comprehension

　　Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard．

　　“I’ll be the first millionaire in Coleford!”Richard used to boast．

　　“And you’ll be sorry you knew me,”George would reply“because I’ll be the best lawyer in the town!”

　　George never did become a lawyer and Richard never made any money．Instead both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Coleford High Street．It was hard to make money from books, which made the competition between them worse．

　　Then Richard married a mysterious girl．The couple spent their honeymoon on the coast－but Richard never came back．The police found his wallet on a deserted beach but the body was never found．He must have drowned．

　　Now with only one bookshop in town, business was better for George．But sometimes he sat in his narrow, old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window, thinking about his formal rival(竞争对手)．Perhaps he missed him?

　　George was very interested in old dictionaries．He’d recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition．When the parcel arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was delighted．But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in．He was astonished－the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable!Trembling, George started reading．

　　“Bookends have bought ten bookstores from their rivals Dylans．The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in Australia．”

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阅读理解

　　Even at school there had been an unhealthy competition between George and Richard．

　　“I'll be the first millionaire in Coleford! ” Richard used to boast．

　　“And you'll be sorry that you knew me, ” George would reply “because I'll surely be the best lawyer in our town! ”

　　After graduation, George never became a lawyer and Richard was anybody but a millionaire …．Instead, it happened that both men opened bookshops on opposite sides of Coleford High Street, while it was hard to make much money from books then, which made the competition between them worse．Eventually, Richard closed down his, dreaming of making a fortune elsewhere．

　　Now, with only one bookshop in the town, business was better for George．But sometimes he sat in his narrow old kitchen and gazed out of the dirty window, thinking about his former rival(竞争对手)。Perhaps he missed him? zxxk

　　George was very interested in old dictionaries, and he had recently found a collector in Australia who was selling a rare first edition．When the parcel arrived, the book was in perfect condition and George was quite delighted．But while he was having lunch, George glanced at the photo in the newspaper that the book had been wrapped in．He was astonished-the smiling face was older than he remembered but unmistakable! Trembling, George started reading： “Bookends Company has bought ten bookstores from its competitors．The company, owned by multi-millionaire Richard Pike, is now the largest bookseller in this country．”

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阅读理解

　　Probably you have seen photographs of the Grand Canyon(峡谷)，the great valley in the desert country of Arizona．But you must go there yourself to feel its true size and beauty．The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world．

　　The Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon over millions of years．Slowly, the river cut down through hard rock．At the same time, the land was rising．Today, the canyon is one and a half kilometres deep and 445 kilometres long．The oldest rocks at the bottom of the canyon are more than 1 billion years old．The width varies from about 200 metres to 29 kilometres across．The rim(边缘)or top of the canyon is about 2,300 metres above sea level on the South Rim, and about 3,000 metres on the other side, the North Rim．As a result, there are different kinds of plants and animals on opposite sides of the canyon．The South Rim is dry desert country．The North Rim has tall forests．

　　The canyon looks different at different times of day, and in different seasons and weather．At sunrise and sunset the red, gold, brown, and orange colours of the rocks are especially clear and bright．In winter, the canyon is partly covered with snow．

　　The view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the best, Most visitors come to the South Rim and stay in campgrounds or hotels．Every point along the canyon's edge offers a different view．

　　The North Rim of the Canyon is quieter．It takes all day to drive there from the South Rim because there is only one bridge across the Colorado River．On the way, you go through Navado Indian lands, and a colourful pink desert called“The Painted Desert”．

　　You can walk down into the Grand Canyon, or you can go down on the back of a mule(小型电动机车)．You can also take a boat trip down the Colorado River, and camp on the beaches at night．But whether you see the Grand Canyon from the top or the bottom, it will be an experience that you will never forget．

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