阅读理解

　　For thousands of years, the most important two buildings in any British village have been the church and the pub．Traditionally, the church and the pub are at the heart of any village or town, where the people gather together to socialize and exchange news．

　　As a result, British pubs are often old and well preserved．Many of them have become historic sites．The most famous example is the pub in the city of Nottingham called “Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem”, which dates back to the year 1189 AD and is probably the oldest pub in England．

　　However, British pubs are not just for kings and queens; they welcome people from all classes and parts of society．On a cold night, the pub's landlord or landlady can always find a warm place for you by the fire．There is always honest and hearty food and plenty of drinks available at an affordable price．

　　That's how things used to be．Things are beginning to change．It is said that the credit crunch(信贷紧缩)is causing 39 British pubs in a week to go out of business．People do not have enough spare money to spend on beer．Recently, the UK government banned smoking in all pubs, and that may also have affected the number of customers going to pubs．

　　This decline is happening despite the fact that in 2005 the UK government started to allow pubs to stay open after 11 p．m．．Previously, with 11 p．m．as closing time, customers would have to drink quite quickly, meaning they sometimes got more drunk than they would if allowed to drink slowly．The British habit of drinking a lot very quickly is known as “binge drinking”, and it causes long-term health problems for people and problems with violent crime for communities．

　　In order to save their businesses, pubs are trying to change with the market．British pubs now offer something for everyone．A lot of pubs used to be “Working Men's Clubs”, meaning that women could not usually enter．Today, however, women can freely enter 99％ of pubs without experiencing any problems．Perhaps things are changing for the better after all．

阅渎理解

　　The Peales were a famous family of American artists．Charles Willson Peale is best remembered for his portraits of leading figures of the American Revolution．He painted portraits of Franklin and Jefferson and over a dozen of George Washington．His life-size portrait of his sons Raphaelle and Titian was so realistic that George Washington reportedly once tipped his hat to the figures in the picture．

　　Charles Willson Peale gave up painting in his middle age and devoted his life to the Peale museum, which he founded in Philadelphia．The world’s first popular museum of art and natural science mainly covered paintings by Peale and his family as well as displays of animals in their natural settings．Peale found the animals himself and found a method to make the exhibits more lifelike．The museum’s most popular display was the skeleton(骷髅)of a huge, extinct elephant, which Peale unearthed on a New York farm in 1801．

　　Three of Peale’s seventeen children were also famous artists．Paphaelle Peale often painted still lives of flowers, fruit, and cheese．His brother Rembrandt studied under his father and painted portraits of many noted people, including one of George Washington．Another brother, Rubens Peale, painted mostly landscapes and portraits．

　　James Peale, the brother of Charles Willson Peale, specialized in miniatures(小画像)．His daughter Sarah Miriam Peale was probably the first professional female portrait painter in America．

　　Chang’e I, China’s pioneering lunar probing(月球探测)satellite, came through its first lunar eclipse(月食)yesterday and had regained full operations．

　　The moon orbiter was temporarily hidden from solar rays and lost 　　1　　 with Earth for two-and–half hours during a blackout that started at 10 am．, Ye Peijian, chief commander and designer in 　　2　　 of the satellite system, said．

　　Chang’e I had to switch off some its 　　3　　 and rely on onboard batteries during this challenging time, when it was 　　4　　 from solar energy, Ye said．

　　Full details of how Chang’e I 　　5　　 during the eclipse were due to be released last night．

　　Gu Shen, a deputy(副)director　with the lunar probe’s measurement and control system, said scientists 　　6　　 the orbit of the satellite and shortened the 　　7　　 the probe was out of direct sunlight by about 80 minutes．

　　As of 10 pm．Wednesday, the satellite had 　　8　　 1204 orbits of the moon．Before yesterday’s eclipse, the 　　9　　 time Chang’s I had been without contact with the Earth was 49 minutes．

　　The European Space Agency helped 　　10　　 the satellite, which will perform a second orbital adjustment during another eclipse in August, Ye said．