阅读理解

　　Jean is a bright young woman who comes from a rich and famous family．She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy．Well, almost everything．The problem is that Jean's family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her．In fact, Jean is quite lonely．So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ．She likes being anonymous(匿名的), talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life．She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often．

　　Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ．His name was David and lived in San Francisco．David was full of stories and jokes．He and Jean had a common interest in rock music and modern dance．So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time．Of course, they wanted to know more about each other．David sent a picture of himself：He was a tall, good looking young man with big, happy smile．As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other．

　　When Jean's father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday．She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite rock singer．But when she knocked on David's door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim!

阅读理解

　　You’ve probably heard of a lot about the Internet, but what is it?

　　The Internet is a computer network that uses the telephone system to connect together millions of computers around the world．

　Maybe that isn’t very exciting but once you’re connected to the Internet, there are lots and lots of different things you can do．You can send electronic messages or “emails” to your friends(as long as they’re on the Internet, too), or you can sort through all kinds of information on something called the World Wide Web(www世界信息网)．

　　You don’t need to know how the Internet works in order to use it, but if you understand the basics, it may help you work out any technical problems you have－and of course you can help your friends with your Net knowledge!

　　You may think that your telephone is just for talking．But as long as you have the equipment, you can use a telephone line to send computer data(数据)as well as sounds．If you connect your computer with the telephone system, it can receive information from, and send information to other computers(as long as they are connected with the telephone system, too)．

　　Because there is not an organization which operates the Internet, no one exactly knows how many people are connected to it．It’s thought that there could be 60 millionpeople on the Net, connected up to over 15 million computers!

阅读理解

　　Every August on the island of Heimaey, off the southern coast of Iceland, young people often take a walk along the street throughout the night．What’s more, their parents allow them to stay out．Why? The children of Heimaey are going to save young puffins－small black－and white seabirds．

　　The cliffs above the town are home to a large group of puffins．The birds dig holes all around the cliffs．These holes are their homes．Their young stay in the holes for about seven weeks．Then they begin to leave．Some move slowly on their undeveloped wings and fell down to the northern Atlantic Ocean that surrounds Heimaey．There they swim, which they can do naturally, and learn to dive for fish．Others, however, may lose their way at night and find themselves in the town instead．On the ground, the young seabirds are in trouble．Because their wings are not fully developed, they cannot take off quickly to sea and safety．The birds then become a good meal for cats and other animals．

　　For many years, islanders have helped the young puffins．Early at night in late August, children carrying thick paper boxes and lights hurry to the seashore to catch puffins．They spend most of the night running after the birds．They put the birds they’ve caught in boxes and take good care of them．

　　The next morning the children take the puffins to the ocean and set them free．The birds will live at sea until they are at least two years old．Then they will return to the cliffs to build homes of their own for their families．

　　Will the children of Heimaey always come to save puffiness? “Yes, ”answered the boy．“We look forward to it．The best time for us is setting the birds free．”