阅读理解(Reading Comprehension)

　　Is it possible that the people of the world today could agree upon a single international language that everyone would be able to speak and understand?

　　In the United Nations there are five official languages－English, Chinese, Russian, French and Spanish．How about making one of them into an international language?English has been worked on for this purpose．A basic word list of 850 English words named Basic English was made．These are the only verbs in the entire list, “come, go, give, keep, let, do, put, make, say, be, seem, may, will, have, send．”Writing in Basic English may require you to use a greater number of wordsas in having to say“It came to my ears”instead of I heard－but you can still say anything you want to with just 850 different words and a few sufixes(后缀)and prefixes(前缀)．This is a much smaller number of words to have to remember than the ordinary number offered to the students of a foreign language．

　　But people have always had a need to do more than simply“Tell it as it is”．Language is for reporting not only one's work．For this, a language needs idioms, needs all kinds of grammar and style(文体)that show its history and development just as a person needs eyebrows(眉毛)．Is there some special reason why our lips should be a different color from the rest of our face?Perhaps not, but this is how people－real people－are．For communication between people, languages of all kinds will remain to reflect(反映)the growth and soul of the societies that speak them．

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阅读理解(Reading Comprehension)

　　A language never stands still．It is always changing and developing．These changes are rapid in primitive societies, but slow in advanced ones, because the invention of printing and the spread of education have fixed a traditional usage．The only important change that English has undergone since the first of the 16th century is a large increase in its vocabulary．It is interesting to trace the different way in which new words are invented．Let us take just two English words and see how they were made：sandwich and television．

　　Sandwich, which is now no longer an entirely English word, but also international, comes from the Earl of Sandwich(died in 1792)．who invented the particular form of quick meal so that he could go on gambling all through the night without stopping for dinner．Many names of things are in fact taken from the name of the first inventors, for example, the electrical terms Watt and Volt．

　　Television is one of many new scientific words which are invented from old Greek and Latin words．“Tele”is Greek, meaning“far”, while“vision”comes from the Latin verb, meaning“to see”．

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阅读理解(Reading Comprehension)

　　The 4th of March will be a day that Corinna Fafalios will never forget, though it started like any other Friday．Her 10-year-old son, Dimitri, and his 11-year-old friend, Alex, were waking up after their sleepover．Her youngest, Joseph, had a fever and Corinna told the five-year-old to stay in bed while she took a shower．

　　As Dimitri and Alex watched the little boy and grabbed(抓)breakfast, Joseph's nose started to bleed．The boys pinched(捏住)Joseph's nose and asked him to lean forward, but the bleeding did not stop．That's when Dimitri went and told his mom what had happened．Corinna comforted him and Dimitri went back to help his brother．Six minutes later, Dimitri was back again, letting his mom know that Joseph's nose was still bleeding．Corinna went to help and Joseph started vomiting(呕吐)．That's when Corinna and the boys decided they needed help．

　　Dimitri dialed 911 and Alex took care of Joseph．“They were so calm, considering the situation, ”Corinna remembers, “I was so glad they were around．”

　　While Corinna tried to stay calm, Dimitri went out to wait for the ambulance．The emergency squad(班，队)arrived and transported little Joseph to the hospital．He's okay today, thanks to his big brother and brother's friend．

　　After the emergency was over, Dimitri and Alex were excited．As kid scouts(童子军)in Pack 30, the boys had learned how to take care of a sick child through Readyman training, a Red Cross course offered to scouts who want to earn their first aid badge(徽章)．The boys followed every step they learned in the course and, most importantly, they stayed calm．

　　This week Alex and Dimitri are becoming Boy Scouts at Rose Glen Elementary School．And because of their brother's emergency, the first badge they have decided to work for is the first aid badge．

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阅读理解(Reading Comprehension)

　　Suppose a man has a car accident．He is hurt badly and is unconscious(无知觉的)；that is, he can't think, speak, or hear．His family take him to the hospital．The doctors tell the family that his brain is dead．A machine can make him breathe．

　　Now the patient's family must answer some difficult questions．Should they think he is dead?Should they ask the doctors to use the machine to make him breathe?Sometimes machines can make an unconscious person breathe for years．However, if his brain is dead, he'll never think, speak, or hear again．Then, should his family ask the doctors not to use the machine and let him die?

　　Someone who is unconscious can't say he wants to die．Can his family say this for him?Some people think this is a good idea．Some think otherwise(相反)．

　　Many people are hurt when machines keep a person alive．The unconscious person doesn't know this．Machines only make the family and friends hurt longer．

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阅读理解

　　All Are Brothers－The Red Cross Story

　　In 1859 Henry Dunant was a 30 year-old Swiss businessman traveling through northern Italy．He was working on a proposal(提议)，which he hoped to share with the Emperor of France．The business venture(冒险)he dreamed about was in Algeria and it needed the full support of the Emperor．To gain this support, Henry had to follow the Emperor to Italy where he was waging(发动)a bloody war．

　　When Henry arrived in the town of Castiglione he was shocked to see the results of the latest battle－“The Battle of Solferino”．Forty thousand men lay dead or wounded．

　　Completely untrained for such a situation, Henry helped the nurses and used his wagon(车辆)to transport supplies．He wrote letters to his friends in Switzerland for help．As he worked alongside the nurses, he realized they were completely overwhelmed(淹没)by the number of men needing help．He frequently heard them repeat a phrase that would stick with him for years to come－Tutti Fratelli．The phrase simply meant“all are brothers”, and the nurses would say it to make sure everyone received equal treatment regardless of which army they came from．

　　Emotionally exhausted, Henry returned home to Geneva but struggled to forget the trauma(伤害)of Castiglione．His dreams of business in Algeria faded(减弱)．He knew he had to do more about the inhumanity(不人道)of war and decided to write a book about the situation in Castiglione．In his book, A Memory of Solferino, published in 1862, he called for trained professionals who could provide relief to the wounded during war, relief without fear of attack．

　　Henry was a good speaker and writer and decided to put these talents to use in support of his cause．Additionally, he mailed copies of his book to governmental leaders throughout Europe．Four men from the Geneva Public Welfare Society joined Henry and organized a conference on the topic in 1863．36 people representing 14 European governments attended．The next year they did it again．That session became known as the Geneva(日内瓦)Convention．The group also agreed that the symbol of the relief worker during times of battle would be a red cross on a white background．This symbol became the name for the organization－“The Red Cross”．

　　Nation after nation agreed to the principles established(制定)in the Geneva Convention, and today Red Cross are operating in 178 nations．They've worked to serve millions of people．

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阅读理解

　　Who hasn't used BAND-AID??In a world full of cuts, scrapes(擦伤)，blisters(水泡)and bruises(瘀伤)it seems hard to imagine life without those little adhesive bandages．They certainly come in handy on a cut finger．They're even handy on a cut foot, although it sounds a little funny．

　　Of course, there have always been cuts and scrapes, but there hasn't always been adhesive bandages．This fact was painfully clear to a young housewife named Josephine Dickson．

　　Back in 1920, this newlywed(新婚的人)was living in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with her husband Earle, and though married life agreed with her, housekeeping did not．Not that she didn't try．When Earle came home from his job as a cotton buyer at Johnson ＆．Johnson．Josephine would always have dinner on the table．Unfortunately, she'd also have several cuts or burns on her fingers．Without an adhesive bandage, Josephine had no easy way of bandaging her own cuts．Earle had to cut pieces of adhesive tape and cotton gauze(薄纱)and make a bandage for each wound．This happened day after day－and, day after day Josephine needed more bandages．They were in a real bind(绑)．

　　Finallv, after several weeks of kitchen accidents, Earle hit upon an idea．(Luckily for Johnson ＆．Johnson．his idea was not to go out and hire a cook．)No, Earle sat down and prepared some ready-made bandages by placing squares of cotton gauze at intervals along an adhesive strip and covering them with crinoline(裙衬)．Now all Josephine had to do was cut off a length of the strip and wrap it over her cut．In a way, it was a mother who was responsible(对……负责)for the invention of the BAND-AID? Brand Adhesive Bandage．

　　Earle soon told his boss at work about his new invention and soon the first adhesive bandages were being produced and sold under the world famous BAND-AID? trademark．Earle was finally rewarded with a position as Vice President in the company, where he stayed until his retirement．As for Josephine, history does not record whether she ever mastered the art of accident-free cooking．But we do know she had plenty of BAND-AID?Brand Adhesive Bandages available just in case．Earle Dickson may not have realized what a cutting cdge product he was inventing, but it certainly stuck around．

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阅读理解(Reading Comprehension)

　　Laptop computers are popular all over the world．People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels．These laptops connect people to their workplace．In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms．

　　Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want．Within five minutes, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop．The laptops are part of a $ 10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college．The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet．In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to“speak”with their teachers, their classmates, and their families．However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs．They can work with it at home, in a fast food restaurant or under trees－anywhere at all．

　　Because of the many changes in computer technology, laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable．As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers．In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources．State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students．State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too．

　　At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers．The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons．As a Westlake teacher said,“Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we're giving students a window on the world．They can see everything and do everything．”

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阅读理解(Reading Comprehension)

　　Over the past 10 years, technologies that have combined computers with telephone have developed, Technologies such as PC fax programs and LAN fax servers(局域网传真服务器)have been used to improve fax communications．The latest computer－based technologies are new mechanisms(机制)which use IP(Internet Protocol，因特网协议)to send faxes, that is, IP fax．

　　Traditional fax has a fairly simple usage model．First, the user inserts a document into the fax machine, enters the destination fax number and presses the start button on the machine, The sending machine dials the receiving fax machine．If it connects, the sending machine scans the documents and sends it over the public switched telephone network(PSTN，公共电话交换网)to the receiving machine．At the same time, the receiving machine receives the document and then prints it．

　　In IP fax system there are two basic transmission modes：store-and-forward mode and real-time mode．Store-and-forward mode has been widely used．In this mode, the entire document is sent to a network-based server that stores it and then sends it to the destination．Real-time IP faxing is similar to traditional fax．Real-time mode allows two fax machines to directly communicate through some standard．

　　IP fax enables a fax document to be sent from one person to another．A fax machine or a computer can be used to send or receive the fax．IP fax also allows e-mails to be used to receive faxes．This would enable users to receive faxes anywhere, anytime with an internet fax address．

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　　The China Northern Airlines crash that claimed 112 liveson May 7 was caused by a fire started by one of the passengers,Xinhua News Agency reported on Dec,7,2002．

　　Officials from the air accident investigating committeelooking into the crash were quoted（引证）as saying a mannamed Zhang Pilin deliberately（蓄意地）started a blaze as the plane approached Dalian．Everyone on board，including Zhang,died when the airliner plunged into the sea off the coast of Dalian．

　　The agency report did not elaborate（详细说明）on whatevidence had led the committee to conelude Zhang was respon-sible,only commenting that the relevant government departments are handing the case according to law．

　　It was revealed（揭露）that zhang took out seven20．yuan(US $ 2．40．)insurance policieS before boarding the plane．

　　In the event of his death and the insurance companies（保险公司）paying out，zhang's beneficiaries stood to receivemore than I million yuan(US $ 120．000．)．

　　Details of the suspected arsonist published by the Beijing Youth Daily said 37-year-old Zhang,a Dalian resident,had worked for police and foreign trade departments before quitting to start his own business．And，said the paper,his wife has experience of working for insurance companies．Zhang come under the spotlight soon after the accident because he was the only passenger on the ilfated plane to take out overtwo insurance policies．

　　Insurance analysts Said Zhang's accident risk policieswould be invalid（查证）if it is confirmed his crimial act caused the disaster．

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　　Throughout history soldiers have fought bloody battles inorder to control the high ground．There is no doubt that thisis a tactical（战术的）necessity．Standing abouve your enemy isan advantage that often leads to vietory．

　　Nowadays，high ground does not just mean hill tops．Italso means space,which has become an increasingly importantpart of military strategy（军事战略）．

　　With its more advanced satellite technologies,America isthe major power in space．And now the US Air Force has putinto service a new weapon designed to jam enemy satellite communications．It is an important step toward US control of space．

　　The so-called Counter Communications System（反卫星通信系统）was declared operational on November 1．The ground-based system uses electromagnetic radio frequencites（无线电磁波）to stop enemy satellites working on a shortterm basis．

　　“A short-term effect ensures that during the time of need,the enemy's space-based capability（能力）is reduced,”said a US military official．“Following the time of need，their capabilities can return to its original state．”

　　The system is made up of an antenna（天线）,transmitters（发射机）and receivers and can be easily transported around in a vehicle．

　　To control space was one of four aims of a national space policy started by former president Bill Clinton in 1996．The goal is to make sure US forces can rely on space-based services and to deny an enemy any similar benefits．

　　The US military has experimented with several“anti-sat-ellie”weapons,including lasers,to destroy or damageenemy units．

　　Theresa Hitchens,vice president of the Centre for Defence Information in Washington,welcomed the new systemas long as it does not create rubbish that could threaten globaluse of space．She believed it should not destroy satellties．only stop them working for a while．

　　“Unfortunately，it seems we are not going to limit ourgoal for‘space control’to non-violent systems,”she said，rai sing the danger of a space arms race．

　　To change the balance of power in space the EU and China are working together on the Galieo project．By 2008 the system will be in place as an alternative to the Americans'global positioning service．

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