Use your American Express Card to enjoy one-day privileges at four of America’s greatest museums．Note the participating museums, and their exciting special exhibitions that you will not want to miss, listed below．

　　Boston

　　Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

　　Chairs

　　February 11-May 8,2005

　　Italian furniture expert Fausto Calderai and Indian photographer Dayanita

　　Singh present an exhibition of chairs from the museum’s collection and “chair photographs” from around the world presented in a Venetian-style hall housing world-famous masterpieces．

　　For more information：www.gardnermuseum.org

　　New York

　　The Noguchi Museum

　　Noguchi and Graham

　　December 1,2004-May 1,2005

　　Noguchi’s long-term collaboration with dancer Martha Graham is regarded by many as a high point in the history of both modern dance and art．The exhibition highlights nine of the sets created through this collaboration．

　　For more information：www.noguchi.org

　　Philadelphia

　　Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

　　In Full View：American Painting(1720－2005)

　　January 11-April 10,2005

　　Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy has been home to America’s artists for 200 years．The Academy collects and exhibits the works of famous American artists, and is well-known for training fine artists, 2005 at the Academy begins with the largest exhibition of the Academy’s distinguished American collection in the institution’s history．

　　For more information：www.pafa.org

　　Seattle

　　Seattle Museum of Glass

　　Murano：Glass from the Olnick Spanu Collection

　　Through November 7,2004

　　This exhibition includes over 200 pieces of beautiful glass from Murano, the island of glassblowers near Venice, Italy．Watch live glass-blowing shows in the Hot Shop and see other modern glass exhibitions．

　　For more information：www.museumofglass.org

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　　PITTSBURGH－For most people, snakes seem unpleasant or even threatening．But Howie Choset sees in their delicate movements a way to save lives．

　　The 37-year-old Carnegie Mellon University professor has spent years developing snake-like robots he hopes will eventually slide through fallen buildings in search of victims trapped after natural disasters or other emergencies．

　　Dan Kara is president of Robotics Trends, a Northboro, Massbased company that publishes an online industry magazine and runs robotics trade shows．He said there are other snake-like robots being developed, mainly at universities, but didn’t know of one that could climb pipes．

　　The Carnegie Mellon machines are designed to carry cameras and electronic sensors and can be controlled with a joystick(操纵杆)．They move smoothly with the help of small electric motors, or servos, commonly used by hobbyists in model airplanes．

　　Built from lightweight materials, the robots are about the size of human arm or smaller．They can sense which way is up, but are only as good as their human operators, Choset added．

　　Sam Stover, a search team manager with the Federal Emergency Management Agency based in Indiana, said snake-type robots would offer greater mobility than equipment currently available, such as cameras attached to extendable poles．

　　“It just allows us to do something we’ve not been able to do before, ” Stover said, “We needed them yesterday．”

　　He said sniffer dogs are still the best search tool for rescue workers, but that they can only be used effectively when workers have access to damaged buildings．

　　Stover, among the rescue workers who handled the aftermath(后果)of Hurricane Katrina, said snake robots would have helped rescuers search flooded houses in that disaster．

　　Choset said the robots may not be ready for use for another five to ten years, depending on funding．

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阅读理解

What’s Needed to Play Korfball

　　Teams：Each team has four boys and four girls．Two boys and two girls from each team play in each division(a part of the field)．

　　Ball：A Korfball measures 68 to 71 cm in circumference(周长)．If there is no Korfball, a number four soccer ball or a netball can be used for children under the age of twelve and a number five size for older player．It is not recommended that basketballs can be used．

How to Play Korfball

　　Beginning the game：The game begins with the toss of a coin．Play starts with a throw off．

　　Time of game：A game has two twenty-minute halves with a ten-minute stop．

　　Division changes：After two goals have been scored, or after about six minutes with young or new player, all players change divisions．Players also change divisions．Players also change direction at half time．

　　Scoring：A goal counts for one point and the winner is the team with the most goals．

　　Moving the ball：Players are not allowed to run with the ball．If the ball is caught while running the player should pass it in a continuous movement．Dribbling(运球)the ball is not allowed and players cannot hand the ball to a teammate．

　　Infringements(违规)：An infringement is when you break the rules of the game．A free throw is awarded for general infringements or if the ball goes out of play．

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阅读理解：

　　Our boat floated on, between walls of forest too thick to allow us a view of the land we were passing through, though we knew from the map that our river must from time to time be passing through chains of hills which crossed the jungle plains．Nowhere did we find a place where we could have landed：where the jungle did not actually spread right down into the river, banks of soft mud prevented us going ashore．In any case, what would we have sailed by landing?The country was full of snakes and other dangerous creatures, and the jungle was so thick that one would be able to advance only slowly, cutting one’s way with knives the whole way．So we stayed in the boat, hoping we reached the sea, a friendly fisherman would pick us up and take us to civilization．

　　We lived on fish, caught with home-made net of string(we had no hooks), and fruits and nuts we could pick up out of the water．As we had no fire, we had to eat everything, including the fish, raw I had never tasted raw fish before, and I must say I did not much enjoy the experience; perhaps sea fish which do not live in the mud are less tasteless．After eating my raw fish, I lay back and dreamed of such things as fried chicken and rice, and ice-cream．In the never-ending damp heat of the jungle, ice-cream was a particularly frequent dream．

　　As for water, there was a choice：we could drink the muddy river water, or die of thirst．We drank the water．Men who had just escaped what had appeared to be certain death lose all worries about such small things as diseases caused by dirty water．In fact, none of us suffered from any illness as a result．

　　One day we passed another village, but fortunately nobody saw us．We did not wish to risk being taken prisoners a second time：we might not be so lucky to escape in a stolen boat again．

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阅读理解

　　“My kids really understand solar and earth-heat energy,” says a school-grade teacher in Saugus, California．“Some of them are building solar collectors for their energy course．” These young scientists are part of City Building Educational Program(CBEP), a particular program for kindergarten through twelfth grade that uses the stages of city planning to teach basic reading, writing and math skills, and more．

　　The children don’t just plan any city．They map and analyze(分析)the housing, energy, and transportation requirements of their own district and foretell its needs in l00 years．With the aid of an architect(建筑师)who visits the classroom once a week, they invent new ways to meet these needs and built models of their creations．“Designing buildings of the future gives children a lot of freedom,” says．the teacher who developed this program．“They are able to use their own rich imagination and inventions without fear of blame, because there are no wrong answers in a future context．In fact, as the class enters the final model-building stage of the program an elected ‘official’ and ‘planning group’ make all the design decisions for the model city, and the teacher steps back and becomes an adviser．”

　　CBEP is a set of activities, games, and imitations that teach the basic steps necessary for problem-solving：observing, analyzing, working out possible answers, and judging them based on the children’s own standards．

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　　I was bleeding now．My ears were red, my nose was broken, and the pain of failure was beginning．I had lost．It was over．The match was stopped．The world seemed to stand still for a moment as I looked at who had beaten me．“I’ve lost,” I said in m mind．“The last chance to win and I had lost．” It was the final round of wrestling．It was my last year at camp and I wanted to have an undefeated season．But now, I had lost in the tournament(锦标赛)．

　　My coach came over to help me up．He saw that my nose was broken and realized that the match had to be stopped．He helped me up and I got small applause from my teammates．People on the other team just stared．Coach walked me over to the locker room to work on my nose．

　　“I’ll stop the bleeding,” Coach Matt said．His voice was cold and empty．He had expected me to win－he knew I could had won－but now he saw it was over．I had lost．

　　“Hey, Steve．You did good, man, He, well, he just…” my friend Paul couldn’t find what to say．

　　“Forget it, man．” I said, my nose still bleeding．

　　“Don’t talk or it won’t stop bleeding．Just relax and breath through your mouth．” Coach Matt’s voice was still cold, but warming slowly．He was like a father to me．He had been there through all m years of wrestling, all my wins and lose, all my hopes and dreams－and now he was there, fixing my smashed nose．

　　“This must have happened during that last throw．You fell too much on your face．You should’ve turned and tried to escape．You gotta think more．” Coach Matt began, his voice now warm like an old friend trying to give good advice．

　　“I wanted this so badly．” I said．

　　“Maybe we can get another contest because of the nose．You can still go undefeated!You can still do it…” Paul continued．

　　No, I lost．Nothing was left for me to do this year．This was supposed to be the year－no loses．” I said, cutting him off before he finished．

　　“Steve, you did your best．Come on．Let’s go and get your medal,” Coach said．He looked at me right in the eyes．“You gave it your all．You deserved that trophy(战利品)，not the silver medal．You deserve it, but he is getting it．You really won and the whole team is proud．”

　　I walked up to get my medal, my head held high．I shook the hands of the judges and my opponent, took m medal and saw that, in the eyes of everyone, I had really won．No matter what trophy or medal my opponent took home, no matter what．He may have had my trophy, but he could never have my will．

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阅读理解：

　　“ A band plays in Lumley Park every Sunday afternoon．I often attend these open-air concerts if the weather is fine, because I find it a very restful way of passing time, and because the band plays many kinds of music：dance music, marching music, anything with a tune you can whistle; you know what I mean．”

　　“ One Sunday, there was a blind girl in the front row of the audience, just behind the band-leader．She must have been about fourteen or fifteen years of age, I should think．She had been sitting down until about halfway through the programme, when the band started to play ‘ The Blue Danube’ by Johan Strauss．I’d never heard them play this particular piece before; and there was something magical about the way they played it then．They’d only played a few bars when this blind girl stood up and began waving her arms about in time to the music, just as the band-leader himself was doing．”

　　“ After a while, I could see that more and more members of the band were watching the blind girl instead of the band-leader．And the leader must have noticed this himself, because he turned round and watched her, and saw that she was keeping perfect time．He was a very thoughtful man, that band-leader; I took my hat off to him．He moved to one side little by little, so that the band could see the blind girl better, and after a while he stopped conducting altogether．The band knew the piece quite well, of course, so things weren’t likely to go seriously wrong．But she kept time beautifully, and she made it clear when she wanted certain passages to be loud or soft, just as the band-leader himself had done．Since then, to be quite honest, I’ve never heard ‘The Blue Danube’ played better anywhere．”

　　“ I have seldom heard an audience clap more loudly than that audience, when the music was over．I should think they must have heard the noise on the other side of the town．When the blind girl sat down, even from where I was sitting I could see that there were tears running down her face．”

　　“ And she wasn’t the only one in that audience who was crying, I can tell you．”

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　　Attention to detail is something everyone can and should do－especially in tight job market．Bob Crossly, a human resource expert, notices this in the job applications that come across his desk every day．“It’s amazing how many candidates cross themselves out,” he says．

　　“Resumes(简历)arrive with faults．Some candidates don’t bother to spell the company’s name correctly．Once I see a mistake, I cross out the candidate,” Crossly concludes．“If they can’t take care of these details, why should we trust them with a job?”

　　Can we pay too much attention to details?Absolutely!Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward．“To keep from losing the forest for the trees,” says Charles Garfield, the professor at the University of California, San Francisco, “we must constantly ask ourselves how the details we are working on fit into the larger picture．If they don’t, we should drop them and move to something else．”

　　Garfield compares this process to his work as a computer scientist at NASA．“The Apollo II moon launch was slightly off course 90 percent of the time,” says Garfield．“But a successful landing was still likely because we knew the exact coordinate(坐标)of our goal．This allowed us to make adjustment as necessary．” Knowing where to go helps us judge the importance of every task we undertake．

　　Too often we believe what accounts for others’ success is some special secret or a lucky break．But rarely is success so mysterious．Again and again we see that by doing little things within our grasp well, large rewards follow．

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　　By 1990, according to a World Wildlife Fund report, only about 4,500 tigers survived throughout the world－half of them in India．Mr．Foresters, who followed and counted tiger footprints, estimated that in May 1992 only about 1,800 tigers existed in India．Project Tiger supported by W．W．F．was immediately launched．Nine tiger reserves were created, with armed guards protecting them．

　　The project provided opportunities for researchers from India and abroad to study tigers in the reserves and gather previously unavailable information about their habits．Studies show that a male tiger may control a hunting territory of between 10 and 20 sq. kms, depending on its age, size and strength．

　　The territory of a male includes the smaller territories of three or four tigresses．A tiger marks the boundaries of its territory by spraying urine(尿)and other bodily liquids on bushes．But it tries to avoid territorial fights, being guided by the distinctive body smell of other tigers．Tigers fight to death only when a tigress is defending her young, or when a tiger is guarding a tigress from the attentions of other males．

　　The popular image of the tiger is that of a merciless and unconquerable hunter．But studies show that it catches only one of 20 victims it tries to attack．

　　Fears have recently developed that Project Tiger has been too successful．It has enabled the tiger population to double but India’s human population has also grown out of control．Currently it is 750 million and likely to be 900 million by the end of the century．The land problem is becoming serious and many rural people feel bitter about the fact that some rich forests are reserved for tigers．A growing number of attacks by tigers on man has added to the hostility．(敌意)

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