阅读理解

　　Already we have seen that money acts as a standard(标准)of value．When we change our goods for money we are said to sell．When we change money for goods we are said to buy．This buying and selling through the use of money enables us to speak of things as being WORTH SO MUCH MONEY．Thus money conveniently measures value by a common standard．This measure of value by money we call price he has set．The price of an article is its value expressed in money．

　　Let us imagine that your father is a furniture shop owner．Money measures the value of his table; that is, your father sets a price on his tables．Motor-ears have their prices, and suits also．Your father can sell his tables to those who want them at the price．When he has sold ten tables to ten different people, he has the price of a motor-car．When he has sold one table he has the price of a suit, and has some money left over．Your father has exchanged his goods for the goods he wants, not directly, but by the medium(媒介手段)of money．Money is a MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE．When we know that our money will buy more of this or less of that, we are greatly helped by prices in deciding what to buy and what to sell．

　　Money also serves as a storer of value．Upon receiving payment to cover the sale of his tables, your father may not wish to spend all of it right away．A part of it will probably be put in the bank until he has use for it．Meanwhile, he knows that those dollars put away will buy approximately(接近)as many groceries, pairs of shoes, suits of clothes, or government bonds(债券)next week or even next year as they will today．Thus money also serves as a storer of value．

阅读理解

　　Ellen Parker was worried about her health．She couldn't walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stairs．She was soon out of breath．

　　“I suppose I had better go to the doctor,”she thought．

　　She went to the doctor and told him her problem．

　　“I'm not at all surprised,”he said．“It's clear what your problem is．”

　　He examined her and then gave her some advice．“If you don't do what I say, Mrs．Parker,”he said, “you will have a heart attack．It could kill you．”

　　Ellen was very worried as she left the doctor's．

　　She knew that she had to take his advice but that it would not be easy and that it would take time．

　　“I'd like ten pounds of steak, please,”she said．

　　“Certainly, madam,”the butcher replied and went into the cold storage room and found a large piece of steak．

　　He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and placed it on the scale．

　　“That's just under ten pounds,”he said．

　　The butcher worked out the price．

　　“At ＄4.99 a pound that will be ＄45.50 please．Shall I cut it up into small pieces for you?”

　　“Oh, I don't want to buy the meat,”Mrs．Parker said．

　　“If you don't want to buy it,”the butcher replied, “Why did you ask me to get it for you?”

　　“I just wanted to see what 10 pounds of meat looked like．”

阅读理解

　　The idea of what shaking the head means is not always the same in different countries．Some visitors would probably be surprised when they first came to India．When they talked to an Indian, he would often shake his head．The visitors might think that the Indian did not like what they said．But in fact, they would be completely wrong．

　　Indians always shake their heads when they talk to others．It does not have the same meaning as“No”．If someone wants to visit India, he should know this, or it will give him some trouble．

　　One day, a foreign officer went to India on business．He hired a car and an Indian to drive it．When he told the driver to send him to his office, the driver shook his head at once．The officer repeated his order, and the driver shook his head again．At last, the officer, of course, got angry．

　　“How dare you refuse my order?”he shouted, “Drive me to my office immediately!”The driver answered in quite a loud voice, too．“Yes, sir!”But to the officer's surprise, the driver shook his head at the same time．

　　The car started．And the foreign officer was now too surprised to say a word．He thought about it for a while．And then he nodded with a smile：“NO means YES here!”

阅读理解

　　Never give out identifying information such as Name, Home, Address, School Name, or Telephone Number in a public message such as at a chat room or on bulletin boards．Never send a person a picture of you without first checking with your parents．

　　Never reply to message or bulletin board items that are：Suggestive/Obscene/Ready to fight/Express intention to hurt/Make you feel uncomfortable．

　　Be careful when someone offers something for nothing, such as gifts and money．Be very care full about any offers that get you to meet or have someone visit your house．

　　Tell your parents right away if you come across any information that makes you feel uncomfortable．

　　Never arrange a face-to-face meeting without telling your parents．If your parents agree to the meeting, make sure that you meet in a public place and have a parent with you．

　　Remember that people online may not be who they seem．Because you can't see or even hear the person, it would be easy for someone to misrepresent himself/herself．

　　Thus someone who says that“I'm a 12-year-old girl”could really be an old man．

　　Be sure that you are dealing with someone you and your parents know and trust before giving out any personal information about yourself through E-mail．

　　Get to know your“online friend”just as you get to know all of your friends．

阅读理解

　　Britain's leading state-run English language center

　　*Held from June to August

　　*Classes at all levels

　　*Excellent teachers

　　*Preparation for public exams

　　*Accommodation(食宿)in selected families

　　*Pleasant seaside town

　　*Very full social programme

　　*English through activity e. g. art, photography etc．

　　*Advice service for university and college students

　　*Teachers course

阅读理解

　　At Harton College－an English boarding school for boys, there are many rules．15-year-old Bob Sanders often breaks them．

　　The boys can go into the town in the afternoon after class．But they must retum to the school at six o'clock, One afternoon Bob walked to the town．He looked at the shops and then went to the cinema．After the film, he looked at his watch．It was after eight o'clock．He was a little worried．He walked back to Harton College as fast as possible．

　　When he arrived, he ran quickly to the main entrance．It was locked．He went round the school building to another door, which was locked too．He looked up at the window of his dormitory on the third floor．The window was open．But it was quite dark and he could not climb up the wall easily．Then he saw another open windows on the ground floor．It was the window of the headmaster's study．

　　He looked into the room－no one was there．Bob quickly climbed on to the window sill(窗台)and jumped into the room．Just then he heard a noise．Then someone turned on a light in the corridor．Bob looked around and then hid under the sofa．One minute later, Mr．Mannering, the headmaster, came in．He turned on the light on his desk, and sat down on the sofa．Then he opened a book and began to read．

　　Bob lay under the sofa as quietly as possible．He couldn't move．The floor was cold and uncomfortable．He looked at the headmaster's shoes and socks for an hour．

　　“Why doesn't he get up and go to bed?”Bob thought．

　　Mr．Mannering read his book for an hour．Finally, the headmaster closed his book and stood up．He put the book on the shelf and walked towards the door．

　　“Thank heavens he didn't find me under the sofa,”thought Bob．

　　Then Mr．Mannering stopped and spoke towards the sofa．“Would you turn off the light when you leave?”he said, and left the study．

阅读理解

The old lady was glad to be back at the block of flats where she lived．Her shopping had tired her and the basket had grown heavier with each step of the way home．In the lift, her thoughts were on lunch and a good rest．But when she got out at her own floor, both were forgotten in her sudden discovery that her front door was open．She thought that she must tell her daily maid the next morning to lock the door, and then she remembered that she had gone shopping after the maid had left and she knew that she had turned both keys in their locks．She walked slowly into the hall and at once she saw a sight of confusion over by her writing desk．It was as clear as daylight then that burglars had forced into the house during her absence．Her first thought was to go around all the rooms to look for the thieves．But then she decided that at her age, it might be more reasonable to have someone with her．So she went to fetch the doorman from his basement．By this time, her legs were beginning to shake．So she sat down and accepted a cup of very strong tea, while she telephoned to the police．Then she was ready to set off with the doorman's help to search for any thieves who might still be hiding in her flat．

阅读理解

　　There are more than 100 million cars in the United States．An ordinary car gets less than 15 miles from each gallon(加仑)of gas．It travels about 10, 000 miles each year．In that time，it uses about 650 gallons of gas．In all, automobiles use up some 70 billion gallons of gas a year．That comes out to be four-and-a-half million barrels a day．

　　The importance of saving gas, then, cannot be stressed too much．Let's say, the fuel used by each ear could be cut back just 15 percent．This could be done by making fewer trips each day．It could be done by keeping the automobiles in good shape．It could be done through better driving habits．If these were done, the nation's use of fuel would fall by close to two-thirds of a million barrels per day．

　　Everyone can help to save gas．One way is to take buses．Some could walk to work．Others could ride their bikes．Another way is to share a ride．People could share cars．About one-third of all cars are used for going to and from work．You can go shopping with a friend from time to time．If two people use a car instead of two, they all save．Driving stress(紧张)would be less, too, with fewer cars on the road．The savings on gas around the nation would come to more than one-half million barrels a day Still another way to save is by cutting out trips one does not need to take．Can you find one car trip per week that could be done by telephone?Can you combine trips?If each car traveled 1 0 miles less each week, they could save three-and-a-half billion gallons of gas a year．This comes to nearly 5 percent of the total passenger cars demand for gas．

　　The way people drive decides how much fuel they save．Careful drivers may get 20 percent more miles per gallon than ordinary drivers．They obey the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit．If just one gallon of gas were saved each week for each car in the country, a total of five-and-a-half billion gallons could be saved a year．

阅读理解

　　Mr and Mrs Jackson worked in the same workplace．The man was skillful and could make all kinds of parts and repair the machines．The boss liked him and paid him more than his workmates．But he had to give all his money to his wife and she bought the food, clothes and drinks for him．He was angry with her but couldn't say anything．All the men in the workplace were afraid of their wives and they felt sorry for each other．

　　It was March 8th and all the women had a day off．The men could say all they wanted．They said they had to do all the housework at home but the women always spent much money on their clothes．And they didn't think it was fair that women had their own festival but they didn't．The more they said, the angrier they became．They decided to write a letter to the UN and advised them to rescind(取消)the“Women's Day”．And they asked Mr Jackson to do it．The man agreed and began to write it at a table．

　　Just at that moment when Mr Jackson finished it, his wife came in．She had left her key in the workplace and came to look for it．The man hurried to hide the letter．But it was too late．She made him hand it to her．Having read it, the woman returned the letter to him and said with a smile, “How can you post it to the UN if I don't supply you the money for buying a stamp?”

阅读理解

　　Tokyo－Our kids, the Japanese government announced, have forgotten how to behave．They can't be bothered with housework．If they see someone being wronged, they probably look the other way．

　　Few countries have placed more importance on being well-behaved than Japan．The simplest requests for directions often result in guided tours．Smiling shopkeepers are still the rule．Lost wallets usually make their way back to their owners．

　　But according to recent surveys, all that may be going the way of the ancient hairdo(发式)．And Japan's government has gone into something of a crisis mode(危急时刻)．

　　A Japanese Education Ministry survey formed late in 1999 and made public last month found that Japan moves behind other nations in teaching youngsters right from wrong．

　　It also reported that Japanese children are less helpful and do far less housework than their foreign peers(同龄人)in all classes．But they are better about taking dirty dishes to the kitchen after dinner．

　　In addition, Japanese kids are more likely to dye their hair and carry cell phones than the American and Chinese kids, according to another survey by a Tokyo-based think-tank(专家小组)．

　　Children in about 9 percent of public school classrooms are so disorderly that teachers cannot hold lessons, further recent reports show．Children refuse to sit, to listen or to stop talking．

　　Older and middle-aged Japanese continue to have a solid sense of good manners and social justice, says Professor Yoshina Hirano from Shin'shu University, who was appointed to direct the ministry's survey．

　　Despite the knowledge of good manners among adults, the breakdown of manners may be spreading, he said．