阅读理解

　　Sometimes life gets a little dull．What used to be fun and different becomes boring．That is the time to look for something new．It is the time for a big idea to get your mind off everyday life．So why not search for extra－terrestrial(外星的)intelligence? Or even better ,why not get your computer to do it for you?

　　Over two million people have joined the Search for Extra－terrestrial Intelligence(SETI) project．Based in California, the SETI project analyses information taken from a giant radio telescope based in South America．Its task is to look for signals from outer space that might prove that life exists on other planets．

　　Processing this information is far too big a job for one computer．So the SETI project workers divide the work among volunteers who visit their website ．Each computer gets some information to work out from the SETI network through the Internet．This process is often known as “ metacomputing ”．

　　It is a wonderful thought．You are sleeping．, eating a meal or going out with friends．All this time, your computer is searching the stars for signs that might show something is out there trying to get in touch ．Volunteers are proud of being involved in the SETI project．It shows that they understand the potential of computing．The know that it is more than just a way of working or playing games．

　　Metacomputing may also be creating intelligence as well as looking for it．This idea is based on the theory that human intelligence is created by the way in which different parts of the brain communicate with each other．As the saying goes, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts．” People who join the SETI project sometimes wonder whether their computer will become part of a huge network that has learned to think for itself．

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　　According to estimates(估计)from the airlines , around one quarter of all air travelers like to experience new cultures, meet interesting people and sell their things．Sales is a truly international kind of work．We met John at a hotel in Beijing．But he could have been anywhere ．He told us some trade secrets．How did he start?

　　“My dad said that he ‘talked for a living’－and to me that seemed better than getting a proper job．If you have sticking power and tend to be able to persuade people to do what you want them to do ,you can succeed ．Around 75% of the job is about psychology．” John says．

　　John has some clear advice for people wanting to start．“Once the process is understood ,most people can do it ．The job description is ‘problem solver’ ．First find out what the problem is ．Then make the customer believe that it exists and make sure that they would like it solved ．Now deliver a solution．”

　　“We have two ears and one mouth ．To do this job we have to use them properly．Only by listening ,asking ,listening and asking again can you truly determine the problem．Delivering the solution is then simple．”

　　It can be a lonely life ．There is a lot of time spent in hotel rooms in strange cities, waiting for people you don’t know to refuse to listen to you．“To succeed in this environment takes patience and self－belief,” says John．“You have to believe that nine times out of ten you will hear the word ‘no’ ．All these rejections are steps on the ways to the word ‘yes’．”

　　If you can buy that ,then what will people buy from you?

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　　Julio loves to visit his grandmother．He doesn’t get to visit her very often because his family lives in a city that is six hours away．His grandmother lives in a big wooden house on a farm ．It is old and looks as if it has secret hiding places．

　　On the third Sunday of June ,Julio’s parents took him to his grandmother’s ．Since it was summer vacation ,he was going to stay at grandmother’s for a whole month! His cousins Mario and Linda would soon be arriving．They would also be staying at their grandmother’s this summer．

　　A big porch(走廊)wraps around two sides of the house ．Julio sat in the porch swing．He could see the trees that circle the house．They had been planted as a windbreak．They protect the house from the wind and blowing dirt ．The house is in the middle of a large, flat field．

　　Julio watched the dirt road that leads to the house ．He couldn’t wait for his cousins to get there !Mario was his age ,and Linda was a year younger ．They had fun together ．Last summer they spent one whole morning making a fort out of sacks of seed．Then Uncle Henry had taken them on a tractor ride．

　　Julio remembered another time with his cousins．They had gone out to explode the fields．Julio touched an electric fence and got a shock ．Then they found an old snakeskin．Nothing like that ever happened at his own home!

　　Julio could smell the dinner that his grandmother was cooking．It made him hungry．

　　Finally he saw a cloud of dust coming up the road．“They’re here! They’re here!” He shouted．

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　　Cars!!! holidays! thousands of prizes ! hurry ! Free with every packet of splash! your personal lucky number!．

　　Will be among the 500,000 winners! Use splash for the softest quickest whitest wash! Don’t delay buy a packet today!．

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　　The two things－snow and mountains－which are needed for a ski area are the two things that cause avalanches, large mass of snow and ice crushing down the side of a mountain－often called “White Death．”

　　It was the threat of the avalanche and its record as a killer of man in the western mountains that created the snow ranger．He first started on avalanche control work in the winter of 1937 －38 at Alta, Utah, in Wasatch National Forest．

　　This mountain valley was becoming well known to skiers．It was dangerous．In fact, more than 120 persons had lost their lives in 1936 and another 200 died in 1937 as a result of avalanches before it became a major ski area．Thus, development of Alta and other major ski resorts in the west was dependent upon controlling the avalanche．The Forest Service set out to do it, and did, with its corps of snow rangers．It takes many things to make a snow ranger．The snow ranger must be in excellent physical condition．He must be a good skier and a skilled mountain climber He should have at least a high school education, and the more college courses in geology, physics, and related fields he has, the better．

　　He studies snow, terrain, wind, and weather．He learns the conditions that produce avalanches．He learns to forecast avalanches and to bring them roaring on down the mountainsides to reduce their killing strength．The snow ranger learns to do this by using artillery, by blasting with TNT, and by the difficult and skillful art of skiing avalanches down．

　　The snow ranger, dressed in a green parka which has a bright yellow shoulder patch, means safety for people on ski slopes．He pulls the trigger on a 75 mm．Recoilless rifle, skis waist deep in powder testing snow stability, or talks with the ski area’s operator as he goes about his work to protect the public from the hazards of deep snow on steep mountain slopes．

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　　Long before the white man came to America, the land belonged to the American Indian nations．The nation of the Cherokees lived in what is now the southeastern part of the United States．After the white man came, the Cherokees copied many of their ways．One Cherokee named Sequoyah saw how important reading and writing was to the white man．He decided to invent a way to write down the spoken Cherokee language．He began by making word pictures．For each word he drew a picture．But that proved impossible－there were just too many words．Then he took the 85 sounds that made up the language．Using his own imagination and an English spelling book, Sequoyah invented a sign for each sound．His alphabet proved amazingly easy to learn．Before long, many Cherokees knew how to read and write in their own language．By 1828, they were even printing their own newspaper．

　　In 1830, the U．S．Congress passed a law．It allowed the government to remove Indians from their lands．The Cherokees refused to go．They had lived on their lands for centuries．It belonged to them．Why should they go to a strange land far beyond the Mississippi River?．

　　The army was sent to drive the Cherokees out．Soldiers surrounded their villages and marched them at gunpoint into the western territory．The sick, the old and the small children went in carts, along with their belongings．The rest of the people marched on foot or rode on horseback．It was November, yet many of them still wore their summer clothes．Cold and hungry, the Cherokees were quickly exhausted by the hardships of the journey．Many dropped dead and were buried by the roadside．When the last group arrived in their new home in March 1839, more than 4,000 had died．It was indeed a march of death．

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　　Rescuers have found the bodies of over 130 people killed in two ferry disasters in Bangladesh．The accidents happened during a storm that hit the country on April 21．Hundreds more are missing or feared dead．

　　The two ferries sank in different rivers near the capital city of Dhakfi as strong winds and rain hit the South Asian country．The government has since banned all ferries and other boats from traveling at night during the April－May stormy season．One of the ferries，MV Mitali，was carrying far more people than it was supposed to．About 400 passengers fitted into a space made for just 300，police said．The second ferry carried about 100 passengers．

　　“The number of deaths is certain to rise．”said an official in charge of the rescue work．“No one really knows how many people were on board the ferry or how many of them survived．” Ferries in Bangladesh don’t always keep passenger lists，making it difficult to determine the exact number of people on board．Besides the ferry accidents，at least 40 people were killed and 400 injured by lightning strikes．falling houses and trees and the sinking of small boats．Storms are common this time of year in Bangladesh，as are boating accidents．Ferry disasters take away hundreds of lives every year in a nation of 130 million people．Officials blame these river accidents on a lack of safety measures, too many passengers in boats and not enough checks on weather conditions．Ferries are a common means of transport in Bangladesh．It is a country covered by about 230 rivers．Some 20,000 ferries use the nation’s Waterways every year．And many of them are dangerously overcrowded．Since 1977, more than 3,000 people have died in some 260 boating accidents．

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　　A study published in September suggests there is a surprising way to get people to avoid unhealthy foods: change their memories．Scientist Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California at Irvine asked volunteers to answer some questions on their personalities (个性) and food experiences．“One week later,” Loftus says, “we told those people we'd fed their answers into our smart computer and it came up with an account of their early childhood experiences．” Some accounts included one key additional detail (细节)．“You got sick after eating strawberry ice-cream．” The researchers then changed this detail into a manufactured (人为促成的) memory through leading questions --- Who were you with? How did you feel? By the end of the study, up to 41% of those given a false memory believed strawberry ice-cream once made them sick, and many said they'd avoid eating it．

　　When Loftus published her findings, she started getting calls from people begging her to make them remember hating chocolate or French fries．Unfortunately, it's not that easy．False memories appear to work only for foods you don't eat on a regular basis．But most important, it is likely that false memories can be implanted (灌输) only in people who are unaware of the mental control．And lying to a patient is immoral, even if a doctor believes it's for the patient's benefit．

　　Loftus says there's nothing to stop parents from trying it with their overweight children．“I say, wake up --- parents have been lying about Father Christmas for years, and nobody seems to mind If they can prevent diseases caused by fatness and all the other problems that come with that, you might think that's more moral lie．Decide that for yourself．”

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　　While parents, particularly mothers, have always been attached to their infants (婴儿), societal conditions frequently made this attachment difficult to maintain (保持)．First of all, the high infant death rate in the premodern times meant that such attachments often ended in hopelessness．Perhaps to prevent the sadness that infant death caused, a number of societal practices developed which worked against early attachment of mother and child．

　　One of these premodern attachment-discouraging practices was to leave infants unnamed until they had survived into the second year．Another practice that discouraged maternal (母亲的) attachment was tightly wrapping (包裹) infants．Wrapping effectively prevented the close physical interactions like stroking (抚摸) and kissing that are so much a part of modern mothers' and fathers' affection for their infants．

　　A third practice which had the same distancing effect was wet-nursing．Breast-feeding (母乳哺育) was not popular among the well-to-do in the early modern times; infants were often fed by wet nurses hired for the purpose．In some places, such as nineteenth-century France, city infants were sent to wet nurses in the country．Often a wet nurse would feed her own child first, leaving little for the city infant - who, in many case, died In Rouen, the death rate for children sent to a wet nurse was 35 percent．

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　　Why I Don't Spare “Spare Change”

　　“Poor but honest．” “The deserving (值得帮助的) poor．” These words always come to my mind when I think of “the poor．” But I also think of people who, perhaps through alcohol (酒) or drugs, have ruined not only their own lives but also the lives of others in order to give way to their own pleasure．Perhaps alcoholism and drug addiction (上瘾) really are “diseases,” as many people say, but my own feeling --- based Of course, not on any serious study --- is that most alcoholics and drug addicts belong to the “undeserving poor．” And that is largely why I don't give spare change to beggars．

　　But surely among the street people there are also some who can rightly be called “deserving．” Deserving what? My spare change? Or simply the government's assistance? It happens that I have been brought up to believe that it is proper to make contributions to charity (慈善机构), but if I give some change to a beggar, am I making a contribution to charity and thereby helping someone, or, am I perhaps simply encouraging someone not to get help? Or, maybe even worse, am I supporting a cheat?

　　If one believes in the value of private charity, one can either give to needy people or to charitable organizations．In giving to a beggar one may indeed be helping a person who badly needs help, but one cannot be certain that one is giving to a needy person．In giving to an organization, on the other hand, one can feel that one's money is likely to be used wisely．True, facing a beggar one may feel that this particular unfortunate person needs help at this moment --- a cup of coffee or a sandwich --- and the need will not be met unless I put my hand in my pocket right now．But I have come to think that the beggars whom I meet can get along without my spare change, and indeed perhaps they are actually better off for not having money to buy alcohol or drugs．

　　I know nothing about these beggars, but it's my impression that they simply prefer begging to working．I am not generalizing about street people．I am talking about the about whom I acturally meet．That's why I do not give “spare change,” and I don't think I will in the future．

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