阅读理解

　　If life seems more rushed than ever, you might be surprised to learn that we Americans don't have less leisure time than we did 40 years ago．We actually have more leisure time, and quite a bit more．What counts as leisure is up for argument, but under every definition the numbers have gone up．We get about 45 minutes a day of extra leisure．

　　Then why does it feel like we have so much less? It might be because we waste half of all our leisure time watching television．The average American adult devotes 2.5 hours a day to this hobby．And for every additional hour we get free, another 30 minutes goes into that boob tube(=TV)．So if you want more free time, I recommend one thing：turn it off．This is easier said than done, especially during the world series．

　　When I was growing up, my mom had one piece of advice for me, and she said it every single morning．'Get out of the house!' It's good advice．Come join the 6.8 million who are in a book club, or the 196,000 who attend pro beach volleyball, or the 680,000 who go to tractor pulls every month．There are even 3 million people who enjoy a sport called ‘muzzle loading,’ which involves shooting a gun that looks 200 years old．

　　And at the end of the day, there's a thing in your kitchen called a stove．Turn it on and invite people over．Only 38% of Americans entertain friends or family at home at least once a year．What were the other 62% of us doing? Getting a free meal, I suppose．We can do better, America．If we're going to watch so much television, can't we at least invite friends over to watch?

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阅读理解

　　In the United States, it is not customary to telephone someone very early in the morning．If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention．The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11∶00 p．m．If someone receives a call during sleeping hours , he assumes it's a matter of life or death．The time chosen for the call communicates its importance．

　　In social life, time plays a very important part．In the U．S．A．guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date．But it is not true in all countries．In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten．The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world．Thus, misunderstandings arise between people from cultures that treat time differently．Promptness is valued highly in American life, for example．If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible．In the U．S．no one would think of keeping a business associate waiting for an hour , it would be too impolite．A person who is 5 minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation, though perhaps he will not complete the sentence．

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　　A HOLIDAY jet pilot said that he would land and call the police after a woman refused to stop smoking．

　　He warned Maureen ,“Put that cigarette out, or I’ll land the plane and have you arrested．”

　　Maureen, 47, was so shocked she wrote to the airline’s chairman．But his reply was even ruder．

　　“You seem to think you have a God-given right to pollute your neighbors’ atmosphere,” wrote John Ferriday of Paramount Airways．

　　(a)Said Maureen,“I only found out about it when I was checking in．I’m a nervous flyer so I lit a cigarette during the flight．A stewardess asked me to put it out, but I said I wanted to carry on as there was no rule against smoking on the plane．”She was just finishing her cigarette when the pilot arrived．

　　(b) I have never seen such an unpleasant letter．She said,“I don’t think I’ll ever fly again．” But there was a funny side．Maureen explained,“We were offered duty-free cigarette from the stewardess on the plane!”

　　(c) Mr.Ferriday went on;“Believe me, you haven’t．Especially when you travel on my planes．”

　　(d)“He was loud and rude,” said Maureen．“He said if I lit another cigarette he would land the plane at Bordeaux and hand me to the French police．”

　　Maureen and her husband Michael were moved to Paramount flight just before they left Portugal．But they were not told of the company’ s no smoking policy．

　　Later, from her home in Birmingham, Maureen wrote to the company and received the rude reply．

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　　As Amy Hagadorn rounded the corner across the hall from her classroom, she collided with a tall boy from the fifth grade running in the opposite direction．

　　“Watch it, Squirt,” the boy yelled, as he moved quickly around the little third grader．Then, with a self-satisfied smile on his face, the boy took hold of his right leg and imitated the way Amy limped when she walked．

　　Amy closed her eyes for a moment．

　　‘Ignore him,’ she told herself as she headed for her classroom．

　　But at the end of the day, Amy was still thinking about the tall boy's mean teasing．It wasn't as if he were the only one．It seemed that ever since Amy started the third grade, someone teased her every single day．Kids teased her about her speech or her limping．Amy was tired of it．Sometimes, even in a classroom full of other students, the teasing made her feel all alone．

　　Back home at the dinner table that evening Amy was quiet．Her mother knew that things were not going well at school．That's why Patti Hagadorn was happy to have some exciting news to share with her daughter．

　　“There's a Christmas Wish Contest on the radio station,” Amy's mom announced．“Write a letter to Santa and you might win a prize．I think someone at this table with blond curly hair should enter．”

　　Amy giggled．The contest sounded like fun．She started thinking about what she wanted most for Christmas．

　　A smile took hold of Amy when the idea first came to her．Out came pencil and paper and Amy went to work on her letter．“Dear Santa Claus,” she began．

　　While Amy worked away at her best printing, the rest of the family tried to guess what she might ask from Santa．Amy's sister, Jamie, and Amy's mom both thought a 3-foot Barbie Doll would top Amy's wish list．Amy's dad guessed a picture book．But Amy wasn't ready to reveal her secret Christmas wish just then．Here is Amy's letter to Santa, just as she wrote it that night：Dear Santa Claus,

　　My name is Amy．I am 9 years old．I have a problem at school．Can you help me, Santa? Kids laugh at me because of the way I walk and run and talk．I have cerebral palsy．I just want one day where no one laughs at me or makes fun of me．

　　Love,

Amy

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阅读理解

Your mind like your body is a thing where the powers are developed by effort．This is a principal(主要的)use, as I see it, of hard work in studies．Unless you train your body you can’t be a good sportsman, and unless you train your mind you can’t be much of a scholar(学者)．The four miles a boatman covers at top speed is in itself nothing to the good, but the physical capacity(能力)to hold out over the distance is thought to be of some value．So a good part of what you learn by hard study may not be kept forever, and may not seem to be of much final value, but your mind is a better and more powerful instrument because you have learned it．“Knowledge is power”, but still more the ability of obtaining(获得)and using knowledge is power．If you have a trained and powerful mind, you are certain to have stored it with something and its value is more in what it can do, what it can grasp and use, than in what it contains; and if it were possible, as it is not, to come out of college with a trained mind and nothing useful in it, you would still be ahead, and still, in manner, educated．

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　　David Beckham was born in 1975 in London, at a place called Leytonstone．When he was a young boy, his greatest passion was in football．He played it whenever he had the chance．Sometimes he would go and watch a game with his friends．When David Beckham was 12 years old, he won the Bobby Charltion Soccer Skills award(奖金)．This was an important step forward for this young boy, and it led him to go for a visit to a football training camp in Spain．As a boy he played for schools of Essex and also for his county team．

　　In 1991, he became a trainee(受训练者)with Manchester United．This meant that he could practise football as much as he wanted to and play for the highly successful Manchester United Youth Cup team and Under-21 team．In April, 1995 he played his first football league game against Leeds United．During 1995 and 1996, David became a regular member of the team and Manchester United won in both football seasons, with David scoring many goals．

　　His goals made him a household name．In the first game of the 1996－1997 season, he scored an surprising goal from beyond the halfway line; seeing the goalkeeper a little way out of his goal, Beckham sent the ball over the goalkeeper’s head and into the goal．It was a wonderful goal and Beckham became famous overnight．He continued to score astonishing goals, especially from free-kicks．The speed of one of his shots was timed at 157kph．He also had the ability to make the ball go from left to right, or right to left, whenever he chose．Goalkeepers were never sure where the ball was going, and it regularly ended up in the goal．

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　　LEEDS, England－A Leeds University psychology(心理学)professor is teaching a course to help dozens of Britons forgive their enemies．

　　“The hate we hold within us is a cancer,”Professor Ken Hart said, adding that holding in anger can lead to problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease．

　　More than 70 people have become members in Hart’s first 20-week workshop in London－a course which he says is the first of its kind in the world．

　　These are people who are sick and tired of living with a memory．They realize their bitterness is a poison they think they can pour out, but they end up drinking it themselves, said Canadian-born Hart．

　　The students meet in groups of eight to ten for a two-hour workshop with an adviser every fortnight．

　　The course, ending in July, is expected to get rid of the cancer of hate in these people．“People have lots of negative attitudes towards forgiveness,”he said．“People confuse forgiveness with forgetting．Forgiveness means changing from a negative attitude to a positive one．”

　　Hart and his team have created instructions to provide the training needed．

　　“The main idea is to give you guidelines on how to look at various kinds of angers and how they affect you, and how to change your attitudes towards the person you are angry with,”said Norman Claringbull, a senior expert on the forgiveness project．

　　Hart said he believes forgiveness is a skill that can be taught, as these people“want to get free of the past”．

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It is easy to blame teachers, who many people feel are not willing to spend extra time with students in after-school activities．An angry parent exclaimed(呼喊),“When the bell rings, it is usual that teachers beat the kids out of classrooms．”However, teachers feel they are the victims of the system．They see parents as being too absorbed in jobs to take an interest in their children, and point to the influences(影响)of a society that permits drugs to be sold on street corners as the real cause of classroom problems．In addition, they think, many students are not taking advantage of education opportunities．They no longer believe that studying hard will lead to a good job and a better life．Teachers complain that they cannot teach students who come to class only when they feel like it．“If parents can’t force kids to go to school, then we can’t help．”While the form of other institutes(协会)in society－especially the family－is rapidly changing, the schools are still expected to uphold(确认，肯定)basic values and prepare students to play a meaningful role in society．If that society is a microcosm(缩影)of the larger society, and if that society has problems, its schools will have problems, too．Is it really the school’s fault that ‘Johnny can’t read’?”

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　　Celebrations spread across China when Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl, was given the right to host the 2010 World Expo on December 3．

　　Shanghai won the honor after beating rivals from Russia, Mexico, Poland and South Korea．

　　“I’m very proud of being Chinese,”said Wang Kaibo, a Senior 2 student of the Middle School Affiliated to Beijing Medical University．“The winning of the expo is a victory, not only for Shanghai residents, but for the people of the whole Chinese nation．”

　　Bidding for the expo shows that China is more confident of playing a more important role on the international stage．It’s competing for large events and the next one could be the World Cup, Wang said．

　　The World Expo 2010 and the 2008 Beijing Olympics will become the twin shining stars of China’s development over the next 10 years, said experts．

　　The World Expo is known as“Olympics of the economic, cultural, scientific and technological fields．”It is usually held every five years and lasts for six months．

　　The Olympics, World Cup and World Expo are considered three top international events in the world．

　　China is the first developing country to win the expo bid in the event’s 151－year history．

　　Not only will it attract more foreign investment to China, but experts say that the half－year－long exhibition will bring at least 70 million visitors to Shanghai．

　　The World Expo is a great event for different countries to exchange social, economic, cultural and scientific achievements, and also help to encourage new technology and ideas．

　　The expo was first held in London in 1851．It has a history of global influence．．

　　The Eiffel Tower, built during the Paris World Expo in 1889, became the symbol of the French capital．

　　Many historic inventions, such as the telephone and airplane, all made their first appearance at a World Expo．

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