阅读理解

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　Experience the newly opened Grand Canyon(大峡谷)West Skywalk in Colorado．Departing from Grand Canyon’s South Rim by Airplane to Grand Canyon’s West Rim, you will land and take a ground tour to the Skywalk! Walk on air for 70 feet over the edge of Grand Canyon West．

　　This Skywalk has been open since March 28, 2007．Daily visitorship to the Skywalk has been over 4,000 people．Please be patient to enjoy your moment on the Skywalk．

　　After you have experienced the one and only Grand Canyon Skywalk Glass Bridge, you will return to the Grand Canyon West Airport and take your Airplane for a flight back to the South Rim of the Canyon．This is a tour never to be forgotten as you will have walked on air over the Grand Canyon．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Professor Barry Wellman of the University of Toronto in Canada has invented a term to describe the way many North Americans interact(互动)these days．The term is “networked individualism”．This concept is not easy to understand because the words seem to have opposite meanings．How can we be individuals(个体)and be networked at the same time? You need other people for networks．

　　Here is what Professor Wellman means．Before the invention of the Internet and e-mail, our social networks included live interactions with relatives, neighbors, and friends．Some of the interaction was by phone, but it was still voice to voice, person to person, in real time．

　　A recent research study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that for a lot of people, electronic interaction through the computer has replaced this person-to- person interaction．However, a lot of people interviewed for the Pew study say that’s a good thing．Why?

　　In the past, many people were worried that the Internet isolated(孤立)us and caused us to spend too much time in the imaginary world of the computer．But the Pew study discovered that the opposite is true．The Internet connects us with more real people than expected － helpful people who can give advice on careers, medical problems, raising children, and choosing a school or college．About 60 million Americans told Pew that the Internet plays an important role in helping them make major life decisions．

　　Thanks to the computer, we are able to be alone and together with other people －at the same time!

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Su Hua is studying at Cambridge, UK．She has bought a bicycle and is worried about security(安全)．Her friend, Kate, found this article and sent it to her．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world．Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will changes the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play．

　　Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down．We cannot be the last generation to have that place．At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes．“If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment(蚕食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods．

　　Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives．That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive(认知的)skills．Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents－and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters(培养)leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest．Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child．The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world．A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes．We really need to value that more．

　　Kids are not to blame．They are over-protected and frightened．It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite(仪式)of passage．

　　Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement(增强)love, respect and need for landscape．As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature．This could yet be our greatest cause．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　In 2005, the American artist Richard Prince’s photograph of a photograph, Untitled(Cowboy), was sold for $ 1, 248, 000．

　　Prince is certainly not the only contemporary artist to have worked with so-called “found photographs”－a loose term given to everything from discarded(丢弃的)prints discovered in a junk shop to old advertisements or amateur photographs from a stranger’s family album．The German artist Joachim Schmid, who believes “basically everything is worth looking at”, has gathered discarded photographs, postcards and newspaper images since 1982．In his on-going project, Archiv, he groups photographs of family life according to themes： people with dogs; teams; new cars; dinner with the family; and so on．

　　Like Schmid, the editors of several self-published art magazines also champion(捍卫)found photographs．One of them, called simply Found, was born one snowy night in Chicago, when Davy Rothbard returned to his car to find under his wiper(雨刷)an angry note intended for some else： “Why’s your car HERE at HER place?” The note became the starting point for Rothbard’s addictive publication, which features found photographs sent in by readers, such a poster discovered in our drawer．

　　The whole found-photograph phenomenon has raised some questions．Perhaps one of the most difficult is： can these images really be considered as art? And if so, whose art? Yet found photographs produced by artists, such Richard Prince, may riding his horse hurriedly to meet someone? Or how did Prince create this photograph? It’s anyone’s guess．In addition, as we imagine the back-story to the people in the found photographs artists, like Schmid, have collated(整理), we also turn toward our own photographic albums．Why is memory so important to us? Why do we all seek to freeze in time the faces of our children, our parents, our lovers, and ourselves? Will they mean anything to anyone after we’ve gone?

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　In June, 2007, a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg, the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province, will begin test-launching(试发射)a satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube．

　　The one-kilogram Win-Cub satellite, named for its home city and its shape, will be put into low orbit．Once in space, it can perform for a few months or up to several years, communicating information that could help find the signs of earthquakes．

There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide, but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada．30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite, in cooperation with aerospace(航空航天的)experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba, and with support from two other organizations．

　　The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper; it is real-world engineering, allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program．It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba．Designing, building and launching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space．

　　“These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation(创新), and a strong love for discovery,” said Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjomson．“We want to make science more relevant(相关的), interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or, in this case, in space,” Bjomson added．

　　The Win-Cube program is mainly named at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students．It also shows Manitoba’s devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce－all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　lmagine you’re at a party full of strangers．You’re nervous．Who are these people? How do you start a conversation? Fortunately, you’ve got a thing that sends out energy at tiny chips in everyone’s name tag(标签)．The chips send back name, job, hobbies, and the time available for meeting-whatever．Making new friends becomes simple．

　　This hasn’t quite happened in real life．But the world is already experiencing a revolution using RFID technology．

　　An RFID tag with a tiny ehip can be fixed in a produet, under your pet’s skin, even under your own skin．Passive RFID tags have no energy source-batteries because they do not need it．The energy comes from the reader, a scanning device(装置), that sends out energy(for example, radio waves)that starts up the tag immediately．

　　Such a tag carries information speeific to that object, and the data can be updated．Already, RFID technology is used for recognizing each car or truck on the road and it might appear in your passport．Doctors can put a tiny chip under the skin that will help locate and obtain a patient’s medical records．At a nightclub in Paris or in New York the same chip gets you into the VIP(very important person)section and pays for the bill with the wave of an arm．

　　Take a step back：10 or 12 years ago, you would have heard about the coming age of computing．One example always seemed to surfact： Your refrigerator would know when you needed to buy more milk．The comcept was that computer chips could be put everywhere and send information in a smart network that would make ordinary life simpler．

　　RFID tags are a small part of this phenomenon．“The world is going to be a loosely coupled set of individual small devices, connected wirelessly, ”predicts Dr．J．Reich．Human right supporters are nervous about the possibilities of such technology．It goes too far tracking school kids through RFID tags, they say．We imagine a world in which a beer company could find out not only when you bought a beer but also when you drank it．And how many beers．Accompanied by how many biscuits．

　　When Marconi invented radio, he thought it would be used for ship-to-shore communication．Not for pop music．Who knows how RFID and related technologres will be used in the future．Here’s a wild guess：Not for buying milk．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy peopke and finally found out ten factors that make a difference．Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes．However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two．

　　Money can buy a degree of happiness．But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference．

　　Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier．But the link between money and happiness is complex．In the past half-century, average income has sharply inereased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same．Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues．

　　“Dollars buy status, and status makes people feel better, ” conclude some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways-scientists or actors, for example-may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs．

In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires-not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health-rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap(差距)．Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone．“The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income．”says Michalos．

　　Another factor that has to do with happiness is age．Old age may not be so bad“Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?”asks Protessor Laura Carstensen．

　　In one survey, Carstensen in tervicwed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotions questionnaire．She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people, Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic abour their time running out, older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t．

　　“People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever, ” she says．“A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)