The Gabon Viper is a snake that grows to two metres in length．It is black all over and as thick as a strong man’s arm．When angry, it barks like a dog and spits poison．It is one of nature’s most dangerous gifts to the world．Most people would prefer nature to keep gifts like that to itself．

　　Others think differently．They think that Gabon Vipers, along with other poisonous snakes, spiders and reptiles are perfect animal friends for their children．They believe that the neighbors will be envied if they keep a lion in the backyard．And they believe that no home is complete without a monkey or a parrot in a cage．That is why the trade in unusual pets is now worth over US ＄10 billion per year in spite of being illegal in most countries．

　　The serious effect of the trade is the damage it does to the natural environment．Hunters catch young parrots by cutting down the trees which the birds use to make nests in．Baby monkeys always stay close to their mothers．So the hunters simply shoot the mothers．

　　These facts are now well known, but the trade continues．It seems that the strong desire to keep pets has deep roots in the human mind．Some psychologists say that it is a way for people to get closer to nature．People keep cats and dogs as a kind of historical echo(仿效)of the days when dogs were used to control sheep and cats were kept in the home to hunt mice and rats．As technology moves society further away from the natural world, the desire to keep in touch with it grows stronger．Dogs and cats become boring．Only snakes, bears, lions and other dangerous creatures satisfy some people’s desire to get personal control over nature．

　　This is why there are now more tigers kept as pets in the United States than there are living naturally in the world．One result of this is an increase in attacks on humans．According to a report, there is more chance of a child being killed by a Bengal Tiger in Texas than there is in Bengal．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　Berlin：At nine most mornings the same scene is repeated in office buildings around the world．An employee walks into the elevator with his boss and apart from a mumbled “good morning” the junior is lost for other words．That’s an opportunity missed, says experts, who believe that such an apparently dull 30－second conversation can be invaluable for those who want to climb the career ladder．

　　“Small talk can help establish a relationship upon which you can build,” says Dusseldorf communication advisor Thorsten Knobble, whose company customize curriculum vitas and job references．

　　As a matter of fact, the significance of small talk goes far beyond the relationship to one’s boss．People who fail the art of speaking a lot without actually saying anything find it harder to cultivate relationships in the workplace, believes Ulrich Goldschmidt, director of the senior management association VDF Essen “Small talk is an essential part of networking,” he says．

　　Virtually every conversation begins and ends with small talk, according to Wolf Lasko, who has written a book on the topic and its bearing on career prospects．

　　Not everyone is good at small talk．It takes skill to pick the right moment and the right topic with which to start a conversation．There are plenty of topics although some are not suitable for informal chat．“Anything to do with sex is taboo, cautions Knobble．“Care is needed with politics, religion, money and health．”Safe topics include the holidays, the movies, or sports．

(1)

(2)

(3)

　　Culture is the sum total of all the traditions, customs, belief, and way of life of a given group of human beings．In this sense, every group has a culture, however primitive, undeveloped, or uncivilized, it may seem to us．

　　To the professional anthropologist(人类学家)，there is no superiority of one culture over another, just as to the professional linguist(语言学家)there is no higher or lower grades among languages．

　　People once thought of the languages of backward groups as undeveloped form of speech, consisting largely of rough and simple sounds．While it is possible that language in general began as a series of simple sounds, it is a fact established by the study of “backward” languages that no spoken tongue answers that description today．Most languages of uncivilized groups are, by our most severe standards, extremely complex delicate pieces of machinery for the transfer of ideas．They fall behind our western languages not in their sound pattern or grammatical structures, which reflects the objects and activities known to their speakers．Even in this department, however, two things are to be noted：1．All languages seem to possess the machinery for vocabulary expansion, either by putting together words already in existence or by borrowing them from other languages and adapting them to their own system．2．The objects and activities requiring names and distinctions in “backward” languages, while different from ours, are often surprisingly numerous and complicated．

　　This study of language in turn casts a new light upon the claim of the anthropologists that all cultures are to be viewed independently and without ideas of rank or grade．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　My grandfather worked as a carpenter．On this particular day, he was building some crates(木箱)for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage(孤儿院)in Brazil．On his way home, he found his glasses were gone．When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realized what happened．The glasses had slipped out of his pocket and fallen into one of the crates．His new glasses were heading for Brazil!

　　The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children．He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning．

　　“It’s not fair,” he thought as he walked home angrily．“I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to my work, and now this．”

　　Several months later, the director of the orphanage came to the United States．He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to my grandfather’s small church in Chicago．

　　He began by thanking the people for their kindness in supporting the orphanage．“But most of all, he said, ”I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year．You see, some people had just come to the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses．I was desperate．Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses．Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my coworkers and I were very worried about this．Then your crates arrived．When I removed the covers, I found a pair of glasses lying on top．”

　　He paused long enough to let his words sink in．Then, he continued：“When I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been made just for me!I want to thank you for being a part of that!”

　　The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses．But they thought it was strange because there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas．

　　Sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, my grandfather, an ordinary carpenter realized his glasses had found a good place to go．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Anthropologists are scientists that study people who often lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago．Items those men, women, and children left behind when they died－everything from clothing to jewellry and tools－tell anthropologists a lot．And sometimes even their words survive．

　　Experts believe that a discovery in Mexico is the oldest example of writing ever found in the Americas．The people who created it probably lived 3,000 years ago, long before Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World．

　　Workers digging in a rock mine happened to notice a stone block with marks carved onto its surface．They found the large piece of stone near the city of Cascajal, Mexico, which was once the capital of an ancient people called the Ohnec．

　　“There are signs on the block that seem to show objects used by the Olmec during their religious ceremonies,”says Dr．Stephen Houston, of Brown University in the USA．

　　“There is a sign that looks very similar to a knife and another that looks like the chair of a King,”he explains．

　　Houston, an expert on the writing systems of ancient cultures, says the discovery is exciting because“it makes clear that the Olmec could read and write．It is like hearing voices from the past．”

　　But experts don't know exactly what the writing says．Finding other examples of Olmec writing could help decipher the puzzle．

　　“We could have whole sets of ancient writing which will basically make ancient people speak to us directly,”says Houston．“There are many puzzles to be solved, and this is just one of them．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　A serious problem for today's society．is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives．It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society．I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem．

　　First, employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees．To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose．But when a company must take life-long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs．

　　Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility, to the individual．This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement．This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years．This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor．

　　In addition, the government could take responsibility for the．care of the elderly．This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions．Furthermore, some in-stitution should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them．Unfortunately, as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer．The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young．

　　One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish Some working places especially for the elderly where they are independent．

　　To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages．Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Ellen and Bill County are both teachers．They met in college and became good friends because of their shared love for children．Two years after the couple got married, Ellen saw a huge change in the life of one of her students, a 9-year-old girl．Three years earlier both of the little girl's parents had died：and there was no One to take care of her．She was taken away to live in a government office．But finally she was taken in and adopted by a family and became their daughter．Ellen said that she noticed the difference in the child's life after she was placed in a pennanent home and thought that maybe she and her husband could help a child in a similar way．

　　They decided to become temporary parents and to take a child into their home on the weekends when the real parents could not take care of him or her．The pair planned to have their own children in a few years, but decided that this would be a way to give to the community in the meantime．

　　The couple quickly grew to love one of the children they looked after．When he became legally available, Billy became the first child they took in permanently．Six months after adopting Billy, Ellen was told by her doctor that she was unable to have children naturally．Ellen says she knew then that adoption was the way she was meant to have a family．

　　Since adopting Billy, now 17, Ellen and Bill have adopted five more children－Rose, 16; Albert, 11; Joshua, 5 and in June 2003, they added biological brother and sister Tyler and Rylee to the County family．

　　The County family has been recognized for their work on adoption, and has received many awards for their efforts．Last June, the family was even interviewed on the television show,“Adoption Stories”．

　　Ellen says she would like to encourage other families to adopt children．She adds that the best part of being a mother of six is：“Giving Josh a bath, putting a band-aid on a cut knee or just the everyday Mom things, that makes motherhood such an honor and a privilege．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　The storm did cause some problems for homeowners in the nearby area of Adams Beach．Electricity to 21,000 houses and businesses was cut off, and there was minor flooding in neighborhoods．However, this was a small problem in comparison to the normal power outages(停电期间)that occur during a hurricane．

　　Although tropical storms are not as severe as hurricanes, it’s very important to take safety measures．Lightning is a very serious concern, so people should stay inside their homes during a storm．Also, rubbish and dangerous objects may get swept into a flood, so it’s best to remain on high ground or out of the water in case a flood occurs．Folks trapped in hurricanes or severe storms should also stay away from windows．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　There was once an 11-year-old boy who went fishing every time he went to an island in the middle of a New Hampshire lake．

　　On the day before bass(巴斯鱼)season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening, catching other fish with worms．Then he tied on a small silver lure(鱼饵)and put it into the lake．Suddenly the boy felt something very big pulling on the lure．His father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully brought the fish beside the bank．Finally he lifted the tired fish from the water．It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it was a bass．

　　The boy and his father looked at the big fish．The father lit a match and looked at his watch．It was 10 pm－two hours before the season opened．He looked at the fish, then at the boy．“You’ll have to put it back, son,” he said．

　　“Dad!”cried the boy．“There will be other fish,” said his father．“Not as big as this one,” cried the boy．He looked around the lake．No other fishermen or boats could be seen in the moonlight．He looked again at his father．

　　Even though no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he had caught the fish, the boy could tell from his father’s voice that the decision couldn’t be changed．He threw the huge bass into the black water．

　　The big fish disappeared．The boy thought that he would never again see such a big fish．

　　That was 34 years ago．Today the boy is a successful architect in New York City．He often takes his own son and daughters to fish at the same place．

　　And he was right．He has never again caught such a large fish as the one he got that night long ago．But he does see that same fish ..．again and again…．every time he has an ethical(道德的)decision to make．For, as his father had taught him, ethics are simple matters of right and wrong．It is only the practice of ethics that is difficult．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

laughing．She walked softly to her garden．The moon was shining brightly on the lily bed, and the flowers were swaying from side to side．The old woman looked closely and she saw, standing by each lily, a little Fairy mother who was singing and rocking the flower like a cradle, while in each lily trumpet lay a little Fairy baby laughing and playing．

　　The good old woman went quietly back to her house, and from that time on she never picked a lily, nor did she allow her neighbors to touch the flowers．

　　The day came when the good old woman died, and the lily-bed was torn up, other plants were planted there, but they all withered(凋谢)，and from that time on nothing would grow there．But the good old woman’s grave grew beautiful, for the Fairies sang above it, and kept it green; while on the grave and all around it there sprang up lilies, tulips, violets, and other lovely flowers of spring．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)