Around the world more and more people are taking part in dangerous sports and activities．Of course, there have always been people who have looked for adventure-those who have climbed the highest mountains, traveled into unknown parts of the world or sailed in small boats across the greatest oceans．Now, however, there are people who look for an immediate excitement from a risky activity, which may only last a few minutes or even seconds．

　　Bungee jumping is a good example of such an activity．You jump from a high place(perhaps a bridge or a hot air ballon)200 meters above the ground with an elastic(皮筋)tied to your ankles(脚踝)．You fall at up to 150 kilometers an hour until the rope stops you from hitting the ground．It is said that about 2 million people around the world have now tried bungee jumping．Other activities which most people would say as risky a bungee jumping include jumping from tall buildings and diving into the sea from the top of high cliffs(悬崖)．

　　Why do people take part in such activities as these?Some psychologists(心理学家)suggest that it is because life in modern societies has become safe and boring．Long ago, people’s lives were constantly in danger．They had to go out and hunt for food; diseases could not easily be cured and life was a continuous battle for survival．

　　Nowadays, according to many people, life offers little excitement．They live and work in comparatively safe condition; they buy food in shops; and there are doctors and hospitals to look after them if they become ill．The answer for some of these people is to look for danger in activities such as bungee jumping．

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　　Let us say there is something you don’t know how to do．

　　In the past if you were determined to learn, you might have called a friend or relative, taken a night class or walked down to the local library for a research term．But now a large number of websites(网站)are growing quickly to provide free practical advice on these subjects and actually anything else you can think of．

　　In one sense, these “how-to” sites represent(表明)a part of the growing world of online learning．This tradition found one of its earliest forms in the FAQs(Frequently Asked Questions files(档案)that began on Usenet, the Internet’s global discussion group．These FAQs, many of which still spread, tool a specific subject subject-and explained it to complete novices．

　　But “how-to” sites take the FAQ idea in somewhat different forum(论坛)．These sites take the style of a written tutorial(辅导课)and a tone of friendly advice．Possibly the biggest and best known of these sites is learn 2.com(www.learn 2.com)．It offers neaely 1,000 free tutorials and adds new ones frequently for a job interview．

　　At ehow, com(www.ehow.com)you can learn how to train for your marathon, how to buy a vacation home, or how to make a film in eight steps, etc．

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　　A baby penguin(企鹅)is thought to have been stolen from a zoo as a Christmas gift．

　　Toga, a three-month-old penguin, was stolen from a zoo in southern England on Saturday, December 17．

　　The manager of the zoo, Kath Bright, said the bird, who lived with his parents and four other penguins, would probably die of malnutrition(营养不良)if not returned soon．“Toga is a baby penguin．He is still being fed by his parents and we don’t believe he can live more that five days,” she said．“He has already been missing for around three days．If he isn’t returned before Thursday, he is likely to become so ill that it would be hard to save him．”

　　“The brown and white penguin will bite if frightened and refuses to be fed by human beings,” Bright said．“This is because Toga is so young．”

　　It was said that a thief climbed into the zoo and carried Toga away．

　　“We can’t understand what may have been going through the thief’s head, and we are worried that someone would give the penguin as a Christmas gift,” she added．“Many people have seen the film March of the Penguin．Perhaps someone saw the film and asked her husband or boyfriend to buy one as a Christmas gift．”

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　　Mrs Young was eighty．Her husband died when she was fifty-three and he left her an old can he had had for six years．She learned to drive and loved very much．She liked driving very fast, and was proud of the fact that she had never been caught for a driving offence(违章)．

　　Then one day she nearly lost her record．A police car followed her, and the policeman in it saw her pass a red light without stopping and she was taken before a judge．The man looked at her and said that she was too old to drive a car, and the reason why she had not stopped at the red light was mostly probably that her eyes had become weak with old age, so that she had simply not seen it．

　　When the judge had finished what he was saying, Mrs Young opened her handbag she was carrying and took out her sewing．Without saying a word, she chose a needle with a very small eye, and threaded it at her first try．

　　When she has finished it, she took the thread out of the needle again and handed both he needle and thread to the judge, saying, “Now it’s your turn．I suppose you drive a car, and that your eyesight is good．”

　　The judge took the needle and tried to thread it．After trying six times, he had still not done it．At last he had to set the old woman free and her record remained unbroken．

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阅读理解

　　Sometimes people add to what they say even when they don’t talk．Gestures are the “silent language” of every culture．We point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to day．It is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood．

　　In the United State, people greet each other with a handshake in a formal introduction．The handshake must be firm．If the handshake is weak, it is a sign of weakness or unfriendiness．Friends may place a hand on the other’s arm or shoulder．Some people, usually women, greet a friend with a hug．

　　Americans like to look at the other person in the eyes when they are talking．If you don’t do so, it means you are bored, hiding something, or are not interested．But when you stare at someone, it is not polite．

　　For Americans, thumbs-up means yes, very good, or well done．Thumbs-down means the opposite．To call a waiter, raise one hand to head level or above．To show you want the check, make a movement with your hands as if you are signing a piece of paper．It is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger．Americans shake their index finger at children when they scold them and pat them on the head when they admire them．

　　Learning a culture’s body language is sometimes confusing．If you don’t know what to do, the safest thing to do is to smile．

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　　“I’ve changed my mind．I wanted to have a telescope, but now I want my daddy back．” Lucien Lawrence’s letter to Father Christmas written after his schoolteacher father had been knifed to death outside his school gate, must have touched every heart．Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn’t see the stars in the sky．When those whom we love depart from us, e cannot see the stars for a while．

　　But Lucien, the stars are still there, and one day, when you are older and your tears have gone, you will see them again．And, in a strange way, I expect that you will find your father is there too, in your mind and in your heart．I find that my parents, long dead now, still figure in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than I ever did when they were alive．I still live to please them and I’m still surprised by their reactions．I remember that when I became a professor, I was so proud, or rather so pleased with myself, that I couldn’t wait to cable my parents．The reply was a long time in coming, but when it did, all Mother said was “I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children!” I haven’t forgotten．The values of my parents still live on．

　　It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care．Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence have been to face the aggressors(挑衅者)，and to lay down my life for those in my care?How many people would want me back for Christmas?It’s a serious thought, one to give my pause．

　　I pray silently, something, in the dead of night, that ancient cry of a poet “Deliver my soul from the sword(剑)，and my darling from the power of the dog．” Yet I know that death comes to us all, and sometimes comes suddenly．We must therefore plan not to live forever, but live as if we will die tomorrow．We live on, I’m sure, in the lives of those we loved, and therefore we ought to have to care for what they will remember and what they will treasure．If more parents knew this in their hearts to be true, there might be fewer knives on our streets today．

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　　Having reached the highest point of our route according to plan, we discovered something the map had not told us．It was impossible to climb down into the Kingo valley．The river lay deep between mountain sides that were almost vertical(垂直)．We couldn’t find any animal tracks, which usually show the best way across country, and the slopes were covered so thickly with bushes that we could not see the nature of the ground．We had somehow to bread through to the river which would give us our direction out of the mountains into he inhabited lowlands．

　　Our guide cut a narrow path through the bushes with his long knife and we followed in single file．Progress was slow．Then, when we thought we had really reached the river, we found ourselves instead on the edge of a cliff with a straight drop of 1,000 feet to the water below．We climbed back up the slope and began to look for another way down．We climbed slipped, sweated and scratched our hands to pieces and finally arrived at the river．Happily we came downhill along its bank without having to cut our way．However, after a few miles the river entered a steep-side gap between rocks and suddenly dropped thirty-five feet over a waterfall．there was no path alongside it and no way round it．

　　Then one of the guides saw a way of overcoming the difficulty．There was a fallen tree lying upside down over the waterfall with its leafy top resting on the opposite bank below the falls．Without hesitation he climbed down the slippery trunk to show us how easy it was．Having got to the fork of the tree, he moved hand over hand along a branch for four or five feet with his legs hanging in space, then he dropped onto the flat bank the other side, throwing his arms in the air like a footballer who has scored goal, and cheerfully waving us on．

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Sheffield

Lincoln College of English

　　Classes for foreign students at all levels．

　　3 months, 6 months, 9 months and one year course．

　　Open all year．

　　Small class(maximum 12 students)．

　　Library, language laboratory and listening center．

　　Accommodation(住宿)with selected families．

　　25 minutes from London．

　　Course fees for English for one year are ＆1,380 with reduction(减少)for shorter periods of study．

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　　A new period is coming．Call it what you will：the service industry, the information age, the knowledge society．It all translates to a great change in the way we work．Already we’re partly there; the percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen sharply in the Western World．Today the majority of jobs in America, Europe and Japan(two thirds or more are in many of these countries)are in the service industry, and the number is on the rise．More women are in the work force than ever before．There are more part-time jobs．More people are self-employed．But the breath of the great change can’t be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to new way of thinking about the nature of work itself．Long-held opinions about jobs and careers, the skills needed to succeed, even the relation between workers and employers- all these are being doubted．

　　We have only to look behind us to get some sense of what may lie ahead．No one looking ahead 20 years possible could have seen the ways in which a single invention, the chip(芯片)，would change our world thanks to its uses in personal computers, and factory equipment．Tomorrow’s achievements in biotechnology or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of great changes．But one thing is certain：information and knowledge will become even more important, and the people who own it, whether they work in factories or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth．Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write．The ability to deal with problems by making use of information instead of performing regular tasks will be valued above all else．If you look ahead 10 years, information service will be leading the way．It will be the ways you do your job．

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阅读理解

　　Friend is better than fortune．Friend is worse than poison in some cases．The two sentences above are opposite and seem to be unreasonable but they can be explained as follows：the first refers to all good friends who drive us towards good while the second all bad ones who lead us to wrong ways．

　　My ideal(理想的)friend is of course a good friend whose goodness is shown below-he has no bad likings, such as smoking and drinking．He lives in frugality(节俭)．He studies hard so as not to waste his golden time．At home he honors his parents and loves his brothers; at school he respects his teachers and shares feelings of his classmates．He treats those truly who are true to him．In a word, he has all the good characters better than mine．I can follow him as a model．With his help I am free from all difficulties．

　　Indeed, if I have such a person as my friend, I shall never fear difficulty and I shall never know the existence of the word “failure”．

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