Isn't it astonishing how much time we talk about food?"Have you ever eaten…?What did you have for lunch?" and so on．And yet when you travel from one country to another, you will find that people have quite different feelings about food．People often feel that what they eat is normal and what other people eat is strange．In England, people eat potatoes every day．In the Middle East, bread is the main part of every meal．Eating like so many things we do, becomes a habit which is difficult to change．Americans like to drink a lot of orange juice and coffee．The English drink tea four or five times every day．Australians drink a great deal of beer, and the French drink wine every day．

　　The sort of meat people like to eat also differs from one country to another．Horse meat is thought to be delicious in France．New Zealanders eat sheep, but they never eat goat meat．The Japanese don't like to eat sheep meat because of its smell, but they enjoy eating raw fish．

　　So it seems that although eating is a topic we can talk about for hours, there is very little common sense in what we say it．People everywhere enjoy eating what they have always eaten, and there is very little we can do to change our eating habits．

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　　One day Mr．White gave his wife ten pounds for her birthday－ten new pound notes．So Mrs．White went out shopping．She waited for a bus, got on it and sat down next to an old lady．After a while, Mrs．White noticed that the old lady’s handbag was open．Inside it, she saw a wad(叠)of pound notes exactly like the ones her husband had given her．So she quickly looked into her own bag－the notes had gone!Mrs．White was sure that the old lady next to her had stolen them．She immediately thought of calling the police．But as she disliked making a fuss(小题大作)，she decided to take back the money from the old lady’s hand bag and say nothing about it．She looked around to make sure nobody was watching．Then she carefully put her hand into the old lady’s bag, took the notes, and put them into her own handbag．

　　When she got home that evening, Mrs．White showed her husband the beautiful hat she had bought．

　　“How did you pay for it?” Mr．White asked．

　　“With the money you gave me for my birthday, of course” she answered．

　　“Oh?What’s that, then?” he asked, as he pointed to a wad of pound notes on the table．

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How did Hollywood begin?

　　At the beginning of the twentieth century there was a big farm called Hollywood Ranch．It was near Los Angles in California．A few years later Hollywood was one of the famous places in the world．From the 1910s to the 1950s Hollywood was the film center of the world．Every family knew the names of its film stars－Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garb, Bergman and hundreds more．

　　The reason why people went to Hollywood to make films was the sun．At first, people made films in New York on the east coast of the United States．

　　But then they heard about Los Angles where there are 350 days of sun every year．As they made all the films by sunlight, the west coast was a much better place to work．Also near Hollywood you can find mountains and sea and desert．They did not have to travel far to make any kind of film．

　　When TV became popular, Hollywood started making films for television．Then in the 1970s they discovered people still went to the cinema to see big expensive films．After twenty years they are still making films in Hollywood and people watch them all over the world．

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阅读理解

Marilyn Monroe

　　At 9∶30 a.m.on June 1^st, 1926 Norman Jean was born in Los Angels General Hospital．At the age of six months, she was placed with foster parents．She went back to live with her mother when she was seven．She went to school at the Hollywood Grammar School．In 1934 her mother became ill and entered Los Angeles State Mental Asylum．Some kind-hearted neighbours offered to look after the child．Two years later she went into an orphanage in Los Angeles and stayed there for two years．

　　She left school in 1942．On June 18^th, three weeks after her sixteenth birthday, she married an 18-year-old young man whose name was Jim Dougherty．She got a job as a parachute packer．While she was working, a photographer used her as a model for a magazine article．In 1944 she became a full-time photographic model．Soon she appeared on several national magazines and calendars．Two years later, she wrote to her husband, who was stationed in the navy in Shanghai, to say that she wanted a divorce．

　　On July 16^th, 1946, she went to Twentieth Century For studios and asked to see Ben Lyon, the casting director for Fox films．Lyon agreed to see her．“I want, more than anything to get into pictures,” she said．Lyon looked at her and told her “Honey, you’re in pictures．” He immediately offered her a seven–year contract．During the next sixteen years Norman Jean (now known as Marilyn Monroe) made over thirty films．On Saturday, August 4^th 1962, she took an overdose of sleeping pills and died．She was just thirty-six．

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　　Lillan Hanson, a college junior, expects to graduate in about two years．Mrs Hanson, a rather unusual student, plans to go on to take more courses after she gets her degree．What makes Mrs Hanson different from most of her classmates?

　　What sets Lillian Hanson apart from the college crowd is her age-73 years．She has been going to college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years．

　　When Mrs Hanson graduated from high school, she went to her local bank and asked for a loan for college tuition and fees．The banker gave her no encouragement．He didn't think that country girl should be borrowing money to go to college．He thought she should be home doing work in the house or around the farm．So Mrs Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college．She still loves with her husband on the farm that has been in the family for five generations．

　　Mrs Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education．When her children were grown, she tried again．

　　She finds the hardest part of going back to school at her age is to be sitting in class for long periods of time, because she is not as agile as she used to be．Mrs Hanson often gets up and walks around between classes to keep her joints from getting stiff．At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all gave Mrs Hanson a warm round of applause when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her goals were．

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　　It’s 2035．You have a job, a family and you’re about 40 years old．Welcome to your future life．

　　Getting ready for work, you pause in front of the mirror, “Turn red,” you say．Your shirt changes from sky blue to deep red．Tiny preprogrammed electronic are rearranged in your shirt to change its color．Looking into the mirror, you find it hard to believe that you are 40．You look much younger．With amazing advances in medicine, people in your generation may live to be 150 years old．You’re not even middle-aged．

　　As you go into the kitchen and prepare to pour your breakfast cereal into a bowl, you hear：“To lose weight, you shouldn’t eat that, ” from your shoes．They read the tiny electronic code on the cereal box find out the nutrition details．You decide to listen to your shoes．“Kitchen, what can I have for breakfast?” A list of possible foods appear on the counter as kitchen checks its food supplies．

　　“Ready for your trip to space．You ask your son and daughter．” In 2005 only specially trained astronauts went into space－and very few of them．Today anyone can go to space for day trips or longer vacation．Your best friend even works in space．Handing your children three strawberries each, you add, “The doctor said you need these for space travel．” Thanks to medical advices, vaccination shots are a thing of the past．Ordinary foods contain specific vaccines．With the berries in their mouths, the kids head for the front door．

　　It’s time for you to go to work．Your car checks your fingerprints and unlocks the doors．“My office．Autopilot,” you command．You car drives itself down the road and moves smoothly into traffic on the highway．You sit back and unroll your e-newspaper．The latest news downloads and fills the viewer．Looking through the pages, you watch the news as video films rather than read it．

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　　A bike tour and race will be held on August 26 and 27(Sat．＆Sun．)．At 5∶30 am, the riders will leave Tian’ anmen Square and ride the first 35 kilometres as a training leg．Then the next 55-kilometre leg, from Yanjiao to Jixian, will be the first competitive(竞争性的)part of the tour．The riders and their bikes will then be taken from Jixian to Changli．

　　The second racing leg of the tour will be from Changli to the seaside at Nandaihe, covering a distance of 20 kilometres．Saturday night includes the stay at Nandaihe and supper．Sunday morning is free at the seaside．At noon all the people and their bikes will be taken back to Bejing．

　　Cost：200 yuan

　　Telephone：4675027

　　Brazilian footballers

　　The Brazilian Football Club will play Beijing Guo’an Team at the Workers Stadium on August 26．The club has four national team players．Also coming is 1994 US World Cup star Romario who has promised to play for at least 45 minutes．

　　Ticket prices：60,100,150 yuan

　　Time/Date：4∶30 pm, August 26(Sat．)

　　Telephone：5012372

　　Rock climbing

　　The Third National Rock Climbing Competition will be held on August 26-27 at the Huairou Mountain-climbing Training Base．More than 10 teams from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, Jilin and other places will take part in it, A Japanese team will give an exhibition of climbing．Free for spectators(观众)．

　　Take a long-distance bus from Dongzhimen to Huairou．

　　Time/Dates：9-12 am, August 26 and 27

　　Telephone：7143177, 7144850, Wang zhenghua

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　　Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any spouts team．“Football, tennis, cricket－anything with a round ball, I was useless, ” he says now with a laugh．But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England．

　　It was a mountain bike he received for his 15^th birthday that changed him．At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest．Then he began to ride the bike along in a nearby forest．Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend．Gradually, Sanders set up his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength．At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon．

　　The following year he met John Ridgway and was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of adventure in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway’s cold-eater exploits．Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, he decided that this would be his future．

　　In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition towards the North Pole．It took unbelievable energy．He suffered frostbite, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled up and over rocky rice．

　　Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski along to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the North Pole by himself than any other British man．His old playmates would not believe the change．

　　Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis．

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阅读理解

　　Most animals have little connection with animals of a different kind, unless they hunt them for food．Sometimes, however, two kinds of animals come together in a partnership(伙伴关系)which is good for both of them．You may have noticed some birds sitting on the backs of sheep．This is not because they want a ride, but because they find easy food in the parasites(寄生虫)on sheep．The sheep allow the birds to do so because they remove the cause of discomfort．So although they can manage without each other, they do better together．

　　Sometimes an animal has a plant partner．The relationship develops until the two partners cannot manage without each other．This is so in the corals(珊瑚)of the sea．In their skins they have tiny plants which act as “dustmen”, taking some of the waste products from the coral and giving in return oxygen which the animal needs to breathe．If the plants are killed, or are even prevented from receiving light so that they cannot live normally, the corals will die．

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Less TV Reduce Kids Weight

　　PALO AITO, California－“ Switching off the television may help prevent children from getting fatter－even if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise,” US researchers said last week．

　　A study of 192 third and fourth grades, generally aged eight and nine, found that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds(0.91 kg)less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet．

　　“The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television viewing and not any other activity,” said Thomas Robinson, a pediatrician(儿科专家)at Stanford University．

　　“ American children spend an average of more than four hours per day watching television and videos or playing games, and rates of childhood being very fat have doubt over the past 20 years,” Robinson said．

　　In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quarter to one-third．

　　Children watching fewer hours of television showed a significantly smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continue their normal television viewing, even though neither group ate a special diet nor took part in any extra exercise．

　　“One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply have been moving around and burning off calories,” Robinson said．

　　“Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television．Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more,” Robinson added．

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