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　　Once a neighbor stole one of Washington's horses．Washington went with a police officer to the neighbor’s farm to get the horse，but the neighbor refused to give the horse up；he claimed(声称)that it was his horse．

　　Washington placed both of his hands over the eyes of the horse and said to the neighbor，“If this is your horse，then you must tell us in which eye he is blind．”

　　“In the right eye．”The neighbor said．

　　Washington took his hand from the right eye of the horse and showed the police officer that the horse was not blind in the right eye．

　　“Oh，I have made a mistake，”said the neighbor．“he is blind in the left eye．”

　　Washington then showed that the horse was not blind in the left eye，either．

　　“I have made another mistake，”said the neighbor．

　　“Yes，”said the police officer，“and you have also proved that the horse does not belong to you．You must return it to Mr．Washington．”

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　　In the past 10 years, America’s National Basketball Association(NBA)has grown increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to supply players．

　　When Michael Jordan and Larry Bird won gold in Barcelona in 1992, the Americans were praised for teaching the world how to play basketball．This season, however, 20 percent of NBA rosters(花名册)will be filled by non-Americans．NBA commissioner David Stern happily embraces the trend．On a visit to Paris in October, Stern outlined his vision for the future, which is likely to see Europe hosting NBA games by 2010．

　　The NBA is now planning to take China by storm．

　　“Our experience in China has been that it is going to be explosive in its growth,” said Stern．The strategy in China is TV．“We’ve made 14 deals in China with local and national networks on cable and satellite．” The success Chinese centre Yao Ming has paved the way for the NBA marketing blitz in China．The NBA, which is broadcasted in more than 200 countries in 42 languages, will put that to the test in October 2004 when the Houston Rockets play two pre-season games against the Sacramento Kings in Beijing market to compensate for tough times on home soil．“It doesn’t matter where the players come from, all the NBA teams now know that they have to scout(寻找)internationally,” said Terry Lyons, the NBA’s vice-president of international public relations．“It has increased the level of competition here．” As Frenchman Tony Parker and Argentine Emanuel Ginobili showed in winning championship rings with the San Antonio Spurs last season, many people can earn the respect of their America peers．Others, such as Houston Rockets’ Chinese centre Yao Ming－No．1 draft pick in 2002－and the Detroit Pistons’ 18-year-old Serb Darko Milicic－number two overall in this year’s draft－are icons(偶像)in waiting．It is the ultimate(根本的)revolution－the rest of the world teaching the US how to play basketball．

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On not having breakfast Generations of Americans have been brought up to believe that a good breakfast is essential to one’s life．Eating breakfast at the start of the day, we have been told, and told again, is as necessary as putting gasoline in the family car before starting a trip．But for many people, the thought of food as the first thing in the morning is never a pleasure．So in spite of all the efforts, they still take no breakfast．Between 1977 and 1983, the latest year for which figures could be obtained(可获得的), the number of people who didn’t have breakfast increased by 33％－from 8.8 million to 11.7 million－according to the Chicago-based Market Research Corporation of America．For those who dislike eating breakfast, however, there is some good news．Several studies in the last few years have shown that, for grown-ups especially, there may be nothing wrong with omitting(省略)breakfast．“Going without breakfast does not affect work,” said Arnold E．Bender, former professor of nutrition at Queen Elizabeth College in London, “nor does giving people breakfast improve work．” Scientific evidence linking breakfast to better health or better work is surprisingly inadequate(不适当), and most of the recent work involves(涉及)children, not grown-ups．“The literature,” says one researcher, Dr Earnest Polite at the University of Texas, “is poor．”

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An important question about eating out is who pays for the meal．If a friend of yours asks you to have lunch with him．You may say something like this, “I’m afraid it’ll have to be some place cheap, as I have very little money．” The other person may say, “OK, I’ll meet you at McDonald’s．” This means that two agree to go Dutch, that is, each person pays for himself．He may also say, “Oh, no．I want to take you to lunch at Johnson’s”, or “I want you to try the steak(牛排)there．It’s great．” This means the person wants to pay for both of you．If you feel friendly towards this person, you can go with him and you needn’t pay for the meal．You may just say, “Thank you．That would be very nice．” American customs about who pays for dates(约会)are much the same as in other parts of the world．In the old days, American women wanted men to pay for all the meals．But, today, a university girl or a woman in the business world will usually pay her own way during the day．If a man asks her to dinner or a dance outside the working hours, it means “come as my guest”．So as you can see, it is a polite thing to make the question clear at the very beginning．

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　　The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children．On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across or otherwise made to feel special．

　　However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington．A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909．Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her．It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man．Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910．

　　In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day．Roses are the Father’s Day flowers, red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died．

　　When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card．Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental．Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them．Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad．

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　　Thirty-two people watched Kitty Genovese being killed right below their windows．She was their neighbor．Yet none of the 32 helped her．Not one even called the police．Was this in gunman cruelty?Was it lack of feeling about one’s fellowman?

　　“Not so,”say scientists John Barley and Bib Fatane．These men went beyond the headlines to research into the reasons why people didn’t act．They found that a person has to go through two steps before he can help．First he has to notice that is an emergency(紧急情况)．Suppose you see a middle-aged man fall to the side-walk．Is he having a heart attack?Is he in a coma(昏迷)from a headache?Or is he about to sleep off a drunk?Is the smoke coming into the room from a leak(漏洞)in the air conditioning?Is it “steam pipes”?Or is it really smoke from a fire?It’s not always easy to tell if you are faced with a real emergency．Second, and more important, the person faced with an emergency must feel personally responsible(负责任的)．He must feel that he must help, or the person won’t get the help he needs．

　　The researchers found that a lot depends on how many people are around．They had college students in to be“tested．”Some came alone．Some came with one or two others．And some came in large groups．The researchers started them off on the“tests．”Then they went into the next room．A curtain divided the“testing room”and the room into which they went．Soon the students heard a scream, the noise of bookshelves falling and a cry for help．All of this had been prerecorded on a tape recorder．

　　Eight out of ten of the students taking the test alone acted to help．Of the students in pairs, only two out of ten helped．Of the students in groups, none helped．

　　In other words, in a group, Americans often fail to act．They feel that others will act．They, themselves, needn’t．They do not feel any direct responsibility．

　　Are people bothered by situations where people are in trouble?Yes．Scientists found that the people were shocked, they sweated, and they had trembling hands．They felt the other person’s trouble．But they did not act．They were in a group．Their actions were shaped by the actions of those they were with．

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　　Jacksonville, Florida, Nov．10－A 14-year-old boy was arrested today after the rotten body of an 8-year-old girl who was his neighbor was found hidden in his bedroom．She had been stabbed(用刀刺)and beaten．

　　The boy, Joshua Earl Patrick Philips, admitted and was charged with murder in the death of the girl,Maddie Clifton, who disappeared on Nov．3,Sheriff Nat Glover said．

　　Joshua, who has no criminal record, would not be eligible(够条件的)for the death punishment because of his age．Detectives recovered a knife and a baseball bat believed to be the weapons used to kill the girl, the Sheriff said．

　　The girl had been stabbed at least nine times and was struck in the head, Sheriff Glover said at a news conference．The authorities did not say whether she had been attacked sexually, or did they give motive for the attack．

　　The boy’s mother, Melissa Philips, grew suspicious after the police searched her home on Monday and detected an odor(smell), the Sheriff said．This morning she pulled aside the frame of the bed, saw a child’s feet and called an officer, he said．

　　Maddie’s body was found under a sheet of wood supporting the frame of the water bed, which was filled, Sheriff Glover said, adding,“He put her under the bed and taped her up in it．”

　　Investigators believe the third-grader was killed in the boy’s house shortly after she disappeared last Tuesday, touching off a widespread search．

　　On Friday, Maddie’s parents, Steve and Sheila Clifton, made an earnest request for her return．

　　The boy’s house, like others in the neighborhood, had been searched three times．During the third search on Monday, he mother had at first said she thought the odor came from family pets．

　　Hundreds of volunteers had distributed thousands of leaflets with Maddie’s picture since she disappeared that evening, about 30 minutes after she went out to play with friends．

　　The girl’s house is one of the well-kept, single-family homes in the older working class of Jacksonville．Yellow ribbons(丝带)still hung from the trees this morning．

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　　Do you want to live another 100 years or more?Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span．“I think we are knocking at the door of immortality(永生),' said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future．”I think by 2075 we will see it and that's a conservative estimate(保守的估计)．

　　At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology(纳米技术)make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what has been possible in the past．“There is a great push so that people can live from I20 to 180 years,”he said．“Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years．”

　　However, many scientists who specialize in ageing are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years．Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death．

　　Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live．“It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?”said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Centre．“At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all．”

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　　The United States covers a large part of the North American continent．Its neighbors are Canada to the north and Mexico to the south．Although the United States is a big country, it is not the largest in the world．In 1964, its population was over 185 000 000．

　　When this land first became a nation, after winning its independence(独立)from England, it had thirteen states．Each of the states was represented(代表)on the American flag by a star．All these states were in the eastern part of the continent．As the nation grew toward the west, new states were added and new stars appeared on the flag．For a long time, there were 48 stars．In 1959, however, two more stars were added to the flag, representing the new states of Alaska and Hawaii．

　　Indians were the first people of the land which is now the United States．There are still many thousands of Indians now living in all parts of the country．Sometimes it is said that the Indians are“the only real Americans”．Most Americans come from all over the world．Those who came first in greatest numbers to make their homes on the eastern coast of North America were mostly from England．It is for that reason that the language of the United States is English and that its culture and customs are more like those of England than those of any other country in the world．

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　　Albert Einstein was probably the most famous scientist of the twentieth century．He changed scientific thinking in the modern world．He is generally considered as the greatest physicist who ever lived．What’s more, he devoted a lot of his time and energy to working for human rights and progress．

　　In 1933, while Einstein was visiting England and the United States, the Nazi government of Germany took all his things away, including his position and his citizenship．Einstein then settled down in the United States．In 1939, Einstein, who loved peace－afraid of a world in which only Hitler would had an atomic bomb(原子弹)－tried hard to persuade President Franklin D．Roosevelt in a famous letter to have the United States start uranium research．That Germany, after all, had no bomb, and that the first bomb would fall on Japan, could not have been expected．After the war, Einstein never stopped working for peace and reducing the number of soldiers in the world．

　　Although he wasn’t connected with any accepted religion(宗教), Einstein felt that trust in a personal God was too special an idea to be suitable to the God at work in this universe, but he never believed that the universe was one of chance or disorder．The universe to him was one of pure law and order．He once said,“God may know everything, but he is not hateful．”

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