阅读理解

　　A man came home from work late, tired, to find his 7-year-old son waiting for him at the door．

　　“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”

　　“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man．

　　“Daddy, how much do you make an hour?”

　　“That's none of your business．Why do you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily．

　　“I just want to know．Please tell me, how much you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy．

　　“If you must know, I make ＄20 an hour．”

　　“Oh,” the little boy replied, with his head down．Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I please borrow ＄10?”

　　The father was curious, “If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed．”

　　The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door．The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions．How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think：Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that ＄10 and he really didn't ask for money very often．

　　The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door．“Are you asleep, son?” He asked．

　　“No, daddy, I'm awake,” replied the boy．

　　“I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man, “It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation(恼怒)on you．Here's the ＄10 you asked for．”

　　The little boy sat straight up, smiling．“Oh, thank you, daddy!” He yelled．Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some crumpled-up bills．The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again．The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father．

　　“Why do you want more money if you already have some?” the father shouted．

　　“Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied．“Daddy, I have ＄20 now．Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow．I would like to have dinner with you．”

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阅读理解

From Mr．Ward Hoffman

　　Sir, I was halfway through Professor Raj Persaud's article “What's the tipping point?”(Financial Times Weekend, April 9－10)when it occurred to me that what I was reading was not ironic(讽刺的)．If Professor Persaud wants to know why Americans tip in restaurants, he needs only to ask the first American he meets in London．

　　Americans tip in restaurants for one reason, and one reason only：we tip to supplement the salary of the restaurant workers：quality of service doesn't enter into it, beyond the fact that one may tip a bit less for poor service, or a bit more for good service．

　　Not tipping at all in a non-fast-food restaurant is not a choice．In the USA, one used to tip about 15％ for dinning in a family-style restaurant or in a top-level restaurant．Here, in San Francisco Bay area restaurants, we are encouraged to tip 20％ or more, to help the restaurant workers live in this expensive area．

　　After eating at an Italian restaurant in my city, I left a tip of 20％ on the non-tax part of our dinner bill．It was expected．There is nothing more complicated than that about American tipping in restaurants．

Ward Hoffman

Palo Alto, CA 94306 US

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From Mr．Philip Mcbride Jonson

　　Sir, I agree with most of Raj Persaud's opinion about the doubtful value of tipping, but with one exception．Tips can be very useful when one is a repeat customer or diner．

　　It is only when the tipper is a stranger and likely to remain so that the system doesn't work to his/her advantage．But a frequent customer at a hotel or a restaurant always tips a bit more, and the difference in service and treatment will be easily felt．

Philip Mcbride Jonson

Great Walls, VA 22056, US

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阅读理解

　　In Britain, in a population of 60 million, there are 13 million grandparents, many of whom live alone, a long way from their grandchildren．The loneliness of these older people has become an issue that schools are trying to teach children about．

　　On a popular teachers' website, there is a classroom activity to help make children aware of the implications of the different generations of the same family living far from each other．It's a story about Mrs．Eiderdown, an elderly lady whose grandchildren have moved to Australia with their parents．She lives alone and rarely sees her family．

　　First of all, the children speculate about Mrs．Eiderdown's life．What does she have for breakfast? What does she do all day? How does she feel about her life?

　　One day, Mrs．Eiderdown decides that she wants a pet to keep her company and puts an advertisement in a local shop window．Then she waits at home to see if anyone will answer her advertisement．

　　A tall thin man rings her doorbell．He is holding a cardboard box．Mrs．Eiderdown chats with the man for ten minutes before she realizes that she hasn't looked inside the box to see what the pet is．She can hear a hissing sound．The children guess what is in the box(a snake)．Mrs．Eiderdown thanks the man but says she doesn't think the snake is a good idea．

　　The next time the doorbell rings, there's a lady on the doorstep, also carrying a cardboard box．In the bottom of the box, Mrs．Eiderdown sees something black and hairy with eight legs．Again, the children say what they think it is(a spider)．Mrs．Eiderdown thanks the lady for her kindness but says that a spider is not the sort of pet she has in mind．

　　At last, the little girl next door brings her a dog．Mrs．Eiderdown's life improves a lot because of the dog．More importantly, of course, the little girl, whose own granny lives a long way away, starts to visit Mrs．Eiderdown more often．This interactive classroom idea has led to a greater awareness among children about the possible loneliness of older people who live quite near them．

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　　Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been made illegal．But one popular form continues to exist, that is alphabetism(字母排序法)．This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames(姓氏)begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet．

　　It has long been known that the cars of a taxi firm called AAAA have a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers look through their phone directories．Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbot has in life over Zoe Zysman．English names are fairly spread between the halves of the alphabet．Yet a quite large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K．

　　Thus the American presidents and vice-presidents have surnames starting with Band C separately and 26 of those before George Bush took office(including his father)had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half．Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G 7rich countries are alphabetically advantaged(Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi)．The world's three top central bankers(Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami)are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters．The same case are the world's five richest men(Gates, Buffet and so on)．

　　Can this merely happen by chance? At the start of the first year in primary school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names．So shortsighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is seldom asked the improving questions by those teachers．At that time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape．Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly．

　　The unfairness continues．At university graduation parties, the ABCs proudly get their awards first．However, by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are a little tired．Lists of job interviews and conference speakers and attendees all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their readers lose interest as they plough through them．

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　　Task and duty：

　　－Provide service for the project in Shanghai．

　　－Provide assistance to the project manager for everyday work．

　　Requirements：

　　－College degree or above．

　　－Good English and computer skills．

　　－Related working experience in international organizations．

　　－Patient, careful, supportive．Has strong team-work spirit．

　　Task and duty：

　　－Collect related information for the head office．

　　－Develop relationship with local media and customers．

　　Requirements：

　　－College degree or above with good English(speaking ＆ writing)．

　　－With basic idea of sales and marketing, related experience is preferred．

　　－Good communication and presentation skills．

Accountant(会计)

　　Task and duty：

　　－Accountant work for Shanghai office and project．

　　－Perform the finance management locally according to the rules ＆ policy of the company．

　　Requirements：

　　－College degree or above in finance area．

　　－Good English and good computer skills．

　　－Have sense of finance management．

　　－Self-management, hardworking, independent and able to deal with pressure．

　　You can go to http：//www．job．com for more in formation．

　　Please mail or fax your personal introduction(in both English and Chinese), school reports, training records and expected salary to the following address within two weeks．(Please write“应聘”on the envelope)．No personal visit or telephone call before that．Your materials will be in ACE files．

　　Add．Room 1607 Shanghai Plaza, Shanghai 200020

　　Fax No．921-56789123

　　E-mail：peter＠sina．com

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　　London has a new magazine．But it is not printed on paper．Everyone who has a television can receive it because it is on TV．

　　In order to read this magazine you have to have a decoder(解码器)．Each page of it is numbered, so you only have to dial the number to choose which subject you want to read about．There is a wide choice－everything is included from cooking to the latest sports news．

　　If you want to read the news, the first thing you have to do is to turn to the back page which has an easy-to-remember page number, 100 for example．Then you start choosing what you want to read．The news is on page 101 to 109 so you put in the numbers and the news appears written across your screen．Perhaps you want to go out in the afternoon, so you press 181, and a brightly colored weather map appears on the screen．But the weather is terrible so you decide to go shopping and dial 162 for a list of the week's best bargains．But should you drive or take the train? To answer that question you only have to press 189 for the traffic report．It is very simple to use．But probably the best thing about the service is that it is being updated all the time．Journalists type new material directly onto the screen and the whole pages of the magazine can be replaced in minutes．

　　London already has three services．One, sent out by TV, is called ORACLE while the other two, on BBC, are called CEEFAX because they let you see facts．Although CEEFAX and ORACLE have been operating for some time, they have not been well publicized．BBC engineers do not think that their idea will ever replace books and newspapers because they can be taken with you everywhere．But many people would agree that is a breakthrough as great as the invention of printing, which could not just change our reading habits but our whole way of life．

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　　Singing had always been an important part of Gloria Estefan's life．“Since I was three years old, I sang．I sang everything,” Gloria said．“Cubans,” she added, “are a musical people．”

　　Gloria was born in Cuba in 1957．Her family left the country just before Fidel Castro came to power．In Miami, where the family settled, many people did not accept Cuban immigrants．In first grade, she spoke little English, but she worked hard to learn the language．Six months after she entered school, she won an award for reading in English!

　　When Gloria was ten, her father returned from the Vietnam War．Soon, the family realized he wasn't well．They soon found out that he was badly ill．Her mother went back to teaching at school to support the family．Gloria cared for her father and her younger sister．

　　She still made the honor roll, and she still had her music, but Gloria was lonely．However, when the band leader Emilio Estefan came to speak at her high school, Gloria sang for him．He asked her to join his band．It was the beginning of the Miami Sound Machine．

　　Within a few months, the Miami Sound Machine was the top band in Miami．In 1978, Gloria and Emilio married．

　　At first, the Miami Sound Machine was known only in Miami．Then the band signed with CBS Records．Estefan and his band became stars．

　　Since then, the Miami Sound Machine has sold millions of records．Estefan has done more than just singing when Hurricane Andrew hit central Florida in 1992．She used only two weeks to organize an all-star concert that raised ＄2 million for the people who suffered in the hurricane．“We needed a party after that disaster,” she said．

　　Estefan said, “You have to stay true to the music you really love to do．There will always be people who will tell you, ‘that won't work．’You've got to be firm in spite of difficulties．Stick to it－that's the main thing．”

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This Weekend!

　　Saturday, May 24

Star WarsⅡ Bus leaves N flagpole at 5∶45 p.m．Return leaves immediately following the movie．Cost ＄15．Sign up on SWIS by noon on Thursday．

BLOCK PARTY! Bands, volleyball．Starts at 6∶00 p.m．

Grandin Cinema Presents：Hearts in Atlantis．A single mother and her son change when a nice looking stranger enters their life．Grandin, 7∶00 p.m．

NMH Theatre presents a modern play by Don Nigro．Silverthorne Theatre, 7∶30 p.m．Tickets are ＄ 2 for NMH students, teachers and staff and ＄ 4 for all others．Anyone wishing to book tickets should SWIS Jake Kavanagh．

　　Sunday, May 25

Trip to Six Flags Amusement Park! Bus leaves N flagpole at noon, MH Holbrook 12∶15 pm．Return leaves park at 21∶00 p.m．This trip includes the following two films and is only for those students not attending the Chat．Cost ＄33．Sign up on SWIS or at the ticket office by noon on Thursday．

★Dolben Cinema Presents：Heroes and Heroines．Jennifer Lopez in Anaconda A “National Geographic” film crew is taken hostage by a hunter with a gun, who takes them along in his search for the world's largest and deadliest snake．Dolben, 8∶00 p.m．

★Grandin Cinema Presents：The Others．A woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two children becomes sure that there are ghosts in their house．Grandin, 8∶00 p.m．

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　　Everybody is happy as his pay rises．Yet pleasure at your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one．Indeed, if he is known as being lazy, you might even be quite cross．Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying belief that other animals would not be able to have this finely developed sense of sadness．But a study by Sarah Brosnan of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well．

　　The researchers studied the behaviors of some kind of female brown monkeys．

　　They look smart．They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food happily．Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males．

　　Such characteristics make them perfect subjects for Doctor Brosnan's study．The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens(奖券)for food．Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for pieces of cucumber．However, when two monkeys were placed in separate and connected rooms, so that each other could observe what the other is getting in return for its rock, they became quite different．

　　In the world of monkeys, grapes are excellent goods(and much preferable to cucumbers)．So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was not willing to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber．And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either shook her own token at the researcher, or refused to accept the cucumber．Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other room(without an actual monkey to eat it)was enough to bring about dissatisfaction in a female monkey．

　　The researches suggest that these monkeys, like humans, are guided by social senses．In the wild, they are co-operative and group-living．Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated．Feelings of anger when unfairly treated, it seems, are not the nature of human beings alone．Refusing a smaller reward completely makes these feelings clear to other animals of the group．However, whether such a sense of fairness developed independently in monkeys and humans, or whether it comes from the common roots that they had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question．

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　　During the school year many parents take on the role of driver as they drive their children from one lesson to another．Understandably so．Many of us want our children to have a little taste of everything, from organized sports to music, dance and more．But we can overdo it, leaving our children feeling a little burnt out, and according to parent educator Diane Loisie, it's their school work which suffers the most．“After school, if they're busy in a number of sporting events, besides they need to do their homework, then the time they'll feel sleepy is in the classroom．Your child needs free time．So if you're filling up that after school time, then it's during the day they're going to be taking a break．”

　　Professor Claire McDermott agrees that there's a lot to be gained from sometimes putting those scheduled lessons and activities away．“Relaxing time is important for children．It's time just to do the things they want to do．A child can go up to their room, or they can play around．It doesn't look like productive time; parents certainly wouldn't be saying ‘Wow, are they ever learning things now?’ But this relaxing time gives both the body and the brain just a wonderful chance to relax after a day．It helps a child prepare for sleep, but it also helps to understand the learning that's gone on that day．”

　　It's hard to prevent signing our kids up for some activities and lessons．After all, many of us want our children to have a head start in life and the chance to join in great activities in the arts or sports is a part of that．However, Loisie feels that in the long run most children feel better with just a few key activities because it gives them an opportunity to master them．“When we get our children in too many activities because we want our children to experience everything, then what we're doing is setting them up not to be good at one thing or gaining a skill．”So choose your children's activities wisely．It may be one of the best things you've ever done for your kids…and for the family driver!

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