阅读理解

　　The United Stated is one of the richest countries in the world．Most people live in urban areas, and the large stretch of land left unused is full of scenic beauty(美景)．On the one hand it is proud of its urban areas, and on the other hand, it has the rich wealth of forests, mountains, plains and much more．

　　On the east coast of the country there are cities like New York, the leading city in business．Washington, D．C．is the capital of the country, where you will get an opportunity to see the White House．The city will simply impress you, with many museums showing the culture, lifestyle, art and architecture of the country．Another place worth visiting is Miami, one of the most popular international tourist destinations．It is also well known for its Latin culture, wonderful urban nightlife and beaches．

　　Moving to the west coast, you will come across the most amazing places in which to relax．Los Angeles is the place where you can see life in all its many forms; this city is world-famous for its Hollywood film industry．It also has beaches that can offer breathtaking surfing experiences．

　　Moving on to the Pacific Coast Highway, we get to see the beauty of San Francisco．Clean beaches and mountains topped(盖住)by clouds are worth seeing．Travelers can enjoy day trips to beaches, deserts and wine-producing regions．Chicago lies on the shore of the Great Lakes and is believed to be the fastest growing city in the world, with its high standard of living and rich lifestyles．The city is a center for many theaters and is world-famous for its strong tradition of music jazz and the blues．

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阅读理解

　　Americans All

　　Type：Musical

　　Running Time：50 minutes

　　This is a musical play about a high school．It will teach you the importance of staying in school．It has a positive message that will be well received by students as well as their teachers and parents．Almost all of the roles can be played either by males or females．The dialogue teaches values, ethics(道德规范)and how to be the best you can be．

　　A Mother in My Head

　　Type：Short Play

　　Running Time：45 minutes

　　Where does motherly advice begin and where does it end? Or does it ever end? This play follows the lives of two young people as they begin their careers, meet, and fall in love; their mothers' advice is important for their lives．The on-stage presence of the mothers provides an interaction(互动)among characters, which is quite enjoyable．

　　One of Our Clowns Is Missing

　　Type：Short Play

　　Running Time：30 minutes

　　Adapted from the full-length play One of Our Clowns Is Missing by Robert Frankel, this play will bring the audience to cheers, tears, and applause．Sandy lacks confidence, but after meeting a group of characters that turn her life around, she regains her confidence and makes a new start．

　　My FedEx Christmas Request

　　Type：Short Play

　　Running Time：10 minutes

　　Nicky is very naughty, so Santa has been leaving him a lump(块)of coal in his stocking instead of toys under his Christmas tree year after year．Well, Nicky finally decides to pack himself in a FedEx box and ship it to the North Pole．He's going to defend(辩解)his case with Santa face to face．This comedy shows us what happens when Nicky decides he's not going to put up with the treatment anymore!

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阅读理解

　　A 14-year-old girl was attacked by a grey bear while competing in a bike race．She managed to whisper the word“bear”to her rescuer．The girl suffered serious head, neck and leg wounds and was now in a dangerous condition in hospital．

　　The girl was taking part in a 24-hour race through Bicentennial Park in Alaska when she was attacked by the bear．Bicentennial Park is next to Chugach State Park where the wild animals live．

　　The animal attacked the girl in a heavily wooded area at about 1∶30 am, during the darkest part of the night．The girl called emergency services but she was unable to communicate．Another rider Peter Basinger found her sitting dazed(神志不清)on the ground．He told the Anchorage Daily News she managed to say the word“bear”when he stopped to help．Her helmet(头盔)had been ripped off(撞掉)in the attack and rolled into the woods．Mr．Basinger waited with the girl for about 20 minutes until doctors arrived．Armed police trekked(长途跋涉)3km with doctors to pick up the girl．

　　Animal expert Rick Sinnott said something must be done as soon as possible to prevent the bear from attacking people again．“It had to be extremely terrifying,”he said．

　　Mr．Sinnott told the Anchorage Daily News that the bear could have been a mother．It hurt two runners on a nearby path two weeks ago．He also said that the girl was lucky to have been wearing a bike helmet because the bear had bitten her head．

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阅读理解

　　Linda was more of a good friend than a sister-in-law．We shared nearly everything－except her passion(感情)for collecting porcelain dolls(瓷娃娃)．Linda collected 130 of them．I never understood her hobby, but I admired her work－how she displayed them so beautifully and kept them all so clean．

　　Still, I was surprised how much those dolls meant to me after Linder lost her battle against cancer．Her husband donated the dolls to the local historical society．I agreed it was best that Linda's collection stayed together, but it pained me to see the dolls go．In fact, I wished I could have kept just one to remember her by．

　　One day I drove my grandmother to the country fair．On the way home my grandmother needed to use the restroom, so I pulled off the highway at the rest stop and she entered the restroom．I saw a gift shop nearby．I had only ＄20 in my pocket, but I thought I would look around while I waited．Inside was one whole wall full of shelves and shelves of porcelain dolls, just like Linda's．

　　For some reason, I fell in love with one doll with brown eyes，wearing a pink-and –white dress．I said to myself,“I want it．”Silly, I thought, those dolls must cost more than ＄100．Then I glanced at the doll's price tag(标签)：＄14.99!

　　A salesgirl assured(使确信)me the price wasn't a mistake．What luck! I took it．Then, enjoying the doll in my hand, I took the doll's price tag off by accident．There, printed on it, was the doll's name：Linda．

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阅读理解

　　There are two types of people in the world．Although they have equal degree of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes unhappy．This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds．

　　People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things．The pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine, the fine weather．They enjoy all the cheerful things．Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things．Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied．By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere．If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied．The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation(模仿)．It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors．The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize its bad effects on their interests and tastes．I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit．

　　Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck．Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect．This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments．If they aim at getting some advantages in social position or fortune, nobody wishes them success．Nor will anyone start a step or speak a word to favor their hopes．If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrongdoings．These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others．If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them．Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels．

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阅读理解

　　Tests administered(实施)to most elementary and high-school students in the United States exert(发挥)an unfavorable influence on science and math teaching, according to a new ＄1 million study performed for the National Science Foundation．And because schools with high minority enrollments(入学)generally place a greater reliance(相信)on scores from these tests, the study finds, there tends to be“a gap in instructional emphases between high and low minority classrooms that is not the same with our national concern for the quality of education．”

　　George F．Madaus and his colleagues at Boston College analyzed not only the six most widely used national standardized tests, but also the tests designed to accompany the four most commonly used science and math texts in fourth-grade, eighth-grade, and high-school classrooms．Though teaching program experts argue that schools should place greater emphasis on problem solving and reasoning, the new study shows that the tests focus on lower-level skills－primarily mechanical memorization of routine formulas．

　　Researchers surveyed more than 2,200 math and science instructors, interviewing in depth some 300 teachers and administrators．Especially in schools with high minority enrollments, teachers reported feeling pressured to help students perform well on these tests．Some states judge schools and some schools determine teacher assignments based on students' test scores．

　　“With so much worry,”Madaus says,“teachers feel forced to focus their instruction on drilling what the tests will measure－at the expense of the more valuable, higher-level skills．”

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阅读理解

　　The flag, the most common symbol of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient．With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country．

　　The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive artifact．It is, rather, the product of thousands of years' development．Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction．

　　Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats．Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers．People's food supplies were similarly vulnerable．Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests．Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another．

　　Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire．The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable．Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems before carrying them into battle．They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves．

　　These flags developed very slowly into modern flags．The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked：The king of China around 1000 B．C．was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him．This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe, where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag．

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阅读理解

　　To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains．But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain．Its first use was as a shade against the sun!

　　Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times．Probably the first to use it were the Chinese, back in the eleventh century B．C．

　　We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade．And there was a strange thing connected with its use：it became a symbol of honor．In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in high office．

　　In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade．And the umbrella was in common used in ancient Greece．But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans．

　　During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared．Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century．And again it was considered as a symbol of power．By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France, and later on in England．

　　By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe．Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight．It wasn't until the twentieth century that women's umbrellas began to be made, in a whole variety of colours．

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阅读理解

　　When he thought of the past, my grandfather would sometimes show us photographs of himself at school．They were brown and faded, and it was hard to believe that the blurred figure of the little boy in the short trousers and socks could ever have been Grandfather．Besides, he wore a cap－all the boys in the photographs wore caps pulled so far forward that half of their faces were obscured．When Grandfather asked us to pick him out from the group, we would surely point to the wrong boy．

　　On one such occasion my younger sister, aged six, burst into tears when Grandfather proudly guided her finger to the right boy．“How could that boy be you?”she cried．“He should have a beard．”We were, of course, all convinced that grandfathers should have beards, preferably white and bushy, like our own grandfather's．

　　“I was a good scholar,”Grandfather would say, wagging his beard over the photographs．“I should have been top of the class if I hadn't had to get up at six every morning to milk the cows and chop the wood, and again when I came home from school．”

　　“But Saturdays? What did you do on Saturdays?”

　　“Saturdays, if it was fine, I'd be out all day in the fields with the men,”replied Grandfather．“And if it was wet, I'd be helping my mother with odd jobs round the house．There wasn't much time for studying．”

　　We all tried hard to imagine what it would have been like to have seen Grandfather getting up at crack of dawn and never, obviously, having a moment for himself．It seemed we had learnt something from what Grandfather had said about his childhood．

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阅读理解

　　“In real life, the daily struggles between parents and children are around these narrow problems of an extra hour, extra TV show, and so on,”said Avi Sadeh, psychology professor at Tel Aviv University．“Too little sleep and more accidents,”he said．

　　Sadeh and his colleagues found an extra hour of sleep could make a big difference．The children who slept longer, although they woke up more frequently during the night, scored higher on tests, Sedeh reported in the March/April issue of journal Child Development．

　　“When the children slept longer, their sleep quality was somewhat weak, but in spite of this their performance for study improved because the extra sleep was more significant than the reduction in sleep quality,”Sadeh said．“Some studies suggested that lack of sleep as a child affected development into adulthood and it's more likely to develop his attention disorder when he grew older．”

　　In earlier studies, Sadeh's team found that the fourth graders slept an average of 8.2 hours and the sixth graders slept an average of 7.7 hours．

　　“Previous research has shown children in elementary school need at least nine hours of sleep a night on a regular basis,”said Carl Hunt, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorder Research in Bethesde．“And high-school-age children need somewhat less,”he said, adding the results of insufficient sleep could be serious．

　　“A tired child is an accident waiting to happen,”Hunt said．“And as kids get older, toys get bigger and the risks get higher．”Hunt also said too little sleep could result in learning and memory problems and long-term effects on school performance．

　　“This is important extension of what we already know,”Hunt said of Sadeh's research,“adding sleep is as important as nutrition and exercise to good health．”

　　“To put it into reality,”Hunt said,“parents should make sure they know when their children actually are going to sleep and their rooms are conducive to sleeping instead of playing．”

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