阅读理解

　　Your friends might be in Australia or maybe just down the road, but they are all just a few clicks away．Life has changed for millions of young people across the world who now make friends online．Whether you use chat-rooms, QQ, MSN or ICQ, you are a member of this group．

　　“I don’t often talk with my parents or grandparents, but I talk a lot with my old friends on QQ,” said Fox’s Shadow, the online name used by a girl student in China．“Most of my classmates use QQ after school．”

　　QQ is the biggest messaging service in China．A record from Tencent, the company which developed QQ, shows that 4 million people used it one Saturday night in October．

　　And probably Fox’s Shadow was one of them．“I log in on Friday nights, and Saturdays or Sundays when I feel everything around me boring．I usually spend about ten hours chatting online every week,” she said．“But I never talk with strangers, especially boys or men．”

　　Even though she likes chatting, she is careful about making friends with strangers online．“You don’t know who you’re talking to．You should always be careful about whom you believe in online．”

　　Many people would like to meet offline when they feel they have known someone very well．Fox’s Shadow once met one of her online friends face to face．It was a girl who was a football fan like herself and they went to a football match together．

　　A 16-year-old Beijing boy, named Bart Simon online, dislikes QQ users．“I used to chat on QQ, but I found that most people were talking about foolish things,” he said．Now he chats online in English, using MSN．“I only chat online because I’ve got friends in Japan, the US and Singapore,” he said．“I want to learn more about foreign cultures．” But he spends little time chatting on QQ as he sees it as a waste of time and money．

　　“If you are really addicted to it, sometimes you can’t give your mind to your lessons,” he said．“And friends in your real life are always more important than those so-called friends you meet online．”

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阅读理解

　　There is one language that is used in every country in the world．The people who use it are young and old, short and tall, thin and fat．It is everybody’s second language．It is easy to understand, although you can’t hear it．It is sign language．

　　When you wave to a friend who is across the street, you are using sign language．When you smile at someone, you are saying, “I want to be friendly”, but you are not using speech．You are using sign language．When you raise your hand in class, you are saying, “Please ask me．I think I know the correct answer．”

　　Babies who can’t talk can point at things．They are using sign language．A policeman who wants to stop traffic holds up his hands．He is using sign language．

　　Many years ago, a French priest, Charles Michel de Epee, became interested in education for deaf people．He invented a finger alphabet(字母表)．It is still in use．People can make the sign for letters and spell words with their hands, and deaf people can read and understand them．Soon there were schools for the deaf in many countries．The only university for the deaf is Gallaudet College in Washington, D．C．

　　Today, in the United States, there are special TV news programs for deaf people．The newsreader tells the news in sign language．At the same time, the words appear on the TV screen．

　　The actors in the Theatre of Deaf don’t spell every word．Sometimes they use hand signs．When they put two hands together, it means sandwich．They can make a roof with their hands when they want to show a house．One finger in front of an actor’s mouth can mean quiet．You can talk to people who are behind windows that are closed．And when you go swimming with your friends, you can have conversations under water．

　　How many hand signs do you use every day?

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阅读理解

　　A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men．The number is said as high as 60％ in West Germany．

　　“Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men’s world,” said Dr James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study．

　　Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company．She also believes in “Women’ s Liberation(解放)”．

　　“I don’t wish that I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think many women do．But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women．At work, for example, we often do the work that men do but get paid less．There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones and open only to men．If you’re a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life．How many women pilots are there．．．or engineers or scientists?”

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阅读理解

　　In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation(模仿)is helpful．When I first learned to cook, I used recipes(菜谱)and turned out some tasty dishes．But soon I grew bored．Why follow someone else’s way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child’s bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them．

　　In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously(下意识地)hold poor role models．If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did．If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others．

　　In the field of entertainment, those stars look great on screen．But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous．If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors．

　　Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply．The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them．Creative people have an endless resource of ideas．The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination．

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阅读理解

　　I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt’s house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America．We were on the bus then．I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me．I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning．

　　I do not remember myself crying for this reason again．In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives．When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see－the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures．The country I was leaving and never to come back was hardly in my head then．

　　The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism(乐观), but the idea did not come to me at once．For the first two years in New York I was really lost－having to study in three schools as a result of family moves．I did not quite know what I was or what I should be．Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me．Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other．I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times．”

　　My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home．I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers(移民局官员), took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives．

　　From my experiences I have learned one important rule：Almost all common troubles go away at last! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy．

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　　The US government has started a website, Admongo, to help children think critically about the advertising aimed at them．It claims to provide visitors with an “education” through games and other entertainment．

　　A cartoon man dressed in old time pilot clothing greets visitors to Admongo．"Call me Haiz", he says upon arrival in a rocket ship that opens up with a crazy world inside it．Spacey dance music plays in the background as Haiz tells visitors that they need to learn about advertising．

　　Its inventors say eight to twelve years old is the age kids develop their critical thinking abilities．Kids of that age are also a big market for advertisers．

　　The idea behind Admongo is to teach children three things：To identify the advertiser．To know what the advertiser is really saying．And to know what the advertisement is trying to get the child to do．

　　Children learn these things through a video game．They create their own game character．They can choose different skin colors, hair styles, eye and mouth shapes．Then they begin a trip through ad-land, where there are ads on buses and billboards．The players have to find all the marketing in the neighborhood before they can move on to the next level．

　　The Admongo game takes players inside a home, to the advertising studio and everywhere else ads can be found．It is a complete exploration of the world of marketing．

　　One such area is food marketing．The Federal Trade Commission(FTC)says it is a big business．The FTC estimates that food, drink and fast-food restaurants spent more than one and a half billion dollars on advertising to young people in 2010．

　　The FTC says children are important for three reasons．They buy products．They influence parents and caregivers to buy．And they are the future adult buyers of the products．

　　A recent study says most advertising aimed at children is for foods of the lowest nutritional value．First Lady Michelle Obama has said she would like to see advertisers marketing healthy foods for children．

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阅读理解

　　Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student．By using your time properly, you can do your homework more quickly．Learning to study is not difficult．

　　The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn．It doesn’t mean that you must always like the subject．It does mean, however, that you must be wil1ing to do whatever is necessary to learn．Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things．Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life．Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier．Sometimes the subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly．Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them．

　　Here’s some advice for you：have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study, so that you can concentrate on your study without interruptions(中断); have everything ready before you sit down to study, a dictionary, paper, a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start; read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things; when memorizing, first find out the main parts and then recite the whole thing; check your homework after you finish it; never forget the importance of review and preview．

　　Don’t try to spend a lot of time researching learning methods．There are many students who know many good learning methods but don’t study well．They forget that the most useful learning method is to study hard．

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阅读理解

　　Most people think that the older you get, the harder it is to learn a new language．That is, they believe that children learn more easily and efficiently than adults．Thus, at some point in our lives, maybe around age 12 or 13, we lose the ability to learn languages well．Is this idea a fact or myth(悬念)？

　　Is it true that children learn a foreign language more efficiently than adults? On the contrary, research studies suggest that the opposite may be true．One report, on 2,000 Danish children studying Swedish, concluded that the teenagers learned more, in less time, than the younger children．Another report, on Americans learning Russian, showed a direct improvement of ability over the age range tested; that is, the ability to learn increased as the age increased, from childhood to adulthood．

　　There are several possible explanations for these findings．For one thing, adults know more about the world and therefore are able to understand meanings more easily than children．Moreover, adults can use logical(逻辑的)thinking to help themselves see patterns in the language．Finally, adults have more self-discipline(self-control)than children．

　　All in all, it seems that the common idea that children are better language learners than adults may not be a fact, but a myth．

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阅读理解

　　There is an English saying that “Laughter is the best medicine．” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously．Now however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body．They have found that laughter can really improve people’s health．

　　Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body．People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts, blood pressure, breathing and muscles．It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise．It increases blood pressure, makes the heart beat quicker and makes people breathe deeper; it also works on several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet．If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial．

　　Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effects of pain on the body．In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs．The group that tolerated(忍耐)the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program．The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain which diminishes both stress and pain．

　　As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh．They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter．

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阅读理解

　　In most of the time, I am devoted to my research in the lab with my friend Dave, who loves traveling very much．To make our life colorful and relax ourselves, in July, my friend and I are taking a camping trip．We will travel for four weeks and will tour the United States and part of Canada．We have decided to camp because it does not cost as much as vacationing(度假)in hotels．

　　We have to plan very carefully in advance．First, the car we are going to drive is very small, so we have decided to take only one small suitcase each and as few camping things as possible．We will take some medicine with us to prevent insects(昆虫)from hurting us, and also food for picnics．Second, there is a lot to see in the United States and Canada, so we have to decide on the direction(方向)we want to drive．

　　The date we are leaving is July 2, from which day we will have two months off．We want to see and do many things on our camping tour．We want to climb in the mountains, visit famous caves, and swim in cool mountain rivers．We want to visit many cities and talk to many people, which I am sure can enrich our experience greatly．We also want to find a hotel room if it rains at night．We expect to have an exciting trip．

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