阅读理解

　　Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent．They will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill．

　　The touch-screen devices are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week, “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc．, which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge．

　　Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July．A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts．

　　Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale．The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf．

　　“The whole model is driven by advertisers’ need to get in front of shoppers,” said Alexander．“They’re not watching 30-second TV ads anymore．”

　　People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists．Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system(系统)that will organize the trip around the store．If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them．

　　The device also keeps a record of what you buy．When you’re finished, the device figures out your bill．Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay．

　　The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap．The Buddy devices will cost the average store about ＄ 160, 000, and the Concierge will cost stores about ＄ 500 for each device．

阅读理解

　　Duke Ellington is known as one of the most important composers of his time, and his work has been enjoyed for more than 80 years by music lovers all over the world．During his lifetime Ellington turned musical sounds into many compositions, mostly in the style known as jazz．

　　Edward Kennedy Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington, D．C．It wasn’t until Ellington was a teenager that his interest in music grew．He taught himself to play the piano by listening to local piano players．Sometime around 1916 Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties．Ellington realized that he enjoyed entertaining people with his music．He soon became a very popular musician, playing at parties and other events in the Washington area．Young adults seemed especially delighted by the modern pieces he composed．

　　In 1923, when Ellington was almost 24 years old, he joined The Washingtonians, a five-piece group of musicians in Washington, and became the group’s leader in early 1924．In 1927 Ellington and his orchestra won an engagement(雇佣期)at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club．For the next three years, his orchestra played at the Cotton Club nearly every night．

　　Working at the Cotton Club encouraged Ellington’s creativity．Since the shows changed every six months, he was challenged by the need to continually develop new material．He had to compose a wide variety of music to accompany the various acts in the Cotton Club shows and to adapt that music to the strengths and weaknesses of the players in his orchestra．

　　By 1928 the popular nightspot began radio broadcasts．From the broadcasts Ellington and his orchestra gained a national reputation．

　　As Ellington’s popularity increased, he realized that his orchestra could do well on concert tours．They left the Cotton Club in 1931 and toured America and Europe almost continually for the next 43 years．In addition to touring, Ellington made recordings and continued to compose music．

　　Duke Ellington played the piano, composed music, and led his famous orchestra for more than 50 years, until his death in 1974．Music lovers all over the world agree that the large quantity of music he created will be enjoyed for many years to come．

阅读理解

Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road

——Reported by Sheila Carrick

　　Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side．

　　Most people know this joke．But recently, some people have been much more worried about how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road．

　　“Millions of animals die each year on U．S．roads,” the Federal Highway Administration reports．In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U．S．today．The main reason? Road kill．

　　“Ecopassages” may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars．They are paths both over and under roads．“These ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid road accidents,” said Jodi Hilty of the Wildlife Protection Society．

　　But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes．Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway．This showed that the lions used the passage．

　　Builders of ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them．Animals seem to be catching on．Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses．

　　The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around．You might see an animals overpass!

阅读理解

　　Visit one of the most outstanding prehistoric sites in the United Kingdom, and enjoy amazing historic English attractions．Please notice that every tour starts and ends in London．Have a tour with Visiting Britain．

　　Visit one of the most outstanding prehistoric sites in England and in the world：Stonehenge．

　　Duration：1 day

　　Price：Adults ￡29.99, Children ￡28.99

　　Enjoy a late breakfast before heading to the Stonehenge site and end your day with an original visit of the Roman Baths．

　　Duration：10 hours(departure 10∶30 am return 8∶30 pm)．

　　Price：Adults ￡64, Children ￡60

　　Explore three of England’s most popular sites to visit：Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and the Roman Baths．

　　Duration：1 day(return 8∶30 pm)

　　Price：Adults ￡64.80, Children ￡61.20

　　Come and feel the warmth of Bath, see the pleasant village of Lacock, and solve the mystery of Stonehenge．

　　Duration：1 day(return 6 pm)

　　Price：Adults ￡85, Children ￡78

　　Choose Stonehenge, Windsor and Oxford Tour and enjoy ancient mysticism, royal history and illustrious knowledge．

　　Duration：1 day

　　Price：Adults ￡72, Children ￡68

　　Take a tour to make the most of the English historic attractions：the Stonehenge site, Bath and Stratford, the birthplace of playwright William Shakespeare．

　　Duration：1 day(return 8 pm)

　　Price：Adults ￡79, Children ￡68

阅读理解

　　Workplaces all over the UK are preparing for Christmas and all the traditions and customs that come with it．But will this Christmas be a cause of happiness and celebration, or of disappointment and embarrassment?

　　At this time of year, colleges show their appreciation of each other by doing a “Secret Santa”．Secret Santa involves people who work together buying gifts for each other without saying who they are from．

　　Co-workers all write their names on pieces of paper, then organize a lottery in which each worker picks a colleague’s name at random．He then has to buy a present for that colleague, usually on a small budget of five or ten pounds．

　　Since the givers are unknown, the quality of presents can vary greatly．In an Internet survey of Secret Santa presents, the gifts that people received range from tickets to the opera to an air freshener for a car．

　　Another common workplace tradition is the office Christmas party, at which workmates put on their best clothes and enjoy lots of free wine．

　　Most parties go without a hitch, but sometimes the alcohol cause party-goers to behave in a way that they later regret．

　　The BBC invited people to share their most embarrassing Christmas office party stories, and received hundreds of funny ones．For example, a man split his trousers while dancing; a drunken lady spent the whole night with the edge of her dress folded into her pants, and later looked at photos that proved it at work．

　　But the funniest story must be that of Stuart Vanies, who got so drunk that he put his boss’s head into the toilet．Unsurprisingly, he was fired the very next day．

阅读理解

　　Dogs have an understanding of fair play and become angry if they feel that another dog is getting a better deal, a new study has found．

　　The study looked at how dogs react when a companion is rewarded for the same trick in an unequal way．Friederike Range, a famous researcher, and her colleagues did a series of experiments with dogs who knew how to respond to the command “give the paw”．The dogs were normally happy to repeatedly give the paw, whether they got a reward or not．

　　But that changed if they saw that another dog was being rewarded with a piece of food, while they received nothing．The dogs hesitated significantly longer when obeying the command to give the paw．Eventually, the unrewarded dogs stopped cooperating．

　　Researchers always assumed that only humans pay close attention to unfairness．That changed in 2003 when Frans De Waal, a professor of psychology, and a colleague named Sarah Brosnan did a survey on monkeys．Monkeys had to hand a small rock to researchers to get a piece of cucumber(黄瓜)in return．However, the monkeys would suddenly become angry when receiving the piece of cucumber if they saw another monkey receive a more delicious reward, such as a grape, for doing the same job．The monkey that got the cucumber would eventually throw away the food and the rock, and would later just stop performing．

　　In that experiment, the monkeys considered the fairness of two different types of payment, but when Range and her colleagues did a similar study with their trained dogs, testing to see if dogs would become upset if they only got bread when other dogs received sausage, they found that dogs did not make that kind of subtle(细微的)distinction．As long as the dogs got some kind of food payment, even if it wasn’t the most delicious kind, they would play along．

阅读理解

　　About 45 percent of Americans don’t get enough sleep, according to a recent survey．However, the benefits of getting enough sleep far outweigh the thrill of watching TV for one more hour or surfing the web．Getting a better night’s sleep will help you lose or keep your weight more effectively．Try these simple steps to improve your quality of sleep．

　　So many of us go-go-go until it’s time for bed, but it’s important to take time to slow down and relax before sleeping．Do relaxing things, such as listening to soothing(抚慰的)music or deep breathing．Avoid stimulating(刺激的)activities such as writing e-mails, talking on the phone and watching TV．Some guidelines(指导方针)：no e-mail after 8 p. m. and no TV or phone calls after 9 p. m．．

　　Your body regulates your sleep cycle in response to the presence and absence of light, so dim the lights as evening approaches．Try getting ready for bed by candlelight．When you’re ready to sleep, make sure your room is as dark as possible．

　　We all need time to process our day, but bed is not the place to do it if you want to sleep well．Take 10 to 15 minutes to record your thoughts in a journal．This effective technique will capture what’s in your mind so you don’t lie awake．Tell yourself you’re putting your thoughts to bed so that you can go to bed．

　　These may wake you up．If you need a snack before bed, make it protein．

　　Get an extra hour or two of sleep every night for a week and see how you feel．You’ll notice the difference!

阅读理解

　　It is not clear who first fried potatoes in hot oil．However, it is widely agreed that French fries(炸薯条)were prepared as early as the 1700s in Europe．Most people believe that it was the Belgians(比利时人), instead of the French, who invented “French”fries．They think that French fries got this name from the cooking word “to french”－to cut green beans into long thin strips(条)．

　　When Thomas Jefferson traveled to France, he enjoyed the deep-fried potatoes very much and brought them home with him．Ever since he served French fries to his guests at a Whitehouse dinner in 1802, the dish has become very popular in America．

　　In the summer of 1853, an American Indian called George Crum worked as a cook at Moon Lake Lodge, a hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York．He was good at making French fries．One evening, a dinner guest found Crum’s French fries too thick and sent them back to the kitchen．Crum then cut and fried some thinner French fries, but these, too, were met with disapproval．This time, the cook got angry．So he decided to play a trick on the guest．He finally made fries that were too thin to eat with a fork．To his surprise, the guest loved the browned, paper-thin chips．The browned chips, then called Saratoga Chips, became one of the most popular dishes of the hotel．Soon they were being sold, first in local restaurants, then throughout New England．

阅读理解

　　Basic Study Manual(Hardcover)：＄37.50

　　Future success depends on the ability to learn．Here are the answers to the questions most often asked by students．Read this book and learn：

　　*What the three barriers to study are and what to do about them

　　* What to do if you get tired of a subject you are studying

　　*Twenty-six simple drills to help you learn how to study easily, rapidly and with full understanding

　　Buy and read the Basic Study Manual and use it to dramatically improve your ability to study．

　　Study Skills for Life(Hardcover)：＄31.99

　　L．Ron Hubbard’s study technology for teenagers opens the door to their future success by giving them advice on how to study and learn．Fully illustrated(插图)for easy comprehension．

　　Learning How to Learn(Hardcover)：＄24.99

　　The basics of effective study for 8 to 12-year-olds, fully illustrated．Children who read and apply the materials in this book can regain their liking for study．Get this book for a child you want to see win at his studies!

　　How to Use a Dictionary Picture Book for Children(Hardcover)：＄34.90

　　In spite of billions of dollars spent on “educational research”, children are not taught the most basic skills of learning：how to use a dictionary．Written for children 8 to 12-year-old, this fully illustrated book will teach your children：

　　*How to find words in a dictionary

　　*The different ways that words are used

　　*How to use a dictionary to correctly pronounce words

　　At last, you’ll just pay 50％ for these books before May 1, 2007．(260 words)

阅读理解

　　There are hundreds of things that your parents controlled for you when you were a child．And it’s a good thing, too－kids need this kind of protection and assistance, because they aren’t mature enough to take care of themselves and make careful decisions on their own．

　　But eventually, kids grow up and become teens．It’s totally normal for teens to create their own opinions, thoughts, and values about life; it’s what prepares them for adulthood．But as you change and grow into this new person who makes his or her own decisions, your parents may have a difficult time adjusting themselves to it．

　　In most families, it’s this adjustment that can cause a lot of fighting between teens and parents．Teens get angry because they feel parents don’t respect them and aren’t giving them space to do what they like, and parents get angry because they aren’t used to not being in control or they disagree with the teens’ decisions．

　　It’s easy for feelings to get very hurt when there are conflicts like these．And more complicated issues can cause even bigger arguments, because your parents will always be intent on protecting you and keeping you safe, no matter how old you are．

　　The good news about fighting with your parents is that in many families the arguing will lessen as parents get more comfortable with the idea that their teens have a right to certain opinions．It can take several years for parents and teens to adjust to their new roles, though．In the meantime, concentrate on communicating with your parents as best you can．

　　Sometimes this can feel impossible－like they just don’t see your point of view and never will．But talking and expressing your opinions can help you gain more respect from your parents, and you may be able to reach a compromise that makes everyone happy．Keep in mind, too, that your parents were teens once and that in most cases, they can relate to what you’re going through．