阅读理解

　　Car sharing is another way to drive green that’s gaining in popularity, especially in urban areas．People who may not drive every day but still want a car to run errands(差事)or drive on weekends benefit most from car sharing．Car sharing is usually run by a service like Zipcar, though there are non-profit(非营利的)and informal car sharing services．Members pay a monthly fee and have access to an entire fleet of cars when they need one．The cars are parked in fixed spots around the city, so members only need to make a reservation, and then go to the pickup spot．

　　Car sharing has major environmental benefits because it reduces the number of cars on the road．Members don’t drive just because they are in a car．They plan trips, and if they don’t need a car, they don’t use one．Still, a car is available to them if they need to make a big trip to the grocery store, pick someone up at the airport or if they want to go to the beach for the day．Members also benefit by having access to a car without any of the headaches of ownership．They usually don’t have to pay for the gas, insurance or maintenance(保养), and the monthly membership fee is less than a typical car payment．So if you really want to go green but aren’t ready to totally give up a car yet, car sharing may be the way to go．

　　If you still need to get around, but want to go even greener than sharing a car, share a bus!

阅读理解

　　A man was on the side of the road hitchhiking(搭便车)on a very dark night in the middle of a terrible rainstorm, with no cars on the road．The storm was so strong that the man could hardly see a few feet ahead of him．Suddenly, he saw a car come towards him and stop．The man, without thinking about it, got in the car and closed the door and only then did he realize that there was nobody behind the steering wheel(方向盘)!

　　The car started to move very slowly．The man looked at the road and saw a curve(拐弯处)coming his way．Terrified, he started to pray, begging for his life．He had not come out of shock when, just before the car hit the curve, a hand suddenly appeared through the window and moved the wheel．The man, paralyzed with fear, watched how the hand appeared every time the car was drawing near a curve．Finally, although terrified, the man managed to open the door and jump out of the spooky car．Without looking back, the man ran through the storm all the way to the nearest town．In a state of complete horror, the man walked into a nearby bar and asked for two glasses of Scotch whisky．

　　Then, still shaking with fright, he started telling everybody in the bar about the horrible experience he just went through in the spooky car．Everyone in the bar listened in silence and became frightened, with hair standing on end, when they realized the man was telling the truth because he was crying and he was certainly not drunk!

　　About half an hour later, two other young men walked into the same bar and one said to the other, “Hey, there’s a stupid man who jumped into the car while we were pushing it!”

阅读理解

Are you crazy about adventures? If so, enjoy the trips we have specially designed for you：

阅读理解

　　Sitting by her Pinocchio lamp, she smiled at me as her tiny hands' shadow danced on the bedroom wall．"A rabbit!" she laughed with all the delight of a four-year old．Her blue eyes shone with pride as she showed me the animated image she had created．"Daddy, will you show me how to make a tiger?" she asked．"Sure," I said, "and then we'll read a story and tell your angels goodnight．"To my youngest daughter, that meant her bedtime prayer．

　　Today my daughter is seven, and I no longer get to read the story．She reads it to me, complete with expressive accents for the story characters．

　　To say I'm proud of our relationship would be an understatement．We have shared days of joy as well as tragedy．Our time together has strengthened the relationship of love and special "life stuff" that is all our own．

　　I am richer for having planted the spirit of trust in this gentle little person; we have grown together spiritually, learning much from each other．The special times we spend together, like nights by a Pinocchio lamp, create memories that we will treasure for the rest of our lives．

　　So it is with all of our relationships．The trust factor is vital for relationships to develop．Think of one of your fondest memories, and you will no doubt find a remarkable relationship at its center--one with a spiritual quality that shines outward from the heart．

　　Time together, caring acts, and unconditional love build trust．I suggest that we each spend plenty of time with our personal "Pinoechio lamps"--those special ways that we choose to strengthen our relationships．

　　Relationships take time to develop and maintain．It is not always easy, but the results are priceless．"Nights by a Pinoechio lamp", wherever those might be for you, will create enduring relationships of golden "life stuff", spiritual gifts that no one can take away．

阅读理解

　　Few of us make money by losing sleep．But three graduate students at Brown University in Providence built a company around sleep deprivation(睡眠不足)．

　　Jason Donahue, Ben Rubin and Eric Shashoua were working late nights in Brown's business and engineering schools．They began thinking about ways to sleep better．They discovered they weren't alone in burning the midnight oil．Around 20％ of Americans get less than six hours of rest a night．

　　The friends imagined a smart alarm clock that could track how much time people spend in the most restorative(有回复作用的)stages of the sleep cycle：REM(rapid eye movement)and deep sleep．What would it cost to design such a thing? Five years of research, 20 employees, ＄14 million and a whole lot of doubting from investors and scientists．

　　Their company, Zeo, based in Newton, Mass, launched its product in June, 2009．The Zeo device uses a headband with tiny sensors(传感器)that scan your brain for signs of four sleep states- REM, light, deep and waking sleep．The smart alarm clock displays a graph of your sleep pattern and wakes you as you're not in REM sleep(which is when you're least groggy)．In the morning you can upload the data to the company's Web site, and so track your sleep over time．Most of the feedback comes in the form of Zeo's ZQ score showing how well you've slept．

　　"Zeo allows people to unlock this black box of sleep," says Dave Dickinson, a health-care CEO．

　　Whether any of this actually improves sleep is up to the consumer, who will also need to make lifestyle changes like cutting out alcohol before bedtime or caffeine after 3 pm．

　　For now the company is selling Zeo online only．Dickinson also plans to spread it to countries such as Australia, where sleep deprivation approaches US levels．

阅读理解

　　For many people, the name Baskin-Robbins is linked to sweet memories of eating ice cream．Irvine Robbins, who helped create this famous company, died in May at the age of ninety．His life's work of making fun and exciting ice cream flavors changed the way Americans enjoy this food．

　　Irvine Robbins opened his first ice cream store in 1945 in California．At the time, there were no stores that sold only ice cream．His sister's husband, Burton Baskin, also opened his own ice cream stores．

　　In 1948 they combined their six stores into one business．Baskin and Robbins realized that they were too busy to operate each store well．So, they decided to sell part of each operation to the manager of that store．This permitted the company to grow quickly．

　　By 1953, they renamed their company Baskin-Robbins．They advertised that they sold 31 kinds of ice cream to show the many choices buyers had．There was one flavor for every day of the month．

　　Robbins and Baskin sold "Lunar Cheesecake" the day after astronauts landed on the moon in 1969．Other flavors included "ChaChaCha", for cherry chocolate chip, and Robbins' personal favorile "Jamoca Almond Fudge"．They said："We sell fun, not just ice cream．"

　　By 1967, there were 500 Baskin-Robbins stores in the United States．The business partners sold their company that year．Today, there are more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world．

阅读理解

　　It was my first day at school in London and I was half-excited and half-frightened．On my way to school I wondered what sort of questions the other boys would ask me and rehearsed(practiced)all the answers：“I am nine years old．I was born here but I haven’t lived here since I was two．I was living in Farley．It’s about thirty miles away．I came back to London two months ago．” I also wondered if it was the custom for boys to fight strangers like me, but I was tall for my age．I hoped they would decide not to risk it．

　　No one took any notice of me before school．I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say “hello”, but no one spoke to me．When a teacher called my name and told me where my classroom was, one or two boys looked at me but that was all the curiosity my arrival aroused．

　　My teacher was called Mr．Jones．There were 42 boys in the class, so I didn’t stand out there, either, until the first lesson of the afternoon．Mr．Jones was very fond of Charles Dickens and he had decided to read aloud to us from David Copperfield, but first he asked several boys if they knew Dickens’ birthplace, but no one guessed right．A boy called Brian, the biggest in the class, said：“Timbuktu”, and Mr．Jones went red in the face．Then he asked me．I said：“Portsmouth”, and everyone stared at me because Mr．Jones said I was right．This didn’t make me very popular, of course．

　　“He thinks he’s clever,” I heard Brian say．

　　After that, we went out to the playground to play football．I was in Brian’s team, and he obviously had Dickens in mind because he told me to go in goal．No one ever wanted to be the goalkeeper．

　　“He’s big enough and useless enough,” Brian said when someone asked him why he had chosen me．

　　I suppose Mr．Jones remembered Dickens, too, because when the game was nearly over, Brian pushed one of the players on the other team, and he gave them a penalty．As the boy kicked the ball hard along the ground to my right, I threw myself down instinctively and saved it．All my team crowded round me．My bare knees were grazed and bleeding．Brian took out a handkerchief and offered it to me．

　　“Do you want to join my gang(team)?” he said．

　　At the end of the day, I was no longer a stranger．

阅读理解

　　14 days from just ￡ 2,090 pp

　　Fully inclusive from the UK

　　Price covers：International airfares, departure taxes, fuel charges, local transportation, accommodation, all meals, entrance fees, guides, daily tours and visas for UK citizens．

　　◆Days 1-3：UK－Shanghai

　　Fly to the great city of Shanghai and in the evening sample traditional Shanghai food．Visit the beautiful Yu Gardens, Old Town, Shanghai Museum, cross the Great Nanpu Bridge and tour the Pudong area．Also explore Xintiandi with its 1920’ s style Shikumen buildings and end your stay in Shanghai with an amazing Huangpu River evening tour．

　　◆Days 4-7：Shanghai－Yangtze River Tour

　　Fly to Yichang and change(approx：one hour)to board your Yangtze River ship for the next four nights．Enjoy a tour of the Three Gorges Dam(三峡大坝)before sailing on the grand Yangtze River, passing through the impressive Three Gorges．We take a side trip to the Lesser Three Gorges or travel up the Shennong Stream in a peapod boat and enjoy various shore trips along the way．

　　◆Day 8：Chongqing－Chengdu

　　Get off in Chongqing and drive to Chengdu for an overnight stay．

　　◆Days 9-10：Chengdu－Xi’an

　　Visit the famous Panda Reserve to see the lovely animals．We then fly to the historic city of Xi’an for two nights’ stay and enjoy traditional Shui Jiao．Next day, explore one of the most important discoveries of the 20th Century－the Terracotta Warriors(兵马俑)，followed by the ancient City Wall and a performance of Tang Dynasty dancing．

　　◆Days 11-13：Xi’an－Beijing

　　Visit Little Wild Goose Pagoda and see the ancient objects at the well-known Shanxi Provincial Museum before walking through the lively Muslim Quarter to see the Great Mosque．Later fly to Beijing for three nights’ stay and try Peking Duck．During our stay in Beijing, we stroll through Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden City, the largest and best preserved collection of ancient buildings in China, and visit the Summer Palace．Next day we take a walk on the Great Wall, tour the unique Temple of Heaven and enjoy an attractive Chinese Acrobatic Show．

　　◆Day 14：Beijing－UK

　　Fly back to the UK, arriving home later the same day filled with happy memories．

阅读理解

　　There is no doubt about it．The best way to learn new words is to do it unconsciously．I don’t mean while you’re unconscious．I mean while you are unconscious of the fact that it is sinking in．

　　That is how I learnt the 30,000 words in my vocabulary by living in an English-speaking world, mother tongue．I just pick them up．But some of them may be misunderstood．Now, to misunderstand does not mean not to understand．To misunderstand is to understand but incorrectly．

　　The 5 ％ mislearnt of all the words we “know” will be the least frequently used words, as the more frequently used words are less likely to be mislearnt．Some of the misunderstandings may live with all our lives, without knowing that we got them wrong．

　　Many English teachers think that this natural method of learning words in one’s own mother tongue can be used for a second language learning．They teach their students how to play the Guessing Game．“There is no time to look up in your dictionaries all the new words you come across,” they will say．“You have to practice guessing what the word means from the context．”

　　This method of guessing in a second language learning does not work．It may succeed in many cases, but results in hundreds or thousands of wrongly-guessed meanings of words．

　　And what’s more, there are more separate meanings than there are words themselves．Our learners’ dictionaries usually have many meanings．A good dictionary is what makes self-learning possible．

　　Don’t guess! Look it up!

阅读理解

　　It was Thanksgiving morning and in the crowded kitchen of my small home I was busy preparing the traditional Thanksgiving turkey when the doorbell rang．I opened the front door and saw two small children in rags huddling together inside the storm door on the top step．

　　“Any old papers, lady?” asked one of them．

　　I was busy．I wanted to say “no” until I looked down at their feet．They were wearing thin little sandals, wet with heavy snow．

　　“Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa．”

　　They walked over and sat down at the table．Their wet sandals left marks upon the floor．I served them cocoa and bread with jam to fight against the cold outside．Then I went back to the kitchen and started again on my household budget．

　　The silence in the front room struck me．I looked in．The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it．The boy asked in a flat voice, “Lady, are you rich?”

　　I looked at my shabby slipcovers．The girl put her cup back in its saucer(茶托)carefully and said, “Your cups match your saucers．” Her voice was hungry with a need that no amount of food could supply．They left after that, holding their bundles of papers against the wind．They hadn’t said “Thank you．” They didn’t need to．They had reminded me that I had so much for which to be grateful．Plain blue china cups and saucers were only worth five pence．But they matched．

　　I tasted the potatoes and stirred the meat soup．Potatoes and brown meat soup, a roof over our heads, my man with a good steady job－these matched, too．

　　I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room．The muddy prints of small sandals were still wet upon my floor．Let them be for a while, I thought, just in case I should begin to forget how rich I am．