阅读

　　In order to know a foreign language thoroughly(完全地), four things are necessary．First, we must understand the language when we hear it spoken．Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, correctly with confidence(自信)and without hesitation(犹豫)．Thirdly, we must be able to write it．We must be able to make sentences that are correct in grammar．

　　There is no short way to succeed in language learning．A good memory(记忆)is a great help, but it is not enough only to memorize the rules from a grammar book．It is no much use learning by heart long lists(一览表)of words and their meanings, studying the dictionary and so on．We must learn by using the language．If we are pleased with a few rules we have memorized, we are not really learning the language．We must “Learn through use”．Practice is important．We must practise speaking and writing the language whenever(无论何时)we can．

阅读

　　A man named Smith was sitting on his roof during a flood, and the water was up to his feet．Before long a fellow in a canoe passed and shouted, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"

　　"No, thanks," said Smith．"I have faith(信任)in God and he will save me．"

　　Soon the water rose to Smith’s waist．(腰，腰部)At this point a motor boat pulled up and someone called out, "Can I give you a lift to higher ground?"

　　"No, thanks, I have faith in God and he will save me．"

　　Later a helicopter flew by, and Smith was now standing on the roof with water up to his neck．"Grab the rope, "shouted the pilot．"I’ll pull you up．"

　　"No, thanks," said Smith．"I have faith in God and he will save me．"But after hours of struggling with water, poor exhausted Smith drowned and went to his reward．As he arrived at the Pearly Gates, Smith met God and complained about this．"Tell me, God, "he said, "I had such faith in you to save me and you let me drown．What happened?"

　　To which God replied, "What do you want from me? I sent you two boats and a helicopter．"

阅读理解

　　On Friday, April 1, Inner Affair goes back to the days of funk! Classic Tunes from the 70’s and 80’s by DJs Den & Sion．9pm till late．

　　Tickets：Free entrance for those in costume, otherwise 50 yuan(US＄6)

　　Time/date：9 pm, April 1

　　Place：Inner Affair, 1/F Qiankun Dasha, 6 Sanlitun Xiliujie, Chaoyang District

　　Tel：8454-0321

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　　Enjoy free in house coffee, tea and beer as well as music and dancing．Practice your Chinese, make friends and have fun．

　　Time/date：7 to 9 pm, March 25

　　Place：Language In Use Club, 2/F, Science Fortune Center, 8 Xueqing Lu, north of Xueyuan Lu, Haidian District

　　Organized by Ozone Productions, the party is set to be "the worst ever", with the lamest music from the 60s, 70s and 80s．Special prizes will be awarded to the worst dressed or for bad fashion sense．

　　Tickets：Free entrance

　　Time/date：9 pm, April 1

　　Place：Pula Pula, Tianze Lu, Oriental Seven Colours Plaza, Chaoyang District

　　Tel：6466-8575

　　Again on the 2nd Thursday of the month La Nuit Francaise will be held at Le Rendezvous．The monthly event is an opportunity for all French people and everyone interested in France or speaking French to gather together．

　　The evening features three glasses of wine and canapes for participants and a special exhibition．

　　Time/date：7 to 10 pm, April 14

　　Place：Le Rendezvous, 3 Gongti Beilu, across from the Pacific Century Plaza, Chaoyang District Tel：6462-9110

　　Dutch DJ Marco V drops by Banana for a gig which is supported by Hong Kong’s DJ Spark．

　　Marco V has been around for many years, as an inventive, style blending deejay and a successful and devoted producer．His spinning is energetic, crowd pleasing and never sees an empty dance floor．He was ranked No．15 in this year’s international DJ MAG DJ Top100．

　　Tickets：40 yuan(US＄4.80)in advance, 50 yuan(US＄6)at the door, both include a free drink

　　Time/date：10 pm to 4 am, March 31, April 1

　　Place：Banana, in the lobby of the Scitech Hotel, 22 Jianwai Dajie, Chaoyang District

　　Tel：6528-3636

阅读理解

　　Long bus rides are like television shows．They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes．The commercials are unavoidable．They happen whether you want them or not．Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window．"Buy Super Clean Toothpaste．" "Drink Good Wet Root Beer．" "Fill up with Pacific Gas．" Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"

　　The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before．Usually some things have changed：new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road．The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so．If the driver is particularly reckless(鲁莽的)or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a suspense story．Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down．Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride．Food always makes bus rides more interesting．But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat．Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops．

　　The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning．You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that．The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed．By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the armrests even with your hands crossed behind your head．The end comes just at no more ways to sit．

阅读理解

　　Everyone has got two personalities – the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real．You don’t show your secret personality when you’re awake because you can control your behaviour, but when you’re asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you．In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their position．The important position is the one that you go to sleep in．

　　If you go to sleep on your back, you’re a very open person．You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas．You don’t like to upset people, so you never express your real feelings．You’re quite shy and you aren’t very confident．

　　If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person．You worry a lot and you’re always easily upset．You’re very stubborn, but you aren’t very ambitious．You usually live for today not for tomorrow．This means that you enjoy having a good time．

　　If you sleep on curled up, you are probably a very nervous person．You have a low opinion of yourself and so you’re often defensive．You’re shy and you don’t normally like meeting people．You prefer to be on your own．You’re easily hurt．

　　If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well-balanced personality．You know your strengths and weakness．You’re usually careful．You have a confident personality．You sometimes feel anxious, but you don’t often get depressed．You always say what you think even if it annoys people．

阅读理解

　　About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street．He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old．

　　He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something．As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and-WHUMP!-it hit the Jag’s shiny black side door! SCREECH．．．!!!! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, seized the kid and pushed him up against a parked car．He shouted at the kid, “What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!” Building up a head of steam, he went on．“That’s my new Jag, and that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money．Why did you throw it?”

　　“Please, mister, please…I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!” begged the youngster．“I threw the brick because no one else would stop!” tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car．“It’s my brother, mister,” he said．“He rolled of the curb(路沿)and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up．” Sobbing, the boy asked the businessman, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair?” he’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me．”

　　Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat．Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK．He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home．

　　It was a long walk back to the black, shining, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE－a long and slow walk．Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar．He kept the dent(凹痕)to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention．Feel for the bricks of life coming at you．

阅读理解

　　An earthquake is a trembling or shaking of the ground caused by the sudden release of energy stored in the rocks below the surface．Generally, earthquakes last only seconds．Strong ground shaking during a medium to large earthquake generally lasts about 10 to 30 seconds．Aftershocks can occur once in a while for weeks or even months．

　　Many people think that there is an “earthquake season” or a kind of “earthquake weather”．In fact, there isn’t．Earthquakes can occur at any time of the year and at any time of the day or night．Earthquakes occur under all weather conditions-sunny, wet, hot, or cold-without any special weather tendency(倾向)．

　　Also, you don’t need to worry about that ground will open up and swallow people when earthquakes occur．Open ground cracks may form during an earthquake-related, for example, to land sliding or ground falling; however, such cracks tend to be open gaps(they don’t “swallow”)that a person could stand in afterwards．The safest place in an earthquake is in an open field, where nothing can fall on you．Earthquakes do not injure or kill people; but buildings and falling objects do．If you are indoors, when you feel the ground start to shake, take cover immediately under a table or strong piece of furniture, placing something between falling objects and yourself．Do not attempt to use the stairs or an elevator to get out of the building．

阅读理解

　　Health insurance can be very expensive．Some working people do not make enough money to pay for it．In the US there is a program called Healthy Families．This program offers people health insurance at a low cost．

　　Families are charged about ＄7.00 a month for every child, and ＄10.00 for every adult．It costs much less than any other kind of health insurance．Having health insurance is very important．With this insurance, people can see a doctor when they are sick or hurt．

　　The program is not expensive at all, but many people are still not enrolling in it．People say that it still costs too much money．They need all of their money to pay for things like food and rent．

　　It would be great if everyone could have health insurance．People are working hard to come up with ways to make this happen．One idea is to make the Healthy Families Program free for some people．

　　It is important for people to see a doctor when they need to．The Healthy Families Program makes it possible for more people to do this．Many ideas are being considered．Hopefully some of them will allow even more families to get health insurance．

　　The Healthy Families Program is made to help those who don’t have welfare(社会保障金)and cannot earn enough to pay for private health insurance．It is an important program, but officials say that too many people are signing up for it and then dropping out because of the Healthy Families Program’s cost．

阅读理解

　　Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor．Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say, “My spoken English is poor．” However, their spoken English does not have to remain “poor”! I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English．

　　First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary．Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary．However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive．Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know．

　　Second, they are afraid of making mistakes．Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous．Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY(准确性)．Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly．However, in speaking your aim is fluency．You want to get your message across, to talk to someone in English, as quickly and as well as you can, even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense, but it doesn’t matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances for any mistakes he hears．

　　The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening．You have one mouth but two ears! All that hearing was necessary for you to start speaking．

　　Fourth, most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive language learners．Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor．If you have this proactive outlook, then you will see English opportunities wherever you go．

　　If you do not use your English beyond the classroom you will forget what English you know．Remember：USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more．

阅读理解

A long time ago, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody noticed him．Thus, feeling inferior(低级的), the seed gave no importance to his existence(存在)．Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field in the sun．Later, he was given rain．Years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side．“Thank you God for this．I really need some rest,” he heard the traveler say．“What are you talking about?” the seed quickly asked．He thought the man was making fun of him．No one ever spoke to him like that．“Who just spoke?” the shocked man asked．“It is me．A seed．” “A seed?” The man looked at the big tree．“Are you joking? You are not a seed．You are a big tree!” “Really?” “Yes! Why else do you think people come here?” “What do they come here for?” “To feel your shade! Don’t tell me you didn’t know you had grown over time．” A moment passed before the traveler’s words brought him pride．The seed thought and smiled for the first time in his life．The years of torture by the sun and the rain finally helped him grow up．“Oh! That means I’m not a little seed anymore! I was actually born to make people feel comfortable．Wow! That’s great!”