阅读理解

　　The first reality TV show in the world was called Expedition Robinson and it was shown in Sweden in 1997．Half the population of the country watched the final event and a new kind of TV program was born．Two years later in Holland, the first series of Big Brother was filmed．Again, it was a great success and the final program was watched by 15 million people．Now more than 20 countries around the world have Big Brother or Expedition Robinson on their TV screens．The ordinary people who take part in the programs are known by millions of people in their own countries and reality TV has become big, big business．

　　For the TV producers, reality TV is a dream which comes true because many of the

　　programs cost nothing to make．At some point, the television viewers are asked to telephone the program to vote or to apply to take part in the show．It is the cost of these telephone calls that pays for the shows．One of the most popular shows is Pop Idol．In the show a group of attractive young people are made into pop stars．TV viewers vote for their favorite person on the show．The winner makes a record and millions of copies of the record are sold．His or her pictures are published on the covers of magazines or on the front pages of newspapers, and then, they are quickly forgotten．

　　But not everyone is happy about reality TV．In Portugal, two TV channels got into trouble because they showed too much of the personal lives of the people in the shows．In France, reality TV is called “rubbish TV” and the TV studios of Big Brother were attacked three times in one week．In Greece, Big Brother was described as “ against human rights and civilization”．

阅读理解

　　Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true，but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture．

　　For example，someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票)．It was great．I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”

　　This guy's a winner，right? Maybe，maybe not．We then discover that he bought ＄ 200 worth of tickets，and only one was a winner．He’s really a big loser!

　　He didn’t say anything that was false，but he left out important information on purpose．That’s called a half-truth．Half truths are not technically lies，but they are just as dishonest．

　　Some politicians often use this trick．Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term，her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs．Then she seeks an　other term．One of her opponents(对手)says，“During Governor Smith’s term，the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true．However，an honest statement would have been，“During Governor Smith's term，the state had a net gain of two million jobs．’’

　　Advertisers will sometimes use half－truths．It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth．An advertisement might say，“Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache．”It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company．

　　This kind of deception happens too often．It’s a sad fact of life：Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can 1ie as well．

阅读理解

　　You can not see any object unless light from that object gets into your eyes．Some of the things you see give off light of their own．The sun, the stars, a lighted lamp are examples that can be seen by their own light．Such things are luminous．Most of the things you see are not giving off light of their own．They are simply reflecting light that falls on them from the sun or some other luminous bodies．The moon, for example, does not give off any light of its own．It is non-luminous．You see it because sunlight falls on it and some of it reflects in our direction．So moon light is only second hand sunlight．

　　When you look at a book, it sends to your eyes some of the light which falls on it, and you see the book．If light could be kept out from where you are so that there would be no light for the book to reflect, then you could not see the book even with your eyes wide open．

　　Light travels so fast that the time in which it travels from the book you are reading to your eyes is so short as if there were no time at all．Light reaches us from the moon, which is about 380 000 kilometers away, in only a little more than a second．

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　　New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate and enter the new year with a smile on your face．This year, there’re plenty of local activities for all ages and interests, so the smiles will come easily．

　　BLUE CONCERT

　　Blues band the Coyotes is playing at the Dance Barn，at 8 Barn View in Sudden Valley, The show will start at 9 p. m. and benefit the charity Bikers Fighting Cancer．Tickets cost ＄10 in advance and ＄15 at the door．Call 224-2308 for more information．

　　NEW YEAR’S LAUGHS

　　Ring in the New Year and laugh out the old one at the Upfront Theatre Comic improvisers will hit on all the highlights of the year with The Last Laugh of 2008．The 9 p. m. show will cost ＄15 and is open to all ages．The 11 P. m. show is open to 21 and older and costs ＄18, which includes a champagne(香槟酒)toast．Call 733-8855 for more information．

　　MAZE

　　For a fun activity earlier in the evening，walk the labyrinth(迷宫)at the Leopold Crystal Bellroom．Wander through the maze, based on the French Chartres Cathedral, for free from 4 to 9 p. m．Call 752-0048 for more information．

　　COUNTRY DANCING

　　At the Bellingham Eagles Hall, live local music will help get the dance started at 8 p. m．Tickets are ＄15 for adults, ＄10 for students and free for kids 12 and younger．For more information, call 676-1554．

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　　136 Crestview Circle

　　Dover, Connecticut

　　January 16, 1995

　　Gander’s Furniture Store

　　Stamford, Connecticut, 09876

　　Dear Sir,

　　I am writing about your January bill, which I am returning with this letter．I am not going to pay this bill．Last month I bought a table and four chairs for ＄65．50．They were sent to me on December 18．That night one leg of the table broke while my wife was putting our dinner on it．It fell on one of the chair, and that broke, too．Our ＄ 2.50 steak(牛排)landed on the floor, and the dog ate it．

　　I spoke to the salesmen who had sold me the table and the chairs．He told me to write you a letter．I wrote you on December 20, saying that I was not going to pay for the furniture．On December 21 some men came and took it back to the store．

　　Please do something about your records．I do not want to receive another bill for the furniture which I returned．

Yours truly

Alberts Robbins

阅读理解

　　Mr．Grey was the manager of a small office in London．He lived in the country, and came up to work by train．He liked walking from the station to his office unless it was raining, because it gave him some exercise．

　　One morning he was walking along the street when a stranger stopped him and said to him, “You may not remember me, sir, but seven years ago I came to London without a penny in my pockets, I stopped you in this street and asked you to lend me some money, and you lent me ￡ 5, because you said you were willing to take a chance so as to give a man a start on the way to success．”

　　Mr．Grey thought for a few minutes and then said, “Yes, I remember you．Go on with your story!” “Well,” answered the stranger, “are you still willing to take a chance?”

阅读理解

　　They have frightened some and attracted others．They are Wenlock and Mandeville, mascots of the London Olympic Games．

　　Since both of them have a camera for an eye, they are called one-eyed mascots．Their cameras will capture every great event on their journey to 2012．And they both have a taxi light on their heads, like the world-famous London black cabs．Wenlock’s head shape is meant to represent an Olympic podium and the three medals won in each event．Mandeville’s head features the three Paralympic colors．

　　Wenlock is the name of the English village considered by many to be the birthplace of the modern Olympics．People think its local games inspired Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who founded the International Olympic Committee．

　　The other mascot’s name is a reference to the village of Stoke Mandeville, where the Paralympic movement began．

　　The mascots are a central part of London’s business strategy and will feature in everything from T-shirts to tea towels．No doubt they will be seen under children’s arms as their favorite toys．

　　The 2012 Committee Chairman, Sebastian Coe, said, “We want them to be part of our fan base．We want them to engage with young people．They have in large part been designed and driven by what young people want．”

　　Young fans like their mascots to come with a backstory．Children’s author Michael Morpurgo came up with the idea that the mascots origin was from the last drops of molten steel left over from the construction of the Olympic Stadium．

　　Adults and organizers might argue but the most important audience for Wenlock and Mandeville are children．Ten-year-old Kira, from Essex in England, wrote to the BBC to say：“I think they are lovely! I love the Olympics and so does my sister!”

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　　Driving a car is more stressful than traveling by bus, according to a new research．A study by Dr David Lewis will be used as a major part of the Greener Journeys campaign．The aim is to persuade motorists up and down the country to abandon their cars for one billion journeys in the next four years－in favor of traveling by bus．

　　Dr Lewis, from the University of Sussex, conducted an experiment in which the heart rate and EDR(皮肤电反应)of 30 volunteers were measured when taking identical or similar journeys by car as a driver and by bus as a passenger．The results indicated that stress was, on average, 33％ lower when traveling by bus．

　　EDR measures the change in the response of a person’s skin to anxiety or stress．EDR can be a hidden stress．This type of stress can have long-term physical and emotional impacts．Taking a bus can produce long-term benefits．

　　Dr Lewis said there are three main factors that make driving a car stressful：heavy traffic causes the brain to work harder, traffic jams cause a build-up of anger and there is a sense of frustration that a person is “wasting one’s life” because few things can be done at the same time as driving．The study shows that driving in traffic jams now outweighs(超过)any previous benefits that driving in a private car once gave．

　　The Greener Journeys campaign will encourage people to get out of their cars and go by bus where it is convenient and realistic to switch．Claire Haigh, a spokesman for Greener Journeys, said the findings might persuade drivers－who were already concerned about CO₂ emissions － that traveling by bus had health benefits as well as environmental ones．One fifth of motorists would be prepared to change to public transport for reasons to do with the environment．Just one double-decker bus can take 75 cars off the road, fairly reducing emissions levels．

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　　An Australian man who has been donating his extremely rare kind of blood for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies．

　　James Harrison has an antibody in his plasma(血浆)that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia．He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father's blood．

　　Mr．Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations．When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special that his life was insured for one million Australian dollars．

　　He was also nicknamed the “man with the golden arm” or the “man in two million”．He said, “I've never thought about stopping．Never!” He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 liters of blood．“I was in hospital for three months,” he said．“The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18．”

　　Just after he started donating he was found to have the rare and life-saving antibody in his blood．At the time, thousands of babies in Australia were dying each year of Rhesus disease．Other newborns suffered permanent brain damage because of the condition．The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood．It stems from one having Rh-positive blood and the other Rh-negative．

　　His blood has since led to the development of a vaccine called Anti-D．After his blood type was discovered, Mr．Harrison volunteered to undergo a series of tests to help develop the Anti-D vaccine．“They insured me for a million dollars so I knew my wife Barbara would be taken care of,” he said．“I wasn't scared．I was glad to help．I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away．”

　　Mr．Harrison is Rh-negative and was given injections of Rh-positive blood．It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it has been given to hundreds of thousands of women．It has also been given to babies after they are born to stop them developing the disease．

　　It is estimated he has helped save 2.2 million babies so far．Mr．Harrison is still donating every few weeks now．