阅读理解

　　Some people think that as more and more people have televisions in their homes, fewer and fewer people will buy books and newspapers．Why read an article in the newspaper, when the TV news can bring you the information in a few minutes and with pictures? Why read the life story of a famous man, when a short television program can tell you all that you want to know?

　　Television has not killed reading, however．Today, newspapers sell in very large numbers．And books of every kind are sold more than ever before．Books are still a cheap way to get information and enjoyment．Although some books with hard covers are expensive, many books are printed today as paperbacks(平装本), which are quite cheap．A paperback collection of short stories, for example, is always cheaper than an evening at the cinema or the theater, and you can keep a book for ever and read it many times．

　　Books are a wonderful provider of knowledge and pleasure and some types of books should be kept in every home．Every home should have a good dictionary．A good encyclopedia(百科全书), though expensive, is useful, too, because you can find information on any subject．Besides, you can have such books as history books, science textbooks, cookbooks, and collections of stories and poems．Then from time to time you can take a book of poems off your shelves and read the thoughts and feelings of your favorite poets．

阅读理解

　　The child of today owes much of its pleasant school life to the work of Maria Montessori and others who felt as she did．

　　Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in northern Italy．Both her parents were well educated．

　　While Maria was a student, she took great interest in the study of the particular nature of the child's mind．It came to her that small children should have freedom to learn．

　　Maria became a doctor and a professor at Rome University．In 1907, after working with backward students, she was given a chance to try out her ideas on children．There were sixty children, aged three to six, in the Children's House．The rooms were bright and colorful．Maria let the children make their own choice of what they wanted to do and work with their own speed．They became busy, peaceful and happy．

　　Maria Montessori was one of the world's greatest teachers．She traveled in Europe, America and Far East．She thought that true education, providing(提供)for the real needs of the child, would produce wise and happy grown-ups and therefore a peaceful world．Her original way of education has changed our whole idea of what childhood is．

　　Maria Montessori died in Holland at the age of eighty-two．

阅读理解

　　Habits, whether good or bad, are gradually formed．When a person does a certain thing again, he is driven by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly, then a habit is formed．Once a habit is formed, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get rid of．It is therefore very important that we should pay great attention to the formation of habits．Children often form bad habits, some of which remain with them as long as they live．Older persons also form bad habits lasting as long as they live, and sometimes become ruined by them．

　　There are other habits which, when formed in early life, are of great help．Many successful men say that much of their success has something to do with certain habits in early life, such as early rising, honesty and so on．

　　Among the habits which children should not form are laziness, lying, stealing and so on．These are all easily formed habits．Unfortunately older persons often form such habits which could have been avoided．We should keep away from all these bad habits, and try to form such habits as will be good for ourselves and others．

阅读理解

　　Editor,

　　I’m a Senior 1 student in a middle school．This term, my favourite teacher, Miss Mao, no longer teaches us．I want to see her, but I’m afraid that she no longer likes me and I don’t want to trouble her．I really miss her．What should I do?

Tian Yan

　　Tian Yan,

　　It’s bad luck that you have lost your favourite teacher．But, if she is still in your school, nothing can stop you going to see her．When she isn’t busy, ask her if she minds having a quick chat．You can then tell her she was your favourite teacher．Everyone is happy to know they are liked!

　　If she has left the school, it will be more difficult to meet her．It will be hard, but remember people always come and go in our lives．We can’t rely on them being with us all the time．

　　You may be sad to say goodbye to her, but we can remember and learn from her．Think of her best qualities．

　　You could also try looking for similar qualities in your other teachers．Study hard and give your new teacher a chance．In time, you might start to see that he or she has different qualities to learn from．

　　Finally, you can not completely depend on other people getting you through your studies, or even your life．

Editor

阅读理解

　　“Let’s go Dutch, shall we?” Jim said after a dinner to his friends in a restaurant．What does Jim mean?

　　Long ago, there was a kind of dinner called Dutch treat．At a Dutch treat, the invited guests were expected to pay for their own share of the food and drink．Now, Dutch treat means when friends go out to have fun, each person pays his or her own share．

　　There are many other expressions related with “Dutch” in American English．However, most of them were first used in England in the 17th century．At that time, the British and the Dutch were war enemies．So when British people talked about something wrong or bad, they would like to use the word “Dutch”．

　　A common expression heard a few years ago was in Dutch．A friend may tell you, “You are in Dutch．The teacher is angry with you．Be careful!” When a soldier took Dutch leave, he left the army without permission．Dutch courage was the false courage produced by the effects of drinking wine．

　　There is one expression that did come from the Dutch．That is to talk like a Dutch uncle．The Dutch were known for the strict and serious way they educated their children．

阅读理解

　　A：Hello, Judy．How are you getting along with your word processing(文字处理)class?

　　B：Well, so far progress has been rather slow．I haven’t learned the keyboard yet, and I have problems remembering all the orders of editing．I get really impatient because I want to master the means to operate(run)the computer as soon as possible．

　　A：Just remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day．Word processing can’t be such an easy matter．

　　B：You’re right．Our teacher keeps telling us that it takes time to learn all the techniques(技巧)of word processing and that we can’t master everything in one day．

　　A：That’s entirely true．But you’ll catch on．Just be patient and practise whenever you can．

阅读理解

　　I come from a city on the United States’east coast．It’s a ten-hour flight for me to get home from Shanghai．When I got off the plane, I took photos of the blue sky and white clouds along the way．After two weeks, I returned to Shanghai．Much to my surprise, the blue sky in Shanghai that I liked before was not as blue as that in the US．I couldn’t help wondering what had happened．

　　A few days later, I went to tour Waitan(a famous tourist attraction in Shanghai)by the Huangpu River with some of my friends．There we saw five Ferrari sports cars by the side of the road．The red and yellow cars looked so nice that everyone was looking at them．However, when I turned my head, I noticed the sky over Waitan, I was shocked to find that the buildings in the Lujiazui area on the other side of Huangpu River could hardly be seen．It was then that I realized that Ferrari cars could be bought with money, but a blue sky couldn’t．

　　Shanghai is an important economic(经济的)and trade center in China．It has made great contributions(贡献)to the whole nation’s economic development．However, we need to protect the environment during economic growth．Pollution is poisoning our air and our rivers．Without clean air and rivers, how will people be able to survive?

阅读理解

　　It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home．

　　If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right, then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons．Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent．

　　My daughter Carla’s fifth grade’s teacher made every child in her class feel special．When students received less than a prefect test score, she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed．

　　You can use the same technique when you evaluate your child’s work at home．Don’t always scold and give lots of praise instead．Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn’t done．If your child completes a difficult task，promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game．

　　Learning is a process of trying and failing and trying，and succeeding．If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure，they will learn faster and achieve success at last．

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 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．

阅读理解

　　That cold January night, I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco．There I was walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theater．With opening night only a week away, I was still learning my lines．I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time．As I walked, I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco．City life had become too much for me．

　　As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings, I felt very small and cold．I began running, both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers．Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets．

　　About a block from my apartment, I heard a sound behind me．I turned quickly, half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun．The street was empty．All I saw was a shining streetlight．Still, the noise had made me nervous, so I started to run faster．Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been．It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk．

　　Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired any more．I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise．Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes, my wallet was nowhere to be found．

　　Just as I was about to give up the search, I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me．When a voice called from the inside, “Alisa Camacho?” I thought I was dreaming．How could this man know my name? The door opened, and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eyes．“Is this what you’re looking for?” he asked, holding up a small square shape．

　　It was nearly 3 a．m．by the time I got into bed．I wouldn’t get much sleep that night, but I had got my wallet back．I also had got back some enjoyment of city life．I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other．