阅读理解

　　ARLES, FRANCE－Andre Raffay has a problem．He needs a nice, large flat in the city of Arles, but he doesn’t have enough money to buy one．Every morning Andre sits in his neighborhood café(附近酒吧)and reads the flat ads in the newspaper．He draws a circle around each ad for a flat that looks good．Then he goes to the telephone to call the owner．

　　“Hello．I’m interested in the flat near the park that is in today’s paper,” he says．“How much is it?” When he hears the answer, he says, “Oh, my goodness! That’s too much!” The same thing happens every day．

　　One morning Andre sees a friend in the café．He tells him about his problem．“I have a good idea, Andre．I know a 90-year-old woman who has a beautiful flat．You can pay her something every month until she dies．Then you can move into the flat．It will be yours!”

　　Andre is excited．He thinks to himself, “How much longer can such an old lady live? We can probably have the flat in a few years．” He and his wife, Marie, go to visit Mrs．Calment．The flat is just what they want．It is large and sunny, and it is near the centre of town．It even has a view of the park．

　　Andre tells Mrs．Calment, “We will pay you ＄500 a month, and you can stay here for the rest of your life．” She is very happy．She says, “I really want to stay here．This is my home．Now I don’t have to move to my niece’s(侄女)house in the country．”

　　They sign a contract(签了份协议)that says that Andre and his wife will pay Mrs．Calment ＄500 every month．When she dies, the flat will belong to Andre and his wife．

　　More than thirty years go by．Jeanne Calment is still alive．She is 121 years old, the oldest person in the world．Poor Andre isn’t alive any more, but his widow(寡妇)still sends Mrs．Calment ＄500 every month．Their dream flat is a nightmare(恶梦)．

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阅读理解

　　“Life is speeding up．Everyone is becoming unwell．” This may sound like something someone would say today．But in fact, an unwell person who lived in Rome in AD 53 wrote it．

　　We all love new inventions．They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives．

　　But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?

　　Picture this：You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer．Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the telephone is getting louder and louder．Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work．Now you have to stay up all night to get it done．

　　Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired．Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier?Perhaps that is because they live simpler lives．

　　One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today．The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons, Benjamin, 10, and Thomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house．They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phone．

　　The grandmother, Lyn, said, “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes．” The boys said they fought less．Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer．Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a trendy, been-drinking granny, to one who cooked things．

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