阅读理解The first ancient Olympics were held in 776 B.C.. The games got their name from Olympia, the Greek city where they took place. Like the Summer Olympics of today, the ancient Olympics were held every four years. Thousands of people from all over the Greek world came to watch. The main stadium held about 45,000 people. "We have accounts of visitors and pilgrims setting up tents all around the site," Lisa Cerrato of Tufts University said. During the first Olympics, there was only one competition — a 200-meter race. But over time the games grew to include wrestling, chariot racing boxing, and other sports. Women were not allowed to compete, but they had their own separate games. "The ancient athletes became celebrities (名人) , just like today. They often lived the rest of their lives being treated to free dinners." Cerrato said. "City-states even tried to steal away each other''s athletes by offering them various awards." The ancient Olympics existed until 393 AD. But the modern Olympics are still going strong.

阅读理解Amtrak (美国铁路客运公司) was experiencing a downswing in riders hip (客运量) along the lines comprising its rail system. Of major concern to Amtrak and its advertising agency DDB Needham, were the long-distance western routes where ridership had been declining significantly. At one time, trains were the only practical way to cross the vast areas of the west. Trains were fast, very luxurious, and quite convenient compared to other forms of transportation existing at the time. However, times change and the automobile became America''s standard of convenience. Also, air travel had easily established itself as the fastest method of traveling great distances. Therefore, the task for DDB Needham was to encourage consumers to consider other aspects of train travel in order to change their attitudes and increase the likelihood that trains would be considered for travel in the west. Two portions of the total market were targeted: 1) anxious fliers—those concerned with safety, relaxation, and cleanliness and 2) travel-lovers—those viewing themselves as relaxed, casual, and interested in the travel experience as part of their vacation. The agency then developed a campaign that focused on travel experiences such as freedom, escape, relaxation, and enjoyment of the great western outdoors. It stressed experiences gained by using the trains and portrayed western train trips as wonderful adventures. Advertisements showed pictures of the beautiful scenery that could be enjoyed along some of the more famous western routes and emphasized the romantic names of some of these trains(Empire Builder, etc.).These ads were strategically placed among family-oriented TV shows and programs involving nature and America in order to most effectively reach target audiences. Results were impressive. The Empire Builder, which was focused on in one ad, enjoyed a 15 percent increase in profits on its Chicago to Seattle route.

阅读理解The flat offered in D __________ .

阅读理解What tendency can we find from the chart?

阅读理解It can be concluded from the passage that ____________.

阅读理解The passage is mainly written to _______.

阅读理解A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading. It is remarkable first for what it contains: the range of news from local crime to international politics, from sport to business to fashion to science, and the range of comment and special features (特定) as well, from editorial page to feature articles and interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre and music. A newspaper is even more remarkable for the way one reads it: never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out, glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the next. A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far more than any one reader is interested in. What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality (时事性), its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now. But immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it mean also that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than transient (短暂的) value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each person does is to put together out of the pages of that day''s paper, his own selection and sequence, his own news paper. For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently, which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self awareness as you modify and apply the techniques of reading.

阅读理解From the passage we can guess ______.

阅读理解Which of the following is the most appropriate title for the passage?

阅读理解The world''s population continues to grow. There now are about 4 billion of us on earth. That could reach 6 billion by the end of the century and 11 billion in another 75 years. Experts long have been concerned about such growth. Where will we find the food, water, jobs, houses, schools and health care for all these people? A major new study shows that the situation may be changing. A large and rapid drop in the world''s birth rate has taken place during the past 10 years. Families generally are smaller now than they were a few years ago. It is happening in both developing and industrial nations. Researchers said they found a number of reasons for this. More men and women are waiting longer to get married and are using birth control devices and methods to prevent or delay pregnancy. More women are going to school or working at jobs away form their homes instead of having children. And more governments, especially in developing nations, now support family planning programs to reduce population growth. China is one of the nations that has made great progress in reducing its population growth. China has already cut its rate of population growth by about one half since 1970. China now urges each family to have no more than one child. And it hopes to reach zero population growth, the number of births equaling the number of deaths, by the year 2000. Several nations in Europe already have fewer births than deaths. Experts said that these nations could face a serious shortage of workers in the future. And the persons who are working could face much higher taxes to help support the growing number of retired people.

阅读理解The last paragraph implies that ______.

阅读理解What characteristic can be found from the table?

阅读理解At the International Snow Sculpture Championships in Colorado on January 21, people will carve the white stuff into art. Planning begins months before the first snow falls. Teams submit applications and sketches of their sculptures in July. Then, a panel of judges chooses 14 teams for the championship. The rules are simple: Electric tools are not allowed. Teams carve snow with everything but the results are not entirely in the sculptors'' hands. "If it is extremely sunny and warm," De Wall, the competition''s director of public relations, explained. "We will erect old sails from sailboats into the air to block the sun from melting the sculptures." "If is snows," she continued, "teams have to work extra hard to scrape (刮掉) the new snow off their work." The judges look for creativity, technical skill, and overall impact on the viewer. The winner does not receive any money. "There is no cash prize because the event began with the concept of global camaraderie (情谊) ," De Wall explained. "Instead of focusing on money," she continued. "Winners revel (纵情) in the friendship, the art, and the work."

阅读理解After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: the damage and death toll could have been much worse. More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, an earthquake of similar intensity that shook America in 1988 claimed 25, 000 victims. Injuries and deaths were relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. on a holiday, when traffic was light on the city''s highways. In addition, changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city''s buildings and highways, making them more resistant to quakes. Despite the good news, civil engineers aren''t resting on their successes. Pinned to their drawing boards are blueprints for improved quake-resistant buildings. The new designs should offer even greater security to cities where earthquakes often take place. In the past, making structures quake-resistant meant firm yet flexible materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most recent designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports, called smart buildings. The structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake''s vibrations. When the ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would force the building to shift in the opposite direction. The new smart structures could be very expensive to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

阅读理解In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied. But do more varied jobs lead to greater productivity? The evidence shows that while variety certainly makes the worker'' s life more enjoyable, it does not actually make him work harder. As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then, variety is not an important factor. Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important. There is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way. Thus, although freedom of choice may be important, usually very little can be done to create it. Another important consideration is how much a worker contributes to the product he is making. In most factories the worker sees only one small part of the product. Some car factories are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than a large one, so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line. It would seem that not only is degree of the worker''s contribution an important factor, therefore, but it is also one we can do something about. To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity? The workers themselves certainly think this is important. But perhaps they want more money only because the work they do is so boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more. A similar argument may explain demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if we make their jobs more interesting, they will want neither more money nor shorter working hours.

阅读理解In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child''s acquisition (学会) of each new skill the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself. Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters. Others are sever over times of coming home at night or punctuality for meals. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child''s own happiness. As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality (道德). Also, parents should realize that "example is better than precept". If they are not sincere and do not practise what they preach (说教), their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled. A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents'' principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.

阅读理解The passage is most likely a ______.

阅读理解Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids (小行星) now, one might crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists. Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids (流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don''t threaten us. But there are also thousands whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth. Buy $ 40 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $ 10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we''ll have a way to change its course. Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the cost wouldn''t be cheap. Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk are: 1) How likely the event is; and 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 400,000 years. Sounds pretty rare-but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. "If we don''t take care of these big asteroids, they''ll take care of us," says one scientist. "It''s that simple." The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? "The world has less to fear from doomsday (毁灭性的) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them, " said a New York Times article.