阅读理解 Questions 1 to 10 are based on the following passage Since the 1940s, southern California has had a reputation for smog. Things are not as bad as they once were but, according to the American Lung Association, Los Angeles is still the worst city in the United States for levels of (1)_______ Gazing down on the city from the Getty Center, an art museum in the Santa Monica Mountains, one would find the view of the Pacific Ocean blurred by the haze (霾）.Nor is the states bad air (2)_______ to its south. Fresno, in the central valley, comes top of the list in America for year-round pollution. Residents hearts and lungs are affected as a (3)_______. All of which, combined with California s reputation as the home of technological (4)_______ , makes the place ideal for developing and testing systems designed to monitor pollution in (5)_______ And that is just what Aclima, a new firm in San Francisco, has been doing over the past few months. It has been trying out monitoring stations that are (6)_______ to yield minute-to-minute maps of (7)_______ air pollution. Such stations will also be able to keep an eye on what is happening inside buildings, including offices To this end, Aclima has been (8)_______ with Googles Street View system. Davida Herzl, Aclimas boss, says they have revealed pollution highs on days when San Francisco s transit workers went on strike and the citys (9)_______ were forced to use their cars. Conversely, cycle to their job by (10)_______ pollution lows.

阅读理解Aratorpigeonmightnotbetheobviouschoicetotendtosomeone whoissick,butthesecreatureshavesome26skillsthatcouldhelpthetreatmentofhumandiseases

阅读理解A 500-year-old world map that was the first to name a newfound continent west of Europe "America" was sold for one million dollars at an auction(拍卖) in Christie''s in London. Charles Frodshan, a London book and manuscript dealer, bought the map for 545,600 pounds during bidding at Christie''s. Christie''s said the map was also the first printed portrayal(肖像图) of the Earth as a globe, the first that distinguishes North and South America individually, and the first complete picture of the Pacific Ocean. Printed in 1507 by the German geographer Martin Waldseemuller, the map is just one of five in existence and had been expected to sell for between 500,000 and 800,000 pounds. The document, which is the most important article in the sale of maps, atlases and globes by Christie''s, was discovered in February 2003 after a European collector realized that it was one of the maps in his collection. "This is one of the most exciting discoveries of my career, and represents the peak in the history of map making... This simple sheet of paper holds so many new and anticipated discoveries, all created with an enormous leap of faith by a venerable geographer in a small town in Lorraine (eastern France)," said Tom Lamb, director of the auction house''s book and manuscript department, in a statement. Most history documents credit the Genoa-born explorer, Christopher Columbus, with being the first European to discover the so-called New World of North and South America in 1492, but he was convinced it was part of Asia. A second Italian, Amerigo Vespucci, actually argued that the landmass to the west of Europe was a whole new continent. Until the map''s publication, the layout of the world had been based on the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. But in 1505, Rene II, the Duke of Lorraine ordered a group of scholars led by Waldseemuller to draft a new world map. He gave them a French translation of Vespucci''s travels and as a result, the scholars decided to name the new landmass "America" after the traveler''s first name.

阅读理解Time spent in bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are a book lover or merely there to buy a book as a present. Whatever the person, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings. You soon become engaged in some books, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spent far too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointment — without buying a book, of course. This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is, I think, the main attraction of a bookshop. A music shop is very like a bookshop. You can wander round such places to your heart''s content. If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with the inevitable greeting: "Can I help you, sir?" You needn''t buy anything you don''t want. In a bookshop, an assistant should remain in the background until you have finished browsing (浏览) . Then, and only then, are his services necessary. You have to be careful not to be attracted by the variety of books in a bookshop. It is very easy to enter the shop looking for a book on ancient coins and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel and perhaps a book about brass-rubbing — something which had only vaguely interested you up until then. This volume on the subject, however, happened to be so well illustrated and the part of the text you read proved so interesting that you just had to buy it. This sort of thing can be very dangerous. Apart from running up a huge account, you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section. Booksellers must be both long-suffering and indulgent (宽容) for customers of any type, especially for those who just come to browse or even read. However, it should be put as the priority of a bookshop that the best of its customers are those who love books.

阅读理解Passage Two People have grown taller over the last century, with South Korean women shooting up by more than 20cm on average, and Iranian men gaining

阅读理解Rapid Police Response A Police departments in the United States and Canada see it as central to their role that they respond to calls for help as quickly as possible. This ability to react fast has been greatly improved with the aid of technology. The telephone and police radio, already long in use, assist greatly in the reduction of police response time. In more recent times there has been the introduction of the "911" emergence system, which allows the public easier and faster contact with police, and the use of police computer system, which assist police in planning patrols and assigning emergency requests to the police officers nearest to the scene of the emergency. B An important part of police strategy, rapid police response is seen by police officers and the public alike as offering tremendous benefits. The more obvious ones are the ability of police to apply first-aid life-saving techniques quickly and the greater likelihood of arresting people who may have participated in a crime. It aids in identifying those who witnessed an emergency or crime, as well as in collecting evidence. The overall reputation of a police department, too, is enhanced if rapid response is consistent, and this in itself promotes the prevention of crime. Needless to say, rapid response offers the public some degree of satisfaction in its police force. C While these may be the desired consequences of rapid police response, actual research has not shown it to be quite so beneficial. For example, it has been demonstrated that rapid response leads to a greater likelihood of arrest only if responses are on the order of 1-2 minutes after a call is received by the police. When response times increase to 3-4 minutes — still quite a rapid response — the likelihood of an arrest is substantially reduced. Similarly, in identifying witnesses to emergencies or crimes, police are far more likely to be successful if they arrive at the scene no more than four minutes, on average, after receiving call for help. Yet both police officers and the public defind "rapid response" as responding up to 10-12 minutes after calling the police for help. D Should police assume all the responsibility for ensuring a rapid response? Studies have shown that people tend to delay after an incident occurs before contacting the police. A crime victim may be injured and thus unable to call for help, for example, or no telephone may be available at the scene of the incident. Often, however, there is no such physical barrier to calling tile police. Indeed, it is very common for crime victims to call their parents, their minister, or even their insurance company first. When the police are finally called in such case, the effectiveness of even the most rapid of responses is greatly diminished. E The effectiveness of rapid response also needs to be seen in light of the nature of the crime. For example, when someone rings the police after discovering their television set has been stolen from their home, there is little point, in terms of identifying those responsible for the crime, in ensuring a very rapid response. It is common in such burglary or theft cases that the victim discovers the crime hours, days, even weeks after it has occurred. When the victim is directly involved in the crime, however, as in the case of a robbery, rapid response, provided the victim was quickly able to contact the police, is more likely to be advantageous. Based on statistics comparing crimes that are discovered and those in which the victim is directly involved, Spelman and Brown (1981) suggest that three in four calls to police need not be met with rapid response. F It becomes clear that the importance of response time in collecting evidence or catching criminals after a crime must be weighed against a variety of factors. Yet because police department officials assume the public strongly demands rapid response, they believe that every call to the police should be met with it. Studies have shown, however, that while the public wants quick response, more important is the information given by the police to the person asking for help. If a caller is told the police will arrive in five minutes but in fact it takes ten minutes or more, waiting the extra time can be extremely frustration. But if a caller is told he or she will have to wait 10 minutes and the police indeed arrive within that time, the caller is normally satisfied. Thus, rather than emphasizing rapid response, the focus of energies should be on establishing realistic expectations in the caller and making every attempt to meet them.

阅读理解In 776 BC, the first Olympic games were held at the foot of Mount Olympus to honor the Greeks'' chief god, Zeus. The Greeks emphasized physical fitness and strength in their education of youth. Therefore, contests in running, jumping, discus and javelin throwing, boxing, and horse and chariot racing were held in individual cities. The participants competed every four years at Mount Olympus. The winners were greatly honored by having olive wreaths placed on their heads and having poems sung about their deeds. Originally, these were held as games of friendship, and any wars in progress were stopped to allow the games to take place. The Greeks attached so much importance to these games that they calculated time in four-year cycles called" Olympiads" dating from 776 BC.

阅读理解Learning a language When Do We Learn a Language? Children begin learning languages at birth (infants pay attention to their parents'' voices, as opposed to random noises or even other languages), and haven''t really mastered it subtleties before the age of ten years. Indeed. we never really stop learning our language. This isn''t exactly the sort of behavior (like foals walking an hour after birth) that we call ''instinct'' in animals. Do We learn When We Don''t Have to? But at least it''s effortless, isn''t it? Well, no, as we can see when children have a choice of languages to learn. What''s found is that, to be frank, children don''t learn a language if they can get away with not learning it. Many an immigrant family in the U.S. intends to teach their child their native language; and for the first few years it goes swimmingly so much so that the parents worry that the child won''t learn English. Then the child goes to school, picks up English, and within a few years the worry is reversed: the child still understands his parents, but responds in English. Eventually the parents may give up, and the home language becomes English. People''s Influence A child is likely to end up as a fluent speaker of a language only if there are significant people in her life who speak it: a nanny who only speaks Spanish, a relative who doesn''t speak English, etc. Once a child discovers that his parents understand English perfectly well, he''s likely to give up on the home language, even in the face of strong disapproval from the parents. It''s a myth that children learn to speak mainly from their parents. They don''t: they learn mostly from their peers. This is most easily seen among children of immigrants, whether they come from differing language backgrounds or merely different dialect areas: the children invariably come to speak the dialect of their neighborhood and school, not that of their parents. (I found a neat example of this in my college''s alumni magazine: A liberal family in Mississippi sent their daughter to the public schools, which except for her were all black. She grew up speaking fluent African-American Vernacular English. ) Do We Need Grammar? Supporters of the ''language instinct'' make much of the fact that children learn to speak without formal instruction --- indeed, they notoriously ignore explicit corrections. Very little of what we learn is through formal instruction. Children aren''t schooled in video games, either, yet they pick them up with the same seeming ease. The apparent effortlessness is largely an illusion caused by psychological distance. We just don''t remember how hard it was to learn language. (In fact, there''s some studies suggesting that memory is tied to language, so that we can''t remember the language learning process. ) The perception of effortlessness should be balanced, anyway, by the universal amusement (which some cartoonists have been mining for nearly half a century) over children''s language mistakes. Do Children Learn Faster? One may fall back on the position that languages may be hard for children to learn, but at least they do it better than adults. This, however, turns out to be surprisingly difficult to prove. Singleton examined hundreds of studies, and found them resoundingly ambiguous. Quite a few studies, in fact, find that adult learners progress faster than children. Even in phonetics, sometimes tile last stronghold of the kids-learn-free position, there are studies finding that adults are better at recognizing and producing foreign sounds. Now, I think Singleton misses a key point in understanding this discrepancy: the studies he reviews compare children vs. adults who are learning languages. That''s quite reasonable, and indeed it''s hard to imagine an alternative approach, but the two groups are not really comparable! All children have to learn at least one language; but few adults do. So the studies compare the situation of all children with that of the minority of adults motivated to formally learn other languages. Why? Why do children learn languages well, when even adults who want to learn them have trouble with them? Innate abilities aside, children have a number of powerful advantages: ●They can devote almost their full time to it. Adults consider half an hour''s study a day to be onerous. ●Their motivation is intense. Adults rarely have to spend much of their time in the company of people they need to talk to but can''t children can get very little of what they want without learning language(s). ●Their peers are nastier. Embarrassment is a prime motivating factor for human beings (I owe this insight to Marvin Minsky''s The Society of Mind, but it was most memorably expressed by David Berlinski (in Black Mischief, p. 129), who noted that of all emotions, from rage to depression to first love, only embarrassment can recur, decades later, with its full original intensity). Dealing with a French waiter is nothing compared with the vicious reception in store for a child who speaks funny. If adults could be placed in a similar situation, they might well learn languages as readily as children. The closest such situation is cross-cultural marriage. And indeed, this works quite well. My wife, for instance, a native Spanish speaker who came here in her late 20s, has learned exceptional English, since we speak it at home. By contrast, some of her Spanish-speaking friends of the same age, married to other Spanish speakers, speak English haltingly and with a strong accent.

阅读理解Passage Two Questions 26to 30are based on the following passage

阅读理解PassageOne The phrase almost completes itself; midlife crisis

阅读理解When I turned 40, my husband staged a surprise party for me. I should never forget my emotion as I entered the restaurant and saw loving friends amid flowers and music and a large display of photographs that spanned my life. I hurried from one table to the next, greeting each guest. Then suddenly at the rear of the room I spotted a gentle, smiling man with snow-white hair and a blue-eyed woman on his arm. " Mom, Dad, " I gasped. They had flown to Los Angeles from Chicago just hours before. I burst into tears at the sight of these two who, more than anyone else, had taught me that being there for another person is the greatest gift we can give. A year later, my husband and I were invited to an unusual wedding. Our friends had been married years before in a civil ceremony, and now they wanted to declare again their commitment to one another in a church service. The morning before the wedding, I decided to call my friend and beg off. "Kathe, this is Karen," I began hesitantly. "You''re coming, aren''t you?" She broke in. Her voice was urgent. I paused and in that instant recalled the sight of my parents at my 40th-birthday party. "Yes, of course," I said, "We''ll be there. " So we went. And I was grateful we did. We weren''t in our seats a minute before Kathe came up behind us, radiant but with tears in her eyes. She told us how much our presence meant to her, with many of her beloved ones absent. I see now that one''s presence can be a duty in the highest sense. It is, in fact, something that we owe one another, whatever the cost. In gifts of the self, self is renewed. " Being there" is indeed at the very core of civility.

阅读理解How to Prevent Insomnia Do you have trouble falling asleep? Do you fall asleep easily, then wake up 5 hours later and can''t fall back asleep? Do you wake up several times during the night and have trouble staying asleep? If so, you are one of over 100 million Americans who experience some form of insomnia (失眠) and your sleep may be improved by better sleep habits. Tips for better daytime habits Do not nap during the day. If you are having trouble sleeping at night, try not to nap during the day because you will throw off your body clock and make it even more difficult to sleep at night. If you are feeling especially tired, and feel as if you absolutely must nap, be sure to sleep for less than 30 minutes, early in the day. Limit caffeine and alcohol. Avoid drinking caffeinated or alcoholic beverages for several hours before bedtime. Although alcohol may initially act as a sedative (镇定剂), it can interrupt normal sleep patterns. Don''t smoke. Nicotine is a stimulant and can make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. Many over-the-counter and prescription drugs disrupt sleep. Expose yourself to bright light/sunlight soon after awakening. This will help to regulate your body''s natural biological clock. Likewise, try to keep your bedroom dark while you are sleeping so that the light will not interfere with your rest. Exercise early in the day. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every day can help you sleep, but be sure to exercise in the morning or afternoon. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult. Check your iron level. Iron deficient women tend to have more problems sleeping. So if your blood is iron poor, a supplement might help your health and your ability to sleep. Tips for a better sleep environment Make sure your bed is large enough and comfortable. If you are disturbed by a restless bedmate, switch to a queen- or king-size bed. Test different types of mattresses. Try therapeutic (治疗的) shaped foam pillows that cradle your neck or extra pillows that help you sleep on your side. Get comfortable cotton sheets. Make your bedroom primarily a place for sleeping. It is not a good idea to use your bed for paying bills, doing work, etc. Help your body recognize that this is a place for rest. Keep your bedroom peaceful and comfortable. Make sure your room is well ventilated and the temperature consistent. And try to keep it quiet. You could use a fan or a "white noise" machine to help block outside noises. Hide your clock. A big, illuminated digital clock may cause you to focus on the time and make you feel stressed and anxious. Place your clock so you can''t see the time when you are in bed. Tips for a better pre-sleep ritual Keep a regular schedule. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday, even on the weekends. Keeping a regular schedule will help your body expect sleep at the same time each day. Don''t oversleep to make up for a poor night''s sleep — doing that for even a couple of days can reset your body clock and make it hard for you to get to sleep at night. Incorporate bedtime rituals. Listening to soft music, sipping a cup of herbal tea, etc., cues your body that it''s time to slow down and begin to prepare for sleep. Relax for a while before going to bed. Spending quiet time can make falling asleep easier. This may include meditation, relaxation and/or breathing exercises, or taking a warm bath. Try listening to recorded relaxation or guided imagery programs. Don''t eat a large, heavy meal before bed. This can cause indigestion and interfere with your normal sleep cycle. Drinking too much fluid before bed can cause you to get up to urinate. Try to eat your dinner at least two hours before bedtime. Bedtime snacks can help. An amino acid called tryptophan, found in milk, turkey, and peanuts, helps the brain produce serotonin, a chemical that helps you relax. Try drinking warm milk or eat a slice of toast with peanut butter or a bowl of cereal before bedtime. Plus, the warmth may temporarily increase your body temperature and the subsequent drop may hasten sleep. Jot down all of your concerns and worries. Anxiety excites the nervous system, so your brain sends messages to the adrenal glands, making you more alert. Write down your worries and possible solutions before you go to bed, so you don''t need to ruminate in the middle of the night. A journal or "to do" list may be very helpful in letting you put away these concerns until the next day when you are fresh. Go to sleep when you are sleepy. When you feel tired, go to bed. Avoid "over-the-counter" sleep aids, and make sure that your prescribed medications do not cause insomnia. There is little evidence that supplements and other over-the-counter "sleep aids" are effective. In some cases, there are safety concerns. Antihistamine (抗组胺剂) sleep aids, in particular, have a long duration of action and can cause daytime drowsiness. Always talk to your doctor or healthcare practitioner about your concerns! Tips for getting back to sleep Do visualization. Focus all your attention on your toes or visualize walking down an endless stairwell. Thinking about repetitive or mindless things will help your brain to shut down and adjust to sleep. Get out of bed if unable to sleep. Don''t lie in bed awake. Go into another room and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Worrying about falling asleep actually keeps many people awake. Don''t do anything stimulating. Don''t read anything job-related or watch a stimulating TV program (commercials and news shows tend to be alerting). Don''t expose yourself to bright light. The light gives cues to your brain that it is time to wake up. Consider changing your bedtime. If you are experiencing sleeplessness or insomnia consistently, think about going to bed later so that the time you spend in bed is spent sleeping. If you are only getting five hours of sleep at night, figure out what time you need to get up and subtract five hours (for example, if you want to get up at 6:00 am, go to bed at 1:00 am). This may seem counterproductive (反效果的) and, at first, you may be depriving yourself of some sleep, but it can help train your body to sleep consistently while in bed. When you are spending all of your time in bed sleeping, you can gradually sleep more, by adding 15 minutes at a time.

阅读理解In 1997, devotees of home electronics eagerly awaited the DVD player, a new device that could play movies without videotape, and with greater clarity. It caught on even faster than CD music players and within four years, DVD movies surpassed VHS tapes in sales. The DVDs success is just one example of a historic shift from analog to digital technologies. They began with computing and are now spreading to industries from banking to publishing. Products and services are shedding the limits of their physical form to become encoded information that never degrades, can be reproduced perfectly and distributed around the world in minutes, or less. Another example is photography: by the end of this year, the number of images captured digitally each day is expected to surpass the number of images captured on film. With digital cameras and other devices linked to personal computers, we can collect vast amounts of data, which fortunately takes up little or no closet space. Today''s average personal computer has a hard drive that can store 300 times more information than a decade ago. Technologies, such as broadband e-commerce, are expected to be the primary means of delivering entertainment and media by the end of this decade. Even life itself is increasingly digitized. The human genome, the recipe for our genetic makeup, has been mapped and encoded and researchers are harnessing the power of computing to accelerate the development of new, lifesaving drugs. The implications of this broad, digital revolution are enormous, although they tend to be over-shadowed by the struggles of high-tech industries to recover from the go-go years of the 1990s. Those struggles are real, yet there are reasons for optimism about a return to robust economic growth and job creation in the next several years. The digital innovations(创新)of the past two decades continue to bear fruit, so stay tuned for good news--digitally, of course.

阅读理解Soccer: Zidane Is not the Only One Who Has Some Regrets On French television three days after he head-butted (用头冲撞) Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final game, Zinedine Zidane admitted his act was unpardonable. He said that he had no regrets. But he asked FIFA (国际足球联盟), the international governing body, to punish Materazzi for insults he claimed provoked his violence. By Thursday, FIFA began disciplinary proceedings against both players, and summoned them to a disciplinary hearing on July 20. The World Cup is over, the acrimony (刻毒) lingers on, the sport is in the dock. FIFA has next to no power over Zidane because he retired Sunday. It can ban him for a handful of games he has no intention of playing, and it can tickle the multimillionaire''s wrist with a fine of a few thousand euros. As to Materazzi, he denies using racist or abusive terms about Zidane''s mother and sister. The only men within earshot (听力所及之范围) of the exchange were the protagonists (主角) , and their versions of what led up to the violent butt into Materazzi''s chest are incompatible (矛盾的). The world has already heard Zidane''s defense. "My act was unforgivable," he broadcast, "but they must also punish the true guilty party, and the guilty party is the one who provokes." Unlike Zidane, unlike the French president, Jacques Chirac, who fetes him unreservedly, some of us do have regrets. We regret that Zidane''s extraordinary career, of beauty and grace on the ball periodically let down by violent ill temper, should end this way. We regret his kindergarten defense, which amounts to "he called me names, so I hit him." We regret that FIFA chose, the morning after the unpardonable act, to announce him as player of the tournament. FIFA had time but failed to think of its own slogan and act "For the Good of the Game." No Regrets about What He Did Zidane says that he will go to the court in Zurich on July 20 and tell them everything he said on French TV. "I want to be open and honest because it was seen by two or three billion people, and millions and millions of children," he said. "I want to ask forgiveness from all the children who watched." "There was no excuse for that. I have children and I know what it is like. I always tell them not to take advantage of, and to avoid, this type of situation." But Zizou (Zidane) would not say that he had regrets about what he did "because that would be like admitting that he had every reason to say what he did," referring to Materazzi. Which is what? "I can''t repeat it," Zidane insisted. "I can''t say it. But words can sometimes be harder than actions. I would rather have taken a punch on the jaw than have heard it. The real wrongdoer is him." There is probably not a professional player from Australia to America who has not had to put up with taunts (辱骂，嘲弄) from opponents. Most just deal with it. Some even get the better of their antagonist (对手). A classic encounter had a cricket player answering a taunt with why he was so fat, with the answer, "Because every time I slap your sister, she gives me a biscuit." Zidane never mastered the biting tongues. He, in effect, pleads crime of passion, provoked by "very hard words repeated several times." The world''s media employed lip readers (读唇语的人) to figure out what was said. Few noted mat Zidane was first to say something after Materazzi held the France player''s shirt. The experts came up with a dozen interpretations, ranging from implications of Islamic terrorism to abuse of Zidane''s mother. One Man''s Word Against the Other''s The Italian made a fresh confession to the FIFA. Materazzi''s hard-man reputation is inadmissible evidence. Web sites hum with video of brutality by him in Italian domestic soccer. But that is not what is on trial here. Materazzi may be a brute, but he is not mute and Wednesday he told an Italian sports newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport, "I didn''t say anything to Zidane about religion, politics or racism. I didn''t insult his mother. I lost my mother when I was 15 and still get emotional when I talk about it." He added mat Zidane was his hero, he admired him a lot. A Real Man, not a God: Media Debate The debate in France polarizes those who praise Zidane for showing he is a man and not a god. But Jean-Marie Petitclerc, a priest who works among disadvantaged neighborhoods like the one where Zidane grew up in Marseille, asked in Thursday''s Le Figaro, "How could he ruin his exit and offer such a bad example to all the kids who themselves have such problems controlling their anger?" La Repubblica in Italy commented, "Zidane might be a champion, but there''s nothing dumber than using one''s mother, sister or wife to justify one''s brutishness." In England, still torn over Wayne Rooney''s red card for stomping on an opponent, the BBC solicited (恳求) public opinions. From the rural country, came shock horror at Zidane''s street fighting instinct, from the inner cities voices in favor of the player doing what a real man has to do. Yet Zidane long ago won admirers, this writer included, for the way he bears fame. His humility contrasts markedly with the David Beckham cult (礼拜，信徒) imagery. If FIFA were a real court, it would dismiss hearsay (谣言) and adulation (阿谀奉承). The only irrefutable (不能反驳的) evidence is the head butt. In the final reckoning, Zidane''s "previous" might be taken into account. He has been sent off 14 times, including a stamp on a Saudi who apparently insulted his Algerian origins during the 1998 World Cup, and a head butt on a Hamburg player. Retrospect moves us to regard Zidane''s genius as flawed by a hot temper. Some of us suspect that his final foul deed came from frustration from a man struggling to command his former greatness in his final performance. Mixed Reaction to Zidane For most of his countrymen, Zinédine Zidane''s apology for the attack that marked the end of his career — even if he didn''t explain what prompted it. But not everyone in Europe was so impressed. Italy said that Zidane would have done better to stay silent and Spain complained he was more defiant (对抗的) than repentant (悔改的). "We still don''t understand it but it''s not because of this act that we are going to love him less," a French fan, Nelson Laforet, said Thursday, a day after he watched Zidane interviewed on French television. "We are not going to forget all the past." The Thursday editions of many French papers described Zidane''s words as a belated farewell to fans after a career that included titles at the 1998 World Cup triumph and 2000 European Championship. His apology "achieved the pardon that many had already accorded him," sports daily L''Equipe wrote Thursday, although it criticized him for not acknowledging the consequences of his act on the final and on his teammates. "It would have been better if he had kept his mouth shut," a Rome daily newspaper, La Repubblica, wrote. "Zidane might be a champion, but there''s nothing dumber than using one''s mother, sister or wife to justify one''s brutishness. So Zidane last night became the caricature (讽刺漫画) of the crime of honor." In Spain, a national daily, La Vanguardia, urged FIFA to cancel Zidane''s Golden Ball award as the Cup''s best player. "It took Zizou three days to apologize and he did it defiantly and without showing any sign of repentance. FIFA can go on preaching against violence and in favor of fair play, but if it does not strip him of the award, then it should not complain afterward if fans behave similarly in the stands."

阅读理解Passage Two Online programs to fight depression are already commercially available

阅读理解(47)______ to parents'' fears, talking about violent acts will not increase a child''s fear. Having children keep scared feelings to themselves is more (48)______ than open discussion. Consider the age and level of understanding of the child when entering into a discussion. Even children as young as 4 or 5 know about violent acts but all children may not know how to talk about their (49)______ . It is often necessary for parents to (50)______ the dialogue themselves, asking children what they have heard , or think. Parents should (51)______ from lecturing or teaching about the issues. Adults should look for opportunities as they arise, for example when watching the news together. Learning about a foreign culture or religion also dispels myths and more (52)______ points out similarities and differences. In addition, far off violent events can (53)______ a discussion of non-violent problem solving for problems closer to home. For instance helping children negotiate how to share toys or take turns in the baseball lineup demonstrates productive strategies for managing differences. Adults should also respect a child''s wish not to talk about particular issues until ready. Attend to nonverbal reactions, such as facial expression or posture. They offer important clues to a child''s (54)______ . Answering questions and addressing fears does not (55)______ happen all at once in one sit down session. New issues may arise or become apparent over time and thus discussion should be done on an ongoing and as needed (56)______ . Word Bank A) stimulate I) refrain B) contrary J) uttered C) basis K) accurately D) reactions L) necessarily E) neglect M) worth F) damaging N) concerns G) outlining O) respective H) initiate

阅读理解Why does the author suggest supply-chain labeling?

阅读理解What is the author's chief concern about the increasing use of Citi Bikes in New York?

阅读理解Two hours from the tall buildings of Manhattan and Philadelphia live some of the world''s largest black bears. They are in northern Pennsylvania''s Pocono Mountains, a home they share with an abundance of other wildlife. The streams, lakes, meadows (草地) , mountain ridges and forests that make the Poconos an ideal place for black bears have also attracted more people to the region. Open spaces are threatened by plans for housing estates and important habitats (栖息地) are endangered by highway construction. To protect the Poconos'' natural beauty from irresponsible development, The Nature Conservancy (大自然保护协会) named the area one of America''s "Last Great Places". Operating out of a century-old schoolhouse in the village of kong Pond, Pennsylvania, the Conservancy''s Bud Cook is working with local people and business leaders to balance economic growth with environmental protection. By forging partnerships with people like Francis Altemose, the Conservancy has been able to protect more than 14,000 acres of environmentally important land in the area. Attemose''s family has farmed in the Pocono area for generations. Two years ago Francis worked with the Conservancy to include his farm in a county farmland protection program. As a result, his family''s land can be protected from development and the Ahemoses will be better able to provide a secure financial future for their 7-year-old grandson. Cook attributes the Conservancy''s success in the Poconos to having a local presence and a commitment toworking with local residents. "The key to protecting these remarkable lands is connecting with the local community," Cook said. "The people who live here respect the land. They value quiet forests, clear streams and abundant wildlife. They are eager to help with conservation efforts." For more information on how you can help The Nature Conservancy protect the Poconos and the world''s other "Last Great Places," please call 1-888-564 6864, or visit us on the World Wide Web at www.me.org.

阅读理解A small robot sent to solve one of history''s mysteries only succeeded in presenting scientists and TV viewers with yet another mystery yesterday. With its (47) peering through a hole in a small sealed door in Egypt''s Great Pyramid to see what was beyond, it (48) yet another door. "It''s another sealed door. This is very important," said an (49) Zahi Hawass, director of Egypt''s Supreme Council of Antiquities. The robot took two hours to (50) along a narrow shaft, drill through a door, then push through its camera. Dr Harass said the (51) job for researchers was to study the video tape and plan for further inspections, which could take up to 12 months. His council, engineers from the Boston firm iRobot and researchers from National Geographic, had spent a year (52) planning yesterday''s event. American TV stations went (53) showing the robot creeping along the 20-centimetre-square 60-metre-long shaft. As the robot inched along the (54) surfaced shaft toward the limestone door equipped with two copper handles, its path was lit by a blue beam. During the broadcast, Dr Hawass (55) a stone coffin found in a tomb near the Great Pyramid containing the skeleton of a man thought to have died at the time of the pyramid''s (56) some 4500 years ago. WORD BANK A) revealed I) excited B) live J) rush C) camera K) rough D) discovered L) instruction E) construction M) increasingly F) crawl N) film G) last O) specially H) next