Popular Pastime of the English PeopleOne of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is watching whatthe do with their non-working time.Most English men, women and children love growing things, especially flowers.Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn are likely to see gardens all theyway along the railway lines. There are f lowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least onepark with beautifully kept flower beds. Public buildings of every kind have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of flowers are hanging on them.But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it is impossibleto have a garden, then a window box or something growing in a pot will do. Lookingat each other ’s gardens is a popular pastime with the English.4. British and American Police OfficersReal policemen, both in Britain and the ., hardly recognize any commonpoints between their lives and what they se on TV — if they ever get home in time.Some things are almost the same, of course, but the policemen do not think much ofthem much of them.The first difference is that a policeman ’s real life deals with the law. Most ofwhat he learns is the law. He has to know actually what actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them in court. He has to know nearly as muchlaw as a lawyer, and what ’s more, he has to put it into practice on his feet, inthe dark and, running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely facingcruel criminals. He will spend most of his working life arranging millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, ordinary people who are guilty--- ornot of stupid, unimportant crimes.Useful Words and Expressions:1. think much of 重视，尊重2. in court 在法庭上3. criminal 罪犯，犯罪者4. guilty 犯罪的，有罪的5. Living SpaceHow much living space does a person need What happens when his space needs are notmet Scientists are doing experiments on rats to try to determine the effects ofovercrowded conditions on man. Recent studies have shown that the behavior of rats is greatly affected by space. If rats have enough living space, they eat well, sleep well and produce their young well. But if their living conditions become too crowded, their behavior and even their health change obviously. They can not sleep and eatwell, and signs of fear and worry become clear. The more crowded they are, and more they tend to bite each other and even kill each other. Thus, for rats, populationsand violence are directly related. Is this a natural law for human society as wellIs enough space not only satisfactory, but necessary for human survival These areinteresting questions.6. The United NationsIn 1945, representatives of 50 nations met to plan this organization. It was called the United Nations. After the war, many more nations joined.There are two major parts of the United Nations. One is called the General Assembly. In the General Assembly, every member nation is represented and has an equal vote. The second part is called the Security Council. It has representatives of just 15nations. Five nations are permanent members: the United States, Russia, France,Britain, and China. The 10 other members are elected every two years by the General Assembly.The major job of the Security Council is to keep peace in the world. If necessary,it can send troops from member nations to try to stop little wars before they turninto big ones.It is hard to get the nations of the Security Council to agree on when this isnecessary. But they did vote to try to stop wars.Useful Words and Expressions:1. representative 代表2. General Assembly 联合国大会3. permanent 永久的，持久的4. Security Council 联合国安全理事会7. PlasticWeuse plastic wrap to protect our foods. Weput our garbage in plastic bags or plastic cans. We sit on plastic chairs, play with plastic toys, drink from plastic cups,and wash our hair with shampoo from plastic bottles!Plastic does not grow in nature. It is made by mixing certain things together. Wecall it a produced or manufactured material. Plastic was first made in the 1860sfrom plants, such as wood and cotton. That plastic was soft and burned easily.The first modern plastics were made in the 1930s. Most clear plastic starts out asthick, black oil. That plastic coating inside a pan begins as natural gas.Over the years, hundreds of different plastics have been developed. Some are hardand strong. Someare soft and bendable. Someare clear. Someare many-colored. There is a plastic for almost every need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to find even ways to use them!10. Private CarsWith the increase in the general standard of living, some ordinary Chinese families begin to afford a car. Yet opinions of the development of a private car vary fromperson to person.It gives a much greater degree of comfort and mobility. The owner of a car is nolonger forced to reply on public transport, and hence no irritation caused by waiting for buses or taxis. However, others strongly object to developing private cars. They maintain that as more and more cars are produced and run in the street, a large volumeof poisonous gas will be given off, polluting the atmosphere and causing actual harm to the health of people.Whether private cars should be developed in Chicago is a difficult question to answer, yet the desire for the comfort and independence a private car can bring will notbe eliminated.12. A You ng Man’s PromiseOne day, a young man was writing a letter to his girlfriend who lived just a fewmiles away in a nearby town. He was telling her how much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she was. The more he wrote the more poetic he became. Finally he saidthat in order to be with her, he would suffer the greatest difficulties, he wouldface the greatest dangers that anyone couldn ’t imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with her, he would swim across the widest river, he would enter the deepestforest, and he would fight against the fiercest animals with his bare hands.He finished the letter, signed his name and then suddenly remembered that he hadforgotten to mention something quite important. So, in a postscript below his name, he added:“By the wThat Isn ’t Our Fault. and Mrs. Williams got married when he was twenty-three, and she was twenty.Twenty-five years later, they had a big party, and a photographer came and took some photographs of them.Then the photographer gave Mrs. Williams a card and said, “They’ll be ready next Wednesday. You can get them from studio. ”“No,” Mrs. Williams said, “please send them to us. ”The photographs arrived a week later, but Mrs. Williams was not happy when she sawthem. She got into her car and drove to the photographer ’s studio. She went inside and said angrily, “You took some photographs of me and my husband last week, butI ’m not going to pay for them. ”“Oh, why not” the photographer asked.“Because my husband looks like a monkey, ” Mrs. Williams said.“Well,” the photographer answered, “that isn ’t our fault. Whydidn ’t you think of that before you married him ”ay, I ’ll be over to see you on Wednesday night, if it doesn ’t rain.”17. Living Things ReactYou and all organisms live an environment. An environment is made up of everything that surrounds an organism. It can include the air, the water, the soil, and evenother organisms.An organism responds to changes in its environment. When an organism responds toa change, it reacts in certain ways. All living things respond in some way.Have you ever noticed how plants and insects respond to light Plants bend towardlight. Insects fly toward light.Living things also respond in other ways. The leaves on some trees respond to a changein season. In autumn, they change colors and then fall off the branches Animals also respond to a change in season. Squirrels save nuts for the winter. Bears sleep through the winter in a cave.You respond to your environment in many ways, too. You may shiver if you are cold.What other ways do you respond to changes in your environmentFlowers can have male parts and female parts. The female parts make eggs that become seeds. The male parts make pollen. Pollen is a powdery material that is needed bythe eggs to make seeds. To make seeds, pollen and eggs must come together. The wind, insects, and birds bring pollen to eggs. Many animals love flowers ’ bright colors. They also like a sugary liquid in flowers. This is called nectar. While they drinknectar, pollen rubs off on their bodies. As they move, some of this pollen getsdelivered to the female flower parts.Over time, the female parts turn into fruits that contain seeds. Animals often eat the fruits and the seeds pass through their bodies as waste. The animals do no know they are working for the plants by planting seeds as they travel to different places! Useful words and Expressions:1. flowering 开花的2. pollen 花粉3.powdery 粉状的4.sugar 含糖的，甜的5.nectar 花蜜，甘露19. Finding the Direction and LocationHow can you tell which direction By day, look for the Sun. It is in the east in themorning and the west in the afternoon. At night, use the Big Dipper to help you find the North Star. It would be better to bring a compass because its needle always points north.How do you know how far you have gone You could count every step. Each step is about two feet. You ’d better wear a pedometer which is a tool that counts steps. If youknow where you started, which direction you are heading, and how far you have gone, you can use a good map to figure out exactly where you are.Today there is a new way for travelers to figure out where they are. It is the GPS. It has 24 satellites that orbit the earth and constantly broadcast their positions. Someday you may carry a small receiver as you hike and use GPS to find out ifyou are there yet!1.dipper 北斗七星pass 罗盘3.pedometer 步数计4. GPS= Global Position System全球定位系统5. orbit轨道，绕轨道而行6. receiver接收器20. America’s Worst SurpriseDecember 7, 1941 was one of the worst days in American history. Nearly all Americans who are old enough to remember that day can still remember what they were doing atthe moment they heard “the news ”. The news was that America had been att acked! Shortly before 2:00 ., a radio dispatch came into Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii. “Air Raid, Pearl Harbor — This is no drill. ” Japanese planes had begun an attackon the largest American military base in the Pacific. They first destroyed planeson the ground. Then they bombed the ships in the harbor.No one had expected the attack. So no one was prepared for it. And it did not takelong for Japanese to do their damage. When the smoke cleared, the Navy counted itslosses. Eighteen ships had been sunk or badly damaged. Nearly 150 planes had been destroyed. More than 2,400 Americans had been killed and more than 1,200 wounded.Useful Words and Expressions:1. dispatch 派遣，急件2. air raid 空袭3. drill 军事训练，操练4. Pearl Harbor 珍珠港Place of Our OwnWe are all usually very careful when we buy something for the house. Why Becausewe have to live with it for a long time. We paint a room to make it brighter, sowe choose the colors carefully.We buy new curtains in order to match the newly decorated room, so they must be the right color. We move the furniture round so as to make more space — or we buy new furniture — and so on. It is an endless business.Rich or poor, we take time to furnish a room. Perhaps some people buy furniture inorder to impress their friends. But most of us just want to enjoy our surroundings. We want to live as comfortably as we can afford to. We spend a large part of ourlives at home. We want to make a small corner in the world which we can recognizeas our own.for WorkYou can see them in every airport in the world. They are businessmen and women whohave to travel for their work.When they first applied for the job, they may have thought of good food and hotels, huge expense accounts and fashionable cities. Nowthey have to sit in airport lounges, tired and uncomfortable in their smart clothes, listening to the loudspeaker announce “The fight of Tokyo, or Berlin, or New York is delayed for another twohours. ” Some people say to me, “How lucky you are to be able to travel abroad inyour work! You can go sightseeing without paying any money by yourself! ” They think that my job is like a continual holiday. It is not.There are advantages, of course, and I do thin I am lucky, but only because I cango to places I would never visit if I was a tourist.27. IntelligenceAre some people born clever, and others born stupid Or is intelligence developedby our environment and our experienceStrangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make agenius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child wholives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus, the lim its of a person ’s intelligence arefixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, held by most experts now, can be supported in a number of ways. As iseasy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. Thecloser the blood relationship between two people is, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence.29. TimeTime is tangible. One can gain time, spend time, waste time, save time, or even kill time. Common questions in American English reveal this concrete quality as thoughtime were a possession. “Do you have any time ”, “Can you get some time for this ”, “How much free time do you have” The treatment of time as a possession influences the way that time is carefully divided.Generally, Americans are taught to do one thing at a time and may be uncomfortablewhen an activity is interrupted. In businesses, the careful scheduling of time and the separation of activities are commonpractices. Appointment calendars are printed with 15-,30-, and 60- minute time slots. The idea that “there is a time and placefor everything ” extends to American social life. Visitors who drop by without prior notice may interrupt their host ’s personal time. Thus, calling friends on thetelephone before v isiting them is generally preferred to visitors ’ dropping by. Useful words and expressions:1. tangible 切实的2. kill time 消磨时间3. reveal 显示，揭示4. scheduling 行程安排5. slot 缝隙6. drop by 随便访问7. preferred 首选的31. Water PollutionWater is very important to us. Factories and plants need water for industrial usesand large pieces of farmland need it for irrigation. Without water to drink, people die in a short time.Today most water sources are so dirty that people must purify water before drinking. Water becomes dirty in many ways: industrial pollution is one of them. With thedevelopment of industry, plants and factories pour tons of industrial wasters into rivers every day. The rivers have become seriously polluted, and the water isbecoming unfit for drinking or irrigation. The same thing has also happened to ourseas and oceans. So, the problem of water pollution is almost worldwide.Scientists of many countries have done a lot of work to stop pollution.The polluted water in some places has become clean and drinkable again. Perhaps one day the people in all towns and cities will be drinking clean water. That day, we believe, isnot very far off.32. Making a ComplaintComplaining about faulty goods or bad services is never easy. But if something youhave brought is faulty or does not do what was claimed for it, you are not askingfor a favor to get it put right.Complaints should be made to a responsible person. Go back to the shop where youbought the goods, taking with you any receipt you may have. In a small store theassistant may also be the owner so you can complain direct. In a chain store, askthe manager. If you telephone, ask the name of the person who handles your enquiry, otherwise you may never find out who dealt with the complaint later. If you do notwant to do it in person, write a letter. Stick to the facts and keep a copy of whatyou write. At this stage you should give any receipt numbers, but you should notneed to give receipts or other papers to prove you bought the article33. Where Do the British Liveeveryone in Britain would like to own their own home and, whether they do or not,they are prepared to put time and money into decorating and furnishing it or evenmaking structural alterations to it. Because of the climate and because of theexpense involved in going out for the evening, the British spend a lot of time athome and a large part of their social life takes place there.Young people tend to stay with their families longer these days as accommodationis expensive but, when they move away to a job or college, there are various options open to them. They can get lodgings with a landlady. This means that they rent aroom in someone ’s house and have breakfast with the family. They can also get abed-sitting room, that is to say one self-contained room in which they can cook, liveand sleep. Alternatively, they can share a rented flat or house with a group of youngpeople, perhaps the most popular option of all.Useful Words and Expressions:1. lodging寄宿处2. bedsit卧室兼起居室3. bed-sitting卧室兼起居室的4. self-contained设备齐全的34. Will Computers Replace Human BeingsWe are in the computer age today. The computers are working all kinds of wondersnow. They are very useful in automatic control and data processing. At the same time, computers are finding their way into the home. They seem to be so clever and cansolve such complicated problems that some people think sooner or later they willreplace us.But I do not think that there is such a possibility. My reason is very simple:computers are machines, not humans. And our tasks are far too various and complicated for any one single kind of machine to perform.Probably the greatest difference between man and computer is that the former cando things of his own while the latter can do nothing without being programmed. Inmy opinion, computers will remain nothing but an extension of our human brains, no matter how clever and complicated they may become.38. “How to” BooksBooks which give instructions on how to do things are popular in the United Statestoday. Thousands of these “how to ” books are available. In fact, there are aboutfor thousand books with titles that begin with the words “how to ’.Many “how to ” books give advice on careers. They tell you how to choose a careerand how to succeed in it. Many of these books help people to use their free timebetter. Somepeople want book which will give them useful information about sports, hobbies and travel. Other people use their free time to make repairs and improvements on their homes. They prefer books which give step-by-step instructions on how torepair things like plumbing and electrical wiring or on how to redecorate or enlarge a house.Why have “how to ” books become so popular Probably because life has become more complex. Today people have far more free to use, more choices to make, and moreproblems to solve, “how to ” books help people to deal with modern life.Useful words and Expressions:1. step-by-step 按部就班的2. redecorate 重新装饰，再装饰3. complex 复杂的，综合的39. Don’t give upIf we would ever accomplish anything in life, let us not forget that we must persevere. If we would learn our lessons in school, we must be diligent and not give up whenever we come to anything difficult. We shall find many of our lessons very hard, but let us consider that the harder they are the better they will do to us if we will preserve and learn them thoroughly.But there are some among us who are ready to give up when they come to a hard example in mathematics, and say, “I can’t do this. ” They never will if they feel so. “I can’t ” never does anything worthwhile, but “I ’ll try ” accomplishes wonders.Let us remember that we shall meet with difficulties all through life. They are inthe pathway of everyone. If we will only try and keep trying, we shall be sureto conquer and overcome very difficulty we meet.41Apology HelpsIt is never easy to admit you are in the wrong. Being human, we all need to know theart of apologizing. Look back with honesty and think how often you have judgedroughly, you said unkind things, and pushed yourself ahead at the expense of a friend. Then count the occasions when you indicated clearly and truly that you were so sorry.A bit frightening, isn ’t it It is frightening, isn ’t it It is frightening because some deep wisdom in us knows that when even a small wrong has been committed, some mysterious moral feeling is disturbed; and it stays out of balance until fault isacknowledged and regret expressed.A heartfelt apology can not only heal a damaged relationship but also make it stronger. If you can think of someone who deserves an apology from you, someone you have wronged, or judged too roughly, or just neglected, do something about it right now.Useful Words and Expressions:1. push ahead 捉紧进行2. at the expense of 在损害的情况下3. mysterious 神秘的4.moral 道德的5.disturbed扰乱的6.stay out of不参与，置身于之外7. heartfelt衷心的，真心真意的8. roughly粗糙地，概略地42. SleepWhy is it so difficult to fall asleep when you are overtired There is no one answer that applies to every individual. It is possible to feel “tired ”physically and still be unable to fall asleep, because while your body may be exhausted, you donot feel sleepy. It is not so easy to simply “turn off ”.Lack of sleep complicates matters even more. Experts say adults need at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function properly. When you get less sleep thanthat on consecutive three nights, you begin to accrue four “sleep debt ”. As sleep debt increases your body experiences a stress response. Now a vicious cycle has been created: You experience the feeling of being more and more tired, but your body isincreasingly stimulated. “Power sleeping ” for more hours on weekends is only a temporary solution. There is no substitute for getting a good night ’s sleep on a regular basis.Useful Words and Expressions:1. overtire使过度疲劳2.apply to将应用于3.consecutive连续的，连贯的4.accrue 自然增加，产生5.vicious 恶的vicious cycle恶性循环6. stimulate刺激，激励7. substitute for代替，替换Influence of LifeIn the early times when human beings hunted and gathered food, they were not incontrol of their environment. They could only interact with their surroundings asthe other lower animals did.When they learned to make fire, however, they became capable of altering theirenvironment. To provide themselves with fuel, they cut down trees. They also burned clearings in forests to increase the growth of grass and to provide a greater grazing area for the wild animals that human beings fed upon. This development led to farming and the domestication of animals. Fire provided the means for cooking plants which had previously been inedible. Only when the process of meeting the basic need forfood reached a certain level was it possible for humans to follow other pursuitssuch as setting up families, forming societies and founding cities.Useful words and Expressions:1. interact with 与组合2. clearing 空旷地3. grazing 放牧，牧草4. domestication 驯养，驯服5. previously 先前，以前6. inedible 不能吃的，不适于食用的7. pursuit 追击8. set up 设立and Home“House” and “home” are two words that have similar meanings.“House” and “home” both refer to places where people live. However, there isa difference between them. “Home” is often referred to as the place that we live inwith our families. Sadly, in our society, people can hardly distinguish a homefrom a house because they often see no difference between them. This confusion can be traced back to the indifference between family members. Therefore, we can saythat love is an important factor in a home. A home is a shelter, not only for ourbodies but also for our minds. Whenever we are depressed, we can go home for comfort. Everyone in the family will do his best to take care of each other and share theirhappiness as well as sorrow. Without love, a home is merely a house where lonelinessis all that can be found. And a house can never be a home unless there is love.Useful words and expressions:1. refer to 提到2. distinguish 区别，辨别3. confusion 混乱，混淆4. trace back 追溯到5. indifference 不关心6. depressed 沮丧的48. Population GrowthIt is well-known that there has been a drastic increase in world population. Butit is probably les well-known that the extinction rate of wildlife species isexperiencing a parallel trend.Take the United States for instance. In 1990, . population reached an unprecedented level of 250 million, which is approximately 250 times of that of 1800. On the other hand, wildlife species are disappearing from the country at an alarming rate. By1990, about 70 wildlife species would never be seen in . We are fully justified indeclaring that the explosive population growth has had an adverse effect on thesurvival of wildlife species and will be a constant threat to the wildlife resources if no immediate actions are taken.Nothing has ever equaled the magnitude and speed with which the human species isaltering the physical and chemical world. It has been demolishing the environmentwe are living in.Useful words and expressions:1. drastic 激烈的2. parallel 平行的3. trend 倾向4. unprecedented 空前的5. magnitude 大小，数量6. alter 改变7. demolish 毁坏50. ReadingNowadays few of us read books after we leave school.This is rather disturbing, for one should know that books are no less necessary toone’s mental life than fresh air is to one ’s physical life. From good reading wecan derive companionship, experience and instruction. A good book is our faithfulfriend. It can increase our contentment when we are cheerful and happy, and lessen our pain when we are sad or lonely. Books can also offer us a wide range of experience. Few of us can travel far from home or live long over 100, but all of us can livemany lives through the pages of books. What’s more, reading books can increase our intellectual ability, broaden our minds and make us wise.With the coming of TV, books are no longer read as widely as they once were. However, nothing can replace the role that books play in our lives.Useful words and expressions:1. leave school 离校，中学毕业2. disturbing 烦扰的3.mental 精神的4.derive 得到panionship 伴侣6.intellectual智力的。