Unit 1 EncyclopaediasLook it up!查找它Here are two articles from an encyclopaedia.这里有来自百科全书的两篇文章。
Da Vinci, Leonardo列奥纳多•达•芬奇Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian painter, inventor, musician, engineer and scientist.列奥纳多•达•芬奇(1452 - 1519)是意大利画家,发明家,音乐家,工程师和科学家。
Da Vinci was born in the countryside. From an early age, he showed great intelligence and artistic ability. As he grew older, he learnt to do many different things. His paintings are very famous, and one, the Mona Lisa, is perhaps the most famous painting in the world. He also had many inventions. For example, his notebooks include some interesting drawings of flying machines. (See Art)达芬奇出生在农村。
从很小的时候,他表现出极大的智慧和艺术才能。
当他长大时,他学会了做很多不同的事情。
他的画是非常出名的,其中一个,蒙娜丽莎,也许是世界上最著名的画。
他也有很多发明。
例如,他的笔记本包括一些有趣的飞行机器的图画。
(见艺术)Dinosaurs 恐龙Dinosaurs lived on Earth more than 60 million years before human begins. They lived everywhere on Earth. Some dinosaurs were as small as chickens. Others were as big as ten elephants. Some could even fly.恐龙生活在地球上人类6000万多年前。
他们生活在地球各个地方。
一些恐龙和鸡一样小。
其他的有十头大象一样大。
一些甚至可以飞。
Many dinosaurs ate plants. However, some dinosaurs liked to eat meat.许多恐龙吃植物。
然而,一些恐龙喜欢吃肉。
Dinosaurs lived on Earth for more than 150 million years. Then, suddenly, they all died out. Nobody knows why. However, we can learn about them from their fossils. (See Earth history)恐龙在地球上生活了1.5亿多年。
然后,突然,他们都灭绝了。
没有人知道为什么。
不过,我们可以从化石中了解他们。
(见地球历史)Unit2 NumbersThe king and the rice 国王和大米A long time ago, there was a king in India. The king's favourite game was chess.很久以前，印度有一个国王。
国王最喜欢的游戏是国际象棋。
One day, a wise old man came to the place and the king challenged him to a game. The king promised the old man, "You can have any prize if you win the game."一天，一个聪明的老人来到这个地方，国王向他挑战一场比赛。
国王答应老人说：“如果你赢了比赛，你可以得到任何奖品。
“The old man said, "If I win the game, I'd like one grain of rice for the first square of the chessboard, two for the second, four for the third, and then double the amount for each of the rest of the squares."老人说：“如果我赢了这场比赛，我想要一粒米在棋盘的第一个方格，两粒在第二个，四粒在第三个，然后使每个剩下的方格在数量上加倍。
“"Is that all?" asked the king. "Wouldn't you like gold or silver instead?"”就这些吗？”国王问。
”“难道你不想要用金银来代替？“"No, just rice," replied the old man.“不，只是大米，”老人回答。
The king and the old man played the game for a long time, Finally, the old man won, So the king ordered his men to collect a bag of rice. He put one grain on the first square, two on the second, and so on. The king quickly realized the problem-even with all the rice in thecountry, the would still not have enough rice to put on all the squares!国王和老人玩了很长时间，最后老人赢了，于是国王命令他的人收集一袋大米。
他把一粒放在第一个方格上，两粒放在第二格上，然后以此类推。
国王很快就意识到了这个问题——即使有了全国所有的大米，也不会有足够的大米放满所有的方格！Unit 3 ComputersComputer facts电脑的事实Smaller and better越小越好In the 1940s, the fist computers were bigger than cars. Now computers are becoming smaller and better.在20世纪40年代，第一台电脑比汽车大。
现在电脑变得越小越好。
Some computers are tiny. You may be unaware of them.There is probably one inside your TV or washing machine. You depend on computers more than you realize.有些电脑很小。
你可能没有意识到它们。
你的电视或洗衣机里可能有一个。
你对电脑的依赖比你意识到的要多。
What we can do with computers? 我们能用电脑做什么？We can use computers to calculate. They can calulate at a faster speeed than we can and almost never give wrong answers. We can also type and draw things with them. In addition,computers can do important jobs like operating railways and flying planes and spaceships.我们可以用电脑计算。
他们能以比我们更快的速度计算，而且几乎从未给错误的答案。
我们也可以和它们打字和画画。
此外，计算机可以做重要的工作如铁路系统、驾驶飞机和宇宙飞船。
Is a computer clever than me? 电脑比我聪明吗？The answer,is"No". Your brain can produce new ideas but computers cannot.However, one day computers may be able to do a better jop than human beings. For example, they may be better than doctors at doing their job.答案是“不”。
你的大脑可以产生新的想法，但计算机不能。
然而，有一天，计算机可能比人类做得更好。
例如，他们可能比医生更好的做他们的工作。
What will happen to us if computers can do all our jops? Will we have nothing to do? Computers many change our lives, but will they make them better?如果电脑能做我们所有的工作，我们会发生什么？我们会没事做吗？计算机可能会改变我们的生活，但它们会使生活变得更好吗？Unit 4 Great inventionsThe wheel 轮子The wheel is perhaps the greatest invention in history. After its invention, travelling becamefaster and more comfortable. A few thousand year ago, people started to use wheels on carriages. In the early 19th century, the first trains began to carry passengers. At the start of the 20th century, cars became popular. Without the wheel, we would not have these inventions.轮子也许是历史上最伟大的发明。