Ⅰ. Times Square is one of New York's oldest tourist attrations.With its tall buildings and massive advertisement,Times Square has come to symbolize New York itself.And as New York changes over time,so does Times Square.Today,Times Square is mainly about advertising and trade.In thepast,however,Times Square was a cultural centre in New York.Once ayear,Times Square is the site for a special celebration.On New Year'sEve,enormous crowds gather in Times Square.As people count down to midnight together,a gigantic ball made of crystal and lights appears.When midnight strikes,the ball reaches the bottom,and the crowds hug and kiss and cheer,thinking of the year that has passed and the year to come,It is a celebration that has become famous all over the world,and it is one of the traditions that keep New York in touch with its past.Ⅱ. Growing old is not pleasant for people in the youth-oriented American culture.Most Americans like to look young,act young and feel young.As the old saying goes ,"You're as young as you feel."Older people joke about how many years young they are,rather than how many years old.People in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdom.But Americans seem to favour those that are young,or at least "young at heart."In America,retirement of the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal income.Social security benefits usually cannot make up the difference.Older people may suffer from poor nutrition,medical care and housing.Unfortunately,the elderly population in Ameria is increasingly fast.Why?People are living longer.Fewer babies are being born.The middle-aged are rapidly entering the group of theelderly.Marketing experts have already noticed this growing group of consumers.Ⅲ . Luck is a belief in good or bad fortune in life,which is caused byaccident or chance.Luck is significant in everyday life.All of us have bad luck and good luck.The man who persists through bad luck,who keeps right on going,is the man who is there when good luck comes.Being learned andskilled--this is the best luck.Being able to cherish one's family and have a simple lifestyle--this is the best luck.Being generous,just,and blameless in one's actions--this is the bes luck.Being free from evil and steadfast in virtue--this is the best luck.Ⅳ. Each year,millions of people go abroad to work,study or travel.It is a great way to find out what life is like in another part of the world.But constantly having to deal with new situations can be frustrating,evenstressful.Homesickness,stress,fear and confusion are all symptoms of "Culture Shock."No matter how much information you read,or how well you speak the host language,it is natural to feel overwhelmed sometimes.If you give yourself some time,things will gradually get easier.This is obvious,but everyone needs to be reminded. You really need to try things for youself.Don't worry about making mistakes;people in your host country will generally be very understanding and willing to help if you have questions.If you are unsure of what to do in a formal setting,follow others'lead.Ⅴ. An American study has linked aggression in children to the amount of time they spend away from their mothers.The study compared the young children who stayed with their mothers to children who were cared for by other people.It found that those who spent long periods away from their mothers were more likely to be aggressive toward other children.They were also more likely to disobey orders.The findings were true,even considered different kinds of childcare or the family's financial situation.The ten-year study is widely considered the most complete investigation yet of childcare in the UnitedStates.Childcare is a major issue in the United States and other countries.The Children's Defence Fund is a group concerned with improving the quality of childcare.It reports that 13 million young American children are cared for by someone other than their parents until they are old enough to begin school.Ⅵ. Research shows that long life does run in families,so having good genes helps.However,other studies indicate that your lifestye, too,plays a major role in keeping your mind and body healthy for eight,nine, or even ten decades.If you want to live a long life,you should exercse regularly and trim down if you're overweight.Extra pounds and lack of physical exercise contribute to heart disease,cancer and many other diseases.Thus,getting in shape will increase your chances of living longer.You should also eat a healthy diet.Inparticular,consuming ten servings of fruits and vegetables everyday will help prevent disease and age-related damage to cells.Mentally,you should adopt a positive attitude.Research shows that people who live for 100 years are usually optimistic and have good skills for coping with life's setbacks.Ⅶ. More and more women who hold graduate or professional degrees are deciding to leave work to become stay-at-home moms.In fact,22 percent of them are now home with the kids instead of at the office,and the overall number of working,married mothers with a child less than one year old has been steadily declining.Many people praise these mothers for putting their children before playchecks and prestige.However,others point out that women who decide to become stay-at-home moms may underestimate the sense of pride and meaning they got from their work.Even if the family can handle the mother's loss of income,sometimes it cannot handle her loss of identity.Some also claim that stay-at-home moms put themseves at risk when they lose all of those years in the workforce.Ⅷ. The 1980s have been named the "Me Decade" because individuals focused on personal concerns than on larger social issues.During theseyears,acquiring money became very important to many people.In 1974,only 46 percent of college freshmen and high school seniors claimed that becoming "financially successful" was their number one priority.In 1986,however,73 percent of college freshmen said that their first priority was becoming "very well off financially."Not surprisingly,young Americans flocked to lawschools ,medical schools and business and other postgraduate schools,and the numbers of doctors,lawjers and high-paid executives increased.Between 1980 and 1987,the circulation of Money magazine jumped from 800,000 to 1.85 million.This nationwide focus on personal and financial success led Newsweek to declaire in 1994 the "Year of the Yuppie",the young,the upwardlymobile,urban professional.Ⅸ. A recent theme in the popular media has been the decline in the quality and nutritional value of the food that we buy.Newspapers in particular warm us of the problems associated with convenience and take-away food,whilst commenting on the spread of advertising aimed at children.The goverment and manufacturers are frequently cited as the sole cause of these problems.Although there are undoubtedly problems associated with current eating habits,it can be seen that the blame rests mainly with the consumer because of the law of supply demand.In short,modern shoppers value price and convenience over nutritional quality.Ⅹ. The history of Australia is very short and as a result it can be interesting to look into the development of its educational systerm in relation to similar societies.When compared with those of the USA and britain,the most striking aspect of Astralian education is the incredibly high proportion of privateschools and the number of students attending them.Figures(August1996) show that 29.3 percent of those shool population attends privately run institutions compared with approximately 10 percent in the UK and the USA.As this strange situation has evolved over the past 150 years,it is relatively easy to trace some of the most important causes.Ⅺ. Not long ago,some of you may have read about a team of mountain climbing scientists who helped to recalculate the elevation of the highest mountain in the world.These scientists wanted to make a precise measurement by using a new method that takes advantage of recent advances and technology.It's called Global Positioning Systerm(GPS).In order to use it to calculate the elevation,scientists needed to put a special receiver on its summit to receive signals from the satellite.The problem with this was that ,in the past ,the receivers were much too heavy for climbers to carry.But now the receivers have been reduced to about the size and weight of a handheld telephone,so climbers were able to take a receiver to the top and ,from there,to access the satellite systerm signals that would allow them to determine the precise elevation.And it turns out that the famous peak is actually a few feet higher than was previously thought.期考；When students graduate from college,/ many of them do not know how they want to spend their working lives./ And they sometimes move from job tojob/ until they find something that suits them/ and, of equal importance, towhich they are suited./ Others never find a job in which they are really happy./ They remain all their lives square pegs in round holes.When we choose our careers, we need to ask ourselves two questions./ First, what do we think we would like to be?/ Second, what kind of people are we?/ The idea, for example, of being a painter or a musician may seem veryattractive./ But, unless we have great talent and are willing to work very hard, /we are certain to fail in these occupations./ And failure will lead to unhappiness in life./ So, it is important to assess our suitability for a certain career in job search.。