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　　John and Bobby worked in the same company．Both of them worked very hard．However, several years later, Mr．Ted, the boss of the company, asked Bobby to be market manager．John could not accept the fact．He thought the boss only liked those who flattered(奉承)him．So he decided not to work there．

　　The boss knew John well and asked John to do one thing before he left．He asked John to go and find out anyone selling watermelon in the market．Soon John returned and said that he found a man selling watermelon．The boss asked him how much the watermelon was．John shook his head．

　　The boss asked John to wait a moment．Then he called Bobby to come to his office．He asked Bobby to do the same thing．When Bobby returned, he told the boss that only one person was selling watermelon．It was ＄1．2 a kilo and ＄10 for 10 kilos．Each watermelon weighed about 2 kilos．All came from the South two days ago．

　　John was much moved and realized the difference between himself and Bobby．Chances are in the daily details(細(xì)節(jié))and a more successful person sees more and father．

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　　It was early morning．Peter Corbett helped Mark Wellman out of his wheelchair and onto the ground．They stood before El Captain, a huge rock almost 1.2 kilometers high．Mark had long dreamed to climb El Captain when he was a child．At the age of twenty-one, he had fallen while climbing mountain, losing his legs．But he never lost his love for life．

　　Mark knew he couldn't finish the climb alone, but his friend Peter would be there to lend a helping hand．They thought it would take seven days to reach the top．Now Peter climbed about 30 meters up and hit a piton(巖釘)into the rock．Fastening(拴緊)one end of a 50-meter rope(繩子)to the piton, he let the other end of the rope fall down．Mark caught the rope and fastened it to his belt．He next reached above his head and fastened a T-bar(丁字鐵)to the rope．Mark took a deep breath, pushed the T-bar up almost as far as his arms could reach, and began the first pull-up．High above, Peter let out a cheer, “You're on your way．”

　　For the first four days the two men progressed upward(向上)without accident．But on the fifth day, a very strong wind began to blow, making it hard for Mark to hold on to his rope．But Mark kept on pushing up the T-bar and pulling himself up．

　　It took them one day more than they had expected．But as the two heads appeared the group of people waiting on the top went wild with joy．

　　Mark Wellman showed that if you set your heart and mind on something, no wall is too high, no dream impossible．

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　　Strong earthquakes hit the east of Japan in the afternoon of March 11, causing several meter-high tsunami(海嘯), which killed more than 10, 000 people in areas along the coast．Several nuclear plants(核電站)at the coast were broken by the earthquake and tsunami．People living near the plants have been asked to move away．People living within 30 kilometers of the first plant are asked to stay indoors and close all windows．

　　The breaking of the nuclear plants is causing electricity shortages(電力短缺)in Eastern Japan．As a result, electricity is cut off for 3-hour periods in the area of Tokyo and some other areas during daytime．In order to save electricity, some shops, restaurants and tourist places in the areas are closed for some time every day．But all major airports and train lines are still open and operating．

　　For the above reasons, tourists are advised not to visit the eastern areas in the near future．Visits to Western Japan are not affected by the event．People who plan to travel over the coming weeks and months are advised to pay attention to the situation for a few more days before making decisions．

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　　Kitesurfing as a water sport began in the 1980s, but didn't get popular until the end of last century．It is also known as kiteboarding, and in some European countries as flysurfing．Kitesurfing works through wind power(動(dòng)力)by using a large kite to pull a rider on the water at high speed．

　　At first, kitesurfing was a difficult and dangerous sport．Now it is becoming easier and safer because of the safer kite design．For an able and strong person, kitesurfing can be a very fun, extremely exciting sport, just like skating on the water with a feeling of flying．It has become more and more popular．

　　Compared with other water sports, kitesurfing is easier to learn．A beginner can understand how to operate the kite with 5--10 hours of training．And anybody aged from 13 to 65 can learn．It is not expensive to get the equipment for kitesurfing, which costs ＄1, 000 to 82, 500．Training lessons range from ＄200 to ＄500 for two or three hours．With the development of its equipment progress, kitesurfing is becoming even safer．After some training, you can enjoy its excitement and challenging feeling．

　　With the rising popularity of kitesurfing, most major seaside cities have kitesurfing clubs．In China, Xiamen is the only place that has the kitesurfing club, which provides professional kitesurfing training and equipments．

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　　The Shanghai History Museum is putting on exhibition to remember the Long March(長(zhǎng)征)which took place 75 years ago．More than 220 photos and 40 other things are on show．All the exhibition is explained in Chinese．The show will end on November 20．

　　Time：10∶00 a. m.－4∶00 p. m．

　　Address：1286 Hongqiao Road

　　Ticket：8 yuan for Chinese/15 yuan for foreigners

　　Eight elephants from Thailand ate an attraction for visitors at Changfeng Park by riding bikes, playing basketball, dancing and blowing a musical instrument．The elephants give three shows a day at 9∶30 a. m., 3∶30 p. m. and 8∶00 p. m, and there is an extra show at 1∶30 p. m. at weekends．The show will end on November 15．

　　Address：189 Daduhe Road

　　Ticket：30-40 yuan

　　Dolphins jumping from the water to touch a ball, dancing to music, kissing people and doing easy math problems, and seals and sea lions, also parroting, hove rode a large part of the aquarium in Peace Park, which interests children greatly．

　　Hours：10∶30 a. m., 4∶00 p. m., and 7∶30 p. m．

　　Ticket：20 yuan for adults and 10 yuan for children

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　　Shopping is not as simple as you may think!Much has to be done for the producers before putting the products on the shelf．

　　Color, for example, changes a lot according to what the producers are trying to sell．Health foods are packed in greens, yellows or browns because we think of these as healthy colors．

　　When some kind of medicine was brought out recently, researchers found that the color of the package(包裝)caused the shoppers to lose interest because they made the product look ineffective(無效的)．At last, it came on the market in dark blue and white－blue because we think of it as safe, and white as calm．

　　The size of a package can also attract(吸引)a shopper, although quite often a bottle doesn't hold as much as it appears to．

　　It is said that the better-known companies spend about 40 percent of the cost of the product itself on packaging!

　　The most successful producers know that it's not enough to have a good product．The head of Pears Soap, who for 25 years has used pretty little girls to sell their goods, came to the conclusion：“Any fool can make soap, but it takes a talent to sell it．”

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Learn a second language

　　There was once a young mouse that lived in a hole in a wall．One day, the young mouse woke up from his sleep and looked out of the hole．As he looked out, a fantastic smell came to his nose．“Cheese!” the mouse said happily to himself．“I'll go and get it now and have it for breakfast．”

　　But then he remembered his parents' words．His parents were very clever mice and often said to their son, “Always wait before you go for a piece of cheese．”

　　So the young mouse waited quietly．Then he heard a quiet “Miaow” and he knew the cat was there．He stayed in the hole and said to himself, “I'm glad I listened to my parents and learned to wait．”

　　The next day, he looked out again．He put his nose out of the hole, and the beautiful smell of cheese came to his nose again．He could see the cheese．It was only a few centimetres away．But he sat still and waited quietly．This time he did not hear any cat noises．Instead he heard a very quiet “Woof, woof．”

　　“It's a dog!” he thought．“If the dog is there, the cat won't be there．I expect the dog has chased the cat away, so I'm safe．” The mouse ran out of the hole and started eating the cheese．He did not see the cat, which caught him and ate him．

　　When the cat finished her meal, she said to herself, “I'm glad I listened to my parents and learned a second language．”

閱讀理解

　　Here is the bulletin board in Class 2．Some of the notes can be seen every day．Here are some notes before a holiday．Please read them and answer the following questions．

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　　The computers changed our lives in the 1980s, the Internet changed our lives in the 1990s, and the robots will change our lives in the new century．

　　Do you think there will be robots in people' s homes?It' s not a dream that every home will have a robot．

　　Now, robots are not only able to help people do the housework, they can also help the doctors do the difficult operations, play chess with people, play the piano and so on．

　　A new cooking robot is used in Beijing．It can cook all the dishes on the menu, you only need to wait two to four minutes．In the future, the robot will be a nurse, a security(安全)guard, or a partner in your life．

　　Experts believe robots will be used everywhere from the industrial(工業(yè)的)robots to service robots．In the future, robots will become part of the family, and provide close service for people．We all look forward to the new robot age．

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　　More than 200 activities have been held so far during the Chinese Language Year in Russia．It has not only made Chinese culture popular in Russia, but also improved understanding and friendship between Russians and Chinese people．More and more Russians begin to enjoy Chinese food and operas, watch TV programs to leam Chinese, and travel in China．

　　Since the Chinese Language Year program in Russia started, so many events such as movie weeks, operas, Chinese language classes, language contests and teaching programs have been popular in Russia．

　　Through the activities, Russian people have had a chance to leam more about the Chinese culture, literature, history and its life today．For example, the first group of 500 Russian students visited the Chinese cities of Beijing, Dalian and Qingdao．There they painted both countries' landmarks, including the Tian' anmen Square, the Great Wall, the Kremb(克林姆宮),the Volga River and the Red Square．When the Russian students returned, they took part in a photo contest and a writing contest to show their love for China．

　　And Russians, especially young people, have become more and more interested in learning Chinese．To date, more than 130 universities in Russia are offering Chinese courses．More than 20 middle and primary schools have also taught Chinese as their first foreign language．