閱讀理解

　　What’s the red star in the sky through a telescope(望遠鏡)? It is Mars．Do you want to know more about it? Take the “Mars Orbit Express”!

　　“Mars Orbit Express” is a space probe(探測器)．It was sent towards Mars by American scientists on August 12th，2005．Its tasks are to study Mars’ atmosphere and return photos to Earth．But before that “Mars Orbit Express” must travel about 100 hundred million kilometers and seven months．It reached Mars’ orbit(軌道)in March，2006．

　　Mars and Earth have similar weight and size．However，Mars is closer to the sun than Earth．Mars is very cold．The average temperature is below 50℃．The temperature at noon only reaches 20℃ during a Mars day．Its atmosphere is mostly CO2．It has much sand and two moons---Phobos and Deimos．

　　Scientists think Earth and Mars had similar beginnings 4．6 billion years ago．But while Earth supports millions of lives，Mars becomes bad．“Earth easily could have turned out like that．” said an scientist, “It is important for us to find out why and Mars Orbit Express’ should do that．” “Mars Orbit Express” also would help scientists to learn what might happen to Earth in the future．“Mars Orbit Express” would work for about four years．

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　　Disasters happen all the time somewhere in the world．Are you ready if one hits your neighborhood next week? Find out what you need to do now before it is too late．Let’s take an earthquake for example．

　　During an earthquake, get under a strong object like the kitchen table．Don’t leave the building during the shaking, or you might be hurt by falling objects from the outside of the building．

　　When you are in bed during the night and an earthquake happens，simply roll off the bed．There will be a safe void around the bed．

　　If you are watching TV and you cannot easily run away by getting out through the door or window, then lie down and curl up(蜷伏)next to a sofa, or a large chair．

　　Never go to the stairs．The stairs are likely part of the building to be broken．Even if the stairs are not destroyed by the earthquake，they may fall down later when people run down．

　　Try to get into an open area away from trees，buildings，walls，advertisement boards and power lines if you are outdoors．

　　If you are driving when an earthquake suddenly happens，just stay in your car until the shaking ends．However, if the footbridge falls and breaks your car，get out of it and sit or lie next to it．All the broken cars have voids 3 feet high next to it．

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　　I remember the first time I met Alfred after years．He was sitting on a bench in the park．He looked very sad and cold．He hadn’t got a coat on and it started to rain．Usually, I don’t like to stop to speak to a stranger who looked like that．His shoes were well-cleaned and his clothes were quite smart, but he did not have an umbrella with him and he was getting wet in the rain．I stopped walking and said to him in a nice voice．“ Are you OK?” he looked up, and was surprised to see me．He cried out．“ Are you …” he couldn’t remember my name．I was also surprised．He was Alfred! “ I’m Tom, Alfred, what are you doing here?” I asked．He did not explain to me, but caught my hand, and asked how my life was like．I told him that I was out of job．I suggested that we go somewhere warm and dry．

　　So we found a café nearby and continued our conversation．I learned that he married with two children, and his wife was Sherry．I could not believe my ears．Twenty years ago his best friend was Linda, and Sherry was his worst enemy! They often had quarrels(爭吵)and fights in the play．

　　Alfred told me that he became a businessman when he graduated from the school and owned two companies in the city．I asked him why he was sitting in the rain in the park．He said that he had just had a quarrel with Sherry, and acting in the same way as when she was young, threw him out of the door and locked him　out．He was young, threw him out of the door and locked him out．He was waiting for her to be calm and let him in again．

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　　Of course you don’t want to be sick in your vacation．So what can you do while traveling? There are three things you should remember：relax, sleep and eat well．

　　A vacation is a time for relaxing, but very often it is not．Think about what you do when you are a tourist．There are so many places to visit：shop, parks, churches and temples(寺廟)．You may spend most of the days walking around these places．This can be very tiring．Do not ask your body to do too much．A tired body means a weak body．A weak body gets dick easily．So sit down for a few hours in a nice place．In good weather, look for a quiet park bench．[來源：學&科&網(wǎng)Z&X&X&K]

　　Sleep is also important．If you want to stay healthy, you need to get enough sleep．Your hotel room may be noisy, or the bed may be too hard．Or you may want to stay out late at night．Then you should plan to sleep for an hour during the day．The extra　hour can make a big difference．

　　Finally, if you want to stay healthy, you must eat well．That means eating the right kinds of food．Your boday needs fresh fruit, vegetables, mean, milk and cheese．

　　So, remember this：if you want to enjoy your vacation, take good care of yourself．Give your body some rest．Get enough sleep and eat healthy food．

閱讀理解

　　The seasons in Australia are not like ours．When it is winter in china, it is summer there．Australia is a southern country, it is in the south of the world．July and August are the winter months; September, October and November are spring, the summer is in January, February and December, and March, April and May are the autumn months．The north of the country is hotter than the south．

　　A very large part of this country has no rain at all．The east coast(海岸地區(qū))has rain all year, and there are no dry months there．The southeast winds blows(吹)here all the year．They bring rain from the sea．There is not much rain on the west side．The southeastern part of Australia has summer rain from the southeast winds．They only blow here in summer．

　　The southwestern part of Australia has winter rain．The west winds blow over the southwest in winter only．In summer, the southwest of the country has no rain．In the north of Australia, there is no rain in winter．The rain comes in summer．The northwest winds bring it．

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　　Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends．They believe that their families don’t know them as well as their friends do．In large families, it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight each other and then they can only go to their friends for some ideas．It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a group of friends．

　　Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot to time talking among themselves on the phone．This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something．There things are difficult to their family members．

　　However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them．Some parents may even stop their children form meeting their good friends．Have you ever thought of the following questions?

　　Who choose your friends? Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you? Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like? Your answers are welcome．

閱讀選擇

閱讀選擇

閱讀選擇

　　There has been a lot of rain in California recently．Villagers and leaders there begin to be worried because they have found two birds died from a disease, West Nile Virus(病毒)．

　　West Nile Virus is carried by mosquitoes(蚊子)．The symptoms(癥狀)are just like the flu．However, it can cause dangerous brain problems．When it rains a lot, it will leave a lot of water in ponds and trees．These places are good for mosquitoes．Mosquitoes lay their eggs in the water．Warm weather will help the mosquito eggs to develop and then the number is increasing．Birds eat the mosquitoes and get sick．People can get the disease if they are bitten(叮咬)by mosquitoes with West Nile Virus．

　　The government is trying its best go stop the spread of West Nile Virus．People are asked to wear long sleeves(長袖)and pants, close their windows and shut the doors．At the same time, workers have been sent out to check the wet areas．If they find mosquitoes they will use some special medicine to kill them．