閱讀理解

　　It's a goal for millions and millions of families every year to keep the Christmas spending within a certain amount of money, but you can still afford the gifts because your loved ones will enjoy them．This concern(憂慮)is becoming greater and greater theses days．Even so, there are several things that you can do to help,

　　Hit the sales．No one wants to get up at four o'clock in the morning and fight to get a good deal(交易)on Black Friday(the first Friday at Christmas time)．

　　It's surely very difficult to pick up the courage and get out there in the cold for a good deal,, But sometimes it can be well worth．

　　Many retailer(零售商)offer specials all through the day．Some even offer online Black Friday specials, so we may still be able to get a great deal on Black Friday．

　　Read advertisements regularly．Once the Christmas shopping season is coming, retailers will be hungry for business．They will try their best to get us into the store．Please read the weekly advertisements of sales among the major retailers from time to time．We may be lucky enough to find different prices for the same thing in different shops．

　　Shop online．Some of us don't like running from store to store to get the best price on the perfect gift．．Some of us don't like to go out in the cold at all, and then, we can do online shopping．The world of online shopping makes it possible for us to visit all the major retailers and some specialty stores on the Internet．We can find exactly what we are looking for at the best possible price without even having to leave the house, With traditional Christmas shopping, it will always take us a long time to wait if we want to get the perfect gift．

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　　When you are curious about something and want to know more about it, you can use the way of asking questions．Asking questions is the first step to make discoveries and find interesting answers．The following steps can guide you during the research．

Step l

　　Write down the subject that you are interested in on a piece of paper．Just get the main idea down．For example, you might write：

　　Discover more about robots．

　　Step 2

　　Stop and think for a moment about what you have already known about your subject．List what you have already known like the sentences below：

　　1．The first robot appeared in the USA in 1959．

　　2．A robot can do housework and act as a teacher．

　　3．Sometimes a robot catches viruses and causes a lot of problems．

　　Step 3

　　What can you do with what you want to learn? By asking questions, start writing down questions about the robots on the paper：

　　1．What might robots be like in the future?

　　2．What other things can robots do for people?

　　3．What kind of power will robots possibly use in five years?

　　Step 4

　　Armed with your list of questions, you can now go to the nearest library or computer to begin your research．As you learn more about your subject, you'll probably discover some new questions．

　　For example, you might discover that robots can help scientists explore dangerous places, like the sea and outer space．How? What happened? Asking new questions can help you research your subject more widely．

　　The next time you find something interesting to research, take time to organize your thinking by asking good questions．And remember that learning more always brings more questions．

閱讀理解

　　There was a man who had a little son．He loved him very much．Every day after work the man would come home and play with the little boy．

　　When the man came home from work one night, he found that he had some extra work to do．And he wasn't able to play with his little son, He wanted to give the boy something to keep him busy．So, looking around his study, he saw a magazine with a large map ot the world on the cover．He got an idea He patiently tore the map up into pieces．Then he led his son into the dining room and spread the pieces on the table．He explained to the boy that it was a map of the world．He told the boy to put it back together and they could play together when he finished．Surely this could keep the child busy for hours, he thought．

　　After about thirty minutes, the boy came to the man and said, ""Okay, it's finished, Dad．Can we play now?"

　　The man was surprised, saying, "That's amazing! How did you do that?" The boy said," It was easy．On the back of the page was a picture of a man．When I put the man together, the whole world appeared completely．"

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閱讀理解：

　　Chinese people call the Spring Festival “Nian”．But do you know that Nian was once the name of a monster(妖怪)?

　　A long time ago, the monster Nian lived in the mountains．It ate animals．But in winter, it could not find food．So it came to villages and ate a lot of people．People were so afraid of Nian that they locked their doors before evening came during the winter．One day, an old man came to a village．He told people there that Nian was afraid of three things－the color red, fire and noise．He told people to play drums and gongs, make big fires and set off fireworks(放鞭炮)to make Nian go away．

　　On a moonless, cold night, Nian went to the village again．As soon as it opened its big mouth, people made loud noises and made fires．Nian was really afraid and ran away．wherever it went, there was noise and fire．When Nian was tired and could not run anymore, people killed the monster．

　　After that, on the coldest day of winter, people beat drums and gongs, and set off fireworks to celebrate the death of the monster of Nian．They put up red lanterns and have a big dinner without sleeping during the night．

　　In the morning people greet each other happily．So now we have the Spring Festival．

閱讀理解：

　　Tony：These days, the word “clone” has appeared very often in the newspapers．Do you know its meaning?

　　Lana：I read a report．It said that Dr．Ian Wilmut successfully cloned a lamb* named Dolly from a grown-up sheep．So people call him the “father” of Dolly．

　　Tony：In fact, the word “clone” means to produce the “same” animal by taking cells* from a grown-up one．I think, if we know how to do cloning, we need only to keep a small number of sheep, cows or horses．

　　Lana：What’s more, these days some people even want to clone humans．They have asked：Can we clone ourselves?

　　Tony：It seems interesting．But do you think it possible to do that?

　　Lana：No, impossible! First, I think we cannot clone a dead person, because the cells in his body are dead already．

　　Tony：Then can we clone a living person?

　　Lana：Again no! You might clone yourself one after another, but it is only a copy, not a real you．It is only something, not a “human”．

　　Tony：Well, you mean that it is not a real human．

　　Lana：True enough! I think Dr．Wilmut would most like to make better animals, and it has nothing to do with human cloning．

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　　What do people do with their old, out-of-date but still useful computers? Most people don’t know what to do with them．Many old computers are put away in homes．Many more are simply thrown out with the rubbish．

　　Some companies are thinking of ways to bring down the number of old computers．Sony has agreed to help recycle old Sony products．Dell, Hewlett-Packard and other companies now also take back some old computers．

　　In some countries, laws are being passed, too．Computer companies will have to collect and recycle their used products．And 70％ of computer waste must be recycled．The idea behind the laws is that computer companies themselves should pay the cost．That will encourage them to make computers that are easier and cheaper to repair and upgrade(升級)．

　　Yet while many people are throwing away good computers, others cannot afford them at all．Hundreds of organizations are working to solve this problem．They collect and repair old computers．Some also teach others how to repair computers．

　　The computers then go to schools, charities and people who need them．Giving a used computer to one of these organizations can turn one person’s rubbish into someone else’s useful things－and cut down on waste, too．

閱讀理解

　　What’s a blog? A blog is a personal online diary(日記)．It’s cool, it’s hot, and everyone is doing it．People talk about it often．Sound like a fashion? In fact, It’s another trend(流行趨勢)．And the word “blogger” means a person who writes diaries online．Are you a blogger?

　　Many bloggers are teenagers who log(進入)onto websites to discuss anything in their lives．Many of today’s teenagers are not afraid to openly discuss everything in their lives．Teenagers complain about their parents and homework．They share diaries, post(發(fā)布)songs from the latest bands and show pictures of theirs．They write their own poems, say something about their girlfriends or boyfriends and complain to each other or offer support．But mostly they just write down what they do every day．

　　However, many parents are worried about these young bloggers．Parents see the kids talking about how they got drunk last weekend and how they don’t like studying．They are using the language that is surprising to their parents．Besides hearing from their friends, teen bloggers also get messages from strangers．Most of the time, it’s older men asking to meet teenage girls．“These strange men are dangerous for my kids．They sometimes teach my kids bad words．” said Cara Cabral, a mother of two children．

　　Many teenagers and young adults know it’s not safe to use blogs on the Internet．They know they are putting information about themselves in a place where it can be seen by anyone．But teenagers are unwilling to give up these new communication tools that have become a way of life for many of them．

閱讀理解

　　Do you plan to go to Hong Kong Disneyland with your family this summer?If your dad smokes, you may have to ask him to be careful．From January 1^st, Hong Kong banned(禁止)smoking in most public places．

　　These places include restaurants, workplaces, schools and so on．Even smoking in some outdoor places is not allowed, for example, beaches, sports ground, museums and most areas of public parks．

　　　Hong Kong hopes the ban can stop passive smoking．What is passive smoking? When people smoke in a restaurant or on a bus, others have to smoke too．They don’t want to smoke but they have no choice．This is passive smoking．It is bad for people’s health．

　　And it’ll be better if more people in Hong Kong give up smoking because of the ban．Jack Lee, a 26-year-old student says, “The ban is really good．I don’t like people smoking next to me．It’s so smoky and smelly．”

　　If someone breaks the ban, he will be fined HK＄5,000．

　　　Hong Kong is not the first Asian city to have a smoking ban．On January 1, 2006, Singapore banned smoking in most public places．