Water is very important to us. Factories and plants need water for industrial uses and large pieces of farmland need it for irrigation. Without water to drink, people die in a short time.
Today most water sources are so dirty that people must purify water before drinking. Water becomes dirty in many ways: industrial pollution is one of them. With the development of industry, plants and factories pour tons of industrial wastes into rivers every day. The rivers have become seriously polluted, and the water is becoming unfit for drinking or irrigation. The same thing has also happened to our seas and oceans. So, the problem of water pollution is almost worldwide.
Scientists of many countries have done a lot of work to stop pollution. The polluted water in some places has become clean and drinkable again. Perhaps one day the people in all towns and cities will be drinking clean water. That day, we believe, is not very far off. (161 words)
Passage 32
Making a Complaint
Complaining about faulty goods or bad services is never easy. But if something you have bought is faulty or does not do what was claimed for it, you are not asking for a favour to get it put right.
Complaints should be made to a responsible person. Go back to the shop where you bought the goods, taking with you any receipt you may have. In a small store the assistant may also be the owner so you can complain direct. In a chain store, ask the manager. If you telephone, ask the name of the person who handles your enquiry, otherwise you may never find out who dealt with the complaint later. If you do not want to do it in person, write a letter. Stick to the facts and keep a copy of what you write. At this stage you should give any receipt number, but you should not need to give receipt or other papers to prove you bought the article. (164 words)
Passage 33
Where Do the British Live
Nearly everyone in Britain would like to own their own home and, whether they do or not, they are prepared to put time and money into decorating and furnishing it or even making structural alterations to it. Because of the climate and because of the expense involved in going out for the evening, the British spend a lot of time at home and a large part of their social life takes place there.
Young people tend to stay with their families longer these days as accommodation is expensive but, when they move away to a job or college, there are various options open to them. They can get lodgings with a landlady. This means that they rent a room in someone’s house and have breakfast with the family. They can also get a bed-sitting room, that is to say one self-contained room in which they can cook, live and sleep. Alternatively, they can share a rented flat or house with a group of young people, perhaps the most popular option of all. (172 words)
1
Passage 34
Will Computer Replace Human Beings?
We are in the computer age today. The computers are working all kinds of wonders now. They are very useful in automatic control and data processing. At the same time, computers are finding their way into the home. They seem to be so clever and can solve such complicated problems that some people think sooner or later they will replace us. But I do not think that there is such a possibility. My reason is very simple: Computers are machines, not humans. And our tasks are far too various and complicated for any one single kind of machine to perform.
Probably the greatest difference between man and computer is that the former can do things of his own while the latter can do nothing without being programmed. In my opinion, computers will remain nothing but an extension of our human brains, no matter how clever and complicated they may become. (150 words) Passage 35 Soccer
Soccer has had a slow start in America. In fact, the majority of schools still have no official soccer teams or coaches. But the blossoming popularity of the game cannot be denied. Thanks to the efforts of some world-famous soccer stars, soccer is soon to have its place in American culture.
Although soccer has enjoyed decades of popularity elsewhere, it was literally ignored in America. Instead, a variation of the game called “football” was most popular in the U.S. and still is to this day. But the obvious advantages of playing soccer instead will soon win even most avid football enthusiasts.
For one thing, soccer is a much safer game to play than football. No one deliberately tries to knock an opponent down in soccer. In fact, the players are discouraged from even touching each other.
Soccer is a game that requires skill and dexterity in controlling the ball. Since no one may use hand to do this, soccer players soon acquire incredible control of their heads, knees, and feet. (171 words.) Passage 36 Artists
Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public. Not only does he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something which has not been said before.
What visual artists, like painters, want to say is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experiences into shapes and colors, not words. They seem to feel that a certain selection of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions possible, is exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us.
Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature and from human bodies in motion and response; their choices indicate that these aspects of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights. Contemporary artists might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there is nothing more in it. Yet even they do not choose entirely without reference to the character of their subjects. (166 words)
2
Passage 37
Professional Sports in the U.S.
Professional sports are not only very popular in the United States, but also a big business. The most popular sports are baseball, football and basketball. Each sport has its own season and individual teams have millions of supporters. Professional teams are named for the cities where they are located. For example, the Lakers are in Los Angeles. The strongest supporters of the Lakers are residents of Los Angeles and Southern California. When the Lakers play, many people in Los Angles enthusiastically follow the game. When we mention “NBA”, almost every one knows it has some relationship with U.S. professional basketball. However, what does it really stand for? N.B.A. is short for the National Basketball Association. The NBA is gaining new fans and supporters around the world. Basketball is another popular American sport. In the U.S., basketball has been called the “national pastime”. However, football is the most popular professional sport in the U.S.. American football is different from international football, which Americans call “soccer”. Both games require strength and specialized skills. (171 words)
Passage 38
“How to” Books
Books which give instructions on how to do things are popular in the United States today. Thousands of these “how to” books are available. In fact, there are about four thousand books with titles that begin with words “how to”.
Many “how to” books give advice on careers. They tell you how to choose a career and how to succeed in it. Many of these books help people to use their free time better. Some people want books which will give them useful information about sports, hobbies, and travel. Other people use their free time to make repairs and improvements on their homes. They prefer books which give step-by-step instructions on how to repair things like plumbing and electrical wiring or on how to redecorate or enlarge a house.
Why have “how to” books become so popular? Probably because life has become more complex. Today people have far more free time to use, more choices to make, and more problems to solve, “how to” books help people to deal with modern life. (173 words)
Passage 39 Don’t Give Up
If we would ever accomplish anything in life, let us not forget that we must persevere. If we would learn our lessons in school, we must be diligent and not give up when ever we come to anything difficult. We shall find many of our lessons very hard, but let us consider that the harder they are the better they will do to us if we will persevere and learn them thoroughly.
But there are some among us who are ready to give up when they come to a hard example in mathematics, and say, “I can’t do this.” They never will if they feel so. “I can’t” never does anything worthwhile; but “I’ll try” accomplishes wonders.
Let us remember that we shall meet with difficulties all through life. They are in the pathway of everyone. If we will only try and keep trying, we shall be sure to conquer and overcome every difficulty we meet. (155 words)
3
Passage 40
How High Can You Jump?
Flea trainers have observed a strange habit of fleas while training them.
Fleas are trained by putting them in a cardboard box with a top on it. The fleas will jump up and hit the top of the cardboard box over and over and over again. As you watch them jump and hit the lid, something very interesting becomes obvious. The fleas continue to jump, but they are no longer jumping high enough to hit the top.
When you take off the lid, the fleas continue to jump, but they will not jump out of the box. They will not jump out because they cannot jump out. Why? The reason is simple. They have conditioned themselves to jump just so high. Once they have conditioned themselves to jump just so high, that is all they can do.
Many times, people do the same thing. They restrict themselves and never reach their potential. Just like the fleas, they fail to jump higher, thinking they are doing all they can do.
Passage 41 Apology Helps
It is never easy to admit you are in the wrong. Being human, we all need to know the art of apologizing. Look back with honesty and think how often you have judged roughly, you said unkind things, and pushed yourself ahead at the expense of a friend. Then count the occasions when you indicated clearly and truly that you were sorry. A bit frightening, isn’t it? It is frightening because some deep wisdom in us knows that when even a small wrong has been committed, some mysterious moral feeling is disturbed; and it stays out of balance until fault is acknowledged and regret expressed.
A heartfelt apology can not only heal a damaged relationship but also make it stronger. If you can think of someone who deserves an apology from you, someone you have wronged, or judged too roughly, or just neglected, do something about right now. (148 words)
Passage 42 Sleep
Why is it so difficult to fall asleep when you are overtired? There is no one answer that applied to every individual. It is possible to feel “tired” physically and still be unable to fall asleep, because while your body may be exhausted, you do not feel sleepy. It is not so easy to simply “turn off”.
Lack of sleep complicates matters even more. Experts say adults need at least seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function properly. When you get less sleep than that on consecutive three nights, you begin to accrue for “sleep debt”. As sleep debt increases your body experiences a stress response. Now a vicious cycle has been created: You experience the feeling of being more and more tired, but your body is increasingly stimulated. “Power sleeping” for more hours on weekends is only a temporary solution. There is no substitute for getting a good night’s sleep on a regular basis. (158 words)
4
Passage 43 Our Concern
The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth’s vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment. Only in the present century has one species of man acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world. The rapidity of change follows the pace of man rather than the pace of nature. Radiation is now the unnatural creation of man’s tampering with the atom. The chemicals are creations of man’s inventive mind, having no counterparts in nature.
We have put poisonous and biological potent chemicals into hands of persons largely ignorant of their potentials for harm. We have subjected enormous numbers of people to contact with these poisons, without their consent and often without their knowledge. We have allowed these chemicals to be used with little or no advance investigation of their effect. Future generations are unlikely to forgive our lack of concern. (170 words)
Passage 44
Gardening in America
Believe or not, 43,000,000 Americans are gardening. That is about one in six. Gardeners, of course, come in many varieties. Not surprisingly, most of them are people who live in the suburbs, and enjoy planting flowers, or maybe a small vegetable garden. The average age of gardeners in America is about 45 years old; they usually fall somewhere in the middle class. But the fastest growing groups are city dwellers. Urban residents are finding ways of gardening even in their crowded areas. Many go to large public gardeners, as a place designed by the city for garden, and you can actually ranch your own plot.
Still other people use their balconies or roof tops, wherever they can find the space to plant small patches of green. (126 words)
Passage 45 The Influence of Life
In the early times when human beings hunted and gathered food, they were not in control of their environment. They could only interact with their surroundings as the other lower animals did.
When they learned to make fire, however, they became capable of altering their environment. To provide themselves with fuel, they cut down trees. They also burned clearings in forests to increase the growth of grass and to provide a greater grazing area for wild animals that human beings fed upon. This development led to farming and domestication of animals. Fire provided the means for cooking plants which had previously been inedible. Only when the process of meeting the basic need for food reached a certain level was it possible for humans to follow other pursuits such as setting up families, forming societies and founding cities. (139 words)
5
Passage 46 Automobiles
It is impossible to say that any one man invented the automobile. Many individuals living and working in different countries and at different times contributed to its development. Many of the discoveries that went into the creation of the automobile were small in themselves. But together they were important. Here are two examples.
“Carriage is running at a speed of 8 to 9 miles an hour.” It was almost unheard of in those days. According to automobile historians, this was the first practical use of mechanical power to move a vehicle. After its first run, the machine reportedly burned up while the inventor and his friends were celebrating its success at a pub.
Henry Ford is considered the father of modern automobile mass production. His famous Model-T car, because of its low price, made it possible to produce cars on a large scale and his efforts made it accessible to ordinary people. (152 words)
Passage 47 House and Home
“House” and “home” are two words that have similar meanings.
“House” and “home” both refer to places where people live. However, there is a difference between them. “Home” is often referred to as the place that we live in with our families. Sadly, in our society, people can hardly distinguish a home from a house because they often see no difference between them. This confusion can be traced back to the indifference the family members. Therefore, we can say that love is an important factor in a home. A home is a shelter, not only for our bodies but also for our minds. Whenever we are depressed, we can go home for comfort. Everyone in the family will do his best to take care of each other and share their happiness as well as sorrow. Without love, a home is merely a house where loneliness is all that can be found. And a house can never be a home unless there is love. (163 words)
Passage 48 Population Growth
It is well-known that there has been a drastic increase in world population. But it is probably less well-known that the extinction rate of wildlife species is experiencing a parallel trend.
Take the United States for instance. In 1990, U.S. population reached an unprecedented level of 250 million, which is approximately 250 times of that of 1800. On the other hand, wildlife species are disappearing from the country at an alarming rate. By 1900, about 70 wildlife species would never be seen in U.S.. We are fully justified in declaring that the explosive population growth has had an adverse effect on the survival of wildlife species and will be a constant threat to the wildlife resources if no immediate actions are taken.
Nothing has ever equaled the magnitude and speed with which the human species is altering the physical and chemical world. It has been demolishing the environment we are living in. (152 words)
6
Passage 49 Natural Resources
Through the changes in the ways of making living in a family over several generations, the cartoon aims at sounding a warning against man’s wasteful use of natural resources and emphasizing the urgent need to preserve these resources.
Ever since man appeared on the earth, man’s survival has been heavily dependent on nature. Almost everything we use in our everyday life comes from nature, ranging from the food we eat, the water we drink, to the wood which is turned into furniture. With the development of technology and population growth, the amount and range of materials used has increased at an alarming rate.
However, natural resources are not inexhaustible. Some reserves are already on the brink of exhaustion and there is no hope of replacing them. The widespread water shortage is an example in point. If man continued to squander natural resources with no thought for the future, the whole world would be in a mess. (157 words)
Passage 50 Reading
Nowadays few of us read books after we leave school.
This is rather disturbing, for one should know that books are no less necessary to one’s mental life than fresh air is to one’s physical life. From good reading we can derive companionship, experience and instruction. A good book is our faithful friend. It can increase our contentment when we are cheerful and happy, and lessen our pain when we are sad or lonely. Books can also offer us a wide range of experience. Few of us can travel far from home or live long over 100, but all of us can live many lives through the pages of books. What’s more, reading books can increase our intellectual ability, broaden our minds and make us wise.
With the coming of TV, books are no longer read as widely as they once were. However, nothing can replace the role that books play in our lives. (154 words)
7
因篇幅问题不能全部显示，请点此查看更多更全内容