Once lived a family with eighteen children. Two of the children loved painting very much, but the family was too 1 to send both of them to study at the 2 college at the same time. After many discussions, they would toss (抛) a coin. The loser would go down into the mines (煤矿) to earn money and 3 his brother to study. And the winner would learn art at the 4. Albecht Durer won the toss and Albert went down into the mines.
Albecht Durer worked hard and his paintings were much 5 than those of most of his teachers. After graduation, he made a lot of money for his paintings.
When Albecht Durer returned, the family held a big dinner for his great 6. Soon after the meal began, Albecht Durer said to his dear 7, "Albert, now you can go to the art college and your 8 will come true. I will take care of you."
But Albert said 9, "Brother, the four years in the mines has done too much to my hands, so it's too late. Now I can't even hold a glass."
To show his great love and respect, Albecht Durer 10 his brother's hands with fingers towards the sky. He called his drawing "The Praying Hands", which became very famous years later.
Seven years ago, Kevin Stephan, then aged 11, was playing baseball when a player accidentally hit him with a bat (球棒).
Kevin fell down and his heart stopped. Penny Brown, the mother of another player, was watching the game. Penny usually worked in the evenings as a nurse, but luckily that evening she wasn't working. Penny ran to help Kevin and saved his life.
Nearly seven years later, Kevin was washing up in the kitchen of the Hillview Restaurant in Buffalo, New York State. Normally, 18-year-old Kevin had classes in the afternoon, but that week there were exams and he didn't have any classes. At about 2 p. m. , Penny Brown was having lunch with her family in the restaurant. She was eating when some food got stuck in her throat. She was very frightened because she couldn't breathe.
Kevin was a volunteer firefighter in his free time and he ran to help. A waitress tried to help her, but the food was still stuck in Penny's throat. Kevin pulled his hands quickly into her stomach and saved Penny's life. He didn't know it was Penny, but his mother, Lorraine Stephan, was also having lunch in the restaurant. She realized that Penny was the woman who saved Kevin's life, seven years ago, at the baseball game. Both Penny and Kevin were completely amazed by the coincidence (巧合)!
Americans love pets. They own about 70 million dogs and go million cats. These animals are often treated as part of the family. However, they don't always bring fun to people. Sometimes they even bring hurt. Here let's take the dogs for an example.
The Aborigines (澳洲土著) have lived in Australia for about 60,000 years. They painted pictures inside caves, and these are the rock paintings that have given us so much information about Aboriginal life. For example, some of the paintings that are about 10,000 years old show us with boomerangs (回旋镖). From this we know that the Aborigines started using boomerangs for hunting at that time. Other pictures show kangaroos, so we know that there were kangaroos at that time.
The Aborigines believed that spirits made people, animals and plants, and that these spirits still live on the Earth. For Aborigines, no one can own the Earth-the Earth belongs to the spirits.
In 1700, there were many Aboriginal groups with a population of 750,000 all over Australia, and there were probably more than 240 different Aboriginal languages. The groups did not have a leader. Instead, things were decided by the older men in a group. People from different groups often travelled hundreds of miles to meet each other.
Aboriginal life changed when an English boat arrived in Australia in 1770. Many Aborigines were killed in the wars that they had with the English. More Europeans came, and they started taking land from the Aborigines. The Europeans also brought new illnesses that killed the Aborigines. The result is that today there are only about 300,000 Aborigines in Australia.
"I sometimes get up at three or four in the morning and I surf the Internet."
"I often check my emails forty times a day."
"I often spend more than three hours during one time on the Internet."
"I spend more time in chat rooms than with my real-life' friends."
These are some students' answers about surfing the Internet.
Do you know any people like these? They are part of a new addiction (瘾) called Internet addiction. Internet addicts spend at least thirty to forty hours online every week. The use of the Internet can be an addiction like drug use. People lose control of the time they spend on the Internet.
For example, one college student had been missing for several days. His friends were worried, and they called the police. The police found the student in a net bar. He had surfed the Internet for several days and nights.
Studies show that about 6-10％of Internet users become addicted. And people worry about the teens because the Internet is changing the playing field for some of them. They spend more time in cyberspace (网络空间) than in the real world of friends and family.
Is "surfing the Internet" a hobby or an addiction for you? You may have a problem if you have these symptoms (症状):
You do not go to important family activities or you do not do your school work because you like to spend hours on the Internet.
You can't wait for your next online time.
You plan to spend a short time online, but then you spend several hours.
You go out with your friends less and less.
It is park at the bottom of the ocean. It's cold down there too. There's no air to breathe. The water pressure is high. There may be fishes that could hurt you. The deep sea can be an unpleasant place. But people are still fascinated by it, not just because of the amazing scenery. The seafloor might hold the secret to the beginning of life on Earth.
Oceans cover more than two-thirds of our planet. Yet, we have explored just a small part of the underwater world. A new project is there to explore the ocean deeper. A new US machine can carry people down to as deep as 6,500 metres. It will take the place of an older machine called Alvin. The old one has been in use for 40 years, but it can only go down to 4,500 metres. Alvin played a key role in many important tasks. Alvin helped biologists collect worms, chemists gather rocks, and oceanographers (海洋学家) map the seafloor and take water sample (样本).
But now it's about time for a new one. The new machine will be like Alvin. It'll also be about 27 feet long, about the size of a small school bus. The seating area inside will be small, about two metres wide. Like Alvin, it'll carry a pilot and two passengers. It will be able to move like Alvin does. It'll give passengers more chances to enjoy the view. Alvin has only three windows. The new one will have five. It will travel more than a mile an hour faster than Alvin. Getting to the bottom faster and moving around more quickly will allow researchers to make the most of their time underwater.
①it is park
②people hide some secrets
③there may be dangerous fishes
④there is no scenery
⑤it is cold
⑥there is high water pressure
In the new century, people invented some "smart clothes". They (use) not only for covering your body, but also for many kinds of uses. Some kinds of smart clothes have come into the market. A German clothing maker has invented the"MP3 blue jacket". This kind of jacket has two functions. It is both an MP3 player a mobile phone. Besides, English company has developed a cloth keyboard that can be put onto your pants. You can control your computer with it (easy) anywhere. The keyboard can be washed it gets dirty. And it can be even ironed.
As the technology improves, smart clothes will become much (smart). Researchers are developing clothes can show your body temperature and heat you up before you feel cold. Other smart clothes to wear are special medical ones. They can tell the doctor when you are danger. This technology can also provide important information about your environment. Shirts can warn you of high pollution levels. Jackets with GPS technology can keep you from (get) lost.
People have begun (love) the idea. Probably, smart clothes will be common on Paris streets, and even in your own home one day.
现象 | 和家人、朋友吃饭时玩手机；过马路时玩手机；熬夜玩手机…… |
弊端 | 影响与家人、朋友的关系；容易引发交通事故；对身心健康有害，不利于学习和工作…… |
你的观点 | (请你补充) |
