中考英语时文阅读选(学生课外阅读材料)

How do Zhang Ziyi and Yao Ming Learn English?

章子怡和姚明是如何学习英语的？

Actress Zhang Ziyi, 27, is now not only a household n ame in China, but also the face of Asia n cinema in Hollywood. Although Zhang received praises for her work in the Oscar-winning movie "Crouchi ng Tiger, Hidde n Drag on "（《卧虎藏龙》）,she did n't speak a word of En glish at that time. When she met director Steven Spielberg for the title role of American film, " Memoirs of a Geisha " （《艺伎回忆录》）,Zhang could only blurt out a few words her age nt had taught her five minu tes

ago: "Hire （雇佣）me!"

She fin ally got the role, which meant she had to speak only En glish in the film. To improve her En glish, Zhang liste ned to and repeated words and phrases she heard on music CDs. One of the artists she was listening to was Eminem, which obviously led to some embarrassing （尴尬的）mome nts for Zhan g. "I did n't always know what Eminem was talk ing about, so I wrote dow n the lyrics （歌词）and repeated them. Later, I understood how rude they were."

Zhang said her favourite En glish idiom is "to drive one up the wall". "Lear ning En glish is driving me up the wall," she said.

Like Zhang, basketball star Yao Ming also had to learn English to help his career development. Yao Ianded in the NBA in 2002. His team the Houston Rockets found a translator （翻译）for Yao. To adapt （适应）himself to the new environment, Yao used English as much as possible. On court, he had to use the Ian guage to com mun icate with his teammates. Off court, he tried to have con versati ons in En glish with his teacher just to practise.

Yao Ming also had to memorize （记住）lots of new vocabulary. "Sometimes I learn a new word but quickly forgot it. But I find my memories are con solidated （强化）whe n some one uses it later."

Now Yao is good at En glish. He does n't n eed a tran slator anymore.

Match point for new star

郑洁：个子小怎么啦，我一样行。

ZHENG Jie is not like other girls her age. While most girls struggle to stay slim （苗条）,Zheng wishes she could put on some weight and pack on more muscle. And, while other girls wear sun scree n （防晒霜）and white ning cream in the summer, Zheng Jie stays in the sun all day long, without any make-up.

"My goal is to play the best tennis," the 23-year-old explained. Zheng Jie is now one of the highest-ra nking Chin ese wome n's players. She made it to the sec ond round （轮）of the China Open last week.

Zheng Jie has achieved far more than many people expected. The moment she picked up a tennis racket, the girl from Chen gdu was told she was not suited to the game.??"They said I did n't have much pote ntial to develop." Compared with other kids, Zheng looked weak and she was also the shortest. She was very upset and thought about givi ng up.

"My height is my biggest disadvantage but it is something I can't control," said Zheng Jie, who now sta nds 1.64 metres tall. But she refuses to let this sta nd in her way. "If others say I am not good eno ugh, the n I must get better. If I give up, it will prove they are right," she said.

So Zheng makes full use of what she can con trol. She has worked hard on her physical fitn

ess （体能）and runs en dlessly on court. "Now whe n some one says I am too short for the game, it will not hurt me anymore. It only stimulates （刺激）me to try harder," she said.

Zheng Jie and Yan Zi signed in for the Australia Open women's doubles （双打）in January.

But the staff （工作人员）thought they were too short to be professional players and told them they were in the wrong place. But Zheng and Yan fin ally won the fin als. They went on to pick up their sec ond Gram Slam doubles title at Wimbledo n in August.

However, Zheng Jie has n't got time to relax and enjoy her success. "If I am not in the training centre, then I am on the court. If I am not on the court, I am on the way to it," she said, humorously describ ing her hard schedule.

But Zheng admitted （承认）fame and success have changed some things. "Before, when I played a tourn ame nt abroad, the training court give n to me was very far away and inconvenient. But now I can have a better court and the staff pick me up after trainin g," she said.

Your turn: Everyone has confronted some kind of difficult times. What are your reactions whe n others say you are not good eno ugh to deal with a task? Do you give up?

Super Girls' first birthday

一起来看看李宇春、周笔畅、张靓颖同学一年级的期末成绩单吧。

LAST year's "Super Girl" winners have just finished their "final exams" for their first year in the en terta inment world. So, how are they doing?

Li Yuch un, 22, has done a good job in develop ing her musical career. Her first album " The Queen and the Dreams"（《皇后与梦想》）was released on September 13. Singles （单曲）such as "Loving" and " The Story of Ice and Chrysanthemum"（《冰菊物语》）have topped the China Music Radio chart （排行榜）for two weeks. Li has also practised hard to improve her dancing skills, such as Lati n steps and hip hop dancing.

"I know who I am and where I am going. Those un true stories won't bother me," she said. Li has no pla ns to become an actress for now. She said she is focused on her music.

Zhang Liangying, 22, has been written about more than any other Super Girl. The story about her singing in a pub before she was famous, and rumoured love affairs （绯闻）,have made the headli nes. Zhang compla ined life was hard as an en terta iner （艺人）and said she could n't focus on music because of the press atte nti on. And, Zhang has n't yet take n any roles in films or TV dramas.

But Zhang is now con sidered as one of the top-level foreig n Ian guage sin gers in China. She will release her new album called "The One" in October. She hopes for a breakthrough after she was criticized for her previous songs. Although the songs displayed her unique singing techniques, critics compla ined she was n't offeri ng anything n ew.

Zhou Bichang, 21, has had more troubles than the other top winners. Her career looked in doubt after a contract dispute （合约纠纷）.And, although her two singles "Biji" and " Swan"（天鹅） are popular, she is accused （指责）of copying other musicians. She was the first Super Girl to release an album. "Who Has Touched My String"（《谁动了我的琴弦》）came out in August. The album

was a success but does not fully display the hip hop style for which she is known.

Besides her music, Zhou also appeared in two films, " McDull The Alumni "（《春田花花同学会》）and "The 601st Phone Call". She changed her boyish girl image for the role of a Iong-haired bus in ess woma n.

New prince of German football

HE is talked about as Germany's answer to top England goal-scorer （射手）Wayne Rooney. But, while Rooney is strong and powerful, Lukas Podolski has elegance （优雅）and a striker's instinet （本能）.

Many young Chin ese became fans of the 21-year-old duri ng the World Cup this summer. He | scored three goals in Germa ny's run to third place and picked up the FIFA young player of the tourn ame nt award. His good form （状态）did n't end there. He scored five goals in Germa ny's record 13-0 win over San Marino last week.

Podolski was first chosen to play for Cologne （科隆队）,the club he loved as a boy, in 2003. The manager, hungry for goals to prevent relegation （降级）,turned to the then 18-year-old. Podolski did not disappo int him, scori ng 10 goals in 19 games. This is a Germa n record for some one so young. Just six mon ths before he had bee n watch ing games with other fans in the stadium. Now they were singing his nickname "Prince Poldi" as he tried to save his club.

Sadly, Podolski was not eno ugh to stop Colog ne going dow n to the Germa n sec ond divisi on （乙级联赛）.Usually, talented young players leave second division clubs in order to learn from stars at a major club. Bayern Munich （拜仁慕尼黑队）,a top German club, showed interest in him.

But Podolski stayed loyal to Colog ne. "It does n't matter as I will stay with my frien ds," he said.

In 2004 his 24 goals helped Cologne back to the first division. It also earned Podolski a place

in the German national team. He became the first second division player since 1975 to play for the

n ati onal side.

With a desire "to compare with the best", Podolski fin ally joined Bayer n Mun ich after the World Cup. If you want to cheer for him, check CCTV-5 on Saturday ni ghts.

New York towers rise again

当自由大厦拔地而起的时候，曼哈顿又增添了一道别样的城市风景。

FIVE years have passed since New Yorkers saw the twin towers of the World Trade Cen tre, and many lives, destroyed by terrorists. However, four new buildings will soon rise again on the site, bigger and better tha n before.

Famous Polish architect （建筑师）Daniel Libeskind, and American David Childs were | chose n by the public in 2003 to lead the project.

They will work on the site's tallest building, the Freedom Tower, and several memorials （纪念碑）to the victims （遇难者）of September 11.

The tower will be 1776 feet （541.3 metres） high. "It represents the Declaration of

Independence （《独立宣言》）,"said Libeskind, referring to the year in which the US won in depe ndence from Brita in.

Work was started in April this year. The skyscraper （高楼）should be completed by 2008 and ready to use by 2011.

A museum on the ground floor will make sure those who died on September 11, 2001 are n ever forgotte n.

Three other skyscrapers will be built on the site. Normal Foster, Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki have each contributed a design. However, the buildings will be smaller than the Freedom Tower.

The site will be developed by bus in essma n Larry Silverstein who will work together with New York's Port Authority （which controls the area）. They will pay for the rebuilding costs. They want to fill the hole in the heart of the city with interesting buildings. And, they hope to make New Yorkers feel proud "in honour of the memories （纪念）of the heroes we lost".

Snails are off the menu

A 34-year-old man admitted himself to Beijing Friendship Hospital in June complaining of nausea （呕吐）and unbearable headaches. Doctors rushed to identify this mystery sickness, and soon found the root of the problem in a snail （螺）.

Originally from South America, the Amazonian snail （亚马逊螺） was imported by | restaura nts in the late 1980's. It soon became a fashi on able dish.

Known as "Fushouluo", the sn ail was give n its n ame as it was believed to bring good luck and Iongevity （长寿）.But, the snail may also cause a painful disease, if eaten raw （生的）or partly cooked.

In Beijing, the number of people complaining of these symptoms （症状）had risen to 131 by September 5. The one thing that un ited the cases was that they had all eate n at the Shuguo Yanyi cha in of restaura nts.

By servi ng half-cooked sn ail meat to customers, the restaura nts had not en sured a dan gerous parasite （寄生虫）in the meat had been killed.

Ten days after they ate the snails, the diners became ill. The worms have attacked the diners' nervous systems, causing fever, headaches andmuscle （肌肉）pain.

The Mini stry of Health puni shed the restaura nts at the root of the outbreak for putti ng din ers' health at such risk. All dishes containing uncooked snail meat were banned. Doctors said that cook ing the sn ail at high temperatures for up to five minu tes should be eno ugh to kill the parasites they contain. However, anything less than thoroughly （彻底地）boiling the snails may put consumer's health at risk. Freshwater crabs, shrimp, fish and shellfish may have the same health risk if not thoroughly cooked.

Recently, health inspectors visited 2,000 restaurants in Beijing and found no one serving un cooked seafood.

Sadly, the problem of dan gerous seafood is not just found in Beiji ng. Guan gzhou has recen tly reported a similar case.

Fortunately, the illness is fully treatable if found within ten days, according to doctors in Beijing. Hopefully, the case will be a warning to food lovers to be careful before they risk eati ng raw seafood.

Hong Kong dreams

高考状元香港求学的自白：忙碌、新鲜而充满希望。

"I NEVER expected that I would be so busy. Why can't there be 25 hours in a day?" complained Liu Ran in Hong Kong as mid-term exams were going on.

The 18-year-old was Shandong Provinee's top scorer in this year's college entrance exam in ati on. After graduati ng from Tai'a n No 1 High School, she chose the Chin ese Un iversity of Hong Kong （香港中文大学）,although both Peking and Tsinghua University promised her a place.

"I want to experience a more international school and social life in Hong Kong. I'm majoring in （专业是）journalism, so Hong Kong will surely help widen my horizons （开阔视野）,"Liu said.

It is two mon ths since Liu first set foot on Hong Kong. She missed home a lot at the begi nning, because of the food and Ian guage problems.

"The can tee n offers mostly Wester n or Guan gdo ng food, but it's convenient （方便的）to cook for ourselves in our dorm if we like. People speak Cantonese and almost all classes are in En glish," Liu expla in ed.

Her English and Cantonese are now both improving, but she still needs more time to adapt to the new environment.

"I'm happy that I made the right decisi on to study here. With a mix of the Easter n and Wester n cultures, there is so much to discover and lear n," she said.

Liu has 18 credit hours （学分）of classes every week and 23 non-credit hours every other week. She has signed up for four associations including the Chinese Languange Debating Team and the drama club. Essays, book reports and presentations （课堂发言）also take plenty of time to prepare. And, of course, there are various parties to attend.

"I was n't a party ani mal before, but that may be the in teresti ng part of college. I sense myself cha ngin g," Liu said.

Scholarships and expenses

FOUR years of study in Hong Kong is not cheap, costi ng at least 400,000 yua n, but many top stude nts receive scholarships.

Liu is among the lucky on es. The Chin ese Uni versity of Hong Kong gran ted （正式给予）Liu a full scholarship - HK$500,000.

Not all stude nts are so fortun ate. Some poorer stude nts are forced to give up dreams of a Hong Kong educati on if they don't win a scholarship.

Autu mn Guo got admissi on letters from both Nanji ng Un iversity and Hong Kong Polytech nic Uni versity （香港理工大学）this fall. However, the Hong Kong uni versity did n't offer the 19-year-old Chongqing girl a scholarship.

"I hesitated a lot as 400,000 yuan is a huge amount of money for my family. But Hong Kong won my pare nts and me over with their En glish courses and cha nces to visit foreig n uni versities on educational exchange programmes. I believe it will be easier for me to find jobs or further my studies abroad tha n it will be for stude nts on the mainlan d," she said.

It drives me up the wall

IF you feel English sometimes means endless new words, difficult grammar and strange pronunciation, you are not the only one to struggle. Do you know that many celebrities （明星） have the same frustrations （挫折）as you?

Getting old fast, getting rich slowly

中国未富先老，应对老龄化社会的挑战需要我们奉献更多的爱心。

ALONG with the golden leaves and chrysanthemum blossoms （菊花）at this time of year comes the yearly grandparents holiday. The Double Ninth Festival, which we celebrate today, is a day for young people to show how much they care for their older relatives.

"Ch ina has a long history of respect ing the old, and this virtue （美德）is especially importa nt as we have become an ageing society since 1999," said Li Baoku, leader of the China Ageing Development Foundation （中国老龄事业发展基金会）.

An age ing society refers to one where 10 per cent or more of its populati on is over 60, or over 7 per cent of its populati on is older tha n 65. By the end of 2004, Chin ese over 60 years old have accounted for （占）10.97 per cent of the nation's total population, and those older than 65, for 7.7 per cent.

For every five people older tha n 60 in the world, or every two in Asia, one is Chin ese. It is expected that in 25 years time there will be one senior citizen for every four Chinese.

"Ch ina is gett ing old before beco ming rich," said Cai Chua ng, a professor at the Chin ese Academy of Social Scien ces. Un like the developed coun tries China has become an age ing society at a speedy （迅速的）pace. Its economy （经济状况）is not as good as the developed countries had while en teri ng this stage.

Fight ing poverty rema ins a big issue for the coun try. It does not have a highly developed social security network to support the old who can't make a living by themselves. When today's teen agers grow up, each of them will have resp on sibility for two pare nts and four gra ndpare nts.

As more people grow old, China will experie nee a lack of labour resources. This has already occurred in some coastal （沿海的）regions since 2004. "Currently China's economic growth depends largely on labour-intensive manufacturing （劳动密集型制造业）.This trend will certainly dull （使黯淡）China's edge （优势）in international trade," said Cai.\

"Everyone will turn old someday. Each of us should try our best to take care of the aged. This is also important for ourselves in the future," said Dou Yupei, Vice-Minister of Civil Affairs.

Police secrets

《无间道风云》记录黑白不同的人生轨迹

COPS （警察）and crim in als （罪矛犯）have always played a cat and mouse game of chase.

But what if the cat pretends to be one of its own enemies and a mouse does the opposite?

It could be a thrilli ng but dan gerous game. |

This is what Billy Costigan and Colin Sullivan do in the new Hollywood film, "The Departed." It opened in Hong Kong and the US last Friday and will arrive on the Chinese mainland （内地）later this year.

The movie is set in Bost on, where the police have bee n fighti ng aga inst Irish-America n

orga ni zed crime. Young un dercover （卧卜底）cop Billy is sent to in filtrate （混入）the mob （匪帮）

group run by Frank Costello. Billy quickly gains Costello's trust.

At the same time Colin Sulliva n, a young crim inal who has in filtrated the police departme nt, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit （特另U调查组）.He works as an in former for Costello. Each man struggles with his double life, finding out in formati on about the crim inal or police pla ns?.

But sudde nly it becomes clear to both the mob group and the police that there's a spy among them. Billy and Coli n are sudde nly in dan ger of being found out by the en emy. Each must race to discover who the other man is in time to save himself.

Don't be surprised if the plot sounds familiar to you."The Departed"is based on the 2002 Hong Ko ng hit film " In fernal Affairs "（《无间道》）.But, writer William Mon ahan said he hadn't see n "Infernal Affairs". He used a translation of the Chinese script. "My film is all about the engine of tragedy （悲剧）that is started when people depart （脱离）from what they really should be doing with their lives,"? said Mon aha n.

Besides its plot, the careful exploration of the nature of good and evil （邪恶）raises "The Departed" above the typical Hollywood cop story. Billy came up from the streets of Bost on. He wants to do things differently from the way his family did. However, he is asked to go undercover and prete nd to be the very thing he was determ ined not to become.

In a way, however, Coli n is an even more tragic character. He accepted a false set of values taught by Costello whe n he was young and truly believes he will get away with everyth ing.

Boom time for on li ne ads

网上潮水般的广告正在改变你我的生活方式。

ARE you curious about the future of online advertising? Well, imagine this seenario （情节）.

You are walking through a futuristic （未来的）shopping mall. As you walk past the stores, electronic （电子的）voices call out to you. "Remember that film you watched last week? We have ano ther suit to your taste!" or "We know your favourite author. He has a new book. Come in and buy it!"

Sounds crazy, right? But it's exactly what online advertisers are already trying to do. Compa nies lear n a lot about your likes and dislikes through your on li ne activity. This in formati on is very valuable to compa nies and in creas in gly it is big bus in ess. The US on li ne advertis ing market was worth over US$12 billio n （96 billi on yua n） last year, while on li ne advertis ing in China is