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Railways in Britain
The success of early railways, such as
the lines between big cities, /
led to
a great increase in railway building in Victorian
times. / Between
1835 and 1865 about
25,000 kilometers of track were built, / and over
100
railway
companies
were
created.
Railway
travel
transformed
people’s lives. / Trains were first
designed to carry goods. / However, a
law
in
the
19
th
century
forced
railway
companies
to
run
one
cheap
train
a
day
/
which
stopped
at
every
station
and
cost
only
a
penny
a
mile. / Soon working class
passengers found they could afford to travel
by
rail.
/
Cheap
Day
Excursion
trains
became
popular
and
seaside
resorts grew rapidly. /The railway also
provided thousands of new jobs:
/
building
carriages,
running
the
railways
and
repairing
the
ys
even changed the time. / The need to run the
railways
on
time
meant
that
local
time
was
abolished
/
and
clocks
showed
the
same time all over the country.
United Nations Day
The
24
th
of October
is celebrated as United Nations Day. / It is a
day that belongs to everyone, / and it
is celebrated in most countries of
the
world. / Some countries celebrate
for a week instead of a day. /In
many parts
of the world,
schools have special programs for the day. /
Boys
and
girls
in
some
communities
decorate
a
UN
tree.
/
In
other
communities, young people put on plays
about the UN. / Some libraries
exhibit
children’s art works from around the world. /
School celebrate
with
the
songs
and
dances
of
other
countries,
/
or
give
parties
where
foods
of
other
countries
are
served.
/No
matter
how
the
day
is
celebrated,
/
the
purpose
of
these
celebrations
is
to
help
everyone
understand
the
UN
/
and
the
important
roles
it
plays
in
world
UN encourages people
to learn about other lands and their
customs.
/
In
this
way,
people
can
gain
a
better
understanding
and
appreciation of peoples
all over the world.
How and Why We Sleep
It’s apparent
that everyone needs to sleep. / However, most
people
rarely think about how and why
they sleep. / We know that if we sleep
well, we feel rested. / If we don’t
sleep enough, we often feel tired and
irritable. / It seems there are two
purposes of sleep: / physical rest and
emotional and psychological rest. / We
need to rest our bodies and our
minds,
/
both
of
which
are
important
in
order
for
us
to
be
healthy.
/
Each
night
we
alternate
between two
kinds of sleep:
active
sleep and
passive
sleep. / The passive sleep gives our body the rest
and prepares
us for active sleep, / in
which dreaming occurs. / Throughout the night,
people
alternate
between
passive
and
active
sleep.
/
The
brain
rests,
then it
becomes
active, then
dreaming
occurs. / The
cycle
is repeated
several
times
throughout
the
night.
/
During
eight
hours
of
sleep,
people dream for a
total of one and half hours on the average.
Gardening
Gardening
is
one
of
the
oldest
of
the
arts.
/
The
Chinese
with
their
deep
sensitiveness to beauty / laid the foundations for
a form of garden
art
/
which
was
later
to
have
great
influences
upon
other
Greeks
gave
to the
world a
new concept
of gardening. /
Their
homes
were decorated
with flowers, / but it was in their civic design
that they
most
skillfully
applied
their
garden
art.
/
Their
temples
were
surrounded
by
rows
of
trees,
/
and
trees
lined
the
imporatant
streets
and
market
places
in
their
principal
cities.
/
The
Romans
acquired
much of the
knowledge and skill in garden craft from Greeks. /
In the
second century AD the Romans
began to bulid gardens of great scale, /
imspired
by
the
vast
palace
gardens
they
had
conquered.
/
They
brought water from great distances to
supply the ornamental fountains
/ which
decorated their villa gardens. / Later these great
villas were to
inspire the Italian
garden architects to follow the Roman style.
Making a Complaint
Complaining about faulty
goods or bad services is never easy. / But if
something
you
have
bought
is
faulty
or
of
poor
quality,/
you
have
to
ask
for
a
favor
to
get
it
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
directly./
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 numbers,/ but you do
not
need
to
give
receipts
or
other
papers
to
prove
you
bought
the
article./
Computer
A computer is a
machine
that
is able
to
handle
information very
quickly./
Hundreds
of
problems
can
be
solved
in
just
a
few
seconds
with it./ The
information that is needed to solve a problem is
translated
into numbers by the
computer./ The computer solves the problem, and
then the answer is translated into
words./ Special machines are used to
put
information
and
instructions
into
the
computer./
The
computer
records the
information and stores it./ A large amount
of information
can be stored
in a very small space./ This information is stored
in the
computer’s
memory
unit./
Computers
are
used
in
many
different
ways./ Business and banks use computers
to keep financial records./ In
many
industries,
computers
are
used
to
control
other
machines
that
make
products./ Governments,
hospitals, schools, and communication
companies
work
with
computers./
Special
computers
have
been
developed
for
rockets,
airplanes,
ships,
and
cars./
Some
people
have