-
Package Holidays
(1993)
Package holidays, covering a two weeks'
stay in an attractive place, are increasingly
popular. Once
you
get
to
the
airport,
it
is
up
to
the
tour
operator
to
see
that
you
get
safely
to
your
destination
．
Everyth
ing is laid on for you
．
There
is, in fact, no reason for you to bother to
arrange
anything
yourselves
．
You make friends
and have a good time. But there is very little
chance that
you will really get to know
the local people
．
This is
even less likely on a coach tour, when you
spend almost your entire time
traveling
．
Of course, there
are carefully planned stops for you to
visit historic buildings and monuments.
You may visit the beautiful, the historic, the
ancient. But
time is always
short
．
There is also the
added disadvantage of being obliged to spend you
holiday
with a group of people you have
never met before
．
The American Family
(1994)
The
American
family
unit
is
changing.
There
used
to
be
mainly
two
types
of
families,
the
extended and the nuclear. The former
included mother, father, children, and some other
relatives
such as grandparents, living
in the same house or nearby. Then as the economy
progressed from
agricultural to
industrial, people began moving to different parts
of the country in order to search
for
job opportunities. These moves split up the
extended family. The nuclear family consisting of
only parents and children has therefore
become far more wide spread. Today’s family,
however,
can
be
composed
of
diverse
combinations.
With
the
divorce
rate
nearly
one
in
two,
there's
an
increase
in
single-parent
homes
—
a
father
or
mother
living
with
one
or
more
children.
Blended
families
occur
when
divorced
men
and
women
remarry
and
combine
the
children
from
former
marriages into a new
family. On the other hand, there is an increase in
childless couples while one
in rive
Americans lives alone.
Unidentified Flying Objects
(1995)
There are many
explanations for why UFOs visit the Earth. / The
most popular one is that they
maybe
visitors from other planets./ To fly such
aircraft, their builders must develop different
forms
of aviation,/because they seem to
fly much faster than normal aircraft./ The UFOs,
it is believed,
must contain
scientists/ from other planets who are studying
life on earth./ It is even believed that
several such aircraft may have landed
on earth/ and the space visitors may be living
amongst us./
But
there
are
also
less
fantastic
explanations
available./
Although
some
sightings
of
UFOs
are
difficult to explain, most can be
explained quite easily./ In many cases the
observers might have
made a mistake./
They might have seen a weather balloon or an
aircraft./ Or the light they saw in
the
sky might have been light from the ground,/
reflected on to the clouds./ However, the exact
cause of many sightings still remained
a mystery.
The Indian Medicine Man
(1996)
Among the Indians of
North America, the medicine man was a very
important person. He could
cure
illness
and
he
could
speak
to
the
spirits.
The
spirits
were
the
supernatural
forces
that
controlled the world.
The Indians believed that bad spirits made people
ill. So when people were
ill, the
medicine man tried to help them by using magic. He
spoke to the good spirits and asked for
their help. Many people were cured,
because they thought the spirits were helping
them, but really
these
people
cured
themselves.
Sometimes
your
own
mind
is
the
best
doctor
for
you.
The
medicine men were often
successful for another reason, too. They knew
about plants that really
can
cure
illness.
A
lot
of
medicines
are
made
from
the
plants
that
were
used
by
medicine
men
hundred of years ago.
Legal Age for Marriage
(1997)
Throughout
the
United
States,
the
legal
age
for
marriage
shows
some
difference.
The
most
common age without
parents’ consent is 18 for both females and males.
However,
persons who are
under age in their home state can get
married in another state, and then return to the
home state
legally married. Each state
issues its own marriage license. Both residents
and non-residents are
qualified for
such a license. The fees and ceremonies vary
greatly from state to state. Most states,
for instance, have a blood test
requirement, but a few do not. Most states permit
either a civil or
religious ceremony,
but a few require the ceremony to be religious. In
most states a waiting period
is
required before the license is issued. This period
is from one to five days depending on the state.
A three-day-wait is the most common. In
some states there is no required waiting period.
The Railways in Britain
(1998)
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
25000
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 19th
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
railways
also
provided
thousands
of
new
jobs:/
building
carriages,
running
the
railways and repairing the tracks. /
Railways 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
?
(1999)
The 24th of October is celebrated as
United Nations Day. h 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.
Schools
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 affairs. The 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.
?
What We Know About
Language
?
(2000)
Many
things
about
language
are
a
mystery
and
will
remain
so.
However,
we
now
do
know
something about it. First, we know that
all human beings have a language of some sort. No
human
race anywhere on earth is so
backward that it has no language of its own at
all. Second, there is no
such thing as
a primitive language. There are many peoples whose
cultures are undeveloped but
the
languages
they
speak
are
by
no
means
primitive.
In
all
the
languages
existing
in
the
world
today,
there
are
complexities
that
must
have
been
developed
for
years.
Third,
we
know
that
all
languages are perfectly adequate. Each
is a perfect means of expressing its culture. And
finally, we
know that language changes
over time, which is natural and normal if a
language is to survive.
The language
which remains unchanged is nothing but
dead.
?
Characteristics of A Good
Reader
?
(2001)
To improve your reading
habits, you must understand the characteristics of
a good reader. First,
the good reader
usually reads rapidly. Of course, he does not read
every piece of material at the
same
rate. But whether he is reading a newspaper or a
chapter in a physics text, his reading rate is
relatively fast. He has learned to read
for ideas rather than words one at a time. Next,
the good
reader
can
recognize
and
understand
general
ideas
and
specific
details.
Thus
he
is
able
to
comprehend the material with a minimum
of effort and a maximum of interest. Finally, the
good
reader has in his command several
special skills, which he can apply to reading
problems as they
occur. For the college
student, the most helpful of these skills include
making use of the various
aids to
understanding that most text books provide and
skim-reading for a general survey.
Disappearing
Forests
?
(2002)
The world’s forests are
disappearing. As much as 1/3 of the total tree
cover has been lost
since
agriculture began some 10,000 years
ago. The remaining forests are home to half of the
world’s
species,
thus
becoming
the
chief
resource
for
their
survival.
Tropical
rain
forests
once
covered
12% of the land of
the planet, as well as supporting at
l
east half of the world’s species of
plants
and animals. These rain forests
are home to millions of people. But there are
other demands on
them. For example,
much has been cut for timber. An increasing amount
of forest land has been
used for
industrial purposes or for agricultural
development such as crop-
growing. By
the 1990’s
less than half of the
earth’s original rain forests remained, and they
continued to disappear at an
alarming
rate every year. As a result the world’s forests
are now facing gradual
ex
tinction.
?
Salmon
(2003)
Every year, millions of salmon swim
from the ocean into the mouths of rivers and then
steadily up
the rivers. Passing through
waters, around rocks and waterfalls, the fish
finally reach their original
streams or
lakes. They dig out nests in the riverbed and lay
their eggs. Then, exhausted by their
journey, the parent salmon die. They
have finished the task that nature has given them.
Months, or
years later, the young fish
start their trip to the ocean. They live in the
salt water from 2-7 years,
until they,
too are ready to swim back to reproduce. Their
life cycle helps man provide himself
with a basic food-fish. When the adult
salmon gather at the river mouths for the annual
trip up the
rivers, they are in the
best possible condition, and nearly every harbor
has its salmon fishing fleet
ready to
catch thousands for markets.
Money
(2004)
Money is accepted across the world as
payment for goods or services. People use money to
buy
food, clothes and hundreds of other
things. In the past, many different things were
used as money.
People on Pacific
islands once exchanged shells for goods. The
Chinese used cloth and knives. In
Africa, elephant tusks or salt were
used. Even today, some people in Africa are still
paid in salt.
Coins were first invented
by the Chinese. Originally, they were round pieces
of metal with a hole