閱讀理解

　　All living things on the earth need other living things to live．Nothing lives alone．Most animals must live in a group, and even a plant grows close together with others of the same kind．Sometimes one living thing kills another, one eats and the other is eaten．Each kind of life eats another kind in order to live, and together they form a food chain(食物鏈)．Some food chains are simple, while others are not．But all food chains begin with the sun, and all food chains will be broken up if one of the living things disappears(消失)．

　　All life needs sunlight to live on．But only plants can use sunlight directly．Plants are “factories”．They make food from sunlight, water, air and things in the soil．

　　Plants feed all other living things．Animals can only use the sun’s energy after it has been changed into food by plants．Some animals feed directly on plants, others eat smaller animals．Meat-eating animals are only eating plants indirectly．

　　What about human beings? We are members of many food chains．We eat wheat, rice, vegetables, fruit and so on．We also eat meat and drink milk．But men often break up the food chains．They kill wild animals．They also make rivers, lakes and seas dirty．When these rivers, lades and seas are polluted, the fish in them can not be eaten．If men eat the fish, they will get strange diseases(疾病)．

　　Each form of life is linked to the others．Breaking the links will put all lives in danger．

閱讀理解

The best way of learning a language is using it．The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible．Sometimes you’ll get your words mixed up, and people will not understand you．Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can’t understand them．But if you keep your sense of humor(幽默), you can always have a good laugh at the mistakes you make．Don’t be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes．It’s better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don’t understand what you are saying．The most important thing for learning English is “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes．”

閱讀理解

　　Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy．After all, you probably sing or whistle when you are happy．

　　Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy．However, they sing most of the time for a very different reason．Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory．

　　Do you know what a 'territory' is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims(聲稱)as its own．Only he and his family are welcome there．No other families of the same kind are welcome．Your garden and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome．If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten(威脅)you, you might shout．Probably this would be enough to frighten him away．

　　If so, you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him．A bird does the same thing．But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting(筑巢)season．So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not．This screaming is what we call a bird's song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away．

　　Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs．．

　　You can see that birds have a language of their own．Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting up territories．

閱讀理解

　　Having Fun "Growing" and "Stealing"?

　　Recently, an Internet game has become a new fashion among young office workers and students．People can "farm" on a piece of "land" and "grow", "sell" or even "steal" "vegetables", "flowers" and "fruits" on the Net．They can earn some e-money and buy more "seeds", "pets" and even "houses"．

　　Joyce interviewed some young people．Here are their opinions．

　　Harold：I don't quite understand why they are so mad about the childish game, Maybe they are just not confident enough to face the real world．

　　Allan：I enjoy putting some "bugs" in my friends' gardens and we've become closer because of the game．Having fun together is the most exciting thing about it．

　　Laura：You know, people in the city are longing for(渴望)the life in the countryside．It reduces my work pressure(壓力); besides, it gives me the exciting experience of being a "thief"．

　　Ivy：Well．it's just a waste of time．Teenagers playing the game spend so many hours on it that they can not focus on(專注于)their study．

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　　Good evening, ladies and gentlemen．Welcome to the nine o’clock Mystery Hour．Today we’ll show you two British stories．We hope you’ll enjoy them．

　　About 900 years ago two green children arrived in a small village in south England．Their eyes and skin were green and they spoke a strange language．They were very tired and weak, so the people of the village looked after them．The boy died a year later, but the girl grew strong and lived the rest of her life there．And her skin colour turned back to normal day by day．Scientists say that sometimes of people don’t have enough food to eat for a long time, their skin goes very pale and can even turn green．

　　Loch Ness is the largest lake in Scotland．It’s a very deep and cold lake．For hundreds of years, people have talked about a monster(怪物)called Nessie which lives in the lake．About seventy years ago, two people saw something moving in the lake．They said that the animal was playing and rolling around in the water．Since then many people say they have seen the monster．Their descriptions are always the same．It looks like a dinosaur, with a very long neck and a small head．It has a big bump(包，腫塊)on its back．People have tried to photograph the animal, but the pictures have not been very clear．Scientists don’t know whether there is a monster or not．Some say it may be a whale or a very large fish．Some think it’s a snake．Others say there’s nothing at all－nothing but people’s imagination．Maybe we’ll never know what’s in Loch Ness．

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　　When Daniel woke up yesterday morning, he found he was a bit late for school, so he started running to catch the bus．Moments later, he saw a dog, but not its lead．He tripped over the lead and fell down．He jumped up quickly, went on running and got on the bus．After a while an old coach broke down in the middle of the road, and the driver couldn’t move it．It was eight o’clock, the middle of the rush hour, so it soon created a terrible traffic jam．The bus driver tried to go round the coach．Unfortunately a taxi was coming in the opposite direction．The driver tried to stop the taxi, but he couldn’t prevent the accident－the taxi crashed into the front of the bus! Luckily nobody was hurt．

　　When Daniel finally got to school out of breath, the Science lesson had been on for five minutes．Daniel said sorry to the teacher and sat at his desk．He reached out for his school bag－no, it was nowhere to be found．

　　“Where is my school bag?” Daniel was puzzled．Suddenly he realized that he had left it on the bus．Bad luck!

閱讀理解

　　He cleans your house．He repairs your broken toys．He helps you with your homework．Even if you make a lot of trouble at school, he ‘ll never stop loving you．

　　WHO? It’s your father, And you could never thank him enough for everything he has done for you．

　　So don’t forget to do something nice for him on Father’s Day．It’s always on the third Sunday in June．This year it’s the nineteenth of June．How can we celebrate it and make it a special Father’s Day? Here are Millie’s and Ricky’s ideas：

閱讀理解

　　Mrs．Thompson came to the 5^th grade class and noticed that Teddy was always alone．Also, he did badly in his studies．When she reviewed Teddy’s past records, she find he was a good child at first, but he began to change when his mother got ill．Finally he lost interest in school after his mother’s death．

　　Mrs．Thompson realized the problem and felt sorry for him．She felt even worse when her students brought her beautifully-covered Christmas presents．His presents were covered with some old paper．Some children laughed when she found a bracelet(手鐲)with some of the stones missing, and a bottle with a little perfume(香水)．But she said how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some perfume on her hand．Teddy stayed after school for a long time just to say, “Mrs．Thompson, today you smelled just like my mom used to．” After the child left, she cried for quite a long time．

　　On that very day, she taught not only knowledge but also children．As she worked with Teddy, his mind seemed to come alive．By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class．

　　A year later, Teddy left school．She found a note under her door, from Teddy, saying that she was the best teacher he ever had in his life．After that, these words were repeated in each of his letters to her．

　　Then after he finished college, Teddy wrote telling her that he had met a pretty girl and was going to get married．He explained that his father was dead, and that he wondered if Mrs．Thompson might sit at the wedding in the place for the mother of the groom(新郎)．

　　Of course, Mrs．Thompson did．She wore the bracelet and the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together．

　　They hugged(擁抱)each other, and Teddy whispered in Mrs．Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs．Thompson, for making me feel important, and showing me that I could make a difference．”

　　Mrs．Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, it’s not like that．You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference．I didn’t know how to teach until I met you．”