閱讀理解

　　Three men traveling on a train began a conversation about the world's greatest wonders．

　　“In my opinion,” the first man said, “the Egyptian pyramids are the world's greatest wonder．Although they were built thousands of years ago, they are still standing．And remember：the people who built them had only simple tools．They did not have the kind of machinery that builders and engineers have today．”

　　“I agree that the pyramids in Egypt are wonderful,” the second man said, “but I do not think they are the greatest wonder．I believe computers are more wonderful than the pyramids．They have taken people to the moon and brought them back safely．In seconds, they carry out mathematical calculations that would take a person a hundred years to do．”

　　He turned to the third man and asked, “What do you think is the greatest wonder in the world?”

　　The third man thought for a long time, and then he said, “Well, I agree that the pyramids are wonderful, and I agree that computers are wonderful, too．However, in my opinion, the most wonderful thing in the world is this thermos．”

　　And he took a thermos out of his bag and held it up．

　　The other two men were very surprised．“A thermos?”they exclaimed．“But that's a simple thing．”

　　“Oh, no, it's not, ”the third man said．“In the winter you put in a hot drink and it stays hot．In the summer you put in a cold drink and it stays cold．How does the thermos know whether it's winter or summer?”

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選詞填空

About four years ago，I started studying English．A year (1)______，I started to go to the English Corner．I improved my English a great deal there and also (2)______many friends．Although I had never been to a(n) (3)______ country，I could speak English so fluently that many people often asked me how many years I had stayed in America．

　　Unfortunately，in the spring of that year，SARS spread in many (4)______，including China．So I didn't go to the English Corner (5)______．Then where could I practise my English? Where could I make friends? I remembered my telephone book．Maybe I could call my friends and talk to them in English on the phone．But I didn't call them right away because I was not sure (6)______ I would bother them．Just at that time，the phone rang．It was my friend Elizabeth，who was from England．She said she called (7)______ whether I was OK．I was so touched．We talked and talked on the phone and we both felt (8)______．In this way，we made our own telephone English Corner．

　　During those long months，we kept in touch with each other by calling．In the fight against SARS，we were the winners．Today I have learnt (9)______ to face difficulties like SARS．That is“smile and ready for success”．Look at the (10)______ capital letter of each word．We also call it SARS!

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閱讀理解

　　How to say hello in Japanese depends on when you say it．This is very much like different greetings used in English at different times of the day or night．In Japanese culture, it also depends on whether you are on the phone or meeting somebody or whether you are close to the person you are greeting．We seldom greet them with “good morning” or “Good evening”．A “Hi” is enough．

　　Although the most popular and most well-known translation for “Hello” is still “Konnichiwa”, it is not exactly how to say hello in Japanese．Perhaps it is not the most suitable work for it．Actually, the correct greeting in English for “Konnichiwa” is “Good day” or “Good noon”, and I am sure you wouldn't like greeting people with a “Good day” at any time, and neither do Japanese like saying “Konnichiwa” when they want to say “Hello”．

　　So what to do? Let's do it the way the Japanese do．Use “Ohaiyo Gonzaimasu” for “Good morning”, “Konnichiwa” when it's noon and “Konbanwa” to greet somebody in the afternoon．Things differ when you are on the phone．Just say “Moshi, Moshi”, which is actually similar to saying “Hello” over the phone, because one hardly ever uses “Good morning” or “Good afternoon or “Good evening” right after picking up the phone．It is invariably the sweet old “Hello”．

　　Next time, I'll tell something about my life in Japan．

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