The Most Wonderful Islands The Palm Islands are the largest artificial islands in the world and are under construction in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. They are being developed as tourist, leisure, and residential resorts, and will increase the coastline of the country by 120 kilometres. After four years of planning and careful consideration of the environmental issues, construction started in 2001. Dutch engineers with experience of reclaiming land from the sea were employed in the building of the first two islands. The site for all three islands is an area of the sea where the water is not very deep. Sand is taken from the seabed and sprayed into the construction site. Although the shallow water facilitates this process, the islands are still very exposed to the currents and tidal movements of the sea. Rocks are used to hold the sand in place resulting in a large crescent(月状的)structure. This acts as a breakwater and protects the islands from the sea. The first two islands are in the shape of date palm trees and consist of a trunk and 17 fronds, or leaves, coming off the trunk. The first island, named Palm Jumeirah, has three five-star hotels in the trunk, and luxury homes in the leaves. It is astonishing that when these homes went on sale in 2004, they were all sold within three days. The second palm, Jebel Ali, was started in 2002 and is designed to be an entertainment centre. Six marinas(小游艇船坞)are planned, with a water theme park, and homes built on stilts(桩柱)in the water. The Palm Deira is planned to be the largest of the three islands, with a length of 14km and a width of 8. 5km, an area larger than the city of Paris. It will consist of residential properties, marinas, shopping malls, sports facilities and clubs. These will be open to both residents and tourists. More artificial islands, the World Islands, are now being constructed near the Palm Jumeirah. They consist of 300 private islands grouped into the shape of the continents of the world and will be used for estates, private homes, community islands, and resorts. Unquestionably, these artificial islands are one of the wonders of the modern world. They will also maintain Dubai’ s status as one of the leading tourist destinations in the region.

They are trying to identify what is wrong with the present system. prove discover consider imagine

London quickly became a flourishing port. major large successful commercial

The group does not advocate the use of violence. limit regulate support oppose

His knowledge of French is fair. very useful very limited quite good rather special

The curriculum was too narrow and too rigid. hidden inflexible traditional official

The committee was asked to render a report on the housing situation. copy furnish publish summarize

A. a lot of money B. a number of reasons C. almost everything D. his childhood memories E. telling scary stories F. making children laugh

Public Relations Public relations is a broad set of planned communications about the company, including publicity releases, designed to promote goodwill and a favorable image. Publicity then is part of public relations when it is initiated by the firm, usually in the【C1】______ of press releases or press conferences. Since public relations involves communications with stockholders, financial analysts, government officials, and other noncustomer groups, it is usually【C2】______outside the marketing department, perhaps as a staff department or outside consulting firm reporting to top management. This organizational placement can be a【C3】______because the public relations department or consultant will likely not be in line with marketing efforts. Poor communication and no coordination can be the【C4】______. Although the basic purpose of public relations is to provide positive influence 【C5】______the public image, this influence generally may be less than【C6】______provided by the other components of the public image mix. Publicity may be in the form of news releases that have【C7】______overtones for the company initiated by the public relations department. Publicity on the other【C8】______should not be divorced from the marketing department, as it can【C9】______a useful adjunct(辅助)to the regular advertising. 【C10】______not all publicity is initiated by the firm;some can【C11】______from an unfavorable press as a reaction to certain actions or lack of【C12】______that are controversial or even downright ill-advised. The【C13】______we wish to emphasize is that a firm is deluding(自欺)itself if it thinks its public relations function, whether within the company or an outside firm, can take【C14】______of public image problems and opportunities. Many of these have to do with the way the【C15】______does business, such as its product quality, the servicing and handling of complaints, etc.

His stomach felt hollow with fear. empty sincere respectful terrible

The majority of people around here are decent. real honest normal wealthy

Afterwards there was just a feeling of let-down. excitement anger calm disappointment

Approaches to Understanding Intelligences It pays to be smart, but we are not all smart in the same way. You may be a talented musician, but you might not be a good reader. Each of us is different. Psychologists disagree about what is intelligence and what are talents or personal abilities. Psychologists have two different views on intelligence. Some believe there is one general intelligence. Others believe there are many different intelligences. Some psychologists say there is one type of intelligence that can be measured with IQ tests. These psychologists support their view with research that concludes that people who do well on one kind of test for mental ability do well on other tests. They do well on tests using words, numbers, or pictures. They do well on individual or group tests, and written or oral tests. Those who do poorly on one test, do the same on all tests. Studies of the brain show that there is a biological basis for general intelligence. The brains of intelligent people use less energy during problem solving. The brain waves of people with higher intelligence showT a quicker reaction. Some researchers conclude that differences in intelligence result from differences in the speed and effectiveness of information processing by the brain. Howard Gardner, a psychologist at the Harvard School of Education, has four children. He believes that all children are different and shouldn’ t be tested by one intelligence test. Although Gardner believes general intelligence exists, he doesn’ t think it tells much about the talents of a person outside of formal schooling. He thinks that the human mind has different intelligences. These intelligences allow us to solve the kinds of problems we are presented with in life. Each of us has different abilities within these intelligences. Gardner believes that the purpose of school should be to encourage development of all of our intelligences. Gardner says that his theory is based on biology. For example, when one part of the brain is injured, other parts of the brain still work. People who cannot talk because of brain damage can still sing. So, there is not just one intelligence to lose. Gardner has identified 8 different kinds of intelligence: linguistic, mathematical, spatial, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, body-kinesthetic(身体动觉的), and naturalistic.

The Making of a Success Story IKEA is the world’ s largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs(企业家). Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman. As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades. Naturally, he used it to start up a business—IKEA. Today IKEA is known for its modern, minimalist(极简单主义的)furniture, but it was not a furniture company in the beginning. Rather, IKEA sold all kinds of miscellaneous(五花八门的)goods, including watches, pens and stockings. IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order catalogue in 1947. The furniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad’ s home. Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line. Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became solely a furniture company in 1951. In 1953 IKEA opened its first showroom in Almhult, Sweden. IKEA is known today for its spacious stores with furniture in attractive settings, but in the early 1950s, people ordered from catalogues. Thus response to the first showroom was overwhelming: people loved being able to see and try the furniture before buying it. This led to increased sales and the company continued to thrive. By 1955, IKEA was designing all its own furniture. In 1956, Kamprad saw a man disassembling a table to make it easier to transport. Kamprad was inspired. The man had given him a great idea, flat packaging. Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers. IKEA tried it and sales soared. The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA. Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having connotations of self-sufficiency. This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion. Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries. Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company. In 2004 he was named the world’ s richest man. He currently lives in Switzerland and is retired from the day-to-day operations of IKEA. IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing.

The Day a Language Died When Carlos Westez died at the age of 76, a language died, too. Westez, more commonly known as Red Thunder Cloud, was the last speaker of the Native American language, Catawba. Anyone who wants to hear various songs of the Catawba can contact the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C. , where, back in the 1940s, Red Thunder Cloud recorded a series of songs for future generations.【B1】______They are all that is left of the Catawba language. The language that people used to speak is gone forever. We are all aware of the damage that modern industry can do to the world’ s ecology(生态). However, few people are aware of the impact that widely spoken languages have on other languages and ways of life. English has spread all over the world. Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi have become powerful languages, as well.【B2】______When this happens, hundreds of languages that are spoken by only a few people die out. Scholars believe there are about 6, 000 languages around the world, but more than half of them could die out within the next 100 years. There are many examples. Araki is a native language of the island of Vanuatu, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is spoken by only a few older adults, so like Catawba, Araki will soon disappear. Many languages of Ethiopia will have the same fate because each one has only a few speakers.【B3】______In the Americas, 100 languages, each of which has fewer than 300 speakers, also are dying out. Red Thunder Cloud was one of the first to recognize the threat of language death and to try to do something about it. He was not actually born into the Catawba tribe, and the language was not his mother tongue. 【B4】______The songs he sang for the Smithsonian Institution helped to make Native American music popular. Now he is gone and the language is dead. What does it mean when a language disappears? When a plant or insect or animal species dies, it is easy to understand what we’ ve lost and to appreciate what this means for the balance of the natural world. However, language is only a product of the mind. To be the last remaining speaker of a language, like Red Thunder Cloud, must be a lonely destiny, almost as strange and terrible as being the last surviving member of a dying species.【B5】______ A. Some people might want to try to learn some of these songs by heart. B. Papua New Guinea is an extremely rich source of different languages, but more than 100 of them are in danger of extinction(灭绝). C. However, he was a frequent visitor to the Catawba reservation in South Carolina, where he learned the language. D. These languages don’t have many native speakers. E. For the rest of us, when a language dies, we lose the possibility of a unique way of seeing and describing the world. F. As these languages become more powerful, their use as tools of business and culture increases.

It was a magic night until the spell was broken. time charm space opportunity

Several windows had been smashed. cleaned replaced broken fixed

She felt that she had done her good deed for the day. homework act justice model

His professional career spanned 16 years. started changed moved lasted

The worst agonies of the war were now beginning. pains parts aspects results

He led a very moral life. honorable human intelligent natural

All the luxury homes on Palm Jumeirah were sold.

The water theme park in Jebel Ali will attract more tourists.

The Palm Deira will be the same size as Paris.

The World Islands are bigger than the Palm Jumeirah.

Rocks for building the breakwater were taken from the World of Islands.

The islands are being built in the deep water of the sea.

Some Dutch engineers are experienced in reclaiming land from the sea.