初中英语阅读材料节选.docx

初中英语阅读材料节选.docx

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初中英语阅读材料节选

1

GregDunhamhasbuiltabigmotorcycle.Itissobigthatwhenpeopleseeitforthefirsttime,theysometimesthinkthattheyhaveshrunk（使收缩）!

OfficialsfromtheGuinnessBookofWorldRecordssaythatDunham’smotorcycleisthebiggestoneintheworld.IttookDunhamthreeyearstobuildit.Itis15feettalland25feetlong.Itweighsabout6,500pounds.Hesteersthemotorcyclefromaspecialcagebelowthehandlebars（把手）.

GregDunhambuiltthemonster（巨大的）motorcyclebecausehisfriendssaiditwasimpossible.Hewantedtoprovethathecoulddoit.Itwasagiantproject,butheaccomplishedit.

Heenjoysthewaypeoplereactwhentheyseehismotorcycle.“Fifteenguyscametoseeit.Oneoftheguyssaid,‘Buildmeone!

”Gregreports.“Peopleloveit!

”hesays.

Dunhamwouldliketotakethemotorcycleonatourofthecountrysothatmorepeoplecanseeit.However,hewouldneedacorporatesponsor（赞助商）tohelppayforthetour.

2

QQchatsonnet

Jeanisabrightyoungwomanwhocomesfromarichandfamousfamily.Shegoestoagooduniversityandhaseverythingthatmoneycanbuy.Well,almosteverything.TheproblemisthatthepeopleinJean’sfamilyaresobusythattheycanhardlyfindtimetobewithher.Infact,Jeanisquitelonely.

SoJeanspendsalotoftimeonherQQ.Shelikesbeinganonymous（匿名）,talkingtopeoplewhodonotknowaboutherfamousfamilyandherrichlife.SheusesthenameLindaonQQandhasmadealotoffriendswhoshekeepsintouchwithquiteoften.

LastyearJeanmadeaveryspecialfriendonQQ.HisnamewasDavidandlivedinSanFrancisco.Davidwasfullofstoriesandjokes.HeandJeanhadacommon（共同的）interestinrockmusicandmoderndance.SoitalwaystookthemhourstotalkhappilyonQQandsometimestheyevenforgottheirtime.Ofcourse,theywantedtoknowmoreabouteachother.Davidsentapictureofhimself:

Hewasatall,good-lookingyoungmanwithabig,happysmile.Astimewentby,theybecamegoodfriendsandoftensentcardsandsmallthingstoeachother.

WhenJean’sfathertoldherthathewasgoingonabusinesstriptoSanFrancisco,sheaskedhimtolethergowithhimsothatshecouldgiveDavidasurpriseforhisbirthday.ShewouldtakehimthelatestDVDoftheirfavoriterocksinger.ButwhensheknockedonDavid’sdoorinSanFrancisco,shefoundthatherspecialfriendwasatwelve-year-oldboynamedJim!

Thinking：

Afterreadingthestory,doyouhaveanythingtosay?

3

TheHistoryoftheFirstCars

LambertandDuryeaarenotyouraveragehouseholdnames.Butmostlikelyyou’veheardthenamesFordandBenz（asinMercedes-Benz）.Allofthesenamesarerelatedtooneofthemostimportantinventionsofalltime,theautomobile.

ThoughHenryFordiswellknowninAmericanhistoryformakingtheautomobileaffordabletotheaveragepersonintheearly1900’s,hewasnotthefirstproduceroftheautomobile.By1860,thegasolineengine（汽油发动机）hadbeeninventedinEuropeandin1885,KarlBenzhadintroducedthefirstgasolinepoweredautomobile.Hiscarranon3wheelsandlookedlikeaverybigtricycle（三轮车）thathadnopedalsandcouldholdtwopeople.InAmerica,thefirstgasoline-poweredautotogracetheroughhorseandbuggyroadswasin1891.ThemantobuildthiscarwasJohnW.Lambert.Whenonemansawthiscontraption（奇异的机械）comingdowntheroadforthefirsttime,hethoughttohimself“whereinheaven’snameisthehorse?

”

Theideaofthe“horselesscarriage”caughtonquickly.By1893,twobrothers,CharlesandFrankDuryeabuilttheirowngasolinepoweredcar.Ithadaone-cylinderenginewithathree-speedtransmission.Thefirstrunoftheircarwentabout7.5milesperhourandtheywereabletogetittogo200feetuntilamoundofdirtintheroadgotinitswayandstoppedit!

ThiswasafarcryfromthedistancethatBenzwasabletogethiscartogo（about65miles）.

TheDuryeabrothersdidnotgiveup.Infact,theyconsideredtheir200feetrideahugesuccess.FrankDuryeabuiltthenextcarbyhimself.Aftertwoyearsoffine-tuningthecar,theDuryeabrothersgatheredenoughinterestfrominvestors（投资者）tostarttheDuryeaMotorWagonCompany.In1896,theybuilt13almostidentical（同一的）modelsoftheDuryeaMotorWagon.Althoughthissoundslikeaverysmallnumberofcarstoproduce,itwasactuallyasignificantnumberbecauseitwasthefirsttimeanyoneevertriedtomassproduceautomobiles.Unfortunately,thismassproductioncompanydidn’tlastlong.Atacostof$1,000to$2,000acar,theaverageAmericancouldn’taffordaDuryeaMotorWagon.After13werebuilt,thebrotherssoldtheircompany.

TheDuryeabrotherspavedthewayformenlikeHenryFordtomassproduceandsellautomobilesatapricethateveryonecouldafford.Let’sgivethemthecredittheydeserveforajobwelldone!

4Teensandblogging

Lately,everyoneisbloggingandthatincludesteens.Forteens,bloggingisawaytoexpressthemselves.Theycanalsokeepintouchwithfriends,andsharetheirinterestswithothersbyblogging.Teenswillfindthatbloggingisalsoacreativeoutlet（发泄方式）.Thisarticlewillexplorethefollowingaspectsofteenblogging:

1.Howteensexpressthemselveswithblogs

Blogscanbeusedinanumberofwaysbyteens.Mostteenshavetheirhobbieslikemusic,skate-boarding,computergames,etc.Teenscanchooseoneoftheirintereststoblogabout.Theymayfindthattheycanmeetotherswhohavethesamehobbyandsharetheirknowledgewiththem.

Otherwise,teenscanalsochoosetoblogabouttheirlivesandwhathappenseachday,usingtheirbloglikeajournal.Thiscanbeagoodwayforthemtostayintouchwithfriendswhoarefaraway,andgivesthemaresourcetolookbackto.

2.Bloggingkeepsteensawayfromdangers

Mostteensfindthatduringtheiradolescentyearstheyarefacedwithtemptations（诱惑物）.Theymaybeaddictedtocomputergames,TVorhangingoutwithfriendsallthetime.Teenscanbestfocusonsomethingthatisnotonlyinterestingbutalsobeneficialtohelpingthemlearnanddevelop.Forteenswholiketowrite,bloggingissuchaninterestingthing.

Duringadolescentyears,teensmaydosomethingridiculousoutofimpulse（冲动）,suchassneakingoutofthehousebecausetheyaremadattheirparents.Actuallytheycanjustblogaboutitinstead!

Iftheyhaveaplacetoreleasetheirpressureliketheblog,theymaybelesslikelytogetangryandviolentsoeasily.

3.Becarefulwhenyou’reblogging

Whatyoudoneedtorememberaboutbloggingasateenisthatanythingyou’vewrittenisinpublicviewontheInternet.Evenifyouarenotonpurpose,youmayoffendorhurtsomeone.Yourblogmayalsodecidehowyourfriendslookatyou.Justbecarefulaboutwhatyoublogabout.（）

Thinking：

Doyouhaveablog,doyouoftenrenewyourblog?

Doyouthinkblogisthesameasdiary?

4HappyBoxingDay!

BoxingDayisthedayafterChristmas,apublicholidayinmostcountriesintheCommonwealth.Itoriginatedasadayforgivinggiftstoemployeesandpoorpeople.

BoxingDay,alsoknownastheFeastofSt.Stephen,originatedinEnglandinthemiddleofthenineteenthcentury.Itoriginatedasaholidayformembersofthemerchantclasstogiveboxescontainingfood,fruits,clothingormoneytoemployeesorservants.Thegiftswereanexpressionofgratitude,similartothebonuses（奖金，红利）fortheemployeestoday.Becausethesegiftsareusuallyplacedinboxes,peoplegivetheholidayitsname—“BoxingDay”.

AlsorelatedtotheoriginofBoxingDayisthetraditionofopeningthealms（施舍，救济物）boxesplacedinchurchesovertheChristmasseason.ThecontentsoftheseboxesweregivenoutamongthepoorthedayafterChristmas.

Today,BoxingDayisaholidayintheUnitedKingdom,CanadaandmanyotherCommonwealthnations.Itisatimeforfamilyandfriendstogettogether.Outdoorsportssuchassoccer,horseracingandhuntingarepopularontheholiday.ShoppingisapopularBoxingDayactivity,andthemallsareusuallyfilledwithpeopletakingadvantageofafter-Christmasbargains.

ThroughouttheChristmasseason,manyorganizationskeeptheoriginaltraditionofBoxingDayalivebydonatingtheirtime,energyandmoneytofillthefoodbankandprovidinggiftsforthepoor.

From:

http:

//www.calendar-

TrueorFalse:

1.BoxingDayfallsonthefirstSundayafterChristmas.

2.BoxingDayisadayonwhichtoshowyourlove,togoshoppingandtobewithyourfamilymembers.

6

World’syoungestsuccessfulsinger

CleopatraStratanisatrulyextraordinarygirl.The8-year-oldperformeristheyoungestpersontoeverachievecommercial（商业的）successwithanalbumrecordedwhenshewasjust3.Sheisalsotheyoungestartistwhoperformedliveconcertfortwohoursinfrontofalargeaudience.ApartfromthesesheistheyoungestpersontowinanMTVawardandtoscoreaNo.1hit（热门歌曲）inacountry!

TheMoldovan（摩尔多瓦共和国）singer’smusiccareerstartedquiteaccidentally.Whilehangingoutattherecordingstudioofhersingerfather,PavalStratan,shepickedupthemicrophoneandstartedtosingalongwithhim.Shesoundedsogoodthateverybodywassurprised.SotheyendeduprecordingthesongwithCleopatra,andsuggestedthatassheissoyoungsheshouldbeincludedintheGuinnessBookofWorldRecords（吉尼斯世界纪录）.Shewouldbetheyoungesttalentevertoperformonstageandrecordherownalbum.Thenthestudiodecidedtorecordanentirealbumwithjusthersongs.Withinfourmonths,the3-year-oldgirlhadsold150,000copiesandmadeherwayintotheGuinnessBookofWorldRecords!

InheralbumCleopatramadeherbiggesthit—asongcalled“Ghiţă”.IntheMVofthesong,Cleopatrawassolovelythatshecarriedahugesuitcaseonthe