When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was expensive. One of my father's friends, Bernie, was a rich businessman, who owned a large store in St. Paul.

    Every summer, when the first watermelon arrived, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie's place. We'd sit on the edge of the dock (码头), feet dangling (摇晃), and got ready for a big meal.

    Bernie would take his knife, cut our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we'd bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart—the reddest, juiciest, firmest, sweetest, most seed-free part—and throw away the rest.

    Bernie was my father's ideal of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that it was not Bernie's wealth itself but his way of dealing with it that my father liked. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eatonly the heart of the watermelon.

    What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. If you don't take the time to dangle(悬荡) your feet over the dock and enjoy life's small pleasure, your work is probably hurting your life.

    For many years, I forgot that lesson I'd learned as a kid on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could.

    Well, I've relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the success of others and to take pleasure in the day. That's the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.

Believe it or not,oceans and seas are easy to be harmed by the development of human society．They are also influenced by man-made pollution easily．It is human beings that do great harm to the ocean ecosystem(生态系统)．

The coral reefs（珊瑚）that provide food and protection for many ocean creatures（生物）is important toecosystems．However, the coral reefs in almost all the oceansare in dangerof pollution.Chemicals from factories end up in the oceans and destroycoral reefs.If the coral system die,some ocean creatures will be sure to die out．

Protecting the ocean also has something to do with the protection of ocean wildlife like dolphins.The fishing industry depends on modern ways to catch many fish in order to earn more money.But net for fishing also catch other sea animals.The fishing boat workers are advised to check their nets and set other ocean animals free.But the boats are in a hurry to make money and often other ocean animals are caught with fish．

Oil spills(溢出) can destroy the ocean environment because oilcankill all ocean life．The world depends on oil and there is plenty of oil off the shore in many countries.The need foroil is more important than the risk of the oil spill.However,the fact is that one ocean mistake can lead to an ocean environment accident. Itwill cause years ofdamageto the financial ecosystems andkill all the creatures in the area of the spill.The oil will be washed up on the shore and destroy ecosystems along the shore，including birds．

Everyone who cares about the environment should pay more attention to protecting the ocean,and all of us should do something for the protection of the ocean．

Australia is nearly 7.7 million square kilometres.Itˈs the sixth largest country in area after Russia，Canada，China，the United States and Brazil.

There are rainforests and large plains in the north，snowfields in the southeast，desert(沙漠) in the centre and croplands in the east，south and southwest.About one third of the country lies in the tropics(热带地区)．Australia has a coastline of 36，735 km if it were possible to drive non－stop along the whole coast at 60 km/h，it would take about 24 days to complete the trip.

Australia is the worldˈs smallest continent(洲) and the sixth largest country being equal(相等的) in area to the USA without Alaska.The continent is one of the oldest lands.It is more than 3，000 million years old，and it is the flattest of the continents.

The population of Australia is more than 20 million.It is one of the worldˈs most urbanized countries，with about 70% of the population living in the ten largest cities.Most of the population is concentrated(集中) along the eastern seaboard and the southeastern corner of the continent.

In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts (主人) and the worst guests in the world. They’re not really bad guests, but because the guest-host relationship in China is much different than in some western counties, it appears they are not nice guests. And western guests sometimes look rude (粗鲁的) in the eyes of Chinese guests.

   In China, guests are almost like gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese person’s home, there is always fruit on the table for me, and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the west, generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host’s way of doing things is usual behavior for a guest.

   My wife’s mother, a very kind elderly Chinese lady, doesn’t smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non-smoker, I feel unhappy. Usually I want to stop them directly, but I must realize that in China, to be a good host, she must not do that. In most North America homes, if you are a guest, and the hosts are not smokers, you should not smoke in their house. At the very least, you could ask, “Is it OK if I smoke?” “But, don’t besurprised if they say, “No, you can’t smoke.” In our culture, if you smoke in their home, you are a bad guest, but if they don’t allow you to smoke in their house, they are not a rude guest.

   Guests in China also have special habits. Some western people may not adapt to these habits very soon. Thankfully my wife is Chinese, so whenever we visit a Chinese family she tells me to buy them a gift. However, giving a gift to a host is not always necessary in my country. So, if you invite international guests to your home, don’t be too surprised if they don’t bring you a gift.

In China, you probably wonˈt need to change the guest-host relationship very much because you will probably only be the host, and Chinese are naturally very good hosts. If western hosts invite you to their house, try not to be too surprised if their style of treating you is not what you have expected.

There was once a professor of medicine, who was very strict with the students. Whenever he took the chair on the exam committee (委员会), the students would be in fear, for he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave. A student would be lucky enough if he or she could receive a good mark from him. At the end of the term, the students of medicine would take their exam again. Now a student entered the room and got seated before the committee. This student was a little nervous as he knew it would not be so easy to get through the exam at all.

   The professor began to ask. The student was required to describe a certain illness, his description of which turned out to be OK.

   Then the professor asked about the cure (治疗) for illness, and the student also answered just as right.

   “Good,” said the professor, “and how much will you give the patient?”

   “A full spoon,” answered the student.

   “Now you may go out and wait for what you can get,” said the professor. At the same time the committee discussed carefully the answers the student had given. Suddenly the student noticed that there was something wrong with his last answer. “A full spoon is too much,” he thought to himself. Anxiously, he opened the door of the room and cried, “Mr. Professor, I’ve made a mistake! A spoon is too much for the patient. He can take only five drops.”

   “I’m sorry, sir,” said the professor coldly, “but it’s too late. Your patient has died.”

Around the world, cars are becoming more and more common. But the problem is that cars is one of the main causes of climate change. One possible way of dealing with it is to make green cars take off.

One kind of green cars that have received lots of attention is the hybrid car. This kind of car uses two kinds of power: gas and electricity. It still burns pollution-causing gas, but it uses less of the gas because it runs on electricity sometimes. Hybrid cars have become one of the most popular green cars, but they aren’t perfect and are more expensive than the usual ones.

Electric cars are one of the oldest kinds of green cars. They just use electricity, and the batteries(电池) need to be recharged(充电) when they are parked at home. Electric cars have been around since 1970s, but they have never become popular. The biggest problem is that there are almost no public places to recharge the batteries when the drivers are on the road. However that may change. The US and China have said that they will provide much money to help their people to use electric cars.

The Apollo Solar Car Team has been developing solar-powered(太阳能) cars since 1998. They have created a 250-kilogram car with three seats. It can travel with a speed of up to 70 kilometers per hour. With a few hours of sunlight, the car’s batteries will be fully charged and can power the car for three hours.

Another choice of the future is air-powered cars. It sounds a little impossible, but scientists will have good ways to make it come true. The perfect cars hasn’t been developed yet. However, researchers never stop trying their best.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。

The United Nations said that the world’s population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 8.1 billion in 2025. By 2050, it will reach 9.6 billion.

According to the report on World Population Prospects(预测), India’s population will surpass(超过) China’s in around 2028 when each of the two countries will have a population of around 1.45 billion. India’s population is expected to grow to around 1.6 billion and then slowlydeclineto 1.5 billion in 2100, while China’s will start decline after 2030, possibly fall to 1.1 billion in 2100.

According to the report, Nigeria’s population will surpass the US’s population before the middle of this century and Nigeria will start to take China’s place as the second-most populous(人口稠密的)country in the world by the end of this century. By 2050, Nigeria’s population will reach more than 440 million, and it will be nearly 914 million by 2100.

The population of developing countries will increase from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050. However, the population of developed countries will remain generally unchanged during that period, at around 1.3 billion.

Africa’s population will increase from 1.1 billion today to 2.4 billion in 2050, and may reach 4.2 billion by 2100.

The populations of several countries are expected to decline by more than 15% by 2050, including Belarus, Bulgaria, Cuba, Latvia, Ukraine, etc.

Black Friday

    Thanksgiving Day is always on a Thursday. The day after it has been known as Black Friday. It is the start of the holiday shopping season, and it has been the busiest shopping day of the year in the US since 2005.

    Most stores offer big sales on Black Friday. They open their doors quite early in the morning. They try to attract shoppers with big discounts（打折）. Some items（商品）like TVs and cloths are much cheaper than usual. Stores may even lose money on these items. They hope that shoppers will buy gifts for other people while they are in the store.

    Black Friday is a great time to go shopping. However, there are problems. The biggest one is that there are not enough low-priced items. Each store may only have a few. These items are in great need, so people stand in long lines to get them. They may wait for three to four hours before a store opens. They may be hoping to get a low price on a TV or computer, but not everybody can get one. Some people leave, disappointed.

The situation makes people worried. Some Black Friday events have been crazy. There have been fights over toys among shoppers. Some workers have even been hurt by large crowds. But most Black Friday events are safe and fun. Still, if you plan to go, you will expect large crowds and a bit of pushing.

Now people all over the country take part in Black Friday events. It is even spreading to other parts of the world. Stores have held Black Friday events in the UK, Australia, and Brazil since 2012. In Mexico, stores offer a weekend of discounts every year. They call it ‘El Buen Fin’, which means ‘the good weekend’ in Spanish. I guess people everywhere like to buy things on sale.

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

   What will the schoolbag be like in the future ? Do you go on carrying your bag to school now? I think nobody wants one shoulder to be lower than the other. In India, most of us would look on the reduction of textbooks as a way out. But in a country like America,there are always more options(选择). A company calledGo Reader has created a “schoolbag” which is the size of a laptop computer, weighing about 2.5kg. The “schoolbag” has a color screen and can “hold” all the textbooks that a student may need,says a report in “The Asian Age” newspaper.

The company plans to work closely with publishers of textbooks so that these books can be supplied on the Internet.What all the students will have to do is to download their textbooks. Marking notes and highlighting important parts of a lesson can be done just as generations of students have done on their textbooks.