搜索
Passage1CollegeLifeAmericancollegeanduniversitystudentswholiveawayfromtheirfamilies/aregenerallyhousedindormitoriesatleastfortheirfirstyear./Menandwomenoftenliveinthesamebuilding,/thoughtheymayliveonseparatefloors./Somedormshaveatheme,likeaninternationalhouse,/wherestudentscanleanaboutothercultures./Inlanguagehouses,studentstrytoavoidspeakingtheirnativelanguage./Theideaistoleanadifferentlanguage./Collegesanduniversitiesoftenhavemanyclubsthatstudentscanjoin./Theseincludepolitical,religiousandserviceclubs,/aswellasgroupsforactivitieslikesinging,dancing,cooking,evenleaninghowtoplaymagic./Schoolsmayalsohaveinternalsportsclubs./Theseareforstudentswhodonotplayforaschoolteam/butwantorganizedsportswithotherstudents./Andschoolswilloftenrecognizeanewcluboractivityifenoughstudentsareinterested./Passage2NamesinAmericaMostparentsintheUnitedStatesgivetheirbabiesafirst,middleandlastnamewhentheyareborn./Thelastnameisgenerallytheirfamilyname./Firstnamesareadifferentstory./Somechildren'snamesarealsothenamesofcities,plantsorflowers./ReligiousnamesfromtheBiblearealsocommon./Americansevenchoosenamesfromothercountries./Americansareinterestedinthenames/thatfamousactors,entertainersandathletesgivetheirchildren./Somefamouspeoplelikenamesthathavebeenaroundformanyyears./Lastnamesasfirstnamesarealsopopular./Middlenameshavebecomeimportantbecausemanyfamouspeopleusethem./Amiddlenameisalsoawayforparentstohonorafamilymemberorhero./Someparentsgiveagirlaboy'smiddlename./SomeAmericanwomenusetheirformerlastname/asmiddlenameaftertheymarry./Passage3TheSpaceRaceThespaceracebetweentheUnitedStatesandtheformerSovietUnionbeganinOctoberof1957,/whentheSovietslaunchedthefirstman-madesatelliteintoorbitaroundEarth./Weekslaterthesecondsatellitewaslaunched./TheirsuccessaddedtothetensionsofwhatwasknownastheColdWar,/whichmanypeopleworriedcouldleadtonuclearwar./AnditpushedAmericanstoworkhardertoreachouterspace./Threemonthslater,theUnitedStateslauncheditsownsatellite./Then,in1961,theSovietUnionsentthefirstpersonintospace./AnAmericanastronautfollowedlessthanamonthlater./Thespaceracecontinued./Thefinishlinewasthemoon./AnditwasreachedwhenthecrewofAmericanspaceshiplandedin1969./Today,thereiscooperationbetweentheRussianandAmericanspaceprograms./AstronautssharedutiesontheInternationalSpaceStation./Andothercountriesareexpandingtheirspaceprograms./Passage4SummerforCollegeStudentsCollegestudentsspendtheirsummersinmanydifferentways./ManystudentsworkhardatSummerjobs./Theyrealizeitcanbedifficulttobalancecollegeclassesandajobduringtheschoolyear./Summerisagoodtimetosaveupsomemoney./Restaurants,swimmingpools,storesandotherbusinessesarealwayslookingforhardworkingstudents./Somestudentsgetjobsinthefieldtheyhopetoenteraftercollege./Theexperiencegivesstudentsatasteoftheworldoutsideofcollege./Othercollegestudentschoosetotakesummerclasses./Instead,theytakejustoneortwo./Theextraclassescanhelpstudentstogetaheadintheirstudies./However,summersarenotallwork./Studentsspendtimewithfriends,gotoamovieortakeatrip./Arelaxingdayunderthesummersun/willhelpstudentsforgeta]labouttestsandstudying'/Passage5TheEnglishLanguageEnglishisthemostwidespreadlanguageintheworld/andismorewidelyspokenandwrittenthananyotherlanguage./MorepeoplearetryingtoleanEnglishintheworld./Englishisthelanguageofpoliticalnegotiationsandinternationalbusiness./Ithasbecometheinternationallanguageofscienceandmedicine./InternationaltreatiessaypassengerairplanepilotsmustspeakEnglish./EnglishisthemajorforeignlanguagetaughtinmostschoolsinSouthAmericaandEurope./SchoolchildreninthePhilippinesandJapanbeginlearningEnglishatanearlyage./Englishistheofficiallanguageofmorethan75countries/includingBritain,Canada,theUnitedStates,Australia,andSouthAfrica./Incountrieswheremanydifferentlanguagesarespoken,/Englishisoftenusedasanofficiallanguagetohelppeoplecommunicate./Indiaisagoodexample./Englishisthecommonlanguageinthiscountry/whereatleast24languagesarespokenbymorethanonemillionpeople./Passage6DatingDatingisthetraditionalfirststeptowardmarriage./Butdatingandestablishingarelationshipcanbehardwork../Soalotofpeoplewanttogowheretheycanmeetpeoplewithsimilarinterests./Theymightlookforsomeone/whoshareacommoninterestinreligionorbooks,forexample./Alotofbookstoresnowhaveplacesthatservecoffeeandfood./Manyofferspecialprogramsandsocialactivitiesforsinglepeople./Singlesmayjoinhealthclubs,orsportsteamsormaybeevenagroupforpeoplewholiketotakelongwalksinthewood./Ifnothingelse,atleasttheywillhavegottensomeexercise./Somepeopleusedatingservices,/whichhelppeoplechooseapersontheymightlike./Manynewspapersandmagazinespublishmessage/frompeoplewhoareseekingsomeonetodate./Therearealsotelephonedatingservices,videodatingservicesandonlinedatingservices./Passage7NationalSpellingBeeEveryyear,thebestyoungEnglishlanguagespellersfromaroundtheworld/gatherinWashington,D.C.fortheNationalspellingBee./Theyspellcomplexwords/thatmostEnglishspeakershaveneverevenheardof'./Thenationalspellingbeetakesplaceovertwointensedaysofcompetitioninalargehotelmeetingroom./Thespellerssittogetherinfrontofse