（浙江）备战2019年初中英语中考复习专项训练：阅读理解（三） 说明议论类

    Libraries give kids a quiet and safe place to read and learn. For over 100 years, libraries have played an important role in Americans education. But how are these book-filled buildings changing with the times? You may be surprised to find out.

    Benjamin Franklin famously set up America's first lending library in 1731. But the public library system got its biggest development in the American history in the late 1800s. Businessman Andrew Camegie donated（捐赠） millions of dollars to help build free public libraries across the country.

    Camegie believed that libraries could offer the chances to Americans, young and old. He knew that the more libraries there were, the more people would have chances to read and use books, speeches and news.

    If you can easily find a public library, you'll get more chances. After all, the United States has nine thousand two hundred and twenty-five public libraries. Today, libraries keep growing. Three quarters of the libraries have the free Internet. It offers much more information and chances to ask for jobs online. Libraries are also teaching kids about the fun of reading. Today's libraries are always looking for creative programs to bring people into and the library.

    Benjamin Franklin once said, "The doors of wisdom are never closed." As long as the doors of public libraries are open, what he said is most certainly correct!

    You may know about "junk food" like hamburgers. But do you know about "junk sleep"?

    A British survey found that electronic products(电子产品) in teenagers bedrooms are affecting(影响) their sleep.

    The survey was among(在…之间) 1,000 British children from 12 to 16. It found that 30% of them got just 4 to 7 hours of sleep every day. But doctors say they need 8 to 9 hours.

    Almost 25% of the kids said they fell asleep more than once a week while watching TV, listening to music or using other electronic products.

    "This is very worrying." Said Dr. Chris Idzikowski, a British expert, "We call it 'junk sleep'. It means you don't get enough sleep and the quality（质量）of the sleep is bad, too. If you don't get good rest, you don't perform well in school the next day."

    The survey found that 40 % of the kids felt tired each day, with girls between 13 and 16 feeling the worst. Nearly all the teenagers have a phone, Mp4 or TV in their bedrooms. And many of them have all three.

    Langshan Mountain, lying in Xinning County, is about 500 kilometers away from Changsha. It is one of China's National Geological Parks and is famous for its special Danxia landform (丹霞地貌).

    Covering an area of 108 square kilometers, Langshan Mountain has rich natural scenery and lots of tourism resources (资源). There are more than 60 scenic spots (景点) in Langshan Mountain, among which the most famous are Tianyi Lane (天一巷), Chili Peak (辣椒峰), Bajiao Stronghold (八角寨) and so on.

    On August 2nd, 2010, Langshan Mountain was recorded in the World Heritage List (世界遗产名录) and became China's eighth world natural heritage.

    If you would like to visit Langshan Mountain, you can take a bus from Shaoyang South Station to Xinning County. It will take you about 2 hours and the price of the bus ticket is 54 yuan each adult. Then you can take a taxi to Langshan Mountain. The best time to visit Langshan Mountain is from March to October.

    Techeng Island(特呈岛)lies in the southeast of Zhanjiang. The villagers there used to make a living by fishing. But now, most of them make much money by doing business. They believe that their island is a gift from nature and they give thanks to it every day. In 2003, President Hu Jintao came to visit the island and pointed out that the government of Zhanjiang should take the is land into a "civilized new ecotourism island"(文明生态旅游新海岛). Since then, the island has opened a new page in history.

    Today, the island has become a popular place for tourists. It takes you about 15 minutes to get there by boat from Maxie Pier(码头)near Haibin Park. But it is a just 8­minute boat ride from Zhanjiang Port Pier. In the resort(度假村), you can not only enjoy the fantastic sights but also have a lot of interesting things to do, like walking on the beach, visiting the museum and enjoying the delicious seafood. The best way to relax yourself is to enjoy the hot springs(温泉)there.

    Welcome to Techeng Island! It's a place to visit!

    Hundreds of foreigners got together in a small neighborhood in Qingdao on the afternoon of April 20 because of the Neighbor Day, an 18-day event celebrated across Qingdao. They learned the arts of Chinese handwriting, dumpling making, paper cutting, and discovered the culture of Chinese family trees.

    The festival started 12 years ago after a 10-year-old girl called Sun Ruihan was refused when paying a New Year's visit to her neighbor. Upset by this incident, she wrote to the Shibei district government of Qingdao, suggesting that they should introduce a "Neighbor Day" to encourage greater spirit.

    As the birthplace of the festival, Shibei hosted the opening ceremony of this year's Neighbor Day on April 19. With the theme of"    ▲  ", people from across the city got together to share their homemade food and discuss the family stories. They also set up a mobile neighbors' library to share books.

    Sarah from the United States said she had a great time with her neighbors as she experienced the art of Chinese paper cutting for the first time. Masha from Russia, who is studying Chinese at the Ocean University of China, described the event as a great chance to make friends with her Chinese neighbors and learn about the local culture with them. She tried her best at Chinese handwriting and also had great fun learning how to make dumplings. "I love eating dumplings but I never knew how to make them before, "she said." Now I can come to my neighbors' homes and learn in their kitchens."

    Neighbor Day grew from the needs of the people. With the big support from the government, it has become another culture symbol of Qingdao.

    Every year, over a million tourists visit the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of north-eastern Australia. The Great Barrier Reef is not one reef, but a long group of 2,900 reefs of living coral "and 900 islands. It is over 2,600 kilometers from north to south, and it's a wonderful place. But it also has a problem. The Crown of Thorns starfish live all along the Great Barrier Reef and feed on corals. Sometimes, the population of these starfish in an area can grow quickly, and they eat the coral faster than it can grow and reproduce. People fear that the Crown of Thorns could destroy large parts of the reef completely.

    A major outbreak of the Crown of Thorns starfish have been found eating the Great Barrier Reef, scientists said on Friday, urging the government to begin removing the harmful animals.

    The starfish feeds on corals by spreading its stomach over them and using digestive enzymes to make them die. The Crown of Thorns gets its name from the sharp pines', or "thorns", that cover it. The starfish usually grow about 30 centimeters wide, but some are as large as 80 centimeters wide. "Each starfish can eat its own size in coral a night and so over time that increases very greatly." Hugh Sweatman, a scientist told the media "A lot of coral will be lost" he said. That would be a great influence on the ecosystem and the moneymaking tourism industry.

    The Crown of Thorns were found in large number last month in the Swains Reefs, but the government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority already killed some starfish at the Swains Reefs in December and will start another action this month, a director at the authority. Fred Nucifora, told the ABC. "We are actually difficult reach to the Swains Reef and it is quite an unfriendly environment to work in," he said.

    There have been four major Crown of Thorns outbreaks since the 1960 in the Great Barrier Reef but it recovered each time because there were always healthy populations of fish that fed on grass. The outbreaks are usually triggered by extra nutrient in the water but the reason for the recent breakout was unclear, Sweatman said.

    Have you found this? Sometimes, on grey, rainy days, your mood level is lower than on bright, sunny days. Is this a coincidence（巧合）, or is there some science behind this? Would you like to know more about how the weather can affect how you feel?

    According to a recent study, there is a connection between weather and moods. Going to a warm place in the middle of winter can make our moods better. Pleasant weather has been proved to improve moods and memory. However, extremely hot weather can actually make us feel more tired and bored, spoiling our moods.

In the study, people who spent time outdoors in warm weather were happier than those who spent all day inside.

    The best temperature for humans is about 22.2℃. That explains why people in southern California are happy all the time. To improve his or her moods, a person must spend at least 30 minutes outside in warm, sunny weather. Spending time indoors when the weather outside is so nice tends to lower moods.

    Maybe just the activities connected with being outside affect our moods. Warm weather is connected with the beach, fun outdoor sports and so on. It brings back childhood memories of playing outside all day. Who doesn't love that?

    Of course, we can wake up every day and decide how we will feel that day. If it's rainy, that won't necessarily make us unhappy. We'll just have to bring our umbrellas out and cheer up those who are feeling sad!

Children's Games in Ancient China

    During ancient times, children didn't have much to enjoy themselves. However, they came up with interesting games to play in their childhood.

Kicking stone balls

    During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was a popular game in the northern part of
    China, and it was often played in winter to keep warm.

Playing hide and-seek

    Hide-and-seek is a traditional game for children, popular around the nation. There are two ways to play: covering a child's eyes while other kids run around to tease (戏弄) him or, more commonly, others hide and one child must try to find them.

    Flying kites

    Kites have quite a long history. The earliest kites were made of wood, instead of paper. The three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite. Each has its own feature. For example, the bird-shaped kite with long wings is a special kind of the Beijing kite.

Watching shadow plays (皮影戏)

    The closest thing to watching a film during ancient times was going to see a shadow play. The artists control puppets (木偶) behind the screen and tell stories to the music.

Are You Right Handed or Left Handed?

    Which hand do you use when write? About 8 to 15 percent of people are left handed. They often have to use tools that are designed for right-handed people. So it is difficult for left-handers to use most tools. If you are right handed, try this experiment: Take a knife with your left hand and try cutting a potato into pieces. Don't be surprised if you feel awkward（别扭的）.

    In the past, people thought it was strange to use the left hand. Young students looked down upon their left-handed classmates. Some children were even punished for using their left hand to write. But these days parents and teachers have accepted that. In almost every school in the world, left-handed students can use their left hand to write.

    What causes people to be left handed or right handed? Experts have searched long and hard on this. They concluded（得出结论） that left-handed people are left handed for the same reason that right-handed people are right handed. One out of every ten people just is a left-hander. It's simply like the color of our eyes—some people have brown eyes, while some others have black eyes.

    However, many researchers think that left-handers and right-handers are different in some aspects. Right-handers are more talkative and outgoing than left-handers. Many right-handed people understand spoken words better. For example, after they listen to directions to a supermarket, they can find it easily. Right-handers are good at organizing people, too. They are also better basketball guards. Just ask Yao Ming.

    Research shows that left-handers are creative and artistic. Many famous performers, like Jim Carrey and Paul McCartney, are left handed. Many left-handers learn better visually（在视觉方面）. In art, both Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were left handed. In science, you find Newton and Einstein. The left-handed people are also really good at tennis and other single sports.

    If you prefer one hand, but you are still good at writing with the other, you are mixed handed. Research shows mixed-handers can remember everyday things better than other people. What did you eat for lunch two weeks ago? If you're mixed handed, you can probably remember.

    Can plants eat people? Probably not, but there are many plants that eat meat. Some of them are big. And they can eat small animals. One famous meat-eating plant is the Venus flytrap(蝇草).

    The Venus flytrap is a very strange plant. It grows in dry parts of the United States. Its leaves are like the pages of a book. They can open and close very quickly. Inside the leaves, there are three small hairs. If a fly (苍蝇) touches one of the hairs, the leaf closes quickly. The fly cannot get out. In about half an hour, the leaf presses the fly until it is dead. Then, the plant covers the fly. Slowly, the plant eats the fly.

    Why do plants do it? Most plants get what they need from the sun, the air, and the ground. In some places, the ground is very poor. It doesn't have all these important things, especially nitrogen(氮).Animal meat has a lot of nitrogen, so some plants eat meat to get what they need. Let's hope that some of the bigger plants don't get the same idea!