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*第十七篇Eiffel Is An Eyeful1 引人注目的埃菲尔铁塔Some 300 meters up, near the Eiffel Tower's wind-whipped summit the world comes to scribble3. Japanese,Brazilians,Americans — they graffiti4 their names,loves and politics on the cold iron — transforming the most French of monumentsinto symbol of a world on the move5.With Paris laid out in miniature6 below，it seems strange that visitors would rather waste time marking their presencethan admiring the view7. But the graffiti also raises a question ：Why, nearly 114 years after it was completed,and decades after it ceased to be the world, s tallest structure,is la Tour Eiffel still so popular8?The reasons are as complex as the iron work that graces9 a structure some 90 stories high. But part of the answer is, no doubt, its agelessness. Regularly maintained, it should never rust away. Graffiti is regularly painted over,but the tower lives on."Eiffel represents Paris and Paris is France. It is very symbolic”，says Hugues Richard10,a 31- year-old Frenchman who holds the record for cycling up to the tower's second floor 一747 steps in 19 minutes and 4 seconds, without touching the floor with his feet. "It's iron lady，It inspires us11 ”，he says.But to what12? After all,the tower doesn' t ha ve a purpose. It ce ased to be the world’ s tallest in 1930 when the Chrysler Building13 went up in New York. Yes，television and radio signals are beamed from the top,and Gustave Eiffel,a frenetic builder who died on December 27，aged 91 ,used its height for conducting research into weather, aerodynamics and radio communication.But in essence the tower inspires simply by being there _ a blank canvas for visitors to make of it what they will14. To the technically minded15, it's an engineering triumph. For lovers, it's romantic. "The tower will outlast all of us,and by a long way16”，says Isabelle Esnous, whose company manages Eiffel Tower.世界各地的人们都来到大约300米高，接近埃菲尔铁塔顶端的地方涂鸦。

日本人、巴西人、美国人都在冰冷的铁上涂上自己的名字、喜好和政治观点，使这最具有法兰西色彩的纪念碑成为动感世界的象征。

从塔上可以看到巴黎市的远景，但奇怪的是观光者们宁愿花时间留下到此一游的痕迹，而不去观赏风景。

但这些涂鸦者也引起了一个问题：为什么在建成114年后，埃菲尔铁塔仍然这么受欢迎?尽管它在几十年前早已经不是世界上最高的建筑物了。

这个问题的答案就像那构成90层的铁塔的工程一样复杂。

一部分的理由是，毫无疑问，铁塔是永不过时的。

周期性的维护使得它永远不会被腐蚀掉。

埃菲尔铁塔定期油漆，覆盖那些涂鸦, 但是它仍将继续存在下去。

“埃菲尔是巴黎的象征，而巴黎又代表了法国。

所以，埃菲尔十分具有象征性。

” Hugues Richard说道。

这位31岁的法国人保持着在19分零4秒的时间内骑自行车经过747级台阶登上铁塔二层的纪录。

“这是铁娘子，能让人产生灵感，”他说。

但是它能使人们产生怎样的灵感呢？毕竟，铁塔并没有任何&的。

1930年纽约的克莱斯勒大厦取代它成为世界上最高的建筑。

但是电视和广播信号仍然从塔顶发送出来，而古斯塔夫•埃菲尔，这个狂热的建造者利用它的高度进行气象学、空气动力学和无线电通讯的研究。

他在12月27 日逝世，终年91岁。

本质上来说，铁塔伫立在那儿本身就是一个灵感——它就像一张空白的画布，任游客自由遐想。

对于那些善于从技术角度考虑伺题的人来说，它是一个工程上的胜利;而对于恋人们来说，它则象征着浪漫。

“这座塔将在我们所有的人离去后长久存在。

”埃菲尔铁塔管理公司的伊莎贝尔说。

1. Why does the author think the Eiffel Tower is transformed into symbol of a world on the move? B ) Tourists of all nationalities come to scribble on the cold iron of the tower..2. What seems strange to the author?A) Visitors prefer wasting time scribbling to enjoying the view.3. Which statement is NOT true of Hugues Richard?C ) He climbed 747 steps up the tower in 19 minutes and 4 seconds.4. What did the builder use the Eiffel Tower for?B ) Conducting research in various fields.5. Which of the following is nearest in meaning to “（The Eiffel Tower is like)a blank canvas for visitors to make of it what they will ______？第六段的大意是：对不同的人，埃菲尔铁塔有不同的象征意义。

C ) Visitors can imagine freely what the tower represents.*第十九篇The Family 家庭The structure of a family takes different forms around the world and even in the same society. The family's form changes as it adapts to changing social and economic influences. Until recently, the most common form in North America was the nuclear family，consisting of a married couple with their minor children. The nuclear family is an independent unit. It must be prepared to fend for itself. Individual family members strongly depend on one another. There is little help from outside the family in emergencies. Elderly relatives of a nuclear family are cared for only if it is possible for the family to do so. In North America，the elderly often do not live with the family ; they live in retirement communities and nursing homes.There are many parallels between the nuclear family in industrial societies，such as North America，and of families in societies such as that of the Inuits，who live in harsh environments. The nuclear family structure is well adapted to a life of mobility. In harsh conditions，mobility allows the family to hunt for food. For North Americans，the hunt for jobs and improved social status also requires mobility.The nuclear family was not always the North American standard. In a more agrarian time，the small nuclear family was usually part of a larger extended family. This might have included grandparents，mother and father，brothers and sisters，uncles，aunts，and cousins. In North America today，there is a dramatic rise in the number of single-parent households. Twice as many households in the United States are headed by divorced，separated，or never-married individuals as are comprised of nuclear families. The structure of the family，not just in North America, but throughout the world，continues to change as it adapts to changing conditions.在全世界，甚至在同一个社会中，家庭结构有着不同的形式。