基础英语阅读材料15篇(一)

基础英语阅读材料15篇（一）

[一]

My name is Betty. I'm a student in Hawaii School. Yesterday morning it was very sunny when I woke up. I looked at the alarm clock. It said 3：50! It had stopped ！What time was it? I climbed out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. The kitchen clock said 8：30—I was late! My parents had gone to work without checking if I got up. The school bus went at 8：00. I had missed it.

I called my teacher on his mobile phone.

"I'm sorry I got up late, but I'll get to school as soon as I can!” I said.

“Go to school on my rollerblades(旱冰鞋），” I thought, "It will be faster than the bus."

I washed and dressed quickly. I took an apple to eat on the way. That was breakfast today ！Then I put on my rollerblades and went to school. It took me 35 minutes to get to the school. I took all the shortcuts(近路）I knew. I went across the park—even through some backyards！When I got to school, I was very hot and my legs hurt. I had missed math, our first lesson of the morning. But I made it to our second lesson, history. I was very happy because history is my favorite subject.

[二]

Before 2002，nearly everybody knew that Wang Tao was the first Chinese to take part in a World Expo . Wang Tao, a writer from Jiangsu Province, took part in the 1867 Paris World Expo and wrote an article about his experience.

But at the end of 2002，some people in Shanghai were surprised to find that the first contact with World Expo actually happened 16 years earlier- in 1851，a man called Xu Rongcun took part in the first World Expo ever, the London World Expo.

Xu Rongcun was a businessman who sold silk and tea in Shanghai. In 1851，when the United Kingdom announced that it would hold the first World Expo, Xu Rongcun thought it was a great chance to show his silk to the world. He sent 12 bags of “Huzhou Silk” to the United Kingdom.

At the beginning of the Expo, the people didn't pay much attention to Xu Rongcun's silk. However, because of its excellent quality, the silk won gold and silver medals at the Expo in the end.

If there were no World Expo, Xu Rongcun might just be a successful businessman. But his experience at the first World Expo engraved his name on the history of World Expo.

[三]

Let's meet an excellent robot helper, Nicole! She is good-looking, well-spoken, and very obedient(顺从的）—in fact, she's perfect. Nicole is a computerized(电脑化的）personal assistant. She was created by Tom Moir, a New Zealand university teacher and computer engineer. Tom has spent more than a year developing the computer program. And now Nicole can do many things such as turning on the radio, lights，and even surfing the Internet.

Similar programs have been designed in other parts of the world, but Tom's aim is to help disabled people around the home.

About one month ago, Tom announced ，"I will create a smart house. When you come in，Nicole will be there on the big screen for you. You can ask her to read your e-mails, tell you the news and how the weather is，etc. ”

Although Nicole is computerized, it seems that she could be human and do a better job than a human helper.

Tom is working on a new project now. He wants to improve Nicole so that she can do more

and better work for people.

[四]

Helen and Jenny are good friends. They had two tickets for a pop concert in Sydney. They

were very excited about the concert. They decided which trains to catch ，where to eat and where

to go shopping in. Sydney. Then they got some really

exciting news. A friend of Jenny's said he could help them go backstage (后 台)，and he would

ask the pop singers if the girls could come to say “ Hello". He was sure he could get them the

singers' autographs. Helen and Jenny could hardly wait ！

Then two days before the concert, Helen had a cold. She stayed in bed and took medicine, but

it got worse and worse. On the evening before the concert, she had a fever. Helen's mother called

Jenny. “Helen is too sick to go to the concert,” she said. “Yo u can find someone else to go with. ”

The next day, Helen was feeling unhappy at home. Then she heard someone knocking at the

door. A visitor came. It was her friend Jenny! She came with a big bag of fruit and lots of their

favorite CDs.

“I gave the tickets to Nancy and Tina in the end, and they went to the concert instead of

us ，” she said. "We'll go to another concert when you're well. It wouldn't be much fun without

you. ”

[五]

Pick up one of these cubes and you probably won't be able to put it down. How hard Can it be to rearrange(重新排列）the nine colored squares on each side of the cube? In fact, there are

43×1030 possibilities ！ It has been 31 years since the cubes were sold in stores around the world.

Its beginnings ，however, began years earlier as a simple classroom example. In 1974, Dr. Erno

Rubik invented the “Magic Cube” as he called it.

He did this to help his students understand 3-D concepts. This classroom model was quickly

changed into a popular toy.In 1979，Ideal Toys bought the rights and sold it as "Rubiks Cube”.

The invention became a 1980s cultural icon.

As time went by ，the cube's popularity became less, however, it made a comeback with the

Internet. Now anyone can go online and find many videos that show ways to solve the cube. Erik

Akkersdijk of the Netherlands holds the present world record. He finished it in just 7. 08

seconds ！

[六]

Vitamin A

What can Vitamin A do for you?

. be great for night eyesight

. help you tell different colors

. help you grow properly . . Vitamin A in carrots helps you see at night

Vitamin B

What can Vitamin B do for you?

. help make energy and set it free

. help make red blood cells which carry oxygen throughout your

body . Vitamin B in green vegetables with leaves helps your body make

protein and energy.

Vitamin C

What can Vitamin C do for you?

. keep body in good shape

. help you get well when you get hurt

. help your body resist infection . Vitamin C in oranges helps your body get well soon if you get a

cut.

Vitamin D

What can Vitamin D do for you?

. help keep your bones strong and healthy

. help keep your teeth strong and healthy

. help your body take in the amount of calcium(钙） . Vitamin D in milk can offer calcium to your body.

Vitamin E

What ran Vitamin E do for von?

. prevent your skin from ultraviolet light(紫外线）

. prevent your lungs from being attacked by polluted air

. help make red blood cells . Sunflower seeds are the richest in Vitamin E.

. Personal information Vitamins

Foods Amily often feels tired and seems to be short of energy. Vitamin B green

vegetables

with leaves

Jeff spent his summer vacation on the beach and got seriously sunburnt. Vitamin E sunflower

seeds

Kate has poor eyesight and she can't see clearly at night. Vitamin A carrots

Tonny sometimes feels pains in his bones and he has loose(疏松的）teeth. Vitamin D milk

Luke often gets hurt. And it takes a long time for his wound to get well.

Vitamin C

oranges

[七]

During the Second World War, John's family didn't have a washing machine. Therefore ，keeping clothes clean became a problem for them.

Before long, a family friend decided to join the army and his wife was going with him. John's family told them that they could take care of their furniture while they were away. To the family's surprise, the friend suggested they should use his Bendix washing machine. “It would be better f or it to be used ，rather than sitting quietly ，” he said.

Young John helped with the washing ，and he developed a deep love of the old, green

https://www.360docs.net/doc/fe4778892.html,ter，the war ended and the family's friend returned. When he came to take the machine away, John became very sad. His mother saw this and said to him , "Son, you must remember that machine didn't belong to us in the first place. It was a gift for us to be able to use it for such a long time. So, instead of being sad about the loss, let's be grateful that we were able to use it at that time. ”

We have all experienced loss：loss of people and things. However, if we see the thing we have lost as a gift that we were given for a time，maybe the sad memories will change into thankful ones.

[八]

Liu Mei is going to America to study. She is asking Danny for some advice on the gifts she'll give to her future foreign friends. (Liu Mei—L；Danny--D)

L:I am going to study in America, so I want to bring some gifts to my foreign friends. I have collected some Chinese food coupons (粮票）.I think they are good gifts，aren't they?

D：No，I'm afraid not. If I were you, I wouldn't bring the food coupons unless I know that the people I'll meet are interested in Chinese history.

L：Then can you give me some advice?

D Sure. I think you can give your friends a box of Chinese candies, some postcards from your

hometown, or some Chinese paper-cuts(剪纸）.

L；What gift should I give to my host family?

D:To your host family, I think, you may bring something like a photo album of your hometown, a music CD, a box of Chinese tea, or something else that's nice and not too expensive. You could keep the food coupons. Something like that should go to someone who really loves them.

L；Thank you for your advice.

D :My pleasure.

[九]

A word-famous scientist, Dr. Halogen, was on his way to give another lecture. This particular night，his driver asked him for a favor. “Dr. Halogen, when you speak, everyone gives you honor and attention. I'd really like to see what that feels like. Could we exchange clothes just for tonight? You'll be the driver and I will be the scientist."

Dr. Halogen laughed and said, “Do you really think you can do it? What if someone asks you a difficult question?"

“I can answer it，” said the driver. “I have heard you speak on this topic many, many times. ”"All right，"said the scientist. “It is April Fool's Day after all!" The two exchanged clothes and continued on to the meeting. When they arrived, the bogus(假冒的）scientist was received warmly. He gave a good speech and answered a few questions. Then a woman asked a very tricky one. Thinking quickly, he said,"Ma'am, that question has a very simple answer. It's so easy. I'm going to let my driver, who is sitting in the back now，explain it!"

[十]

Dogs are very good pets. They are very friendly to people and very beautiful, too. Most dogs get on well with children and their parents. Others are good watchdogs because they cry loudly when a strange person arrives .

When you buy a dog, an important thing to think about is its size .Buy a small dog if your home is small and a bigger one if yours is larger. Many people don't know what to feed their dogs.

Dogs eat almost anything! They like meat，rice and lots of other things. You can buy lots of food which is made for dogs in shops. Don't let your dog eat too much. Always leave some clear water for your dog. It can get thirsty very quickly, especially in summer.

Remember that dogs need exercise . You should take it for a walk every day. Don't keep your dog inside all day.

[十一]

Sam is a dog who lives in Maryland, US. But he is also a painter. And some of his paintings have sold for $ 1，700.

Sam holds a special paintbrush in his mouth to paint. Mary Stadelbacher，Sam's owner, said Sam loves painting and can do it for hours “He loves to work in different colors. He paints his paintings with darker colors first and then moves onto lighter ones. ”she said.

Mary, the owner of a dog service center, took in 6-year-old Sam four years ago. She came up with the idea of teaching Sam to paint after seeing reports about animal painters. “I saw dolphins paint and elephants paint, so I thought, why not a dog?” Now the money from the dog's art sales helps to keep the dog service center open.

"Sam's paintings have been on show at New York galleries .Art lovers have come from far away just to buy his work，” Mary said. "We even had one woman who bought her dog one of Sam's paintings as a birthday present."

[十二]

Nowadays we can see that many people are cutting down the trees in the forests. A lot of rich land has become deserts. If we read newspapers，we'll learn that the forests on the earth are getting smaller all the time. People are cutting down large numbers of trees because they need wood and farmland. Some scientists say that there will not be any great forests in 20 or 30 years.

What will h happen if the forests disappear? A lot of plants will die and animals will lose their home. In many places the new farmland will soon look like the old deserts. Crops will not grow there. There won't be enough rain, and the weather will get hot and dry . If the climate of the earth changes, life will be hard for everyone. Our living environment will become worse . More and more rich farmland will disappear. We will suffer a lot from both floods and droughts.

It's our duty to protect the forests well. Everyone should try his best to make a contribution to taking care of the forests. Let's s stop cutting down the trees and make the world greener ！

[十三]

It was one of the hottest day of that summer. It hadn't rained for nearly one month. The plants were dying. Cows had stopped giving milk . If it didn't rain soon, we would lose everything.

I was cooking when I saw my 6-year-old son, Billy, walking slowly toward the woods .A few minutes later he came out again, toward the house. Soon after, he walked toward the woods once again：I wondered what: he was doing.

I noticed Billy went there with a bowl of water in both his hands. There was a baby deer lying on the ground. It was dying of thirst Billy walked close to it and put down the bowl in front of it. It lifted its head slowly and tried its best to drink the water. I understood what was going on. The week before, I told him not to waste water. He always kept my words in his mind. Now when he saw me standing nearby, he said with tears in his eyes, "I'm not wasting water, mum. ”"No，you aren't."I said. Tears rolled down my face.

[十四]

Henry found a job in a bookstore after he finished middle school. He wouldn't do anything

but wanted to get rich.

It was a cold morning. It was snowing and there was thin ice on the streets. Few people went to buy the books and the young man had nothing to do. He hated to read，so he watched the traffic. Suddenly he saw a bag fall off a truck and it landed by the other side of the street "It must be full of expensive things.” Henry said to himself. "I have to get it right now, or others will take it away. ”

He went out of the shop and ran across the street. A driver saw him and began to whistle (鸣笛），but he didn't hear it and went on running.

The man drove to the side, hit a big tree and was hurt in the accident. Two weeks later Henry was taken to court. A judge asked if he heard the whistle when he was running across the street. He said that something was wrong with his ears and he could hear nothing.

"But you have heard me this time，"said the judge.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Now I can hear with one ear."

" Cover the ear with your hand and listen to me with your deaf one. Well，can you hear me?”

"No, I can't, sir. ”

"You are telling lies. There is nothing wrong with either of your ears. ”The judge said.

[十五]

Ron, the teacher at the skydiving(跳伞运动）school, was surprised when the gray-haired man said that his name was Walter and asked if he could take skydiving lessons. Ron asked him how old he was and he replied that he was 60.

Ron explained to Walter that anyone over 50 had to be checked by a doctor before he could learn to jump from a plane. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you start learning without a letter from your doctor. ”

Walter smiled. “Here is a letter from my doctor. He asked me to take lots of tests and he says that I'm fine. ”

So Walter was able to join the skydiving school. He came to all the lessons and worked very hard . Soon it was the time for him to make his first jump. Ron asked him if he was feeling OK. Walter answered that he had never felt better. However, he added that there was something he should have told Ron earlier . Ron asked what it was and Walter smiled. Then just before he jumped, he told Ron that he wasn't 60. Ron asked how old Walter really . was and Walter told him he was 75!

Walter has a lot of hobbies . He enjoys riding fast motorbikes and climbing mountains. Last year he was saved by a police helicopter in Wales.

His daughter Betty worries about him. “I think he should stop all these activities. But my mother says that as long as he's happy, it's OK."