高中英语人教版高三1 13

[00:04.78]Lesson 49            1 Reading comprehension 1

[00:11.86]Read the text fast to get a general idea.

[00:17.32]Which of the following subjects are mentioned in the text?

[00:22.60]Population/History/Government/Sports/Weather/Radio and TV

[00:32.76]Transport/Food/Parks/Buildings/Hotels

[00:39.52]NEW YORK

[00:42.27]New York is built on a group of islands on theeast coast of the USA

[00:49.24]at a point where several rivers flow into the ocean.

[00:54.49]The first westerner 2 to discover these islands was an Italian explorer 3 in 1524.

[01:02.75]In 1626 the island of Manhattan was bought from local Indians,

[01:10.11]Native Americans,for a handful 4 of goods worth about$24.

[01:18.45]Today Native Americans express their anger over this business deal.

[01:24.82]After the War of Independence ended,

[01:29.18]New York became the capital of the USA for a short time

[01:34.64](1789-90)before Washington,D.C.

[01:40.88]By 1820 the population of New York had grown to about 125,000,

[01:49.04]making it the largest city in the USA.

[01:53.71]In 1858 an area of poor housing 5,

[01:59.46]factories and farm buildings was torn down and Central Park was created,

[02:07.40]reaching from 59th Street to 110th Street and across three avenues 6.

[02:15.94]There is space for summer picnics,open-air concerts,plays and games.

[02:23.20]There is a zoo,an art museum,a boating 7 lake,

[02:28.95]a smaller lake for model boats and,in winter,an ice-skating area.

[02:36.32]In 1892 the age of mass arrivals 8 began,

[02:42.19]during which 15 million new people passed through Ellis Island

[02:48.44]into the USA over a period of 62 years.

[02:54.18]Today Ellis Island is a museum,showing the roots of America's new citizens,

[03:01.45]who came from all the corners of the earth.

[03:05.89]Officials used to have trouble with the foreign names of people passing throrgh Ellis Island,

[03:12.44]and because they were so busy,many people's names got changed in the rush.

[03:18.92]People who wanted to enter the USA

[03:23.08]had to through a number of mental and physical tests,

[03:28.43]and about 2 million people were turned away.

[03:32.98]Thus Ellis Island became known 9 as the"Island of Tears".

[03:38.54]The building of skyscrapers 10 in New York began around the year 1900.

[03:45.02]Because Manhattan Island is made of solid 11 rock,

[03:49.59]it is safe to build very tall buildings.

[03:54.14]A55-storey building went up in 1913,

[03:59.91]and in 1931 the Empire State Building was completed,

[04:05.84]then the tallest building in the world.

[04:10.28]It has 102 storeys 12 and 73 lifts.

[04:15.92]From the top of it,you could see up to a distance of 130 kilometres on a clear day.

[04:23.39]Today it is no longer the tallest building in the USA,or even in New York.

[04:30.84]The World Trade Center,

[04:34.68]an office building for over 1,200 firms employing about 50,000 people,

[04:42.15]is even higher at 411 metres.

[04:47.29]The twin towers are 110 storeys high,

[04:52.47]but high-speed lifts controlled by computer take only a minute to reach the top.

[04:59.91]The towers are further apart at the top than at the base,but this is no mistake.

[05:06.39]This is because the surface of the earth is not flat but round.

[05:12.03]New York never sleeps.

[05:15.69]The underground railway runs 24 hours a day,

[05:20.37]and there are all-night cinenas,bars and restaurants.

[05:25.64]Some people think that the weather is unpleasant,the city ugly and dirty,

[05:31.89]the competition fierce 13 and the streets unsafe.

[05:37.63]It is a city in a hurry,but a very excitiing place to be.

[05:43.38]Lesson 50

[05:50.35]1 Reading comprehension

[05:54.80]Read the text fast to find answers to these questions.

[06:00.07]1 In what ways did the settlers treat the Native Americans unfairly?

[06:07.52]2 What caused a big change in the wildlife on the plains?

[06:14.28]THE BISON 14 ON THE PLAINS OF AMERICA

[06:18.54]The first settlers on the plains of America were Native Americans

[06:24.42]It is thought that they arrived more than 30,000 years ago

[06:29.77]by crossing a land bridge from Asia to America.

[06:34.81]They lived by hunting and by gathering 15 roots,nuts and wild fruits.

[06:41.29]They also hunted and killed wild animals.

[06:45.97]Around the year 1600

[06:49.73]the first horses were brought to the American contiment by the Spanish.

[06:55.58]Soon there were many wild horses across the country.

[07:00.73]The Native Americans caught and trained them

[07:05.09]and were then able to use them to carry their goods

[07:09.53]when they travelled from one campilng ground to another.

[07:13.97]Now that they could ride horses,it became easier to hunt the bison,

[07:19.93]a type of cattle 16 which used to exist in huge numbers on the plains of America.

[07:26.28]The bison grows to a shoulder-height of 1.5 metres and can weigh 1100 kilograms 17.

[07:35.55]It was an important part of Native Americans'existence.

[07:40.70]Bison were killed for their meat,

[07:44.46]while their fur provided 18 warm clothing during cold winters.

[07:50.05]The skins were used for making tents and water containers.

[07:55.38]Bones were carved into needles and tools,

[08:00.10]and the teeth were used to make necklaces.

[08:04.18]From 1830 onwards 19 in the USA and from about 1870 in Canada,

[08:11.94]settlers began to move westwards 20 and to take possession 21 of the plains as their own.

[08:18.89]Large groups of Native Americans were forced to move away from their old hunting grounds.

[08:24.22]When they objected,they were killed.

[08:28.37]Fierce wars between Native Americans and European settlers broke out.

[08:34.25]Settlers made agreements with Native American chiefs

[08:39.21]but always broke them afterwards.

[08:43.05]In this way Native Americans were forced

[08:47.91]onto poor land that the settlers did not want.

[08:52.98]The settlers built railways across the plains and began to hunt even more bison.

[08:59.74]While early settlers had killed bison for food,

[09:04.10]now the killing 22 became more widespread 23.

[09:08.18]They killed the bison,cut off the skins and left the bodies behind to rot 24.

[09:15.02]The bison skins were sent by rail to cities to be sold.

[09:20.90]It was also thought that by removing their main supply of food,

[09:25.86]the Native Americans would be forced to give in.

[09:30.54]Between 1850 and 1910 the bison population is thought to have fallen

[09:38.19]from 60 million to just a few hundred.

[09:43.76]The killing of the bison changed the whole wildlife of the plains.

[09:49.32]With fewer bison,grass shoots were not eaten so grass did not grow as strongly.

[09:56.17]Bison waste no longer fell on the ground to improve the soil,

[10:01.44]which as a result became less good for growing plants.

[10:06.80]The ground supported fewer plants,

[10:10.95]and the insects which lived on these plants died out.

[10:16.10]There was less food for birds and also for the prairie 25 dog,

[10:21.87]a kind of animal which lives in holes in the ground.

[10:26.91]This in turn had an effect on the food supply for wolves.

[10:33.16]Thus one simple fact,a change in the number of bison,

[10:39.79]had an effect on the whole wildlife chain of the plains