A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.
The unpunctual man，on one hand，never does what he has to do at the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in t

Northern Europeans spend a lot of time in their cold and cloudy winters planning their summer holidays. They are proud of their healthy color when they return home after the holiday. But they also know that a certain amount of sunshine is good for their bodies and general health.

The“big land”is rich and most of it is almost uninhabited（无人居住的）．The Russians，who discovered Alaska in 1741，found only a few thousand Eskimos and Indians there．These people made a bare living by hunting and fishing．Russia was therefore，happy to sell the place to the U．S．in 1867 for U．S．$7，200，000．That was about the U．S．2 cents per

Much of mankind's attitude toward the sea can be traced（追溯）to a misplaced faith in its clearly limitless resources．The shallow muddy water over continental shelves is indeed rich in biological resources；but we are already exploiting almost all the fish，oil and minerals they have to offer．Almost every major fishery has been over-fis

It is understood that a ballad is a song that tells a story, but a folk song is not so easily defined. A ballad is a folk song, but a folk song is not a ballad until it tells a story. Folk song then has included many kinds of

The development of television has made a great impact on film, which has given people the impression that the film is arriving at its end.
Under such situation, a kind of stereoscopic film, w

Aristotle summed up the four qualities of money some 2，000 years ago．It must be lasting and easy to recognize，to divide，and to carry about．When we think of money today，we picture it either as round，flat pieces of metal which we call coins or as printed paper notes．But there are still parts of the world today where coins and notes

There is a story of a country where the rate of inflation（通货膨胀）is so high that clever people pay for a taxi ride before the trip instead of after．The story may or may not be true．Inflation was almost that serious in Germany from July，1920 until December，1923．Prices went up so fast that by the end of 1923 they were 50 billion percent high

"What part of the states do you come from?"
"I'm not American. I'm Canadian."
This is a mistake that Europeans often make. Many Americans, too, admit that it takes them a while to tell if it's an American talking or a Cana

Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. Time communicates in many ways.
Consider the different parts of the day, for example. The time of the day when something is done can give a special meaning to the event. Factory ma

In the winter，skiing is traditionally a popular sport for people of all ages who like to be outdoors．People take their ski equipment and head for the mountains．But these days，skiers are not the only people on the hills．Snowboarders are joining the skiers for some winter thrills．Snowboarding is fun and exciting．It is like surfing on the s

There is a very simple way of measuring the height of a water-tower，which we cannot measure by climbing．
    Suppose，for example，that we wish to find out the height of the water-tower，AB，in a factory．We first of all go to where the water-tower is standing and measure a distance of，say，90 feet from it，in a straight line

Jim wrote out a prescription for Mrs Green. “There you are,”he said. "That should cure you. And how is Susan getting on?" Susan was Mrs Green's daughter. "She has just qualified as a teacher," Mrs Green said. "Her ambition is to find a teaching appointment abroad. I'm afraid I don't app

If you dig down deep enough into the earth, you will find rock. Over the top of most of this rock there is a layer of soil, like icing on a cake. You may call it earth or dirt, but the real name is soil.
The top layer of this soil is not very deep, but

A．The triathlon is a demanding sport．Many say that it is a real test of an athlete's body and mind．It is difficult because it is three sports in one．It includes swimming for 2．4 miles（3．84 kilometers），bicycling for 112 miles（180 kilometers），and running for 26．2 miles（41．9 kilometers）．It takes a lot of strength and willpower to compete．Th