高三英语课外阅读9篇教学内容

高三英语课外阅读9篇
1、Friends for life
动物们也过节啦，瞧它多快乐
DO you have a pet in your home? Did you remember to give it a big meal and lots of other treats on Saturday? If not, you've made a big mistake, because October 4 was World Animal Day, an official holiday for all animals acknowledged by the United Nations.
Liu Hui, a senior high school student in Beijing, made sure her pekinese dog (哈巴狗) named Pipi had a very special time.
"There are many endangered (濒危) animals in the Amazon rain forests (亚玛逊雨林) and all over the world that that need protecting," Liu said. "But they all sound far away to me so I just let Pipi have a wonderful day.
"Pipi is my best friend. He is so clever that he understands every word I say to him. He is such a good listener; I can tell him all my secrets, without worrying that he will tell them to others."
For Liu Hui, Pipi is just a friend. But for disabled people like Arthur, an American boy living in Beijing, a pet can be a pair of eyes or ears, or even a pair of legs.
Arthur, 17, lost one of his legs in a car accident. His pet Maquis is a two-year-old German breed dog. Maquis pulls Arthur's wheelchair to any place he asks and guards him when he is outside of his home.
"Maquis is more than a friend - I love him," Arthur said. "I don't feel lonely or afraid if Maquis is around. If other boys try to bully me, he will scare them away."
Animals are also useful in treating people with illness and disabilities. In the US, doctors use dogs and cats as listeners to encourage shy boys and girls to speak in public.
A hundred years ago, an Italian priest called St. Francis started World Animal Day. TheUN sets aside the special day, not only to persuade people to protect endangered animals, but also to encourage them to show love for animals living in our society. World Animal Day is a wonderful chance for us to show we care about animals and their welfare.
2、Caught in the Web?
你想在这似是而非的网络世界里寻找什么？是期待友谊还是打发无聊？
YOUR friends might be in Australia or maybe just down the road, but they are all just a few clicks (点击) away. Life has changed for millions of teenagers across the world who now make friends online. Whether you use chatrooms, QQ, MSN or ICQ, you are part of a virtual community (虚拟社区).
"I rarely talk with my parents or grandparents, but I talk a lot with my old friends on QQ," said Fox's Shadow, the online nickname (网名) used by a Senior 2 girl in Chna. "Eighty per cent of my classmates use QQ after school."
QQ is the biggest messaging service in China. A record 4 million people used it one Saturday night in October, according to Tencent, the company which developed QQ.
And Fox's Shadow might well have been one of them. "I log in on Friday nights, and Saturdays or Sundays when I feel bored. I usually spend about 10 hours chatting online every week," she said. "But I rarely talk with strangers, especially boys or men."
Even though she likes chatting, she is careful about making friends with strangers online. "You don't know who you're talking to. You should always be careful about who you trust online."
Many people would like to meet offline when they feel they have got to know someone very well. Fox's Shadow once met one of her online friends face to face. It was a girl who was a comic fan like herself and they went to a comic show together.
However, not all teenagers have not been so fortunate. At the beginning of this year, a 17-year-old girl in Liaoning Province was raped(强奸) after meeting a friend she had found on QQ. The criminals (罪犯) weren't caught until last month.
A 16-year-old Beijing boy, known online as Bart Simon, dislikes QQ users. "I used to chat on QQ, but I found that most people were talking nonsense," he said. Now he chats online in English, using MSN. "I only chat online because I've got friends in Japan, the US and Singapore," he said. "I want to learn more about foreign cultures." But he spends little time chatting as he sees it as a waste of time and
money.
"If you are really addicted to it, sometimes you just can't concentrate (集中精神) in class," he said. "And the friends in your real life are always more important than those so-called friends you meet online." HELP
chatroom n. 聊天室log in: 登陆
talk nonsense: 说废话addicted to: 沉迷于
3、Crying in class
冬日荧屏向你展现和着欢笑与泪水的高三生活
LOVE, drugs, death and stolen exam papers —it's nothing like your high school but that's what life is like for students in the new TV series "You're smiling while I'm crying"(《你在微笑我却哭了》).
Set at a high school in a beautiful coastal city, the 22-episode (集) drama, which can be seen at the end of the year, follows a popular and talented student called Shen Xiao. The school is encouraging weaker students not to take the National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), so its university enrolment rate (升学率) will improve. All Senior 3 students have to take a special exam to decide who will be allowed to sit the NCEE.
Shen believes it is unfair to stop someone choosing whether to take an exam that could change their life. So when some Senior 3 boys steal a copy of the paper, she agrees to work out the answers, allowing everyone to pass.
However, the students do so well in the exam, the teachers realize they have cheated and try to find out who was responsible. Under cruel pressure, a shy boy kills himself.
Feeling guilty (内疚) as well as angry, Shen fights against her parents and teachers. She gives up the NCEE, falls in love with a college student and accidentally gets involved in drug dealing. So where does Shen go? Who is smiling while she is crying? And will she get to have the last laugh?
Shen is played by 24-year-old Gao Yuanyuan, who starred in "Spicy Love Soup" (《爱情麻辣烫》) in 1999. Her sweet looks and pure image have since appeared in many films, TV series and advertisements.
"I didn't want to play teenager again, but the story was too good to turn down," she said.
Students across the country can't wait to see the drama. "It's such a long time since I read an interesting novel or watched a good TV series about school life," said Senior 2 student Xiao Fei. "I hope it shows me what the last year of high school is really like," she said.
4、Head above water?
不要小看全球变暖，因为一不留神你家门口可能就变成了一片汪洋！
TUVALU, a tiny country in the Pacific Ocean, has asked for help as it fears it will be swallowed up by the sea.
Storms and huge waves are a constant threat and none of Tuvalu's nine little islands is more than five metres above sea level. Salt water is already entering the country's drinking water supply, as well as damaging plants that produce fruit and vegetable. Without urgent help, the country's days are numbered.
But Tuvalu is not the first place to face sinking into the sea. Venice, a historic city in Italy best known for its canals, has sunk about 24cm over the past 100 years. Experts say that it will have sunk another
20-50cm by 2050. A century ago, St. Mark's Square, the lowest point in the city, flooded about nine times a year. Nowadays, it happens more than 100 times.
While Venice is slowly sinking into the mud on which it stands, Tuvalu's rising sea level is caused by global warming.
The average global temperature has increased by almost 0.5 centigrade degree over the past century; scientists expect it to rise by an extra 1-3 degrees over the next 100 years.
Warmer weather makes glaciers (冰川) melt, adding more water to the ocean. The warmer temperatures also make water expand, so it takes up more space, causing the sea level to rise. The sea level has risen about 10-25cm in the last 100 years.
The main cause of global warming is human pollution. Through burning coal, oil and gas, people have been increasing the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as CO2. This adds to the power of the greenhouse effect, making the planet even warmer . Many scientists believe that, if the warming is not stopped, there will be huge climate changes. The sea level could rise by one metre this century. Should this come true, millions of homes will be
swallowed up by the sea and the world will be flooded with "climate refugees " looking for somewhere to live.
5、New cards will keep your details
safe
世界各国都使用身份证吗?
THE plastic identification (ID,身份证) cards carried by all Chinese citizens over 16 are to be replaced with electronic cards from next year .
The new cards, which most people will have by 2005, contain a microchip (微芯片) on which personal information is stored. This can be checked against databases (资料库) kept by the government.
"The information will be locked into the card so that people won't be able HELP plant n. 种植园 urgent adj. 紧急的 canal n. 运河 refugee n. 难民
to use false identities," said Ren Tianbu, a security official in Shenyang.
China's present plastic identity cards were introduced 17 years ago, and a similar system is used by many other countries. However, the information shown on a card differs from nation to nation. Most ID cards show the holder's name, sex, date of birth and photograph, as well as the card's expiry (失效) date and number.
Germany, France and Spain all use ID cards, but there are some developed nations who dislike the idea. The US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden and Britain are among those with no national ID card. However, some of the countries have ID cards for particular uses. For example, Australia and the United States use a driving licence (驾照) to identify people.
Identity cards are introduced for a variety of reasons. Race, politics and religion were often at the heart of older ID systems. In recent years, though, ID cards have been linked to national information databases, which form the basis of how a government manages a country.
The US, Britain and some other countries are considering a national ID system as a way of preventing possible terrorist attacks.
However, such plans have been met with fierce resistance by those who believe identity cards work against human rights and individual privacy (个人隐私).
"ID cards make us suspects (可疑人员), not citizens," said UK human rights group Liberty.
6、Fighting in the family 为什么我有一个家，却还觉得无家可归呢？
"WHERE is your home, boy?" a little beggar was once asked.
"I don't have home because I don't have a family," he answered.
I feel great sympathy (同情) for him because several years ago, I also felt homeless.
I'm a boy from an ordinary family which used to be happy. My parents loved me very much when I was a small child. They spent a lot of time playing with me even though they were busy. I thought I had the happiest family in the world.
However, a big change happened when I grew older: my parents began to fight. Every three or four days, they would fight, sometimes even hitting each other with pieces of furniture. I was so frightened I used to hide behind the door or under the bed and cry.
Every time I had to wait for at least an hour before they stopped. Then my father would walk out in anger, leaving mother crying alone. Scars covered her body from head to foot. Looking at the black and blue marks on her face, I could do nothing but cry with her. So a happy family became a bad one and I became a quiet and unhappy boy.
Then, I went to the junior middle school and had to live in the school. Although I was a long way from home, I never stopped worrying about my family, particularly my mother as she cannot protect herself in a fight. I always stayed up at night, staring at the stars, hoping a miracle would happen and my family could be happy again.
One cold winter day, I got a chance to go home after six months away at school.
The road was covered in snow but I missed my family so much that I rode my bike as fast as possible. However, I started to worry that my parents had been fighting and all of a sudden I lost my balance. My bike
was hit by a car . I felt a huge pain in my right leg and then fainted.
When I woke up I was in hospital and my parents were sitting beside the bed. To my sadness, I saw new scars on mother's face.
I looked at her , tears filling my eyes, and shouted out the words that had been hidden in my heart for years.
"When will you stop? Have you ever thought about my feelings? No! You just care about yourselves. This accident wouldn't have happened but for your endless fighting!" I began crying loudly. "You want to know about my horrible nightmares (噩梦)? I dreamed that mum was beaten up with scars and blood all over her body. I felt scared! I want nothing but happiness. Please give me a happy family!"
My parents and the nurses were all stunned (震惊的) but they had tears in their eyes. And what happened next? I recovered and my
parents promised never to fight again. So far , they have kept their promise.
7、Love is a good wash
这道家庭作业有点“怪”：给父母洗脚，让他们感受来自儿女深深的爱。

WHAT is the most unusual homework you've ever been set? Senior 2
STAR SENTENCES *Scars covered her body from head to foot. 她全身上下遍布疤痕。

*I always stayed up at night, staring at the stars, hoping a miracle would happen and my family could be happy again. 我常常在深夜独自凝视着满天繁星，暗自祈祷能有奇迹发生，好让我的家再次充满欢乐。

students at Shanghai Fudan Experimental High School got theirs last month — they were told to wash their parents' feet.
However, most of the students didn't do it; only 24 out of 104 actually finished the job. There were many excuses. Some said it was a ridiculous (荒谬的) thing do, while others just thought the teacher was trying to attract attention. They also asked: "Why should we wash our parents' feet when they can take a shower?"
But, Chen Ping, the teacher who set the homework, has his own view.
"Many of my students waste their money," he said. "I want them to know how hard their parents work to support them. Washing feet is just a way of showing love."
He is not the first teacher to assign such homework. Lei Jingsheng, a teacher in Zhounan High School in Changsha, Hunan Province, had the same idea.
He took action on discovering that only two of his 60 students could remember their parents' birthdays. "I asked a 28-year-old man this question, and he remembered his six girlfriends' birthdays but not his parents'!" said Lei.
Family is important in China and respecting parents has always been considered a virtue.
Nowadays, though, many young people don't respect their parents and some even do cruel things to them. Two years ago, 15-year-old twin sisters in Guizhou Province killed their parents because they were strict about their daughters' studies.
So perhaps it's not surprising that, when one Shanghai student asked to wash his parents' feet, his father said, "Why, my son? Do you need money?"
Another of Lei's students, Yang Zhiming, said he blushed (脸红) as his parents were so surprised by his request. "They thought I was joking," he said. Yang washed his father's feet for about five minutes and found it a useful experience. "I talked a lot with my parents while washing their feet, especially with my mum," he said. "As I have got older , I talk to her less and less. Doing this homework has made me feel much closer to my parents."
Qi Ji, a middle school student in Beijing, would be happy to wash her parents' feet and believes students should do more of this kind of homework. "Besides washing feet, we can also help do housework and send birthday cards to show our parents that we love them," she said.
8、New page of history
告别懵懂，憧憬未来：18岁成人仪式让我们走向成熟。

IT was a day for moving forwards and looking back as Senior 3 students at the High School Attached to Renmin University celebrated their coming of age last week.
There was laughter and applause as the 650 young adults re-visited the last 18 years and shared their dreams for the future.
"Ever since we came into this world, we've been receiving love from our parents; ever since the first day we attended school, we've been receiving care from our teachers," said Shen Dichai, in a speech to his fellow students.
HELP assign v. 布置 take action : 采取行动 virtue n. 美德
"The past 18 years have seen us grow up. From this point on, we are starting a new page of our lives."
For most students, turning 18 means taking responsibility(责任) for yourself. "We are no longer kids, so we should be responsible for what we do and what we say," said Fan Zhou who also came of age last week. "Being 18 years old means you must take care of others as well as yourself, especially your parents."
Lian Lian's parents took her to Pizza Hut(必胜客) to celebrate her birthday 10 days earlier, but they were also present at the school's ceremony.
"We wanted to spend this meaningful moment with her," explained her mother, Han Yun.
"She'll graduate from high school soon, this year is certainly a turning point in her life. We took her to Pizza Hut because in Chinese the name means 'you're sure to succeed'."
Success was also an important part of the ceremony. The students were encouraged to look forward to the next milestone in their lives — their 30th birthday. By then, they are supposed to be independent (独立的) and enjoying successful careers (事业).
So each student presented "gifts" they had prepared for their 30th birthday. In 12 years time, they are expected to return to school to open the gifts and read the thoughts and dreams they had at 18.
"I wrote down my complaints about this difficult
year in high school and the dreams I want to have realized by the age of 30," said Lian. "I hope to run my own bookstore and have travelled around the world."
Liu Pengzhi, principal(校长) of the school, HELP
coming of age: 成人ceremony n. 仪式milestone n. 里程碑，重要阶段
explained: "This process is specially designed to encourage students to set goals for their future, so they will work hard in their careers."
9、Does anyone know who really
shot the president?
为什么40年之后，美国人的肯尼迪情结依然挥之不去？
HE was killed 40 years ago. Since then his memory has been clouded by dark tales of affairs with the likes of Marilyn Monroe (玛莉莲·梦露), and links with the Mafia (黑手党).
But the myth (神话) of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the US, will not disappear. As America marked the anniversary of his death in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, questions were still being asked.
The official conclusion was that Lee Harvey Oswald, who worked at a Dallas book storehouse, murdered Kennedy. But all kinds of other ideas have been put forward as to what happened and why.
Some people believe Oswald was a madman, who spent some time in Russia and was an admirer of Fidel Castro, president of Cuba. It is said he was inspired by the James Bond spy novels and killed Kennedy as a gift for Castro.
But Oswald's brother thought he was a sad and lonely man who murdered the president to get attention and show off his shooting skills.
Meanwhile, some experts say that Oswald was really aiming for Texas Governor John Connally. He is said to have been angry with Connally,
who was also secretary of the navy, over how he had been forced to leave the service.
A large number of people think the truth has been covered up on purpose; even now, surveys show that more than half of Americans believe that Oswald was not working alone. An investigation(调查) found that four shots were fired, with one shot coming from the building that Oswald was in.
But two days after the murder, Oswald himself was killed by Jack Rubinstein, a nightclub owner. Rubinstein had Mafia connections and this has led to the theory that they were actually responsible for killing Kennedy.
Lyndon Johnson, who became president after Kennedy, has also been accused of being behind it all. According to reports, Johnson was sworn in (宣誓就职) even before Kennedy's death was announced. "We have a really tough decision that we don't want to face. There was a conspiracy (合谋) and people want an answer," said Barr McClellan, who has written a book about the murder.
"The myth is very powerful." said Robert Dallek, a historian at Boston University, who has just published a book about Kennedy. "He was the first president to appear on television. He is frozen in our minds aged 46, forever young, energetic and charming."。