Passage One

Men have traveled ever since they first appeared on the earth.

In primitive times they did not travel for pleasure but to find new places where their herds could feed, or to escape from hostile neighbors, or to find more favorable climates. They traveled on foot. Their journeys were long, tiring, and often dangerous. They protected themselves with simple weapons, such as wooden sticks or stone clubs, and by lighting fires at night and, above all, by keeping together.

Being intelligent and creative, they soon discovered easier ways of traveling. They role on the backs of their domesticated animals; they hollowed out tree trunks, and by using bits of wood as paddles, were able to travel across water. Later they traveled, not from necessity, but for the joy and excitement of seeing and experiencing new things. This is still the main reason why we travel today .

Traveling, of course, has now become a highly organized business. There are cars and splendid roads, express trains, huge ships and jet airliners, all of which provide us with comforts and security. This sounds wonderful. But there are difficulties, if you want to go abroad, you need a passport and a visa, tickets, luggage, and a hundred and one other things. If you lose any of them, your journey may be ruined.

Passage Two

There are many factors which may have an influence on adults and children being able to lead a healthy life. Nowadays, people are very busy. Often, both parents work outside the home. Children are expected to take on more responsibility at home to help their parents. They also have sporting and leisure activities as well as school expectations.

The busyness also adds another factor: the need to use cars to get from one place to another quickly .

Today, society places a lot of emphasis on technology. Computers, DVDs, CDs, televisions and Playstations have become major leisure activities, rather than traditional more active pursuits. This has led to a more sedentary lifestyle.

The media provide entertainment and information. Unfortunately, they also promote fast food which fits easily into busy lifestyles. It is much more convenient at times to buy a quick takeaway rather than prepare a meal. The media constantly bombard(轰炸) their audience with “perfect” body images, the need to buy the most fashionable clothes, the most up-to-date computer games, the best places to visit and the best things to do.

Environments vary. We may be exposed to pollution, such as cigarette smoke. This can be harmful to people who suffer from breathing difficulties. Environments where passive smoking is unavoidable make it difficult to lead a healthy life.

Perhaps the important factor influencing healthy lifestyles is motivation, or the desire to be healthy. Any person who wants to be healthy will find a way to be healthy—if he/she is motivated enough !

Passage Three

Alan Chang was a handsome young man with good manners. One morning he was walking along a street on his way to an appointment. He did not want to be early or late. He had forgotten to put on his watch so he went up to a man who was waiting for a taxi.

“Excuse me, sir, ” he said, very politely ,"but could you tell me the time?”

The man, who was very well-dressed and looked quite rich, said nothing. He did not even look at Alan. Alan spoke to him again. “Excuse me, sir, " he said, " but could you please tell me what time it is?"

This time the man looked at him, but he did not speak and looked quickly away. Alan thought to himself: well, he can hear me; he must be just rude. So Alan asked again, "Why wouldn't you tell me the time, sir?"

The man turned towards him and said, " Put yourself in my shoes. I am standing here waiting for a taxi. You come up to me and ask me for the time. If l tell it to you, you will thunk me. I will say ‘That's all right.' You may then say ‘It's a beautiful day,’ to which I may reply ‘Yes, l like these sunny winter days.' Before we know what is happening we have a friendly conversation. You are a pleasant, polite young man, so when my taxi comes, I offer you a ride. You accept. We talk. l like you. You like me. I invite you to my home. You meet my daughter. She is a very pretty girl. You are a good-looking man. You like each other. Soon you fall in love. You want to marry. Now do you understand my problem?”

Alan shook his head. “No,sir, l 'm sorry, l don't. Everything you have said seems very natural to me. " “Exactly ," the man said ," and I do not want my daughter to marry a man who is too poor to buy a watch. Good morning to you." And with these words he hurried away.

Passage Four

I knew a man who was asked to be the new dean(院长) of the College of Business of a large university. When he first arrived, he studied the situation the college faced and felt that what it needed most was money. He recognized that he had a unique capacity to raise money, and he developed a real sense of vision about fund-raising is his primary function.

This created a problem in the college because past deans had focused mainly on meeting day-to-day faculty needs. This new dean was never there. He was running around the country trying to raise money for research. But he was not attending to the day-to-day things as the previous dean had. The faculty, who were used to working with the person at the top, had lo work through his administrative assistant.

The faculty became so upset with his absence that they sent a delegation to the president of the university to demand a new dean or a fundamental change in his leadership style. The president, who knew what the dean was doing, said, " Relax. He has a good administrative assistant. Give him some more time.”

Within a short time, the money started pouring in and the faculty began to recognize the vision. It wasn't long until every time they saw the dean, they would say, "Get out of here! We don't want to see you. Go out and bring more funds. Your administrative assistant runs this office better than anyone else."

This man admitted to me later that the mistake he made was not doing enough team building, enough explaining, enough educating about what he was trying to accomplish. From him I learned a powerful lesson. We need to constantly he asking ourselves, "What is needed out there, and what is my unique strength?"