Basic Reading — 第二冊

🔊Our junior high school really believes in promoting physical exercise for the benefit of the students. Every morning after assembly, students are required to run three laps around the track. Not only does this boost their metabolism throughout the day, but it also helps them to wake up and be more alert.

🔊Keeping the students alert is a major battle that teachers have to face every day. It is hard to keep students motivated for learning, especially in the morning when everyone has just crawled out of bed. Most teachers believe that running laps every day has a definite effect on students’ alertness, focus and also helps to improve their grades greatly. Additionally, doing laps also improves the overall health of students.

🔊Peter has taken a break from class. His classroom is always very hot during the summer months and he needs to drink lots of water so that he doesn’t get dehydrated.  He has also been diligently studying all morning in the hot classroom and has worked up a thirst.

🔊The thirsty boy wanders down the long hallway to the nearest water fountain. As he turns the knob on the top of the stainless steel fountain, water begins to stream out. He lets it run for a few seconds to cool it off. He then bends over and takes a sip. Ah, it refreshes him instantly and he continues slurping away.

🔊The cool water quickly quenches his thirst and he wipes his mouth on his sleeve. Satisfied now, he slowly returns to class, trying to waste as much time as possible.

🔊Taiwanese schools are trying to become more and more bilingual all the time. A good way to do this is to make all existing signs English and Chinese like exit, bathroom and other common signs. Another way is to put signs in high traffic areas to increase exposure to English.

🔊This particular school has done this by placing old adages on the stairs. It works quite well as students cannot go up the stairs without having to look at the sayings. They may choose not to read them for a while, but chances are after going up and down the steps repeatedly they will eventually read them all out of curiosity.

🔊The signs have English on the left and Chinese on the right. They are also brightly colored to catch your eye.

🔊Picture 1 Eli peels back the lid of the Styrofoam container and finds a package of seasoning sitting on top of the instant noodles.

🔊Picture 2 He tears open the seasoning packet for the broth and sprinkles it over the top of the noodles.

🔊Picture 3 Eli then pours boiling water from the kettle over the noodles, filling the container almost to the top.

🔊Picture 4 Next, he re-covers the container with the foil lid, and weighs it down with his chopsticks.  He needs to let it stand until the noodles are nice and soft—about 3 minutes or so.

🔊Picture 5 Now that the noodles are cooked, Eli slowly peels back the foil, careful not to burn himself with the steam.

🔊Picture 6 He lets the noodles sit for an additional minute to cool off before eating them. He certainly seems to be enjoying his Cup O’ Noodles.

🔊Most schools in Taiwan do not have cafeterias. Instead, they hire caterers to do all the cooking and bring it to the schools. The contracted caterers do not prepare the food on-site; they do it in their own kitchens. Once the food is ready, it is packed into containers and dropped off 7at the schools. Each container holds the same thing so that there is no worry of a mix-up as to which one goes where. Representatives from each class then pick up the food at the drop-off point and bring it back to their classrooms.

🔊At our school, the lunch containers are put on chairs or tables at the front of the classroom near the chalkboard. Volunteers then distribute the food evenly amongst the students. If there are any leftovers, students are allowed to have second helpings. As you can see in the second picture, the students here are very hungry and can’t wait to dish up.

🔊Every student carries a small lunch bag that contains utensils and a stainless steel bowl. They pack their lunch bag with them every day, but if they happen to forget, there are disposable bowls and utensils available so that no one has to go hungry. After lunch, each student is responsible for cleaning his or her own dish.

🔊Jack and his family are eating out this evening. The place they have chosen is a buffet-style restaurant. These restaurants offer a wide range of foods prepared in many ways.

🔊After taking a plate to put the food on, Jack heads to the steam table. The steam table keeps the food warm even after sitting for some time. Each tray on the table contains a different dish. Jack eyes the tray heaped with stewed tofu. He thinks it looks very good, so he digs right in.

🔊After putting a few vegetables on his plate, he takes the food to the cashier. In this restaurant you are charged by weight. This means you have to pay so much per gram of food. At some buffet-style restaurants you are charged by the number of items and not by weight, so if you want to sample many dishes it may be a lot more expensive.

🔊Included with the price of Jack’s meal are soup and black tea. He takes advantage by repeatedly filling up his bowl with steaming hot soup. He sure loves soup, doesn't he?

🔊Finally, Jack sits down to enjoy his meal. His family is still dishing up, but they will join him soon. By that time Jack will probably be ready for a second helping. Bon appetit, Jack!

🔊In Taiwan there are a lot of forms that require photos to be attached. The standard size photo is 4 * 5 cm for most forms. They are especially important for passports, visas and hospital records. On such forms there is a box at the top specifically for this purpose.

🔊Picture This girl is removing a photo from a small reddish envelope. She is filling out an application to take a GEPT test. The form requires her picture so that the test administrator can verify her identity when she takes the test. This prevents the girl from having another person take the test for her.

🔊Picture 2 She applies glue to the back of the photo and then sticks it to the application. It is now ready to be mailed and, with any luck, she will be accepted to take the upcoming test; otherwise, she has to wait for the next test.

🔊Henry is quite fond of himself. He would stand in front of the mirror all day if his mother would allow it. He likes to try on many different outfits in his wardrobe and model them in front of the mirror, too. Sometimes, he even pretends he is on the catwalk modeling the latest fashions for all the designers to see.

🔊Whatever his motivations are, his mother is disturbed by his vain performances and has removed all the mirrors and reflective surfaces from the house—even the toaster had to go. Now, if he wants to see himself, he has to fill the bathtub with water and stare at his reflection.

🔊Schools often use main entrances to post announcements for students and parents to read. This school is no exception as they have put up a number of bulletin boards along the main hallway. To prevent important notices from being removed or vandalized, they have covered the bulletin boards with protective sheets of glass.

🔊Some things you may find on the announcement boards are class schedules, upcoming events, student awards, or notices to remind students of important test dates. Diligent students always check the board to make sure that they know what's going on at their school. The school staff is responsible for periodically updating the boards with current information and removing anything that is outdated, so that the information posted is always current and accurate.

🔊When you are on the go, the best option to re-hydrate yourself is bottled water. It is readily available at most stores and there are countless brands and types of water to choose from. The number of choices is almost mind-boggling. You have distilled water, spring water, carbonated water and flavored water—just to name a few. Whatever their name, they all serve the same purpose: quenching your thirst.

🔊The lady pictured here has just unscrewed the lid on her bottle of water. When buying bottled water, make sure the safety seal is not broken, so that you can be sure that the water hasn’t been tampered with and is fresh. If the seal is broken, it is best not to drink it just to be on the safe side.

🔊In the second picture, our beautiful young model is taking a drink. She tips back the bottle and starts guzzling it down like there’s no tomorrow. She seems to be very thirsty. Perhaps she was lost in the desert and was unable to find water to quench her thirst. After finishing, she tosses the empty bottle into the recycling bin.