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一、中级英语
The capital of the People's Republic of China，Beijing is the coun-try's political， economic and cultural center．The city's long his-tory dates back to very early times． During the warring States Period between 475 and 221 B.C., it was the capital of the state of Yuan． From the 12th century onward，Beijing was the capital of four feudal dynasties－the Jin，Yuan，Ming，and Qing．The last dynasty， the Qing， was overthrown during the Revolution of 1911．
In the early 1920s', Beijing became the cradle of China's new demo-ratic revolution． The May Fourth Movement， a massive student move-ment against imperialism and feudalism， began here in 1919． This movement eventually led to the founding Of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921． It was in Beijing on October l， 1949 that Chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China to the World．
Geographically， Beijing is located in the northern part of the Nor-th China Plain， surrounded by mountains on the north，east and we-st． The Beijing municipality covers an area of 16,800 square kilo-meters（6,486 square miles）． The annual temperature averages 55 degrees Fahrenheit（11.9 degrees Centigrade）． Annual rainfall ave-rages 24 Inches（696 millimeters）．
Beijing has a population of approximately 9 million, 5 million living in the city proper， and nearly 4 million， on the outskirts． Metro-politan Beijing consists of four urban districts， six suburban dis-tricts and nine outlying ounties． Before 1949， Beijing was a con-sumer city， relying on daily necessities brought in from Tianjin，Shanghai，Guangzhou，and even from abroad． Now It has developed into one of the country's leading manufacturing centers． In the l940s， public transportation in Beijing was provided by 49 streetcars and 5 buses， covering only 25.6 miles（41 kilometers）． By l980， Beijing had more than 3,000 vehicles for public transport，servicing routes totaling 940 miles（l,500 kilometers）． Beijing's first subway line was started In 1969， running 15 miles（24 kilometers）from east to west． A second line， which runs directly beneath the old city wall is also now open to traffic． Then there are the taxis， whose num-bers had grown to some 18,000 by l986． However， many People prefer the bicycle， which is a very important means of transportation in Beijing． There are over 5 million bicycles in the city．
As the cultural center of the country， Beijing has more than 50 institutions of higher learning， not to mention the many national research institutes and art and science academies established in the capital．
二、高级英语
They met and courted online. Less than three months later, Henk ten Hoope proposed to Sher Earle by E-mail and she accepted by pecking away at her computer key-board in suburban Maryland. He immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands on a fiancé visa and, after a private ceremony before a justice of the peace, they "started all over."
Started to get to know one another, that is. Despite the fact that they had been in steady communication for months-exploring each other's likes and dislikes and becoming intimate enough to marry-when they finally met face to face at a Baltimore airport, they had a lot more exploring and adjusting to do. "I was braver online," Sher con-cedes. "You expose yourself more." Adds Henk: "No matter what happens online, it's different. You haven't met for real."
It's not that Henk and Sher were being deceptive-the opposite, in fact. There are those cases where people mask their true identity on-line to play psychological games, but these two were trying to re-present themselves faithfully. The question that their relationship raise-a question that is intriguing a growing number of social scien-tists as such cyber-romances proliferate-is: How authentically can people represent themselves through E-mail? And are such E-mail re-lationships qualitatively different from ones initiated in barrooms and office corridors?
三、商务英语
Though Hordes of illegitimate children are yet to come streaming over Hong Kong's border, another nightmarish vision has quickly materia-lized. Little more than a week after the Court of Final Appeal's landmark "right of abode" ruling, four mainland Chinese academics in-volved in drafting Hong Kong's constitution accused the judges of overstepping their legal bounders. A Beijing spokesman quickly en-dorsed their position and demanded that the ruling be changed. With that, Hong Kong now faces one of its most anxious moments since the handover, and perhaps the greatest challenge yet to the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law. As Democratic Party leader Mar-tin Lee puts it: "Nothing could be worse than what's developing."
At stake, depending on one's perspective, is either the principle of judicial independence or the authority of the central government. In a non-binding sentence included in its ruling, the CFA asserted its right to determine "Whether an art of the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee is inconsistent with the Basic Law." The quartet of mainland legal experts claims that only the NPC-China's legislature-can make such an evaluation. Hong Kong's defenders, and the court, say that is absolutely true only in matters of defense and foreign affairs. In cases that concern the rights of people in Hong Kong-and which are not the responsibility of the ventral government-the CFA says that its authority is confirmed by Article 19 of the Basic Law: "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be vested with independent judicial power, including that of final ad-judication."
The conflict can be cast in epic terms-Hong Kong's well-established "rule of law" versus the more slippery "rule of man" that holds sway on the mainland. But its roots may also lie in more petty considera-tions. In reporting the comments of the four Chinese academic, the state-run Xinhua News Agency also noted the view of unnamed experts that the ruling was "in direct opposition to the interest of Hong Kong residents and has hindered efforts to maintain stability and prosperity." Even if the academics did not have such material con-siderations in mind, their argument dealt in part with legal quib-bles ; the Chinese-language version of the Basic Law, they noted, includes an "etc." after "defense and foreign affairs," which they argues ex-panded the central government's purview to cover immigra-tion. "No-body's trying to declare independence," says Hong Kong legislator Emily Lau. But that doesn't mean the issues involved are minor. Notes Lau: "Whenever Beijing shouts, Hong Kong people tremble."
If Beijing officials believed they were doing the territory a favor, they were soon disabused of that notion. Political analysts and business leaders alike were quick to warn that any impression of interference in Hong Kong's Western-style legal system would damage the city's appeal as a financial center. Washington and London, mean-while, each voiced support for the independence of the courts. The message seems to be sinking in. Late last week, a spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry reaffirmed Beijing's commitment to the "one country, two systems" formulate that is meant to guarantee Hong Kong's wide-ranging autonomy (although she pointedly warned that the matter was an internal affair of China's). And Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa dispatched Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie to Beijing to discuss the ruling with central authorities. Cooler heads may actually prevail-which would set a fine precedent for everyone trying to deal with the CFA's controversial ruling.
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