1、Later Catherine had the Amber Room moved to a palace outside St Petersburg where she spent her summers. She told her artists to add more details to it .In 1770 the room was completed the way she wanted . Almost six hundred candles lit the room ,and its mirrors and pictures shone like gold. Sadly , a
2、lthough the Amber Room was considered one of the wonders of the world , it is now missing . In September 1941, the Nazi army was near St Petersburg . This was a time when the two countries were at war. Before the Nazis could get to the summer palace, the Russians were able to remove some furniture a
3、nd small art objects from the Amber Room . However , some of the Nazis secretly stole the room itself . In less than two days 100,000 pieces were put inside twenty-seven woooden boxs . There is no doubt that the boxs were then put on a train for Konigsberg, which was at that time a German city on th
4、e Baltic Sea . After that, what happened to the Amber Room remains a mystery .Recently , the Russians and Germans have built a new Amber Room at the summer palace . By studying old photos of the former Amber Room , they have made the new one look like the old one .In 2003 it was ready for the people
5、 of St Petersburg when they celebrated the 300th birthday of their city . A FACT OR AN OPINION?What is a fact? Is it something that people believe? No. A fact is anything that can be proved. For example, it can be proved that China has more people than any other country in the world. This is a fact.
6、Then what is an opinion? An opinion is what someone believes is true but has not been proved. So an opinion is not good evidence in a trial. For example, it is an opinion if you say “Cats are better pets than dogs”. It may be true, but it is difficult to prove. Some people may not agree with this op
7、inion but they also cannot prove that they are right.In a trial, a judge must decide which eyewitnesses to believe and which not to believe. The judge does not consider what each eyewitness looks like or where that person lives or works. He/she only cares about whether the eyewitness has given true
8、information, which must be facts rather than opinions. This kind of information is called evidence. Unit 2AN INTERVIEWPausanias, who was a Greek writer about 2,000 years ago, has come on a magical journey on March 18th 2007 to find out about the present-day Olympic Games. He is now interviewing Li Y
9、an, a volunteer for the 2008 Olympic Games.P: My name is Pausanias. I lived in what you call “Ancient Greece” and I used to write about the Olympic Games a long time ago. Ive come to your time to find out about the present-day Olympic Games because I know that in 2004 they were held in my homeland.
10、May I ask you some questions about the modern Olympics?L: Good heavens! Have you really come from so long ago? But of course you can ask any questions you like. What would you like to know? How often do you hold your Games? Every four years. There are two main sets of Games-the Winter and Summer Oly
11、mpics, and both are held every four years on a regular basis. The Winter Olympics are usually held two years before the Summer Games. Only athletes who have reached the agreed standard for their event will be admitted as competitors. They may come from anywhere in the world. Winter Games? How can th
12、e runners enjoy competing in winter? And what about the horses? Oh no! There are no running races or horse riding events. Instead there are competitions like skiing and ice skating which need snow and ice. Thats why theyre called the Winter Olympics. Its in the Summer Olympics that you have the runn
13、ing races, together with swimming, sailing and all the team sports. I see. Earlier you said that athletes are invited from all over the world. Do you mean the Greek world? Our Greek cities used to compete against each other just for the honour of winning. No other countries could join in, nor could
14、slaves or women! Nowadays any country can take part if their athletes are good enough. There are over 250 sports and each on has its own standard. Women are not only allowed, but play a very important role in gymnastics, athletics, team sports and Please wait a minute! All those events, all those co
15、untries and even women taking part! Where are all the athletes housed? For each Olympics, a special village is built for them to live in, a main reception building, several stadiums for competitions, and a gymnasium as well. That sounds very expensive. Does anyone want to host the Olympic Games? As
16、a matter of fact, every country wants the opportunity. Its a great responsibility but also a great honour to be chosen. Theres as much competition among countries to host the Olympics as to win Olympic medals. The 2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing, China. Did you know that? Oh yes! You must be v
17、ery proud. Certainly. And after that the 2012 Olympics will be held in London. They have already started planning for it. A new village for the athletes and all the stadiums will be built to the east of London. New medals will be designed of course and Did you say medals? So even the olive wreath ha
18、s been replaced! Oh dear! Do you compete for prize money too? No, we dont. its still all about being able to run faster, jump higher and throw further. Thats the motto of the Olympics, you know-“Swifter, Higher and Stronger.” Well, thats good news. How interesting! Thank you so much for your time. T
19、HE STORY OF ATLANTAAtlanta was a Greek princess. She was very beautiful and could run faster than any man in Greece. But she was not allowed to run and win glory for herself in the Olympic Games. She was so angry that she said to her father that she would not marry anyone who could not run faster th
20、an her. Her father said that she must marry, so Atlanta made a bargain with him. She said to him,These are my rules. When a man says he wants to marry me, I will run against him. If he cannot run as fast as me, he will be killed. No one will be pardoned.Many kings and princes wanted to marry Atlanta
21、, but when they heard of rules they knew it was hopeless. So many of them sadly went home, but others stayed to run the race. There was a man called Hippomenes who was amazed when he heard of Atlantas rules,Why are these men so foolish? he thought. Why will they let themselves be killed because they
22、 cannot run as fast as this princess? However, when she saw Atlanta come out of her house to run, Hippomenes changed his mind.I will marry Atlanta-or die! he said.The race started and although the man ran very fast, Atlanta ran faster. As Hippomenes watched he thought, How can I run as fast as Atlan
23、ta? He went to ask the Greek Godness of Love for help. She promised to help him and gave him three golden apples. She said, Throw an apple in front of Atlanta when she is running past. When she stops to pick it up, you will be able to run past her and win.Hippomenes took the apples and went to the K
24、ing. He said, I want to marry Atlanta . The King was sad to see another man die, but Hippomenes said, I will marry her-or die! So the race began. Unit 3WHO AM I?Over time I have been changed quite a lot. I began as a calculating machine in France in 1642. Although I was young I could simplify diffic
25、ult sums. I developed very slowly and it took nearly two hundred years before I was built as an analytical machine by Charles Babbage. After I was programmed by an operator who used cards with holes, I could “think” logically and produce an answer quicker than any person. At that time it was conside
26、red a technological revolution and the start of my “artificial intelligence”. In 1936 my real father, Alan Turing, wrote a book about how I could be made to work as a “universal machine” to solve any difficult mathematical problem. From then on, I grew rapidly both in size and in brainpower. By the
27、1949s I had grown as large as a room, and I wondered if I would grow any larger. However, this reality also worried my designers. As time went by, as was make smaller. First as a PC（personal computer） and then as a laptop, I have been used in offices and homes since the 1970s.These changes only beca
28、me possible as my memory improved. First it was stored in tubes, then on transistors and later on very small chips. As a result I totally changed my shape. As I have grown older I have also grown smaller. Over time my memory has developed so much that, like an elephant, I never forget anything I hav
29、e been told! And my memory became so large that even I couldnt believe it! But I was always so lonely standing there by myself, until in early 1960s they gave me a family connected by a network. I was able to share my knowledge with others through the World Wide Web.Since the 1970s many new applications have been found for me. I have become very important in communication, finance and trade. I have als
