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enough to work as a medicine. Second, it was difficult to produce penicillin in the ample quantities needed to be effective. In 1940, two other scientists, Howard Florey (Australian) and Ernst Chain (German-born English), helped solve these problems, and managed to make and test the new drug in large quantities. Since the new drug was needed for World War II, the government approval process for penicillin was accelerated, and mass production began in 1944. Due to the widespread use of penicillin, many lives were saved during the war. If penicillin had not been available, many people would have died from sickness or even small wounds. Penicillin became the greatest drug of the 20th century, saving millions of lives.
In 1945, the three scientists, Fleming, Florey and Chain, shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work.
Magic needles: Chinese acupuncture
One of the most famous Chinese medical treatments is the art of 'magic
needles', or Chinese acupuncture. It was developed long ago, perhaps as early as 2000 BC. There is evidence that acupuncture began during the Stone Age, when stone tools called bian (砭) were used to press areas of the body. As acupuncture developed, the simple bian stones were replaced by stone needles. Eventually, metal needles began to appear and took their place. There were nine different kinds of needles. These included a needle with a head like an arrow, used for making shallow holes in the surface of the skin; a needle with a round tip, used for pressing the tissue under the skin; a dull needle, used for tapping against pressure points; and a needle like a small sword, used for letting liquid out of body parts which had swollen up. These needles could be made of different metals, such as gold and silver. Some acupuncturists today still use gold and silver needles, but the majority use only stainless steel ones. The main needle now used for acupuncture is fine and sharp. Most of the others have been replaced by more complex medical instruments. For example, the needle looking like a sword has been replaced by a sharp knife that doctors use in operations.
Acupuncture uses stainless steel needles that are put into the skin at certain points on the body so that a disease can be cured or a health problem solved. These points are called acupuncture points. When acupuncture was first
practised, there were 365 such points. The number of acupuncture points was the same as the number of days in a year. However, over the last 2,000 years, this number has gradually increased to about 2,000. Some acupuncturists insert needles at or near the body part affected by the disease, while others select points according to the symptoms that the patient has.
If you go to an acupuncturist, he or she will ask you questions about your
medical history and your way of life. The acupuncturist will look at the colour of your skin and your tongue, listen to your breathing, and check your pulses.
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Western medicine only recognizes one pulse which indicates the heartbeat. However, according to traditional Chinese medicine, there are twelve
different pulses, six on each wrist, and every one of them is connected with a major body organ or its function. By checking all the pulses, the
acupuncturist can find out which energy channel does not have enough energy.
Some of the medical problems that can be treated by acupuncture include severe pains, headaches, injuries, stomach problems and high blood pressure. Some people have also used acupuncture to treat smokers, alcoholics and people who are addicted to drugs.
How acupuncture reduces pain is not clear. One theory explaining this phenomenon suggests that acupuncture blocks pain signals from reaching the brain. Another theory relates acupuncture to the production of chemicals in the body which reduce pain. A lot of people now subscribe to these theories.
As a unique contribution of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture spread to many other Asian countries, such as Japan, as early as the 6th century. It was introduced to the West in the 17th century. Today acupuncture has become popular round the world, as have other traditional Chinese medicines. The World Health Organization recommends acupuncture as a good treatment for over forty medical problems. While doubts about its safety have faded away, interest continues to grow.
My name is Zhu Fei and I am speaking in favour of the Internet I believe that the Internet has positive effects on our lives. There are two main points which must be included when we analyse the Internet. The first is its value for people who are looking for information. The second is our ability to relate to others through the Intemet.
When people need information, from the news and weather forecasts to travel packages and academic research, the Internet is now the first source they turn to. With the touch of a button or the click of a mouse, a student will find abundant information from the largest libraries and museums in the world at his or her command. Internet users can communicate with experts on all sorts of topics, and read articles written by people who are leaders of their fields.
Yet, some people are sceptical. They claim that surfing the Internet is a waste of time. They make the assumption that children spend too much time chatting and playing games instead of focusing on their school work. However, a recent survey conducted in the USA shows that 80 per cent of Intemet users employ it mostly to search for answers to questions. The second most common use of the Internet, for 79 per cent of Internet users, is to find out information about hobbies. These statistics prove that gathering information is the primary use for the Internet.
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Another truly wonderful aspect of the Internet is the way people use it to build social bonds. One of the greatest benefits of Internet friendships is that they are based on common interests, rather than appearance or age. Young people from diverse backgrounds and different countries can form friendships that will last their entire lives. What is more, people who are disabled and must stay in their homes can correspond and communicate with others around the globe who have similar interests. Without the Internet, these people would have fewer avenues to meet people.
For these reasons, I believe the Internet is a positive tool that helps make our lives better.
Unit 3
The Internet has negative effects on our lives
My name is Li Lei and I will be speaking against the Internet. In my opinion, the Internet has negative effects on our lives. The main drawbacks of the Internet I will address today are that it has too much information that has not been evaluated for accuracy, and that it is transforming the way people spend their time.
Of course, access to up-to-date, accurate information is an important thing for anyone who is doing research. One great strength of the Internet is that it provides information. One great weakness of the Internet, though, is that it is difficult to know whether the information is true and accurate. The huge
amount of false information on the Internet becomes more of a problem every day. This is very troublesome because we cannot always tell if the information is true or not. In 2003, eBay, a famous website where people buy and sell things, said that 70 per cent of their problems were with people who sold things that did not exist, or who lied about the products they were selling. Educators around the world complain that students are handing in papers using false information they found on the Internet. These problems do not occur as often when people use traditional reference materials, such as books, newspapers and magazines.
Another disadvantage of the Internet is the way that it is affecting people's private lives. Now, instead of spending time together in the evening, some families spend their time apart because one or more members are using the computer, or are in a booth at an Internet cafe. In fact, some young people spend so much time playing computer games on the Internet that they have become addicted to them. To help solve this problem, a special clinic was opened in Beijing in 2005.
One unfortunate outcome of Internet use is that it damages people's ability to live normal lives. One university did a study about the students who had dropped out, and found that 43 per cent of them were heavy internet users. This study shows that people who spend too much time on the Internet tend to withdraw from the people and the world round them.
These are all negative effects the Internet has on our lives. I feel it is important for us either to limit our use of the Internet, or to learn how to handle the
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problems it has caused.
Unit 3 Reading
因特网对我们生活的影响
因特网对我们的生活有正面影响
我叫朱飞，我代表支持因特网的一方发言。也就是说，我认为因特网对我们的生活有正面
的影响。我们对因特网进行分析时，必须包含两个要点：第一个是因特网对于搜索信息的人具
有的价值；第二个是我们通过因特网与他人建立联系的能力。
当人们需要信息时，无论是时事新闻、天气预报还是包价旅游和学术研究，因特网如今是
很多人的首选信息源。一名学生轻按键盘键或点击鼠标，就能从世界上最大的图书馆和博物馆
中找到大量信息，加以使用。因特网使用者能与专家就各种话题进行交流，也可以阅读各个领
Project
Researching on the Internet
The Internet is the fastest growing source of information in the world today. There are, however, some things to keep in mind when you use it to do research. Before you sit down at a computer terminal, read this brief guide to make sure that you use the Internet in the best way possible. Step one : choosing a search srvice
Let's start by looking at the two services you can choose between to assist you in your search: search engines and subject directories. Both give you direct links, but the information is chosen and organized in different ways. Search engines
Search engines are a type of computer program. The links that you get are not
classified by subject. These engines search the Internet for you based on the key words you type in, and choose web pages for you which contain the words you ask for. The contents they search have not been evaluated. This means that the information has never been checked--it could be reliable, true information or false information written by a person without qualifications or someone who does not have solid facts. The links you obtain from the search engines go to full articles or pages. This requires you to be patient as you have to read the information to decide whether it is linked to what you are researching. Examples of famous search engines are Google, Yahoo and Baidu. You can also go to the www.thesearchenginelist.com website and check their list of search engines. Subject directories
Subject directories are built by humans. Someone has combed through pages and links and selected all those that are in the directory. The results of your search are
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divided into specific subject categories. You do not get the full pages to read. Instead, you get a bunch of titles of articles or pages and, sometimes, a short summary of the information they contain. You need to decide whether the information is useful to you on that basis. Most often, the information in subject directories has been evaluated, and someone has decided that the information is relevant and correct. Being relevant and correct, though, does not equal being up to date.
There are several things to take into consideration when you are searching.
1 Information gets old. Just as you might look at when a book was published, you
must also check the dates of the websites you find. Many websites will say, at the bottom of the page, the date when they were last updated. Do not use information that is too old.
2 People put information on the Internet. Usually, people try to put correct information on the Internet, but not every person bothers to read over their own writing and make corrections. As a general rule, check the source of the information you find. Personal web pages are not recommended for doing
research. Government pages or pages managed by organizations and companies you trust are much better. If you are not sure about the information you find, consult other web pages to confirm it.
3 The way you type your key words makes a difference. If you use the plus symbol '+', it means the same as the word 'and'. You can search for 'bird + sparrow' and the results of your search will only be pages that have both the words 'bird' and 'sparrow' in them. A minus symbol '-' means the same as 'not', so if you want to learn about birds but you do not want any information about sparrows, you could type 'bird -sparrow'. Then your results will be all the pages that have the word 'bird', but not ones that have the word 'sparrow'. If you type 'bird OR sparrow', then your results will be web pages that have information about birds or sparrows.
Step Three: using your information
Remember that someone wrote the information you have found. This means those words belong to them. To copy the words just as you found them is not only cheating, but also illegal. Write an outline of the information you have found. Then write your report, using your own words and making your own decisions about what it means. When you are finished, you should always acknowledge where you got your data by attaching a list of the websites you got your information from. This way, a teacher can check them, and an interested friend can also read what you read.
Follow these tips, and your time spent doing research on the Internet will be much more worthwhile. Happy searching!
Unit 4
The first underground in the world
Welcome to the London Underground, or as it is usually known, the tube. It