【正文】 f them was so strong nor so ri ch. Thi s m eant that they coul d not stop som ebody el se m aki ng new software. I al ways wonder how he coul d get so ri ch so qui ckl y. H as he done i t by fai r m eans? O r has he done i t by bei ng a puter bul ly? 必修二 Unit 1 In search of the am ber room Frederi ck Wi l iam I, the ki ng of Prusi a, coul d never have i m agi ned that his greatest gift to the Russi an peopl e woul d have such an am azi ng hi story. This gi ft was the Amber Room, whi ch was gi ven this nam e because several tons of am ber were used to m ake i t. The am ber whi ch was sel ected had a beautiful yel owbrown col our li ke honey. The desi gn of the room was i n the fancy style popul ar in those days. It was al so a treasure decorated with gol d and jewel s, which tok the country’s best artists about ten years to make. In fact, the rom was not m ade to be a gi ft. It was desi gned for the pal ace of Fredrick I. H owever, the next Ki ng of Prussi a, Fredri ck Wi l i am I, to whom the am ber rom belonged, deci ded not to keep i t. In 1716 he gave i t to Peter the Great. In return, the Czar sent him a troop of his best sol diers. So the Amber Room became part of the Czar’s winter pal ace in St Petersburg. About four m etres l ong, the room served as a smal recepti on hal for i m portant vi stors. Later, Catheri ne Ⅱ had the Am ber Room m oved to a palace outsi de St Petersburg where she spent her summ ers. She tol d her arti sts to add more detail s to i t. In 1770 the room was pl eted the way she wanted. Alm ost si x hundred candl es l i t the room , and i ts m irrors and pi ctures shone li ke gol d. Sadl y, al though the Am ber Room was si dered one of the wonders of the worl d, i t i s now m i si ng. In Septem ber 1941, the N azi army was near St Petersburg. Thi s was atim e when the two countri es were at war. Before the N azis coul d get to the summ er palace, the Russi ans were abl e to remove som e furni tures and sm al l art objects from the Am ber Room. H owever, some of the N azi s secretl y stol e the room i tsel f. In l es than two days 100000 pi eces were put i nsi de twentyseven wooden boxes. There is no doubt that the boxes were then put on a trai n for Koni gsberg, which was at a tim e a Germ an ci ty on the Balti c Sea. After that, what hapened to the Am ber Rom rem ains a m ystery. Recentl y, the Russi ans and Germans have buil t a new Am ber Room at the summ er pal ace. By studying ol d photos of the form er Am ber room, they have m ade the new one l ooke li ke the ol d one. In 2020 i t was ready for the peopl e of St Petersburg when they cel ebrated the 300th bithday of thei r city. A fact of an opi nion What i s a fact? Is i t som ethi ng that peopl e beli eve? No. A fact i s anything that can be proved. For exampl e, i t can be proved that Chi na has m ore peopl e than any other country i n the worl d. Thi s i s a fact. Then what i s an opi ni on? An opi nion i s what som eone bel i eves i s true but has not been proved. So an opi noi on i s not good evi dence in a trail. For example, it is an opinion if you say “Cats are better pets than dogs”. It may be true, but it is dificul t to prove. Some people may not agree with this opinion but they al so cannot prove that they are ri ght. In a trail , a judge m ust deci de whi ch eyewitnesses to bel i eve and whi ch not to beli eve. The judge does not consi der what each eyewi tness l ooks l i ke or where that person li ves or works. H e/She onl y cares about whether the eyewi tness has gi ven true inform ati on, whi ch m ust be facts rather than opi ni ons. Thi s ki nd of i nform ati on is cal l ed evi dence. Bi g Feng to the rescue His friends and famil y cal him “Big Feng” because he is bery tal l and played basketbal l as a young man. But he is al so big i n a di fferent way — he fights hard to protect China’s past. H is real name is Feng Jicai and he has written many novel s about l ife i n Chi na. Several years ago, however, he put down hi s pen for a whi l e and began to protect the cl tural reli cs i n Ti anji n, where he li ves. O nce som eon asked him why he no l onger wrote. He repli ed that at the m om ent he fel t protecti ng cul tural reli cs was m ore i m portant. Feng l oves hi s hom etown. He bel i eves that ol d things m ust be given a pl ave next to new thi ns, or peopl e wi l soon fet ther great past. H e does not m ake speeches to get others to hel p him i n hi s projects. Instead he goes out and does what he can hi m esel f. If others fol l ow him , so much the better. O ne of hi s biggest projects was to protect the ol dest street i n Ti anjin. Al ong that street some shops had done business for seven hundred years. Al thought the ci ty government rebuil t this street, they did save i ts oldestcoul d save into wagons. They helped one another climb the high hil s around the city. Never in al SanFrsncio’s histroy were her peopl e so ki nd as on that terribl e ni ght. Uni t 5 El ias’ story My name i s El ias. I am a poor worker in SouthAfri ca. The time when I fi rst met N elson Mandel a was a very di fficult peri od of my li fe. I was twelve years ol d. It was i n 1952 and Mandela was the black l awyer to whom I went for advi ce. H e offered gui dance to poor black people on their legal probl ems. He was generous wi th his ti me, for whi ch I was grateful. I needed hi s help because I had very l ittle education. I began school at six. The school where I studied for onl y two years was three ki lometers away. I had to leave because my fami ly coul d not continue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I could not read or write wel . After tryi ng hard, I got a job i n a gol d mi ne. However, this was a ti me when one had to got to have a pasbook to live in Johannesburg. Sadl y I di d not have i t because I was not born there, and I worried about whether I would bee out of work. The day when N el son Mandela h