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1、Package Holidays (1993)Package holidays, covering a two weeks stay in an attractive place, are increasingly popular. Once you get to the airport, it is up to the tour operator to see that you get safely to your destinationEverything is laid on for youThere is, in fact, no reason for you to bother to
2、 arrange anything yourselvesYou make friends and have a good time. But there is very little chance that you will really get to know the local peopleThis is even less likely on a coach tour, when you spend almost your entire time travelingOf course, there are carefully planned stops for you to visit
3、historic buildings and monuments. You may visit the beautiful, the historic, the ancient. But time is always shortThere is also the added disadvantage of being obliged to spend you holiday with a group of people you have never met beforeThe American Family (1994) The American family unit is changing
4、. There used to be mainly two types of families, the extended and the nuclear. The former included mother, father, children, and some other relatives such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then as the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people began moving to diffe
5、rent parts of the country in order to search for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family. The nuclear family consisting of only parents and children has therefore become far more wide spread. Todays family, however, can be composed of diverse combinations. With the divorce rate n
6、early one in two, theres an increase in single-parent homesa father or mother living with one or more children. Blended families occur when divorced men and women remarry and combine the children from former marriages into a new family. On the other hand, there is an increase in childless couples wh
7、ile one in rive Americans lives alone.Unidentified Flying Objects (1995)There are many explanations for why UFOs visit the Earth. / The most popular one is that they maybe visitors from other planets./ To fly such aircraft, their builders must develop different forms of aviation,/because they seem t
8、o fly much faster than normal aircraft./ The UFOs, it is believed, must contain scientists/ from other planets who are studying life on earth./ It is even believed that several such aircraft may have landed on earth/ and the space visitors may be living amongst us./ But there are also less fantastic
9、 explanations available./ Although some sightings of UFOs are difficult to explain, most can be explained quite easily./ In many cases the observers might have made a mistake./ They might have seen a weather balloon or an aircraft./ Or the light they saw in the sky might have been light from the gro
10、und,/ reflected on to the clouds./ However, the exact cause of many sightings still remained a mystery.The Indian Medicine Man (1996)Among the Indians of North America, the medicine man was a very important person. He could cure illness and he could speak to the spirits. The spirits were the superna
11、tural forces that controlled the world. The Indians believed that bad spirits made people ill. So when people were ill, the medicine man tried to help them by using magic. He spoke to the good spirits and asked for their help. Many people were cured, because they thought the spirits were helping the
12、m, but really these people cured themselves. Sometimes your own mind is the best doctor for you. The medicine men were often successful for another reason, too. They knew about plants that really can cure illness. A lot of medicines are made from the plants that were used by medicine men hundred of
13、years ago.Legal Age for Marriage (1997)Throughout the United States, the legal age for marriage shows some difference. The most common age without parents consent is 18 for both females and males. However, persons who are under age in their home state can get married in another state, and then retur
14、n to the home state legally married. Each state issues its own marriage license. Both residents and non-residents are qualified for such a license. The fees and ceremonies vary greatly from state to state. Most states, for instance, have a blood test requirement, but a few do not. Most states permit
15、 either a civil or religious ceremony, but a few require the ceremony to be religious. In most states a waiting period is required before the license is issued. This period is from one to five days depending on the state. A three-day-wait is the most common. In some states there is no required waiti
16、ng period.The Railways in Britain (1998)The success of early railways, such as the lines between big cities,/ led to a great increase in railway building in Victorian times. / Between 1835 and 1865 about 25000 kilometers of track were built,/ and over 100 railway companies were created. /Railway travel transformed peoples lives. / Trains were first designed to carry goods. / However, a law in the 19th century forced
