"That one looks just like a sheep！ And look over there. That one looks like a horse！" Do you remember lying on your back in a grassy field on a summer afternoon， discovering the soft shapes in the clouds in the sky？ Those were the good old days when you could see anything and everything in the clouds.,But now people look at the sky and see clouds in the shape of a motor company's advertising logo 标识， or a message inviting them to go out and buy a certain brand 品牌 of beer. These cloud pictures are not products of their imaginations. Instead， they are produced by a machine. These new floating advertisements are called Flogos； the name stands for "floating logos." They're made from a mixture of soapy foam 泡沫 and a lighter­than­air gas such as helium，and they can be made into different sizes and shapes depending on the advertisement.,Flogos can last up to an hour if weather conditions are good， and they can fly several kilometers high. Advertisers can rent a Flogo machine for $2，500 a day. The set­up is normally performed within 1 to 2 hours， and it will release four Flogos per minute. Advertisers can fill the air with any shape or message they want.,Some people are worried that the Flogos might not be pollution­free 无污染的. However， the Flogo's inventor insists that the soap he uses is natural， and that a Flogo just dissipates 消失 in the air， leaving nothing behind. Though it may be true that Flogos are environmentally friendly， some people believe that the natural clouds in our memory may be replaced by man­made ones. They are afraid that soon there will be nowhere left where their imaginations can float freely.

　　Section_ⅠWarming Up & Reading - Pre­reading

　　　[原文呈现] [读文清障]

　　THE PROBLEM OF THE SNAKES

　　When I called up① my mother in the countryside on the telephone she was very upset. "There are some snakes in our courtyard②，" she told me. "Snakes come near the house now and then③， and they seem to have made their home here, not far from④ the walnut⑤ tree. Can you get rid of⑥ them please？" I felt very proud. Here was a chance for me to distinguish⑦ myself by inventing something merciful⑧ that would catch snakes but not harm them⑨. I knew my parents would not like me to hurt these living creatures!

　　The first thing I did was to see if there were any products⑩ that might help me, but there only seemed to be powders⑪ designed to kill snakes. A new approach was clearly needed. I set about⑫ researching the habits of snakes to find the easiest way to trap them. Luckily these reptiles⑬ are small and that made the solution easier. 　　①call up给......打电话

　　②courtyard/'kɔːtjɑːd/n.院子；庭院；天井

　　③now and then偶尔；有时

　　④far from句中意为"离......远"。还可表示"远非；相差很远"，后接名词、动名词等。

　　⑤walnut/'wɔːlnʌt/n.胡桃；胡桃木

　　⑥get rid of除掉；摆脱

　　⑦distinguish/dIs'tIŋɡwIʃ/vi.& vt.显示......的差别；使......有所不同；辨别

　　⑧merciful/'mɜːsIfl/adj.宽大的；仁慈的；慈悲的

　　⑨本句的主干结构是Here was a chance，其后的to distinguish myself ...but not harm them作后置定语，修饰chance，句中的that would ...是定语从句，修饰先行词something。

　　⑩product/'prɒdʌkt/n.产品

　　⑪powder/'paʊdə/n.粉末；火药

　　⑫set about开始；着手

　　⑬reptile n．[C]爬行动物