A high school in Hiroshima City has been the first to do something with DNA in the world. Its students have won praise not only for doing this research but also for presenting their findings to groups of expert scientists. The school is one of the Super Science High Schools allowed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, where students are given an opportunity to study science at an advanced level. Here, students use the same type of hitech experimental laboratories as those found at universities. In these labs, they conduct experiments and research in new fields of study not found in textbooks. As part of this science course, the students, with the help of Hiroshima University, used a machine called sequencer (音序器), and over the course of a year and a half they succeeded in decoding (解译) the DNA. They then presented their results to academic groups. Achieving a world first might sound very wonderful, but the process of decoding the DNA involved very hard work. The students were also responsible for maintaining the equipment, and they had to read difficult research papers and put in extra study beyond their regular schoolwork.
"Researchers need to work hard. The work was tiring, but the students worked toward their ambitious goal of achieving a world first. They have a great sense of achievement, and the number of students who hope to become biologists has increased," said Taruma Akinori, who is in charge of the science course.
In addition to the results being added to the scientific community, the students’ research paper will be translated into English and made available overseas. Moreover, the students have decided to take on a new challenge in DNA decoding.Which of the following is the most suitable title for the passage?
| A．Decoding the blueprint of life |
| B．Super Science High School |
| C．More students hoping to become biologists |
| D．Hi-tech experimental laboratory |
Up to a point, their success is due to ______.
| A．hi-tech experimental facilities |
| B．the great pressure their school put on them |
| C．the increasing number of biologists |
| D．little interest in their regular school work |
The research paper will be put into English in order to ______.
| A．become an English textbook |
| B．help the students make English friends |
| C．make the results known by the whole world |
| D．challenge foreign scientists |
The author’s attitude towards those students who have accomplished a world first in DNA decoding is ______.
| A．indifferent | B．admiring |
| C．slighting | D．disappointed |
Who taught you to speak English? Your parents, while you were a child? Your teacher at school? Perhaps even the BBC as a grown-up. Whoever it was, somehow you have developed an understanding of what is rapidly becoming a truly global language.
There are now about 376 million people who speak English as their first language, and about the same number who have learnt it in addition to their mother tongue. There are said to be one billion people learning English now and about 80% of the information on the Internet is in English.
Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? Should we celebrate the fact that more and more of us can communicate, using a common language, across countries and cultures? Or should we worry about the dangers of “ mono-culturalism”, a world in which we all speak the same language, eat the same food and listen to the same music?
Does it matter if an increasing number of people speak the same language? I would have thought the other way around(相反) although I have never accepted the argument that if only we all understood each other better, there would be fewer wars. Ask the people of India ( where many of them speak at least some English) and Pakistan( the same situation with India) ...
If we all speak English, will we then all start eating McDonalds burgers? Surely not. If English becomes more dominant(占主导地位的), it will kill other languages? I doubt it. When I travel in Africa or Asia, I am always surprised by how many people can speak not only their own language but often one or more other related languages, as well as English and perhaps some French or German as well.
When we discussed this on Talking Point a couple of years ago, we received a wonderfully poetic email from a listener in Ireland. “The English language is a beautiful language. Maybe it’s like a rose,” he said. “But who would ever want their garden just full of roses?”
Well, I love roses, and I think they make a beautiful addition to any garden. But the way I see it, just by planting a few roses, you don’t necessarily need to pull out everything else. If more and more people want to plant English roses, that’s fine by me. By saying “ Ask the people of India... and Pakistan” ( in Paragraph 4) , the author is trying to show that_______.
| A．speaking the same language doesn’t necessarily bring peace |
| B．wars can destroy the relationship between two countries |
| C．English doesn’t kill other languages |
| D．English is widely used in the world |
What does “garden” in the last two paragraphs stand for（代表）?
| A．Language. | B．Family. | C．The world. | D．The universe. |
The author would probably agree that_________.
| A．it’s very hard to plant many kinds of flowers in a garden |
| B．it’s good for people from other countries to learn English |
| C．more and more people like to plant roses in their gardens |
| D．English is easier to learn than other languages |
This passage is mainly about________.
| A．why English has become a global language |
| B．how many people in the world speak English |
| C．how people in the world learn English as a foreign language |
| D．whether we need to worry about English being a world language |
I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”
At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone! ” And she swept it into the wastebasket.
I stood watching her, speechless .What on earth?
She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room--if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”
Then she turned to me, kissed me, and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control.” With that, she left the room.
After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood（情绪）had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly.Why did the author shout at the telephone?
| A．He was mad at the telephone. |
| B．He was angry with his agent. |
| C．He was anxious about his wife. |
| D．He was impatient with the secretary. |
What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?
| A．She said nothing. |
| B．She shouted at him. |
| C．She called the agent. |
| D．She threw the phone away. |
What made the author laugh?
| A．His own behavior. |
| B．His wife’s suggestion. |
| C．His changeable feelings. |
| D．His wife’s sweet kiss. |
What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?
| A．Smart words. | B．Unusual actions. |
| C．Surprising looks. | D．Anxious feelings. |
Holidays
| Holiday News Vacancies (空位) now and in the school holidays at a country hotel in Devon. This comfortable, friendly home-from-home lies near the beautiful quiet countryside, but just a drive away from the sea. The food is simple but good. Children and pets are welcome.Reduced prices for low season. |
| The Snowdonia Center The Snowdonia Center for young mountain climbers has a mountain 1068.The beginners’ costs are ￡57 for a week, including food and rooms. Equipment is included except walking shoes, which can be hired at a low cost. You must be in good health and prepared to go through a period of body exercises. This could be the beginning of a lifetime of mountain climbing adventure. |
| The World Sea Trip of a Lifetime Our World Sea Trip of 2008 will be unlike any holiday you have ever been on before. Instead of one hotel after another, with all its packing and unpacking, waiting and traveling, you just go to bed in one country and wake up in another. On board the ship, you will be well taken care of. Every meal will be first-class and every cabin like your home. During the trip, you can rest on deck(甲板), enjoy yourself in the games rooms and in the evening dance to our musical team and watch our wonderful play. You will visit all the places most people only dream about – from Acapulco and Hawaii to Tokyo and Hong Kong. For a few thousand pounds, all you’ve ever hoped for can be yours. |
What can you do if you like to go on holidays with pets?
| A．Choose the holiday in Devon. |
| B．Go to the Snowdonia Centre |
| C．Join the World Sea Trip of 2008 |
| D．Visit Acapulco and Hawaii |
In what way is the Snowdonia Centre different from the other two holidays?
| A．It provides chances of family gatherings. |
| B．It provides customers with good food. |
| C．It offers a sport lesson. |
| D．It offers comfortable rooms. |
What is special about the World Sea Trip of 2008?
| A．You can have free meals on deck every day. |
| B．You can sleep on a ship and tour many places. |
| C．You will have chances to watch and act in a play. |
| D．You have to do your own packing and unpacking. |
At the Snowdonia Centre, the beginners’ costs of ￡57 do not cover .
| A．food | B．rooms | C．body exercises | D．walking shoes |
On my first day in America, I was excited, but nervous as well. It was my dear neighbor Susan who helped me get used to my new life far away from home. There was a knock at the door. When I opened it, Susan came in with a home-made apple pie. She hugged me and said：“You must be the precious Chinese doll!” With a big smile, she went on：“Alice, I am sure you have never, ever tried a home-made apple pie before! You are going to love it so much!” To be honest, I was greatly surprised by this welcome from a stranger. And the apple pie made me feel at home.
Susan was very helpful to me. When I was thinking about a costume to wear on Halloween, she suggested I dress up like a traditional Chinese girl. “I happen to have a traditional Chinese dress and guess what, I am a great make-up artist!” she said. Susan didn’t hide her excitement, when, after an hour of hard work, she pushed me to the mirror to examine our work. The clothes fit me perfectly! I am sure that I stood out from the crowd that Halloween, and I am very grateful to Susan for her help.
My first Thanksgiving was another highlight. On the festival morning, I was surprised to find a gift box in my front yard. There was a note on it：“Hello Alice, I am the Thanksgiving bunny! Enjoy your gift!” I looked around and caught Susan looking at me from the porch. Seeing that she had been caught, she awkwardly picked up a newspaper and pretended to read it. I couldn’t help laughing. When I walked up to her, she said：“It was not me. It was the Thanksgiving bunny!” Susan is such a lovely person; she is the American above all others I need to thank.
I saw that the spirit of the Chinese saying, that “Neighbors carry more weight than distant relatives,” is alive and well in America. Susan filled my heart with warmth and joy, just as angels do. What made the writer feel at home in America?
| A．Her Chinese doll. |
| B．Susan’s thanksgiving bunny for Halloween. |
| C．Gifts from her parents in China. |
| D．Susan’s visit on the first day. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The writer lent a Chinese dress to Susan to wear at Halloween. |
| B．Susan often looked at her neighbors to find out what they were doing. |
| C．The writer had never had an apple-pie before she went to America. |
| D．Susan helped the writer to appreciate American festivals. |
What does the phrase “stood out” mean in the passage?
| A．To be more eye-catching. | B．To rise up. |
| C．To be much better. | D．To be strange. |
This passage is most probably taken from_______.
| A．a newspaper | B．a travel guide |
| C．an advertisement | D．a science magazine. |
You have two eyes and they are set close together on the front of your face. Have you wondered why? The reasons are simple and important to the way you see the rest of your world.
Your eyes are like two small cameras. A camera catches an image of an object and records it on film. Similarly, when you look at something, each eye takes in what it sees and sends this image to the back of the eyeball. Because your eyes are set close together, they view the world from about the same height but from slightly different angles. Working as a team, the eyes send the images to your brain, which puts them together into a single, centered image.
Seeing in stereo means seeing with two eyes working together, which is called stereoscopic sight. This allows you to view the world in three dimensions, or 3-D. Seeing depth helps you to judge the distance between you and the objects you see and to adjust to the changing angle at which you see something as you move closer to or farther away from it. If images are coming from only one eye, however, only two of these dimensions----height and width----can be perceived. A world seen with one eye is thus two-dimensional, as in a photograph.
Now consider why your two eyes are on the front of your face. Think of other animals with the same arrangement. They are all animals that hunt, like lions and wolves. Their eyes face directly in front of them. This provides a field of sight about 180 degrees wide, which is called binocular(双眼的) sight. On the other hand, animals that are hunted have eyes on the sides of the head, which provides nearly360-degree field of sight. In order to stay alive, they need to see things coming from the sides and from behind. However, without stereoscopic sight, they have difficulty determining how far a danger is.
With sight both stereoscopic and binocular, humans share with animal hunters the ability to see from side to side and to accurately determine the distance. If you think it would be great to have another type of sight, perhaps with hundreds of tiny eyes like many insects do, think again! Each tiny insect eye sees only a tiny part. Besides, what if you needed glasses? Be glad for the eyesight that you have.According to the passage, the similarity of an eye and a camera is that they both.
| A．can imagine objects | B．can record images |
| C．provide centered images | D．work at the same height |
Stereoscopic sight is a result of having.
| A．two eyes close to each other that work together |
| B．hundreds of eyes, all seeing tiny parts of an image |
| C．a three-hundred-sixty-degree field of sight |
| D．one eye on either side of the head, each seeing a different image |
What is the meaning of the underlined word “perceived” in Para3 most similar to?
| A．known | B．seen | C．taken | D．understood |
We can infer from the last paragraph that.
| A．our eyes work like cameras |
| B．animal hunters are glad for the sight they have |
| C．the three dimensions are depth, height and width |
| D．human beings are fortunate to have such eyesight |