June 26, 2000 — the Human Genome(基因组) Project, a great $3 billion, 15-year task aimed at drawing the genetic(遗传的) map of humans, is now more than 90 percent completed. The scientific and medical communities(团体) are very excited about the chances genetic research provides for getting rid of diseases and prolonging(延长) human life. But those communities and policy(政策) makers also are careful about the scientific door they are opening as the project uncovers the mysteries of life.
For the last few years, the genetic advances in the developing field of biotechnology(生物技术) have provides material for all kinds of work, but the developments of modern science in unlocking the secrets of the human genetic code(密码) have opened a world of possibilities for human health, as well as for the popular imagination.
While European and Japanese researchers are making rapid progress in decoding(解码) human DNA, the leading organization for genetic research is in the United States, which began in 1990, is “unlocking the code” of the human body to learn how to defeat fatal(致命的)diseases. Already, the Human Genome Project has become widely known and praised for finding the genes(基因) connected with terrible diseases as yet(迄今), and making progress toward separating the genes that show a sign of breast cancer or AIDS.
Once these genes are found and studied, researchers can develop new ways to attack infections(传染), and genetic diseases. Medical companies are very interested in mapping the human genome, as they expect to develop a lot of new drugs for these illnesses.
1. Why did the scientists work hard at mapping the human genome?
A. Because the human genome can destroy many illnesses.
B. Because the human genome's completion can help them get rid of many diseases.
C. Because they wanted to be better known than others.
D. Because the human genome can provide a lot of chances of work.
2. Which country studied the genes most rapidly in the world?
A. Japan. B. Germany. C. The United States. D. China.
3. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. If the genes can be found, scientists can study many new ways to cure illnesses.
B. The scientists have made great progress in connecting the genes with the cancers.
C. Many medical companies show great interest in drawing the human genome map.
D. The United States began the Genes Study early in the 19th century.
4. The author suggests that the Human Genome Project can cause _______.
A. the policy makers to feel very worried and careful
B. the scientists to work harder
C. many people to find work easily
D. a lot of companies to produce many new drugs
5. The main idea of this article is about _______.
A. unlocking genetic code
B. the genes' discovery
C. the great human genome
D. the genes and the scientists
People who like travelling have their reasons. They believe that travelling can help them expand their field of view, especially in the geographical and historical sense. They also think that touring will give them more chances to enjoy different kinds of food and experience new things that would never be brought by other activities. But those who dislike travelling also have some reasons.
Travelling, in my opinion, does more good than harm. Most importantly, it broadens(扩大) our mind. We can get in touch with other civilizations(文明), culture, customs and ideas.
Through history, most people travelled because of necessity(必要性)—not for pleasure. People travelled just in order to remain alive. They searched for food to eat or places to live in. They sometimes ran away from enemies. This is not to say that no one ever travelled just for the fun of it. In ancient times, for example, rich Romans travelled all the way to Greece to take part in the Olympic Games, and festivals. Of course, some people decided to travel just out of curiosity(好奇心). They wanted to find out what it looked like beyond the horizon(地平线). Also, business travel has been going on for centuries.Traders could not only make money but also learn to speak several languages and be introduced to different cultures.
So travelling does enrich our mind and draw new ideas to us. There is no doubt that we can get much from it.The underlined word“expand”in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by “ __________”.
| A．decide | B．protect | C．widen | D．lose |
According to the passage, in the past most people travelled _____________.
| A．for knowledge | B．to make a living | C．to get experiences | D．for fun |
In the writer’s opinion, travelling can be ______________.
| A．tiring | B．funny | C．expensive | D．helpful |
There is a famous story about British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He was writing a poem when he was interrupted by a knock at the door.
This was an age before telephones. Someone was delivering a message. When Coleridge got back to his poem, he had lost his inspiration. His poetic mood had been broken by the knock on his door. His unfinished poem, which could otherwise have been a masterpiece, would now never be more than a fragment.
This story tells how unexpected communication can destroy an important thought, which bring us to the cellphone.
The most common complaint about cellphones is that people talk on them to the annoyance of people around them. But more damaging may be the cellphone’s interruption of our thoughts.
We have already entered a golden age of little white lies about our cellphones, and this is by and large（大体上）a healthy, protective development. “I didn’t hear it ring” or “I didn’t realize my phone had shut off” are among the lies we tell to give ourselves space where we’re beyond reach.
The notion of being unreachable is not a new concept—we have “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doors of hotel rooms. So why must we feel guilty when it comes to cellphones? Why must we apologize if we decide to shut off the phone for a while?
Now time alone, or a conversation with someone next to us which cannot be interrupted by a phone, is something to be cherished. Even cellphone devotees（信徒）, myself usually included, can’t help at times wanting to throw their phone away, or curse the day they were invented.
But we don’t and won’t, and there really is no need. All that’s required to take back our private time is a general social recognition that we have the right to it. In other words, we have to develop a healthy contempt(轻视) for the rings of our own phones.
A cellphone call deserves no greater priority(优先考虑的事) than a random(随机的) word from the person next to us，though the call on my cellphone may be the one-in-a-million from Steven Spielberg—who has finally read my novel and wants to make it his next movie. But most likely it is not, and I’m better off thinking about the idea I just had for a new story, or the slice of pizza I’ll eat for lunch.What is the point of the anecdote about the poet Coleridge in the first three paragraphs?
| A．To direct readers’ attention to the main topic. |
| B．To show how important inspiration is to a poet |
| C．To emphasize the disadvantage of not having a cellphone |
| D．To encourage readers to read the works of this poet. |
What does the writer think about people telling “white lies” about their cellphones?
| A．It is a way of signaling that you don’t like the caller. |
| B．It is natural to tell lies about small things |
| C．It is basically a good way to protect one’s privacy. |
| D．We should feel guilty when we can’t tell the truth. |
According to the author, what is the most annoying problem caused by cellphones?
| A．People get so obsessed(着迷) with the cellphone rings that they fail to notice anything else. |
| B．People feel guilty when they are not able to answer their cellphones. |
| C．Cellphones interrupt people’s private time. |
| D．With cellphones it is no longer possible to be unreachable. |
What does the last paragraph suggest?
| A．A person who calls us from afar deserves more of our attention |
| B．Steven Spielberg once called the author to talk about the author’s novel. |
| C．You should always finish your lunch before you answer a call on the cellphone. |
| D．Never let cellphones disturb your life too much. |
Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it can run away or fight back. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But plants can defend themselves by using both physical and chemical means.
Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines (刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.
Some plants, such as the oak tree, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal's teeth.
Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.
Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for instance, has prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液). A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.The holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals________.
| A．are not tall enough | B．like the lower leaves only |
| C．are not clever enough | D．can get the lower leaves easily |
To defend themselves, oak trees use________.
| A．chemical means | B．physical means |
| C．bitter chemicals | D．sandy materials |
How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?
| A．Its leaves fight against the attack by physical means. |
| B．Its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar. |
| C．Its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked. |
| D．Its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away. |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Plants and Animals | B．How Plants Defend Themselves |
| C．Attacks and Defenses | D．How Animals Eat Plant Leaves |
BRITAIN is a popular tourist place．But tours of the country have advantages and disadvantages.
GOOD NEWS
Free museums．No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities（文物）.
Pop music．Britain is the only country to compare with the US on this score.
Black cabs．London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never
enough of them at weekends or night.
Choice of food．Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurants.
Fashion．Not only do fashion junkies love deeply and respect highly brand names
such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen; street styles are justly loved, too.
BAD NEWS
Poor service．“It’s part of the image of the place．People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says Professor Tony Seaton, of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.
Poor public transport．Trains and buses are promised to defeat the keenest tourists, although the overcrowded London tube is inexplicably (难以理解的) popular.
Rain．Still in the number one complaint.
No air-conditioning．So that even splendidly hot summers become as unbearable as the downpours.
Overpriced hotels．The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.
Licensing hours．Alcohol (酒) is in short supply after 11 p.m. even in “24-hour cities”.What do tourists complain most?
| A．Poor service． | B．Poor public transport. |
| C．Rain. | D．Overpriced hotels. |
What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?
| A．Pop music in Britain is better than that in the US. |
| B．Pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US. |
| C．Pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US. |
| D．Pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US. |
When are people not able to get alcohol?
| A．At 12: 00 p.m. | B．At 10: 00 p.m. | C．At 11: 00 p.m. | D．At 9: 00 p.m. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．You have to pay to visit the museums． |
| B．It’s very cheap to travel by taxi there. |
| C．You cannot find Chinese food there． |
| D．The public transport is poor there. |
SEE a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture.But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (喷) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (树脂)and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair --- the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more commonplace, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy. "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?According to the article, in the future, the 3-D printing technology will ___.
| A．enable people to make better purchases online |
| B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers |
| C．change the way we make many products |
| D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online |
What was the big event happening in the 3-D printing industry last year?
| A．The 3-D printing technology was taken out ofthe factory. |
| B．The 3-D printer became more affordable forconsumers. |
| C．The 3-D printer was used for medical treatmentfor the first time. |
| D．3-D printing technology began to be used invarious fields. |
How is the last paragraph developed?
| A．By analyzing a cause and an effect. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By presenting research findings. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．Printing out everything | B．Technology in the future |
| C．Online shopping disappearing | D．Great demand for 3-D printers |