BEIJING,Nov.25,2005(Reuters)—China’s home-grown human bird flu vaccine is at least a year away from hitting the market but tests on humans have been approved (批准) by the government,head of the research drug company said on Friday.
Development of the vaccine started last year after bird flu outbreaks in Thailand and Vietnam and animal trials have already been completed,said Yin Wei-dong,managing director of Sinovac Biotech.
“It is not a virus that is spreading from human to human,so we are very optimistic,” Yin told Reuters in an interview.
The deadly H5N1 made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997,killing six people.The virus appeared again in late 2003 and is known to have infected 130 people in several parts of Asia,killing 68 of them.
“It is not decided yet when the human trials will begin.We just got approval on November 22 by the State Food and Drug Administration,” Yin said.
Oregon,Nov.26,2005(AP)—The deadly strain of bird flu that appeared in Asia and has already spread to other parts of the world has not affected the Oregon poultry (家禽) industry or consumers,according to Oregon State University researchers.
There are many strains of bird flu that do not usually infect humans.But one strain,called H5N1,has jumped from chickens to humans and is blamed for more than 60 deaths in Asia.
International disease control experts are worried about a worldwide outbreak of bird flu,raising concerns such as whether it is safe to eat poultry.
But Oregon State University researchers say there is no proof that the virus can jump to humans by eating cooked poultry products.
“Consumers needn’t be overly concerned about bird flu,” said Jim Hermes,OSU Extension Service poultry specialist.But he urged consumers to follow standard food safety practices in preparing poultry—including washing hands while preparing food,and proper cooking of poultry meat and eggs.
He noted that a 2003 outbreak of bird virus caused much damage to commercial poultry operations in California but did not get into Oregon because of industry safeguards.
60.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the first news report?
A.Human trials have already started but not yet successful.
B.Bird flu killed 68 Asian people in its second outbreak.
C.The bird flu virus is not one that spreads from human to human.
D.The government has agreed to have the vaccine tried on humans.
61.What does the first news report mainly talk about?
A.The new outbreak of the bird flu.
B.How the development of the bird flu vaccine is going on.
C.How many people died of bird flu.
D.What measures the government has taken to stop the spreading of bird flu.
62.What does the underlined word “strains” probably mean?
A.signs. B.symbols. C.kinds. D.diseases.
63.What can we know from the second news report?
A.Because of the safety guards,Oregon poultry industry didn’t suffer any loss in
the 2003 outbreak of bird flu.
B.People in Oregon are not concerned about bird flu.
C.People will develop bird flu even if they eat well-cooked poultry products.
D.H5N1 has caused more than 60 deaths worldwide.
Here is some information about some of the restaurants, museums, shopping centers and
hotels in New York.
| BLUE SKY RESTAURANT Telephone:4444872 Address: 8090 White Road Open : Mon. to Fri. 7:30 am-2:30 pm and5:00pm-9:00 pm Sat. 7:30 am-11:30 am and 5:00 pm-9:30 pm Sun. 11:00 am-2:00 pm and 5:00 pm-9:30 pm |
| NEW YORK MUSEUM American’s largest museum specializing(专业化)in American history Telephone: 2751352 Address: Vanier Park, 1200 Chestnut St. New York Open: Mon. to Fri. 9:00 am-5:00pm(Monday free) Sat. 9:00 am-1:00 pm |
| TONGCHENG SHOPPING CENTER Telephone: 5674398 Address: Furong Road Open: Mon. Wed. and Fri. 9:30 am-5:30 pm Tues. Thurs. and sat. 9:30 am-9:00 pm Sun. 11:00am-9:00 pm |
| HUATIAN HOTEL Telephone: 7868432 Address: 5200 No.7 Road. The Dining Hall: Wed. to Sun. Lunch from 10:30 am Coffee Shop: Mon. to Fri. 6:00 am Sat. 6:30 am and Sun. 7:00 am Mon. to Wed. to 10:00pm Thurs. to Sun11:00 pm |
You do not have to pay on Mondays if you go to ________.
| A.Blue Sky Restaurant | B.New York Museum |
| C.Tongcheng Shopping Center | D.Huatian Hotel |
If you want to go out for lunch on Sunday, you can dial the number ________.
| A.4444872 | B.7868432 | C.2751352 | D.5674398 |
If you are free on early Sunday mornings, you can go to ________.
| A.Furong Road |
| B.8090 White Road |
| C.Coffee Shop on 5200 No.7 Road |
| D.Vanier park, 1200 Chestnut St. New York |
Which place is still open after 10:00pm on Thursday?
| A.Blue Sky Restaurant. |
| B.New York Museum. |
| C.Tongcheng Shopping Center. |
| D.Huatian Hotel. |
Kang Heng, 16, hasn’t been sleeping well in a tent the past couple of nights. Closing his eyes only brings repeated terror from all that happened and, worse still, all that could have happened at around 2:30 pm last Monday.
The student in Dongcheng High School in Mianyang, Sichuan Province was on his way to class after an afternoon nap(小睡) when the big earthquake hit the area.
“It’s a complete shock! As soon as I heard someone screaming Earthquake! I saw our classroom building being torn apart just in front of my eyes. The next second I saw a student jumping out of the window from the second floor,”Tang recalled.
As the electricity was cut off, his teachers shouted as loud as they could to gather all the students in the school onto the playground. Although some were wounded by falling objects or injured while running out, they at least escaped death.
Thousands of people, young and old, were buried in ruins, mostly in the small cities and counties, such as Wenchuan, Beichuan, Dujiangyan, Anxian and Qingchuan, which are surrounded(包围) by hills and mountains.
By last Friday, around 19,000 people died because of the earthquake, which is the worst in China in 30 years. And the number is still rising.
More than 100,000 troops have continued to arrive at destroyed areas since the day after the quake hit. And more neighboring people were doing all they can to offer help.
Kang and his parents were among them. They drove in rain to Anxian County, an hour drive away from Mianyang, with water, instant noodles and plastic for building tents. Kang’s family finally found his terrified grandparents in Anxian on Wednesday morning.
“We first thought the worst had happened to my grandparents. But they had a narrow escape and were rescued by kind people, who were completely unknown to us. We are thankful to them and hope to do whatever we could to help others,” said Kang.
The underlined word “terror” in Paragraph 1 probably means “_______ ” .
| A.fear | B.peace | C.anger | D.power |
From the passage, we can learn Kang’s grandparents were rescued by ________.
| A.some neighbours | B.Kang Heng and his classmates |
| C.some kind people | D.Kang Heng and his parents |
What can we know from Paragraph 5?
| A.Thisstrong earthquake is the worst in China in 20 years. |
| B.The young and the old all died after the earthquake happened. |
| C.People in hilly and mountainous areas suffered the most in this disaster. |
| D.Thousands of people were buried in ruins because they live in the countryside. |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A.A research plan. | B.A newspaper. |
| C.An advertisement. | D.A science magazine. |
For many centuries,countless scholars have asked the question:What is beauty? As designers update the latest fashions and artists create their masterpieces, what is considered beautiful changes at an alarming pace. Fifty years ago, the full-figured American actress Marilyn Monroe was a symbol of the American aesthetic(美学的)value;today, many Hollywood actresses different in appearance from Marilyn’s have taken her place. However,aesthetic values not only differ from generation to generation,but do so along cultural lines as well. Often, what is considered hating one civilization is just the aesthetic appeal in another. Thus it is difficult to give an absolute definition(定义)of beauty.
As fundamental(基础的)physicists,my colleagues and I like to believe that we are involved in a search for a beauty that affects definition. The beauty that we search for is not what is set up through the work of people and subject to the tastes, but rather what has been laid down by nature Physics allows its students to look past outer appearances,into a deeper beauty. As a human being, I am attracted by the visual appeal of a wave crashing on the beach. As a physicist, however I am able to see the deeper beauty of the physical laws that govern such a phenomenon.
In truth,since Albert Einstein put forward the idea that there might be one main physical theory that governs the universe,aesthetics have become a driving force in modern physics. Einstein and other later physicists have discovered that:Nature, as its most fundamental level,is beautifully constructed. The extraordinary simplicity (朴素)of the laws that govern the universe is really breathtaking. As Einstein said, it would seem more likely that we should find ourselves living in a “chaotic (无秩序曲)world,in no way graspable(能理解的) through thinking”. Yet we are now closer than ever to a full understanding of the universe’s beautiful clockwork. As new discoveries and technologies allow us to examine the physical world on deeper and deeper levels,we find that the beauty itself becomes much deeper.The reference to “Marilyn Monroe” in Paragraph 2 mainly serves to___________.
| A.provide an example of today’s beauty standards |
| B.show there is no fixed definition of aesthetics |
| C.compare traditions of the East to the West |
| D.discuss her abilities as an actress |
When appreciating a wave crashing on the beach,a physicist sees the beauty of_____.
| A.the visual attraction |
| B.the powerful sounds |
| C.the physical laws behind |
| D.the lovely creatures |
Why are Albert Einstein’s words mentioned in Paragraph 3?
| A.To detail the functions of physical laws. |
| B.To highlight the range of Einstein’s influence. |
| C.To show that Einstein doubted the beauty of physics. |
| D.To stress the very simplicity of the laws of the universe. |
The passage is mainly to___________.
| A.present a special way of seeing beauty |
| B.emphasize the influence of physics |
| C.discuss the awareness of cross-culture |
| D.argue the traditional ideas on value |
In the countries of South and Southeast Asia, the elephant has been an important part of the culture, economy and religion for centuries. And nowhere more so than in Thailand. Unlike its African cousin, the Asian elephant is easily domesticated(驯化). The rare so-called white elephants have actually lent the power of royalty (皇室)to its rulers,and until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red background. To the early Western visitors, the country's romantic name was“ Land of the White Elephant".
Today, however, the story is very different. Out of work and out of land, the Thai elephant struggles for survival in a nation that no longer needs it. The elephant has found itself more or less deserted by previous owners who have moved on to a different economic world and a society in the western part. And while the elephant's problems began many years ago, now it has a very low national advantage.
How does the national symbol turn into ignored animals? It is a story of worse environment and the changing lives of the Thais themselves. According to Richard Lair, Thailand's expert on the Asian elephant and author of the report Gone Astray, at the turn of the last century, there may well have been as many as 100,000 national elephants in the country.
In the north of Thailand alone, it was estimated(估计)that more than 20,000 elephants were employed in transport, 1,000 of them alone on the road between the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Saen.
This was at a time when 90 percent of Thailand was still forest---a habitat that not only supported the animals but also made them necessary to carry goods and people. Nothing ploughs through thick forest better than lots of sure-footed elephants.
By 1950 the elephant population had dropped, but still to the number of 13, 397. However, today there are probably no more than 3,800, with another l,350 wandering free in the national parks. But now, Thailand's forest covers only 20 percent of the land. This deforestation(采伐森林)is the central point of the elephant's difficult situation, for it has effectively put the animals out of work. This century, as the road network grew, the elephant's role as a beast of burden decreased.What can we know about African elephants from the passage?
| A.It is of little value to domesticate them. |
| B.It is hard to domesticate them. |
| C.They are living a better life than Asian elephants. |
| D.Their fate is quite similar to that of Asian elephants. |
Thailand was once called "Land of the White Elephant" because ________.
| A.white elephant was a national symbol until the 1920s |
| B.white elephant is rarely seen and thus very special |
| C.white elephant has helped kings to gain the ruling authority |
| D.this name was so romantic that it was popular among visitors |
Why is the Thai elephant "out of work", according to the author?
| A.Because there are too many elephants but too few jobs. |
| B.Because the elephants can't do labor work any longer. |
| C.Because the government pays little attention to the problem. |
| D.Because the elephants are no longer useful to their owners. |
The passage is most probably from ________.
| A.a travel guide |
| B.a history book |
| C.a popular science magazine |
| D.an official announcement |
Make Up Your Mind to Succeed
Kind-hearted parents have unknowingly left their children defenseless against failure. The generation born between 1980 and 2001 grew up playing sports where scores and performance were played down because “everyone’s winner.” And their report cards sounded more positive than ever before. As a result, Stanford University professor Carol Dweck, PhD, calls them “the overpraised generation. ”
Dweck has been studying how people deal with failure for 40 years. Her research has led her to find out two clearly different mind-sets that have a great effect on how we react to it. Here’s how they work:
A fixed mind-set is grounded in the belief that talent is genetic(遗传的) – you’re a born artist, point guard, or numbers person. The fixed mind-set believes he’s sure to succeed without much effort and regards failure as personal shame. When things get difficult, he’s quick to blame, lie, and even stay away from future difficulties.
On the other hand, a growth mind-set believes that no talent is entirely heaven-sent and that effort and learning make everything possible. Because the ego (自尊) isn’t on the line as much, the growth mind-set sees failure as a chance rather than shame. When faced with a difficulty, he’s quick to rethink, change and try again. In fact, he enjoys this experience.
We are all born with growth mind-sets. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to live in the world. But parents, teachers, and instructors often push us into fixed mind-sets by encouraging certain actions and misdirecting praise. Dweck’s book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, and online instructional program explain this in depth. But she says there are many little things you can start doing today to make sure that your children, grandchildren and even you are never defeated by failure.What does the author think about the present generation?
| A.They don’t do well at school. |
| B.They are often misunderstood. |
| C.They are eager to win in sports. |
| D.They are given too much praise. |
A fixed mind-set person is probably one who ___ .
| A.doesn’t want to work hard |
| B.cares a lot about personal safety |
| C.cannot share his ideas with others |
| D.can succeed with the help of teachers |
What does the growth mind-set believe?
| A.Admitting failure is shameful. |
| B.Talent comes with one’s birth. |
| C.Scores should be highly valued. |
| D.Getting over difficulties is enjoyable. |
What should parents do for their children based on Dweck’s study?
| A.Encourage them to learn from failures. |
| B.Prevent them from making mistakes. |
| C.Guide them in doing little things. |
| D.Help them grow with praise. |