Identifying young people with the potential to be great athletes has become a serious, business around the world. Many countries, including Australia, have sophisticated(复杂) programs for identifying and nurturing(培养) talent.
The AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) already runs a program that identifies potential winners starting from the age of 12 based on their physical and physiological(生理的) abilities.
Could genetics improve these programs? The problem is that no one gene test is ever going to do an accurate job of identifying someone with the physical attributes of a sporting champion, says Professor North.
"We can think of the elite athlete as what I'd call a complex phenotype(表现型)," she says. “There are going to be a large number of different genes involved. Any one single test is unlikely to be highly predictive.”
Professor Peter Fricker, director of the AIS, agrees. Although he is intrigued in the possibilities of genetic testing, he says using such tests to identify athletes would be difficult. "The feeling I have is that it won't be that easy," he says. "Talent selection is not just about your genes."
Since 2004, the AIS has been forbidden by government from any involvement in genetic work, including genetic testing. But Professor Fricker thinks that is likely to change in the near future. "There's been a shift in view more recently," he says.
When it does, the AIS will resume its work on the genetics of sports performance, Professor Fricker says. They would be particularly interested in looking for more genes that might help shape elite performance, but also for genes that increase the risk of injury.
Last year, the Human Genetics Society of Australasia issued a position statement on gene testing for sport, after concerns that people could use tests to steer children into particular sports.
“The Human Genetics Society thinks there are not enough data to use these tests for determining what sport kids should do,” said Professor David Thorburn, president of the society.
He stressed that genetic tests should not be performed on children, except in very specific medical circumstances.
57．The aim of the AIS’s program is to .
A．predict how genes are connected with injuries
B．find potential great athletes
C．find out what qualities a professor has through gene tests
D．turn an athlete into a champion by transferring genes
58．By saying “Talent selection is not just about your genes”, Fricker means .
A．effort is more important than genes in most cases
B．you can’t choose an athlete just depending on genes
C．to research one’s genes takes a long time
D．most people don’t believe in genetic tests
59．The underlined word “resume” in Para. 7 can be replaced by .
A．stop B．complete C．reduce D．continue.
60．What’s Professor David Thorburn’s attitude towards genetic tests?
A．Genetic tests have a negative effect on children.
B．Genetic tests, under certain conditions, can be conducted on children.
C．Genetic tests can reduce the risk of athletes’ injuries.
D．People could use genetic tests to decide what sport kids should take.
It’s common for parents to feel emotional when the moment comes for their child to leave home and go to university. Even parents who don’t speak about the event are likely to feel a sense of sadness because it’s the end of an era where you and your family were at the centre of your child’s world. As a parent you’ll probably continue to support your child in different ways, but the main job of raising your child is over. It’s a huge change for everyone involved.
There are a few things that you can do to make the transition easier. Plan carefully for your child’s departure and think about how you can help. Many parents take their child to university for the first time. If you decide to do that, be ready to feel a real wrench when the time comes to say goodbye. Your child will probably be as nervous as you are about the moment when you finally say goodbye – but that might not show!
Be positive and cheerful about the choice your child has made to continue studying, and plan to leave once you’ve unpacked the car and looked around your child’s new living accommodations. If you can, save your tears for the car – you’ll make things easier on your child and yourself.
The more you’ve invested in being a parent, the more you’ll feel a sense of loss, so the sadness you feel now is a sign that you’ve been a good mom or dad. Remind yourself that parenting is all about raising an independent and confident child who functions well without you. If your child quickly settles and starts enjoying himself, you should congratulate yourself.
It’s also only fair to allow yourself some time to grieve. Don’t expect to pick yourself up and move on straight away. But you may decide to find a hobby or sport to fill your extra time. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to learn a new language, go to yoga classes or take up swimming. You may decide to spend more time with family and close friends, who are likely to be feeling the absence of your child as well.
Agree on the best approach to staying in touch before your child leaves, and stick to your agreement. Try not to panic if your child doesn’t respond immediately – remember, they’re starting a new and busy life.The underlined word “wrench” in Paragraph 2 means a feeling of ________.
| A．sorrow | B．regret | C．anger | D．love |
What does good parenting consist of?
| A．Supporting your child in different ways all the time. |
| B．Congratulating yourself when your child goes to college. |
| C．Preparing your child to stand on their own feet in the future. |
| D．Investing as much as possible in the growth of your child. |
What’s NOT advised as the way to recover from your child’s departure?
| A．Developing a new hobby or sport |
| B．Learning a new language. |
| C．Spending more time with close friends |
| D．Staying in touch with your child. |
What would be an appropriate title for the whole passage?
| A．Staying in Touch with Your Child |
| B．Preparing to Say Goodbye to Your Child |
| C．Dealing with Your Child Leaving Home for University |
| D．Life after Your Child Has Left Home for University |
Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories to produce heat.
Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult, normally requiring long-term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.
However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.
Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team’s findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, “I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs.” explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing, he added, “It's not just a sedentary(久坐的) lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities.” Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，“Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.”What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?
| A．Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter. |
| B．It doesn’t take long to turn white fat into brown. |
| C．Social excitement helps gain more weight. |
| D．Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat. |
Which of the following statement does the text support?
| A．Levels of brown fat can be increased by socializing. |
| B．The mice lacking social life lose more weight. |
| C．The research findings haven’t been published so far. |
| D．Dr Matthew During wasn’t convinced of the result. |
We can conclude from the text that_______.
| A．the fat in mice’s belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment |
| B．a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people’s social life |
| C．surfing the Internet may influence people’s face-to-face communication |
| D．cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Brown fat is beneficial to people’s health. |
| B．Socializing is unnecessarily important in people’s daily life. |
| C．White fat can be changed into brown fat. |
| D．Socializing contributes to people’s losing weight. |
As a senior, my future is always on my mind. To be exact, thoughts of the future have kept me up countless nights and made me worry enough to do poorly on more than one test. Because of this, words of wisdom are a source of comfort. Steve Jobs gave a speech to Stanford’s graduating class in 2005 and his words resound repeatedly in my mind whenever I think about my future.
It wasn’t always like that, though. It started when I became a junior, when college came into view. It’s the first big step to making your life your own. So when Jobs discussed his life as a student, some fears were eased. He, too, felt the need to attend college to make something of himself. He faced what many are extremely afraid of: uncertainty. His lack of understanding caused him to stop attending college and focus on what he felt was important. His story had a happy ending, of course, since he certainly turned out well.
This doesn’t mean that students shouldn’t attend college, but rather that they shouldn’t worry so much. You’ll get where you need to go, even if your path is a bit more winding than you’d like.
Jobs talked about the hardships in his work. His love of his work helped him carry on and he got where he was meant to be, which restates the point: don’t panic.
One particular part of his speech stayed with me. Steve Jobs quoted the saying “Stay hungry, stay foolish” and it has become my motto. Staying foolish is realizing that you are still a fool, no matter how much you’ve learned or experienced. There is always more to explore. Staying hungry is wanting to find those things about which you are still uneducated.
Steve Jobs’s level of success is attainable, and I aim to prove that. With the will power to go into the world living every day like it’s my last and allowing the future to take care of itself, I will do great things. In the last moments of my life, I’ll be proud of what I have done and hope to have all the wisdom a person could wish for.The author felt worried when _________.
| A．he had to take tests at school | B．he thought about his future |
| C．he had lots of sleepless nights | D．he searched for words of wisdom |
What did the author gain from Jobs’s speech?
| A．Courage to drop out of school. | B．Confidence in defeating Jobs. |
| C．Interest in computer industry. | D．Bravery to face uncertainties. |
What did NOT Steve Jobs encourage students to do in his speech?
| A．Have the desire to learn more. | B．Be content with what they know. |
| C．Stay calm in the face of hardships. | D．Be modest so as to learn more. |
An older friend once gave me a piece of advice, “Enjoy the last few weeks of college,” she said, “since college is the best time of your life.”
This was not the first time I’d heard such a statement, but with graduation fast coming close, her words especially struck me. It seemed a bit disappointing to reach one's life peak at only 22 years of age, but in her opinion, college had been one of the best times in my life so far. I made friends, took classes, and learned a great deal about myself. But I was also excited for the time after college—moving to a new city, starting a new job, and becoming a "real" person. I hoped that my great dreams were practical.
Then, last week I read a column in Real Simple Magazine called 100 Years of Attitude, in which women 100 years or older shared their life experiences and views. I noticed that none of them considered college as the "best" time of their life. Not all of them went to college, but still in most cases their teens and twenties were not the best times of their life. They said some of their favorite times were raising their children, traveling after retirement, and even enjoying their present time and age.
Enjoying one's present time and age was a clear theme of the interviews. A piece of advice given by the women was about the importance of making the best of all situations. I think it more accurate than that of my friend; I can say with certainty that if I am lucky enough to make it to 100, I refuse to spend the last 80 years of my life plummeting (跌落) downhill, or even leveling off.
I am sure that our eagerness and devotion will make us college students live a meaningful life. We will not just look backwards or miss our college days. We will look forward in excitement about continued journey uphill. Which of the following opinions does the writer agree with?
| A．College is the best time of one’s life. |
| B．Twenties were the best time of the old people. |
| C．One should make the best of all situations. |
| D．One should not look backwards at their college time. |
In the second paragraph, the writer wants to say ______.
| A．her achievements in college would be the peak of her success |
| B．she is looking forward to living as a “real” person in college |
| C．she becomes more and more uneasy with graduation |
| D．she is satisfied with the college life but is hopeful for the future |
The column the writer read is mainly about those old women’s ______.
| A．best time of life at youth | B．life experiences and views |
| C．different opinions about life | D．favorite time with best friends |
By saying “I refuse to spend the last 80 years of my life plummeting downhill, or even leveling off” (in Paragraph 4), the writer really means ______.
| A．she will not spend the rest of her time at college |
| B．she will not just obtain a college level certificate |
| C．she will not be satisfied with what she has already accomplished |
| D．she will not be content with the life in the future |
The American local food movement has been all about buying seasonal food from nearby farmers. Now, thanks to the Web, it is expanding to include far-away farmers too. A new start-up, Foodzie, is an online farmers market where small food producers and growers can sell their products.
Foodzie was started by Mr LaFave and two of his friends, who met during college at Virginia Tech, where they would pay frequent visits to farmers markets. Last year, while living in North Carolina, one of them, Emily Olson, now 24, came up with one idea. She was working as a brand manager for a gourmet grocery chain and realized that people who enjoyed fine food but didn’t work in the business had no way to discover handmade foods outside their local farmers markets. Small farmers had no way of finding or selling to faraway customers, either.
Mr LaFAve and the third co-founder, Nik Bauman, both 25, worked in corporate sales and software development. “With business, food and computer science backgrounds, we figured we had everything we needed.” Mr LaFAve said.
The three quit their jobs, and opened this site to the public in December and the site has had 43,000 visitors in the past month. So far, 29 sellers have opened shops and 41 are in the process of opening them. The founders recently hired a fourth employee to help Ms Olson recruit(吸收) new food producers at farmers markets and food shows. Mr LaFAve is convinced that the recession(经济衰退) will not reduce people’s interest in buying locally grown and handmade food. “There is misunderstanding that all these foods are more expensive than mass-produced alternatives,” he said. “People are pouring their heart and soul into these products, and they are of the highest quality.”The passage is mainly about_______.
| A．how an online farmers’ market works |
| B．the American local food movement |
| C．three youths starting an online farmers’ market |
| D．the reasons why people are interested in local food |
Why did the founders start the online farmers’ market?
| A．Because it met the need of the market. |
| B．Because the founders were interested in seasonal food. |
| C．Because some people wanted to buy locally grown food. |
| D．Because farmers wanted to sell their foods. |
The underlined word in Paragraph 2 can be used to describe _______.
| A．food of high quality | B．terrible food | C．food of low fat | D．fried food |
About the three founders, we know that ______.
| A．they are of the same age |
| B．they gave up their work to start the website |
| C．they used to be colleague |
| D．they majored in farming at college |