NationalGeographicSociety17THa-优题课

An Australian man who has been donating(捐献) his extremely rare kind of blood（血液） for 56 years has saved the lives of more than two million babies.
James Harrison has an antibody（抗体） in his plasma(血浆) that stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia(贫血). He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies, including his own daughter, Tracey, who had a healthy son thanks to her father's blood.
Mr. Harrison has been giving blood every few weeks since he was 18 years old and has now racked up a total of 984 donations. When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special that his life was insured（保险） for one million Australian dollars.
He was also nicknamed the “man with the golden arm” or the “man in two million”. He said, “I've never thought about stopping. Never!” He made a pledge to be a donor aged 14 after undergoing major chest surgery in which he needed 13 liters of blood. “I was in hospital for three months,” he said. “The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18.”
Just after he started donating he was found to have the rare（稀有的） and life-saving antibody in his blood. At the time, thousands of babies in Australia were dying each year of Rhesus disease. Other newborns suffered permanent(永久的) brain damage because of the condition. The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood. It stems from one having Rh-positive（阳性） blood and the other Rh-negative（阴性）.
His blood has since led to the development of a vaccine called Anti-D. After his blood type was discovered, Mr. Harrison volunteered to undergo a series of tests to help develop the Anti-D vaccine. “They insured me for a million dollars so I knew my wife Barbara would be taken care of,” he said. “I wasn't scared. I was glad to help. I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away.”
Mr. Harrison is Rh-negative and was given injections of Rh-positive blood. It was found his plasma could treat the condition and since then it has been given to hundreds of thousands of women. It has also been given to babies after they are born to stop them developing the disease.
It is estimated he has helped save 2.2 million babies so far. Mr. Harrison is still donating every few weeks now.
How old is James Harrison?

A．74

B．70.

C．56

D．78

What does the underlined phrase “two million” refer to?

A．mothers

B．babies

C．dollars

D．blood

Why did James decide to donate his blood? Because _____.

A．his daughter asked him to help her son

B．he has a golden arm worth a million dollars

C．a vaccine called Anti-D is to be developed

D．someone else’s blood saved his life

The sentence “The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother's blood and her unborn baby's blood” (underlined in Paragraph 5) suggests that _____.

A．the mother and the baby have different types of blood

B．babies suffer permanent brain damage before born

C．Rhesus disease contributes to permanent brain damage

D．all the patients have a rare antibody in their blood

What can we infer from the sixth paragraph?

A．His wife Barbara needed to be taken care of badly then.

B．Mr. Harrison was not glad to help develop a new vaccine.

C．Some of the tests to develop the vaccine are dangerous.

D．His blood type was accidentally discovered after tests.

Subways

The Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines	Features: The Tokyo Metro and Toei lines that make up of Tokyo’s huge subway system carry almost 8 million people each day, making it the busiest system in the world. The system is famous for its oshiya-- literally “pusher”--- who push passengers into crowded subway cars so the doors can close. And you think your ride is hell.
The Moscow Metro	Features: The Moscow Metro has some of the most beautiful stations in the world. The best of them were built during the Stalinist era and feature chandeliers (枝行吊灯)，marble moldings and elaborate murals(精美壁画). With more than 7 million riders a day, keeping all that marble clean has got to be a burden.
The Hong Kong MTR	Features: The Hong Kong MTR has the distinction of being one of the few subway systems in the world that actually turns a profit（利润）. It’s privately owned and uses real estate development along its tracks to increase income and ridership. It also introduced “Octopus cards” that allow people to not only pay their fares electronically, but buy stuff at convenience stores ,supermarkets, restaurants and even parking meters. It’s estimated that 95% of all adults in Hong Kong own an Octopus card.
Shanghai Metro	Features: Shanghai is the third city in China to build a metro system, and it has become the country’s largest in the 12 years since it opened. Shanghai Metro has 142 miles of track and plans to add another 180 miles within five years. By that point, it would be three times larger than Chicago “L”. The system carries about 2.18 million people a day.
The London Metro	Features: Londoners call their subway the Underground, even though 55 percent of it lies above ground. No matter when you’ve got the oldest mass-transit system in the world, you can call it anything you like. Trains started in 1863 and they’ve been running ever since. Some 3 million people ride each day, every one of them remembering to “Mind the gap”

______ is done with the purpose of making money.

A．The Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines	B．The Moscow Metro
C．Shanghai Metro	D．The Hong Kong MTR

We can learn from the passage that Shanghai Metro______.

A．carries the most people each day

B．is the world’s largest

C．may be larger than the Chicago “L” in the future

D．is the busiest in the world

How many subways carry more than 5 million people per day?

A．2

B．3

C．4

D．5

What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Shanghai is the third to build a metro system in China, which has become the largest in the world.

B．You’ll feel sick when you travel on the Tokyo Metro and Toei Lines.

C．Londoners call their subway the Underground because 55 percent of it lies above ground.

D．It is estimated that 95% of the population in Hong Kong own an Octopus card

“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?” The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.
The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people, but here’s the true answer:
The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8,1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.
While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.
For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.
As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.
When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.
For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.
My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said , “Thanks for being here.”
For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.
It’s the most important thing I have ever done. The experience taught me two lessons.
First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people I cared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that--- just be there when someone needed me.
Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.
From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write----or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.
When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author _______.

A．felt it was not an interesting question

B．thought for a while and spoke his mind

C．gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view

D．didn’t give the real answer

When he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _______.

A．he had to stay with his family

B．his friend did not need his help.

C．he would not be of much help

D．the baby would be in the doctor’s care

What can we infer from the author’s description of the scene at the hospital?

A．He found out that he was in the way.

B．He would have felt guilty if he had not been there.

C．He regretted that he went too late.

D．His friend would have felt better if he had not been there.

Which of the following is conveyed in this story?

A．Family and relatives can not take the place of friends.

B．More people are a great comfort when one is in trouble.

C．It is best to be here when someone needs you.

D．You can certainly help a friend if you want to.

The author learned from his own experience that_______.

A．what is taught in school is usually of no use.

B．a lawyer cannot learn much in classrooms

C．a lawyer should know people’s feeling first

D．he needs to be able to feel as well as think logically

The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that the author_______.

A．is fond of writing poems

B．is going to coach the kid’s team

C．is determined to make friends with everybody

D．is fully aware of the importance of being helpful to those in need

Imagine, one day，getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work，going back home to Beijing and having dinner there．
Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic，with the development of China’s high-speed railway system．And that’s not all．China has an even greater high-speed railway plan — to connect the country with Southeast Asia，and eventually Eastern Europe．
China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．
China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia．Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan，and possibly to Germany．The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe．
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward，people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days．
The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard．And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour.
China’s bullet train（高速客车），the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou，already has the World’s fastest average speed．It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours．
Of course，there are some technical challenges to overcome．There are so many issues that need to be settled，such as safety，rail gauge（轨距），maintenance of railway tracks．So，it’s important to pay attention to every detail．
But the key issue is really money．China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion．
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment．Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development．
It’ll be a win-win project． For other countries，the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business，tourism and so on，not to mention the better communication among those countries．
For China，such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources，but would also help develop China’s far west．We foresee that in the coming decades，millions of people will migrate to the western regions，where the land is empty and resources unused．With high-speed trains，people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all．And they’ll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．
China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because ________.

A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions

B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways

C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries

D．The foreign countries involved will develop their business and tourism

According to the passage，the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is ________.

A．technical issues	B．safety of the system
C．financial problems	D．maintenance of railway tracks

Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed railway plan?

A．Critical．

B．Reserved．

C．Doubtful．

D．Positive．

Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．New Railway Standards.	B．Big Railway Dreams.
C．High-speed Bullet Trains.	D．International Railway Network

Breathe, wave and smile. Along with more than 300 other seniors, I marched into the stadium on the afternoon of May 10. The audience burst into deafening cheers. The huge stadium shook with all the whistling and clapping.
It was as if a Hollywood superstar had walked on stage. And indeed, every single senior that day was a star of the moment. Each deserved it. The seniors had been preparing for four years for this once-in-a-lifetime moment—the commencement.
Seated, I waited anxiously for the opening address. As a foreign exchange student, I was not able to receive a diploma. However, I still had the wonderful feeling of being part of things. Like the other graduates, I was dressed in marron（紫褐色）cap and gown(方帽长袍).
Our principal, Mr. Glover, delivered a short, warm greeting. The US national anthem followed and then, hands on chests, a solemn Pledge of Allegiance(对美国的效忠宣誓).
Students who had excelled academically gave farewell speeches. The tears in some eyes convinced me that many had deep feelings about the occasion. It was as the class motto says, “Life brings us tears, smiles and memories. The tears dry; the smiles fade; but the memories last forever.”
Then came the core (核心) of the commencement. Hundreds of names were announced. Each graduate walked across the stage to receive his or her diploma from the principal. From the different cheers each graduate got, we had the funny sense that it was a kind of competition of who could cheer the loudest.
To be honest, the presentation of diplomas got boring. A girl sitting next to me even started yawning. But it wasn’t boring for those receiving the diploma: they would treasure the moment the principal placed the sacred brown document in their hands for the rest of their lives.
A new page in the book of that person’s life had turned. They were glimpsing（开始领悟） their futures: futures of challenge, hardship, perhaps loneliness too, which would take all of their courage.
What’s the article mainly about?

A．An American graduation ceremony.

B．The opening ceremony of a sports meeting.

C．A presentation of college diplomas.

D．A US college’s farewell party.

According to the text, which of the following statements about the author is TRUE?

A．Hollywood superstars went to attend the ceremony.

B．Every single senior became a superstar at the ceremony.

C．When each graduate got his or her diploma, there were cheers.

D．All graduates would treasure the diploma for the rest of their lives.

The right order of the following events is________.
a. Diplomas were presented to graduates. b. Students gave farewell speeches.
c. The US national anthem was played. d. The principal gave a short, warm speech.
e. Seniors went into the stadium.

A．b-c-a-d-e

B．b-d-c-e-a

C．e-d-b-a-c

D．e-d-c-b-a

From the text, we can infer that_______.

A．foreign exchange students could get a diploma

B．a diploma guarantees a bright future

C．the ceremony symbolizes the beginning of a new stage in life

D．everyone felt excited at the presentation of the diploma

We know from the text that the author _________.

A．felt lost about the future

B．was actually one of the graduates

C．received her diploma on May 10

D．felt it boring to be at the presentation ceremony