NewYorkTuesdayApril12—DustinHo-优题课

Agence Rrance-Presse--- French doctors this week carried out the world’s first operation on a human in zero gravity, using a specially adapted aircraft to create conditions in space.
During a three-hour flight from Bordeaux in southwest France, the team of surgeons and anesthetists (麻醉师) successfully removed a benign tumor (良性瘤) from the forearm of a 46-year-old volunteer. The experiment was part of a program backed by the European Space Agency to develop techniques for performing robotic surgery aboard the International Space Station or at a future Moon base.
“Now we know that a human being can be operated on in space without too many difficulties,” says the team leader Dr. Dominique Martin.
Under normal ground conditions, the operation would be performed under a local anesthetic. Without gravity, the surgeon’s work is harder and the patient’s body reacts differently. Blood doesn’t pump in the same way.
The custom-designed Airbus 300 aircraft performed a series of parabolic swoops (抛物线飞行), each creating between 20 seconds of weightlessness. The process was repeated 32 times.
Fixed inside a custom-made operating block, three surgeons and two anesthetists worked during these periods, with their instruments held in place with magnets around the patient’s bed. The next part of the program is to carry out a remote-controlled operation using a robot controlled from the ground by satellite. This experiment should take place within a year, Martin says.
Anesthetist Dr. Laurent de Coninek says that zero-gravity surgery offers huge promise for space exploration, although it would at first be limited to treating simple injuries. Today more than 400 people have already traveled into space. The chances of injuries occurring during missions will become even greater and to bring a wounded person back to the earth for treatment is both risky for them and expensive.
1. What would be the best title for the test?
A. A Special Operation for Doctors B. First Operation on the Moon
C. World’s First Operation in Zero Gravity D. An Important Experiment for Doctors
2. What’s the purpose of the operation?
A. To have an experiment on space operation. B. To cure the patient.
C. To do it at the request of the patient. D. To reduce the danger of operation on earth.
3. It is difficult for doctors to do operations in space because________________.
A. the patient’s illness will be more serious B. the patient has no feeling about pain
C. the patient’s body reacts differently D. the patient’s flood will stop flowing
4. The last paragraph mainly wants to tell readers________________.
A. there are many people injured in space B. it is necessary to do the experiment
C. it is risky to travel in space D. there is no need to bring patients in space to the earth

Where have all the boys gone? You may be able to find them in the gym, at work or hanging out, but there is one important place where boys are under-represented, and the problem seems to be getting worse. These days, at high school graduation ceremonies, there are a lot more girls than boys.
In fact, every year, 10 percent more girls graduate from high school than boys. “I think that there’s a tendency to focus on boys as problems at this point, rather than recognizing that boys have problems,” says Joanne Max, PhD. Experts say the problems start in grade school, where there’s often an emphasis on sports instead of reading, for example. “I think that with boys there’s some idea that it’s not masculine(男子汉的)to read,” says Rob Jenkins, an English professor.
There’s also a shortage of male teachers as role models. “I think boys need role models, so if you’re a boy and you don’t have a dad in your home and then you have one male teacher and he’s your athletic coach, then I don’t think you have a message that education is very important,” says Carol Carter, another expert. In addition, classrooms often have too little activity and too much passive listening, which is not conducive (有益的) to boys’ learning.
Experts say parents can fight back in many ways. Read to your sons early and often; show by your action that you value their education. Ask them about their schoolwork, offer help, drop by their classroom and, finally, appeal to their competitive spirit, challenge them to do better and help them understand that their future depends on it.
1. According to the passage, boys have the problem that they think _____________.
A. reading is more important than sports B. it is shameful for boys to read
C. boys should not work as a teacher D. boys lack the gift for reading
2. Carol Carter’s words in the third paragraph implies that ______________.
A. parents play an important role in education
B. athletic coaches contribute a lot to education
C. lack of role model affects boys’ attitudes to school work
D. classrooms lack enough activities that are suitable for boys
3. The passage is written mainly for _____________.
A. parents B. boys C. teachers D. experts

第三部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：选择题（共15小题，每小题２分，共30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored (发起) “Tom Thumb” weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
1. Which of the statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Charles’ parents supported him and performed together with him.
B. Charles was found and hired by the famous showman.
C. Charles put lots of advertisements to arouse interest.
D. Charles’ success was largely due to Mr. Barnum’s help.
2. Tom would dance on a wooden plate held by an eight-foot-tall person probably because ______________.
A. the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was dancing
B. it made Tom look taller
C. the eight–foot–tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted
D. the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller
3. The underlined words “talk of the town” in the second paragraph from the bottom means ______________.
A. it was in the newspaper B. people spread bad rumors about it
C. it was the most popular topic D. it was discussed in a city meeting
4. What does the author think about Tom’s wedding?
A. It helped people cheer up in a dark time. B. People gave it too much of their attention.
C. It was funny and ridiculous. D. Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

Eight-year-old Bethany and seven-year-old Eliza are having a great time jumping around in the orchard of their home in a village near Penrith. They can play any time they like because they don't go to school. Instead, they are educated at home by their parents, Paul and Veronika Robinson. But they don't have lessons, have never used a timetable and learn only what and when they want to learn.
"I want my kids to have freedom in their childhood, not spend it in an institution," says 37-year-old Veronika, "School is all about control and following the rules." Veronika and her 56-year-old husband Paul have never experienced the daily rush to get dressed and out of the door that is common in most households with school-aged children. "We get up at our leisure - usually around 8.30-ish," says Veronika. "We might visit a friend, or go to the library, and on Tuesdays we shop at the market. In summer, we spend most of our time outside and the girls entertain themselves a lot."
New research due to be published this spring reveals a very different picture of Britain's home educators. "Out of 297 families, 184 said that they never use a timetable," says Mike Fortune-Wood of Home Education UK. "Ninety per cent never or rarely use textbooks, and nearly all said that happiness, contentment and self-fulfillment were more important than academic achievement. Only 15% felt that planning what to learn was crucial."
So far, so good. But what, you might ask, are the children actually learning?
"It wasn't important to me that the girls could read by a certain age, but they both picked it up for themselves at around seven," says Robinson. "Weighing cooking ingredients uses maths, and making a shopping list teaches them to write. Observing five hens has taught the girls about survival of the fittest. "
But what about when the children grow up? Can they go to university? The home educators' answer is they can if they want to. There are a variety of routes into higher education, but probably the most common is to join a local college. This is what Gus Harris-Reid has done. "I was educated at home all my life. I'd never had a lesson or been inside a classroom until I started GCSEs," says the 18-year-old. "I'm now studying for 4 A-levels at Exeter College. I've had no problem with the work or with fitting in." When asked to reflect on his experience of home education, his considered response is, "Like a permanent holiday, really!" Not a bad start for someone who plans to take a mechanical engineering degree next year.
1. What is the topic of this article?
A. New ways of learning to read and write B. Problems with UK schools
C. Home education in the UK D. Wild, undisciplined children
2. Why do the Robinsons not send their children to school?
A. They think schools control children too much. B. They do not like the courses taught in schools.
C. They want to teach their children farming skills. D. They live in a remote area where there are no schools.
3. According to the article, in homes with school-going children, ______.
A. mornings are rushed and stressful. B. the children hardly ever go outside.
C. the family wakes up around 8.30am. D. the children must ask permission to go to the toilet.
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Most home educators believe that happiness is more important than good grades.
B. Most home educators believe that planning is important.
C. Most home educators do not follow a timetable or use textbooks.
D. Most home educators are not worried about when their children learn to read and write.
5. What does the article say about home-educated children getting into university?
A. They learn so many useful skills at home that universities are happy to accept them.
B. They can get into university if they have 4 A-levels.
C. They can go to school later and get the qualifications they need in order to enter university.
D. Home education is so relaxed that they are likely to experience problems when faced with the pressures of a degree course.

It is a mystery that has puzzled doctors for decades. But experts believe they have now finally solved the tricky question of why winter is notoriously known as the flu season.
According to a new research, the influenza virus coats itself in a protective fatty shield that is tough enough to resist cold temperatures. The butter-like material only melts when it hits the respiratory tract（呼吸道）, leaving the virus free to infect cells-- a process scientists say is like an M&M melting in the mouth.
However, in warmer outdoor temperatures, the protective coating melts before it reaches a person or an animal, killing the bacteria before they can infect someone. Joshua Zimmerberg, from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), in the US, which led the study, said: “Like an M&M in your mouth, the protective covering melts when it enters the respiratory tract. It's only in this liquid period that the virus is able to enter a cell to infect it.”
In the past, scientists worked on theories that flu is more common in winter because people spend more time inside or the radiation from the sun in summer kills off germs. But no research successfully explained the spread of the disease.
Researchers have already claimed that the report, which is published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, could lead to new ways to prevent and treat flu. “Now that we understand how the flu virus protects itself so that it can spread from person to person, we can work on ways to prevent it.”
Influenza and other respiratory viruses are spread in small drops broadcast by coughing, sneezing and talking and which can also settle onto surfaces, to be picked up on fingertips.
1. What can be the best title of the passage?
A. The mystery that has puzzled doctors for decades. B. New ways to prevent and treat flu.
C. A discovery of how flu strikes in Winter. D. Ways found to prevent flu.
2. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Doctors have been trying hard to discover why flu strikes in winter.
B. In the past, scientists didn’t know how flu spreads.
C. It is possible that flu virus will no longer threaten humans in winter.
D. People get affected by flu because they spend much more time inside in winter.
3. Where should you insert the following paragraph into the passage?
Duane Alexander, the director of NICHD, said: “The study results open new avenues of research for thwarting (使…受挫)winter flu outbreaks.”
A. Between Paragraphs 1 and 2. B. Between Paragraphs 3 and 4.
C. Between Paragraphs 4 and 5. D. Between the last two paragraphs.
4.In what process or order does flu occur?
a. The virus infects cells b. The influenza virus was born
c. The butter-like material melts d. The virus hits respiratory tract
e. The virus coats itself in butter-like shield f. The virus is free
A. a, c, d, e, b, f . B. c, f, d, b, e, a. C. b, e, d, c, f, a. D. d, b, e, c, f, a.