For several years, scientists have been testing a substance called interferon(干扰素), a possible wonder drug that is proving to be effective in treating a variety of diseases, including virus infections, bacterial infections, and cancers. To date, the new drug has no side effect of great influence to discourage its use. But in spite of its success, last year only one gram was produced in the entire world.
The reason for the shortage lies in the structure of interferon. A special protein, the interferon produced from one animal species cannot be used in treating another animal species. In other words, to treat human beings, only interferon produced by human beings may be used. The drug is produced by infecting white blood cells with a virus. Fortunately, it is so effective that the amount given to each patient each time is very small.
Unlike antibiotics (抗生素), interferon does not attack germs directly. Instead, it protects healthy cells from being infected, and prevents the reproduction of viruses within cells.
As you might conclude, one of the most special uses of interferon has been in the treatment of cancer. Dr. Hans Strander, a research physician at Sweden’s famous Karolinska Institute, has treated more than one hundred cancer patients with the new drug. Among a group of selected patients who had received operations for advanced cancer, half were given traditional treatments and the other half were given interferon. Among those treated with interferon 70 percent of them remained alive over three years, as compared with only 10 to 30 percent among those who had received the traditional treatments.
In the United States, a large-scale project supported by the American Cancer Society is now under way. If the experiment were successful, interferon could become one of the greatest medical discoveries of our time.What is the difference between antibiotics and interferon?
| A．Interferon has serious side effects, while antibiotics do not. |
| B．Antibiotics kill germs by attacking them directly, while interferon does not. |
| C．Antibiotics are very effective, while the effect of interferon is limited. |
| D．They are different in structure, although they are both proteins. |
According to the passage, if 170 cancer patients received interferon treatment, how many of them would remain alive over three years?
| A．About 30. |
| B．About 50. |
| C．About 120. |
| D．About 70. |
The passage tells us that ________.
| A．it is difficult to produce interferon in large quantities because of its special structure. |
| B．interferon is produced widely in lots of countries. |
| C．few of the patients who had received traditional treatments remained alive. |
| D．most of the patients who received interferon also needed traditional treatments. |
Everyone in our village likes my father, so he has a sense of humor. On other words, he canmake others laugh easy and people feel happy to be around him. I admire him very much anddream of that some day I will be as humorous as him. I even asked him how have a good sense ofhumor, but what she replied disappointed me. “Not someone can be humorous, because those whois humorous are usually born to be humorous,” he said. However, later, he adds, “But you can behumorous too if you know a lot of joke.” That’s why now I’m reading a book of jokes.
A typical day at work for Cesar Millan might include putting on his running shoes and taking a fourhour jog with 40 dogs—large and small, young and old. Amazingly, most of those dogs belong to him. The rest are at the heart of his work; they are troubled dogs sent to Millan to learn good behavior.
Obviously Millan, star of the TV show “Dog Whisperer” and author of the bestselling book Cesar's Way，has a special gift for working with these animals.
Growing up on a farm in Mexico, Millan knew he wanted to work with dogs. His first job, at age 15，was helping a veterinarian (兽医)．He was so good at calming scared dogs and handling all kinds of situations that people started calling him “el perrero”， Spanish for “the dog boy”．Since then, he has built a rewarding career around his favorite animal.
“My grandfather taught me at an early age not to work against nature，”he explains. In nature, dogs_are_pack_animals. They form a group and follow one leader. Millan's specialty is teaching people to be pack leaders for their dogs.
Studying dogs on the farm where he grew up，Millan realized they need lots of exercise to be calm. He explains his approach，“Exercise and discipline first，and then affection！”He says a lot of people get it backwards because they don't realize what dogs really need. Therefore, while he trains dogs, he teaches owners to understand that their pets need rules. He's helped famous people like Oprah Winfrey and movie star Will Smith and everyday people too.
To find the right career, Millan encourages kids to do what they enjoy. “A lot of people don't realize I've been working with dogs for more than 20 years—long before my TV show or book. Success followed me because I was following my dream of being the best dog trainer in the world.”By saying “dogs are pack animals”(in Para.4)，the author means that________.
| A．dogs like to live with people |
| B．dogs are easier to be trained |
| C．few dogs can be leaders |
| D．dogs live in groups |
Which of the following would Millan agree with?
| A．Dogs are quiet animals. |
| B．Dogs should be trained on farms. |
| C．Rules are more important than love in training dogs. |
| D．Famous people have more problems in training dogs. |
What does Millan advise children to do when it comes to choosing a job?
| A．Do what interests them. |
| B．Never give up and they will succeed. |
| C．Share their ideas with many other people. |
| D．Receive training long before they succeed. |
A young girl is calling a neighbor a superhero because of what he did when she was trapped beneath a car. Nick Harris said he didn't know where he found the strength, but somehow he managed to lift a car off the 6yearold girl last week，earning himself the title of superman. “I just think it' s a Christmas miracle，”Harris said.
Harris said he has tried time and again to recreate(使再现)the surprising show of strength because instinct(本能) sent him running to the 6yearold' s aid. “I just ran over there，saw the tire on her，and lifted the car up to get her out from underneath the car，”Harris said. “I don't know how I did it. I've tried three or four times since then.”
Harris was dropping off his daughter at Eugene Field Elementary Friday morning when he saw a car back out of a driveway，pinning(压住) the girl under its tire. That girl turned out to be his daughter's best friend.
“I was expecting her to have bad injuries，”Harris said. “I've had broken toes, because a car just backed over my foot. And here this whole car was on top of her. I wasn't expecting it to turn out as wonderful as it did.” The first grader was flown to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City by an air ambulance(救护车)，but didn't have to stay long.
“They all call me superman now，”Harris said. “I'm just a dad. I'm just a dad that was in the right place at the right time. And I was finally able to help and I did something good.”Why was Harris called a superhero?
| A．He saved a girl by lifting a car. |
| B．He won in a Christmas competition. |
| C．He pushed off the car on his daughter. |
| D．He was always ready to help his neighbors. |
Harris tried many times to repeat his action in order to________.
| A．prove he had great strength |
| B．find out how he had done it |
| C．show his daughter he was a hero |
| D．make people believe what happened |
Where did the accident happen?
| A．Near Children's Mercy Hospital. |
| B．Around his neighbor's home. |
| C．Outside a supermarket. |
| D．At a school gate. |
What can we learn about Harris?
| A．He was fond of the movie Superman. |
| B．He had the accident while backing his car. |
| C．He drove the injured girl to the nearby hospital. |
| D．He was once run over on the foot by a car. |
Tanzania Tarangire is a national park in Tanzania. The park itself covers an area of around 2,850 square kilometers, making it the sixth largest park of its kind in the country. I recently visited it to see what it was like.
One of the first sightings upon entering the park I found was a huge group of elephants. Our guide told us Tarangire was probably the best place in Tanzania to find large groups of elephants. We continued to watch the elephants as they stood under trees and scratched(搔)themselves against the trees to hit the spot of an itch(痒)．
To the right of the elephant group, we noticed a big tree. Our guide informed us that this was a baobab tree and that Tarangire was one of the best national parks in Africa to see so many baobab trees.
As we continued our drive through the park, we finally reached a watering hole. Our guide warned us there were lions all around us. Most of them were resting in the shade under bushes, but there was one that was drinking from the watering hole directly in front of us. We then noticed there were a couple of fresh zebra corpses(尸体)—it seemed as if the resting lions had killed them!
Our final big sighting was one that none of us were expecting to see！We pulled over to where there was a large gathering of cars, with a sleeping leopard there！We took photos happily and excitedly and observed its surprising body before returning to our hotel as it was getting late.
So I hope you enjoyed my description of Tarangire，and that I've inspired you to add this amazing park to your very own Tanzania travel plan.we can learn from the passage that Tanzania Tarangire ______.
| A．is the sixth largest park in Tanzania |
| B．is one of the best places to hunt animals. |
| C．is famous for its amazing animals and plants |
| D．has the largest number of elephants in the world |
Elephants scratched themselves against the trees because______ .
| A．they felt uncomfortable |
| B．the weather was too hot |
| C．they were angry about something |
| D．they were playing with each other |
How did the author travel in Tanzania Tarangire?
| A．By bicycle. | B．By train. |
| C．On foot. | D．By car. |
What does the author think of his trip in Tanzania Tarangire?
| A．Boring. | B．Enjoyable. |
| C．Dangerous. | D．Challenging. |
Harriet Tubman was an AfricanAmerican woman who fought against slavery. She was born in 1820. She helped many people escape from slavery through the Underground Railroad. It was an organized effort to help slaves from the southern states to areas that banned slavery.
Slaves could be sold freely. Families were often separated. Harriet married a free black man named John Tubman in 1844, yet she remained a slave. In 1849, the farmer who owned her died. Then she ran to the home of a white woman who had offered to help her.
This woman told her how to reach another home where she could hide. Harriet Tubman went from place to place in this way. This was how the Underground Railroad operated. Finally，she went into the northern state of Pennsylvania. During the next ten years，she led an expanded Underground Railroad，and helped 300 slaves escape.
Harriet Tubman found another way to fight against slavery during the Civil War. She went into the southern states to spy(做间谍) for the North. After the Civil War，Harriet Tubman settled in New York State. She gave speeches to raise money for better education for black Americans, worked for women's rights and sought help for older adults who had been slaves.
Harriet Tubman died in 1913.By that time, she had been recognized as an American heroine(女英雄)．What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．The Underground Railroad. |
| B．The history of American slavery. |
| C．Harriet's hard life and bravery. |
| D．Harriet's fight against slavery. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The Underground Railroad was a way to freedom. |
| B．Everyone knew that there was a way to free land. |
| C．Black people were cared about by many white people. |
| D．Black people looked down upon white people. |
From Paragraph 4, we learn that when the Civil War broke out, Harriet________.
| A．worked for the South |
| B．did a lot of work for the patients as a doctor |
| C．helped everyone to go to school |
| D．got secret information for the North |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Harriet was recognized as a heroine. |
| B．Harriet fought against slavery in many ways. |
| C．Harriet helped only black people in her life. |
| D．Harriet helped black people to get better education. |