IntheUK,agroupofcampaigners(活动-优题课

Can people change their skin color without suffering like pop king Michael Jackson? Perhaps yes. Scientists have found the gene that determines skin color.
The gene comes in two versions, one of which is found in 99 per cent of Europeans. The other is found in 93 to 100 per cent of Africans, researchers at Pennsylvania State University report in the latest issue of Science.
Scientists have changed the color of a dark-striped zebra fish to uniform gold by inserting a version of the pigment(色素) gene into a young fish. As with humans, zebra fish skin color is determined by pigment cells, which contain melanosomes(黑色素). The number, size and darkness of melanosomes per pigment cell determines skin color.
It appears that, like the golden zebra fish, light-skinned Europeans also have a mutation(变异) in the gene for melanosome production. This results in less pigmented skin.
However, Keith Cheng, leader of the research team, points out that the mutation is different in human and zebra fish genes.
Humans acquired dark skin in Africa about 1.5 million years ago to protect bodies from ultra-violet rays of the sun(太阳光紫外线), which can cause skin cancer.
But when modern humans leave Africa to live in northern latitudes, they need more sunlight on their skin to produce vitamin D. So the related gene changes, according to Cheng.
Asians have the same version of the gene as Africans, so they probably acquired their light skin through the action of some other gene that affects skin color, said Cheng.
The new discovery could lead to medical treatments for skin cancer. It also could lead to research into ways to change skin color without damaging it like chemical treatment did on Michael Jackson.
64. The passage mainly tells us that ________.
A. people can not change their skin color without any pain
B. the new discovery could lead to search into ways to change skin color safely
C. pop king Michael Jackson often changed his skin color as he liked
D. scientists have found out that people’s skin color is determined by the gene
65. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. nowadays people who want to change their skin color have to suffer a lot from the damage caused by the chemical treatment
B. Europeans and Africans have the same gene
C. the new discovery could help to find medical treatments for skin cancer
D. there are two kinds of genes
66. Scientists have done an experiment on a dark-striped zebra fish in order to ________.
A. find the different genes of humans’
B. prove the humans’ skin color is determined by the pigment gene
C. find out the reason why the Africans’ skin color is dark
D. find out the ways of changing people’s skin color
67. The reason why Europeans are light-skinned is probably that ________.
A. they are born light-skinned people
B. light-skinned Europeans have mutation in the gen for melanosome production
C. they have fewer activities outside
D. they pay much attention to protecting their skin

第三部分阅读理解（满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. In the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son.
Over the phone, his mother told him: "Mr. Belter died. The funeral is Wednesday."
Memories flashed through his mind.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It’s been so long since I thought of him." Jack said.
"Well, he didn’t forget you. Every time I saw him he’d ask how you were doing. He’d reminisce (追忆) about the many days you spent with him," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belter stepped in to make sure you had a man’s influence," she said.
"He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important... Mom, I’ll be there for the funeral," he said.
Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Belter’s funeral was small and uneventful (平凡的). Most of his relatives had passed away.
Later, Jack and his mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment.
"What’s wrong, Jack?" his mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he’d ever tell me was ‘the thing I value most''," Jack said.
It was gone. He figured someone from the Belter family had taken it.
"Now I’ll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said.
Back home, two weeks later Jack received a package. "From Mr. Harold Belter," it read. Inside were the gold box and an envelope.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It’s the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. He unlatched (打开) the cover. Inside he found these words:
"Jack, Thanks for your time! –Harold Belter."
"The thing he valued most... was... my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for your time!"
56. Jack seemed to have forgotten Mr. Belter before his mother called because ______.
A. he was too busy with his work to think about Mr. Belter
B. he was too devoted to his family to think about Mr. Belter
C. they had been separated from each other for a long time
D. Mr. Belter was nobody in his life
57. Jack’s mother told him all of the following about Mr. Belter on the phone EXCEPT that ______.
A. Mr. Belter often asked how Jack was doing
B. Mr. Belter’s funeral would take place on Wednesday
C. Mr. Belter had asked for Jack’s mailing address
D. Mr. Belter had pleasant memories of their time together
58. What was Jack’s attitude towards Mr. Belter?
A. Admiring. B. Grateful. C. Disrespectful. D. Dissatisfied.
59. Mr. Belter sent Jack his gold watch to ______.
A. let Jack know his secret
B. tell him how important time is
C. remind him to spend more time with his family
D. show his appreciation for the time Jack had spent with him

There was one shop in the town of Mufulira which was widely known for its racial discrimination. It was a drugstore. While Europeans were served at the counter, a long line of Africans queued at the window and often not only were kept waiting but were treated rudely by the shop assistants. One day I was determined to make a public protest (抗议) against this kind of thing, and many of the schoolboys in my class followed me to the store,
I simply went into the shop and asked the manager politely for some medicine. As soon as he saw me standing in the place where only European customers were allowed to stand he shouted at me in a bastard (怪声怪气的) language which is only used by a boss when speaking to his servants. I stood at the counter and politely requested in proper English that I should be served. The manager became angry and said, “Even if you stand there till Christmas, I will never serve you.”
I went to the District Commissioner’s office. Fortunately, he was out, for he was one of the old school; however, I saw a young District officer who was a friend of mine. He was very concerned to hear my story and told me that all I had to do was come to him personally and he wou1d buy my medicine for me. I protested that that was not good enough. I asked him to accompany me back to the store and to make a protest to the manager. This he did, and I well remember him saying to the manager，“Here is Mr. Kaunda who is a responsible member of the Urban Advisory Council, and you treat him like a common servant.” The manager of the drugstore apologized and said, “If only he had introduced himself and explained who he was, then, of course I should have given him proper service.”
I had to explain once again that he had missed my point. Why should I have to introduce myself every time I went into a store … any more than I should have to buy my medicine by going to a European friend? I want to prove that any man of any color, whatever his position, should have the right to go into any shop and buy what he wanted, After all, the money which I paid across the counter was exactly the same money as was paid by a European customer.
72. The writer was, at the time of the story, _________.
A. a European officer
B. an African servant
C. a drugstore assistant
D. a black school teacher
73. The manager of the drugstore shouted at the writer in dirty words because　　　　　.
A. he could not speak English in a polite way
B. he thought the writer wouldn’t understand English
C. that was the language he used when speaking to Africans
D. that was the only language he could speak when he was angry
74. In paragraph 3, the underlined sentence “he was one of the old school” means　　　　.
A. he stuck to those old racial ideas
B. he graduated from an old white school
C. he was in charge of an old black school
D. he was an old official in the government
75. Why didn’t the writer wait at the window of the drugstore like other Africans?
A. He believed his white friends would help him out.
B. He wanted to fight for equal rights of all black people.
C. He thought he was educated and should he treated differently.
D. He thought, being an important person. he should not be kept waiting.

Many people believe the glare from snow causes snow blindness. Yet, with dark glasses or not, they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snow blindness, when exposed to several hours of “snow light”.
The United States army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snow blindness in troops in a snow-covered country. Rather, a man’s eyes often find nothing to focus on in a broad space of snow-covered without-grass land. So his gaze continually moves and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding something, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become tired and the eye muscles ache. Nature makes up for this discomfort by producing more and more fluid (液体) which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until it makes eyes difficult to see clearly, and the result is total, even though for a short time, snow blindness.
Experiments lead the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts (侦察员) ahead of the troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark-colored objects ahead on which they can focus too. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop searching the snow-blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snow-blind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a continuous white land is overcome.
68. To prevent snow blindness caused by the strong light from snow, wearing glasses or not _________.
A. depends on whether the snow is white enough
B. makes no difference
C. makes much difference
D. depends on whether the snow is thick
69. When the eyes are tired, tears flow out __________.
A. to clear the visionB. to make the eyes stop searching
C. to make the vision unclear D. to produce more and more liquid
70. Snow blindness can be prevented by ___________
A. moving one’s gaze back and forth
B. walking ahead and keeping looking around
C. making up for the discomfort of one’s eyes
D. providing the eyes with something to focus on
71. What is the probable meaning of the underlined part “Their gaze is arrested.”?
A. They get something to look at. B. They can only look at one spot.
C. Their eyes are clear. D. They can’t see freely.

370 S. Perry St., Denver, Colorado
Price: $164,500 For sale by: Resale Homes by Owner
Bedrooms: 3 Bathroom: 1 Garage: 1
Square Feet: l, 003 Lot Size: 2
Year Built: —
School District: —
Open House Date: —
Open House Time: —
Date Posted: January 21, 2007
Best value in Denver: This Garden style home is equipped with a grape vine that wraps around the front of the house. There is a small-unfinished basement, attic (阁楼) and an additional room in the garage. It is zoned (划成区域) R2 (two families can live here) and positioned at the back of the double sized lot (plenty of room to build) It is fully landscaped (美化) with sprinkler (洒水装置) system and privacy (独处而不受干扰) fence. It is 5 minutes from downtown. The neighbors are great, and security is good. Viewing anytime.
Home Features: Carpeted Floors ● Dishwasher ● Patio
Community Features: Public Transportation ● Wheelchair Access
64. If one dollar equals 8 Yuan, one square feet equals 0.093 square meters, how much does one square meter of the house cost?
A. About 15,140 Yuan. B. About 13,120 Yuan.
C. About 13,160 Yuan. D. About 14,150 Yuan.
65. During summer time, the front of the home may look _________.
A. green B. White C. redD. black
66. Which of the following statements about the house is NOT true?
A. You will spend extra money to build a room in the garage after buying the house.
B. You can have enough room to enlarge your house after you buy it.
C. You don’t need to water the plants in the garden by yourself.
D. If you buy the house, you can also have the dishwasher and carpet.
67. What does the “Wheelchair Access” probably mean?
A. It’s a kind of sidewalk built for disabled people.
B. It’s an entrance to a house built for the disabled people.
C. It’s a street built for the disabled people to have a walk.
D. It’s a special path for the disabled people to get to the garage.