There was once a professor of medicine, who was very strict with the students. Whenever he took the chair on the exam committee(委员会), the students would be in fear , because he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave . A student would be lucky enough if he or she could receive a good mark from him. At the end of the term, the students of medicine would take their exam again . Now a student entered the exam room and got seated before the committee. This student was a little nervous as he knew it would not be so easy to get through the exam at all.
The professor began to ask. .The student was required to describe a certain illness, his description of which turned out to be OK.
Then the professor asked about the cure(药剂,疗法)for the illness , and the student , too , answered just as right . “Good,” said the professor, “and how much will you give the patient?”
“A full spoon,” answered the student.
“Now you may go out and wait for what you can get,” said the professor. At the same time the committee discussed carefully the answers the student had given .Suddenly the student noticed that there was something wrong with his last answer. “A full spoon is too much,” he thought to himself. Anxiously he opened the door of the room and cried, “Mr. Professor, I’ve made a mistake! A full spoon is too much for the patient. He can take only five drops. ”
“I’m sorry, sir,” said the professor coldly, “but it’s too late. Your patient has died. ”The students were afraid of the professor because _______ .
A.they often angered and disappointed him |
B.their answers often astonished him |
C.their answers seldom satisfied him |
D.he often misunderstood them and gave them bad marks |
The student’s description of the illness was ________ .
A.not correct | B.not satisfying |
C.completely discouraging | D.accepted |
Before he left the room the student was almost sure that _________ .
A.he had passed the exam, and the only thing was to wait for the mark |
B.his last answer had been wrong |
C.he had made a mistake |
D.he had not done well in the exam |
Which guess is the most reasonable from the passage?
A.The student must have passed the exam. |
B.The student may not have passed the exam. |
C.The student must have been very happy when he heard, “ Your patient has died . ” |
D.The professor must have been very pleased and given the student a good mark. |
According to the dictionary definition of“create, ordinary people are creative every day”.To create means“to bring into being, to cause to exist something each of us does daily”.
We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way. First, this includes an awareness of our surroundings. It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world. This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture(质地),as well as taste, when we plan a meal. Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss.
A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things. If we believe the expression,“There is nothing new under the sun, the creativity is remaking or recombining(重组) the old in new ways.”For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph.
A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results. To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another.
These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities.“There is nothing new under the sun” really implies that _________.
A.a new thing can only be created at the basis of earliest things |
B.a new thing is only a tale |
C.we can seldom create new things |
D.we can hardly see really new things in the world |
What does the author think about the relationship between a new thought and its being put into practice?
A.It’s more difficult to create a new thought than to use it in practice. |
B.To find a new thought will clearly lead to the production of a new thing. |
C.A man with an excellent ability of practice can easily become an inventor. |
D.One may come up with a new thought, but can not put it into practice. |
The best title for this passage is__________.
A.How to Develop One’s Creativity | B.What Is Creativity |
C.The Importance of Creativity | D.Creativity, a Not Faraway Thing |
All plant cells are capable of taking up(吸收)water. Even dead ones do to a certain degree. Absorption(吸收)of water by dead cell walls makes wood become larger.
In common land plants, the living cells of roots take upmost of the water. Land plants without roots do exist, however. Those greenish-yellow lichens(苔藓)you see on rocks in the high mountains have no roots. Half a billion years ago, when water plants started to enter the land, the first land plants did not have roots.
Even among the flowering plants, one finds rootless forms. These flowering plants are “the higher plants” because they evolved(进化)recently and are thus considered higher on the evolutionary scale(进化度).
In the Peruvian desert, there grows one of these rootless higher plants, a bromeliad. It is a relative of the pineapple. Even if this plant had roots, they would be of no use, because where the plant grows, it never rains. The plant gets its water only from the dew(露水)it collects at night, when its leaves cool off. Such rootless plants, of course, can be moved with ease, but they will only grow when they are placed out in the open. If they are placed too near a house, the radiation from the heat of the house prevents the leaves from cooling and so prevents dew from forming, and the plant dies.
In the southern United States and in Puerto Rico, one sees bromeliads growing high above the streets on the insulation(绝缘物)of electric wires. These plants get their water from rain, and the only soil they ever come in contact with is the dust that may blow on their leaves.Wood becomes larger because of .
A.dead cell walls | B.water entering dead cells |
C.the growth of cells | D.the death of cells |
From the passage we know that the evolutionary scale is graded according to.
A.evolutionary cycles | B.heights and depths |
C.time | D.kinds |
The “bromeliad” is a plant that.
A.has no roots | B.is a pineapple |
C.can grow anywhere | D.takes up water through its leaves |
The most suitable title for this passage is “”.
A.Absorption of water by plants | B.Rootless plants in America |
C.Plants in the desert | D.Higher plants |
Let’s pretend we’re sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It’s interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards (葡萄园) on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.
Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei. Then someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren (妖妇) who has lured(引诱) many sailors to their deaths.
The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer(掌舵), and the current of river hurls (掀翻) their boats on the rocks and dashes(猛撞)them to pieces.
Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.The most interesting thing to those who are sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat is.
A.to watch many boats going up and down the river |
B.to see the beautiful scene along the banks and hillsides |
C.to hear a song about beautiful siren |
D.to see a beautiful siren combing her golden hair |
Which of the following is famous all over the world?
A.The Rhine River. | B.The River Traffic. |
C.Wine from the Rhine Valley. | D.The Lorelei. |
We can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high.
A.on our right when coming to a sharp bend | B.on the Rhine hillsides |
C.from the Rhine Valley | D.on the boat |
The song of the Lorelei is about.
A.The Rhine wine |
B.a rocky cliff |
C.the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River |
D.a beautiful and dangerous siren |
Gene technology to benefit people
Among all the fast growing science and technology, the research of human genes, or biological engineering as people call it, is drawing more and more attention now. Sometimes it is a hot topic discussed by people.
The greatest thing that gene technology can do is to cure serious diseases that doctors at present can almost do nothing with, such as cancer and heart disease. Every year, millions of people are murdered by these two killers. And to date, doctors have not found an effective way to cure them. But if the gene technology is applied, not only these two diseases can be cured completely, bringing happiness and more living days to the patients, but also the great amount of money people spend on curing their diseases can be saved, therefore it benefits the economy as well. In addition, human life span(寿命) can be prolonged.
Gene technology can help people to give birth to more healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial(皇室) family being a good example, have hereditary(遗传的) diseases. This means their children will for sure have the family disease, which is a great trouble for these families. In the past, doctors could do nothing about hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientist just need to find the wrong gene and correct it and a healthy child will be born.
Some people are worrying that the gene research can be used to manufacture human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning a sheep; therefore these people predict that human babies would soon be cloned. But I believe cloned babies will not come out in large quantities, for most couples in the world can have babies in very normal way. Of course, the governments must take care to control gene technology. What does "these two killers" in the second paragraph refer to?
A.Gene technology and another treatment of the two diseases. |
B.The two murderers who killed the cloned baby |
C.The two diseases of cancer and heart disease |
D.Hereditary diseases and cancer |
What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?
A.How gene technology can be applied in the field of treating hereditary diseases. |
B.Gene technology can be used to clone human babies. |
C.Gene technology can help people to give birth of a baby. |
D.Gene technology can help the English imperial family out |
In what way gene technology can help to treat hereditary diseases?
A.Using gene technology, people with hereditary diseases can have more living days. |
B.Using gene technology, scientist finds the wrong gene and corrects it. |
C.Using gene technology, human babies can be cloned. |
D.Doctors can cure cancer and heart disease with the help of gene technology. |
What is the main purpose of writing this passage?
A.Expressing the writer’s idea that gene technology will benefit people |
B.Telling people the advantages of gene technology |
C.Telling the readers that gene technology will not benefit people |
D.Explaining that gene technology will also do harm to the humanity |
In the West, advertisements are the fuel that makes mass media (大众传媒) work. Many TV stations, newspapers, magazines, radio stations are privately owned. The government does not give them money. So where does the money come from? From advertisements. Without advertisements, there would not be these private businesses.
Have you ever asked yourself what advertising is? Through the years, people have given different answers to the question. For some time it was felt that advertising was a means of “keeping your name before the public”. And some people thought that advertising was “truth well told”. Now more and more people consider it in this way: Advertising is the paid, non-personal, and usually persuasive presentation of goods, services and ideas by some certain sponsors (赞助商) through various media.
First, advertising is usually paid for. Various sponsors pay for the advertisements we see, read, and hear over the various media. Second, advertising is non-personal. It is not face-to-face communication. Although you may feel that a message in a certain advertisement is aimed directly at you, in fact, it is directed at large groups of people. Third, advertising is usually persuasive. Directly or indirectly it asks people to do something. All advertisements try to make people believe that the product, idea, or service advertised can benefit them. Fourth, the sponsors of the advertisement must show their names. From the advertisement, we can see if the sponsor is a company, or a single person. Fifth, advertising reaches us through old and modern mass media. Included in the old media are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and films. Modern media include emails, matchbox covers, and boards on top of buildings.The existence of the privately owned mass media depends on the support of ________.
A.the government | B.their owners families |
C.advertisements | D.the TV stations |
The passage seems to say that different ideas about what advertising is are given due to ________.
A.the change of time | B.the subject of the advertisements |
C.people’s age difference | D.people’s different opinions |
Which of the following is considered modern mass media? ________.
A.Newspapers | B.Emails | C.Magazines | D.Films |
According to the passage, which of the following statements about advertisements is NOT true?
A.The sponsors are always mentioned. |
B.Advertising must be honest and humorous. |
C.There is the description of things advertised. |
D.Advertising is directed at large groups of people. |