Ifyou’reamongthemillionsofAmer-优题课

Climate has been a major driver of armed conflict in Africa, research shows—and future warming is likely to increase the number of deaths from war. US researchers found that across the continent, conflict was about 50% more likely in unusually warm years.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they suggest conflict arises when the food supply is not enough in warm conditions. Climatic factors have been mentioned as a reason for several recent conflicts. One is the fighting in Darfur in Sudan that has killed 200,000 people and forced two million more from their homes. Previous research has shown an association between lack of rain and conflict, but this is thought to be the first clear evidence of a temperature link.
The researchers used databases of temperatures across sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 1981 and 2002, and looked for connections between above average warmth and civil conflict in the same country that left at least 1,000 people dead. "Studies show that crop output in the region is really sensitive to small shifts in temperature, even of half a degree or so," research leader Marshall Burke, from the University of California at Berkeley, told BBC News.
"Our findings provide strong motivation to increase investments in African adaptation to climate change by such steps as developing crop varieties less sensitive to extreme heat and promoting insurance plans to help protect farmers from negative effects of the hotter climate," said Dr Burke. "If the argument is that the trend towards rising temperatures will increase conflict, then we need to do something around climate change, but more fundamentally we need to resolve the conflicts in the first place."
If the sub-Saharan climate continues to warm and little is done to help its countries better adapt to high temperatures, the human costs are likely to be unimaginable. If temperatures rise across the continent as computer models project, future conflicts are likely to become more common, researchers suggest. Their study shows an increase of about 50% over the next 20 years.
When projections of social trends such as population increase and economic development were included in their model of a future Africa, temperature rise still emerged as a likely major cause of increasing armed conflict. At next month's UN climate summit (峰会) in Copenhagen, governments are due to debate how much money to put into helping African countries prepare for and adapt to negative effects of climate change.
68. According to the passage, which of the following is one of the reasons for the fighting in Darfur in Sudan?
A. Shortage of drinking water. B. Racial discrimination.
C. Rising temperature. D. Demand for planting land.
69. What can we know from the research done by the US researchers?
A. There is no close relation between rainfall and conflict.
B. Temperature greatly affects crop production in sub-Saharan Africa.
C. Temperature will rise by about 50% in Africa over the next two decades.
D. With world cooperation, conflicts in Africa will be reduced by half 20 years later.
70. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Something must be done to help sub-Saharan countries with better adaptation to climate change to avoid disaster.
B. Conflicts in sub-Saharan countries are sure to be on the rise in future.
C. Temperature in sub-Saharan countries will rise at a faster speed.
D. High temperatures will make sub-Saharan countries unfit to live in.

Still want a laptop? That was so yesterday. Get ready for the next stage in the personal computer revolution: It's the ultrathin (超薄的), cheap netbook.
According to a New York Times report last week, personal computers are about to go through their biggest change since the rise of the laptop. By the end of the year, consumers are likely to see laptops the size of thin paperback books that can run all day on a single charge and are equipped with touch screens or slide-out keyboards. The netbook is a kind of portable computer with learner functions for online surfing and basic computing activities, for example, word processing. To cut the cost and weight, they usually have a low-powered processor, small screen, narrow keyboard, and no ODD.
Currently, some of the devices look more like a toy than a full-feature computer. That's because most of the netbooks sold today run on an Intel chip called Atom. This is a lower-power version of the company's standard laptop chip, so they have trouble running demanding software like games and photo-editing programs.
This year, a group of companies who make cheap, power-saving chips used in cell phones are applying that expert skill to PCs. That means they will break Atom's netbook dominance (统治地位) and reduce the size while letting it run complicated programs.
The big winner in the rise of netbooks will be the consumer. AT&T announced last week that customers in Atlanta, Georgia, US, could get a netbook for just $50 (342 yuan) if they signed up for an Internet service plan. This trend will soon spread to Asia, according to industry experts.
University campuses are a major target of Shanzhai netbooks—uncopyrighted (无版权的) domestic copies of foreign brands. These products are usually sold at less than 2,000 yuan. But industry insiders suggest students not use these nameless products because many of them don't provide good after-safes services.
64. The following are all advantages of netbooks EXCEPT that.
A. people can easily edit photographs with them B. they cost less than other personal computers
C. they are very thin and easy to carry D. they save power
65. Why are students advised not to use Shanzhai netbooks?
A. Because they are of poor quality.B. Because they are not easy to operate.
C. Because they will soon be out of date. D. Because they lack good after-sales services.
66. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Laptops are becoming more and more popular.
B. University students seldom buy Shanzhai netbooks.
C. Shanzhai netbooks are sold better than those of famous foreign brands.
D. Atom's netbooks make up the largest part of the sales of portable computers at present.
67. What is the general idea of this passage?
A. Shanzhai netbooks are taking control of laptop market.
B. Netbooks have advantages over laptops in everything.
C. Netbooks are becoming the trend of personal computers.
D. Most of the netbooks sold today run on an Intel chip called Atom.

Across the United States, there are several places where two independent towns grew together to become one city — but kept both their names.
WinstonSalem is one of them. It’s a midsized city in what’s called the plateau（high land）, between the Atlantic Coast and the inland mountains in the state of North Carolina. The Winston part is a relatively new place, founded early this century. It’s home to the nation’s biggest openair tobacco market.
The giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company’s headquarters is in WinstonSalem, and Winston is the name of one of Reynolds’ bestknown cigarette brands. Fast-growing Winston soon surrounded the much older town of Salem, so in 1913, people in the area voted to combine them into a single place.
From a historical and tourist point of view, Salem, or Old Salem, as it’s called today, is the interesting and unusual part of town.
Salem was founded in the 1700s by the Moravians. They spoke German, and their community was religiously based, with single men and single women living apart in separate dormitories. The Moravians greatly valued women’s work and brainpower. In fact, one of the nation’s oldest boarding schools for young women— the Moravians’ Salem Academy founded in 1772 — is still in operation. 
Over the years, Salem lost its Moravian character. That all changed, though, when a nonprofit group began to rehabilitate the historic area. These days Old Salem is what’s called a living history museum, with exhibits, music, and tours of 18th-century houses, taverns and Moravian dormitory buildings just seven blocks from the tallest skyscraper in Winston-Salem.
The historic community is booming again. Just as R. J. Reynolds is taking in millions of dollars making cigarettes across town, Old Salem is generating about $15 million a year in tourism revenue and donations.
60. From the passage we can know that____________.
A. Winston-Salem is the name of a cityB. Salem is home to the tobacco market
C. the city Winston-alem has two namesD. Old Salem is the name of a tobacco brand
61. The city Salem is special for its__________.
A. boarding schoolB. lifestyle and traditionC. respect for brainpower D. religious belief
62. The underlined word “rehabilitate” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to “_________”.
A. reconstruct B. evaluate C. enlarge D. decorate
63. What will probably be talked about in the following part? 
A. Some other attractions in Winston-Salem. B. How Winston makes profits from tourism. 
C. Other examples of cities combined by two parts.D. Something about the boarding school for women.

第三部分：阅读理解
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。
In their book Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living, Robert and Brenda Vale say keeping a mediumsized dog has the same ecological impact as driving 10,000 km a year in a 4.6 liter Land Cruiser.
“We’re not actually saying it is time to eat the dog. We’ re just saying that we need to think about and know the ecological impact of some of the things we do and that we take for granted.”
Constructing and driving the jeep for a year requires 0.41 hectares of land, while growing and manufacturing a dog’s food takes about 0.84 hectares — or 1.1 hectares in the case of a large dog such as a German shepherd.
Convincing flesheating cats and dogs to go vegetarian for the sake of the planet is a nonstarter, the Vales say. Instead they recommend keeping “greener”, smaller, and more sustainable pets, such as goldfish, chickens or rabbits.
The book’s playful title, and serious suggestion that pet animals may be usefully “recycled”, by being eaten by their owners or turned into pet food when they die, may not appeal to animal fans.
Annoying as the idea may be, the question is valid given the planet’s growing population and limited resources, Robert Vale said.
“Issues about sustainability are increasingly becoming things that are going to require us to make choices which are as difficult as eating your dog. It’s not just about changing your light bulbs or taking a cloth bag to the supermarket,” he said.
“It’s about much more challenging and difficult issues,” he added. “Once you see where cats and dogs fit in your overall balance of things, you might decide to have the cat but not also to have the two cars and the three bathrooms and be a meat eater yourself.”
56. The authors gave their book the playful title to________.
A. make it amusing B. create a vivid imageC. show writing skills D. arouse people’ s concern
57. In Paragraph 3 the writer mainly wants to tell us________.
A. the amount of consumed land B. the neglected ecological impact
C. some familiar examples D. some actual figures
58. What does “sustainability” mean according to the passage?
A. Going vegetarian. B. Raising cats and dogs.C. Using a cloth bag. D. Keeping a greener life.
59. What do the authors think of living a sustainable life?
A. Challenging. B. Inspiring. C. Inviting. D. Touching.

Since the gene, called DAF-16 in worms, was found in many animals and in humans, the finding could open up new ways to affect aging, immunity(免疫)and resistance in humans, the scientists said.
“We wanted to find out how normal aging is being governed by genes and what effect these genes have on other traits, such as immunity,” said Robin May of the University of Birmingham, who led the study.
Populations across the world are aging at a surprising pace, bringing potentially big challenges for health and social care systems. A study by Danish scientists last year found that half of babies born in the rich world today will live to celebrate their 100th birthdays. Scientists are eager to find out how people age to try to develop drugs to help them stay healthier as their lives extend.
“What we have found is that things like resistance and aging tend to go hand in hand,” May said in an interview.
May’s team compared longevity, stress resistance and immunity in four related species of worm. They also looked for differences in the activity of DAF-16 in each of the four species, and found that they were all quite distinct.
May said DAF-16 was active in most cells in the body and was very similar to a group of human genes called FOXO genes, which scientists believe play a role in the aging process.
“The fact that subtle（微妙的）differences in DAF-16 between species seem to have such an impact on aging and health is very interesting and may explain how differences in lifespan and related traits have arisen during evolution,” May said.
67. In which section may the text appear in a newspaper? 
A. Education. B. Science. C. Entertainment. D. Culture.
68. What can we know from the third paragraph?
A. New ways have been found to affect aging.  B. Babies in the rich world will all live longer. 
C. Present social care systems are poorly managed. D. Aging populations are causing more challenges.
69. From the text we know that DAF-16_____.
A. is a gene that is only found in worms B. can make people live longer
C. has an effect on aging and immunity D. has been quite familiar to scientists
70. What can be the best title of the passage?
A. Scientists Find Gene Linked to Aging B. Population Aging Faster than Expected
C. How to Make People Live Longer D. Gene Determines How Long We Live