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 talked about 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 can these two diseases 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 can be longer.
Gene technology can help people to give birth to more healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial 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 with hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientists 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 make human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning 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．Hereditary disease and cancer. |
| D．Cancer and heart disease. |
In what way can gene technology help to treat hereditary diseases?
| A．Using gene technology, a scientist finds the wrong gene and corrects it. |
| B．Using gene technology, people with hereditary diseases can live longer. |
| C．Using gene technology, human babies can also be cloned. |
| D．Doctors can cure cancer and heart disease with the help of gene technology. |
What is the main purpose of writing the text?
| A．Explaining that gene technology will also do great harm to human race. |
| B．Telling the readers the positive effects gene technology has on people’s life. |
| C．Expressing the writer’s idea that gene technology will benefit people. |
| D．Informing people that gene technology helps clone babies in large quantities. |
Children start out as natural scientists, eager to look into the world around them. Helping them enjoy science can be easy; there’s no need for a lot of scientific terms or expensive lab equipment. You only have to share your children’s curiosity(好奇). Firstly, listen to their questions. I once visited a classroom of seven-year-olds to talk about science as a job. The children asked me “textbook questions” about schooling, salary(薪水) and whether I liked my job. When I finished answering, we sat facing one another in silence. Finally I said, “Now that we’re finished with your lists, do you have questions of your own about science?”
After a long pause, a boy raised his hand, “Have you ever seen a grasshopper(蚱蜢) eat? When I try eating leaves like that, I get a stomachache. Why?”
This began a set of questions that lasted nearly two hours.
Secondly, give them time to think. Studies over the past 30 years have shown that, after asking a question, adults typically wait only one second or less for an answer, no time for a child to think. When adults increase their “wait time” to three seconds or more, children give more logical(符合逻辑的), complete and creative answers.
Thirdly, watch your language. Once you have a child involved in a science discussion, don’t jump in with “That’s right” or “Very good”. These words work well when it comes to encouraging good behavior(行为). But in talking about science, quick praise can signal that discussion is over. Instead, keep things going by saying “That’s interesting” or “I’d never thought of it that way before”, or coming up with more questions or ideas.
Never push a child to “Think”. It doesn’t make sense, children are always thinking, without your telling them to. What’s more, this can turn a conversation into a performance. The child will try to find the answer you want, in as few words as possible, so that he will be a smaller target(目标) for your disagreement.
Lastly, show; don’t tell. Real-life impressions of nature are far more impressive than any lesson children can learn from a book or a television program. Let children look at their fingertips through a magnifying glass(放大镜), and they’ll understand why you want them to wash before dinner. Rather than saying that water evaporates(蒸发), set a pot of water to boil and let them watch the water level drop.According to the passage, children are natural scientists, and to raise their interest, the most important thing for adults to do is _______.
| A．to let them see the world around |
| B．to share the children’s curiosity |
| C．to explain difficult phrases about science |
| D．to supply the children with lab equipment |
In the last sentence of the first paragraph, the word “lists” could best be replaced by ______.
| A．any questions | B．any problems |
| C．questions from textbooks | D．any number of questions |
According to the passage, children can answer questions in a more logical, complete and creative way if adults ________.
| A．ask them to answer quickly |
| B．wait for one or two seconds after a question |
| C．tell them to answer the next day |
| D．wait at least for three seconds after a question |
In which of the following paragraph(s) does the author tell us what to say to encourage children in a science discussion?
| A．The second and third. | B．The fourth and fifth. |
| C．The fifth and sixth. | D．The seventh. |
The author mentions all of the following techniques for adults to share with their children’s curiosity except that adults should ________.
| A．tell their children stories instead of reciting(背诵) facts |
| B．offer their children chances to see things for themselves |
| C．be patient enough when their children answer questions |
| D．encourage their children to ask questions of their own |
Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life.
In some modem countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for all — one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough; we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degree; they refuse to do what they think “low” work; and, in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor; we can live without education, but we die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns…
In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability and, secondly, that we can realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that is very bad to be ashamed of one’s work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society. The writer of the passage thinks that _______.
| A．education can settle most of the world’s problems |
| B．free education for all probably leads to a perfect world |
| C．free education won’t help to solve problems |
| D．all the social problems can’t be solved by education |
The writer wants to prove that _______.
| A．our society needs all kinds of jobs |
| B．our society needs free education for all |
| C．a farmer is more important than a professor |
| D．work with hands is the most important |
The purpose of education is _______.
| A．to choose officials for the country |
| B．to prepare children mainly for their future work |
| C．to let everyone receive education fit for him |
| D．to build a perfect world |
The passage tells us about _______ of the education.
| A．the means | B．the system | C．the value | D．the type |
So long as teachers fail to distinguish (differ) between teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves. Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading. Douglas insists that “reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible”.
Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes. They differ in kind and function. The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to plan cleverly the most efficient(有效的) system for teaching themselves to read. Teaching is also a public activity: It can be seen and observed.
Learning to read involves all that each individual does to understand the world of printed language. Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny.
If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in the long search for knowledge? Smith has one principle rule for all teaching instructions. “Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children.”
When the roles of teacher and learner are seen for what they are, and when both teacher and learner fulfill them properly, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is got rid of. Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the chance to solve the problem of learning to read by learning. The problem with the reading course as mentioned in the first paragraph is that_______.
| A．too much time is spent in teaching about reading |
| B．reading tasks are given with little guidance |
| C．it is one of the most difficult school courses |
| D．students spend limited hours in reading |
The teaching of reading will be successful if _______.
| A．teachers can make their teaching activities observable |
| B．teachers can teach their students how to read |
| C．teachers can improve conditions at school for the students |
| D．teachers can enable students to develop their own way of reading |
The word “scrutiny” (Paragraph 3) most probably means “_______”.
| A．unbelief | B．control | C．inquiry | D．observation |
The main idea of the passage is that_______.
| A．reading is more complicated than believable |
| B．reading ability is something gained rather than taught |
| C．teachers should encourage students to read as widely as possible |
| D．teachers should do as little as possible in helping students learn to read |
Answer the following questions by using the information taken from a dictionary page. (You may read the questions first.)
jaguar: n. a type of large, yellow-colored cat with black markings found in the southwestern region of the U. S. and in Central and South America.
jargon: 1. n. speech that doesn’t make sense. 2. n. an unknown language that seems strange or impossible to understand. 3. n. a language made up of two or more other languages: His jargon was a mixture of French and English. 4. n. the special vocabulary of a field or profession: Her report on computers was filled with jargon.
jaunt: 1. n. a trip taken for fun. 2. v. to go on a brief pleasant trip: We jaunted to the country last Saturday.
javelin: 1. n. a spear most commonly used as weapon or in hunting. 2. n. a lightweight metal or wooden spear that is thrown in track-and-field contests. 3. n. the contest in which a javelin is thrown. 4. v. to strike, as with a javelin.
jazz: 1. n. a type of music that originated in New Orleans and is characterized by rhythmic beats. 2. n. popular dance music influenced by jazz. 3. n. slang empty talk. 4. ad. of or like jazz: a jazz band, jazz records.
Jennet: n. a small Spanish horse. Which meaning of the word javelin is used in the sentence below?
At the competition, Jack drew his arm back and threw the javelin 50 yards.
| A．Definition 1 | B．Definition 2 |
| C．Definition 3 | D．Definition 4 |
Which meaning of the word jargon is used in the sentence below?
Doctors often speak in medical jargon.
| A．Definition 1 | B．Definition 2 |
| C．Definition 3 | D．Definition 4 |
What does the word jazz mean in the following sentence?
Don’t give me that jazz, for I am a practical person.
| A．rhythmic beats | B．a type of music |
| C．a kind of dance | D．meaningless talk |
To get cash out in the 21st century, you won’t need a bank card, a PIN(个人识别编号) or even have to move a finger. You will simply have to look the cash machine straight in the eye, declares National Cash Registers, a multinational company that makes automated teller machines, or ATMs. NCR has shown its first example machine that is believed to be the future of banking. Instead of asking you for your PIN on a screen, the Super Teller-Stella for short, asks you orally through a loudspeaker to look straight ahead while an infrared camera turns to your head, then your eye, and finally takes an infrared photograph of your iris(虹膜). For identification(识别) purposes, an iris picture is better than a fingerprint, with around 256 noticeable characteristics compared with 40 for fingerprints. This means that the chances of someone else being recognized in your place is about 1 in 1020. Once you’ve been identified, Stella greets you by name and says: “Would you like cash or a statement?” An infrared port allows the machine to send a bank statement straight to your pocket computer. What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．A new medical instrument |
| B．A new type of talking machine. |
| C．A new type of cash machine. |
| D．National Cash Register |
What is this new machine called?
| A．Stella | B．ATM | C．PIN | D．NCR |
When you want to get cash out in the 21st century, you will _______.
| A．need a bank card | B．have to put in your PIN |
| C．move your finger | D．just look directly at the teller machine |