It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on by way of the group’s online service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”
The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the hurry of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia—where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia (安乐死). In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes (多米诺骨牌) to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed (诊断) as Terminally Ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill Law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says. Which of the following has the similar meaning to “But the tide is unlikely to turn back.”?
| A．What happened in Australia can change world history. |
| B．It is impossible to pass the NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law. |
| C．Doctors are allowed by law to take the lives of the ill patients. |
| D．That the Law has been passed probably can’t be changed. |
From the second paragraph we learn that __________.
| A．the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries |
| B．physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia |
| C．changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hurry passage of the law |
| D．it takes time to realize the significance of the law’s passage |
By saying “observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling”, the author means __________.
| A．observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia |
| B．similar bills are likely to be passed in the U.S., Canada and other countries |
| C．observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes |
| D．the effect-taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop |
We can learn from the passage that Lloyd Nickson __________.
| A．will face his death with calm when dying |
| B．experiences a lot the suffering of a lung cancer |
| C．has an intense fear of terrible suffering |
| D．undergoes a cooling off period of seven days |
The author’s attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of __________.
| A．opposition | B．doubt | C．approval | D．anxiety |
（一）
Health experts have long worried about the increasing rate of obesity in kids. It’s an important concern: Being weight or obese during childhood can lead to serious problems normally seen in adults, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Poor diets and a lack of exercise are usually the causes. But would you ever have imagined there might be a connection between the bacteria that lived in your guts （内脏）when you were a baby and the chance that you would become overweight?
Scientists in Finland recently found just such a link. In a recent study, they showed that overweight kids had different species of bacteria living in their guts.
You probably think of bacteria only as germs that can make you sick. While it’s true that some bacteria can make people ill, your body actually depends on some types of bacteria to help you digest food and extract nutrients from it. These “good” bacteria live in your guts, where they process the food you eat.
Human babies get these bacterial helpers from their moms. When a baby is born, some of the bacteria in the mother move into the baby’s body. Growing babies get additional “good” bacteria from the milk their mothers produce. And it turns out the bacteria might play an important role in regulating weight just six years later.
So how could these bacteria affect weight? The researchers still haven’t tested that question, but future tests might lead to an answer.
1. The “link” in Paragraph 2 refers to the relationship between _______.
A. bacteria and the chance of being overweight
B. obesity and diabetes
C. diets and the chance of being overweight
D. bacteria and exercise
2. Which of the following is NOT the function of “good” bacteria?
A. Helping to digest food.
B. Helping to take nutrients from food.
C. Helping to regulate weight.
D. Making a person ill.
3. The purpose of writing this passage is to _______.
A. introduce the role of bacteria in children’s weight
B. analyze the influence of obesity on kids
C. give advice on how to lose weight quickly
D. explain the function of bacteria in foods
（十五）
Buckminster Fuller once said, “The minute you choose to do what you really want to do, it’s a different kind of life.” If you want to live abundantly, decide what you really want and figure out a way to do it. Be clear and live with intent (意向).
You may have heard of Fred Lebow. He complained to his doctor that he lacked energy. His doctor advised him to take up running. He fell in love with it! He was 39 years old when he entered his first race.
Fred joined the New York Road Runners Club and organized New York City’s first marathon race. But what Fred truly wanted to do was to bring people together. He believes that anybody should be able to run — people of all ages and of any country.
Not everyone in New York was excited about people running through their neighborhood. A youth gang warned him that nobody had better run through their turf. “That’s great,” Fred said. “I need someone to protect the runners in your area, and you look like just the fellows to do it.” He
gave them each a hat, shirt and jacket and that year, when the marathon went through their neighborhood, these young men proudly guarded the runners along their way.
Fred decided what was truly important to him and he found a way to do it. He lived with intent. That single decision made his life remarkably different.
As one sports writer said, “Fate handed him a short race. With his goal, with his love of life, Fred turned it into a marathon.”
Fred would say that it’s not about how long you live, but how you run the race of life.
6. The purpose that Fred Lebow organized New York City’s first marathon race was _____.
A. to be popular with people
B. to display his true love for sports development
C. to drive away his loneliness in the running
D. to get more people together
7. Which word in the passage is the closest in meaning to the underlined word “turf”?
A. Neighborhood. B. Way. C. Decision. D. Race.
8. What’s the best title for this passage?
A. Determination guarantees you a success.
B. The race of life with intent.
C. Nothing is impossible in one’s life race.
D. The benefits of taking up running.
（十）
The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space showed it as a solid ball covered by brown land masses and blue-green oceans. We had never seen the Earth from that distance before. To us, it appeared as though the Earth had always looked that way and always would. Scientists now know, however, that the surface of the Earth is not as permanent as we had thought.
Scientists explain that the surface of our planet is always moving. Continents moves about the Earth like huge ships at sea. They float on pieces of the Earth’s outer skin. New outer skin is created as melted rock pushed up from below the ocean floor. Old outer skin is destroyed as it rolls down into the hot area and melts again.
Only since the 1960s have scientists really began to understand that the planet Earth is a great living machine. Some experts have said this new understanding is one of the most important revolutions in scientific thought. The revolution is based on the work of scientists who study the movement of the continents—a science called plate tectonics.
The modern story of plate tectonics begins with the German scientist Alfred Wegener. Before World War One, Wegener argued that the continents had moved and were still moving. He said the idea first occurred to him when he observed that the coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. He proposed that the two continents might have been one and then split apart.
Wegener was not the first person to wonder about the shape of the continents. About 500 years ago, explorers thought about it when they made the first maps of Americas. The explorers noted the east coast of North America and South America would fit almost exactly into the west coast of Europe and South Africa. What the explorers did not do, but Wegener did, was to investigate the idea that the continents move.
1. What does the writer mainly tell us in the passage?
A. The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space.
B. Human’s recognition of the earth’s surface.
C. The German scientist Alfred Wegener.
D. The early explorers’ discovery.
2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. We didn’t see the Earth from far away until we saw the picture taken in the space.
B. Our ancient thought that the surface of the earth is still.
C. Alfred Wegener was not the first person to investigate the idea that the continents move.
D. The coastline of India and Africa fit together.
3. The last word of the third paragraph “tectonics” mean “________”.
A. study of construction
B. study of architecture
C. earth surface
D. structural geology
4. What did the explorers find?
A. The coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together.
B. The coastlines of North America and Africa could fit together.
C. The east coastlines of North America and the west coast of Europe could fit together.
D.The coastlines of North America and India could fit together.
On Christmas Eve a few years ago an English couple(夫妇) received a very special telephone call. It was only a 20-second call but it was very important. The Haydens’ 15-year-old daughter had disappeared six months before. On Christmas Eve she rang them. “I’m phoning to wish a happy Christmas,” she said, “I love you.”
Ronals and Edwine Hayden were so happy that they started a special telephone service called “Alive and Well”. The service helps parents to get in touch with children who have run away from home.
Young people can phone “Alive and Well” and leave a message for their parents. The telephones are answered by answering machines. So no one can speak to the child of making him return home.
Parents of runaway children who are under eighteen can ask the police to bring their children home, so children do not want to tell their parents where they are. Through “Alive and Well” they can telephone their parents without worrying about this or giving out their addresses.
The Haydens and their helpers write down the tape recorded telephone messages and connect the address given. Many of the 30,000 British teenagers who have left home are probably in London. For only two pence they can go into a telephone coin box and call their parents. They can dial(拨) 5675339 and stop a parent’s worry: Is he dead or alive?
72. The Haydens’ daughter rang her parents .
A. because she knew she had done something wrong B. in order to give them her address
C. to say she was coming home soon D. in order to comfort her worried parents
73. If you ring “Alive and Well ”,.
A. you will get the information you want B. your message will be passed over to your parents
C. your information will be kept a secret D. your parents will know where you are
74. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The Haydens received an “Alive and Well” call from their daughter before Christmas.
B. An “Alive and Well” call usually costs only two pence because it is quite near and short.
C. In this text at least 30,000 British teenagers don’t want to live with their parents.
D. The “Alive and Well” call is far less important than the message it sends.
75. Through “Alive and Well”, parents of runaway children .
A. often fail to persuade their children to return home
B. know nothing from their children to return home
C. can say nothing to their children
D. can ask the police to help them to find lost children
DBAC
Festival Activities Program
TIME AND PLACE
October 24 ~ 30
Oct.24 ~ 30: 9:00 a.m ~ 4:00p.m
Oct.25 ~ 29: 12:00 p.m ~ 9:00p.m
at Kerry Center Hotel
Classroom area
(1) English Taster Lesson (2) Food health-keeping method presentation
Computer area
(3) E-photography and Techno-Music (4) Education Software Demonstration
Internet Training area
SINA and Capital On-line will provide Internet Training for the public. The focus(焦点) will be on browsing the Internet; how to find useful information on the web; and how to design an elementary web page.
Foyer Activity area
(5) The students from Beijing TV University for the aged will provide a calligraphy (handwriting) demonstration.
(6) Children activities
69. A 70-year-old teacher wants to see how to use writing brush well, he should go to .
A. Classroom area B. Computer area
C. Internet Training area D. Foyer Activity area
70. The programs will last for .
A. a week B. a month C. five days D. two days
71. The word “browsing” in the passage probably means .
A. seeing everywhere B. going here and there
C. staring everywhere D. reading here and there in books, etc.