With only about 1,000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone the animal and save the endangered species. That’s more similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called Noah’s Ark.
Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos (胚胎) and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M'S College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2,000 species of mammals, birds and reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.
This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.
The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nuclear transfer (核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available (capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it's difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort.” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A & M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It's a research that is very much needed.”The aim of Noah's Ark project is to ____ .
| A．make efforts to clone the endangered pandas |
| B．save endangered animals from dying out |
| C．collect DNA of endangered animals to study |
| D．transfer the nuclear of one animal to another |
How long will the Chinese panda cloning project take according to the passage?
| A．1 Year. | B．3 to 5 years. | C．2 years. | D．25 years. |
According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of ____.
| A．available panda eggs | B．host animals |
| C．qualified researchers | D．enough money |
From the passage we know that ____ .
| A．Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog |
| B．scientists try to implant a panda's egg into a rabbit |
| C．Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches |
| D．about two thousand species will probably die out in a century |
The best title for the passage may be ____.
| A．China's Success in Pandas Cloning |
| B．The First Cloned Panda in the World |
| C．Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas |
| D．China --- the Native Place of Pandas Forever |
Tomb-Sweeping Day
A well-known poem by Tang Dynasty writer Du Mu tells of a sad scene in early April: "Rains fall heavily as Qing Ming comes， and passers-by with lowered spirits go. "Qing Ming Day, the traditional tomb-sweeping day, falls on April 4—6 each year. It is a time for remembering loved ones who have departed. People visit their ancestors' graves to sweep away the dirt.
Its origin dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period. Jin prince Chong'er ran away from the country with his supporters due to persecution. They were homeless for 19 years and things got so bad that Chong'er began to starve to death. One of the prince's faithful followers, Jie Zitui, cut a piece of muscle from his own leg and served it to his master. Chong'er was saved and, in 636 BC, he took back the throne.
He rewarded the officials who had stayed loyal to him but he forgot about Jie Zitui. By the time Chong'er remembered him, a heartbroken Jie Zitui had traveled deep into the mountains. Chong'er wanted to persuade Jie to come home， so he had the hills set on fire. But Jie was later found beside a large tree, with his old mother on his back. Both were dead.
Saddened by the tragedy, Chong'er ordered that fires could not be lit on the day of Jie Zitui's death. From this comes Hanshi Day, or Cold Food Day. People visited Jie Zitui's tomb the next day to pay their respects. Over time, Hanshi Day was replaced with tombsweeping day. This passage is mainly about ______ .
| A．a poem called Qingming which was written by Du Mu |
| B．the story between Chong'er and Jie Zitui |
| C．the origin of Qingming Day |
| D．Chong'er rewarded his loyal followers |
According to the passage, which statement is NOT right?
A. Hanshi Day has another name, Cold Food Day.
B. Chong'er was forced to leave his country in 617 BC.
C. Qingming Day is a traditional festival, which is on April 5 every year.
D. Qingming Day dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period. Cold Food Day started from ______.
| A．the Tang Dynasty |
| B．the Ming Dynasty |
| C．617 BC |
| D．the Spring and Autumn Period |
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS，Tuberculosis (结核病)and Malaria was created in 2002. It is an alliance of business, government and civilian partnerships. A new report from the Global Fund says almost five million lives have been saved through the six hundred programs it supports.
The programs operate in 144 countries, many in sub’ Saharan Africa. The Global Fund has approved proposals for more than nineteen billion dollars to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The report says two and one-half million people infected with HIV now are being treated with antiretroviral medicines. It says there has been a major decrease in AIDS deaths in many countries as a result.
The report also says about six million people with active tuberculosis are being treated for the disease. The number of deaths from TB is dropping around the world.
The Global Fund has given out more than one hundred million bed nets in its battle against malaria. The bed nets are treated with a poison to kill mosquitoes. The report says ten of the countries in Africa with the highest cases of malaria have reported decreases in new cases. An increasing number of countries are reporting a drop of more than fifty percent in malaria deaths, the report says.
Rifat Atun is director of strategy, performance and evaluation at the Global Fund. He says the programs the fund supports saved at least 3,600 lives every day last year. And he says more lives can be saved in the future if the programs continue to receive the money they need.
The Global Fund was established as a financial tool. It has several guiding ideas. It works to support programs that come from national plans and goals. It tries to find balance in dealing with places, diseases and interventions. And the Global Fund is open in its work to avoid corruption (腐败)or the appearance of corruption.
Most of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS，Tuberculosis and Malaria comes from the world's leading industrial nations. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Foundation of the Global Fund |
| B．The Global Fund Established as a Financial Tool |
| C．Almost 5 Million Lives Saved through the Global Fund |
| D．An Alliance of Business, Government and Civilian Partnerships |
According to the passage，which of the following statements is true?
| A．There has been a minor decrease in AIDS deaths in many countries as a result. |
| B．An decreasing number of countries are reporting a drop of more than fifty percent in malaria deaths. |
| C．Most of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria comes from the developed countries. |
| D．The Global Fund has approved proposals for more than £ 19 billion to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. |
According to the last but one paragraph, which is not the function of the Global Fund?
| A．It isn't used as a financial tool but as a medical tool. |
| B．It works to support programs coming from national plans and goals. |
| C．It tries to find balance in dealing with places, diseases and interventions. |
| D．It works to avoid corruption or the appearance of corruption in an open way. |
In which section of the newspaper would this passage most likely appeared?
| A．Business. | B．Science. |
| C．Politics. | D．Health. |
Scientists in the United States have developed a method that may help to predict earthquakes earlier. They say it could give people who live in deadly earthquake areas enough warning to leave before an earthquake hits.
Currently, the most modem systems for predicting earthquakes find them only a short time before the event. Like most strong earthquakes , the one that hit Southwestern China in May was not identified early enough for people to flee the area. That earthquake killed more than 69,000 people, which rated eight point zero in intensity.
But scientists who study earthquakes are reporting that new technology could measure very small changes in the Earth's surface. Their report was published this month in Nature magazine.
Fenglin Niu is a seismologist in Rice University in Houston, Texas. He and his team performed experiments along California's San Andreas Fault, an area famous for its many earthquakes. The team placed highly sensitive electrical devices about one kilometer below ground in two different places. The devices were able to measure even small changes in air pressure on the Earth's surface. The scientist says such changes are caused when rocks push together, forcing air out of small cracks in the rock. When this happens, seismic waves travel faster than usual through the rock.
The experiment was performed near Parkfield，California. Two earthquakes hit the area in late 2005. The first took place on December 25. A smaller earthquake struck five days later. The scientists noted changes in the Earth's surface about ten hours before the first earthquake struck. That earthquake rated three in intensity. They then found similar changes taking place two hours before the other earthquake struck five days later.
If additional tests confirm the changes are linked to earthquakes ，the scientists believe that their equipment could be used for early warning systems. A system that provides a warning signal ten hours before a major earthquake could help move people from the area and save lives.
The scientists now hope they can find earthquakes with even greater intensity by placing their equipment deeper in the ground. What is the best title for the passage?
| A．A new way to help predict earthquakes |
| B．The earthquake in Southwestern China |
| C．A better understanding of earthquakes |
| D．Early warning systems of earthquakes |
If the new way works, ______ .
| A．fewer earthquakes will break out |
| B．rescue workers can save more buried people in ruins |
| C．a warning can be given at least ten days before the major earthquake |
| D．fewer people will be killed in an earthquake |
The devices can predict the earthquake by ______ .
| A．reaching the center of the earthquake |
| B．detecting the temperature changes in the Earth's crust |
| C．measuring changes in air pressure on the Earth's surface |
| D．recording sound waves under the ground |
We can infer that ______ .
| A．the equipment is perfect enough to be used in practice |
| B．it is unknown if greater earthquakes can be predicted by the equipment |
| C．the deeper the equipment is placed, the less accurate the measurement is |
| D．the equipment has helped save many lives in the earthquake in Sichuan in May |
The world is not coming to an end on December 21 ,2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel (消除)widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie.
The latest big screen offering from Sony Picture, 2012 , arrives in theaters on Friday, with a 200-million-dollar production about the end of the world supposedly based on myths backed by the Mayan calendar. It is claimed that the end of time will come as a Planet X or Nibiru heads toward or collides with the Earth.
Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet's existence, but the US space agency condemned such stories as an "Internet hoax". "There is no factual basis for these claims," NASA said in a question-and-answer posting on this website. "If such a collision were real，astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012," it insisted. "After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years," added NASA.
There is another planet, Eris, floating in space. But the small planet similar to Pluto will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the Earth, according to NASA.
Earlier theories set the disaster for May 2003，but when nothing happened the date was moved forward to the winter in 2012 to coincide with the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar.
NASA insisted the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21,2012，as another period begins immediately afterward.
And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast， the effect on our planet would be" negligible ( unimportant)"， NASA said.
"And while comets and asteroids (小行星)have always hit the Earth, big hits are very rare," NASA noted. The last major impact was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting in the end of dinosaurs.
"We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs," the space agency said. ______ played a key role in the spread of the rumors.
| A．A new book |
| B．The Internet and a new Hollywood movie |
| C．NASA |
| D．An Indian calendar |
We can infer that ______ .
| A．people didn't take the rumor seriously |
| B．Planet X or Nibiru does exist |
| C．astronomers have been tracking Planet X for over ten years |
| D．the rumor caused a panic among some people |
NASA thinks that Eris ______ .
| A．might have a threat to the Earth |
| B．doesn't have any threat to the Earth |
| C．is too far away to be visible |
| D．is similar to our planet, where life might exist |
Which of the following is the best title?
| A．New Hollywood movie 2012 |
| B．December 21,2012, not the end of the world |
| C．End of the ancient Mayan calendar |
| D．How rumors came into being |
School safety is important, but some are saying an elementary school principal overreacted when she saw one of her students playing with a tiny toy gun in the cafeteria(自助餐馆).
Mom Laura Timoney went ballistic (失去理智的)when she received a call from her son's school. Staten Island fourth-grader Pat- rick Ti money was in tears, the mad mama told the New York Daily News, because he was being threatened with a suspension (停学)by P. S. 52 principal Evelyn Malroianni.
His crime? Possession of a 2-inch toy gun, which Patrick had placed in the hand of a Lego police officer during a lunchtime toy break.
Patrick's father, a retired police officer who shares his little boy's name ’ tells the Daily News that he has ‘ no problem with the rules' but doesn't see why the tiny gun caused such a big problem.
In this video report from the newspaper, Patrick and his family describe the incident.
"The toy gun is not the issue," Laura Timoney tells the Daily News. "A lack of common sense is the issue." Timoney adds that she wants an apology and might sue (起诉)the school.
New York City Department of Education spokesperson Margie Feinberg tells the Staten Island Advance that "Toy guns are not allowed in schools," and that NYC schools have a no-tolerance policy in place for fake firearms. Even little ones.
After a meeting was held between parents and school officials， it was decided that Patrick would not be suspended over the little weapon.
When it comes to punishments, size really does matter. What's the best title of the passage?
| A．School Safety Is Important |
| B．A Lack of Common Sense Is the Issue |
| C．A Meeting Held between Parents and School Officials |
| D．Kid Almost Suspended for Bringing Tiny Toy Gun to School |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．NYC schools have a no-tolerance policy in place for fake firearms. |
| B．Laura Timoney went mad when she received a call from her son's school. |
| C．Patrick Timoney was in Grade Five Staten Island Elementary School. |
| D．Patrick and his family describe the incident to video report from the New York Daily News. |
From the underlined sentence "he has ‘no problem with the rules’" in the fourth paragraph, we can infer ______ .
| A．Patrick's father wants to sue the school |
| B．Patrick's father approves of the school regulations |
| C．Patrick's father is unsatisfied with the school regulations |
| D．Patrick's father thinks tiny toy gun can cause a big problem |
What is the possible result of the incident?
| A．The school might cancel the rule. |
| B．Patrick might drop out of school. |
| C．Patrick can't be punished by the school. |
| D．Patrick would not be suspended over the little weapon. |