What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in biotechnology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today's leading killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memories.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞)are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on—in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.)
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by________.
A.diseases and aging |
B.accidents and war |
C.accidents and aging |
D.heart disease and war |
In the author's opinion, today's most important advance in technology lies in________.
A.medicine |
B.the Internet |
C.brain cells |
D.human organ |
Humans may live longer in the future because________.
A.heart disease will be far away from us |
B.human brains can decide the final death |
C.the basic materials of cells will last forever |
D.human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
We can learn from the passage that________.
A.human life will not last more than 120 years in the future |
B.humans have to make medicine to build new skin cells now |
C.much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life |
D.we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells |
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What extra advantage you will get if you pay a small fee for the service?
A.You can upload a file no matter how big it is. |
B.Your file will remain at least 90 days. |
C.Your file will remain one month. |
D.Your friends will see your files for free. |
For a premium account user, the more money you will pay ________ .
A.the longer your files will remain online |
B.the bigger file you can upload |
C.the more money you can earn |
D.the longer you can use the file-hosting service |
The same feature offered by both the standard account and premium account is ________.
A.upload speed | B.file size |
C.file life time | D.number of connections |
It was Monday. Mrs. Smith’s dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.
Considering that there was no better way, Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it: “Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently: “Take this to the butcher. And he’s going to give you your lunch today.”
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher’s. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady’s handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.
At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers.
But the dog came again at four o’clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher’s surprise, it came for a third time at six o’clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”
Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!Mrs. Smith treated her little dog quite_________.
A.cruelly | B.fairly | C.kindly | D.rudely |
It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper Mrs. Smith gave it_______.
A.might do it much harm | B.could do it much good |
C.would help the butcher | D.was worth many pounds |
From its experience, the dog found that ________.
A.only the paper with Mrs. Smith’s words in it could bring it meat |
B.the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it |
C.Mrs. Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher |
D.a piece of paper could bring it half a pound of meat |
At the end of the story, you’ll find that _______.
A.the dog was clever enough to write on the paper |
B.the dog dared not go to the butcher’s any more |
C.the butcher was told not to give any meat to the dog |
D.the butcher found himself cheated by the clever animal |
Why Doesn't Anybody Copy Apple?
Apple’s products are the envy of the world. They have been amazingly successful and are widely imitated, if not copied. The minute Apple launches a product, everyone knows how to compete.This idea that the basis of competition is set by Apple and then the race is on to climb the path of improvement is unquestionable. When Apple releases a product that defines a category or dramatically changes the structure of an industry, it becomes obvious what needs to be built. But what I wonder is why everyone wants to copy Apple's products but nobody wants to copy being Apple?
I can think of two reasons. Firstly, Apple is not worth copying because it's not successful; secondly, Apple's success cannot be copied because it is a magical process.
There is a great deal of evidence for the first assumption. The idea of Apple being successful is not something reflected in its stock price. Being valued lower than the average company in the S&P(标准普尔)500 indicates that to whatever degree Apple was successful in the past, and it's not seen by the vast majority of observers as successful in the future. Why should one bother copying Apple if it results in being punished with a low valuation? If one works really hard at innovation(革新)and then that innovation becomes commoditized(商品化)very quickly, why should one bother?
When innovation practitioners are asked what makes Apple successful, the answers regarding the cause of this success border on the mythical. The fabulous part of this assumption is the " chief-sorcerer" theory of success which places one magician, like Steve Jobs, in charge of casting all the right spells.
What about Apple's own opinion of what makes it tick? Tim Cook refers to a great team and integration(一体)of hardware, software and services as unique Apple advantages. It's a better explanation. Integration is something that can take a long time, but it is possible with great effort. A few companies are starting to make moves in that direction, but efforts are half-hearted. There is no "move the Earth" feeling to become an integrated company from Samsung, Google or Microsoft.
My own suspicion is that Apple is more aware of what makes it special than it lets out. However, as Tim points out, it's not a formula. It's complex, it's subtle, but it's not magic. It's a process that requires a degree of faith and courage.When a new product of Apple comes out, often it _________.
A.ruins an industry dramatically |
B.puts itself in an unbeatable position |
C.starts a revolution of an industry |
D.is soon overtaken by imitated products |
According to the passage, other companies don't "copy being Apple" because_________.
A.Apple is not a successful company |
B.they have no access to relevant resources |
C.it's hard to find a magician like Steve Jobs |
D.being Apple takes more than time and efforts |
We can infer from Para. 5 that _________.
A.other companies are dedicated to integration |
B.Apple itself is fully aware of its unique advantages |
C.Apple will hold the leading position in this industry |
D.other companies don't have an extraordinary team as Apple does |
What does the author think of Tim Cook's statement?
A.Neutral. | B.Disappointing. | C.Indifferent. | D.Acceptable. |
WASHINGTON—Laura Straub is a very worried woman. Her job is to find families for French teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.
It’s not easy, even desperate.
“We have many children left to place: 40 out of 75,” said Straub, who works for a Paris-based foreign exchange programme called LEC. When exchange programmes started 50 years ago, family life was more accommodating. For one thing, more mothers stayed home.
But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange-student programmes have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30,000 teenagers who annually come from abroad to spend their academic year in the United States, as well as the thousands more who participate in summer programmes.
School systems in many parts of the US, unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accept. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less exotic.
In searching for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programmes are increasingly broadening their appeals to include everyone who has the ability to do it.
“We are open to many different types of families,” said Vickie Weiner, eastern regional director for ASSE, a 25- year-old programme that sends about 30,000 teenagers on academic year exchange programmes worldwide.
“For elderly people, exchange students keep us young; they really do!” said Jean Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Porst from Denmark.Vickie Weiner is the person who ________.
A.works for a programme called LEC | B.works for a programme called ASSE |
C.is 25 years old | D.hosts foreign students |
From the passage we can learn that at the beginning of the exchange programmes_______.
A.all the families could host foreign students |
B.only young couples could host foreign students |
C.only those who were retired could host foreign students |
D.those who were not too old could host foreign students |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
A.US Struggles to Find Host Families |
B.Idea of Hosting Students Is Different |
C.Foreign-exchange Program Is Going On |
D.Exchange Students Keep Old People Young |
All around the world, shoppers flock to Wal-Mart to buy everything. In Texas, they come for another reason: to see the wind turbine(涡轮机), which supplies 5% of the store’s electricity. It along with other facilities, such as exterior walls coated with heat-reflective paint, makes this Wal-Mart a green giant.
The laws of economics suggest that Wal-Mart, with 5, 200 stores worldwide, influences everything including the price of all kinds of goods. It throws its weight behind environmental responsibility, and the impact could be amazing. “One little change in product packaging could save 1, 500 trees,” says Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott.“If everybody saves 1, 500 trees or 50 barrels of oil, at the end of the day you have made a huge difference.”
Scott wants Wal-Mart to do its part too. He has promised to cut the existing greenhouse-gas emissions(排放)over the next few years and promised to construct new stores that are more efficient. He wants Wal-Mart’s fleet of more than 7, 000 trucks to get twice as many miles per gallon by 2015. Factories that show Wal-Mart they’re cutting air pollution will get preferential treatment in the supply chain. Wal-Mart says it’s working with consumer-product manufacturers to reduce their packaging and will reward them if they do so.
Some people may doubt it is a bid to attract attention from Wal-Mart’s controversial labor and health-insurance practices. But it’s not just window dressing, because Wal-Mart sees profits in going green. Scott says, “This is a business philosophy, not a social philosophy. We don’t go where we don’t think there’s a great interest in change.”
Like Bill Gates, who started his charitable foundation, Scott happens to be promoting Wal-Mart’s image at a time when his company’s reputation is declining. He acknowledges that he launched the plan partly to shield (保护)Wal-Mart from bad press about its contribution to global warming. “By doing what we’re doing today, we avoid the headline risks that are going to come for people who did not do anything,” he says. “At some point businesses will be held responsible for the action they take.” Meanwhile, should Wal-Mart succeed at shrinking its environmental footprint and lowering prices for green products, both the planet and the company will profit.We can infer from the passage that ______.
A.Lee Scott is Wal-Mart’s CEO |
B.there are 5, 200 stores in the world |
C.Wal-Mart has a great influence on the world market |
D.Wal-Mart has more than 7, 000 trucks all over the world |
What does the underlined sentence “This is a business philosophy, not a social philosophy.” mean in the fourth paragraph?
A.Wal-Mart predicts huge profits in its green activity. |
B.Wal-Mart’s green activity is just window dressing. |
C.Wal-Mart aims to solve its health-insurance practices. |
D.Wal-Mart doesn’t have any social responsibility at all. |
What will Wal-Mart probably do in the future?
A.Reduce air pollution in its present stores. |
B.Give favorable treatment to its consumers. |
C.Ask the factories to reduce their packaging. |
D.Demand the fleet of trucks to use more fuel than before. |
What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A.Provide the background of the green plan. |
B.Stress the purpose of Wal-Mart’s green plan. |
C.Present the risk that Wal-Mart is facing nowadays. |
D.Analyze the similarity between Bill Gates and Scott. |