British MPs (国会议员) have voted in favour of the creation of babies with DNA from two women and one man, in a historic move. The UK is now set to become the first country to introduce laws to allow the creation of babies from three people. In a free vote in the Commons, 382 MPs were in favour and 128 against the technique that stops genetic diseases being passed from mother to child. During the debate, ministers said the technique was “light at the end of a dark tunnel” for families.
A further vote is required in the House of Lords. If everything goes ahead then the first such baby could be born next year. Supporters said it was “good news for progressive medicine” but critics say they will continue to fight against the technique that they say raises too many ethical (伦理的) and safety concerns. Estimates suggest 150 three-person babies could be born each year.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “We're not playing god here; we're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one.” The method, which was developed in Newcastle, should help women like Sharon Bernadi, from Sunderland, who lost all seven of her children to mitochondrial (线粒体的) disease. Ms Bernadi said she was “overwhelmed” by the decision.
Mitochondria are the tiny compartments (隔间) inside nearly every cell of the body that transform food into useable energy. They have their own DNA, which does not affect characteristics such as appearance. Defective mitochondria are passed down only from the mother. They can lead to brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness. The technique uses a modified version to combine the DNA of the two parents with the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman. It results in babies with 0.1% of their DNA from the second woman and is a permanent change that would be passed down through the generations. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．The new technique is intended to provide the parents a healthy baby. |
| B．The mitochondrial disease can lead to various fatal illnesses. |
| C．Britain is the first country to have created three-person babies. |
| D．All of Ms Bernadi’s children died of a genetic disease. |
The underlined word “defective” is closest to the meaning of ________.
| A．strangely-made | B．normally developed |
| C．functioning perfectly | D．not functioning properly |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．Mitochondria are inside nearly every cell that change food into useable energy |
| B．DNA of Mitochondria can affect a person’s appearance |
| C．in medical science ethical factors should be taken into consideration |
| D．the donor woman’s DNA will not be found in the three-person baby |
Prime Minister David Cameron _________ the creation of such babies.
| A．is in favour of | B．throws doubt on |
| C．objects to | D．is indifferent to |
Ladies and Gentlemen, some strange, wild and wonderful stories colored the news in 2010, you may like them.
● A Copenhagen bus company has put "love seats" on 103 of its buses for people looking for a partner. "Even love at first sight is possible on the bus," said a spokesman for the company to explain the two seats on each bus that are covered in red cloth and a "love seat" sign.
● Shoppers at an international luxury fair in Italy, found a cell-phone-equipped golden coffin（棺材）among the items on display. The phones will help "the dead" contact relatives if they have been buried alive by mistake.
● A man in New York came up with a disarming（手无寸铁的）way to perform his latest bank heist , approaching the clerk’s window with a large bunch of flowers and handing over a note saying “give me the money!”
● An Englishman who lost all his legs and arms in an electrical accident successfully swam across the Channel, a challenge he had been preparing for two years. The whole cost is 400 dollars.
● A set of artificial teeth(假牙) made for Britain's war-time prime minister Winston Churchill known as "the teeth that saved the world" sold for nearly 18,000 pounds (21,500 euros, 24,000 dollars) at auction（拍卖）.
● A British woman caused an Internet hate campaign after she was caught on camera dumping（抛弃）a cat in a rubbish bin. She was fined 250 pounds (400 dollars, 280 euros) after pleading guilty.
● The BBC apologized completely and without any doubts after a radio presenter jokingly announced that Queen Elizabeth II had died.
● Two Australian men needed surgery（手术）after shooting each other in the bottoms during a drinking session to see if it would hurt and they were charged 400 dollars separately.
● A Kuwaiti MP(议员) suggested state-aid for male citizens to take second wives, in an effort to reduce the large number of unmarried women in the oil-rich state.What is special about the coffin in the second news?
| A．It is golden. | B．It has a cell phone. |
| C．It is new. | D．It has many items. |
What is the probable meaning of the underlined word “heist” in the third news?
| A．robbery | B．love | C．discussion | D．repair |
Who has to spend 400 dollars to do the surgery?
| A．A British woman who dumped a cat in a rubbish bin. |
| B．One who bought Winston Churchill’s artificial teeth. |
| C．An Australian man who was shot in bottom to test the hurt. |
| D．An Englishman crossing the Channel without legs and arms. |
A new generation addiction is quickly spreading all over the world. Weboholism, a twentieth century disease, affects people from different ages. They surf the net, use e-mail and speak in chat rooms. They spend many hours on the computer, and it becomes a compulsive habit. They cannot stop, and it affects their lives.
Ten years ago, no one thought that using computers could become compulsive behavior that could affect the social and physical life of computer users. This obsessional behavior has affected teenagers and college students. They are likely to log on computers and spend long hours at different websites.
They become addicted to computers and gradually their social and school life is affected by this situation. They spend all free time surfing and don’t concentrate on homework, so this addiction influences their grades and success at school. Because they can find everything on the websites, they hang out there. Moreover, this addiction to websites influences their social life.
They spend more time in front of computers than with their friends. The relation with their friends changes. The virtual life becomes more important than their real life. They have a new language that they speak in the chat rooms and it causes cultural changes in society.
Because of the change in their behavior, they begin to isolate themselves from the society and live with their virtual friends. They share their emotions and feelings with friends who they have never met in their life. Although they feel confident on the computer, they are not confident with real live friends they have known all their life. It is a problem for the future. This addictive behavior is beginning to affect all the world. The main idea of the passage is about________.
| A．the cause of weboholism |
| B．the advantage of weboholism |
| C．the popularity of weboholism |
| D．the influence of weboholism |
The underlined word “obsessional” in the second paragraph most probably means “________”.
| A．addictive | B．professional |
| C．attractive | D．hidden |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．weboholism has the greatest effect on teenagers |
| B．virtual life is more vivid and attractive anyway |
| C．people are addicted to games on the Internet |
| D．students can hardly balance real and virtual life |
Where was I? The room was dark and quiet. My head hurt really badly. I shouted, “Help! Help! Can anybody help me?”
After a while somebody came in. The room was so dark that I couldn’t see his face clearly. The man turned on the light and said with a sharp voice, “Ah! Sweetie, do you still remember who I am?” I was shocked. Oh, my God! I cried, “You are Michael Zey, the man I charged with murder! Why are you here? You should be in prison!”
“You never thought about the result of charging a gang（犯罪团伙） leader, did you? Because of you, I was in prison for 15 years. You ruined my life!” His voice was very cold. My face was pale with fear. He was here to take revenge（报复）!
“Please, let me go! Don't hurt me! Please!” I asked him. “Dr. Calment, you are smart enough to know it is impossible. Now, I give you two choices. One is shooting your head. It is the quickest way. The other is cremation（火葬）. Your husband and you will be together forever. It’s quite romantic. Don't you think?” He spoke angrily. “What? My husband? He is innocent!” I shouted at him.
Suddenly, he took hold of my head and said, “You will pay for what you have done to me.” He took out a gun from his bag.
“Help! Help! Can anybody help me?”What might have happened to the writer before the man came in?
| A．She had taken his place and become a gang leader. |
| B．She had come to this place to see her husband. |
| C．She wanted to pay for what she had done to Michael Zey. |
| D．She had been beaten terribly. |
Which of the following words can best describe how the writer felt when the story happened?
| A．Surprised. | B．Terrified. | C．Amazed. | D．Puzzled. |
What does the underlined word “it” in the fourth paragraph refer to?
| A．To let her go. | B．To hurt her. |
| C．To take revenge. | D．To stay in prison. |
Michael Zey mentioned the writer’s husband because ______.
| A．he thought her husband was guilty |
| B．he thought it was romantic |
| C．he thought her husband was innocent |
| D．he wanted to frighten the writer |
The 115-year-old prestigious (有名望的)Oxford Dictionary will now include popular new Chinese terms like“shanzhai” “youtiao” and “fangnu”, as part of the modern Chinese language．
As China plays a more and more important role in the world economy, the Chinese language is forever developing, attracting more attention from people who want to understand this ancient yet lively language．
For instance, the word “shanzhai” is used to describe the countless knockoffs（名牌仿制品）of iPhones or designer bags imprinted with Louis Vuitton logos．
Another new term in the new edition is the word “fangnu”, or a “mortgage slave” —a term used to describe the phenomenon in large cities where well-educated youth complain of a miserable existence due to the heavy burden of a home mortgage．
All these new or often fashionable terms can be found in the new Oxford English –Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary that was unveiled(公布于众的)in the recently concluded Beijing International Book Fair last week．
The dictionary now is available for retail sales since the beginning of this month．This dictionary is the largest single volume English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary and contains 670,000 words and phrases after five years of preparation．Sixty editors from the Oxford University Press and its partner in China—the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press—worked together on the project．According to Julie Kleeman, the dictionary’s chief editor, most of the firm’s editors were Chinese, while about one fourth were native-English speakers．
“We don’t want to make it florid（绚丽的）, we want it to be modern and conversational．．．many of the words in the present dictionary are no longer in use,” said Kleeman．“The need for studying Chinese by foreigners today is totally different from decades ago．．．Precise, native and practical—that is our main advantage,” she said．
Kleeman said newer publications updates will be available only for the online version as language often changes too quickly for book versions to keep pace．The online version will also offer a Chinese phonetic pronunciation guide．The online version, allowing access via different platforms from the PC to the iPad, will be ready “as soon as possible”, Kleeman said． According to the above passage, we learn that ________．
| A．knockoffs can be found in China but not very often. |
| B．the Oxford University Press made the dictionary without outside aid. |
| C．most Chinese editors are also native speakers of English. |
| D．well-educated youth in China’s big cities have difficulty buying houses. |
The possible reason why newer publications updates are not available for book versions is that ________．
| A．book versions can’t keep up with the changes of language. |
| B．the computer network is available everywhere. |
| C．book versions can’t offer a Chinese phonetic pronunciation guide. |
| D．computer technology like the PC and the iPad keeps pace with language. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．New Chinese terms like “shanzhai” and “fangnu” have got into Oxford Dictionary． |
| B．The latest Oxford English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary is on the market． |
| C．Oxford Dictionary has become more fashionable due to the Chinese language． |
| D．Beijing International Book Fair was where the new Oxford Dictionary was published |
Hundreds of students from around the world gathered in New York City last week for the Microsoft Imagine Cup finals. They came to present their ideas for using technology to solve world problems.
Microsoft education director Suzi Levine says the nine-year-old program began mainly as a competition to create technology.
SUZI LEVINE: "When we realized that students really actually want to have a purpose for what they're creating, we introduced the idea of inspiring them with the UN Millennium Development Goals and suggesting that they use those for their muse(灵感). "This past year we also rolled out something called the Imagine Cup Solve This library（创新杯求解计划知识库）, where IGOs, NGOs and nonprofits can submit some of the technical challenges that they would like students to consider for their solutions."
Microsoft says over 350，000 high school and college students registered for this year's competition. Judges chose more than four hundred of them to attend the finals.
SUZI LEVINE: "One from Thailand was called NewKrean, where they created a Windows Phone 7 application that allows you to broadcast your location to your social network of friends so that you can be more easily rescued." They named their application Terra.
Suzi Levine says there were also ideas from Egypt inspired by the revolution that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak in February.
SUZI LEVINE: "One was to use Bluetooth as sort of a Twitter equivalent so that if the government shuts down the Internet, you actually can still have a massive social distribution."
Students competed in nine categories. For example, in software design the top prize of twenty-five thousand dollars went to Team Hermes from Ireland. The students developed a device for cars to collect information on road conditions, driving behavior and traffic incidents.
A team from Taiwan's National Tsing Hua University won first place in the embedded（内嵌的） development category. They developed a network of wireless devices to help plot the safest escape routes during a fire.
Next year's awards ceremony will take place in Australia. Registration for Imagine Cup twenty-twelve opened Friday. Also, Microsoft announced plans for a three million dollar program to help Imagine Cup winners further develop their projects.Which of the following is true ?
| A．The program is sponsored by Microsoft. |
| B．Next year, the awards ceremony will be held in New York City. |
| C．Any high school or college student can attend the finals. |
| D．The initial purpose of the program is to solve world problems using technology. |
What can we infer from the third paragraph?
| A．The UN offers great help to the program. |
| B．Microsoft sets up a library for the students who want to achieve their goals. |
| C．IGOs, NGOs and nonprofits also provide help for the students. |
| D．Microsoft takes effective measures to inspire the students. |
What does the underlined word “overthrew ” in Paragraph 6 mean ?
| A． Abandoned | B．Supported | C．Drove away | D．Overturned |
What can we know from Paragraph 7?
| A．They want to replace Bluetooth with Twitter. |
| B．They want to combine Bluetooth with Twitter. |
| C．They want to replace Twitter with Bluetooth. |
| D．Twitter can still be used without the Internet. |