In the famous fairy tale, Snow White eats the Queen’s apple and falls victim to a curse; in Shakespeare’s novel, Romeo drinks the poison and dies; some ancient Chinese emperors took pills that contained mercury, believing that it would make them immortal, but they died afterward.
Poison has long been an important ingredient in literature and history, and it seems to always be associated with evil, danger and death. But how much do you really know about poison?
An exhibition, The Power of Poison, opened last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, intended to give the audience a more vivid understanding of poison. The exhibition will continue until August, reported The New York Times.
The museum tour starts in a rainforest setting, where you can see live examples of some of the most poisonous animals: caterpillars, frogs and spiders. Golden poison frogs, for instance, aren’t much bigger than a coin, but their skin is covered in a poison that can cut off the signaling power of your nerves, and a single frog has enough venom to kill 10 grown humans.
The exhibition also features interactive activities. In an iPad-based game, visitors are presented with three puzzling illnesses and asked to identify the poisons based on symptoms. In one case, for example, a pet dog is found sick in a backyard and visitors have to figure out whether it was the toad (蟾蜍), the leaky batteries in the trash or the dirty pond water that did it.
''Poisons can be bad for some things,'' Michael Novacek, senior vice president of the museum, told NBC News. ''Yet they can also be good for others.''
This is what visitors learn from the last part of the exhibition, which displays how poisons can be used favorably by humans, including for medical treatment.
The blood toxins of vampire bats, for example, can prevent blood from clotting (凝结), which may protect against strokes. A poisonous chemical found in the yew tree is effective against cancer, which is what led to the invention of a cancer-fighting drug called Taxol. One chemical in the venom of Gila monsters can lower the blood sugar of its victims, so it has been used to treat diabetes.
The benefits from natural poisons are not limited to just medicine. Believe it or not, many substances that we regularly take in – chili, coffee and chocolate, etc. – owe their special flavors or stimulating effects to chemicals that plants make to poison insects. By mentioning Snow White and Romeo at the beginning of the story, the author intends to________.
| A．draw readers’ attention to the topic of the article |
| B．show that poison is always linked with evil and death |
| C．show that poison has long been involved in literature |
| D．get readers to think of more examples of the use of poison in stories |
What is the main purpose of the exhibition The Power of Poison?
| A．To inform people about which animals are the most poisonous. |
| B．To teach people how to handle poisonous animals. |
| C．To give people more in-depth knowledge about poison. |
| D．To show how poison has been used for medical treatment. |
Which of the following statements about the exhibition is TRUE according to the article?
| A．The exhibition will lead visitors to a real rainforest. |
| B．Those who visit the exhibition can join in some iPad-based interactive games. |
| C．Golden poison frogs are the most poisonous animals on display. |
| D．Visitors can listen to lectures on recent studies of poisonous animals. |
NASA’s Mars detector (探测器), Opportunity, succeeded in finding signs that water once existed on the planet. Opportunity landed on Mars in January. Scientists now believe that the planet could once have supported life.
This discovery was chosen by Science, one of the world’s leading magazines, as the most important scientific achievement of 2004 last Friday.
“This little, wheeled, one-armed box went around another planet and has done something no human has ever managed,” according to Science. “It has discovered another place in the universe where life could once have existed.”
“Although we still can’t say that life could have existed in this environment, it is now certain that there was water on Mars,” said Steve Squyres, one of the scientists working on the Mars mission. The evidence comes from pictures and chemical readings taken by Opportunity. It includes marks on rocks like those caused by flowing water on Earth and salty chemicals like those found in dried-out sea-beds. Scientists said the new evidence proved beyond doubt that water has been existed on Mars. But it is still unknown whether the water on Mars was like an ocean or just ice.
While Opportunity has not found any signs of life, the presence of water means life is possible. “In everything we know about life on Earth, there is no example without liquid water,” Squyres said. “So water is important for the search for life on Mars.”
Researchers agree that a future mission (任务) should bring back physical samples (样品). But some scientists worry about the risk that this could introduce dangerous foreign creatures to Earth. “The problem here is how to get the samples back,” Squyres replied. “I think it is our responsibility to limit any risk.”
1. ________ prove that water existed on Mars.
A. The physical samples with salty chemicals B. The marks on rocks and salty chemicals
C. Scientific achievements of 2004 D. Creatures from Mars
2. Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. It is now certain that there was water on Mars.
B. The water on Mars was like an ocean.
C. Evidence of life on Mars has been found.
D. Search for life on Mars is a great risk to humans.
3. How did scientists draw the conclusion that there was water on Mars?
A. The world’s leading magazine has announced the fact.
B. Scientists have taken many pictures and chemical readings on the Mars.
C. Astronauts have got some rocks from Mars.
D. Scientists have made a study of the pictures and readings sent back by Mars detector.
4. It can be inferred that, if the creatures from Mars came to Earth, ________.
A. they would be kind to humans B. they would be cruel to humans
C. they would be a great danger to Earth
D. it would be hard to say whether it would be a good news or bad news
WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — The House of Representatives, which prides itself on being " the People’s House" has been turning into, a rich men’s club.
The representatives newly elected in 1984 were almost four times as wealthy as the first term lawmakers elected only six years before, according to a new study on the members’ financial reports.
Behind this remarkable swing, the study says, there are two main factors: a court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns, and the enormous growth in the cost of pursuing a seat in Congress. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for candidates of modest means, particularly women to amount successful challenges to entrenched office holders.
One solution, the authors contend, is a system of public financing for campaigns, but Congress seems in no mood to change the political rules any time soon.
"The lower chamber is going upper class," said Mark Green, the President of the Democracy Project, a public policy institute based in New York. ".But this evolution from a House of Representatives to a House of Lords denies the diversity of our democracy. It establishes a de facto property qualification for office that increasingly says: The people with low and middle income need not apply. "
The Democracy Project produced the study in cooperation with the United States Public Interests Research Group, a similar institute situated in Washington. But their research was not entirely theoretical. In 1980 Mr. Green was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 15th District, in Manhattan. The winner was. Bill Green, one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
5. What can we know from the passage?
A. The House of Representatives is poor men’s club.
B. The House of Representatives was made up of people with low and middle income.
C. The House of Representatives, was rich men’s club;
D. The House of Representatives is made up of people with low and middle income.
6. What does "this remarkable swing" in the third paragraph refer to?
A. The House of Representatives prides itself on being" the people’s House".
B. The new study based on the members’ financial reports.
C. A court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns.
D. The representatives elected now are much wealthier than those elected a few years ago.
7. Which of the following is wrong according to the study?
A. Any honest man can become a representative of the House.
B. Women are more difficult than men to be an entrenched office holder.
C. Limits on what a candidate could give to his campaign are outlawed.
D. One must spend much money getting a seat in the Congress.
8. What is the United States Public Interests Research Group like?
A. The House of Representatives.
B. A public policy institute based in New York.
C. A public policy institute based in Washington.
D. The House of Lords.
9. What does the writer think of the study?
A. Doubtful.B. Believable. C. Opposed. D. Normal.
Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interests is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive design. There are 100, 000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a bank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.
The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later the first British telephone cards appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4,000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28,000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors’ magazine.
1. The passage is mainly about ______.
A. the history of phone cardsB. phone cards collecting as a hobby
C. reasons for phone cards collecting D. the great variety of phone cards
2. When did people in Britain begin to use phone cards?
A. In 1971. B. In 1975. C. In 1976. D. In 1981.
3. The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that ______.
A. they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep
B. they like to have something from different countries
C. they want to make money with cards
D. they think the cards are convenient to use
4. The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that
A. card collecting is popular among young people
B. French and Japanese cards are the most valuable
C. people can make money out of card collecting
D. card collectors’ magazines are very useful
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his. way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the attractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the unattractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman considered to be more feminine has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the " manly" qualities required.
This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候选人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.
5. The underlined word "liability" most probably means ______.
A. disadvantage B. advantage C. misfortune D. trouble
6. Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness ______.
A. turns out to be a disadvantage to men
B. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women
C. has as little effect on men as on women
D. affects men and women alike
7. It can be inferred from the passage that people’s views on beauty are often ______.
A. practical B. supportive C. old-fashioned D. one-sided
8. The author writes this passage to______.
A. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
B. discuss the disadvantages of being attractive
C. demand equal rights for women
D. state the importance of appearance
BROOKSVILLE — It’s the time of year again, when young bears are on their own for the first time. And that means more sightings where bears usually aren’t supposed to be.
This weekend, a 258-pound black bear took a brief tour of Brooksville, with police and firefighters chasing.
Another black bear, weighing just 100 pounds, was spotted Saturday, crossing busy U. S. 19 near a retirement community in Spring Hill. Several other bear reports have come from Citrus County.
"It is really difficult for the younger bears to find their own land around here, " said Niki Everitt, bear hot line director for the Gulf Coast Conservancy.
Brooksville’s bear first was spotted late Thursday crossing State Road 50, headed toward Tom Varn Park. Police and firefighters tracked the bear through the park and the Brooksville Quarry golf course.
The bear then wounded down the middle of Broad Street before being surrounded near Luigi’s Pizza. An official with the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission came with a tranquilizer spear(加入镇静剂的矛).planning to stick the bear by hand. "The guy saw the size of the bear and figured that wasn’t a great idea, "said Capt. Frank Phillips of the Brooksville Fire Department.
Emergency officials waited until a tranquilizer gun was brought from Land O’ Lakes. The bear then got a free ride to the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area.
It is not unusual for bears to move into living areas this time of year, experts say. Mothers give their male baby bears the boot once the youngsters are 2 years old. With living areas growing, the young bears keep finding smaller and smaller areas in which they can set up their own land.
"They’ re trying to find a land of their own, where they won ‘t get beat up, " said Lt. Rip Stalvey, a game commission spokesman.
Everitt said people should not be too concerned about the recent bear sightings, since" we have never had a bear attack in Florida."
Black bears mainly eat the tender and fresh leaves of Sabal palms, as well as acorns and berries. Recent weeks of dry weather likely have reduced their food supply.
"If we don’t get some relief soon," Everitt said," we’re probably going to see a lot more of it."
1. What’s the main idea of this passage?
A. Bear sightings in living areas worry people.
B. Policemen try hard to get the bears controlled.
C. People take up too much land from bears.
D. ears come out to disturb people’s lives.
2. Which is true according to the passage?
A. The 100-pound bear was caught near Luigi’s Pizza.
B The Gulf Coast Conservancy makes bears homeless.
C. Brooksville’s bear was too large to be caught by hand.
D. Bears frequently visit humans’ living areas.
3. Bear sightings can usually be expected ______.
A. in the cold season B. in the warm season
C. near lakes or rivers D. near Luigi’s Pizza
4. The underlined phrase "give their male baby bears the boot" means______.
A. make them wear the boots B. find new homes for them
C. drive them away from home D. keep them in safe places