Since the gene , called DAF-16 in worms, was found in many animals and in humans, the finding could open up new ways to affect aging ,immunity and resistance in humans the scientists said.
“We wanted to find out how normal aging is being governed by genes and what effect these genes have on other traits such as immunity,”said Robin May , who led the study.
Populations across the world are aging at a surprising pace , bring potentially big challenges for health and social care systems . A study by Danish scientists last year found that half of babies born in rich world today will live to celebrate their 100^th birthday . Scientists are eager to find out how people age to try to develop drugs to help them stay healthier lives extend.
“What we have found is that things like resistance and aging tend go hand in hang “ May said in an interview
May’s team compared longevity ,stress resistance and immunity in four related species of worm. They also looked for differences in the activity of DAV-16 in each of the four species and found that they were all quite distinct.
May said DAF-16 was active in most cells in the body and was very similar to a group of human genes called FOXO genes , which scientists believe play a role in the aging process. “The fact that subtle differences in DAF-16 between species seem to have such an impact on aging and health is very interesting and many explain how differences in lifespan and related traits have arisen during evolution，”May said
小題1:In which section may the text appear in a newspaper?
A  Education   B  Science   C  Entertainment    D  Culture
小題2: According to May ,   
A resistance has a lot of to do with aging    B FOXO genes can be found in worms
C genes play the same role in difference species   D  new drugs will change the genes in older people
小題3:From the text we know that DAF-16   
A is a gene that is only found in worms     B can make people live longer
C has an effect on aging and immunity     D  has been quite familiar to scientists

Trekking through the mists of the Huangshan mountains , I came upon a young man painting the scenery with traditional brush and ink on rice paper. He smiled proudly as he showed me his work. It was indeed quite beautiful for a painting , but it paled compared to the living scene before my eyes: mountaintops surrounded by light clouds, an endless dance of wind and fog that changes alternately in the dark hills beneath. How futile it must feel for a mere human being to try to capture that , I thought.
Yet for centuries ,these mountains in the heart of China have been a destination for artists and poets , who come to commune with nature in one of its more striking pose-and struggle to replicate its beauty. Along with the artists and poets come lovers ,who grasp locks symbolic of their undying love to the chain fences that protect hikers from the steep cliffs .Seventy miles of trials wind around 72peaks , the two majestic of which are Capital of Heaven and Lotus Flower.
In 1990 ,UNESCO declared Huangshan a Cultural and Natural Property , thereby ensuring that the area’s physical beauty will be preserved forever. Pheasant and deer abound. Hundreds of plants are said to heal the body and the famous hot springs are known for their healing qualities . An hour’s meditation in one of these pools is a great way  to end a day of hiking .
The three staging areas for Huangshan visitors are Jade Screen, the Hot Spring area and the North Sea. The Xi Hai and Bei Hai ,located on different summits are three-star hotels serving Chinese and Western food as well as wine and liquor from East and West.
Huangshan may not be exactly off the beaten path , but it is on a road well worth taking.
小題1: The writer thought the young man ‘s painting    .
A not a bit beautiful    B  not as beautiful as the living scene
C more beautiful than the living scene   D  beautiful enough to caught the nature’s beauty
小題2: Why would lovers like to grasp locks to the chain fences?
A because locks symbolize lovers’ forever love
B because locks can protect lovers from the cliffs
C because locks help lovers climb to the top quickly
D because locks contribute to enjoy nature easily
小題3: What is the purpose of the passage?
A To introduce some hotels in Huangshan mountains
B To recommend Huangshan mountains to tourists
C To speak highly of the beauty of Huangshan mountains
D To stress the convenience to climb Huangshan mountains

Researchers have found more evidence that suggests a relationship between races and rates(率) of lung cancer among smokers. A new study shows that black people and Native Hawaiians are more likely to develop lung cancer from smoking. It compared their risk to whites, Japanese-Americans and Latinos.
Researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Hawaii did the new study. The New England Journal of Medicine published the findings. The eight-year research studied more than 180,000 people. They included present and former smokers and people who never smoked. Almost 2.000 people in the study developed lung cancer.
Researchers say genetics(遺傳學(xué)) might help explain the racial and ethnic（種族的） differences. There could be differences in how people's bodies react to smoke. But environmental influences, including the way people smoke, could also make a difference.
African-Americans and Latinos in the study are reported smoking the fewest cigarettes per day. Whites are the heaviest smokers. But the scientists point out that blacks have been reported to breathe cigarette smoke more deeply than white smokers. This could fill their lungs with more of the chemicals in tobacco that cause cancer.
Scientists know that some diseases effect different groups differently. And some drug companies have begun to develop racially targeted(針對) medicines. Last June, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved a drug designed to treat heart failure in black patients. The name is BiDil. The agency called it "a step toward the promise of personalized medicine."
小題1:Which of the following orders is from higher to lower risk of having lung cancer?

A．Whites—Native Hawaiians	B．Africans—Americans—Latinos
C．Asians—Native Hawaiians	D．Africans—Americans—Native Hawaiians

小題2:Researchers agree that it is      that may probably determine black people’s risk of lung cancer.

A．the larger amount of smoking than white people

B．the living style or habit of the blacks

C．the depth of cigarette smoke into their lungs

D．the physical strength to react to cigarette smoke

小題3:People in the new study are made up of          .

A．heavy smokers in America	B．the black and white people
C．the Asians and Hawaiians	D．smokers and non-smokers

小題4:The production of BiDil referred to in the last paragraph is to      .

A．explain different races react to some diseases differently

B．tell the readers that racial differences exist in smokers

C．show a big step people have taken in the medicine area

D．support the idea that it is easy for blacks to have cancers

小題5:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the author?

A．The way of smoking may increase the risk of lung cancer.

B．Race has nothing to do with the risk of having a lung cancer.

C．The research was started by the New England Journal of Medicine.

D．The risk of lung cancer lies I how much a person smokes.

"The world's oceans are slowly getting more acidic．”say scientists．The researchers from California report that the change is taking place in response to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The lowering of the waters’pH value is not great at the moment but could cause a serious threat to current ocean life if it continues, they warn. Ken Caldeira and Michael Wickett, from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, report their concerns in the journal Nature.
Increasing use of oil fuels means more carbon dioxide is going into the air, and most of it will eventually be absorbed by seawater. Once in the water, it reacts to form carbonic acid. Scientists believe that the oceans have already become slightly more acidic over the last century.
These researchers have tried to predict what will happen in the future by combining what we know about the history of the oceans with computer models of climate change．"This level of acidity will get much more extreme in the future if we continue releasing COZ into the atmosphere," said Dr Caldeira. "And we predict the amount of future acidity will exceed（超過）anything we have seen over the last several hundred million years, let alone perhaps after rare disastrous events such as asteroid（小1j-%+.'_) impacts．”
However, it is not absolutely clear what that means for ocean life．Most organisms live near the surface, where the greatest pH change would be expected to occur, but deep-ocean life forms may be more sensitive to pH changes．Coral reefs and other organisms whose shells contain calcium carbonate（小行星) may be particularly affected if the water's acidity levels keep going up, the team predict. They could find it much more difficult to build these structures in water with a lower pH.
In recent years some people have suggested storing carbon dioxide from power stations in the deep ocean as a way of dealing with global warming．But Dr Caldeira said that such a strategy should now be re-considered. "Previously, most experts had looked at ocean absorption of carbon dioxide as a good thing一because in releasing CO2 into the atmosphere we warm the planet, and when CO2, is absorbed by the ocean, it reduces the amount of greenhouse warming.”
小題1:The ocean is becoming more acidic due to＿．
A，the lower water pH value           B．the warming atmosphere
C ．the higher level of COZ in the air     D．the increasing use of oil fuels
小題2:According to Dr Caldeira,＿．

A．ocean absorption of carbon dioxide is a good thing

B．more oil fuels will be used in the near future

C．scientists may predict climate changes with computer models

D．the future situation of the amount of acidity is extremely serious

小題3:If the water's acidity level keeps rising,＿．

A．ocean life whose structures contain calcium carbonate may be affected

B．the waters’pH value will become higher and higher

C．organisms living near the surface are more sensitive to pH changes

D．some disastrous events will occur more often than before

小題4:Most experts once believed storing carbon dioxide in the ocean would reduce＿．

A．the COZ absorbed by the ocean

B．the amount of greenhouse warming

C．the acidity of the ocean

D．the gradul release Of CO2

小題5:The purpose of this passage is to＿．

A．show people the findings of a research team

B．inform people of how acid the ocean is now

C．introduce Dr Caldeira and his team's research

D．warn people of the higher level of COZ

I have never heard about a “Fashion Week” outside of New York, London or Milan. But then one just happens to turn up in Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. Actually, I’m ignorant of all those countries in Central Asia, whose names are always ending in “stan.” For decades, even centuries, Central Asia has been out of focus, a blank on the map of empires. Just as the introduction from Turusbek Mamashov, from the Tourism agency of the president of the Kyrgyz Republic, says, “Throughout this Fashion Week project, we need to create a revolution in the minds of our people, preparing the country for the international tourism market. It is an opportunity as well as an investment.” What he says is right. If you just give it a glimpse (一瞥), you’ll find out that the flavor (風(fēng)情) of the Silk Road is still there.
As part of the route for Silk Road traders and migrating tribes through its epic(史詩的) history, Kyrgyzstan, like other Central Asian countries, is a vast place of desert, grassland and mountain ranges. It is not widely known that Kyrgyzstan is the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai’s birthplace.
Bishkek, the place holding Fashion Week, is the capital and industrial center of independent Kyrgyzstan. It is a relaxed, handsome place with wide streets and large amounts of greenery. Especially in the autumn of November, the yellow leaves falling everywhere make the whole city a legend in fall. The mountains are just at its rear, in that case a unique scene of picturesque beauty is composed by snow-white peaks, lakes and the urban Landscape.
Today, Ala-Too Square is the center of the poetic places worth seeing in Bishkek. The “White House,” the seat of the Kyrgyzstan Government, is just at the west of the square. Behind this is Panfilov Park, a great place to head for a national holiday. The State Museum of Fine Arts is opposite, which is also called the Gapar Aitiev Museum of Applied Arts, featuring Kyrgyz jewelry, rugs and works by local artists.
One of the joys besides the scenery is the openness of the people. Bishkek is a city without a big population but mainly good-natured people from many races, 47 percent are Russian and about a third are Kyrgyz. Most travelers vote Kyrgyzstan as the most appealing, accessible and welcoming of the former Soviet Central Asian republics. It is written by a tourist that Kyrgyzstan is the country Russians most desperately want to keep: hills always covered with grass and wild flowers. Kyrgyz men always ride a horse wearing a photogenic hat.
小題1:   According to the passage, Kyrgyzstan used to be ___________.

A．a(chǎn)n international fashion centre	B．a(chǎn)n important part of Silk Road
C．the focus of the world	D．a(chǎn) vast desert land in Central Asia

小題2:   The Fashion Week in Bishkek is supposed to __________.

A．start a revolution in Kyrgyzstan	B．a(chǎn)ttract foreign investment to Kyrgyzstan
C．promote tourism in Kyrgyzstan	D．celebrate the independence of Kyrgyzstan

小題3:   Which of the statements is NOT ture according to the passage?

A．Bishkek is a crowded modern city surrounded by mountain ranges.

B．Panfilov Park is a popular destination for local people during holidays.

C．The majority of the population in Bishkek are Russian and Kyrgyz.

D．The famous poet Li Bai is thought to have been born in Kyrgyzstan.

小題4:   What is the most important message the author wants to convey in the passage?

A．Reflections and thoughts on the glorious history of the Silk Road.

B．Feelings about the ongoing Fashion Week project in Bishkek.

C．The geographic features and imposing history of Kyrgyzstan.

D．The natural and cultural characteristics and attractions in Kyrgyzstan.

Shoppers throughout the West, wary(謹(jǐn)防的) of a double-dip recession(經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退), are still pinching their pennies. However, Chinese consumers are opening their wallets big time. According to Mckinsey, shop sales in China have grown by 25 per cent annually from 2007 to 2009. Consumer confidence is now at its highest point since 2007 and female shoppers are leading the way.
Chinese women saved just 24 per cent of their income, compared with 55 per cent in 2006, according to a recent study in the magazine Women of China. What’s more, three quarters of Chinese women say that they’re the ones who control the family purse strings, which means they are an “emerging powerhouse within the powerhouse” of China.
In the 1950s women contributed just 20 per cent of household income, which rose to about 40 per cent in the 1990s and then reached 50 per cent last year.
In a recent study of Chinese consumer behavior, Mckinsey found that women tend to shop more frequently than men, and spend more on personal-care products and food. Men, by contrast, tend to spend more of their income on gadgets(小玩意), drinks and alcohol, dining out, and socializing. They also tend to save for the bigger-ticket items, like cars and houses.
Chinese women make up an ever-growing small part of the market—up from 20 per cent a decade ago to 50 per cent last year. It’s estimated that in the next five years women will account for 55 per cent of the$9 billion market. “The future is female,” concludes a January HSBC report on special and expensive goods in China.
小題1:According to the passage, Chinese women ________.                     

A．save less of their income than before

B．a(chǎn)re more cautious of spending their money

C．make as much money as men in the 1990s.

D．spend half income on expensive goods

小題2:The underlined phrase in the first paragraph probably refers to _______.      

A．saving more money	B．making extra pay for food
C．meeting with economic problems	D．spending money in a wary way

小題3:Which of the following is true?

A．Chinese men go shopping more often than women

B．Chinese men spend more on personal-care products

C．Chinese men tend to save for the bigger-ticket items

D．Chinese men spent less on drinks and alcohol than women.

小題4: Which of the following can probably serve as the title of the passage?           

A．The Future is Female	B．The Power of the Purse
C．Facing a Double-dip Recession	D．Chinese Women Going Shopping

Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts， so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time.
Why is more and more land becoming desert？ Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.
Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places. Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier. Plants do not let the wind blow(吹) the dirt away. When a bit of rain falls， the plants hold the water. Without plants， the land can become desert more easily.
小題1: Deserts ________.

A．never have any plants or animals in them

B．can all be turned into good land before long

C．a(chǎn)re becoming smaller and smaller

D．get very little rain

小題2: Small green plants are very important to dry places because __________.

A．they don’t let the sun make the earth even drier

B．they don’t let the wind blow the soil away

C．they hold water

D．All of the above.

小題3: After reading this passage, we learn that __________.

A．plants can keep dry land from becoming desert

B．it is good to get rid of the grass in the deserts

C．a(chǎn)ll places without much rain will become deserts

D．it is better to grow crops on dry land than to cut them

The world is filled with many interesting sounds. Some are very pleasant to hear; others are unpleasant to our ears. In a day, you probably hear hundreds of different sounds.
All sounds are different. Some may be soft; others may be loud. Some sounds are high; others are low.
Some sounds are useful. Without sound we cannot talk or listen to one another. The ringing alarm clock (鬧鐘)makes people wake up. The hooting of a horn (喇叭聲) on the road warns careless people of danger.
We make sounds by making things move to and fro(來回地). This to-and-fro movement is called vibration (振動). It means moving up and down or forwards(向前地) and backwards(向后的) very fast. This makes sound waves(波).
We can make sounds in many ways, for example, by shouting, clapping our hands and striking the table. We can make sounds only by making things vibrate. We can talk because we can make our vocal cords (聲帶) vibrate. Our vocal cords are in a sound box or voice box. Two vocal cords vibrate when our lungs(肺) force the air through them.
小題1:We can make sounds ______.

A．by making things still

B．by making things vibrate

C．by making things jump up and down

D．by changing the positions of things

小題2: Some sounds are useful because ______.

A．they can wake people up

B．they can warn people to be careful when they are crossing the road

C．they make it possible for people to talk or listen to each other

D．a(chǎn)ll of the above

小題3:When the air is through our vocal cords, it can make them ______.

A．vibrate	B．breathe the air
C．talk to each other	D．move forward and backward

小題4:Sounds are different because ______.

A．different sounds have different vibrations

B．different sounds have different sound waves

C．different sounds have different vocal cords

D．both A and B

What is intelligence （智力） anyway? When I was in the army I   21  an intelligence test that all soldiers took, and, against   22  of 100, scored 160.                             
I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not   23  have scored more than 80.   24 , when anything went wrong with my car I hurried to him—and he always   25  it.
Well, then suppose my auto-repair man   26  questions for some intelligence test. By every one of them I'd prove myself a   27 . In a world where I have to work with my   28 , I'd do poorly.
Consider my auto-repair man   29 . He had a habit of telling   30 . One time he said, “Doc, a deaf-and-dumb（聾�。� man   31   some nails. Having entered a store, he put two fingers together on the counter and made   32  movements with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He   33  his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk   34  him some nails. He picked out the right size and left. Well, Doc, the   35 man who came in was blind. He wanted scissors (剪刀).   36  do you suppose he asked for them?” I lifted my right hand and made scissoring movements with my first two fingers. He burst out laughing and said, “Why, you fool, he used his   37  and asked for them. I've been   38  that on all my customers today, but I knew   39  I'd catch you.” “Why is that?” I asked. “Because you are so goddamned educated, Doc. I knew you couldn't be very   40  .”
And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.

小題1:	A．failed B．wrote C．received D．chose

小題2:.

A．a(chǎn)n average

B．a(chǎn) total

C．a(chǎn)n exam

D．a(chǎn) number

小題3:	A．a(chǎn)lways B． possibly C．certainly D．frequently

小題4:.

A．Then

B．Thus

C．Therefore

D．Yet

小題5:	A．fixed B．checked C．drove D．changed

小題6:.

A．a(chǎn)nswered

B．practiced

C．designed

D．tried

小題7:	A．teacher B．doctor C．winner D．fool

小題8:	A．brains B．effort C．hands D．a(chǎn)ttention

小題9:	A．a(chǎn)gain B．a(chǎn)s usual C．too D．a(chǎn)s well

小題10:

A．lies B．jokes C．news D．tales

小題11:

A．bought B．tested C．found D．needed

小題12:

A．cutting B．hammering C．waving D．circling

小題13:

A．nodded B．raised C．shook D．turned

小題14:

A．brought B．packed C．sent D．sold

小題15:

A．clever B．other C．right D．next

小題16:

A．What B．How C．Who D．Which

小題17:

A．imagination B．hand C．voice D．information

小題18:

A．trying B．proving C．practicing D．examining

小題19:

A．for sure B．a(chǎn)t once C．in fact D．right now

小題20:

A．clear B．silly C．slow D．smart

Job sharing refers to the situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job．The two people willingly act as part-time workers, enough hours between them to fulfill the duties of a full-time worker．If they each work half the job, for example, they each receive 50 per cent of the job's wages, its holidays and its other benefits．
Job sharing differs from conventional （常規(guī)的） part-time work in that it occurs mainly in the more highly skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment．    Job sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which refers to increasing the number of jobs by reducing the number of hours of each existing job, thus offering more positions to the growing number of unemployed people．Job sharing, by contrast, is not designed to address unemployment problems; its focus, rather, is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time for other activities．
As would be expected, most job sharers are women．A survey carried out in 1988 by Britain's Equal Opportunities Commission showed that 78 per cent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were between 20 and 40 years of age．Subsequent studies have come up with similar results．Many of these women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to seek part-time work because it would have meant lower status．Job sharing also offered an acceptable shift back into full-time work after a long absence．
The necessity of close cooperation when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work quite different from conventional one-position jobs．However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner before applying for a position．Moreover, there must be a fair division of both routine tasks and interesting ones．In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat each other as equals．
小題1:.
In what way is work sharing different from job sharing?

A．Work sharing requires more working hours．

B．Work sharing is aimed at creating more jobs．

C．Work sharing provides a more satisfactory salary．

D．Work sharing depends on the employer's decision．

小題2:.
According to Paragraph 4, young mothers preferred job sharing to conventional part-time work mainly because _____．

A．they sought higher social status

B．they were over ideal working ages

C．they had difficulty finding full-time jobs

D．they had to take care of both work and family

小題3:.
In job sharing the partners should _____．

A．enjoy equal social status

B．have similar work experience

C．keep in touch with each other

D．know each other very well

小題4:.
The main purpose of the passage is to ______．

A．describe job sharing in general

B．discuss how to provide more jobs

C．recommend job sharing to women

D．compare job sharing with work sharing