【2011·山西太原市模擬一】

C

We have seen that pesticides（殺蟲劑） now pollute soil, water and food, and that they have the power to make our rivers fishless and our gardens and woodlands silent and birdless．Man, however much he may like to pretend the opposite, is part of nature．Can he escape a pollution that is now so thoroughly spread throughout our world?

We know that even single exposure to these chemicals, if the amount is large enough, can cause extremely severe poisoning．But this is not the major problem．The sudden illness or death of farmers, farm workers and others exposed to enough quantities of pesticides is very sad and should not happen．For the population as a whole, we must pay more attention to the delayed effects of taking in small amounts of the pesticides that unseeably pollute our world．

Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the biological effects of chemicals are increasing in amount over long periods of time, and that the danger to the man may depend on the amount of the exposures received throughout his lifetime．For these very reasons people easily take no notice of the danger．It is human nature to shake off what may seem to us a future disaster．"Men are naturally most impressed by diseases which have obvious signs, " says a wise physician, Dr．Rene Dubos, "yet some of their worst enemies slowly come near them unnoticed．"

62．Which of the following can best summarize the first paragraph of this passage?

      A．Man has a responsibility to bear for what has happened to nature．

      B．Possibly man will escape the effects of environmental pollution．

      C．Pesticide-caused pollution may also kill people．

      D．Man acts as if he did not belong to nature．

63．People do not give enough attention to the delayed effects of exposure to chemicals because         .

      A．imited exposure to them does little harm to people's health

      B．the present is more important to them than the future

      C．humans are able to bear small amounts of poisoning

      D．the danger does not become seen clearly and immediately

64．Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

      A．A person exposed to pesticides even once may get seriously poisoned．

      B．Birds are less sensitive to pesticides than humans．

      C．The effects of pesticides on humans do not last as long as on fish．

      D．Taking in small amounts of pesticides will not cause serious results．

65．We can conclude from what Dr Dubos says that                .

      A．people usually find hidden diseases difficult to deal with

      B．people fail to notice hidden dangers caused by pesticides

      C．diseases with obvious signs are mostly easy to cure

      D．attacks by hidden enemies are likely to be deadly

【2011·四川雅安市三診】C

       Le whiff, an inhaler(吸入劑) that allows chocolate lovers to meet their needs whenever they please without putting on weight, is to be on market in British stores The invention, called the world’s first breathable food, lets consumers suck in the taste of chocolate or coffee while taking on less than one calorie, Its makers claim it will enable dieters to enjoy their favorite snacks without worrying about their waistline.

       The lip – stick – style tube contains hundreds of milligrams of tiny food particles(粒子) which are small enough to be carried by air, but too large to enter the lungs. Each Le Whif contains enough flavor for about eight to ten whiffs(一陣氣味) and costs $1.99 on its own, or $4.99 for a pack of three. The inhaler is available in chocolate as well as coffee flavor.

       It was invented by Prof. David Edwards. He said Le Whif was not designed to replace food but could be used to increase dining experiences, such as allowing people to try a variety of dishes from restaurant menus before ordering their meal.

       He said, “In terms of living on whiffing, we aren’t even close to being there. But there clearly has been a revolution over the last few years where we are eating smaller amounts of food more frequently, and choosing food its aesthetic(審美的) pleasure. We will be launching new whiffing experiences probably every six months. It is reasonable to predict that the next line of whiffing products will be even more health centered.”

       The product came onto market in Paris in 2009 and the first production run of 25,000 inhalers were sold out within a month. It has since been made available across France and in the US. In Britain Le Whif is to be sold firstly in House of Fraser for a  month, after which it could become more widely distributed.

49．We can learn from Paragraph 1 that         .

       A．Le Whif isn’t available in British stores yet

       B．Le Whif can help dieters to lose weight

       C．Le Whif is calorie – free

       D．Le Whif is popular with British chocolate lovers

50．What’s the main purpose of inventing Le Whif?

       A．To replace food.

       B．To help people stop drinking coffee.

       C．To replace the traditional chocolate.

       D．To increase people’s dining experiences.

51．Which of the following statements does David Edwards agree with?

       A．His new products will come out once a year.

       B．The whiffing products in the future will be improved.

       C．Le Whif can make people eat less food.

       D．Le Whif is a revolution that will change people’s life.

【2011·廣西來賓市、百所市教學質量調研】

D

       There are so many different plastic cards that adults have to carry around—library cards, savings cards for different banks, credit cards, just to name a few．．．So why not have one to replace them all?

       Scott Barnhill, an 1l-year-old fifth-grade student in the US, has come up with an idea for a "Security One Card"．

       Sound smart? The US Patent（專利） Office thought so, and it approved a patent for his idea in April．

       Here’s an example of how Barnhill’s idea would work．

       Let’s say you have the three cards mentioned above．Instead of carrying them all, you could have just one by having additional magnetic strips（磁條） added to it．

       The magnetic strips can be added to any plastic card, even a blank one．

       Companies could add their information to one of the strips．For example, you could ask a library to add a strip to your bankcard．

       Barnhill has a lot of hobbies, including designing websites．He got the idea at the age of 9 when he saw his father using a keycard to enter their hotel room．He thought, "The hotels are wasting money with the key cards．" So, instead of using a hotel-issued key card, guests could use their credit cards--if the hotel added a special magnetic strip．At check-out, the strip would simply be removed．

       Now that he has his patent, his next step is a letter-writing campaign to get support from major credit card companies．

       "I’m going to be writing letters to credit card companies to ask if they can co-operate．I hope they’ll give me money every time someone puts a strip on the back of another card, or every time the idea is used, " Barnhill said．"I’ll write the letters and see what they say．If they say no, I’ll ask someone else, another credit card company．"

       He is hoping to make money from his patent and has decided it would be better to collect royalties（專利使用費）rather than sell his patent if the idea take off.

       "The ATM person who invented that sold it totally, and if he’d chosen royalties he’d get like 2 cents for every transaction （交易） and he’d be a billionaire now," Scott said．

68．The immediate cause of Scott’s invention was that _________．

       A．he found that adults have to carry around so many plastic cards

       B．he realized it’s big waste to make so many plastic cards instead of only one

       C．he found even a hotel issued its own cards--keycards

       D．he realized it would be a good chance to make big money

69．The advantage of "Security One Card" is that it ___________．

       A．could remove the burden of taking all kinds of plastics cards

       B．would he very safe

       C．could save your money

       D．could have a lot of magnetic strips on it

70．The underlined phrase "takes off" in the last but one paragraph probably means ___________．

       A．makes money                                           B．wins a lot of support   

       C．is worth a lot                                         D．is practical

71．From the story, we can see Scott is ___________．

       A．more magic than smart                       B．clever but lazy

       C．creative, determined and wise                   D．far-sighted

【2011·河北省南宮中學月考】E

Why do men die earlier than women? The latest research makes it known that the reason could be that men’s hearts go into rapid decline when they reach middle age.

The largest study of the effects of ageing on the heart has found that women’s longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts hardly lose their pumping power with age.

“We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20---25 percent between 18 and 70 years of age,” said the head of the study, David Goldspink of Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. “Within the heart there are millions of cells that enable it to beat. Between the age of 20 and 70, one-third of those cells die and are not replaced in men,” said Goldspink. “This is part of the ageing process.”

What surprises scientists is that the female heart sees very little loss of these cells. A healthy 70-year-old woman’s heart could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old one’s.

“This gender (性別)difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” said Goldspink.

They studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80, focusing on healthy persons to remove the confusing influence of disease.

The team has yet to find why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart, said Goldspink.

The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart with regular exercise. Goldspink stressed that women also need regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they age.

57．The underlined word “l(fā)ongevity” in the second paragraph probably refers to _________.

 A．health               B．long life             C．ageing             D．effect

58．The text mainly talks about ________.

A．men’s heart cells                 B．women’s ageing process 

C．the gender difference             D．hearts and long life

59．According to the text, the UK scientists have known that _________.

A．women have more cells than men when they are born

       B．women can replace the cells that enable the heart to beat

       C．the female heart loses few of the cells with age

       D．women never lose their pumping power with age

60．We can know from the passage that _______.

       A．the reason why ageing takes a greater loss on the male heart has been found out

       B．scientists are on the way to finding out why the male heart loses more of the cells

       C．the team has done something to prevent the male from suffering the greater loss

       D．women over 70 could lose more heart cells than those at the age of 20

【2011·山東濟寧一中模擬】D

“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 CO2 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(小行星) 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(珊瑚礁) and other organisms whose shells contain calcium carbonate(碳酸鈣) 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 station 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 --- 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.”

71．The ocean is becoming more acidic due to __________.

       A．the lower water pH value                      B．the warming atmosphere

       C．the higher level of CO2 in the air           D．the increasing use of oil fuels

72．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

73．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

74．Most experts once believed storing carbon dioxide in the ocean would reduce __________.

       A．the CO2 absorbed by the ocean             B．the amount of greenhouse warming

       C．the acidity of the ocean                        D．the gradual release of CO2

75．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 CO2

【2011·山東濟寧一中模擬】B

For centuries, the body’s blood has been linked closely with the emotions．People who show no human emotions or feelings, are said to be cold-blooded killer．For example, the police are searching for a cold-blooded killer．He seems to kill for no reason, and no emotion, as if taking someone’s life as nothing．

       Cold can affect other parts of the body．The expression “get cold feet” has nothing to do with cold or your feet．The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do．For example, you agree to be president of an organization．But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned, and all the work of the organization will be your responsibility．You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.

       The expression “give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face to face．You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you．Or, to someone who has lied about you to others．

       A cold fish is not a fish．It is a person．But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth．A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone．Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted．Now a cold-hearted person is someone who has no sympathy．Several popular songs in recent years were about cold-hearted men or cold-hearted women who, without feelings, broke the hearts of their lovers．

       Out in the cold means not getting something that everybody else got．A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise---he was left out in the cold．And it is not a pleasant place to be．

61．There are _________ expressions related to cold that are mentioned in the passage．

       A．3           B．4                   C．6                   D．7

62．When you refuse to speak to a man and treat him in a distant way, you may express by “_________”．

       A．I give him the cold shoulder         B．I think he is a cold-blooded man

       C．I think he is a cold fish             D．I’m likely to get cold feet

63．If Sue shows absolutely no reaction to those awful pictures of starving children in Africa, you will say _________．

       A．she is a cold-blooded killer    B．she gets cold feet

       C．she is a cold fish            D．she is out in the cold

64．We can use the expression “__________” to describe a man who abandons or hurts his lover without mercy．

       A．cold-blooded             B．cold shoulder

       C．cold feet            D．cold-hearted

65．The topic of this passage is about _________．

       A．the relationship between cold and our body

       B．some expressions about friendship

       C．some expressions connected with cold

       D．how cold weather comes into being

【2011·山東濟南市二模】

D

       The high-protein, low-carbohydrate(碳水化合物) diets many people turn to for weight loss might have potentially harmful long-term effects on the colon, a small study indicates.

       In the study, UK researchers found that a protein-heavy, low-carb diet created certain changes in the colon that could contribute to colon cancer risk. The study itself does not show whether high-protein diets really raise the risk of any colon diseases, but the findings raise that possibility.

       Diets relatively high in protein and lower in carbs have been shown to help heavy people lose weight. “People should not be discouraged from losing weight,” Dr Flint said. However, he added, they should make sure that any weight loss plan includes adequate amounts of fiber and a high protein intake over months to years might have ill effects on the colon.

       The findings are based on 17 overweight men who followed three short-term diets: a one-week menu plan to keep their weight; a four-week high-protein diet with reasonable amounts of carbohydrates; and a four-week high-protein diet low in carbs.

       On average, the study found when the men were on the high-protein diets, they had higher levels of substances known as N-nitroso compounds(亞硝基化合物) and other metabolites(代謝物) that have been linked to cancer. And when they were on the high-protein, low-carb diet, they had lowered amounts of fiber-originated compounds thought to be protective against cancer.

       Exactly what those changes might mean for a person’s health is not clear, But Flint said that the findings suggest that people should be cautious about consuming too much protein and too little fiber over a long period. In general, experts recommend that adults get about 28 grams of fiber per day—though it’s not known whether that’s enough for someone on a high-protein weight-loss diet.

71．What is the best title of the text?

       A．Plan a Healthy Diet                                      B．Take Care of Your Colon

       C．How to Lose Weight                                                                      D．How to Protect against Cancer

72．The underlined word “colon” in Paragraph 1 probably refers to “        ”.

       A．an organ                 B．intelligence              C．a habit                    D．behaviour

73．The study shows that high-protein, low-carb diets may           .

       A．affect your mood                                        B．lower cancer risks

       C．harm your body                                          D．keep your figure

74．It can be inferred from the text that            .

       A．we shouldn’t take the study seriously            B．weight problems are hard to solve

       C．it is better to follow a low-carb diet              D．people should be cautious to lose weight

75．The author is intended to              .

       A．advise how to lose weight                            B．introduce a scientific finding

       C．describe a research process                         D．talk about healthy diets

【2011·陜西西安中學適應性訓練四】C

Terraforming (Earth-forming) other planets, also known as planetary engineering (行星工程), seems like a task still centuries away for mankind to accomplish. However, it is a vigorous topic that attracts both popular and scientific interest. Why should the possibility of terraforming other planets be studied when it may be centuries before we know enough to even decide if it’s a good idea?

Mankind is getting more and more hard facts about other planets. The atmosphere of Venus has been explored; robots have surveyed the surface of Mars; Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn have been studied by spacecraft. Speculations have been answered; new questions have been raised, and enough hard data is right now becoming available to allow us to make the first attempt of planetary engineering.

In the past, people with excellent ideas about terraforming have kept them to themselves, or buried them in a desk drawer because they did not realize that anyone else was interested. But now, a wide circle of people has begun to do this kind of work. For instance, NASA funded a project on transforming Mars.

There are several strong reasons which demand that the possibilities of terraforming be studied carefully. First, it’s an exciting idea of a possible future for human beings. Such thinking has a valuable role in providing options for our future directions. Secondly, the techniques of terraforming will also help contemporary technologies in weather and climate control. Thirdly, such study may assist us in detecting any possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, 地外文明搜索) and alien (異己的) civilizations on other planets.

Though the mission is far beyond our reach at the moment, we should at least keep our options open. Through debate and study on this subject, the possibility of rebuilding other planets to make them suitable homes for people may come true some day in the future.

54. According to the context, what’s the meaning of the word “speculation” in paragraph 2?

A. The act of discussing something with a group of people.

B. The act of studying and researching.

C. The act of guessing without knowing all the facts about something.

D. The acting of writing letters to a certain organization.

55. Why did people keep the idea of terraforming to themselves in the past?

A. They thought no one else would show interest in the idea.

B. They gradually came to find the idea crazy.

C. They thought the idea would never come true.

D. They had few resources for further study on this topic.

56. Which is NOT the reason to support the study of terraforming?

A. Even if we don’t succeed in terraforming, such study may help us to better understand technologies such as climate and weather control.

B. Such study may explore a new direction of development for human beings.

C. Such study may enable us to find the lives on other planets.

D. As the resources on Earth are being drained, it’s very urgent to study how to migrate (遷移) to other planets.

57. What’s the main idea of the article?

A. It’s highly possible that terraforming other planets will come true so we should increase investing in this program.

B. Even if the idea of terraforming other planets may take centuries to realize, we have many reasons to support such studies.

   C. Terraforming other planets is the best option for human being’s future.

   D. More and more people are taking planetary engineering as their occupation. 

【2011·重慶主城八區(qū)調研】E

Just as the world’s most respected scientific bodies have confirmed that the world is getting hotter, they have also stated that there is strong evidence that humans are driving the warming. Countless recent reports from the world’s leading scientific bodies have said the same thing. For example, a 2010 summary of climate science by the Royal Society stated that: “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity.”

The idea that humans could change the planet’s climate may be counter-intuitive(與直覺不符的), but the basic science is well understood. Each year, human activity causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be released（釋放）into the atmosphere. As scientists have known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanket.

Of course, the planet’s climate has always been changing thanks to “natural” factors(因素) such as changes in solar or volcanic（火山的）activity, or cycles relating the Earth’s going around the sun. According to the scientific literature, however, the warming recorded to date matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes.

Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming observed so far, that would beg a difficult question. As Robert Henson puts it in The Rough Guide to Climate Change: “If some newly discovered factor can account for the climate change, then why aren’t carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?”

The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths – one with human influence and one without. That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty.

72. In most scientists’ opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by ________.

   A. solar activity                       

B. volcanic activity

C. the Earth’s going around the sun     

D. human activity

73. The text is developed by ________.

   A. giving typical examples

   B. following the order of space

   C. analyzing a theory and arguing it

   D. comparing and finding differences

74. The underline word “identical” means ________.

   A. totally different                    

B. exactly the same

   C. extremely important                  

D. relatively independent

75. Which of the following can be the best title?

   A. Are All the Scientists Really Scientific?

   B. Where Is Global Warming Leading Us to?

   C. Are Humans Definitely Causing Global Warming?

   D. What’s Relation of Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases?

【2011·遼寧錦州市質檢三】

D

A newly-published study has shown that loneliness can spread from one person to another, like a disease. Researchers used information from the Framingham Study, which began in 1948. The Framingham Study gathers information about physical and mental health, personal behavior and diet. At first, the study involved about 5,000 people in the American state of Massachusetts. Now, more than 12,000 individuals are taking part.

Information from the Framingham Study showed earlier that happiness can spread from person to person. So can behaviors like littering and the ability to stop smoking.

University of Chicago psychologist John Cacioppo led the recent study. He and other researchers attempted to show how often people felt lonely. They found that the feeling of loneliness spread through social groups.

Having a social connection with a lonely person increased the chances that another individual would feel lonely. In fact, a friend of a lonely person was 52% more likely to develop feelings of loneliness. A friend of that person was 25% more likely. The researchers say this shows that a person could indirectly be affected by someone’s loneliness.

The effect was strongest among friends. Neighbors were the second most affected group. The effect was weaker on husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters. The researchers also found that loneliness spread more easily among women than men.

The New York Times newspaper reports that, on average, people experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year. It also found that every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about five percent, or two and a half fewer lonely days.

Loneliness has been linked to health problems like depression and sleeping difficulties. The researchers believe that knowing the causes of loneliness could help in reducing it.

The study suggests that people can take steps to stop the spread of loneliness. They can do this by helping individuals they know who may be experiencing loneliness. The result can be helpful to the whole social group.

68. What is TRUE about the Framingham Study?

A. It was only conducted in 1948.

B. It involves more than 12,000 participants.

C. It was led by John Cacioppo.

D. It showed that any behavior could spread.

69. Which statement about the spread of loneliness is true?

A. The spreading effect was the second strongest among friends.

B. No spreading effect was found on husbands and wives.

C. Women are more likely to be affected than men.

D. Brothers are more easily affected than neighbors.

70. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Actions should be taken to help lonely people.

B. People feel lonely for many reasons.

C. Ways to fight against loneliness.

D. Lonely people can affect others.