Far from the land of Antarctica (南極洲), a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod.
For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death? It must have some secret. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer. Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish’s blood and measured its freezing point. The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1.88°C and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to -2.05°C. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.
The scientists’ next research job was clear: Find out what in the fish’s blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein (蛋白質(zhì)) never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.
Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content, it is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein, or AFGP.
【小題1】 What is the text mainly about?

A．The terrible conditions in the Antarctic.	B．A special fish living in freezing waters.
C．The ice shelf around Antarctica.	D．Protection of the Antarctic cod.

【小題2】Why can the Antarctic cod live at the freezing temperature?
A. The seawater has a temperature of -1.88°C.   B. it loves to live in the ice-salt mixture
C. A special protein keeps it from freezing.  
D. Its blood has a temperature lower than -2.05°C.
【小題3】What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．A type of ice-salt mixture.	B．A newly found protein.
C．Fish blood.	D．Sugar molecule.

【小題4】What does “glyco-” in the underlined word “glycoprotein” in the last paragraph mean?

A．sugar

B．ice

C．blood

D．molecule

With only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone the animal and save the endangered species. That’s a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”.
Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.
This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal. The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nuclear transfer of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A & M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”
【小題1】 The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project is to _______.

A．make efforts to clone the endangered pandas	B．save endangered animals from dying out
C．collect DNA of endangered animals to study	D．transfer the nuclear of one animal to another

【小題2】 According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of _______.

A．a(chǎn)vailable panda eggs

B．host animals

C．qualified researchers

D．enough money

【小題3】The best title for the passage may be _______.

A．China’s Success in Pandas Cloning	B．The First Cloned Panda in the World
C．Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas	D．China —the Native Place of Pandas Forever

【小題4】From the passage we know that _______.

A．Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog

B．scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit

C．Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches

D．a(chǎn)bout two thousand of species will probably die out in a century

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(jué)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．
【小題1】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

【小題2】The text is developed by      ．

A．giving typical examples	B．following the order of space
C．a(chǎn)nalysing a theory and arguing it	D．comparing and finding differences

【小題3】The underline word “identical” means      ．

A．totally different	B．exactly the same
C．extremely important	D．relatively independent

Disposing of the garbage we produce every day is a major problem in cities around the world. In the United States, over 160 million tons of garbage is produced every year. Ten percent is recycled, ten percent is burned, and the rest is put in landfills. But finding land for new landfills is becoming more difficult.
A city that has solved this problem in an unusual way is Machida in Tokyo. They have developed a totally new way of dealing with garbage. The key to the operation is that people should work together. Families must divide their garbage into six groups:

1. garbage that can be easily burned, such as kitchen and garden trash 2. garbage that doesn’t burn easily, such as plastic tools and plastic toys 3. products that are poisonous or that cause pollution, such as batteries 4. bottles and glass containers that can be recycled 5. metal containers that can be recycled 6. large items, such as furniture and bicycles

    The items in Groups 1 to 5 are collected on different days. Large items are only collected upon request. Then the garbage is taken to a centre that looks like a clean new office building or hospital. Inside the centre, special equipment is used to sort and deal with garbage. Almost everything can be reused: garden or kitchen trash becomes fertilizer; garbage that can burn is burned to produce electricity; metal containers and bottles are recycled; and old furniture, clothing, and other useful items are cleaned, repaired, and resold cheaply or given away. The work provides employment for the disabled and gives them a chance to learn new skills.
Nowadays, officials from cities around the world visit Machida to see whether they can use some of these ideas and techniques to solve their own garbage problems.
【小題1】 Each year people in the U.S.A. have to find places to put in _______ million tons of garbage.
A.160           B.128               C.16                    D.32
【小題2】George’s family has the following garbage: wooden chairs, empty tins and branches. Into which group should he put the garbage?

A．Group 6, Group 5, Group 1.	B．Group 1, Group 3, Group 2.
C．Group 6, Group 5, Group 2.	D．Group 6, Group 4, Group 1.

【小題3】 From the text we know that ________ .

A．those who are working at the garbage disposal centre are disabled persons.

B．without people’s cooperation, the garbage disposal project would be a failure.

C．the items in Group1 and Group6 are not collected on the same day.

D．the garage is taken to a clean new office building for disposal.

In a natural disaster—a hurricane, flood, volcanic eruption, or other catastrophes—minutes and even seconds of warning can make the difference between life and death．Because of this, scientists are working to use the latest technological advances to predict when and where disasters will happen．They are also studying how best to analyze and communicate this information once it is obtained．
On September 29, 1998, Hurricane Georges made landfall in Biloxi, Mississippi, after damaging Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and several islands of the Caribbean badly with torrential rains and winds up to 160 km per hour．Few people lost their lives along the Gulf Coast of the United States, although hundreds died in the Caribbean．
This was a very different outcome from 1900, when a powerful Gulf Coast hurricane made an unexpected direct hit on Galveston, Texas, killing at least 6,000 people．
Vastly improved hurricane warnings explain the different circumstances at either end of the 20th century——residents of Galveston had no advance warning that a storm was approaching, while residents of Biloxi had been warned days in advance, allowing for extensive safety precautions（預(yù)防）．
At the same time that people in Biloxi were thankful for the advance warning, some residents of New Orleans, Louisiana were less satisfied．A day before Georges made landfall, forecasters were predicting that the hurricane had a good chance of striking New Orleans．Because much of New Orleans lies below sea level, the city is at risk for flooding．Emergency management officials must begin evacuations（疏散）well before a storm strikes．But evacuation costs money: businesses close, tourists leave, and citizens take precautionary measures．The mayor of New Orleans estimated that his city' s preparations for Georges cost more than 50 million．After Georges missed New Orleans, some residents questioned the value of the hurricane forecasts in the face of such high costs．
The different views on the early warnings for Hurricane Georges show some of the complexities related to predicting disasters．Disaster prediction is a process of providing scientific information to the government officials and other decision makers who must respond to those predictions．
【小題1】What is the purpose of disaster prediction according to the passage?

A．To identify the cause of disasters．

B．To save people' s lives and property．

C．To prevent natural disasters from happening,

D．To apply advanced technology to disaster prediction．

【小題2】Which of the following areas suffered the most severe damage?

A．Puerto Rico．	B．New Orleans．
C．Biloxi, Mississippi．	D．Galveston, Texas．

【小題3】The city residents of New Orleans were unsatisfied because __  _ .

A．the forecast hurricane did not hit the city

B．the hurricane warning arrived rather late

C．their preparations were made in vain

D．they suffered from a heavy hurricane attack

【小題4】What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The different ways of disaster prediction．

B．Technological advances in disaster prediction．

C．The importance and uncertainty of disaster prediction．

D．The benefits and preparations of disaster prediction．

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent(聰明的) than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter” while men have more of latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial(空間的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses(胎兒) are about mine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children ad young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier (障礙物) before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.
【小題1】Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s

B．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.

C．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.

D．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.

【小題2】What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

A．Men do better dealing with one job at a time.

B．Women prefer doing many things at a time.

C．Women do not need to tell directions.

D．Men have weaker spatial abilities.

【小題3】Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls.

B．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

C．Women may have stronger feelings than men.

D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.

【小題4】What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A．Defensive.

B．Persuasive.

C．Objective.

D．Supportive.

Sometimes life gets a little dull. What used to be fun and different becomes boring. That is the time to look for something new. It is the time for a big idea to get your mind off everyday life. So why not search for extraterrestrial (地球外的) intelligence? Or even better, why not get your computer to do it for you?
Over two million people have joined the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence（SETI）project. Based in California, the SETI project analyzes information taken from a giant radio telescope based in South America. Its task is to look for signals from outer space that might prove that life exists on other planets.
Processing this information is far too big a job for one computer. So the SETI project workers divide the work among volunteers who visit their website. Each computer gets some information to work out from the SETI network through the Internet. This process is often known as “meta-computing”.
It is a wonderful thought. You are sleeping, eating a meal or going out with friends. All this time, your computer is searching the stars for signs that might show something is out there trying to get in touch. Volunteers are proud of being involved in the SETI project. It shows that they understand the potential (潛能) of computing. They know that it is more than just a way of working or playing games.
Meta-computing may also be creating intelligence as well as looking for it. This idea is based on the theory that human intelligence is created by the way in which different parts of the brain communicate with each other. As the saying goes, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” People who join the SETI project sometimes wonder whether their computer will become part of a huge network that has learned to think for itself.
【小題1】According to the writer, meta-computing may be creating intelligence    .

A．because human beings are intelligent	B．because a computer works as the brain does
C．because of a network of many computers	D．because of the number of computers

【小題2】 Which of the following shows the order in which the SETI network works?

A．Radio telescope→SETI website→Volunteers’ computer→SETI base

B．Radio telescope→SETI base→SETI website→Volunteers’ computer

C．SETI base→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers→Radio telescope

D．SETI base→Radio telescope→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers

【小題3】 The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to _____ .

A．extra-terrestrial intelligence	B．human intelligence
C．the SETI project	D．meta-computing

【小題4】The passage mainly tells us about _____.      

A．a(chǎn) new way to work on the computer

B．a(chǎn) new way to work and play games

C．a(chǎn) new way to search for life outside the earth

D．a(chǎn) new way to make computers learn to think for itself

Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?
To see whether babies know objects are solid, T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion（視覺(jué)影像） of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out and touch, and then to show them the illusion. If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for the illusion and found empty air, they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the 16-to 24- week -old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.
Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?
Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to reappear. If the experimenter took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week -old babies did not seem to notice the switch. Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence,” while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object.
【小題1】The passage is mainly about _____.

A．babies' sense of sight	B．effects of experiments on babies
C．babies' understanding of objects	D．different tests on babies' feelings

【小題2】In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, an object _____.

A．still exists

B．keeps its shape

C．still stays solid

D．is beyond reach

【小題3】What did Bower use in his experiments?

A．A chair.

B．A screen.

C．A film.

D．A box.

【小題4】Which of the following statements is true?

A．The babies didn't have a sense of direction.

B．The older babies preferred toy trains to balls.

C．The younger babies liked looking for missing objects.

D．The babies couldn't tell a ball from its optical illusion.

It doesn’t matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That’s what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin. Al Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.
Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping. In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.
The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by his strange continuous sleeplessness. They asked him a lot of questions, hoping to find an answer. They found only one answer that might explain this question. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure.
Herpin died at the age of 94.
【小題1】The doctors came to Herpin’s home in order to __________.

A．treat him for his illness

B．find the reason why some old people didn’t need any sleep.

C．get some proof to show his sleeplessness was not really true.

D．help him to have a rest in some day.

【小題2】After watching him closely, the doctors came to believe that Al Herpin ________.

A．needed some kind of sleep.

B．needed no sleep at all.

C．was too old to need any sleep.

D．often slept in a chair.

【小題3】Al Herpin’s condition could be regarded as ___________.

A．a(chǎn)n unusual one	B．a(chǎn) common one
C．very healthy	D．very funny

【小題4】 The main idea of this passage is that ____________.  

A．large numbers of people do not need sleep

B．everyone needs some sleep to stay alive

C．people can live longer by trying not to sleep at all

D．a(chǎn) person was found who actually didn’t need any sleep

How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?
In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.
Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger foreasier walking across sandy surfaces, they are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks（象牙）, and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.
Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families. They drink only every 3 –4 days, and can store water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders – they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus maintain what little food sources are available. Young elephants may even eat the dung（糞便）of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.
During drought they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine（尿液）to make them muddy!
As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.
【小題1】The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means “           ”.

A．remains in the African countries	B．drinks 120 liters of water a day
C．manages to live in desert areas	D．eats 150 kilograms of food daily

【小題2】Desert elephants are called careful feeders because they _________.

A．rarely ruin trees	B．drink only every 3-4 days
C．search for food in large groups	D．protect food sources for their young

【小題3】The author answers the question raised in the first paragraph with __________.

A．stories and explanation	B．facts and descriptions
C．examples and conclusion	D．evidence and argument

【小題4】What can be inferred from the last sentence in the passage?

A．Overheating the earth can be stopped.

B．Not all animal species are so adaptable.

C．The planet will become hotter and hotter.

D．Not all animals are as smart as desert elephants.