Scientists have transformed men’s minds into a virtual（虛擬的）woman’s body in an experiment that could throw light upon how humans distinguish themselves form others.
In a study at Barcelona University, men wore a virtual reality headset that allowed them to see and hear the world as a female character. When they looked down, they could even see their new body and clothes.
The “body－swapping” effect was so convincing that the men’s sense of self was transferred into the virtual woman, causing them to react to events in the virtual world they were immersed（沉浸）. “This work opens up another avenue for virtual reality, which is not just to transform your sense of place, but also your sense of self,” said Mel Slater, “If you can temporarily give people the illusion that their bodies are different, then the evidence suggests it also affects their behavior and the way they think. They can have new experiences: a person who is thin can know what it is like to be fat. A man can have an experience of what it’s like to be a woman.”
During the experiment, a “female” approached and hit the face of the character another man was playing. “Their reaction was immediate,” said Slate. “They would take in a quick breath and maybe flinch（退縮）. The more people reported being in the girl’s body, the stronger physical reaction they had.” But in all cases, the feeling was temporary and lasted only as long as the study.
The study shows that our minds have a very fluid picture of our bodies. The research is expected to shed light on the puzzle of how our brain tells the difference between a part of our own body and something else in the wider world. Thus the work might improve the conditions for those who have experienced strokes by placing them in a world that helps them to use their bodies to the full again.
【小題1】How can a man’s mind get into a woman’s body?

A．by distinguishing themselves from women

B．by taking part in an activity actively

C．by wearing a special device（設(shè)備）

D．by transforming his sense of place

【小題2】Of the following statements, which we can’t infer from the passage?

A．Men in the experiment can temporarily have the wrong feeling that they are women.

B．When hit, the men in the virtual world will react angrily to it.

C．As soon as the experiment is finished, the men will return to the normal state

D．Probably, this study can be applied to medical fields and benefit humans.

【小題3】What is the author’s intention of writing this passage?

A．to introduce an interesting and advanced study

B．to inform us of the latest development of virtual reality

C．to illustrate the importance of virtual reality

D．to build up our confidence to fight stroke

For some reason, it takes constant reminders that we primates（靈長(zhǎng)目）need nurturing.
In a recent study of 46 baby chimpanzee（黑猩猩）orphans, Kim Bard of the University of Portsmouth in England and her colleagues demonstrated that primate babies that have tight relationships with mother figures do much better on cognitive（認(rèn)知）tests than babies who receive only food, shelter, and friendship with peers. But this is not breaking mews. In fact, it’s old news.
In the 1950s, Harry Harlow conducted a series of experiments with baby monkeys that showed, without doubt, that lack of love and comfort makes for a crazy monkey.
Harlow constructed a cage that included a wire monkey “mother” topped with a plastic face. In this wire he fixed Mom with a milk bottle. The cage also held another wire mother covered with terry cloth. The baby monkeys spent all their time with the cloth mother and only went to the wire mother to feed, demonstrating that a soft touch beat something to eat any day.
Harlow’s monkey work was important because, at the time, child care “experts” and everybody’s grandmother had a “no touch, no comfort” policy toward children. They advised parents not to respond to crying babies, felt babies should sleep alone to grow up independent, and for God’s sake put those kids down. But Harlow’s work changed all that. Mothers were soon permitted to have their newborns next to them in the hospital.
The current chimp research based on Harlow’s work shows that mother love not only makes for a psychologically well-adjusted child, but also makes for a smart kid. Bard and her colleagues evaluated the abilities of the chimps when they were 12 months old with standard human tests for children of that age, tests that ask little kids to imitate some action.
The highly raised chimps did better than the ones that were not loved, and what do you know, the well-raised chimps did even better than human kids on this small IQ test.
So we hear it once again. We are primates, social animals which need care and love. We need to be held and talked to and made to feel that at least one person wants to be with us all the time. And if we get that kind of connection, we are sure to be fine, even better than fine.
【小題1】The study Kim Bard and his colleagues did ______.

A．included 46 baby and mother monkeys

B．was nothing new to people about the findings

C．showed that many chimpanzees lacked love when they were young

D．showed that many chimpanzees had good relationships with their mothers

【小題2】Why was Harlow’s monkey work important?

A．Because the “no touch, no comfort” policy toward children was quite right.

B．Because parents were advised not to respond to babies’ crying.

C．Because Harlow’s work changed people’s former belief in child care.

D．Because mothers were not allowed to have their newborns next to them in the hospital.

【小題3】Harlow built two “mothers” for baby monkeys to ______.

A．make them live comfortably	B．let them have more choices
C．give them more love	D．make a comparison

【小題4】Which of the following is TURE according to the text?

A．Well-raised chimps always do even better than human kids.

B．A 12-month chimps is far cleverer than a child of that age.

C．The newborns were not allowed to be with their mothers in the past in the hospital.

D．Constantly touching the baby can make it feel safer.

The fourth round of heavy smog to hit Beijing in four weeks has sent more people to the hospital with respiratory（呼吸的） illnesses and led to calls for laws to control the pollution.
Pan Shiyi, a celebrity real estate developer said he is planning to propose (提案) a Clean Air Act to the local government. As a representative to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, he started an online survey at 9:20 a.m. Within three hours, more than 25,000 web users, or 99 percent of total respondents（應(yīng)答者）, welcomed his proposal on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter.
They have good reasons to stand alongside Pan. The latest round of haze（霧霾）reduced visibility to under 500 meters in many parts of the city. The smog has also led to a great increase in respiratory illnesses, particularly among children and the elderly. Anxious parents and doctors almost all blame the smoggy air for the illnesses. Though most schoolchildren are home for the winter holidays, the bad air can easily move indoors. Besides, ordinary medical masks fail to provide adequate protection, so some people have turned to gas masks and respirators（呼吸器）.
The causes of the scary smog are rather mysterious, though experts blame excessive emissions and the mountains around Beijing that trap pollution in winter, unless there is adequate wind to clear it away. Some critics have pointed fingers at China’s top two oil firms, China National Petroleum Corp and China Petrochemical Corporation, saying the companies’ outdated production technologies produce large quantities of substandard, high-polluting gas fuel.
Meanwhile, concerned Beijingers have moved their brainstorming sessions to cyberspace. If Pan’s proposal for a Clean Air Act is adopted, netizens say the new law should include items providing for “car-free days” in times of smog, higher standards for vehicle fuel, stricter restrictions on industrial and exhaust gas emissions, and more effective protection for the public.
Beijing is not the only city that has ever lost the blue sky. Five days of thick fog caused thousands of deaths in Britain in December 1952, urging the government to pass the first Clean Air Act in 1956, which introduced smokeless zones and cleaner fuels to reduce pollution. That may provide some experience for Beijing to refer to.
【小題1】What can we learn from the passage?

A．People are clear about the causes of the smoggy weather.

B．Children staying indoors will not get respiratory illnesses.

C．Smog is worse for people with lower resistance to diseases.

D．Masks can give people protection against the smoggy weather.

【小題2】Britain is mentioned in the last paragraph to ______.

A．suggest Beijing should learn from other countries

B．let people know many places have this problem

C．tell people the situation in Britain is worse

D．call on the government to pass Britain’s Clean Air Act

【小題3】What’s the best title for this passage？

A．The Use of Gas masks and Respirators

B．Beijingers Call for Clean Air Act

C．Effective Protection for Blue Sky

D．The Mysterious Causes of the Scary Smog

China_is_going_green. In order to reduce air pollution and oil­shortages, automobile manufacturers have announced their plans to develop hybrid vehicles (混合燃料汽車(chē)) for the Chinese market. Toyota's hybrid car Prius will be ready to drive in China this week. Let's have a look at the new car.
Any vehicle is a hybrid when it combines two or more sources of power. Hybrid cars run off a rechargeable battery and gasoline. Hybrid cars have special engines, which are smaller than traditional gasoline engines. They run at 99 percent of their power when the car is cruising (勻速行駛). A specially designed battery motor provides extra power for running up hills or when extra acceleration is needed.
Step into a Prius, and turn on the engine. The first thing you notice is how much quieter it is than a traditional car. At this point, the car's gasoline engine is dormant (休眠). The electric motor will provide power until the car reaches about 24 km/h. If you stay at a low speed, you are effectively driving an electric car, with no gasoline being used, and no waste gas gives off.
The onboard(車(chē)載的) computer makes the decision about when to use a gas engine, when to go electric, and when to use a combination of the two. If you go over 24 km/h, when you step on the gas pedal (油門(mén)), you are actually telling the computer how fast you want to go.
The electronic motor recharges automatically using a set of batteries. When driving at high speed, the gasoline engine not only powers the car, but also charges the batteries. Any time you use the brake, the electric motor in the wheels will work like a generator and produce electricity to recharge the batteries. As a consequence, the car's batteries will last for around 200,000 miles.
【小題1】The author writes this passage mainly to________.

A．teach people how to drive a hybrid car

B．introduce a new kind of “green” car

C．show how to save their gasoline when driving a car

D．a(chǎn)nnounce plans to develop hybrid vehicles for China

【小題2】The first sentence probably refers to ________.

A．there will be more and more green land in China

B．China is still young and lacking experience

C．China's new cars are combinations of different green models

D．China has started producing environmentally friendly cars

【小題3】Which of the followings is NOT true?

A．The hybrid cars reduce air pollution and oil­shortages.

B．The car's gasoline engine doesn't work until it reaches about 24 km/h.

C．This kind of car is completely controlled by an onboard computer.

D．A specially designed battery motor provides extra power when needed.

【小題4】What is the most important feature of hybrid cars?

A．They are powered by both a rechargeable battery and gasoline.

B．They are much quieter than traditional cars.

C．They only use 99 percent of their power to run up hills.

D．They have smaller engines than traditional gasoline ones.

Not long ago the movie 2012 came into screen. The people were threatened by those scenes of destroying flood, severe earthquake, terrifying hurricane and constructions representing human civilization being destroyed and even swallowed by disaster. Luckily, they are just the director’s imagination, but the present situation is not heading a positive direction, either.
Take my own experience in Alaska as an example. Once I took a trip to the glacier. Along the way there stood signposts marking the snow lines of different years. They started from the foot of the mountain, but it was at the top when I finally saw melting glaciers(融化的冰川). My heart ached seeing the beautiful blue ice melting at every second.
Sad but true, they are the effects of global warming and the result of our human impact. Furthermore, each year the rising sea level will kill 56 million people, and that's about the population of the en tire Italy. According to studies, if the temperature keeps on rising like this, by the year 2050, some islands and coastal cities including New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney will be drowned in water.
Our fortune is in our own hands. It depends on us to shape our future, to reduce future human impact and find ways to form a peaceful relationship with our environment. Therefore, it's time for actions to be taken right now. Contribute a little to energy saving by using more efficient light bulbs and less hot water. Let recycle become our habit by thinking twice before throwing something away. Let us take public transportation as our first choice when going to a certain place. It might cost more time for now, but it' s to the benefit of a permanent future. Take care of every tree and grass around us by watering them or simply just avoid destroying them．
In a word, small drops of water make a big ocean. The earth does not belong to us. On the contrary, we belong to the earth. Please bear in mind that the earth is our home. It is our responsibility to build a brighter and better future of our planet and prevent what happened in the movie 2012 from becoming reality．                
【小題1】Why does the author talk about the movie 2012 in the passage ?     

A．To give example．	B．To lead into the topic．
C．To make prediction．	D．To provide the evidence．

【小題2】How did the author feel when he took a trip to the glacier?

A．Worried．

B．Puzzled．

C．Scared．

D．Bored．

【小題3】It can be inferred from the third paragraph that          .

A．56 million people in Italy have been killed owing to the rising sea level

B．Some islands and coastal cities will be drowned in water by the year of 2050

C．Human being will be in danger if we don't take actions to prevent the global warming

D．It is certain that what happened in the movie 2012 will come into reality

【小題4】According to the passage, you are advised to             .

A．drive our own private cars instead of taking buses to some place

B．recycle everything that is used

C．go to see the movie 2012 at once

D．work together to take good care of our planet

【小題5】What does the author mean by saying "small drops of water make a big ocean"?

A．Think twice before taking action,

B．It's our duty to protect the ocean．

C．Everyone together can make a difference．

D．It's important to save every drop of water．

Several animal species including gorillas in Rwanda and tigers in Bangladesh could risk extinction if the impact of climate change and extreme weather on their habitats is not addressed, a UN report showed on Sunday.
Launched on the sidelines of global climate negotiations in Durban, the report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization shows how higher temperatures, the rise in sea levels, deforestation and excessive land use have damaged the habitats of certain species, especially in Africa.
“Many ecosystems have already been stressed by increasing population, historical and recent deforestation, unsustainable management practices and even invasive (入侵的) species,” Eduardo Rojas-Briales, assistant director general at the FAO's forestry department, said at the launch of the report.
The most affected areas include mountains, isolated islands and coastal areas, which limit the possibilities for animals to migrate elsewhere and create new habitats.
“The remaining populations become surrounded in very small ecosystems, they have inbreeding (近親交配) problems ... and at the end these species may disappear,” he added.
Other examples of affected animals included elephants in Mali, lions in the Serengeti and crocodiles in Malawi.
The report said an estimated 20-30 percent of plant and animal species will be at higher risk of extinction due to global warming and a significant proportion of native species may become extinct by 2050 as a consequence.
Other consequences could include the spread of invasive species and infectious diseases, it said.
The report urges more focus on restoration of damaged ecosystems, especially those key to dealing with climate change such as mangroves(紅樹(shù)林), inland waters, forests, savannahs(非洲大草原) and grasslands.
The FAO also called for the creation of migration corridors for animals in areas where their movement was limited.
The organization said while more resources were flowing to biodiversity conservation, more action at the government and policy level was needed.
It also urged local communities to develop projects that mitigate the impact of climate change on wildlife, naming eco-tourism activities as an example.
【小題1】What does the author tell us in Paragraph 2?

A．The theme of global climate negotiations in Durban.

B．The subject of research done by Eduardo Rojas.

C．Causes of damage done to ecosystems.

D．Harmful effects of damage done to ecosystems.

【小題2】Why are animals living in mountains, islands and coastal areas most affected?

A．They are frequently attacked by invasive species and infectious diseases.

B．They have difficulty finding enough food for survival.

C．They can hardly find mates to produce their young.

D．They have little chance of moving to other places.

【小題3】To avoid extinction of some animal species, the UNFAO suggested all the following ways EXCEPT ______.

A．restoring damaged ecosystems

B．limiting world population growth

C．creating movement channels for animals

D．urging governments and local communities to take action

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

A．increase or further improve something.

B．Make full use of something.

C．Make something become less serious.

D．Move from one place to another.

【小題5】What would serve as the best title for the passage?

A．Animals at risk due to climate change.

B．Global warming and its consequences.

C．Climate change and ecotourism.

D．Solutions to animal distinction.

Almost everyone suffers from a headache sometimes.But some people suffer from repeated, frequent headaches.
What is headache? What causes it? What can be done about a headache? What research is being done on headaches?
The dictionary defines(下定義) headache simply as “a pain in the head.” What most people mean by headache is a pain which lasts several minutes or hours.It covers the whole head, or one side of it, or perhaps the front or the back of the head.To add to the confusion(困惑) about a definition, some people call tight feeling in the head a headache.
A headache is important because it can be the first warning of a serious condition which probably could be controlled if discovered early.If a person removes the warning, day after day, with a pain-killer, he may pass the point of easy control.
The professional name for covering up a symptom(癥狀) is “masking” (遮蔽).A headache specialist once said, “Masking symptoms is not the best way of treatment.” He compared taking a pain-killer for a headache before a cause is known with taking iron pills for anemia(貧血癥) while bleeding continues undiscovered.He added, “Sometimes it is wiser to stand still than to advance in darkness.”
A headache is important also because it affects normal, happy living.The employee with a headache does less work.In a flash of temper he may upset his fellow workers or customers, causing a direct or indirect loss to his organization.The mother with a headache suffers and disturbs the family.She upsets her husband and children.
【小題1】Which is true according to the passage?

A．Headache has no effect on others.

B．Headache may cover the whole body.

C．Headache may last several minutes or hours.

D．Headache is just the tight feeling in the head.

【小題2】The sentence underlined in Paragraph 5 means ______.

A．you should not advance in darkness whatever happens

B．you’d better do nothing before you know how to deal with it

C．you’d better still stand there without moving when it is dark at night

D．you should take some pain-killers for your headache if you want to cover it up

【小題3】What may the writer talk about in the following paragraph?

A．Treatments of headaches	B．The definition of headaches
C．Symptom of headaches	D．Bad effects of a headache

【小題4】The passage mainly tells us______.

A．the reason of headache

B．headache and its effect

C．everyone suffers from a headache

D．a(chǎn) headache is a symptom of something serious

Research suggests that a newly-identified gene known as insomniacs(失眠癥患者) may play a role in keeping us asleep. By cloning and testing this gene in about 21,000 fruit flies, Rockefeller University researchers say they have discovered an entirely new mechanism (機(jī)制) by which sleep is controlled.
By studying these flies, the researchers discovered that mutations(變異) in the insomniac gene were associated with a great reduction in sleep. While a typical fruit fly slept for an average of 927 minutes a day, the mutant flies slept for just 317. They also slept for shorter periods of time, and slept and woke more frequently.
“The results showed a great loss of both the time that the flies’ sleep lasted and their ability to remain asleep after they slept,” says researcher Nicholas Stavropoulos.
The researchers also examined the link between sleep and lifespan, finding that flies with mutations to the insomniac gene lived only about two-thirds as long as unchanged flies. But when the scientists removed insomniac only in neurons（神經(jīng)細(xì)胞）---allowing it to remain in the rest of the flies’ bodies---this difference disappeared; the resulting animals slept poorly but lived just as long.
“This suggests that reduced sleep can be ‘uncoupled’(分開(kāi)) from reduced lifespan, supporting the idea that some interruptions of sleep do not affect overall health, at least as far as lifespan is concerned,” Stavropoulos says.
Although flies and humans would appear to have little in common when it comes to lifestyle, scientists say that the mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness are likely to be quite similar.
“Sleep is a fundamental behavior in all animals, and it is poorly understood from a scientific standpoint, says Stavropoulos. This work could prove useful in understanding and treating sleep disorders”
【小題1】The text is mainly about____.

A．the progress in cloning fruit flies

B．the methods of cloning fruit flies

C．the link between gene and lifespan

D．the influence of a gene on the ability to sleep

【小題2】According to paragraph2, the mutant flies________.

A．slept about 5 hours a day

B．had problems waking up

C．didn’t seem sleepy at all

D．could not fall asleep

【小題3】We can conclude from the text that________.

A．sleep and health go hand in hand

B．sleep can be controlled by humans

C．research into sleep is very fruitful

D．the findings are useful in medical treatment

The Greenbelt, a wide belt of open land around the cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay Area, includes about 3.75 million of the Bay Area’s 4.5 million acres. The Bay Area Greenbelt is one of the largest areas of open land in any U.S. urban area. Open land is land that has few buildings and lots of natural areas. The Greenbelt’s open land includes parks, forests, beaches, and more than 8,500 farms.
What are the advantages of the Greenbelt?
The Greenbelt has many advantages for people in the Bay Area, which include:
l walking and biking areas close to the cities and towns;
l places for wild plants and animals;
l cleaner air and water;
l income from farms.
Is the Greenbelt in danger?
Five hundred seventy thousand acres of the Greenbelt are in danger. There are builders who want to build suburbs on them. If those acres become suburbs, many things will change:
l the urban and suburban area will almost double;
l many farms will disappear;
l traffic will become worse; 
l the air will become dirtier.
What is Greenbelt Alliance (聯(lián)盟)?
Greenbelt Alliance, an organization that saves land in the San Francisco Bay Area, works alone and with other groups to save the Greenbelt in four ways:
1. Try to persuade people to build new buildings on land that is already urban, not on open land.
2. Make sure that the city and town governments are all making plans to save the Greenbelt.
3. Help Bay Area towns and cities to buy pieces of open land to make into natural areas.
4. Teach people in the Bay Area why the Greenbelt is important and what they can do to help save it.
【小題1】What can we learn about the Greenbelt from the first paragraph?

A．The Greenbelt is the largest open land in the United States.

B．The Greenbelt covers much more than half of the Bay Area.

C．There are few farms on the open land of the Greenbelt.

D．There are more than 8,500 natural areas on the Greenbelt.

【小題2】One of the advantages of the Greenbelt for people in the Bay Area is __________.

A．convenience for exercise	B．income from sightseeing
C．cleaner city streets	D．more plants and animals

【小題3】The Greenbelt is in danger because __________.

A．traffic is getting worse

B．some plans to build suburbs on it

C．the suburban area has doubled

D．pollution is becoming serious

【小題4】Which of the following is TRUE about Greenbelt Alliance?

A．It builds new buildings on open land.

B．It buys large open land for the Bay Area.

C．It educates people how to save the Greenbelt.

D．It helps the city governments make plans.

A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely dipping below l6℃. Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate. Without the forest cover，these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere，warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns，potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.
In the past hundred years，humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources（資源）：land for crops，wood for paper and other products，land for raising farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example，a lot of carbon dioxide in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly，when people cut down trees，generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly，cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now，but in the long run it actually reduces the world’s wood supply.
Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25％ of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However，fewer than l％of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.
【小題1】Rainforests can help to adjust the climate because they      .

A．reflect more heat into the atmosphere

B．bring about high rainfall throughout the world

C．rarely cause the temperature to drop lower than l6℃

D．reduce the effect of heat from the sun on the earth

【小題2】What does the word “this” underlined in the third paragraph refer to?

A．We will lose much more than we can gain.

B．Humans have begun destroying rainforests.

C．People have a strong desire for resources.

D．Much carbon dioxide comes from burning rainforests.

【小題3】It can be inferred from the text that      .

A．we can get enough resources without rainforests

B．there is great medicine potential in rainforests

C．we will grow fewer kinds of crops in the gained land

D．the level of annual rainfall affects wind patterns

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

A．Losing the rainforests has caused natural disasters all over the world.

B．Cutting rainforests will help increase the world’s wood supply in the future.

C．Rainforests can’t provide medical cures for diseases at all

D．Rainforests helps to control the temperature and adjust climate for humans.

【小題5】What might be the best title for the text?

A．How to Save Rainforests

B．How to Protect Nature

C．Rainforests and the Environment

D．Rainforests and Medical Development