单选题
What's the news about? A. A coincidence of ten popular names and the movie Twilight. B. People tend to name their babies after the characters of popular movies. C. Some popular names in the 1980s have caught on again.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] There's a better-than-random chance that babies born in the United States last year, 2010, were named "Bella" or "Edward. " Those were among the 10 most popular girls' and boys' names, respectively, and it was more than a coincidence that they are also leading characters in the wildly popular "Twilight" series of young adult novels and films about vampires. Certain ones which were popular in the 1980s, become the rage, then fall from fashion.
单选题
Why has the AIDS study been named as 2011 Breakthrough of the Year by the journal Science? A. It finds that HPTN 052 can cure AIDS effectively. B. It finds that antiretroviral drugs can considerably lower the risk of transmitting HIV. C. It finds an effective way to stop the HIV transmission.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] The journal Science has named an AIDS study as its 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. The clinical trial found that antiretroviral drugs can be used to dramatically lower the risk of transmitting HIV. The clinical trial is known as HPTN 052. It proved that giving the drugs to HIV infected 29 people sooner made them 96 percent less likely to transmit the virus to their uninfected partners. The research team was led by Dr. Myron Cohen. He said while the results were announced in May, preliminary work actually began 20 years ago.
临床试验发现，抗逆转录病毒药物可极大地减少the risk of transmitting HIV，也正是因为这个原因才使《科学》将这项研究命名为“2011年的突破研究”。HPTN 052是这次临床试验的名称，而艾滋和HIV病毒都还没有得到解决。
单选题
What was the most important reason why Hazare called off his hunger strike according to the news ? A. The public didn't respond actively. B. He bad got a fever. C. Some strikers quitted.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] In India, anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare has ended his hunger strike to press for a tougher anti-graft law earlier than planned. The strike in Mumbai was to last for three days. But on Wednesday evening, the 74-year-oid activist called off his protest a day early. He did not cite a reason. But doctors have warned of a danger to the health of the activist, who has been running a fever. His protest also has seen far thinner crowds compared to his earlier campaigns, prompting commentators to say that the poor public response could be a factor behind his decision.
尽管有很多种可能，如医院的警告、Hazare的发烧等，但真正的原因在文章的最后由prompting commentators揭示：the poor public response could be a factor behind his decision。所以最有可能的原因是民众响应不积极。
单选题
Why is it that the data gathered on penguins over the years may now be worthless? A. It is already outdated. B. Many of the penguins have died for lack of food. C. Their wearing of flipper bands has affected the accuracy of the data.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] For decades scientists have been following penguins by putting bands around their flippers. This allows individual birds to be identified at a distance. But there have been concerns that flipper bands might be unethical because they harm the birds by slowing them down as they swim. The latest study reported birds fitted with bands died younger, started breeding later in the year, took longer to forage for food and over all raised about 40 percent fewer chicks. There are also concerns that some data gathered on penguins down the years may now be worthless.
单选题
What's said about gardening in Britain? A. More than half of the British people are engaged in gardening. B. Government approves people to use public places for gardening. C. Private gardening in public places often takes place late at night.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] Odd things are happening to Brits... we seem to be developing green fingers! The number of people growing their own fruit and vegetables has almost doubled in the past year, according to Gardeners' World magazine. But not everyone has space for a vegetable patch or a flowerbed. That's why some people plant flowers or vegetables in public places to make them greener and more pleasing to the eye. Many people would approve of prettifying towns and cities, but guerrilla gardening is not strictly legal. Therefore, this type of gardening often takes place in the dead of night.