阅读理解 Barack Obama, in his state-of-the-union speech on February 12th, called for a new era of scientific discovery. " Now it is the time to reach a level of research and development not seen since the height of the space race," he declared. He praised projects to map the human brain and accelerate regenerative medicine. This would mean spending more on research. As The Economist went to press, America's government was about to do the opposite.
Federal spending is due to be cut on March 1st, the result of a long brawl over the deficit. Complex politics triggered this"sequester"(Congress excels at nothing if not elaborate dysfunction)but the sequester itself is brutally simple. America will cut $ 85 billion from this year's budget(about 2.5% of spending), split between military and non-military programmes. Among the areas to be squeezed is R&D, and medical research in particular.
For years America has enjoyed pre-eminence in research, but this is fading. Chinese investment(including both public and private money)more than quintupled from 2000 to 2010, to $ 160 billion, in 2005 prices. America's R&D spending rose by just 22% over that period, according to the OECD. Research also make up a smaller portion of America's economy than some other countries'. In a ranking of R&D spending as a share of GDP, America came tenth in 2011. A decade earlier it was sixth.
Nevertheless, America remains the world's biggest engine for innovation. It spent $ 366 billion on research in 2011 , compared with $ 275 billion by all 27 countries of the European Union. Despite China's rapid ascent, America still spends more than twice as much on R&D. Subsidies help. America's government pays for about one-third of all domestic research and for most basic science.
Medicine is one of the main beneficiaries. America's National Institutes of Health(NIH)is the world's biggest funder of biomedical research. It pays for risky basic science; companies pay for later stages of development. For example, the NIH supported early research into monoclonal antibodies. By 2010 such research underpinned five of America's 20 bestselling drugs. As drug firms trim their budget, the NIH's work is becoming even more vital. But since 2003 , inflation-adjusted spending on medical research has declined.

单选题 6.We can infer from the first paragraph that______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据选项[A]定位到文章首段最后两句：This would mean spending more on re—search．As The Economist went to press，America’s government was about to do the opposite．最后一句意为：美国政府却将反其道而行。可见美国不会在研究领域投入更多开支，因此选项[A]是错误的。选项[B]对应该段第三句：He praised projects to map the human brain and accelerateregenerative medicine．可见Obama对于绘制人脑图的态度是支持的，而非反对的，故该项错误。根据“…called for a new era of scientific discovery”以及“He praised projects to map the hu—man brain and accelerate regenerative medicine”可知选项[C]项是正确的。文章提到了regener—ative medicine，但并没有说美国关注这个领域已经很久了，for long一词在原文未体现，故选项[D]错误。

单选题 7.Government expenditure is planned to be squeezed because of______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】根据题干定位到第二段首句：Federal spending is due to be cut…其中题干中的government expenditure=federal spending；is planned to=is due to；be squeezed=be cut。故确定答案来源为该句话。原文中的the result of相当于题干中的because of，故本题答案原文为：along brawl over the deficit(长期关于财政赤字的争吵)．与选项[D]the long—term argument aboutthe fiscal deficit相符。其中，long=long-term；brawl=argument；deficit=fiscal deficit。故答案为选项[D]。

单选题 8.The underlined word " sequester"(Para 2, Line 2)refers to______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】首先确定答案来源，即第二段第一、二句：Federal spending is due to be cut on March1st，the result of a long brawl over the deficit．Complex politics triggered this“sequester”…因为文中出现this“sequester”，由this一词可以得知“sequester”在上文应该出现过，故确定解题信息来自上一句，即第二段第一句。提取该句主干信息，得出：Federal spending is due to be cut．故可以确定“sequester”指代“联邦支出将被削减”。四个选项中，与之相关的是选项[A]和[D]两项，其中选项[A]中的“reduction减少”对应“cut削减”；而选项[D]中的“augment增加”与之相反，故确定本题答案为选项[A]。

单选题 9.We learn from Paragraphs 3&4 that______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】选项[A]对应第四段首句：Nevertheless，America remains the world’s biggest enginefor innovation．可见该项错误，其中no more与原文中的remains表达意义相反。选项[B]对应第三段首句：For years America has enjoyed pre-eminence in research，but this is fading．可见该项正确。其中“this is fading”表示美国在研究领域的领导地位正在衰退。选项[C]对应原文第四段第三句：Despite China’s rapid ascent，America still spends more than twice as much on R&D．可见美国开支是中国的两倍多，而非该项说的中国的开支比美国多了两倍，故该项错误。选项[D]对应原文第三段第二句：Chinese investment(including both public and private money)morethan quintupled from 2000 to 2010，可见中国投资是翻了五倍，而非翻了两倍，因此该项错误。本题答案为选项[B]。

单选题 10.We know from the last paragraph that NIH______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】选项[A]对应最后一段第二句:．．．(NIH)is the world’s biggest funder of biomedicalresearch．原文说的是biomedical research，而非all medical research，故选项[A]错误。选项[B]对应第三句：It pays for risky basic science；companies pay for later stages of development．后期费用是由公司出的，而非NIH，故选项[B]错误。选项[C]对应第四句：For example，the NIH sup—ported early research into monoclonal antibodies．可见该项与原文是黑白颠倒，故错误。原文先提到：(NIH)is the world's biggest funder of biomedical research．后又提到：As drug firms trim theirbudget，the NIH’s work is becoming even more vital．可见选项[D]表达是正确的。