单选题Paolo Fril, chairman and scientific officer of GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. The dream is a dragon in every home. GeneDupe"s business is biotech pets. Not for Dr. Fril, though, the cloning of dead cats and dogs. He plans a range of entirely new animals—or, rather, of really quite old animals, with the twist that when they did exist, it was only in the imagination. Making a mythical creature real is not easy. But GeneDupe"s team of biologists and computer scientists reckon they are equal to the task. Their secret is a new field, which they call "virtual cell biology". Biology and computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—in one case electronic; in the other, biochemical. Virtual cell biology aspires to make a software model of a cell that is accurate in every biochemical detail. That is possible because all animal cells use the same parts list—mitochondria for energy processing, the endoplasmic reticulum for making proteins, Golgi body for protein assembly, and so on. Armed with their virtual cell, GeneDupe"s scientists can customize the result so that it belongs to a particular species, by loading it with a virtual copy of that animal"s genome. Then, if the cell is also loaded with the right virtual molecules, it will behave like a fertilized egg, and start dividing and developing—first into embryo, and ultimately into an adult. Because this "growth" is going on in a computer, it happens fast. Passing from egg to adult in one of GeneDupe"s enormous Mythmaker computers takes less than a minute. And it is here that Charles Darwin gets a look in. With such a short generation time, GeneDupe"s scientists can add a little evolution to their products. Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, griffin, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and an eagle for the griffin). The virtual genomes of these real animals are then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the others are culled. Using this rapid evolutionary process, GeneDupe"s scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just embarking, is to do it for real. This involves synthesizing, with actual DNA, the genetic material that the computer models predict will produce the mythical creatures. The synthetic DNA is then inserted into a cell that has had its natural nucleus removed. The result, Dr. Fril and his commercial backers hope, will be a real live dragon, unicorn or what you have. Dr. Fril is confident about his new idea. Indeed, if he can get the dragon"s respiration correct, he thinks they will set the world on fire.

单选题Questions 8--12 Answer the following questions by using NO MORE THAN three words.

单选题In the early 1960s Wilt Chamberlain was one of only three players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) listed at over seven feet. If he had played last season, however, he would have been one of 42. The bodies playing major professional sports have changed dramatically over the years, and managers have been more than willing to adjust team uniforms to fit the growing numbers of bigger, longer frames. The trend in sports, though, may be obscuring an unrecognized reality: Americans have generally stopped growing. Though typically about two inches taller now than 140 years ago, today's people-especially those born to families who have lived in the U.S. for many generations— apparently reached their limit in the early 1960s. And they aren't likely to get any taller. "In the general population today, at this genetic, environmental level, we've pretty much gone as far as we can go," says anthropologist William Cameron Chumlea of Wright State University. In the case of NBA players, their increase in height appears to result from the increasingly common practice of recruiting players from all over the world. Growth, which rarely continues beyond the age of 20, demands calories and nutrients-notably, protein—to feed expanding tissues. At the start of the 20th century, under-nutrition and childhood infections got in the way. But as diet and health improved, children and adolescents have, on average, increased in height by about an inch and a half every 20 years, a pattern known as the secular trend in height. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average height—5'9" for men, 5'4" for women— hasn't really changed since 1960. Genetically speaking, there are advantages to avoiding substantial height. During childbirth, larger babies have more difficulty passing through the birth canal. Moreover, even though humans have been upright for millions of years, our feet and back continue to struggle with bipedal posture and cannot easily withstand repeated strain imposed by oversize limbs. "There are some real constraints that are set by the genetic architecture of the individual organism," says anthropologist William Leonard of Northwestern University. Genetic maximums can change, but don't expect this to happen soon. Claire C. Gordon, senior anthropologist at the Army Research Center in Natick, Mass. , ensures that 90 percent of the uniforms and workstations fit recruits without alteration. She says that, unlike those for basketball, the length of military uniforms has not changed for some time. And if you need to predict human height in the near future to design a piece of equipment, Gordon says that by and large, "you could use today's data and feel fairly confident. /

单选题 It is interesting to reflect for a moment upon the differences in the areas of moral feeling and standards in the peoples of Japan and the United States. Americans divide these areas somewhat rigidly into spirit and flesh, the two being in opposition in the tire of a human being. Ideally spirit should prevail but all too often it is the flesh that does prevail. The Japanese make no such division, at least between one as good and the other as evil. They believe that a person has two souls, each necessary. One is the "gentle" soul, the other is the "rough" soul. Sometimes the person uses his gentle soul. Sometimes he must use his rough soul. He does not favor his gentle soul, neither does he fight his rough soul. Human nature in itself is good, Japanese philosophers insist, and a human being does not need to fight any part of himself. He has only to learn how to use each soul properly at the appropriate times. Virtue for the Japanese consists in fulfilling one's obligations to others. Happy endings, either in life or in fiction, are neither necessary nor expected, since the fulfillment of duty provides the satisfying end, whatever the tragedy it inflicts. And duty includes a person's obligations to those who have conferred benefits upon him and to himself as an individual of honor. He develops through this double sense of duty a self discipline which is at once permissive and rigid, depending upon the area in which it is functioning. The process of acquiring this self-discipline begins in childhood. Indeed, one may say it begins at birth. Early is the Japanese child given his own identity! If I were to define in a word the attitude of the Japanese toward their children I would put it in one succinct word-" respect". Love? Yes, abundance of love, warmly expressed from the moment he is put to his mother's breast. For mother and child this nursing of her child is important psychologically. Rewards are frequent, a bit of candy bestowed at the right moment, an inexpensive toy. As the time comes to enter school, however, discipline becomes firmer. To bring shame to the family is the greatest shame for the child. What is the secret of the Japanese teaching of self-discipline? It lies, I think, in the fact that the aim or all teaching is the establishment of habit. Rules are repeated over, and continually practiced until obedience becomes instinctive. This repetition is enhanced by the expectation of the eiders. They expect a child to obey and to learn through obedience. The demand is gentle at first and tempered to the child's tender age. It is no less gentle as time goes on, but certainly it is increasingly inexorable. Now, far away from that warm Japanese home, I reflect upon what 1 learned there. What, I wonder, will take the place of the web of love and discipline which for so many centuries has surrounded the life and thinking of the people of Japan?

单选题A superstar usually is someone who has become famous in sports or popular music, someone like folk (人们，民间的) 21 Michael Jackson. 22 the middle of 1980"s Michael made a record album (相片册，邮票簿) 23 "Thriller (激情)". It quickly became the most 24 recording in the history of music and it made Michael Jackson a 25 . The word "super" means 26 that is extremely good. And of course, a 27 is a person who is famous. So people use "superstar" to describe the 28 people in sports, acting and 29 . One of the most famous sports superstars in the United States 30 boxer Muhammed Ali. 31 a young man, he won a 32 medal (奖章，纪念章) in the Olympics as a boxer. 33 he became the heavy-weight boxing champion of 34 . 35 long, he was known as one of the greatest 36 most famous boxers in sports 37 . Muhammed Ali claimed 38 he was a champion that he was more famous than the president of the United States, the 39 of the Soviet (苏维埃) Union, 40 the secretary-general of U.N. He is a true superstar. Everyone knows his name.

单选题 {{I}}Questions 11～13 are based on the following talk. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 11～13.{{/I}}

单选题In the first paragraph, the author quotes Straussmann's words in order to make clear ______.

单选题When a consumer finds that his purchase has a fault in it, what is the first thing he should do?

单选题Text 3 In 1959 the average American family paid $989 for a year's supply of food. in 1972 the family paid $1,311. That was a price increase of nearly one third. Every family has had this sort of experience. Everyone agrees that the cost of feeding a family has risen sharply. But there is less agreement when reasons for the rise are being discussed. Who is really responsible? Many blame the farmers who produce file vegetables, fruit, meat, eggs, and cheese that are stored for sale. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the farmer's share of the $1,311 spent by the family in 1972 was $521. This was thirty-one percent more than the farmer had received in 1959. But farmers claim that this increase was very small compared to the increase in their cost of living. Farmers tend to blame others for the sharp rise hi food prices. They particularly blame those who process the farm products after the products leave the farm. These include truck drivers, meat packers, manufacturers of packages and other food containers, and the owners of stores where food is sold. They are among the "middlemen" who stand between the farmer and the people who buy and eat the food. Are middlemen the ones to blame for rising food prices? Of the $1,311 family food bill in 1972, middlemen received $790, which was thirty-three percent more than they had received in 1959. It appears that the middlemen's profit has increased more than the farmer's. But some economists claim that the middlemen's actual profit was very low. According to economists at the First National City Bank, the profit for meat packers and food stores amounted to less than one percent. During the stone period all other manufacturers were making a profit of more than five percent. By comparison with other members of the economic system, both farmers and middlemen have profited surprisingly little from the rise in food prices. Who then is actually responsible for the size of the bill a housewife must pay before she carries the food from the store? The economists at First National City Bank have an answer to give housewives, but many people will not like it. These economists blame the housewife herself for the jump in food prices. They say that food costs more now because women don't want to spend much time in the kitchen. Women prefer to buy food which has already been prepared before it reaches the market.

单选题Questions 17 to 20 are based on a talk about "biological clock".

单选题Cloning shakes us all to our very souls. For humans to consider the cloning of one another forces them all to question the very concepts of right and wrong that make them all human. The cloning of any species, whether they are human or non-human, is wrong. Scientists and ethicists alike have debated the implications of human and non-human cloning extensively since 1997 when scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland produced Dolly. No direct conclusions have been drawn, but compelling arguments state that cloning of both human and non-human species results in harmful physical and psychological effects on both groups. The possible physical damage that could be done if human cloning became a reality is obvious when one looks at the sheer loss of life that occurred before the birth of Dolly. Less than ten percent of the initial transfers survive to be healthy creatures. There were 277 trial implants of nuclei. Nineteen of those 277 were deemed healthy while the others were discarded. Five of those nineteen survived, but four of them died within ten days of birth of severe abnormalities. Dolly was the only one to survive. Even Ian Wilmut, one of the scientists accredited with the cloning phenomenon at the Roslin Institute agrees, "the more you interfere with reproduction, the more danger there is of things going wrong. " The psychological effects of cloning are less obvious, but nonetheless, very plausible. In addition to physical harms, there are worries about the psychological harms to cloned human children. One of those harms is that cloning creates serious issues of identity and individuality. Human cloning is obviously damaging to both the family and the cloned child. It is harder to convince that non-human cloning is wrong and unethical, but it is just the same. Western culture and tradition has long held the belief that the treatment of animals should be guided by different ethical standards than the treatment of humans. Animals have been seen as non-feeling and savage beasts since time began. Humans in general have no problem with seeing animals as objects to be used whenever it becomes necessary. But what would happen if humans started to use animals as body for growing human organs? What if we were to learn how to clone functioning brains and have them grow inside of chimps? Would non-human primates, such as a chimpanzee, who carried one or more human genes via transgenic technology, be defined as still a chimp, a human, a subhuman, or something else? If defined as human, would we have to give it rights of citizenship? And if humans were to carry non-human transgenic genes, would that alter our definitions and treatment of them? Also, if the technology were to be so that scientists could transfer human genes into animals and vice versa, it could create a worldwide catastrophe that no one would be able to stop.

单选题

单选题Wheredidthemanseethewomanyesterday?A.Ontelevision.B.Atregistration.C.Inclass.D.Atwork.

单选题Questions 7--10 Answer the following questions by using NO MORE THAN three words.

单选题Shortages of flu vaccine are nothing new in America, but this year's is a whopper. Until last week, it appeared that 100 million Americans would have access to flu shots this fall. Then British authorities, concerned about quality-control problems at a production plant in Liverpool, barred all further shipments by the Chiron Corp. Overnight, the U. S. vaccine supply dwindled by nearly half and federal health officials found themselves making an unusual plea. Instead of beseeching us all to get vaccinated, they're now urging most healthy people between the ages of 2 and 64 not to. "This reemphasizes the fragility of our vaccine supply," says Dr. Martin Myers of the National Network for Immunization Information, "and the lack of redundancy in our system." Why is such a basic health service so easily knocked out? Mainly because private companies have had little incentive to pursue it. To create a single dose of flu vaccine, a manufacturer has to grow live virus in a 2-week-old fertilized chicken egg, then crack the egg, harvest the virus and extract the proteins used to provoke an immune response. Profit margins are narrow, demand is fickle and, because each year's flu virus is different, any leftover vaccine goes to waste. As a result, the United States now has only two major suppliers (Chiton and Aventis Pasteur)—and when one of them runs into trouble, there isn't much the other can do about it. "A vaccine maker can't just call up and order 40 million more fertilized eggs," says Manon Cox, of Connecticut-based Protein Sciences Corp. "There's a whole industry that's scheduled to produce a certain number of eggs at a certain time." Sleeker technologies are now in the works, and experts are hoping that this year's fiasco will speed the pace of innovation. The main challenge is to shift production from eggs into cell cultures—a medium already used to make most other vaccines. Flu vaccines are harder than most to produce this way, but several biotech companies are now pursuing this strategy, and one culture-based product (Solvay Pharmaceuticals' Invivac) has been cleared for marketing in Europe. For Americans, the immediate challenge is to make the most of a limited supply. The government estimates that 95 million people still qualify for shots under the voluntary restrictions announced last week. That's nearly twice the number of doses that clinics will have on hand, but only 60 million Americans seek out shots in a normal year. In fact, many experts are hoping the shortage will serve as an awareness campaign—encouraging the people who really need a flu shot to get one.

单选题Imagine eating everything delicious you want--with none of the fat. That would be great, wouldn't it? New "fake fat" products appeared on store shelves in the United States recently, but not everyone is happy about it. Makers of the products, which contain a compound called olestra, say food manufacturers can now eliminate fat from certain foods. Critics, however, say the new compound can rob the body of essential vitamins and nutrients and can also cause unpleasant side effects in some people. So it's up to consumers to decide whether the new fat-free products taste good enough to keep eating. Chemists discovered olestra in the late 1960s, when they were searching for a fat that could be digested by infants more easily. Instead of finding the desired fat, the researchers created a fat that can't be digested at all. Normally, special chemicals in the intestines "grab" molecules of regular fat and break them down so they can be used by the body. A molecule of regular fat is made up of three molecules of substances called fatty acids. The fatty acids are absorbed by the intestines and bring with them the essential vitamins A, D, E, and K. When fat molecules are present in the intestines with any of those vitamins, the vitamins attach to the molecules and are carried into the bloodstream. Olestra, which is made from six to eight molecules of fatty acids, is too large for the intestines to absorb. It just slides through the intestines without being broken down. Manufacturers say it's that ability to slide unchanged through the intestines that makes olestra so valuable as a fat substitute. It provides consumers with the taste of regular fat without any bad effects on the body. But critics say olestra can prevent vitamins A, D, E, and K from being absorbed. It can also prevent the absorption of carotenoids, compounds that may reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, etc. Manufacturers are adding vitamins A, D, E, and K as well as carotenoids to their products now. Even so, some nutritionists are still concerned that people might eat unlimited amounts of food made with the fat substitute without worrying about how many calories they are consuming.

单选题 Text 3 Consumers and producers obviously make decisions that mold the economy, but there is a third major element to consider — the role of government. Government has a powerful effect on the economy in at least four ways: Direct Services. The postal system, for example, is a federal system serving the entire nation, as is the large and complex military establishment. Conversely, the construction and maintenance of most highways is the responsibility of the individual states, and the public educational systems, despite a large funding role by the federal government, are primarily paid for by county or city governments. Police and fire protection and sanitation services are also the responsibilities of local government. Regulation and Control. The government regulates and controls private enterprise in many ways, for the purpose of assuring that business serves the best interests of the people as a whole. Regulation is necessary in areas where private enterprise is granted a monopoly, such as in telephone or electric service, or in other areas where there is limited competition, as with railroads or airlines. Public policy permits such companies to make a reasonable profit, but limits their ability to raise prices unfairly (as defined by the regulators), since the public depends on their services. Often control is exercised to protect the public, as for example, when the Food and Drug Administration bans harmful drugs, or requires standards of quality in food. In other industries, government sets guidelines to ensure fair competition without using direct control. Stabilization and Growth. Branches of government, including Congress and such entities as the Federal Reserve Board, attempt to control the extremes of boom and bust, of inflation and depression, by adjusting tax rates (including regulations pertaining to depreciation), the money supply, and the use of credit. They can also affect the economy through changes in the amount of public spending by the government itself. Direct Assistance. The government provides many kinds of help to businesses and individuals. For example, tariffs permit certain products to remain relatively free of foreign competition; imports are sometimes taxed so that American products are able to compete better with certain foreign goods. Government also provides aid to farmers by subsidizing prices they receive for their crops. In quite a different area, government supports individuals who cannot adequately care for themselves, by making grants to working parents with dependent children, by providing medical care for the aged and the indigent, and through social insurance programs to help the unemployed and retirees. Government also supplies relief for the poor and help for the disabled.

单选题Tell an investment banker that a picture bought in 1950 for $30,000 sold this month for $104.1 million and you will be unlucky if you fail to get his attention. That was the case with the portrait of a young boy by Picasso when Sotheby's dispersed on May 5 the tail end of the famous collection formed by the late John Hay Whitney and his wife Betsy Cushing Whitney. Sales added up to almost $190 million within two hours. If you then go on to explain that Whitney bought the 1905 portrait not for investment but for art's sake, because he loved 19th- and 20th-century painting, you might well be greeted with a stare of compassionate irony. Yet that was exactly so. Had the heir to a vast fortune consulted experts at the time, most would have advised against the acquisition. Received wisdom in the 1950s had it that it was Picasso's breakthrough in modern art that made him truly important, i. e. his early Cubist work. The Picasso case, which is probably the greatest success story ever in the art market, neatly illustrates the financial gamble that buying art represents. The biggest winners are not investors, but art lovers with a great eye who follow their intuition. Art cannot be an investment because perception determines everything. No two works are ever identical. One Picasso does not equal another Picasso. On May 6, one day after the Whitney sale, Sotheby's was offering another five Picassos. All fetched different prices. That night the market was on a roll and two of the Picassos sold extremely well. Even so, their diverging fates illustrate the impossibility of predicting prices. Presale calculations are frequently belied, up or down. "Le Nu Accroupi" (describing a seated woman), dated "21/24.6.59," was expected to bring $3 million to $4 million plus the 12 percent sale charge. Furious bidding sent it climbing to $11,768,000. The second of the two most expensive Picassos sold within the expected price bracket, costing $14,792,000．"Le Sauvetage" ("The ReScue") was painted in November 1932．This is seen as a seminal year. Why did it not arouse enthusiasm in proportion to the "Nu Accroupi" and increase the estimate by 250 percent? One reason, in favor of the "Nu Accroupi", is that the figure of the seated woman is distorted in a manner that best fits the general public's idea of what Picasso's art looks like. The face broken up in separate halves that can be read as seen sideways or full front is typical of this stereotype even if in reality Picasso was the most versatile artist of his time. Another reason works against "Le Sauvetage". A jarring note is introduced by the spiky rendition of the human figures. Moreover, some deem the composition to be loose. Others, by contrast, praise its rhythm. The argument can go on indefinitely. In short, no complete agreement is ever reached over the aesthetic characterization of a painting. Nor is there ever total agreement over the assessment of its importance relative to the artist's oeuvre. How good within the 1932 style "Le Sauvetage" is will be seen differently by different viewers. Cubism was a crucial phase of Picasso's art in the view of virtually all art historians today and yet the-1909 to 1914 revolutionary works are not always well received by the public at auction. Immediately before the "Nu Accroupi", a large charcoal sketch of a man's head done by Picasso in 1909 in his first Cubist manner reflecting the impact that African sculpture had on its emergence came up with a $400,000 to $600,000 estimate. The drawing came from a European estate, and works with an estate provenance generally do well because they have long been out of sight. Moreover, it had previously passed through the hands of one of the greatest 20th-century dealers, Heinz Berggruen, while he was based in Paris. All to no avail. The drawing fell unsold, probably too ungainly for its art historical importance to weigh sufficiently in its favor. But both these characterizations are a matter of perception.

单选题{{B}}{{I}}Questions 11～13 are based on the follow conversation. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 11～13.{{/I}}{{/B}}

单选题{{I}} Questions 17 to 20 are based on the following monologue about American Blacks. You now have 20 seconds to read Questions 17 to 20.{{/I}}