IfAmericanmedicinewereapatient,hewouldweigh350poundsandbegainingfast.Despitebeingrepeatedlycounseledaboutthedangersofmorbidobesity,hewouldbemakingatbesthalf-heartedattemptstomendhisgluttonous(excessivedrinkingandeating)ways.Meanwhile,hisdoctors,insurancecompany,politiciansandregulatorswouldremaininadeepstateofdenial,clutchingtheillusionthattheirpatient,otherthanbeingabitoverweight,wasintip-tophealth.Truthbetold,theUSmedicalsystemisheadedformultipleorganfailure.Thespiralingcostofhealthcareiswellknown:$7,100perpersonthisyear,projectedtoincreaseto$12,000in2015andcompoundingatmorethandoubletherateofinflation.Already,medicalcaregobblesupone-sixthoftheGDP.Evenso,weaskourselves,howbettertospendourmoneyonthebesthealthcareintheworld?Notsofast.Thefactsshowthattheseenormousexpendituresmaybebuyingusthebestfacilitiesinmedicalcare—butnotthebesthealth.Forexample,Canadaspendsonly60%asmuchperpersononhealthcareastheUnitedStates.Yet,since1980,thelongevityofallCanadianshasimprovedmorerapidlythanthatofonlywhiteAmericans.Yes,the"queues"inCanadacaninvolvedelaysinnonemergencycare.Butthesecouldbeshortenedwithrelativelysmallincreasesinfunding.AnarticleintheUSjournalHealthAffairsinvestigatingthenumberofCanadianswhocomeheretoavoidthesewaitsfoundthenumbersosmallthatitasked,"Atipwithnoiceberg?"Britainspendsonly40%asmuchaswedoonhealthcare.ButaccordingtotheJournaloftheAmericanMedicalAssn.,middle-classinsuredAmericans"aremuchlesshealthythantheirEnglishcounterparts".Infact,althoughAmericansspendtwiceasmuchperpersononhealthcareastheother21wealthiestcountries,datafromtheWorldHealthOrganizationshowthatwelivetheshortestamountoftimeingoodhealth—yearslessthantheaverageintheothercountries.ReviewingaDartmouthMedicalSchoolstudythatfoundhighermortalityratesinareasthatspentthemostonMedicare,professorElliottFisherconcludedthat"perhapsathirdofmedicalspendingisnowdevotedtoservicesthatdon"tappeartoimprovehealthorthequalityofcare—andmaymakethingsworse."ThismeansthattheUSiswastingmorethan$650billionayear—halfagainmorethantheentireDefenseDepartmentwillspendthisyear,includingthecostofthewarinIraq—onunnecessaryandoftenharmful.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee gave vent to their fury over high gasoline prices at executives of the nation's five largest oil companies on Wednesday, grilling the oilmen over their multimillion-dollar pay packages and warning them that Congress was intent on taking action that could include a new tax on so-called windfall profits. Such showdowns between lawmakers and oilmen have become a familiar routine on Capitol Hill. But with gas prices nearing ￥4 a gallon, and lawmakers headed home for a weeklong Memorial Day recess where they expect to get an earful from angry constituents, there is added urgency for Congress to appear active. But while momentum is building for several measures, which includes a bill that would allow the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to be sued in American courts under antitrust laws, there is little sign that any of the proposals would do much, if anything, to lower prices quickly. And the oil executives warned that government intervention might only make things worse. Instead, they called on Congress to allow more drilling and exploration for domestic oil. The increasing urgency to seem aggressive about gasoline prices was apparent on Tuesday when the House voted by an overwhelming 324 to 84 to approve the bill, commonly referred to as NOPEC, which classifies OPEC as a monopoly in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Senate Democrats have included that measure as part of a package of legislation intended to address the high price of gasoline, along with the tax on windfall profits and a measure to tamp down speculation in the oil futures market that many lawmakers think is contributing to the run-up in prices. At the Judiciary Committee hearing, Democratic senators struggled to have the executives explain how oil prices had risen so high. The senators expressed doubt that basic laws of supply and demand were at work and suggested instead a more sinister combination of monopolistic behavior by oil-producing countries, speculation in the futures markets and sheer corporate greed. On Monday, President Bush signed a bill temporarily suspending the purchase of crude oil for the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Mr. Bush had initially opposed such action but relented after the House and Senate approved the bill by wide margins. Senator Richard J.Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and a strong supporter of Senator Barack Obama's presidential bid, made a particularly pointed attack, in which he seemed to warn the oil executives that they would soon no longer have such a good friend in the White House. He also adviced that Mr. Bush should be doing more to press the oil companies to help lower prices at the pump, while acknowledging that it would be difficult to pass a windfall profits tax while Mr. Bush was still in office.

BPart ADirections: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D./B

You are going to read a list of headings and a text about laughing. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-F for each numbered paragraph (41-45). The first paragraph of the text is not numbered. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. [A] What have they found? [B] Is it true that laughing can make us healthier? [C] So why do people laugh so much? [D] What makes you laugh? [E] How did you come to research it? [F] So what"s it for? Why are you interested in laughter? It"s a universal phenomenon, and one of the most common things we do. We laugh many times a day, for many different reasons, but rarely think about it, and seldom consciously control it. We know so little about the different kinds and functions of laughter, and my interest really starts there. Why do we do it? What can laughter teach us about our positive emotions and social behaviour? There"s so much we don"t know about how the brain contributes to emotion and I think we can get at understanding this by studying laughter. 41. Only 10 or 20 per cent of laughing is a response to humour. Most of the time it"s a message we send to other people—communicating joyful disposition, a willingness to bond and so on. It occupies a special place in social interaction and is a fascinating feature of our biology, with motor, emotional and cognitive components. Scientists study all kinds of emotions and behaviour, but few focus on this most basic ingredient. Laughter gives us a clue that we have powerful systems in our brain which respond to pleasure, happiness and joy. It"s also involved in events such as release of fear. 42. My professional focus has always been on emotional behaviour. I spent many years investigating the neural basis of fear in rats, and came to laughter via that route. When I was working with rats, I noticed that when they were alone, in an exposed environment, they were scared and quite uncomfortable. Back in a cage with others, they seemed much happier. It looked as if they played with one another—real rough-and-tumble—and I wondered whether they were also laughing. The neurobiologist Jaak Panksepp had shown that juvenile rats make short vocalisations, pitched too high for humans to hear, during rough-and- tumble play. He thinks these are similar to laughter. This made me wonder about the roots of laughter. 43. Everything humans do has a function, and laughing is no exception. Its function is surely communication. We need to build social structures in order to live well in our society and evolution has selected laughter as a useful device for promoting social communication. In other words, it must have a survival advantage for the species. 44. The brain scans are usually done while people are responding to humorous material. You see brainwave activity spread from the sensory processing area of the occipital lobe, the bit at the back of the brain that processes Visual signals, to the brain"s frontal lobe. It seems that the frontal lobe is involved in recognising things as funny. The left side of the frontal lobe analyses the words and structure of jokes while the right side does the intellectual analyses required to "get" jokes. Finally, activity spreads to the motor areas of the brain controlling the physical task of laughing. We also know about these complex pathways involved in laughter from neurological illness and injury. Sometimes after brain damage, tumours, stroke or brain disorders such as Parkinson"s disease, people get "stonefaced syndrome" and can"t laugh. 45. I laugh a lot when I watch amateur videos of children, because they"re so natural. I"m sure they"re not forcing anything funny to happen. I don"t particularly laugh hard at jokes, but rather at situations. I also love old comedy movies such as Laurel and Hardy and an extremely ticklish. After starting to study laughter in depth, I began to laugh and smile more in social situations, those involving either closeness or hostility. Laughter really creates a bridge between people, disarms them, and facilitates amicable behaviour.

In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list (A、B、C、D、E、F、G……) to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are several extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. (10 points) A significant portion of industry and transportation burns fossil fuels, such as gasoline. When these fuels burn, chemicals and particulate matter are released into the atmosphere. Although a vast number of substances contribute to air pollution, the most common air pollutants contain carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen. (41)______. Acid rain forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide transform into sulfuric acid and nitric acid in the atmosphere and come back to Earth in precipitation. Acid rain has made numerous lakes so acidic that they no longer support fish populations. (42)______. Estimates suggest that nearly 1.5 billion people worldwide lack safe drinking water and that at least 5 million deaths per year can be attributed to waterborne diseases. Water pollution may come from point sources or nonpoint sources. Point sources discharge pollutants from specific locations, such as factories, sewage treatment plants, and oil tankers. The technology exists to monitor and regulate point sources of pollution, although in some areas this occurs only sporadically. Pollution from nonpoint sources occurs when rainfall or snowmelt moves over and through the ground. (43)______. With almost 80 percent of the planet covered by oceans, people have long acted as if those bodies of water could serve as a limitless dumping ground for wastes. However, raw sewage, garbage, and oil spills have begun to overwhelm the diluting capabilities of the oceans, and most coastal waters are now polluted, threatening marine wildlife. (44)______. Water that collects beneath the ground is called groundwater. Worldwide, groundwater is 40 times more abundant than fresh water in streams and lakes. In the United States, approximately half the drinking water comes from groundwater. Although groundwater is a renewable resource, reserves replenish relatively slowly. Presently, groundwater in the United States is withdrawn approximately 4 times faster than it is naturally replaced. (45)______.A. Beaches around the world close regularly, often because the surrounding waters contain high levels of bacteria from sewage disposal.B. These chemicals interact with one another and with ultraviolet radiation in sunlight in dangerous ways. Smog, usually found in urban areas with large numbers of automobiles, forms when nitrogen oxides react with hydrocarbons in the air to produce aldehydes and ketones. Smog can cause serious health problems.C. Acid rain is also responsible for the decline of many forest ecosystems worldwide, including Germany"s Black Forest and forests throughout the eastern United States.D. In addition to groundwater depletion, scientists worry about groundwater contamination, which arises from leaking underground storage tanks, poorly designed industrial waste ponds, and seepage from the deep-well injection of hazardous wastes into underground geologic formations.E. The Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground reservoir stretching under eight states of the Great Plains, is drawn down at rates exceeding 100 times the replacement rate. Agricultural practices depending on this source of water need to change within a generation in order to save this groundwater source.F. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away pollutants, such as pesticides and fertilizers, depositing the pollutants into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even underground sources of drinking water. Pollution arising from nonpoint sources accounts for a majority of the contaminants in streams and lakes.G. By some estimates, on average, 25 percent of usable groundwater is contaminated, and in some areas as much as 75 percent is contaminated.

TheComposingoftheDailyEnergyUsageinaVillageA.Studythechartcarefullyandwriteanessayof160-200words.B.Youressayshouldcoverthesethreepoints:1)thecomposingoftheenergyusageinthisvillage2)possiblereasons3)yoursuggestions

Space is a dangerous place, not only because of meteors(流星) but also (1)_____ rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again (2)_____ as our protective blanket on earth. Lightgets through, and this is essential for plants to (3)_____ the food which we eat. Heat, too, makes our environment endurable. Various kinds of rays come through the air (4)_____ outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation from the sun are (5)_____ off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are (6)_____ to this radiation, but their space suits or the walls of their spacecraft, if they are inside, (7)_____ prevent a lot of radiation damage. (8)_____ is the greatest known danger to explorers in space. The unit of radiation is called "rem". Scientists have (9)_____ to think that a man can (10)_____ far more radiation than 0.@1 ram without being damaged: the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to make (11)_____ about radiation damage—a person may feel perfectly well, (12)_____ the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged, and this will (13)_____ be discovered until the birth of deformed children or even grandchildren. Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high radiation and during the outward and return journeys, the Apollo crew (14)_____ a large amount of rems. So far; no (15)_____ amounts of radiation have been reported, but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are. going to (16)_____ when they spend weeks and months outside the (17)_____ of the atmosphere, (18)_____ in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to (19)_____ the damage done by radiation, but no really (20)_____ ones have been found so far.

A chemical plant should be responsible for the water pollution in a nearby river. Write a letter to the City Environment Protection Agency to 注：投诉信是应用文命题的重点之一。 1) state the present situation, 2) suggest ways to deal with the problem and 3) express your sincere hope. You should write about 100 words. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use "Li Ming" instead. Do not need to write the address.

Teachers need to be aware of the emotional, intellectual, and physical changes that young adults experience. And they also need to give serious【C1】______to how they can best【C2】______such changes. Growing bodies need movement and【C3】______, but not just in ways that emphasize competition.【C4】______they are adjusting to their new bodies and a whole host of new intellectual and emotional challenges, teenagers are especially self-conscious and need the【C5】______that comes from achieving success and knowing that their accomplishments are【C6】______by others. However, the typical teenage lifestyle is already filled with so much competition that it would be【C7】______to plan activities in which there are more winners than losers, 【C8】______, publishing newsletters with many student-written book reviews,【C9】______student artwork, and sponsoring book discussion clubs. A variety of small clubs can provide【C10】______opportunities for leadership, as well as for practice in successful【C11】______dynamics. Making friends is extremely important to teenagers, and many shy students need the【C12】______of some kind of organization with a supportive adult 【C13】______visible in the background. In these activities, it is important to remember that the young teens have【C14】______attention spans. A variety of activities should be organized【C15】______participants can remain active as long as they want and then go on to【C16】______else without feeling guilty and without letting the other participants【C17】______. This does not mean that adults must accept irresponsibility.【C18】______, they can help students acquire a sense of commitment by 【C19】______for roles that are within their【C20】______and their attention spans and by having clearly stated rules.

Man is bom free but is everywhere in debt. In the rich world, getting hold of your first credit card is a rite of passage far more important for your daily life than casting your first vote. Buying your first home normally requires taking on a debt several times the size of your annual income. And even if you shun the temptation of borrowing to indulge yourself, you are still saddled with yourportion of the national debt. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s a rise in debt levels accompanied the "great moderation", when growth was steady and unemployment and inflation remained low. No longer did Western banks have to raise rates to halt consumer booms. By the early 2000s a vast international scheme of vendor financing had been created. Those who cautioned against rising debt levels were dismissed as doom-mongers; after all, asset prices were rising even faster, so balance-sheets looked healthy. And with the economy advancing, debtors could afford to meet their interest payments. In short, it paid to borrow and it paid to lend. Like alcohol, a debt boom tends to induce euphoria. Traders and investors saw the asset-price rises as proof of their brilliance; central banks and governments thought that rising markets and higher tax revenues attested to the soundness of their policies. The answer to all problems seemed to be more debt. Depressed? Use your credit card for a shopping spree "because you"re worth it". Want to get rich quick? Work for a private-equity or hedge-fund firm, using borrowed money to enhance returns. Looking for faster growth for your company? Borrow money and make an acquisition. And if the economy is in recession, let the government go into deficit to bolster spending. Debt increased at every level, from consumers to companies to banks to whole countries. The effect varied from country to country, but a survey by the McKinsey Global Institute found that average total debt (private and public sector combined) in ten mature economies rose from 200% of GDP in 1995 to 300% in 2008. There were even more startling rises in Iceland and Ireland, where debt-to-GDP ratios reached 1,200% and 700% respectively. The burdens proved too much for those two countries, plunging them into financial crisis. Such turmoil is a sign that debt is not the instant solution it was made out to be. From early 2007 onwards there were signs that economies were reaching the limit of their ability to absorb more borrowing. The growth-boosting potential of debt seemed to peter out. According to Leigh Skene of Lombard Street Research, each additional dollar of debt was associated with less and less growth.

President Barack Obama claimed progress Wednesday in his second-term drive to combat climate change but said more must be done to address a generational problem. One year after unveiling an aggressive plan, Obama said new【C1】______limits on power plants, renewable energy projects and new【C2】______for green technology have cleared the way for further action in the U.S. and abroad, despite steadfast【C3】______from much of Congress. "When you take those first steps, even if they"re【C4】______, and even if there are politics sometimes, you start【C5】______momentum and you start mobilizing larger and larger communities," Obama said. Obama"s【C6】______served as a progress report for his climate plan, which the president【C7】______out last June. Twelve months later, much of the plan is in【C8】______, although the most ambitious steps are still up in the air and will take years to be【C9】______realized. Change won"t be instantaneous, Obama【C10】______. "There"s no silver bullet" Indeed, many of the steps he"s taking are【C11】______, limited in scope by hostility from both parties to putting a【C12】______on carbon pollution, which would require new laws from Congress. Still, Obama said he"s seeking to【C13】______the problem but cutting it up into smaller pieces. "We"re moving, and it"s making a【C14】______," he told a supportive crowd at the League of Conservation Voter"s annual dinner. The environmental group【C15】______Obama early in his 2008 campaign.【C16】______on the international front, momentum has been obscure.【C17】______global climate talks next year in Paris, there are fresh【C18】______that some countries are urging others to resist【C19】______moves to curb carbon. That could discourage even bigger polluters from【C20】______.

BSection III Writing/B

In the following text, some sentences have been removed. Choose the most suitable one from the list A—G to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. While Americans have become ever more dependent upon electricity in their daily lives, a crucial part of the system that supports their way of life has not kept up. Yes, the country has built more power plants-enough to create a glut of power in most parts of the country. (41)______. California"s disastrous partial energy deregulation and the role played by Enron and other energy marketing companies in its power crisis have impeded changes in the national ability to deliver power. (42)______. Moreover, the deficiency also includes inadequate coordination among the regions in managing the flow of electricity. These interregional weaknesses are so far the most plausible explanation for the blackout on Thursday. (43)______. The problem is with the system of rules, organization, and oversight that governs the transmission networks. It was set up for a very different era and is now caught in a difficult transition. The transmission networks were built to serve a utility system based on regulated monopolies. In the old days, there was no competition for customers. Today, the mission is to connect buyers and sellers seeking the best deal, irrespective of political boundaries and local jurisdictions. (44)______. Yet the power industry is probably not even halfway there in its shift from regulation to the marketplace. The California power crisis and the power-trading scandals sent regulators back to the drawing board, slowing the development of new institutions, rules and investment to make competitive markets work. (45)______.A. Over all, for more than a decade, the power industry has been struggling with how to move from the old regulation to the new marketplace. This shift was driven by the view that half a century of state regulation had produced power prices that were too high and too varied among states. Factories and jobs were migrating from states with high electric power prices to those with lower prices.B. But the transmission system is caught in the middle of the stalled deregulation of the American electric power industry.C. As a result, the development of the regional transmission organizations is erratic. More than one-third of the power transmitted is not under the control of regional transmission organizations. Some states fear that their cheap power would be sucked away to other markets; others do not want to subordinate state authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.D. It was unclear when the waters would recede, never mind when life would return to normal. Power may not be restored for weeks. Looting, too. Began to spiral out of control. Mr. Nagin, who said the city might be uninhabitable for three months, was forced to order police to concentrate on stopping crime, not saving people.E. What"s preventing greater connection and coordination between regions? The technology exists, and is available; the economic benefits of relieving the bottlenecks between regions far exceeds the costs by many billions of dollars.F. Yet, despite claims in the wake of last week"s blackout that the nation has a "third world" power grid, the regional networks are first world. But in one critical aspect, the system has become increasingly vulnerable: in the interconnections among the different regions. Both the number and size of the wires on the borders between regions are inadequate for the rising flow of electricity. This missing part creates the worst bottlenecks in the system.G. Since entering the overseas power market in 1993, KEPCO has established several achievements through its distinguished international business strategies to promote electric power development of the world. Based on its long experience and advanced technology gained over 100 years in Korea, KEPCO continues to build up its outstanding reputation as a leading utility company. Moreover, KEPCO embraces challenges and makes bold steps into wider markets in the world by its flair for dynamic activities, which is favorably received in the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Libya.

For the past 10, 000 years humans have influenced the plants they use at first unknowingly, later by design. Today's crops have been created by a process of selection and classical breeding. More specific improvements in breeding will be possible in future. Science has cracked the genetic information code. Green gene technology is an effective tool in crop breeding, enabling us to develop new crops even more rapidly and specifically.【F1】 We can make them more efficient, optimizing their contents and valuable substances to suit the wishes and requirements of customers and the processing industry. Their metabolism can be individually modified, making them produce starch, protein and fats with special properties. Through gene transfer plants can be made more resistant to viruses, bacteria, harmful fungi and insect pests. 【F2】 Genetically modified plants can be cultivated to possess improved stress behavior, with the result that they absorb water better in dry locations and can make more efficient use of soil nutrients. We can also optimize weed control. To do so, we make crops tolerant to environmentally sound and easily degradable herbicides. This is not as simple as it sounds. But we have been successful: Innovator has been on the Canadian market since 1995. This is the first oilseed rape variety to contain the glufosinate tolerance gene, facilitating the use of AgrEvo' s broad-spectrum herbicide liberty. We are committed to green gene technology, with which we aim to make crop breeding even more efficient and environmentally friendly.【F3】 Before being brought on to the market these genetically modified plants are researched and tested for years until the questions posed regarding their safety have been answered. 【F4】 This is a great opportunity for us to realize our vision: the use of faster methods to breed varieties which will continue to provide us with sufficient food and raw materials in future. Our fossil reserves will soon be exhausted. Experts estimate that we only have e-nough oil for another 43 years and natural gas for less than 60. 【F5】 This means we must rethink and act accordingly, using new crop varieties to step up the move to reusable sources of raw materials and energy. In other words, green gene technology is the key technology for sustainable agriculture.

After a shaky start, the Martian flotilla that has arrived over the past few weeks is getting down to business. Two of the five craft in it seem to be working perfectly. Two are lost, and a fifth is sick, but undergoing treatment. The most spectacular pictures so far have been provided by Mars Empress, the European Space Agency"s contribution to the fleet. On January 28th this reached its final working orbit (which takes it over both poles, and thus allows it to see the whole of Mars over the course of a few days as the planet revolves beneath it). It has, however, been sending back data since shortly after it arrived, and a few days ago its controllers released a series of beautiful photographs, including a stereo image of Valles Marineris, a huge canyon that may have been formed by flowing water. The most scientifically significant result, though, has come from Opportunity, America"s second Mars rover. One of Opportunity"s cameras has photographed evidence of stratification. in nearby rocks. Such stratification indicates that the rocks concerned are sedimentary. The layers could be repeated wind-blown deposits, or consist of ash from successive volcanic eruptions. But the terrestrial rocks they most resemble are ones that have formed under water. The reason everyone is getting so excited is because there is a widespread assumption that any form of tire which might dwell on Mars would need liquid water to live—or, even if it could now subsist by extracting moisture from ice, would have needed liquid water to evolve to that stage. Mars has seen more probes launched towards it than all of the other planets put together precisely because of this hope that it might harbor life. So there is a lot riding on the answer—not least the funding of future missions. Besides its scientific significance, the success of Opportunity has also helped to distract attention from the sudden refusal of Spirit, the first American rover to arrive on Mars, to talk to its controllers. This craft had tentatively, but successfully, nosed its way off its landing platform, and was about to drill its way into a nearby rock prior to doing a spot of chemical analysis, when it went silent. However, the engineers at NASA, America"s space agency, are nothing if not resourceful, and they have a good record of carrying out running repairs on spacecraft that are millions of kilometres away. In the case of Spirit, they think that one of the craft"s memory chips has got cluttered up with files created on the journey to Mars. That caused another chip, which manages the first, to throw a wobbly and to keep rebooting the computer. They are currently testing this idea by loading a diagnostic program on to the computer. In addition, as a precaution, they have deleted excess files from the equivalent memory chip on Opportunity. Spirit"s spirits may thus revive. As to the failures, the Japanese abandoned their fly-by craft Nozomi in December, and the British team in charge of Beagle 2, which is presumed to have landed on December 25th but from which no signal has been received, also seems to have called it quits. Still, a 40～60% success rate (depending on whether Spirit is brought back into commission) is not bad by the historical standards of missions to Mars. Now, the real science begins.

In the early industrialized countries of Europe,the process of industrialization with all the far reaching changes in social patterns that followed was spread over nearly a century, whereas nowadays a developing nation may undergo the same process in a decade or so.

[A]Thatworldisnotyetonoffer.Butasemblanceofitmightbeoneday.Senescence:,thegeneraldwindlingofprowessexperiencedbyallastimetakesitstoll,iscomingunderscrutinyfromdoctorsandbiologists.Suspendingitisnotyetonthecards.Butslowingitprobablyis.Averagelifespanshaverisenalotoverthepastcentury,butthatwasthankstobetterfood,housing,publichealthandsomemedicines.This,optimistsclaim,willextendlifeformanypeopletotoday'sceilingof120orso.Butitmaybejustthebeginning.Inthenextphasenotjustaveragelifespansbutmaximumlifespanswillrise.Ifabodypartwearsout,itwillberepairedorreplacedaltogether.DNAwillbeoptimisedforlonglife.Addinanti-ageingdrugs,andcentenarianswillbecometwoapenny.[B]Oneconcernisthatlonglifewillexacerbateexistingsocialandeconomicproblems.Themostchallengewillbeaccesstoanti-senescencetreatment.Iflongerlifeisexpensive,whogetsitfirst?Already,incomeisoneofthebestpredictorsoflifespan.Wideningthegapwithtreatmentsinaccessibletothepoormightdeependivisionsthatarealreadystrainingdemocracies.[C]Imagineasaworldinwhichgettingfittedwithanewheart,liverorsetofkidneys,allknownfromyourownbodycells,wasascommonplaceaskneeandhipreplacementsarenow.Oroneinwhichyoucelebratedyour94thbirthdaybyrunningamarathonwithyourschoolfriends.Imagine,inotherwords,aworldinwhichageinghadbeenabolished.[D]Longevityisknowntoruninfamilies,whichsuggeststhatparticularvarietiesofgenesprolonglife.Someareinvestigatingthis,withthethoughtthatmoderngene-editingtechniquesmightonedaybeusedtomakecrucial,life-extendingtweakstotheDNAofthosewhoneedthem.Fromanindividual'sviewpoint,thisallsoundsverydesirable.Fromsocietyasawhole,though,itwillhaveprofoundeffects.Mostofthemwillbegood,butnotall.[E]Suchspeculationisfun,andmostlyoptimistic.Thepromiseofalongerlife,welllived,wouldroundapersonout.Butthisvisionofthefuturedependsononething—thatalongexistenceisalsoahealthyone.HumanitymustavoidthetrapfallenintobyTithonus,amythicalTrojanwhowasgrantedeternallifebythegods,butforgottoaskalsoforeternalyouth.Eventually,hewitheredintoacicada.[F]Willolderworkersbediscriminatedagainst,asnow,orwillnumbersgivethemthewhiphandovertheyoung?Willbossesclingon,hamperingthecareersoftheirunderlings,orwilltheygrowbored,quitanddosomethingelseentirely?Andwouldallthoseoldpeopleceasetoconsiderthemselveselderly,retainingyouthfullyvigorousmentalattitudesaswellasphysicalones—orinsteadmakesocietymoreconservative(becauseoldpeopletendtobe)?[G]Tothisend,manyhopefulrepairmenarenowsettingupshop.Someofthemwanttoupgradeworn-outtissuesusingstemcells(precursorstoothersortsofcell).Suchbio-renovationisthebasisofanunproven,almostvampiric,treatmentinvogueinsomecircles:transfusionintotheoldofthebloodoftheyoung.Thebusinessofgrowingorgansfromscratchisalsoproceeding.Atthemoment,these"organoids"aresmall,imperfectandusedmainlyfordrugtesting.Butthatwillsurelychange.Order:

"The essential qualities of a true Pan-Americanism", remarked Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, "must be the same as those which constitute a good neighbour, namely mutual understanding and... a sympathetic appreciation of the other"s point of view." That is advice which the United States would do well to heed in its relations with its immediate neighbours, Canada and Mexico. Most Americans may not be aware of it, but frustrations and resentments are building just across their borders to both south and north. Of course, neighbourly ties in North America are closer than in Roosevelt"s day. Under the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA), trade among the three countries has more than doubled since 1994 and cross-border investment climbed even faster. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, the United States moved quickly to sign "smart border" agreements with both Canada and Mexico, to try to ensure that the demands of security did not interrupt trade. By the standards of much of the 20th century, political ties between the United States and Mexico are warm. Yet go to either border and you wouldn"t know all this. Fed up with the flow of illegal migrants from the south, the governors of Arizona and New Mexico this month declared a state of emergency. Violence between drug gangs recently led the United States temporarily to close its consulate in Nuevo Laredo, the busiest border-crossing point. The American ambassador bluntly criticises Mexico for its failure to prevent drug-related violence along the border. That has prompted retaliatory verbal blasts from Mexican officials. Canada"s mood is not much more cordial. Since September 11th, Canadians and Americans alike have become less keen on popping over what they liked to call "the world"s longest undefended border" for shopping or recreation. Canadians increasingly disagree with Americans over matters as varied as the Iraq war and gay marriage. They are disillusioned with NAFTA, claiming it has failed to prevent the United States from unlawfully punishing their exports of, for example, lumber. So what? Friction is in the nature of international relations, and the problems on the northern border are different from those in the south. Yet there is a common denominator. Americans tend to see security, migration, drugs, even trade, as domestic political issues. But so they are for Canada and Mexico too. Like it or not, Americans rely on their neighbours for prosperity, energy and help with security. It behooves all three countries to show some "sympathetic understanding".

Music comes in many forms; most countries have a style of their own. 【C1】______the turn of the century when jazz was born, America had no prominent【C2】______ of its own. No one knows exactly when jazz was【C3】______, or by whom. But it began to be 【C1】______ in the early 1900s. Jazz is Americas contribution to 【C5】______ music. In contrast to classical music, which 【C6】______ formal European traditions, jazz is spontaneous and free form. It bubbles with energy, 【C7】______the moods, interests, and emotions of the people. In the 1920s jazz【C8】______like America, and【C9】______ it does today. The【C10】______of this music are as interesting as the music 【C11】______ . American Negroes, or blacks, as they are called today, were the jazz【C12】______ . They were brought to Southern States 【C13】______slaves. They were sold to plantation owners and forced to work long 【C14】______. When a Negro died his friend and relatives 【C15】______ a procession to carry the body to the cemetery. In New Orleans, a band often accompanied the 【C16】______.On the way to the cemetery the band played slow, solemn music suited to the occasion. 【C17】______on the way home the mood changed. Spirits lifted. Death had removed one of their 【C18】______ , but the living were glad to be alive. The band played【C19】______music, improvising on both the harmony and the melody of the tunes【C20】______at the funeral. This music made everyone want to dance. It was an early form of jazz.

In a large, air-conditioned room in a conference center located in a city of more than a million people, well-qualified doctors of science discuss the pros and cons of global warming, and debate how the temperature of the sea is being measured. After several hours of discussion, they walk out into the warm sunshine of a summer"s day, heading off to a comfortable restaurant for lunch. On the same day, on the sands of small islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, baked hard by the burning sun, Hemi and Naqono look at the water lapping over the place where they once stored their potato plants. They watch the waves dashing gently at the feet of their straw huts which some years ago were many metres from the seashore. Global warming is a problem for theoretical discussion among scientists all over the world. For many Pacific Islanders it is now becoming a practical problem. While international science argues about global warming and climate change, low-lying Pacific Islands are already suffering coastal erosion and crop failures. In places such as Marshall Islands, where much of the land is only a metre above sea-level, villagers face leaving their slowly disappearing homes. Scientists and officials from 13 Pacific Island Countries discussed their concerns in a Pacific conference in Aukland, New Zealand, and examined a New Zealand computer model on climate change that could provide a valuable planning tool. Lack of meteorological and tidal research means Government agencies throughout the Pacific and the world have to rely largely on anecdotal of rising sea levels eroding foreshores, and increasingly severe droughts affecting the vital coconut crop. Australian research commissioned by the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme has already calculated that human greenhouse gas emissions already measured up to 1995 will cause a 5cm to 12cm sea-level rise by 2025. Pacific Island countries fear their vulnerable low-lying homes will be the first to pay the price for the emissions of industrialized nations. A Pacific Islands Climate Change Assistance Programme is already in place and is working on plans to help Pacific Islanders who have few resources to combat the fast-changing environmental circumstances. Yumi Crisostomo, of the Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority, said residents of some of the 1,225 islands in the group had reported alarming coastal erosion, forcing them to shift homes inland. Some islands were only about a kilometer across, so residents had little room to move. "We may have to look at the option of internal migration within the island group," he said.