阅读理解Modern Drugs Doctors, sixty years ago, could do little to help victims of polio. Serious cases usually ended in death. In 1955, a vaccine was developed that prevented the disease. Today, polio is no longer a major health problem. Many of the most important drugs that doctors prescribe today have been developed in the last 30 years. Modern drugs are complex, specific and powerful. People need to know more about drugs in order to use them safely. Early people discovered by accident that some of the plants growing around them seemed useful to heal sores, relieve pain, or even cure diseases. These plants were the first drugs. Now plants are still the source of some drugs. Quinine, for example, is a bitter-tasting drug used to treat the chills and fever of malaria and to reduce attacks of the disease. It is made from the bark of the cinchona tree, which grows in the Andes Mountains. The Indians of that region were the first to use the bark as a medicine. The Spanish people probably brought it to Europe in the early 1600s. Chemists learned how to get the pure drug from the bark and in 1944; it was made artificially in the laboratory. Other important drugs, such as hormones and vaccines, are obtained from animals. But most of the modern drugs come from chemical combinations worked out by research scientists. Most people never see drugs in their simple form as chemicals. Instead, they are seen as tablets, capsules or liquids that contain the drug and other ingredients. People use drugs to get different results. Some drugs attack the organism that causes a disease. They cure by killing the organism. Other drugs relieve what we call the symptoms of the disease: the headache, pain, fever or chills, and make the patient more comfortable. These constitute most over-the-counter drugs. People can get them in drug stores.

阅读理解 A. There have been many attempts to redesign the periodic table since Dmitri Mendeleev drew it up in 1871． B. Railsback has still ordered the elements according to the number of protons they have． C. “I imagine this would be good for undergraduates．” D. Railsback has listed some elements more than once． E. And the size of element’s symbol reflects how much of it is found in the Earth’s crust． F. The traditional periodic table was well drawn．

阅读理解Memory Class Stan Field knows what age can do to a person''s memory, and he''s not taking any chances with his. He chooses his food carefully and gets plenty of exercise. He also avoids stress, coca cola and cigarette smoke. What''s more, at breakfast each morning, the 69-year-old chemical engineer swallows a plateful of pills in the hope of boosting his brain power. Michelle Amove is less than half Field''s age, but no less concerned about her memory. While working round the clock to finish a degree in film studies, the 33-year-old New Yorker had the alarming sensation that she had stopped retaining anything. "I couldn''t even remember names," she says. "I thought, Oh, no, I''m over 30. It''s all downhill from here. " Besides loading up on supplements, Amove signed up for a memory enhancing course at New York''s Mount Siani Medical Center. And when she got there, she found herself surrounded by people who were just as worried as she was. For millions of Americans, and especially for baby boomers (生育高峰出生的人) , the demands of the Information Age conflict with a sense of declining physical power. "When boomers were in their 30s and 40s, they launched the fitness boom," says Cynthia Green, the psychologist who teaches Mount Sinai''s memory class. "Now we have the mental-fitness boom Memory is the boomers'' new life-crisis issue." And of course a major marketing opportunity. The demand for books and seminars has never been greater, says Jack Lannom, a longtime memory trainer whose weekly TV show, " Mind Unlimited," goes out to 33 million homes on the Christian Network. Anxious consumers are rushing to buy do-it-yourself programs and supplement makers are trying to sell everything but sawdust (木屑) as a brain booster. But before you get out your checkbook, a few questions are in order. Does everyday forgetfulness signal declining brain function? Is "megamemory" (超级记忆) a realistic goal for normal people? And if you could have a perfect memory, would you really want it? Until recently, no one could address those issues with much authority, but our knowledge of memory is exploding. New techniques are revealing how different parts of the brain interact to preserve meaningful experiences. Biologists are trying to understand the underlying (潜在的) chemical processes and neuroscientists (神经系统科学家) are discovering how age, stress and other factors can disrupt them. No one is close to finding the secret to perfect recall, but as you''ll see, that may be just as well.

单选题He seems bizarre these days. A. unusual B. absent-minded C. crazy D. lunatic

单选题The traditional paintings are exhibited on the second floor. A. laid B. displayed C. kept D. stored

单选题The most crucial problem any economic system faces is how to use its scarce resources.

单选题The ability to react to environmental stimuli is a basic and general characteristic of living organisms.

单选题She always finds fault with everything.A. simplifiesB. evaluatesC. criticizesD. examines

单选题{{B}}第二篇{{/B}} Oceanography Oceanography has been defined as "the application of all sciences to the study of the sea. " Before the nineteenth century, scientists with an interest in the sea were few. Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings, but he was reluctant to go to sea to farther his work. For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental (大陆间的 ) travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, let alone to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that the question-" what is at the bottom of the oceans?" had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile(起伏形状)of the route to estimate the length of cable that had to be manufactured. It was to Maury of the LIS Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in 1853, for information on this matter. In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings(测水深) were taken to investigate the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Later, some of his findings aroused much. popular interest in his book "The Physical Geography of the Sea". The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent and reliable. At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairing it was found to be covered with living creatures, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper parts of the sea. Within a few years oceanography was under way. In 1872, Thomson led a scientific expedition (考察), which lasted for four years and brought home thousands of samples from the sea. Their classification and analysis occupied scientists for years and led to a five-volume report, the last volume being published in 1895.

单选题There was something {{U}}peculiar{{/U}} in the way he smiles. A. different B. strange C. wrong D. funny

单选题Charlie Chaplin Charlie Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in London. His father was an entertainer and although not one of the big names, he was doing very well. His mother Hannah was also an entertainer. While they were by no means rich, the music hall provided the Chaplins with a comfortable living. Unfortunately happy life didn't last long. Father's alcoholism was slowly, but surely destroying his marriage. Finally it ended in divorce. But Hannah was indomitable (不屈不挠的). Without her, Charlie Chaplin would have become just one more child lost in the poverty of Victorian London. Somehow she not only managed to keep Charlie and his brother Sydney clean and warm, clothed and fed, but she conjured (变戏法)little treats for them. She would sit at the window watching the passers-by and guess at their characters from the way they looked and behaved, spinning tales to delight Charlie and Syney. Charlie took in her skills and went on using them all his life. Charlie had always believed, even in the worst time, that he had some special potential inside him. He took his courage and went to see one of the top theatrical agents. With no experience at all,he was being offered the part of Billy, the pageboy (小听差) in a new production of "Sherlock Holmes". "Sherlock Holmes" opened on July 27, 1903 at the enormous "Pavilion Theatre". Charlie seemed to change overnight. It was as if he had found the thing he was meant to do. In 1910, when Kamo set off on its yearly American tour, Charlie was regarded as "one of the best pantomime (哑剧)artists ever seen here. " They had reached Philadelphia when a telegram arrived and he was being offered the chance to replace a star in the Keystone film company. Cinema was born in the same year as Charlie, though people still believed it was a passing fad (一时的狂热，时尚), and would never replace live shows. He was kept hanging about for several weeks and he used the time to watch and learn. He was determined to master this new medium. It offered him the chance of money and success and it would set him free from the unpredictability of live audience. Charlie's first film, released in February 1914, was called "Making a living". Though it didn't satisfy Charlie, the public liked it. After that he made ten films and he learned a lot. The public loved him and distributors were demanding more and more Chaplin films. In an incredibly short time, Charlie had become a very important man in motion picture.

单选题Do you fancy going to the {{U}}Public House{{/U}}?

单选题Can You Hear This? When something creates a sound wave in a room or an auditorium (礼堂) , listeners hear the sound wave directly from the source. They also hear the reflections as the sound bounces off the walls, floor, and ceiling. These are called the reflected wave or reverberant (反射的) sound, which can be heard even after the sound is no longer coming from the source. The reverberation time of an auditorium is determined by the volume or interior size of the auditorium. It is also determined by how well or how poorly the walls, ceiling, floor, and contents of the room (including the people) absorb sound. There is no ideal reverberation time, because each use of an auditorium calls for different reverberation. Speech needs to be understood clearly; therefore rooms used for talking must have a short reverberation time. The full-sound performance of music such as Wagner operas or Mahler symphonies should have a long reverberation time. The light, rapid musical passages of Bach or Mozart need a reverberation time somewhere between. Acoustic problems often are caused by poor auditorium design. Smooth, curved (弯曲的) reflecting surfaces create large reflections. Parallel (平行的) walls reflect sound back and forth, creating a rapid, repetitive pulsing (有节奏的跳动) effect. Large pillars (柱) and comers can cause acoustic shadows as the sound waves try to pass around the object. Some of these problems can be solved by using absorbers and reflectors to change the reverberation time of a room. For example, hanging large reflections, called clouds, over the performers will allow some sound frequencies to reflect and others to pass to achieve a pleasing mixture of sound.

单选题Jack was dismissed .

单选题Black Holes Most scientists agree that black holes exist but are nearly impossible to locate. A black hole in the universe is not a solid object, like a planet, but it is shaped like a sphere (球体). Astronomers (天文学家) think that at the center of a black hole there is a single point in space with infinite(无限的)density(稠密), This single point is called a singularity (奇点). If the singularity theory is correct, it means that when a massive star collapses, all the material in it disappears into the singularity. The center of a black hole would not really be a hole at all, but an infinitely dense point. Anything that crosses the black hole is pulled in by its great gravity. Although black holes do exist, they are difficult to observe. These are the reasons. · No light or anything else comes out of black holes. As a result, they are invisible to a telescope. · In astronomical terms, black holes are truly. For example, a black hole formed by the collapse of a giant star would have an event horizon(视界) only 18 miles across. · The nearest black holes would be dozens of light years away from Earth. One light year is about 6 trillion (万亿) miles. Even the most powerful telescopes could not pick out an object so small at such a great distance. In 1994 the Hubble Space Telescope provided evidence that black holes exist. There are still answers to be found, however, so black holes remain one of the mysteries of the universe.

单选题3 The boy is intelligent. A．clever B．naughty C．difficult D．active

单选题We were all there when the accident occurred.A. happenedB. brokeC. spreadD. appeared

单选题 下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} {{B}} The Clock That Wakes You When You Are Ready{{/B}} Are you a real grump (脾气坏的人) in the mornings? Do you wake up every day feeling tired, angry and upset, and all too ready to hit the snooze (瞌睡) button? If so, then a new alarm clock could be just for you. The clock, called SleepSmart, measures your sleep cycle, and waits for you to be in your lightest phase of sleep before waking you up. Its makers say that should ensure you wake up feeling refreshed (恢复精力) every morning. As you sleep you pass through a sequence of sleep states - light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep (快速眼动睡眠) - that repeats approximately every 90 minutes. The points in that cycle at which you wake can affect how you feel later, and may even have a greater impact than how long or little you have slept. Being wakened during a light phase means you are more likely to wake up cheerful and full of life and interest. SleepSmart records the distinct pattern of brain waves produced during each phase of sleep, via a headband equipped with electrodes (电极) and a microprocessor. This measures electric activity of the wearer's brain, and communicates wirelessly with a clock unit near the bed. You program the clock with the latest time at which you want to be wakened, and it then at the proper time wakes. you during the last light sleep phase before that. The concept was invented by a group of students at Brown University in Rhode Island after a friend complained of waking up tired and performing poorly on a test. "As sleep-deprived (剥夺) people ourselves, we started thinking of what to do about it," says Eric Shashoua, a recent college graduate and now chief executive officer of Axon Sleep Research Laboratories, a company created by the students to develop their idea. They have almost finished a prototype and plan to market the product by next year.

单选题下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} {{B}}Disfigurement of Businessman{{/B}} In the relationship of education to business we observe today a fine state of paradox. On the one hand, the emphasis which most business places upon a college degree is so great that one can almost visualize the time when even the office boy will have his baccalaureate. On the other hand, we seem to preserve the belief that some deep intellectual chasm separates the businessman from other products of the university system. The notion that business people are quite the Philistines sounds absurd. For some reason, we tend to characterize vocations by stereotypes, none too flattering but nonetheless deeply imbedded in the national conscience. In the cast of characters the businessman comes on stage as a crass and uncouth person. It is not a pleasant conception and no more truthful or less unpleasant than our other stereotypes. Business is made up of people with all kinds of backgrounds, all kinds of motivations, and all kinds of tastes, just as in any other form of human endeavour. Businessmen are not ambulatory balance sheets and profit statements, but perfectly normal human beings, subject to whatever strengths, frailties, and limitations characterize man on the earth. They are people grouped together in organizations designed to complement the weakness of one with strength of another, tempering the exuberance of the young with the caution of the more mature, the poetic soarings of one mind with the counting house realism of another. Any disfigurement which society may suffer will come from man himself, not from the particular vocation to which he devotes his time. Any group of people necessarily represents an approach to a common denominator, and it is probably true that even individually they tend to conform somewhat to the general pattern. Many have pointed out the danger of engulfing our original thinkers in a tide of mediocrity. Conformity is not any more prevalent or any more exacting in the business field than it is in any other. It is a characteristic of all organizations of whatever nature. The fact is the large business unit provides greater opportunities for individuality and require less in the way of conformity than other institutions of comparable size—the government service, or the academic world, or certainly the military.

单选题Until recently, the industry has had little guidance in how to proceed with development without harming wildlife. Regulations are mostly imposed by states or local authorities, whose patchwork guidelines vary from stringent (严格的) to lax (不严格的, 松懈的). The wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee-established in 2007 under the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is proposing federal recommendations to reduce wind development's effect on wildlife. Composed of wind-industry members, wildlife officials, and federal authorities, the committee will present the recommendations to the secretary of the interior for review in October. The recommendations are voluntary, but according to David Stout of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the guidelines will be" unprecedented in terms of companies agreeing to hold themselves to a higher standard." Presently, most regulations on the wind industry are set up byA. the federal government.B. the Advisory Committee.C. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.D. states or local authorities.