单选题. Sports Star Yao Ming If Yao Ming is not the biggest sports star in the world, he is almost certainly the tallest. At 2.26m, he is the tallest player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and holds the record as the most towering Olympian ever to compete in the Games. But what really stands out about the giant center is his celebrity (名气). Few, if any, Chinese athletes are as well-known as Yao around the world. People across the globe are fascinated with Yao, not only for his basketball prowess (杰出的才能) but also for being a symbol of international commerce. When Yao joined the Houston Rockets as the No. 1 pick in the 2002 NBA draft (选拔), he was the first international player ever to be selected first. His assets on the court are clear enough—no NBA player of his size has ever possessed his mobility, so he is a handful (难对付的人) for opponents on either end of the court. But what makes Yao invaluable to the Rockets organization is his role as a global citizen and as a bridge to millions of potential basketball fans in China. When it was announced in February that Yao would miss the rest of the NBA season and possibly the Olympics with a stress fracture (骨折) in his left foot, a collective shudder (震动) spread across China. After considerable debate and discussion, Yao opted to get his foot surgically treated in an operation that placed several tiny screws across the bone, to offer his overburdened foot more support. The surgery was a success, and though the estimated four-month recovery period will leave him little time to prepare with Team China, Yao has vowed to be ready for the Beijing Olympics. Yao wrapped up a 10-day trip to China, where he underwent a series of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments, hoping to accelerate his recovery process. Western experts are generally skeptical of TCM's benefits, although new research from the University of Rochester suggests that a certain compound derived from shellfish may indeed stimulate bone repair. "There is no reason to dismiss TCM," Yao told a press conference in Beijing. "It's been used in our country for thousands of years. I don't think that it's short on science."1. The word "towering" in Paragraph 1 means ______.

单选题. Sleep Problems Plague the Older Set Older Americans often have difficulty getting a good night's rest. It's a huge quality-of-life problem, experts say, because contrary to popular belief, seniors require about the same amount of sleep as younger adults. "Sleep problems and sleep disorders are not an inherent (固有的) part of aging," said Dr. Harrison G. Bloom, an associate clinical professor of geriatrics (老年病学) and medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "It's pretty much of a myth that older people need less sleep than younger people." Yet in a study published recently in The American Journal of Medicine, researchers found that more than half of older Americans have problems getting the sleep they need. Older people tend to have "sleep fragmentation", meaning they wake up more often during the night, said study author Dr. Julie Gammck, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at St. Louis University. They also seem to get less "REM" sleep, the type of sleep during which rapid eye movement occurs, Bloom added. It's unclear what role these naturally occurring changes in sleep patterns have on a person's quality of life, Bloom said. "What is important, though, is that older people often have actual sleep disorders and problems with sleep," he said. And, experts say, there is usually more than one cause. "Sleep trouble in older adults is typically associated with acute and chronic illnesses, including specific sleep disorders like sleep apnea (呼吸暂停) and restless leg syndrome that appear with greater frequency in older populations," said Michael V. Vitiello, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and associate director of the University of Washington's Northwest Geriatric Education Center. Taking multiple medications, as many older people do, can also lead to fatigue and "hypersomnia", or being tired all the time, Bloom added. Another big problem, he noted, is depression and anxiety. "Those are very commonly associated with sleep problems." Despite the prevalence (流行) of sleep difficulties in older adults, many patients aren't getting the help they need. As a result, problems like insomnia (失眠), restless leg syndrome and sleep apnea are underdiagnosed and undertreated, Bloom said.1. Sleep problems can seriously affect one's quality of life.

单选题 Eat More, Weigh Less

单选题9. Only those who worked here for more than five years are eligible for the special payment.

单选题2. A research center has been set up in this country.

单选题11. She has been the subject of massive media coverage.

单选题6. Neither of them thought highly of him and they both tried to hamper him in his work.

单选题2. The council meeting terminated at 2 o'clock.

单选题. The Greatest of Victorian Engineers In the hundred years up to 1860, the work of a small group of construction engineers carried forward the enormous social and economic change that we associate with the Industrial Revolution in Britain. The most important of these engineers was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose work in shipping, bridge-building, and railway construction, to name just three fields, both challenged and motivated his colleagues. He was the driving force behind a number of the hugely ambitious projects, some of which resulted in works which are still in use today. The son of an engineer, Brunel apprenticed with his father at an early age on the building of the Thames Tunnel. At the age of just twenty, he became engineer in charge of the project. This impressive plan to bore under the Thames twice suffered two major disasters when the river broke through into the tunnel. When the second breach (决口) occurred in 1872, Brunel was seriously injured during rescue operation and further work was halted. While recovering from his injuries, Brunel entered a design competition for a new bridge over the Avon Gorge near Clifton. The original judge of the competition was Thomas Telford, a leading civil engineer of his day, who rejected all entries to the competition in favor of his own design. After considerable scandal, a second contest was held and Brunel's design was accepted. For reasons of funding, however, exacerbated (加剧) by social unrest in Bristol, the project was abandoned in 1843 with only the towers completed. After Brunel's death, it was decided to begin work on it again, partly so that the bridge could form a fitting memorial to the great engineer. The entire structure was finally completed in 1864. Today, the well-known Clifton Suspension Bridge is a symbol of Bristol, just as the Opera House is of Sydney. Originally intended only for horse-drawn traffic, the bridge now bears over four million motor vehicles a year.1. Brunel was an important airplane engineer in Britain during the Industrial Revolution.

单选题 Eleven states

单选题4. We are worried about this fluid situation full with uncertainty.

单选题. Technology Transfer in Germany When it comes to translating basic research into industrial success, few nations can match Germany. Since the 1940s, the nation's vast industrial base has been fed with a constant stream of new ideas and expertise from science. And though German prosperity (繁荣) has faltered (衰退) over the past decade because of the huge cost of unifying east and west as well as the global economic decline, it still has an enviable (令人羡慕的) record for turning ideas into profit. Much of the reason for that success is the Fraunhofer Society, a network of research institutes that exists solely to solve industrial problems and create sought after technologies? But today the Fraunhofer institutes have competition. Universities are taking an ever larger role in technology transfer, and technology parks are springing up all over. These efforts are being complemented by the federal programmes for pumping money into start-up companies. Such a strategy may sound like a recipe for economic success but it is not without its crities. These people worry that favouring applied research will mean neglecting basic science, eventually starving industry of flesh ideas. If every scientist starts thinking like an entrepreneur (企业家), the argument goes, then the traditional principles of university research being curiosity-driven: free and widely available will suffer. Others claim that many of the programmes to promote technology transfer are a waste of money because half the small businesses that are promoted are bound to go bankrupt within a few years. While this debate continues, new ideas flow at a steady rate from Germany's research networks, which bear famous names such as Helmholtz, Max Planck and Leibniz. Yet it is the fourth network, the Fraunhofer Society, that plays the greatest role in technology transfer. Founded in 1949, the Fraunhofer Society is now Europe's largest organisation for applied technology, and has 59 institutes employing 12,000 people. It continues to grow. Last year, it swallowed up the Heinrich Hertz Institute for Communication Technology in Berlin. Today, there are even Fraunhofers in the US and Asia.1. What factor can be attributed to German prosperity?

单选题10. We had only a vague description of the attacker.

单选题. Renewable Energy Sources Today petroleum provides around 40% of the world's energy needs, mostly fuelling automobiles. Coal is still used, mostly in power stations, to cover one-quarter of our energy needs, but it is the least efficient, unhealthiest and most environmentally damaging fossil fuel. Natural gas reserves could plug (填补) some of the gap from oil, but reserves of that will not last into the 22nd century either. Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years. We could fast reach an energy crisis. We need to rapidly develop sustainable solutions to fuel our future. Less-polluting renewable energy sources offer a more practical long-term energy solution. They may benefit the world's poor too. "Renewable" refers to the fact that these resources are not used faster than they can be replaced. The Chinese and Romans used watermills over 2,000 years ago. But the first hydroelectric dam was built in England in 1870. Hydroelectric power is now the most common form of renewable energy, supplying around 20% of world electricity. China's Three Gorges Dam, which has just been completed, is the largest ever. At five times the size of the US's Hoover Dam, its 26 turbines (涡轮机) will generate the equivalent energy of 18 coal-fired power stations. It will satisfy 3% of China's entire electricity demand. In 2003, the first commercial power station to harness tidal currents in the open sea opened in Norway. It is designed like windmill, but others take the form of turbines. As prices fall, wind power has become the fastest growing type of electricity generation—quadrupling worldwide between 1999 and 2005. Modem wind farms consist of turbines that generate electricity. Though it will be more expensive, there is more than enough wind to provide the world's entire energy needs. Wind farms come in onshore and offshore forms. They can often end up at spots of natural beauty, and are often unpopular with residents. And turbines are not totally benign—they can interfere with radar and leave a significant ecological footprint, altering climate and killing sea birds. Migrating birds may have more luck avoiding them. Scotland is building Europe's largest wind farm, which will power 200,000 homes. The UK's goal is to generate one-fifth of power from renewable sources, mainly wind, by 2020. But this may cause problems, because wind is unreliable.1. What are the energy resources that are not renewable according to the article?

单选题6. The index is the government's chief gauge of future economic activity.

单选题2. The index is the government's chief gauge of future economic activity.

单选题8. A small number of firms have stopped trading.

单选题4. She likes to visit exotic islands.

完形填空. More about Alzheimer's Disease Scientists have developed skin tests that may be used in the future to identify people with Alzheimer's disease and may ultimately allow physicians to predict 1 is at risk of getting this neurological disorder. The only current means of 2 the disease in a living patient is a long and expensive series of tests that eliminate every other cause of dementia (痴呆). "Since Alois Alzheimer described the 3 nearly a century ago, people have been trying to find a way to 4 diagnose it in its early stages," said Patricia Grady, acting director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in Bethesda, Maryland. "This discovery, if 5 , could prove a big step forward in our efforts to deal with and understand the disease." Alzheimer's is the single greatest 6 of mental deterioration (退化) in older people, affecting between 2.5 million and 4 million people in the United States 7 . The devastating disorder gradually destroys memory and the ability to function, and eventually causes death. There is currently no known 8 for the disease. Researches 9 that the skin cells of Alzheimer's patients have defects that interfere with their ability to regulate the flow of potassium (钾) in and out of the cells. The fact that the cell defects are present in the skin suggests that Alzheimer's 10 from physiological changes throughout the body, and that dementia may be the first noticeable effect of these changes as the defects 11 the cells in the brain, scientists said. The flow of potassium is especially 12 in cells responsible for memory formation. The scientists also found two other defects that affect the cells' supply of calcium (钙), another critical element. One test developed by researches calls 13 growing skin cells in a laboratory culture and then testing them with an electrical detector to determine if the microscopic tunnels that 14 the flow of potassium are open. Open potassium channels create a unique electrical signature. A spokesman for the Alzheimer's Association said that if the validity of the diagnostic test can be proven it would be an important 15 , but cautioned that other promising tests for Alzheimer's have been disappointing.1.

完形填空. The Greatest Mystery of Whales The whale is a warm-blooded, air-breathing animal, giving birth to its young alive, sucking them—and, like all mammals, originated on land. There are many 1 of this. Its front flippers (鳍状肢), used for steering and stability, are traces of feet. Immense strength is 2 into the great body of the big whales, and in fact most of a whale's body is one gigantic muscle. The blue whale's pulling strength has been estimated 3 400 horsepower. One specimen was reported to have towed (拖) a whaling vessel for seven hours at the 4 of eight knot (节). An angry whale will 5 . A famous example of this was the fate of Whaler Essex, 6 was sunk off the coast of South America early in the last century. More recently, steel ships have 7 their plates buckled (使弯曲) in the same way. Sperm whales (抹香鲸) were known to seize the old-time whaleboats in their jaws and crush them. The greatest 8 of whales is their diving ability. The sperm whale dives to the bottom for his 9 food, the octopus (章鱼). In that search he is known to go as far down as 3,200 feet, where the 10 is 1,400 pounds to a square inch. Doing so he will 11 underwater as long as one hour. Two special skills are involved in this storing up enough 12 (all whales are air-breathed)and tolerating the great change in pressure. Just how he does it scientists have not 13 . It is believed that some of the oxygen is stored in a special 14 of blood vessels, rather than just held in the lungs. And it is believed that a special kind of oil in his head is some sort of a compensating mechanism that 15 adjusts the internal pressure of his body. But since you can't bring a live whale into the laboratory for study, no one knows just how these things work.1.