阅读理解Natural Medicines Since earliest days, humans have used some kinds of medicines. We know this because humans have survived. Ancient treatments for injury and disease were successful enough to keep humans from dying out completely. They were successful long before the time of modern medicine. Before the time of doctors with white coats and shiny (发亮的) instruments. Before the time of big hospitals with strange and wonderful equipment. Many parts of the world still do not have university-educated doctors. Nor do they have expensive hospitals. Yet injuries are treated. And diseases are often cured. How? By ancient methods. By medicines that might seem mysterious, even magical (有魔力的). Traditional medicines are neither mysterious nor magical, however. Through the centuries, tribal (部落的) medicine men experimented with plants. They found many useful chemicals in the plants. And scientists believe many of these traditional medicines may provide the cure for some of today''s most serious diseases. Experts say almost 80% of the people in the world use plants for health care. These natural medicines are used not just because people have no other form of treatment. They are used because people trust them. In developed areas, few people think about the source of the medicines they buy in a store. Yet many widely-used medicines are from ancient sources, especially plants. Some experts say more than 25% of modern medicines come, in one way or another, from nature. Scientists have long known that nature is really a chemical factory. All living things contain chemicals that help them survive. So scientists’ interest in traditional medicine is not new. But it has become an urgent concern. This is because the earth''s supply of natural medicines may be dropping rapidly.

阅读理解Paris 1. Paris, the capital and the largest city of the country, is in north central France. The Paris metropolitan area contains nearly 20% of the nation "s population and is the economic, cultural, and political center of France. The French governments have historically favored the city as the site for all decision-making, thus, powerfully attracting nearly all of the nation''s activities. 2. Paris has grown steadily since it was chosen as the national capital in the late 10th century. With the introduction of the Industrial Revolution, a great number of people moved to the city from the country during the 19th century. The migration was especially stimulated by the construction of railroads, which provided easy access to the capital. After World War II more and more immigrants arrived. 3. The city is the centralized control point of most national radio and television broadcasting. It is a place of publication of the most prestigious newspapers and magazines and an international book publishing center. With more than 100 museums, Paris has truly been one of the greatest concentrations of art treasures in the world. The Louvre, opened as a museum in 1793, is one of the largest museums in the world. 4. In the late 1980s about 4.1 million pupils annually attended about 47,000 elementary schools. In addition, about 5.4 million students attended some 11,200 secondary schools. Approximately 1.2 million students were enrolled annually at universities and colleges in France in the late 1980s. French centers of learning have served as academic models throughout the world. 5. Paris is the leading industrial center of France, with about one quarter of the nation''s manufacturing concentrated in the metropolitan area. Industries of consumer goods have always been drawn to Paris by the enormous market of the big population, and modern high-technology industries also have become numerous since World War II. Chief manufactures are machinery, automobiles, chemicals and electrical equipment. A. Industry in Paris B. Culture C. Education D. Status E. Population Growth F. Economy

阅读理解In 2004, most of the unemployed in the US were women.

阅读理解Ice Cream For Dogs 1. Humans not only love eating ice cream, they enjoy feeding it to their pets(宠物). Market studies show that two-thirds of all dog owners give ice cream to their dogs. Unfortunately, says William Tyznik, an expert on animal nutrition(营养)at Ohio State University, ice cream is not good for dogs. "It has milk sugar in it," he says," which dogs cannot digest very well. " 2. Bothered by that knowledge but aware of the desire of dog owners to please their companions, Tyznik invented a new frozen treat for dogs that, he says, is more nutritious than ice cream—and as much fun to eat. The product, called Frosty Paws, is made of a liquid by-product (副产品) of cheese and milk with the sugar removed. Frosty Paws also contains refined soy flour, water, vegetable oil, vitamins and minerals. It took Tyznik, who has also invented a horse feed (called Tizwhiz)and another dog food (named Tizbits), three years to perfect the Frosty Paws formulas, and two attempts to commercialize it. After losing B 25, 000 trying to market the invention himself, Tyznik sold the rights to Associated Ice Cream of Westervile, Ohio, which makes the product and packages it in cups. 3. Tyznik claims that Frosty Paws has been tested extensively and that "dogs love it". Of 1,400 dogs that have been offered the product, he says, 89 percent took it on the first try. Three out of four preferred it to Milk-Bone or sausages. The product, which will be available in the ice-cream section of supermarkets, comes in packs of three or four cups, costing between 6 1. 79. 4. What would happen if a human should mistake Frosty Paws for real ice cream? Nothing, says Tyznik. Its harmless, but frankly, he says, it wont taste very good. A. The price of Frosty Paws B. No harm to human C. The creation of a new kind of ice cream for dogs D. Harm to human E. Feeding ice-creams to dogs F. Attraction to dogs

阅读理解Premature Smoking: A Serious Problem The third report on smoking and health from the Royal College of Physicians, which was published this month, contains important new sections on the smoking habits of children and the possible effect, on their future health. These include a twenty fold in the increase in the risk of lung cancer in heavy smokers and an increase of about three and a half times in the risk of dying from coronary(冠状的) heart disease; chronic(慢性的) oronchitis (支气管炎) and emphysema(肺气肿) are also much commoner. Teachers play an important part in determining the attitude of children to smoking, whether or not the children start to smoke, and in providing knowledge about the consequences of smoking. Whenever I see children of school age openly smoking in public, I wonder whether they really understand what they are doing. Probably most do not. I at least know that my clinical practice in lung disease will not be short of patients for the rest of my working life. About 34 percent of boys aged 15 smoke, and two thirds of this number of girls. Over the past ten years there has been a small but welcome reduction in the number of boys who smoke at this age, but an increase in the number of girls. One large study has shown that of those children who smoke more than one cigarette, as many as 85 percent become habitual (习惯的) smokers. This is partly because nicotine is one of the most dependent—producing drugs known, on a par with heroin and other hard drugs in this respect. One in three smokers start before the age of nine, some even as young as five. The causes of premature death which one-third of smokers will suffer, and of the prolonged illnesses which affect so many of them, are described in the report; its enough to say that the younger a child starts to smoke the greater are his chances of dying early. It has been shown that children who smoke have certain characteristics. Compared with nonsmokers they are more rebellious(反抗的), their work deteriorates(使变坏) as they move up school, they are more likely to leave school early, and are more often delinquent(违法的) and sexually(性的) precocious(早熟). Many of these features can be summarized as anticipation of adulthood. There are a number of factors which determine the onset(开始) of smoking, and these are largely psychological and social. They include availability of cigarettes, curiosity, rebelliousness, appearing tough, anticipation of adulthood, social confidence, example of parents and teachers, and smoking by friends and older brothers and sisters. It should be much easier to prevent children from starting to smoke than to persuades adults to give up the habit once established, but in fact, this has proved very difficult. The example set by people in authority, especially parents, health care workers, and teachers, is of prime importance. School rules should forbid smoking by children on the premises (场所). This rule has even been introduced at Summerhill School where I spent my school days. There is, however, a risk of children smoking just to rebel against the rules, and even in those schools which have tried to enforce no smoking by corporeal (肉体的) punishment there is much smoking as in other schools, Nevertheless, banning smoking is probably on balance beneficial. Teachers too should not smoke on school premises, at least not in front of children.

阅读理解Defective Genes and Human Health Each of us carries about half a dozen defective(有缺点的) genes. We remain blissfully(快乐地) unaware of this fact unless we, or one of our close relatives, are amongst the many millions who suffer from a genetic disease. About one in ten people has, or will develop at some later stage, an inherited(遗传的)genetic disorder, and approximately 2,800 specific conditions are known to be caused by defects (mutations) in just one of the patient''s genes. Some single gene disorders are quite common-—cystic(胞状的) fibrosis (纤维化) is found in one out of every 2,500 babies born in the Western World—and in total, diseases that can be traced to single gene defects account for about 5% of all admissions to children''s hospitals. Most of us do not suffer any harmful effects from our defective genes because we carry two copies of nearly all genes, one derived from our mother and the other from our father. The only exceptions to this rule are the genes found on the male sex chromosomes (染色体) Males have one X and one Y chromosome, the former from the mother and the latter from the father, so each cell has only one copy of the genes on these chromosomes. In the majority of cases, one normal gene is sufficient to avoid all the symptoms of disease. If the potentially harmful gene is recessive(后退的), then its normal counterpart(配对的) will carry out all the tasks assigned to both. Only if we inherit from our parents two copies of the same recessive gene will a disease develop. On the other hand, if the gene is dominant(显性的), it alone can produce the disease, even if its counterpart is normal. Clearly only the children of a parent with the disease can be affected, and then average only half the children will be affected. Huntington''s chorea (舞蹈病) , a severe disease of the nervous system, which becomes apparent only in adulthood, is an example of a dominant genetic disease. Finally, there are the X chromosome-linked genetic diseases. As males have only one copy of the genes from this chromosome, there are no others available to fulfill the defective gene''s function. Examples of such diseases are Duchenne muscular dystrophy(营养不良) and, perhaps most well known of all, hemophilia(血友病). Queen Victoria was a carrier of the defective gene responsible for hemophilia, and through her it was transmitted to the royal families of Russia, Spain, and Prussia. Minor cuts and bruises, which would do little harm to most people, can prove fatal to hemophiliacs, who lack the proteins(Factors VIII and IV) (凝血因子VIII和IV)involved in the clotting(血凝结)of blood, which are coded for by the defective genes. Sadly, before these proteins were made available through genetic engineering, hemophiliacs were treated with proteins isolated from human blood. Some of this blood was contaminated(污损) with the AIDS virus, and has resulted in tragic(悲惨的) consequences for many hemophiliacs. Use of genetically engineered proteins in the rapeutic applications, rather than blood products, will avoid these problems in the future. Not all defective genes necessarily produce detrimental(有害的)effects, since the environment in which the gene operates is also of importance. A classic example of a genetic disease having a beneficial effect on survival is illustrated by the relationship between sickle-cell,(镶形血球)anemia (贫血症) and malaria(疟病). Only individuals having two copies of the sickle-cell gene and one normal gene are unaffected and, more importantly, are able to resist infection(传染) by malarial parasites (寄生虫). The clear advantage, in this case, of having one defective gene explains why this gene is common in populations in those areas of the world where malaria is endemic(特有的).

阅读理解The Function of Tomatoes How do we love tomatoes? Let''s count the ways: we love them in pasta, on pizza, in juice, in salad and soup, sliced on sandwiches, stuffed with tuna, even dried and baked in bagels, but most of all, we love them right off vine—ripe, red, and delicious. While tomato lovers don''t need an excuse for eating them by the bushel (蒲式耳), now there''s even more reason to savor these delicious fruits. Evidence is mounting that people who eat tomatoes have a substantially lower risk for cancer. In a thousand-person study of eating habits and health, Harvard Medical School researchers found that those who ate tomatoes every week had the lowest chance of dying form cancer. Recently, a study of 48, 000 American men showed a 21 to 34 percent lower risk for prostate cancer(前列腺癌)among those who consumed tomatoes, tomato sauce, or pizza more than twice a week. And in study of men and women in Italy, eating seven or more serving of raw tomatoes a week was linked to a 30 to 60 percent reduction in digestive tract and prostate cancers, depending on the type of cancer. The protective qualities of the tomato are thought to come from lycopene(番茄红素) ,a potent antioxidant(抗氧化的) plant chemical that is abundant in tomatoes. Lycopene is responsible for the red color of tomatoes; the darker red the tomato is, the more lycopene it contains. Green and yellow tomatoes do not contain lycopene. Lycopoene is also found in watermelon and pink grapefruit, but tomatoes are the most abundant source. Cooking enhances the lycopene more available. Thus, tomato sauce and paste is even a better source for lycopene than fresh raw tomatoes. Lycopene is fat soluble and must be consumed with a certain amount of fat to be absorbed by the body. Tomato recipes must contain a moderate amount of oil to ensure that along with a delicious taste treat, you will also be receiving all the health benefits tomatoes have to offer.

阅读理解Americans Decrease Increasingly, historians are blaming diseases imported from the Old World for the staggering disparity(不同) between the indigenous (本土的) population of America in 1492—new estimates of which soar as high as 100 million, or approximately one-sixth of the human race at that time—and the few million full-blooded Native Americans alive at the end of the nineteenth century. There is no doubt that chronic disease was an important factor in the precipitous(险峻的) decline, and it is highly probable that the greatest killer was epidemic disease, especially as manifested in virgin-soil (处女地) epidemics. Virgin-soil epidemics are those in which the populations at risk have had no previous contact with the diseases that strike them and are therefore immunologically(免疫学的) almost defenseless. That virgin-soil epidemics were important in American history is strongly indicated by evidence that a number of dangerous maladies(病)—small pox, measles(麻疹) ,malaria(疟病), yellow fever, and undoubtedly several more— were unknown in the pre-Columbian New World. The effects of their sudden introduction are demonstrated in the early chronicles of America, which contain reports of horrendous (可怕的) epidemics and steep population declines, confirmed in many cases by recent equantitative analyses of Spanish tribute records and other sources. The evidence provided by the documents of British and French colonies is not as definitive because the conquerors of those areas did not establish permanent settlements and begin to keep continuous records until the seventieth century, by which time the worst epidemics had probably already taken place. Furthermore , the British tended to drive the native populations away, rather than enslaving them as the Spaniards did, so that the epidemics of British America occurred beyond the range of colonists direct observation. Even so, the surviving records of North America do contain references to deadly epidemics among the indigenous population. In 1616—1619 an epidemic, possibly of bubonic or pneumonic (肺的) plague (瘟疫), swept coastal New England, killing as many as nine out of ten. During the 1630''s small-pox, the disease most fatal to the Native American people, eliminated half the population of the Huron and Iroquois confederations. In the 1820''s fever devastated the people of the Coulumbia River area, killing eight out of ten of them. Unfortunately, the documentation of these and other epidemics is slight and frequently unreliable, and it is necessary to supplement what little we do know with evidence from recent epidemics among Native Americans. For example, in 1952 an outbreak of measles among the Native American inhabitants of Ungava Bay. Quebec, affected 99 percent of the population and killed 7 percent, even though some had the benefit of modern medicine. Cases such as this demonstrate that even diseases that are not normally fatal can have devastating consequences when they strike an immunologically defenseless community.

单选题Preserving Nature for Future Demands for stronger protection for wildlife in Britain sometimes hide the fact that similar needs are felt in the rest of Europe. Studies by the Council of Europe, of which 21 countries are members, have shown that 45 per cent of reptile (爬行动物) species and 24 per cent of butterflies (蝴蝶) are in danger of dying out. European concern for wildlife was outlined by Dr. Peter Baum, an expert in the environment and natural resources division of the council, when he spoke at a conference arranged by the administrators of a British national park. The park is one of the few areas in Europe to hold the council"s diploma (证书) for nature reserves (自然保护区) of me highest quality, and Dr. Baum had come to present it to the park once again. He was afraid that public opinion was turning against national parks, and that those set up in the 1960s and 1970s could not be set up today. But Dr. Baum clearly remained a strong supporter of the view that natural environments needed. To be allowed to survive in peace in their own right. "No area could be expected to survive both as a true nature reserve and as a tourist attraction." he went on. The short, sighted view that reserves had to serve immediate human demands for outdoor recreation (户外娱乐) should be replaced by full acceptance of their importance as places to preserve nature for the future. "We forget that they are the guarantee of life systems, on which any built-up area ultimately depends." Dr. Baum went on. "We could manage without most industrial products, but we could not manage without nature. However, our natural environment areas, which are the original parts of our countryside, have shrunk (缩小) to become mere islands in a spoiled and highly polluted landmass."

单选题It is no use debating the relative merits of this policy.

单选题The news will Uhorrify /U everyone.

单选题This original model was designed to interface easily with test and measurement instruments.A. interactB. provideC. connectD. work

单选题{{B}}第二篇{{/B}} {{B}} Supermarket{{/B}} Most supermarkets need a very large floor area, sometimes at least ten times as big as that of an ordinary shop. There are usually two doors, one as an entrance and the other as an exit. The rest of the side facing the street is largely of plate glass, with goods or advertising material displayed. The other three walls are normally decorated in light colours, giving an impression of cleanliness (清洁)and brightness. Most supermarkets are on one floor only. Goods being stored in rooms at the back or upstairs. At right-angles to the window stretch long structures about six feet high with a number of shelves on each side. Similar shelf units or frozen food containers extend round the walls. Broad aisles(通道)between the shelf units and ample(足够的)space between them and the window and also the far wall allow room for the circulation of many people. Individual commodities(商品), in tins, bags, boxes or other containers, are stacked (堆放) in groups on the shelves, and each group is labelled with a price ticket. Metal baskets near the entrance are taken by the shoppers who collect in them the goods they select from the shelves. Between the shelf units and the window in one half of the shops are a number of small counters about three feet high. Beside each sits a cashier (现金出纳员), who operates a machine for reckoning, detailing the cost of each customer's purchases. The customer places the basket at one end of the counter so that it can be emptied by the cashier who records the price of the commodities one by one, before putting each on a moving section of the counter top. The goods are collected and packed into the customer's bag by another assistant at the end of the counter. The cashier finally hands a printed slip recording all prices to the customer, who pays the total, collects the bag and leaves.

单选题How many diagnosed diabetes patients are there in Britain?

单选题Hypnosis is not effective in treating cigarette smokers and persons who eat or drink too much is because______

单选题They have given up the hope to save their friend from drowning.

单选题Fine freshwater pearls are found in the main stream and the {{U}}tributaries{{/U}} of the Mississippi River. A. banks B. deltas C. branches D. currents

单选题Digital Frog The animal dissection requirement of biology classes has been getting under the skin of students for generations, and there have always been some who asked to be excused from the requirement. Now, a growing number of technological alternatives are making it possible for students to swap that scalpel for a computer mouse. There are laws in nearly a dozen states—including California, Florida, New Jersey, and New York—protecting a student"s choice to learn about animal anatomy sans scalpel. Some students choosing to opt out feel we should be kinder to our web-footed friends. Others are just queasy at the thought of rubbery frog bodies and the smell of formaldehyde. "Dissection is icky. There"s a yuck factor," admits Brian Shmaefsky, a board member with the National Association of Biology Teachers. "And a teacher has to weigh the benefits with the cost of students being offended to the point that it interferes with learning." Virtual blades. So for cases in which a real dissection would be too slimy, it"s time to try some toad tech. While the first computer-based alternatives to dissection emerged in the 1980s, modern frog dissection software can be found at different websites. These software programs use creative clicking, high-powered zoom functions, and video clips to teach anatomy. Froguts software, for example, let students trace incision lines with a computer mouse and snip through skin with a virtual blade. There are even sound effects like a "slish" for slicing frog flesh, or a "shwoosh" for pinning down skin flaps. (Schools currently pay about $300 for a one-year software license, though some organizations will lend programs out free of charge.) Earlier this year, a graduate student from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver designed the first-ever haptic (the Greek word for "touch") frog dissection program, which uses a penlike tool to create a sensation similar to cutting into real flesh. The hand-held device connects to a computer, and students move the device through the air while watching the results of their actions on a computer screen. With Digital Frog—a popular program that"s had approximately 1,500 frog demo downloads since January and is currently in use in 2,000 schools—students can add or subtract those amphibious organs with a mere mouse click. They can then assess their learning with sporadic frog anatomy quizzes. "Repetition is helpful. The fact that a student can review sections of a program over and over again is important," says Martin Stephens, vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States. "In dissections, the animal"s organs are all shriveled and discolored. You look for things and can"t find them because body parts have changed drastically since the animal was killed. But on a computer screen, layers can be digitally peeled away." Other experts think the dissection technology has its limits. Gerry Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, says that artificial simulations don"t give as enriching an experience as the real thing. Still others worry the programs are depriving kids of experiential learning.

单选题Poor health and lack of money may both be to educational progress roadblocks.

单选题The newly bought car brings nothing but trouble.A. nearlyB. quicklyC. generallyD. only