单选题 Passage Four The biosphere is the name biologists give to the sort of skin on the surface of this planet that is inhabitable by living organisms. Most land creatures occupy only the interface between the atmosphere and the land; birds extend their range for a few hundred feet into the atmosphere; burrowing invertebrates such as earthworms may reach a few yards into the soil but rarely penetrate farther unless it has been recently disturbed by men. Fish cover a wider range, from just beneath the surface of the sea to those depths of greater than a mile inhabited by specialized creatures. Fungi(真菌) and bacteria are plentiful in the atmosphere to a height of about half a mile, blown there by winds from the lower air. Balloon exploration of the stratosphere (同温层) as long ago as 1936 indicated that moulds and bacteria could be found at heights of several miles, recently the USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration has detected them, in decreasing numbers, at heights up to eighteen miles. They are pretty sparse at such levels, about one for every two thousand cubic feet, compared with 50 to 100 per cubic foot at two to six miles (the usual altitude of jet aircraft), and they are almost certainly in an inactive state. Marine bacteria have been detected at the bottom of the deep Pacific trench, sometimes as deep as seven miles; they are certainly not inactive. Living microbes have also been obtained on land from cores of rock drilled (while prospecting for oil) at depths of as much as 1,200 feet. Thus we can say, disregarding the exploits of astronauts, that the biosphere has a maximum thickness of about twenty-five miles. Active living processes occur only within a compass of about seven miles, in the sea, on land and in the lower atmosphere, but the majority of living creatures live within a zone of a hundred feet or so. If this planet were scaled down to the size of an orange, the biosphere, at its extreme width, would occupy the thickness of the orange-colored skin, excluding the pith. In this tiny zone of our planet takes place the multitude of chemical and biological activities that we call life. The way in which living creatures interact with each other, depend on each other or compete with each other, has fascinated thinkers since the beginning of recorded history. Living things exist in a fine balance which is often taken for granted—for, from a practical point of view, things could not be otherwise. Yet it is a source of continual amazement to scientists because of its intricacy and delicacy. The balance of nature is obvious most often when it is disturbed, yet even here it can seem remarkable how quickly it readjusts itself to a new balance after a disturbance. The science of ecology—the study of the interaction of organisms with their environment—has grown up to deal with the minutiae of the balance of nature.

单选题Imagine my {{U}}vexation{{/U}} when they said they would come to dinner and then didn't show. A. enlightenment B. astonishment C. annoyance D. contrariness

单选题 Passage Six The upcoming movie "The Scorpions King" is a fiction, but recent archeological studies indicate there really was a King Scorpion in ancient Egypt and that he played a crucial role in uniting the country and building it into the world's first empire. A depiction recently discovered in the Egyptian desert of the Scorpion King's victory in battle against the forces of chaos may be the oldest historical document ever found, some archeologists believe. New discoveries in his tomb suggest that the first writing may have occurred during his reign. Moreover, his tomb in the desert at Abydos may be the rudimentary blueprint upon which subsequent rulers based their own designs. In short, King Scorpion was one of the fathers of Egyptian civilization. Great achievements for a man who for nearly 5,000 years was thought to be mythical. King Scorpion dates from a time when Egypt was composed of two separate kingdoms. Upper Egypt surrounded the upper portion of the Nile; Lower Egypt stretched from just south of what is now Cairo northward to the Mediterranean. For millenniums, all the way back to the ancient Egyptian historian Manetho and the lists of kings found in Egyptian temples, the first true ruler of Egypt—the founder of the First Dynasty of pharaohs—has been listed as King Menes. It was Menes who was thought to have unified Upper and Lower Egypt. But in 1898, excavations at Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt revealed sacred objects dating back to the very beginnings of Egyptian civilization. The most important of those objects was the so-called Narmer Palette, which depicted a king not mentioned in Egyptian histories. This King Narmer—a name meaning "striking catfish'—was depicted wearing both the white crown of Upper Egypt and the red crown of Lower Egypt, suggesting it was he who had unified the two lands. Some scholars believe that Narmer and Menes were the same person. Others claim Narmer was Menes' immediate predecessor and that his name was not included on the lists for reasons that are not yet known. The argument has yet to be settled. Also found in the 1898 excavations was a mace, the traditional symbol of kings. Themace— the oldest ever found in Egypt—portrays a man wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, accompanied by the symbols for king and scorpion. In the absence of any supporting evidence, however, most archeologists had believed that this King Scorpion was a mythical figure. One hundred years later, however, Gunter Dreyer of the German Archeological Institute discovered a tomb buried in the sands near Abydos, the Egyptian necropolis, or city of the dead, that he is confident is King Scorpion's. The 12-room tomb is constructed of mud bricks and appears to be a downsized replica of Scorpion's palace. Although the tomb had been pillaged and the mummy stolen, Dreyer found an ivory scepter, a clear indication that it was a royal tomb. Carbon-14 dating showed that the scepter dates from about 3250 BC, making it the oldest scepter found in Egypt. One room in the tomb was filled with pottery shards, apparently from jars used to hold wine and other valuables for the afterlife. Inscribed on each of the jars in ink was the symbol of a scorpion. Dreyer's most controversial find in the tomb was a series of 160 bone and ivory tags the size of postage stamps carved with simple pictures that Dreyer believes are primitive hieroglyphs. If they are, in fact, writing, they predate the commonly accepted origin of cuneiform writing in Mesopotamia by 200 years. More recently, Yale University archeologist John Darnell and his wife Deborah have discovered a primitive scene carved on rocks near the Qena Bend of the Nile River that appears to commemorate a victory by King Scorpion, who already ruled the kingdoms of Abydos and Hierakonpolis, over the kingdom of Naqada-a city that worshipped Set, the god of chaos. Darnell believes it is the oldest known historical document, and that it signifies the unification of Upper Egypt 150 years before Narmer unified the entire country. Conquest of Naqada gave King Scorpion control not only of the Nile, but also of crucial roads leading east to the Red Sea and west to the oases of the western desert.

单选题In contrast, the threat posed by the second source of major terrorism is real and large. A. proposed B. presented C. predicted D. prevented

单选题 Passage Two Humor is a most effective, yet frequently neglected, means of handling the difficult situations in our lives. It can be used for patching up differences, apologizing, saying "no", criticizing, getting the other fellow to do what you want without losing his face. For some jobs, it is the only tool that can succeed. It is a way to discuss subjects so sensitive that serious dialogue may start a riot. For example, many believe that comedians on television are doing more today for racial and religious tolerance than are people in any other forum. Humor is often the best way to keep a small misunderstanding from escalating into a big deal. Recently a neighbor of mine had a squabble with his wife as she drove him to the airport. Airborne, he felt miserable, and he knew she did, too. Two hours after she returned home, she received a long-distance phone call. "Person-to-person for Mrs. I.A. Pologize," intoned the operator. "That's spelled 'P' as in...". In a twinkling, the whole day changed from grim to lovely at both ends of the wire. An English hostess with a quick wit was giving a formal dinner for eight distinguished guests whom she hoped to enlist in a major charity drive. Austerity was a fashion in England at the time, and she had asked her children to serve the meal. She knew that anything could happen—and it did, just as her son, with the studied concentration of a tightrope walker, brought in a large roast turkey: he successfully elbowed the swinging dining-room door, but the back swing bespattered the bird onto the dining-room floor. The boy stood rooted, guests stared at their plates. Moving only her head the hostess smiled at her son, "No harm, Daniel," she said, "just pick him up and take him back to the kitchen"—she enunciated clearly so he would think about what she was saying—"and bring in the other one". A wink and a one-liner instantly changed the dinner from a red-faced embarrassment to a conspiracy of fun.

单选题 Cleaning clothes usually requires soap and water to remove stains and smells, and a tumble in the dryer or an afternoon on the clothesline to dry. The time and energy needed to turn a heap of dirty laundry into a pile of clean clothes might make people wish for clothes that just clean themselves. That wish is a step closer to coming true. Recent experiments show that cotton fabric coated with the right mixture of chemicals can dissolve stains and remove odors after only a few hours in the sun. "The technology can be applied to all kinds of fabrics and their related products," says materials scientist Mingce Long. He helped develop the treated cotton with his colleague Deyong Wu. The handy fabric gets its self-cleaning abilities from a chemical mixture that coats the cotton threads. The coating includes substances known as photocatalysts, which trigger chemical reactions in light. One of those photocatalysts, called titanium dioxide (二氧化钛), helps sunscreen block the sun. Another, called silver iodide (碘化银), is used for developing photographs. Researchers have previously shown that titanium dioxide mixtures could remove stains in clothes—but with exposure to ultraviolet, not visible, light. (The waves of ultraviolet light are more energetic and shorter than those of visible light.) Other studies have demonstrated that silver iodide can speed up chemical reactions in sunlight. "We knew that self-cleaning cotton fabrics with titanium dioxide coating had already been developed, but they cannot work, or they work weakly, under sunlight," Long says. "If we want to use the fabrics in daily life, we must develop cotton that cleans itself under daylight." Long and Wu created just such a fabric, working for years to perfect the recipe for a liquid dip that left cotton coated with the titanium dioxide mixture. Then they added particles of silver iodide, which boosted the fabric's self-cleaning ability in the sun. In laboratory tests, their creation was nearly seven times better at removing stains than titanium dioxide alone. The scientists can't start selling their self-cleaning cotton just yet; they still need to make sure the coated cotton won't harm those who wear it. Although titanium dioxide is used in some foods, recent experiments have shown that it can cause health problems if it gets in the lungs. So before the material can be worn, scientists need to find a way to make it safe.

单选题An overseas market with a great growth potential is not easy to______.

单选题Whatisthegoaloftheprogramcalled"ReadingFirst"?A.Tofindeffectsontheteachingofreading.B.Toraisetestscoresinreadingcomprehension.C.Toincreasetheteachingtimeforreading.D.Tohelpallchildrenreadatorabovegradelevel.

单选题My classmates {{U}}went all out{{/U}} for me in the final campaign for the position of chairman of the student senate. A. made an appointment B. made a reservation C. made a scene D. made a great effort

单选题 Nose has it pretty hard, Boxers flatten them. Doctors rearrange them. People make jokes about their unflattering characteristics. Worst of all, when it comes to smell, no one really understands them. Despite the nose's conspicuous presence, its workings are subtle. Smell, or olfaction, is a chemo-sense, relying on specialized interactions between chemicals and nerve endings. When a rose, for example, is sniffed, odor molecules are carried by the rising air-stream to the top of the nasal cavity, just behind the bridge of the nose, where the tips of the tends of millions of olfactory nerve cells are clustered in the mucous lining. The molecules somehow trigger the nerve ending, white carry the message to the olfactory lobes of the brain. Because smell information then travels to other region of the brain, the scent of a rose can elicit not only a pleasure sensation but emotions and memories as well. Though just how odors stimulate the nerves is unknown, scientists do know that our sense of smell is surprisingly keen capable of distinguishing up to tens of thousands of chemical odors. The laboratory task of isolating the components must of an odor is far from simple .Tobacco smoke, for example, is made up of several thousand different chemicals. Moreover smell by their sources or associations. Description such as "like a wet dog" or "like my elementary school" may convey perceptions but are vastly inadequate for labeling the chemistry involved. To further complicate research, olfaction is connected to other sensations. Besides olfactory nerves, the nasal cavity contains pain-sensitive nerves that perceive sensations such as the kick in ammonia or the burning in chili peppers. Smell also inter-wines with taste to create flavor. A coffee drinker holding his nose while sipping would taste only the bitter in his brew, for taste receptors generally appear limited to bitter, salty, sour, and sweet. The sense of smell is ten thousand times more sensitive than taste and makes subtle distinctions among lemon, chocolate, and many more flavors. So how does the nose manage this sophisticated discrimination? Lack of evidence hasn't kept scientists from speculating. One idea is that every odor molecule vibrates at its own frequency, creating patterns of disturbance in the air similar to the wave patterns produced by sound. According to this theory, the nerves act as receives for the unique vibrations of every odor molecule. The scheme requires no direct contact between the molecule and the nerve cell. Another suggestion is that primary odors, equivalent to the primary colors of vision, underlie all smells and are detected by receptor sites on the olfactory nerves. Different combinations of about thirty basic smells, with labels such as malty, minty, and musky, could form an infinite number of odors. Other scientists think that each smell is its own primary smell. They believe the olfactory nerve endings have specific receptor proteins that bind to each of the chemicals people can sense. This theory, however, calls for thousands of different proteins-none of which has been found. "The science of smell is so empirical," says Robert Gesteland, a neurobiologist at Northwestern University, "there is no predictive base for experiments." Unlike the senses of sight, touch, and hearing, olfaction studies have attracted only a small share of scientific interest. That may change. Researchers hope that unraveling the mystery of smell will advance our understanding of the future, with enough known about smell, it might be possible to endow strange, unappealing but nutritious foods with more familiar odors, perhaps expanding the world's food supply. For the moment, however, what the nose knows it isn't revealing.

单选题These countries are ______ concluding a free trade agreement to propel regional development. A. on the verge of B. in the interest of C. on the side of D. at the expense of

单选题In the worst times of life, you have to take full advantage of the beautiful things that ______. A. come along B. come by C. come across D. come to

单选题No one would have time to read or listen to an account of everything ______ going on in the world. A. it is B. there is C. as is D. what is

单选题 A father's relationship to his child's current and future academic success and the level of his or her development in academic potential and scholastic achievement are both factors with some rather interesting implications that educators are beginning to study and evaluate. As a matter of fact, "life with father" has been discovered to be a very important factor in determining a child's progress or lack of progress in school. A recent survey of over 16,000 children made by the National Child Development Study in London, England, revealed that children whose fathers came to school conferences and accompanied their children on outing did measurably better in school than did those children whose fathers were not involved in those activities. The study, which monitored children born during a week in March, 1958, from the time of their birth through the years of their early schooling, further revealed that the children of actively involved fathers scored as much as seven months higher in reading and math than did those children whose only involved parent was the mother. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the role played by fathers in the raising of a child. It indicated a much higher level of parental involvement by the father than had been estimated. Over 66% of the fathers were said to have played a major role in parental responsibility. The study also suggested that the greatest level of paternal parenting took place in the families of only children. As the number of children and financial obligations increases, the father's apparent interest and involvement with the children decreased. However, no matter what the size or financial condition of the family, a father's active participation in the child's development made a definite difference in the child's progress. The study further revealed that while the frequency of overnight absences reflected a corresponding deficiency employment on late shifts appeared to have little effect on the child's academic progress. The data from the study was Obtained primarily through interviews from parents, teachers and physicians. The information evaluating the level of the father's parenting performance was obtained primarily from the admittedly subjective observations of their wives.

单选题The city was virtually paralyzed by the transit strike for better wages. A. subjectively B. imaginably C. positively D. practically

单选题 While jobs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professions may be plentiful, many teenagers are unwilling to pursue a long-term career in these fields. According to a new survey, students in sixth through twelfth grade felt that careers as doctors and engineers would offer the most job opportunities upon graduating from college, but 67 percent were of two minds about whether they would pursue these careers, due to a multitude of difficulties involved. Chief among the challenges is the cost and time it takes to get a degree. According to this survey, 26 percent of respondents felt that the cost and difficulty of pursuing professionally qualifying education in these fields were too high compared with other fields. Additionally, 25 percent of students felt that these career paths were too challenging and involved too much studying. Careers as doctors and engineers were not the only places where students saw opportunities, though. According to the survey, the three career fields offering the greatest opportunity were doctors, engineers and teachers, followed by lawyers and entrepreneurs. "It's encouraging to see that more students see the value of STEM careers like engineering, but clearly STEM professionals and educators can be doing more to support students along this career path," said Jim Rooney, ASQ chair and quality engineer with ABSG Consulting. That is because 25 percent of teenage respondents stated their grades in math and science aren't good enough to pursue a future career in those subjects. For once, parents agreed with their children, as 53 percent of parents who responded in a similar survey were worried about the challenges these fields presented to their children. Just over a quarter of parents, 26 percent, also felt that teachers were not preparing their children enough for future careers in STEM fields. Another factor contributing to the non-pursuit of STEM jobs is the growing gender gap in education. According to this survey, 30 percent of girls stated that math was their most challenging subject, compared with 19 percent of boys. Additionally, 33 percent of girls admitted they felt teachers did not prepare them enough for future careers in STEM careers, compared with just 9 percent of boys. The information in this survey is based on the responses of 713 students and a complementary survey of 327 parents with children between the ages of 10 and 17.

单选题The driver of this old car had few options {{U}}short of{{/U}} replacing the motor. A. lacking in B. other than C. aside from D. provided that

单选题 The New York Times and the Guardian are calling for President Barack Obama to take mercy on former NSA employee Edward Snowden. President Barack Obama's recent speech on changes to the way the National Security Agency spies on people inspired many questions. It also helped to renew the debate over Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor behind the leaks. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Of course, nothing is so simple, but Snowden's actions have definitely divided people. According to recent polls, most Americans consider Snowden to be more of a {{U}}whistle-blower{{/U}} than a traitor. However, the same polls indicate more Americans believe Snowden's actions were mostly bad for the United States. Snowden first leaked the NSA documents in June 2013, including information on American spying on enemies and on American citizens, which raised the fury of civil rights advocates. Other documents focused on how the U.S. spied on its allies, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel. That led Merkel to reportedly demand clarification from Obama about the reports that her phone had been tapped. And the leaks have kept on coming out. On Friday, while outlining how he plans to reform the NSA, Obama mentioned Snowden by name. "Given the fact of an open investigation, I'm not going to dwell on Mr. Snowden's actions or his motivations," Obama said. "I will say that our nation's defense depends in part on the loyalty of those entrusted with our nation's secrets." Later, Obama said, "We know that the intelligence services of other countries—including some who pretend to be surprised about the Snowden disclosures—are constantly probing our government and private-sector networks and accelerating programs to listen to our conversations and invade our emails and compromise our systems." The Times wrote, "When someone reveals that government officials have routinely and deliberately broken the law, that person should not face life in prison at the hands of the same government." The Guardian described Snowden's actions as "some act of moral courage." Nothing in Obama's speech indicated that his administration is considering these suggestions. A blog from the Washington Post's Max Fisher offers an interesting theory on why people remain divided about Snowden. As Fisher puts it, "Many Americans see him as either a hero or a wicked person but rarely as something in between."

单选题The doctor {{U}}maneuvered{{/U}} the instrument skillfully to examine the patient. A. manipulated B. manufactured C. performed D. moved

单选题A world-renowned scientist is scheduled to give a ______ on the future of biology. A. projection B. prevalence C. proficiency D. presentation