单选题She can speak French and German, let alone English.A. to say nothing ofB. to speak nothing ofC. to talk nothing ofD. to tell nothing of

单选题"Salty" Rice Plant Boosts Harvests British scientists are breeding a new generation of rice plants that will be able to grow in soil containing salt water. Their work may enable abandoned farms to become productive once more. Tim Flowers and Tony Yeo, from Sussex University"s School of Biological Sciences, have spent several years researching how crops, such as rice, could be made to grow in water that has become salty. The pair has recently begun a three-year programme, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, to establish which genes enable some plants to survive salty conditions. The aim is to breed this capability into crops, starting with rice. It is estimated that each year more than 10 million hectares (公顷) of agricultural land are lost because salt gets into the soil and stunts (妨碍生长) plants. The problem is caused by several factors. In the tropics, mangroves (红树木) that create swamps (沼泽) and traditionally formed barriers to sea water have been cut down. In the Mediterranean, a series of droughts have caused the water table to drop, allowing sea water to seep (渗透) in. In Latin America, irrigation often causes problems when water is evaporated (蒸发) by the heat, leaving salt deposits behind. Excess salt then enters the plants and prevents them functioning normally. Heavy concentrations of minerals in the plants stop them drawing up the water they need to survive. To overcome these problems, Flowers and Yeo decided to breed rice plants that take in very little salt and store what they do absorb in cells that do not affect the plants" growth. They have started to breed these characteristics into a new rice crop, but it will take about eight harvests before the resulting seeds are ready to be considered for commercial use. Once the characteristics for surviving salty soil are known, Flowers and Yeo will try to breed the appropriate genes into all manners of crops and plants. Land that has been abandoned to nature will then be able to bloom again, providing much needed food in the poorer countries of the world.

单选题Microchip Research Center Created A research center has been 1 in this Far Eastern country to develop advanced microchip production technology. The center, which will start out with about US $14 million, will help the country develop its chip industry without always depending on imported technology. The center will make use of its research skills and 2 to develop new technology for 3 chip plants. The advent of the center will possibly free the country from the 4 that it is always buying almost-outdated technologies from other countries, said the country"s flagship chipmaker. 5 , chip plants in this country are in a passive situation because many foreign governments don"! allow them to 6 the most advanced technologies, fearing they will be used for 7 purposes. Moreover, the high licensing fees they have to pay to technology providers are also an important 8 for their decision of self-reliance. As mainstream chip production technology 9 from one generation to the next every three to five years, plants with new technology can make more powerful chips at lower costs, while plants with 10 equipment, which often cost billions of dollars to build, will be 11 by the maker. More than 10 chip plants are being built, each costing millions of US dollars. The majority of that money goes to overseas equipment 12 and technology owners—mainly 13 Japan and Singapore. Should the new center play a major role m improving the situation in the industry, the country admits the US $14 million investment is still rather small. This country is developing 14 technologies. Most of the investment will be spent on setting 15 with technology and intellectual property owners.

单选题I am going as a {{U}}favor{{/U}} to Ann because I have to.

单选题We learn from the passage that the London & Blackwell railway

单选题They agreed to settle the dispute by peaceful means.

单选题The powers of the European Commission to regulate competition in the Community are in- creasing.

单选题Cement was {{U}}seldom{{/U}} used in building the Middle Ages.

单选题She tried to {{U}}probe{{/U}} my mind and discover what I was thinking.

单选题{{B}}第三篇{{/B}} {{B}} Children and Parents{{/B}} Do parents owe their children something? Yes, they owe them a great deal. One of their chief obligations is to give their children a sense of personal worth, for self-esteem is the basis of good mental health. A youngster(青少年)who is constantly made to feel stupid and unworthy, constantly compared to brighter brothers, sisters, or cousins, will become so unsure that he (or she) won't try at all. Of course, they should be corrected when they do wrong; this is the way children learn. But the criticisms should be balanced with praises, perhaps with a smile and a kiss. No child is ever too old to be hugged(拥抱). Parents owe their children firm guidance and consistent discipline. It is frightening for a youngster to feel that he is in charge of himself; it's like being in a car without brakes(制动器,刹车). The parent who says "no" when other parents say "yes" sends a double message. He is also saying: "I love you, and I am ready to risk your anger, because I don't want you to get into trouble." Parents owe their children a comfortable feeling about their body, and enough information about sex to balance the misinformation that they will surely receive from their friends. Parents owe their children a set of solid values around which to build their lives. This means teaching them to respect the rights and opinions of others; it means being respectful to eiders, to teachers, and to the law. The best way to teach such values is by example. A child who is lied to will lie. A child who sees his parents steal tools from the factory will think that it is all right to steal.

单选题John' s parents brought him up to be very Uthrifty/U.

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，为每题定1个最佳选项。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} Plant Gas Scientists have been studying natural sources of methane (甲烷，沼气) for decades but hadn't regarded plants as a producer, notes Frank Keppler, a geochemist(地球化学家) at the Max Planek Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. Now Keppler and his colleagues find that plants, from grasses to trees, may also be sources of the greenhouse gas. This is really surprising, because most scientists assumed that methane production requires an oxygen-free environment. Previously, researchers had thought that it was impossible for plants to make significant amounts of the gas. They had assumed that microbes(微生物) need to be in environments without oxygen to produce methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas, like carbon dioxide. Gases such as methane and carbon dioxide trap heat in Earth's atmosphere and contribute to global warming. In its experiments, Keppler's team used sealed chambers (室，房间；腔) that contained the same concentration of oxygen that Earth's atmosphere has. They measured the amounts of methane that were released by both living plants and dried plant material, such as fallen leaves. With the dried plants, the researchers took measurement at temperatures ranging from 30 degrees Celsius to 70 degrees C..At 30 degrees C., they found, a gram of dried plant material released up to 3 nanograms(微克) of methane per hour (One nanogram is a billionth of a gram. ). With every 10-degree rise in temperature, the amount of methane released each hour roughly doubled. Living plants growing at their normal temperatures released as much as 370 nanograms of methane per gram of plant tissue per hour. Methane emissions tripled (增加三倍) when living and dead plant was exposed to sunlight. Because there was plenty of oxygen available, it's unlikely that the types of bacteria( bacterium 的复数，细菌) that normally make methane were involved. Experiments on plants that were grown in water rather than soil also resulted in methane emissions. That's another strong sign that the gas came from the plants and not soil microbes. The new finding is an "interesting observation," says Jennifer Y.King, a biogeochemist(生物地球化学家) at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Because some types of soil microbes consume methane, they may prevent plant-produced methane from reaching the atmosphere. Field tests will be needed to assess the plant's influence, she notes.

单选题Please give my best wishes to your family.

单选题It is absurd to go out in such terrible weather.

单选题TV Games Shows One of the most fascinating things about television is the size of the audience. A novel can be on the best sellers list with a sale of fewer than 100,000 copies, but a popular TV show might have 70 million TV viewers. TV can make anything or anyone well-known overnight. This is the principle behind quiz or game shows, which put ordinary people on TV to play a game for the prizes and money. A quiz show can make anyone a star, and it can give away thousands of dollars just for fun. But all of this money can create problems. For instance, in the 1950s, quiz shows were very popular in the US and almost everyone watched them. Charles Van Doren, an English instructor, became rich and famous after winning money on several shows. He even had a career as a television personality. But one of the losers proved that Charles Van Doren was cheating. It turned out that the show"s producers, who were pulling the strings, gave the answers to the most popular contestants beforehand. Why? Because if the audience didn"t like the person who won the game, they turned the show off. Based on his story, a movie under the title Quiz Show is on 40 years later. Charles Van Doren is no longer involved with TV. But game shows are still here, though they aren"t taken as seriously. In fact, some of them try to be as ridiculous as possible. There are shows that send strangers on vacation trips together, or that try to cause newly-married couples to fight on TV, or that punish losers by humiliating them. The entertainment now is to see what people will do just to be on TV. People still win money, but the real prize is to be in front of an audience of millions.

单选题The disease, rust, {{U}}stunts{{/U}} a plant’s growth and leads to the destruction of the plant.

单选题Mother Nature Shows Her Strength Tornadoes (龙卷风) and heavy thunderstorms moved across the Great Lakes and into Trumbull County on Saturday evening. The storms were dramatic and dangerous. George Snyder was driving the fire truck down Route 88 when he first noticed that a funnel (漏斗状的) cloud was behind him. "I stopped the truck and watched the funnel cloud. It was about 100 feet off the ground and I saw it go up and down for a while. It was moving toward Bradley Road and then suddenly it disappeared." Snyder said. Snyder only saw one of the funnel clouds that passed through northeastern Ohio on Saturday. In Trumbull County, a tornado turned trees onto their sides. Some trees fell onto houses and cars. Other trees fell into telephone and electrical wires as they went down. Amanda Symcheck was having a party when the storm began. "I knew something was wrong," he said. "I saw the sky go green and pink (粉红色). Then it sounded like a train rushing toward the house. I started crying and told everyone to go to the basement for protection." The tornado caused a 10t of damage to cars and houses in the area. It will take a long time and much money to repair everything. There was also serious water damage from the thunderstorms. The heavy rains and high wind caused the power to go out in many homes. The storms caused serious flooding in areas near the river. More than four inches of rain fell in parts of Trumbull County. The river was so high that the water ran into streets and houses. Many streets had to be closed to cars and trucks because of the high water. This made it difficult for fire trucks, police cars, and other rescue vehicles to help people who were in trouble. Many people who live near the river had to leave their homes for their own safety. Some people reported five feet of water in their homes. Local and state officials opened emergency shelters for the people who were evacuated (撤走). The Red Cross served meals to them. "This was a really intense storm," said Snyder. "People were afraid. Mother Nature can be fierce. We were lucky this time. No one was killed."

单选题These are defensive behavior patterns which derive from our fears.

单选题Rescue vehicles had a hard time getting to people.

单选题A sea pen the size of a football field awaits the whale in a isolated bay in Westman Islands. A. included B. secluded C. selected D. secret