阅读理解Scientists think that the decline of amphibians could

阅读理解Vice Vaccines At first glance, vice vaccines look just great. These injections promise to inactivate drugs such as cocaine, heroin and nicotine in the bloodstream before they reach the brain. Without the "hit", people just won''t come back for more. It''s true that these vaccines are still being developed, so their full risks and benefits are not yet clear. But all the signs are that for people who are in danger of overdosing, or for addicts who want to get themselves clean but need some help to overcome their craving, the vaccines will be immensely valuable. But like many new technologies, they also bring difficult choices. Will convicted criminals who steal to feed their drug habit be allowed back onto the street if they agree to be vaccinated, for example? Could a judge even compel these people to be vaccinated? Perhaps the most controversial debate that vice vaccines have raised is whether they should be given routinely to children, like polio or measles vaccines. This is. not a distant worry. No sooner they have found themselves submerged with requests from worried parents who want their children vaccinated. Is this really what we want for future generations? For any society that values personal freedom, the answer has to be no. People have the right to choose how to behave, whether it''s good or bad, legal or not. Let not ignore the fact that millions of people take illegal drugs for pleasure without becoming addicted. Administering vice vaccines will mean that youngsters are no longer free to make such choices for themselves. It would be like a return to Pleasantvile. And, remember, we''re just talking about illegal drugs here. One vaccine under development acts against nicotine, and if its nicotine today, why not caffeine tomorrow? Society''s attitudes to drugs change. Forty years ago, smoking was fine. A century ago, American ship operators were giving stevedores (码头工人) cocaine to speed up their work. Like it or not, people have been taking mind-altering chemicals since before recorded history. Each vaccine acts only against a specific drug, and stopping people getting high on one drug will simply push them to take others—as addiction researchers have already found. So drug use won''t go away, the drugs will just change. Opposing the widespread use of vice vaccines for youngsters is not to advocate drug use. By all means let vice vaccines spark a revolution in detox (解毒) clinics. But when it comes to helping children deal with drugs, the way to help them is through education, ensuring that they can follow lifestyles that are incompatible with drug taking, and giving them the tools to spot risks and make informed choices. The problem of drug abuse is bound up with modern society in complex ways. Simple chemical solutions are unlikely to provide the whole answer.

阅读理解What is NOT the result of consuming fossil fuels according to the last paragraph?

阅读理解AIDS AIDS is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The human immunodeficiency virus (人类免疫缺损病毒)called HIV is believed to cause AIDS. There is no cure. People who get the disease will die. AIDS itself does not kill. However, it attacks and destroys the body''s defense system that fights against infection. When this happens, a person has little ability to fight off many other diseases including pneumonia(肺炎), cancer and tuberculosis (结核病). A new study says the number of women in the United States with AIDS has increased sharply. The study says AIDS is increasing faster among women than among men. Eighteen percent of AIDS patients are women. This is almost 3 times the rate 10 years ago. Most women get the AIDS virus from having sexual relations with men. Pregnant women with the disease can pass it to their babies. The effect of AIDS in America is greatest in large cities. AIDS is the leading cause of death among all people in 79 cities. It is the leading cause of death among women in 15 cities. These include New York City and Miami, Florida. Doctors in the United States first noted AIDS 14 years ago in homosexual (同性恋的)men in New York and California. In the United States AIDS spread first among homosexual men. Then it appeared in people who shared needles to put illegal drugs into their blood. It also appeared in people who had received infected blood products at hospitals. The AIDS virus is spread through the exchange of infected blood or body fluids released during sexual activity. It is also spread by having sexual relations with someone who has the virus. And it is spread by sharing drug needles that have infected blood on them. AIDS has affected several famous American athletes. Two years ago, former tennis player Arthur Ashe died of the disease. At about the same time, former basketball player Magic Johnson announced that he has the AIDS virus. The most recent athlete to be affected is Gregory Louganis. Louganis won a number of gold medals in Olympic diving competition. He announced on television that he has AIDS. President Clinton met with Louganis and praised him for discussing his sickness. Mr. Clinton said it is important to educate the public. Activists have succeeded in educating Americans about AIDS and the people who have it. They also have been urging the federal government to increase efforts to find a cure for AIDS. Scientists first identified the virus that is believed to cause AIDS in 1983. Many of them then thought they could produce an anti-AIDS vaccine(痘苗). Such a medicine could be given to people to protect against the disease. However, scientists at American government agencies, universities and drug companies have failed to produce an anti-AIDS vaccine. But they are continuing effort to find better treatments for a cure.

阅读理解Is This A Senseless Notion? "There is a senseless notion that children grow up and leave home when they are 18 , and the truth is far from that," sociologist Larry Bumpass of the University of Wisconsin says. Today, unexpected numbers of young adults are living with their parents. " There is a major shift in the middle class," declares sociologist Allan Schnailberg of Northwestern University, whose son, 19, moved back after an absence of eight months. Analysis cite a variety of reasons for this return to the nest. The marriage age is rising, a condition that makes home and its pleasantness particularly attractive to young people. A high divorce rate and a declining remarriage rate are making economically pressed and emotionally hurt survivors back to parental shelters. For some, the expense of an away-from home college education has become so excessively great that many students now attend local schools. Even after graduation, young people find their wings clipped by the skyrocketing housing costs. Living at home, says Knighton, a school teacher, continues to give her security and moral support. Her mother agreed. "It''s ridiculous for the kids to pay all that money for rent. It makes sense for kids to stay at home. "But sharing the family requires adjustments for all. There are the hassles over bathrooms, telephones and privacy. Some families, however, manage the delicate balancing act. But for others, it proves too difficult. Michelle Del Turco, 24, has been returned home three times and left three times. " What I considered a social drink, my dad considered an alcohol problem," she explains. "He never liked anyone I dated, so I either had to hide away or meet them at friends’ houses. " Just how long should adult children live with their parents before moving on? Most psychologists feel lengthy homecomings are a mistake. Children, struggling to establish separate identities, can end up with " a sense of inadequacy, defeat and failure. " And aging parents, who should be enjoying some financial and personal freedom, find themselves stuck with responsibilities. Many agree that brief visits, however, can worked beneficially.

阅读理解Filters and low tar tobacco make smoking safe．

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