单选题We were shocked to find that Mary didn't know her guest's nameA. frustratedB. disturbedC. relievedD. surprised

单选题Mad Scientist Stereotype Outdated Do people still imagine a physicist as a bearded man in glasses or has the image of the mad scientist changed? The Institute of Physics set out to find out whether the stereotype of a physics "boffin" (科学家) still exists by conducting a survey on shoppers in London. The people were asked to identify the physicist from a photograph of a line-up of possible suspects. 98 percent of those asked got it wrong. The majority of people picked a white male of around 60, wearing glasses and with a white beard. While this stereotype may have been the image of an average physicist fifty years ago, the reality is now very different. Since 1960 the number of young women entering physics has doubled and the average age of a physicist is now 31. The stereotype of the absent-minded scientist has lasted a long time because the media and Hollywood help promote the image of men in white lab coats with glasses sitting by blackboards full of equations (等式) or working with fizzing (嘶嘶响) test tubes. These stereotypes are really damaging to society. Very good school children are put off studying science because they don"t see people like themselves on television or in magazines doing science. They simply don"t relate to the media"s image of the mad scientist. This is one reason why fewer young people are choosing to do science at university. If we want to encourage more young people to study science subjects, we need to change this image of the scientist and make science careers more attractive. But we must also develop children"s interest in science. In an attempt to change this negative image, an increasing number of science festivals are being organized. Thousands of people from secondary schools are also encouraged to take part in nationwide science competitions of which the most popular are the national science Olympiads. Winning national teams then get the opportunity to take part in the International Science Olympiads which are held in a different country every year. These events are all interesting for the young people who take part but they only involve a small proportion of students who are already interested in science. It seems that there is a long way to go before science becomes attractive as subjects like computer studies or fashion and design.

单选题However bad the situation is, the majority is unwilling to risk change.

单选题Weaving with Light In the Sierra Madre mountain range of west central Mexico, the native Huichol people live much the way their ancestors did--Without electricity. That's because it's too expensive to string power lines to the remote mountain areas where they live. To help support themselves, the Huichol create beautiful artwork. They sell their art in cities hundreds of miles away from their villages. And without electricity--at home or on the road, they can only work during daylight hours. When it gets dark, they must stop whatever they're doing. Now, a team of scientists, designers, and architects is using new technologies to provide the Huichol with light after the sun sets. The scientists' technique involves weaving tiny electronic crystals intofabrics that can be made into clothes, bags, or other items. By collecting the sun's energy during the day, these lightweight fabrics provide bright white light at night. Their inventors have named the fabrics "Portable (轻便的) Lights. " Portable Lights have the potential to transform the lives of people without electricity around the world. At the core of Portable Lights technology are devices called high-brightness light-emitting diodes (高亮度发光二极管), or HB LEDs. These tiny lights appear in digital clocks, televisions, and streetlights. LEDs are completely different from the light bulbs (灯泡). Most of those glass bulbs belong to a type called incandescent lights (白炽灯). Inside, electricity heats a metal coil (线圈) to about 2, 200 degrees Celsius. At that temperature, bulbs give off light we can see. Ninety percent of energy produced by incandescent lights, however, is heat--and invisible. With all that wasted energy, bulbs burn out quickly. They are also easily broken. LEDs, on the other hand, are like tiny pieces of rock made up of molecules (分子) that are arranged in a crystal structure. When an electric current passes through an LED, the crystal structure produces light. Unlike incandescent bulbs, they can produce light of various colors. Within an LED, the type of molecules and their particular arrangement determines what color is produced.

单选题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 knots (节). An angry whale will 5 a ship. 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 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 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.

单选题 The Threat to Kiribati The people of Kiribati are afraid that one day in the not-too-distant future, their country will disappear from the face of the earth - literally, Several times this year, the Pacific island nation has been flooded by a sudden high tide. These tides, which swept across the island and destroyed houses, came when there was neither wind nor rain. "This never happened before," say the older citizens of Kiribati. What is causing these mysterious high tides? The answer may well be global warming. When fuels like oil and coal are being burned, pollutants (污染物) are released; these pollutants trap heat in the earth's atmosphere. Warmer temperatures cause water to expand and also create more water by melting glaciers (冰川) and polar (极地的) ice caps. If the trend continues, scientists say, many countries will suffer. Bangladesh, for example, might lose one-fifth of its land. The coral (珊瑚) island nations of the Pacific, like Kiribati and the Marshall Islands, however, would face an even worse fate - they would be swallowed by the sea. The loss of these coral islands would be everyone's loss. Coral formations are home to more species than any other place on earth. The people of these nations feel frustrated. The sea, on which their economies have always been based, is suddenly threatening their existence. They don't have the money for expensive technological solutions like seawalls. And they have no control over the pollutants, which are being released mainly by activities in large industrialized countries. All they can do is to hope that industrialized countries will take steps to reduce pollution.

单选题Twitter, the micro-blogging service used by tens of millions of people, went off-line last month. It blamed the trouble on a malicious programmer in Russia who was trying to shut down the account of a user in neighboring Georgia. It is astonishing the local actions of a small number of programmers can bring an entire Internet service to its knees, but that appears to have been the case. What seems to be a big problem for Internet services?A. A few programmers can break down an entire Internet service.B. There are too many malicious programmers attacking the Internet.C. There are so many users that the Internet cannot burden the load.D. The competition is so fierce that many websites have gone bankrupt.

单选题Sleepless at Night It was a normal summer night. Humidity (湿气) hung in the thick air. I couldn't go to sleep, partly because of my cold and partly because of my expectations for the next day. My mum had said that tomorrow was going to be a surprise. Sweat stuck to my aching body. Finally, I gathered enough strength to sit up. I looked out of my small window into the night. There was a big bright moon hanging in the sky, giving off a magic light. I couldn't stand the pressure anymore, so I did what I always do to make myself feel better. I went to the bathroom and picked up my toothbrush and toothpaste. I cleaned my teeth as if there was no tomorrow. Back and forth, up and down. Then I walked downstairs to look for some signs of movement, some life. Gladiator, my cat, frightened me as he meowed (喵喵地唱出) his sad song. He was on the old orange couch (长沙发), sitting up on his front legs, waiting for something to happen. He looked at me as if to say, "I'm lonely, pet me. I need a good hug (紧抱). " Even the couch begged me to sit on it. In one movement I settled down onto the soft couch. This couch represented my parents' marriage, my birth, and hundreds of other little events. As I held Gladiator, my heart started beating heavily. My mind was flooded with questions. What's life? Am I really alive? Are you listening to me? Every time I moved my hand down Gladiator's body, I had a new thought; each touch sang a different song. I forgot all about the heat and the next day's surprise. The atmosphere was so full of warmth and silence that I sank into its arms. Falling asleep with the big cat in my arms, I felt all my worries slowly move away.

单选题Not only do these high tech systems make life more relaxing, but they also do so at no extra cost of time or energy. Every one of these features is designed to be the most convenient to any lifestyle. If a person's favorite TV show is on the same night as the party of the year, then the mart house has already prepared to record it. The wired home can also save people from taking that extra trip to the grocery store by taking inventory of what is needed and making up a shopping list and ordering the food. A smart house can be controlled through a wall-mounted keyboard, a tele-command or even by voice. E-mail or voice mail can be checked from any TV or computer screen in the house because all screens are designed to be interchangeable and multipurpose. A smart house cannot be controlledA. through a computer keyboard.B. through a tele-command.C. by voice.C. through a big keyboard on the wall.

单选题He believes that Europe must change or it will {{U}}perish{{/U}}.

单选题Swallows nest in barns, sheds, chunneys and other secluded places. A. isolated B. high C. comfortable D. rural

单选题Car Thieves Could Be Stopped Remotely Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in a nasty surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer, and a radio signal from a control center miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine 1 , he will not be able to start it again. For now, such devices 2 only available for fleets of trucks and specialist vehicles used on construction sites. But remote immobilization technology could soon start to trickle down to ordinary cars, and 3 be available to ordinary cars in the UK 4 two months. The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car incorporates 5 miniature cellphone, a microprocessor and memory, and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. 6 the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the unit to block the vehicle"s engine management system and prevent the engine 7 restarted. There are even plans for immobilizers 8 shut down vehicles on the move, though there are fears over the safety implications of such a system. In the UK, an array of technical fixes is already making 9 harder for car thieves. "The pattern of vehicles crime has changed," says Martyn Randall of Thatcham, a security research organization based in Berkshire that is funded in part 10 the motor insurance industry. He says it would only take him a few minutes to 11 a novice how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools. But only if the car is more than 10 years old. Modem cars are a far tougher proposition, as their engine management computer will not 12 them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition key. In the UK, technologies like this 13 achieve a 31 percent drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997. But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars. Often by getting hold of the owner"s keys in a burglary. In 2000, 12 percent of vehicles stolen in the UK were taken by using the owner"s keys, which doubles the previous year"s figure. Remote-controlled immobilization system would 14 a major new obstacle in the criminal"s way by making such thefts pointless. A group that includes Thatcham, the police, insurance companies and security technology firms have developed standards for a system that could go on the market sooner than the 15 expects.

单选题The starving children were a {{U}}pathetic{{/U}} sight.

单选题A New Strategy to Overcome Breast Cancer Post-menopausal (绝经后的) women who walk for an hour a day can cut their chance of breast cancer significantly, a study has suggested. The report, which followed 73,000 women for 17 years, found walking for at least seven hours a week lowered the risk of the disease. The American Cancer Society team said this was the first time reduced risk was specifically linked to walking. UK experts said there was more evidence that lifestyle influenced cancer risk. A recent poll for the charity Ramblers found a quarter of adults walk for no more than an hour a week, but being active is known to reduce the risk of a number of cancers. This study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, followed 73,615 women out of 97,785 aged 50 -74 who had been recruited by the American Cancer Society between 1992 and 1993, so it could monitor the incidence of cancer in the group. They were asked to complete questionnaires on their health and on how much time they were active and participating in activities such as walking, swimming and aerobics (有氧运动) and how much time they spent sitting watching television or reading. They completed the same questionnaires at two-year intervals between 1997 and 2009. Of the women, 47% said walking was their only recreational activity. Those who walked for at least seven hours per week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer compared to those who walked three or fewer hours per week. Dr. Alpa Patel, a senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, who led the study, said: "Given that more than 60% of women report some daily walking, promoting walking as a healthy leisure-time activity could be an effective strategy for increasing physical activity amongst post-menopausal women. We were pleased to find that without any other recreational activity, just walking one hour a day was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer in these women." "More strenuous (紧张的) and longer activities lowered the risk even more." Baroness Delyth Morgan, chief executive of Breast Cancer Campaign, said: "This study adds further evidence that our lifestyle choices can play a part in influencing the risk of breast cancer and even small changes incorporated into our normal day-to-day activity can make a difference." She added: "We know that the best weapon to overcoming breast cancer is the ability to stop it occurring in the first place. The challenge now is how we turn these findings into action and identify other sustainable lifestyle changes that will help us prevent breast cancer."

单选题Archaeologists (考古学家) have discovered remains of million-year-old animals in excavations.

单选题You should have blended the butter with the sugar thoroughly A. spread B. mixed C. beaten D. covered

单选题The best title for the passage is _______.

单选题Numerous attempts have been made to hide the truth.A. ManyB. SuccessfulC. EffectiveD. Unsuccessful

单选题What happened when honey badgers got used to humans around them?

单选题Free Statins With Fast Food Could Neutralize Heart Risk Fast food outlets could provide statin drugs free of 1 so that customers can reduce the heart disease dangers of fatty food, researchers at Imperial College London 2 in a new study. Statins reduce the 3 of unhealthy "LDL" cholesterol in the blood. A wealth of trial data has proven them to be highly effective at 4 a person"s heart attack risk. In a paper published in the American Journal of Cardiology , Dr. Darrel Francis and colleagues calculate that the reduction in heart attack risk offered by a statin is 5 to offset the increase in heart attack risk from 6 a cheeseburger and drinking a milkshake. Dr. Francis, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, who is the senior author of the study, said, "Statins don"t cut out all of the 7 effects of cheeseburgers and French fries. It"s better to avoid fatty food altogether. But we"ve worked out that in terms of your 8 of having a heart attack, taking a statin can reduce your risk to more or less the same 9 as a fast food meal increases it." "It"s ironic that people are free to take as many unhealthy condiments in fast food outlets as they 10 , but statins, which are beneficial to heart health, have to be prescribed. It 11 sense to make risk-reducing stains available just as easily as the unhealthy condiments that are provided free of charge. It would cost less than 5 pence per 12 —not much different to a sachet of sugar," Dr. Francis said. When people engage in risky behaviours like driving or smoking, they"re encouraged to take 13 that lower their risk, like 14 a seatbelt or choosing cigarettes with filters. Taking a statin is a rational way of 15 some of the risks of eating a fatty meal.