DAY54
Reading comprehension
Direction： In this part， there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements， each with four suggested answers marked A， B， C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer.
Passage 1
Medicine does not always ease suffering. Sometimes its interventions are too heavyhanded， too insensitive to the individual case. The natural birth movement was， in part， a protest against medicine as it was practised in hospitals. It sprang from the belief that the experience of childbirth was being distorted， that doctors were transforming labor from a natural process into a medical condition. Advocates of natural childbirth lobbied for birth to be made simple again， for modern medicine to be a safety net that monitored， rather than controlled， a womans labor.
Side by side with this movement has been a recognition that our treatment of the dying， and，therefore， our experience of death， could also benefit from more simplicity and maybe less medicine. In the age， Peter Ellingsen wrote about three people in Melbournes inner northern suburbs who were dying of cancer. All were visited at home by a palliativecare nurse whose job was to help them， and their families， face death. This type of care is not， primarily， medical， nor is it religious.
Palliativecare nurses provide pain relief， but mostly their role is simply to listen to what dying people and those near to them have to say. The care acknowledges the feelings of confusion， loss and fear that are a part of death. It is an important job， and a tough one. Australians hate talking about dying， says Allan Kellehear， professor of palliative care at La Trobe University. Sociologist Lesley Fitzpatrick has surveyed images of death in Australian art and finds that， although death and loss are often pictured， dying is hardly ever seen. This almost invisible territory is the domain of the palliativecare nurse. Death sometimes comes slowly， and the terminally ill can be isolated because their dying can frighten those around them who are still well， Palliative care can be an important support for these people， although only about half of those eligible receive it. Professor Kellehear says medical specialists can resist referring people to palliative care， seeing it as a form of “giving up”。
As the advocates of natural childbirth argued， medicine is not only an impartial science； it is also a cultural construct. In a society that sees the role of medicine as prolonging life， death is often reduced to an incurable condition， an enemy？ According to this view， acceptance of death can be seen as gloomy fatalism rather than cleareyed realism.
These days， many people do not， and it may be that， as our religious faith has receded， so has our ability， as a society， to acknowledge death. As individuals， however， we have no choice. With or without faith， we must muddle along， finding meaning， or solace， how and when we can. Carole Arbuckle says： “A lot of dying people want to talk about what has kept them going. It can be religion， family， fast cars or fishing. Theres no dogma to it. Some see no meaning. Thats OK. I support that， too.”
These days， death is often abstracted. We see hundreds of cartoon and movie deaths， and we remember the war dead， but， somehow， these ubiquitous images bring us no closer to understanding what it means to die. We have few words for that understanding， and perhaps that is as it should be.
1. According to the first paragraph， the nature birth movement
A. should be cured as a kind of disease.B. should let it as original as it used to be.
C. should be practiced in hospital.D. should be eased by using medicine.
2. Palliativecare
A. isolates dying people.
B. means that nurses should listen to and talk with dying people.
C. helps dying people to face death.
D. is a kind of gloom fatalism.
3. Sociologist Lesley Fitzpatricks survey shows that
A. people should pay more attention to dying for this process is very terrible.
B. dying is always ignored intentionally.
C. Australian artists seldom concern dying.
D. art is far away from reality.
4. The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. explain the theoretic principle and the practice of Palliativecare.
B. introduce some new trend of thought about medicine.
C. appeal to people for facing the facts of life and death.
D. criticize the advocacy of using medicine to prolong life and simplify death.
5. What is the best title for this passage？
A. PalliativecareB. Facing life and death
C. Medicine useD. Pay more attention to dying people
Passage 2
They are Big Bertha and Tiny Tina a couple of piglets.
They may look and act differently （hence， their name）， but these oinkers are identical. They are the newest cloned animals from Texas A&M University， which with their births leads the academic pack in the number of species cloned. And the fact that animals with the exact same genes can be different sizes and have different character traits may be just the first of many things that scientists hope can be learned from these little pigs.
This latest cloning project — and the wealth of information scientists hope it will provide — is just one of the many such animalcloning experiments under way. Even as the humancloning debate has dominated headlines and congressional hearings， scientists， have cloned everything from mice to lambs to bulls.
And it is in the pens of these cloned animals — rather than the theoretical realm — where both the advances and problems of cloning are being played out.
After the 1996 birth of Dolly， the sheep， the first cloned animal， the technology has been galloping along， There are now cows and goats that produce more milk and tastier meat， bulls able to resist disease， and pigs that can act as organ donors.
And this is only the beginning， say cloning supporters. For instance， breeding diseaseresistant cows could save peoples lives in thirdworld countries. And by cloning endangered species， animals such as the Atwater prairie chicken and desert bighorn sheep could be saved from extinction.
“You could repopulate the world （with an endangered species） in a matter of a couple of years，” says scientist H.Richard Adams. “Cloning is not arrival pursuit……were trying to improve life for people here on earth.”
The school has come under criticism for its “Missyplicity” project， in which the owners of a dog are spending $3.7million to have the pet cloned.
In addition to such moral controversies， opponents say there are still too many physical problems associated with animal cloning， such as deformities and high death rates during gestation. A recent article published in the journal Science， for instance， noted that researchers have found that apparently normal cloned animals develop abnormalities later in life.
Studying questions such as the cognitive ability and behavior of clones is of major importance， but its hard to draw conclusions just yet， scientists say. There are simply not enough clones in the world to make valid comparisons.
That is why A&M scientists are so excited about their new piglets. Unlike cloned cattle and sheep， which produce only one offspring at a time， the litter or pigs provide scientists a chance to study several clones at once.
Consider for a moment that Bertha is roughly 40 percent larger and more aggressive than Tina， the nervous runt. Exact same genes， totally different animals.
“Were seeing some pretty drastic differences in the body weight and behavior，” says Jorge Piedrahita， who heads the pigcloning project at A&M. What that tells us is that small differences in environment can cause large differences in personality.
But with all that scientists are learning from cloning animals， many of those same scientists draw the line at cloning humans.
“We still dont know enough about cloning，” says James Womack， director of the center for Animal Biotechnology and Genomics at Texas A&M. It would be foolish to attempt it with our current state of knowledge.
For instance， there is still a very low success rate for cattle. And of the few cloned calves that even make it to birth， many dont live long.
“There is a lot of trial and error right now，” says Dr. Womack， “And as a society， we are not prepared for that error in human beings.”
1. “pen” in paragraph 4 means
A. instrument for writing with ink.B. writing.
C. poet or thinker.D. small piece of land surrounded by fence.
2. The passage suggests which of the following statements is NOT hold by cloning supporters？
A. Cloning can create new species.
B. Cloning can save lives for it is able to produce resist disease.
C. Cloning can increase the output of food.
D. Cloning can save people in poor countries for now cows and goats produce more milk and meat.
3. The aim of the new piglets experiment is
A. to find some new clones to make comparisons.
B. to improve clones that can be different even they have the same genes.
C. to study the cognitive ability and behaviors of clones.
D. to make the clone technology better so that more and more animals can be cloned.
4. According to the passage， why some scientists draw the line at cloning human？
A. Because it costs too much.
B. Because it will cause serious moral controversies.
C. Because the success rate is very low.
D. Because the skill of clone is not perfect now.
5. What is the authors view towards clone？
A. Optimistic B. Pessimistic C. NeutralD. Appreciate
Passage 3
Landing men on the moon captured the public imagination like few other events this century. It had less to do with science than with demonstrating superiority during the cold war， but the appeal of the adventure meant that the Russians， who retrieved lunar rock samples far more economically using robots， came off very much second best. No one has been back to the moon since the Apollo astronauts left in 1972 so the mission has retained its glamour.
Futurologists foresee a day when there are bases on the moon and were mining asteroids for their minerals. But whos to say what will happen？ We are now approaching 2001 and its no more like Arthur Clarkes vision than 1984 proved to be like Orwells people predicted space travel long ago but they didnt anticipate the internet.
Although putting people into orbit is now routine， traveling further is not. Most spacecraft are unmanned these days but missions are still unpredictable； a spacecraft was destroyed on the approach to Mars only last month.
Our sights are set on Mars because people still hope to find life there — not the movie directors idea of a Martian， but rather microscopic forms of life hidden beneath the surface to protect them from the cold. Another possible home to life is Jupiters moon， Europa， which seems to have slush beneath its ice crust that is kept warm by tides. But exploration is a long way off.
Using our nearspace environment is the aim for the foreseeable future. People are even setting up businesses to offer suborbital trips in space to rich members of the general public. The real excitement surrounds the international space station， which will be built over the next five or six years by countries working collaboratively on a spacecraft for the first time. It builds on the success of the space shuttle， which proved very flexible and allowed masses of scientific experiments in microgravity， and also in Mir， which told us a lot about the physical effects of longduration space flight. The Russians kept it going much longer than anyone expected — you were almost blasé about the latest crisis.
Beyond our own solar system， we will keep up the search for planets that might sustain life. We now know that stars other than our Sun have planets， but theres still a big difference between finding life and intelligent life. You can say “There are so many stars， some of them with planets， that some of those planets must be conducive to life？” But even if that were true， that life might have happened millions of years ago or be going to happen millions of years in the future. The prospects arent great.
What technology can do is to hang a receiver on a radio telescope to search for signals from space that might have been created artificially. Nothing much has been found so far， but its a search that has captured peoples imagination. In particular， theres SETI ［Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence］ at Home Based in California， this project parcels out data into manageable chunks and sends them over the internet to people with home computers happy to do some number crunching when their computer is idle. A million people are involved！
Can you imagine anything else but space able to generate participation like that？ Remember it could be you.
1. What is the authors attitude of landing man on the moon？
A. It is the result of the advance of science.
B. America masters higher technological skill than Russia.
C. Russian space skill is at least as good as American.
D. For landing man costs too much， it is actually a response to the national competition.
2. Which of the following statements is true？
A. Traveling in space is beyond human beings control.
B. Futurologists words are reasonable and convincing.
C. Anticipating space travel is much easier than to predict internet.
D. The author believes that people can base on the moon and were mining asteroids for their minerals.
3. Which of the following statements is ture？
A. People hope to find humanlike life on Mars.
B. There is some slush beneath the ice crust on Europa.
C. Scientists now have found life on Mars.
D. It is a long time before we can explore the slush on the Europa.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. there is a big difference between finding life and intelligent life.
B. life can only be found on plants.
C. a million people are involved in the SETI.
D. there is a kind of receiver which can search for signals that might be created artificially.
5. What is the main idea of this essay？
A. International competition.
B. Searching for new life on other plants.
C. Space exploration.
D. Using space environment.
Passage 4
It's hard to miss them： the epitome of casual geek chic and organized within the warranty of their Palm Pilots， they sip labourintensive coffee， chat on sleek cellphones and ponder the road to enlightenment. In the US they worry about the environment as they drive their gas guzzling sports utility vehicles to emporiums of haute design to buy a $50 titanium spatula； they think about their tech stocks as they explore speciality shops for Tibetan artifacts in Everest worthy hiking boots. They think nothing of laying out $5 for a wheatgrass muff， much less $500 for some alternative rejuvenation at the dayspabut dont talk about raising their taxes.
They are Bourgeois Bohemians — or Books — and theyre the new enlightened elite of the information age， their lucratively busy lives， a seeming synthesis of comfort and conscience， corporate success and creative rebellion. Welleducated thirtytoforty some things， they have forged a new social ethos from a logicdefying fusion of 1960s counterculture and 1980s entrepreneurial materialism.
Combining the freespirited， artistic rebelliousness of the Bohemian beatnik or hippie with the worldly ambitions of their bourgeois corporate forefathers， the Bobo is a comfortable contortion of caring capitalism. Its not about making money， its about doing something you love. Life should be an extended hobby. Its all about working for a company as cool as you are.
It is a world inhabited by dotcom millionaires， management consultants， “culture industry” entrepreneurs and all manner of media folk， most earning upwards of $100，000 a year — their money an incidental byproduct of their maverick mores， the kind of money， they happen to earn while they are pursuing their creative vision. Often sporting such unconventional job titles as “creative paradox”， “corporate jester” or “l(fā)earning person”。 Bobos work with a monklike selfdiscipline because they view their jobs as intellectual， even spiritual. It is a reverse the Midas touch： everything a Bobo touches turns to spirituality； everything has to be about enlightenment. Even their jobs are a mission to improve the world.
It is now impossible to tell an espressosipping artist from a cappuccinogulping banker， but it isnt just a matter of style. If you investigate peoples attitudes towards sex， morality， leisure time and work， it is getting harder and harder to separate the antiestablishment renegade from the proestablishment company man. Most people seemed to have rebel attitudes and social climbing attitudes all scrambled together.
These Bobos are just normal middleclass people who are living out a protracted adolescence. Their political interests are either “intensely close and personal”（abortion or gun control）， or very remote （the rainforests， Tibet or Third World poverty.） But they will most likely express their conscience in their consumerism， relieved to be helping someone somewhere by collecting the hand carved artifacts of distant cultures.
Motivated by spiritual participation， by cautious of moral crusades and religious enthusiasms， they tolerate a little lifestyle experimentation so long as it is done safely and moderately. They are offended by concrete wrongs， such as cruelty and racial injustice， but are relatively unmoved by lies or transgressions that dont seem to do anyone any obvious harm.
It is an elite that has been raised to oppose elites. They are by instinct antiestablishmentarian， yet in some sense they have become a new establishment. They are prosperous without seeming greedy； they have pleased their elders， without seeming conformists； they have risen toward the top without too obviously looking down on those below.
While bemoaning the Bobos boring politics， the Bobos are an elite superior to their intolerant and warring predecessors — theyre certainly made shopping more fun， and they have a good morality for building a decent society.
1. According to paragraph 1， which of the following statements is NOT true？
A. Bobos are not rich enough for they are afraid of raising taxes.
B. Bobos like to buy the things they like， but never care about how much it cost.
C. Bobos are leading extravagance lives.
D. Bobos like fusion and adventures.
2. “welleducated thirtytoforty some things， they have forged a new social ethos from a logicdefying fusion of 1960s counterculture and 1980s entrepreneurial materialism.” Which of the comprehensions is correct？
A. They advocate a kind of culture that is opposite to mainstream culture.
B. They hanker after the practicalism.
C. They are the combination of both A & B.
D. They are the combination of the contradiction of A & B.
3. Which of the following statements is NOT true？
A. Bobos maintain a maverick mores of money.
B. Bobos are living for work.
C. There are more and more differences between Bobos and traditional company man.
D. Bobos live as if they were teenagers.
4. What is not the authors attitude towards Bobos？
A. They do not pay attention to current political events.
B. They are moral crusade and religious enthusiasms.
C. They are becoming a new standard of the society.
D. They hold a moderate way of treating people.
5. Which of the following words can best describe the authors attitude towards the Bobos.
A. Neutral B. Against C. Appreciate D. Vague
Keys and notes for the passage reading：
Passage 1
通過介紹醫(yī)療進(jìn)步、姑息療法以及人們現(xiàn)在對生死的態(tài)度，來說明現(xiàn)代社會人們更應(yīng)該保持正確的生死觀。
It sprang from the belief that the experience of childbirth was being distorted， that doctors were transforming labor from a natural process into a medical condition.（自然分娩在醫(yī)院進(jìn)行，在某種程度上是對藥物的一種*）持這種想法的人認(rèn)為分娩過程正在被扭曲，醫(yī)生們正在把自然分娩當(dāng)成病來治。
1. 「B」從第一段可看出作者是反對過多地使用藥物的。他提倡的是一種自然的分娩方式。
2. 「C」Palliativecare （姑息療法）是承認(rèn)混亂、失落和恐懼是死亡的一部分。它以找人傾聽、說話的方式來讓將死的病人面對死亡，認(rèn)識死亡，減輕恐懼。B項是姑息療法的方式，其目的是C項的內(nèi)容。
3. 「C」以Lesley Fitzpatrick的調(diào)查來支持澳大利亞人不喜歡談?wù)撍劳龅挠^點。因為死亡過程緩慢，讓人害怕，而作者在此文中的觀點是要引起人們對死亡過程的重視，直面生死。
4. 「C」此題是主旨題，全文提及了藥物的過多使用，人們對死亡過程的忽視，以及現(xiàn)代社會對死亡的簡化、對宗教信仰的淡化，由此指出現(xiàn)代社會需要直面生死。
5. 「C」Passage 2
作者從兩只克隆豬的實驗說起，引出對現(xiàn)代克隆技術(shù)優(yōu)劣的爭論和發(fā)展?fàn)顩r的探討，同時也表達(dá)了對克隆人的看法。
Studying questions such as the cognitive ability and behavior of clones is of major importance， but its hard to draw conclusions just yet， scientists say. There are simply not enough clones in the world to make valid comparisons.研究克隆動物的認(rèn)知能力和行為等這樣的問題很重要，但是科學(xué)家們說目前還很難得出結(jié)論。世界上還根本沒有足夠的克隆動物用來進(jìn)行有效的比較。
1. 「D」此處的pen是“圍欄”的意思。
2. 「D」D項中對原因的解釋有誤，克隆后的動物肉奶產(chǎn)量增加對解決第三世界人民的食物短缺問題沒有直接幫助?？寺〖夹g(shù)多在發(fā)達(dá)國家時興。
3. 「C」因為研究克隆動物的認(rèn)知能力和行為是非常重要的?？寺∝i給科學(xué)家們提供了一個同時研究數(shù)個克隆動物的機(jī)會。A、B項中的比較、證明是為C服務(wù)的，C是真正的目的。
4. 「D」從文章后三段可以看出文章中科學(xué)家反對克隆人的原因在于克隆技術(shù)目前還不精確?！白鳛橐粋€社會，我們還無法接受這樣的錯誤發(fā)生在人類身上”。
5. 「C」對于克隆問題，作者始終站在一個敘述者的角度來向讀者介紹它的現(xiàn)狀、發(fā)展以及前景，并沒有明確地表達(dá)自己的觀點。
Passage 3
文章以阿波羅登月為引子，敘述了此后人類探索太空的進(jìn)程。尋找生命、建立空間站都是當(dāng)前太空探索的主要課題。
1. but the appeal of the adventure meant that the Russians， who retrieved lunar rock samples far more economically using robots， came off very much second best. No one has been back to the moon since the Apollo astronauts left in 1972，so the mission has retained its glamour.然而登月探險對世人產(chǎn)生的強(qiáng)大吸引力導(dǎo)致了俄羅斯人在太空角逐中屈居第二，盡管他們使用機(jī)器人采集月球巖石標(biāo)本要經(jīng)濟(jì)得多。自從1972 年阿波羅號宇航員登月之后，就再沒有人登上月球，因此那次月球之旅一直魅力不減。
2. Another possible home to life is Jupiters moon， Europa， which seems to have slush beneath its ice crust that is kept warm by tides. But exploration is a long way off. 另一處可能有生命的地方是木星的衛(wèi)星，名叫歐羅巴，其冰殼下似乎有靠潮汐保暖的軟冰，但是探索它還是遙遠(yuǎn)的事情。
1. 「D」文章第一段中說道：“（人類登月）與其說與科學(xué)有關(guān)，不如說與冷戰(zhàn)時期超級大國展示各自的優(yōu)勢有關(guān)”。
2. 「A」作者對所謂未來學(xué)家的預(yù)見持懷疑態(tài)度，并以因特網(wǎng)為例加以說明，他們的預(yù)言可信度不高。第三段中的太空船爆炸說明現(xiàn)在“航行任務(wù)的成敗依然無法預(yù)料”。
3. 「D」“我們關(guān)注火星是仍希望在上面找到生命——并非電影中的火星人，而是用顯微鏡才能看到的生命形態(tài)”，“歐羅巴的冰殼下似乎有靠潮汐保暖的軟冰”。
4. 「B」其余三項都是文中直接提到的內(nèi)容，與題干中推測的要求不符。
5. 「C」其余各項都是C項的分支。
Passage 4
文章敘述了現(xiàn)代波波族（中產(chǎn)階級追求物質(zhì)享受，反世俗文化的人）的生活方式、思想形態(tài)，以及他們的價值觀念。
1. theyre the new enlightened elite of the information age， their lucratively busy lives， a seeming synthesis of comfort and conscience， corporate success and creative rebellion. 他們是信息時代新興的“知識型精英”，他們富足而又繁忙的生活是舒適享受與道德良知、事業(yè)成功和創(chuàng)新叛逆的接合體。
2. Welleducated thirtytoforty some things， they have forged a new social ethos from a logicdefying fusion of 1960s counterculture and 1980s entrepreneurial materialism.這些三四十歲，受過良好教育的人將20世紀(jì)60年代的反文化和80年代的實利主義這兩種邏輯上互相抵觸的東西融合成一種新的社會精神特質(zhì)。
1. 「A」波波族是高收入的人群，他們之所以害怕增稅是因為高收入讓他們在增稅上的損失大于他們的消費(fèi)開支。
2. 「D」文中提到“這些三四十歲，受過良好教育的人將20世紀(jì)60年代的反文化和80年代的實利主義這兩種邏輯上互相抵觸的東西融合成一種新的社會精神特質(zhì)?！?BR> 3. 「C」文中提到波波族對于金錢持有一種不合常規(guī)的態(tài)度，而且他們認(rèn)為“（工作）不是為了賺錢，而是做自己喜歡的事情”，文章同時也提到現(xiàn)在越來越難區(qū)分叛逆者和傳統(tǒng)企業(yè)人士。
4. 「B」文中明確地說道：波波族“惟恐自己變成道德的圣斗士和狂熱的宗教信徒”，“他們會嘗試一些安全而適度的生活方式”。
5. 「C」從文章的后一段可以看出，作者對于波波族是抱欣賞態(tài)度的——“他們對于建設(shè)美好社會有一套很好的道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”。
Reading comprehension
Direction： In this part， there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements， each with four suggested answers marked A， B， C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer.
Passage 1
Medicine does not always ease suffering. Sometimes its interventions are too heavyhanded， too insensitive to the individual case. The natural birth movement was， in part， a protest against medicine as it was practised in hospitals. It sprang from the belief that the experience of childbirth was being distorted， that doctors were transforming labor from a natural process into a medical condition. Advocates of natural childbirth lobbied for birth to be made simple again， for modern medicine to be a safety net that monitored， rather than controlled， a womans labor.
Side by side with this movement has been a recognition that our treatment of the dying， and，therefore， our experience of death， could also benefit from more simplicity and maybe less medicine. In the age， Peter Ellingsen wrote about three people in Melbournes inner northern suburbs who were dying of cancer. All were visited at home by a palliativecare nurse whose job was to help them， and their families， face death. This type of care is not， primarily， medical， nor is it religious.
Palliativecare nurses provide pain relief， but mostly their role is simply to listen to what dying people and those near to them have to say. The care acknowledges the feelings of confusion， loss and fear that are a part of death. It is an important job， and a tough one. Australians hate talking about dying， says Allan Kellehear， professor of palliative care at La Trobe University. Sociologist Lesley Fitzpatrick has surveyed images of death in Australian art and finds that， although death and loss are often pictured， dying is hardly ever seen. This almost invisible territory is the domain of the palliativecare nurse. Death sometimes comes slowly， and the terminally ill can be isolated because their dying can frighten those around them who are still well， Palliative care can be an important support for these people， although only about half of those eligible receive it. Professor Kellehear says medical specialists can resist referring people to palliative care， seeing it as a form of “giving up”。
As the advocates of natural childbirth argued， medicine is not only an impartial science； it is also a cultural construct. In a society that sees the role of medicine as prolonging life， death is often reduced to an incurable condition， an enemy？ According to this view， acceptance of death can be seen as gloomy fatalism rather than cleareyed realism.
These days， many people do not， and it may be that， as our religious faith has receded， so has our ability， as a society， to acknowledge death. As individuals， however， we have no choice. With or without faith， we must muddle along， finding meaning， or solace， how and when we can. Carole Arbuckle says： “A lot of dying people want to talk about what has kept them going. It can be religion， family， fast cars or fishing. Theres no dogma to it. Some see no meaning. Thats OK. I support that， too.”
These days， death is often abstracted. We see hundreds of cartoon and movie deaths， and we remember the war dead， but， somehow， these ubiquitous images bring us no closer to understanding what it means to die. We have few words for that understanding， and perhaps that is as it should be.
1. According to the first paragraph， the nature birth movement
A. should be cured as a kind of disease.B. should let it as original as it used to be.
C. should be practiced in hospital.D. should be eased by using medicine.
2. Palliativecare
A. isolates dying people.
B. means that nurses should listen to and talk with dying people.
C. helps dying people to face death.
D. is a kind of gloom fatalism.
3. Sociologist Lesley Fitzpatricks survey shows that
A. people should pay more attention to dying for this process is very terrible.
B. dying is always ignored intentionally.
C. Australian artists seldom concern dying.
D. art is far away from reality.
4. The primary purpose of the passage is to
A. explain the theoretic principle and the practice of Palliativecare.
B. introduce some new trend of thought about medicine.
C. appeal to people for facing the facts of life and death.
D. criticize the advocacy of using medicine to prolong life and simplify death.
5. What is the best title for this passage？
A. PalliativecareB. Facing life and death
C. Medicine useD. Pay more attention to dying people
Passage 2
They are Big Bertha and Tiny Tina a couple of piglets.
They may look and act differently （hence， their name）， but these oinkers are identical. They are the newest cloned animals from Texas A&M University， which with their births leads the academic pack in the number of species cloned. And the fact that animals with the exact same genes can be different sizes and have different character traits may be just the first of many things that scientists hope can be learned from these little pigs.
This latest cloning project — and the wealth of information scientists hope it will provide — is just one of the many such animalcloning experiments under way. Even as the humancloning debate has dominated headlines and congressional hearings， scientists， have cloned everything from mice to lambs to bulls.
And it is in the pens of these cloned animals — rather than the theoretical realm — where both the advances and problems of cloning are being played out.
After the 1996 birth of Dolly， the sheep， the first cloned animal， the technology has been galloping along， There are now cows and goats that produce more milk and tastier meat， bulls able to resist disease， and pigs that can act as organ donors.
And this is only the beginning， say cloning supporters. For instance， breeding diseaseresistant cows could save peoples lives in thirdworld countries. And by cloning endangered species， animals such as the Atwater prairie chicken and desert bighorn sheep could be saved from extinction.
“You could repopulate the world （with an endangered species） in a matter of a couple of years，” says scientist H.Richard Adams. “Cloning is not arrival pursuit……were trying to improve life for people here on earth.”
The school has come under criticism for its “Missyplicity” project， in which the owners of a dog are spending $3.7million to have the pet cloned.
In addition to such moral controversies， opponents say there are still too many physical problems associated with animal cloning， such as deformities and high death rates during gestation. A recent article published in the journal Science， for instance， noted that researchers have found that apparently normal cloned animals develop abnormalities later in life.
Studying questions such as the cognitive ability and behavior of clones is of major importance， but its hard to draw conclusions just yet， scientists say. There are simply not enough clones in the world to make valid comparisons.
That is why A&M scientists are so excited about their new piglets. Unlike cloned cattle and sheep， which produce only one offspring at a time， the litter or pigs provide scientists a chance to study several clones at once.
Consider for a moment that Bertha is roughly 40 percent larger and more aggressive than Tina， the nervous runt. Exact same genes， totally different animals.
“Were seeing some pretty drastic differences in the body weight and behavior，” says Jorge Piedrahita， who heads the pigcloning project at A&M. What that tells us is that small differences in environment can cause large differences in personality.
But with all that scientists are learning from cloning animals， many of those same scientists draw the line at cloning humans.
“We still dont know enough about cloning，” says James Womack， director of the center for Animal Biotechnology and Genomics at Texas A&M. It would be foolish to attempt it with our current state of knowledge.
For instance， there is still a very low success rate for cattle. And of the few cloned calves that even make it to birth， many dont live long.
“There is a lot of trial and error right now，” says Dr. Womack， “And as a society， we are not prepared for that error in human beings.”
1. “pen” in paragraph 4 means
A. instrument for writing with ink.B. writing.
C. poet or thinker.D. small piece of land surrounded by fence.
2. The passage suggests which of the following statements is NOT hold by cloning supporters？
A. Cloning can create new species.
B. Cloning can save lives for it is able to produce resist disease.
C. Cloning can increase the output of food.
D. Cloning can save people in poor countries for now cows and goats produce more milk and meat.
3. The aim of the new piglets experiment is
A. to find some new clones to make comparisons.
B. to improve clones that can be different even they have the same genes.
C. to study the cognitive ability and behaviors of clones.
D. to make the clone technology better so that more and more animals can be cloned.
4. According to the passage， why some scientists draw the line at cloning human？
A. Because it costs too much.
B. Because it will cause serious moral controversies.
C. Because the success rate is very low.
D. Because the skill of clone is not perfect now.
5. What is the authors view towards clone？
A. Optimistic B. Pessimistic C. NeutralD. Appreciate
Passage 3
Landing men on the moon captured the public imagination like few other events this century. It had less to do with science than with demonstrating superiority during the cold war， but the appeal of the adventure meant that the Russians， who retrieved lunar rock samples far more economically using robots， came off very much second best. No one has been back to the moon since the Apollo astronauts left in 1972 so the mission has retained its glamour.
Futurologists foresee a day when there are bases on the moon and were mining asteroids for their minerals. But whos to say what will happen？ We are now approaching 2001 and its no more like Arthur Clarkes vision than 1984 proved to be like Orwells people predicted space travel long ago but they didnt anticipate the internet.
Although putting people into orbit is now routine， traveling further is not. Most spacecraft are unmanned these days but missions are still unpredictable； a spacecraft was destroyed on the approach to Mars only last month.
Our sights are set on Mars because people still hope to find life there — not the movie directors idea of a Martian， but rather microscopic forms of life hidden beneath the surface to protect them from the cold. Another possible home to life is Jupiters moon， Europa， which seems to have slush beneath its ice crust that is kept warm by tides. But exploration is a long way off.
Using our nearspace environment is the aim for the foreseeable future. People are even setting up businesses to offer suborbital trips in space to rich members of the general public. The real excitement surrounds the international space station， which will be built over the next five or six years by countries working collaboratively on a spacecraft for the first time. It builds on the success of the space shuttle， which proved very flexible and allowed masses of scientific experiments in microgravity， and also in Mir， which told us a lot about the physical effects of longduration space flight. The Russians kept it going much longer than anyone expected — you were almost blasé about the latest crisis.
Beyond our own solar system， we will keep up the search for planets that might sustain life. We now know that stars other than our Sun have planets， but theres still a big difference between finding life and intelligent life. You can say “There are so many stars， some of them with planets， that some of those planets must be conducive to life？” But even if that were true， that life might have happened millions of years ago or be going to happen millions of years in the future. The prospects arent great.
What technology can do is to hang a receiver on a radio telescope to search for signals from space that might have been created artificially. Nothing much has been found so far， but its a search that has captured peoples imagination. In particular， theres SETI ［Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence］ at Home Based in California， this project parcels out data into manageable chunks and sends them over the internet to people with home computers happy to do some number crunching when their computer is idle. A million people are involved！
Can you imagine anything else but space able to generate participation like that？ Remember it could be you.
1. What is the authors attitude of landing man on the moon？
A. It is the result of the advance of science.
B. America masters higher technological skill than Russia.
C. Russian space skill is at least as good as American.
D. For landing man costs too much， it is actually a response to the national competition.
2. Which of the following statements is true？
A. Traveling in space is beyond human beings control.
B. Futurologists words are reasonable and convincing.
C. Anticipating space travel is much easier than to predict internet.
D. The author believes that people can base on the moon and were mining asteroids for their minerals.
3. Which of the following statements is ture？
A. People hope to find humanlike life on Mars.
B. There is some slush beneath the ice crust on Europa.
C. Scientists now have found life on Mars.
D. It is a long time before we can explore the slush on the Europa.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. there is a big difference between finding life and intelligent life.
B. life can only be found on plants.
C. a million people are involved in the SETI.
D. there is a kind of receiver which can search for signals that might be created artificially.
5. What is the main idea of this essay？
A. International competition.
B. Searching for new life on other plants.
C. Space exploration.
D. Using space environment.
Passage 4
It's hard to miss them： the epitome of casual geek chic and organized within the warranty of their Palm Pilots， they sip labourintensive coffee， chat on sleek cellphones and ponder the road to enlightenment. In the US they worry about the environment as they drive their gas guzzling sports utility vehicles to emporiums of haute design to buy a $50 titanium spatula； they think about their tech stocks as they explore speciality shops for Tibetan artifacts in Everest worthy hiking boots. They think nothing of laying out $5 for a wheatgrass muff， much less $500 for some alternative rejuvenation at the dayspabut dont talk about raising their taxes.
They are Bourgeois Bohemians — or Books — and theyre the new enlightened elite of the information age， their lucratively busy lives， a seeming synthesis of comfort and conscience， corporate success and creative rebellion. Welleducated thirtytoforty some things， they have forged a new social ethos from a logicdefying fusion of 1960s counterculture and 1980s entrepreneurial materialism.
Combining the freespirited， artistic rebelliousness of the Bohemian beatnik or hippie with the worldly ambitions of their bourgeois corporate forefathers， the Bobo is a comfortable contortion of caring capitalism. Its not about making money， its about doing something you love. Life should be an extended hobby. Its all about working for a company as cool as you are.
It is a world inhabited by dotcom millionaires， management consultants， “culture industry” entrepreneurs and all manner of media folk， most earning upwards of $100，000 a year — their money an incidental byproduct of their maverick mores， the kind of money， they happen to earn while they are pursuing their creative vision. Often sporting such unconventional job titles as “creative paradox”， “corporate jester” or “l(fā)earning person”。 Bobos work with a monklike selfdiscipline because they view their jobs as intellectual， even spiritual. It is a reverse the Midas touch： everything a Bobo touches turns to spirituality； everything has to be about enlightenment. Even their jobs are a mission to improve the world.
It is now impossible to tell an espressosipping artist from a cappuccinogulping banker， but it isnt just a matter of style. If you investigate peoples attitudes towards sex， morality， leisure time and work， it is getting harder and harder to separate the antiestablishment renegade from the proestablishment company man. Most people seemed to have rebel attitudes and social climbing attitudes all scrambled together.
These Bobos are just normal middleclass people who are living out a protracted adolescence. Their political interests are either “intensely close and personal”（abortion or gun control）， or very remote （the rainforests， Tibet or Third World poverty.） But they will most likely express their conscience in their consumerism， relieved to be helping someone somewhere by collecting the hand carved artifacts of distant cultures.
Motivated by spiritual participation， by cautious of moral crusades and religious enthusiasms， they tolerate a little lifestyle experimentation so long as it is done safely and moderately. They are offended by concrete wrongs， such as cruelty and racial injustice， but are relatively unmoved by lies or transgressions that dont seem to do anyone any obvious harm.
It is an elite that has been raised to oppose elites. They are by instinct antiestablishmentarian， yet in some sense they have become a new establishment. They are prosperous without seeming greedy； they have pleased their elders， without seeming conformists； they have risen toward the top without too obviously looking down on those below.
While bemoaning the Bobos boring politics， the Bobos are an elite superior to their intolerant and warring predecessors — theyre certainly made shopping more fun， and they have a good morality for building a decent society.
1. According to paragraph 1， which of the following statements is NOT true？
A. Bobos are not rich enough for they are afraid of raising taxes.
B. Bobos like to buy the things they like， but never care about how much it cost.
C. Bobos are leading extravagance lives.
D. Bobos like fusion and adventures.
2. “welleducated thirtytoforty some things， they have forged a new social ethos from a logicdefying fusion of 1960s counterculture and 1980s entrepreneurial materialism.” Which of the comprehensions is correct？
A. They advocate a kind of culture that is opposite to mainstream culture.
B. They hanker after the practicalism.
C. They are the combination of both A & B.
D. They are the combination of the contradiction of A & B.
3. Which of the following statements is NOT true？
A. Bobos maintain a maverick mores of money.
B. Bobos are living for work.
C. There are more and more differences between Bobos and traditional company man.
D. Bobos live as if they were teenagers.
4. What is not the authors attitude towards Bobos？
A. They do not pay attention to current political events.
B. They are moral crusade and religious enthusiasms.
C. They are becoming a new standard of the society.
D. They hold a moderate way of treating people.
5. Which of the following words can best describe the authors attitude towards the Bobos.
A. Neutral B. Against C. Appreciate D. Vague
Keys and notes for the passage reading：
Passage 1
通過介紹醫(yī)療進(jìn)步、姑息療法以及人們現(xiàn)在對生死的態(tài)度，來說明現(xiàn)代社會人們更應(yīng)該保持正確的生死觀。
It sprang from the belief that the experience of childbirth was being distorted， that doctors were transforming labor from a natural process into a medical condition.（自然分娩在醫(yī)院進(jìn)行，在某種程度上是對藥物的一種*）持這種想法的人認(rèn)為分娩過程正在被扭曲，醫(yī)生們正在把自然分娩當(dāng)成病來治。
1. 「B」從第一段可看出作者是反對過多地使用藥物的。他提倡的是一種自然的分娩方式。
2. 「C」Palliativecare （姑息療法）是承認(rèn)混亂、失落和恐懼是死亡的一部分。它以找人傾聽、說話的方式來讓將死的病人面對死亡，認(rèn)識死亡，減輕恐懼。B項是姑息療法的方式，其目的是C項的內(nèi)容。
3. 「C」以Lesley Fitzpatrick的調(diào)查來支持澳大利亞人不喜歡談?wù)撍劳龅挠^點。因為死亡過程緩慢，讓人害怕，而作者在此文中的觀點是要引起人們對死亡過程的重視，直面生死。
4. 「C」此題是主旨題，全文提及了藥物的過多使用，人們對死亡過程的忽視，以及現(xiàn)代社會對死亡的簡化、對宗教信仰的淡化，由此指出現(xiàn)代社會需要直面生死。
5. 「C」Passage 2
作者從兩只克隆豬的實驗說起，引出對現(xiàn)代克隆技術(shù)優(yōu)劣的爭論和發(fā)展?fàn)顩r的探討，同時也表達(dá)了對克隆人的看法。
Studying questions such as the cognitive ability and behavior of clones is of major importance， but its hard to draw conclusions just yet， scientists say. There are simply not enough clones in the world to make valid comparisons.研究克隆動物的認(rèn)知能力和行為等這樣的問題很重要，但是科學(xué)家們說目前還很難得出結(jié)論。世界上還根本沒有足夠的克隆動物用來進(jìn)行有效的比較。
1. 「D」此處的pen是“圍欄”的意思。
2. 「D」D項中對原因的解釋有誤，克隆后的動物肉奶產(chǎn)量增加對解決第三世界人民的食物短缺問題沒有直接幫助?？寺〖夹g(shù)多在發(fā)達(dá)國家時興。
3. 「C」因為研究克隆動物的認(rèn)知能力和行為是非常重要的?？寺∝i給科學(xué)家們提供了一個同時研究數(shù)個克隆動物的機(jī)會。A、B項中的比較、證明是為C服務(wù)的，C是真正的目的。
4. 「D」從文章后三段可以看出文章中科學(xué)家反對克隆人的原因在于克隆技術(shù)目前還不精確?！白鳛橐粋€社會，我們還無法接受這樣的錯誤發(fā)生在人類身上”。
5. 「C」對于克隆問題，作者始終站在一個敘述者的角度來向讀者介紹它的現(xiàn)狀、發(fā)展以及前景，并沒有明確地表達(dá)自己的觀點。
Passage 3
文章以阿波羅登月為引子，敘述了此后人類探索太空的進(jìn)程。尋找生命、建立空間站都是當(dāng)前太空探索的主要課題。
1. but the appeal of the adventure meant that the Russians， who retrieved lunar rock samples far more economically using robots， came off very much second best. No one has been back to the moon since the Apollo astronauts left in 1972，so the mission has retained its glamour.然而登月探險對世人產(chǎn)生的強(qiáng)大吸引力導(dǎo)致了俄羅斯人在太空角逐中屈居第二，盡管他們使用機(jī)器人采集月球巖石標(biāo)本要經(jīng)濟(jì)得多。自從1972 年阿波羅號宇航員登月之后，就再沒有人登上月球，因此那次月球之旅一直魅力不減。
2. Another possible home to life is Jupiters moon， Europa， which seems to have slush beneath its ice crust that is kept warm by tides. But exploration is a long way off. 另一處可能有生命的地方是木星的衛(wèi)星，名叫歐羅巴，其冰殼下似乎有靠潮汐保暖的軟冰，但是探索它還是遙遠(yuǎn)的事情。
1. 「D」文章第一段中說道：“（人類登月）與其說與科學(xué)有關(guān)，不如說與冷戰(zhàn)時期超級大國展示各自的優(yōu)勢有關(guān)”。
2. 「A」作者對所謂未來學(xué)家的預(yù)見持懷疑態(tài)度，并以因特網(wǎng)為例加以說明，他們的預(yù)言可信度不高。第三段中的太空船爆炸說明現(xiàn)在“航行任務(wù)的成敗依然無法預(yù)料”。
3. 「D」“我們關(guān)注火星是仍希望在上面找到生命——并非電影中的火星人，而是用顯微鏡才能看到的生命形態(tài)”，“歐羅巴的冰殼下似乎有靠潮汐保暖的軟冰”。
4. 「B」其余三項都是文中直接提到的內(nèi)容，與題干中推測的要求不符。
5. 「C」其余各項都是C項的分支。
Passage 4
文章敘述了現(xiàn)代波波族（中產(chǎn)階級追求物質(zhì)享受，反世俗文化的人）的生活方式、思想形態(tài)，以及他們的價值觀念。
1. theyre the new enlightened elite of the information age， their lucratively busy lives， a seeming synthesis of comfort and conscience， corporate success and creative rebellion. 他們是信息時代新興的“知識型精英”，他們富足而又繁忙的生活是舒適享受與道德良知、事業(yè)成功和創(chuàng)新叛逆的接合體。
2. Welleducated thirtytoforty some things， they have forged a new social ethos from a logicdefying fusion of 1960s counterculture and 1980s entrepreneurial materialism.這些三四十歲，受過良好教育的人將20世紀(jì)60年代的反文化和80年代的實利主義這兩種邏輯上互相抵觸的東西融合成一種新的社會精神特質(zhì)。
1. 「A」波波族是高收入的人群，他們之所以害怕增稅是因為高收入讓他們在增稅上的損失大于他們的消費(fèi)開支。
2. 「D」文中提到“這些三四十歲，受過良好教育的人將20世紀(jì)60年代的反文化和80年代的實利主義這兩種邏輯上互相抵觸的東西融合成一種新的社會精神特質(zhì)?！?BR> 3. 「C」文中提到波波族對于金錢持有一種不合常規(guī)的態(tài)度，而且他們認(rèn)為“（工作）不是為了賺錢，而是做自己喜歡的事情”，文章同時也提到現(xiàn)在越來越難區(qū)分叛逆者和傳統(tǒng)企業(yè)人士。
4. 「B」文中明確地說道：波波族“惟恐自己變成道德的圣斗士和狂熱的宗教信徒”，“他們會嘗試一些安全而適度的生活方式”。
5. 「C」從文章的后一段可以看出，作者對于波波族是抱欣賞態(tài)度的——“他們對于建設(shè)美好社會有一套很好的道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)”。