Every baby born a decade from now will have its genetic code (基因编码) mapped at birth, the head of the worlds’ leading genome sequencing (基因图谱) company has predicted.
A complete DNA read – out for every newborn will be technically possible and affordable in less than five years, promising a revolution in healthcare, says Jay Flatley, the chief executive of Illumina. Only social and legal problems are likely to delay the age of “genome sequences,” or genetic profiles. By 2019 it will have become routine to map infants’ genes when they are born, Dr Flatly told The Times.
This will open a new approach to medicine, by which conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease can be predicted and prevented and drugs used more safely and effectively.
A baby’s genome can be discovered at birth by a blood test. By examining a person’s genome, it is possible to identify raised risks of developing diseases such as cancers. Those at high risk can then he screened more regularly, or given drugs or dietary advice to lower their chances of becoming ill.
Personal genomes could also he used to ensure that patients get the medicine that is most likely to work for them and least likely to have side – effects.
The development, however, will raise legal concerns about privacy and access to individuals’ genetic records.
“Bad things can be done with the genome. It could predict something about someone – and you could possibly hand the information to their employer or their insurance company.” said Dr Flatley.
“People have to recognize that this horse is out of the barn, and that your genome probably can’t be protected, because everywhere you go you leave your genome behind. Complete genetic privacy, however, is unlikely to be possible”, he added.
As the benefits become clearer, however, he believes that most people will want their genomes read and interpreted. The risk is nothing compared with the gain.In the first two paragraphs, the author mainly wants to tell us about .
| A．the significant progress in medicine |
| B．the promise of a leading company |
| C．the information of babies’ genes |
| D．the research of medical scientists |
Which of the following is a problem caused by this approach?
A．The delaying in discovering DNA.
B．The risk of developing diseases at birth.
C．The side – effects of medicine on patients.
D．The letting out of personal genetic 
information.What does the underlined sentence “… this horse is out of the barn” mean?
| A．Genetic mapping technique has been widely used. |
| B．Genetic mapping technique is too horrible to control. |
C．People are eager to imp rove gen etic mapping technique. |
| D．people can’t stop genetic mapping technique advancing. |
What’s Dr Flatley’s attitude towards the technology?
| A．Tolerant. | B．Conservative. | C．Positive. | D．Doubtful. |
I remember the first time that I was extremely happy, I was about 8 years old when for the first time, there was a computer in the classroom. I remember that my teacher allowed each student to take turns to play various educational games on the computer. One day, I found the source code for one of these games. Without knowing or being taught any programming language, I was able to figure out some of the BASIC code. I just gave myself a limitless number of lives in the game, so I could continue playing it forever. This was also my first introduction to algebra, and I didn’t even know it at the time. This was a decisive moment in my life. I was quite excited because of what I was learning and what I was able to do. As a result, I was enthusiastic for the rest of my life about self-learning and computers, and I was quite happy doing them too.
I’ve noticed that people who are truly content with life are enthusiastic about what they do. This enthusiasm, along with good health, is the key to being happy. It also leads to self-confidence and content in life too. It may also lead to success, wealth and achievements.
Success, wealth or achievements can also bring some people happiness, yet I know plenty of rich people who are unhappy. I know many people with successful businesses that are not happy with what they are doing. I know people who continuously buy themselves new toys, such as cars, computers, and televisions, yet never seem content for too long. Please remember, happiness is the journey of life, not the destination.What can we know from Paragraph 1?
| A．The author has a great talent for algebra. |
| B．Creative thinking is necessary for every child. |
| C．The BASIC code of the computer is not difficult. |
| D．The author’s experience in his childhood changed his life. |
The author wants to tell us through the first paragraph that____.
| A．interest is the best teacher |
| B．children are the hope of the future |
| C．young people are fearless |
| D．where there’s a will , there’s a way |
What is the secret of happiness in the author’s opinion?
| A．Success and wealth. |
| B．Gifts and self-confidence. |
| C．Enthusiasm and good health. |
| D．Knowledge and achievements. |
We can infer from the last paragraph that ______.
| A．rich people generally feel unhappy |
| B．wealth can’t bring people any happiness |
| C．one will feel unhappy once he has gained all the things he wants |
| D．being enthusiastic about what you are doing is more important than wealth |
Whether in the workplace or on the football field, effective teamwork can produce amazing results. However, working successfully as a team is not as easy as it may seem. Effective teamwork certainly does not just happen automatically; it takes a great deal of hard work and compromise. There are a number of factors that must be in place to make a good team.
Effective leadership is one of the most important components of good teamwork. The team’s leader should possess the skills to create and preserve a positive working environment and motivate and inspire the team members to take a positive approach to work and be highly committed. An effective team leader will promote a high level of spirit and make them feel supported and valued.
Communication is a vital factor of all interpersonal relationship and especially that of a team. Team members must be able to articulate their feelings, express plans and goals, share ideas and see each other’s opinions.
Conflicts will arise no matter how well a team functions together. The best way to deal with conflicts is to have some organized methods of handling conflicts. Team members should be able to voice their concerns without fear of offending others. Instead of avoiding conflict issues, a hands-on approach that settles them quickly is much better. It is often advised that the team leader sit with the conflicting parties and help work out their differences without taking sides and trying to remain objective if possible.
The team leader must set a good example to create good teamwork. In order to keep team members positive and committed and motivated, the team leader herself / himself needs to show these qualities. The team turns to the leader for support and guidance. So any negative words or behaviors on the leader’s part can be disastrous.+X+K]
Regardless of what type of work you are in, knowing how to effectively work on and with a team is going to be extremely important to your success and that of your team.Effective leadership is important partly because _________.
| A．it helps a leader to develop lots of skills |
| B．it makes a leader feel supported and valued |
| C．it creates a positive working environment |
| D．it depends on interpersonal relationship of a team |
The underlined word “articulate” probably means _________.
| A．hide | B．feel | C．express | D．plan |
When conflicts arise among team members, the team leader should ________.
| A．worry about the team members | B．ignore the team members’ voices |
| C．try to avoid conflict issues | D．work out their differences |
To become a good team leader, you have to __________.
| A．be positive and committed | B．set up a good team |
| C．look for support from the team | D．avoid natural disasters |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Football And Teamwork | B．What Makes Effective Teamwork |
| C．Handle Conflict In A Team | D．Communication And Teamwork |
Most American schools have boys and girls in the same classroom. But a public high school in the small, rural town of Boonsboro, Maryland, offers a special program called the Academy. Top students in the ninth and tenth grades can attend single-sex classes for math, science, English and social studies.
The aim is to help teenagers keep their mind on their work by keeping males and females apart. What they really want to do is take that top group of kids and take them to the very highest level they can achieve there, so that they’re prepared for college.
Students are invited to enter this program after they finish middle school, and placement in the Academy is voluntary. However, they need high marks and test scores and strong teacher recommendations. They also need to be involved in activities.
Almost 350 students have taken part in the Academy. It began as an experiment in 2010.
Michael Bair has been at Boonsboro High for twenty years and directs the Academy. His ninth-grade English class for boys centers on books that he believes boys find interesting. He says that the novels the students are reading now are very manly (男子气概的) novels. These novels deal with the arrogance (傲慢) of man and the pride of man which finally leads to man’s downfall.
One of those books, for example, is The Call of the Wild by Jack London. This classic story tells of a dog stolen from his home and sold to work as a sled dog in Canada’s Klondike Gold Rush.
Morgan Fleet, a senior at Boonsboro High, likes being in the Academy. She says boys and girls act differently when they are together in a classroom. She believes this difference seems to prevent her from developing herself because she’s more focused on thoughts like “Oh, I wish they would shut up. Oh, what do they think of me?’’ instead of focusing on “What’s the homework? What’s going on in this class? What’s the lesson?”.
There is one activity that girls and boys in the Academy do together. At the end of the day, many of them stay and help tutor students who are having trouble in school.What is the purpose of the Academy program?
| A．To offer a special program in high school. |
| B．To help students concentrate on study. |
| C．To strengthen sex education for teenagers. |
| D．To start learning college courses earlier. |
To enter the Academy program, students are NOT required to _________.
| A．do well in their study | B．be recommended by teachers |
| C．take part in some activities | D．have worked as volunteers |
The Call of the Wild is given as an example to show that male students ___.
| A．should learn more about literature |
| B．should have a sense of protecting the wildlife |
| C．are reading more manly novels |
| D．are interested in stories on animals |
Which is likely to be Morgan Fleet’s opinion?
| A．A girl cares about the boys’ opinions of her. |
| B．Single-sex classes should be stopped. |
| C．Girls are more focused when studying with boys. |
| D．Boys and girls act the same in separate classrooms. |
The passage is intended to _________.
| A．introduce the single-sex class project |
| B．explain the differences between boys and girls |
| C．persuade students to enter the Academy program |
| D．urge students to work hard in their study |
With large and small keyboards everywhere, neither children nor adults need to write much of anything by hand. That’s a big problem. Study after study suggests that handwriting is important for brain development — helping kids get fine motor skills and learn to express and create ideas. Yet the time devoted to teaching penmanship in most schools has shrunk to just one hour a week. Is it time to give up handwriting? Have a look at the link between the brain and penmanship, and you may get the answer.
A test among students in grades 2, 4 and 6 found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by keyboard, but also created more ideas when composing essays with handwriting. And other research shows that the finger movements required to write by hand activate brain areas involved with thought, language, and short-term memory.
A recent Indiana University study had one group of children practice writing letters by hand while a second group just looked at those letters. Then, both groups of kids entered a functional MRI (核磁共振) that scanned their brains as the researchers showed them the same letters. Researchers found that the brain activity in the first group was far more advanced and “adult-like”.
Handwriting also affects other people’s way they think of adults and children. Several studies have shown that the same average essay will score much higher if written with good penmanship and much lower if written out in poor handwriting. These studies have also found that people judge the quality of a person’s ideas based on his or her handwriting. And the consequences are real: On standardized tests with handwritten sections, like the SAT, all essay that is considered hard to recognize gets a big zero.
Studies show that this isn’t only an English-language phenomenon. Chinese and Japanese youths are suffering from “character amnesia”. They can’t remember how to write characters, thanks to computers and text messaging. Some experts fear that Chinese writing and reading are so closely linked in the brain that China’s reading ability as a nation could suffer.According to the passage, it can be learned that ________________.
| A．many researches have been done on handwriting |
| B．essays can’t be composed without handwriting |
| C．all children write faster by keyboard than by hand |
| D．most schools are trying to teach more handwriting |
What does the Indiana University study imply?
| A．Children should practice writing letters |
| B．Handwriting can increase brain activity |
| C．It’s good for children to enter a functional MRI. |
| D．Letters should often be shown to children |
What does the 4th paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．Handwriting affects both adults and children. |
| B．Handwriting helps a person write better essays. |
| C．SAT should be done with good handwriting. |
| D．Good handwriting makes a person seem smarter. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Essays written with keyboards will get lower scores. |
| B．The quality of your ideas depends on your handwriting. |
| C．Chinese and Japanese youths don’t know how to write. |
| D．Less handwriting may affect China’s reading ability. |
The passage tries to tell us that __________________.
| A．keyboards are more popular than handwriting |
| B．we shouldn’t judge people by their handwriting |
| C．handwriting is of great importance |
| D．it’s time to give up using keyboards |
While I was in my 4th month of pregnancy (妊娠期) with my second child, we were preparing for a trip to Louisiana, where Marshall’s family live, to celebrate Jane’s 2nd birthday. Two days before we were to leave, we got the shocking news that I was going to lose the baby. Not knowing when this would happen, we decided to continue with our trip.
Since Marshall’s family lives on a 600-acre cattle farm, you often find that you have a lot of time to yourself to think when you are there. That is precisely what I did not want to do at this time. I told Marshall that I needed to get a good book to get lost in while I was there. I told him I heard the Harry Potter books were good, so he went out and got the first one for me.
During that trip, I totally got lost in the book, which was of great help during a time when I needed a distraction to forget about the sadness. In the book, I noticed the name “Seamus”. I vaguely remembered it was pronounced “Shamus” and I liked the sound of that. I mentioned it to Marshall and he liked it too. Toward the end of the trip, I had just 5 chapters left and I knew I was about to finish the first book, which I was pretty excited about.
Soon after we put Jane down to bed, I had started labor (分娩), so I was unable to read. The labor lasted 5 and 1/2 hours, but Marshall stayed there with me, sitting beside me and reading aloud the last 5 chapters of Harry Potter. I can never fully explain how much that helped me through the experience. And ever since then, Marshall and I both have been fans of the Harry Potter books. We remember how they helped us get through that time of our lives.
We were sad to have lost the baby, but the name Seamus started our journey toward adoption. And we gave this name to our adopted son. Though our Seamus doesn’t have a drop of Irish blood in him, the name fits him perfectly. Why did the writer want a good book during the trip?
| A．Because the trip to Louisiana would take a long time. |
| B．Because she didn’t want to think of losing her baby. |
| C．Because she had nothing else to do except reading. |
| D．Because a good book could help her enjoy her trip. |
According to the story, we can know that the Harry Potter books _________________.
| A．made the family’s trip more exciting |
| B．include five books all together |
| C．have someone called Seamus in them |
| D．can help people deal with their problems |
The writer named her son Seamus because ___________________.
| A．she wanted to keep her trip in memory |
| B．she loved this name very much |
| C．her son doesn’t have Irish blood |
| D．it is a perfect name for a boy |
Which of the following is TRUE about the couple?
| A．They planned their trip after getting the shocking news. |
| B．They thought the cattle farm was too large to do anything on. |
| C．They felt excited when they almost finished the trip. |
| D．They liked reading Harry Porter very much after the trip. |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Funny Stories Of My Family | B．Seamus And Harry Potter |
| C．How We Got To Louisiana | D．How My Son Got His Name |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号