Since its invention 100 years ago, plastic, the superstar of the technological age, has become ugly and ungreen. But that’s about to change. An exhibition at London’s Science Museum this week could put it back on the cutting edge of science.
Have you ever hesitated in donating blood? The invention of “plastic blood” might make you feel better.
British scientists are working on the artificial blood as a replacement for real blood in emergency situations. It is made of plastic molecules (分子) and can join oxygen and transport it around the body. As a red, honey - like glue, plastic blood can be carried around conveniently. You just add water to make as much blood as you need.
The cells of our body are strict about what molecules they let in and out. For example, if we inject protein or DNA directly into the body, our immune (免疫的) system will destroy it before it reaches the cells.
To get around this, a British scientist has created drug-carrying plastic balls that fool the body into thinking they are natural. Once inside the cell, their contents are spread out through a small controlled explosion.
Skin transplants are widely done these days. But removing a piece of skin from, say, the bottom to plant it on the face can hurt and be troublesome.
A British company, CellTran, is working on plastic skin. Using plastic, they plan to take a small piece of the patient’s skin and grow it into an extra layer of skin on top of the plastic.
The plastic feels similar to skin, so skin cells like to grow on it. The plastic then gradually disappears, without any reaction or infection.What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The superstar of technological age |
| B．An exhibition at London’s Science Museum |
| C．No more “white pollution” |
| D．Plastic takes on a new life |
The phrase “get around” in Paragraph 5 means closest to _____________.
| A．overcome | B．end | C．ensure | D．pass |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．Plastic blood will be injected into the body in drug-carrying plastic balls. |
| B．The plastic skin will remain a part of the new skin. |
| C．Plastic blood will take the place of real blood. |
| D．The cells of our body will let in whatever molecules they get. |
Cultural events that take place in Edinburgh during August draw most people’s attention, but plenty of other festivals can also entertain you throughout the rest of the year.
Ceilidh Culture Festival
Where: various places
When: Date late Mar/early Apr
Tel & website: 228 1155, www.ceilidhculrure.co.uk
Backed by the local authorities, this is a community-focused celebration of traditional Scottish music, dance, song and storytelling. City-wide over a period of nearly four weeks, prices are different for different events.
Beltane Fire Festival
Where: Calton Hill, Calton Hill & Broughton
When: 30 Apr
Website: www. beltane.org
An ancient tradition marking the transition (转变) from winter to spring, the Beltane fire festival was revived (恢复) in the 1980s and has grown into quite a drama: fire, costume, body-paint, dancing and drumming. If the weather holds, it can attract up to 12,000 people. Tickets cost around ￡5 in advance from the Hub; a limited number are available for ￡7 on the night.
Doors Open Day
Where: various places
When: weekend, late Sept
Tel & Website: 557 8686, www.cockburnassociation.org.uk
Each year, heritage (遗产) body the Cockburn Association works with organizations and individuals (个人) to allow public access to buildings that few people usually get to see---everything from private homes to lighthouses. It’s all free.
Capital Christmas
Where: various places
When: late Nov till early Jan
Website: www.edinburghschristmas.com
What started out as a few accidental events has grown into a large, popular, city-wide festival. The main part is the Winter Wonderland in Princes Street Gardens, including fairground (露天市场) rides, crafts market, a skating rink (溜冰场) and the Edinburgh Wheel (a Ferris wheel next to the Scott Monument).If you want to find out more about the Ceilidh Cultural Festival, you can visit_____ .
| A．www. ceilidhculrure.co.uk |
| B．www.cockburnassociation.org.uk |
| C．www.edinburghschristmas.com |
| D．www. beltane.org |
Why do people celebrate the Beltane Fire Festival?
| A．To celebrate traditional Scottish music. |
| B．To exhibit ancient architecture. |
| C．To celebrate the transition from winter to spring |
| D．To celebrate the invention of fire. |
Doors Open Day may be on______ .
| A．a Monday in late September |
| B．a Saturday in late September |
| C．a Saturday in late November |
| D．a Monday in late November |
Once upon a time there were two smart boys. Their talents were obvious from an early age. They knew they were special, and they desired that, in the future, everyone would admit how great they were.
They developed in a different way. The first boy had a successful career. He took part in all kinds of competitions, visited the most important people and places. No one doubted that he would be the wisest and most important person in the land.
The second boy always felt a heavy responsibility. He would feel obliged to help others. This didn’t leave him enough time to follow his dreams of greatness. He was busy looking for ways to help others. As a result, he was a much-loved and well-known person in his small circle.
A disaster took place, spreading misery (痛苦) there. The first man had never come across anything like this, and he failed to improve the situation. The second man was used to solving all kinds of problems, and had such useful know-how in certain subjects. So the disaster hardly affected the people at all. His methods were adopted there, and the name of this man spread even wider. Indeed, he was elected the governor of the nation.
The first man understood the greatest wisdom is from the things we do in life, from the impact (影响) we have on others, and from the need to improve ourselves. He never again took part in competitions. Instead, he always took books with him to be ready to help others.The passage is mainly developed by ______.
| A．following the space order. | B．making comparisons |
| C．giving examples | D．explaining the reason |
The underlined word “obliged”, in the third paragraph, means “______”.
| A．responsible | B．necessary |
| C．worried | D．comfortable |
What can we learn about the two young men?
| A．Both of them tried hard to deal with the disaster. |
| B．The second man wanted to have a successful career. |
| C．The second man wanted to take part in competitions. |
| D．The first man was a much-loved and well-known person in the land. |
Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good.
Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we interact(交流) and build relationship. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, which should cause individuals and organizations to rethink the way they use email.
“Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,” says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics(语言学) at an American university. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect(反映) a growing unconcern about the way we write.
Baron argues that we shouldn’t forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in email. “The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,” the professor says.
Others say that despite its poor writing, email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn’t: it has made writing fashionable again.
“Email is a critical new communication technology.” says Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at Toronto University. “It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech.”
Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of email’s close similarity to speech. “It’s like a circle of four or five people around a campfire,” he says.
Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. Emails sent in a day almost exceed(超过) the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact.From what Baron says in the third paragraph we can see that ________.
| A．careless people use email more than careful people |
| B．email requires people to change their native language |
| C．professors in universities don’t need to use email |
| D．people communicate by email full of mistakes |
What does the underlined word “it”(in Paragraph 4) refer to?
| A．The poor writing. | B．Email. |
| C．The good writing. | D．A new communication technology. |
In Lancashire’s opinion, email is a wonderful technology because _______.
| A．it can be useful all over the world |
| B．it is the fastest way to communicate |
| C．we can express ourselves in a free way |
| D．we can save a lot of paper |
This passage mainly shows us that ______.
| A．people should stop using email to communicate |
| B．experts hold different opinions about email writing |
| C．Americans only use email to communicate |
| D．email makes people lose interest in English |
A great-grandfather has put up his Christmas tree for the 85th time after his father first bought it from a toy shop.
Douglas Hewitt, 85, has celebrated every Christmas with the artificial tree since he was born. His father bought the tree from a toy shop in Sheffield just months after Douglas was born. The four-foot tree remains the centre point of the Hewitt family household during every festive season.
Mr. Hewitt, of South Anston, South Yorkshire, said, “It reminds us of my childhood, our children’s childhood and our grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s after that. They all come and look at it and smile; it’s become part of the furniture. If we didn’t put that Christmas tree up, it wouldn’t feel like Christmas.”
The tree was passed down to Mr. Hewitt when he married Mavis. Mrs. Hewitt said, “Year after year we have just carried on using that one. You have to be a bit more careful with it now, as it’s fragile.”
Their daughter, June Murphy, also has fond memories of the Christmas tree. She said, “It was in my grandparents’ home and then it was given to us. It looks a little thin now, as each time you get it out something else falls off. It’s become a bit of a family joke. Each year someone has to comment ‘not again!’ But it’s a Christmas tradition of getting the tree out that we all love. We’d all be sad to see it go, as I think it would be hard to find such a loved replacement.”
Mr. Hewitt said, “There were a lot more branches on it, and it’s lost its feathers that were all along the edge. There were little candle holders（蜡烛架）on the ends and little legs on it, but unfortunately they’ve been lost over the years.”Where did Douglas Hewitt get the Christmas tree?
| A．He got it from his father. |
| B．He bought it from a toy shop. |
| C．He made it by himself. |
| D．He cut it down in a forest. |
What does Mr. Hewitt want to tell readers in the third paragraph?
| A．It may be the last year that the tree appears in this house. |
| B．His family decorate their house with this Christmas tree. |
| C．This Christmas tree reminds him that Christmas is on the way. |
| D．His family has a special feeling towards this Christmas tree. |
The underlined word “fragile” in the fourth paragraph probably means_______.
| A．a little strange | B．easily broken |
| C．quite small | D．not beautiful |
Why does her family put up the Christmas tree every year according to June Murphy?
| A．To honor her grandparents. |
| B．To save the family money. |
| C．To keep up the family tradition. |
| D．To create a friendly atmosphere. |
Babies who watch TV are more likely to show late learning development and language at 14 months, especially if they are watching programs aimed at adults and older children, according to a new study, which would probably surprise those parents who leave their babies in front of a TV set.
Babies who watched 60 minutes of TV daily had developmental scores a third lower at 14 months than babies who were watching less TV. Although their developmental scores were still in the normal range, the difference may have been due to the fact that when children and parents are watching TV, they are missing the talking, playing and other communications that are important to learning and development.
This new study, which appeared in the Aechives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, followed 259 lower-income families in New York, most of whom spoke Spanish as their primary language at home. Other studies of higher-income families have also come to the same conclusion: TV watching is not only non-educational, but it seems to slow down babies’ development.
But what about “good” TV, like Sesame Street? The researchers didn’t find any difference when compared to non-educational programs designed for small children, like Spongebob SquarePants. Earlier research by some of the same scientists, most of whom are at New York University School of Medicine’s Bellevue Hospital Centre, has found that parents whose children watch non-educational TV programs like Spongebob SquarePants spend less time reading to their children or teaching them.
At this point, parents reading this will probably be astonished. TV is so often a parent’s good friend, keeping children happily occupied（占时间）so that the adults can cook dinner, answer the phone, or take a shower. But, clearly, this electronic babysitter（保姆）is not an educational aid. It is best to make sure the babies are fast asleep if you have to watch TV.According to the first paragraph, 14-month-old babies who watch TV probably_______.
| A．learn things quickly |
| B．prefer programs for older children |
| C．surprise their parents with their development |
| D．speak later than babies who don’t |
Babies who watched 60 minutes of TV daily had lower developmental scores perhaps because _______.
| A．they watch non-educational programs |
| B．they have little communication with their parents |
| C．they lost interest in real things |
| D．their parents don’t speak English at home |
We can infer from the passage that______.
| A．Educational and non-educational TV have different effects on babies |
| B．Many parents leave babies to the TV to do their own things |
| C．Educational TV is very popular among higher-income families |
| D．Lower-income families tend to teach their babies at home |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Developing Better Learning Ability |
| B．A New Study on Babies’ Bad Habits |
| C．TV Watching Is Bad for Babies’ Brains |
| D．Make Sure Your Babies Watch “Good” TV Programs |
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