Researchers in the US say they might have discovered how to fight against and even reverse some processes of ageing, at least in mice. Injecting the blood of young mice into the older ones improved their brainpower, a study found. Scientists at Stanford University plan to carry out trials in people in the hope that new treatments for dementia(痴呆症) can be developed.
“There are factors present in blood from young mice that can recharge an old mouse’s brain so that it functions more like a younger one,”says Dr. Tony from Stanford University School of medicine. In the study published in Nature Medicine, mice aged 18 months were given injections of the blood taken from mice aged 3 months. The injected mice performed better on memory tests than mice of the same age that had not been given the blood. Dr. Tony said it was not known whether the same was true of humans, but a trial was planned.
A research center in UK said the treatment restored certain aspects of learning and memory in mice, but was of unknown importance to humans. The research, while very interesting, did not test the type of brain damage that was seen in dementia, which is not a necessary consequence of ageing.
Meanwhile, two similar studies by a separate team have thrown more light on how young blood may benefit the old, in mice at least. A substance in the blood of mice previously shown to have an anti-ageing effect on heart muscle also improved brain cells, according to a Harvard team. The research, published in Science, found the blood factors encouraged the growth of brain cells in old mice, and restored their sense of smell. The same chemical also improved muscle power of aged mice, the researchers found. The underlined word in paragraph 1 probably means _________.
| A．change | B．destroy |
| C．speed | D．increase |
Scientists in the US will test the discovery in humans with the aim of __________.
| A．proving the possibility to live longer. |
| B．showing the importance of scientific research. |
| C．publishing the study in Nature Medicine. |
| D．treating an age-related disease successfully. |
According to the studies, the blood from young mice benefits the old in certain ways except in_________.
| A．memory | B．muscle power |
| C．fur color | D．brain cells |
What’s the author’s attitude to the anti-ageing studies?
| A．supportive | B．objective |
| C．negative | D．doubtful |
Speaking in his first National Day Rally speech on 15 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien said Singapore’s education system was set for more reforms in the years ahead, particularly for the primary and secondary education．Read the summary of his thoughts on education below．
For a start, the Government is prepared to send and additional 3,000 teachers to Singapore schools, cut the courses of study even further and change the way the mother tongue, especially Chinese, is taught．But, for the changes to be successful, parents need to help．
Singapore has a devoted group of teachers and principals and quite a few of them are outstanding, but the Republic’s schools can be even better．To help the schools make a jump in quality, the Government plans that within the next 6 years, it will send 1,000 more teachers to primary schools, 1,400 to secondary schools and 550 more to junior colleges．Each school would decide how to use its extra teachers．Some may want to make classes smaller so students get more individual attentions while others may have new teachers assist more senior teachers, but the overall goal is to give teachers the time and space to come up with ways to bring out the best in their students．
More teachers must not mean more homework, however．In fact, the Prime Minister wants to see the courses cut down so that there is less pressure on the students．Good grades are important but they should not be the only goal students have．PM Lee is convinced that “we must teach less so that our children can learn more．”
Another change will be in the teaching of the mother tongue so that students can become more fluent．The key is to teach Chinese as a living language not just an academic subject like Latin．Therefore, the focus should be on speaking and reading the language．To do this, there must be an environment outside the classroom that is contributing to strengthening the Chinese lessons．The text is mainly about in Singapore．
| A．the education reform | B．adding more teachers |
| C．the mother tongue | D．ways of teaching |
The general goal of using extra teachers is to ．
| A．make classes smaller | B．assist more senior teachers |
| C．teach more | D．help teachers improve teaching quality |
PM Lee holds that the students should ．
| A．do more homework | B．give up higher grades |
| C．study more courses | D．be given more time to learn more |
The key to teaching Chinese well is to ．
| A．make it academic | B．have a creative environment |
| C．give more Chinese lessons | D．encourage speaking and reading a lot |
His platinum albums such as “You Make Me Happy and Sad,” “Flowery Heart,” “Music Brings Us Together” and “Emil & Friends” have brought him numerous awards in Singapore, and China’s Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Jonathan Lee represents the creative spirit of the past 20 years in Taiwan and many renowned singers like Sarah Chan (Chen Shuhua), Sandy Lam (Lin Yilian), Emil Chau (Zhou Huajian) and Karen Mok (Mo Wenwei) draw great inspiration from Lee's works.
Jasmine Leong is a Malaysian singer who is very popular on the Taiwan music scene. Focusing on lyrical songs, Leong's Beijing performance will also tap into rock & roll music.
To remember Henrik Ibsen, with pianist Wolfgang Plagge, violinist Annar Folles and soprano Gao Xia, the Norwegian Ibsen Trio will present the classic works of the celebrated playwright.
The mi
x of musical treats for children in Beijing includes various kinds of art forms, including Western classical music and Chinese traditional music, as well as puppet plays, crosstalk shows, and highlights of Chinese local operas such as Peking Operas and Kunqu Operas.
| A．Commemorative show: To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, the founder of modern prose drama, a concert titled “Nora's Songs” will be given. Time: 7:30 pm, March 20 Place: Peking University Concert Hall Tel: 6275-2279, 6275-9637 |
| B．Feel the mood: Jonathan Lee will host his 2006 concert in Beijing. As the master of music in Taiwan, Lee is famous for his unique annotation of love, mood and life. Time: 7:30 pm, March 24, 25 Place: Capital Gymnasium, Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District Tel: 6835-4020 |
| C．Chamber music: The chamber concert series of China Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra will greet audiences with a woodwind quintet, a string quartet plus Bach's piano concerto and suite. Time: 7:30 pm, March 25 Place: The Concert Hall of the Central Conservatory of Music, 43 Baojiajie, Xicheng District Tel: 6641-4759, 6642-5744 |
| D．Pop star: Singer and composer Emil Chau, one of the most admired music idols in China and Southeast Asia, will perform a solo concert in Beijing. Chau was born in Hong Kong and attended college in Taiwan. He has released more than 30 albums in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. |
Time: 7:30 pm, March 31
Place: Capital Gymnasium, Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District
Tel: 6833-5552
E. Music for children: Some 50 colourful music-related performances will be staged until August 28 in an "Open the Door to Music" series of concerts, in a move to foster Chinese children's taste for art. The concert series will be held in several venues, sponsored by the Forbidden City Concert Hall and supported by the Beijing Municipal Culture Bureau.
Tickets: 10-100 yuan (US$1-12)
Time/date: 2 pm or 7:30 pm, July 20-August 28
Location: mainly in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park, some in Peking University Hall in Haidian District and in the China Puppet Art Theatre and Poly Theatre
Tel: 6506-5343, 6506-5345
F
. Beautiful timbre: Jasmine Leong will meet her Beijing fans next month. Singing with beautiful timbre, Leong will present a series of love stories to the audience. To highlight the theme of love, 200 sets of lover's tickets, valued at 1800 yuan will be presented.
Tickets: 180-980 yuan (US$22-121)
Time/date: 7:30 pm, September 9
Location: Workers' Gymnasium, Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 6501-6655
Star hurdler Liu Xiang returned home last night after spending about three months in the United States for foot operation and recovery.
Liu and coach Sun Haiping were followed away by officials after arriving at Shanghai Pudong airport at around 6 : 30 p. m. , and said nothing to the waiting media.
Liu went straight to the Xinzhuang training base in Shanghai, where he will start on the comeback (恢复) through rehabilitation (复职) and training.
Feng Shuyong, vice-director of China's Athletics Administrative Center, said a group of experts is on standby at the training base to help with Liu's recovery.
"The experts will give Liu a full check-up tomorrow or the day after and advise regularly on rehabilitation in the coming months," Feng was quoted by qq. com as saying.
The foot injury forced defending champion Liu to quit from the 2008 Beijing Olympics last August after "he limped out of the Bird's Nest in the first round of the men's 110m hurdles, bitterly disappoint
ing adoring home fans.
The 25-year-old Athens Olympic and world champion had successful foot surgery in December at the Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston, and had four calcium deposits (钙物质) removed from his right Achilles tendon (跟腱).
He spent the next three months in Houston for rehabilitation and basic training under the guidance of doctors there.
"His recovery is better than we expected. Doctors believe that after three months' rehabilitation and training, he has actually achieved the level of recovery that generally needs four months," Feng said.
Liu will, however, be absent from the ongoing annual Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) meeting due to the recovery process. Feng said Liu is paying close attention to the meeting through the Internet, and closely following issues such as athletes' education and life after retirement.
It is the second time Liu has asked for leave from the annual session after being elected to the CPPCC: He did not attend last y
ear's meeting because he was at a key competition in Spain.The best title for the passage is _______.
| A．Fate and Challenge | B．Liu Xiang Returns after Operation Success |
| C．No Desire to Be a Representative of CPPCC | |
| D．Happiness and Hardships behind Success |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The experts will give Liu a full check-up and advise regularly on recovery in the coming months. |
| B．Liu and his coach were followed away by officials after arriving at Pudong airport at around 6:30. |
| C．Liu paid close attention to the meeting through the Internet, caring graduate's further education. |
| D．His foot operation was successful and four calcium deposits were removed from his right Achilles tendon. |
The underlined word "limped" most probably means _______.
| A．walked nervously | B．walked quickly | C．walked bitterly | D．walked lamely |
Liu Xiang was absent from CPPCC in the first time because of _______.
| A．recovery process | B．accepting the training | C．lecture abroad | D．a key competition |
This is the VOA Special English Education Report. A few weeks ago, we talked about the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or TOEFL. A listener in Cambodia named Thida asks if American colleges and universities also accept the IELTS exam. IELTS is the International English Language Testing System. It was developed by the University of Cambridge ESOL examiners.
Cambridge ESOL says the test measures true-to-life ability to communicate in English for education, immigration or employment. The IELTS tests listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. It uses a mixture of accents and spellings, including British English and American English.
The test is used by government agencies, schools and professional organizations in one hundred and twenty countries. And, yes, that includes the United States. The many American schools that accepted the IELTS can be found on the Web at felts.org.
Some schools accept both the TOEFL and the IELTS, but the graduate school at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, for example, says it prefers the IEITS.
The listening and speaking parts are the same for everyone who takes the IELTS, but people have a choice of reading and writing tests -- either academic or general training.
The listening test takes thirty minutes. There are forty questions based on a recording. The reading test takes sixty minutes. Students answer forty questions based on three written passages.
The writing test also takes sixty minutes. Students have to write two essays. One essay has to be at least one hundred and fifty words long and the other at least two hundred and fifty words. The shorter one is description of something; the longer one has to support and argument.
The speaking test takes less than fifteen minutes. The score is based on a recorded talk between the student and a test examiner.
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, writt
en by Nancy Steinbach. If you have a general question for our series, write to special@voanews.com. I'm Barbara Klein.What does TOEFL stand for?
| A．The Voice of America | B．The International English Language Testing System |
| C．The Test of English as a Foreign Language | |
| D．The Test of English as a Native Language |
The International English Language Testing System commonly takes _______ in all.
| A．less than 160 minutes | B．more than 165 minutes |
| C．no more than 160 minutes | D．less than 166 minutes |
According to the passage, we can infer _______.
| A．IELTS is efficient and necessary if you want to go to English-speaking countries | |
| B．IELTS is completely different from TOEFL | |
| C．every American needs to accept TOEFL | D．IEITS isn't used more widely than TOEFL |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．How can the readers write papers to the VOA programme? |
| B．It talks about some ways to pass TOEFL. |
| C．It introduces IELTS. |
| D．How can the readers pass two kinds of tests? |
The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists (人类学家). Descri
ptions like "Palaeolithic（旧石器时代的）Man" ."Neolithic（新石器时代的）Man" ,etc. .neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label" Legless Man". Histories of the time will go something like this: "in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. And the surprising thing is that they didn't use their legs even when they went on holiday. "
The future history books might also record that we were deprived (剥夺) of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird's-eye view of the world. When you travel by car or train, an unclear picture of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, especially, are mixed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says" I've been there. "You mention the remotest, and someone is bound to say "I've been there"—meaning, "I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. "
When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present.
For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical tiredness. He knows that sound, satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travelers.What's the best titl
e of the passage?
| A．The advantages of travel | B．The best way to travel |
| C．The reward of true travel | D．Possible ways to travel |
Anthropologists label man nowadays "Legless" because______.
| A．people forget how to use their legs |
| B．lifts prevent people from walking |
| C．modern vehicles have replaced walking |
| D．people prefer cars, buses and trains |
While traveling at high speed,______.
| A．people can get more pleasure from it |
| B．people always focus on next destination |
| C．people can enjoy the view of the destination |
| D．people care much about the arrangement of the journey |
The author says "we are deprived of the use of our eyes "because ______.
| A．people can't get a clear picture of the view along |
| B．eyes become useless in traveling at high speed |
| C．people want to sleep during traveling |
| D．people won't use their eyes |
What does the author intend to tell us?
| A．Legs become weaker. |
| B．There is no need to use legs or eyes. |
| C．Modern means of transportation make the world a small place. |
| D．We should experience the present heart and soul while traveling. |
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