Passage 51 Science and our daily life

We are now living in a time that science is developing at a great speed. With the development of science many countries have improved not only their economy but also their people’s living conditions. In our daily life we can get a lot of benefit from science.

If we look at the things around us we’ll find how closely our daily life is connected with science. For example, at home we can turn on the central heating or air conditioner when we feel cold or hot, and we can watch TV or listen to the tape recorder for entertainment, and we can use a gas stove to cook our meals, and we have computers to help us with our work when we are working in the office, and we also have cars, buses, even airplanes as traffic tools when we go out. All these things are the results of the development of science. It goes without saying that without science our society cannot make rapid progress and our life cannot be comfortable and convenient.

Since science is so important in our daily life, we should try to make as much contribution as possible to the development of science. As college students, we must first of all study hard, to gain useful scientific knowledge, and then put what we have learned into practice. We should take advantage of science to serve our society.

1. Which can’t show the relation between science and daily life? _________

A. We can use computers to help our work

B. We can travel by plane.

C. We can play basketball in a sport center.

D. We can enjoy ourselves by watching TV.

2. What should the college students do to take advantage of science except _____

A. studying hard

B. serving the society with knowledge

C. putting what we have learned into practice

D. taking physical exercise

Passage 52 Gene technology to benefit people

Among all the fast growing science and technology, the research of human genes, or biological engineering as people call it, is drawing more and more attention now. Sometimes it is a hot topic discussed by people.

The greatest thing that gene technology can do is to cure serious diseases that doctors at present can almost do nothing with, such as cancer and heart disease. Every year, millions of people are murdered by these two killers. And to date, doctors have not found an effective way to cure them. But if the gene technology is applied, not only these two diseases can be cured completely, bringing happiness and more living days to the patients, but also the great amount of money people spend on curing their diseases can be saved, therefore it benefits the economy as well. In addition, human life span(壽命) can be prolonged.

Gene technology can help people to give birth to more healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial family being a good example, have hereditary diseases. This means their children will for sure have the family disease, which is a great trouble for these families. In the past, doctors could do nothing about hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientist just need to find the wrong gene and correct it, and a healthy child will be born.

Some people are worrying that the gene research can be used to manufacture human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning a sheep, therefore these people predict that human babies would soon be cloned. But I believe cloned babies will not come out in large quantities, for most couples in the world can have babies in very normal way. Of course, the governments must take care to control gene technology.

1. What does “these two killers” in the second paragraph refer to ?

A. gene technology and another treatment of the two diseases.

B. The two murderers who killed the cloned baby

C. The two diseases of cancer and heart disease

D. Hereditary diseases and cancer

2.What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?

A. How gene technology can be applied in the field of treating hereditary diseases.

B. Gene technology can be used to clone human babies.

C. Gene technology can help people to give birth of a baby.

D. Gene technology can help the English imperial family out

3.In what way gene technology can help to treat hereditary diseases?

A. Using gene technology, people with hereditary diseases can have more living days.

B. Using gene technology, scientist finds the wrong gene and corrects it.

C. Using gene technology, human babies can be cloned.

D. Doctors can cure cancer and heart disease with the help of gene technology.

4.What is the main purpose of writing this passage?

A. Expressing the writer’s idea that gene technology will benefit people

B. Telling people the advantages of gene technology

C. Telling the readers that gene technology will not benefit people

D. Explaining that gene technology will also do harm to the humanity

Passage 53 The genetic and environmental influence on man’s intelligence

Although a man may be born clever, his intelligence need also to be further developed. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment.

It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical twins will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.

Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing and indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.

1. The example shown in the third paragraph tells us that _____

A. the one who was sent to college is more clever than another twin

B. we can control people’s intelligence freely

C. birth doesn’t play a role in developing of intelligence

D. environment plays an important role in affecting people’s intelligence

2. Which statement is true?

A. Intelligence is something we are born with.

B. Intelligence depends on birth.

C. We can make a boy born with low intelligence clever by special education.

D. People who have no blood relation can’t have the same intelligence.

3. Choose the phrase which has the same meaning with “at random”.

A. at will

B. on purpose

C. freely

D. particularly

Passage 54 America plants tougher trees

Special trees that grow faster, fight pollution, produce better wood, and even sense chemical attacks are being planted by scientists in the US.

When 40 per cent of Hawaii's US$14 million-a-year papaya (木瓜)industry was destroyed by a virus five years ago, work began on creating genetically engineered (轉基因的) trees.

Researchers successfully introduced seeds that were designed to resist the virus. Since then, more and more people have been testing genetically engineered trees.

Some researchers put special bacteria into trees to help them grow faster and produce better wood. Others are trying to create trees that can clean polluted soil.

Meanwhile fruit farmers are looking for trees that are strong enough to resist worms, and paper companies want trees that produce more wood and therefore more paper.

The Pentagon (五角大樓，美國國防部所在地) even gave the researchers US$500,000 this year after they developed a pine tree that changes its colours if it senses a chemical attack.

So far, the poplar, eucalyptus (楊樹與桉樹), apple and coffee trees are among those being engineered. All this is can be done today because we have a better understanding of tree genomes (基因組).

However, some people fear that the genetically engineered trees will cause dangerous results. They are worried that the new trees will breed with natural species and change the balance of the forest environment.

"It could be destructive," said Jim Diamond, an environmentalist. "Trees are what is left of our natural environment and home to many endangered species."

But researchers insist that science could give nature a fighting chance against both natural and man-made dangers.

They hope to answer the critics by stopping the new trees from breeding, so their effect on the environment can be controlled.

1. Which kind of tree is not the ones that scientists are planting in the US?

A. Trees that worms can't hurt.

B. Trees that can protect themselves at a chemical attack.

C. Trees that can resist wind better.

D. Genetically engineered trees.

2. What caused the American scientists to work on special trees?

A. They think science could give nature a fighting chance against both natural and man-made dangers.

B. Great numbers of trees have been lost due to attacks by viruses.

C. Researchers successfully introduced seeds designed to resist the virus.

D. Tree genomes are mapped out so scientists know how to improve trees.

3. Which of the following was probably the first kind of trees being engineered?

A. Papaya.

B. Pine.

C. Apple.

D. Poplar.

4. Why did critics think engineered trees dangerous? Because _______.

A. these trees can destroy the balance of nature

B. everything except trees has been genetically engineered

C. trees are home to many endangered species

D. these trees may affect normal trees

Passage 55 Cars drive into cleaner future

Ford, the second-largest car maker in the world, celebrates its 100th birthday this month. And it is already looking forward to its next 100 years. Ford expects to have nearly half its cars powered by fuel cells (燃料電池) by the year 2050.

In the meantime, another car maker in the US, General Motors (GM, 通用汽車公司), is building the technology for cars to be powered by fuel cells.

So, what makes fuel cells so special? Why are car makers so enthusiastic about them?

Fuel cells are based on an electrochemical (電氣化學的) process. They change chemical energy from hydrogen and oxygen (氫和氧) into electrical energy.

Fuel cells pollute much less than traditional power sources. They produce little more than water as a by-product. Car makers expect them to cut CO2 emissions (散發) in half and so make cars more environmentally friendly.

Fuel cells are not dependent on oil supplies. Instead, they run on hydrogen, the most common element in the universe. And they can be refuelled. Car makers expect fuel cells to lesson the industry's need to rely on decreasing oil supplies.

Using fuel cells, without the traditional motor, engineers have many more possibilities for developing cars.

A fuel cell frame can last 20 years, so car bodies could change with drivers' needs - or even with the seasons - and be replaced at will. Owners could switch from a sports car to a family car while keeping the same fuel cell frame. This is a much cheaper solution to buying a whole new vehicle.

"A fuel cell car is more than just a new concept car; it's the start of a revolution in how cars are designed, built and used," said GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner.

While this may sound great, fuel cells are still too expensive to produce. For cars, they can be ten times the price of normal engines. The current test models can cost US$1 million or more.

Besides Ford and GM, a number of other car makers are now testing fuel cell vehicles. And all are aiming for mass production by 2010. By that time, the cost of buying a fuel cell car should be as affordable as that of a traditional car.

1. Besides Ford, the writer uses GM as another example to show _______.

A. another car war is on

B. big car makers are depending on fuel cells for their future

C. fuel cells will replace traditional power sources

D. fuel cell car will be produced earlier than expected

2. What makes the traditional car frame not able to change with drivers' needs?

A. Traditional fuels.

B. High cost of changing the frames.

C. The traditional car frame can't last many years.

D. Traditional motor.

3. What does Rick Wagoner mean by "a fuel cell car is more than just a new concept car"?

A. A fuel cell car is not something that only exists in future.

B. A fuel cell car will be very important in the future.

C. It will become a reality.

D. A fuel cell car is still very expensive.

Passage 56 Drawing comes alive

If you watched the animated film (動畫電影), "Shrek", did you wonder how this big cartoon monster (怪物) could look, act and speak like a real human being?

Well, people at DreamWorks in the US are now working on "Shrek 2". And they have given us a little look at the making of Shrek and how animation works.

Shrek may be hi-tech now, but he started out as a simple piece of art. People drew hundreds of monsters until they found the best-looking one. He had to be ugly but lovable, says Raman Hui, the leading animator for the film.

A clay (陶土) model of Shrek was then made. And animators made a three-dimensional (三維的) copy of the model on a computer.

Building the body

To make Shrek walk, talk and move like a person, they built his body in the computer as if it were a human body. First, they made a skeleton (骨架). The joints (knees, fingers and so on) are controlled by the animator. And they move like a real body.

Then, it took three months to decide "how a monster should act" said Hui. Since Shrek is so heavy, they decided he shouldn't walk too fast. But, "when we made him walk more slowly, he looked too old... So we made him walk like a muscular (強健的) man. ... If you watch, when he moves pretty fast, you will see that his tummy bounces (肚子抖動)."

Better moves

When Shrek speaks, his mouth matches his words. Stand in front of a mirror and say "donkey". See the shape of your mouth? Computer animators copy that shape and put it on Shrek's mouth when he says "donkey" to make it move just like yours.

Animators then started working on Shrek's looks - his face, his skin, his clothing. They got their ideas from all over the place. For example, the texture (紋路) on Shrek's jaw came from a photo of the jaw of one of the animators.

Putting it together

Three minutes of animation is called a "sequence". Each sequence is first drawn out by hand so the animators know what to do.

Each one has 4,320 frames and six people working on it. In "Shrek", each sequence took two months to finish. There were about 30 in total and 128,000 frames. As each sequence is finished, editors put it in the right place of the movie. And when all the sequences are finished, the movie is done. "Shrek" took three years to complete.

1. When the animator decided how Shrek should walk, _______.

A. they built his body in the computer just like a human's

B. they drew a lot of pictures and chose the best looking one

C. they made a clay model of the body

D. they thought about Shrek's character

2. The word "one" in the sentence in the last paragraph (Each one has 4,320 frames and six people working on it) refers to ______.

A. animator

B. animation

C. sequence

D. movie

3. The passage's main idea is _______.

A. how the film "Shrek" came into being

B. how "Shrek" was brought to life for the audience

C. the work of animators

D. how hard it is to make an animated film

Passage 57 Robots look for life

The first scientists to visit Mars are not going to be flesh and blood humans, but metal robots.

This summer, NASA (美國國家宇航局) plans to start the Mars Exploration Rovers mission (MER, "火星漫游者探險任務"), sending a pair of robotic twins into space. If all goes well, the six-wheeled rovers will be rolling around the Red Planet sometime in January 2004.

NASA first sent a rover to Mars in 1997. It proved that the technology could get to, and land on, the planet. This time, the MER robot will act as a scientist and seek out any signs of water - past or present.

Both MER robots will be delivered into space by a rocket. Wrapped in a landing shell, an airbag (氣囊) will protect them when the shell hits the planet's surface. Once it lands, the shell will open, and the rovers will come out.

"What we tried to do was take everything you'd find in a field scientist's bag on earth and make a robotic field scientist for Mars," said Steven Squyres, a NASA scientist.

Each carries nine cameras, which will send pictures of Mars back down to Earth. One camera sits on the tip of each robot's arm. This arm is the same size as that of a human adult. Every time the robot moves, the cameras feed images to its computer. The computer then decides whether an obstacle can be dealt with or should be avoided. And if it gets in a real jam, the rover phones home for instructions.

"The rule is: 'Don't go over anything larger than your wheel'," said Squyres. The wheels on each of the 180kg rovers stand at about 25cm tall.

And they move slowly - around 5cm per second. The MER robots are able to dig, in any rock, holes about 45mm wide and 5mm deep. This will allow researchers to study material that has been untouched by the extreme Martian (火星的) weather.

During Mars' nights, MER robots can "sleep" for up to 18 hours. But sometimes they'll have to work late and conduct experiments in the dark. They will roll on Mars for 90 days.

Water on Mars?

In June 2000, NASA announced its discovery of water on Mars. Scientists believe that vast stores of water still exist below the surface. If the discovery is confirmed (證實), it would be a big step for NASA. Without water there can, and never could have been, any life.

1. The first scientists designed to visit Mars this summer are going to be ______.

A. two scientists of NASA

B. a pair of twins

C. two pilots.

D. Two metal robots

2. The main task of the MER is _____________.

A. to take some pictures of Mars.

B. To test the robots.

C. To seek out any signs of water.

D. To dig holes in Mars.

Passage 58 Cloning

As we approach the 21st century, it is clearer than ever that science and technology are changing the way we live and work. The breakthroughs in bioengineering science are helping to reveal the mysteries of life, holding out new hope for lifesaving cures to some of our most dreaded diseases.

In 1997, the great news shocked the whole world that the British scientists created a lamb, named Dolly from a single cell. Miraculously, the cell had been taken from the udder of an adult sheep, which marks the first time an adult animal had been successfully cloned.

But it soon caused worldwide concern over its ethical, social, and scientific implications. Cloning is especially controversial because it raises the prospect of “making” humans genetically identical to an existing man or woman. Some people claim attempting to use these cloning techniques to actually clone a human being is untested and unsafe and morally unacceptable.

How to look upon this new technique? When it comes to a discovery like cloning, we must move with caution, care and deep concern about the impact of our actions. First, cloning should be greatly esteemed and great thanks should be given to its inventors. Meanwhile, great efforts should be made to place this technique under strict control. Especially we should adopt a document against human cloning since past experience tells us a new invention may cause troubles if it is misused.

1.What are changing the way we live and work? ________

A. Cloning.

B. Life saving

C. Science and technology

D. The mysteries of life

2.Who is Dolly? ______

A. A British scientist

B. A single cell

C. An adult sleep

D. A lamb cloned

3.Some people claim attempting to use these cloning techniques to actually clone a human being is __________

A. untested

B. unsafe

C. morally unacceptable

D. above of all

4.How should we look upon cloning? _______

A. Cloning is terrible

B. Cloning must be moved with caution, care.

C. Cloning will cause troubles.

D. Cloning is a disease

5.According to the passage, what should be given to cloning’s inventors? _____________

A. Strict control

B. Great thanks

C. Care

D. Caution

Passage 59 “I love you” virus

On May 21, 1999, some American scientists were working at the computers to look for information they needed. Suddenly they saw a lot of very bright red spots crossing the computers’ screens. At the same time the computers were working much slower. To find out what was happening they stopped their work to check some parts of the computers. To their horror, they found out that most of their stored information was got rid of by computer virus! Obviously all these computers had been infected by computer virus.

It is said that the computer virus was made by two or three Philippine young men fond of playing tricks. They all had excellent education. They created the virus just to show their intelligence. The kind of computer virus is named “I Love You” Virus. This virus can hide in computers for long. When the time comes it will attack the computers by lowering the important functions, damaging their normal programs or even getting rid of a great deal of information which operators of the computers often use or store; even worse, it still can reproduce itself in great quantities within a short time.

We come to know that “I Love You” Virus often attacks computers on Mondays and that it is spreading to many computers in the world. Among the countries that suffered computer viruses last year are Britain, Australia, Switzerland and the US. Those who made the computer viruses have been found out slowly and carefully. But till now, how to get rid of the terrible viruses remains a problem.

1. In 1999, the virus made American scientists’ information ________

A. all lost

B. partly lost

C. none lost

D. mostly lost

2.The most terrible character “I Love You” Virus is _______

A. it can hide in computers for long

B. it can damage computer’s normal programs

C. it can get rid of all the information that the operator stores

D .it can reproduce itself in great quantities in a short time

3.All the following countries have been attacked by “I Love You” Virus EXCEPT __________

A. Britain

B. Australia

C. Switzerland

D. Japan

4.According to the passage, which is NOT true about “I love you” virus?

A. Have found who made it

B. Have found the solution to it

C. Have been attacked by it

D. Have no effective method to

Passage 60 Application proxy

To understand the application proxy, consider this scenario where you needed to deliver your neat little package of network data. With application-level proxies, the scenario is similar, but now you need to rely on someone else to deliver the package for you. Hence the term proxy illustrates this new scenario. The same rules apply as they do for packet filtering, except that you don’t get to deliver your package past the gate. Someone will do it for you, but that agent needs to look inside the package first to confirm its contents. If the agent has permission to deliver the contents of the package for you, he will.

Most commercial routers do not have proxy capabilities today, although I believe that proxy technology will be integrated with router code in the future. Until then, you need to rely on a standalone system that can support application-level proxy services.

Since an application proxy needs to communicate on behalf of the sender, it needs to understand the specific language or protocols associated with a particular application. Take as an example the widely used HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) proxy. If you are using a browser on your network, it is highly likely that your IS group has an HTTP proxy configured to allow you to access the Web via a central server. That single machine understands HTTP conversations and can speak on behalf of the requesting client. This is application level proxying.

Of course, security and encryption also come into play, since the proxy must be able to open the “package” to look at it or decode its contents. These are important issues obviously, but to do them justice would require another article.

1. A special sequence of numbers or letters that limits access to electronic boxes is a ____________

A. combination

B. code

C. password

D. modem

2. Transferring data from a larger computer to your microcomputer is called

A. a LAN

B. time-sharing

C. downloading

D. uploading

3. What communications channel transfers data as pulses of light? ______

A. Telephone lines

B. Coaxial cable

C. Fiber-optic cable

D. Microwave

4. Rules for exchanging data on a network are called _______.

A. protocol

B. asynchronous transmission

C. configuration

D. serial transmission

5. A system frequently used in decentralized organizations in which computing power is located and shared at different sites is _________

A. client / server

B. centralized

C. mainframe

D. distributed

專題六 科學技術練習答案及詳解

Passage 51 1. C 2. D

科學和我們日常生活緊密相連。

1． 細節題。答案：C。

2． 推斷題。D項不屬于利用科學技術。

Passage 52 1. C 2. A 3. B 4. A

基因技術會給人類帶來更多的好處。

1． 確定指代關系。答案C。

2． 段義理解。第三段是講基因技術在治療遺傳疾病方面的應用。

3． 細節題。答案：B。

4． 推斷寫作意圖。答案：A。

Passage 53 1. D 2. D 3. A

遺傳和環境如何影響人的智力？

1． 段落理解。答案：D。

2． 判斷題。答案：D

3． 猜詞義。AT RANDOM 是“任意地、隨便地”的意思。

Passage 54 1. C 2. B 3. A 4. D

轉基因植物開始在美國研究種植。五角大樓真能種出能感知化學武器襲擊的PINE TREES 嗎？

1． 細節題。答案：C。

2． 細節題。文章第二段提供解答信息。

3． 推斷題。答案：A。

4． 批評家的觀點在文章最后四段。

Passage 55 1. B 2. D 3. C

福特、通用兩大汽車公司正著手研制燃料電池驅動的汽車。

1． 細節題。答案：B。

2． 文中A fuel cell frame can last 20 years, so car bodies could change with drivers' needs - or even with the seasons - and be replaced at will. Owners could switch from a sports car to a family car while keeping the same fuel cell frame.一段提供信息。傳統的發動機就不象FUEL CELL 這樣方便了。

3． 句義理解。答案：C，

Passage 56 1. D 2. C 3. B

動畫電影SHREK 是這樣做得形象逼真的呢？

1． 細節題。答案：D。

2． 指代關系判斷。答案：C。

3． 主旨題。答案：B。

Passage 57 1. D 2. C

地球機器人勇探火星，充當地質學家尋找水源。

1. 細節題。答案：D。

2. 主旨題。火星漫游者探險的主要任務是尋找水源。

Passage 58 1. C 2. D 3. D 4. B 5. B

從1997年第一只克隆羊“DOLLY”的誕生起，克隆技術一直倍受關注。

1． 常識題。答案：C。

2． DOLLY 是克隆羊。

3． 對克隆人頗多爭議。

4． 怎樣看待克隆技術？

5． 克隆技術的發明無疑是一大進步。

Passage 59 1. D 2. D 3. D 4. B

“愛蟲”病毒是怎樣被發現的？它有那些特征呢？

1． 細節題。答案：D。

2． “愛蟲”病毒最可怕的特征是：D。A、B、C項是一般計算機病毒所具有的特征。文中even worse, it still can reproduce itself in great quantities within a short time.一句也可看出這一特征是最可怕的。

3． 細節題。答案：D。

4． 判斷題。B項與文中But till now, how to get rid of the terrible viruses remains a problem.一句不符。

Passage 60 1. C 2. C 3. A 4. A 5. D

什么是“應用程序代理”？

1． 計算機應用常識。答案：C-密碼。

2． 常識題。答案：C----下載

3． 題干中PULSES 意思是：“脈沖”

4． 網絡中數據交換的規則稱為：PROTOCOL---協議。

5． 選項中D 與decentralized同義。