WHAT’S the most important thing of life?

People’s answers vary greatly. For British scientist Robert Edwards,the answer is having a child.“Nothing is more special than a child,”he told the BBC.

Edwards,the inventor of the In Vitro Fertilization(IVF)technology—more commonly known as“test?tube(试管)baby”technology—passed away on April 10 ,2013 at the age of 87.

Edwards changed the lives of millions of ordinary people who now rejoice(充满喜悦)in the gift of their own child,”said Peter Braude,professor at King’s College London.“He leaves the world a much better place.”

Edwards started his experiments as early as the 1950s,when he had just finished his PhD in genetics. At that time,much of the public viewed test-tube babies as“scary”,according to Mark Sauer,professor at Columbia University,US.

Edwards and his colleague Patrick Steptoe faced opposition from churches,governments and media,not to mention attacks from many of their fellow scientists.“People said that we should not play God and we should not interfere with nature,”Edwards once told Times. He said that he felt “quite alone” at the time.

“But Edwards was a fighter,and he believed in what he was doing,”said Sauer. Without support from the government,the two struggled to raise funds to carry on. And in 1968 they finally developed a method to successfully fertilize human eggs outside the body.

The first test-tube baby was born on July 25,1978.Her name was Louise Brown. Despite people’s safety concerns,Brown was just as healthy as other children.

“IVF had moved from vision to reality and a new era in medicine had begun,”BBC commented.

Ever since then,public opinion has evolved considerably. Couples who were unable to have babies began thronging(蜂拥)to Edwards’ clinic. Nowadays,Reuters reports,some 4.3 million other“test-tube” children exist. Edwards received a Nobel Prize in 2010 and was knighted(封为爵士)by Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ the following year.

Before his death,Edwards was still in touch with Louise.“He is like a granddad to me,”she said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

He is a granddad to millions, in fact.

1.What is the article mainly about?

A.The first test-tube baby.

B.A new era in medicine.

C.The inventor of IVF technology.

D.The changes IVF technology has brought.

2.The writer quoted Peter Braude to ________.

A.show how difficult it was for Edwards to do his work

B.describe what kind of person Edwards was

C.explain why he is loved by all children

D.comment on his achievement

3.The underlined word“opposition”in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ________.

A.attack B.support

C.test D.influence

4.What is the CORRECT order of events in Edwards’ life?

a.He received a Nobel Prize.

b.He struggled to raise funds.

c.The first test-tube baby was born.

d.He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ.

e.He succeeded in fertilizing human eggs outside the body.

f.He started his experiments on IVF technology.

A.f—e—b—c—a—d B.f—b—e—c—d—a

C.f—b—e—c—a—d D.f—e—d—a—c—b

Common phrases like “no pains, no gains” give the impression that we ought to be suffering while we study. It’s almost as though the only way to know if we’re putting in enough work is the sense of hardship we bear.

When we haven’t taken the time to come up with another idea, all we know how to do is shut ourselves in a room with a book. It’s no surprise that we find revision boring and difficult. Just as children learn from playing, we can learn from doing, or at least from study techniques that interest us, rather than make us switch off.

Shutting yourself away can make you learn to hate studying. This leads to a situation where instead of being able to concentrate on your work, you are troubled by how unfair it is that you must study.

When you hate your work it’s very difficult to make yourself star, or approach it with any kind of structure or enthusiasm. This can be part of a vicious cycle(恶性循环) that traps you into ineffective revision, your poor progress fuelling further annoyance.

Just being around other people really helps fight against feelings of loneliness and, thankfully, it’s perfectly possible to work in the company of other people. We just need to learn how to deal with distractions(使人分心的事物).

It's not necessary to avoid all company, just idle(懒散的) company. Studying in the same room as someone who is ironing or working out is perfectly possible. People who are bored and looking to be distracted, however, are terrible to work around. They constantly try to keep others in conversation.

It’s also a good idea to avoid the company of people involved in activities that you would rather be doing than studying. Working while sitting next to someone playing video games is much more likely to end with a new high score than a productive few hours of revision.

If being around others means working in a noisy environment, a pair of headphones and some background music can block out even noisy children. They also act as a psychological barrier, so that people think twice before interrupting you.

When you’re studying for a big exam, it seems like your whole life is taken up with study. Friends and family can lessen feelings of isolation(孤立). And connecting with other people makes us happy, so it’s important not to give that up and to make sure that we take the time to socialize.

1.The author might believe that the phrase “no pains, no gains” ______.

A. best describes how to study well

B. makes people treat study as a habit

C. encourages people to learn step by step

D. is not a good inspirational phrase for study

2.Which saying about study might the author prefer?

A. There is no royal road to learning.

B. It’s better to work behind closed door.

C. A positive motivation leads to good study results.

D. He who is ashamed of asking is ashamed of learning.

3. Which might lead to an effective study based on this text?

A. A correct goal. B. A good teacher.

C. A favorable interest. D. A hard task.

4.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 7 implies that ______.

A. playing video games is helpful for an effective study

B. one shouldn’t let a video player to be his / her company

C. one should study from certain activities that he / she is interested in

D. the more time one spends in playing games, the higher marks he / she will get

5.If you are studying in a noisy environment, you’d better ______.

A. give indication of not wanting to be interrupted

B. give up others’ company at one

C. think twice before taking any action

D. force yourself to be accustomed to the environment

(NEW YORK) A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.

Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.

He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Scaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dive in after him.

“I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast.”

Duret, an engineer on vacation ,was walking with his girlfriend along the pier(码头)when he saw something falling into the water .He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. In an instant, he took off his coat and jumped into the water.

When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said. Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.

Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from lookers. Duret caught a train with his girlfriend shortly after.

The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his tale of heroism he was leaving the next morning.

“I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same thing.”

1.Why was Duret in New York?

A.To meet his girlfriend

B.To work as an engineer

C.To spend his holiday

D.To visit the Andersons

2.What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?

A.He was interviewed by a newspaper

B.He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes

C.He went to the hospital in the ambulance

D.He disappeared from the spot quickly

3.Who dived after Duret into the river to save the little girl?

A.David Anderson

B.A passer-by

C.His girlfriend

D.A taxi driver

4.When was Duret most probably found to be the very hero?

A.The day when he was leaving for home

B.Several days after the girl was rescued

C.The first day when he was in New York

D.The same day when he was interviewed

Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface(BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

Recently, two researchers, Jose Milan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts.

In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right band. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.

“Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓)to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices.”

The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.

Prof. Milan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair.”

He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.

1.BCI is a technology that can ________.

A. help to update computer systems

B. link the human brain with computers

C. help the disabled to recover

D. control a person's thoughts

2.How" did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?

A. By controlling his muscles.

B. By talking to the machine.

C. By moving his hand.

D. By using his mind.

3.Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?

A. scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair

B. computer→cap→scalp→wheelchair

C. scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair

D. cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair

4. The team will test with real patients to ________.

A. make profits from them

B. prove the technology useful to them

C. make them live longer

D. learn about their physical condition

5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Switzerland, the BCI Research Center

B. New Findings About How the Human Brain Works

C. BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled

D. Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries

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