WASHINGTON: Chinese scientist Yuan Longping and Dr Monty Jones of Sierra Leone were named co-winners of the 2004 World Food Prize here on Monday for their contribution to world food security and rice production.

  In announcing the recipients in a ceremony held at the US State Department, President of the World Food Prize Foundation Kenneth Quinn lauded both scientists for their “breakthrough scientific achievements” which have significantly increased food security for millions of people from Asia to Africa.

  Quinn said it was particularly fitting that the two pioneering rice breeders rewarded the prize during the United Nations International Year of Rice, the crop identified as the staple(主要的) diet of more than 3 billion people around the world.

  Professor Yuan Longping is director-general of the China National Hybrid Rice(杂交水稻) Research and Development Centre in Hunan Province, China. Jones is presently executive secretary of Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.

  Yuan is credited with(功劳在于……) developing the world's first successful and widely grown hybrid rice varieties, revolutionizing rice cultivation in China and tripling production over a generation.

  Jones's work recaptured the genetic(遗传的) potential(潜能) of ancient African rice by combining African and Asian rice species.

  Present at the ceremony hosted by US Secretary of State Colin Powell were UN Food and Agriculture Director-General Jacques Diouf, US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman and Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Chinese Embassy Lan Lijun.

  The World Food Prize will be formally presented to Professor Yuan and Jones on October 14 this year in Iowa, the United States.

1.Which of the following is the best title?

[  ]

A.A.pioneer of the genetic research.

B.Passion for hybrid rice.

C.Scientists from China, Africa share food prize.

D.What is the World Food Prize?

2.The underlined word “lauded” can be replaced by ________.

[  ]

A.landed
B.praised
C.related
D.presented

3.Jones won the 2004 World Food Prize for his achievements in ________.

[  ]

A.breeding(培育) hybrid rice

B.breeding hybrid wheat

C.improving ancient African rice

D.finding the genetic secret of rice

4.Which of the following is NOT true?

[  ]

A.The ceremony was held at the US State Department

B.Professor Yuan Longping attended the ceremony hosted by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

C.Professor Yuan and Jones will go to the USA.in October to receive the World Food Prize.

D.3 billion people around the world live on rice.

Vampires (吸血鬼)

Vampire stories go back thousands of years. The acts we now associate with vampires, such as rising from the grave and drinking blood, were popularized by eastern European stories.

Most early cultures created stories to explain things they didn’t understand. For example, hair and nails continue to grow after people die, which has already been proved possible by modern science.

These facts were unknown to most people in the 19th century, however. As a result, the legends surrounding such mysteries were kept alive.

Count Dracula

In 1897, Irish writer Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula was published, spreading the vampire stories to a mass audience. In the novel, the Count Dracula of Transylvania, a 500-year-old vampire, has drunk his country dry and must move to England in search of new victims. Dracula means “son of the dragon” or “son of the devil” in Romania.

Werewolf

The story of a half-man, half-wolf beast is as old as that of vampires, and almost as varied. In most werewolf stories, however, a beast would silently enter settlements at night and steal a young child or an animal.

The most common explanation of werewolf stories is that the beast was usually an ordinary wolf. The genetic disorder, which causes too much body hair, may also have helped to popularize the story.

Frankenstein

This is a fictional scientist created by British writer Mary Shelly in 1818. Dr Frankenstein lives in a castle and is so addicted to making living beings from parts of dead bodies that he refuses to marry.

The story of Frankenstein may have been planted in Shelly’s mind since she visited Castle Frankenstein in Germany, where an alchemist(炼金术士) tried to do experiments with the aim of making people live longer.

The Invisible Man

In HG Wells’ 1897 story, a young scientist called Griffin, manages to make himself invisible. But he cannot find a way to become visible again. He then wants to make use of his super power but finally has gone mad. Wells’ tale owes a great debt to Greek philosopher Plato’s book Republic.

The best title for this passage should be ________.

A. Origins of Ghosts   B. Tales of Horror       C. Exciting Stories       D. Science Fictions

The people in the 19th century did NOT know _________.

A. why vampires drank blood

B. why dead people rose from the grave

C. that vampires always kept their nails

D. that hair could continue to grow after people died

What do most of the werewolf stories have in common according to the passage?

A. The beast often silently entered settlements at night and stole a little child.

B. The werewolf was in genetic disorder and so had a lot of body hair.

C. An ordinary wolf would enter settlements at night and steal a child.

D. The beast was sometimes a half-man and sometimes a half-wolf.

Which of the following statements is right about Frankenstein and the Invisible Man?

A. They were produced based on the writers’ real experience.

B. They were the producers of science and technology.

C. They were not well suited to their surroundings.

D. They were folk legends in the writers’ homeland. 

Millions of people die of hunger in southern Africa every year, but when Zambia was offered thousands of tons of free maize by the US, the government politely said no.

    “We don’t know whether the food is safe,” said Zambia’s commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Dipak Patel.

His worries are shared by countries around the world that are in two minds about America’s genetically modified(GM,转基因的)crops.Just last week, EU(欧盟)member nations were discussing whether or not to import GM sweet corn from the US.

Ever since people started farming, they have tried to crossbreed(杂交)plants to make them stronger or better tasting. At one time, only related plants could be crossed with each other.

But when GM techniques were developed in the 1970s, scientists were able to put a single gene from a living creature into an unrelated creature.

This means they can make crops more productive and resistant to disease by adding genes from other species.They can also create food with special characteristics, such as “golden rice”, which is enriched with vitamin A. But many people believe GM foods are a health risk.

At the moment, the official argument is that GM foods “are not likely to present risks for human health”. But there are still many questions to be answered as the foods are produced in different ways.

    Some experts believe the genetic material added to plants can transfer to humans and give damage to our bodies. Further harm could be caused by the genes from GM plants crossbreeding with naturally produced crops.

    People in China are also getting worried about GM foods. More than 70 percent of the

country’s soybean oil is produced from imported GM soybeans. Meanwhile, an investigation last November found that 12 of 60 famous foods sold across the country were GM products. The government has begun to introduce a marking system for GM goods so that people can choose whether or not to eat them.

1.Which is the best title for the passage?

A. Harmful GM foods                                 B. Advantages of GM foods

C. GM foods, a health risk?                            D. the Techniques of GM foods

2.Why has Zambia refused the American free maize?

A. they decide to follow EU member’s advice

B. they are concerned about the safety of GM foods

C. they care little about the problem of starvation  

D. they are too proud to accept free offer

3.It has been proved that _________.

A. GM foods are harmful to people’s health   

B. GM food is no better than naturally produced foods

C. only related plans could be crossed with each other

D. GM techniques can increase the production of crops

4.Which of the following statement is TRUE?

A. GM foods are a health risk.

B. Only Zambia worries about the safety of GM foods .

C. China’s government hasn’t taken any action about GM foods. 

D. Some experts believe human bodies can absorb genetic material from GM foods.

5.What’s the author’s attitude towards GM foods?

A. Supportive.        B. Neutral.         C. Doubtful.        D. Critical.

 

The 149th anniversary of Washington University’s founding will be celebrated with a presentation of Distinguished Alumni(校友) Awards for six famous teachers and alumni for their outstanding professional achievements, public service, extraordinary service to Washington University, or all three. Among the sixd awards winners for this year is Chen Zhangliang.

Chen Zhangliang is one of China’s most famous scientists, who was born into a poor fisherman’s family in Fuqing City, Fujian Province in 1961. after graduating from a university at home, Chen went to the US for further study. Since coming to Washington University as a doctoral student in 1983 to study transgenic(转基因的) plant engineering, Chen’s academic career has focused on gene cloning and the development of disease-and-pest-resistant plants. He completed his doctoral degree in biology at Washington University in 1987 and returned to Beijing to establish the National Laboratory of Plant Genetic Engineering at Peking University.

A productive scholar, Chen has published many books and more than one hundred research papers. He holds over ten patents with an equal number pending(等待决定的). Currently he is president of China Agricultural University and vice president of Peking University.

In addition to his academic career, Chen is also founder and president of the Weiming Biotechnology Company, which produces many DNA recombinant drugs and vaccines. He’s also a representative of China’s National People’s Congress and vice chairman of China Biotechnology Association. In addition, he serves as vice chairman for the China’s National Youth Federation.

Among his many honors are the UNESCO Javed Husain Prize for Young Scientists and TIME’s Global 100 Roster of Young Leaders for the New Millennium, as well as the Science and Technology prizes from the Ministry of Education in China.

41. Chen Zhangliang takes part in the following activities EXCEPT __________.

A. the Chinese government’s work

B. the university’s management

C. the management of agriculture

D. the production of biochemistry medicines

42. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Chen Zhangliang gained a doctor’s degree at the age of 26.

B. It’s possible for Chen Zhangliang to obtain about 20 patents.

C. Chen Zhangliang established the genetic engineering laboratory in Beijing.

D. Distinguished Alumni Awards are mainly given to the students of the university.

43. What’s the passage mainly about?

A. An introdction to Washington University’s anniversary activities.

B. A brief introduction to a world-famous university.

C. The scientific achievements and honors of Chen Zhangliang.

D. The career development of Chen Zhangliang

44. This passage gives us the inspiration that ___________.

A. knowledge can change one’s destiny

B. wehre there’s a will, there’s a way

C. a good scholar can become an official

D. a good beginning is half done

 

One genetic mutation(基因突变)occurs on average for every 15 cigarettes that a typical lung-cancer patient smokes, according to a study that has found for the first time all of the mutations happen during the lifetime of a cancer patient.

Scientists have completed a full genetic examinations of the genomes(基因组) of cancer patients, and hope the information will lead to a basic understanding of the causes of cancer—and possibly drugs and treatments—by making out the mutations that turn a healthy cell into a cancerous tumor cell.

 They studied a lung-cancer patient who had about 23,000 DNA mutations in his lung cells that were connected with exposure(暴露) to the toxins found in cigarette smoke and had built up over his lifetime.

They also looked at a patient with malignant melanoma(恶性黑色肿瘤), the most dangerous form of skin cancer, who had got 30,000 special mutations known to be connected with exposure to sunlight.

Scientists believe this new finding into the genetics of cancer will finally lead to new drugs and perfect treatments that aim at the specific changes to the gene that cause the disease, as well as new techniques for discovering following cancers that have escaped from treatment in other parts of the body.

“For the first time, we have a complete map of all mutations in a cancer cell,” said Dr. Peter Campbell, who led the Cancer Genome project to work out the whole DNA system of tumor cells in order find the mutations.

A similar method was performed on the cells of a patient with skin cancer, which is how the researchers were able to show that the malignant skin cells contained changes that resulted from exposure to light.

“These are the two main cancers in the developed world for which we know the chief exposure. For lung cancer it is cigarette smoke, and for malignant melanoma it is exposure to sunlight,” Professor Campbell said.

1.What can the genetic examination of the genomes of cancer patients be used for?

   A.To help the professors to win the Nobel Prizes.

   B.To advance the study of reason and cure of cancer.

   C.To make the medicine industries earn more money.

   D.To help the cancer patients reduce their pain.

2.The underlined word in the third paragraph can be placed by_____.

    A.smoke        B.sunlight      C.cell        D.poison

3.Which of the following statements is right according to the passage?

   A.The lung-cancer patient had 30,000 mutations in his lung cells.

   B.The genetics of cancer will finally lead to new drugs soon.

   C.It’s the first time that people mapped mutations in a cancer cell.

   D.Dr. Peter tries to invent a new drug with the DNA system.

4.What’s the similarity between malignant melanoma and skin cancer of patients?

   A.Their smoking too much in daily life.

   B.Their receiving too much sunshine.

   C.Their refusing to accept treatment.

   D.Their interest in travelling abroad.

 

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