For thousands of years,mankind has bred plants and animals to create more desired and useful plants and animals. For instance, modem corn has been bred to such a large size that it is no longer able to reproduce without man's assistance. Modem dairy cows produce too much milk;because if they are not often drained of milk,they could leak,burst, become infected, and possibly die. Furthermore, most domesticated dogs cannot survive in the wild even with special training. Since natural evolution is extremely slow and mankind's selective breeding pro?grams only take a few generations to produce a completely new species,natural evolution has al?ready taken a backseat to mankind's breeding programs.

 Additionally,mankind has successfully killed off several species all together. For instance, there are no more European wolves in existence and mammoths probably become extinct because of mankind. Even certain diseases have been permanently eradicated(根除) from the planet, and dozens of other diseases will soon be too. Again, natural evolution did not cause most of the ex?tinctions during humanity's reign.

 Currently, scientists are creating new species with desired characteristics in the lab signifi?cantly faster than natural evolution creates new species. In a single generation, new species can be artificially created and destroyed,while natural evolution could take thousands of years to do the same but only haphazardly(4禺然地) .Scientists are even able to replace flawed(有缺陷的) or damaged genes with different genes to attempt to cure genetic defects. This is something that natural evolution could possibly never correct.

 Eventually scientists will be able to enhance even people. For example, imagine not only correcting your eyesight with gene therapy,but also ensuring that all of your descendants do not inherit your old genes of poor eyesight too. Scientists will one day be able to enhance the mem?ory and intelligence of your children,so that they will do better in school and achieve more in life. Doctors and scientists will be able to customize babies before they are born just like picking options at a car dealership.

 In the near future,natural evolution in the genetic code of any species can be quickly fixed if desired. As a result, natural evolution is doomed.

(   ) 1. The underlined word "backseat" probably means         .

   A. powerful assistance   B. important part

   C.  bad fortune   D. secondary position

(   ) 2. We can learn from the passage that        .

   A.artificial evolution can benefit the mankind

   B.humans' flaws won't be inherited in future

   C.natural evolution can't change species' nature

   D.artificial evolution helps choose human sexes

(   ) 3. Through the passage the author mainly wants to tell the readers that        .

   A.natural evolution survives strongly

   B.natural evolution is almost dead

   C.artificial evolution brings humans interests

   D.artificial evolution causes species' extinction 

(   ) 4. We can infer from the passage that        .

   A. artificial evolution is the future   B. artificial evolution causes mess

   C.natural evolution causes species to die   D. natural evolution will completely stop

  Host;

  Tonight is New Year's Eve. Many people will attend New Year's parties where they will drink alcohol. A listener in Vietnam wrote to ask why a person in the United States must be at least twenty-one years old to do this legally. Nguyen Hoang Phong noted that eighteen years is the legal age for drinking alcohol in most countries. Here is Faith Lapidus with our answer.

  Faith Lapidus:

  Discussing the drinking age in the United States can lead to an argument. I will try to ex?plain both sides of this issue.

  In nineteen-eighty-four,Congress passed a measure called the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. President Ronald Reagan signed the measure into law. It bars people in the United States from drinking alcohol unless they are twenty-one years of age or older. States must obey the law or risk losing federal money for building roads and road repairs. The measure was the result of work by several lawmakers and groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

  Last July,that group and members of Congress celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the law. They praised the measure as one of the most effective anti-drunk driving laws ever passed. They said that twenty-thousand lives have been saved since its passage. However, some oppo?nents of the measure say it did not save anyone. They say young people who want to drink will find a way to get alcohol. They also reject the number of young people reportedly saved by the law. They say fewer young people are drinking now than twenty years ago.

  Other people say the National Minimum Drinking Age Act is not fair. They say a young person can join the military and fight in a war at age eighteen. However, they are still not per?mitted to drink alcohol until they are twenty-one.

  Many Americans would like to change the law to make eighteen the age when a person can drink alcohol. But just as many want to keep the drinking age at twenty-one.

The question of a legal drinking age involves ideas of freedom,responsibility,religion, politics and the rights of parents. It is a question that will be argued in the United States for many years to come.

(   ) 1. The writer's purpose in writing the text is to          .

    A. discuss the drinking age in America

    B. answer a question

    C. show us the argument in America

    D. call up people's memory

(   ) 2. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

    A. All the Americans think that the law is effective.

    B. It was President Ronald Reagan that made the law come into effect.

    C. It is believed that twenty-thousand lives have been saved since the law was signed.

    D. Only those who are over twenty years old in the US can drink alcohol legally. 

(   ) 3. What is "Mothers Against Drunk Driving"?

    A. A department of the Government.

    B. A scientific research institute.

    C. A group of lawmakers.

    D. A kind of social organization.

(   ) 4. What can we infer from the passage?

    A. The state in the US has no right to change the law of the Federal Government.

    B. If a man was not at least twenty-one years old,he wouldn't get any alcohol in the US.

    C. The young people in the USA become mature later than those of the other countries.

    D. It will be not easy to change the law of the drinking age in a short time.

  You are what you eat and fats are a main food for Asia's fast-food generation. Dr. Chwang, director of the Department of Food Nutrition,says children are consuming more meat and soft drinks. This is a thorough departure from the traditional diet of vegetables and rice and little meat. "They like big pieces of fried meat with a soft drink. So although they may eat the same volume of food,their calorie intake(卡路里摄入量) has increased. Now about 40 to 45 percent of their calories come from fat”,says Chwang.

 Although on the whole Asians tend towards thinness,culture―namely Asians' hospitality (好客) 一is the reason for the fatness of today's generation, according to Chwang. " Asian people love food," she says. "Eating and drinking are important social and family functions.” In the past,however, big meals were only hosted on special occasions as people were more careful with money. In today's climate of wealth and remarkable consumption, 10-course meals are no longer reserved for significant occasions.

 More than anyone else,Children are on the receiving end of their parents' improved cir?cumstances. "In the past,people had four or more children―now,they have one or two,so they tend to spoil them," says Chwang. "The easiest way is to give them quality food. Parents think feeding them well is showing their love. They feel bad when their children look thin.”

 When describing the physical condition of most overweight Asian children, Chwang says, "There is a clear relationship between fatness and indoor play. Children get fat because they don't move,and eventually, they don't want to move because they are fat.”

 Thanks to technology, a growing army of children prefer video games to old outdoor sports. " What do children do when watching TV or sitting in front of the computer playing video games? They eat chocolate and drink Coke," says Chwang. 

(   ) 1. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the word "consuming"? 

   A. taking in   B. wasting

   C.  choosing   D. eating

(   ) 2. According to this passage, the " quality food" fed by some parents is actually

   A. healthful food   B. qualified food   C. agreeable food   D. high-calorie food 

(   ) 3. Some parents feel bad when their children look thin,because        .

   A.their children don't love eating and drinking

   B.their children don't have a good physical condition

   C.they feel that they don't take good care of their children

   D.they feel that they are no healthy enough to afford " qualified food" 

(   ) 4. The purpose of writing this article is to        .

   A.compare the traditional diet with today's diet of Asian children

   B.find reasons for increased food consumption of Asian people

   C.explain why many Asian children are overweight nowadays

   D.prove the relationship between fatness and indoor play

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