Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it?

Many people are afraid to assert (维护,坚持) themselves.Dr.Robert Albert, author of STAND UP, SPEAK OUT and TALK BACK, thinks it is because their self-respect is low.“There’s always a superior (长者)around—a parent, a teacher, a boss who knows better.’’ But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people assert themselves.

They offer assertiveness training courses, A.T.for short.In the A.T.course people learn that they have a right to be themselves.They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so.They learn to be confident without hurting other people.

In one way, learning to speak out is to get rid of fear.A group taking an A.T.course will help the timid person to lose his fear.But A.T.uses an even stronger motive to share the need.The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels.

Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect.If your face is more important than you, you may feel less of a person.You start to doubt your answers to problems.However, once you get to feel good about yourself, you can learn to speak out.

1.The problem the writer talks about is that___________.

A.some people are forced to buy things they don’t like

B.some people are afraid to speak up for their rights

C.many superiors are everywhere

D.some people love to help others find confidence in themselves

2.Why don’t many people feel good about themselves?

A.Because some people have a low self-respect.

B.Because talented people can be found all the time.

C.Because the advice from salesmen is always persuasive.

D.Because people don’t like to exchange ideas with others.

3.What does the underlined word “timid’’ probably means?

A.胆小的 B.有学问的

C.有社交能力的 D.好斗的

4.Which of the following is NOT the thing the A.T.course does?

A.Encourage people to speak out .

B.Showing people they have a right to be themselves.

C.Helping them to be brave enough.

D.Helping people to assert themselves even if others are hurt.

C “Over the years the unthinkable has become thinkable and today we sense we are close to being able to alter human heredity(遗传).” These were the words of David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology,on December 1st,when he opened a three?day meeting in Washington to discuss the morality and use of human gene editing.Dr Baltimore is an old hand at these sorts of discussions,for he was also a participant in the Asilomar conference,in 1975,which brought scientists together to discuss a safe way of using the then?new technology of recombinant DNA,and whose recommendations influenced a generation of biotechnology researchers.

Four decades on,the need for a similar sort of chin?wag has arisen.The International Summit on Human Gene Editing has been held by the national scientific academies of three countries—America,Britain and China.They are particularly concerned about whether gene editing should be used to make heritable changes to the human germ line,something Dr Baltimore described as a deep and troubling question.Like those of Asilomar,the conclusions of this meeting will not be binding.But the hope is that,again like Asilomar,a mixture of common sense and peer pressure will create a world in which scientists are trusted to regulate themselves,rather than having politicians and civil servants do it for them.The meeting is being held against a backdrop of rapid scientific advance.Since 2012 research into a new,easy?to?use editing tool called CRISPR?Cas9 has blossomed.This technique involves a piece of RNA (a chemical messenger,which can be used to recognise a target section of DNA) and an enzyme(酶) called a nuclease that can snip unwanted genes out and paste new ones in.

Public interest was aroused in April,when Chinese scientists announced they had edited genes in non?viable(无活力的) human embryos,and again in November when British researchers said they had successfully treated a one?year?old girl who had leukaemia(白血病),using gene?edited T?cells.T?cells are part of the immune system that attack,among other things,tumour cells.The researchers altered T?cells from a healthy donor to encourage them to recognise and kill the patient's cancer,to make them immune to her leukaemia drug,and to ensure they did not attack her healthy cells.

In another recent development,a firm called Edit as Medicine,which is based in Cambridge,Massachusetts,has said it hopes,in 2017,to start human clinical trials of CRISPR?Cas9 as a treatment for a rare genetic form of blindness known as Leber congenital amaurosis(伯氏先天性黑蒙).Though other companies are already testing gene?editing therapies,these employ older,clunkier forms of the technology that seem likely to have less commercial potential.Moreover,researchers at the Broad Institute,also in Cambridge,said this week that they had made changes to CRISPR?Cas9 which greatly reduce the rate of editing errors—one of the main obstacles to the technique's medical use.

On the subject of germ?line editing,Eric Lander,the Broad's head,told the meeting it would be useful only in rare cases and said it might be a good idea to “exercise caution” before making permanent changes to the gene pool.The need for caution is advice that might also be heeded by those pursuing work in animals other than people,and in plants—subjects not being covered by the summit.

1.Which of the following is TRUE about CRISPR?Cas9?

A.It has fewer side effects.

B.It can modify human gene.

C.It can protect immune system.

D.It has less commercial potential.

2.The underlined word “chin?wag” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by ________.

A.discussion

B.negotiation

C.argument

D.comparison

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A.Dr.Baltimore started his research on modifying gene in 1975.

B.Scientists' opinions about the use of gene editing are consistent.

C.CRISPR?Cas9 has been applied to cure Leber congenital amaurosis.

D.More research should be made before the technology comes into wide use.

4.This passage is most probably a ________.

A.science fiction

B.scientific report

C.conference summary

D.commercial advertisement

Our risk of cancer rises as we age. So it makes sense that the elderly should be routinely screened for new tumors(肿瘤)—or doesn't it?

While such careful tracking of cancer is a good thing in general, researchers are increasingly questioning whether all of this testing is necessary for the elderly. With the percentage of people over age 65 expected to nearly double by 2050, it's important to consider the health benefits of screening and the costs of routine testing.

In many cases, screening can lead to additional operations to remove cancer, which can cause side effects, while the cancers themselves may be slow-growing and may not cause serious health problems in patients' remaining years. But the message that everyone must screen for cancer has become so ingrained that when health care experts recommended that women under 50 and over 74 stop screening for breast cancer, it caused a strong reaction among doctors, patients and advocacy(拥护) groups.

It's hard to uproot deeply held beliefs about cancer screening with scientific data. Certainly, there are people over age 75 who have had cancers detected by routine screening, and gained several extra years of life because of treatment. And clearly, people over age 75 who have other risk factors for cancer, such as a family history, should continue to get screened regularly. But for the remainder, the risk of cancer, while increased at the end of life, must be balanced with other factors like a remaining life expectancy.

A recent study suggests that doctors start to make more right decisions about who will truly benefit from screening—especially considering the explosion of the elderly.

It's not an easy guess to make, but one that makes sense for the whole patient. Dr. Otis Brawley said, "Many doctors are ordering these tests purely to protect themselves against medical disputes(纠纷). We need to think about the good use of health care and stop talking about the rationing(定量配给制) of health care."

That means making some difficult decisions with elderly patients and going against the misguided belief that when it comes to health care, more is always better.

1. Some researchers now think that routine cancer screening for the elderly .

A. adds too much to their medical bills

B. helps contribute to a long life

C. can prevent tumor growth

D. is not always necessary

2.The underlined word "ingrained" in Paragraph 3 most probably means " ".

A. important B. reliable C. precious D. deep-rooted

3.According to Dr. Otis Brawley, why do many doctors recommend routine screening for cancer?

A. Because they want to get more money from the health care system.

B. Because they want to perform their normal duties actively.

C. Because they want to avoid possible trouble.

D. Because they want their patients to suffer less.

4. What does the author mainly argue for?

A. Screening tests must be effective and dependable.

B. Old people should be careful about routine cancer screening.

C. Screening increases the chances of detecting certain cancers earlier.

D. Whether old people should go for cancer screening should follow rules.

(C)

Enough “meaningless drivel”. That’s the message from a group of members of the UK government who have been examining how social media firms like LinkedIn gather and use social media data.

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report, released last week, has blamed firms for making people sign up to long incomprehensible legal contracts and calls for an international standard or kitemark (认证标记) to identify sites that have clear terms and conditions.

“The term and conditions statement that we all carelessly agree to is meaningless drivel to anyone,” says Andrew Miller, the chair of the committee. Instead, he says, firms should provide a plain-English version of their terms. The simplified version would be checked by a third party and awarded a kitemark if it is an accurate reflection of the original.

It is not yet clear who would administer the scheme, but the UK government is looking at introducing it on a voluntary basis. “we need to think through how we make that work in practice,” says Miller.

Would we pay any more attention to a kitemark? “I think if you went and did the survey, people would like to think they would,” says Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton, UK, who studies open data. “We do know people worry a lot about the inappropriate use of their information.” But what would happen in practice is another matter, he says.

Other organisations such as banks ask customers to sign long contracts they may not read or understand, but Miller believes social media requires special attention because it is so new. “We still don’t know how significant the long-term impact is going to be of unwise things that kids put on social media that come back and bite them in 20 years’ time,” he says.

Shadbolt, who gave evidence to the committee, says the problem is that we don’t know how companies will use our data because their business models and uses of data are still evolving. Large collections of personal information have become valuable only recently, he says.

The shock and anger when a social media firm does something with data that people don’t expect, even if users have apparently permission, show that the current situation isn’t working. If properly administered, a kitemark on terms and conditions could help people know what exactly they are signing up to. Although they would still have to actually read them.

1. What does the phrase “ meaningless drivel” in paragraphs 1 and 3 refer to?

A. Legal contracts that social media firms make people sign up to.

B. Warnings from the UK government against unsafe websites.

C. Guidelines on how to use social media websites properly.

D. Insignificant data collected by social media firms.

2.It can be inferred from the passage that Nigel Shadbolt doubts whether _______.

A. social media firms would conduct a survey on the kitemark scheme

B. people would pay as much attention to a kitemark as they think

C. a kitemark scheme would be workable on a nationwide scale

D. the kitemark would help companies develop their business models

3. Andrew Miller thinks social media needs more attention than banks mainly because _______.

A. their users consist largely of kids under 20 years old

B. the language in their contracts is usually harder to understand

C. the information they collected could become more valuable in future

D. it remains unknown how users’ data will be taken advantage of

4.The writer advises users of social media to _______.

A. think carefully before posting anything onto such websites

B. read the terms and conditions even if there is a kitemark

C. take no further action if they can find a kitemark

D. avoid providing too much personal information

5. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. Say no to social media?

B. New security rules in operation?

C. Accept without reading?

D. Administration matters!

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