题目内容
Architecture is to building as literature to the printed word.The best buildings are often so well constructed that they outlast their original use. They then survive not only as beautiful objects, but as documents of the history of cultures. These achievements are never wholly the work of individuals. Architecture is a social art. 2. The Renaissance brought about an entirely new age, not only in philosophy and literature but in the visual arts as well.In architecture, the principles and styles of ancient Greece and Rome were brought back to life and reinterpreted (重新诠释). They remain dominant until the 20th century. 3. Many kinds of stone are used as building materials. Stone and marble were chosen for important monuments because they are not burnable and can be expected to endure.Stone architecture was often blended with stone sculpture. The use of stone has declined, however, because a number of other materials are more adaptable to industrial use. 4. The complexity of modern life calls for a variety of building. More people live in mass housing and go to work in large office buildings; they spend their income in large shopping centers, send their children to many different kinds of schools, and when they are sick they go to specialized hospitals and clinics. All these different types of building accumulated experiences needed by their designers. 5. By the middle of the 20th century, modern architecture, which was influenced by new technology and mass production, was dealing with increasingly complex social needs. Important characteristics of modern architectural works are expanses of glass and the use of reinforced concrete (钢筋混凝土). Advances in elevator technology, air conditioning, and electric lighting have all had important effects. |
Plants have family values, too; it seems, with new research suggesting they can recognize close relatives in order to work together.
An ability to tell family from strangers is well known in animals, allowing them to cooperate and share resources, but plants may possess similar social skills, scientists believe.
Susan Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, report they have demonstrated for the first time that plants can recognize their kin.
This suggests that plants, though lacking recognition and memory, are capable of complex social interactions.
“Plants have this kind of hidden but complicated social life,” Dudley said.
The study found plants from the same species of beach-dwelling wildflower grew aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors but were less competitive when they shared soil with their families.
Sea rocket, a North American species, showed stronger and healthier root growth when planted in pots with strangers than when raised with relatives from the same maternal(母系的) family, the study found.
This is an example of kin selection, a behavior common in animals in which closely related individuals take a group approach to succeeding in their environment, the researchers said.
Kin selection also applies to competition, because if family members compete less with each other, the group will do better overall. “Everywhere you look, plants are growing right up next to other plants,” Dudley said,“ Usually it’s a case of each plant for itself. But sometimes those plants are related, and there are benefits to not wasting resources on being competitive, and there is not really a cost to not being competitive as long as your neighbor is also not being competitive.”
Learning and memory appear to be important for kin recognition in animals, but this isn’t an option for plants, she noted.
Some researchers speculate(猜测) that plants communicate through their roots, identifying themselves using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant’s family.
【小题1】What’s the main idea of the message?
A.Studies find plants can recognize, communicate with relatives. |
B.Kin selection is important for plants. |
C.Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives. |
D.Competition asks plants to recognize their relatives. |
A.Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives. |
B.Animals’ social skill is to cooperate and share resources. |
C.Animals’ social skill can recognize close relatives in order to work together. |
D.Animals’ social skill is no use at all. |
A.grow well | B.compete with other kinds of plants |
C.strengthen the relationship among siblings | D.find which one is the best |
A.sea rocket is a South American species |
B.sea rocket grows aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors |
C.sea rocket grows aggressively alongside its siblings |
D.sea rocket is a kind of bush without flowers |
A.Plants communicate by using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant’s family. |
B.Plants communicate with each other through their roots. |
C.Plants communicate with each other by their leaves. |
D.Plants communicate with each other with their flowers. |
Two years ago, the Funk family of suburban Chicago adopted a Chinese baby girl who had been abandoned on a sidewalk near a Yangzhou textile factory.
Last year and halfway across the United States, the Ramirez family of suburban Miami adopted a girl who had been abandoned a week later on the same spot.
Both families named their daughters Mia. It turns out, a first name and Chinese heritage aren’t the only things the three-year-olds have in common. The girls’ mothers—Holly Funk and Diana Ramirez—met on a website for parents who had gone through international adoptions. After a flurry of e-mails comparing photographs and biographical details, DNA testing proved the families’ suspicions: The girls are probably fraternal (手足般的) twins.
“I was in shock,” said Ramirez, who lives with her husband Carlos in Pembroke Pines, Florida. “Well, now this is for real.”
The Internet and Web groups revolving around international orphanages are increasingly being used to link adopted children with biological kin(亲属). The site that the Funks and Ramirezes used has a membership of 137 people, with 15 sets of twins and seven sets of siblings whose relationships have been confirmed.
At a reunion on Friday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Mia Diamond Funk Mia Hanying Ramirez shyly surveyed each other, then reached for each other’s hand.
DNA tests established an 85 percent probability that the girls are at least half sisters. Scientists did not have a biological parent to test and reach a greater certainty, but given their ages and physical similarities, experts say it is likely they are fraternal twins.
Douglas and Holly Funk hope to take Mia to Miami in October. Both sets of parents say they are committed to staying in touch and often let the twins talk to each other on the phone.
【小题1】. Both the adopted girls shared a first name ________.
A.because they both came from China |
B.because of their physical similarities |
C.because their US parents suspected they were twins |
D.for no good reason |
A.To compare photographs of the two girls. |
B.To communicate with other people who had adopted children abroad. |
C.To test their suspicion. |
D.To exchange experiences on adopting children. |
A.DNA tests are still not accurate enough |
B.the two girls were born by different parents |
C.the DNA of a biological parent is still missing |
D.one girl is born a week later than the other |
A.Adopted Twins Reunited on Internet |
B.Adopted Twins Live happily in the US. |
C.Suspicion Turned into Reality |
D.The Story of Adopted Twins and Their Parents |
From: |
<joseph_yana@orange.net> |
IP Address: |
193.252.22.118 (originates from France) |
Date: |
Mon, 02-Feb-2009 09:37:04am |
Attachment: |
(No attachment) |
Subject: |
[G-Spam] PLEASE REPLY BACK. |
Message: |
|
CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL. FROM THE DESK OF: MR. JOSEPH YANA. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) BURKINA-FASO. Dear Sir / Madam, I am the Bill and Exchange (assistant) Manager of the Africa development Bank, MR. JOSEPH YANA. In my department I discovered an abandoned sum of USD$9.900.000 in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his wife and two children in July 2000 in a plane crash. Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin(近亲属) to come over and claim his money, but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him in the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I in my department now decided to make this business proposals to you and release the money to you as next of kin or relation since nobody is coming for it and we don't want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The banking law and guidelines here says that if such money remains unclaimed after ten years, the money will be transferred into the bank treasury. The request of foreigner in this transaction is necessary because our late customer was a foreigner. We agree that 30% of this money will be for you as foreigner partner, 5% will be set aside for expenses incurred during the business and 65% would be for me, after which I shall visit your country for disbursement(开支) according to the percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank, and send your account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be sent. Upon receiving your reply, I will send to you by fax or e-mail the text of the application which you shall retype and fax to us. Trusting to receive your urgent reply through my alternative Email : jyana96 @ yahoo.co.id Best regards. MR. JOSEPY YANA. |
1. A foreigner who receives this letter should ________.
A. be a close relative of the dead. B. send hundreds of dollars to Africa
C. go to African Development Bank for the wealth D. not take it seriously.
2. Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. Many millionaires died in the plane crash. B. Any money unclaimed will be given to a poor foreigner.
C. the division of the money seems quite reasonable. D. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK doesn’t exist at all.
3. A person who believes “__________” will fall into it.
A. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. B. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
C. All rivers run into the sea D. A short cut is often a wrong cut