题目内容

Not long ago, making a baby boy or a baby girl was pretty much a hit-or-miss affair, but not any more now. Parents who have accuracy, as Monique and Scott Collins learned to their delight two years ago, when their long-wished-for daughter Jessica was born after genetic pre-screening at a fertility clinic in Fairfax, Virginia.

And baby Jessica is just the beginning. Within a decade or two, it may be possible to screen kids almost before pregnancy(怀孕) , such as how tall they are likely to be, what baby type they will have, their hair and eye color, and even their IQ and personality types.

In fact , if gene therapy lives up to its promise, parents may some day be able to go beyond weeding out undesirable trials and start actually inserting the genes they want, perhaps even genes that have been crafted in a lab. Parents may be going to fertility clinics and picking from a list of choices the way car buyers order air conditioning or wheels. “It’s the most exciting shopping” experience designing your baby.” says biotechnology（生物工艺学） critic, Jeremy Rifkin, who is concerned about the prospect（前景）. “In a society that is usedto cosmetic surgery（整形手术）, this is not a big step.”

The prospect of designer babies, like many of the ethical（伦理）problems caused by the genetic revolution, is causing the doctors, ethicists, religious leaders and politicians of the whole world to start a fierce conflict , who are trying to decide how they feel about it all.

They still have a bit of time. Apart from gender, the only trails that can now be identified at the earliest stages of development are about a dozen of the most serious genetic diseases. Gene therapy in embryos（胚胎） is at least a few years away. And the gene or combination of genes responsible for most of our physical and mental attributes hasn’t even been identified yet, so the idea of engineering genes in or out is of no practical meaning.

1.What is gene therapy supposed to do if it lives up to its promise?

A．Screen a baby for sex. B． Choose a baby’ s eve color.

C． Implant genes. D． Identify genetic disorder.

2.According to the passage , what scientists can do with the genetic testing technology now is to_______.

A．screen a baby’s sex B．screen babies for desirable qualities

C．put in genes parents want D．craft genes in a lab

3.What can best describe Jeremy Rifkin’s attitude toward designing babies through gene therapy?

A．Strongly supportive B． Warmly welcome.

C．Uninterested. D． Critical.

4.From the passage we know that .

A．designing babies is purely scientific not to cause ethical problems

B．designing babies may bring people a lot of ethical concerns

C．scientists are now working against time to design babies

D． people are concerned about the harm clone to science by designing babies

【答案】

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.B

练习册系列答案

If you are able to talk to a friend over the telephone, you feel that you are close _____ the actual distance is not shortened.

A.
even if
B.
so long as
C.
if
D.
as

Not long ago, many people believed that babies only wanted food and to be kept warm and dry. Some people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. But doctors in the United States now say babies begin learning on their first day of life.

A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregiver. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other people.

The researchers say this ability to learn exists in a baby even before birth. They say newborn babies can recognize and understand sounds they heard while they were still developing inside their mothers.

Experts say the first three years of a child’s life are the most intensive period of language and speech development. This is the time when the brain is developing. Language and communication skills are believed to develop best in an environment that is rich with sounds and sights. Experts say babies should repeatedly hear the speech and language of other people.

America’s National Institutes of Health says evidence suggests there are important periods of speech and language development in children. The ability to learn a language will be more difficult if these periods pass without early contact with a language.

The first signs of communication happen during the first few days of life, when a baby learns that crying will bring food and attention. Research shows that most children recognize the general sounds of their native language by six months of age. By that time, a baby usually begins to make sounds. These sounds become a kind of nonsense speech over time.

1.When does the author think babies begin to learn? (no more than 9 words, 2 marks)

2.Why do babies smile to please her mother or other caregiver? (no more than 9 words, 2 marks)

3.According to experts, how can babies’ language and communication skills develop? (no more than 8 words, 3 marks)

4.What does the author mainly tell us? (no more than 8 words, 3 marks)

When Boris left school，he could not find a job．He tried hard and pestered(纠缠)his relatives，but they had problems of their Own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris grew annoyed，then depressed，then a little hardened．Still he went on trying and still he failed．He began to think that he had no future at all.

“Why don’t you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him．“The world is a money-locker. You’d better find a way of opening it.”

“But what can I do?”

“Get out and have a look round,” advised his uncle in a vague sort of way．“See what people want；then give it to them，and they will pay for it.”

Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer．He worked hard，made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit．A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself．He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good：in the wrong position，too expensive or with some other snag(障碍). But at long last，he managed to find an empty shop on a new estate where there were plenty of customers but no competition.

Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles．Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last，Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold Coins inside．

1.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage ?

A．Goodwill is the key to success．

B．The world is a money-locker

C．No education, no future

D．Difficulty of starting a small business

2.Which of the following best describes Boris’ job hunting experience?

A．Surprising B．Encouraging C．Boring D．Disappointing

3.Boris start his career by .

A．cycling around the town

B．developing a waste ground

C．repairing cycles

D．buying empty shops

4.Boris finally chose an empty shop on a new estate because .

A．it was not so expensive

B．he had a lot of old customers there

C．he could make good use of his skills there

D．there were good opportunities there

5.We can infer from the last paragraph that Boris .

A．still couldn’t make good profits

B．set off in a successful career

C．found a lot of gold coins by accident

D．had great difficulty running his business

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed.

Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因) for right-handedness, he / she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.

Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.

1.After studying works of art made at different times in history, the scientists found _______.

A. the art began from 1,500 B.C.

B. the works of art ended in the 1950s

C. most people shown in the works of art are right-handed

D. most people shown in the works of art are left-handed

2.How many people in the world are left-handed now?

A．Less than one sixth. B．More than a half.

C．About 40%. D．The passage doesn’t tell us.

3.What is the hand for most people used to do?

A．It’s used to find or hold things.

B．It’s used to work with things.

C．It’s used to make a person’s eyes work together.

D．It’s the centre for thinking and doing problems.

4.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed.

B．Left-handedness is cleverer than right-handedness.

C．Today children are not made to use their right hands only.

D．Scientists think there must be some reason why people become left-handed.

5.The best title for this passage is _______.

A．Scientists’ New Inventions B．Left-handed People

C．Which Hand D．Different Brains, Different Hands

He spoke at the meeting and said that three years in high school ________ not long.

[ ]

A. be
B. are
C. is
D. been

If you are able to talk to a friend over the telephone, you feel that you are close _____ the actual distance is not shortened.

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