Nuclear power’s danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.

Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected by human senses. It can’t be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can’t detect them or sense them without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can’t sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.

At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being immediately by killing masses of cells in vital organs. But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be serious. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed immediately. Your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.

This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the victim being aware at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated(辐射)and feel fine, then die for cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak as a result of radiation absorbed by its parents.

Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.

1.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. How radiation kills a man.

B. How to detect nuclear radiation.

C. The mystery about nuclear radiation.

D. Serious harm caused by nuclear radiation.

2. Which statement about nuclear radiation is true?

A. It is just like common radio waves.

B. It can be harmless if its level is low.

C. It can be detected by human senses.

D. It can cause cancer to human beings.

3. How can nuclear radiation kill an animal?

A. By damaging its heart.

B. By stopping it breathing.

C. By killing many cells in key organs.

D. By destroying its brain.

4. If a man is hit by nuclear radiation, he may _______.

A. die of cancer after many years B. die immediately

C. have a child who may be born weak D. all of the above

Severely disabled people may soon be able to use their noses to write, drive a wheelchair or surf the Internet, thanks to a device (装置) developed by doctors in Israel.

The device will be used by breathing in and out through the nose, according to a study. Healthy people who tested the device quickly learned to play computer games and write sentences by sniffing. Encouraged by the results, the researchers decided to test their device on people who are paralyzed (瘫痪) but whose intelligence remains normal. Ten paralyzed who tested the device quickly learned to use their noses to write words, open a webpage, copy words and put them into a search engine.

With their success in helping severely disabled people to communicate * the researchers decided to make use of the new technology to design an electric wheelchair to be driven by sniffs.

Ten healthy people easily mastered sniff—driving a wheelchair through a maze (迷宫), and a 30-year-old man who had been paralyzed from the neck down for six years was as good a sniff-driver as the healthy participants at his second attempt. In other words, a paralyzed person could use the sniff controller to drive an electric wheelchair.

At the moment, sniff-controlled technology is still in the stage of development, and the Weizmann Institute has already applied for a patent on the device. "Ill be very happy if it can help us to make money, but the real problem is that I hope someone will develop it, because this would help a lot of people," said Sobel, one of the lead researchers of the study.

1. What’s the purpose of the passage?

A. To introduce a new invention.

B. To equip the disabled with life skills.

C. To show the nose's special functions.

D. To instruct doctors to apply for a patent.

2. In the test, the paralyzed people with normal intelligence can use their nose to ______.

A. type long sentences quickly

B. play computer games easily

C. enter a website without much difficulty

D. communicate with others successfully

3.With the help of the sniffing device, a 30-year-old disabled man ______.

A. spent six years learning how to drive a wheelchair

B. failed to drive through the maze at his first attempt

C. took the wheelchair controlled by healthy participants

D. managed to drive an electric wheelchair by sniffing

4. From the last paragraph, we can infer that the sniff-controlled technology ______.

A. will be applied to other fields of research

B. needs further developing to serve more people

C. has become an important patented invention

D. shows the wisdom and talents of Israel doctors

“Wanted: Violin

Can’t pay much

Call … ”

Why did I notice that? I wondered, since I rarely looked at the classified ads. I laid the paper on my lap and closed my eyes, remembering what had during the Great Depression, when my family to make a living on our farm. I, too, had wanted a violin, but we didn‘t have the .

When my older twin sisters began showing an interest in music, Harriet Anne learned to play Grandma‘s upright piano, Suzanne turned to Daddy‘s violin, simple tunes soon became 24 melodies as the twins played more and more. in the rhythm of the music, my baby brother danced around while Daddy hummed(哼唱)and Mother whistled. I just .

When my arms grew enough, I tried to play Suzanne‘s violin, I loved the beautiful sound drawn across the strings. Oh, how I wanted one! But I knew it was the question.

One evening as the twins played in the school orchestra, I closed my eyes tight to capture the picture firmly in my . “Someday, I‘ll sit up there.” I vowed(发誓) .

Unfortunately, it was not a year. At harvest the crops did not bring as much as we had hoped. I, however, couldn‘t any longer to ask, “Daddy, may I have a violin of my own?”

“Can‘t you use Suzanne‘s?”

“I‘d like to be in the orchestra, too, and we can‘t use the same violin at the same time.”

Daddy‘s face looked . That night, and many following nights, I heard him God in our family devotions: “… and Lord, Mary Lou wants her violin.”

One evening we all sat around the table. The twins and I studied. Mother sewed and Daddy wrote a letter to his friend, George Finkle, in Columbus. Mr.Finkle, Daddy said, was a fine violinist.

As he wrote, Daddy read of his letter out loud to Mother. Weeks later I he‘d written one line he didn‘t read aloud: “Would you watch for a for my third daughter? I can‘t 40 much, but she enjoys music. And we‘d like her to have her own instrument.”

1.A. managed B. promised C. struggled D. forced

2.A. luck B. money C. choice D. hope

3.A. while B. since C. after D. before

4.A. soft B. fluent C. gentle D. lovely

5.A. Picked out B. Caught up C. Taken on D. Called for

6.A. shouted B. laughed C. listened D. cried

7.A. long B. tough C. old D. slim

8.A. far from B. next to C. out of D. along with

9.A. dream B. hand C. life D. mind

10.A. faithfully B. silently C. frequently D. patiently

11.A. hopeless B. stable C. good D. difficult

12.A. stand B. help C. wait D. risk

13.A. both B. ever C. either D. still

14.A. angry B. sad C. pale D. weak

15.A. demand B. inform C. commit D. remind

16.A. favourite B. private C. own D. individual

17.A. parts B. lines C. contents D. purposes

18.A. heard B. conveyed C. discovered D. observed

19.A. musician B. favor C. gift D. violin

20.A. owe B. order C. charge D. pay

While other countries debate whether to fix wind turbines(涡轮机) offshore or in distant areas, Denmark is building them right in its capital. Three windmills(风车) were recently introduced in a Copenhagen neighbourhood, and the city plans to add another 97.

“We’ve made a very ambitious commitment to make Copenhagen CO2-neutral by 2025,” Frank Jensen, the mayor, says. “But going green isn’t only a good thing. It’s a must.” The city’s carbon-neutral plan, passed two years ago, will make Copenhagen the world’s first zero-carbon capital.

With wind power making up 33% of Denmark’s energy supply, the country already features plenty of wind turbines. Indeed, among the first sights greeting airborne visitors during the landing at Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport is a chain of sea-based wind towers. By 2020, the windswept country plans to get 50% of its energy from wind power.

Now turbines are moving into the city and these ones will cost less than half the price of those sea-based. Having the energy production closer makes it cheaper, and land-based turbines are the cheapest possible source of energy available today. Fixing them also makes the locals more aware of their energy consumption.

Though considerably less attractive than it was in ancient times, the windmill is enjoying popularity in the 21st century. “Windmills are a symbol of the new and clean Copenhagen,” says resident Susanne Sayers. Meanwhile, fellow Copenhagen citizen Maria Andersen worries about the noise, explaining that she wouldn’t want a wind turbine in her neighbourhood. While Copenhagen citizens approve of the windmills, they’re less willing to live close to one. The answer, the city has decided, is to sell turbine shares.

Each share represents 1,000 kW hours/year, with the profit tax-free. With a typical Copenhagen household consuming 3,500 kW hours/year, a family buying four shares effectively owns its own renewable energy supply. To date, 500 residents have bought 2,500 shares. Involving the local population was a smart move. “There are a lot of things you can do close to people if it’s not too big and if there’s a model where locals feel involved and get to share in the profit. Knowing that you, or your neighbours, own a technology creates a very different atmosphere than if a multinational owned it,” says Vad Mathiesen.

Going green? Yes. Accepted by the population? Yes. Going with centuries-old city architecture? Hardly.

Certainly, the three turbines don’t exactly blight the 18th-century city centre, as they are in a neighbourhood 3 km away. According to the mayor’s office, none of the remaining 97 turbines will rise in architecturally sensitive areas. But Sascha Haselmayer, CEO of city creation group Citymart, warns, “With Denmark being a world-leading producer of windmills, there is a risk that the answer to every energy question is windmills.”

“We’ve destroyed mountains and lakes in order to support our lifestyle,” notes Irena Bauman, an architect and professor at Sheffield University. “Wind turbines are a sign that we’re learning to live with nature. I hope we’ll have them all over the world,” she says. “They may be unpleasant to some, but better-looking ones will come. It’s just that we don’t have time to wait for them!”

1.Denmark has decided to build windmills in its capital mainly to ______.

A. make windmills its cultural symbol

B. advocate an environmentally-friendly lifestyle

C. take advantage of its limited wind power

D. greet tourists coming to Copenhagen by plane

2.How has the city of Copenhagen persuaded its people to accept the windmills around their homes?

A. By promising them that all their income is free of tax.

B. By designing less noisy windmills to ease their worries.

C. By convincing them that land-based turbines are much cheaper.

D. By offering them the chance to get the profit the windmills bring.

3.The underlined word “blight” (Paragraph 8) is closest in meaning to ______.

A. spoil B. improve C. pollute D. occupy

4.Sascha Haselmayer’s attitude to building windmills can best be described as ______.

A. disapproving B. unconcerned C. cautious D. enthusiastic

5.Which of the following words would Irena Bauman most probably agree with?

A. “It benefits us more to fit wind turbines in cities than in mountain areas or by lakes.”

B. “We should sell more wind turbines to other countries to make us one of the richest.”

C. “We should devote more time to developing the wind turbines that go with the city.”

D. “It’s not what wind turbines look like but how we live that really matters at present.”

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