How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know? Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease? These days that’s more than an academic question, as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.

There are now more than a thousand genetic（基因的）tests, for everything from baldness to breast cancer, and the list is growing. Question is, do you really want to know what might eventually kill you? For instance, Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’（老年痴呆症）.

“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease, that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious, through which you see the rest of your life as you wait for that disease to hit you. It could really mess you up.” Said Dr. Robert Green, a Harvard geneticist.

“Every ache and pain,” Smith suggested, could be understood as “the beginning of the end.”“That ’s right. If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot, you think the disease has started.”

Dr. Green has been thinking about this issue for years. He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s. It was thought that people who got bad news would, for lack of a better medical term, freak out. But Green and his team found that there was“no significant difference”between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives. In fact, most people think they can handle it. People who ask for the information usually can handle the information, good or bad, said Green.

71.The first paragraph is meant to__________.

A. ask some questions                        B. introduce the topic

C. satisfy readers’ curiosity                 D. describe an academic fact

【答案】B

【解析】通过两个问题引出话题。

72.Which of the following is true of James Watson？

A. He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests.

B. He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

C. He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease.

D. He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease.

【答案】D

【解析】根据第二段Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’。“James Watson要求如果他的基因表明他有很高的老年痴呆症的可能不要告诉他。”

73.According to Paragraphs 3 and 4, if a person is at a higher genetic risk, it is__________.

A. advisable not to let him know          B. impossible to hide his disease

C. better to inform him immediately      D. necessary to remove his anxiety

【答案】A

【解析】根据这两个自然段可知，如果你提前被告知你将来可能患某种可怕的疾病会mess you up。

74.The underlined part“freak out”in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to“_________”.

A. break down                     B. drop out            C. leave off            D. turn away

【答案】A

【解析】根据下文But的转折，以及no significant difference可知，freak out的意思是A（精神垮掉）。

75.The study led by Dr. Green indicates that people__________.

A. prefer to hear good news         B. tend to find out the truth

C. can accept some bad news              D. have the right to be informed

【答案】C

【解析】根据第五段内容 In fact, most people think they can handle it可知答案选C.

第II卷（选做题，40分）

友情提醒：

本部分试卷分为A、B两类，同学们可以选做A、B两类中任何一类，但选择要统一，不可两类混做，多做或混做均不得分。

A类题

第四部分单词拼写（共20小题, 每小题1分，满分20分）

76. The castle was once owned by the king, but now it lies in r__________.

77. To my great d__________, my son has passed all his exams.

78. The next day, US President Franklin Roosevelt d________ war against Japan.

79. The United Kingdom c__________ of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

80. I got i__________in the quarrel between Tom and Jack.

81. Government promises to _______（创造）more jobs for laid-off workers.

82. Humans ________(不同于) from other mammals in their ability to speak.

83. She is so ____________（特别的；挑剔的）about food that no cook can please her.

84. We should keep the __________(平衡) of nature.  

85. We all hope that there’s no war and the people all over the world can live p___________ (和平地) side by side.

86. Apparently s__________ to criticism, the bull forgot all about the matador and charged at the drunk.

87. When the bull got close to him, he c__________ stepped aside to let it pass.

88. It is not only of immense size, but is extremely a__________ as well.

89. Following in his father’s f__________ many years later, Sir Malcolm’s son, Donald, also set up a world record.

90. Children who play t__________ from school are unimaginative.

91. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish __________(边界).

92. Dressed in dark glasses and old clothes, they had taken special __________(预防措施) so that no one should recognize them.

93. “Oh, is it?” said the sheriff with a __________(冷笑).

94. She __________(跺，踩) out the letters “SOS” in the snow.

95. It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the __________(幸存者) of the plane crash.

第II卷（选做题，40分）

友情提醒：

本部分试卷分为A、B两类，同学们可以选做A、B两类中任何一类，但选择要统一，不可两类混做，多做或混做均不得分。

A类题

第四部分 单词拼写（共20小题, 每小题1分，满分20分）

76. The castle was once owned by the king, but now it lies in r__________.

77. To my great d__________, my son has passed all his exams.

78. The next day, US President Franklin Roosevelt d________ war against Japan.

79. The United Kingdom c__________ of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

80. I got i__________in the quarrel between Tom and Jack.

81. Government promises to _______（创造）more jobs for laid-off workers.

82. Humans ________(不同于) from other mammals in their ability to speak.

83. She is so ____________（特别的；挑剔的）about food that no cook can please her.

84. We should keep the __________(平衡) of nature.  

85. We all hope that there’s no war and the people all over the world can live p___________ (和平地) side by side.

86. Apparently s__________ to criticism, the bull forgot all about the matador and charged at the drunk.

87. When the bull got close to him, he c__________ stepped aside to let it pass.

88. It is not only of immense size, but is extremely a__________ as well.

89. Following in his father’s f__________ many years later, Sir Malcolm’s son, Donald, also set up a world record.

90. Children who play t__________ from school are unimaginative.

91. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish __________(边界).

92. Dressed in dark glasses and old clothes, they had taken special __________(预防措施) so that no one should recognize them.

93. “Oh, is it?” said the sheriff with a __________(冷笑).

94. She __________(跺，踩) out the letters “SOS” in the snow.

95. It was not long before a helicopter arrived on the scene to rescue the __________(幸存者) of the plane crash.