A team of researchers in California has developed a way to predict what kinds of objects people are looking at by scanning what’s happening in their brains.
When you look at something, your eyes send a signal about that object to your brain. Different regions of the brain process the information your eyes send. Cells in your brain called neurons(神经元) are responsible for this processing.
　　The fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging功能性磁共振造影) brain scans could generally match electrical activity in the brain to the basic shape of a picture that someone was looking at.
　　Like cells anywhere else in your body, active neurons use oxygen. Blood brings oxygen to the neurons, and the more active a neuron is, the more oxygen it will consume. The more active a region of the brain, the more active its neurons, and in turn, the more blood will travel to that region. And by using fMRI, scientists can visualize which parts of the brain receive more oxygen- rich blood--and therefore, which parts are working to process information.
　　An fMRI machine is a device that scans the brain and measures changes in blood flow to the brain. The technology shows researchers how brain activity changes when a person thinks, looks at something, or carries out an activity like speaking or reading. By highlighting the areas of the brain at work when a person looks at different images, fMRI may help scientists determine specific patterns of brain activity associated with different kinds of images.
　　The California researchers tested brain activity by having two volunteers view hundreds of pictures of everyday objects, like people, animals, and fruits. The scientists used an fMRI machine to record the volunteers' brain activity with each photograph they looked at. Different objects caused different regions of the volunteers' brains to light up on the scan, indicating activity. The scientists used this information to build a model to predict how the brain might respond to any image the eyes see.
In a second test, the scientists asked the volunteers to look at 120 new pictures. Like before, their brains were scanned every time they looked at a new image. This time, the scientists used their model to match the fMRI scans to the image. For example, if a scan in the second test showed the same pattern of brain activity that was strongly, related to pictures of apples in the first test, their model would have predicted the volunteers were looking at apples.
　　 51. What is responsible for processing the information sent by your eyes?
　　A A small region of the brain.
　　B The central part of the brain.
　　C Neurons in the brain.
　　D Oxygen-rich blood.
　　52. Which of the following statements is NOT meant by the writer?
　　A Cells in your brain are called neurons.
　　B The more oxygen a neuron consumes, the more blood it needs.
　　C fMRI helps scientists to discover which parts of the brain process information.
　　D fMRI helps scientists to discover how the brain develops intelligently.
53. "Highlighting the areas of the brain at work" means
　　A "marking the parts of the brain that are processing information"
　　B "giving light to the parts of the brain that are processing information"
　　C "putting the parts of the brain to work"
　　D "stopping the parts of the brain from working"
　　54. What did the researchers experiment on?
　　A Animals, objects, and fruits.
　　B Two volunteers.
　　C fMRI machines.
　　D Thousands of pictures.
55.What is the best title for the passage?
A Mind-reading Machine
B A Technological Dream
C Device that can Help You Calculate
D The Recent Development in Science and Technology

C
　　The curtain on the 2008 US presidential election finally rose last month as Requblican Senator(参议员) John McCain and Democratic Senator Barack Obama were formally selected as candidates of the two major parties.This may be one of the hardest decisions voters have to make between two appealing candidates.The big question for voters,as they face both an economic downturn and international threats,is :who will they elect? A young first - term senator promising change and new ideas,or a longtime senator with strong military experience and a reputation as a maverick(特立独行的人)？
　　American voters have never seen a candidate quite like Obama.He has a white mother from the US and a black fater from Kenya who left the family when Obama was very young.He spent part of his youth in Indonesia.
　　However,McCain has a very different life story.
　　He grew up in a Navy family and was a daring pilot during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. When Obama was in kindergarten in Indonesia,McCain's plane was shot down over Ietenam and he became a prisoner of war.McCain could have been set free if he disowned America but he refused and so was held for five years.
　　"We need a president who is very,very old,"McCain joked at his age as many others do.If elected,he would be 72 when he takes office and the oldest man to step in.
　　So in the end,the election may depend on several factors that are hard to judge:Will Obama's race matter to a significant number of voters ? Will workingclass whites who tended to support his primary (党内初选) oponent,Hillary Clinton,vote for Obama? And perhaps most important of all,will uncertain voters be more attracted to Obama's vision or to McCain's experience?
　　Whatever happens,one thing is clear,however:Whoever walks into the White House on January 20,2009,will find huge challenges waiting for him in the Oval Office,both at home and abroad.
　　64.______makes the result of the election hard to predict.
　　　A.Whether working class whites care about Obama's inexperience
　　　B.The economic trouble the country now faces
　　　C.Who uncertain voters will finally decide to vote for
　　　D.McCain being too old to govern the country
　　65.The appeal in Obama as a presidential candidate lies in _________
　　　A.his multi - cultural background
　　　B.his belife in tradition
　　　C.his inexperience in politics
　　　D.his fantastic promises
　　66.The word "disown" in Paragraph 6 means closest to ______.
　　　A.flee from
　　　B.turn his back on
　　　C.not keep it private
　　　D.expose secrets about
　　67.The challenges that will face the new preident______.
　　　A.are not mentioned in the text
　　　B.include buklding a strong party and a friendly image
　　　C.refer to the problems of immigrants and economy
　　　D.refer to the problems of economy amd international relations

A recent study, while showing a generally positive attitude toward science, also suggests a widespread worry that it may be “running out of control”. This idea is dangerous.  

Science can be a force for evil as well as for good. Its applications can be channeled either way, depending on our decisions. The decisions we make, personally or collectively, will determine the outcomes of science. But here is a real danger. Science is advancing so fast is so strongly influenced by businesses that we are likely to believe whatever decisions we come to will make little difference. And, rather than fighting for the best possible policies, we may step back and do nothing.  

Some people go even further. They say that despite the moral and legal objections （反对）, whatever is scientifically possible will be done ――somewhere, sometime. They believe that science will get out of control in the end. This belief is dangerous too, because it a fuels sense of  hopelessness and discourages them from making efforts to build a safer world.  

In our interconnected world, the lack of agreement in and of the world of science can lead to the failure to control the use of science. Without a common understanding, the challenges of “controlling” science in this century will be really tough. Take human cloning for example. Despite the general agreement among scientists on its possible huge impact （影响） on traditional moral values, some countries still go ahead with the research and development of its related techniques. The outcomes are hard to predict.  

Therefore, discussions on how science is applied should be extended far beyond scientific societies. Only through the united efforts of people with hope, can we be fully safe against the misuse of science and can science best serve mankind in the future.  

　　72. What can we conclude from the recent study?

　　A. People think highly of science.

　　B. People hold mixed opinions about science.

　　C. Science is getting dangerously out of control.

　　D. Science is used for both good and bad purposes.

　　73. According to the passage , what will happen if we hold that science is getting beyond control?

　　A. The development of science will hopelessly slow down.

　　B. Businesses will have even greater influence on science.

　　C. The public will lose faith in bringing about a bright future.

　　D. People will work more actively to put science under control.

　　74. The discussion should reach beyond scientific societies because_______

　　A. scientists have failed to predict the outcomes

　　B. the ties between different areas need strengthening

　　C. united efforts are necessary for the development of science

　　D. people need to work together to prevent the bad use of science

　　75. What is the main idea of the passage?

　　A. Science and its applications bring us many dangers.

　　B. The development of science mostly lies in people's attitudes.

　　C. Mankind can largely take control of science with their efforts.

D. The future of science will be influenced by the dangerous ideas.

C

　　The curtain on the 2008 US presidential election finally rose last month as Requblican Senator(参议员) John McCain and Democratic Senator Barack Obama were formally selected as candidates of the two major parties.This may be one of the hardest decisions voters have to make between two appealing candidates.The big question for voters,as they face both an economic downturn and international threats,is :who will they elect? A young first - term senator promising change and new ideas,or a longtime senator with strong military experience and a reputation as a maverick(特立独行的人)？

　　American voters have never seen a candidate quite like Obama.He has a white mother from the US and a black fater from Kenya who left the family when Obama was very young.He spent part of his youth in Indonesia.

　　However,McCain has a very different life story.

　　He grew up in a Navy family and was a daring pilot during the Vietnam War in the 1960s. When Obama was in kindergarten in Indonesia,McCain's plane was shot down over Ietenam and he became a prisoner of war.McCain could have been set free if he disowned America but he refused and so was held for five years.

　　"We need a president who is very,very old,"McCain joked at his age as many others do.If elected,he would be 72 when he takes office and the oldest man to step in.

　　So in the end,the election may depend on several factors that are hard to judge:Will Obama's race matter to a significant number of voters ? Will workingclass whites who tended to support his primary (党内初选) oponent,Hillary Clinton,vote for Obama? And perhaps most important of all,will uncertain voters be more attracted to Obama's vision or to McCain's experience?

　　Whatever happens,one thing is clear,however:Whoever walks into the White House on January 20,2009,will find huge challenges waiting for him in the Oval Office,both at home and abroad.

　　64.______makes the result of the election hard to predict.

　　　A.Whether working class whites care about Obama's inexperience

　　　B.The economic trouble the country now faces

　　　C.Who uncertain voters will finally decide to vote for

　　　D.McCain being too old to govern the country

　　65.The appeal in Obama as a presidential candidate lies in _________

　　　A.his multi - cultural background

　　　B.his belife in tradition

　　　C.his inexperience in politics

　　　D.his fantastic promises

　　66.The word "disown" in Paragraph 6 means closest to ______.

　　　A.flee from

　　　B.turn his back on

　　　C.not keep it private

　　　D.expose secrets about

　　67.The challenges that will face the new preident______.

　　　A.are not mentioned in the text

　　　B.include buklding a strong party and a friendly image

　　　C.refer to the problems of immigrants and economy

　　　D.refer to the problems of economy amd international relations

D
　　Beyond two or three days，the world’s best weather forecasts are doubtful, and beyond six or seven they are worthless.
　　The Butterfly Effect is the reason. For small pieces of weather—to a global forecaster，small can mean thunder—storms and blizzards（暴风雪）—any prediction becomes worse rapidly. Errors and uncertainties increase，from dust devils and storms up to continent-size eddies（旋涡）that only satellites can see.
　　The modern weather models work with net-like points sixty miles apart，and even so，some starting data have to be guessed，since ground stations and satellites cannot see everywhere. But suppose the earth could be covered with sensors placed one foot apart，rising at one-foot intervals all the way to the top of the atmosphere. Suppose every sensor gives perfectly accurate readings of temperature，pressure，humidity（温度）, and any other data a weatherman would want. Exactly at noon a powerful computer takes all the data and calculates what will happen at each point at 12.01, then 12.02，then 12.03…the computer will still be unable to predict whether Princeton will have sun or rain one month away. At noon the spaces between the sensors will hide fluctuations（波动）that the computer will not know about. By 12.01，those fluctuations will already have created small errors one foot away. Soon the errors will have added to the ten-foot scale，and so on up to the size of the globe.
63．A weather forecast ____________ in the world.
A．is reliable within one or two days
B．is doubtful beyond 24 hours
C．becomes useless beyond two or three days
D．is still worthwhile in seven days
64．Usually there is a weather sub-station____________.
A．in every city 　　　　　　　　　　B．every 60 miles
C．between two cities 　　　　　　　 D．every one foot
65．Which of the following statements is true？
A．People have not placed sensors one foot apart in the atmosphere.
B．Scientists have already put sensors one foot apart in the world.
C．Every sensor gives perfectly accurate data a weatherman wants.
D．Ground weather stations and satellites can see every place on earth.
66．Our computer will not be able to know about fluctuations because ____________.
A．the sensors are not good enough
B．they are hidden by the spaces between the sensors
C．they are too far away
D．they move very fast