Throughout history man has had to accept the fact that all living things must die. But people now live longer than they   36  . Yet, all living things still show the   37   of aging, which will eventually   38   death.

Aging is not a disease, but as a person passes maturity (成熟期), the cells of the body and the  39  they form do not function as well as they   40   in childhood and teenage years. The body provides less   41   against disease and is more   42   to have accident.

A number of related causes may   43   aging. Some cells of the body have a fairly long life, but they are not   44   when they die. As a person ages,   45   of brain cells and muscle cells decreases.   46   body cells die and are replaced by new cells. In an aging person the   47  cells may not be as workable or as capable   48   growth as those of a young person.

Another   49   in aging may be changes within the cells   50   . Some of the protein chemicals in cells are known   51   with age and become less elastic (有弹性的). This is why the skin of old people wrinkles (皱纹) and   52  . This is also the reason why old people   53   in height. There may be other more important chemical changes in the cells. Some complex cell chemicals, such as DNA and RNA, store and   54   information that the cells need． Aging may affect this  55  and change the information-carrying molecules so that they do not transmit the information as well.

36. A．would          B．be used to C．used to     D． used

37. A．function          B．effect         C．affect         D． sign

38. A．lead in           B．give in         C．run into     D． result in

39. A．hands           B．feet C．heart        D． organs

40. A．do             B．has done          C．did           D． had done

41. A．energy         B．protection      C．vigor             D． power

42. A．likely             B．probable         C．possible    D． alike

43. A．attend to        B．contribute to  C．add to     D． devote to

44. A．replaced        B．reborn   C．recovered      D． surrendered

45. A．a number        B．the amount   C．the number   D． a great deal

46. A．The others              B．The other              C．Another         D． Other

47. A．old               B．left                C．new             D． other

48. A．to                 B．for      C．of                D． in

49. A．factor            B．effect              C．reason   D． element

50. A．for themselves          B．of themselves   C．themselves         D． on their own

51.   A．change            B．to have changed  C．to change          D． to be changed

52. A．hangs loose   B．hangs loosely     C．is hanging loosely D． is hanging loose

53. A．increase          B．shrink     C．lengthen         D． decrease

54. A．pass away      B．pass by            C．pass off           D． pass on

55. A．improvement           B．procession      C．approach       D． process

Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.

There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.

Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.

If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.

The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .

       A. most people in the world speak Chinese

       B. there are thousands of languages in the world today

       C. man has much knowledge about languages

       D. some people know several languages

According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .

       A. will soon die out completely    B. were once a relative of English

       C. are no longer spoken        D. come from the same family

According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.

       A. Chinese      B. English      C. Spanish      D. German

According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.

       A. German     B. English      C. Spanish     D. Chinese

The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .

       A. a special language spoken by Chinese

       B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area

       C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese

      D. the form of a language used in one part of the country

Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.
If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .

Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how language first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about three thousand languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 years ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even die out completely. About 1,000 years ago English was a little -known relative of German spoken on one of the borders（边界）of Europe.
If a language has a lot of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China cannot understand speakers from other parts.
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly tells us that_______.

Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how language first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about three thousand languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.
There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 years ago.
Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even die out completely. About 1,000 years ago English was a little -known relative of German spoken on one of the borders（边界）of Europe.
If a language has a lot of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China cannot understand speakers from other parts.
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly tells us that_______.