What if it isn’t a dog-eat-dog world? What if caring for a dog or for a mom with Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆症) makes you stronger and allows you to live longer?

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley are challenging our long-held belief that humans are born to be selfish.

Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was misunderstood by his male followers, the researchers say. Rather than “every man for himself”, Darwin believed that humans are successful as a species precisely because of our educational, selfless and sympathetic characteristics.

Why has it taken so long for Darwin’s central revelation(揭示) to be properly understood? “We’ve had too many men in social science,” Berkeley psychology professor Dacher Keltner told me in an interview. “Female scientists acknowledge that caring for people is part of human nature according to the research, which shows the human ability to care exists in our brains and nerve systems.”

In my book Passages in Caregiving , I urge women who take the whole responsibility for taking care of an elderly parent or a sick relative to build a “Circle of Care”. Reach out to your brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and community volunteers to help you care, because no one can perform this overwhelming role alone. You will be as shocked as I to learn how the most selfless caregivers are rewarded with longer life.

Sympathy is not a woman’s word. In fact it makes all of us stronger under stress and more highly respected by our peers. For so long we have repeated the false saying “Nice guys finish last”. But the 40 richest Americans committed to doing good by donating half their fortunes are no spring chickens. So here is my new explanation：Nice guys die last.

1.The first paragraph serves to       .

A．give the background of the topic

B．blame the world for selfishness

C．urge people to care for a dog

D．bring out the topic of the passage

2.In Passages in Caregiving, women are advised to     .

A．share the responsibility of caring with others

B．take good care of themselves

C．learn how to live a longer life

D．help as many people as possible

3.The underlined words “no spring chickens” in the last paragraph refer to        .

A．rich people        B．poor people       C．young people      D．aged people

4.Why does the author mention the 40 richest Americans’ commitment in this passage?

A．To argue against offering sympathy.

B．To use it as an example to support his opinion.

C．To show their generosity to society.

D．To call on people to learn from them.

5.Which of the following might be the BEST title of the passage?

A．Selflessness could be the secret to longer life

B．Darwin’s theory of evolution is out of date now

C．Measures must be taken to improve the world

D．Males and females have different opinions about selflessness

1.__________

Current research into the human gene system is helping us understand why people have predispositions（易患某病倾向）to certain diseases．Knowing our genetic makeup can help us to judge whether or not we may be stricken by particular illness, such as cancer．Even before birth, we are able to do genetic screenings to determine what a child's genetic disorder will be．Scientists have already isolated and identified the genes responsible for the more than 4,000 genetic diseases that affect human beings．

2.__________

The implications of this knowledge are astonishing. In addition to predicting genetic predisposition towards diseases, gene therapies may provide new treatments or cures for serious diseases．Millions of people already use genetically engineered drugs to treat heart disease, cancer, AIDS, and strokes （中风）. But with the research that is now being conducted, we may find cures to many more diseases．In the near future, genetic experimentation will also allow parents to select the traits of their children. Genetic traits that determine height, weight, eye and hair color will be able to be controlled, and many parents are excited about this potential.

3.__________

Many people, however, are unwilling to accept the possibilities genetic research allowsFor example, one reason some women do not use the largest genetic testing for breast cancer is because they are afraid they will be discriminated against．Another problem is that many people do not want to discover their weakness．What if they learn that they have a disease for which there are no medical cures? How will such knowledge affect their lives? Do people really want to know what they will die of?

4.__________

Many people believe that history has not always shown human decision-making to be bright when it comes to ethical（道德的）choices. Jeremy Rifkin is probably the most well known opponent of genetic engineering. He believes that humans are not responsible enough to experiment with genes and should not “play God” He asks, “Just because it can be done, does that mean it should be done?” He points out that our society will eventually look and act the same if parents select the traits of their children, and he questions the desirability of such a society．

5.．__________

One of the fears expressed about genetic experimentation involves privacy. Already blood sample taken from patients in hospitals have been used for genetic research without the patients’ permission. Most people would agree that one’s health and genetic makeup are private concerns. But if insurance companies gain access to this information, it could have a large impact on insurance coverage or costs; if employers gain access to the information, it could have a large impact on hiring or promotion decisions. The possibilities for discrimination are obvious．

A Tchaikovsky concerto（协奏曲）is what made Romel Joseph fall in love with the violin.

He learned how to play in Haiti, where he was born, but a Fulbright scholarship brought him to the United States, and he finally earned a master’s degree, reports CBS News reporter Katie Couric. Music had changed his life. He wanted to do the same for the children of Haiti.

Joseph built a school in Port-au-Prince nearly 20 years ago. He was on the third floor when suddenly “It was like boom boom boom and everything just opened,” Joseph said. “And the next thing I knew I was on the ground.”

Blind since birth, Joseph tried to feel his way out, but was pinned（夹）beneath heavy concrete（混凝土）. He remained trapped for 18 hours. He prays that his new wife, seven months pregnant（怀孕的）, will be found.

He is now being treated at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital for two injured legs and an arm.

Joseph wonders if he’ll ever play the violin again. He can feel sensation（知觉）in his fingertips. He said, “If you were to give me a violin and if I didn’t have to fold the fingers, I would be able to play.”

Joseph’s daughter Victoria spent three terrifying days unsure of her father’s fate. For her, having him home is the sweetest music.

“Can you imagine your dad not being able to play the violin?” Couric asked.

“No, I can’t,” Victoria Joseph said. “But I will love him all the same if he can’t.”

Romel doesn’t know how many of his 300 students died in the quake. As he waits for news about his wife, Romel Joseph is already planning a return to Haiti to rebuild the school and continue teaching there.

“We can save two children, 20, 200, 300, 500 through education and music, and these children will make a difference,” Romel Joseph said.

54．Romel began to like music ________.

A. because he was blind since birth

B. after he had listened to a famous piece of music

C. when he got a scholarship to study in America

D. since he was born in Haiti

55．From what Romel said in Paragraph 6, we can infer that he was ________.

A. upset        B. fearful          C. excited          D. optimistic

56．To Victoria, the best thing is ________.

A. to see her father recover from the injury quickly

B. to listen to her father playing the sweetest music

C. to play the violin as well as her father

D. to be sure that her father could play the violin

57．Why does Romel want to go back to Haiti?

A. To save his students from the earthquake.

B. To change the life of children by teaching music.

C. To find out how seriously his school was damaged.

D. To look for his wife who is pregnant.

58．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Music education: keep your creativity alive

B. A great blind musician and his students

C. Haiti earthquake: a story of a music teacher

D. How did some Haiti earthquake victims survive

 B

About a year ago, I went to stay at a Detroit hotel. I didn’t want to carry too much money with me, so I asked the desk clerk to put a hundred- dollar bill in the safe for me.

 The next morning, however, the clerk said he knew nothing about my money. I didn’t have any proof that I had given the man the money. There was nothing I could do but go to the nearest lawyer.

  The lawyer advised me to return to the hotel with him and give another hundred-dollar bill to the clerk. This I did. An hour later, I went back to the desk and asked for my money. Since I had the lawyer as an eyewitness to the second hundred-dollar bill, the clerk could not say he knew nothing about it.

Another hour later, I put the second part of the lawyer’s plan into action. This time both the lawyer and I went to the hotel. I asked for the hundred-dollar bill once again, and when the clerk insisted he had already given it to me, I denied（否认）it. The lawyer said to him, “I saw this gentleman give you a hundred dollars. If you don’t hand it over immediately, I’ll be forced to call the police.”

 The clerk realized he had been tricked, so he gave me back the first hundred-dollar bill.

 “I don’t know how to thank you enough for getting my money back,” I said to the lawyer. And what you suppose he answered?

  He said, “Oh, don’t thank me. That will be a hundred dollars, please.”

60. The man went to a Detroit hotel one day to___________.

A. get his money back                      B. put a hundred-dollar bill in the safe

C. ask to be a desk clerk             D. stay for the night

61. The hotel clerk at last returned the first hundred-dollar bill to the man because _________.

A. he knew the lawyer’s plan very well  

B. he found the lawyer tricking him

C. he didn’t want to get into trouble with the police  

D. he wanted to give the man a surprise

62. Which of the following statements is true?

A. The man didn’t get his 200 dollars back.

B. The lawyer was happy that the man got both his bills back.

C. The lawyer asked for 100 dollars.

D. The man thanked the lawyer by paying him some money.

63．The man was _______.

A. wise             B. foolish          C. happy           D. sad

D

To what degree can a computer achieve intelligence (智力)? The answer to this question may lie in a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child and the Internet．

If you ran into Smarter Child online , you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory．It can recite many facts． For example , Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season．

He knows every word in the dictionary and the weather in every major city areas across the US．However , if you ask Smarter Child other questions , you get stranger answers．A question about Smarter Child’s age returns． “One year, 11 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds!” Asking where he lives gets , “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California．”

Smarter Child uses the vast information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank．To answer questions about spelling , for instance , Smarter Child goes to American Heritage Dictionary online．For the weather , he visits www．intellicast．com．

Some scientists believe that by joining the many systems of the Internet , an artificial being with the combined knowledge of , say , Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born．However if Smarter Child wants to think and learn on his own like the boy-computer David in the movie A．I．, Artificial Intelligence , he must overcome two problems．

The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files are labeled in different ways．That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather．It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it himself．

Another problem is that while Smarter Child can process (处理) information more exactly and faster than any human , he lacks common sense—a basic grounding of knowledge that is obvious to any young child．

67．From the text we can infer that www．intellicast．com is a website___________．

       A．which is specially designed to help Smarter Child

       B．where we people can find Smarter Child

       C．where weather forecasts are made

       D．which is about artificial intelligence

68．It is probably most difficult for Smarter Child to_______．

       A．tell us how to spell a difficult word

       B．tell us how the American government is run

       C．provide us with a famous poem by Shakespeare

       D．learn how to tell right behaviors from wrong ones。

69．Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

       A．Smart Child has his own memory bank big enough for all kinds of information．

       B．A．I．Artificial Intelligence is probably the name of a film about a boy-computer．

       C．Smart Child can recognize different files and find information needed on his own．

       D．We have similar product now which has the knowledge of Einstein , Nixon and Spears．

70．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

       A．A New Web Child       B．Smarter Child

       C．The Future of Internet    D．Intelligence Development