2. Why do they never see each other again?

A Because it is a memorable evening.

B Because she lets him eat as much fattening food as he wants.

C Because she does not eat this and drink that.

D Because eating fattening food is the surest way to an early grave.

1. The best title for this passage is

A On Fat.

B We Should All Grow Fat and Be Happy.

C Many Diseases Are Connected with Fat.

D Diet Deprives People of Normal Life.

4.　　　 Where lies success of a country in the New Age of superstuff?

A It lies in research.　　　 B It lies in investment.

C It lies in innovation.　　 D It lies in application.

B. We Should All Grow Fat and Be Happy

Here’s a familiar version of the boy-meets-girl situation. A young man has at last plucked up courage to invite a dazzling young lady out to dinner. She has accepted his invitation and he is overjoyed. He is determined to take her to the best restaurant in town, even if it means that he will have to live on memories and hopes during the month to come. When they get to the restaurant, he discovers that this ethereal creature is on a diet. She mustn’t eat this and she mustn’t that. Oh, but of course, she doesn’t want to spoil his enjoyment. Let him by all means eat as much fattening food as he wants: it’s the surest way to an early grave. They spend a truly memorable evening together and never see each other again.

　　　　 What a miserable lot dieters are! You can always recognize them from the sour expression on their faces. They spend most of their time turning their noses up at food. They are forever consulting calorie charts; gazing at themselves in mirrors; and leaping on to weighing-machines in the bathroom. They spend a lifetime fighting a losing battle against spreading hips, protruding tummies and double chins. Some wage all-out war on FAT. Mere dieting is not enough. They exhaust themselves doing exercises, sweating in sauna baths, being pummeled and massaged by weird machines. The really wealthy diet-mongers pay vast sums for ‘health cures’. For two weeks they can enter a nature clinic and be starved to death for a hundred guineas a week. Don’t think it’s only the middle-aged who go in for these fads either. Many of these bright young things you see are suffering from chronic malnutrition: they are living on nothing but air, water and the goodwill of God.

　　　　 Dieters undertake to starve themselves of their own free will; so why are they so miserable? Well, for one thing, they’re always hungry. You can’t be hungry and happy at the same time. All the horrible concoctions they eat instead of food leave them permanently dissatisfied. Wonderfood(奇妙的事物) is a complete food, the advertisement says. ‘Just dissolve a teaspoonful in water…’. A complete food it may be, but not quite as complete as a juicy steak. And, of course, they’re always miserable because they feel so guilty. Hunger just proves too much for them and in the end they lash out and devour five huge guilt-inducing cream cakes at a sitting. And who can blame them? At least three times a day they are exposed to temptation. What utter torture it is always watching others tucking into piles of mouth-watering food while you munch a water biscuit and sip unsweetened lemon juice!

　　　　 What’s all this self-inflicted torture for? Saintly people deprive themselves of food to attain a state of grace. Unsaintly(saintly<圣洁的>的反义词) people do so to attain a state of misery. It will be a great day when all the dieters in the world abandon their slimming courses; when they hold out their plates and demand second helpings!

3.　　　 Why is transition difficult?

A Because transition requires money and time.

B Because many manufacturers are unwilling to change their equipment.

C Because research on new materials is very difficult.

D Because it takes 10 years.

2.　　　 Why does the author mention genetic engineering and computer science?

A To compare them with the new materials.

B To show the significance of the new materials on the future world.

C To compare the new materials to them.

D To explain his view point.

1.　　　 How many new materials are mentioned in this passage?

A Two　　　 B Three　　 C Four　　 D Five

5. What is the attitude of Governor Stanforth Thumper toward the power project and the demonstration?

A stubborn.　　　　　　 B insistent.

C insolvable.　　　　　　 D remissible.

第53天

A. Superconducting Materials

　　　　 The stone age, The Iron Age. Entire epochs have been named for materials. So what to call the decades ahead? The choice will be tough. Welcome to the age of superstuff(超级材料). Material science -- once the least sexy technology – is bursting with new, practical discoveries led by superconducting ceramics that may revolutionize electronics. But superconductors are just part of the picture: from house and cars to cook pots and artificial teeth, the world will someday be made of different stuff. Exotic plastics, glass and ceramics will shape the future just as surely as have genetic engineering and computer science.

　　　　 The key to the new materials is researchers’ increasing ability to manipulate substances at the molecular level. Ceramics, for example, have long been limited by their brittleness. But by minimizing the microscopic imperfections that cause it, scientists are making far stronger ceramics that still retain such qualities as hardness and heat resistance. Ford Motor Co. now uses ceramic tools to cut steel. A firm called Kyocera has created a line of ceramic scissors and knives that stay sharp for years and never rust or corrode.

　　　　 A similar transformation has overtaken plastics. High-strength polymers now form bridges, ice-skating rinks and helicopter rotors. And one new plastic that generates electricity when vibrated or pushed is used in electric guitars, touch sensors for robot hands and karate jackets that automatically record each punch and chop. Even plastic litter, which once threatened to permanently blot the landscape, has proved amenable to molecular tinkering. Several manufacturers now make biodegradable forms; some plastic six-pack rings for example, gradually decompose when exposed to sunlight. Researchers are developing ways to make plastics as recyclable as metal or glass. Besides, composites – plastic reinforced with fibers of graphite or other compounds – made the round-the-world flight of the voyager possible and have even been proved in combat: a helmet saved an infantryman’s life by deflecting two bullets in the Grenada invasion.

　　　　 Some advanced materials are old standard with a new twist. The newest fiberoptic(光学纤维的) cable that carry telephone calls cross-country are made of glass so transparent that a piece of 100 miles thick is clearer than a standard window pane.

　　　　 But new materials have no impact until they are made into products. And that transition could prove difficult, for switching requires lengthy research and investment. It can be said a firmer handle on how to move to commercialization will determine the success or failure of a country in the near future.

4.　　　 With whom were the jails and courts overloaded?

A With prisoners.　　　　 B With arrested demonstrators.

C With criminals.　　　　 D With protestors.

3.　　　 Which of the following was NOT mentioned as a reason for the demonstration?

A Public transportation.　　 B Public peril.

C Pollution.　　　　　　 D Disposal of wastes.

2.　　　 Who had gas-masks?

A Everybody.　　 B A part of the protestors.

C Policemen.　　 D Both B and C.