题目内容
So advanced is the camera that it can be ________ to take pictures in any weather conditions．
A．achieved
B．attained
C．adjusted
D．adopted
, the National Union of Students (NUS) has warned that, while the scheme may sound appealing to struggling freshers, it lacks any formal regulation.Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet.” When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet.” Some people may have more than one skeleton.
As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.
Before 1832, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.
But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.
We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.
After a time, people began to suspect every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase“a skeleton in the closet”took on a broader, more general meaning: to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.
One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man's guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.
Balzac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.
The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.
【小题1】Which of the following situations is now suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet”?
| A．You have stolen something precious and hide them in the closet. |
| B．You are a doctor and have to keep a skeleton for research. |
| C．If you have cut open a dead human body for scientific examination you should keep the skeleton secret. |
| D．You have done a crime or done something foolish, but you want to keep others from |
【小题2】Which of the following is right according to the text?
| A．In the 19th century, doctors realized the importance of anatomy (解剖) in the development of medicine. |
| B．The doctors of the ancient times liked to collect as many skeletons as possible |
| C．The thieves stole skeletons from tombs in order to help the doctors. |
| D．It is legal that corpses of anybody are cut open for scientific examination in history. |
| A．a corpse | B．a phrase | C．a skeleton | D．a story |
Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up (蜷伏) next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means the patient has less than four hours to live. "Many family members take some comfort from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a doctor and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old cat was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia (痴呆) unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where the facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd smell and observe patients, then sit beside people who would end up dying in a few hours. Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.
"Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work here," said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish color, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room, though, so Teno thought bis streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill that they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a predictor of death. Most families are grateful for the advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat senses mysterious scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him. Nursing home staff aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying. The staff recently gave Oscar a wall sign publicly praising his "sympathetic care."
【小题1】What makes Oscar the cat so special?
| A．He observes the cases of dying patients. |
| B．He curls up next to the patients. |
| C．He calls family members to the hospital. |
| D．He senses when patients are to die. |
| A．would go round and observe patients |
| B．may sometimes fail to predict death |
| C．is friendly and liked by every nurse |
| D．was born and grew up in the hospital |
| A．his bones were severely injured |
| B．his magic power stopped working |
| C．his devotion to work got changed |
| D．his friendship with patients ended |
| A．Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant |
| B．Oscar can read something of the nurses' behavior |
| C．Oscar might like to stay with the dying patients |
| D．Oscar is sympathetic to the dying patients |
| A．Cats Can Be Used for Looking After Patients |
| B．Oscar, the Sweet-Faced, Gray-and-White Cat |
| C．As Death Comes Calling, So Does Oscar the Cat |
| D．Oscar the Cat, the Best Helper of Our Hospital |