When the 29th Olympic Games is held in Beijing in 2008, it will be a place where all our dreams come true.

And the building that will hold those dreams is to be based on a nest-like design, planned jointly by Swiss and Chinese architects. The plan is for the main Olympic stadium: the National Stadium. Nest-like walls surrounding the stadium like a steel net proved to be a popular design. It won more than half the votes of over 6,000 visitors to an exhibition of 13 possible designs, which ended on March 31. Before the exhibition, the leading plan had been chosen as one of three top designs from 13 possible plans. The official announcement for the final winning design will be made sometime this month.

Guan Zhaoye, chairman of the group of official judges, said, “The top design is a perfect meeting of elegance(典雅) and simplicity.” The stand(看台) is a bowl-shape running circle. “People’s attention can focus on the competitive events instead of the stadium itself,” said Li Xinggang, one of the architects. “The excited crowds will become part of the building itself and they will stimulate(激发) the athletes.”

Many visitors said that the model is unusual, practical and mixes modern architecture with traditional Chinese culture. “I think it shows the idea of a nest where new life grows up. It is a really good idea,” said one visitor. But others disagreed and were unhappy about the building looking like a bird cage.

The 80,000-seat stadium, to be built in north Beijing, will host the opening and closing ceremonies(仪式) as well as track-and-field(田径) events during the 2008 Olympics. Construction work is set to start at end of this year.

1．After the Sydney Olympic Games, the 29th Olympic Games will be held in __________.

       A．Atlanta                B．Barcelona            C．Beijing                 D．Athens(雅典)

2．Which of the following is not the reason why the nest-like design is chosen as the main stadium?

    A．It is designed jointly by Swiss and Chinese architects and look like a bird cage

       B．It is a perfect meeting of elegance and simplicity.

       C．It is unusual, practical and mixes modern architecture with traditional Chinese culture.

       D．It shows the idea of a nest where new life and dreams grow up.

3．According to the passage, which of the following is not right?

       A．Some people still disagree with the design.

       B．The stadium will begin to be built in the south of Beijing at the end of this year.

       C．The opening ceremony as well as other events will be held in the stadium.

       D．The design of the stand is very practical.

Can feeling of nostalgia (怀旧) be good for you? or is it unhealthy to have a strong love for the past?
For years, medical experts have studied nostalgia and the reasons for it. Many experts warn that too much nostalgia is harmful. They say linger (徘徊) in the past shows that a person is unhappy with his present life. These feelings keep the person from living his life to its fullest.
Dr. Louise Kaplan has written several books about nostalgia. She says these feelings often begin when a young person is between 13 and 19 years old.
"This is the time when you must face the loss of your childhood, " Kaplan says. "You see your new life is easily destroyed. But you think romantically about a golden
past. You remember your childhood as a time when life was perfect."
These feelings continue as a person gets older, Kaplan adds. She says many grown persons have a hard time keeping up with changes in the modem world, so they think back to their younger years. At that time the world seemed simple and more harmless.
Kaplan says these feelings are not always actually existing. The good old days weren't always good. However, she says nostalgia can be helpful, if used properly.
"Feelings of nostalgia can cause you to remember a time when you had high hopes and dreams, " Kaplan says. "It might give you the strong wish to catch those dreams today, in your present life." She adds that nostalgia can prevent you from "cutting yourself off from your aim."
"At its best, " Kaplan says, "nostalgia has the ideas for the future."

1. 1.

   According to the passage, feelings of nostalgia _____.

   1. A.
      can cause you to think of your past which was full of hopes and dreams
   2. B.
      can make you succeed in life
   3. C.
      fill one with hopes for the future
   4. D.
      bring about a love for the past and a hope for the future
2. 2.

   The reason for grown persons to think back to their past is that _____.

   1. A.
      they can hardly keep up with changes in today's world
   2. B.
      times are hard, so they can not keep up with changes
   3. C.
      many grown persons have little time keeping up with changes in the modem world
   4. D.
      they lived in the past, of which they are always proud
3. 3.

   Which of the following is not talked about in the passage?

   1. A.
      Too much nostalgia is harmful.
   2. B.
      Nostalgia shows that a person is not satisfied with his present life.
   3. C.
      Only women have feelings of nostalgia.
   4. D.
      A little nostalgia can make a person's life more colorful.
4. 4.

   According to Kaplan's idea, _____.

   1. A.
      nostalgia is sure to be harmful
   2. B.
      nostalgia can be helpful
   3. C.
      nostalgia is always very good
   4. D.
      nostalgia is bad indeed
5. 5.

   We may also use _____ as the topic of the article.

   1. A.
      Thoughts on Nostalgia
   2. B.
      The reasons for Nostalgia
   3. C.
      Why Do They Think Back to the Past
   4. D.
      Nostalgia, Good or Bad

Recently there was a major discovery in the scientific research—the mapping of all DNA in a human gene（基因）is complete. Couple of years ago, this seems an impossible task for scientist to accomplish. All this progress in science leads us to believe that the day, when the human being will be cloned, is not far away. Human cloning has always been a topic of argument，in terms of morality or religion.
Taking a look at why cloning might be beneficial, among many cases, it is arguable that parents who are known to be at risk of passing a genetic limitation to a child could make use of cloning. If the clone was free of genetic limitations. Then the other clone would be as well. The latter could foe inserted in the woman and allowed to ripen to term. Moreover，cloning would enable women, who can’t get pregnant, to have children of their own.
Cloning humans would also mean that organs could be cloned, so it would be a source of perfect transfer organs. This, surely would be greatly beneficial to millions of unfortunate people around the world that are expected to lose their lives due to failure of single(or more) organ(s）.It is also arguable that a ban on cloning may be unlawful and would rob people of the right to reproduce and limit the freedom of scientists.
Arguments against cloning are also on a perfectly practical side. Primarily, I believe that cloning would step in the normal “cycle”of life. There would be a large number of same genes., which reduce the chances of improvement，and, in turn, development-the fundamental reason how living things naturally adapt to the ever-changing environment. Life processes failing to do so might result in untimely disappearance. Furthermore, cloning would make the uniqueness that each one of us possesses disappea. Thus, leading to creation of genetically engineered groups of people for specific purposes and, chances are, that those individuals would be regarded as “objects” rather than people in the society.
Scientists haven’t 100 percent. guaranteed that the first cloned will be normal. Thus this could result in introduction of additional limitations in the human “gene-pool”.
Regarding such arguable topics in “black or white” approach seems very innocent to me personally. We should rather try to look at all “shades: of it. I believe that cloning is only legal if its purpose is for cloning organs, not humans. Then we could regard this as for “saving life” instead of “creating life”. I believe cloning humans is morally and socially unacceptable.
【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the passage？

Recently there was a major discovery in the scientific research—the mapping of all DNA in a human gene（基因）is complete. Couple of years ago, this seems an impossible task for scientist to accomplish. All this progress in science leads us to believe that the day, when the human being will be cloned, is not far away. Human cloning has always been a topic of argument，in terms of morality or religion.
Taking a look at why cloning might be beneficial, among many cases, it is arguable that parents who are known to be at risk of passing a genetic limitation to a child could make use of cloning. If the clone was free of genetic limitations. Then the other clone would be as well. The latter could foe inserted in the woman and allowed to ripen to term. Moreover，cloning would enable women, who can’t get pregnant, to have children of their own.
Cloning humans would also mean that organs could be cloned, so it would be a source of perfect transfer organs. This, surely would be greatly beneficial to millions of unfortunate people around the world that are expected to lose their lives due to failure of single(or more) organ(s）.It is also arguable that a ban on cloning may be unlawful and would rob people of the right to reproduce and limit the freedom of scientists.
Arguments against cloning are also on a perfectly practical side. Primarily, I believe that cloning would step in the normal “cycle”of life. There would be a large number of same genes., which reduce the chances of improvement，and, in turn, development-the fundamental reason how living things naturally adapt to the ever-changing environment. Life processes failing to do so might result in untimely disappearance. Furthermore, cloning would make the uniqueness that each one of us possesses disappea. Thus, leading to creation of genetically engineered groups of people for specific purposes and, chances are, that those individuals would be regarded as “objects” rather than people in the society.Scientists haven’t 100 percent. guaranteed that the first cloned will be normal. Thus this could result in introduction of additional limitations in the human “gene-pool”.
Regarding such arguable topics in “black or white” approach seems very innocent to me personally. We should rather try to look at all “shades: of it. I believe that cloning is only legal if its purpose is for cloning organs, not humans. Then we could regard this as for “saving life” instead of “creating life”. I believe cloning humans is morally and socially unacceptable.
【小题1】Which of the following is true according to the passage？