400-year-old plants from the Little Ice Age were brought back to life, which could help us understand how the Earth will deal with climate change.

Moss(藓类植物) found buried beneath the Teardrop glacier(冰川) on Ellesmere Island in Canada has been brought back to life. Findings suggest that these plants could help repopulate regions exposed by melting ice caps. Plants that were buried beneath thick ice in Canada more than 400 years ago and were thought to have frozen to death have been brought back to life by Canadian scientists.

Samples of the moss plant, covered by the glacier during the Little Ice Age of 1550 to 1850 AD, were replanted in a lab at the University of Alberta and grew new stems(茎). Researchers now think these findings can give indication as to how regions can recover as the ice covering them melts.

Biologist Dr. Catherine La Farge and her team at the University of Alberta were exploring the region around the Teardrop glacier on Ellesmere Island. Ice on Ellesmere Island region has been melting at around four meters each year for the past nine years. This means that many areas of land that were previously covered by ice have since been exposed. Many ecosystems that were thought to have been destroyed during the Little Ice Age between 1550 and 1850 AD can now be studied, including many species that have never been studied before.

While examining an exposed area of land, La Farge and her team discovered a small area of moss called Aulacomnium turgidum. It is a type of bryophyte(苔藓类植物) plant that mainly grows across Canada, the US and the Highlands of Scotland.

Dr La Farge noticed that the moss had small patches of green stems, suggesting it is either growing again or can be encouraged to repopulate. Dr La Farge told the BBC, “When we looked at the samples in detail and brought them to the lab, I could see some of the stems actually had new growth of green branches, suggesting that these plants are growing again, and that blew my mind. When we think of thick areas of ice covering the landscape, we’ve always thought that plants have to come from refugia(濒绝生物保护区), never considering that land plants come from underneath a glacier. It’s a whole world of what’s coming out from underneath the glacier that really needs to be studied. The ice is disappearing pretty fast. We really have not examined all the biological systems that exist in the world; we don’t know it all.”

Dr La Farge took samples of the moss and, using carbon-dating techniques, discovered that the plants date back to the Little Ice Age. Dr La Farge’s team took the samples, planted them in dishes full of nutrient-rich potting soil and fed them with water.

The samples were from four separate species including Aulacomnium turgidum, Distichium capillaceum, Encalypta procera and Syntrichia ruralis. The moss plants found by Dr La Farge are types of bryophytes. Bryophytes can survive long winters and regrow when the weather gets warmer.

However, Dr La Farge was surprised that the plants buried under ice have survived into the twenty-first century. Her findings appear in proceedings（论文集）of the National Academy of Sciences.

1.Dr La Farge’s research is of great importance to ________.

A. knowing what the plants during the Little Ice Age were like

B. understanding how ecosystems recover from glaciers.

C. regrowing many species that have been destroyed before.

D. figuring out the effects of melting ice caps on moss.

2.The underlined part “blew my mind” in Paragraph 6 can best be replaced by “________”.

A. surprised me                   B. greatly frightened me

C. put my doubt out of my mind    D. was exactly what I had in my mind

3.According to the passage, Aulacomnium turgidum ________.

A. lives better in small groups              

B. is very active in hot weather

C. is strong enough to survive coldness

D. is chosen from Canadian refugia

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Bryophyte ecology is greatly affected by climate change.

B. 400-year-old moss’s survival is a mystery to solve.

C. Moss in ancient times was discovered in Canada.

D. 400-year-old plants were brought back to life.

A recent survey shows that the alarming rate of child suicide(自杀) in Hong Kong, raising levels of stress and anxiety among young people, increasing conflicts between children and teachers, and children’s complaints that their parents do not understand their problems—all point to a drop in “emotional quotient” (EQ) (情商), the ability to handle relationships.

EQ is defined as the ability to deal with oneself and others effectively. High EQ, psychologists say, is easy to spot. Some of the greatest humanitarian (人道主义的) leaders have high EQ, along with successful managers and inspirational and respected teachers. The problem is not how to spot high EQ but to improve on low EQ, so society as a whole can benefit.

In the United States, declining EQ among young people is seen as one of the factors behind rising young people’s crime because youths fail to understand others’ feelings—one of the key components of EQ. While the situation in Hong Kong is not so bad, there are warning signs that the levels of anxiety among youth may become critical. Declining EQ among Hong Kong teenagers has been acknowledged by several studies including a key study by the education concern group, the Learning-Teacher Association, which found a high degree of anxiety among students over the future and also that young people lacked confidence in dealing with problems. Parents and teachers will also need to develop their own EQ skills in order to deal with them effectively.

Daniel Goleman cites a number of basic elements of high EQ: first, awareness of your feelings as you experience them which is very important to making good decisions in life; second, feeling or awareness of what others are feeling. “90% of emotional information is expressed non-verbally and people vary in their ability to pick it up,” Dr. Goleman says in his book.

Dr. Goleman argues that without high EQ even highly-educated, highly-intelligent people will not find success in life. Or those with low EQ, even though they may be brilliant, tend to lack feeling and impulse control. They fail easily, and they are easily intolerant and often aggressive in interpersonal relations. Some educational psychologists believe work on EQ may be important in Hong Kong with its high rate of suicide among school children. EQ test may be able to help predict those most at risk, and those least able to deal with their own emotions or unable to deal with others, including parents and teachers.

1.According to the passage, children in Hong Kong commit suicide at an alarming rate as a result of _______.

A．parents not understanding their children

B．the rising levels of stress and anxiety among young people

C．the inability of dealing with relationships

D．increasing conflict between children and teachers

2.We can infer from the passage that people with low emotional quotient _______.

A．are least likely to become good leaders

B．can deal with oneself and others effectively

C．are beneficial to society

D．are more likely to be respected

3.The word “its” in the last paragraph refers to ________.

A．the work on EQ

B．Hong Kong

C．EQ

D．China

4.Daniel Goleman believes that _______.

A．one can be just as successful without having a high EQ

B．only people with both high EQ and high IQ will be successful in life

C．people with low intelligence will not get a successful life

D．people not having high EQ may not be successful in life despite being extremely intelligent

Can you imagine being savagely attacked by a dog? What if the attack was so severe that your nose, lips and chin were completely destroyed? How would you feel about yourself? Would you be able to look at yourself in the mirror? And how do you think other people would treat you?

    Isabelle Dinoire is someone who can answer all of these questions honestly and openly.

Last November Isabelle was attacked and mauled by her own dog. The attack was so severe that her lower face was damaged; it seemed, almost beyond repair. She was rushed to hospital and became the first person ever to have a face transplant.

With such severe injuries doctors offered Isabelle little hope that they would be able to repair the damage to her face using conventional surgery.

Shortly after being admitted, she came to the attention of Dr Bernard Devauchelle who, unlike other surgeons, believed there was an alternative: "We found ourselves saying, yes, it's clear this woman needs a transplant," he said.

Two days after the operation she saw her face in the mirror for the first time. She said "I was scared to look at myself, but when I did it was already marvelous and I couldn't believe it. I thought it would be blue and swollen but it was already beautiful."

Now, less than a year after her 15 hour operation, she’s trying to rebuild her life and there is no doubt how she feels about her new face: "I have been saved. Lots of people write saying that I need to go on, that it's wonderful. It's a miracle somehow."

    Although there were ethical questions raised about their decision to carry out the procedure, the doctors who operated on Isabelle are quick to defend their decision.

One of them said "Was it possible for her to live without a face? It's easy to say we shouldn't have done the operation, but her life has changed, she goes shopping, goes on holiday, she lives again."

What would be the best title of the passage?

A. The first face transplant                   B. A successful face operation

C. The most severe damaged face             D. The breakthrough of surgery

The writer uses the five questions at the beginning of the passage to ___________________.

A. tell the story about Isabelle Dinoire           B. show a severe face damage event

C. draw the readers’ attention to the topic         D. invite the readers to answer them

It can be concluded from Isabelle Dinoire’s remarks that___________________.

A. she was too shocked to see herself in the mirror

B. she was satisfied with the result of the operation

C. she thought her damaged face couldn’t be repaired

D.she looked more beautiful than before

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. It seemed that it was impossible to recover Isabelle’s face using face transplant

B. After operation Isabelle thought she looked beautiful and rebuilt her life again

C. Some doctors had no better idea to repair the damage to Isabelle’s face

D. It was Dr Bernard Devauchelle who came up with the idea of face transplant

People should be warned against using mobile phones outdoors in stormy weather because they may“be struck by lightning”，according to doctors．

Three experts have described how a teenage girl was struck by lightning while using her phone in a large London park．The girl，aged 15，recovered，but a year later was still wheelchair-bound and found to be suffering complex physical and emotional problems.

The girl also had a perforate eardrum(打孔耳膜)on the side where she had been holding the mobile phone．She was having general recovery in Northwick Park Hospital，Middlesex．

Swinda Esprit，a senior house officer, said that while the brain and muscle damage was similar to that of many lightning victims—who can experience heart attacks on being struck—the ear problems were not．

She said that the damages were particularly relevant for people who might be involved in less serious lightning incidents，who might otherwise recover, but would never get their full hearing back if struck while on the phone．

“We were shocked by the damage，which is why we wanted to draw attention to it，”Dr Esprit said．“A year on and she still was suffering these difficult hearing．”

They added that three other cases had been reported in newspapers in China，South Korea，and Malaysia．In the Malaysian case，a sales executive was killed by lightning while talking on his phone during a thunderstorm near Kuala Lumpur．

“All these events resulted in death，”the doctors wrote．“This rare phenomenon is a public health issue，and education is necessary to stress the risk．”

The Australian Lightning Protection Standard recommends that metallic objects，including cordless or mobile phones，should not be carried outdoors during thunderstorms．However, “the United States National Weather Service says on its website that both are safe to use “because there is no direct path between you and the lightening”．

Paul Taylor, of “the Met Office'’，said the ear injuries were a consequence of mobile phones being metal，and not related to radio waves．

Mr. Taylor said that mobile phones should be treated as another piece of metal，similar to carrying coins or wearing rings，and people need to be warned against the possible danger．

1.What do we know about the teenage girl?

2.It can be inferred that damage done by lightening while using mobile phones      .

3.Why did doctors stress the risk about using phones outside in lightening?

4.We can infer from the last three paragraphs that        .

5.The purpose in writing this passage is       .

Can Apes Really Learn To “Talk”

Who are Sarah, Washoe, Koko, and Sherman? They are chimpanzees or gorillas who some scientists claim have learned how to “talk” to humans. In the past several years people have been astonished by reports that they communicate with humans. For example, Koko, a female gorilla, is said to understand and use hundreds of words. Koko, says her trainer, Francine Patterson, can carry on conversations in sign language about her feelings and plans.

Researcher Talks Back

Recently a Columbia University scientist caused an argument by challenging the conclusion that apes can in fact use language. The scientist, Dr. Herbert Terrace, thinks that the animals do not use language the way humans do. Dr. Terrace has caused such strong feelings among scientists studying ape language. Here let’s listen to an imaginary conversation between Washoe, the first chimp to learn sign language, and Koko, the gorilla.

Apes Are Talking

Koko: Did you hear what Dr. Terrace said about us? He claims we cannot create our own sentences. Instead, he says, we react to clues accidentally given by our trainer. He says we are like the famous horse Clever Hans. Hans was supposed to be able to solve arithmetic problems and then stamp out the answers with his hoof(蹄子).

If the horse was asked what two plus two was, he would stamp four times. Although the trainer did not realized it, says Dr. Terrace, the horse was picking up clues from the trainer as to when to stop stamping.

Washoe: I disagree with Dr. Terrace. My trainer, Dr. R. Allen Gardner and his wife, Beatrice, have seen me talking in sign language to other chimps.

Koko: I heard that Dr. Terrace became unimpressed with ape language after studying a chimp named Nim. Dr. Terrace found that Nim usually made signs only after being prompted (提示) by his trainer. Yet when children learn a language, they start using many words on their own. Nim usually did not do this. Even when Nim did use additional signs, he did not add any new information. The signs (words) were repeated over and over again.

Washoe: My trainer says that Nim wasn’t given much of a chance to act on his own. He had so many different trainers, he became confused. That is not the best way to get chimps to communicate.

Koko: I’ll never understand humans. But the big question is: Can we really use language?

Koko and Washoe (together): We’ll never tell.

How do scientists who study ape language respond to Dr.  Herbert  Terrace’ idea according to the 2nd part?

A. Enthusiastic.             B. Confused.                C. Angry.                      D. Sympathetic.  

Which of the following is a match according to the passage?

A. Dr. Herbert Terrace and Koko.                  B. Dr. R. Allen Garners and Washoe.

C. Clever Hans and Sherman.                           D. Francine Patterson and Nim.

Dr. Herbert Terrace suspects that _________.

A. Nim added new information while using additional signs

B. Clever Hans picked up clues accidentally given by its trainer

C. Washoe didn’t pick up any clues from its trainer when talking

D. when a child learns a language, he starts using many words on his own

Which of the following is a fact according to the passage?

A. Nim had more than one trainer.                   

B. Apes can’t create their own language.

C. The apes are supposed to form sentences.      

D. Clever Hans is supposed to solve math problems.