For thousands of years, mankind has produced plants and animals to create more desired and useful plants and animals. For example, modern com has been produced to such a large size that it is no longer able to reproduce without man’s assistance. Modern dairy cows produce too much milk and if they are not often emptied of milk, they could leak, burst, become infected, and possibly die. Besides, most dogs raised by people can not survive in the wild even with special training.
Since natural evolution is extremely slow and mankind’s selective production programs only take a few generations to produce a completely new species, natural evolution has already taken a back seat to mankind’s production programs. In addition, mankind has successfully killed off several species all together. For example, there are no more European wolves in existence and mammoths (猛犸象) probably died out because of mankind. Even certain diseases have been permanently got rid of from the planet, and dozens of other diseases will soon be too. Again, natural evolution did i»t cause most of the destruction during man’s rule of the world.
Currently, scientists are creating new species with desired characteristics in the lab significantly faster than natural evolution creates new species. In a single generation, new species can be created and destroyed by mankind, while natural evolution could take thousands of years to do the same but only accidentally. Scientists are even able to replace defective (有缺陷的) or damaged genes with different genes to attempt to cure genetic defects. This is something that natural evolution could possibly never correct.
Eventually scientists will even be able to improve the quality of people. For example, imagine not only correcting your eyesight with gene treatment, but also ensuring that all of your children do not receive your old genes of poor eyesight too. Scientists will one day be able to improve the memory and intelligence of your children, so that they will do better in school and achieve more in life. Doctors and scientists will be able to customize (订制) babies before they are born just like picking options at a car store.
1.According to the first paragraph,______ .
A. man-made evolution has improved all species
B. man-made evolution has weakened some species
C man-made evolution can make up for all natural losses
D. natural evolution won’t happen without man’s assistance
2.What does the underlined part “taken a back seat to” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. Become powerful assistance to.
B. Become a huge barrier to.
C Speeded up the process of.
D. Played a less important role than.
3.What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?
A. Why natural evolution happens so slowly.
B. The way scientists adopt to have genetic defects repaired.
C. The advantages of man-made evolution over natural evolution.
D. How scientists make use of man-made evolution to create new species.
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Near-sighted parents will be able to produce babies with good eyesight in the future.
B. Doctors and scientists will be responsible for mass production of babies in the future.
C. It is natural evolution that is to blame for the destruction of European wolves and mammoths.
D. Children can now have their memory and intelligence improved with the help of gene treatment.
Anais Nin was a famous writer. Nin was born French-Cuban but lived in the United States in her later years of life till she died. Nin’s works had her relationships with authors, artists, and other figures as the main subject. Some of her writings were made into films. Nin was also a visiting lecturer in several colleges and promoted Women's Movement with her strong writings.
Anais Nin was born in France in 1903. Her father was a Spanish artist and a composer living in Cuba (古巴) where he met her mother, a French singer working in Cuba. As a child Nin was brought up in Spain. When her parents separated, Nin and her two brothers moved to New York with their mother. At the age of 16, Nin decided to give up studying and started to work as a dancer and model to reduce the financial burden on her mother so that her brothers could go on with their studies.
In 1923, Nin got married to her husband, Hugh Parker Guiler in Cuba. In 1924, Nin and Hugh moved to Paris where Hugh continued with his banking career and Nin started writing. Nin wrote her first book in print, D. H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study in 16 days. In 1939, Nin left Paris as it was a French government’s request to its residents to leave Paris because of the coming war. Nin returned to New York with Hugh and sent her written books to Frances Steioff of the Gotham Book Mart in New York for safekeeping.
In 1931, Nin wrote her book Henry and Jun: From the Unexpurgated Diary of Anais Nin. In 1936, Nin published House of Incest which was a 72-page fiction novel
Nin also appeared and was a part of various films. In 1973, Anais Nin was awarded an honorary doctorate (荣誉博士学位) by the Philadelphia College of Art. In 1974, Nin was elected to the United States National Institute of Arts and Letters.
In 1977, Nin died in her Los Angeles home after battling with cancer for three years.
1.What can we know about Anais Nin from the first paragraph?
A. She was a native American.
B. She started Women’s Movement
C. She gave lectures in several colleges.
D. She wrote mainly about her family life.
2.Why did Anais Nin give up studying at the age of 16?
A. Because she wanted to help support her family.
B. Because her parents divorced.
C. Because she wanted to realize her dream of becoming an artist
D. Because she moved from country to country.
3. In 1939 Nin and her husband moved back to New York to______ .
A. enter the film industry B. stay away from war
C. have her books published D. promote her new books
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. The awards Anais Nin won.
B. Anais Nin and her incomplete family.
C. The hardship Anais Nin experienced.
D. Anais Nin and her great achievements.
It’s hard not to feel cheated and over-charged when you receive unexpected roaming (漫游) charges while traveling abroad—whether they come from making phone calls or checking e-mails.
Jeff Gardner received an $ 11,000 bill from Verizon after spending four days in Jamaica. Before the trip, Mr. Gardner, who runs a fly-fishing business in Grayling, Michigan, said he called Verizon to find out what it would cost to use his cellphone for calls and his wireless card to check e-mails while in Jamaica. He said he was told that calls would be about $ 2 a minute and that there would be no extra charges for data as he was on an unlimited plan. The latter part turned out to be wrong.
“I don’t mind paying a fair amount for fair service, but $11,000 for four days is ridiculous,” said Mr. Gardner, who used his phone carefully and economically on the trip. He also tried to check and send e-mails using his wireless card, but quickly gave up after the e-mails didn’t go through. Still, his Verizon bill said more than 500,000 kilobytes (千字节) of data was delivered while he was in Jamaica, an amount Mr. Gardner said is 100 times what he normally uses in a month.
As travelers increasingly use smart phones abroad in the same way they do at home—to check e-mails, update Facebook and Twitter and pull up online maps—many are facing costly roaming fees, which providers charge when customers use their phones outside their service area. In fact, roaming charges have gotten so out of hand that the Federal Communications Commission has proposed a plan that would require wireless companies to send their customers a voice or text message when they are approaching their plan’s limit, when they have reached that limit and when they are starting to result in roaming fees.
1.Why did Jeff Gardner call Verizon before his trip to Jamaica?
A. To hand over his business.
B. To check his cellphone bill
C. To find out information about Jamaica.
D．To find out information about roaming charges.
2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. Extra charges were made for Jeff Gardner’s data delivery.
B. Jeff Gardner’s calls were charged over $2 per minute.
C. Jeff Gardner’s plan turned out to be limited.
D. Jeff Gardner had difficulty delivering data abroad.
3.During the trip, Jeff Gardner______.
A. was careless with phone use
B. delivered no more data than at home
C. received quite poor e-mail services
D. frequently used his wireless card to send e-mails
4.What should wireless companies do according to the Federal Communications Commission?
A. Make customers know when they’re outside their service area.
B. Get customers informed when they’re near the limit of their plan.
C. Stop serving customers when they’ve reached their plan’s limit.
D. Limit some services to reduce the amount of roaming charges abroad.
The Future Stars
General introduction
The Future Stars was set up in 1988 as a non-profit service center for child development devoted to providing quality childcare in a loving and educational environment for children 6 weeks to 6 years of age. Our funds mainly come from public donations.
A healthy curiosity about learning is the most important quality for early childhood development. We aim at offering high quality developmentally age-appropriate activities for early childhood, the most Important time of child development, so that they can do better after they start formal schooling.
Hours of operation
Childcare will be provided for the child from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Friday except for holidays. Children may not arrive before 7:00 am or remain after 6:00 pm. Should an emergency arise, the parent should immediately make us know in consideration of our work arrangements. A late charge of $ 1.00 per minute will be assessed if the child is not picked up by 6:05 pm. Charges for these services are to be paid directly to the staff person that has been looking after your child until your arrival, not to the center. Failure to pay late charges may affect continued services with the center.
Tuition (学费)
When it has been confirmed that a position is available for your child, you must pay a registration (注册) fee of $200 per child.
The weekly tuition fee is $ 98.00. You can make payments either by credit card or in cash on Monday every week. If your payment is not made by Tuesday at 9:00 am, you will be charged a $ 25.00 late fee.
For more information, please call 434-293-6110 or visit www.childdevelopmentcenter.com.
1.The Future Stars is intended for______.
A. would-be parents B. teenagers
C. child experts D. pre-school children
2.What can we know about late pickups from the passage?
A. They may affect continued services with the center.
B. Parents have to pay late charges for them to the center.
C. Parents have to inform the center of them right away.
D. They greatly disturb the work arrangements of the center.
3.If you want your child to receive childcare services from the Future Stars，you must ___.
A. pay extra for delayed payment
B. pay every Tuesday
C pay $ 98 for registration
D. pay in cash
4.What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To attract public donations.
B. To promote early education.
C. To tell the benefits of childcare.
D. To introduce a child development center.
阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的四个选项中, 选出可以填人空白处的最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The other day I decided to come home early because it was such a beautiful day. The were outside playing in my apartment complex (公寓大楼) and the ice cream truck was whistling its tune. As I slowly to avoid an accident, I noticed a little boy at the ice cream truck. He didn’t get anything and he walked away with a look on his face. I asked the ice cream seller what happened and he said the little boy had no . I had no cash on me so I drove to my building and went upstairs to some cash. When I found it, the ice cream seller was waiting but the little boy had .
I went in the I thought he might have gone and I saw a getting out of her vehicle. I asked her if she had a little boy and she said yes. She then told me that she and her son had gone to the grocery store the day before and had ice cream but she did not have enough money to buy .
She quickly went into the to get her son, and when she several minutes later, I realized that he was not the little boy I had seen. This boy was a bit older and his sister came out with him. I took them both to the truck and let them out what they wanted.
I told the mom it was not the same boy I was talking about. I myself to the mother properly and my baby-sitting services free of charge if she ever needed them. 1 couldn't find the original boy but 1 hope he gets some ice cream soon.
1.A. cats B. kids C. dogs D. students
2.A. walked B. ran C. climbed D. drove
3.A. knocking B. shooting C. lying D. looking
4.A. puzzled B. curious C. disappointed D. delighted
5.A. excuse B. money C. parents D. friends
6.A. put away B. look for C. borrow D. lend
7.A. still B. anxiously C. doubtfully D. nervously
8.A. left B. appeared C. cried D. escaped
9.A. station B. line C. sight D. direction
10.A. woman B. girl C. granny D. conductor
11.A. chosen B. ordered C. wanted D. eaten
12.A. it B. ones C. them D. those
13.A. house B. shop C. truck D. market
14.A. disappeared B. returned C. waited D. stayed
15.A. lost B. strange C. short D. same
16.A. look B. pick C. speak D. make
17.A. never B. seldom C. often D. ever
18.A. explained B. admitted C. devoted D. introduced
19.A. denied B. resigned C. offered D. operated
20.A. somewhere B. everywhere C. anywhere D. nowhere
— Would you like to come to the party?
— ______.
A. That’s quite all right B. Yes, why?
C. Oh yes, thank you. D. I really can’t agree with you.
