In the famous fairy tale, Snow White eats the Queen's apple and falls victim to a curse(诅咒);in Shakespeare's novel, Romeo drinks the poison and dies; some ancient Chinese emperors took pellets(药丸)that contained mercury(水银), believing that it would make them immortal, but they died afterward.
Poison has long been an important ingredient in literature and history, and it seems to always be associated with evil, danger and death. But how much do you really know about poison?
An exhibition, The Power of Poison, opened last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, intended to give the audience a more vivid understanding of poison.
The museum tour starts in a rainforest setting, where you can see live examples of some of the most poisonous animals: caterpillars(毛毛虫), frogs and spiders. Golden poison frogs, for instance, aren't much bigger than a coin, but their skin is covered with a poison that can cut off the signaling power of your nerves, and a single frog has enough venom to kill 10 grown humans.
"Poisons can be bad for some things," Michael Novacek, senior vice president of the museum, told NBC News. "Yet they can also be good for others."
A poisonous chemical found in the yew tree is effective against cancer, which is what led to the invention of a cancer-fighting drug called Taxol.
The benefits from natural poisons are not limited to just medicine. Believe it or not, many substances(物质)that we regularly ingest(摄入)-chili, coffee and chocolate-owe their special flavors or stimulating(提神的)effects to chemicals that plants make to poison insects.
1.What does the underlined word "immortal" in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. happy B. not moral
C. living forever D. sick
2.What is the main purpose of the exhibition The Power of Poison?
A. To give people more in-depth knowledge about poison.
B. To teach people how to handle poisonous animals.
C. To inform people about which animals are the most poisonous.
D. To show how poison has been used for medical treatment.
3.Which of the following statements about the Golden poison frog is TRUE according to the article?
A. Its skin can cut off the signaling power of your nerves.
B. It's about the size of a coin.
C. It's the most poisonous animal on display.
D. You can only see it in a rainforest setting of the museum.
4.The stimulating effects of coffee come from ________.
A. natural poison made by the plant
B. the substances that we regularly ingest
C. chemicals produced by poisonous insects
D. its special flavor
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D. To spread the knowledge of dealing with accounts.
2.Which of the following is NOT the benefit, you can get from the Fidelity SIPP?
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Social change is more likely to occur in societies where there is a mixture of different kinds of people than in societies where people are similar in many ways. The simple reason for this is that there are more different ways of looking at things present in the first kind of society. There are more ideas, more disagreements in interest, and more groups and organizations with different beliefs. In addition, there is usually a greater worldly interest and greater tolerance in mixed societies. All these factors tend to promote social change by opening more areas of life to decision. In a society where people are quite similar in many ways, there are fewer occasions for people to see the need or the opportunity for change because everything seems to be the same. And although conditions may not be satisfactory, they are at least conventional and generally agreed.
Within a society, social change is also likely to occur more frequently and more readily in the material aspects of the culture than in the non-material, for example, in technology rather than in values; in what has been learned later in life rather than what was learned early; in the less basic and less emotional aspects of society-than in their opposites; in the simple elements rather than in the complex ones; in form rather than in substance; and in elements that are acceptable to the culture rather than in strange elements.
Furthermore, social change is easier if it is gradual. This is one reason why change has not come more quickly to Black Americans as compared to other American minorities, because of the sharp difference in appearance between them and white people.
1.Which of the following factors tends to promote social change?
A. Different points of view. B. Traditional values.
C. Advanced technology. D. Similar needs.
2.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Social change tends to meet with more difficulty in basic and emotional aspects of society.
B. Disagreement with and argument about conditions tend to slow down social change.
C. Social change is more likely to occur in the material aspect of society.
D. Social change is less likely to occur in what people learned when they were young.
3.What is this passage mainly discussing?
A. Two different kinds of society.
B. Certain factors affecting social change.
C. The importance of social change.
D. Consequences of social change
After ruling the tennis world for almost five years,Roger Federer is adjusting to life at NO.2.But,like any king whose throne has been taken away,the Swiss star is already planning secretly bis return to power,beginning at this week's US Open.
The problem is,many experts think he will never do it.They blame everything from age and tough competition to his racket and psychology.
For years Federer,had enjoyed the view from the top.Competitors saw him as undefeated,and for the most part he was.However,before the 2008 season began,Federer had an illness that stole his strength and clearly affected his play on the court.Ever since,he has struggled to return to form,winning just two of his last 14 tournaments.
"Twenty-seven is an age when your body starts talking back to you."tennis great John McEnroe told the New York Times.
Pancho Sefura,another tennis great,noted that Federer is also facing a maturing crop of young talents."There are too many great players now,"he said,naming Britain's Andy Murray,21,and Latvia's Ernests Gulbis,20.
US magazine Sports Illustrated tennis columnist Jon Wertheim suggested that part of Federer's problem could be his insistence on using a small racket.He says that the smaller head demands ball control.But we see time and again that racket makers try to get players to use a certain stick-one they would like to market to consumers and it has a negative effect on the professional game.
Sports psychologist Jim Loehr told the Times that Federer is probably feeling "a sense of doubt"after being considered as undefeated for so long.If Federer is to recover his state of being undefeated,Loehr said he must overcome his doubt."Federer doesn't need fame and money.But he has to get better.He has to go t.o a whole new level.That's the only way he stays in the game,"he said.
As for beginning his first Grand Slam in ages as the NO.2 seed,Federer said it might be for the best."Five years almost,I was expected to win every tournament I entered,"he said,"so maybe Rafael Nadal now feels what I had to feel for a very long time.It will be interesting to see how he handles it."
1.What does the underlined part "your body starts talking back to you" in Para.4 mean?
A. Your body often argues with you.
B. You can do whatever you want.
C. Your strength is beginning to decline.
D. You are more easily to have quite terrible diseases.
2.From the passage,we know the main reason why Federer's throne was taken away is that .
A. he is becoming older and older
B. he insisted on using a small racket
C. he is facing a maturing crop of young talents
D. he had an illness that stole his strength
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Now it is Nadal who has replaced Federer as the No.1 tennis player.
B. the racket makers aim at the players' better performance in games.
C. It is impossible for Federer to return to power.
D. Federer has never won a Grand Slam before.
4.What's the best title of the passage?
A. Nadal—The No.1 Tennis Player
B. Federer—Always Undefeated
C. State of Mind Plays a Important Role
D. Federer Hopes to Recover His Magic
假如你是李华,今年将要参加高考。你的老师和父母对你大学专业的选择提出异议,为此你很苦恼。请你根据提示,用英语给你的美国笔友Bob写一封邮件,谈谈你的想法,并征求笔友的建议。
1.父母的建议:法律专业(就业前景好);
2.老师的建议:外语(充分发挥自己的语言天赋);
3.你的想法:……
2.注意:1)词数100左右;
2)可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3)信的开头和结尾已经给出,但不计入总词数。
Dear Bob,
I am at a loss nowadays. ________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
I am looking forward to your advice.
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文,请你修改你同桌写的以下短文。文中共有10处语言错误,每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏词符号(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下画一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2. 只允许修改10处,多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Challenges of life are of great importance in our grow. It reminds me my days when I joined in the military training after I entered senior high school. It was the first time I have lived away from my home, so I found it difficultly to fit in. And the training officer was strict with myself. I once thought I couldn’t be stick to the end. But anyway, I made it. The trials made it easy for me to adapt to my future life, but the difficulties I came across have now become the precious memory in my life.
In short, learning to regard the challenges of life as a stepping stone to future success and make the best of them.