Question

What's the most important thing in life?

     People's answers vary greatly. For British scientist Robert Edwards, the answer is having a child. "Nothing is more special than a child," he told the BBC.

     Edwards, the inventor of the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technology---more commonly known as "test-tube (试管) baby" technology---passed away on April 10, 2013 at the age of 87.

     "Edwards changed the lives of millions of ordinary people who now rejoice (高兴) in the gift of their own child," said Peter Braude, a professor at King's College London. "He leaves the world a much better place."

     Edwards started his experiments as early as the 1950s, when he had just finished his PhD in genetics. At that time, much of the public viewed test-tube babies as "scary", according to Mark Sauer, a professor at Columbia University, US.

     Edwards and his colleague Patrick Steptoe faced opposition from churches, governments and media, not to mention attacks from many of their fellow scientists. "People said that we should not play God and we should not interfere with nature," Edwards once told Times. He said that he felt "quite alone" at the time.

     "But Edwards was a fighter, and he believed in what he was doing," said Sauer. Without support from the government, the two struggled to raise funds to carry on. And in 1968 they finally developed a method to successfully fertilize human eggs outside the body.

    The first test-tube baby was born on July 25, 1978. Her name was Is Louise Brown. Despite people's safety concerns, Brown was just as healthy as other children.

    "IVF had moved from vision to reality and a new era in medicine had begun," BBC commented.

    Ever since then, public opinion has evolved considerably. Couples who were unable to have babies began thronging (拥向) to Edwards' clinic. Nowadays, Reuters reports, some 4.3 million other "test-tube" children exist. Edwards received a Nobel Prize in 2010 and was knighted (封为爵士) by Queen Elizabeth n the following year.

   Before his death, Edwards was still in touch with Louise. "He is like a granddad to me," she said in an interview with the Daily Mail.

He is a granddad to millions, in fact.

1.What’s the article mainly about?

A. The first test-tube baby. 

B. A new era in medicine.

C. The inventor of IVF technology. 

D. The changes IVF technology has brought.

2.The writer quoted Peter Braude to       .

A. show how difficult it was for Edwards to do his work

B. describe what kind of person Edwards was

C. explain why he is loved by all children

D. comment on his achievement

3.The underlined word "opposition" in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to "      "

A. attack     B. support     C. test        D. influence

4. What is the correct order of events in Edwards' life?

a. He received a Nobel Prize.

b. He struggled to raise funds.

c. The first test-tube baby was born.

d. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

e. He succeeded in fertilizing human eggs outside body.

f. He started his experiments on IVF technology.

A. f-e-b-c-a- d         B. f-b-e-c-d-a

C. f-b-e-c-a-d           D. f-e-d-a-c-b

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍了IVF技术的发明者Edwards。

1.C主旨大意题。根据第三段第一句“Edwards，the inventor of the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) technology—more commonly known as ‘test-tube(试管) baby’ technology—passed away on April 10,2013 at the age of 87.”及下文内容可知文章主要讲的是IVF技术的发明者，故选C。

2.D 推理判断题。根据文章 Peter Braude所说的话"Edwards changed the lives of millions of ordinary people who now rejoice (高兴) in the gift of their own child,""He leaves the world a much better place."Edwards改变了数百万普通人的生活，这些人因拥有了自己的孩子而高兴不已，他让这个世界更好。根据意思可知引用的话是对Edwards成就的高度评价。故选D。

3.A词义猜测题。根据第六段中的“Edwards and his colleague Patrick Steptoe faced from churches，governments and media，not to mention attacks from many of their fellow scientists.”可发现下文提到了同事的攻击(attacks)，说明opposition的意思和“攻击”(attack)是相似的，故选A。

4.

考点：考查说明文短文阅读

【名师点睛】

关于推理判断题

推理题是在掌握文章大意基础上看出作者的“ 言外之意”(between the lines)。这既要求学生透过文章表面文字信息推测隐含意思，又要求学生对作者的态度、意图及文章细节的发展作正确的推理判断，有些推断题要从文章结构的角度进行分析，才能推断出正确答案。因此，阅读时不仅要注重词、句的理解，而且还要分析语篇的组织结构。这类试题常以如下句式发问：

What can you infer /learn/conclude from the passage?

What’s the author’s attitude toward……?

What does the passage suggest?

The author in this passage intends to __________。

答推理题时，一般无法直接从文中找到答案，但绝不可凭空猜测，也要找到答题依据。要通过文章主旨、字里行间或文中例子进行推断，通过含有感情色彩或描述情景的词句来领会作者的态度或语气，有的题也可根据常识理解来推断。但无论怎样，推理判断要以作者态度为准，力求从作者的角度去考虑，不要固守自己的看法或观点。如本文的第31小题29.5. .

A. show how difficult it was for Edwards to do his work

B. describe what kind of person Edwards was

C. explain why he is loved by all children

D. comment on his achievement。根据文章 Peter Braude所说的话"Edwards changed the lives of millions of ordinary people who now rejoice (高兴) in the gift of their own child,""He leaves the world a much better place."Edwards改变了数百万普通人的生活，这些人因拥有了自己的孩子而高兴不已，他让这个世界更好。根据意思可知引用的话是对Edwards成就的高度评价。故选D

做这类题时一定要注意：准确把握字里行间的意思，切忌用自己的观点代替作者的观点。特别注意表达情感（如最后一段第一句的favorite一词）、态度和观点的词语。