2014年职称英语讲义

一、职称英语考试题型与考试答题技巧

第1部分：词汇选项(第1～15题，每题1分，共15分)

本部分为15个句子，每个句子中均有1个词或短语划有底横线，要求应试者从每个句子后面所给的4个选项中选择1个与划线部分意义最相近的词或短语。2013年职称英语考试出题思路：只从考试用书中出2~3个小题，其余都是从书外出的。一条线只画一个词的占90%以上，偶尔有一条线画二个词或三个词的。2014年职称英语考试答题方法与技巧：会的可直接就选；不会的要马上查字典，要查“英英（同义词）”部分。一定要掌握好方法与技巧，确保15分全部拿到。

第2部分：阅读判断(第16～22题，每题1分，共7分)

本部分为1篇300～450词的短文，2013年职称英语考试出题思路：此部分不从书中出题，因此不要硬背书中内容。短文后有七个句子，需要判断是A正确、B错误，还是C没有提到。2014年职称英语考试答题方法与技巧：先不要看短文，要先快速浏览（短文后的）七个小题，先画出“信息词更加明显的题”。按“信息词”快速回到短文，找到对应位置再加以判断。

第3部分：概括大意与完成句子(第23～30题，每题1分，共8分)

本部分为1篇300---450词的短文，2013年职称英语考试出题思路：分为两部分，（1）概括大意：此部分不从书中出题，因此不要硬背书中内容。从短文后的方框中A—F六项里选出一项来概括所要求的段落。（2）完成句子：此部分也不从书中出题，因此也不要硬背书中的内容。从短文后的方框中A—F六项里选出一项来接准5—8小题的尾部来完成句子。2014年职称英语考试答题方法与技巧：分为两部分，（1）概括大意：先看A—F六项后概括所要求的段落，重点盯住段落的第一句或第二句，或最后一句。（2）完成句子：有三种方法来做此题，（a）先看5-8题的结尾部分，根据要求来选A—F的选项。（b）按照上（5-8题）与下（A—F选项）相通相顺来选。（c）将5-8题回归到原文中理解后，再选A—F项。

第4部分；阅读理解(第31～45题，每题3分，共45分)

本部分为3篇文章，每篇300～450词，每篇文章后有5道题。要求应试者根据文章的内容，从每题所给的4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。2013年职称英语考试出题思路：从指定用书中出一篇，此分数一定要拿到。从书外出两篇，难度低于书中短文。2014年职称英语考试答题方法与技巧：（1）从指定用书中出的一篇，以精讲班和冲刺班所讲的内容为主，该分数一定要全部拿到。（2）从书外出的两篇，要采取“查读法”来做，即：先看短文后的五个问题，画出“信息词”，快速按“信息词”找到位置再按要求作题。

第5部分：补全短文(第46～50题，每题2分，共10分)

本部分为1篇300～450词的短文，文中有5处空白，文章后面有6组文字，其中5组取自文章本身。要求应试者根据文章的内容选择5组文字，将其放回相应位置，以恢复文章原貌。2013年职称英语考试出题思路：此部分不从书中出题，因此不要硬背书中内容。短文中有五条线，也就是缺少五个句子。短文后有A—F六个选项，从中选出适合填补到短文中五条线上的选项。2014年职称英语考试答题方法与技巧：技巧性非常高，一定要按照精讲班所讲的内容进行归纳总结，按先易后难来作题。

第6部分：完形填空(第51～65题，每题1分，共15分)

本部分为1篇300～450词的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出4个选项，要求应试者根据短文的内容从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。2013年职称英语考试出题思路：从书中出一篇。2014年职称英语考试答题方法与技巧：（1）有些英语基础的同志，可按方法与技巧进行，即先看空白处的“左”和“右”，根据要求再进行选项。（2）基础特别薄弱的同志只好将15篇的空白处与对应选项提早都背下来，以确保15分全部拿到。

二、做题技巧和要求概述

词汇选项（12分）

1．There was something peculiar in the way he smiles.

A．different B．wrong C．strange D．funny

2．I have little information as regards her fitness for the post.

A．at B．with C．about D．from

3．She came across three children sleeping under a bridge.

4．The rules are too rigid to allow for humane error.

A．general B．complex C．direct D．inflexible 5．It seems incredible that he had been there a week already.

A．unbelievable B．right C．obvious D．unclear 6．She gets aggressive when she is drunk.

A．worried B．sleepy C．anxious D．offensive 7．Rumors began to circulate about his financial problems.

A．send B．hear C．spread D．confirm 8．As a politician, he knows how to manipulate public opinion.

A．express B．influence C．divide D．voice 9．These animals migrate south annually in search of food.

A．explore B．travel C．inhabit D．prefer 10．He was tempted by the high salary offered by the company.

A．taught B．kept C．changed D．attracted 11．The police will need to keep a wary eye on this area of town.

A．cautious B．naked C．blind D．private 12．Make sure the table is securely anchored.

A．repaired B．cleared C．booked D．fixed 13．Come out, or I?l l bust the door down.

A．shut B．break C．set D．beat 14．The contract between the two companies will expire soon.

A．shorten B．start C．end D．resume 15．He paused, waiting for her to digest the information.

A．understand B．withhold C．exchange D．contact

阅读判断（3分）

常见连词

1.结构词（连接词，介词等）

1) 并列递进

and 和；又；及

either ...or… 或者…或者…

neither…nor… 既不…也不…

besides 在…旁边；除了

in addition 另外

still then 就在那时

also 也

such as… 象…一样

in other words 换句话说

as well 也，此外

likewise 也，而且

this means 这意味着

not only…but also 不但…而且

the same …as和…一样

similar 相似的

like 象…

such 如此

even 甚至，更

2) 转折

but 但是

however 但是

though 尽管

although 尽管

whereas 然而

while/ nevertheless 然而

not …but 不是…而是

despite 不管

in spite of 不管

unlike 不象

unfortunately 不幸地

on the other hand 另一方面

instead (of ) 代替

rather (than) 不是…而是

conversely 相反地

unless 除非

no matter how/ what/ where /who无论怎样/什么/在哪里/谁3) 比较

while 然而

on the contrary to 相反地

in contrast 相反

prefer A to B 宁愿选A而不选B

the more…the more 越…越…

as … as和…一样

not so / as …as 不和…一样

more /less than 多/少于

inferior to 比…低级（次）

superior to 比…高级（好）

4) 原因

because (of ) 因为，由于

as 因为，由于

since 因为

as a result of 因为，由于

due to 由于

for the reason 因为，由于

thanks to 由于

5) 结果

as a result 结果…

so 因此

Consequently 结果

so (such) … that 如此…以至于

Thus, therefore 因此

6) 列举

second(ly) 其次

third(ly) 再次

finally 最后

one factor (problem, means, feature) 一个因素（问题，方法，特色）

another… 另一个…

the most …最…的

Wide World of Robots

Engineers who build and program robots have fascinating jobs. These researchers tinker（修补）with machines in the lab and write computer software to control these devices. “They're the best toys out there,”s ays Howie Choset at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Choset is a robotics, a person who designs, builds or programs robots.

When Choset was a kid, he was interested in anything that moved - cars, trains, animals. He put motors on Tinker toy cars to make them move. Later, in high school, he built mobile robots similar to small cars.

Hoping to continue working on robots, he studied computer science in college. But when he got to graduate school at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Choset's labmates were working on something even cooler than remotely controlled cars: robotic snakes. Some robots can move only forward, backward, left and right. But snakes can twist （扭曲）in many directions and travel over a lot of different types of terrain（地形）. “Sna kes are far more interesting than the cars,” Choset concluded.

After he started working at Carnegie Mellon, Choset and his colleagues there began developing their own snake robots. Choset's team programmed robots to perform the same movements as real snakes, such as sliding and inching forward. The robots also moved in ways that snakes usually don't, such as rolling. Choset's snake robots could crawl（爬行）through the grass, swim in a pond and even climb a flagpole.

But Choset wondered if his snakes might be useful for medicine as well. For some heart surgeries, the doctor has to open a patient's chest, cutting through the breastbone. Recovering from these surgeries can be very painful. What if the doctor could perform the operation by instead making a small hole in the body and sending in a thin robotic snake?

Choset teamed up with Marco Zenati, a heart surgeon now at Harvard Medical School, to investigate the idea. Zenati practiced using the robot on a plastic model of the chest and then tested the robot in pigs.

A company called Medrobotics in Boston is now adapting the technology for surgeries on people.

Even after 15 years of working with his team's creations, “I still don't get bored of watching the

motion of my robots,” Choset says.

16．Choset began to build robots in high school.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

17．Snake robots could move in only four directions.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

18．Choset didn't begin developing his own snake robots until he started working at Carnegie Mellon.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

19．Choset's snake robots could make more movements than the ones others developed.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

20．The application of a thin robotic snake makes heart surgeries less time-consuming.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

21．Zenati tested the robot on people after using it in pigs.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

22．The robotic technology for surgeries on people has brought a handsome profit to Medrobotics.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

Kicking the Habit

What is a bad habit? The most common definition is that it is something that we do regularly, almost without thinking about it,and which has some sort of negative consequence. This consequence could affect those around us, or it could affect us personally. Those who deny having bad habits are probably lying. Bad habits are part of what makes us human.

Many early habits, like sucking our thumb, are broken when we are very young. We are either told to stop doing it by our parents, or we consciously or subconsciously observe that others do not have the same habit, and we gradually grow

becomes a problem. Unless we can break that habit early on, it becomes “programm ed” into our brain.

A recent study of human memory suggests that no matter how hard we try to change our habits, it is the old ways that tend to win, especially in situations where we are rushed, stressed or overworked. Habits that we thought we had got rid of can suddenly come back. During the study programme, the researchers showed a group of volunteers several pictures, and gave them words to associate with them. They then showed the volunteers the same pictures again, and gave them new words to associate with them.

A few days later, the volunteers were given a test. The researchers showed them the pictures, and told them to respond with one of the words they had been given for each one. It came as no surprise that their answers were split between the first set of words and the second. Two weeks later, they were given the same test again. This time, most of them only gave the first set of words. They appeared to have completely forgotten the second set.

The study confirms that the responses we learn first are those that remain strongest over time. We may try to change our ways, but after a while, the response that comes to mind first is usually the first one we learned. The more that response is used, the more automatic it becomes and the harder it becomes to respond in any other way.

The study therefore suggests that over time, our bad habits also become automatic, learned behaviour. This is not good news for people who picked up bad habits early in life and now want to change or break them. Even when we try to put new, good intentions into practice, those previously learned habits remain stronger in more automatic, unconscious forms of memory.

16．Boys usually develop bad habits when they are very young.

A．Right B．Wrong C．not mentioned

17．We can only break bad habits if others tell us to do so.

A．Right B．Wrong C．not mentioned

18．Bad habits may resume when we are under pressure.

A．Right B．Wrong C．not mentioned

19．Researchers were surprised by the answers that the volunteers gave in the first test.

A．Right B．Wrong C．not mentioned

20．The volunteers found the test more difficult when they did it the second time.

A．Right B．Wrong C．not mentioned

21．The study suggests that it is more difficult to respond to what we learn first.

A．Right B．Wrong C．not mentioned

22．If we develop bad habits early in life, they are harder to get rid of.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

Promising Results from Cancer Study

A new experimental vaccine（疫苗）has shown promising results in the fight against lung cancer. In a small Texas-based study, a vaccine developed by scientists at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, USA, cured lung cancer in some patients and slowed the progress of the disease in others.

Researchers have reported encouraging findings from this small study. Forty-three patients suffering from lung cancer were involved in these trials. Ten of these patients were in the early stages and thirty-three in the advanced stages of the disease. They were injected with the vaccine every two weeks for three months, and were carefully monitored for three years. In three of the patients in the advanced stages of cancer, the disease disappeared and in the others, it did not spread for five to twenty-four months. However, no great difference was seen in the patients in the early stages of the illness.

This new vaccine uses the patients? own immune system. It is made specifically for each patient and is injected into th e arm or leg. It stimulates the body's immune system, which then recognizes that the cancer cells are harmful, and attacks and destroys them.

The vaccine could be effective against other forms of cancer. It offers great hope for the treatment of cancer in general, although further studies are needed before such treatment can be widely used.

16．The vaccine cured all the participants in the trial.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

17．Over forty people participated in the study.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

19．All the patients were from Dallas.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

20．Every patient was injected with the same vaccine.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

21．The vaccine activates the immune system.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

22．The vaccine may be useful for treating other cancers.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

New Understanding of Natural Silk’s Mysteries

Natural silk, as we all know, has a strength that man-made materials have long struggled to match. In a discovery that sounds more like an ancient Chinese proverb than a materials science breakthrough, MIT researchers have discovered that silk gets its strength from its weakness. Or, more specifically, its many weaknesses. Silk gets its extraordinary durability and ductility（柔韧性）f rom an unusual arrangement of hydrogen bonds that are intrinsically very weak but that work together to create a strong, flexible structure.

Most materials — especially the ones we engineer for strength — get their toughness from brittleness. As such, natural silks like those produced by spiders have long fascinated both biologists and engineers because of their light weight, ductility and high strength (pound for pound, silk is stronger than steel and far less brittle). But on its face, it doesn't seem that silks should be as strong as they are; molecularly, they are held together by hydrogen bonds, which are far weaker than the covalent（共价的）bonds found in other molecules.

To get a better understanding of how silk manages to produce such strength through such weak bonds, the MIT team created a set of computer models that allowed them to observe the way silk behaves at the atomic level. They found that the arrangement of the tiny silk nanocrystals（纳米晶体）is such that the hydrogen bonds are able to work cooperatively, reinforcing one another against external forces and failing slowly when they do fail, so as not so allow a sudden fracture to spread across a silk structure.

The result is natural silks that can stretch and bend while retaining a high degree of strength. But while that's all well and good for spiders, bees and the like, this understanding of silk geometry could lead to new materials that are stronger and more ductile than those we can currently manufacture. Our best and strongest materials are generally expensive and difficult to produce (requiring high temperature treatments or energy-intensive processes).

By looking to silk as a model, researchers could potentially devise new manufacturing methods that rely on inexpensive materials and weak bonds to create less rigid, more forgiving materials that are nonetheless stronger than anything currently on offer. And if you thought you were going to get out of this materials science story without hearing about carbon nanotubes（纳米碳管）, think again.

The MIT team is already in the lab looking into ways of synthesizing silk-like structures out of materials that are stronger than natural silk—like carbon nanotubes. Super-silks are on the horizon.

16．MIT researchers carry out the study to illustrate an ancient Chinese proverb.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

17．Silk?s strength comes from its weak hydrogen bonds working together.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

18．Biologists and engineers are interested in understanding natural silks because they are very light

and brittle.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

19．If the hydrogen bonds break due to external forces, they break fast.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

20．The MIT team had tried different materials before they studies natural silk in the research.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

21．Carbon nanotubes are currently the most popular topic in materials science.

A．Right B．Wrong C．Not mentioned

22．It is indicated that materials stronger than natural silk can be expected in the future.

概括大意与完成句子（3分）

Ecosystem

1、The word "ecosystem" is short for ecological（生态的）system. An ecosystem is where living creatures expand within

a given area. You can say that an ecosystem is the natural environment where biological organisms（生物）such as plants, animals and humans co-exist in this world. So naturally that includes you and me. Yes, we are all members of an ecosystem!

2、There are different kinds of ecosystems depending on the type of surface or environment.Most are naturally made such as the ocean or lake and the desert or rainforest. Some are man-made or artificial to encourage co-habitation（兴居）between living and non-living things in a monitored environment, such as a zoo or garden.

3、Plants make up the biggest group of biological creatures within an ecosystem, and that's because they are the natural food producers for everyone. Plants raised in the earth need air and collect sunlight to help them grow. When they grow, the plants and its fruits or flowers eventually become a source of food to animals, microorganisms（微生物）and even humans, of course. Food is then converted to energy for the rest of us to function, and this happens in a never-ending cycle until the living creatures die and break up back in the earth.

4、Ecosystems are the basis of survival for all living things. We depend on plants and animals for food. In order for us to exist, we need to grow and care about other organisms. We also need to care for the non-living things within our environment like our air and water so we can continue living as a population. Since plants, animals and humans are all of various species（物种）, we all play a role in maintaining the ecosystem.

5、To preserve our ecosystems, we should stop using too much energy, which happens when we consume more than our share of resources. Humans should not disturb the natural habitat（栖息地）of plants and animals, and allow them to grow healthily for the cycle to continue. Too many people in a habitat can mean displacement（搬迁）: imagine being thrown out of your home because there is no more space for everyone. Worse, overpopulation can also ruin the environment and cause destruction of existing plants and animals.

23．Paragraph 2

24．Paragraph 3

25．Paragraph 4

26．Paragraph 5

A．What can we do to help protect ecosystems?

B．What are different types of ecosystems?

C．What is an ecosystem?

D．What destroys ecosystems?

E．How does an ecosystem work?

F．Why are ecosystems important?

27．In an ecosystem, plants, animals and humans live together in .

28．Plants are essential in an ecosystem because to other living creatures they are

29．Plants, animals and humans are all effective in .

30．To protect our ecosystems we should not use more than .

A．our share of resources

B．a biological creature

C．a given area

D．the maintenance of the ecosystem

E．the source of food

F．various species

Pedestrians Only

1、The concept of traffic-free shopping areas goes back a long time. During the Middle Ages, traffic-free shopping areas were built in Middle Eastern countries to allow people to shop in comfort and, more importantly, safely. As far back as 2,000 years ago, road traffic was banned from central Rome during the day to allow for the free movement of the pedestrians, and was only allowed in at night when shops and markets had closed for the day. In most other cities, however, pedestrians were forced to share the streets with horses, coaches and, later, with cars and other motorized vehicles.

2、The modern, traffic-free shopping street was born in Europe in the 1960s, when both city populations and car ownership increase rapidly. Dirty gases from cars and the risks involved in crossing the road were beginning to make shopping an unpleasant and dangerous experience. Many believed the time was right for experimenting with car-free streets, and shopping areas seemed the best place to start.

3、At first, there was resistance from shopkeepers. They believed that such a move would be bad for business. They argued that people would avoided streets if they were unable to get to them in their cars. When the first streets in Europe were closed to traffic, there were even noisy demonstrations, as many shopkeepers predicted they would lose customers.

4、However, research carried out afterwards in several European cities revealed some unexpected

shopping street, shopkeepers reported sales increases of 25-40 percent. Shopkeepers in Minneapolis, the USA, were so impressed when they learnt this that they even offered to pay for the construction and maintenance costs of their own traffic-free streets.

5、With the arrival of the traffic-free streets, many shops, especially those selling things like clothes, food and smaller luxury items, prospered. Unfortunately, it isn?t good news for everyone, as shops selling furniture and larger electrical appliances who actually saw their sales drop. Many of these were forced to move elsewhere, away from the city centre. 23．Paragraph 1

24．Paragraph 2

25．Paragraph 3

26．Paragraph 4

A．Facing protest from shop owners

B．An experiment that went wrong

C．Increase in sales and customers

D．Popularity of online shopping

E．A need for change

F．An idea from ancient history

27．Traffic-free shopping streets first developed in .

28．In the 1960s, dirty gases from cars made shopping .

29．Shopkeepers mistakenly believed that car-free streets would keep away .

30．The arrival of the traffic-free shopping street made many lost their business.

A．furniture sellers

B．a bad experience

C．Middle Eastern countries

D．customers

E．North America

F．pedestrians

Music Used As Healing Therapy

1、Music has long been used to treat patients suffering from different problems. In 400 BC, its healing properties were documented by the ancient Greeks. More recently, in both world wars in the last century, medical workers used music therapy（疗法）with people suffering from trauma（外伤）.Currently, it is used as a treatment for many diseases, such as cancer, and it has also been used with patients with long-term pain and learning disabilities.

2、There is growing evidence that music can cause physical changes to the body which can improve our health. In the Welcome Trust study, which took place over three years at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London, patients were asked to listen to musical performances. As a result, it was found that stress levels were significantly reduced, recovery times were improved, and fewer drugs were needed.

3、These very positive results are partly due to general well-being（良好的健康状况）. It is already accepted that when people feel happy and have a positive approach to life, they are more likely to feel better and recover from disease quickly. Music increases this feeling of joy and adds to the recovery process.

4、However, not all these benefits can be attributed to an increase in general well-being. Music has other effects which have not yet been understood. According to Professor Robertson, a scientist and musician, some effects of music are mysterious and are, therefore, being investigated further, it has been suggested that the sounds and rhythms of music help stimulate the brain and send electrical messages to the muscles.

5、Science, however, demands facts and hard evidence. Many in the medical profession have

not yet recognized the healing benefits of music, since reports have been based mainly on various stories of evidence. These new studies could provide proof to doctors that music is a suitable treatment for many conditions. One day doctors may even "prescribe"（开处方）music, but that could be a long time in the future.

23．Paragraph 1

24．Paragraph 2

25．Paragraph 3

26．Paragraph 4

A．Potential dangers of music therapy

B．Increase in general well-being

C．History of music therapy

D．Other mysterious effects of music

E．Positive physical changes caused by music

F．Music and your body

28．Music can treat patients partly because

29．Those who always look on the bright side of life are more likely to

30．Many doctors don't believe that music can treat diseases because

A．recover from disease quickly

B．there is not enough hard evidence

C．use their minds actively

D．it improves general well-being

E．listen to musical performances

F．it brings many other benefits

Black Holes

1、Black holes can be best described as a sort of vacuum, sucking up everything in space. Scientists have discovered that black holes come from an explosion of huge stars. Stars that are near death can no longer burn due to loss of fuel, and because its temperature can no longer control the gravitational（重力的）force, hydrogen ends up putting pressure onto the star?s surface until it suddenly explodes then collapses.

2、Black holes come from stars that are made of hydrogen, other gases and a few metals. When these explode it can turn into

a stellar-mass（恒星质量）black hole, which can only occur if the star is large enough (should be bigger than the sun) for the explosion to break it into pieces, and the gravity starts to compact every piece into the tiniest particle. Try to see and compare: if a star that?s ten times the size of the sun ends up being a black hole that?s no longer than 70 kilometers, then the Earth would become a black hole that?s only a fraction of an inch!

3、Objects that get sucked in a black hole will always remain there, never to break free. But remember that black holes can only gobble up（吞噬）objects within a specific distance to it. It?s possible for a large star near the sun to become a black hole, but the sun will continue to stay in place. Orbits do not change because the newly formed black hole contains exactly the same amount of mass as when it was a star, only this time its mass is totally contracted that it can end up as no bigger than a state.

4、So far, astronomers have figured out that black holes exist because of Albert Einstein?s

theory of relativity. In the end, through numerous studies, they have discovered that black holes truly exist. Since black holes trap light and do not give off light, it is nearly impossible to detect black holes via a telescope. But astronomers continue to study galaxies, space and the solar system to understand how black holes might evolve. It is possible that black holes can exist for millions of years, and later contribute to a bigger process in galaxies, which can eventually lead to creation of new entities. Scientists also credit black holes as helpful in learning how galaxies began to form. 23．Paragraph 1

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26．Paragraph 4

A．Is there proof that black holes really exist?

B．What are different types of black holes?

C．How are black holes formed?

D．How were black holes named?

E．What happens to the objects around a black hole?

F．What are black holes made of?

27．Black holes are formed after .

28．When a large star explodes, the gravity compacts every piece into

29．A newly formed black hole and the star it comes from are of

30．Albert Einstein?s theory of relativity helps to prove

A．the creation of new entities

B．an explosion of huge stars

C．the tiniest particle

D．the same amount of mass

E．the existence of black holes

F．a fraction of an inch

Traffic Jams — No End in Sight

1、Traffic congestion affects people throughout the world. Traffic jams cause smog in dozens of cities across both the developed and developing world. In the U.S., commuters spend an average of a full work week each year sitting in traffic, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. While alternative ways of getting around are available, most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience, comfort and privacy.

certain parts of town at certain times of day. In theory, if the toll is high enough, some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or train. And in practice it seems to work: Singapore, London and Stockholm have reduced traffic and pollution in city centers thanks to congestion pricing.

3、Another way to reduce rush hour traffic is for employers to implement flexitime, which lets employees travel to and from work at off-peak traffic times to avoid the rush hour. Those who have to travel during busy times can do their part by sharing cars. Employers can also allow more staff to telecommute (work from home) so as to keep more cars off the road altogether.

4、Some urban planners still believe that the best way to ease traffic congestion is to build more roads, especially roads that can take drivers around or over crowded city streets. But such techniques do not really keep cars off the road; they only accommodate more of them.

5、Other, more forward-thinking, planners know that more and more drivers and cars are taking to the roads every day, and they are unwilling to encourage more private automobiles when public transport is so much better both for people and the environment. For this reason, the American government has decided to spend some $7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public transport systems and upgrade them with more efficient technologies. But environmentalists complain that such funding is tiny compared with the $50 billion being spent on roads and bridges.

23．Paragraph 1

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26．Paragraph 4

A．A global problem

B．Closing city centres to traffic

C．Paying to get in

D．Not doing enough

E．Changing work practice

F．A solution which is no solution

27．Most American drivers think it convenient to .

28．If charged high enough, some drivers may to enter certain parts of town.

29．Building more roads is not an effective way to .

30．The U.S. government has planned to updating public transport systems.

A．encourage more private cars

B．travel regularly

C．reduce traffic jams

D．go by bus

E．drive around

F．spend more money

Organic Food: Why?

1、Europe is now the biggest market for organic food in the world, expanding by 25 percent a year over the past 10 years. So what is the attraction of org anic food for some people? The really important thing is that organic sounds more “natural”. Eating organic is a way of defining oneself as natural, good, caring, different from the junk-food-eating masses.

2、Unlike conventional farming, the organic approach means farming with natural rather than man-made, fertilisers and pesticides. Techniques such as crop rotation improve soil quality and help organic farmers compensate for the absence of man-made chemicals. As a method of food production, organic is, however, inefficient in its use of labour and land; there are severe limits to how much food can be produced. Also, the environmental benefits of not using artificial fertiliser are tiny compared with the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by transporting food.

3、Organic farming is often claimed to be safer than conventional farming. Yet studies into organic farming worldwide continue to reject this claim. An extensive review by the UK Food Standards Agency found that there was no statistically significant difference between organic and conventional crops. Even where results indicated there was evidence of a difference, the reviewers found no sign that these differences would have any noticeable effect on health

4、The simplistic claim that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food was always likely to be misleading. Food is a natural product, and the health value of different foods will vary for a number of reasons, including freshness, the way the food is cooked, the type of soil it is grown in, the amount of sunlight and rain crops have received, and so on. Likewise, the flavour of a carrot has less to do with whether it was fertilised with manure or something out of a plastic sack than with the variety of carrot and how long ago it was dug up.

5、The notion that organic food is safer than “normal” food is also contradicted by the fact that many of our most common foods are full of natural toxins. As one research expert says: “People think that the more natural something is, the better i t is for them. That is simply not the case. In fact, it is the opposite that is true: the closer a plant is to its natural state, the more likely it is that it will poison you. Naturally many plants do not want to be eaten, so we have spent 10,000 years developing

23．Paragraph 1

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A．Factors that affect food health value

B．Main reason for the popularity of organic food

C．Testing the taste of organic food

D．Research into whether organic food is better

E．Necessity to remove hidden dangers from food

F．Description of organic farming

27．Techniques of organic farming help .

28．There is no convincing evidence to .

29．The weather conditions during the growth of crops .

30．The closer a plant is to its natural state, the less suitable it is to .

A．affect their nutritional content

B．poison you

C．improve soil quality

D．be eaten

E．show that organic crops are safer than conventional ones

F．be specially trained

阅读理解（25分）

An Expensive Mistake

Is there water on the planet Mars? Is there life on Mars? Was there ever life on Mars? Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to these questions. They built a spacecraft to travel around Mars and get information. The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate Orbiter.

The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars on December 1998. The trip took nine and a half months. At first, everything was fine. However, when the Orbiter got near Mars, something terrible happened. The spacecraft didn?t go to the right place. It went too close to Mars. It was too hot for the Orbiter there. The spacecraft couldn?t function correctly. Suddenly, it stopped sending messages to NASA．The Orbiter was lost.

How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned? Finally, they found the answer. Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter. One team was in England, and one team was in the United States. There were many similarities in the way they worked, but there was one important difference: The teams used different guidelines for measuring things. The United States team used the metric system（公制）. The other team used the English system.

Because they used different systems, the scientists made a mathematical mistake. The Orbiter's orbit (the shape and pattern of its path) around Mars was not correct. The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path. The Orbiter got too close and too hot, and it stopped functioning.

Why didn't anybody see the mistake before it was too late? Many things contributed to the problem. One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time. This was a challenge, and they were very tired from working long hours.

The Mars Climate Orbiter cost $94 million to build. It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Orbiter in space. In addition, NASA?s research on the cause of the problem was expensive. This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects. However, the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!

31．NASA built the Mars Climate Orbiter to get information about

A．the size of Mars.

B．possible life on Mars.

C．the shape of Mars.

D．the atmosphere of Mars.

32．How long did it take the Orbiter to get close to Mars?

A．One year.

B．Less than one year.

C．About two and a half years.

D．More than three years.

33．When did the Orbiter?s problem begin?

C．When it got near Mars. D．When it returned to Earth.

34．What caused the Orbiter?s problem?

A．Scientists used wrong guidelines of mathematics.

B．Scientists used wrong building materials.

C．Scientists used different operating systems.

D．Scientists used different measurement systems.

35．Why didn?t NASA scientists identify the problem before the Orbiter left for Mars?

A．They didn?t k now the English system.

B．They were sure of the success of the trip.

C．They were tired from working long hours.

D．They didn?t get enough research funding.

Energy and Public Lands

The United States boasts substantial energy resources. Federal lands provide a good deal of U.S. energy production; the U.S. Department of the Interior manages federal energy leasing, both on land and on the offshore Outer Continental Shelf. Production from these sources amounts to nearly 30 percent of total annual U.S. energy production.

In 2000, 32 percent of U.S. oil, 35 percent of natural gas, and 37 percent of coal were produced from federal lands, representing 20,000 producing oil and gas leases and 135 producing coal leases.

Federal lands are also estimated to contain approximately 68 percent of all undiscovered U.S. oil reserves and 74 percent of undiscovered natural gas.

Revenues from federal oil, gas, and coal leasing provide significant returns to U.S. taxpayers as well as State governments. In 1999, for example, $553 million in oil and gas revenues were paid to the U.S. Treasury, and non-Indian coal leases accounted for over $304 million in revenues, of which 50 percent were paid to State governments. Public lands also play a critical role in energy delivery. Each year, federal land managers authorize rights of way for transmission lines, rail systems, pipelines, and other facilities related to energy production and use.

Alternative energy production from federal lands lags behind conventional energy production, though the amount is still significant. For example, federal geothermal resources produce about 7.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, 47 percent of all electricity generated from U.S. geothermal energy. There are 2,960 wind turbines on public lands in California alone, producing electricity for about 300,000 people. Federal hydropower facilities produce about 17 percent of all hydropower produced in the United States.

Because of the growing U.S. thirst for energy and increasing public unease with dependence on foreign oil sources, pressure on the public lands to meet U.S. energy demands is intensifying. Public lands are available for energy development only after they have been evaluated through the land use planning process. If development of energy resources conflicts with management or use of other resources, development restrictions or impact mitigation measures may be imposed, or mineral production may be banned altogether.

31．What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Public lands are one of the main sources of revenues.

B．Public lands should be developed to ease energy shortage.

C．Public lands play an important role in energy production.

D．Public lands store huge energy resources for further development..

32．Which of the following statements is true of public lands in the U.S.?

A．Half of U.S. energy is produced there.

B．Most of coal was produced from there in 2000.

C．Most energy resources are reserved there.

D．The majority of undiscovered natural gas is stored there.

33．Geothermal resources, wind turbines, and hydropower facilities in Paragraph 4 are cited as examples to illustrate that A．alternative energy production is no less than conventional energy production.

B．they are the most typical conventional energy resources from public lands.

C．geothermal resources are more important than the other two.

D．the amount of alternative energy production from public lands is huge.

34．There is a mounting pressure on public lands to satisfy US energy demands because

A．many Americans are unhappy with energy development in foreign countries.

B．the US is demanding more and more energy.

C．quite a few public lands are banned for energy development.

D．many Americans think public lands are being abused.

35．Public lands can be used for energy development when

A．they go through the land use planning process.

C．federal land managers grant permissions.

D．there is enough federal budget.

Operation Migration

If you look up at the sky in the early fall in the northern part of North America, you may see groups of birds. These birds are flying south to places where they can find food and warmth for the winter. They are migrating（迁徙）. The young birds usually learn to migrate from their parents. They follow their parents south, in one unusual case, however, the young birds are following something very different. These birds are young whooping cranes, and they are following an airplane!

The young whooping crane is the largest bird that is native to North America. These birds almost disappeared in the 1800s. By 1941, there were only about 20 cranes alive. In the 1970s, people were worried that these creatures were in danger of disappearing completely. As a result, the United States identified whooping cranes as an endangered species that they needed to protect.

Some researchers tried to help. They began to breed whooping cranes in special parks to increase the number of birds. This plan was successful. There were a lot of new baby birds. As the birds became older, the researchers wanted to return them to nature. However, there was a problem: These young birds did not know how to migrate. They needed human help.

In 2001, some people had a creative Idea. They formed an organization called Operation Migration. This group decided to use very light airplanes, instead of birds, to lead the young whooping cranes on their first trip south. They painted each airplane to look like a whooping crane.Even the pilots wore special clothing to make them look like cranes. The cranes began to trust the airplanes, and the plan worked.

Today, planes still lead birds across approximately 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers), from the United States-Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. They leave the birds at different sites. If a trip is successful, the birds can travel on their own in the future. Then, when these birds become parents,they will teach their young to migrate. The people of Operation Migration think this is the only way to maintain the whooping crane population.

Operation Migration works with several other organizations and government institutes. Together, they assist hundreds of cranes each year. However, some experts predict that soon, this won?t be necessary. Thanks to Operation Migration and its partners, the crane population will continue to migrate. Hopefully, they won?t need human h elp any more. 41．Whopping cranes migrate in winter to

A．raise baby whooping cranes.

B．get human help.

C．find warmth and food.

D．lay eggs.

42．Whopping cranes are native to

A．Mexico.

B．South America.

C．the Persian Gulf

D．North America.

43．Operation Migration aims to

A．lead young cranes on their first trip south.

B．teach adult cranes how to fly.

C．breed cranes in special parks.

D．transport cranes to the North.

44．The distance covered by the young whooping cranes on their trip south is

A．1,200 miles.

B．120 miles

C．1,931 miles

D．2,000 miles

45．If Operation Migration is successful, whooping cranes will

A．follow airplanes south every year.

B．learn to migrate on their own.

C．live in Canada all year round.

D．be unable to fly back.

The World’s Best-Selling Medicine

Since ancient times, people all over the world have used willow to stop pain. The willow tree contains salicylic acid （水杨酸）. This stops pain, but there is one problem. Salicylic acid also hurts the stomach. In 1853, a French scientist made a mixture from willow that did not hurt the stomach. However, his mixture was difficult to make, and he did not try to produce or sell it.

In 1897, in Germany, Felix Hoffmann also made a mixture with salicylic acid. He tried it himself first and then gave it to hi s father because his father was old and in a lot of pain. His father?s pain went away, and the mixture did not hurt his

Hoffmann worked for Bayer, a German company. He showed his new drug to his manager, who tested the drug and found that it worked well. Bayer decided to make the drug. They called it aspirin and put the Bayer name on every pill.

Aspirin was an immediate success. Almost everyone has pain of some kind, so aspirin answered a true need. Aspirin was cheap, easy to take, and effective, it also lowered fevers. Aspirin was a wonder drug.

At first, Bayer sold the drug through doctors, who then sold it to their patients. In 1915, the company started to sell aspirin in drugstores. In the United States, Bayer had a patent on the drug.Other companies could make similar products and sell them in other countries, but only Bayer could make and sell aspirin in the United States. In time, Bayer could no longer own the name aspirin in the United States. Other companies could make it there, too. However, Bayer aspirin was the most well known, and for many years, it was the market leader.

By the 1950s, new painkillers were on the market. Aspirin was no longer the only way to treat pain and reduce fever. Bayer and other companies looked for other drugs to make. However, in the 1970s they got a surprise. Doctors noticed that patients who were taking aspirin had fewer heart attacks than other people. A British researcher named John Vane found the reason aspirin helped to prevent heart attacks. In 1982, he won the Nobel Prize for his research. Doctors started to tell some of their patients to take aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks. It has made life better for the many people who take it. It has also made a lot of money for companies like Bayer that produce and sell it!

41．Why didn't the French scientist continue to make the medicine that stopped pain?

A．It didn't work well.

B．It was hard to make.

C．It hurt the stomach.

D．It was not cost-effective.

42．Why was Felix Hoffmann looking for a painkiller?

A．His company told him to do that.

B．His father was in pain.

C．He wanted to make a lot of money.

D．He suffered from headache.

43．Bayer started making aspirin because

A．it helped prevent heart attacks.

B．other companies were making it.

C．it worked well in stopping pain

D．the manager was a scientist.

44．Bayer aspirin was

A．the only drug with the name “aspirin”.

B．the first aspirin sold in the United States.

C．not sold in drugstores in 1915.

D．not easy to find in drugstores.

45．What has happened to aspirin since new painkillers came on the market?

A．Companies have stopped selling it.

B．It has become the best-selling painkiller.

C．Its new use has been discovered.

D．Doctors have sold it to patients.

On the Trail of the Honey Badgers

On a recent field trip to the Kalahari Desert, a team of researchers learnt a lot more about honey badgers（獾）. The team employed a local wildlife expert, Kitso Khama, to help them locate and follow the badgers across the desert. Their main aim was to study the badgers? movements and behaviour as discreetly（谨慎地）as possible, without frightening them away or causing them to change their natural behaviour. They also planned to trap a few and study them close up before releasing them. In view of the animal?s reputation, this was somet hing that even Khama was reluctant to do.

“The problem with honey badgers is they are naturally curious animals, especially when they see something new,” he says. “that, combined with their unpredictable nature, can be a dangerous mixture. If t hey sense you have food, for example, they won?t be shy about coming right up to you for something to eat. They?re actually quite sociable creatures around humans, but as soon as they feel they might be in danger, they can become extremely vicious（凶恶的）. Fo rtunately this is rare, but it does happen.”

The research confirmed many things that were already known. As expected, honey badgers ate any creatures they could catch and kill. Even poisonous snakes, feared and avoided by most other animals, were not safe from them. The researchers were surprised, however, by the animal?s fondness for local melons, probably because of their high water content. Previously researchers thought that the animal got all of its liquid requirements from its prey（猎物）. The team also learnt that, contrary to previous research findings, the badgers occasionally formed loose family groups. They were also able to confirm certain results from previous research, including the fact that female badgers never socialized with each

Following some of the male badgers was a challenge, since they can cover large distances in a short space of time. Some hunting territories cover more than 500 square kilometers. Although they seem happy to share these territories with other males, there are occasional fights over an important food source, and male badgers can be as aggressive towards each other as they are towards other species.

As the badgers became accustomed to the presence of people, it gave the team the chance to get up close to them withou t being the subject of the animal?s curiosity — or their sudden aggression.

The badgers? eating patterns, which had been disrupted, returned to normal. It also allowed the team to observe more closely some of the other creatures that form working associations with the honey badger, as these seems to adopt the badgers? relaxed attitude when near humans.

41．Why did the wildlife experts visit the Kalahari Desert?

A．To observe how honey badgers behave.

B．To find where honey badgers live.

C．To catch some honey badgers for food.

D．To find out why honey badgers have a bad reputation.

42．What does Kitso Khama say about honey badgers?

A．They show interest in things they are not familiar with.

B．They are always looking for food.

C．They do not enjoy human company.

D．It is common for them to attack people.

43．What did the team find out about honey badgers?

A．There were some creatures they did not eat.

B．They may get some of the water they needed from fruit.

C．They were afraid of poisonous creatures.

D．Female badgers did not mix with male badgers.

44．Which of the following is a typical feature of male badgers?

A．They don?t run very quickly.

B．They defend their territory from other badgers.

C．They hunt over a very large area.

D．They are more aggressive than females

45．What happened when honey badgers got used to humans around them?

A．They lost interest in people.

B．They became less aggressive towards other creatures.

C．They started eating more.

D．Other animals started working with them.

Students Learn Better With Touchscreen Desks

Observe the criticisms of nearly any major public education system in the world, and a few of the many complaints are more or less universal. Technology moves faster than the education system.Teachers must teach at the pace of the slowest student rather than the fastest. And — particularly in the United States —school children as a group don?t care much for, or excel at, mathematics. So it?s heartening to learn that a new kind of “classroom of the future” shows promise at mitigating some of these problems, starting with that fundamental piece of classroom furniture: the desk.

A UK study involving roughly 400 students, mostly aged 8-10 years, and a new generation of multi-touch, multi-user, computerized desktop surfaces is showing that over the last three years the technology has appreciably boosted students? math skills compared to peers learning the same material via the conventional paper-and-pencil method. How? Through collaboration, mostly, as well as by giving teachers better tools by which to micromanage individual students who need some extra instruction while allowing the rest of the class to continue moving forward.

Traditional instruction still shows respectable efficacy（效力）at increasing students fluency in mathematics, essentially through memorization and practice —dull, repetitive practice. But the researchers have concluded that these new touchscreen desks boost both fluency and flexibility —the critical thinking skills that allow students to solve complex problems not simply through knowing formulas and devices, but by being able to figure out what the real problem is and the most effective means of stripping it down and solving it.

One reason for this, the researchers say, is the multi-touch aspect of the technology. Students working in the next-gen classroom can work together at the same tabletop, each of them contributing and engaging with the problem as part of a group. Known as SynergyNet, the software uses computer vision systems that see in the infrared（红外的）spectrum to distinguish between different touches on different parts of the surface, allowing students to access and use tools on the screen, move objects and visual aids around on their desktops, and otherwise physically interact with the numbers and information on their screens. By using these screens collaboratively, the researchers say, the students are to some extent teaching themselves as those with a stronger grasp on difficult concepts pull other students forward along with them.

A．It does not catch up with the development of technology.

B．Teachers pay more attention to fast learners than slow learners.

C．Some similar complaints about it are heard in different countries.

D．Many students are not good at learning mathematics.

37．What has been found after the new tech is employed?

A．Teachers are able to give individualized attention to students in need.

B．Students become less active in learning mathematics.

C．Students show preference to the conventional paper-and-pencil method.

D．The gap between slow learners and fast learners get more noticeable.

38．What is the benefit students get from the new tech?

A．It makes them more fluent in public speech.

B．It offers them more flexibility in choosing courses.

C．It is effective in helping them solve physical problems.

D．It enables them to develop critical thinking ability.

39．What happens when students are using the desktop of the new tech?

A．Every student has an individual tabletop.

B．Students use different tools to interact with each other.

C．The multi-touch function stimulates students.

D．The software installed automatically identifies different users.

40．How does the new tech work to improve students? mathematical learning?

A．It helps fast learners to learn faster.

B．It makes teachers? instruction unnecessary.

C．It enables them to work together.

D．It allows the whole class to learn at the same pace.

Making a Loss is the Height of Fashion

Given that a good year in the haute couture business is one where you lose even more money than usual, the prevailing mood in Paris last week was of recession-busting buoyancy. The big-name designers were falling over themselves to boast of how many outfits they had sold at below cost price, and how this proved that the fashion business was healthier than ever. Jean-Paul Gaultier reported record sales, "but we don't make any money out of it," the designer assured journalists backstage. "No matter how successful you are, you can't make a profit from couture," explained Jean-Jacques Picart, a veteran fashion PR man, and co-founder of the now-bankrupt Lacroix house.

Almost 20 years have passed since the Alice in Wonderland economics of the couture business were first exposed. Outraged that he was losing money on evening dresses costing tens of thousands of pounds, the couturier Jean-Louis Scherrer — to howls of "trahison" from his colleagues -published a detailed summary of his costs. One outfit he described contained over half a mile of gold thread, 18,000 sequins, and had required hundreds of hours of hand-stitching in an atelier. A fair price would have been ￡50,000, but the couturier could only get ￡35,000 for it. Rather than riding high on the follies of the super-rich, he and his team could barely feed their hungry families.

The result was an outcry and the first of a series of government - and industry-sponsored inquiries into the surreal world of ultimate fashion. The trade continues to insist that - relatively speaking - couture offers you more than you pay for, but it's not as simple as that. When such a temple of old wealth starts talking about value for money, it isn't to convince anyone that dresses costing as much as houses are a bargain. Rather, it is to preserve the peculiar mystique, lucrative associations and threatened interests that couture represents.

Essentially, the arguments couldn't be simpler. On one side are those who say that the business will die if it doesn't change. On the other are those who say it will die if it does. What's not in doubt is that haute couture - the term translates as "high sewing" - is a spectacular anachronism. Colossal in its costs, tiny in its clientele and questionable in its influence, it still remains one of the great themes of Parisian life. In his book, The Fashion Conspiracy, Nicholas Coleridge estimates that the entire couture industry rests on the whims of less than 30 immensely wealthy women, and although the number may have grown in recent years with the new prosperity of Asia, the number of couture customers worldwide is no more than 4,000.

To qualify as couture, a garment must be entirely hand-made by one of the 11 Paris couture houses registered to the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture. Each house must employ at least 20 people, and show a minimum of 75 new designs a year. So far, so stirringly traditional, but the Big Four operators - Chanel, Dior, Givenchy and Gaultier —increasingly use couture as a marketing device for their far more profitable ready-to-wear, fragrance and accessory lines. 36．What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．The haute couture business is expanding quickly.

B．The haute couture designers claim losses in their sales.

C．The haute couture designers make much profit in their sales.

37．According to the second paragraph, Jean-Louis Scherrer

A．was very angry as he was losing money.

B．was in a worse financial position than other couturier.

C．was one of the best known couturiers.

D．stopped producing haute couture dresses.

38．The writer says that the outfit Jean-Louis Scherrer described

A．was worth the price that was paid for it.

B．cost more to make than it should have.

C．was never sold to anyone.

D．should have cost the customer more than it did.

39．The writer says in paragraph 4 that there is disagreement over

A．the history of haute couture.

B．the real costs of haute couture.

C．the future of haute couture.

D．the changes that need to be made in haute couture.

40．What is the writer?s tone towards haute couture business?

A．Quite supportive.

B．Fairly friendly.

C．Rather indifferent.

D．Somewhat ironical.

Why Don’t Ba bies Talk Like Adults?

Over the past half-century, scientists have settled on two reasonable theories related to baby talk. One states that a young child's brain needs time to master language, in the same way that it does to master other abilities such as physical movement. The second theory states that a child's vocabulary level is the key factor.

According to this theory, some key steps have to occur in a logical sequence before sentence formation occurs. Children's mathematical knowledge develops in the same way.

In 2007, researchers at Harvard University, who were studying the two theories, found a clever way to test them. More than 20,000 internationally adopted children enter the U.S. each year. Many of them no longer hear their birth language after they arrive, and they must learn English more or less the same way infants do 一that is, by listening and by trial and error. International adoptees don't take classes or use a dictionary when they are learning their new tongue and most of them don't have a well-developed first language. All of these factors make them an ideal population in which to test these competing hypotheses about how language is learned

Neuroscientists Jesse Snedeker, Joy Geren and Carissa Shafto studied the language development of 27 children adopted from China between the ages of two and five years.These children began learning English at an older age than US natives and had more mature brains with which to tackle the task. Even so, just as with American-born infants, their first English sentences consisted of single words and were largely bereft（缺乏的）of function words, word endings and verbs. The adoptees then went through the same stages as typical American-born children, though at a faster clip. The adoptees and native children started combining words in sentences when their vocabulary reached the same sizes, further suggesting that what matters is not how old you are or how mature your brain is, but the number of words you know.

This finding 一that having more mature brains did not help the adoptees avoid the toddle-talk stage 一suggests that babies speak in baby talk not because they have baby brains, but because they have only just started learning and need time to gain enough vocabulary to be able to expand their conversations. Before long, the one-word stage will give way to the two-word stage and so on. Learning how to chat like an adult is a gradual process.

But this potential answer also raises an even older and more difficult question. Adult immigrants who learn a second language rarely achieve the same proficiency in a foreign language as the average child raised as a native speaker. Researchers have long suspected there is a "critical period" for language development, after which it cannot proceed with full success to fluency. Yet we still do not understand this critical period or know why it ends.

31．What is the writer's main purpose in Paragraph 2?

A．To reject the view that adopted children need two languages.

B．To argue that culture affects the way children learn a language.

C．To give reasons why adopted children were used in the study.

D．To justify a particular approach to language learning.

32．Snedekert Geren and Shafto based their study on children who

A．were finding it difficult to learn English.

B．were learning English at a later age than US children.

C．had come from a number of language backgrounds.

33．What aspect of the adopted children's language development differed from that of US-born children?

A．The rate at which they acquired language.

B．Their first words.

C．The way they learn English.

D．The point at which they started producing sentences.

34．What does the Harvard finding show?

A．Not all toddlers use baby talk.

B．Some children need more conversation than others.

C．Language learning takes place in ordered steps.

D．Not all brains work in the same way.

35．When the writer says "critical period", he means a period when

A．studies produce useful results.

B．adults need to be taught like children.

C．language learning takes place effectively.

D．immigrants want to learn another language.

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A Doctor in the House

Brushing your teeth twice a day should keep the dentist away. But if a group of scientific researchers have their wish, it will make the rest of your body healthy too.(46) It is one of many gadgets proposed by engineers and doctors at the Center for Future Health in New York—others include a pair of glasses that help to jog your memory, and a home camera designed to check for cancer.

The devices seem fanciful, but the basic principles are simple. The gadgets should make it easy for people to detect illness long before it strikes and so seek treatment far earlier than normal.(47) In the long run, the technology may even prevent illness by encouraging us to lead healthier lives.

Intelligent bandages are a good example. Powerful sensors within the bandage could quickly Identify tiny amounts of bacteria in a wound and determine which antibiotics would work best. (48)

Socks are long overdue for a makeover. In the future they will be able to automatically detect the amount of pressure in your foot and alert you when an ulcer is coming up.

All the projects should have far-reaching implications, but the biggest single development is a melanoma monitor designed to give early warnings of cancer. system would advise you to get a check-up at your doctor?s surgery. (49) If a problem is found, the system would advise you to get a check-up at your doctor?s surgery.

If all this sounds troublesome, then help is at hand.(50) A standard computer would be able to understand your voice and answer questions about your symptoms in plain English and in a way which would calm your nerves.

A．Experts are also working on a …digital doctor?, complete with a comforting bedside manner.

B．Instead of relying on hi- tech hospitals, the emphasis is shifted to the home and easy-to-use gadgets.

C．The cut could then be treated instantly, so avoiding possible complications.

D．That is going to be the difficult part.

E．The device could be used to take a picture of your body each week, then compare it with previous images.

F．A toothbrush that checks blood sugar and bacteria while you brush is currently in development in the USA.

The Tough Grass that Sweetens Our Lives

Sugar cane was once a wild grass that grew in New Guinea and was used by local people for roofing their houses and fencing their gardens. Gradually a different variety evolved which contained sucrose and was chewed on for its sweet taste. Over time, sugar cane became a highly valuable commercial plant, grown throughout the world.(46) Sugar became a vital ingredient in all kinds of things, from confectionery to medicine, and, as the demand for sugar grew, the industry became larger and more profitable.(47) Many crops withered and died, despite growers? attempts to save them, and there were fears that the health of the plant would continue to deteriorate.

In the 1960s, scientists working in Barbados looked for ways to make the commercial species stronger and more able to resist disease. They experimented with breeding programmes, mixing genes from the wild species of sugar cane, which tends to be tougher, with genes from the more delicate, commercial type.(48) This sugar cane is not yet ready to be sold commercially, but when this happens, it is expected to be incredibly profitable for the industry.

(49) Brazil, which produces one quarter of the world's sugar, has coordinated an international project under Professor

more about which parts of the genetic structure of the plant are important for the production of sugar and its overall health.

Despite all the research, however, we still do not fully understand how the genes function in sugar cane.(50) This gene is particularly exciting because it makes the plant resistant to rust, a disease which probably originated in India, but is now capable of infecting sugar cane across the world. Scientists believe they will eventually be able to grow a plant which cannot be destroyed by rust.

A．Unfortunately, however, the plant started to become weaker and more prone to disease.

B．Sugar cane was now much vigorous and the supply of sugar is therefore more guaranteed.

C．One major gene has been identified by Dr Angelique D'Hont and her team in Montpelier, France.

D．The majority of the world's sugar now comes from this particular commercial species.

E．Since the 1960s, scientists have been analysing the mysteries of the sugar cane's genetic code.

F．Eventually, a commercial plant was developed which was 5 percent sweeter than before, but also much stronger and less likely to die from disease.

Toads are Arthritic and in Pain

Arthritis is an illness that can cause pain and swelling in your bones. Toads, a big problem in the north of Australia, are suffering from painful arthritis in their legs and backbone, a new study has shown. The toads that jump the fastest are more likely to be larger and to have longer legs. 46.

The large yellow toads, native to South and Central America, were introduced into the north-eastern Australian state of Queensland in 193S in an attempt to stop beetles and other insects from destroying sugarcane crops. Now up to 200 million of the poisonous toads exist in the country, and they are rapidly spreading through the state of Northern Territory at a rate of up to 60 km a year.

The toads can now be found across more than one million square kilometers.(47) A Venezuelan poison virus was tried in the 1990s but had to be abandoned after it was found to also kill native frog species.

The toads have severely affected ecosystems in Australia. Animals, and sometimes pets, that eat the toads die immediately from their poison, and the toads themselves eat anything they can fit inside their mouth.(48)

A co-author of the new study, Rick Shine, a professor at the University of Sydney, says that little attention has been given to the problems that toads face. Rick and his colleagues studied nearly 500 toads from Queensland and the Northern Territory and found that those in the latter state were very different. They were active, sprinting down roads and breeding quickly.

According to the results of the study, the fastest toads travel nearly one kilometre a night. (49) But speed and strength come at a price —arthritis of the legs and backbone due to constant pressure placed on them. In laboratory tests, the researchers found that after about 15 minutes of hopping, arthritic toads would travel less distance with each hop.(50) These toads are so programmed to move,apparently, that even when in pain the toads travelled as fast and as far as the healthy ones, continuing their relentless march across the landscape.

A．Toads are not built to be road runners — they are built to sit around ponds and wet area.

B．The task now facing the country is how to remove the toads.

C．Furthermore, they soon take over the natural habitats of Australia?s native species.

D．Toads with longer legs move faster and travel longer distances, while the others are being leftbehind.

E．But this advantage also has a big drawback — up to 10% of the biggest toads suffer from arthritis.

F．But arthritis didn?t slow down toads outside the laboratory, the researchers found.

完形填空（8分）

2013年职称英语考试出题思路：从书中出一篇。2014年职称英语考试答题方法与技巧：（1）有些英语基础的同志，可按方法与技巧进行，即先看空白处的“左”和“右”，根据要求再进行选项。（2）基础特别薄弱的同志只好将15篇的空白处与对应选项提早都背下来，以确保15分全部拿到。