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　　June 26, 2000－the Human Genome(基因组)Project, a great $3 billion, 15－year task aimed at drawing the genetic(遗传的)map of humans, is now more than 90 percent completed．The scientific and medical communities(团体)are very excited about the chances genetic research provides for getting rid of diseases and prolonging(延长)human life．But those communities and policy(政策)makers also are careful about the scientific door they are opening as the project uncovers the mysteries of life．

　　For the last few years, the genetic advances in the developing field of biotechnology(生物技术)have provides material for all kinds of work, but the developments of modern science in unlocking the secrets of the human genetic code(密码)have opened a world of possibilities for human health, as well as for the popular imagination．

　　While European and Japanese researchers are making rapid progress in decoding(解码)human DNA, the leading organization for genetic research is in the United States, which began in 1990,is “unlocking the code”of the human body to learn how to defeat fatal(致命的)diseases．Already, the Human Genome Project has become widely known and praised for finding the genes(基因)connected with as yet(迄今)terrible diseases, and making progress toward separating the genes that show a sign of breast cancer or AIDS．

　　Once these genes are found and studied, researchers can develop new ways to attack infections(传染),and genetic diseases．Medical companies are very interested in mapping the human genome, as they expect to develop a lot of new drugs for these illnesses．

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　　A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts．It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better．

　　A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking．To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not．As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story．Often, however, this arises(出现)from the child having heard the story once．Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered．

　　There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two－headed dragons, magic carpets, etc do not exist；and that, instead of being found of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history．I find such people, I must stay so peculiar(奇怪的)that I do not know how to argue with them．If their cases were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a tick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl－friend．

　　No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was．

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　　The Olympic Games are seen as the greatest test of an athlete’s ability and are supposed to celebrate the spirit of fair play(公平竞争)．But in fact, sportsmen have been using drugs to cheat their way to victory since the Games first began．

　　In the early years, athletes ate mushrooms and plant seeds to improve their performance．Nowadays, this kind of cheating has a name－doping．

　　Just last month, Britain's top sprinter(赛跑选手)Dwain Chambers and several American athletes tested positive(药检呈阳性)for the drug THG(变体兴奋剂)．Until a coach secretly gave a sample of THG to scientists, no one knew how to test for it．

　　"We're like cops(警察)chasing criminals－athletes are always adapting(适应)and looking for areas we haven't investigated," said Jacques de Ceaurriz, a French anti－doping expert．

　　Since the first drugs test was carried out at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, many cheats have been caught out．The most famous case in history is that of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson．He broke the 100 meters world record in winning gold at the 1988 Seoul(汉城)Olympics．But days later, he tested positive for drug use, lost his gold medal and was banned from the sport．Five years later, he returned to action－only to be found positive again and banned forever．

　　Experts are also worried that doping can damage a person's health．It is believed to increase the risk of liver and kidney(肝和肾)diseases, and women may experience reproductive(生育的)problems．As long as they can stay ahead of the scientists, it is unlikely the cheats will stop．But experts say there is a limit to what can be achieved－and that athletes will not be able to change their bodies using gene technology．

　　"For the moment, genetic doping does not exist," said de Ceaurriz．"Even in 10 or 15 years it will not be done easily－the scientific community will not let it happen．"

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　Teachers have long said that success is its own reward, But these days, some students are finding that good grades can bring them cash and luxury gifts．

　　In at least a dozen states this school year, students who bring home top marks can expect more than just thankfulness．

　　The most ambitious experiment began in September, when seven states－Arkansas．Alabama, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington－won spots in an Mobil－funded program that, in most cases, pays students $100 for each passing grade on advanced placement(AP)college－prep exams．

　　It’s an effort to get low－income and minority students interested in the courses, says Tommie Sue Anthony, president of the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science．“We still have students who are not sure of the value, who are not willing to take the courses,”she says, “Probably the motivation will make a difference with those students．”

　　Gregg Fleisher of the National Math and Science Initiative, which runs the seven－state program, says the effort is modeled on a program adopted by Dallas in the 1995－96 school year that saw AP course－taking jump obviously．That program is now statewide．

　　While many educators would be against offering kids cash for good grades, Fleisher and others say the idea is simple：“It’s an encouragement to get them to basically make the right decision and choose a more strict class,”he says,“This teaches them that if they work at something very hard and have a lot of support, they can do something they didn’t think they could do．”

　　An analysis of the Texas program last month by Cornell economist C．Kirabo Jackson found that it linked to a 30% rise in the number of students with high SAT and ACT scores and an 8% rise in college－going students．

　　(Notes：1．SAT：美国学术能力评估考试；2．ACT：美国大学入学考试。)

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　　Concern with money, and then more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modern life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchman．More people are working than ever before in France．In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappearing．Offices, shops and factories are discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunch rooms．In almost all lines of work emphasis now falls on ever-increasing output．Thus the “typical”Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of only a generation ago．He gains in creature comforts and ease of life．What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality．

　　Some day that French has been Americanized．This is because the United States is a world symbol of the technological society and its consumer products．The so-called Americanization of France has its critics．They fear that“assembly-line(流水线)life”will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely(but less productive)old French style．What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life－to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local café?

　　Since the late 1950s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain．Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are young, especially university students．They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture, Occasionally, they have created against the trend with considerable violence．

　　In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modern economic world．They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past．They believed that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old．

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　　The best antistress(抗紧张)medicine we have may be right under your nose!Think you know how to do it?Try this simple test：sit or stand wherever you are and take a deep breath, then let it out．What expanded more as you breathed in, your chest or your abdomen(腹部)If the answer is your chest, you're like most people and you're doing it wrong．Take another deep breath-and keep reading．

　　The technique is so powerful that physician James Gordon, director of the Centre for Mind/Body Medicine in Washington, teaches it to nearly every patient he sees．

　　“Slow, deep breathing is probably the only best antistress medicine we have,”says Gordon,“When you bring air down into the lower part of the lungs, where oxygen exchange is most efficient, everything changes．Heart rate slows, blood pressure decrease, muscles relax, anxiety ceases and the mind calms．”

　　Obviously, everyone alive knows how to breathe．But Gordon and other experts in the field of mind-body medicine say that few people in industrialized societies know how to breathe correctly．They are taught to suck in their guts(内脏)and puff out(鼓起)their chests．At the same time, they are attacked with constant stress, which causes heart rate to increase．As a result, they become shallow“chest breathers”, using primarily the middle and upper portions of the lungs．Few people-other than musicians, singers and some athletes-are even aware that the abdomen should expand when they breathe in．

　　“Watch a baby breathe,”says Gordon,“and you'll see the abdomen go up and down, deep and slow．”With age, most people change from this healthy abdominal breathing into shallow chest breathing．

　　At Duke University Medical Centre, Dr．Jon Seskevich has taught abdominal breathing to most of the 18,000 patients he's worked with since 1990．About half the people he sees have cancer．

　　One of his most dramatic cases involved a lung-cancer patient．“I walked into the room to find this large man actually fighting for breath,”Seskevich recalls．“I had his sit back in his chair and place his feet on the ground．I then asked if it was OK if I touched his abdomen．He nodded, so I put my hand on and told him to breathe softly into my hand, to let his abdomen rise into my hand．”

　　After about six minutes of this, he was breathing comfortably．“All day, people were telling his to relax,”says Seskvich,“and it seemed to make his struggle worse．I just told him to breathe into his abdomen．We didn't cure his cancer, but we may have saved him a trip to the intensive-care unit”

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　　By 2050……

　　Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different in 2050．

　　TV channels will have disappeared．Instead, people will choose a program from a“menu”and a computer will send the program directly to the television．Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away．By 2050,music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer．

　　Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast．Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents．Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are．By 2050,the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination．Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours．Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again．By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours．

　　Robots will have replaced people in factories．Many factories already use robots．Big companies prefer robots－they don’ t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day．By 2050, we will see robots everywhere－in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes．

　　Medical technology will have conquered many diseases．Today, there arc electronic devices that connect directly to the brain to help people hear．By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again．

　　Scientists will have discovered how to control genes．Scientists have already produced clones of animals．By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have．Scientists will be able to do these things but should they?

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　　“She was born for the camera,”said a photographer who shot Liu Yifei’s picture when she was only eight．

　　Over the past year, Liu, an 18-year-old Chinese American, has shot to fame while playing Wang Yuyan,, in Jin Yong's“Eightfold Path of the Heavenly Dragon”(《天龙八部》)．Millions of teenagers have been drawn in by her light smile and beautiful long hair．Many magazines have described her as one of the most charming young actresses of 2004．People say that Liu will be even bigger this year．

　　“She is so beautiful on TV．She has the special character to give flesh and blood to the fairy-like and beautiful Wang Yuyan,”said Yang Mingwei, a Senior 2 boy and Liu fan from Wuyi High School in Fujian．

　　Currently Liu is filming the TV series“The Return of the Condor Heroes”(《神雕侠侣》), another Jin Yong novel．In the show to be aired this year, Liu plays the Little Dragon Girl．

　　Liu is currently a grade three student at the Beijing Film Academy(北京电影学院), the star factory of China．But some people say that her success is only down to her beauty．When she returned to China with her mother at the age of 14, she did originally work as a model．It was when a director saw her picture on an advertisement board on the street that her opportunity to work in TV arose．

　　“A pretty face does not last forever．To be a good actress you must work hard and have a professional attitude,”Liu said．Every day she spends hours practicing all the kungfu kicks and punches(踢打)for the show．

　　“There have been times during filming when I have remained hanging in the air on wires for half a day as the director keeps trying to get the perfect take,”said Liu recently．

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　　“Tear them apart!”“Kill the fool!”“Murder the referee(裁判)!”

　　These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events．At the time they are mad, they may seem innocent enough．But let's not kid ourselves．They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed(流血)．Volumes have been written about the way words affect us．It has been shown that Words having certain connotations(含义)may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic(人文主义的)behavior．I see the term“opponent”as one of those words．Perhaps the time has come to delete it from sports terms．

　　The dictionary meaning of the term“opponent”is“adversary”;“enemy”“one who opposes your interests．”Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy．At such times, winning may dominate one's intellect, and every action, no matter how gross(粗俗), may be considered justifiable(有理的)．I recall an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player's request for a time out for a glove change because he did not consider them wet enough．The player proceeded to rub his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then exclaimed．“Are they wet enough now?”

　　In the heat of battle, players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences that such a move might have on anyone in their way．I have also witnessed a player reacting to his opponent's international and illegal' blocking by deliberately hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the course of pray．Off the court, they are good friends．Does that make any sense?It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which depart from normal behavior．

　　Therefore, I believe it is time we elevated(提升)the game to the level where it belongs thereby setting an example to the rest of the sporting world．Replacing the term“opponent”with“associate”could be an ideal way to start．

　　The dictionary meaning of the term“associate”is“colleague”;“friend”;“companion”Reflect a moment!You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term ‘associate’ rather than ‘opponent．’

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　　When I opened my E-mail the other day, a pretty woman named Rachel appeared on my computer screen．She greeted me by name and started talking with great enthusiasm(热情)．Every now and then she stopped to smile at me or blow a kiss．She was reading to me an E-mail from my brother．It was pretty cool．

　　Rachel was there thanks to a new technology called Facemail．Facemail lets you send E-mail that gets read to the receiver by an attractive male or female form or by a clown(小丑)．The software, which is free, can be downloaded at www．facemail．com．

　　Facemail faces are lifelike, and they simulate(模仿)emotions based on emotions-for example, type in：-X, and Rachel blows a kiss．

　　Life FX, the company that develops the Facemail, is sure that facemail has broad business uses．The reason E-mail is not popular, the company says, is that buying over the Internet lacks the human touch．But what if you went to the Nike website and Michael Jordan greeted you by name, waited on you and personally closed the sale?And wouldn't it feel better when the kids get back from school but Mom can't be back and she can leave a note with voice and image telling them what there is to eat?

　　Facemail could get hot fast．Personally, I'm a fan．But Facemail should be used with care．The clown looks lively and funny at first．But if you select the clown, put a few rude words in an E-mail and add some angry emotions, you've got Psycho-mail(疯人性电子邮件)．

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