How far would you be willing to go to satisfy your need to know? Far enough to find out your possibility of dying from a terrible disease? These days that’s more than an academic question, as Tracy Smith reports in our Cover Story.

There are now more than a thousand genetic（基因的）tests, for everything from baldness to breast cancer, and the list is growing. Question is, do you really want to know what might eventually kill you? For instance, Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’（老年痴呆症）.

“If I tell you that you have an increased risk of getting a terrible disease, that could weigh on your mind and make you anxious, through which you see the rest of your life as you wait for that disease to hit you. It could really mess you up.” Said Dr. Robert Green, a Harvard geneticist.

“Every ache and pain,” Smith suggested, could be understood as “the beginning of the end.”“That ’s right. If you ever worried you were at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, then every time you can’t find your car in the parking lot, you think the disease has started.”

Dr. Green has been thinking about this issue for years. He led a study of people who wanted to know if they were at a higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s. It was thought that people who got bad news would, for lack of a better medical term, freak out. But Green and his team found that there was“no significant difference”between how people handled good news and possibly the worst news of their lives. In fact, most people think they can handle it. People who ask for the information usually can handle the information, good or bad, said Green.

71.The first paragraph is meant to__________.

A. ask some questions                        B. introduce the topic

C. satisfy readers’ curiosity                 D. describe an academic fact

【答案】B

【解析】通过两个问题引出话题。

72.Which of the following is true of James Watson？

A. He is strongly in favor of the present genetic tests.

B. He is more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.

C. He believes genetic mapping can help cure any disease.

D. He doesn’t want to know his chance of getting a disease.

【答案】D

【解析】根据第二段Nobel Prize-winning scientist James Watson, one of the first people to map their entire genetic makeup, is said to have asked not to be told if he were at a higher risk for Alzheimer’。“James Watson要求如果他的基因表明他有很高的老年痴呆症的可能不要告诉他。”

73.According to Paragraphs 3 and 4, if a person is at a higher genetic risk, it is__________.

A. advisable not to let him know          B. impossible to hide his disease

C. better to inform him immediately      D. necessary to remove his anxiety

【答案】A

【解析】根据这两个自然段可知，如果你提前被告知你将来可能患某种可怕的疾病会mess you up。

74.The underlined part“freak out”in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to“_________”.

A. break down                     B. drop out            C. leave off            D. turn away

【答案】A

【解析】根据下文But的转折，以及no significant difference可知，freak out的意思是A（精神垮掉）。

75.The study led by Dr. Green indicates that people__________.

A. prefer to hear good news         B. tend to find out the truth

C. can accept some bad news              D. have the right to be informed

【答案】C

【解析】根据第五段内容 In fact, most people think they can handle it可知答案选C.

_______71_______ It is a very happy day for many boys and girls. Before the term ends in some schools, the children act a nativity (基督诞生) or "birth" play, showing how Jesus was born in a stable.（马棚）.

On the twenty-fourth of December, all children are very excited.______72____ The younger children think that Father Christmas will come down the chimney of fireplace, so they hang up a sock for him to put presents in. The greedy ones even hang up a pillowcase or a sack to try to get more presents.________73_____

On Christmas morning, the children wake up very early. Some even turn on the light at two o'clock, and most of them are awake by six o'clock although there is no light in England for another hour or two at this time of the year.

_____74______ At about one o'clock in the afternoon, the Christmas dinner is brought in._____75______ Children search in their Christmas pudding for new coins which are hidden in it. The rest of the day is full of games and eating until the happiness of all Christian holidays comes to an end.

A．People are often busy going shopping.

B．The turkey or chicken is quickly eaten.

C．Now the Chinese people also celebrate Christmas.

D．Children look for their presents, and the young ones play while the dinner is prepared.

E. Later that night, Father or Mother will put presents in the sock, and leave others at the side of the bed.

F. Usually they are sent to bed early so that their parents can get the presents ready.

G. Christmas Day falls on the twenty-fifth of December.

 

Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn’t find her.

  It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30. “Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.

  By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.

Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?

  A. they could not see each other because of the fog.

  B. Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.

  C. They planned to do different things until lunch time.

  D. The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.

What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?

  A. Go to the concert.           B. See the Crown Jewels.

  C. Return to Cambridge.           D. Go shopping.

The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.

  A. They lost their way in the fog

  B. they forgot to make necessary arrangement

  C. they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other

  D. the couple couldn’t find the underground station

It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.

  A. spilt by the fog               B. quite tiring

  C. rather disappointing           D. very enjoyable

请认真阅读下面对话，并根据各题所给首字母的提示，在标有题号的右边横线上，写出一个英语单词的完整、正确形式，使对话通顺。

M: Well, this is it! What do you think of it?

W: I can hardly believe it's real. I've (76)d        of seeing it ever since    1._________

 I saw it in books when I was a child. Just thinking of all this being built

 by hand more than 2,000 years ago! No (77)w       it's one of the    2._________

wonders of the world.

M: (78) A      the started building is more than 2,500 years ago when     3._________

 China was divided into (79)v      states. Three of the northern states        4._________

 built defensive walls along their borders to keep (80)o       the enemies.

5.._________

W. But I always thought the wall had been built by Qin Shihuang, the first

   (81) E       of China.                                                                                         6._________

M: Well, yes. In the way, you see, he united the(82)w      country in the7._________

 third century B. C. and one of the things he did was to join the (83)s    8._________

walls into one big wall and to build more walls from the east coast right

across the length of north China to the west.

W: It is certainly something any nation could be proud of. I hear this is the

 only human(84)c       on the earth that can be seen from the moon.         9._________

 By the way, how tall is the wall?

M: The average (85) h       is 7.8 meters; the average width is 6.5 meters10._________

 at the base and 4.5 meters at the top. Would you like to go up to the top?

W: Yes! I'd like to have a look from the top.

 

 

Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch．We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it wasn’t until 10:30 that it got there．In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping．It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch．Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem．There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there．Needless to say, we didn’t find her.

It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30．“Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully．By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway．Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be．An hour later we were still trying to find it．Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog．With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.

By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge．It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey．Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train．Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell．It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night．Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.

1．Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?

A．they could not see each other because of the fog.

B．Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.

C．They planned to do different things until lunch time.

D．The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.

2．What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?

A．Go to the concert.                        B．See the Crown Jewels.

C．Return to Cambridge.                    D．Go shopping.

3．The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.

A．They lost their way in the fog

B．they forgot to make necessary arrangement

C．they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other

D．the couple couldn’t find the underground station

4．It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.

A．spilt by the fog                      B．quite tiring  

C．rather disappointing               D．very enjoyable