55.We learn from the text that volunteers in the experiment 　　　　.

A.were patients with bad coughs

B.were divided into three groups

C.received standard treatments

D.suffered little side effects

54.What was used in the experiment to cause coughing?

A.Theobromine.　　　　　　　 B.Codeine.　　　　　　 　　 C.Capsaicin.　　　　　 　　 D.Placebo.

53.According to Professor Barnes,theobromine 　　　　.

ot be as effective as codeine

be harmful to people’s health

ot be separated from chocolate

be a more effective cure for coughs

47. What is the passage mainly about?

　 A. A popular way of forecasting weather.

　 B. A new research effort in predicting storms.

　 C. Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks.

　 D. Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research.

答案　 44.B　 45.A　 46.D　 47.B

Passage 12

(08·全国ⅡD篇)

Something in chocolate could be used to stop coughs and lead to more effective medicines,say UK researchers.

Their study found that theobromine,found in cocoa,was nearly a third more effective in stopping coughs than codeine,which was considered the best cough medicine at present.

The Imperial College London researchers who published their results online said the discovery could lead to more effective cough treatments.“While coughing is not necessarily harmful(有害的) it can have a major effect on the quality of life,and this discovery could be a huge step forward in treating this problem,”said Professor Peter Barnes.

Ten healthy volunteers(志愿者) were given theobromine,codeine or a placebo,a pill that contains no medicine,her the volunteers nor the researchers knew who received which pill.The researchers then measured levels of capsaicin,which is used in research to cause coughing and as a sign of how well the medicines are stopping coughs.

The team found that,when the volunteers were given theobromine,the capsaicin needed to produce a cough was around a third higher than in the placebo group.When they were given codeine they needed only slightly higher levels of capsaicin to cause a cough compared with the placebo.

The researchers said that theobromine worked by keeping down a nerve activity(神经活动),which causes coughing.They also found that unlike some standard cough treatments,theobromine caused no side effects such as sleepiness.

46. Lauren Smith conducted her research by _______.

　 A. removing hair cells from a shark’s balance system

　 B. measuring the air pressure of weather fronts

　 C. recording sharks’ body temperature

　 D. monitoring sharks’ reaction to weather changes

45. What do we learn from the first four paragraphs of the passage?

A. Sharks may be used to predict bad weather.

B. Sharks’ behaviour can be controlled.

C. Michael Fish is not qualified for his job.

D. Lauren Smith will become a weather forecaster.

44.The passage is most probably taken from _____.

A. a short-story collection　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　 B. a popular science magazine

C. a research paper　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　 D. a personal diary

60. What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?

A. Defensive.　　 　 　　B. Persuasive.　 　　　　C. Supportive.　 　　　　　　 D. Objective.

答案　 57.C　 58.B　 59.B　 60.D

Passage 11

(08·天津C篇)

Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by something truly fishier-the shark(鲨鱼).

Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms.

Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure.

If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behaviour of sharks to predict bad weather.

Miss Smith had previously studied the behaviour of lemon sharks in the Bahamas.

She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University.

Her work-thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory-resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001.

Miss Smith said: “I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks.”

“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there’s so much more we need to understand-but it certainly opens the way to more research.”

It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system.

At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.

In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal(潮汐的) and temperature changes on dogfish-none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic(模拟) oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts.

She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research.

59. Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

　 A. Young boys may be stronger than young girls.

　 B. More women take up jobs requiring speech skills.

　 C. Women may have stronger feelings than men.

　 D. Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.

58. What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

　 A. Women prefer doing many things at a time.

　 B. Men do better dealing with one job at a time.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　 C. Women do not need to tell directions.

　 D. Men have weaker spatial abilities.