With only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone(克隆) the animal and save the endangered species(物种). That’s a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”.
Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.
This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.
The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nuclear transfer(核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”

1. 1.

   The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project is to _______.

   1. A.
      make efforts to clone the endangered pandas
   2. B.
      save endangered animals from dying out
   3. C.
      collect DNA of endangered animals to study
   4. D.
      transfer the nuclear of one animal to another
2. 2.

   According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of _______.

   1. A.
      available panda eggs
   2. B.
      host animals
   3. C.
      qualified researchers
   4. D.
      enough money
3. 3.

   The best title for the passage may be _______.

   1. A.
      China’s Success in Pandas Cloning
   2. B.
      The First Cloned Panda in the World
   3. C.
      Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas
   4. D.
      China —the Native Place of Pandas Forever
4. 4.

   From the passage we know that _______.

   1. A.
      Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog
   2. B.
      scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit
   3. C.
      Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches
   4. D.
      about two thousand of species will probably die out in a century

I had the meanest mother in the world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast，I had to have cereal，eggs and toast. Others had cokes and candy for lunch，while we had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess，my supper was different than the other kids’. But at least I was not alone in my suffering. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
My mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. She had to know who our friends were and what we were doing. We had to wear clean clothes every day. Other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of disgrace because she made our clothes herself，just to save money.
The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by 9：00 each night and up at 7：45 the next morning. So while my friends slept，my mother actually had the courage to break Child Labor Law. She made us work. I believed she lay awake all night thinking up mean things to do to us. Through the years，our friends’ report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing，red for failing. My mother, however，would merely be content with black marks. None of us was allowed the pleasure of being a dropout.
She forced us to grow up into educated and honest adults. Using this as a background，I’m now trying to bring up my three children. I’m filled with pride when my children think I am mean because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the world.
【小题1】From the passage we can learn that the writer’s mother was __________.

When you are learning English, you find it not clever to put an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence “How do you do?” as an example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.
Languages do not just have different sounds, they are different in many ways. It’s important to master(掌握) the rules for word order in the study of English, too. If the speaker puts words in a wrong order, the listener can’t understand the speaker’s sentence easily. Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes, But sometimes the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn’t change. Let’s see the difference between the two pairs of sentences.
“She only likes apples.”               “Only she likes apples.”
“I have seen the film already.”           “I have already seen the film.”
When you are learning English, you must do your best to get the spirit(精神实质) of the language and use it as the English speaker does.

1. 1.

   From the passage we know that _______when we are learning English.

   1. A.
      we shouldn’t put every word into our own language
   2. B.
      we should look up every word in the dictionary
   3. C.
      we need to put every word into our own language
   4. D.
      we must read word by word
2. 2.

   The writer thinks it is _______ in learning English.

   1. A.
      difficult to understand different sounds
   2. B.
      necessary to remember the word order
   3. C.
      important to master the rules in different ways
   4. D.
      easy to master the rules for word order
3. 3.

   We can learn from the passage that ________.

   1. A.
      the meaning of an English sentence always changes with the order of the words
   2. B.
      The order of words can never change the meaning of an English sentence
   3. C.
      sometimes different order of words has a different meaning
   4. D.
      if the order of words is different, the meaning of the sentence must be different
4. 4.

   “She only likes apples.” ________.

   1. A.
      is the same as “Only she likes apples.”
   2. B.
      is different from “Only she likes apples.”
   3. C.
      means “She likes fruit except apples.”
   4. D.
      means “She doesn’t like apples.”

When Babbage was working at Cambridge, a new idea occurred to him. He wanted to construct a calculating machine to work out the solutions（解法）to maths problems not only with correctness but also with a speed beyond the power of any human mind. His machine could solve problems involving（涉及）long rows of figures in one continuous operation（运算）.

    In 1822 Babbage exhibited his invention and won a prize from the government. After that, he immediately started to work on a larger machine designed to solve more difficult problems. Although he received some money left by his father, the money was not enough to support his design. He wrote to the government about his plan and was given ￡2500 to start with, a sum worth much more in those days than it is now.

    Babbage continued his work in London for four years. Then his health broke down, and he had to take a long holiday abroad. When he returned to London in 1828, he was at the end of his resources. Many bills remained unpaid. His chief assistant and co-workers quarreled with him and left with many expensive tools. For one year no work was done. During this period, Babbage, whose mind was always active, suddenly thought of a completely new idea for the machine. He rushed to meet the government officials to explain his new idea. But this time, they were unwilling to help him. For eight years, they refused to say whether they wanted the machine or not, and their final answer was “No.”

    From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the position of professor at Cambridge very successfully. But his greatest work was the unfinished calculating machine which stood covered in dust in his house. It was the beginning of the modern computer.

60．The machine Babbage designed would solve difficult maths problems _________.

   A．in one operation with few mistakes

    B．in more than one operation without any mistakes

    C．in more than one operation with slight mistakes

    D．in one operation without any mistakes

61．Babbage failed to continue his research work in 1828 mainly because _______.

   A．he was in poor health                B．he almost ran out of money

   C．his co-workers argued with him          D．he spent all his money on his bills

62．Babage explained his new idea to the government officials, expecting that _________.

   A．they would agree to his plan              B．they would pay for his new idea

   C．they would support him with money     D．they would exhibit his new design

63．From the passage, we can infer that __________.

    A．Babbage failed to be a famous scientist at Cambridge

    B．Babbage always had new ideas but gave them up easily

    C．Babbage always needed support from the government officials

    D．Babbage was the first designer of the modern computer

You’re sitting on the train home and the person opposite you yawns(打哈欠). Suddenly, you’re yawning with him, though you’re not tired.

   This phenomenon confused scientists for years until a recent study found that people tend to sympathize with fellow humans. Supporting this claim was the discovery that those children who were unable to form normal emotional ties with others did not experience contagious(有感染力的) yawning, which showed that humans communicate regularly with out words.

   Hugo Critchley, a neuroscientist, has conducted an experiment recently, which will prove that happiness and sadness can spread like the common cold. According to Critechley, our mind and body are in constant exchange about how we’re feeling. “Emotions are closely linked with states of internal(内部的) responses,” he explained. “ There are also more visible changes in our gestures and facial expression. When we’re in a group, these signals can spread to another person. For example, there’s the obvious tendency to smile when smiled at and there are less obvious changes that reflect emotions of surprise, anger or sadness such as a change in our heart rate and blood pressure.

Hugo Critchley further explained, “Our bodies synchronies and when we like the other person, we ever copy his behavior. Next time you chat with a friend, take note of how you’re sitting— it’s pretty likely that you will be the same. Scientists believe it’s our way of telling each other that we’re partners. Through body language, humans give each other very subtle(微妙的) but clear signals that show emotions.”

So, what lessons can we learn from this? “ Spend time with happy people— otherwise your health could suffer,” said Critchley.” When we’re sad, our body goes into fight or flight mode. But when we’re happy, our body works normally and we feel relaxed and positive. So we look bright, our skin glows, we feel healthy and it affects everyone around us.”

According to Hugo Critchley, ________.

  A. emotions are as visible as facial expressions

  B. we yawn more frequently when we have a cold

  C. emotions are connected with states of internal responses

  D. the change of blood pressure is not linked with the change of emotions.

The underlined word “synchronies” in Paragraph 4 means “_____”.

  A. move slowly  B. change rapidly  C. relax temporarily  D. respond accordingly

From the passage we can learn ________.

  A. sadness is as contagious as happiness

  B. anger is less contagious than friendliness

  C. surprise is more contagious than smile

  D. surprise is the most contagious among emotions

Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

  A. Emotions have delicate influence on fellow humans.

  B. Children like copying the actions of the fellow humans.

C．Scientists are still confused about contagious yawning

D．People tend to communicate more with body language.