【推荐1】The Supreme Court’s decisions on physician-assisted suicide carry important implications for how medicine seeds to relieve dying patients of pain and suffering.

Although it ruled that there is no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide, the Court in effect supported the medical principle of “double effects”, a centuries-old moral principle holding that an action having two effects----a good one that is intended and a harmful one that is foreseen---is permissible if the actor intends only the good effect.

Doctors have used that principle in recent years to justify using high doses of morphine to control terminally ill patients’ pain, even though increasing dosages will eventually kill the patient.

Nancy Dubler, director of Montefiore Medical Center, contends that the principle will shield doctors who "until now have very, very strongly insisted that they could not give patients sufficient medication to control their pain if that might hasten death."

George Annas, chair of the health law department at Boston University, maintains that, as long as a doctor prescribes a drug for a legitimate medical purpose, the doctor has done nothing illegal even if the patient uses the drug to hasten death. "It's like surgery, " he says. “We don't call those deaths homicides because the doctors didn't intend to kill their patients, although they risked their death. If you're a physician, you can risk your patient's suicide as long as you don't intend their suicide."

On another level, many in the medical community acknowledge that the assisted-suicide debate has been fueled in part by the despair of patients for whom modern medicine has prolonged the physical agony of dying.

Just three weeks before the Court's ruling on physician-assisted suicide, the National Academy of Science (NAS) released a two-volume report, Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life. It identifies the undertreatment of pain and the aggressive use of "ineffectual and forced medical procedures that may prolong and even dishonor the period of dying" as the twin problems of end-of-life care.

The profession is taking steps to require young doctors to train in hospices, to test knowledge of aggressive pain management therapies, to develop a Medicare billing code for hospital-based care, and to develop new standards for assessing and treating pain at the end of life.

Annas says lawyers can play a key role in insisting that these well-meaning medical initiatives translate into better care. “Large numbers of physicians seem unconcerned with the pain their patients are needlessly and predictably suffering,” to the extent that it constitutes “systematic patient abuse.” He says medical licensing boards “must make it clear ... that painful deaths are presumptively ones that are incompetently managed and should result in license suspension.”

1. From the first three paragraphs, we learn that_____________

A．doctors used to increase drug dosages to control their patients' pain.

B．it is still illegal for doctors to help the dying end their lives.

C．the Supreme Court strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide.

D．patients have no constitutional right to commit suicide.

2. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?

A．Doctors will be held guilty if they risk their patients' death.

B．Modern medicine has assisted terminally ill patients in painless recovery.

C．The Court ruled that high-dosage pain-relieving medication can be prescribed.

D．A doctor's medication is no longer justified by his intentions.

3. Which of the following best defines the word “aggressive" (line 3, paragraph 7 ) ?

A．Bold.

B．Harmful.

C．Careless.

D．Desperate.

4. George Annas would probably agree that doctors should be punished if they __________.

A．manage their patients incompetently

B．give patients more medicine than needed

C．reduce drug dosages for their patients

D．prolong the needless suffering of the patients

【推荐3】In a major medical breakthrough, Tel Aviv University researchers have “printed” the world's first 3D vascularized (有血管的）engineered heart using a patient’s own cells and biological materials. Their findings were published on April IS in a study in Advanced Science.

“This is the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart,” says Prof. Tal Dvir of Department of Materials Science and Engineering, who led the research for the study. “This heart is made from human cells and patient-specific biological materials. In our process, these materials serve as the bioinks, something made of sugars and proteins that can be used for 3D printing of complex tissue models，” Prof, Dvir says. “People managed to 3D print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels (血管).Our results demonstrate the potential of our approach for engineering personalized tissue and organ replacement in the future.”

According to Prof. Dvir，the use of “ native ” patient-specific materials is important to successfully engineering tissues and organs.

The researchers are now planning on culturing the printed hearts in the lab and “ teaching them to behave” like hearts, Prof. Dvir says. They then plan to transplant the 3D-printed heart in animal models.

“We need to develop the printed heart further，” he concludes. “The cells need to form a pumping ability ； they can currently contract (收缩），but we need them to work together. Our hope is that we will succeed and prove our method’s efficacy (功效)and usefulness. “Maybe, in ten years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world，and these procedures will be conducted routinely. ”

1. What does Prof. Dvir think of an early 3D-printed heart?

A．It was highly practical.	B．It was too expensive.
C．It was personalized.	D．It was too simple.

2. What do we know about the latest 3D-printed heart?

A．It can be cultured in the lab.

B．It can match a patient perfectly.

C．It has been transplanted in animals.

D．It has been widely used in hospitals,

3. What is Prof, Dvir's attitude to the development of the printed heart?

A．Ambiguous.	B．Positive.
C．Disapproving.	D．Cautious.

4. What is the author's purpose in writing the text?

A．To explain the basic principle of 3D technology.

B．To introduce a breakthrough of medical research.

C．To doubt the medical value of a new invention.

D．To prove the effectiveness of the new technology.

【推荐1】Reading may be fundamental, but how the brain gives meaning to letters on a page has been a mystery. Two new studies fill in some details on how the brains of efficient readers handle words. One of the studies, published in the April 30 Neuron, suggests that a visual-processing area of the brain recognizes common words as whole units. Another study, published online April 27 in PLOSONE, makes it known that the brain operates two fast parallel systems for reading, linking visual recognition of words to speech.

Maximilian Riesenhuber, a neuroscientist at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., wanted to know whether the brain reads words letter by letter or recognizes words as whole objects. He and his colleagues showed sets of real words or nonsense(无意义的词语)words to volunteers undergoing fMRI scans. The words differed inonly one letter, such as “farm” and “form” or “soat” and “poat”, or were completely different, such as “farm” and “coat” or   “poat” and “hime”. The researchers were particularly interested in what happens in the visual word form area, or VWFA, an area on the left side of the brain just behind the ear that is involved in recognizing words.

Riesenhuber and his colleagues found that neurons(神经元)in the VWFA respond strongly to changes in real words. Changing “farm” to “form”, for example, produced as great a change in activity as changing “farm” to” coat”, the team reports in Neuron. The area responded slowly to single-letter changes in made-up words.

The data suggests that readers grasp real words as whole objects, rather than focusing on letters or letter combinations. And as a reader’s exposure to a word increases, the brain comes to recognize the shape of the word. Meaning is passed on after recognition in the brain, Riesenhuber says.

The researchers don’t yet know how longer and less familiar words are recognized, or if the brain can be trained to recognize nonsense words as a unit.

1. Riesenhuber’s research probably focuses on whether the brain ______.

A．recognizes words as a unit or reads them letter by letter.

B．operates two fast parallel systems for reading

C．takes longer to read less familiar words or not

D．handles nonsense words as a unit

2. Riesenhuber and his colleagues carried out their research by ______.

A．giving pairs of real words totally different	B．arranging the words in different order
C．showing pairs of different words	D．making volunteers read some longer words

3. Riesenhuber’s research is significant in that it shows how the brain ______.

A．responds to familiar words	B．relates meaning to letters
C．recognizes the form of a word	D．reacts to made-up words

【推荐2】It is quite apparent that competition surrounds every aspect of human life whether in the United States or the Amazon rainforest. Without it we would not have grown into primates (灵长类动物) . Or we would probably still be struggling to sharpen a bronze tool while crawling around on four legs in search of meat. Without competition, Columbus wouldn’t have discovered America and Edison would never have invented the light bulb.

Friendship, like all relationships between two people, involves competition. It isn’t competition in a traditional sense because there are no goals to be scored and no prize. Perhaps the ecological definition --- the simultaneous (同时) demand by two or more organisms for limited environmental resources, such as nutrinents, living space, or light --- better explains it.

As in nature, high school life is governed by a set of laws, similar to a shortened version of Darwin’s theory of evolution, overpopulation, and competition. There is an abundance of high school students and to distinguish them, ranking and categorizing (分类) take place. In high school, friendships learn to coexist with competition even though at times the relationship is rough. In fact, in some circumstance, competition is too much of a burden for a friendship to bear, causing it to fall apart. College admission is the final high school objective. Four years of hard work is to achieve good grades, and a student’s fate is determined not only by these achievements, but by the records of thousands of other seniors trying to achieve a similar recognition.

Nevertheless, by necessity, competition between students exists in all aspects of high school life. It sets and improves the standards in everything from sports to schoolwork. A healthy, friendly competition can have only benefits, but when it becomes too fierce, jealousy (妒忌) can tear friendships apart. Yet, despite all this, without competition, we would be lost.

1. What does the ecological definition mainly explain?

A．How to win the competition.	B．What competition exactly is.
C．What the result of competition is.	D．How friends compete with each other.

2. According to the writer, what causes the high school students to compete?

A．They know the laws of nature well.	B．Friendship is a burden for them.
C．The number of them is too large.	D．They are divided into different groups.

3. Which best describes the relationship of friendship and competition?

A．Friendship is always based on competition.

B．Competition is a result of lost friendship.

C．Competition is terribly harmful to friendships.

D．The degree of competition is vital to friendship.

4. What does the author think of “competition”?

A．Competition is certain to happen at school.

B．The result of competition are out of control.

C．Competition becomes fierce in high school.

D．Friendship is not as important as competition at school.

【推荐3】Bees are unimaginably territorial (有地盘意识的), fighting to death to defend their home with painful stings (螫刺). But killer bees are particularly fierce. They appeared after African bees were imported to Brazil in the 1950s. By the 1980s, they had spread north to the United States, outgunning native bees along the way. Their massive attacks have killed more than 1,000 people.

Mario Palma, a biochemist at Sao Paulo State University in Rio Claro, Brazil, who studies social behavior in bees, wanted to understand the basis of this aggression. So he and his colleagues swung a black leather ball in front of some killer bees and collected the bees whose stingers got stuck in the ball during the attack. They also collected killer bees that remained in the cell. The analysis suggested that killer bee brains have two proteins that—in the aggressive bees—quickly break into pieces to form a so-called “neuropeptide (神经肽)”, they reported this week in the Journal of Proteome Research.

Palma and his colleagues already knew that bee brains have these two proteins. “We were astonished when we identified some very simple neuropeptides, which were produced in a few seconds,” Palma said. Killer bees that remained in the cell did not make these neuropeptides, he reported. And when his team put these neuropeptides into young, less aggressive bees, they “became aggressive like older individuals”.

Palma added that these neuropeptides also increase the production of   energy   and alarm chemicals. They could also encourage the nerve cells in killer bees needed to make the stinging attack. “There is a fine biochemical regulation in the killer bee brain,” he said. Researchers have found these neuropeptides in other insects, but few had associated them with “fight” behavior.

1. What is special about bees?

A．They are particularly fierce.	B．They show territorial behavior.
C．They were imported to Brazil.	D．They live in harmony with other insects.

2. Why did Palma and his colleagues perform the experiment?

A．To understand bees’ social behavior.

B．To study why killer bees are aggressive.

C．To prove bees love flying around.

D．To learn how bees communicate with each other.

3. What finding surprised the researchers during the experiment?

A．There are two proteins in killer bee brains.

B．Young killer bees are fiercer than older ones.

C．The killer bees make an attack immediately.

D．Killer bee brains produce neuropeptide quickly.

4. What will the author probably talk about following the last paragraph?

A．The form of these neuropeptides in killer bees.

B．The function of these neuropeptides in other insects.

C．The application of these scientific methods in other insects.

D．The production of energy and alarm chemicals in killer bees.

【推荐1】(You are going to read four review of a science documentary series on TV. For questions 1-10, choose from the reviews (A-D). The reviews may be chosen more than once.)

Reviews of TV science documentary series

Paul Hansen looks at the latest science programmes.

A   Science for All Fortunately for me and non-scientists everywhere, the makers of Science for All are there to plug the gaps in our knowledge. The series is rather like a knowledgeable parent who doesn’t mind being pestered by wide-eyed and curious children: It takes the time to explain all those fascinating mysteries of nature in an entertaining and understandable way. The last series opened my eyes to all manner of interesting facts and demystified some of the problems faced by modern physics. And the new series show no lack of inspiration for subjects to tackle: everything from the existence of life on other planets to the odd properties of human memory are rightly considered suitable subjects. So, while it’s a shame that factual programs are getting increasingly scarce these days, it’s a comfort that Science for All shows no signs of dipping in quality or disappearing from public view.

B   Out in Space Although I wasn’t expecting much from this series, I’m pleased that the producers of Out in Space persisted with their unpromising subject. In the course of the first program we learn about hurricanes, deserts, and even how the Moon was made; a bewildering mix of phenomena that, we were assured, were all caused by events beyond our planets’ atmosphere. That’s not to say the program explored them in any great detail, preferring to skip breathlessly from one to the next. The essential logic of the series seemed to be that if you take any natural phenomenon and ask “why?” enough times, the answer will eventually be that it’s something to do with space. The two presenters attempted to get it all to fit together, by taking part in exciting activities. Sadly, these only occasionally succeeded.

C   Stars and Planets The second series of Stars and Planets is an attempt to take advantage of the success of the first, which unexpected gained a substantial general audience. Like its predecessor, this is big on amazing photography and fabulous graphics, most of which are much less successful at communicating the immensity of the ideas involved than one human being talking to you directly. This time the scope is given wider, astronomically speaking. What we are being introduced to here are ambitious ideas about time and space, and the presenter succeeds rather better than you might expect. It helps that he doesn’t go too deep, as once you start thinking about it this is tricky stuff to get your head around. The point of such programs is less to explain every detail than to arouse a generalized sense of amazement that might lead to further thinking, and Stars and Planets is certainly good at that.

D   Robot Technology This ground-breaking science documentary series follows a group of experts as they attempt to build a complete artificial human from robotic body parts. The project sees scientists use the latest technology from the world’s most renowned research centers and manufacturers. It is the realization of a long-held dream to create a human from manufactured parts, using everything from bionic arms and mechanical hearts, eye implants and microchip brains. The series explores to what extent modern technology is capable of replacing body parts—or even improving their abilities. The presenter, very appropriately, has an artificial hand himself. This ambitious series gives us a guided tour of the wonders of modern technology. Though it can be a slightly upsetting journey at times, it engages the audience in a revolution that is changing the face of medicine.

In which review does it say that:
1. an effort was made to connect a number of unrelated issues?
2. the topics covered are well chosen?
3. viewers are shown how science can occasionally do better than nature?
4. the series deals with something people have hoped to achieve for a while?
5. the series unfortunately didn’t spend a lot of time explaining the topics covered?
6. viewers are clearly informed?
7. it’s good that viewers are not required to consider all aspects of the subject carefully?
8. the series was worth making despite the topic not appearing very interesting at first?
9. viewers may not always find the series comfortable to watch?
10. the series achieves its aims by astonishing its viewers?

【推荐2】Hollywood’s theory that machines with evil(邪恶) minds will drive armies of killer robots is just silly. The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want. In 1960 a well-known mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics（控制论）, put it this way: “If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot effectively interfere(干预), we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire.”

A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence. For the machine, this quality is not in-born, nor is it something introduced by humans; it is a logical consequence of the simple fact that the machine cannot achieve its original purpose if it is dead. So if we send out a robot with the single instruction of fetching coffee, it will have a strong desire to secure success by disabling its own off switch or even killing anyone who might interfere with its task. If we are not careful, then, we could face a kind of global chess match against very determined, super intelligent machines whose objectives conflict with our own, with the real world as the chessboard.

The possibility of entering into and losing such a match should concentrate the minds of computer scientists. Some researchers argue that we can seal the machines inside a kind of firewall, using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world. Unfortunately, that plan seems unlikely to work: we have yet to invent a firewall that is secure against ordinary humans, let alone super intelligent machines.

Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy. There are probably decades in which to plan for the arrival of super intelligent machines. But the problem should not be dismissed out of hand, as it has been by some AI researchers. Some argue that humans and machines can coexist as long as they work in teams—yet that is not possible unless machines share the goals of humans. Others say we can just “switch them off” as if super intelligent machines are too stupid to think of that possibility. Still others think that super intelligent AI will never happen. On September 11, 1933, famous physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power in the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” However, on September 12, 1933, physicist Leo Szilard invented the neutron-induced(中子诱导) nuclear chain reaction.

1. Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intelligence may         .

A．run out of human control

B．satisfy human’s real desires

C．command armies of killer robots

D．work faster than a mathematician

2. Machines with specific purposes are associated with living things partly because they might be able to        .

A．prevent themselves from being destroyed

B．achieve their original goals independently

C．do anything successfully with given orders

D．beat humans in international chess matches

3. According to some researchers, we can use firewalls to           .

A．help super intelligent machines work better

B．be secure against evil human beings

C．keep machines from being harmed

D．avoid robots’ affecting the world

4. What does the author think of the safety problem of super intelligent machines?

A．It will disappear with the development of AI.

B．It will get worse with human interference.

C．It will be solved but with difficulty.

D．It will stay for a decade.

【推荐3】Getting stuck in a traffic jam is one of the most boring problems for people living in big cities.The fact that you’re moving so slowly leads too stress,anger and the wish that your car could just fly over the traffic like an airplane.

Soon,however, that wish could come true .On May 8, US car-renting company Uber showed off what it described as “the transportation mode of the future: on-demand air   transport,”reported ABC News .

According to Nikhill Goel, head of products for Uber Air, the company's air taxi service may launch test flights in the US cities of Dallas and Los Angeles , as well as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, as early as 2020. If everything goes according to plan, passengers will be able to fly to work by 2023 .

When the Olympics comes to Los Angeles in 2028 . Uber “expects to have hundreds , if not thousands , of its aircraft in the skies.” Goel told Newsweek .

So what would Uber's flying vehicles be like ?

They are small , electric aircraft that take off and land vertically (垂直地) , and they give off zero emissions (排放) and are quiet enough to operate in cities .

Just like an airplane , the vehicles will have fixed wings to help them glide . But while a helicopter has just one big fixed rotor (定量) . Uber's vehicles will have multiple rotors , which will help increase fuel efficiency (效率) while reducing emissions and noise.

Because of these fixed wines and multiple rotors . Uber’s flying taxis“should be quieter and safer than a helicopter.” reported ABC News .

However , the service still has a long way to go before it's ready to accept passengers.For example , to avoid any potential accidents . Uber is working with NASA to study air traffic control problems associated with low-flying aircraft. But just as Dubai's Mayor Betty Price said in a news release . “This program is revolutionary and future -oriented (面向未来的). ”

1. Uber 's flying taxis are expected to start to take passengers in______

A．2020

B．2023

C．2028

D．2030

2. How are Uber 's flying taxis different from helicopters?

A．They have one big rotor

B．They need more fuel to fly.

C．They have fewer fixed wings

D．They should be quieter and safer

3. Which is true about the flying cars according to the passage?

A．They can be as efficient as airplanes and helicopters

B．They must be in larger number a few years later.

C．They nearly do no harm to the environment.

D．They will surely help passengers avoid accidents

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Ubers plan to launch flying taxis

B．The advantages of Ubers flying taxis

C．Different opinions about Uber's flying taxis.

D．The difficulties Uber is facing in testing flying vehicles