Looking back on too many years of education, I can identify one truly impossible teacher. She cared about me, and my intellectual life, even when I didn’t. Her expectations were high—impossibly so. She was an English teacher. She was also my mother.
When good students turn in an essay, they dream of their instructor returning it to them in exactly the same condition, save for a single word added in the margin of the final page: “Flawless.” This dream came true for me one afternoon in the ninth course. I had heard that genius could show itself at an early age, so I was only slightly taken aback that I had achieved perfection at the age of 14. Obviously, I did what any professional writer would do; I hurried off to spread the good news. I didn’t get very far. The first person I told was my mother.
My mother is normally incredibly soft-spoken, but when she got angry, she was terrifying. I am not sure if she was more upset by my hubris(得意忘形) or by the fact that my English teacher had let my ego get so out of hand. In any event, my mother and her red pen showed me how deeply flawed a flawless essay could be. At the time, I am sure she thought she was teaching me about transitions (过渡), structure, style and voice. But what I learned was a deeper lesson about the nature of creative criticism.
Creative criticism implies something about who is able to give it, who knows you well enough to show you how your mental life is getting in the way of good writing. They are also the people who care enough to see you through this painful realization. ①
I was lucky enough to find a critic and teacher who was willing to make the journey of writing with me. “It is a thing of no great difficulty,” according to Plutarch, “to raise objections against another man’s speech, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.” Perhaps Plutarch is suggesting something a bit closer to Marcus Cicero’s claim that one should “criticize by creation, not by finding fault.” Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms—a process that is often extremely painful, but also almost always meaningful.
② My mother said she would help me with my writing, but first I had to help myself. For each assignment, I was to write the best essay I could. Real criticism is not meant to find obvious mistakes, so if she found any—the type I could have found on my own—I had to start from scratch. From scratch. Once the essay was “flawless”, she would take an evening to walk me through my errors. ③
She criticized me when I included little-known references and professional jargon (行话). She had no patience for brilliant but irrelevant figures of speech. Somewhere along the way I set aside my hopes of writing that flawless essay. ④ But perhaps I missed something important in my mother’s lessons about creativity and perfection. Perhaps the point of writing the flawless essay was not to give up, but to never willingly finish. Whitman repeatedly reworked “Song of Myself” between 1855 and 1891. Repeatedly. We do our absolute best with a piece of writing, and come as close as we can to the ideal. And, for the time being, we settle. In critique, however, we are forced to depart, to give up the perfection we thought we had achieved for the chance of being even a little bit better. This is the lesson I took from my mother: If perfection were possible, it would not be motivating.
1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?A.The author performed perfectly as a professional writer. |
B.The author didn’t think he was good at writing a flawless essay. |
C.The author never dreamed of his essay being marked as “flawless”. |
D.The author was not much surprised at his essay being marked as “flawless”. |
A.The author’s mother taught him about the structure of a perfect essay. |
B.The author’s mother pointed out lots of faults in his seemingly perfect essay. |
C.The author’s mother taught him how to leave a lasting mark on the essay. |
D.The author’s mother underlined the important style and voice in his essay. |
A.giving constructive criticism is an easy matter |
B.criticizing someone is painful and meaningless |
C.finding fault is better than coming up with a better work |
D.criticizing someone’s speech is easier than coming up with a better one |
That was when true criticism, the type that changed me as a person, began.
A.① | B.② | C.③ | D.④ |
A.generous and strict | B.demanding and caring |
C.stubborn and loving | D.critical and troublesome |
A.The Perfect Essay | B.My Dear Mother |
C.True Criticism | D.The Skills of Writing |
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【推荐1】I grew up in San Pedro. My dad was a fisherman, and he loved the sea. He had his own boat, but it was hard making a living on the sea. He worked hard and would stay out until he caught enough to feed the family. Not just enough for our family, but also for his mom and dad and the other kids that were still at home.
Dad was a big man, and he was strong from pulling the nets and fighting the sea for his catch. When you got close to him, you smelled the ocean.
When the weather was bad, he would drive me to school. He would pull right up in front, and it seemed like everybody would be standing around and watching. Then he would lean over and give me a big kiss on the cheek and tell me to be a good boy. It was so embarrassing for me. Here I was twelve years old, and my dad would lean over and kiss me goodbye!
I remembered the day I thought I was too old for a goodbye kiss. When we got to the school and came to a stop, he had his usual big smile. He started to lean toward me, but I put my hand up and said, “No, Dad.” It was the first time I had ever talked to him that way, and he had this surprised look on his face.
I said, “Dad, I’m too old for a goodbye kiss. I’m too old for any kind of kiss.” My dad looked at me for the longest time, and his eyes started to tear up. I had never seen him cry. He turned and looked at the windshield(挡风玻璃).“You’re right,” he said.“You are a big boy...a man. I won’t kiss you any more.”
It wasn’t long after that when my dad went to sea and never came back.
Guys, you don’t know what I would give to have my dad give me just one more kiss on the cheek...to feel his rough old face...to smell the ocean on him...to feel his arm around my neck. I wish I had been a man then. If I had been a man, I would be a man. I would never have told my dad I was too old for a goodbye kiss.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly talk about?A.The writer’s father was a tall man. |
B.Making a living on the sea was hard. |
C.The writer’s father liked being a fisherman. |
D.The writer’s father had a big family to support. |
A.was a successful businessman |
B.had an accident and died at sea |
C.was good at driving cars |
D.drove the writer to school every day |
A.wished his father to come back home soon |
B.would give up what he had to look for his father |
C.regretted having refused his father’s kiss |
D.hoped to see his father and asked for another kiss |
A.tell readers about his father’s love for him |
B.attract readers to visit his father |
C.give a brief introduction to himself |
D.ask readers to love their fathers before it is too late. |
【推荐2】When Liberia was my home, they called it sweet. Sweet was the word I remembered the most during the war. When I was five, my father, two sisters and I fled from Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, and headed north on foot among panicked masses of criers - a journey that ended in a village where we hid from flying bullets (子弹). Every dawn, my sisters and I joined my father and covered the pages of his small journal with words. My favorite word to write was “sweet,” one that had the power to numb the reality of our 6-month abandonment by peace and civilization.
Eventually, we were considered the lucky ones: part of the wave of refugees who left Liberia in 1990 to settle in America. My mother studied at Columbia University at the time, and we made our new home in her dormitory while awaiting her graduation. My father who left early in the mornings looked for work or news of a possible return to Liberia, only to return home with nothing to give us but new words to write in notebooks. He quickly found that the education he received in Liberia was not good enough for an engineering job in the United States. So he took whatever job he could find to make sure we always had food on the table - and books.
In 2011, I founded a children’s book publishing company: One Moore Book. It provides children’s literature for the children of countries with low literacy (识字) rates and underrepresented cultures by publishing culturally relevant books that have something meaningful to say to them. My hope is to give children the peace I was given through the words of my father, by allowing them to see themselves in literature. I also think it is important to provide books about foreign countries to children in the United States, to increase the overall awareness of the world outside them.
I will never be able to give my father back the twenty years he spent working to educate us, or the home and life in Liberia he lost. I repay his sacrifice (牺牲) by honoring the education he fought for and offering my art to the world, with stories that make the histories of my people come alive, and with words to live by.
1. What was the author’s family’s life like in Liberia?A.Sweet and peaceful. |
B.Frightening but positive. |
C.Comfortable but boring. |
D.Adventurous and exciting. |
A.He was crazy about reading. |
B.He regretted moving to America. |
C.He worked hard to raise his family. |
D.He tried to receive a higher education. |
A.To meet poor children’s growing demands. |
B.To provide multicultural books for children. |
C.To support her father’s books about Liberia. |
D.To help immigrants understand American culture. |
A.Her pity for her father’s suffering. |
B.Her thanks to her father’s devotion. |
C.Her pride in working for her people. |
D.Her disappointment over the life in Liberia. |
【推荐3】I was walking around in a Big Bazar store doing some shopping, when I saw a cashier(收银员) talking to a boy of 5 or 6 years old. The cashier said, “I’m sorry, but you don’t have enough money to buy this doll.” Then the little boy turned to me and asked, “Uncle, are you sure I don’t have enough money?”
I counted his cash and replied, “You know that you don’t have enough money to buy the doll, my dear.” The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand. I asked him whom he wished to give this doll to. “It’s the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much. I wanted to gift her for her birthday. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.” His eyes were so sad while he was saying this.
“My sister has gone to be with God. Daddy said that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I think that she may take the doll with her to give it to my sister.” My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said, “I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.” Then he showed me a very nice photo of him, where he was laughing. He then told me, “I want mommy to take my picture with her so my sister won’t forget me. I love mommy and I wish she didn’t have to leave me, but daddy said that she has to go to be with my little sister.
Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly. I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy, “I suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll.” He said, “OK, I hope I do have enough.” I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.
The little boy said, “Thank you, God, for giving me enough money!” Then he looked at me and added, “I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me! I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn’t dare to ask God for too much. But he gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.”
1. What difficulty did the little boy run into in the store?A.He forgot to take any money. | B.He couldn’t afford the doll. |
C.He failed to find a doll for his sister | D.He couldn’t find his parents. |
A.It was what he himself loved most. | B.It was the best gift for his mother. |
C.It was a gift intended for his sister. | D.His sister would forget him without it. |
A.She would have to leave the boy for a while. |
B.She didn’t want the boy to buy her a white rose. |
C.She would be really excited to meet her daughter. |
D.She must be in a dangerous situation in hospital. |
A.The boy himself was really fond of the doll. |
B.The boy’s sister would be upset without the doll. |
C.They boy thought he couldn’t have the gift for his sister. |
D.The boy was sad that his mother would leave him. |
A.He was deeply moved by the boy’s love for his family. |
B.He was wealthy enough to help those who are in need. |
C.He wanted to help the little boy out in place of God. |
D.He believed his help would make the boy’s sister happy. |
【推荐1】I once met a young woman who had dreams of swimming for the U.S Olympic team. She had to get up every morning at 4 a.m. to swim for 3 hours before going to school. She did not party with her friends on Saturday night. She had to study and keep her grades up, just like everyone else.
When I asked her what compelled her with such super-human ambition and sacrifice (牺牲). She simply said, “I do it for myself and the people I love. It’s love that gets me over the hurdles and sacrifices.”
A reason or a purpose is a combination of “wants” and “don’t wants”. When people ask me what my reason for wanting to be rich is, it is a combination of deep emotional “wants” and “don’t wants”.
I will list a few. First the “don’t wants”, for they create the “wants”. I don’t want to work all my life. I don’t want what my parents aspired for, which was job security and a big house. I don’t like being an employee. I hated it that my dad always missed my football games because he was so busy working on his career. I hated it when my dad worked hard all his life and the government took most of what he worked for at his death.
Now the “wants”. I want to be free to travel the world and live in the lifestyle I love. I want to be young when I do this. I want control over my time and my life. I want money to work for me.
Those are my deep-seated, emotional reasons. What are yours? If they are not strong enough, the reality of the road ahead may be greater than your reasons. I have lost money and been set back many times, but it was the deep emotional reasons that kept me standing up and going forward. I wanted to be free by age 40, but it took me until I was 47 with many learning experiences along the way.
I wish I could say it was easy. It wasn’t, but it wasn’t hard either. But without a strong reason or purpose anything in life is hard.
1. The passage is started by __________.A.giving an example | B.explaining the causes |
C.pointing out similarities | D.describing the differences |
A.committed | B.inspired | C.forced | D.combined |
A.the “wants” lead to the “don’t wants” |
B.the “wants” come from the “don’t wants” |
C.the “don’t wants” have little to do with the “wants” |
D.the “don’t wants” are more important than the “wants” |
A.The reality is greater than the deep emotional reasons. |
B.With stronger emotional reasons, life must be much easier. |
C.With deeper emotional reasons, the road ahead is likely to be harder. |
D.In reality, we may meet many more obstacles without deeper emotional reasons. |
【推荐2】After years of living life covered up in alcohol (酒精), my belief systems were broken into pieces — I no longer cared, I no longer felt alive. During my own journey to quit drinking, I first learned about the connection between art and recovery, while witnessing others on the same path.
While art cannot directly bring someone into recovery, it can certainly help established bonds and fuel the passion for life. Last year at the annual conference for Women For Sobriety (清醒), various group painting events were arranged, where I learned how to experience fun without alcohol. I truly believe magic happens when I take pen, color, or form. From this simple, yet poetic combination, there can be a variety of human responses. Viewers can be fascinated, drawn into the mind or spirit of the artist. Thus, emotion is felt and inner voice heard.
Art encourages self-expression, which is often limited during active addiction Finding healthy new ways to express emotions and feelings is an important part of recovery. Art is an outlet for what cannot be spoken. Children, for example, can draw more about what they feel since they do not have the words to describe what they are feeling. The same is true for people in recovery.
Better still, people who create can become more skilled in other aspects of life from relationships to managing stress. Reconnecting to life through art fuels insight, confidence and helps heal. When one is creating, the mind cannot focus on pain or darkness, but instead the focus has the opportunity to change to the absolute present. Imagine a woman, who decides to stop drinking, sitting at the pottery (陶器) wheel, her mind consumed by the feel of the cold clay while the thick water runs over her cupped bands. Gently, she forms the wet earth into a vase, leaving her mark. On the outside, it can appear as though the woman is simply learning a new skill. On the inside, though, her mind is free from being trapped in negative emotions and concentrates on connecting to the now, to the turning wheel, releasing (释放) unending beauty from within.
1. What does “magic” underlined in para.2 refer to?A.The energy generated from the on-site painting. |
B.The instant recovery from her alcohol addiction. |
C.The emotional tics built between her and viewers. |
D.The dramatic combination of painting and poems. |
A.To show art can partly fill the emotional gap. |
B.To emphasize the power of speech is too limited. |
C.To indicate addicts actually are similar to children. |
D.To prove emotions can be conveyed by means of art. |
A.By changing focus. | B.By expressing herself. |
C.By connecting to others. | D.By releasing beauty. |
A.To tell her story of breaking with alcohol addiction. |
B.To show how creativity helps recover from addiction. |
C.To encourage people to set aside time for painting. |
D.To argue for the concept of living without alcohol. |
【推荐3】I am a parent of a disabled teenager. My son is in and out of hospital and school. His learning disabilities and behaviour issues are a barrier for him, and he is teased on campus. At home, he swears and punches me.
He is on a waiting list for his disorder which contributes to his anxiety. Meanwhile, there are hospital appointments to manage, at least four consultants on the go, and an imminent transfer to adult services. The bureaucracy of caring keeps me busy.
I used to work in the theatre industry but had to quit when my son kept getting excluded from school. I never expected that my life would turn out like this. But now, amazingly, I am doing a PhD at a Russell Group university,looking at nonwhite protagonists in historical drama. It is fascinating: underrepresented characters!Hidden histories! Diversity!
I am starting to win awards for my research and I feel like a success story. Almost. There's just one problem: I can't get funding. I keep missing out on studentships and scholarships. These awards—which are mainly funded by research councils or universities directly—are worth about £14,000-£16,000 a year and usually include a fee waiver (saving a further £5,000). That's a lot of money.
But the funding tends to go to students half my age with straightA academic results—not to people like me, who have taken an unusual path to academia. When I was turned down for the last studentship I applied for, I asked why. The decision maker—a professor in my department and the head of a research institute—told me “it all comes down to excellent academic results”.
They don't say this on the application forms: it's all about the originality of your project, your research statement, your supervisor's supporting statement, the panel that considers you, the level of competition. But when it comes down to it, this is clearly what they want. Someone with my background is never going to get a studentship if the decisive criteria are undergraduate and master's results.
When I started my PhD and realised that I would need financial help, I went to the student advice office and told them that I am a carer. They asked what that meant and then offered me advice on benefits, but not funding. I went to the student union advice service—they referred me back to student advice. I went to the graduate school. Same response. I spoke to a vice dean and a chaplain. I had to tell them what a carer is. You get the picture. I was invisible. So I gave up, decided to apply annually for the studentships and kept my parttime job.
UCAS announced this year that young carers will now be able to identify themselves in their applications, so that universities will be able to support them. But how is this going to happen if staff at these institutions don't even know what a carer is?
The student welfare vicepresident at the union has finally agreed with me that carers are an undersupported and underrepresented group on campus. We are going to ask student records to add an option to the equality and diversity monitoring section, so that we can identify as carers and hopefully raise awareness. Wish us luck.
1. Put the following events in the correct order.a. The author won awards for her research.
b. The author spoke to a vice dean and a chaplain.
c. The author decided to apply annually for studentships.
d. The author started her PhD.
A.dabc | B.dcba |
C.cdab | D.cdba |
A.she has a disabled son | B.her academic results were not good enough |
C.the bureaucracy of caring kept her busy | D.the competition was too fierce |
A.the writer likes reading success stories |
B.the writer is a nonwhite woman |
C.carers deserve our attention and help |
D.carers are favored in the process of application and enrollment |
A.Only undergraduates and masters can get the studentship. |
B.In spite of her son's illness, the writer continued to work to feed her family. |
C.The writer shows great interest and enthusiasm in her academic research. |
D.The writer's disabled son does not respect his mother. |
A.call on more people to care about disabled teenagers |
B.complain about the barriers she met in getting funding |
C.inform the readers of a carer's difficulties |
D.give advice on how to get a studentship |
【推荐1】Being a young boy, I began to learn what people said was not always what they really meant or felt. And I knew it was possible to get others to do what I wanted if I read their real feelings and responded suitably to their needs. At the age of eleven, I sold rubber door-to-door after school and quickly worked out how to tell if someone was likely to buy from me. When I knocked on a door, if someone told me to go away but their hands were open and they showed their palms (the inside surfaces of their hands), I knew it was safe to continue because they weren't angry although they may have a dismissive(不屑的) attitude. If someone told me to go away in a soft voice but used a pointed finger or closed hand, I knew it was time to leave.
As a teenager, I became a salesperson, and my ability to read people earned me enough money to buy my first house. Selling gave me the chance to meet people and study them close and to know whether they would buy or not.
I joined the life insurance(保险)business at the age of twenty. And I went on to break several sales records for my company, becoming the youngest person to sell over a million dollars’ worth of business in my first year. This achievement allowed me to become a member of the well-known Million Dollar Round Table(MDRT), which recognizes the world’s top achievers in life insurance. I was lucky that the skills I’d learned as a boy in watching body language while selling could be used in this new area, and were directly related to the success I could have in any business closely connected with people.
1. Which of the following meant the author must give up the rubber sale?A.A customer’s gentle voice. | B.A customer’s open palms. |
C.A customer’s finger shape. | D.A customer’s sign of anger. |
A.To prove the magic of his studying body language |
B.To show off his unusual insurance-selling achievements |
C.To attract more people to buy his life insurance |
D.To simply let readers know about his good luck |
①He bought his first house
②He got the chance to meet people and watch body language
③He became a member of MDRT
④He broke the first sales record for the insurance company
A.①②④③ | B.②①④③ | C.①④②③ | D.①④③② |
A.The study of selling products. | B.The life insurance business.. |
C.The research of body language. | D.The work for the MDRT |
A.intelligent but overconfident | B.open-minded and determined |
C.thinking and sharp-eyed | D.grateful and gentle |
【推荐2】The story of chocolate begins with the discovery of America in 1492. Columbus was the first European to come into contact with cacao. Columbus was struck by how much value the Indians placed on them as he did not know the beans were used by currency. It is unlikely that Columbus brought any of these beans back to Spain and it was not until about 25 years later that Cortez grasped the commercial possibilities when he found the Aztecs using the beans to make the royal drink “chocolate”.
The Spanish, in general, were not fond of the bitter drink so Cortez and his followers made it more palatable by adding cane sugar and later cinnamon and vanilla were added. Spanish monks let the secret out back home and, although the Spanish hid it from their neighbors for a hundred years, finally chocolate’s popularity grew until it was their fashionable drink at the French court and the wise choice of customers at London meeting houses.
The cacao tree is strictly a tropical plant only in hot, rainy climates. Thus, its cultivation is limited to countries not more than 20 degrees north or south of the equator (赤道). The cacao tree is very delicate and sensitive. It needs protection from the wind and requires a fair amount of shade under most conditions. This is true especially in its first two or three years of growth. A newly planted young cacao tree is often sheltered by a different type of trees. It is normal to plant food crops for shade such as bananas, plantain, coconuts or cocoyams. Rubber trees and forest trees are also used for shade. Once established, however, cacao trees can grow in full sunlight, provided there are fertile soil conditions and intensive farming. With cutting and careful cultivation, the trees of strains will begin bearing fruit in the fifth year. With extreme care, some strains can be stimulated to produce good crops in the third and fourth year.
The process of turning cacao into chocolate hasn’t changed much since the Swiss made the major breakthroughs in the process in the late 1800s. First the beans go through a process of fermentation ( 发酵 ) and drying. They are then sorted by hand before cleaning and then roasting. Winnowing ( 风 扬 ) follows which removes the hard outer layers and leaves what is as the “grains”. A crushing and heating process known as Hunte’s Process is then used to remove nearly half of the cocoa butter from the nibs. This makes unsweetened chocolate. Basic eating chocolate is made from a mixture of the unsweetened chocolate with some of the cocoa butter along with other ingredients such as sugar and vanilla. The resulting product is then “purified” and this purifying gives chocolate the silky texture that we know so well. The finished result is then shaped, cooled, packaged by machine, distributed, sold and of course, eaten!
1. Why didn’t Columbus bring beans back to Spain at once when he found cacao?A.Because he couldn’t afford to buy the cacao bean. |
B.Because he didn’t know how to turn cacao bean into chocolate. |
C.Because he was not aware of the monetary value of cacao bean then. |
D.Because Spaniards then didn’t favour the chocolate that the Aztecs originally drank. |
A.affordable | B.agreeable | C.patent | D.portable |
A.Cacao trees need a lot of looking after to be used commercially. |
B.Cacao trees require hot, rainy climates and adequate sunlight. |
C.Cacao trees won’t produce fruit until the fifth year. |
D.Cacao trees can grow well in all continents. |
① The chocolate is reheated to melt it, put into patterns and then cooled to make its final shapes.
② The beans are harvested on the farm.
③ Some cocoa butter is then obtained using Hunte’s Process to make cooking chocolate.
④ The cooking chocolate is then mixed with other ingredients to make the various types of eating chocolate available today.
⑤ The beans are winnowed after fermentation and drying and these two processes produce the grains.
⑥ The finished product is wrapped, sent to shops and then sold.
A.②①③④⑤⑥ | B.②③①⑤④⑥ | C.②④⑤①③⑥ | D.②⑤③④①⑥ |
![](https://img.xkw.com/dksih/QBM/2020/11/13/2592300595920896/2594086490365952/STEM/828baef0-e502-4835-acf8-1d6fef144052.png?resizew=255)
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 to two women scientists, Charpentier and Doudna, “for the development of a method for gene editing."
The discovery of these genetic scissors was unexpected.During Charpentier' s studies of Streptococcus pyogenes, one of the bacteria that cause the most harm to humans, she discovered a previously unknown molecule(分子),tracrRNA. Her work showed that tracrRNA is part of bacteria's ancient immune system, CRISPR/Cas. Charpentier published her discovery in Nature in 2011 and described how tracrRNA works with the Cas9 protein(蛋白质)to follow and kill viruses by cutting up their DNA.
Then in that same year,Charpentier began to cooperate with Doudna, an experienced biochemist in RNA.Together, they succeeded in recreating the bacteria's genetic scissors in a test tube and simplifying the scissors' molecular components so they were easier to use.They then reprogrammed the genetic scissors. In their natural form, the scissors recognize DNA from viruses,but Charpentier and Doudna proved that they could be controlled so that they can cut any DNA molecule at a predetermined site. Where the DNA is cut, it is then easy to rewrite the code of life.
Since the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors were discovered in 2012, their use has exploded though there are concerns that the technology could be misused. This tool has contributed to many important discoveries in basic research, and plant researchers have been able to develop crops that withstand mould, pests and drought. In medicine, clinical trials of new cancer therapies are underway,and the dream of being able to cure inherited diseases is about to come true.
1. According to Charpentier's studies of Streptococcus pyogenes, tracrRNA_____A.can change life's DNA precisely |
B.causes the most harm to human beings |
C.is a previously unknown immune system |
D.works with Cas9 protein to split viruses' DNA |
a. Charpentier began to cooperate with Doudna.
b. Charpentier published her discovery in 2011.
c.Charpentier studied Streptococcus pyogenes.
d. The bacteria's genetic scissors were recreated.
e.The genetic scissors were then reprogrammed
A.a-b-d-c-e |
B.c-a-b-e-d |
C.a-d-e-c-b |
D.c-b-a-d-e |
A.Concerns about the misuse of genetic scissors. |
B.The widely-spread use of the genetic scissors. |
C.The important discoveries in basic research. |
D.Contributions to cure for inherited diseases. |
A.Cooperation:Secret to Success in Scientific Researches |
B.Genetic Scissors:a Tool for Rewriting the Code of Life |
C.Charpentier & Doudna:Women Scientists Acknowledged |
D.The Nobel Prize in Chemistry: a Promoter of Gene Editing |
Talking during a performance irritates (激怒) people. If you are expecting an emergency call, sit near the exit doors and set your phone to vibrate (振动). When your mobile phone vibrates, you can leave quietly and let the others enjoy the performance.
Think twice before using mobile phones in elevators, museums, churches or other indoor public places—especially enclosed spaces. Would you want to listen to someone’s conversation in these places? Worse yet, how would you feel if a mobile phone rang suddenly during a funeral! It happens more often than you think. Avoid these embarrassing situations by making sure your mobile phone is switched off.
When eating at a restaurant with friends, don’t place your mobile phone on the table. This conveys the message that your phone calls are more important than those around you.
Mobile phones have sensitive microphones that allow you to speak at the volume you would on a regular phone. This enables you to speak quietly so that others won’t hear the details of your conversations. If you are calling from a noisy area, use your hand to direct your voice into the microphone.
Many people believe that they can’t live without their mobile phone. Owning a mobile phone definitely makes life more convenient, but limit your conversations to urgent ones and save the personal calls until you are at home.
1. What should you do when you need to answer a phone call during a performance?
A.Call back after the performance. |
B.Answer it near the exit door. |
C.Talk outside the exit door. |
D.Speak in a low voice. |
A.you prefer to talk to your friends at the table |
B.you value your calls more than your friends |
C.you are enjoying the company of your friends |
D.you are polite and considerate of your friends |
A.use a more sensitive microphone |
B.shout loudly into your microphone |
C.go away quietly to continue the phone call |
D.use your hand to help speak into the phone |
A.limited | B.expected |
C.encouraged | D.recommended |
【推荐2】Animals are natural resources that people have wasted all through our history. Animals have been killed for their fur and feathers, for food, for sport, and simply because they were in the way. Thousands of kinds of animals have disappeared from the world forever. Hundreds more are on the danger list today. About 170 kinds in the United States alone are considered in danger.
Why should people care? Because we need animals. And because once they are gone, there will never be any more.
Animals are more than just beautiful and interesting. They are more than just a source of food. Every animal has its place in the balance of nature. Destroying one kind of animal can create many problems.
For example, when farmers killed large numbers of hawks(老鹰), the farmers stores of corn and grain were destroyed by rats and mice. Why? Because hawks eat rats and mice. With no hawks to keep down their numbers, the rats and mice multiplied quickly.
Luckily, some people are working to help save the animals. Some groups raise money to let people know about the problem. And they try to get the governments to pass laws protecting animals in danger.
Quite a few countries have passed laws. These laws forbid(禁止)the killing of any animals or plants on the danger list. Slowly, the number of some animals in danger is growing.
1. What is the best title for the passage?A.Save the Animals | B.Useful Animals |
C.Laws for Animals | D.Animals in Danger |
A.they give us a source of food | B.they are beautiful and lovely |
C.they give us a lot of pleasure | D.they keep the balance of nature |
A.Became more | B.Became less |
C.Turned black | D.Ate food |
A.people have known the importance of animal protection a long time ago |
B.the number of hawks is on the decrease |
C.animals play an important role in people’s life |
D.many countries passed laws forbidding the killing of any animal |
【推荐3】An abandoned car in Chicago worth about $600 has been issued more than $100, 000 in parking tickets (罚单) over the past three years. Now Jennifer Fitzgerald, 31, is stuck with the bill but says the 1999 Chevy Monte Carlo actually belongs to an ex-boyfriend who registered (登记注册) the car in her name without informing her.
The Expired Meter ( 停车计时器) reports that from May 23, 2009 to April 30, 2012, the Chicago Department of Finance (DOF) issued 678 tickets against the car, totaling $105, 761.80. It set a Chicago record both for the total number and amount of parking fines issued. In fact, it blew past the previous record holder, which was $65,000 from about 400 tickets.
But Fitzgerald says she doesn’t owe the city a dime (10 分硬币) and has filed a lawsuit (诉讼 ) in Cook County Circuit Court against the city of Chicago, United Airlines and the ex-boyfriend. Fitzgerald has two main arguments in her case. First, she says her ex-boyfriend, Brandon Preveau, is the actual owner of the car, having bought it from her uncle for $600 in 2008. In fact, Brandon paid for the car’s title (所有权), registration and insurance, but it was registered in Fitzgerald’s name. “Brandon used his 2007 income tax refund ( 退 款 ) to pay Patrick $600 for the car,” reads Fitzgerald’s complaint. “For reasons not recalled by Patrick, however, Patrick signed the title to the car over to Fitzgerald.”
Second, Fitzgerald’s lawyer is arguing that the city should have simply towed (拖走) the car after 30 days from O’Hare Airport, where it was parked and where Brandon worked at the time. According to Fitzgerald’s complaint, on or before November 17, 2009, Brandon drove the car into the parking lot and never drove it out again. And as the Expired Meter reports, Chicago law does state exactly that an abandoned vehicle is to be towed 30 days after being illegally parked.
1. After the Chicago Department of Finance noticed the car, it _______.A.wanted to break a record |
B.tried its best to find its owner |
C.kept issuing tickets against the car |
D.decided to play a joke on its owner |
A.sold the car to her ex-boyfriend long ago |
B.received the car from her ex-boyfriend |
C.didn’t know anything about the car |
D.wasn’t the real owner of the car |
A.didn’t inform her as soon as it found the missing car |
B.didn’t tow the vehicle after 30 days from O’Hare Airport |
C.didn’t state exactly that an abandoned vehicle was to be towed |
D.didn’t help her find the car when it was missing in the beginning |
A.doesn’t want to pay any money |
B.thinks Patrick should pay the fines |
C.isn’t trying to find her ex-boyfriend |
D.has never been to O’Hare Airport |