1 . Do you want to live another 100 years or more? Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span.
“I think we are knocking at the door of immortality(永生),” said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. “I think by 2075 we will see it and that’s a conservative estimate(保守的估计).”
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology(纳米技术) make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what was possible in the past. “There is a great effort so that people can live from 120 to 180 years,” he said. “Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years.”
However, many scientists who specialize in aging are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. “It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?” said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Centre. “At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all.”
1. By saying“we are knocking at the door of immortality”,Michael Zey means_________.| A．they have got some ideas about living forever |
| B．they believe that there is no limit of living |
| C．they are able to make people live past the present life span |
| D．they are sure to find the truth about long living |
| A．the human body is designed to last past about 120 years |
| B．it is possible for humans to live longer in the future |
| C．it is still doubtful how long humans can live |
| D．people can live from 120 to 180 |
| A．a great effort |
| B．the conservative estimate |
| C．the idea of living from 200 to 300 years |
| D．the idea of living beyond the present life span |
| A．No Limit for Human Life |
| B．Living Longer or not |
| C．Science,Technology and Long Living |
| D．Healthy Lifestyle and Long Living |
2 . HOW BIG should a business team be?It is an enormously important issue for companies, Teams that are too small may lack the skills required to get the job done:teams that are too big may be impossible to co-ordinate.
Robin Dunbar.an anthropologist at Oxford University,has done a lot of work on primate(灵长目）groups.His argument is that the size of the group is linked to the size of the brain.With their large brains,humans can cope with larger bands,A larger social group has many advantages,allowing for greater protection and specialization.
Whereas 150 is sometimes referred to as the"Dunbar number",the academic himself in fact refers to a range of figures.He observes that humans tend to have five intimate friends,15 or so good friends,around 50 social friends and 150-odd acquaintances.
Running a larger network can be difficult.The armed forces have spent more than 1,000 years experimenting with unit size.A Roman centurion(百天长）oversaw 100.The modern American army company has 180 members.Britain's equivalent numbers 120.These are rough estimates,rather than fixed figures.But it is striking that many group activities seem to be close to a Dunbar number. The Special Air Service of Britain has four-man patrols;when your life depends on it,you need to have absolute trust in your colleagues.As a result,such groups are limited in size.
For much of economic history,work was conducted in small units by peasants,tenant farmers and craftsmen.The coming of powered machinery enabled production at a much larger scale,with workers crowded into factories.These days the rise of the service economy means that workers are no longer concentrated in such large groups.
This may not be a bad thing.It was easy for employees in large factories to regard remote company owners as "them"rather than"us".The modern company may settle on a model with a small group of"core"workers and a larger group of contract workers.The result may be more united within the core staff but the non-core staff may be less well treated.The small core teams may work effectively.The big question will be the effect on morale of those outside those teams.
1. What does the first paragraph serve as in the whole article?| A．An example of the topic, |
| B．An introduction to the topic, |
| C．A guide to the whole article, |
| D．No relation to the passage at all. |
| A．Workers crowded into factories |
| B．'These days the service economy has risen. |
| C．Workers are no longer concentrated in such large groups. |
| D．Employees regard company owners as"them"rather than"us". |
| A．A large group of exact 150 workers. |
| B．A small group of less than 15 core workers. |
| C．A small group of peasants and a large group of factory workers. |
| D．A small group of efficient workers and more contract workers. |
| A．To offer companies some useful advice. |
| B．To introduce us the most suitable size of teams. |
| C．To arouse the readers' interest in Robin Dunbar. |
| D．To persuade companies to adopt the"Dunbar number". |
3 . Seven years without a cold?
More and more people saying they just don't get colds anymore. They are using a new device made of pure copper, which scientists say kills cold and viruses. Doug Cornell invented the device in 2012. “I haven't had a single cold since then,” People were skeptical but EPA and university studies demonstrate repeatedly that viruses and bacteria die almost instantly when touched by copper. That’s why ancient Greeks and Egyptians used copper to purify water and heal wounds. Scientists say the high conductance (传导性) of copper disrupts electrical balance in a microbe (微生物) cell and destroys the cell in seconds.
So some hospitals tried copper touch surfaces like taps and door handles. This cut the spread of MRSA and other illnesses by over half, and saved lives. Colds start after cold viruses get in your nose, so the vast body of research gave Cornell an idea. When he next felt a cold about to start, he fashioned a smooth sheet copper and rubbed it gently in his nose for 60 seconds. “It worked!” he exclaimed, “The cold never got going.”
He asked relatives and friends to try it. They said it worked too so he patented CopperZap and put it on the market. Now tens of thousands of people have tried it. Nearly 100% of feedback says the copper stops colds if used within 3 hours after the first sign. Pat McAllister, age 70, received one for Christians and called it “one of the best presents ever.” “This little jewel really works,” People have used it on cold sores and say it can completely prevent outbreaks. It kills germs picked up on fingers and hands to protect you and your family. Copper even kills deadly germs that have become resistant to antibiotics.
CopperZap is made in America of pure copper. It has a 90-lay full money back guarantee. It is $ 69.95. Get $ 10 off each CopperZap with code USA3. Go to www.CopperZap.com or call toll-free 1-888-411-6114.
Buy once, use forever.
1. How does the CopperZap work?| A．The device is made in America of pure copper. |
| B．The device can cut the spread of MRSA and other illnesses. |
| C．Copper in the device kills all germs that have become resistant to antibiotics. |
| D．Copper in the device disrupts the electrical balance in a cell and destroys the cell. |
| A．Body of research. | B．His nose. |
| C．A. smooth sheet copper. | D．A cold about to start. |
| A．$79.95. | B．$69.95. |
| C．$59.95. | D．$49.95. |
| A．To introduce us a new device. |
| B．To persuade people to buy the product. |
| C．To explain to us a way not to catch a cold. |
| D．To show the device is Useful against colds. |
4 . Let’s face it. No one drinks diet sodas for the taste. People drink diet sodas in the hope that it will help them lose weight or at least keep them from gaining it. Yet it seems to have exactly the opposite effect, according to a new study.
Researchers from the University of Texas said those who drank two or more diet sodas a day had waist size increases that were six times greater than those who didn’t drink diet sodas. ＂What we saw was that the more diet sodas a person drank, the more weight they were likely to gain,＂said Sharon Fowler.
The study was based on data from 474 participants in a large, ongoing research project, where the participants were followed for nearly 10 years.
While the findings are surprising, they also offer some explanations. Nutrition expert, Melanie Rogers, who works with overweight patients in New York, has found that when patients are switched from regular to diet sodas, they don’t lose weight at all. ＂We weren’t seeing weight loss necessarily, and that was confusing to us＂, said Rogers.
So why would diet soda cause weight gain? No one knows for sure yet, but it could be that people think they can eat more if they drink diet sodas, and so over-compensate for the missing calories.
A related study found some sweeteners (甜味剂) raised blood sugar levels in some mice. ＂Data from this and other potential studies suggest that the promotion of diet sodas and artificial sweeteners may be risky, said Helen P. Hazuda, professor at the University of Texas’s school of medicine. ＂They may be free of calories, but not of consequences.＂
1. People drink diet sodas to ____________.| A．enjoy its taste | B．stay in fashion |
| C．achieve weight loss | D．gain more energy |
| A．causes people to become heavier | B．helps people to be healthier |
| C．makes people much thinner | D．offers people more calories |
| A．regular sodas make people lose more weight | B．diet soda drinkers tend to eat more food |
| C．diet sodas do help reduce calories | D．most blood diseases come from diet sodas |
| A．sweeteners | B．diet sodas and artificial sweeteners |
| C．sodas | D．diet soda drinkers and sweetener takers |
