1 . If you could change your children’s DNA in the future to protect them against diseases, would you? It could be possible because of technology known as CRISPR/Cas, or just CRISPR.
CRISPR involves a piece of RNA, a chemical messenger, designed to work on one part of DNA; it also uses an enzyme that can take unwanted genes out and put new ones in, according to The Economist. There are other ways of editing DNA, but CRISPR will do it very simply, quickly, and exactly.
The use of CRISPR could mean that cures are developed for everything from Alzheimer’s disease to cancer to AIDS. By allowing doctors to put just the right cancer⁃killing genes into a patient’s immune system, the technology could help greatly.
In April scientists in China said they had tried using CRISPR to edit the genomes (基因组) of human embryos. Though the embryos would never turn into humans, this was the first time anyone had ever tried to edit DNA from human beings. With this in mind, the US National Academy of Sciences plans to discuss questions about CRISPR’s ethics (伦理标准). For example, CRISPR doesn’t work properly yet. As well as cutting the DNA it is looking for, it often cuts other DNA, too. In addition, we currently seem to have too little understanding of what DNA gives people what qualities.
There are also moral questions. Of course, medicine already stops natural things from happening—for example, it saves people from infections. The opportunities to treat diseases make it hard to say we shouldn’t keep going.
A harder question is whether it is ever right to edit human cells and make changes that are passed on to children. This is banned in 40 countries and restricted in many others. However, CRISPR means that if genes can be edited out, they can also be edited back in. It may be up to us as a society to decide when and where editing the genome is wrong.
Also, according to The Economist, gene editing may mean that parents make choices that are not obviously in the best interests of their children: “Deaf parents may prefer their children to be deaf too; parents might want to make their children more intelligent at all costs.”
In the end, more research is still needed to see what we can and can’t do with CRISPR. “It’s still a huge mystery how we work,” Craig Mello, a UMass Chan Medical School biologist and Nobel Prize winner, told The Boston Globe. “We’re just trying to figure out this amazingly complicated thing we call life.”
1. According to the passage, what can we know about the technology of CRISPR?A.It is very safe because it only cuts the DNA it is looking for. |
B.It is banned in most countries and restricted in many others. |
C.It could cause parents to make unwise choices for their children. |
D.It could help us discover the link between DNA and the qualities it gives people. |
A.All diseases could probably be cured through the use of CRISPR. |
B.Scientists had never edited genomes before CRISPR was invented. |
C.CRISPR is a technology that uses an enzyme to work on RNA and DNA. |
D.CRISPR has proven to be the most effective way to protect children against diseases. |
A.Supportive. | B.Worried. | C.Negative. | D.Objective. |
A.What we can and can’t do with CRISPR. |
B.How CRISPR was developed by scientists. |
C.The advantages of CRISPR and arguments about its ethics. |
D.Scientists’ experiments of using CRISPR to edit human embryos. |
1.中医的优点;
2.期待他早日康复。
注意:
1.词数80左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3.邮件的开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Dear Jack,
I am sorry to know you are being troubled by headaches and cannot recover after taking the medicine.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Best wishes!
Yours,
Li Hua
Human activity is changing the surface and temperature of the planet. New research shows it is also changing the sound of the Earth’s seas. According to a study
For fish, sound is probably a
For many sea species, their attempts
Effects of noise on animals
“Do you forget to bring your homework to school?” my sixth⁃grade math teacher asked. I nodded my head and said in a low voice, “Yes, sir.” What a mistake I had made! I had completed my math homework. But before I left home and headed for school, I forgot to put it into my schoolbag.
“You will get a zero then,” my math teacher said. I was shocked. I had never received a zero in a math class before. But the school had rules, and the teacher had to let everyone follow them. I was immediately worried about my final math average, which was based on my homework and the tests. Would I get a C or even a D at the end of the term? If so, what should I do?
My next class was a PE class. As I walked down the hall with my classmates, all those feelings rushed out in hot tears. I wiped them away as quickly as I could. But when we entered the gym and sat down in our spots on the floor, it was clear to everyone around me that I had been crying.
My PE teacher, Ms. Brown, was an athletic teacher, often with a smile on her face. Her class was a good mix of calisthenics (健美操) and games that can give us all a good workout. And Ms. Brown was nice and compassionate (有同情心的). She loved her students and often came to help if the students were in trouble.
During that PE class, my mind was affected by the math homework and I was worried about my final math average. So I failed to devote my attention to Ms. Brown’s direction. And clearly, I was sad. I guessed that Ms. Brown found there was something wrong with me. When it was near the end of the PE class, she walked to me.
注意:续写词数应为150左右。Paragraph 1:
She sat down to comfort me.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
I felt relaxed and decided to work harder at math.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.该人物是谁;
2.该人物的主要贡献;
3.该人物对你的影响。
注意:1.词数不少于80;
2.开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
When people sit together and enjoy the glorious moon
However, should we get bogged (妨碍) down in the suffering which we can’t change? Su Shi gives his answer, a very
To this day, people still use this poem
7 . I met Daisy Banks on the way to Maghar. She was walking down the road with her white stick, and I saw her walking toward a muddy
She happily
Daisy had called me a couple of times since our chance
Although she has a mother and three brothers, Daisy has been
A.pavement | B.passage | C.hole | D.freeway |
A.climb | B.land | C.fly | D.fall |
A.car | B.truck | C.motorbike | D.bus |
A.pass | B.drop | C.take | D.fetch |
A.allowed | B.expected | C.replied | D.accepted |
A.study | B.job | C.celebration | D.travel |
A.appointment | B.meeting | C.expectation | D.argument |
A.due to | B.in addition to | C.instead of | D.in spite of |
A.resisted | B.rescued | C.reunited | D.removed |
A.discover | B.encourage | C.persuade | D.suppose |
A.mentally | B.appropriately | C.physically | D.naturally |
A.living | B.lying | C.waiting | D.staying |
A.managing | B.recognizing | C.allowing | D.reducing |
A.practice | B.housework | C.effort | D.homework |
A.stubborn | B.reliable | C.confident | D.intelligent |
8 . On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died at the age of 58. The next day, a headline in The New York Times read: “Death of the Great Novelist...Mourned by the People of Two Continents.”
Natalie McKnight is a professor of humanities who studies Dickens and his works. She explains why the novelist has remained so popular. One important reason, she says, is that Dickens wrote from his heart.
It’s meaningful to remember this great writer. Will you read(or reread)some of his famous works?
A.Dickens’ early life was very hard. |
B.Their works became the best sellers of that time. |
C.The headline was not overstating the fame of Dickens. |
D.A Tale of Two Cities has been sold more than 200 million copies. |
E.He tried hard to produce emotional effects among his readers. |
F.He used his pen to fight social inequality and give voice to the poor. |
G.However, few of them worked as hard as Dickens to attract readers’ minds. |
9 . Science fiction writers create an imaginary world. The way things work in your imaginary world will be based on actual science. So it’s important for you to be familiar with the scientific principles and inventions that are related to your creation. For example, if you’re writing about humans living on a planet with zero gravity, then you need to know the effects of zero gravity on the human body.
Then you have to figure out the exact rules of your imaginary world. And you have to follow them. If humans have evolved to breathe underwater in Chapter 1, your character can’t drown in a swimming pool in Chapter 3. If your robots write poetry but not fiction, then you can’t throw a novelist robot into Chapter 8. The issue here is maintaining your readers’ trust. That means the reader is willing to pretend along with you. If you start out with an ordinary detective novel and then throw in someone breathing underwater in the 6th chapter, your readers’ reaction might be, “What the hell!” The imaginative spell is broken. You’ve pulled the readers out of their imagination. The same thing happens if you change the rules halfway.
Part of your preparation work for the novel is to map out its world for yourself in great detail. Decide: the history of the world, the geography, what possibilities it offers, how everything works in the new reality, and how all of these factors affect the way your characters think, feel, and react to things. You don’t have to tell your readers all the rules in the first chapter. But you have to let your readers know enough to understand what’s going on. This also allows you to work out logical problems and contradictions before you start writing.
When you are writing, remember to make it feel real. You are inviting readers to visit a new world. They will want to be able to see, hear, feel, smell, and even taste what it’s like. Whether your novel is about a world without disease or an undiscovered planet, help your readers feel like they’re actually there.
1. What’s the relationship between actual science and science fiction?A.Science fiction promotes the development of actual science. |
B.Science fiction often reflects the development of actual science. |
C.Actual science provides basic principles for science fiction. |
D.Actual science limits the imagination described in science fiction. |
A.By making comparisons. | B.By analysing causes. |
C.By following the time order. | D.By giving examples. |
A.Readers of science fiction actually pretend the writers’ rules are true. |
B.It is necessary to do some scientific experiments before writing science fiction. |
C.It is more difficult to write science fiction than ordinary detective novels. |
D.It is great to leave some contradictions in your science fiction. |
A.How to do scientific research. | B.How to write science fiction. |
C.What to expect from science fiction. | D.How to raise interest in science. |
Valentine’s Day in China
It is really difficult to know the exact time
So far, Chinese people
On this day, larger amounts of chocolate will be on sale in supermarkets,
Chinese people have also made some changes to the Western way of celebrating Valentine’s Day. For some couples, the husband may prepare a hearty dinner or buy a fancy gift