Ray Travers sat back at the large desk, and looked around his plush（豪華的）office．He was tired．

Ray's eyes stopped at a painting on the wall．It was a gift given by an old friend, Bull, as a farewell gift when he left his hometown．He recalled the life spent in that small town; pleasant times．The many hours he spent talking lo his good friend, and the tales he was told about hunting in the Africa of old．

Memories flowed back more than ten years; he remembered how he enjoyed hearing about the wonderful hunting, and how he wished he could have shared those times．

Ray opened his desk drawer and brought out a wooden box．He opened the lid and exposed a work of art, a hand-made hunting knife．This was a gift from Bull, given to Ray more than 20 years ago．It was one of the first knives Bull had made, and Ray had called it "Zambezi”, the river where Bull had been so many times．

He closed the box and sat upright at his desk; he was driving himself hard, and deserved a break．Things were going well with the business, everything running smoothly．He could afford a week off!

He went back home．A week in the hometown would be like going back in history．"Man, it's going to be good," Ray said aloud, as he turned onto the highway and watched the city lights fast disappearing, as he looked in the rearview mirror．

It was well into the night when Ray pulled into an all-night gas station He walked around the gas station and the memories started …  He was finally back on the road, the powerful car going its way through the night, headlights piercing （穿透） the darkness．Memories danced through the man' s mind．Memories of good times , when he knew what it was to relax , to talk, and to really visit．

Slowly entering town he looked around．Ray sat in his car, looking at the old building, smiling． Inside it was almost as though it was the same people as 15 years ago．

1.We learn from the passage that Bull is                    ．

A．Ray's colleague	B．a(chǎn) man in Ray' s hometown
C．Ray's relative in Africa	D．a(chǎn)n African woodcarving artist

2.What does the author mainly want to tell us in Paragraphs 2 －5?

A．Bull loved Africa and knew much about it．

B．Bull was good at making works of art．

C．Ray missed his hometown and relatives．

D．Ray missed the time he spent with Bull in his hometown．

3.What do we know from the passage?

A．Ray visited Africa together with Bull many times．

B．Ray and Bull often went hunting together．

C．Zambezi is the name of a river in Hay a hometown．

D．Ray planned to stay in his hometown for about a week．

4.What does the under lined part in Paragraph 7 mean?

A．Ray knew how to relax after keeping busy for along time．

B．Ray didn't want to leave his hometown because of so many memories．

C．Ray's hometown changed a lot and was worth a visit．

D．The visit to his hometown reminded Ray of the days together with Bull．

5.What may the author talk about in the paragraph that follows the passage?

A．The hard time Ray experienced in his career．

B．Why Ray left his hometown alone．

C．The situation in Ray's hometown．

D．How Ray became a successful businessman．

 

Pushy parents and teachers who “hothouse” the under-5s risk causing damage to the children’s long term development, a leading education expert said.

       Lilian Katz, Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, said that four-year-olds engaged in reading and writing went on to perform worse academiclly than those engaged in imaginative learning. They scored higher in tests at the age of 5, but children whose first year at school was stimulating outstripped them four years later.

   The findings suggest that the government's structured approach to early years' learning could be storing up problems for children. They also raise serious questions about the plan for all children to be able to read by the age of 6.

   In many countries formal teaching does not start until children are 6 or 7 and have improved their social and manual skills. Children start learning to read and write at 6 in the United States. France and Germany , and at 7 in Finland and Sweden.

   Professor Katz said that in many schools the courses were "boring children to tears". Much academic teaching required children to learn by memorizing pieces of information out of context, she said. Teaching in reception class should instead allow children to develop their intellect by exploring their environments and asking questions.

   "Research suggests the benefits of formal academic insturction for four- and five-year-olds seem to be promising when they are tested early, but considerably less so in the long term. When these children are followed over a period of three or more years, those who had early experience in more intellectually engaging curricula were more likely to do well in school than their peers, who had received early academic instruction." She avocates teaching children through first-hand experience and play, in mixed-aged classes. This can include puppet shows, drawing or running a pretend shop in the classroom.

1．According to the passage, those who “hothouse” the under-5s would probably _________.

       A. prefer a lot of interaction and stimulation while teaching

       B. teach in a lively way to motivate kids’ interest

       C. push the kids to memorize pieces of information

       D. care about the kids’ physical development

2．What does the underlined word “ outstripped” in Paragraph 2 mean?

       A. did better than                                B. looked down upon

       C. caught up with                                      D. performed worse than

3．According to Lilian Katz, the government’s structured approach to early-years learning ______.

       A. is necessary for improving children’s reading and writing ability

       B. needs to be improved to develop children’s academicability

       C. will cause problems to children in their future learning

       D. has more advantages than disadvantages

4．The message the author wants to deliver through the passage is that formal teaching _______.

       A. can start at different times in different countries.

       B. should not be started too early

       C. is best carried out in Finland and Sweden

       D. should include teaching children social and manual skills

5．Which of the following is NOT the opinion of Lilian Katz?

       A. Children should be taught through first-hand experience.

       B. Learning in a mixed-age class is good for children.

       C. Running a shop can help children get good marks.

       D. Puppet shows and drawing are useful easy in teaching children.

Chinese scientists have found a new way to use cells found in human urine （尿液）that could aid in the treatment of a range of nerve disorders.That is a new technique for reprogramming cells in human urine into nerve progenitor cells  that can grow into multi-functional nerve and brain cells.

The technique is expected to be used in the study and treatment of nerve disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other nerve disorders.

Pei Duanqing, a professor at Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said his research team has combined an episomal system to deliver reprogramming factors with a chemically defined culture medium to reprogram kidney epithelial(腎表皮) cells in urine into NPCs.

These NPCs, normally only found in the human brain, were later proven to be transgene-free and self-renewing, he said.

"These nerve and brain cells can survive for up to one month when transplanted into the brain of a newborn rat," said Pei. "My team is working hard to understand why our experimental condition allowed the urine cells to become NPCs, because we want to improve the technique and make it more efficient".

Scientists have long searched to treat and study neural disorders by obtaining and transplanting neural stem cells. However, the previous method of getting and using cells from either fetal (胎兒)or adult human tissue remains challenging due to ethical concerns and immune system rejections, he said.

Pei hopes the discovery will be used to generate NPCs from patients with nerve disorders such as Parkinson's disease. "These NPCs from patients may help us discover new drugs for these diseases."

"It is a remarkable advance in the stem cell field. The results and methods obtained from this study will be of great value and significance to the field, " said Fred Gage,a professor with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. NPCs are beneficial in treating human diseases.

B. Chinese scientists succeeded in making NPCs from human urine.

C. Chinese scientists have found cures for all diseases.

D. A new technique was used to study the use of human urine

2.Pei and his tean try their best to work hard in order to       .

A. make more contributions to medical study

B. discover another new technique

C. make the technique more perfect

D. treat more patients suffering from bad diseases

3.What is the challenge of making NPCs in the previous method?

A. The ethical comcerns and immune system refusal

B. The difificulties in getting cells from human.

C. The under-developed techniques in medical science.

D. The lack of financial support from the government.

4.From the last paragraph we can infer       .

A. the new technique will be developed in science

B. the results and methods will be applied to treating cancers

C. the study will give a major push to the stem cell field

D. the mew technique will bring great profis

 

Social networking isn’t only for the under 40s. More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.

“The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus,” said Kevin Donnellan, the chief communications officer at AARP, which released （發(fā)布）the report.

Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent said they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren. “They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them,” said Jean Koppen, the author of the report. She added that older adults are also on Facebook to stay connected, not only with their family, but with their friends and those in the same age group. Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild. “Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and older say they do not use the Internet,” according to the report.

The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,863 adults. In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter older adults are aware of the latest technology. Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one.

Despite the popularity of the Internet among the over 50s, they still mostly go to print newspapers and magazines for news. Only one percent said they followed blogs.

1.What is the main idea of the text?

A.Social networking isn’t for the under 40s in the U.S.A.

B.American old people’s way of life is quite fashionable.

C.Social networking is becoming popular among older Americans.

D.Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the most popular websites in the US.

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．85% of Americans 50 plus choose the Internet over print media.

B．About 460 people in the telephone survey often use Facebook.

C．About 20% of adults aged 50 plus have access to (利用)the Internet.

D．Three quarters of the people surveyed got to know the Internet through their family.

3.Where does the text probably come from?

A．A novel.	B．A newspaper.
C．A technology guide.	D．A student’s research paper

 

第二節(jié)任務(wù)型閱讀 (共5小題;每小題2分,滿分10分)

下列五個人想選擇自己喜歡的電視節(jié)目觀看。第61至65題是他們各自的情況介紹。閱讀下面六則相關(guān)電視節(jié)目的描述(A、B、C、D、E和F)，選出符合各人需要的最佳選項，并將答案寫在答題卷上。選項中有一項是多余選項。

56. _________ Bob leads a quiet life in a small village, but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to find out about the latest scientific development.

57. _________ Bella enjoys eating out but can’t afford to spend very much at the moment as she is saving for a holiday. She has never learnt how to cook, so this might be quite a good time to find out!

58. _________ Dan is interested in taking wildlife photographs and enjoys the kind of programme which gives him a chance to see a professional photographer at work.

59. _________ Gina is a music teacher. Although she prefers classical music, she likes to follow the kind of music that interests the teenagers she teaches.

60. _________ Ron’s wife is in hospital. He wants to find a programme suitable for his three-year-old son while he gets on with the housework and prepares a meal.

A. TV1 7:20 pm Find out more about Australia’s animal life. This film was made last year by one of Australia’s best-known cameramen, Doggies Bond. He spent over 200 hours filming the birds, animals and fish that inhabit this beautiful continent and for the first time brings some of these unusual animals to our TV screens.

B. TV3 9:00pm The popular science programme is back with the latest technology and medicine. This week, cars that run on sunlight and the story of one baby’s fight to live.

C. TV2 8:10pm Do you know what goes into the food most of us eat every day of the week? Tonight’s programme will take a serious scientific look at the bread industry. Whether you bake your own bread or just enjoy buying it, this programme will give you an interesting insight into something most of us eat every day of the week.

D. TV5 5:15 pm Busy parents? Bored children? Do you want something educational to entertain your children while you do something else? This popular magazine programme is for the under-fives. More music, fun, songs and games with Carla and Larry.

E. TV3 8:45pm If you’ve always wanted to cook, now your chance to learn is coming. In the studio are two chefs who will take you through some simple recipes（訣竅）step by step. This is repeat of the popular series shown last year, and available from most good bookshops.

F. TV3 7:40 pm The latest new music. Pete Hogg looks at the best of the current rap, raga and new jack swing plus new video releases. This is the programme that tells you all about what’s happening on the music scene and brings you interviews with tomorrow’s young artists.