2009年12月17日星期四

 He was the baby with no name. Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the salvage (救援) workers that they called him "our baby." In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave (), carved with the words: "To the memory of an unknown child." He has rested there ever since.

  But history has a way of uncovering its secrets. On Nov. 5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave. "This is our baby," says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker. She grew up hearing stories about a great-aunt named Maria Panula,42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband. According to the information Mrs. Schleifer had gathered, Panula gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children -- including a 13-month-old boy named Eino from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing. "We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer.

  Now, using teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the DNA from the Unknown Child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies. The result of the test points only to one possible person: young Eino. Now, the family sees: no need for a new grave. "He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer. "They've taken care of him for 90 years."

  Adapted from People, November 25, 2002

56. The baby travelled on the Titanic with his___________.

 A. mother B. parents C. aunt D. relatives

57. What is probably the boy's last name?

 A. Schleiferi B. Eino. C. Magda. D. Panula.

58. This text is mainly about how______________.

 A. the unknown baby's body was taken from the north Atlantic

 B. the unknown baby was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia

 C. people found out who the unknown baby was

 D. people took care of the unknown baby for 90 years

B

Super smart chimps

   In a memory-based competition between you and a chimp, who do you think would win? If you put yourself on top, you might want to guess again.

   In a test that challenged participants to remember numbers, a young chimp performed better than Japanese college students.

   Here's how the test worked: at Kyoto university in Japan, human students and chimpanzee participants sat in front of a computer. Different combinations of five numbers, all ranging from 1 to 9, appeared at random places on the screen.

   The numbers stayed on the screen for less than a second. In the first test, for example, participants saw the numbers for 650 milliseconds (about two- thirds of a second)Then each number was replaced by a white square. Participants had to touch the squares in numerical order, based on the numbers that had been there a moment before.

   In this test, the students touched the boxes in the correct order about 80%of the time. A young chimp named Ayumu performed equally well.

   During a harder test, participants were only able to see the numbers for 210 milliseconds.

   This time, students only managed to put the boxes in the correct order about 40% of the time. But Ayumu still managed to select the boxes in the right order nearly 80% of the time.

   Some people have what's called a "photographic memory", which allows them to remember a surprising number of details after just a quick glimpse of something. Ayumu's memory might work in a similar way, says lead researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa.   The chimp's young age might have something to do with his impressive performance, too. In previous tests, the Japanese researchers found that young chimps performed better than their mothers.

   The scientists are interested to know whether Ayumu loses his strong memory as he ages. They already know that young children sometimes have sharp memories that work photographically, but they typically lose this ability over time.

59. Researchers carried out the test to find out_____.

   A. who has a better memory, human or chimps

   B. whether young chimps have a better memory than the older ones

   C. what makes chimps better at remembering numbers

   D. how humans can remember numbers when they only see them briefly

60. The underlined word "random"in paragraph 3 means _____.

   A.in order     B.without aim    C.automatically    D.purposefully

61. How was the test carried out?

   a. The numbers stayed on the screen for less than a second.

   b. The winner was the participant who finished the tasked with higher rate of

     correct answers.

   c. Each number was replaced by a white square.

   d. Different combinations of five numbers, all ranging from 1 to 9, appeared at

     random places on the screen.

   e. Participants had to touch the squares in numerical order.

   A. acdeb     B. bcdea     C. adceb     D.daceb

62. Researchers are not certain whether ______.

   A. humans lose their strong memory as they age

   B. chimps lose their strong memory as they age

   C. young chimps can remember numbers in less time than their mums

   D. kids can remember numbers in less time than their mums

C

     On September 22nd, 2007, Jay Brunkella, a police officer in the Rogers Park district in Chicageo, was shot during a drug arrest and died. Shortly afterwards his fellow officer Ken Knapcik, a 20-year veteran(老警官)of the force ,returned home after work to find a note from his 15-year-old daughter on the dining table.

    Dad—This poem is directly from my heart .I love you so much! It scares and amazes me that you go out every day and risk everything to provide us with all that we have. I wrote to express how much I love you and how much lost I'd be without you—Laura. P. S.: Let's be careful out there.

    Titled "The Ultimate Cop", Laura's poem was dedicated "To all the cops in the world who have daughters who love them with all their hearts. And especially to my dad". It was about a police-officer's daughter who saw on the night-time news that her father had been shot. Part of the poem: "Daddy, my Daddy ,can you hear me cry? Oh, God, I need my Daddy; please don't let him die."

    Ken Knapcik stood alone as he read the poem. "It took me several minutes. He said. "I'd get through part of it and have to stop before I could go on .I was weeping. She had never told me she was scared." He took the poem to work the next day and showed it to his fellow officers. "I've never seen so many grown men cry. Some couldn't finish it."

    Knapcik Keeps Laura's poem in the pocket of his police jacket .He takes it with him every time he leaves the house for a new shift. "I don't want to be out there without it ," he said , "I'll probably carry it with me forever."

63Laura wrote the poem________.

    Ain memory of her father who was shot in the drug arrest

    Bto show her great sorrow in losing her father

    Cto show her respect to all the cops who lost their lives

    Dto tell officer Ken Knapcik how much she loved him

64All the officers cried because _____________.

    AJay Brunkella was shot and died

    BThey were greatly touched by the poem

    Cthe poem was so sad that they couldn't hold back their tears

    Dthey thought of their dangerous life

65Knapcik keeps Laura's poem in his pocket_________.

    Atotreasure his daughter's love and to value his own life

    Bto keep it from missing

    Cbecause he can't go out without it

    Dto mourn over the death of officer Jay Brunkella

66Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

    APoem for a cop                 

    BAn officer's death

    CDaughter's love                                 

    DLove my job, love my daughter

D

A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer's hair. The golden red sun was setting. She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery (火红的) ball. She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.

The atmosphere relaxed her. After all she had been through, this was what she needed. "It's getting late," she thought, "I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am."

    She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.

    It was really getting dark now. The sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold, too. She wished she had her favorite sweater on— it kept her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought disappeared when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now... It all seemed deserted. She couldn't understand what was going on.

    She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father. It said, "Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready. I went looking." Ellen was her mother but — where was she? On the right side of the hallway was her parents' room. She went in. Then she saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn't slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up, something was different... she wasn't in her mother's room and she wasn't wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her snug bed in her pajamas (睡衣).

    It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice, "Are you feeling better now, dear? You know you got us very, very scared."

67. What does "This thought" in the fourth paragraph refer to?

   A. The idea of going back home.                    

B. Her anxiety about her parents.

C. The feeling of being warm in her favorite sweater.   

D. The feeling of getting back home safely.

68. Her father didn't take care of the garden because _______.

   A. he was busy looking for her          B. he had to look after his wife

C. he was not strict in his job           D. he no longer enjoyed working there

69. How did Jennifer probably feel when she came back home?

   a. worried  b. crazy  c. tired  d. disappointed  e. shocked  f. excited 

A. a, b, c           B. a, c, e            C. b, c, e            D. d, e, f

70. What can we conclude from this passage?

A. In fact Jennifer's mother had been sick for days.

B. As Jennifer walked towards home, she became increasingly scared.

C. When she found the garden deserted, she realized she got cross.

D. Having experienced a lot outside, Jennifer felt home was really warm and safe 

  for her.

 

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