B
Lombard Street (San Francisco, USA)
Known as “the world’s most-crooked (弯曲）street,” Lombard Street was first built in 1922 to reduce the hill's natural 27 % grade (坡度），which was too steep for most vehicles. Lombard Street owns the record as the street with the most switchbacks in a single block. With eight steep and sharp turns, Lombard Street looks like a giant dizzy snake lying on the road. This famous street in San Francisco is known as the most-challenging street of all. Parliament Street (Exeter, England)
This street in England is over a hundred years old today, but what makes it as an urban wonder is not its age but its unbelievable narrow size. Usually, a street is where a vehicle can conveniently pass, but that will never happen in the Parliament Street, as the street measures just 25 inches wide which is just enough for a relatively medium-built person to pass. King Fahd’s Fountain (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
The fountain was donated to the city by King Fahd. Being the world's tallest fountain, it deserves to be an urban wonder. It was constructed between 1980 and 1983. This fountain shoots water in an incredible 1023-foot (312m) height which is greater than the height of the Eifel Tower. Because of its seemingly unreachable height, the waters of the King Fahd’s Fountain can be sighted even if the visitors are miles apart. Damanhur Temple (Northern Alps of Italy)
The underground of the modest homes of Italy's northern Alps is where a massive, richly -decorated temple is found. The Damanhur Temple was secretly constructed in the 1970s. Decorated with impressive murals (壁 画) and vividly-colored stain glass, the temple was once seized by the Italian government due to illegalities. After some time, it was returned to Oberto Airaudi, the builder and founder of Damanhur. 24. Why was Lombard Street built that way? A. To ease the traffic. C. To attract visitors.
B. To challenge citizens. D. To set a record.
25. What is King Fahd's Fountain most famous for? A.Name. B. Location. C. Height. D. Decoration. 26. What is special about Damanhur Temple?
A. It was donated by a king. B. It is at a very high altitude.
C. It was built by the Italian government. D. It was constructed underground.
27. Which of the following has the longest history? A. Lombard Street. B. Parliament Street. C. King Fahd * s Fountain. D. Damanhur Temple.
C
If you think by examining someone's facial expressions you can judge if he has good or bad luck in the stock market, think again. A study published in the journal, Science, has shown that body language provides a better signal in judging whether the observed subject has just gone through an intensely positive or negative experience.
To test highly intense faces, Dr. Hillel Aviezer and his colleagues presented test groups with photos of dozens of highly intense facial expressions in real-life situations.
In one study, they compared emotional expressions of professional tennis players winning or losing a point. To discover exactly how people view images, the researchers showed different editions of the pictures to three groups of participants： 1 ) the full picture with the face and body；2) the body with the face removed； 3) the face with the body removed. Remarkably, participants could easily pick the losers from winners when they judged by the full picture or the body alone, but they only had a 50:50 chance of being right when judging by the face alone. Strangely, the participants .who viewed the full image believed that it was the face, not the body, that revealed the person's emotions.
In an additional study, the researchers performed the same series of tests, asking viewers to examine a wider range of real-life intense faces. Again, viewers were unable to tell faces in positive situations from negative situations. The researchers also “planted” faces on bodies expressing positive or negative emotions. Sure enough, the researchers discovered that the emotion of the same face on different bodies was determined by the body on which it appeared. “These results show that when emotions become extremely intense, the difference between positive and negative facial expressions no longer seems clear,” says Aviezer. “The findings challenge classic behavioral models, in which the boundary between positive and negative
emotions is clear.”
Aviezer adds, “The results may help researchers understand how body and facial expressions interact during emotional situations. For example, individuals with autism (自闭症）may fail to recognize facial expressions, but if trained to read important body language signs, their performance may significantly improve.” 28. What can we learn from the first study? A. The participants were divided into three groups. B. Half ihe participants judged right by the body alone. C. The participants couldn’l judge by the face alone. D. All participants believed faces showed emotions. 29. Which method was used in both studies?
A. Judging facial expressions of people in the stock market. B. Picking losers from winners among professional tennis players. C. Showing pictures with the face, body or both to participants. D. Putting faces on bodies for positive or negative emotions. 30. What does the underlined part “their performance” refer to?
A. Picking losers from winners. B. Understanding different emotions. C. Recognizing facial expressions. D. Reading body language signs. 31. What can we conclude from the study?
A. One cannot judge someone's emotions by facial expressions. B. The boundary between positive and negative emotions is clear. C. It's easier to tell positive emotions from negative ones if they're tenser. D. Body language is a better choice to judge intense emotions. D
British MPs have voted in favor of the creation of babies with DNA from two women and one man, in an historic move. The UK is now set to become the first country to introduce laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.
In a free vote in the Commons, 382 MPs were in favor and 128 against the technique that stops genetic diseases (遗传病）being passed from mother to child. During the debate, ministers said the technique was “light at the end of a dark tunnel” for families. A further vote is required in the House of Ix>rds. If everything goes ahead then the first such baby could be bom next year.
But critics will continue to fight against the technique that they say raises too many ethical (伦理）and safety concerns.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “We're not playing god here. We1 re just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one.”
The method will help women like Sharon Bemardi, from Sunderland, who lost all seven of her children to mitochondrial disease (线粒体疾病）?
Mitochondria are the tiny parts inside nearly every cell of the body that change food into useable energy. They have their own DNA, which does not affect characteristics such as appearance. Defective mitochondria are passed down only from the mother. They can lead to brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness.
The technique uses a modified version of IVF (试管受精）to combine the DNA of the two parents with the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman. It results in babies with 0.1% of their DNA from the second woman and is a permanent change that would be passed down through the generations.
32. Why do the critics object to the technique? A. They think it will cause ethical problems. B. They think it goes against the local law. C. They think it can't stop genetic diseases. D. They think it will make people feel unsafe.
33. The creation of babies from three people can result in .
A. a healthy baby B. a clever baby C. a perfect baby D. a pretty baby 34. What can we infer from the passage?
A. The technique can cure the mitochondrial disease. B. The C. The
technique changes little of thebaby's DNA. technique can guarantee every
mother a perfect baby. baby good health.
D. The technique can guarantee every
35. Which of the following might be the best title for the text?
A. Ethical and Safety Problems B. People Say Yes to Three-person Babies C. How to Cure Genetic Diseases
D. MPs Say Yes to Three-person Babies
第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
