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The idea that some groups of people may be more intelligent than others is one of those hypotheses that dare not speak its name. But Gregory Cochran is （1）to say it anyway. He is that （2） bird, a scientist who works independently （3） any institution. He helped popularize the idea that some diseases not （4）thought to have a bacterial cause were actually infections, which aroused much controversy when it was first suggested.Even he, however, might tremble at the （5） of what he is about to do. Together with another two scientists, he is publishing a paper which not only （6） that one group of humanity is more intelligent than the others, but explains the process that has brought this about. The group in （7） are a particular people originated from central Europe. The process is natural selection.This group generally do well in IQ test, scoring 12-15 points above the （8） value of 100, and have contributed disproportionately to the intellectual and cultural life of the West, as the （9） of their elites, including several world-renowned scientists, affirm they also suffer more often than most people from a number of nasty genetic diseases, such as breast cancer. These facts, （10） have previously been thought unrelated. The former has been （11） social effects, such as a strong tradition of valuing education. The latter was seen as a(n) （12） of genetic isolation. Dr. Cochran suggests that the intelligence and diseases are intimately （13） . His argument is that the unusual history of these people has （14） them to unique evolutionary pressures that have resulted in this （15） state of affairs.

There are some earth phenomena you can count on, but the magnetic field, someday is not of them. It fluctuates in strength, drifts from its axis, and every few 100,000 years undergo, dramatic polarity reversal—a period when North Pole becomes South Pole and South Pole becomes North Pole. But how is the field generated, and why is it so unstable?Groundbreaking research by two French geophysicists promises to shed some light on the mystery. Using 80 meters of deep sea sediment （沉淀物）core, they have obtained measurements of magnetic-field intensity that span 11 polarity reversals and four million years. The analysis reveals that intensity appears to fluctuate with a clear, well-defined rhythm. Although the strength of the magnetic field varies irregularly during the short term, there seems to be an inevitable long-term decline preceding each polarity reversal. When the poles flip—a process that takes several hundred thousand years—the magnetic field rapidly regains its strength and the cycle is repeated.The results have caused a stir among geophysicists. The magnetic field is thought to originate from molten （熔化的）iron in the outer core, 3,000 kilometers beneath the earth's surface. By studying mineral grains found in material ranging from rocks to clay articles, previous researchers have already been able to identify reversals dating back 170 million years, including the most recent switch 730,000 years ago. How and why they occur, however, has been widely debated. Several theories link polarity flips to external disasters such as meteor （流星）impacts. But Peter Olson, a geophysicist at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says this is unlikely if the French researchers are right. In fact, Olson says, intensity that predictably declines from one reversal to the next contradicts 90 percent of the models currently under study. If the results prove to be valid, geophysicists will have a new theory to guide them in their quest to understand the earth’s inner physics. It certainly points the direction for future research.1.Which of the following titles is most appropriate to the passage?2.The word “flip” (Line 6, Para. 2） most probably means（）.3.What have the two French geophysicists discovered in their research?4.The French geophysicists' study is different from currently prevailing theories in（）. 5.In Peter Oslo's opinion the French experiment（）.

Disease is a fluid concept influenced by societal and cultural attitudes that change diachronically in response to new scientific and medical discoveries. Historically, doctors defined a disease according to a cluster of symptoms, and as their clinical descriptions became more sophisticated they started to classify diseases into separate groups, so that from this medical taxonomy came new insights into disease etiology. Before the 20th century, schizophrenia and syphilitic insanity were treated as the same disease, but by early 1900 it became evident that psychoses without associated dementia represented a separate disease for which the term schizophrenia was then coined. The definition of schizophrenia continues to evolve from the psychiatric disease of the 1960s to an illness with a suspected genetic etiology, though the existence of such an etiology remains uncertain. While an optimistic hunt is still on for the genes involved, we must continue to define schizophrenia in terms of the presence or absence of “positive” and “negative” symptoms.Labeling someone as diseased, however, has enormous individual, social, financial, and physic implications, for irrespective of disease symptoms, the label itself may lead to significant distress. Individuals with asymptomatic conditions, including genetic variations, may be perceived by themselves or others as having a disease. It is not that labeling someone as diseased is always positive—it does have severe ramifications, affecting decisions to have children or resulting in unjust treatment by life, medical, and disability insurers—but it can be beneficial, legitimizing symptoms, clarifying issues of personal responsibility, and improving accessibility to health care. Nevertheless, deviations from normal that are not associated with risk should not be considered synonymous with disease. Two schools—nominalist and essentialist or reductionist-have debated the clinical criteria used to label a patient as diseased. Nominalists label symptoms with a disease name, such as schizophrenia, and do not offer an explanation of the underlying etiology, while essentialists contend that for every disease there is an underlying pathological etiology, and now argue that the essential lesion defining the disease state is a genetic abnormality.It has been suggested that diseases defined according to the essentialist tradition may be precisely wrong, whereas those defined in the nominalist traditional may be roughly accurate. But in labeling a disease state, we must consider both the phenotype (symptoms) or the genotype (genetic abnormality), for adverse consequences, while the latter helps suggest specific genetic or pharmacologic therapies. Thus, both clinical criteria and genetic abnormalities should be used to define a disease state, and the choice of a disease definition will vary according to what one wishes to achieve, the genetic counseling of family members or the effective treatment of the patient.1.The author of the passage is primarily concerned with（）.2.It can be inferred that the author considers the way schizophrenia has been classified by doctors after 1960s to be an example of which of the following?3.According to the passage, an adherent of the “nominalist school' would classify a rare new fever in which of the following ways?4.Which of the following best describes the function of the last paragraph in relation to the passage as a whole?5.It can be inferred that which of the following situations is likely to be most problematic to an adherent of the “essentialist” method of pathological taxonomy?

In the 1950s, the pioneers of artificial intelligence (AI) predicted that, by the end of this century, computers would be conversing with us at work and robots would be performing our housework. But as useful as computers are, they’re nowhere close to achieving anything remotely resembling these early aspirations for humanlike behavior. Never mind something as complex as conversation: the most powerful computers struggle to reliably recognize the shape of an object, the most elementary of tasks for a ten-month-old kid.A growing group of AI researchers think they know where the field went wrong. The problem, the scientists say, is that AI has been trying to separate the highest, most abstract levels of thought, like language and mathematics, and to duplicate them with logical, step-by-step programs. A new movement in AI, on the other hand, takes a closer look at the more roundabout way in which nature came up with intelligence. Many of these researchers study evolution and natural adaptation instead of formal logic and conventional computer programs. Rather than digital computers and transistors, some want to work with brain cells and proteins. The results of these early efforts are as promising as they are peculiar, and the new nature-based AI movement is slowly but surely moving to the forefront of the field.Imitating the brain's neural （神经的）network is a huge step in the right direction, says computer scientist and biophysicist Michael Conrad, but it still misses an important aspect of natural intelligence. “People tend to treat the brain as if it were made up of color-coded transistors”, he explains, “but it’s not simply a clever network of switches. There are lots of important things going on inside the brain cells Where one stage of child development has been left out, or not sufficiently experienced, the child may have to back and capture the experience of it. A good home makes this possible, for example by providing the opportunity for the child to play with a clockwork car or toy railway train up to any age if he still needs to do so. This principle, in fact, underlies all psychological treatment of children in difficulties with their development, and is the basis of work in child clinics.The beginnings of discipline are in the nursery. Even the youngest baby is taught by gradual stages wait for food, to sleep and wake at regular intervals and so on. If the child feels the world around him is a warm and friendly one, he slowly accepts its rhythm and accustoms himself to conforming to its demands. Learning to wait for things, particularly for food, is a very important element in upbringing, and is achieved successfully only if too great demands are not made before the child can understand them.Every parent watches eagerly the child's acquisition of each new skill—the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feeling of failure and states of anxiety in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural zest for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.Learning together is a fruitful source of relationship between children and parents. By playing together, parents learn more about their children and children learn more from their parents. Toys and games which both parents and children can share are an important means of achieving this cooperation. Building-block toys, jigsaw puzzles and crossword are good examples.Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness or indulgence towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters, others are severe over times of coming home at night, punctuality for meals or personal cleanliness. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness and well-being.1.The principle underlying all treatment of developmental difficulties in children（）.2.The child in the nursery （）. 3.The encouragement of children to achieve new skills （）. 4.Jigsaw puzzles are （）. 5.Parental controls and discipline （）.

In the 1950s, the pioneers of artificial intelligence (AI) predicted that, by the end of this century, computers would be conversing with us at work and robots would be performing our housework. But as useful as computers are, they’re nowhere close to achieving anything remotely resembling these early aspirations for humanlike behavior. Never mind something as complex as conversation: the most powerful computers struggle to reliably recognize the shape of an object, the most elementary of tasks for a ten-month-old kid.A growing group of AI researchers think they know where the field went wrong. The problem, the scientists say, is that AI has been trying to separate the highest, most abstract levels of thought, like language and mathematics, and to duplicate them with logical, step-by-step programs. A new movement in AI, on the other hand, takes a closer look at the more roundabout way in which nature came up with intelligence. Many of these researchers study evolution and natural adaptation instead of formal logic and conventional computer programs. Rather than digital computers and transistors, some want to work with brain cells and proteins. The results of these early efforts are as promising as they are peculiar, and the new nature-based AI movement is slowly but surely moving to the forefront of the field.Imitating the brain's neural （神经的）network is a huge step in the right direction, says computer scientist and biophysicist Michael Conrad, but it still misses an important aspect of natural intelligence. “People tend to treat the brain as if it were made up of color-coded transistors”, he explains, “but it’s not simply a clever network of switches. There are lots of important things going on inside the brain cells themselves.” Specifically, Conrad believes that many of the brain’s capabilities stem from the pattern-recognition proficiency of the individual molecules that make up each brain cell. The best way to build an artificially intelligent device, he claims, would be to build it around the same sort of molecular skills.Right now, the notion that conventional computers and software are fundamentally incapable of matching the processes that take place in the brain remains controversial. But if it proves true, then the efforts of Conrad and his fellow AI rebels could turn out to be the only game in town.1.The author says that the powerful computers of today（）.2.The new trend in artificial intelligence research stems from （）. 3.Conrad and his group of AI researchers have been making enormous efforts to （）. 4.What’s the author's opinion about the new AI movement?5.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the phrase “the only game in town” (Line 3, Para.4)?

Cyberspace, data superhighways, multimedia—for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives forever. Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological utopia little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the ‘‘how’’, the question of “for whom” is put aside once again.Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transnational corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade, exchange and interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global market―with destructive impact on the have-nots.For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As “futures” are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies. So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications themselves— so-called “development communications” modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries’ economies.Communications technology is generally exported from the U.S. Europe, or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries. It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit-credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.Furthermore, when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transitional corporations may benefit, those whose lives depend on access to the information are denied it.1.From the passage we know that the development of high technology is in the interest of（）.2.It can be inferred from the passage that （）. 3.Why does the author say that the electronic economy may have a destructive impact developing countries?4.The development of modern communications technology in developing countries may （）. 5.The author’s attitude toward the communications revolution is （）.

Based on the（）that every business is now free to formulate its own strategy in light of the changing market, I would predict a market improvement in the efficiency of Chinas economy.

The future of this company is（）: many of its talented employees are flowing into more profitable net-based businesses.

Oil companies in the U.S. are already beginning to feel the pressure. Refinery workers and petroleum-equipment-manufacturing employees are being（）.

Although the colonists（） to some extent with the native Americans, the Indians influence on American culture and language was not extensive.

Now a paper in Science argues that organic chemicals in the rock come mostly from（）on earth rather than bacteria on Mars.

Among all the changes resulting from the（）entry of women into the work force, the transformation that has occurred in the women themselves is not the least important.

We rarely perceive more than a minute（）of the sights and sounds that fall upon our sense organs; the great majority pass us by.

Over the last fifteen years, running has become a popular（）for 30 million participants of all ages.

Because a degree from a good university is the means to a better job, education is one of the most（）areas in Japanese life.

As ordinary people, scientists are by no means more honest or（）than other people, but as scientist, they attach special value to honest while they are in their working sphere.

Cosmic rays of various kinds come through the air from outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation from the sun are（）off.

The world-famous British Museum which houses a(n)（）collection of valuable books, paintings, works of arts, etc. attracts millions of visitors every year.

Turning cultivated land back into forests or pasture is a fundamental way to stem soil （）and desertification in the long run.

When we credit the successful people with intelligence, physical strength or good luck, we are making excuses for ourselves because we fall（）in all three.

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