2014职称英语阅读理解.doc

1、Batteries Built by VirusesWhat do chicken pox, the common cold，the flu，and AIDS have in common? Theyre all disease caused by viruses，tiny microorganisms that can pass from person to person. Its no wonder1 that when most people think about viruses, finding ways to steer clear of2 viruses is whats on peoples minds.Not everyone runs from the tiny disease carriers, though3.In Cambridge，Massachusetts4, scientists have discovered that some viruses can be helpful in an unusual way. They are putting viruses to work，teaching them to build some of the worlds smallest rechargeable batteries.Viruses and batteries may seem like an unusual pair, but theyre not so strange for engineer Angela Belcher, who first came up with5 the idea. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge，she and her collaborators bring together different areas of science in new ways. In the case of the virus-built batteries，the scientists combine what they know about biology，technology and production techniques.Belchers team includes Paula Hammond，who helps put together the tiny batteries，and Yet-Ming Chiang, an expert on how to store energy in the form of a battery. Were working on things we traditionally dont associate with nature, says Hammond.Many batteries are already pretty small. You can hold A，C and D batteries6 in your hand. The coin-like batteries that power watches are often smaller than a penny. However，every year，new electronic devices like personal music players or cell phones get smaller than the year before. As these devices shrink，ordinary bakeries wont be small enough to fit inside.The ideal battery will store a lot of energy in a small package. Right now，Belchers model battery，a metallic disk completely built by viruses，looks like a regular watch battery. But inside，its components are very small-so tiny you can only see them with a powerful microscope.How small are these battery parts? To get some idea of the size，pluck one hair from your head. Place your hair on a piece of white paper and try to see how wide your hair is-pretty thin，right? Although the width of each persons hair is a bit different，you could probably fit about 10 of these virus-built battery parts，side to side，across one hair. These microbatteries may change the way we look at viruses7.病毒电池 水痘、普通感冒、流感和艾滋病有哪些相似之处呢？这些都是由病毒引起的疾病。病毒是能够在人与人之间传染的微生物。难怪大部分人一提到病毒，首先想到的是如何躲避病毒。 然而， 并不是每个人都躲避这些病毒携带者。在马萨诸塞州剑桥市，科学家发现有些病毒能起到非同寻常的作用。他们使病毒开始工作，使病毒构成世界上最小的充电电池。 病毒和电池的搭档似乎并不常见，但这对于工程师安吉拉贝尔彻来说却并不陌生。安吉拉贝尔彻最早产生了这一想法。在位于剑桥市的麻省理工学院，她和合作者一起用新方式融合了不同的科学领域。在由病毒构成的电池里，科学家融合了他们在生物、技术和生产工艺方面的知识。 贝尔彻的团队包括帮助组装微型电池的宝拉哈蒙德和以电池形式存储能量的专家蒋业明。哈蒙德说，“我们现在从事的行业是传统中不会想到的。” 许多电池已经很小了。A型、C型和D型电池都可以握在手里。硬币形状的手表电池通常比分币还小。然而，个人音乐播放器和手机等新型电子设备变得越来越小。这些设备变小了，普通电池就无法安装进去了。 理想的电池应当体积小、储能多。 ，贝尔彻的电池模型是完全由病毒构成的金属圆盘，看起来就像普通手表电池。但里面的部件却非常小小到用高倍望远镜才能看到。 这些电池部件到底有多小呢？从头上拔一根头发，把它放到白纸上，看看头发的宽度是不是很细呢？尽管每个人的头发宽度不同，每个头发上可以并列排放大约10个病毒电池部件。这些为电池能会改变我们对病毒的看法。练习：1.According to the first paragraph，people try toA.kill microorganisms related to chicken pox，the flu，etc.B.keep themselves away from viruses because they are invisible.C.stay away from viruses because they are causes of various diseases.D.cure themselves of virus-related diseases by taking medicines.2.What is Belchers team doing at present?A.It is finding ways to get rid of viruses.B.It is mass-producing microbatteries.C.It is making batteries with viruses.D.It is analyzing virus genes.3.What expression below is opposite in meaning to the word shrink appearing in paragraph 5 ?A.Broaden.B.Spread.C.Extend.D.Expand.4.Which of the following is true of Belchers battery mentioned in paragraph 6?A.It is made of metal.B.It is a kind of watch battery.C.It can only be seen with a microscope.D.It is a metallic disk with viruses inside it.5.How tiny is one battery part?A.Its width is one tonth of a hair.B.It equals the width of a hair.C.It is as thin as a piece of paper.D.Its width is too tiny to measure.22、putting plants to workusing the power of the sun is nothing new. people have had solar-powered calculators and building with solar panels for decades. but plants are the real experts: theyve been using sunlight as an energy source for billions of years.cells in the green leaves of plants work like tiny factories to convert sunlight, carbon dioxide,and water into sugars and starches,stored energy that the plants can use. this conversion process is called photosynthesis. unfortunately, unless youre a plant, its difficult and expensive to convert sunlight into storable energy. thats why scientists mr taking a closer look at exactly how plants do it.some scientists are trying to get plants, or biological cells that act like plants. to work as miniature photosynthetic power stations. for example, maria ghirardi of the national renewable energy laboratory in golden, colo.2, is working with green algaea. shes trying to trick themintoproducing hydrogen4 inslead of sugars when they perform photosynthesis. once the researchers can get the algae working efficiently, the hydrogen that they produce could be used to power fuelcells in cars or to generare electricity.the algae are grown in narrow-necked glass bottles to produce hydrogen in the lab. during photosynthesis, plants normally make sugars or starches but under certain conditions, a lot of algae are able to use the sunlight energy not to store starch, but lo make hydrogen. ghirardi says.for example, algae will produce hydrogen in an airfree environment. its the oxygen in the air that prevems algae from making hydrogen most of the time.working in an airfree environment, however, is difficult. its not a practical way to produce cheap energy. but ghirardi and her colleagues have discovered that by removing a chemical called sulfate from the environment that the algae grow in, they will make hydrogen instead of sugars, even when air is present.unfortunately, removing the sulfate also makes the algaes cells work very slowly, and not much hydrogen is produced still, the researchers see this as a rrrsl step in their goal to produce hydrogen efficiently from algae. with more work. they may be able to speed the cells activity and produce larger quantities of hydrogen.the researchers hope that algae will one day be an easy-to-use fuel source the organisms are cheap to get and to feed, ghirardi says. and they can grow almost anywhere:“you can grow them in a reactor. in a pond. you can grow them in the ocean. theres a lot of flexibility in how you can use these organisms”植物效能 太阳能的使用已经不足为奇。几十年前，人们就开始使用太阳能计算器，制造太阳能电热板镶嵌的建筑。但是植物当属应用太阳能的专家：十亿年来，植物一直把阳光作为能源资源。 绿叶植物细胞的工作就像微型加工厂一样，将阳光，二氧化碳和水转化为糖和淀粉，并且同时储存植物本身所需的能量。这种转换过程叫做光合作用。可惜你不是一株植物，必须困难的并且花上大价钱将阳光转换为稳定的能源。因此，科学家们正在对植株进行准确细致的研究。 一些科学家正试图像植物的作用过程一样，将植物，或生物的细胞活动看做微型光合发电站。例如，玛丽亚奇若蒂在美国科罗拉多州的国家可再生能源实验室里对绿藻进行研究。她正想方设法的通过植物的产生氢来取代光合作用产生的糖。一旦研究人员了解藻类如何有效率的进行工作，由此产生的氢气可用于燃料电池动力汽车和发电。 在实验室里，藻类生长通过狭窄的颈玻璃瓶生产氢气的环境下。在光合作用下，植物通常产生糖类或淀粉。奇若蒂说：“但在一定条件下，有很多藻类能够利用日光能源产生氢气而不是储存淀粉。”例如，藻类会在空气存在环境下产生氢气。这是因为空气中的氧气，氧阻止绿藻制造氢。 藻类在空气中虽然可以工作，但是充满困难。这种方式不能切实可行的生产廉价的能源。但是奇若蒂和她的同事们已经发现，即使在目前的空气条件下，他们从藻类生长的环境中，除去所谓的硫酸化学品，能够产生氢来代替糖。 只可惜消除硫酸盐不仅使藻类细胞的工作速度减慢，而且大大减少了氢的数量。尽管如此，研究人员认为，对于实现有效率的利用藻类产生氢这一目标，他们已经迈出了第一步。随着工作量的加大，他们可以加速细胞的活动，从而产生大量的氢气。研究人员们希望，总有一天藻类会成为很容易使用的燃料来源。藻类这种生物极易存活，他们可以在几乎任何地方成长。奇若蒂说，：“你可以将它放在一反应堆或是池塘里，也可以在海洋中找到它们，人们可以灵活的使用藻类的用途广泛。” 练习：1、what does the writer say about plants concerning solar enefgy?a planls are the real experts m producing solar energyb plants have been used to produce solar energyc plants have been using solar energy for billions of yearsd plants have been a source of solar energy2、 why do some scientists study how plants convert sunlight carbon dioxide, and water into sugars and starches?a because they want algae to produce sugars and starchesb because they want green plants to become a new source of energyc because they want to turn plant sugars to a new form of energyd because they wanl to make photosynthesis more efficient3、 according to the fifth paragraph,under what condltlons are algae able to use solar energy to make hydrogen?a when there is a lot of oxygen in the air.b when there is no oxygen in the air.c when photosynthesis is taking placed when enough starch ls stored4 、researchers have met with difficulties when trying to make algae produce hydrogen efficiently.which one of the fol1owing is one such difficulty?a lt is not possibe to remove sulfate from the environmentb it is not posslble to work ln an air free envirnment to produce hydrogenc it is not easy to make sugars instead of hydrogend it is too slow for lgae to produce hydrogen when the sulfa is removed5、 what is not true of algae?a they are easy to growb they can be a very good fuel sourcec they are cheap to eatd they can be used in many ways3、Dont Drink Alone Gets New MeaningIn what may be bad news for bars and pubs, a European research group has found that people drinking alcohol outside of meals have a significantly higher risk of cancer in the mouth and neck than do those who drink with food. Luigino Dal Maso and his colleagues studied the drinking patterns of 1，500 patients from four cancer studies and another 3，500 adults who had never had cancer.After the researchers accounted for the amount of alcohol consumed, they found that individuals who downed a significant share of their alcohol outside of meals faced at least a 50 to 80 percent risk of cancer in the oral cavity (口腔)，pharynx (咽),and esophagus (食管)，when compared with people who drank only at meals. Consuming alcohol without food also increased by at least 20 percent the likelihood of laryngeal cancer (喉癌).“ Roughly 95 percent of cancers at these four sites traced to smoking or drinking by the study volunteers,”Dai Maso says. The discouraging news, his team reports, is that drinking with meals didnt eliminate cancer risk at any of the sites.For their new analysis, the European scientists divided people in the study into four groups，based on how many drinks they reported having in an average week. The lowest - intake group included people who averaged up to 20 drinks a week. The highest group reported downing at least 56 cups of alcohol weekly for an average of eight or more per day. Cancer risks for the mouth and neck sites rose steadily with consumption even for people who reported drinking only with meals. For instance, compared with people in the lowest group, participants who drank 21 to 34 alcohol cups a week at least doubled their cancer risk for all sites other than the larynx. If people In these consumption groups took some of those drinks outside meals, those in the higher consumption group at least quadrupled (四倍)their risk for oral cavity and esophageal cancers.People in the highest-consumption group who drank only with meals had 10 times the risk of oral cancer, 7 times the risk of pharyngeal cancer, and 16 times the risk of esophageal cancer compared with those who averaged 20 or fewer drinks a week with meals. In contrast, laryngeal cancer risk in the high - intake, with - meals - only group was only triple that in the low - intake consumers who drank with meals.“Alcohol can inflame (使发炎)tissues. Over time, that inflammation can trigger cancer. ” Dal Maso says. He suspects that food reduced cancer risk either by partially covering digestive - tract (消化道)tissues or by taking alcohol off those tissues. He speculates that the reason laryngeal risks were dramatically lower for all study participants traces to the tissues lower exposure to alcohol.不要在就餐时间以外饮酒有了新含义 一定程度上，这对酒吧可能是一个坏消息，欧洲的一个研究小组发现人们在就餐时间以外饮酒会使患口腔和颈部癌症的机率比就餐时饮酒更高。Luigino Dal Maso和他的同事们研究了取自四项癌症研究的1,500个病例的饮酒习惯模式和另外3,500个从没患癌症的成年人的饮酒习惯模式。 在研究者分析了饮酒的总量后，他们发现和只在就餐时饮酒的人相比，在就餐时间以外灌下大量烈酒的人面临至少50%80%的患口腔癌、咽癌和食道癌的危险。在就餐时间外饮酒也会使患喉癌的可能性增加至少20%。“被研究者的情况说明大约95%患以上四种癌症的原因就是抽烟或饮酒。”Dal Maso说。他的研究小组提供的报告令人沮丧的消息是就餐时饮酒不会消除患以上任何一种癌症的危险。 为了进行新的颁，欧洲科学家根据每星期平均饮酒量将被研究者分为4组。饮酒量最少的一组包括每周平均饮酒量达20杯的人，饮酒量最高的一组每周饮酒至少56杯，平均每天8杯以上。患口腔癌和喉癌的危险随着饮酒量而稳定上升，即使是那些只在就餐时饮酒的人。例如，和低饮酒量的人相比，每周饮酒2134杯的人患除喉癌以外其他部位的癌症的危险增加了一倍。如果这几组中的人在就餐时间以外饮酒，那些属于高饮酒量组的人会使他们患口腔癌和食道癌的危险至少增加3倍。 和每周只在就餐时平均饮酒至多20杯的人相比，高饮酒量组的人在就餐时间饮酒患口腔癌的危险是低饮酒量组的10倍，咽癌是其7倍，食道癌16倍。相反，酒精高摄入且仅在就餐时饮酒的人患喉癌的危险是酒精低摄入且仅在就餐时饮酒的人的3倍。 “酒精能使组织发炎，一段时间后，炎症可引发癌症。”Dal Maso说。他认为食物降低了患癌症的危险，或是通过覆盖在消化道组织上或是通过将酒精从那些组织上擦牛。他推测所有被研究者患喉癌的机率比其他癌症低很多的原因是组织被酒精侵害到的部分少。36 Who are more likely to develop cancer in the mouth and neck?A People who drink alcohol outside of meals.B People who drink alcohol at meals.C People who never drink alcohol.D People who drink alcohol only at bars and pubs.正确答案：A37 Which of the following is NOT a research finding about “ drinking with meals”?A It lowers cancer risk compared with drinking without food.B It may be a cause of cancer.C It Increases by 20 percent the risk of cancer In all the four sites.D It does not eliminate cancer risk at any of the four sites.正确答案：C38 How many drinks do the lowest - intake group average per week?A 20.B 21.C 34.D 56.正确答案：A39 Which of the four cancers has the lowest risk?A Oral cancer.B Laryngeal cancer.C Pharyngeal cancer.D Esophageal cancer.正确答案：B40 According to the last paragraph, tissues lower exposure to alcohol_.A explains why Inflammation triggers cancerB accounts for why food can cover digestive - tract tissuesC Is the reason why food can take alcohol off themD reduces the risk of laryngeal cancer正确答案：D4、Clone FarmFactory farming could soon enter a new era of mass production. Companies in the US are developing the technology needed to clone chickens on a massive scale1. Once a chicken with desirable traits has been bred or genetically engineered2, tens of thousands of eggs, which will hatch into identical copies , could roll off the production lines every hour. Billions of clones could be produced each year to supply chicken farms with birds that all grow at the same rate, have the same amount of meat and taste the same.This, at least, is the vision of the USs National Institute of Science and Technology, which has given Origen Therapeutics of Burlingame, California, and Embrex of North Carolina $4.7 million to help fund research4. The prospect has alarmed animal welfare groups, who fear it could increase the suffering of farm birds.Thats unlikely to put off5 the poultry industry, however, which wants disease-resistant birds that grow faster on less food. Producers would like the same meat quantity but to use reduced inputs to get there, says Mike Fitzgerald of Origen. To meet this demand, Origen aims to create an animal that is effectively a clone, he says. Normal cloning doesnt work in birds because eggs cant be removed and implanted. Instead, the company is trying to bulk-grow6, embryonic stem cells7 taken from fertilized eggs as soon as theyre laid. The trick is to culture8 the cells without them starting to distinguish, so they remain pluripotent, says Fitzgerald.Using a long-established technique, these donor cells will then be injected into the embryo of a freshly laid, fertilized recipient egg9, forming a chick that is a chimera. Strictly speaking a chimera isnt a clone, because it contains cells from both donor and recipient. But Fitzgeraldsays it will be enough if, say, 95 percent of a chickens body develops from donor cells. In the poultry world, it doesnt matter if its not 100 percent, he says.pluripotent /pluaripetent/ adj.多能的 embryo /embrieu/ n.胚胎 chimera /kaimiara/ n.嵌合体 vaccine /vaeksiin/ n.疫苗Another challenge for Origen is to scale up10 production. To do this, it has teamed up with11 Embrex, which produces machines that can inject vaccines into up to 50,000 eggs12 an hour. Embrex is now trying to modify the machines to locate the embryo and inject the cells into precisely the right spot without killing it.In future, Origen imagines freezing stem cells from different strains of chicken13. If orders come in for a particular strain, millions of eggs could be produced in months or even weeks. At present, maintaining all the varieties the market might call for is too expensive for breeders, and k takes years to breed enough chickens to produce the billions of eggs that farmers need.克隆农场 工业化农场很快会进入一个大产量的新领域。美国的公司正在开发一项需要大规模克隆小鸡的技术。一旦一个具有所期望特性的小鸡被孵化出来或被基因改造，每小时成千上万的鸡蛋会孵出如出一辙的小鸡滚下生产线。每年上百万的克隆小鸡能被孵化出来，从而为鸡场提供以相同比例生长，重量相同并且味道相同的小鸡。这至少是美国国家科技院的梦想，科技院给OnrigenTherapeuticsofBurlinggame,California，以及EmbrexofNorthCaroling470万基金以资助研究。这个预想为担忧增加鸡场小鸡痛苦的动物福利组织拉响了警报。那好像并没有让使家禽养殖业气馁，然而，他们想使抗痛小鸡吃得更少，长得更快，“养殖者希望减少投入但仍获得相同的产量，”MikeFitzgeraldofOrigen说，为了达到这个要求，Origen致力于“制造一个有效克隆体的小鸡，”他说，正常的克隆技术对鸟类无效，因为卵不能被移动或移植。然而，公司正试图大量繁殖刚产下的受精卵中提取的胚胎的干细胞。技巧是在细胞开始显示其差别前对其进行培育，这样它们还保持多能性。”Fitzgerald说运用早已形成的技术，这些干细胞会被注入刚孵出的，已受精的，要接受细胞植入的鸡蛋的胚胎中，形成一个嵌合体的小鸡。严格地说，嵌合体的小鸡不是克隆鸡，因为它既有植入的细胞又有本身的细胞。但Fitzgerald说，如果小鸡身体的95%是由被植入的细胞发展而来的就足够了。“在家禽界，不是100%也没关系。”Origen面临的另一个挑战是提高生产量。为了做到这点，他和Embrex合作研制了一个可将疫苗注入50000个鸡蛋中的仪器。Embrex正试图改造那个仪器，从而使胚胎和注射的细胞落在准确的位置而不杀死它。在将来，Origen设想将不同品种小鸡的干细胞冷冻，如果定单要某一种小鸡，成百万的卵能在几个月甚至几个星期被生产出来，目前，维持市场可能需要的各种小鸡对养殖者来说太昂贵了，那要花数年的时间培育足够多的小鸡以生产出农民需要的上百万鸡蛋。1. Which statement is the best description of the new era of factory farming according to the first paragraph?A. Eggs are all genetically engineered.B. Thousands of eggs are produced every hour.C. Cloned chickens are bulk-produced with the same growth rate, weight and taste.D. Identical eggs can be hatched on the production lines. 2. Which institution has offered $4.7 million to fund the research?A. The USs National Institute of Science and Technology.B. Origen therapeutics of Burlingame, California.C. Embrex of North Carolina.D. Anim