B
Rome—doctors and medical groups around the world last weekend reacted with strong opposition to the news that an Italian specialist is on_the_brink_of cloning the first human baby.
Dr.Severino Antinori，who is the head of a hospital in Rome，has been referred to in an Arab newspaper as claiming that one of his patients is eight weeks pregnant with a cloned baby.
Antinori refused to comment on the reports，but in March 2001 he said he hoped to produce a cloned embryo for implantation within two years.So far seven different kinds of mammals have already been successfully cloned，including sheep，cats and most recently rabbits.
Doctors showed their doubt and were strongly opposed although they admitted that human cloning would finally come true unless there was a worldwide ban on the practice.
Professor Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said，“I find it astonishing that people do this where the result can be foretold that it will not be a normal baby.It is using humans as guinea pigs.It makes people feel sick.”
But Ronald Green，director of the Ethics Institute at Darmouth College in the US，said it was unlikely that an eightweekold pregnancy would lead to a birth.
So far all cloned animals have suffered from some different serious disorders，many of them dying soon after their births.
Doctors are opposed to human cloning because they are worried about the welfare of the cloned child if there is one.
“There are no benefits of cloning human beings，just harm，” said Dr.Michael Wilks of the UK.
31.What do the underlined words “on the brink of” in the first paragraph most probably mean?
A.On the side of. B.On the point of.
C.In search of. D.In favor of.
32.The doctors’ general attitude to cloning humans according to the passage is that________.
A.they are against it
B.they support it
C.they pay no attention to it
D.they welcome it
33.What does the underlined word “ban” in the fourth paragraph most probably mean?
A.order that forbids cloning.
B.suggestion on carrying on cloning.
C.anger at cloning.
D.cheer for cloning.
34.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.Doctor Severino Antinori is strongly opposed to cloning human beings.
B.Up to now，seven kinds of animals have been cloned，including sheep，cats，humans and rabbits.
C.Professor Rudolf Jaenisch is carrying out an experiment on cloning an eightweekold embryo.
D.Ronald Green doubts about the future successful birth of socalled cloned embryo.
35.Where is the passage probably taken from?
A.A textbook. B.A magazine.
C.A newspaper. D.A digest.
C
Marie Curie was a Polish physicist and chemist who lived between 1867—1934.Together with her husband，Pierre，she discovered two new elements (radium and polonium，two radioactive elements that they extracted chemically from pitchblended ore) and studied the xrays they emitted.She found that the harmful properties of xrays were able to kill tumors.By the end of World War Ⅰ，Marie Curie was probably the most famous woman in the world.She had made a conscious decision，however，not to patent methods of processing radium or its medical applications.
Marie Curie was born on November 7,1867 in Poland and died on July 4,1934.Her codiscovery with her husband Pierre Curie of the radioactive elements radium and polonium represents one of the bestknown stories in modern science for which they were recognized in 1901 with the Nobel Prize in Physics.In 1911，Marie Curie was honored with a second Nobel Prize，this time in Chemistry，to honor her for successfully isolating pure radium and determining radium’s atomic weight.
As a child，Marie Curie amazed people with her great memory.She learned to read when she was only four years old.Her father was a professor of science and the instruments that he kept in a glass case fascinated Marie.She dreamed of becoming a scientist，but that would not be easy.Her family became very poor，and at the age of 18，Marie became a governess.She helped pay for her sister to study in Paris.Later，her sister helped Marie with her education.In 1891，Marie attended the Sorbonne University in Paris where she met and married Pierre Curie，a wellknown physicist.
Marie Curie contributed greatly to our understanding of radioactivity and the effects of xrays.She received two Nobel Prizes for her brilliant work，but died of leukaemia，caused by her repeated exposure to radioactive materials.
36.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.To give us a general introduction to Madame Curie.
B.To show us how Madame Curie discovered radium.
C.To tell us how Madame Curie developed as a scientist.
D.To tell us how Madame Curie received two Nobel Prizes.
37.Madame Curie was given the Nobel Prize in Chemistry because ________.
A.she discovered radium
B.she separated pure radium and calculated its atomic weight
C.she discovered polonium
D.she didn’t patent methods of processing radium
38.Which of the following statements about Madame Curie is NOT true?
A.Madame Curie made great contributions to medical science.
B.Madame Curie was very smart and ambitious when she was a child.
C.Madame Curie received two Nobel Prizes in Physics.
D.Madame Curie’s husband helped her a lot in her research.
39.We can infer from the third paragraph that ______.
①Madame Curie got married when she was at college.
②Madame Curie had a great ambition when she was young.
③Madame Curie loved teaching more than anything else.
④Madame Curie must have met a lot of difficulties to get high education.
⑤Her father had a great influence on Madame Curie’s future career.
⑥Madame Curie was very smart when she was a child.
A.①②④⑤⑥ B.②④⑤⑥
C.②③④⑤⑥ D.①②③④⑤
40.Which is the right order about Madame Curie according to the passage?
a.married Pierre
b.attended university
c.discovered radium
d.determined radium’s atomic weight
e.won the Nobel Prize in Physics
A.b，c，a，d，e B.b，a，c，d，e
C.b，a，c，e，d D.b，c，a，e，d
D
Living in the wild can be hard.Finding food and staying safe aren’t easy.Each day，animals struggle to survive in their habitats.Not all animals get by on their own.Some animals form a close partnership with other kinds of animals.These pairings are called symbiotic (共生的) relationships.
In a symbiotic relationship，the animals depend on each other.One animal helps the other meet its needs.Sounds good，right? Not always.Some animals are not very kind to their partners.In some cases，one animal meets its needs but hurts its partner.Take ticks，for example.These insects suck blood to live.To get blood，they attach themselves to other kinds of animals.Ticks can pass germs that cause disease instead of helping their hosts.
In other relationships，animals don’t treat their partners so poorly.Both animals benefit from living with the other animals.
Small animals called cleaner shrimps have found a way of helping fish at coral reefs.As their name suggests，the shrimps clean the fish.They hang out at what scientists call a cleaning station.A fish stops by.Then a shrimp climbs onto the fish and even steps into the fish’s mouth.The shrimp uses its tiny claws to pick stuff off the fish’s body.That can include dead skin，tiny pieces of food，and wee creatures that can hurt the fish.The fish gets a nice cleaning.The shrimp enjoys a tasty meal of fish trash.
Small birds called plovers are also in the cleaning business.They have big customers—crocodiles.Crocs have long snouts (鼻子) filled with sharp teeth.Cleaning them is tricky.When a croc opens its mouth，the plover hops right in.The croc does not snap its snout shut.Instead，it lets the plover eat small，harmful animals attached to the crocodile’s teeth.The plover gets an easy meal while the croc gets clean teeth.
41.The text is mainly about ________.
A.the hard life in the wild
B.some dangerous animals
C.animals living together
D.animals in a symbiotic relationship
42.According to the text，in a symbiotic relationship，______.
A.animals depend on each other
B.birds depend on animals for food
C.both sides can get help
D.not all animals treat their partners well
43.Why do the cleaner shrimps clean the fish?
A.To get fish trash for food.
B.To eat wee creatures.
C.To help fish go out of coral reefs.
D.To get food for fish.
44.When plovers hop into crocodiles’ mouths，they ________.
A.are really to clean crocodiles’ teeth
B.are to make crocodiles happy
C.aren’t afraid of being eaten
D.aren’t happy to clean the crocodiles’ teeth
45.According to the text，it can be inferred that ______.
A.living in the wild can be hard
B.different animals have different living ways
C.crocodiles mainly live on plovers
D.ticks are useful to some animals
