many of them according to a predetermined schedule.
The implications for medicine are profound. By timing treatments to complement daily changes in biochemistry, the author argues, we can boost efficacy and reduce side effects. In one seminal trial, medical oncologist William Hrushesky of the Dorn V. A. Medical Center in Columbia, S. C. , found that by simply reversing the times when he administered two chemotherapeutic drugs, he could extend survival in women with advanced ovarian cancer from 11 percent at five years to 44. According to Chronobiology International, more than a dozen ailments can currently benefit from carefully timed treatments. In one recent study, he notes something as simple as low-dose aspirin at bedtime reduced the rate of preterm deliver in pregnant women at risk for hypertension（高血压、过度紧张）from 14 percent to zero. Aspirin in the morning had little effect. Surprised? No to Foster and Kreitzman. As they show, timing is everything.
39. According to the book Rhythms of Life, which of the following is TRUE? A. Severe asthma is not common at night.
B. Circadian rhythms influence us in various aspects.
C. It’s written by Russell Foster, a famous molecular neuroscientist. D. Medicines always function well provided that they have little side effects. 40. From the passage, we know that the mimosa plant . A. unfolds its leaves to avoid light. B. folds leaves to take in water at night. C. devises internal clocks in order to survive.
D. stops using internal clocks when placed in the dark.
41. The underlined word “ailments” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to . A. diseases. B. patients. C. hypertensions. D. treatments
C
What would the holidays be without lots of tiny twinkling lights? Less colorful and festive — but also a lot safer.
From living rooms to front porches across the country, homeowners are stringing millions of lights on Christmas trees or eaves and decorating their windowsills with electric, battery-operated or traditional candles. But according to the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission, too many are doing so with little regard to the hazards（危险）. Last holiday season there were about 200 Christmas tree fires in American homes, caused primarily by faulty lights and resulting in 10 deaths and more than $10 million in property loss, the Commission says. Another 14,000 house fires are started yearly by misplaced or mishandled candles, causing 170 deaths and $350 million in property loss. And about 10,000 people are treated at emergency rooms for injuries from falls, cuts or shocks while hanging lights or decorations.
The biggest causes of holiday fires are “candles and live trees”, said Kim Dulic, a Commission spokeswoman. The agency recommends battery-operated candles instead of real or electric, she said, along with fire-resistant artificial trees — or fresh, well-watered trees.
A cut tree is fresh, she said, if the bottom of its trunk is sticky with resin（树脂）and its
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needles are hard to pull and don’t break when bent. It is too dry if it sheds a shower of needles when bounced on the ground. A harvested tree should be cut about a half inch from the bottom and put in water within no more than three to six hours, said Rick Dungey, the public relations manager of the National Christmas Tree Association, in Chesterfield, Mo. “If you wait any longer, air molecules get in the trunk and they prevent the tree from absorbing water,” Mr. Dungey said, adding that people should water often and never let the water go below the cut end. Once a Christmas tree dries out, it is an accident waiting to happen, said Lorraine Carli, the communications vice president of the National Fire Protection Association, in Quincy, Mass. If catching fire, the tree can be engulfed in seconds.
The most common cause is electrical — either an overused electrical system or faulty wiring. Brett Brenner, the president of the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), in Rosslyn, Va., said homeowners should make yearly inspections. “Cracked sockets（插座）, frayed or bare wires and loose connections can cause a serious shock or start a fire,” he said. Use no more than one extension cord per socket, and string no more than three sets of lights together. Wires should not run under carpets or through windows or doors. He said outdoor outlets should be protected by a ground fault circuit interrupter — a breaker that trips with any interruption or problem with the ground wire. (An interrupter usually needs to be installed when an outlet is near or exposed to water; it generally costs less than $10.)
John Drengenberg, the consumer affairs director of Underwriters Laboratories, the testing group in Northbrook, III., said that if lights are certified（标记为）for indoors only, they must not be used outside; those certified for outdoors, however, can be used inside. And what about those who don’t take down their outdoor lights until the wisteria（紫藤花）is in bloom in May? “You should never leave lights up all year round,” Mr. Drengenberg said. “They’re not designed for year-round use.”
42. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a cause of the holiday hazards? A. Poor quality of bulbs.
B. Poor management of lights D. Careless handling of candles.
C. Accidents during decoration.
43. According to the passage, what is the best choice of Christmas trees? A. A real tree which is displayed at the shop. B. An artificial tree with delicate craftsmanship. C. A real tree whose needles don’t break when bent. D. An artificial tree that won’t be engulfed immediately. 44. It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that . A. electrical devices for outdoor use are not expensive B. the ESFI inspects household electrical system annually C. homeowners do not have the particular electrical knowledge D. an overloaded electrical system or faulty wiring may lead to disasters 45. What is the main idea of this passage? A. The accidents during Christmas season. B. The possible danger of Christmas decoration. C. The necessary information on safety regulations.
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D. The nature of the household hazards at the Christmas season.
D
Kino, a poor fisherman, has just found a very large and valuable pearl and is going to the nearest town to sell it. He needs money urgently to get medical help for his baby who has just been stung（蜇刺）by a scorpion. Before Kino found the pearl, the only doctor available had refused to treat the baby because Kino could not afford to pay for the treatment.
A town is a thing like a colonial animal. A town has a nervous system and a head and shoulders and feet. A town is a thing separate from all other towns, so that there are no two towns alike. And a town has a whole emotion. How news travels through a town is a mystery not easily to be solved. News seems to move faster than small boys can dart to tell it, faster than women can call it over the fences.
Before Kino and Juana and the other fishers had come to Kino’s brush house, the nerves of the town were pulsing and vibrating with the news — Kino had found the Pearl of the World. Before panting（气喘吁吁) little boys could strangle out the words, their mothers knew it. The news swept on past the brush houses, and it washed in a breaking wave into the town of stone and plaster. It came to the priest walking in his garden, and it put a thoughtful look in his eyes and a memory of certain repairs necessary to the church. He wondered what the pearl would be worth. And he wondered whether he had baptized (施洗礼) Kino’s baby, or married him for that matter. The news came to the shopkeepers and they looked at men’s clothes that had not sold so well.
The news came to the doctor where he sat with a woman whose illness was age, though neither she nor the doctor would admit it. And when it was made plain who Kino was, the doctor grew serious and judicious (明智的) at the same time. “He is a client of mine, the doctor said. “I am treating his child for a scorpion sting.” And the doctor’s eyes rolled up a little in their fat hammocks and he thought of Paris. He remembered the room he had lived in there as a great and luxurious place. The doctor looked past his aged patient and saw himself sitting in a restaurant in Paris and a waiter was just opening a bottle of wine.
The news came early to the beggars in front of the church, and it made them giggle a little with pleasure, for they knew that there is no alms (救济品) giver in the world like a poor man who is suddenly lucky.
Kino has found the Pearl of the World. In the town, in little offices, sat the men who bought pearls from the fishers. They waited in their chairs until the pearls came in, and then they cackled and fought and shouted and threatened until they reached the lowest price the fisherman would stand. But there was a price below which they dared not go, for it had happened that a fisherman in despair had given his pearls to the church. And when the buying was over, these buyers sat alone and their fingers played restlessly with the pearls, and they wished they owned the pearls. For there were not many buyers really — there was only one, and he kept these agents in separate offices to give a semblance of competition. The news came to these men, and their eyes squinted and their finger-tips burned a little, and each one thought how the patron（赞助人）could not live forever and someone had to take his place. And each one thought how with some capital he could get a new start.
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All manner of people grew interested in Kino — people with things to sell and people with favors to ask. Kino had found the Pearl of the World. The essence of pearl mixed with essence of men. Every man suddenly became related to Kino’s pearl, and Kino’s pearl went into the dreams, the speculations, the schemes, the plans, the futures, the wishes, the needs, the lusts, the hungers, of everyone, and only one person stood in the way and that was Kino, so that he became curiously every man’s enemy. The news stirred up something infinitely black and evil in the town. 46. Why did the shopkeepers look at the men’s clothes？ A. The men’s clothes didn’t sell well. B. There were lots of men’s clothes in store. C. They were very concerned about their business. D. They regarded Kino as a potential buyer of the clothes.
47. The doctor wouldn’t admit the woman’s illness was age because . A. the women pretended to be ill. B. the women had been ill for ages. C. the doctor was interested in his fees.
D. the doctor was certain to cure her of her disease. 48. Who do the people “with favors to ask” include? A. The priest and the doctor. B. The shopkeepers and the doctor. C. The beggars in front of the church. D. The agents of the buyers of pearls. 49. Why did the doctor think of Paris?
A. The news reminded him of his past experience in Paris. B. He was aware of what treating Kino’s baby meant for him. C. The woman patient could be sent to Paris for better treatment. D. He imagined what life would have been had he found the pearl. 50. What would be the best title for the passage ? A. The pearl C. A greedy town 四、任务型阅读
The concept of privacy in our society is something relatively modern —a term publicly talked about only since the recent Reform and Opening Up.
Before this historical change, China was under the influence of Ultra-left thought, where everything related to “self” was deemed as backward, shameful, even against the theme of communism, since they might be in contradiction to public interest. Needlessly to say, “privacy” which had almost the same meaning for shamefulness or dark soul.
With the development of the commodity economy, China is increasingly involved in international affairs. Therefore, Chinese gradually realized that privacy is actually in everyone’s interest. Put simply, regardless of a person’s profession, position, status, identity or age, it is impossible for him or her to appear the same 24 hours a day unless a hypocrite or hiding failure to perform.
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B. A lucky fisherman D. Breaking news
Privacy is normally regarded as personal information that is unrelated to others, or that a person is unwilling to reveal. Information such as a person’s religion, belief, hobbies or personal activities may cause discrimination or embarrassment if they are unfavorably disclosed. People may lack of a sense of safety in a society where privacy cannot be properly protected.
One thing that impressed me most in a country where I emigrated twenty years ago was the personal space people left for others. For example, when people are queuing up they keep a quite distance from one another, unlike the Chinese always keep too close to each other and make their way by pushing and shoving and crowding.
Essential personal information may include a personal’s political affiliation, financial status, medical conditions, family affairs and so on. These ought to be appropriately protected, even by law. Concern for others’ essential personal information is traditionally a way the Chinese care for others, but in a western country can be regarded as an offence.
A moral person should recognize and respect others’ privacy, and others treat them the same way in return. Social ethics and a healthy culture are thus formed when moral people are evident. Respecting individuals’ privacy is an important component of stable society and advocates the public getting along well with each other. In a way, privacy shouldn’t be simply viewed as a personal concept at all; rather, it indicates how civilized a society is. Learn to Respect Others’ Privacy Before Reform and The degree of concern about privacy in China Opening up After Reform and Opening up Influenced by Ultra-left thought, everything related to “self” (51)__________ communism. With the development of economy and China’s increasing (53)__________ internationally, the concept of privacy is introduced. ●Personal information or activities unrelated to others, if (54)__________, may cause discrimination and embarrassment. ● Personal space is the region surrounding a person, whose Categories of privacy (55)__________ tends to ignored by Chinese. ● Essential personal information includes some basic private information, an excessive concern over which may be considered (56)__________. ● People will feel a sense of safety in a society where privacy is under proper (57)__________. (52)__________ respecting privacy of ● Respecting privacy plays an important role in creating a stable and (58)__________ society. ● Respecting privacy is not simply public (59)__________ sense but an indication of social (60)__________. 五、书面表达
阅读下面短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。
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