Questions 6-10
An article published recently in the prestigious scientific journal Nature is shedding new light on an important, but hitherto little has been appreciated, aspect of human evolution. In this article, Professors Dennis Bramble and Daniel Lieberman suggest that the ability to run was a crucial factor in the development of our species. According to the two scientists, humans possess a number of anatomical features that make them surprisingly good runners. 'We are very confident that strong selection for running-which came at the expense of the historical ability to live in trees-was instrumental in the origin of the modern human body form,' says Bramble, a biology professor at the University of Utah.
Traditional thinking up to now has been that the distinctive, upright body form of modern humans has come about as a result of the ability to walk, and that running is simply a by-product of walking. Furthermore, humans have usually been regarded as poor runners compared to such animals as dogs, horses or antelopes. However, this is only true if we consider fast running, or sprinting, over short distances. Even an Olympic athlete can hardly run as fast as a horse can gallop, and can only keep up a top speed for fifteen seconds or so. Horses, antelopes and greyhounds, on the other hand, can run at top speed for several minutes, clearly outperforming us in this respect. But when it comes to long-distance running, humans do astonishingly well. They can maintain a steady pace for miles, and their overall speed compares favourably with that of horses or dogs. Bramble and Lieberman examined twenty-six anatomical features found in humans. One of the most interesting of these is the nuchal ligament, a band of tissue that extends from a ridge on the base of the skull to the spine. When we run, it is this ligament that prevents our head from pitching back and forth or from side to side. Therefore, we are able to run with steady heads, held high. The nuchal ligament is not found in any other surviving primates, although the fossil record shows that Homo erectus, an early human species that walked upright, much as we do, also had one. Then there are our Achilles tendons at the backs of our legs, which connect our calf muscles to our heel bones-and which have nothing to do with walking. When we run, these tendons behave like springs, helping to propel us forward. Furthermore, we have low, wide shoulders, virtually disconnected from our skulls, another anatomical adaptation which allows us to run more efficiently. Add to this our light forearms, which swing out of phase with the movement of our legs to assist balance, and one begins to appreciate the point that Bramble and Lieberman are trying to make. But what evolutionary advantage is gained from being good long-distance runners? One hypothesis is that this ability may have permitted early
humans to obtain food more effectively. 'What these features and fossil facts appear to be telling us is that running evolved in order for our direct ancestors to compete with other carnivores for access to the protein needed to grow the big brains that we enjoy today,' says Lieberman. 6.The human ability to run ______.
(A) was only recently described in a scientific journal (B) played an important part in human evolution
(C) is now regarded as more important than the ability to climb trees (D) is surprising when we consider evolutionary trends 7.According to the passage, humans ______. (A) are better runners than most other animals (B) are not good at running short distances (C) compare unfavorably with horses and dogs (D) cannot run at top speed over long distances 8.It appears that the nuchal ligament _______. (A) is found only in modern primates (B) enables us to run with steady heads (C) prevents the head from moving
(D) is a unique anatomical feature among all species 9.The passage suggests that _______.
(A) we do not need calf muscles in order to walk (B) without shoulders we could not run very fast (C) the movement of our forearms is out of phase (D) our Achilles tendons are an adaptation for running 10.According to the passage, early humans _______.
(A) killed animals by exhausting them (B) may have evolved big brains for running (C) competed with other animals for food (D) could probably run before they could walk Questions 11-15
People value money desperately because they value one another desperately; thus the cause of panic in the stock-market plunge is not that people will lose their dollars but that they will lose their sense of community. For the past couple of weeks, the nation has watched itself roll toward ruin because people were losing their money in bales. If one were tasteless enough to ask a big loser what exactly he was losing, he would sputter, \My clothes! My dinner! My dollars!\mourning the passing of their money for all the things that money can do, and what money can do is impressive. Money can build cities, cure diseases, and win wars. The sudden acquisition of the stuff can toss our spirits into the air like a hat.
Money can do considerably more. It offers power, an almost unique form of power, not simply because it allows us to acquire and possess things but because it is we who determine its worth; we who say a ruby costs more than an apple; we who decide that a tennis court is more valuable than a book. Paradoxically, money creates a deep sense of powerlessness as well, since technically we cannot provide money for ourselves; someone or something else must do that for us-our employers or, until recently, our stocks. All that, money can do: and when such essential, familiar
functions are snatched from one's life, small wonder that people may grow wild, frantic, and even murderous.
What money can do, however, is not the same as what money is. Let's return for a moment to the theory: people value money because they value one another. In other words, the usefulness of money is directly related to and established by continuous mutual need. People work for money to buy things that other people make or do, things that they cannot or will not make or do for themselves but that they deem necessary for some definition of self-improvement.
Abstractly, money is one of the ways, indeed a universally accepted way, by which we make connections. Cash is cold. So the connections may feel cold, but real blood flows through them. These connections constitute one
of the central means by which societies cohere; by which they sustain and characterize themselves.
When the coin begins to wobble, as it has in the past weeks, a fear seizes the mind that is disorienting. The fear is not merely that of the loss of possessions but of self-possession, which in some sense is bought and sold from person to person in infinite daily bargains. To lose money is frightening. To lose touch with others is more frightening still. Losing touch may cause the panic of the times. 11.This passage mainly discusses _______. (A) the functions of money (B) the stock-market plunge (C) a new theory of investment (D) a cold characteristic of cash
12.According to the author, what can be a regular source of money provided for us?
(A) Possessions. (B) Bargains. (C) Stocks. (D) Employers.
13.According to the passage, money can do all the following EXCEPT _______.
(A) build cities and cure diseases (B) enhance relationships among people (C) create a sense of powerlessness (D) prove the morality of people
14.Under what circumstances are connections related to cash said to be cold in the passage?
(A) When they are not established for societies to cohere.
(B) When they are not compared to \
(C) When their functions are snatched from people's life. (D) When their worth is hard to determine and not valued. 15.It can be learned from the passage that ______.
(A) people worry about the dollars they have more than the sense of community
(B) money can lubricate the social machine but it cannot prove the value of people
(C) in daily transactions one's self-possession is gained or lost (D) losing money is more frightening than losing touch with others Questions 16-20
At first glance, why anyone would want to save California condors is not entirely clear. Unlike the closely related Andean condors with their white neck fluff or king vultures with their brilliant black-and-white colour, California condors are not much to see. Their dull black colour-even when contrasted with white underwings-featherless head and neck, oversized feet and blunt talons are hardly signs of beauty or strength. Their appeal begins to become evident when they take flights. California condors can soar almost effortlessly for hours, often covering hundreds of miles a day-far more than other creatures of the air. Only occasionally do they need to flap their wings-to take off, change direction or find a band of warm air known as thermal to carry them higher.
When it was discovered that the condor population was becoming dangerously small, scientists and zookeepers sought to increase condor numbers quickly to preserve as much of the species' genetic diversity as possible. From studying wild condors, they already knew that if a pair lost an egg, the birds would often produce another. So the first and sometimes second eggs laid by each female in captivity were removed, artificially incubated, and the chicks raised using hand-held puppets made to look like adult condors. Such techniques quickly proved effective.
Despite these successes, the effort to save California condors continues to have problems, evoke criticisms and generate controversy.
Captive-hatched condors released to the wild have died at what to some people are alarmingly high rates. Others have had to be recaptured after