阅读理解题

　　第一篇

Technology Transfer in Germany

　　When it comes to translating basic research into industrial success, few nations can match Germany. Since the 1940s, the nation's vast industrial base has been fed with a constant stream of new ideas and expertise from science. And though German prosperity （繁荣） has faltered （衰退） over the past decade because of the huge cost of unifying east and west as well as the global economic decline, it still has an enviable record for turning ideas into profit.

　　Much of the reason for that success is the Fraunhofer Society, a network of research institutes that exists solely to solve industrial problems and create sought-after technologies. But today the Fraunhofer institutes have competition. Universities are taking an ever larger role in technology transfer, and technology parks are springing up all over. These efforts are being complemented by the federal programmes for pumping money into start-up companies.

　　Such a strategy may sound like a recipe for economic success, but it is not without its critics. These people worry that favouring applied research will mean neglecting basic science, eventually starving industry of fresh ideas. If every scientist starts thinking like an entrepreneur（企业家）, the argument goes, then the traditional principles of university research being curiosity-driven, free and widely available will suffer. Others claim that many of the programmes to promote technology transfer are a waste of money because half the small businesses that are promoted are bound to go bankrupt within a few years.

　　While this debate continues, new ideas flow at a steady rate from Germany's research networks, which bear famous names such as Helmholtz, Max Planck and Leibniz. Yet it is the fourth network, the Fraunhofer Society, that plays the greatest role in technology transfer.

　　Founded in 1949, the Fraunhofer Society is now Europe's largest organisation for applied technology, and has 59 institutes employing 12,000 people. It continues to grow. Last year, it swallowed up the Heinrich Hertz Institute for Communication Technology in Berlin. Today, there are even Fraunhofers in the US and Asia.

　　1 What factor can be attributed to German prosperity?

　　A Technology transfer.

　　B Good management.

　　C Hard work.

　　D Fierce competition.

　　2 Which of the following is NOT true of traditional university research?

　　A It is free.

　　B It is profit-driven.

　　C It is widely available.

　　D It is curiosity-driven.

　　3 The Fraunhofer Society is the largest organisation for applied technology in

　　A Asia.

　　B USA.

　　C Europe.

　　D Africa.

　　4 When was the Fraunhofer Society founded?

　　A In 1940.

　　B Last year.

　　C After the unification.

　　D In 1949.

　　5 The word "expertise" in line 3 could be best replaced by

　　A "experts".

　　B "scientists".

　　C "scholars".

　　D "special knowledge".

　　第二篇

Star Quality

　　A new anti-cheating system for counting the judges' scores in ice skating is flawed, according to leading sports specialists. Ice skating's governing body announced the new rules last week after concerns that a judge at the Winter Olympics may have been unfairly influenced.

　　Initially the judges in the pairs figure-skating event at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City voted 5 to 4 to give the gold medal to a Russian pair, even though they had a fall during their routine. But the International Skating Union suspended the French judge for failing to reveal that she had been put under pressure to vote for the Russians. The International Olympics Committee then decided to give a second gold to the Canadian runners-up （亚军）.

　　The ISU, skating's governing body, now says it intends to change the rules. In future 14 judges will judge each event, but only 7 of their scores－selected at random－will count.

　　The ISU won't finally approve the new system until it meets in June but already UK Sport, the British Government's sports body, has expressed reservations. "1 remain to be convinced that the random selection system would offer the guarantees that everyone concerned with ethical sport is looking for", says Jerry Bingham, UK Sport's head of ethics （伦理）.

　　A random system can still be manipulated, says Mark Dixon, a specialist on sports statistics from the Royal Statistical Society in London. "The score of one or two judges who have been nobbled （受到贿赂） may still be in the seven selected."

　　Many other sports that have judges, including diving, gymnastics, and synchronized swimming, have a system that discards the highest and lowest scores. If a judge was under pressure to favour a particular team, they would tend to give it very high scores and mark down the opposition team, so their scores wouldn't count. It works for diving, says Jeff Cook, a member of the international government body's technical committee. "If you remove those at the top and bottom you're left with those in the middle, so you're getting a reasonable average."

　　Since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, diving has tightened up in its system still further. Two separate panels of judges score different rounds of diving during top competitions. Neither panel knows the scores given by the other. "We have done this to head off any suggestion of bias," says Cook.

　　Bingham urged the ISU to consider other options. "This should involve examining the way in which other sports deal with the problem of adjudicating （裁定） on matter of style and presentation," he says.

　　6 Who won the gold medal in the pairs figure-skating event?

　　A The Russian pair.

　　B The Canadian pair.

　　C Both the Russian pair and the Canadian pair.

　　D The French pair.

　　7 According to the new rules proposed by the ISU, which of the following is right?

　　A The number of judges will be doubled.

　　B Only half of the judges will score.

　　C Only some selected judges will score.

　　D Only half of the scores will count.

　　8 What does Jerry Bingham express by saying "1 remain to be convinced"?

　　A His anger.

　　B His criticism.

　　C His agreement.

　　D His doubt.

　　9 The attitude of those concerned in the UK to the new rules proposed by ISU can be best described as

　　A indifferent.

　　B reserved.

　　C enthusiastic.

　　D positive.

　　10 Which of the following is NOT true of the scoring system for diving?

　　A It is more biased.

　　B It is more reasonable.

　　C It is fairer.

　　D It is tighter.

　　第三篇

Eat More, Weigh Less, Live Longer

　　Clever genetic detective work may have found out the reason why a near-starvation diet prolongs the life of many animals.

　　Ronald Kahn at Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, and his colleagues have been able to extend the lifespan （寿命） of mice by 18 per cent by blocking the. rodent's （啮齿动物） increase of fat in specific cells. This suggests that thinness－and not necessarily diet－promotes long life in "calorie （热量卡） restricted" animals.

　　"It's very cool work," says aging researcher Cynthia Kenyon of the University of California, San Francisco. "These mice eat all they want, lose weight and live longer. It's like heaven."

　　Calorie restriction dramatically extends the lifespan of organisms as different as worms and rodents. Whether this works in humans is still unknown, partly because few people are willing to submit to such a strict diet.

　　But many researchers hope they will be able to trigger the same effect with a drug once they understand how less food leads to a longer life. One theory is that eating less reduces the increase of harmful things that can damage cells. But Kahn's team wondered whether the animals simply benefit by becoming thin.

　　To find out, they used biology tricks to disrupt the insulin （胰岛素） receptor （受体） gene in lab mice——but only in their fat cells. "Since insulin is needed to help fat cells store fat, these animals were protected against becoming fat," explains Kahn.

　　This slight genetic change in a single tissue had dramatic effects. By three months of age, Kahn's modified mice had up to 70 per cent less body fat than normal control mice, despite the fact that they ate 55 per cent more food per gram of body weight.

　　In addition, their lifespan increased. The average control mouse lived 753 days, while the thin rodents averaged a lifespan of 887 days. After three years, all the control mica had died, but one-quarter of the modified rodents were still alive.

　　"That they get these effects by just manipulating the fat cells is controversial," says Leonard Guarente of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who studies calorie restriction and aging.

　　But Guarente says Kahn has yet to prove that the same effect is responsible for increased lifespan in calorie-restricted animals. "It might be the same effect or there might be two routes to long life," he points out, "and that would be very interesting."

　　11 Ronald Kahn and his colleagues can make mice live longer by

　　A offering them less food.

　　B giving them a balanced diet.

　　C disrupting the specific genes in their fat cells.

　　D preventing them growing larger.

　　12 According to the passage, we do not know whether humans will benefit from taking in fewer calories partly because

　　A humans, worms and rodents are different.

　　B most people are not willing to be put on a strict diet.

　　C the effect is not known.

　　D genetic changes in tissues can not be performed on humans.

　　13 What does the last sentence in the third paragraph imply?

　　A People like to lose weight, but they do not like to eat less

　　B People want to go to heaven, but they do not want to die.

　　C Mice will go to heaven if they lose weight.

　　D Mice enjoy losing weight.

　　14 The average modified mouse lived

　　A 3 years.

　　B 753 days.

　　C More than 3 years.

　　D 887 days.

　　15 What can be inferred from the passage about the route to long life?

　　A It remains to be studied.

　　B It has already been discovered.

　　C Eating more leads to long life.

　　D Eating less leads to long life.

　　【参考答案】

　　1. A 2. B 3. C 4. D 5. D

　　6. C 7. D 8. D 9. B 10. A

　　11. C 12. B 13. A 14. D 15. A