第4部分:阅读理解 (第 31~45题,每题 3分 ,共 45分)

　　下面有3篇短文，每篇短文有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题定1个最佳选项。

　　第一篇

Human Heart Can Make New Cells

　　Solving a longstanding mystery, scientists have found that the human heart continues to generate new cardiac cells throughout the life span, although the rate of new cell production slows with age.

　　The finding, published in the April 3 issue of Science, could open a new path for the treatment of heart diseases such as heart failure and heart attack ,experts say.

　　"We find that the beating cells in the heart, cardiomyocytes, are renewed, " said lead researcher Dr. Jonas Frisen, a professor of stem cell research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. "It has previously not been known whether we were limited to the cardiomyocytes we are bom with or if they could be renewed." he said.

　　The process of renewing these cells changes over time, Frisen added. In a 20-year-old, about 1 percent of cardiomyocytes are exchanged each year, but the turnover rate decreases with age to only 0. 45 percent by age 75.

　　"If we can understand how the generation of new cardiomyocytes is regulated , it may be potentially possible to develop pharmaceuticals that promote this process to stimulate regeneration after for example, a heart attack, " Frisen said.

　　That could lead to treatment that helps restore damaged hearts.

　　"A lot of people suffer from chronic heart failure," noted co-author Dr. Ratan Bhardwaj.

　　Ratan Bhardwaj, also from the Karolinska Institute. " Chronic heart failure arises from heart cells dying, "he said.

　　With this finding, scientists are "opening the door to potential therapies to having ourselves heal ourselves, " Bhardwaj said. " Maybe one could devise a pharmaceutical agent that would make heart cells make new and more cells to overcome the problem they are facing."

　　But barriers remain. According to Bhardwaj , scientists do not yet know how to increase heart cell production to a rate that would replace cells faster than they are dying off, especially in older patients with heart failure. In addition, the number of new cells the heart produces was estimated using healthy hearts-whether the rate of cell tumover in diseased hearts is the same remains unknown.

　　31. The human heart stops producing cardiac cells

　　A. when a person becomes old

　　B. as soon as a person gets sick

　　C. immediately after a person is born

　　D. once a person dies

　　32. The finding could prove to be useful to

　　A. the analysis of cardiac cells

　　B. the prevention of chronic diseases

　　C. the treatment of heart disease

　　D. the study of longstanding mysteries

　　33. In people in their mid-70s, only 0. 45 percent of cardiomyocytes _ .

　　A. are still functional

　　B. are reduced each year

　　C. are replaced each year

　　D. are damaged each year

　　34. Chronic heart failure is attributed to

　　A. the dying heart cells

　　B. the effect of pharmceutical

　　C. the weight of a patient

　　D. the life span of a person

　　35. It is not known yet if the rate of cell turnover in diseased hearts

　　A. is high enough to replace cells faster than they're dying off

　　B. is of any use to researchers

　　C. is the same as that in healthy hearts

　　D. changes over time

　　第二篇

The Ice Man

　　On a September day in 1991, two Germans were climbing the mountain between Austria and Italy. High up on a mountain pass, they found the body of a man lying on the ice. At that height (10,499 feet, or 3,200 meters) , the ice is usually permanent, but 1991 had been an especially warm year. The mountain ice had melted more than just .usual and so the body had come to the surface.

　　It was lying face down. The skeleton(骨架) was in perfect condition, except for a wound in the head. There was still skin on the bones and the remains of some clothes. The hands were still holding the wooden handle of an ax and on the feet there were very simple leather and cloth boots. Nearby was a pair of gloves made of tree bark(树皮) and a holder for arrows.

　　Who was the man? How and when had he died? Everybody had a different answer to these questions. Some people thought that it was from this century, perhaps the body of a soldier who died in World War I, since several soldier had already been found in the area. A Swiss woman believed it might be her father, who had died in those mountains twenty years before and whose body had never been found. The scientists who rushed to look at the body thought it was probably much older,maybe even a thousand years old.

　　With modern dating techniques, the scientists soon learned that the iceman was about 5,300 years old. Born in about 3300 B. C. he lived during the Bronze Age in Europe. At first scientists thought he was probably a hunter who had died from an accident in the high mountains. More recent evidence, however, tells a different story. A new kind of X-ray shows an arrowhead still stuck in his shoulder. It left only a tiny hole in his skin, but it caused internal damage and bleeding. He almost certainly died from this wound, and not from the wound on the back of his head. This means that the was probably in some kind of battle. It may have been part of a large war, or he may have been fighting bandits. He may even have been a bandit himself.

　　By studying his clothes and tools, scientists have already learned a great deal from the Iceman about the times he lived in. we may never know the full story of how he died, but he has given us important clues to the history of those distant times.

　　36. The body of the Iceman was found in the mountains mainly because

　　A. the melted ice made him visible

　　B. two Germans were climbing the mountains

　　C. he was lying on the ice

　　D. he was just on a mountain pass

　　37. What can be inferred from paragraph 2?

　　A. The Iceman was killed while working.

　　B. The Iceman lived a poor life.

　　C. The Iceman could have died from the wound in the head.

　　D. The Iceman was struck dead from behind.

　　38. All the following are assumptions once made about the Iceman EXCEPT .

　　A. he was a soldier in World War I

　　B. he was a Swiss woman's long-lost father

　　C. he was born about a thousand years ago

　　D. he came from Italy

　　39. The scientists made the deduction that the Iceman '

　　A. was hit in the shoulder by an arrowhead .

　　B. was probably in some kind of a battle

　　C. had got a wound on the back of his head

　　D. had a tiny hole in his skin causing his death

　　40. The word"bandits" in paragraph 4 could be best replaced by

　　A. robbers

　　B. soldiers

　　C. hunters

　　D. shooters

　　第三篇

　　Holding on to hope may not make patients happier as they deal with chronic illness or diseases, according to a new study by University of Michigan Health System researchers.

　　" Hope is an important part of happiness, "said Peter A. Ubel, M. D. director of the U-M Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine and one of the authors of the happily hopeless study, "but there's a dark side of hope. Sometimes, if hope makes people put off getting on with their life, it can get in the way of happiness. "

　　The results showed that people do not adapt well to situations if they are believed to be shortterm. Ubel and his co-authors-both from U-M and Carnegie Mellon University-studied patients who had new colostomies: their colons were removed and they had to have bowel movements in a pouch that lies outside their body.

　　At the time they received their colostomy, some patients were told that the colostomy was reversible-that they would undergo a second operation to reconnect their bowels after several months. Others were told that the colostomy was permanent and that they would never have normal bowel function again. The second group-the one without hope-reported being happier over the next six months than those with reversible colostomies.

　　"We think they were happier because they got on with their lives. They realized the cards they were dealt, and recognized that they had no choice but to play with those cards," says Ubel, who is also a professor in the Department of Intemal Medicine.

　　"The other group was waiting for their colostomy to be reversed, " he added. "They contrasted their current life with the life they hoped to lead, and didn't make the best of their current situation. "

　　"Hopeful messages may not be in the best interests of the patient and may interfere with the patient's emotional adaptation, " Ubel says."I don't think we should take hope away. But I think we have to be careful about building up people's hope so much that they put off living their lives. "

　　41. Chronically ill patients may be happier

　　A. if they keep thinking of their past

　　B. if they believe they'Il recover

　　C. if they put off moving on

　　D. if they manage to get on with their life

　　42. What had happened to the patients under study?

　　A. They had just survived an accident.

　　B. They had just had an operation.

　　C. They had just injured their colons.

　　D. They had just made some pouches.

　　43. One group of the patients was happier because

　　A. they made the best of their current situation

　　B. they were good at playing cards

　　C. they regained normal bowel function

　　D. they were promised another operation

　　44. The other group was not as happy because .

　　A. they accepted their current situation

　　B. they were anxious to get better

　　C. they missed their previous life

　　D. they refused to play cards

　　45. What could be the message of the passage?

　　A. Giving up hope means giving up happiness.

　　B. Letting go of hope is at times a better choice.

　　C. Hope is what makes people on.

　　D. Hope frequently gets in the way of happiness.

　　同时按下Crtl键和A键查看答案

第一篇
31.D 32.C 33.C 34.A 35.C 
第二篇
36.A 37.C 38.D 39.B 40.A 
第三篇 
41.D 42.B 43.A 44.B 45.B 

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