"My own feelings went from disbelief to excitement to downright fear," says Carl Hergenrother, 23, an Arizona undergraduate who verified a large asteroid barreling toward Earth with a 230cm telescope atop nearby Kitt Peak. "It was scary, because there was the possibility that we were confirming the demise of some city somewhere, or some state or small country."
Well, not quite. Early last week, his celestial interloper whizzed by Earth, missing the planet by 450620 km--a hairbreadth in astronomical terms. Perhaps half a kilometer across, it was the largest object ever observed to pass that close to Earth.
Duncan Steel, an Australian astronomer, has calculated that if the asteroid had struck Earth, it would have hit at some 93460 km/h. The resulting explosion, scientists estimate, would have been in the 3000-to-12000-megaton range. That, says astronomer Eugene Shoemaker, a pioneer asteroid and comet hunter, "is like taking all of the U. S. and Soviet nuclear weapons, putting them in one pile and blowing them all up."
And what if one them is found to be on a collision course with Earth Scientists at the national laboratories at Livermore, California, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, have devised a number of ingenious plans that, given enough warning time, could protect Earth from a threatening NEO. Their defensive weapons of choice include long distance missiles with conventional or, more likely, nuclear warheads that could be used either to nudge an asteroid into a safe orbit or blast it to smithereens.
Many people including some astronomers--are understandably nervous about putting a standby squadron of nuclear tipped missiles in place. Hence the latest strategy, which in some cases would obviate the need for a nuclear defense: propelling a fusillade of cannonball-size steel spheres at an approaching asteroid. In a high-velocity encounter with a speeding NEO, explains Gregory Canavan, a senior scientist at Los Alamos, "the kinetic energy of the balls, would change into heat energy and blow the thing apart."
Some astronomers oppose any immediate defensive preparations, citing the high costs and low odds of a large object’s striking Earth in the coming decades. But at the very least, Shoemaker contends, NEO detection should be accelerated. "There’s this thing called the ’giggle factor’ in Congress," he says. "people in Congress and also at the top level in NASA still don’t take it seriously. But we should move ahead. It’s a matter of prudence."
The world, however, still seems largely unconcerned with the danger posed by large bodies hurtling in from space, despite the spectacle two years ago of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 riddling the planet Jupiter with mammoth explosions. It remains to be seen whether last week’s record near-miss has changed any minds.
It seems that the writer is

A:active to fend off invading asteroids. B:largely unconcerned with the danger. C:interested in military initiatives. D:enthusiastic about spotting asteroids.

"My own feelings went from disbelief to excitement to downright fear," says Carl Hergenrother, 23, an Arizona undergraduate who verified a large asteroid barreling toward Earth with a 230em telescope atop nearby Kitt Peak. "It was scary, because there was the possibility that we were confirming the demise of some city somewhere, or some state or small country."
Well, not quite. Early last week, his celestial interloper whizzed by Earth, missing the planet by 450620 km--a hairbreadth in astronomical terms. Perhaps half a kilometer across, it was the largest object ever observed to pass that close to Earth.
Duncan Steel, an Australian astronomer, has calculated that if the asteroid had struck Earth, it would have hit at some 93450 km/h. The resulting explosion, scientists estimate, would have been in the 3000-to-12000-megaton range. That, says astronomer Eugene Shoemaker, a pioneer asteroid and comet hunter, "is like taking all of the U.S. and Soviet nuclear weapons, putting them in one pile and blowing them all up."
And what if one them is found to be on a collision course with Earth Scientists at the national laboratories at Livermore, California, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, have devised a number of ingenious plans that, given enough warning time, could protect Earth from a threatening NEO. Their defensive weapons of choice include long-distance missiles with conventional or, more likely, nuclear warheads that could be used either to nudge an asteroid into a safe orbit or blast it to smithereens.
Many people-including some astronomers--are understandably nervous about putting a standby squadron of nuclear tipped missiles in place. Hence the latest strategy, which in some cases would obviate the need for a nuclear defense: propelling a fusillade of cannonball-size steel spheres at an approaching asteroid. In a high-velocity encounter with a speeding NEO, explains Gregory Canavan, a senior scientist at Los Alamos, "the kinetic energy of the balls would change into heat energy and blow the thing apart."
Some astronomers oppose any immediate defensive preparations, citing the high costs and low odds of a large object’s striking Earth in the coming decades. But at the very least, Shoemaker contends, NEO detection should be accelerated. "There’s this thing cal4ed the ’giggle factor’ in Congress," he says, "people in Congress and also at the top level in NASA still don’t take it seriously. But we should move ahead. It’s a matter of prudence."
The world, however, still seems largely unconcerned with the danger posed by large bodies hurtling in from space, despite the spectacle two years ago of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 riddling the planet Jupiter with mammoth explosions. It remains to be seen whether last week’s record near-miss has changed any minds.
It seems that the writer is

A:active to fend off invading asteroids. B:largely unconcerned with the danger. C:interested in military initiatives. D:enthusiastic about spotting asteroids.

Text 4

A:it collects and sells personal information. B:it has acquired nearly 60 firms since 1997. C:the industry is largely unregulated by the government. D:the information it provides is useful to many.

Cheques have largely replaced money as a mean s of exchange, for they are widely accepted everywhere. Though this is very (1) for both buyer and seller, it should not be forgotten that cheuqes are not real money: they are quite (2) in themselves. A shop-keeper always runs a certain (3) when he accepts a cheque and he is quite (4) his rights if, (5) , he refuses to do so.
People do not always know this and are shocked if their good faith is called (6) . An old and very wealth friend of mine told me he had an extremely unpleasant (7) . He went to a famous jewellery shop which keeps a large (8) of precious stones and asked to be shown some pearl necklaces. After examining several trays, he (9) to buy a particularly fine string of pearls and asked if he could pay (10) cheque. The assistant said that this was quite (11) , but the moment my friend signed his name, he was invited into the manager’s office.
The manager was very polite, but he explained that someone with (12) the same name had them with a (13) cheque not long age. He told my friend that the police would arrive (14) any moment and he had better stay (15) he wanted to get into serious trouble. (16) , the police arrived soon afterwards They apologized to my friend for the (17) and asked him to (18) a note which had been used by the thief in a number of shop. The note (19) : "I have a gun in my pocket. Ask no questions and give me all the money in the safe." (20) , my friend’s handwriting was quite unlike the thief’s.

A:largely B:mostly C:exactly D:extremely

Plato asked "What is man" and St Augustine asked "Who am I" A new breed of criminals has a novel answer: "I am you!" Although impostors have existed for ages, the growing frequency and cost of identity theft is worrisome. Around 10m Americans are victims annually, and it is the leading consumer-fraud complaint over the past five years. The cost to businesses was almost ＄ 50 billion, and to consumers ＄ 5 billion, in 2002, the most recent year that America’s Federal Trade Commission collected figures.
After two recent, big privacy disasters, people and politicians are calling for action. In February, ChoicePoint, a large data-collection agency, began sending out letters warning 145,000 Americans that it had wrongly provided fraudsters with their personal details, including Social Security numbers. Around 750 people have already spotted fraudulent activity. And on February 25th, Bank of America revealed that it lost data tapes that contain personal information on over 1m government employees, including some Senators. Although accident and not illegality is suspected, all must take precautions against identity theft.
Faced with such incidents, state and national lawmakers are calling for new regulations, including over companies that collect and sell personal information. As an industry, the firms—such as ChoicePoint, Acxiom, LexisNexis and Westlaw—are largely unregulated. They have also grown enormous. For example, ChoicePoint was founded in 1997 and has acquired nearly 60 firms to amass databases with 19 billion records on people. It is used by insurance firms, landlords and even police agencies.
California is the only state with a law requiring companies to notify individuals when their personal information has been compromised—which made ChoicePoint reveal the fraud (albeit five months after it was noticed, and after its top two bosses exercised stock options). Legislation to make the requirement a federal law is under consideration. Moreover, lawmakers say they will propose that rules governing credit bureaus and medical companies are extended to data-collection firms. And alongside legislation, there is always litigation. Already, ChoicePoint has been sued for failing to safeguard individuals’ data.
Yet the legal remedies would still be far looser than in Europe, where identity theft is also a menace, though less frequent and costly. The European Data Protection Directive, implemented in 1998, gives people the right to access theft information, change inaccuracies, and deny permission for it to be shared. Moreover, it places the cost of mistakes on the companies that collect the data, not on individuals. When the law was put in force, American policymakers groaned that it was bad for business. But now they seem to be reconsidering it.
The real reason for ChoicePoint’s fast expansion is that

A:it collects and sells personal information. B:it has acquired nearly 60 firms since 1997. C:the industry is largely unregulated by the government. D:the information it provides is useful to many.

{{B}}第二篇{{/B}}

A:They account for 70% of all deaths. B:They are responsible for most of the health care costs. C:They often result in unhealthy lifestyles. D:They are largely preventable.

第二篇 New U．S．Plan for Disease Prevention Urging Americans to take responsibility for their health，Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Tuesday launched a$1 5 million program to try to encourage communities to do more to prevent chronic diseases like heart disease，cancer and diabetes (糖尿病)。 The initiative highlights the COSTS of chronic diseases—the leading causes of death in the United States--and outlines ways that people can prevent them，including better diet and increased exercise． “In the United States today,7 of 1 0 deaths and the vast majority of serious illness，disability and health care costs are caused by chronic diseases，”the Health and Human Services department said in a statement． The causes are often behavioral--smoking，poor eating habits and a lack of exercise． “I am convinced that preventing disease by promoting better health is a smart policy choice for our future．”Thompson told a conference held to launch the initiative． ‘‘Our current health care system is not structured to deal with the rising costs of treating diseases that are largely preventable through changes in our lifestyle choices．” Thompson said heart disease and strokes will cost the country more than$35 1 billion in2003． “These leading causes of death for men and women are largely preventable，yet we as a nation are not taking the steps necessary for US to lead healthier, longer lives，”he said． The$1 5 million is designed to go to communities to promote prevention，pushing for changes as simple as building sidewalks to encourage people to walk more． Daily exercise such as walking can prevent and even reverse heart disease and diabetes，and prevent cancer and strokes． The money will also go to community organizations，clinics and nutritionists who are being encouraged to work together to educate people at risk of diabetes about what they card do to prevent it and encourage more cancer screening． The American Cancer Society estimates that half of all cancers Can be caught by screening，including Pap tests(巴氏试验)for cervical(子宫颈的)cancer mammograms(乳房X线照片)for breast cancer, colonoscopies (结肠镜检查)，and prostate(前列腺的)checks． If such cancers were all caught by early screening，the group estimates that the survival rate for cancer would rise to 95 percent． Which of the following is NOT true of chronic diseases in the US?

A:They account for 70％of all deaths． B:They are responsible for most of the health care costs． C:They often result in unhealthy lifestyles． D:They are largely preventable．

Urging Americans to take responsibility for their health, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Tuesday launched a $15 million program to try to encourage communities to do more to prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
The initiative highlights the cost of chronic diseases—the leading causes of death in the United States—and outlines ways that people can prevent them, including better diet and increased exercise.
"In the United States today, 7 of 10 deaths and the vast majority of serious illness, disability and health care costs are caused by chronic diseases," the Health and Human Services Department said in a statement.
The causes are often behavioral—smoking, poor eating habits and a lack of exercise.
"I am convinced that preventing disease by promoting better health is a smart policy choice for our future," Thompson told a conference held to launch the initiative.
"Our current health care system is not structured to deal with the escalating costs of treating diseases that are largely preventable through changes in our lifestyle choices."
Thompson said heart disease and strokes will cost the country more than $ 351 billion in 2003.
"These leading causes of death for men and women are largely preventable, yet we as a nation are not taking the steps necessary for US to lead healthier, longer lives," he said.
The $15 million is slated to go to communities to promote prevention, pushing for changes as simple as building sidewalks to encourage people to walk more.
Daily exercise such as walking can prevent and even reverse heart disease and diabetes, and prevent cancer and strokes.
The money will also go to community organizations, clinics and nutritionists who are being encouraged to work together to educate people at risk of diabetes about what they can do to prevent it and encourage more cancer screening.
The American Cancer Society estimates that half of all cancers can be caught by screening, including Pap tests for cervical cancer, mammograms for breast cancer, colonoscopies, and prostate checks.
If such cancers were all caught by early screening, the group estimates that the survival rate for cancer would rise to 95 percent.

A:They account for 70% of all deaths. B:They are responsible for most of the health care costs. C:They often result in unhealthy lifestyles. D:They are largely preventable.