Icy Microbes

1　In ice that has sealed a salty Antarctic lake for more than 2,800 years, scientists have found frozen bacteria and algae that returned to life after thawing. The research may help in the search for life on Mars, which is thought to have subsurface lakes of ice.

2　A research team led by Peter Doran of the University of Illinois at Chicago drilled through more than 39 feet of ice to collect samples of bacteria and algae. When Doran’s team brought them back and warmed them up a bit, they sprang back to life.

3　Doran said the microbes have been age-dated at 2,800 years old, but even older microbes may live deeper in the ice sheet sealing the lake, and in the briny water below the ice.¹ That deeper ice and the water itself will be cautiously sampled in a later expedition that will test techniques that may one day be used on Mars.

4　Called Lake Vida, the 4.5-square-kilometer body is one of a series of lakes located in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, some ² ,200 kilometers due south2 of New Zealand. This lake has been known since the 1950s, but people ignored it because they thought it was just a big block of ice. While at the site for other research in the 1990s, Doran and his colleagues sent³ radar signals into the clear ice covering the lake and were surprised to find that 62 feet below there was a pool of liquid water that was about seven times more salty than seawater.

5　That prompted the researchers to return in 1996 with equipment to drill a hole down to within a few feet of the water layer. At the bottom of this hole, researchers harvested specimens of algae and bacteria.

6　The researchers will return in 2004 equipped with instruments that are sterilized. They will then drill through the full 62 feet of ice and sample some of the briny water from the lake for analysis. The water specimen will be cultured to see if it contains life. Specimens from the water are expected to be even older than the life forms extracted from the ice covering.

 

词汇： 

alga / ’ælgə/ n．水藻（复数algae）

thaw / θɔ: / v．解冻

briny / ’braɪnɪ/ adj．咸的，海水的

specimen / ’spesɪmɪn / n．样本，标本

sterilize / ’sterɪlaɪz / v．杀菌，消毒

culture / ’kʌltʃə(r)/ v．培养（微生物等）

 

注释：

1．... live deeper in the ice sheet sealing the lake, and in the briny water below the ice：in the ice sheet sealing the lake和in the briny water below the ice是介词短语，用作状语，修饰live。

2．due south：正南

3．While at the site for other research in the 1990s, Doran and his colleagues sent ... ：While at the site for other research in the 1990s是省略句，写全了就是：While Doran and his colleagues were at the site for other research in the 1990s ...

A　is found to be a great deal higher than that of seawater

B　was of little scientific value

C　may be older than that collected below 39 feet of ice

D　might have come from Mars

E　is to collect some briny lake water for analysisy

F　may return to life sooner than microbes frozen in the surface ice

Scientists ignored Lake Vida because they thought that a lake of ice ________.

A:A B:B C:C D:D E:E F:F

The Only Way Is Up

    Think of a modem city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true that some cities don"t permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.

    When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land. Since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground. That means building upwards.

    The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.

    Elisha Otis, a USinventor, was the man who brought us the lift-or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old. Lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention ¹. In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.

    A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating. The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts ².

    "It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space ³ we carry around with us -- and you just can"t choose to move away," says workplace psychologist, Gary Fitzgibbon. Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the comers. Most people try and shrink into the background. But some behave in a way that makes others notice them. There are a few people who just stand in a comer taking notes.

    Don"t worry about them. They are probably from a university.

 

词汇:

skyline["skaɪlaɪn] n.空中轮廓线  

tension["tenʃ(ə)n] n.紧张

pulley ["pʊlɪ] n.滑轮

bubble["bʌbl] n.幻想,妄想;

fairground [ˈfeəgraʊnd] n.露天市场

 

注释：

1．It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention.正是这项技术赢得了人们对新发明的信心。本句使用了强调句型It is... that...被强调的是this，所指代的是上文中所说的Otis发明了电梯刹车的事。

2．The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.对于研究人类来说，最接近的方式就是在电梯里观察他们。句中的that指的是上一句中提到的科学家一直对动物园里的动物进行观察。

3．about the bubble of personal space:有关私人空间的幻想。

 

When Oti.s came up with the idea of a lift,____.

A:he sold it to the architects and builders immediately B:the Egyptians used it to build the Pyramids C:it was accepted favorably by the public D:most people had doubt about its safety

The Only Way Is Up

    Think of a modem city and the first image that come to mind is the skyline. It is full of great buildings, pointing like fingers to heaven. It is true that some cities don"t permit buildings to go above a certain height. But these are cities concerned with the past. The first thing any city does when it wants to tell the world that it has arrived is to build skyscrapers.

    When people gather together in cities, they create a demand for land. Since cities are places where money is made, that demand can be met. And the best way to make money out of city land is to put as many people as possible in a space that covers the smallest amount of ground. That means building upwards.

    The technology existed to do this as early as the 19th century. But the height of buildings was limited by one important factor. They had to be small enough for people on the top floors to climb stairs. People could not be expected to climb a mountain at the end of their journey to work, or home.

    Elisha Otis, a USinventor, was the man who brought us the lift-or elevator, as he preferred to call it. However, most of the technology is very old. Lifts work using the same pulley system the Egyptians used to create the Pyramids. What Otis did was attach the system to a steam engine and develop the elevator brake, which stops the lift falling if the cords that hold it up are broken. It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention ¹. In fact, he spent a number of years exhibiting lifts at fairgrounds, giving people the chance to try them out before selling the idea to architects and builders.

    A lift would not be a very good theme park attraction now. Going in a lift is such an everyday thing that it would just be boring. Yet psychologists and others who study human behavior find lifts fascinating. The reason is simple. Scientists have always studied animals in zoos. The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts ².

    "It breaks all the usual conventions about the bubble of personal space ³ we carry around with us -- and you just can"t choose to move away," says workplace psychologist, Gary Fitzgibbon. Being trapped in this setting can create different types of tensions, he says. Some people are scared of them. Others use them as an opportunity to get close to the boss. Some stand close to the door. Others hide in the comers. Most people try and shrink into the background. But some behave in a way that makes others notice them. There are a few people who just stand in a comer taking notes.

    Don"t worry about them. They are probably from a university.

 

词汇:

skyline["skaɪlaɪn] n.空中轮廓线  

tension["tenʃ(ə)n] n.紧张

pulley ["pʊlɪ] n.滑轮

bubble["bʌbl] n.幻想,妄想;

fairground [ˈfeəgraʊnd] n.露天市场

 

注释：

1．It was this that did the most to gain public confidence in the new invention.正是这项技术赢得了人们对新发明的信心。本句使用了强调句型It is... that...被强调的是this，所指代的是上文中所说的Otis发明了电梯刹车的事。

2．The nearest they can get to that with humans is in observing them in lifts.对于研究人类来说，最接近的方式就是在电梯里观察他们。句中的that指的是上一句中提到的科学家一直对动物园里的动物进行观察。

3．about the bubble of personal space:有关私人空间的幻想。

 

Which of the following best describes the experience of going in a lift now?

A:Fascinating B:Uninteresting C:Frightening D:Exciting

“Lucky" Lord Lucan - Alive or Dead

On 8th November 1974 Lord Lucan, a British aristocrat, vanished.  The day before, his children"s nanny had been brutally murdered and his wife had been attacked too. To this day the British public are still interested in the murder case because Lucan has never been found. Now, over 30 years later, the police have reopened the case,  hoping that new DNA techniques will help solve this murder mystery. ¹

People suspected that "Lucky", as he was called by friends, wanted to kill his wife he no longer lived with. They say that Lucan entered his old house and in the dark, killed the nanny by mistake.  His estranged wife heard noises, came downstairs and was also attacked, but managed to escape.  Seven months after the murder. a jury concluded that Lucan had killed the nanny.

    What happened next is unclear, but there are several theories which fall into one of three categories:  he may have killed himself, he could have escaped or he might have been killed. Itappears that the night after the murder, "Lucky" borrowed a car and drove it, Lucan"s friend Aspinall said in an interview that he thought Lucan had committed suicide by sinking his boat in the English Channel.

    Another version of events says that "Lucky" left the blood-soaked car on the coast and took a ferry to France. ² He was met there by someone who drove him to safety in another country.

    However, after a time, his rescuers became worried that they would become involved in the murdertoo and so Lucan was killed.

A further fascinating theory was made in the book Dead Lucky by Duncan MacLaughlin, a former detective. He believes that Lucan travelled toGoa,India, where he assumed the identity of a Mr Barry Haplin. Lucan then lived inGoatill his death in 1996. In the end the claim tumed outto be a case of mistaken identity. The man who died in 1996 was really Haplin, an ex-schoolteacher turned hippy. So what is the truth about "Lucky""? DNA testing has solved many murder cases, but who knows if it can close the book on this one ³.

 

词汇：

vanish / vænɪʃ / v. 消失

suicide /" s(j)uːɪsaɪd / n. 自杀

case / keis / n. 案件

detective / di"tektiv / n. 侦探

nanny /" nænɪ / n. 保姆

 

注释：

Now, over 30 years later,the police have reopened the case ,hoping that new DNA techniques

will help solve this murder mystery.30多年后的今天，警察重新调查案件，希望新的DNA技术帮助揭开这个谋杀之谜。

2. Another version of events says that "Lucky" left the blood-soaked car on the coast and took a ferry to France.另一个版本是说“幸运的”把被血染了的车子扔在了海岸上，乘上了一艘开往法国的船。

3.  DNA testing has solved many murder cases, but who knows if it can close the book on this one.

DNA鉴定破了很多谋杀案件，但是不知它能否把这个案件做个了结。

It is thought that Lucan Hlled the nanny because____.

C:it was dark and he thought she was Lady Lucan D:Loard Lucan thought the nanny stole his car

“Lucky" Lord Lucan - Alive or Dead

On 8th November 1974 Lord Lucan, a British aristocrat, vanished.  The day before, his children"s nanny had been brutally murdered and his wife had been attacked too. To this day the British public are still interested in the murder case because Lucan has never been found. Now, over 30 years later, the police have reopened the case,  hoping that new DNA techniques will help solve this murder mystery. ¹

People suspected that "Lucky", as he was called by friends, wanted to kill his wife he no longer lived with. They say that Lucan entered his old house and in the dark, killed the nanny by mistake.  His estranged wife heard noises, came downstairs and was also attacked, but managed to escape.  Seven months after the murder. a jury concluded that Lucan had killed the nanny.

    What happened next is unclear, but there are several theories which fall into one of three categories:  he may have killed himself, he could have escaped or he might have been killed. Itappears that the night after the murder, "Lucky" borrowed a car and drove it, Lucan"s friend Aspinall said in an interview that he thought Lucan had committed suicide by sinking his boat in the English Channel.

    Another version of events says that "Lucky" left the blood-soaked car on the coast and took a ferry to France. ² He was met there by someone who drove him to safety in another country.

    However, after a time, his rescuers became worried that they would become involved in the murdertoo and so Lucan was killed.

A further fascinating theory was made in the book Dead Lucky by Duncan MacLaughlin, a former detective. He believes that Lucan travelled toGoa,India, where he assumed the identity of a Mr Barry Haplin. Lucan then lived inGoatill his death in 1996. In the end the claim tumed outto be a case of mistaken identity. The man who died in 1996 was really Haplin, an ex-schoolteacher turned hippy. So what is the truth about "Lucky""? DNA testing has solved many murder cases, but who knows if it can close the book on this one ³.

 

词汇：

vanish / vænɪʃ / v. 消失

suicide /" s(j)uːɪsaɪd / n. 自杀

case / keis / n. 案件

detective / di"tektiv / n. 侦探

nanny /" nænɪ / n. 保姆

 

注释：

Now, over 30 years later,the police have reopened the case ,hoping that new DNA techniques

will help solve this murder mystery.30多年后的今天，警察重新调查案件，希望新的DNA技术帮助揭开这个谋杀之谜。

2. Another version of events says that "Lucky" left the blood-soaked car on the coast and took a ferry to France.另一个版本是说“幸运的”把被血染了的车子扔在了海岸上，乘上了一艘开往法国的船。

3.  DNA testing has solved many murder cases, but who knows if it can close the book on this one.

DNA鉴定破了很多谋杀案件，但是不知它能否把这个案件做个了结。

It is thought that Lucan Hlled the nanny because____.

C:it was dark and he thought she was Lady Lucan D:Loard Lucan thought the nanny stole his car

It was a normal summer night. Humidity (湿气) hung in the thick air. I couldn’t go to sleep, partly because of my cold and partly because of my expectations for the next day. My mum had said that tomorrow was going to be a surprise.
Sweat stuck to my aching body. Finally, I gathered enough strength to sit up. I looked out of my small window into the night. There was a big bright moon hanging in the sky, giving off a magic light.
I couldn’t stand the pressure anymore, so I did what I always do to make myself feel better. I went to the bathroom and picked up my toothbrush and toothpaste. I cleaned my teeth as if there was no tomorrow. Back and forth, up and down.
Then I walked downstairs to look for some signs of movement, some life. Gladiator, my cat frightened me as he meowed (喵喵地唱出) his sad song. He was on the old orange couch (长沙发) , sitting up on his front legs, waiting for something to happen. He looked at me as if to show "I’m lonely, pet me. I need a good hug (紧抱) ." Even the couch begged me to sit on it.
In one movement I settled down onto the soft couch. This couch represented my parents’ marriage, my birth, and hundreds of other little events.
As I held Gladiator, my heart started beating heavily. My mind was flooded with questions: What’s life Am I really alive Are you listening to me Every time I moved my hand down Gladiator’s body, I had a new thought; each touch sang a different song.
I forgot all about the heat and the next day’s surprise. The atmosphere was so full of warmth and silence that I sank into its arms. Falling asleep with the big cat in my arms, I felt all my worries slowly move away.
What did the "couch" represent

A:A new thought. B:Different songs. C:A comfortable life. D:Happy memories.

第三篇 Sleepless at Night It was a normal summer night．Humidity(湿气)hung in the thick air． I couldn’t go to sleep，partly because of my cold and partly because of my expectations for the next day．My mum had said that tomorrow was going to be a surprise． Sweat stuck to my aching body．Finally, gathered enough strength to sit up．I looked out of my small window into the night．There was a big bright moon hanging in the sky, giving off a magic light． I couldn’t stand the pressure anymore，SO I did what I always do to make myself feel better．I went to the bathroom and picked up my toothbrush and toothpaste．I cleaned my teeth as if there was no tomorrow．Back and forth，up and down． Then I walked downstairs to look for some signs of movement，some life．Gladiator, my cat, frightened me as he meowed(喵喵地唱出)his sad song．He was on t11e old orange couch(长沙发)，sitting up on his front legs，waiting for something to happen．He looked at me as if to say I“I’m lonely, pet me．I need a good hug(紧抱)．”Even the couch begged me to sit on it． In one movement I settled down onto the soft couch．This couch represented my parents’marriage，my birth，and hundreds of other little events． As I held Gladiator, my heart started beating heavily．My mind was flooded with questions：What’s life? Am I really alive? Are you listening to me? Every time I moved my hand down Gladiator’s body，I had a new thought；each touch sang a different song． I forgot all about the heat and the next day’s surprise．The atmosphere was SO full of warmth and silence that I sank into its alms．Falling asleep with the big cat in my arms，I felt all my worries slowly move away． What did the “couch” represent?

A:A new thought． B:Different songs． C:A comfortable life． D:Happy memories．