B
① On a field roughly the size of an American football field, a player wearing a helmet avoids a defender. He then swings a stick with a net on its end toward the goal. This sweeping motion sends a rubber ball flying from the net past a goalkeeper for a score.
② The player — pumping his fists in celebration — has just scored a goal in lacrosse, a sport that has elements of hockey, soccer and American football. But lacrosse differs from those sports in its unique mixture of sticking-handling skills and physical contact. Often referred to as “the fastest game on two feet”, lacrosse is such an exciting sport that new fans and players quickly find themselves hooked.
In men’s lacrosse, two teams of 10 players compete over four periods lasting 15 minutes each. Except the goalkeeper, each team fields three attackmen, three mid-fielders and three defensemen. As in soccer, players cannot touch the ball with their hands. So players use their stick, called a crosse, to keep the ball in play. While running across the field, they cradle the ball in the net, competing to shoot a lacrosse ball into the opposing team’s gate.
The modern game of lacrosse originated from the long-stick game played by the Iroquois (易洛魁人). Mohawks, part of the Iroquois nation, taught the game to French Canadians in Montreal in 1750. This led to a series of contests between the Iroquois and the Canadians with the Iroquois winning 17 years in a row. Although they lost the games, the Canadian players never falter (犹豫) their love of the game. ③
In America, lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport at both the high school and college levels. Some coaches have said this popularity may be due to two factors — the game’s relative safety compared with other sports and its fast-paced action. Prep school coach Bob Shriver says, “It’s just fun…It has more scoring than soccer, more people than basketball. It just gets in your soul.” ④
Apparently, passion for lacrosse isn’t limited to America. The number of member countries in the Federation of International lacrosse has grown to 51. Members include such diverse countries as Uganda, Jamaica and Malaysia, which proves that once someone grabs a crosse, they will get hooked!
58. Where can the sentence “Today, lacrosse is known as Canada’s official summer sport!”
most probably be put?
A. ① B. ② C. ③ D. ④
59. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
A. The basic rules of lacrosse. B. Lasting time of lacrosse.
C. The characteristics of lacrosse. D. Different players of lacrosse.
60. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To show us the popularity of the exciting lacrosse.
B. To introduce to us a popular sport of lacrosse.
C. To inform us of the origin and history of lacrosse.
D. To reveal the significance of the sport of lacrosse.
C
A person’s chances of falling ill from a new strain (菌株) of flu are at least partly determined by the first strain they ever met with, a study suggests.
Research in Science Journal looked at the 18 strains of influenza A (甲型流感) and the hemagglutinin protein (红血球凝集素蛋白) on its surface. They say there are only two types of this protein and people are protected from the one their body meets first, but at risk from the other one.
A UK expert said that could explain different patterns in flu pandemics (流行病).
The researchers, from University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of California, Los Angeles, suggest their findings could explain why some flu outbreaks cause more deaths and serious illnesses in younger people. The first time a person's immune system meets a flu virus, it makes antibodies targeting hemagglutinin protein that sticks out of the surface of the virus — like a lollipop (棒棒糖).
Even though there are 18 types of influenza A, there are only two versions of hemagglutinin. The researchers, led by Dr Michael Worobey, classed them as “blue” and “orange” lollipops. They said people born before the late 1960s were exposed to “blue lollipop” flu viruses — H1 or H2 — as children. In later life they rarely fell ill from another “blue lollipop” flu — H5N1 bird flu, but they died from “orange” H7N9. Those born in the late 1960s and exposed to “orange lollipop” flu — H3 — have the opposite pattern.
His team looked at cases of H5N1 and H7N9 — two kinds of bird flu which have affected hundreds of people, but have not developed into pandemics. The researchers found a 75% protection rate against severe disease and 80% protection rate against death if patients had been exposed to a virus with the same protein version when they were children.
DrWorobey said the finding could explain the unusual effect of the 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic, which was more deadly among young adults. “Those young adults were killed by an H1 virus and from blood analysed many decades later there is a pretty strong indication that those individuals had been exposed to a mismatched H3 as children and were therefore not protected against H1. The fact that we are seeing exactly the same pattern with current H5N1 and H7N9 cases suggests that the same fundamental processes may govern both the historic 1918 pandemic and today’s contenders (斗争者) for the next big flu pandemic.”
Jonathan Ball, professor of University of Nottingham, said, “This is a really neat piece of work and provides a reason why human populations have been sensitive to different strains of bird influenza over the past 100 years or so. The findings are based on analysis of patient records and they certainly need further proof in the laboratory, but nonetheless the results are pretty amazing and inspiring.”
61. The findings, if proved, will help people ________.
A. protect themselves from flu attacks
B. analyze more clearly the records of a patient infected with a bird flu
C. find out who are easier to get infected with a bird flu than others
D. find new drugs to cure patients of flu infections
62. The researchers use “blue lollipop” and “orange lollipop” for two versions of hemagglutinin in order to produce ________.
A. a good visual effect B. a good logic effect
C. an effect of being abstract D. an effect of being clear
63. While what Dr Worobey said is focused on the facts, Jonathan Ball’s remarks on the research are focused on ________.
A. the popularity of the research B. challenges and current situation
C. summary and future plans D. evaluation and influences
64.What can serve as the best title of this passage?
A. Cure for Bird Flu Not Far Away
B. First Flu Affects Lifetime Risk
C. New Classification of Flu Pandemics
D. How Bird Flu Affects People
D
Are you a different person when you speak a foreign language? That’s just one of the questions the New Yorker’s writer and native North Carolinian Lauren Collins explores in her autobiography, about her tough efforts to master French after marrying a Frenchman whose name — Olivier — she couldn’t even pronounce properly. When in French ranges from the humorously personal story to a deeper look at various theories of language acquisition and linguistics (语言学).
The couple met in London “on more or less neutral ground: his continent, my language.” But the balance shifted when they moved to Geneva for Olivier’s work. The normally voluble Collins found herself at a loss — “nearly speechless.” The language barrier, and her dependence on her husband for simple things like buying the right cut of meat worsened her mixed feelings about “unlovely, but not ridiculous” Geneva. She comments, “Language, as much as land, is a place. To be cut off from it is to be, in a sense, homeless.”
Her sense of alienation (疏离感) leads to an examination of America’s miserable record when it comes to foreign languages, “Linguists call America ‘the graveyard of languages’ because of its singular ability to take in millions of immigrants and make their native languages die out in a few generations,” Collins writes. Educated in Wilmington, N.C., and at Princeton, she could — like the vast majority of Americans — only speak their mother tongue.
Eight months after she moved to Switzerland, Collins gives up on the natural acquisition of language and finally attends a French course. As she struggles with grammar and vocabulary, Collins notes smartly that vert (green),verre (glass), ver (worm), vers (toward), and vair (squirrel) compose a quintuple homonym (同形异义). “Although it’s difficult, French can try” she says.
French is actually considered among the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn, especially compared to Arabic or Mandarin Chinese. Collins, whose notably rich English vocabulary includes glossolalia (nonsense speech) and shibboleth (catchword or slogan), finds plenty of terrific French words to love. She writes, “English is a trust fund, an unearned inheritance (遗产), but I’ve worked for every bit of French I’ve banked.”
Unlike Jhumpa Lahiri, who became so hooked on Italian and used it to write In Other Words, Collins’s goals for learning French were more modest, “I wanted to speak French and to sound like North Carolina.” She also wanted to be able to deal with chimney sweeps and butchers, communicate with her in-laws, and “to touch Olivier in his own language.” She admits that she feels different speaking French, “Its austerity (朴素) made me feel more confused.”
Readers looking for the romantic spark of classic cross-cultural love stories featuring an outgoing American and a shy Frenchman will find flashes of it here. Among the many cultural differences the couple argue over are her enthusiastic American habit of applying the verb love to express enthusiasm for shoes, strawberries, and husbands alike. But there’s far more to Collins’ book than fantastic comedy, and those who have weathered linguistic crossings themselves tend to find particular resonance (共鸣) in its inquiry into language, identity, and transcultural translation.
Arranged by chapters named for verb tenses, When in French works its way from The Past Perfect (Le plus-que-parfait) to The Present (Le Présent) and The Conditional (Le Conditionnel). Collins ends on a delightful note with Le Futur — fitting for a new mother about to move with her hard-won French husband, French language, and Swiss-born daughter to the French-speaking city of her dreams, Paris.
65. Which of the following statements is TRUE about When in French?
A. It describes how most American people learn French.
B. It introduces a variety of theories about French learning.
C. The author tells her experiences in a serious way.
D. The book offers a traditional way of learning a foreign language.
66. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “voluble” in Paragraph 2?
A. graceful B. dependent C. talkative D. energetic
67. Why do Linguists call America “the graveyard of languages”?
A. Because other languages are prohibited in America.
B. Because only English-speaking people can immigrate into America.
C. Because immigrants’ native languages contradict English in America.
D. Because American culture swallows up immigrants’ native languages gradually.
68. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4 and Paragraph 5?
A. Collins’ English vocabulary knowledge contributes little to her French learning.
B. Collins has found out some effective ways of mastering French words.
C. Arabic or Mandarin Chinese are easier to learn than French for English speakers.
D. It’s terrifying for Collins to have French words in store for practical use.
69. The example of Jhumpa Lahir in the passage is given to show that _________.
A. Collins aims at using French for her daily life
B. Collins wants to apply French to serve her writing
C. it’s inappropriate for Jhumpa Lahir to write in another language
D. foreign language always makes learners feel complicated about life
70. Which of the following items are mentioned by the author of this book review?
① the theme ② the structure ③ the publisher ④ the popularity ⑤ the writing style
A. ①②④ B. ②③⑤ C. ①②⑤ D. ①③⑤
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