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第一篇Captain Cook Arrow LegendIt was a great legend while it lasted，but DNA testing has (1) finally ended a two-century-old story of the Hawaiian arrow carved from the bone of British explorer Captain James Cook(2) who died in the Sandwich Islandsin 1779. “There is (3) no Cook in the Australian Museum，museum collection manager Jude Philip said not long ago in announcing the DNA evidence that the arrow was not made of CookS bone.But that will not stop the museum from continuing to display the arrow in its(4) exhibition ，“Uncovered：Treasures of the Australian Museum,” which(5) does include a feather cape presented to Cook by Hawaiian King Kalaniopuu in 1778. Cook was one of Britains great explorers and is credited with(6) discovering the“Great South Land，(7) now Australia, in 1 770.He was clubbed to death in the Sandwich Islands，now Hawaii。The 1egend of Cooks arrow began in 1824 (8) when Hawaiian King Kamehameha on his deathbed gave the arrow to William Adams，a London surgeon and relative of Cooks wife，saying it was made of Cooks bone after the fatal(9) fight with islanders. In the 1890s the arrow was given to the Australian Museum and the legend continued (10) until it came face=to-face with science. DNA testing by laboratories in Australia and New Zealand revealed the arrow was not made of Cooks bone but was more (11) likely made of animal bone。said Philp. However, Cooks fans (12) refuse to give up hope that one Cook legend will prove true and that part of his remains will still be uncovered.as they say there is evidence not a11 of Cooks body was (13) buried at sea in 1 779.“On this occasion technology has won，”said Cliff Thornton，president of the Captain Cook Society, in a (14) statement from Britain.“But I am (15) surethat one of these daysone of the Cook legends will prove to be true and it will happen one day.第二篇Avalanche and Its Safety An avalanche is a sudden and rapid flow of snow, often mixed with air and water, down a mountainside. Avalanches are (1) among the biggest dangers in the mountains for both life and property. All avalanches are caused by an over-burden of material, typically snowpack, that is too massive and unstable for the slope (2) that supports it. Determining the critical load, the amount of over-burden which is (3)likely to cause an avalanche, (4) is a complex task involving the evaluation of a number of factors. Terrain slopes flatter than 25 degrees or steeper than 60 degrees typically have a low (5)risk of avalanche. Snow does not (6)gather significantly on steep slopes; also, snow does not (7)flow easily on flat slopes. Human-triggered avalanches have the greatest incidence when the snows angle of rest is (8)between 35 and 45 degrees; the critical angle, the angle at which the human incidence of avalanches is greatest, is 38 degrees. The rule of thumb is: A slope that is (9) flat enough to hold snow but steep enough to ski has the potential to generate an avalanche, regardless of the angle. Additionally, avalanche risk increases with (10) use ; that is, the more a slope is disturbed by skiers, the more likely it is that an avalanche will occur. Due to the complexity of the subject, winter travelling in the backcountry is never 100% safe. Good avalanche safety is a continuous (11) process , including route selection and examination of the snowpack, weather (12) conditions , and human factors. Several well-known good habits can also(13) reduce the risk. If local authorities issue avalanche risk reports, they should be considered and all warnings should be paid (14) attention to. Never follow in the tracks of others without your own evaluations; snow conditions are almost certain to have changed since they were made. Observe the terrain and note obvious avalanche paths where plants are （15）missing or damaged. Avoid traveling below others who might trigger an avalanche. 第三篇 Giant Structures （2013年已考）It is an impossible task to select the most amazing wonders of the modem world since every year more _1_wonderful_ constructions appear. Here are three giant structures which are worthy of our _2admiration_ although they may have been surpassed by some more recent wonders. The Petronas Twin Towers The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world when they were completed in 1999. With a _3height_ of 452 metres, the tall twin towers, like two thin pencils, dominate the city of Kuala Lumpur. At the 41st floor, the towers are linked by a bridge, symbolizing a gateway to the city. The American _4architct_ Cesar Pelli designed the skyscrapers. Constructed of high-strength concrete, the building provides around 1，800 square metres of office space _5_on_ every floor. And it has a shopping centre and a concert hall at the base. Other _6_features_ of this impressive building include double-decker lifts, and glass and steel sunshades. The MiUau Bridge The Millau Bridge was opened in 2004 in the Tam Valley，in southern France. _7at_ the time it was built，it was the worlds highest bridge, _8resching_ over 340m at the highest point. The bridge is described as one of the most amazingly beautiful bridges in the world. It was built to _9_relieve_ Millaus congestion problems. The congestion was then caused by traffic passing from Paris to Barcelona in Spain. The bridge was built to withstand the _10_most_ extreme seismic and climatic conditions. Besides, it is guaranteed for 120 years! The Itaipu Dam The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant is one of the largest constructions of its kind in the world. It consists of a series of dams across the River Parana, _11which_ forms a natural border between Brazil and Paraguay. Started in 1975 and taking 16 years to complete, the construction was carried out as a joint project between the two _12countries_. The dam is well-known for both its electricity output and its size. In 1995 it produced 78% of Paraguays and 25% of Brazils _13_energy_ needs. In its construction, the _14amount_ of iron and steel used was equivalent to over 300 Eiffel Towers. It is a _15truly_ amazing wonder of engineering. 第四篇Animals “Sixth Sense” A tsunami was triggered by an earthquake in the Indian Ocean in December, 2004. It killed tens of thousands of people in Asia and East Africa. Wild animals, （1）however, seem to have escaped that terrible tsunami. This phenomenon adds weight to notions that I they possess a “sixth sense” for （2）disasters, experts said. Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean islands coast clearly （3）missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found. “No elephants are dead, not （4）even dead rabbit. I think animals can （5）sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening.” H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lankas Wildlife Department, said about one month after the tsunami attack. The （6）waves washed floodwaters up to 2 miles inland at Yala National Park in the ravaged southeast, Sri Lankas biggest wildlife （7）reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants and several leopards. “There has been a lot of （8）apparent evidence about dogs barking or birds migrating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it has not been proven,” said Matthew van Lierop an animal behavior（9）specialist at Johannesburg Zoo. “There have been no （10）specific studies because you cant really test it in a lab or field setting2,” he told Reuters. Other authorities concurred with this （11）assessment. “Wildlife seem to be able to pick up certain （12）phenomenon, especially birds there are many reports of birds detecting impending disasters,” said Clive Walker, who has written several books on African wildlife. Animals （13）certainly rely on the known senses such as smell or hearing to avoid danger such as predators. The notion of an animal “sixth sense”-or （14）some other mythical power-is an enduring one3 which the evidence on Sri Lankas ravaged coast is likely to add to. The Romans saw owls （15）as omens of impending disaster and many ancient cultures viewed elephants as sacred animals endowed with special powers or attributes.第五篇Singing Alarms Could Save the BlindIf you cannot see, you may not be able to find your way out of a burning building - and that could be fatal. A company in Leeds could change all that （1）with directional sound alarms capable if guiding you to the exit.Sound Alert, a company （2）run by the University of Leeds, is installing the alarms in a residential home for （3）blind people in Sommerset and a resource centre for the blind in Cumbria.（4）The alarms produce a wide range of frequencies that enable the brain to determine where the （5）sound is coming from.Deborah Withington of Sound Alert says that the alarms use most of the frequencies that can be （6）heard by humans. “Its a burst of white noise （7）that people say sounds like static on the radio,”she says. “Its life-saving potential is great.”She conducted an experiment in which people were filmed by thermalimaging cameras trying to find their way out of a large （8）smoke-filled room. It （9）took them nearly four minutes to find the door （10）without a sound alarm, but only 15 seconds with one.Withington studies how the brain （11）processes sounds at the university. She says that the （12）source of a wide band of frequencies can be pinpointed more easily than the source of a narrow band. Alarms （13）based on the same concept have already been installed on emergency vehicles.The alarms will also include rising or falling frequencies to indicate whether people should go up （14）or down stairs. They were（15）developed with the aid of a large grant from British Nuclear Fuels.第六篇Car Thieves could Be Stopped Remotely Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in a nasty surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer and a radio signal from a control center miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine 1 off , he will not be able to start it again. For now, such devices 2 are only available for fleets of trucks and specialist vehicles used on construction sites. But remote immobilization technology could soon start to trickle down to ordinary cars, and 3 should be available to ordinary cars in the UK 4 in two months. The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the carincorporates 5 a miniature cellphone, a microprocessor and memory, and a GPS satellite positioning receiver. 6 If the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the unit to block the vehicles engine management system and prevent the engine 7 being restarted. There are even plans for immobilizers 8 that shut down vehicles on the move, though there are fears over the safety implications of such a system. In the UK. an array of technical fixes is already making 9 life harder for car thieves. “The pattern of vehicles crime has changed,” says Martyn Randall of Thatcham, a security research organization based in Berkshire that is funded in part 10 by the motor insurance industry. He says it would only take him a few minutes to 11 teach a novice how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools. But only if the car is more than 10 years old. Modern cars are a far tougher proposition, as their engine management computer will not 12 allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition key. In the UK, technologies like this 13 have helped achieve a 31 per cent drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997. But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars. Often by getting hold of the owners keys in a burglary. In 2000, 12 per cent of vehicles stolen in the UK were taken using the owners keys double the previous years figure. Remote-controlled immobilization system would 14 put a major new obstacle in the criminals way by making such thefts pointless. A group that includes Thatcham, the police, insurance companies and security technology firms have developed standards for a system that could goon the market sooner than the 15 customer expects.第七篇An intelligent carDriving needs sharp eyes, keen ears, quick brain, and coordination between hands and the brain. Many human drivers have all (1) these and can control a fast-moving car. But how does an intelligent car control itself?There is a virtual driver in the smart car. This virtual driver has “eyes,”“brains”，“hands” and “feet”，too. The mini-cameras (2) on each side of the car are his “eyes,” which observe the road and conditions ahead of it. They watch the (3) traffic to the cars left and right. There is also a highly (4) automatic driving system in the car. It is the built-in computer, which is the virtual drivers “brain. ” His “brain” calculates the speeds of (5) other moving cars near it and analyzes their positions. Basing on this information, it chooses the right (6) path for the intelligent cars, and gives (7) instructions to the “hands”and “feets”to act accordingly. In this way, the virtual driver controls his car.What is the virtual drivers best advantage? He reacts (8) quickly. The mini-cameras are (9) sending images continuously to the “brain”. It (10) completes the processing of the images within 100 milliseconds. However, the worlds best drier (11) at least needs one second to react. (12) Besides, when he takes action, he needs one more second.The virtual driver is really wonderful. He can reduce the accident (13) rate considerably on expressway. In this case. Can we let him have the wheel at any time and in any place? Experts (14) warn that we cannot do that just yet. His ability to recognize things is still (15) limited. He can now only drive an intelligent car on expressways.第八篇 Why India Needs Its Dying Vultures （2013年已考）The vultures in question may look ugly and threatening, but the sudden sharp _1decline_ in three species of Indias vultures is producing alarm rather than celebration, and it presents the world with a new kind of environmental _2_problemb_ The dramatic decline in vulture numbers is causing widespread disruption to people living in the same areas as the _3birds_ . It is also causing serious public health problems _4_across_ the Indian sub-continent. While their reputation and appearance may be unpleasant to many Indians，vultures have _5long_played a very important role in keeping towns and villages all over India clean. It is _6_because_they feed on dead cows. In India, cows are sacred animals and are _7_traditionallt_ left in the open when they die in their thousands upon thousands every year. The disappearance of the vultures has _8_led to_ an explosion in the numbers of wild dogs feeding on the remains of these dead animals. There are fears that rabies may _9_increase_ as a result. And this terrifying disease may ultimately affect humans in the region, since wild dogs are its main carriers. Rabies could also spread to other animal species, causing an even greater problem in the _10_future_. The need for action is _11_urgent_, so an emergency project has been launched to _12_find_ a solution to this serious vulture problem. Scientists are trying to identify the disease causing the birds，deaths and, if possible, develop a cure. Large-scale vulture _13_deaths_ were first noticed at the end of the 1980s in India. A population survey at that time showed that the three species of vultures had declined _14_by_ over 90 per cent. All three species are now listed as “critically endangered”. As most vultures lay only single eggs and _15_take_ about five years to reach maturity, reversing their population decline will be a long and difficult exercise. 第九篇Wonder Webs Spider webs are more than homes, and they are ingenious traps. And the worlds best web spinner may be the Golden Orb Weaver spider. The female Orb Weaver spins a web of fibers thin enough to be invisible to insect prey, yet (1)tough enough to snare a flying bird without breaking. The secret of the webs strength? A type of super-resilient (2)silk called dragline. When the female spider is ready to (3)weave the webs spokes and frame, she uses her legs to draw the airy thread out through a hollow nozzle in her belly. Dragline is not sticky, so the spider can race back and forth along (4)it to spin the webs trademark spiral. Unlike some spiders that weave a new web every day, a Golden Orb Weaver (5)reuses her handiwork until it falls apart, sometimes not for two years. The silky thread is five times stronger than steel by weight and absorbs the force of an impact three times better than Kevlar, a high-strength human-made (6)material used in bullet-proof vests. And thanks to its high tensile strength, or the ability to resist breaking under the pulling force called tension, a single strand can stretch up to 40 percent longer than its original (7)length and snap back as well as new. No human-made fiber even comes (8)close . It is no (9)wonder manufacturers are clamoring for spider silk. In the consumer pipeline: High-performance fabrics for athletes and stockings that never run. Think parachute cords and suspension bridge cables. A steady (10)supply of spider silk would be worth billions of dollars but how to produce it? Harvesting silk on spider farms does not (11)work because the territorial arthropods have a tendency to devour their neighbors. Now, scientists at the biotechnology company Nexia are spinning artificial silk modeled after Golden Orb dragline. The (12)first step: extract silk-making genes from the spiders. Next, implant the genes into goat egg cells. The nanny goats that grow from the eggs secrete dragline silk proteins in their (13)milk . “The young goats pass on the silk-making gene without (14)any help from us,” says Nexia president Jeffrey Turner. Nexia is still perfecting the spinning process, but they hope artificial spider silk will soon be snagging customers (15)as fast as the real thing snags bugs.第十篇Chicken Soup for the Soul：Comfort Food Fights Loneliness Mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, may be bad for your arteries1 but according to a study in Psychological Science, theyre good for your heart and 2emotionsThe study focuses on “comfort food” and how it makes people feel For me 3 personally ,food has always played a big role in my family,” says Jordan Troisi, a graduate student at the University of Buffalo, and lead author on the studyThe study came out of the research program of his coauthor Shira GabrielIt has 4looked at non-human things that may affect human emotionsSome people reduce loneliness by bonding with their 5favorite TV show, building virtual relationships with a pop song singer or looking at pictures of loved onesTroisi and Gabriel wondered if comfort food could have the same effect 6 by making people think of their nearest and dearest. In one experiment, in order to make 7 participants feel lonely, the researchers had them write for six minutes about a fight with someone close to themOthers were given an emotionally neutral writing assignment. Then, some people in each 8group wrote about the experience of eating a comfort food and others wrote about eating a new food9 Finally ,the researchers had participants 10 complete questions about their levels of lonelinessWriting about a fight with a close person made people feel lonelyBut people who were generally 11secure in their relationships would feel less lonely by writing about a comfort foodWe have found that comfort foods are consistently associated with those close to ussays TroisiThinking about or consuming these foods later then serves as a reminder of those close othersIn 12their essays on comfort food, many people wrote about the 13 experi
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