59. How did Jimmy feel on hearing the interviewer’s question?

A. He was sorry for the other applicants

B. There was no hope for him to get the job

C. He regretted helping the old man

D. The interviewer was very rude

B

Below is a selection from a popular science book.

If blood is red, why are veins (静脉) blue?

Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish color. Although blood looks red when it’s outside the body, when it’s sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin, it’s more of a dark reddish purple color. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison.

Which works harder, your heart or your brain?

That kind of depends on whether you’re busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker(超级油轮). But, in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you’re sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it.

Why do teeth fall out, and why don’t they grow back in grown-ups?

Baby (or “milk”) teeth do not last long; they fall out to make bigger room for bigger, stronger adult teeth later on. Adult teeth fall out when they become damaged, decayed(腐烂)and infected by bacteria. Once this second set of teeth has grown in, you’re done. When they’re gone, they are gone. This is because nature figures you’re set for life, and what controls regrowth of your teeth switches off.

Do old people shrink(收缩)as they age?

Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn’t because they’re shrinking all over. They simply lose height as their spine (脊柱) becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effect of gravity (重力). Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again? No, because old people don’t really shrink! It is not that they are growing backwards—their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it’s because the spine has shortened a little. Or, more often, become more bent and curved.

Why does spinning make you dizzy)?

Because your brain gets confused between what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling. The brain senses that you’re spinning using special gravity-and-motion-sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning the system goes out of control, and your brain thinks you’re moving while you’re not.

Where do feelings and emotions come from?

Mostly from an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system(边缘系统). All mammals have this brain area — from mice to dogs, cats, and humans. So all mammals feel basic emotions like fear, pain and pleasure. But since human feelings also involve other, newer bits of the brain, we feel more complex emotions than any other animal on this planet.

If exercise wears you out, how can it be good for you?

Because our bodies adapt to everything we do to them. And as far as your body is concerned, it’s “use it, or lose it”! It’s not that exercise makes you healthy, it’s more that a lack of exercise leaves your body weak and easily affected by disease.

60. What is the color of blood in a vein near the surface of the skin?

A. Blue    B. Light yellow   C. Red    D. Dark reddish purple

61. Why do some old people look a little shrunken as they age?

A. Because their spine is in active use.

B. Because they are more easily affected by gravity.

C. Because they keep growing backwards.

D. Because their spine becomes more bent.

62. Which of the following statements about our brain is true?

A. In the long run, our brain probably works harder than our heart.

B. When our brain senses the spinning, we will feel dizzy.

C. The brains of the other mammals are as complex as those of humans.

D. Our feelings and emotions come from the most developed area in our brain.

63. What is the main purpose of the selection?

A. To give advice on how to stay healthy.

B. To provide information about our body.

C. To challenge new findings in medical research.

D. To report the latest discoveries in medical science.

C

LONDON --- A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake(假冒的) bomb detectors(探测器) to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn't cared about potentially deadly consequences.

It is believed that James McCormick got about $77.8 million from the sales of his detectors - which were based on a kind of golf ball finder - to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.

McCormick, 57, was convicted(判罪) of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.

"Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people," Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. "you have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt."

The detectors, sold for up to $42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they "lacked any grounding in science" and were of no use.

McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.

"I never had any bad results from customers," he said.

64. Why was McCormick sentenced to prison?

A. He sold bombs.               B. He caused death of people.

C. He made detectors.            D. He cheated in business.

65. According to the judge, what McCormick had done _______.

A. increased the cost of safeguarding

B. lowered people's guard against danger

C. changed people's idea of social security

D. caused innocent people to commit crimes