四、阅读理解(40分)

A

Learning online should make use of a number of Internet tools: e-mail lets you exchange letters between continents very cheaply and almost immediately. Large groups of people can share their discussions by using electronic lists to send every letter to everyone on the list. Electronic magazines bring you up-to-date topics, such as news, arts, and sports. Search engines allow you to look for anything you want on the Internet, including the holdings of major libraries. In a chat room you can have a real-time written talk. Audio and video bring the world to your computer -— you can listen to the world's radio stations, watch the evening news from another continent. And in an online conference you can even talk to your teacher and fellow students abroad.

Do you have e-mail? How much do you communicate with your friends over the Internet? Internet, the newest child in technology, is like a modern communication highway. It's also a kind of super-shop, almost anything you can buy in a store -— you can get it through Internet, without leaving home at all.

56. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Internet B. Radio stations C. Magazines D. Libraries

57. What is the quickest and cheapest way of getting in touch with your friend abroad?

A. By telegraph B. By air-mail

C. By e-mail D. By telephone

58. Which of the following will you choose if you want to hold a meeting over the Internet?

A. Chat room B. Search engines

C. Online conference D. Electronic lists

59. In the writer’s opinion, it can be inferred that we might work _____ in the future.

A. in the office B. at home

C. at the library D. in the store

B

With only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone(克隆) the animal and save the endangered species. That’s a move similar to what Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”.

Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen(氮). If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.

It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds, reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.

This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.

The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.

“The nuclear transfer(核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.

“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”

60. The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project is to _______.

A. make efforts to clone the endangered pandas

B. save endangered animals from dying out

C. collect DNA of endangered animals to study

D. transfer the nuclear of one animal to another

61. According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of _______.

A. available panda eggs B. host animals

C. qualified researchers D. enough money

62. The best title for the passage may be _______.

A. China’s Success in Pandas Cloning

B. The First Cloned Panda in the World

C. Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas

D. China —the Native Place of Pandas Forever

63. From the passage we know that _______.

A. Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog

B. scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit

C. Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches

D. about two thousand of species will probably die out in a century