As I grew older, Dad was to build all sorts of things for me as I explored a variety of interests: magic tricks, a toy circus, neighborhood shows and science projects. From as early as I can remember to the time I left home for college, I continued to come to him with a design or an idea, and he would figure out how to build it. In fifth grade, a schoolmate and I wrote a puppet show that we wanted to perform for our class. I made the puppet heads myself, and I made the costumes and curtains with Mon---who was as expert designing and sewing with cloth as my father was designing and working with wood and metal. With Dad I made the puppet stage, in our own invented style between kid and adult with me saying something like, " It has to be this high, and it needs to come apart and fold up so it can fit in the backseat of the car, and it needs to set up fast, and it needs to have different color1ed lights on top with switches you can reach to control them and a curtain you can pull from under it, even if you still have a puppet on your hand." Dad figured out how to make it all work, making plans as we went along. Then with the tools in his shop he built it, and I helped. Dad also spent a lot of time out in the garage or in the driveway working on the family car. I don't remember that he ever took it to a professional auto-repair shop. Maybe to save money, but also because he could usually figure out what needed fixing, just by taking it apart and looking. Though not trained as an auto mechanic, he could look under the engine cover and take parts and pieces out, spread them on a tarp to catch the oil and figure out what was supposed to happen to the machine and then figure out what wasn't happening and then replace the worn-out part or whatever and then put everything back together again. Before the writer went to college, he always turned to his father for _ . A) designing a machine B) building his design or idea C) making a puppet show D) building a show stage
B
Scientist Says 'No' to Human Cloning "I've never met a human worth cloning," says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from his lab at Texas A&M University. "It's a stupid endeavor." That's an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two cows and a cat. They just might succeed in cloning Missy soon -- or perhaps not for another five years. Westhusin's experience with cloning animals leaves him upset by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missy project, using hundreds upon hundreds of dog's eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted(,) fetuses may be acceptable when you're dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. "Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous," he says. Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin's phone has been ringing with people calling in hopes of duplicating their cats and dogs, cattle and horses. "A lot of people want to clone pets, especially if the price is right," says Westhusin. Cost is no obstacle for Missy's mysterious billionaire owner; he's put up $3.7 million so far to fund A&M's research. Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she does die. The prototype(;)is, by all accounts, athletic, good-natured and supersmart. Missy's master does not expect an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament(, ). In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are "both looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy." Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the old question of nature vs.... We learn from the passage that animal clones are likely to have _ . A) a bad temper B) defective(, )organs C) immune deficiency D) an abnormal shape
B
Q: Around twenty years ago I was going through hard times. I could not find a satisfying job. To my shame, I had to drive a school bus to make ends meet and lived in a friend's house. One afternoon, while driving through a quiet suburban neighborhood I was so sad that I kept asking myself "Why has my life become so hard?" "What's wrong with the world?" Then I pulled over the bus to drop off a little girl and as she passed she handed me a pretty earring, saying she found it on the floor of the bus and I should keep it in case the owner came to look for it. In the evening, the owner did come to look for her earring. When I handed it to her, she got very excited and continued saying "Thanks, you're a real gentleman." I told her that she should thank the little girl who had found it. She said, "Yes, and you are a good driver, too. What a lovely world it is!" Then she left with satisfaction. I was touched by her last words. I had thought something was wrong with the world just because of my poor condition. In fact, nothing was wrong with the world. I should change my attitude towards life. I should be positive about life. At first it was hard, and then it got easier. Every day I could find things to make me happy. Then one night there was a phone call for me at my friend's house from a lady who was a manager in a large hospital. She said she had read my application form and asked me if I would like to work in the hospital. I said yes and got the job. Looking back at the experience I know the most important is to have a positive attitude towards life. Who was the owner of the earring lost on the bus according go the passage? A) One of the author's friends. B) A real gentleman C) A manager in a hospital D) Not mentioned
A: D
*Question*
A drink of water is just a matter of turning on a tap for most of us. However, water for those in drought-stricken northwestern China can't be taken for granted. Its present shortage is a matter of life and death to them. The tragedy is the direct result of the drought that has hit a large area of northwestern China, and is affecting more than 50 million people. The drought began last spring, ravaging Gansu, Qinghai and Shaanxi. Experts say the drought is a result of less rainfall, insufficient water reserves, high temperatures, dated irrigation projects, environmental damage and global climate change. More than 15 million people are having difficulties getting safe drinking water. The drought is also affecting schoolchildren's studies. "I am worried that my family will get no harvest this year. In that case, my family will not be able to afford my living costs," an unnamed boarding schoolgirl at Naqing Primary School in Shandan, Zhangye, told Dazhong Daily. But thanks to measures taken under the leadership of the central government, the drinking water problem has been greatly eased. Each person in the five worst-hit provinces is being supplied with drinking water and 20 liters of water for other purposes each day. Local authorities are digging deep wells and creating artificial rain. Military personnel are helping to transport water from others province to Gansu and Qinghai, according to CCTV. In Shaanxi, locals are turning to drought resistant crops. Other parts of China are helping by giving water and donating other resources. Which of the following is not the cause of the drought mentioned in the passage? A) Less rainfall. B) Insufficient water reserves. C) Digging deep wells. D) Environmental damage.
**Answer**
C