None of our early ancestors could digest milk as adults because their bodies never had to -milk drinking simply wasn't an option.As people began to extract milk from animals, though, some people developed the ability to keep drinking it throughout their lives. Scientists mow know of a milk-related mutation in our genes--the chemical instructions for life that we carry in almost every cell in our bodies.People who have a mutated form of one particular gene can drink milk just fine.People without the mutation tend to get sick from milk. To figure out where, and possibly why, milk drinking started, some scientists have been looking at who has the milk-digesting mutation to day Pattems are striking. Most adults in Northern and Central Europe are able to digest milk--and they do.Cheese, butter and other dairy products are popular in countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Germany and England.Because European settlers dominated North America, most people here can handle milk just fine, as well.That may explain why ice cream is such a popular dessert in the United States. In much of Africa, Asia and South America, on the other hand, people tend to avoid dairy products because they lead to diarrhea and other stomach problems.(That's why you won't typically find cheese on the menu at a Chinese, Japanese or Ethiopian restaurant.) Native Americans are also unable to digest milk. Based on these genetic patterns, scientists have long thought that milk drinking started in Northern Europe, where dairy is an institution and the milk-digesting mutation is everywhere. A recent study painted a different picture.With a computer model, Thomas and colleagues looked at the spread of the milk-drinking mutation, farming and other related factors.Working backward, the scientists concluded that the first milk-drinkers lived in Central Europe around what's now Hungary about 7500 years ago.The practice didn't start farther north, as scientists had thought before. The main focus of the scientists' research was _ . A) mutation of human genes B) development of the human stomach C) why milk drinking started D) where milk drinking first started
D
In recent years, the world has made progress in reducing deaths among children under the age of five. A new report says an estimated 6.9 million children worldwide died before their fifth birthday. That compares to about twelve million in1990. The report says child _ rates have fallen in all areas. It says the number of deaths is down by at least 50 percent in eastern, western and southeastern Asia. The number also fell in North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Ties Boerma is head of the WHO's Department of Health Statistics and Informatics. He says most child deaths happen in just a few areas. TIES BOERMA: "Sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia face the greatest challenges in child survival. More than eighty percent of child deaths in the world occur in these two regions. About half of child deaths occur in just five countries--India, which actually takes twenty-four percent of the global total; Nigeria, eleven percent; the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven percent; Pakistan, five percent and China, four percent of under-five deaths in the world." Ties Boerma notes that, in developed countries, one child in one hundred fifty-two dies before his or her fifth birthday. But south of the Sahara Desert, one out of nine children dies before the age of five. In Asia, the mortality rate is one in sixteen. The report lists the top five causes of death among children under five worldwide. They are pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and problems both before and during birth. Tessa Wardlaw is with the U-N Children's Fund. She is pleased with the progress being made in Sub-Saharan Africa. The area has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. But she says the rate of decline in child deaths has more than doubled in Africa. TESSA WARDLAW: "We welcome the widespread progress in child survival, but we importantly want to stress that there's a lot of work that remains to be done. There's unfinished business and the fact is that today on average, around nineteen thousand children are still dying every day from... According to the passage, the readers are likely to believe that _ . A) child mortality rates have fallen just in five areas B) Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest under-five mortality rate in the world C) in developed countries, no children die before the age of five D) the world has made little progress in reducing the rates of child mortality
B
Q: It is difficult to imagine what life will be like without memory. The meanings of thousands of everyday perceptions(, ), the bases for the decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found in our past experiences, which are brought into the present by memory. Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use. It includes not only "remembering" things like arithmetic or historical facts, but also involves any change in the way an animal typically behaves. Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain because he has sniffed something suspicious in the grain pile. Memory is also involved when a six-year-old child learns to swing a baseball bat. Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some physical objects and machines. Computers, for example, contain devices from storing data for later use. It is interesting to compare the memory-storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being. The instant-access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100,000 "words"--ready for instant use. An average prefix = st1 /U. S. teenager probably recognizes the meaning of about 100,000 words of English. However, this is but a fraction(, ) of the total amount of information which the teenager has stored. Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the teenager can recognize on sight. The use of words is the advanced problem-solving intelligence of human beings. A large part of a person's memory is in terms of words and combinations of words. The whole passage implies that _ . A) only human beings have problem-solving intelligence B) a person's memory is different from a computer's in every aspect C) animals are able to solve only very simple problems D) animals solve problems by instincts rather than intelligence
A: C
Q: MUMBAI - Indian commandos battled into the early hours of Friday to end a multiple hostage crisis in Mumbai after suspected Islamic militants killed 125 people across the city. Officials said they had almost totally cleared the luxury Taj Mahal hotel where gunmen had been held up for more than 24 hours. Indian security forces personnel released hostages from Nariman House in Mumbai.Thirty-nine people were rescued from the five-star Oberoi hotel, where "mopping up " operations were still underway, police said. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the militants had come from "outside the country." The Press Trust of India said one Pakistani militant had been arrested, although Pakistan's government fiercely denied any involvement. Indian media reports said between six and nine foreign nationals were among the dead in Mumbai -- including a Japanese businessman, an Australian, a Briton , a German and an Italian. At least five gunmen had been shot dead and one captured, police said.Fourteen security personnel were also killed, including the head of Mumbai's anti-terror squad. To draw maximum international attention, the militants used small groups to attack a total of about a dozen targets in India's financial hub , including the main railway station, a hospital and a restaurant popular with tourists. An unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedeen claimed responsibility, with one gunman telling an Indian TV channel by phone that the outfit was of Indian origin and motivated by the treatment of Indian Muslims. Up to 327 people were reported wounded. The main Bombay Stock Exchange was closed until further notice, as were shops, schools and businesses. Prime Minister Singh said the aim had clearly been to spread panic by choosing high profile targets and "indiscriminately killing foreigners." Witnesses said the gunmen had been very particular in their choice of hotel hostages."They said they wanted anyone with British and American passports," said one British guest at the Taj Mahal hotel. The best title of this passage can be _ . A) Hostages Released by Indian Commandos B) Mumbai Under Terrorist Attack C) Islamic Militants Attacking Westerners in Mumbai D) Unfortunate Britons and Americans in Mumbai
A: B