Have you ever heard a news reporter talk about DNA?Reporters talk about DNA found at the scene of a crime.They talk about police finding DNA "fingerprints".Police sometimes use DNA as a clue to find out who committed the crime. DNA is a substance that makes up genes.Everything alive has genes.Plants have genes.Animals have genes.You have genes. Genes are the basic units of heredity .Heredity means all the characteristics you inherit from your parents.You get your genes from your parents.You inherit half of your genes from your mother.You inherit half of your genes from your father. Genes are a kind of code.A tree's genes tell what shape its leaves will be.A cat's genes tell what color its fur will be.Your genes tell what color your eyes will be.Your genes tell what color your hair will be.Everything about you comes from the code in your genes. Genes line up on strands called chromosomes in cells.Everything alive is made up of cells.Chromosomes are in the center,or nucleus of cells. Different parts of you are made of different kinds of cells.Your muscles are made of muscle cells.Your skin is made of skin cells.The code in your genes tells your body to make different kinds of cells.The genes in each cell tell the cell how to work.They tell the cell when to make new copies of itself. An Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel first saw inherited patterns in pea plants.He experimented with pea plants in the 1860s.One of the things,or traits Mendel studied was what makes some pea plants tall and some short.He said that the traits must come from units of heredity passed from the parent plants.These units were later called genes. In the mid-1900s,scientists discovered that genes are made of DNA.In the 1970s,scientists learned how to change DNA with genetic engineering.Scientists also learned that problems with certain genes cause diseases.Muscular dystrophy,cystic fibrosis,and hemophilia are some genetic diseases--diseases caused by problems in genes.Today,scientists are looking for ways to cure genetic diseases by... Which of the following about genes is correct according to the passage? A) Plants,animals and human beings have the same genes. B) Half people inherit all genes from their mother,others from their father. C) Genes decide the trees shapes,the cats' fur color and our eyes' color as well. D) Genes will give you a code when you need them.
C
There is a famous story about British poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He was writing a poem when he was interrupted by a knock at the door. This was an age before telephones. Someone was delivering a message. When Coleridge got back to his poem, he had lost his inspiration. His poetic mood had been broken by the knock on his door. His unfinished poem, which could otherwise have been a masterpiece, would now never be more than a fragment. This story tells how unexpected communication can destroy an important thought, which bring us to the cellphone. The most common complaint about cellphones is that people talk on them to the annoyance of people around them. But more damaging may be the cellphone's interruption of our thoughts. We have already entered a golden age of little white lies about our cellphones, and this is by and large a healthy, protective development. "I didn't hear it ring" or "I didn't realize my phone had shut off" are among the lies we tell to give ourselves space where we're beyond reach. The notion of being unreachable is not a new concept--we have "Do Not Disturb" sign on the doors of hotel rooms. So why must we feel guilty when it comes to cellphones? Why must we apologize if we decide to shut off the phone for a while? Now time alone, or a conversation with someone next to us which cannot be interrupted by a phone, is something to be cherished. Even cellphone devotees , myself usually included, can't help at times wanting to throw their phone away, or curse the day they were invented. But we don't and won't, and there really is no need. All that's required to take back our private time is a general social recognition that we have the right to it. In other words, we have to develop a healthy contempt for the rings of our own phones. A cellphone call deserves no greater priority than a random word from the person next to us,though the call on my cellphone may be the one-in-a-million from Steven Spielberg--who has finally read my novel and wants to make it his next movie. But most likely... According to the author, what is the most annoying problem caused by cellphones? A) People get so obsessed with the cellphone rings that they fail to notice anything else. B) People feel guilty when they are not able to answer their cellphones. C) Cellphones interrupt people's private time. D) With cellphones it is no longer possible to be unreachable.
C
Long long ago, there was an old merchant who had three sons. "To which one shall I leave my fortune?" he wondered. "It must be to the cleverest son. But which one is the cleverest?" He called his three sons to him. "Here is some money," he told them, "you must each take one coin to buy something that will fill this room. Anyone who can do this shall have my fortune." "It is a big room," said the eldest son. "One coin will not buy very much," said the second son. But the youngest son said nothing. He stood and thought, and then he smiled, "Come, brothers," he said, "let us go to the market." The eldest son bought straw with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of straw. Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the straw covered only a corner of the room. The second son bought sand with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of sand. Even when he had spread it as much as he could, the sand covered only half of the floor. "What did you buy?" the eldest son angrily asked the youngest son. "You don't have any straw." "Yes, what did you buy?" the second son asked angrily. "You don't have any sand." "I bought this," said the youngest son. "A candle!" cried his brothers. "What good is a candle?" "Watch", said the youngest son. He lit the candle, and all at once the room was filled from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor. It was filled with light! "Although you are the youngest, you are indeed the cleverest of my sons," the old merchant said. And that is how, the old merchant left his fortune to his youngest son, the one who could fill a room with light. The merchant left his fortune to the son A) who would fill the room by using something which is worthy of one coin B) who would take care of him when he became old C) who wanted to get his fortune D) who got married first
A