In 1861, it seemed inevitable that the Southern states would break away from the Union.

A . each other B . one another C . any other D . any

A . sudden B . moment C . minute D . once

A．cold B．possible C．long D．impossible

The most spectacular pictures so far have been provided by Mars Express, the European Space Agency's contribution to the fleet. On January 28th this reached its final working orbit (which takes it over both poles, and thus allows it to see the whole of Mars over the course of a few days as the planet revolves beneath it). It has, however, been sending back data since shortly after it arrived, and a few days ago its controllers released a series of beautiful photographs, including a stereo image of Valles Marineris, a huge canyon that may have been formed by flowing water. The most scientifically significant result, though, has come from Opportunity, America's second Mars rover. One of Opportunity's cameras has photographed evidence of stratification in nearby rocks. Such stratification indicates that the rocks concerned are sedimentary. The layers could be repeated wind-blown deposits, or consist of ash from successive volcanic eruptions. But the terrestrial rocks they most resemble are ones that have formed under water. The reason everyone is getting so excited is because there is a widespread assumption that any form. of life which might dwell on Mars would need liquid water to live—or, even if it could now subsist by extracting moisture from ice, would have needed liquid water to evolve to that stage. Mars has seen more probes launched towards it than all of the other planets put together precisely because of this hope that it might harbour life. So there is a lot riding on the answer—not least the funding of future missions. Besides its scientific significance, the success of Opportunity has also helped to distract attention from the sudden refusal of Spirit, the first American rover to arrive on Mars, to talk to its controllers. This craft had tentatively, but successfully, nosed its way off its landing platform, and was about to drill its way into a nearby rock prior to doing a spot of chemical analysis, when it went silent. However, the engineers at NASA, America's space agency, are nothing if not resourceful, and they have a good record of carrying out running repairs on spacecraft that are millions of kilometres away. In the case of Spirit, they think that one of the craft's memory chips has got cluttered up with files created on the journey to Mars. That caused another chip, which manages the first, to throw a wobbly and to keep rebooting the computer. They are currently testing this idea by loading a diagnostic program on to the computer. In addition, as a precaution, they have deleted excess files from the equivalent memory chip on Opportunity. Spirit's spirits may thus revive. As to the failures, the Japanese abandoned their fly-by craft Nozomi in December, and the British team in charge of Beagle 2, which is presumed to have landed on December 25th but from which no signal has been received, also seems to have called it quits. Still, a 40460% success rate (depending on whether Spirit is brought back into commission) is not bad by the historical standards of missions to Mars. Now, the real science begins. Mars Express is mentioned because______. A．it has been sending data back to the Earth B．it illustrates Europe's contribution to the project C．it is the first craft to have ever landed on the Mars D．it can help researchers see the whole of the Mars

A.that B.when C.because D.if

A．knows little about B．is doubtful about C．is opposed to D．agrees with

BOB: ___1__That is really an exciting project, and I hope our plan will be approved by the board. JOHN: Good luck! But unfortunately, from what I’ve seen so far, ___2__the Jinan project does not seem to __3___. Is there any problem I can help with BOB: Don’t worry! Please believe me that ___4__and I’ll get it back on track soon. JOHN: I’m sure you can straighten things out. Well,___5__, Bob. A. everything is under control B. keep up the good work C. You got it! D. I must mention that E. be up to your usual standard

To the professional anthropologist, there is no intrinsic superiority of one culture (2)_____ another, just as to the professional linguist there is no intrinsic (3)_____ among the different languages. People once (4)_____ the languages of backward groups as savage, undeveloped (5)_____ of speech, consisting largely of grunts and groans. (6)_____ it is possible that language (7)_____ began as a series of grunts and groans, it is a fact established by the study of "backward" languages (8)_____ no spoken tongue answers that description today. Most languages of (9)_____ groups are, by our most severe standards, extremely (10)_____, delicate, and ingenious pieces of machinery for the transfer of ideas. They (11)_____ behind our Western languages not in their sound patterns or grammatical structures, which usually are fully adequate for all language needs, (12)_____ only in their vocabularies, which reflect their speakers' social (13)_____. Even in this department, (14)_____, two things are to be noted: 1) All languages seem to (15)_____ the machinery for vocabulary expansion, either by putting together words already in existence (16)_____ by borrowing them from other languages and adapting them to their own system. 2) The objects and activities requiring names and (17)_____ in "backward" languages, while different from ours, are often (18)_____ numerous and complicated. A Western languages distinguishes merely between two degrees of remoteness ("this" and "that"); some languages of the American Indians distinguish between what is close to the speaker or to the person (19)_____ and what is removed from both, or out of sight, or in the past, or in the future. This study of language, in turn, (20)_____ a new light upon the claim of the anthropologists that all cultures are to be viewed independently, and without ideas of rank. A．perspective B．sense C．dimension D．manner

Research on the benefits of an extremely low-calorie diet【C2】______back to the 1930s, when scientists found that rats lived【C3】______to twice as long when they ate less than control animals. And how about in human？ To fill that【C4】______, scientist Agnes and her colleagues at the University of Muenster【C5】______50 healthy elderly subjects. The【C6】______volunteer was 60 years old and overweight. The researchers【C7】______assigned the volunteers to one of three groups. Twenty people were instructed to reduce their daily calorie【C8】______by 30%, while still eating a【C9】______diet. Another 20 were told to keep their calorie intake the same but increase their【C10】______of unsaturated(不饱和的 )fatty acids. The【C11】______10 volunteers did not change their diets. After 3 months, all of the volunteers【C12】______a memory test in which they were shown 15 words and asked how many they could remember after 30 minutes.【C13】______average,those in the calorie-restriction group showed a 20%【C14】______over their baseline memory scores taken before they started their diets. Subjects in the other two groups showed【C15】______or no improvement. "Our study【C16】______provides some of the first【C17】______on the impact of calorie restriction on memory in the elderly, but this study has to be【C18】______up now," Floel noted. Her team plans to【C19】______larger studies to determine exactly【C20】______calorie restriction enhances memory. 【C1】 A．reducing B．declining C．burning D．increasing

A．strange B．certain C．inconsistent D．proper

A．Yes, it did. B．No, it didn't. C．Yes, it could.

While three of them, including Lehman Brothers, take a dim view of the prospects for American shares, the other four have either marginally increased their allocations, or have maintained them at the same levels as in the previous quarter. Lehman Brothers seems to have decided that the prospect for German shares is better than it is for American ones. Its allocation for American equities dropped by seven percentage points, to 45% of its equity holdings; while its German share portfolio increased by six percentage points, to 11%. Lehman's share allocation to America has dropped, even as its overall equity holdings have increased. Daiwa and Standard Life are the other two that have cut back on American equities. But Credit Suisse continues to be a cheerleader for American shares. Following its ten percentage-point increase in the third quarter, the Swiss firm increased its exposure to American equities once again in the fourth quarter. Commerz International appears to share Credit Suisse's bullish outlook: its American equity holdings have increased by four percentage points, to 490. Julius Baer is extremely bullish on American equities, with 60% of its equity funds parked there. But the average American equity holdings, among our institutional investors dropped by a percentage point in the fourth quarter. British equities seem to have become attractive—all our investors have increased their allocations. Credit Suisse, which in the third quarter cut its investment in British shares, appears to have changed its mind. It has increased its allocation by four percentage points, taking the total to 9%. On the other hand, Japanese shares have been given the thumbs-down: all our investors save Julius Baer (unchanged) and Credit Suisse (slightly up) have moved funds out of Japanese equities. It is a relatively similar story for Japanese bonds, where everybody apart from Commerz International has either dropped their yen-denominated bond holdings, or kept them unchanged. Robeco Group seems decidedly bearish, for it has sharply, cut its allocation, from 24% to 15%. Lehman Brothers, appears to have got the timing right, by raising its allocation of dollar-denominated bonds in the fourth quarter. Its increase was followed by the Fed interest-rate cut on January 3rd. Will Lehman's bearish timing prove right for American shares, too？ Lehman Brothers______. A．has increased its equity and bond allocation in America B．pays less attention to the equity holdings because of the American economy's slowdown C．is pessimistic about the American prospect and cautious about its allocation D．is as bearish as other institutional investors

Schoolboys gained their skill in Latin in a bitter way.They kept in mind the rules to make learning by heart easier.They first made a word-for-word translation and then an idiomatic translation into English.As they increased their skill they translated their English back into Latin without referring to the book and then compared their translation with the original.The schoolmaster was always at hand to encourage them.All schoolmasters believed Latin should be beaten in . After several years of study the boys began to write compositions in imitation of the Latin writers they read.And as they began to read Latin poems they began to write poems in Latin.Because Milton was already a poet at ten his poems were much better than those painfully put together by the other boys.During the seven years Milton spent at university he made regular use of his command of Latin.He wrote some excellent Latin poems which he published among his works in 1645. 1.What does the passage mainly tell about？[] A.How John Milton wrote“Paradise Lost” B.How John Milton studied Latin C.How John Milton became famous D.How John Milton became a poet 2.Which of the following is true of John Milton’s pronunciation of Latin？[] A.It has a strong Italian accent B.It has an uncommon accent C.It was natural and easy to understand D.It was bad and difficult to understand 3.It can be inferred from the passage that ________. A.Milton’s training in Latin was similar to that of the other boys B.Milton hadn’t learned any foreign language except Latin before going to college C.Milton’s Italian friends helped him with Latin when talking D.Milton's classmates learned Latin harder but worse than Milton 4.Which of the following is suggested in the passage？[] A.The schoolmaster mainly helped those who were bad at Latin B.The schoolmaster usually stood beside the schoolboys with a stick in his hand C.The schoolboys could repeat Latin grammar rules from memory D.Some of the schoolboys were quick at writing compositions in Latin 5.What is the meaning of the underlined part“Latin should be beaten in”that the writer wishes you to understand？[] A.Schoolboys should be punished if they were lazy to learn Latin B.Schoolboys should be encouraged if they had difficulty in learning Latin C.Schoolboys were expected to master Latin in a short time D.Schoolboys had to study Latin in a hard way

A．look upon life as their elders do B．are more like American that their elders in their way of thinking C．look more like Americans than their elders D．expect more from Americans than from their elders

A. turned down B. turned out C. turned up D. turned over