Food Fright Experiments under way in several labs aim to create beneficial types of genetically modified(GM)foods, including starchier potatoes and caffeine-free coffee beans. Genetic engineers are even trying to transfer genes from a cold-water fish to make a frost-resistant tomato. A low-sugar GM strawberry now in the works might one day allow people with health problems such as diabetes to enjoy the little delicious red fruits again. GM beans and grains supercharged with protein might help people at risk of developing kwashiorkor. Kwashiorkor, a disease caused by severe lack of protein, is common in parts of the world where there are severe food shortages. Commenting on GM foods, Jonathon Jones, a British researcher, said, “The future benefits will be enormous, and the best is yet to come. “ To some people, GM foods are no different from unmodified foods. “ A tomato is a tomato, “ said Brian Sansoni, an American food manufacturer. Critics of GM foods challenge Sansoni’s opinion. They worry about the harm that GM crops might do to people, other animals, and plants. In a recent lab study conducted at Cornell University, scientists tested pollen made by Bt corn, which makes up one-fourth of the U. S. corn crop. The scientist sprinkled the pollen onto milkweed, a plant that makes a milky juice and is the only known food source of the monarch butterfly caterpillar. Within four days of munching on the milkweed leaves, almost half of a test group of caterpillars had died. “ Monarchs are considered to be a flagship species for conservation, “ said Cornell researcher Linda Raynor. “This is a warning bell. “ Some insects that are not killed by GM foods might find themselves made stronger. How so? The insecticides used to protect most of today’s crops are sprayed on the crops when needed and decay quickly in the environment. But GM plants produce a continuous level of insecticide. Insect species feeding on those crops may develop resistance to the plants and could do so in a hurry, say the critics. Insects may also develop a resistance to the insecticide Bt. At the forum on GM food held last year in Canada, GM crops that have been made resistant to the herbicide might crossbreed with wild plants, creating“ superweeds“ that could take over whole fields. So where do you stand? Should GM foods be banned in the United States, as they are in parts of Europe? Or do their benefits outweigh any of the risks they might carry?

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Free Statins With Fast Food Could Neutralize Heart Risk Fast food outlets could provide statin drugs free of【C1】______so that customers can reduce the heart disease dangers of fatty food, researchers at Imperial College London 【C2】______in a new study. Statins reduce the【C3】______of unhealthy “LDL“ cholesterol in the blood. A wealth of trial data has proven them to be highly effective at【C4】______a person’s heart attack risk. In a paper published in the American Journal of Cardiology, Dr. Darrel Francis and colleagues calculate that the reduction in heart attack risk offered by a statin is【C5】______to offset the increase in heart attack risk from 【C6】______a cheeseburger and drinking a milkshake. Dr. Francis, from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, who is the senior author of the study, said, “ Statins don’t cut out all of the【C7】______effects of cheeseburgers and French fries. It’s better to avoid fatty food altogether. But we’ve worked out that in terms of your【C8】______of having a heart attack, taking a statin can reduce your risk to more or less the same【C9】______as a fast food meal increases it. “ “It’s ironic that people are free to take as many unhealthy condiments in fast food outlets as they【C10】______, but statins, which are beneficial to heart health, have to be prescribed. It 【C11】______sense to make risk-reducing stains available just as easily as the unhealthy condiments that are provided free of charge. It would cost less than 5 pence per【C12】______—not much different to a sachet of sugar, “Dr. Francis said. When people engage in risky behaviours like driving or smoking, they’re encouraged to take 【C13】______that lower their risk, like【C14】______a seatbelt or choosing cigarettes with filters. Taking a statin is a rational way of【C15】______some of the risks of eating a fatty meal.

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A sports news B our decisions and opinions C mass communication D our messages E source of information F the mass media

Science and Technology There is a difference between science and technology. 【B1】______Science has to do with discovering the facts and relationships between observable phenomena in nature and with establishing theories that serve to organize these facts and relationships; technology has to do with tools, techniques, and procedures for applying the findings of science. 【B2】______ Progress in science excludes the human factor. Scientists, who seek to understand the universe and know the truth within the highest degree of accuracy and certainty, cannot pay attention to their own or other peoples likes or dislikes or to popular ideas about the fitness of things. 【B3】______But even an unpleasant truth is more than likely to be useful; besides, we have the choice of refusing to believe it! But hardly so with technology; we do not have the choice of refusing to hear the sound produced by a supersonic(超音速的)aircraft flying overhead; we cannot refuse to breathe polluted air.【B4】______The purpose of technology is to serve people—people in general, not merely some people; and future generations, not merely those who presently wish to gain advantage for themselves. 【B5】______Many people blame technology itself for widespread pollution, resource depletion(枯竭)and even social decay in general—so much so that the promise of technology is “obscured“. That promise is a cleaner and healthier world. If wise applications of science and technology do not lead to a better world, what else will? A Another distinction between science and technology has to do with the progress in each. B Unlike science, progress in technology must be measured in terms of the human factor. C What scientists discover may shock or anger people—as did Darwin’s theory of evolution. D Science and technology are different. E We are all familiar with the improper use of technology. F Science is a method of answering theoretical questions; technology is a method of solving practical problems.

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Look After Your Voice Often speakers at a meeting experience dry mouths and ask for a glass of water. You can solve the problem by activating the saliva in your mouth. First gently bite the edges of your tongue with your teeth. Or, press your entire tongue to the bottom of your mouth and hold it there until the saliva flows. Or you can imagine that you are slicing a big juicy lemon and sucking the juice. Before you begin your talk, be kind to your voice, Avoid milk or creamy drinks which dry your throat. Keep your throat wet by drinking a little sweetened warm tea or diluted fruit juice. If you sense that you are losing your voice, stop talking completely. In the meantime, do not even talk in a low voice. Save your voice for your health. You may feel foolish using paper to write notes, but the best thing you can do is to rest your voice. If it is necessary , perhaps you can get some advice from a professional singer. What about drinking alcohol to wet your throat? I advice you not to touch alcohol before speaking. The problem with alcohol is that one drink gives you a little confidence. The second drink gives you even more confidence. Finally you will feel all-powerful and you will feel you can do everything, but in fact your brain and your mouth do not work together properly. Save the alcohol until after you finish speaking. Perhaps you want to accept the advice, but you may wonder if you can ever change the habits of a lifetime. Of course you can. Goethe, who lived before indoor skating rinks or swimming pools, said, “We learn to skate in the summer and swim in the winter“. Take this message to heart and give yourself time to develop your new habits. If you are willing to change, you will soon be able to say that you will never forget these techniques because they became a part of your body.

Messages from the Media 1 The weather forecast, a story about the candidates in an election, and movie reviews are examples of messages from the media. A communication medium, of which the plural(复数的)form is media, is a means of communicating a message. Examples of media are television, radio, news-papers and books and the telephone. The media that can reach many people at once are called mass media. 2 It is not difficult to think of other messages we receive through the mass media. Every day we get hundreds of them. Think about advertisements, for example. We see and hear these messages almost everywhere we go. Advertisements are important messages, even though they are sometimes annoying. They help us compare and evaluate products. 3 Most of us get more information from the media than from the classroom. Think for a moment, about how you learn about local news and events. Do you depend on other people or the media? What about international news? What is the most important source of information for you? People who are asked this question usually answer, “Television“. 4 Think of all the messages you received today. Perhaps you read a newspaper during breakfast, or maybe you read advertisements on billboards(露天广告牌)on your way to school. Did you listen to a weather forecast or the sports news on the radio this morning? Right now you are getting information through a very important medium of mass communication a book. 5 We use the information we get from radio, television, newspapers, and other media to make decisions and form opinions. That is why the mass media are so important. Editorials and articles in newspapers help us decide how to vote, consumer reports on television help us decide how to spend our money, and international news on the radio makes us think and form opinions about question of war and peace. A Importance of Classroom Learning. B Television A Rich Source of Information. C Advertisements as important Messages from the Mass Media. D Various Messages One May Receive Each Day. E Media Means to Communicate Messages. F Importance of the Mass Media.

What is the writer’s attitude to GM foods?

Which of the following statements concerning banning GM foods is true according to the passage?

What happens to those insects when not killed by the spray of insecticide?

Why is the case of the pollen-sprayed milkweed cited in Paragraph 6?

Paragraphs 1, 2&3 try to give the idea that______.