Invented in Turkey and patented by Nanopool, a German company, the spray-on liquid glass might become one of the most useful inventions in the field of nanotechnology. The product was tested at the Saarbrücken Institute for New Materials.

It is worth mentioning that the invention is transparent and non-poisonous. The liquid glass can protect any type of surface from damages caused by water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. Besides, it is flexible and breathable, which means that the liquid glass can be applied on plants and seeds as well. Researchers found that the spray greatly increases the resistance of plants to bacteria-caused diseases. The trials also showed that the sprayed seeds grew faster.

Depending on the type of surface that is to be covered, researchers can add water or ethanol to the spray. Scientists say that their latest invention has a long-lasting anti-bacterial effect. The spray produces a coating that is just 100nm thick. Trials by food processing plants in Germany have concluded that foods covered with the glass can store longer than those stored in normal condition.

According to Neil McClelland, UK project manager with Nanopool, due to its capabilities, the spray-on liquid glass can become one of the most useful inventions around the world, ending up being used by a lot of industries that will cover their products. At present, the invention is being used by a train company and a hotel chain in the UK, as well as a hamburger chain in Germany that are carrying out tests of the liquid glass for various uses.

The spray-on liquid glass was also tested in a Lancashire hospital, where it showed “very promising” results, being used to cover medical equipment and bandages. The invention could be also used on clothing, because it cannot be seen by the naked eye, thus clothes could become stain resistant. Due to its unique characteristics, the liquid glass can be used to cover bathrooms, sinks and many other surfaces in the home. According to the researchers, the spay-on glass can last for a year. It is expected to hit the DIY stores across Britain at a price of 5 pounds.

51. Which of the following about the liquid glass is NOT true?

A. We can still see an object clearly covered with the liquid.

B. It will cause plants to have some kind of disease.

C. Plants still have access to oxygen when covered by it.

D. It can speed up the growth of seeds.

52. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 imply?

  A. Water or ethanol must be added to the spray to produce the effect.

  B. The coating of the spray-on liquid is thick.

  C. The liquid glass can protect foods from bacteria.

  D. The long-lasting anti-bacterial effect protects the liquid glass.

53. According to Neil McClelland, the spray-on liquid glass_________.

A. are being tested by some industries

B. are being used by various companies

C. can be eaten together with hamburgers

D. are widely used by train companies

54. The writer’s attitude towards the application of the new liquid glass is _________.

  A. pessimistic            B. doubtful            C. cautious                   D. optimistic

55. What can be inferred from the passage?

  A. We don’t have to wash our clothes with the new invention.

  B. The liquid glass can be used to wash yourself in the bathroom..

  C. The liquid glass will be widely used in many fields.

D. The DIY stores will not welcome the liquid glass.

Sometimes people recall past events differently from how they happened. Have you ever confused dates and events from your life, or people’s names? Don’t be too hard on yourself if this is the case; it happens to almost everyone. Every day, our brain processes an amazing amount of information. In fact, all our experiences are based on the way our brain interprets the information it receives from our senses. It is impossible to store all of this information, so some of it gets lost. The parts that remain make up our memories. All our thoughts and memories depend on the way our senses work, and we cannot always trust everything our senses tell us.

If you have ever tried to make your own short film on a digital camera, you will have noticed that the images you record are often blurry(模糊不清). To stop the same thing from happening when we see things with our own eyes, our brain is always filling in the blanks. Before our eyes can even focus on an object, our brain has created its own picture of it so that we can move smoothly from looking at one thing to another without the world looking strange. If we are moving quickly or are not focusing properly, our brain may not correctly guess what is around us.

Memory is the way we store the information that our senses have experienced. As we have discussed above, our senses do not always see things accurately, so our memory is just how we store our interpretations of these experiences. When our brain takes in new experiences, it uses the information we retrieve from our memory as a reference. This means that we often do not remember the details of things but just the important parts. When we look at something, we often do not really look closely at it, but we merely look at the different hints that help us indentify it.

This also happens with our hearing and speaking. It is natural for students of English to confuse the word “kitchen”, with the familiar word “chicken”. As the sounds are similar, the mind mistakenly identifies the new word with the one that is familiar. This is perhaps the most common reason why people make mistakes when they learn a new language. 

72. Sometimes things people remember are quite different from how they really happened because ______.

A. not all people are smart enough                            B. the main part of the information gets lost

C. people are too strict with themselves             D. information was processed incompletely

73. Taking the short film on a digital camera for an example, the author means _____.

A. images recorded by cameras could not be accurate

B. brain may form an imagery picture without reference

C. blurry pictures are caused by too fast camera movements

D. the process of vision is an interpretive construct by the brain

74. The underlined word “retrieve” in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.

A. recall                     B. change             C. borrow                  D. differ

75. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE in terms of memory?

A. Memory is exactly what senses have experienced.

B. Memories are made up of the information remaining in minds.

C. Memory is the way to store information experienced by senses.

D. Memories sometimes can be obstacles to learning something new. 

Whenever human populations have lived in forest areas, they have always cut down trees which they used for a number of purposes, for housing and ships and served as a source of heating fuel and timber. Growth of cities often meant expansion into forest areas, while even more trees were removed to provide space for agriculture. With the growing demand for paper, vast quantities of trees have also been cut down for paper production. These factors, along with many others, have been contributing to a dangerous phenomenon known as deforestation.

In the last 5,000 years, humans have reduced forest from roughly 50 percent of the earth’s land surface to less than 20 percent. Most of this original, or old growth, forest cover is concentrated in three large areas: the Canadian and Alaskan boreal forest, the boreal forest of Russia, and the tropical forest of the northwestern Amazon Basin and the Guyana Shield. These areas comprise almost 70 percent of the world’s remaining original forest cover. In most places, the rate of deforestation is increasing, with the alarming result of 16 million hectares disappearing worldwide every year.

Loss of forest does not just mean the decline of natural resources. There are several other factors that make deforestation seriously harmful to both the human and natural worlds. One of them is changes in the global climate. For example, forest clearance is releasing substantial volumes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere as vegetation is burnt or decays. It has been suggested that this is a significant factor in global warming. Moreover, about 10 percent of the world’s tree species are in danger of extinction as a result of deforestation. Deforestation also threatens biological diversity through the destruction of wildlife habitats, which endangers a number of animal species and leads to their potential disappearance. Species are particularly easy to extinction in tropical rainforests because many species have few individuals per unit area, which makes reproduction more difficult. Finally, since forests play an important role in storing water and stabilizing soil, deforestation and the resulting change in land use cause soil erosion (腐蝕) and other forms of land degradation.

72.   The passage discusses all of the following EXCEPT the ________.

       A. causes of deforestation                           B. consequences of deforestation

       C. management of deforestation                  D. rate of deforestation

73.   The word “diversity” in the last paragraph probably means “________”.

       A. variety                                                        B. expansion        

       C. development                                         D. advantage

74.   Why does the author mention fuel and timber in Paragraph 1?

       A. To explain the rate of deforestation.

       B. To compare them with housing and ships.

       C. To show the dangers of deforestation.

       D. To illustrate the causes of deforestation.

75.   Which of the following sentences summarizes Paragraph 3 best?

       A. Deforestation threatens biological diversity.

       B. Deforestation has many harmful consequences.

       C. Deforestation causes changes in global climate.

       D. Deforestation should be stopped.

Scientists have devised（發(fā)明） a way to determine roughly where a person has lived using a strand of hair, a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.

    The method relies on measuring how chemical variations in drinking water show up in people’s hair.

    “You’re what you eat and drink, and that’s recorded in your hair,” said Thure Cerling, a geologist at the University of Utah.

     While U.S. diet is relatively identical（同一的）, water supplies vary. The differences result from weather patterns. The chemical composition of rainfall changes slightly as rain clouds move.

     Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable, but traces of both elements are also

present as heavier isotopes. The heaviest rain falls first. As a result, storms that form over

the Pacific deliver heavier water to California than to Utah.

     Similar patterns exist throughout the U.S. By measuring the proportion of heavier hydrogen and oxygen isotopes（同位素） along a strand of hair, scientists can construct a geographic timeline. Each inch of hair corresponds（相當(dāng)） to about two months.

     Cerling’s team collected tap water samples from 600 cities and constructed a map of the regional differences. They checked the accuracy of the map by testing 200 hair samples collected from 65 barber shops.

     They were able to accurately place the hair samples in broad regions roughly corresponding to the movement of rain systems.

     “It’s not good for pinpointing（精確）,” Cerling said. “It’s good for eliminating many possibilities.”

     Told Park, a local detective, said the method has helped him learn more about an unidentified woman whose skeleton was found near Great Salt Lake.

     The woman was 5 feet tall. Police recovered 26 bones, a T-shirt and several strands of hair.

When Park heard about the research, he gave the hair samples to the researchers. Chemical testing showed that over the two years before her death, she moved about every two months.

     She stayed in the Northwest, although the test could not be more specific than somewhere between eastern Oregon and western Wyoming.

     “It’s still a substantial area,” Park said,  “But it narrows it way down for me”.

72. What is the scientists’ new discovery?

   A. One’s hair growth has to do with the amount of water they drink.

   B. A person’s hair may reveal where they have lived.

   C. Hair analysis accurately identifies criminal suspects.

   D. The chemical composition of hair varies from person to person.

73. What does the author mean by “You’re what you eat and drink” (Line 1, Para.3)?

   A. Food and drink affect one’s personality development.        

   B. Food and drink preferences vary with individuals.

   C. Food and drink leave traces in one’s body tissues（組織）.           

   D. Food and drink are similar to one’s existence.

74. What did Cerling’s team produce in their research?

   A. A map showing the regional differences of tap water.        

 B. A collection of hair samples from various barber shops.

   C. A method to measure the amount of water in human hair.      

   D. A chart illustrating the movement of the rain system.

75. What is the practical value of Cerling’s research?

   A. It helps analyze the quality of water in different regions.

   B. It helps the police determine where a crime is committed.

   C. It helps the police narrow down possibilities in detective work.

   D. It helps identify the drinking habits of the person under investigation.

Birds that are half-asleep—with one brain hemisphere (半球) alert and the other sleeping—control which side of the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping ducks.

    Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemisphere’s eye stays open and alert. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.

    Decades of studies of bird groups led researchers to predict extra alertness in the end-of-the-row sleepers which tend to be attacked more easily. Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots showed no preference for gaze direction.

    Also, birds napping at the end of the line depend on single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did. Turning 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found that compared with 12 percent for birds in internal spots, outer birds half-asleep during some 32 percent of napping time.

    “We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness at the same time in different regions of the brain,” the researchers say.

    The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing assumption that single-hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures scanned for enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be widespread, he predicts. He’s seen it in a pair of birds napping side-by-side in the zoo and in a single pet bird sleeping by a mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open.

    Useful as half-sleeping might be, it’s only been found in birds and such water animals as dolphins, whales, and seals. Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning.

    Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome M. Siegel of the UCLA says he wonders if birds’ half-brain sleep “is just the tip of the iceberg.” He supposes that more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other species.

72. According to the passage, birds often half sleep because ______.

       A. they have to watch out for possible attacks

       B. their brain hemispheres take turns to rest

       C. the two halves of their brain are differently structured

       D. they have to constantly keep an eye on their companions

73. What is implied about the example of a bird’s sleeping in front of a mirror?

       A. An imagined companion gives the bird a sense of security.

       B. Birds prefer to sleep in pairs for the sake of their security.

       C. The phenomenon of birds napping in pairs is widespread.

D. A single pet bird enjoys seeing its own reflection in the mirror.

74. While sleeping, some water animals tend to keep half awake in order to ______.

A. alert themselves to the approaching enemy

       B. emerge from water now and then to breathe

       C. be sensitive to the ever-changing environment

       D. avoid being swept away by rapid currents

75. By saying “just the tip of the iceberg”, Siegel suggests that ______.

       A. half-brain sleep has something to do with icy weather

       B. the mystery of half-brain sleep is close to being solved

       C. most birds living in cold regions tend to be half sleepers

       D. half-brain sleep may exist among other species

It is one of the greatest mysteries of nature. In case you haven’t noticed, all living things follow very definite, individual rhythms, all as regular as a clock, but what makes them regular?

       Though many scientists maintain that these rhythms are the result of some outside force like gravity or radiation or both, the results of most scientific researches agree with other scientists who believe that each living thing has its own built-in biological “time clock.”

       Take the mystery of migration for example. Scientists can’t really explain why many species of birds migrate in the autumn even though the temperature is still summery. The birds just seem to snub the comfortable weather that they are having. When a certain time comes, they travel south by the thousand. In spring time, they migrate northwards even though there probably is snow still covering the ground when they finally arrive. Something said “go,” and they did.

       Animals that hibernate (冬眠) are obeying individual time clocks, too. When their clock indicates the time to take a winter’s nap, they do, and nothing can stop them. At a certain time in the spring, they wake up and come out regardless of the weather outside.

       Plants appear to have yearly rhythms, such as the sprouting of seeds, and they also have daily rhythms. Notice sometimes that plants raise their leaves in daylight and lower them at night.

       If you live along the California coast, you can easily observe a demonstration of this mysterious clock functioning regularly. There, from February to September, the highest tides occur exactly every fourteen and four-fifths days, and during these high tides, but at no other time, small silvery fish called grunions surf-ride a wave to the beach. There the female deposits her eggs in the sand and the male fertilizes them; then both hitch a wave-ride back to the sea. Exactly fourteen and four-fifths days later, never before or after, the tiny eggs hatch, and the high tide carries the new babies out to sea.

72. According to the passage, the mysterious rhythms result from ______.

       A. the influence of gravity on living species

       B. the effect of radiation on living species

       C. the influence of a mysterious outer force on living species

       D. the internal mechanism inside the living species

73. The underlined word “snub” in the third paragraph probably means ______.

       A. fight   B. ignore C. symbolize   D. criticize

74. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

       A. Hibernating animals are obeying an internal time clock.

       B. The positioning of the leaves of some plants is due to the daily rhythms.

       C. The internal clock functioning is demonstrated in the reproducing habits of grunions. 

       D. The yearly hibernation is more because of the weather influence than the biological functioning.

75. The passage is mainly about ______.

       A. the rhythms of life  

       B. the reasons of mysterious hibernation

       C. strange behaviors of species     

       D. the timing for different events in the world of species

NOT all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget

bad experiences. Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars. Often they relieve these experiences in nightmares.

  Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill, which will help

people forget bad memories. The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience. They hope it might reduce ,or possibly erase(抹去),the effect of painful memories.

  In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops

the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain. So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced, not that the memories are erased.

 The research has caused a great deal of argument. Some think it is a bad idea, While

others support it.

 Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers' troubling memories

after war. They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories.

 "Some memories can ruin people's lives . They come back to you when you don't want

to have them in a daydream or nightmare. They usually come with very painful emotions," said Roger Pitman, a professor of psychiatry(精神病) at Harvard Medical School. "This could relieve a lot of that suffering."

But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous

because memories give us our identity (特質(zhì)). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past.

"All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us

who we are. I'm not sure we want to wipe those memories out, "said Rebecca Dresser, a medical ethicist.（倫理學(xué)家）

65. The passage is mainly about               .

A. a new medical invention                        B. a new research on the pill

C. a way of erasing painful memories          D. an argument about the research on the pill

66. The drug tested on people can            .

A. cause the brain to fix memories                     B.stop people remembering bad experiences

C. prevent body producing certain chemicals       D.Wipe out the emotional effects of memories

67. We can infer from the passage that            .

A.people doubt the effects of the pills                

B. the pill will stop people's bad experiences

C. taking the pill will do harm to people's health

D. the pill has probably been produced in America

68. Which of the following does Rebecca Dresser agree with?___________________.

A. Some memories can ruin people's lives.

B. People want to get rid of bad memories.

C. Experiencing bad events makes us different from others.

D. The pill will reduce people's sufferings from bad memories.

A new study says one part of the human brain may become smaller as the result of a condition known as jet lag. Jet lag results from flying long distances in an airplane. Jet lag interferes with a person's normal times for sleeping and waking. People with jet lag may feel extremely tired for several days. They also may have problems thinking clearly and remembering.

Kwangwook Cho is a researcher at the University of Bristol in Britain. He reported the findings of his jet lag study in the publication Nature Neuroscience.

The study involved twenty young women who worked for international airlines. The women had served passengers on airplanes for five years. These flight attendants flew across many countries and at least seven time zones. In the study, the flight attendants had different amounts of time to recover from jet lag. Half the women spent five days or fewer in their home areas between long flights. The other half spent more than fourteen days in their home areas.

Mister Cho took some fluid from the women's mouths to measure levels of a hormone that increases during stress. He tested them to see if they could remember where black spots appeared on a computer screen. And he took pictures of their brains using magnetic resonance imaging. This is a way to measure the size of the brain's temporal lobes（顳葉）.

It was found that the women who had less time between flights had smaller right temporal lobes. This area of the brain deals with recognizing and remembering what is seen. The same group performed worse and had slower reaction times on the visual memory test. And their saliva samples showed higher levels of stress hormones.

Mister Cho says he believes the brain needs at least ten days to recover after a long trip. He says airline workers told him their ability to remember got worse after working on planes for about four years. Other studies have shown that increased feelings of stress can cause a loss of cells in the part of the brain that controls memory.

Scientists say more tests are needed to study the effects of jet lag on the brain. They want to find out if too much jet lag could permanently affect memory.

72. According to the text, jet lag _____.

       A. can cause difficulties in speaking

       B. can make people feel tired for a few weeks

       C. is the illness only found in people who work on the airplanes

       D. can be caused by flying over several time zones in an airplane

73. It is inferred that more tests need to be done because _____.

       A. the conclusion was questioned by many scientists

       B. scientists fear that his research is not done properly

       C. every scientific conclusion needs the support from many tests

       D. the woman who were studied in the research were not healthy

74. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the research results?

       A. Women who have a longer rest at home show better memory.

       B. Women who fly in short time had smaller right temporal lobes.

       C. Women who have longer flights failed the memory test.

       D. Women who rest more than 14 days produced less hormones.

75. What is the subject discussed in the test?

       A. The cause of jet lag.

       B. A story of a group of flight attendance.

       C. A research about the effects of jet lag on the brain.

       D. The importance of having enough rest after long flights.

When it comes to finding their way back home, mice are definitely in the first place. In fact, they find their way around in much the same way we do!

Recently scientists at Oxford University found that wood mice have a rare ability. They actually create a type of “road sign” to tell themselves which way to go. Until now, most people did not think animals could do this.

Wood mice live in large open fields. One part of the field looks much like the next. Scientists wondered how wood mice kept from getting lost without landmarks. How did they remember where they hid their food? By studying a group of these mice, researchers learned that these clever mice pile seeds, leaves and other materials at places they want to remember.

What is truly remarkable is that these markers are visual. Wood mice have large eyes. They rely on their vision to fine their way. House mice, by contrast, follow their own smell to get back to their nests. However, leaving a small trail in an open field could be very dangerous. Enemies might use it to track down the little mice. Wood mice do not have to worry about this. Other animals do not know what their markers mean.

Researchers wanted to learn more about this unusual behavior. To do so, they needed to study the mice more closely. They decided to place a group of mice inside a box and film their activity. They also put some small plastic discs and a small amount of food in the box. Soon the mice began moving the discs. They used them to hide food. They also shifted them from place to place as they moved farther and farther away from their nesting area.

Researchers believe this new information may change how people think about these little creatures, and one of the first steps in realizing that mice are not as silly as we probably originally thought. One thing seems certain that these remarkable road signs will be a focus of scientific research for some time to come.

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)

81. How are wood mice different from house mice?

82. The rare ability wood mice have is _______________________.

83. Researchers found when wood mice moved farther and farther away from their nesting place, they _______.

84. Why do scientists study wood mice?

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)

A weather map is an important tool for geographers. A succession of three or four maps presents a continuous picture of weather changes. Weather forecasters are able to determine the speed of air masses and fronts（冷暖空氣團(tuán)接觸的鋒）to determine whether an individual pressure area is deepening or becoming shallow and whether a front is increasing or decreasing in intensity. They are also able to determine whether an air mass is retaining its original characteristics or taking on those of the surface over which it is moving. Thus, a most significant function of the map is to reveal a synoptic picture of conditions in the atmosphere at a given time.

All students of geography should be able to interpret a weather map accurately. Weather maps contain an enormous amount of information about weather conditions existing at the time of observation over a large geographical area. They reveal in a few minutes what otherwise would take hours to describe. The United States Weather Bureau issues information about approaching storms, floods, frosts, droughts, and all climatic conditions in general. Twice a month it issues a 30-day “outlook” which is a rough guide to weather conditions likely to occur over broad areas of the United States. These 30-day outlooks are based upon an analysis of the upper air levels which often set the stage for the development of air masses, fronts, and storms.

Considerable effort is being exerted today to achieve more accurate weather predictions. With the use of electronic instruments and earth satellites, enormous gains have taken place recently in identifying and tracking storms over regions which have but few meteorological stations (氣象站). Extensive experiments are also in progress for weather modification（改變）studies. But the limitations of modification have prevented meteorological results except in the seeding of super-cooled, upslope mountainous winds which have produced additional orographic (山岳形態(tài)的) precipitation on the windward side of mountain ranges. Nevertheless, they have provided a clearer understanding of the fundamentals of weather elements.

72.  By reading weather maps, students majoring in geography can         .

    A. design a project of weather modification

    B. interpret the weather condition before the time of observation 

    C. obtain data on atmospheric conditions over a wide area 

    D. survey ever-changing fronts in local meteorological stations

73. A thirty-day forecast is determined by examining         .

     A. daily weather maps                        B. upper air levels

    C. satellite reports                              D. changing fronts

74. The observation of weather conditions by satellites is advantageous because ______.
A. electronic instruments are used

B. it enables man to alter the weather

C. it makes weather prediction more time-consuming

D. information not obtained readily otherwise can be gained

75. At the present time, experiments are being conducted in         .

    A. controlling and influencing weather

    B. determining density of pressure groups

    C. 30-day “outlooks”

    D. predicting storms