complaining as well.
Scientists in the United States studied a group of 144 dental patients almost half of whom had red hair. They
found that the red-haired group were more sensitive to pain and as a result were twice as likely to avoid visiting
the dentist.
Previous research had shown that redheads were more resistant to the effects of local anaesthesia (局部麻
醉) than people with other hair colours.
The scientists say that this red-haired sensitivity to pain stems from the actions of a gene called MCIR. This
is responsible for the production of melanin which gives skin and hair its colour. In about five percent of white
people the gene is mutated (突变) leading to fair skin and red hair.
Researchers say there are some people with the gene in the brain and that this could affect pain sensitivity.
Professor Daniel Sessler from the Cleveland Clinic in the United States is one of the authors of the study. He
says the research is a considerable scientific breakthrough.
"Red hair is the first phenotype (表现某显性特征的生物个体或群体) of anaesthetic requirement in humans. And what I mean by phenotype is an external (外部的) characteristic."
"So suppose you are walking down the street and you see someone who"s a little older and a little younger-
that tells you nothing about their anaesthetic requirement. You see a man and a woman-that tells you nothing
about their anaesthetic requirement. But you see a redhead-aha! You know that person is going to require 20
percent more general anaesthesia."
From my own personal experience I would say that there is some merit to this idea. I have found that I have
had to ask dentists for extra anaesthetic in the middle of procedures.
Some dentists argue that a greater sensitivity to pain might actually benefit redheads and drive them to see
the dentist more quickly. In my own case I can prove that is definitely not true.
B. usually more sensitive to some painful things
C. just well-known for their good temper and strong pain sensitivity
D. good-looking with fair skin and red hair
B. The mutated gene leading to fair skin and red hair.
C. Some persons with this gene in the brain.
D. An external characteristic of a person.
B. someone"s gender and figure
C. someone"s teeth and the skills of the dentist
D. someone"s external characteristic
B. the results of this red-haired sensitivity to pain will be the same
C. the writer is a red-haired person
D. redheads have many benefits of being red-haired
and turned their attention to scientific experiments.
The High School Research Program offers high school students guidance with researchers in Texas A &
M"s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jennifer Funkhouser, academic adviser for the Department
Ecology and Management, directs this four-week summer program designed to increase the understanding of
research and its career potential.
Several considerations go into selecting students, including grades, school involvement and interest in science
and agriculture. And many students come from poorer school districts. Funkhouser says, "This is their chance
to learn techniques and do experiments they would never have a chance to do in high school."
Warner Erin of Houston is interested in animal science and learned how to tell male from female mosquitoes.
His adviser, Craig Coates, studies the genes of mosquitoes that allow them to fight against malaria (疟疾) and
yellow fever. Coates thought this experience would be fun and helpful to the high school students.
The agricultural research at A & M differs from stereotypes. "It"s molecular (分子) science on the cutting
edge," Funkhouser says. The program broadened the students" knowledge. Victor Garcia of Rio Grande City
hopes to become a biology teacher and says he learned a lot about chemistry from the program.
At the end of the program, the students presented papers on their research. They"re also paid $ 600 for their
work-another way this program differs from others, which often charge a fee.
Fourteen students got paid to learn that science is fun, that agriculture is a lot more than milking and plowing
and that research can open many doors.
B. high school students from different places
C. college students majoring in agriculture
D. researchers at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
B. could often take part in the program
C. found the program useful to their future
D. showed much interest in their high school experiments
B. entered that college
C. paid for their research
D. found a way to make money
B. A Program for Animal Science Students
C. A Program for Medical Science Lovers
D. A Program for Future Science Lovers
girls" grades are unaffected. Boys do worse in English when there are girls in their class, researchers will say
today, contradicting the widely held belief that girls are always a good influence on boys in school.
Boys do best with "as few girls as possible" in English lessons at primary and secondary school, Steven
Proud, a research student at Bristol University, will tell the Royal Economic Society"s conference. But when it
comes to maths and science, both boys and girls at primary school achieve up to a tenth of a grade more when
there is a high proportion (比率) of girls in the class, Proud found.
Proud tracked boys" and girls" test results at the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16 in 16,000 schools in England
between 2002 and 2004 for his PhD. Boys consistently perform up to a tenth of a grade worse when they study
English with high numbers of girls as opposed to few or no girls, Proud found. The more girls there are in an
English class, the worse boys perform. This is particularly the case in primary schools, he discovered.
Proud said boys may do worse in English when there is a high proportion of girls in their class because they
realize that the girls are better than them. It could also be that teachers use teaching styles more appropriate to
girls when there are more girls than boys in the class. Both genders perform better in maths and science at
primary school when there are more girls in the class because boys tend to disrupt the class more, he said.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University
of Buckingham, said girls started school with slightly better verbal skills, while boys started with a slightly
greater aptitude for maths.
B. boys can have good influence on girls in terms of English learning
C. boys and girls can make progress in English learning together
D. boys always fall behind girls in English learning
B. boys can do much better in science
C. both boys and girls do better in science
D. girls still do better than boys in science
B. provides further proof to Steven Proud"s study
C. agrees with Steven Proud exactly
D. gives a different explanation for girls" advantage at English
B. gift
C. chance
D. interest
amounts of snow they receive. When the snow starts to fall, people start tossing out the phrase "lake-
effect snow".
Primarily a late-autumn and early-winter phenomena, lake- effect snowstorms are instigated by the
movement of cold, arctic air over the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes. Ideally, the temperature
difference between the lake water and the overrunning air should be at least 20 degrees in order for cloud
and subsequent snow to form.
As the cool air crosses the waters of the Great Lakes, the lowest levels of the atmosphere begin to
warm and pick up moisture. This newly warmed layer is lighter than the cold air above it, so it starts to
rise. As the modified air continues to climb higher into the atmosphere, it encounters much colder
temperatures.
This cooler air forces the moisture to condense into water droplets and ice crystals, forming cloud.
After this process repeats itself a number of times, the cloud becomes weighed down and is forced to
precipitate (凝结而下降) in the form of snow.
Out of all the meteorological factors (气象因素) that determine snowfall intensity, the most important
might be the direction of the wind. If the wind direction is running perpendicular (垂直的) across the lake,
there won"t be ample time for cloud to develop.
However, if the wind runs parallel to the length of the lake, cloud should form without a hitch. The
longer the cold air travels over the lake, the more moisture it is able to accumulate, which in turn leads to
greater snowfall totals.
The highest annual lake-effect snowfall totals are found across the U. P. of Michigan, northwestern
Pennsylvania and the far southwestern and upstate sections of New York. In these locations, which are
all located along the southern or eastern shores of the Great Lakes, recording over 100 inches of snow in
a winter season is a common occurrence.
B. To introduce the topic of the text.
C. To show when the lake-effect snow appears.
D. To tell what the Great Lakes are famous for.
B. The direction of the wind.
C. The relatively warm waters of the lake.
D. The strength of the wind.
A. It"s far from the sea.
B. It"s far from the north.
C. It"s near the Great Lakes.
D. It has many mountains.
B. Where the lake-effect snow happens.
C. How the lake-effect snow forms.
D. How the phrase "lake-effect snow" comes.
If you know how to study wine, it can tell you about its history and qualities. Many wine experts can
even identify the kind of wine without ever seeing the label on the bottle. Studying a wine involves using
several senses, not just taste.
First, pour the wine into a glass and look at it. It might help to put a piece of white paper behind the
glass so you can see the color clearly. Color can tell a lot about the kind of grapes, where the wine is from
and its age. A white wine might be almost colorless. White wines to darker with age. White wines made
from grapes grown in a cool climate are often paler, with a higher amount of acid. White wines from grapes
grown in a warmer climate are often yellower, with less acid. The color of red wines can be purplish red
to brick red. Red wines often become paler with age. Red wines grown in warmer climates often have deeper
color than those grown in cooler climates.
Next, turn the glass so that the wine moves around inside. This brings air into the wine, so that it gives
off its smell. Smell the wine deeply. A wine"s smell is actually telling more than its taste. To use a wine term,
what can you learn about the wine from its "nose"? Is the wine fruity? Does it smell like oak (橡树)? Do you
smell grass or maybe honey? Maybe the smell is like butter or a mineral.
Now it is time to taste the wine. Move it around in your mouth. You may recognize some tastes because
you identified them while smelling the wine. You can also consider the wine"s sweetness and its acidity (酸性).
You may note the taste of tannin. Tannins are chemicals that are found in the skin and seeds of grapes. Tannins
taste bitter and seem to coat your mouth. To make a good wine requires a balance between sugar, acidity,
tannin and alcohol.
Professional wine tasters have many special words to describe wines. Some adjectives might be surprising.
For example, a wine that feels smooth might be described as "velvety" or "silky". A wine that does not have
enough acidity is "flabby" or "fat". A wine with a strong tannin taste could be "chewy".
B. blocking the strong sunlight
C. gathering the smell
D. spotting the grapes
B. The paler red wines are, the older they are.
C. The darker white wines are, the younger they are.
D. The older red wines are, the sweeter they are.
B. Smell→taste→sight.
C. Smell→sight→taste.
D. Sight→smell→taste.
B. How can we introduce a wine?
C. How can we taste a wine?
D. How can we make a wine?
A few weeks ago, an asteroid (小行星) almost 30 feet across and flying along at 38,000 miles per hour
flew 28,000 miles above Singapore. Why, you might reasonably ask, should we care about a near miss from
such a tiny rock? Well, I can give you one very good reason: asteroids don"t always miss. If even a relatively
little object was to strike a city, millions of people could be wiped out.
Thanks to telescopes that can see ever smaller objects at ever greater distances, we can now predict
dangerous asteroid impacts decades ahead of time. We can even use current space technology and fairly
simple spacecraft to alter an asteroid"s orbit enough to avoid a collision. We simply need to get this detection-
and-deflection program up and running.
President Obama has already announced a goal of landing astronauts on an asteroid by 2025 as a pioneer
to a human mission to Mars. Asteroids are deep-space bodies, orbiting the Sun, not the Earth, and traveling
to one would mean sending humans into solar orbit for the very first time. Facing those challenges of radiation,
navigation and life support on a months-long trip millions of miles from home would be a perfect learning
journey before a Mars trip.
Near-Earth objects like asteroids and comets-mineral-rich bodies bathed in a continuous flood of sunlight-
may also be the ultimate resource depots for the human being.
To be fair, no one has ever seen the sort of impact that would destroy a city. The most instructive incident
took place in 1908 in the remote Tunguska region of Siberia, when a 120-foot-diameter asteroid exploded
early one morning. It probably killed nothing except reindeer (驯鹿) but it flattened 800 square miles of forest.
Statistically, that kind of event occurs every 200 to 300 years.
Luckily, larger asteroids are even fewer and farther between-but think of the asteroid seven to eight miles
across that annihilated the dinosaurs (and 75 percent of all species) 65 million years ago.
Certainly, when it comes to the far more numerous Tunguska- sized objects, to date we think we"ve
discovered less than a half of I percent of the million or so that cross Earth"s orbit every year. We need to
pinpoint (定位) many more of these objects and, predict whether they will hit us before it"s too late. With a
readily achievable detection-and-deflection system we can avoid the dinosaurs" fate.
B. To prove the necessity of a planetary defense program.
C. To show the danger the Earth is facing from outerspace.
D. To throw light on the development of space technology.
B. enable human to survive in deep sea
C. help human access resource in space
D. predict potential disasters on the Earth
B. the danger from space is few and far between
C. the detection-and-deflection system is of no use
D. the difficulty of predicting the strike of a tiny asteroid
B. it"s vital to set up the detection-and-deflection system
C. it"s unnecessary to care about the tiny object from the space
D. it"s possible to put the planetary defense system into use in 2025
- 1真正有自尊心的人，必定是________的人。[ ]A．成功B．惭愧C．虚荣D．知耻
- 28月16日,国务院印发《节能减排“十二五”规划》中强调，加大高效节能产品推广力度，民用领域重点推广高效照明产品、节能家电
- 3下列关于能源和作为能源的物质的叙述错误的是A．吸热反应的反应物总能量低于生成物总能量B．绿色植物进行光合作用时，将光能转
- 4如图，质量mA＞mB的A、B两球沿车前进方向相距s，放在车厢内光滑桌面上，车与球一起做匀速直线运动，如果突然刹车，在两球
- 5完形填空。 My sister is 1 policewoman. She 2 in the Po
- 6创办于1907年的宁波“正大火柴厂”，五年内两度宣布***。1913年后，该厂由在日本逗留多年，经办过多种行业，商业经验丰
- 7School is over. The students stop ______.A. had a rest B. ha
- 8下列海岸类型中多优良港址的是 A．基岩海岸B．淤泥质海岸C．生物海岸D．砂质海岸
- 9---- Do you want tea or coffee?----____ . I really don’t min
- 10数列12•5，15•8，18•11…1(3n-1)(3n+2)，…的前n项和Sn为（ ）A．n3n+2B．n6n+4C
- 150千米处发生地震，这时地面上的人，附近飞鸟和池塘的鱼，都会感到A．先上下颠簸，后左右摇晃B．先左右摇晃，后上下颠簸C．
- 2右图表示某些物质间转化关系(反应条件和部分产物已省略)。其中A、E为固体氧化物，且A为黑色粉末；B、D是由相同元素组成的
- 3导致中亚气候干旱的最主要原因是A．地处亚洲中部，地势高，水汽难以爬升上去B．深居内陆，远离海洋，降水稀少C．所处地纬度低
- 4Children in school are ______into different levels of grades
- 5钛和钛的合金已被广泛用于制造电讯器材、人造骨骼、化工设备、飞机等航天航空材料，被誉为“未来世界的金属”。试回答下列问题：
- 6放在水平地面上重500N的木箱，受到水平向右100N推力时，恰好作匀速直线运动，木箱受到的摩擦力是______；在木箱下
- 7如图，PA垂直于矩形ABCD所在的平面，，E、F分别是AB、PD的中点.（Ⅰ）求证：平面PCE 平面PCD；（Ⅱ）求三棱
- 8图（1）是棱长为a的小正方体，图（2），图（3）是由这样的小正方体摆放而成的，按照这样的方法继续摆放，自上而下分别叫第1
- 9阅读理解。 In the United States, every year, Thanksgiving Day
- 10【题文】1．下列词语中加点的字，每对读音都不相同的一项是： A、疏浚/皴裂