work under the constant watch of your boss when you can work in front of the TV in your carpet slippers?
Armed with all the office essentials-telephone, computer, e-mail and fax, many workers believe they can
work as effectively as their colleagues in the office. Being able to work wherever you like: from a busy city
to a beautiful village, and make working from home an attractive choice, you can even work on a canal boat,
like one Internet firm in the Midlands, US.
So what will become of the office of tomorrow? I believe it is likely that many could disappear into
cyberspace. To minimize office overheads in inner-city areas, companies will apply a workforce made up
of a network of home workers linked by an advanced communication and information system. A central
processing computer would be controlled by the manager who sends"out work schedules and oversees the
activity of each employee.
As a successor to the Web Cam, a video screen would be created, as the need for more natural form
of interaction than e-mail or telephone becomes greater. Capturing the mood and expressions of work
colleagues, managers would have the ability to view several employees at once on their screen. Employees
would be encouraged to feed any information that may be useful to fellow workers into the computer to
make the company work more effectively. As the company"s life blood, the computer would contain a
record of all conversations and correspondence for future reference, and hold confidential information such
as accounts in password protected areas. In the office of tomorrow, with daily life captured in detail, the
case for firing employees could be more cleat cut.
B. preference to working at home
C. working effectively in the office
D. one Internet firm in the Midlands, UK
B. a network
C. in inner-city areas
D. a central processing computer
B. organize
C. make out
D. watch over
B. it is useful to fellow workers
C. e-mail or telephone is out of date
D. managers can clearly spot employees
Can people change their skin colour without suffering like pop king Michael Jackson? Perhaps yes.
Scientists have found the gene that determines skin colour.
The gene comes in two versions, one of which is found in 99 per cent of Europeans. The other is
found in 93 to 100 per cent of Africans, researchers at Pennsylvania State University report in the latest
issue of Science.
Scientists have changed the colour of a dark-striped zebrafish to uniform gold by inserting a version
of the pigment (色素) gene into a young fish. As with humans,zebrafish skin colour is determined by
pigment cells, which contain melanosomes (黑色素). The number, size and darkness of melanosomes
per pigment cell determines skin colour.
It appears that, like the golden zebrafish,light-skinned Europeans also have a mutation (变异) in the
gene for melanosome production. This results in less pigmented skin.
However, Keith Cheng leader of the research team, points out that the mutation is different in human
and zebrafish genes.
Humans acquired dark skin in Africa about l.5 million years ago to protect bodies from ultra-violet rays
of the sun (太阳光紫外线), which can cause skin cancer.
But when modern humans leave Africa to live in northern latitudes, they need more sunlight on their
skin to produce vitamin D. So the related gene changes, according to Cheng.
Asians have the same verslon of the gene as Africans, so they probably acquired their light skin through
the action of some other gene that affects skin colour, said Cheng.
The new discovery could lead to medical treatments for skin cancer. It also could lead to research into
ways to change skin colour without damaging it like chemical treatment did on Michael Jackson.
B. the new discovery could lead to searching into ways to change skin colour safely
C. pop king Michael Jackson often changed his skin colour as he liked
D. scientists have found out that people"s skin colour is deter- mined by the gene
the chemical treatment
B. Europeans and Africans have the same gene
C. the new discovery could help to find medical treatments for skin cancer
D. there are two kinds of genes
B. prove the humans" skin colour is determined by the pigment gene
C. find out the reason why the Africans" skin colour is dark
D. find out the ways of changing people"s skin colour
B. light-skinned Europeans have mutation in the gene for melanosome production
C. they have fewer activities outside
D. they pay much attention to protecting their skin
researchers who claim that the yummy treat could improve the brain"s ability to do the most "dreadful" subject.
The study, presented at the British Psychological Society annual conference, is great news for students who
binge on(暴食) chocolate when revising for exams. For the study 30 voluhteers were asked to count backwards
in groups of three from a random number between 800 and 999 generated by a computer. The findings show
that they could do the calculations more quickly and more accurately after they had been given the cocoa drink.
However,the same was not true when the group was asked to count backwards in groups of seven, which the
researchers described as a more complex task, requiring a slightly different part of the brain. The findings also
show that the volunteers did not get as tired doing the calculations if they bad heen given the cocoa drink despite
being asked to do them over and over for an hour. The flavanols (黄烷醇) work by increasing the flow of blood
into the brain. Dark chocolate contains higher quantifies of the chemical than plain or milk chocolate. Prof.
David Kennedy at Northumbria University said that chocolate could be beneficial for mentally challenging tasks.
The researchers gave the volunteers a total of 500 mg of flavanol. Although the amount was too great to be
found naturally in the diet, researchers said that people should ensure that they have lots of flavanols. "The
more fruit and vegetables and things that are high in flavanols, the better that is for your brain in the long run."
B. delicious food improves the brain"s ability
C. maths is difficult for children to learn
D. all students like eating chocolate for exams
B. Hot drink is likely to speed up the brain"s activity.
C. The flavanols help more blood flow into the brain.
D. The flavanols are chemicals that make people relaxed.
B. Plain chocolate.
C. Milk chocolate.
D. Fruit.
B. lower doses of flavanol have no effect on the brain
C. people should eat more vegetables instead of chocolate
D. students should have enough flavanols in the daily diet
earthquake, there is often a great noise first. Then the earth 3 terribly; many houses 4 down. Railway
tracks break and trains go 5 lines; a great many factories are 6 ; thousands of deaths are caused, and
many more lose homes... 7 the great damage and deaths caused by the earthquake 8 , other disasters
such as fires often 9 . More buildings are destroyed and more 10 are caused.
It is well known of the 11 of a possible earthquake, and for centuries man has been making researches
on earthquakes. More than 2,000 years ago, 12 , a Chinese scientist named Zhang Heng 13 a machine
which could find out from which 14 the seismic (地震的) waves had come, and this machine is still 15
by scientists today. Now we know much more about earthquakes and 16 they happen, but we still cannot
17 exactly when and where an earthquake will happen, and cannot 18 it from happening. So earthquakes
are among the 19 disasters in the world.
No one can stop natural earthquakes. 20 , scientists can help stop earthquakes from destroying whole
cities and causing too many deaths.
( )1. A. common ( )2. A. real ( )3. A. moves ( )4. A. get ( )5. A. off ( )6. A. burst ( )7. A. Except ( )8. A. lonely ( )9. A. follow ( )10. A. quakes ( )11. A. information ( )12. A. as a result ( )13. A. invented ( )14. A. country ( )15. A. improved ( )16. A. where ( )17. A. speak ( )18. A. make ( )19. A. worst ( )20. A. However | B. unusual B. weak B. shakes B. put B. on B. hurt B. Besides B. later B. copy B. deaths B. questions B. in fact B. discovered B. directions B. repaired B. when B. tell B. prepare B. best B. But | C. strange C. big C. jumps C. set C. into C. destroyed C. Instead of C. themselves C. come C. difficulties C. dangers C. for example C. found C. ways C. protected C. what C. talk C. stop C. most C. And | D. familiar D. small D. breaks D. fall D. behind D. buried D. Because of D. itself D. enter D. results D. shock D. as well D. operated D. city D. used D. why D. point D. let D. fast D. So | |||||||||
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One student took a box of chicken to class. Another carried on a cell-phone 1 and still another whistled loudly every time the 2 turned his back. Reform school? No, College. More and more, professors say, they are coming across 3 students in their classrooms. Many of today"s young scholars (学者) arrive late, leave 4 , talk loud or take care of personal 5 such as paying bills during class. Why are the students behaving badly? "Because they can," said a student of University of North Texas. "A lot of the time, the professors let them get 6 with it." Some educators say it is time to bring politeness back to their classrooms-and even 17 taking some of the blame for bad behavior. They say that rude students are by no means the majority but that one of them can ruin an entire 8 . People are 9 when they learn that impolite behavior is becoming more and more common in 10 education, says Dr. Gerald Amanda, a counselor at City College of San Francisco. They 11 some high school students to misbehave but think those who get to 12 will behave more politely. Dr. Amanda believes that society in 13 has become more tolerant (容忍的) of rude behavior and 14 people in power, including professors, no longer 15 standards for 16 . That leads to a growing imprudence (轻率行为) 17 some college students. "There"s a great 18 of bad behavior in the world around them, and young people see it and 19 disrespect," said Dr. Amanda, 20 that sometimes students "have no idea that they are being rude". | ||||||||||||
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