Ⅴ. Directions: Translate the following paragraphs into Chinese.(15%)
36.… Nowadays, it is accepted that even though the results of research may only be approximate or
tentative, they can be published.
The technological and scientific age in which we live can accordingly be regarded as both positive and
negative. It is positive because of the hopes aroused by science as a result of the progress made in the
therapeutic treatment, the relief of human suffering, the improvement of individual and collective welfare,
and the creation of forms of culture which the mass of the population can enjoy or which offer increased
scope for individual freedom. It is negative because of the increasing duality of the societies in which we
live. Inequalities exist not only between rich countries and poor, between those which have research centers
and industries and those which do not, but also within each national or cultural community.
Part C: READING COMPREHENSION
Ⅵ. Directions: Rend through the following passages and choose the best answer marked A, B, C or D.(20%)
(A)
Two relatively recent independent developments stand behind the current major research effort on
nitrogen fixation(固氮), the process by which bacteria symbiotically render leguminous plants(豆科植
物)independent of nitrogen fertilizer. The one development has been the rapid, sustained increase in the price
of nitrogen fertilizer. The other development has been the rapid growth of knowledge of and technical
sophistication in genetic engineering. Fertilizer prices, largely tied to the price of natural gas, huge amounts
of which go into the manufacture of fertilizer, will continue to represent an enormous and escalating
economic burden on modern agriculture, spurring the search for alternatives to synthetic fertilizers. And
genetic engineering is just the sort of fundamental breakthrough that opens up prospects of wholly novel
alternatives. One such novel idea is that of inserting into the chromosomes of plants discrete genes that are
not a part of the plants’ natural constitution: specifically, the idea of inserting into nonleguminous plants the
genes, if they can be identified and isolated, that fit the leguminous plants to be hosts for nitrogen-fixing
bacteria. Hence, the intensified research on legumes.
Nitrogen fixation is a process in which certain bacteria use atmospheric nitrogen gas, which green
plants cannot directly utilize, to produce ammonia, a nitrogen compound plants can use. It is one of nature’s
great ironies that the availability of nitrogen in the soil frequently sets an upper limit on plant growth even
though the plants’ leaves are bathed in a sea of nitrogen gas. The leguminous plants--among them crop plants
such as soybeans, peas, alfalfa, and clover—have solved the nitrogen supply problem by entering into a
symbiotic (共生的) relationship with the bacterial genus Rhizobium; as a matter of fact, there is a specific
strain of Rhizobium for each species of legume. The host plant supplies the bacteria with food and a
protected habitat and receives surplus ammonia in exchange. Hence, legumes can thrive in nitrogen-depleted
soil.
Unfortunately, most of the major food crops—including maize, wheat, rice, and potatoes---cannot. On
the contrary, many of the high-yielding hybrid varieties of these food crops bred during the Green
Revolution of the 1960’s were selected specifically to give high yields in response to generous applications
of nitrogen fertilizer. This poses an additional, formidable challenge to plant geneticists: they must work on
enhancing fixation within the existing symbioses. Unless they succeed, the yield gains of the Green
Revolution will be largely lost even if the genes in legumes that equip those plants to enter into a symbiosis
with nitrogen fixers are identified and isolated, and even if the transfer of those gene complexes, once they
are found, becomes possible. The overall task looks forbidding, but the stakes are too high not undertake it.
( )37. The main purpose of the passage is to_____.
A. expose the fragile nature of the foundations on which the high yields of modern agriculture rest
B. argue that genetic engineering promises to lead to even higher yields than are achievable with synthetic
fertilizers
C. argue that the capacity for nitrogen-fixing symbioses is transferable to nonleguminous plants
D. explain the reasons for and the objectives of current research on nitrogen-fixing symbioses
( )38. According to the passage, there is currently no strain of Rhizobium that can enter into a symbiosis
with______.
A. alfalfa B. maize
C. peas D. soybeans
( )39. The passage implies which of the following is ture of the bacterial genus Rhizobium?
A. Rhizobium bacteria are found primarily in nitrogen-deplete soils.
B. Some strains of Rhizobium are not capable of entering into a symbiosis with any plant.
C. Rhizobium bacteria cannot survive outside the protected habitat provided by host plants.
D. Rhizobium bacteria produce some ammonia for their own purposes.
( )40. It can be inferred from the passage that ______was the most influential factor in bringing about
intensified research on nitrogen fixation.
A. the high yield of the Green Revolution
B. the persistent upward surge in natural gas prices
C. the mechanization of modern agriculture
D. the environmental ill effect of synthetic fertilizers
( )41. According to the passage, the ultimate goal of the current research on nitrogen fixation is to
develop______.
A. strains of Rhizobium that can enter into symbioses with existing varieties of wheat, rice, and other
nonlegumes
B. strains of Rhizobium that produce more ammonia for leguminous host plants than do any of the strains
presently known
C. varieties of wheat, rice, and other nonlegumes that yield as much as do existing varieties, but require less
nitrogen
D. varieties of wheat, rice, and other nonlegumes that maintain an adequate symbiotic relationship with
nitrogen-fixing bacteria and produce high yields |
