阅读提升作业 十三Module 4Period 1阅读理解AScientist Florence Wambugu works with farmers in Kenya, a country in East Africa. She helps them grow bigger and better crops. Wambugu is especially interested in finding simple ways to produce more food. In the past ten years, Wambugu has spent much of her time studying sweet potatoes, which are important food in her part of Kenya. A virus(病毒)kept attacking the plants. It stopped the sweet potatoes from growing well. Because of the virus, some farmers lost three quarters of their crops. Wambugu went to war against the virus. Her research for a way to save the sweet potatoes led to a lab in St. Louis, Missouri. The lab mainly works on genes(基因), the chemical“computer programs”found in the cells of living things. Genes tell a plant to produce pink flowers or an animal to grow black hair. Now scientists have found ways to move genes from one living thing to another. That process is called genetic engineering. Wambugu spent three years in the lab. As a result, she created a sweet potato plant that could fight off the virus. Wambugu tested her research in Kenya, and her plants produced wonderful sweet potatoes. Thats just the beginning, Wambugu believes. Genetically modified(转基因的)foods, she thinks, could help farmers in poor countries grow badly needed crops, thus, fewer people will go hungry. 【语篇概述】本文主要介绍了科学家Florence Wambugu以及她发明的转基因甜土豆。1. The text is written mainly to _ . A. tell us sweet potatoes are in danger of being attacked by a virusB. introduce Wambugus contribution to genetic engineeringC. introduce a new way of killing plant virusesD. tell how hard Wambugu worked in her lab for three years【解析】选B。主旨大意题。纵观全文, 可知本文介绍了肯尼亚的科学家Florence Wambugu发明的转基因甜土豆, 这为消除饥饿做出了贡献。2. What caused Wambugu to set up a lab in St. Louis, Missouri?A. Her wish to save sweet potatoes in Kenya. B. Her great interest in genetic engineering. C. Her love for sweet potatoes. D. Her interest in plant life. 【解析】选A。细节理解题。根据第三段“Her research for a way to save the sweet potatoes led to a lab in St. Louis, Missouri. ”可知。3. The fourth paragraph mainly explains what _ is. A. a crop virusB. chemical technologyC. a computer programD. genetic engineering【解析】选D。段落大意题。第四段就基因进行了解释, 并由此提出了“基因工程”这个概念。4. What is Wambugus attitude towards“genetic engineering”?A. It will help more hungry people. B. It should be carefully used. C. It has more disadvantages than advantages. D. It is a too expensive technology at present. 【解析】选A。观点态度题。根据最后一段“. . . help farmers in poor countries grow badly needed crops, thus, fewer people will go hungry. ”可知, 基因工程可以帮助贫穷国家的农民种植急需的庄稼, 进而使更少的人挨饿。BLouis Pasteur, the famous French chemist and bacteriologist(微生物学家), invented“pasteurization”. In 1854 Pasteur was made head of the department of science at the University of Lille, and it was there that he made one of his most famous discoveries. Lille was a major center for wine and beer-making, and some of the local wine-makers asked Pasteur if he could help solve the problem of keeping wine fresh. At that time, it was believed that food and drinks go“bad”due to a purely chemical process. But during a series of experiments, Pasteur proved that tiny living organisms(微生物)caused food and drinks to go bad. In the case of wine and beer, the organisms are already present in the form of the various yeasts(酵母菌)that caused the fermentation(发酵)process. Pasteur discovered that heating the wine gently for a few minutes after it had fermented would kill off the yeasts that were left in the wine, with the result that the wine would remain fresh for much longer. He also proved that food and drinks could be turned bad by other organisms that were present in the air, and that they too would keep fresh much longer if they were kept in airtight containers. The heating process was so successful that it made Pasteur famous. It was named“pasteurization”in his honour, and by about 1900 it had been widely used for processing and bottling cows milk. The result was a huge drop in the number of bottle-fed babies dying from infant diarrhea(婴儿腹泻)and from that time on it has been a standard treatment for milk and many other food products. This simple process has saved thousands, possibly millions of lives worldwide. 【语篇概述】本文主要介绍了法国的化学家、微生物学家路易斯巴斯德以及他发明的加热杀菌(法), 也叫巴斯德氏杀菌法。5. Pasteur became _ in 1854. A. the chairperson of the science department at the University of LilleB. the director of a chemical laboratory at the University of LilleC. the general manager of a large beer-making companyD. the president of the University of Lille【解析】选A。细节理解题。从第一段第二句“In 1854 Pasteur was made head of the department of science at the University of Lille. . . . ”可知答案为A。6. According to the passage, Lille was a major center for _ in the mid-19th century. A. growing grain cropsB. making beer and wineC. doing chemical researchD. producing various kinds of yeasts【解析】选B。细节理解