Farmers could grow more rice and shaky Internet communications could work better someday, thanks to prize-winning discoveries by teenage scientists showed at a national science fair on Monday.

   High school scientists from across the United States showed off work in genetics, molecular(分子的) biology, mathematics and other fields that judges said rose to the professional level.

   “It just blows me away. They’re all just unimaginable,” said Joel Spencer, a New York University professor who served as judge at the Sidemen’s Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

   Research done by finalists in the nationwide competition could lead to faster Internet speeds, more effective antibacterial drugs and better energy conservation. One team researched black holes in outer space, while another examined more than 700 fossils to better understand why dinosaurs died out.

   Juliet Girard and Roshan Prabhu won $ 100,000 scholarship for their work proving genes that help some kinds of wild rice flower earlier than others.

   Drawing on a database that described the genetic makeup of rice, the two students, from Jersey City, New Jersey, identified two genetic sections that directed wild rice to blossom an average of 10 days earlier than the ordinary short-grain rice that feeds much of the world.

Their discovery could allow genetic engineers to develop a new strain that would take less time to reach maturity, allowing farmers to produce more and extending the growing region into colder climates.

Steven Byrnes of Lexington, Massachusetts, took the top individual prize for his theory describing outcomes in a two-player game called Chomp.

 

67. ______ competed at the national science fair.

   A. Some university scientists

   B. A lot of high school students

   C. Some farmers and computer designers.

   D. School science teachers from across the USA

68. Which of the following statements is NOT true?  

   A. The students’ research reached many fields.

   B. Some students researched black holes

   C. The database described the genetic makeup of wheat.

   D. The research can help to increase the production of agriculture.

69. What Juliet Girard and Roshan Prabhu discovered may lead to _______. 

   A. an important development in agriculture

   B. faster Internet speeds.

   C. their top individual prizes

   D. better energy conservation

70. What does the writer mainly want to tell us?

   A. Farmers can grow more rice and shaky Internet communications can work better

   B. How far advanced science and technology has gone

   C. High school students can make great contributions to the world in many fields.

   D. How some of the discoveries get regularly published   

Remember those big, colorful books with large pictures of balls or apples when you were a little kid? Those have proven to be helpful, according to a number of studies. Between 1 and 5 years old, introducing books to Children can help greatly because this is usually the age when intellectual (智力的) capabilities form.
At age 1 to 5, a child can decide whether he wants to learn or wants to be a good learner. The road to learning starts here. Their curiosity (好奇) and imagination are fed with the many pictures, sounds and colors in the books.
Children normally began school at 5 years old. But today, they go to school when they are as young as one and a half years old. This is because many parents have recognized that influencing the child's formative years (性格形成时期) is very important. The fight influence can make the child want to read in the future.
Parents should play a part in encouraging children to read. Even just reading them bedtime stories can help children feel the joy and amazement connected to reading. This can help them become better readers and better learners as they grow older.
If children are interested in reading books rather than watching television, they can improve many skills besides reading and learning. Books can act as stepping stones to intelligence. However, parents must be very careful not to overpower their children. If they force children to read books that are too hard to understand, they might think reading is boring and lose interest in it.
【小题1】. This passage mainly ­­­______.

A．advises kids to spend less time watching TV

B．explains why reading is good for us

C．tells us that reading is good for children

D．suggests that parents spend more time with their kids

【小题2】.Why does introducing books to kids between 1 and 5 years old help them greatly?

A．Because this is a good way to keep them away from television.

B．Because it makes them become interested in going to school.

C．Because it helps them learn much faster when they are older.

D．Because it is usually the age when intellectual capabilities form.

【小题3】.It is implied in the passage that _____.

A．the writer read a lot of books when he was a child

B．parents should never force their children to do anything

C．the formative years may begin at one and a half years old

D．a child's formative years are earlier than before

【小题4】.In the writer’s opinion, _____.

A．children should read all kinds of books

B．children should only read books with pictures

C．books can help children become cleverer

D．bedtime stories make children love their parents more

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s?  The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s．Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women．Right? Wrong．Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size．Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain．The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”．While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes．

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women．This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time．When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time．

There are other important differences between two sexes．As white matter is the key to spatial tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things．“A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher．That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for direction and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿）are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one．A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others．These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills．It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research．

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t．“The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it．”says a biologist．

Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph? ________．

A．Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s

B．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain．

C．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter．

D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter．

What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs? ________．

A．Men do better dealing with one job at a time．

B.Women prefer doing many things at a time． 

C．Women do not need to tell directions．

D．Men have weaker spatial abilities．

Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph? _  A.More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

B.Young boys may be stronger than young girls．

C．Women may have stronger feelings than men．

D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills．

What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage? ________．

A．Defensive．  B．Objective．  C．Persuasive． D．Supportive．