Not all memories are sweet. Some people spend all their lives trying to forget bad experiences .Violence and traffic accidents can leave people with terrible physical and emotional scars . Often they relive (重新体验) these experiences in nightmares .

Now American researchers think they are close to developing a pill ,which will help people forget bad memories . The pill is designed to be taken immediately after a frightening experience . They hope it might reduce , or possible erase (抹去) the effect of painful memories .

In November, experts tested a drug on people in the US and France. The drug stops the body releasing chemicals that fix memories in the brain . So far the research has suggested that only the emotional effects of memories may be reduced , not that the memories are eased .

The research has caused a great deal of argument . Some think it is a bad idea , while others support it . Supporters say it could lead to pills that prevent or treat soldiers’ troubling memories after war .

They say that there are many people who suffer from terrible memories . “Some memories can ruin people’s lives . They come back to you when you don’t want to have them in a daydream or nightmare . They usually come with very painful emotions ,” said Roger Pitman , a professor of psychiatry (精神病学) at Harvard Medical School. “This could relieve a lot of that suffering .”

But those who are against the research say that changing memories is very dangerous because memories give us our identity (物质). They also help us all avoid the mistakes of the past . “All of us can think of bad events in our lives that were horrible at the time but make us who we are . I’m not sure we’d want to wipe those memories out.” said Rebecca Dresser , a medical ethicist (伦理学家).

Some people fear that although the drug would first be used in only very serious cases , it would become more and more common . “People always have the ability to misuse science,” said Joeph Le Doux, a New York University memory researcher . “All we want to do is help people have better control of memories .”

What’s the main idea of the text ?

      A．People often suffer from bad memories .

       B．American researchers are trying to develop a pill .

       C．Forget bad memories , and be happy .

       D．The research has cause a heated argument .

The underlined word “it” in paragraph 4 refers to “       ”.

       A．the new drug          B．the research into the drug

       C．the memory            D．the chemical in the drug  

Which of the following is not the opinion of the supporters ?

       A．The pill can erase all the memories in the past

       B．Some memories can ruin people’s lives. The pill can relieve emotional suffering .

       C．The pill can also help many other types of people who suffer from terrible memories .

       D．The pill can also prevent or treat troubling memories in soldiers after war

Which of the following is not the opinion of the opponents (反对者)?

       A．Our memories give us our identity .

       B．The memories help humanity avoid mistake of the past .

       C．The drug should be used in only very serious cases .

       D．People may not be sure whether they want to wipe the memories out .

It could be inferred from the passage that         .

       A．the pill has been developed and will be more and more common

       B．the pill has helped soldiers forget bad experiences during the war .

       C．The pill is being tested on some people by some researchers .

       D．The pill will be forbidden because people have different opinions of it .

Raising a baby takes a lot of work, especially when that baby is a king penguin. Now, it looks like climate change will make life even harder for these birds. A new study suggests that warmer waters could make their numbers dwindle.

Most king penguins live on the Crozet Archipelago, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, about 1,000 miles north of Antarctica. After the penguin chicks are born in November (which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere), both parents spend 4 months collecting fish to feed their children. When the fish move to deeper waters in March, the adults leave their chicks alone for months. They swim hundreds of miles south. There, near the Antarctic ice, they spend the winter eating seafood, such as squid, to add their own energy stores. In October, nearly a year after their chicks are born, the parents return to feed and finish raising them.

Scientists from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Strasbourg, France, have been studying king penguins on the Crozet Archipelago for a decade. Starting in 1998, Yvon Le Maho and other researchers implanted electronic ID tags under the skin of hundreds of penguins. The tags have allowed Le Maho’s team to know the details about them, such as how long they live, whether they return from their winter trips, and if their chicks manage to survive the winter.

Ocean surface temperatures vary from year to year. And former research had shown that fewer squid, fish and other creatures grow when the water is warmer. Le Maho suspected that this drop in the food supply would make it harder for adult penguins to survive the tough times ahead. King penguins can live for up to 30 years. And for now, the population still appears healthy. But a warming trend could cause big trouble for a bird that depends on cold and ice.

52. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A. Ocean warming may threaten king penguins

B. The Crozet Archipelago is the world of king penguins

C. Scientists support the protection of king penguins

D. King penguins’ habitat is in great danger

53. In the first paragraph, the underlined word “dwindle” probably means______.

A. double       B. increase       C. vanish       D. decrease

54. According to the passage, the adult penguins spend the winter south because ______.

A. They have to raise their children there

B. they have to raise their chicks there

C. the food supply they need exists there

D. they have to give birth to chicks there

55. From the third paragraph we can know ______.

A. scientists have been studying the penguins in Antarctica for a decade

B. the ID tags are just like recorders to keep in the information about penguins

C. Le Maho started the scientific team in France

D. About one hundred penguins are involved in the research