年生入學(xué)統(tǒng)一考試英語最后押題第二套

Passage1

Itispredictedthattherewillbe5scientificbreathroughsinthe21stcentury.We'llknowwherewecamefrom.Whydoestheuniverseexist?Toputitanotherway,whyistheresomethinginsteadofnothing?Sincethe1920s,scientistshaveknowntheuniverseisexpanding,whichmeansitmusthavestartedatadefinitetimeinthepast.(1)Theyevenhavedevelopedtheoriesthatgiveadetailedpictureoftheevolutionoftheuniversefromthetimeitwasafractionofasecondoldtothepresent.Overthenextcoupleofdecades,thesetheorieswillberefinedbydatafromextraordinarilypowerfulnewtelescope.Wewillhaveabetterunderstandingofhowmatterbehavesattheunfathomablyhightemperaturesandpressuresoftheearlyuniverse.We'llcrackthegeneticcodeandconquercancer.In19thcenturyoperas,whentheheroinecoughsinthefirstact,theaudienceknowsshewilldieoftuberculosisinAct3.Butthanksto20th-centuryantibiotics,theonce-dreaded,once-incurablediseasenowcanmeannothingmoreseriousthantakingsomepills.(2)Asscientistlearnmoreaboutthegeneticcodeandthewaycellsworkatthemolecularlevel,manyseriousdiseases—cancer,forone—willbecomelessthreatening.Usingmanufactured“therapeutic”viruses,doctorswillbeabletoreplacecancer-causingdamagedDNAwithhealthygenes,probablyadministeredbyapillorinjection.We'lllivelonger(120years?).(3)Ifthenormalagingprocessisbasicallyafurious,invisiblecontestinourcells—acontestbetweendamagetoourDNAandourcells'abilitytorepairthatdamage—then2lst-century'sstridesingeneticmedicinemayletuscontrolandevenreversetheprocess.Butbeforewepushscientiststodomore,consider:Dowereallywanttoliveinaworldwherenoonegrowsoldandfewchildrenarebornbecausetheplanetcanholdonlysomanypeople?Wherewouldnewideascomefrom?Whatwouldwedowithallthatextratime?We'll“manage”Earth.Inthenextmillennium,we'llstoptalkingabouttheweatherbutwilldosomethingaboutit.(4)We'llgraduallylearnhowtopredicttheeffectsofhumanactivityontheEarth,itsclimateanditsecosystems.Andwiththatknowledgewillcomeanincreasingwillingnesstouseittomanagetheworkingsofourplanet.We'llhaveabrain"roadmap".Thisisthereal"finalfrontier"ofthe21stcentury:Thebrainisthemostcomplexsystemweknow.Itcontainsabout100billionneurons(roughlythenumberofstarsintheMilkyWay),eachconnectedtoasmanyas1,000others.Earlyinthenextcentury,wewilluseadvancedformsofmagneticresonanceimagingtoproducedetailedmapsoftheneuronsinoperation.(5)We'llbeabletosaywithcertaintywhichonesareworkingwhenyoureadaword,whenyousayawolf,whenyouthinkaboutaword,andsoon.［參考譯文］1.科學(xué)家們甚至已經(jīng)提出種種理論，詳盡地描繪宇宙從它形成的最初一瞬間一直到現(xiàn)在的演變過程。2.由于科學(xué)家對遺傳密碼和細(xì)胞的分子活動方式更加了解，許多嚴(yán)重的疾病（比如癌癥）對人類的威脅將會變得越來越小。3.如果說正常的衰老過程基本上是我們細(xì)胞內(nèi)一場激烈的無形競賽的話（一場對我們的脫氧核糖核酸進(jìn)行破壞和我們體內(nèi)的細(xì)胞修復(fù)這種破壞之間的競賽），那么21世紀(jì)遺傳醫(yī)學(xué)的巨大成就，可能使我們控制、甚至逆轉(zhuǎn)這一過程。4.我們將逐漸學(xué)會預(yù)測人類活動給地球、氣候以及生態(tài)系統(tǒng)帶來的影響，擁有了這些知識，人們將越來越愿意用它來管理我們這個星球的活動。5.當(dāng)你讀一個詞，說一個詞，想一個詞以及做其他事情的時候，我們將能肯定地說出哪些神經(jīng)元在工作。Passage2Likemostpeople,youmayhaveheardalotaboutonlinebankingbutprobablyhaven'ttriedityourself.Youstillpayyourbillsbymailanddepositchecksatyourbankbranch,muchthewayyourparentsdid.Actually,onlinebankingisn'touttochangeyourmoneyhabits.(1)Instead,itusestoday'scomputertechnologytogiveyoutheoptionofby-passingthetime-consuming,paper-basedaspectsoftraditionalbankinginordertomanageyourfinancesmorequicklyandefficiently.TheadventoftheInternetandthepopularityofpersonalcomputerspresentedbothanopportunityandachallengeforthebankingindustry.Foryears,financialinstitutionshaveusedpowerfulcomputernetworkstoautomatemillionsofdailytransactions.(2)NowthattheircustomersareconnectedtotheInternetviapersonalcomputers,banksbegintoenvisionsimilareconomicadvantagesbyadaptingthosesameinternalelectronicprocessestohomeuse.Banksviewonlinebankingasapowerful"value-added"tooltoattractandretainnewcustomerwhilehelpingtoeliminatecostlypaperhandlingandtellerinteractionsinanincreasinglycompetitivebankingenvironment.Today,mostlargenationalbanks,manyregionalbanksandevensmallerbanksandcreditunionsoffersomeformofonlinebanking,variouslyknownasPCbanking,homebanking,electronicbankingorInternetbanking.(3)Onlinebanksaresometimesreferredtoas"brick-to-click"banks,bothtodistinguishthemfrom"brick-and-mortar"banksthathaven'tyetofferonlinebanking,aswellasfrom"virtual"banksthathavenophysicalbranchesortellerswhatsoever.Thechallengeforthebankingindustryhasbeentodesignthisnewservicechannelinsuchawaythatitscustomerswillreadilylearntouseandtrustit.Mostofthelargebankscannowofferfullysecure,fullyfunctionalonlinebankingforfreeorforasmallfee.(4)Asmorebankssucceedonlineandmorecustomersusetheirsites,fullyfunctionalonlinebankinglikelywillbecomeascommonplaceasautomatedtellermachines.Onlinebankinghasalotofadvantages.Unlikeyourcornerbank,onlinebankingsitesneverclose;they'reavailable24hoursaday,sevendaysaweek,andthey'reonlyamouseclickaway.Ifyou'reoutofstateorevenoutofthecountrywhenamoneyproblemarises,youcanlogoninstantlytoyouronlinebankandtakecareofbus