cement /sɪˈment/ v. 粘结，胶合，（像水泥一样）巩固

distract /dɪsˈtrækt/ v. （常与from连用）使…注意力转移；使分心

predator /ˈpredətə/ n. 掠食者，食肉动物

reptile /ˈreptaɪl/ n. 爬行动物

mammal /ˈmæməl/ n. 哺乳动物

dovetail /ˈdʌvteɪl/ v. 吻合

metabolic /ˌmetəˈbɒlɪk/ adj. 代谢作用的，新陈代谢的

insulation /ˌɪnsjʊˈleɪʃən/ n. 阻热，隔热，绝热

tyrannosaur /tɪˈrænəˌsɔː/ n. 霸王龙（上白垩纪北美洲的一种大型食肉恐龙，前肢小且头大）

solidify /səˈlɪdɪfaɪ/ v. 变凝固，使凝固；变结实；使坚强

T. rex 暴龙（体型最大的食肉恐龙）

Tweety Bird 小鸟崔弟，好莱坞动画片系列《崔弟和傻大猫》中的一只黄色小鸟





难句突破


① The once radical notion that birds descended from dinosaurs——or may even be dinosaurs, the only living branch of the family that ruled the earth eons ago——has got stronger and stronger since paleontologists first started taking it seriously a couple of decades ago.

主体句式：The notion has got stronger and stronger.

结构分析：这是一个复杂长句，句子的主语notion带有一个同位语从句，这个同位语从句中又有一个含有同位语（the only living branch）和定语从句（family后面由that引导的从句）的插入语，主句后面还有一个since引导的时间状语从句。

句子译文：鸟类的祖先是恐龙——甚至鸟类本身就是恐龙，是曾经在亿万年前统治地球的这个家族中唯一生活到今天的一个分支——这样的说法曾经被视为极端学说，但自从古生物学家几十年前第一次认真思考这个问题以来，这种观点得到了越来越多的支持。

② But many biologists suspect that feathers originally arose to keep dinosaurs warm.

主体句式：Biologists suspect that…

结构分析：这个句子容易出错的地方就是对于suspect这个词的理解。虽然汉语翻译为“怀疑”，但它主要表示某种事情可能是真的，表达一种肯定，与doubt所表示的怀疑正好相反。

句子译文：但许多生物学家猜想羽毛的最初用途是为了给恐龙保暖。





题目分析


1. A 推理题。文章开头用“the once radical notion”来说明这个观点曾经被视为极端学说，接着在下文中作者写道：“But a few scientists still argued that the link was weak”。由此可见对于鸟类是否起源于恐龙，科学家们有不同的看法。

2. C 推理题。从文章第二段作者对这块化石的介绍“is about as good a missing link as anyone could want”到第三段第一行the find helps cement the dinosaur-bird connection可以看出这块化石进一步证实了鸟类和恐龙之间的联系。

3. D 细节题。文章第三段Kevin分析了羽毛不可能用于飞行的一些理由，接着在第四段里说“I wouldn't be surprised if they had some sort of skin covering for insulation”。可见，Kevin认为这些羽毛可能用于给幼年或年轻的恐龙保暖的。

4. D 细节题。可以从原文第三段中“So what was the original purpose of feathers? Nobody knows for sure.”看出，对于羽毛最初的功能，人们只能猜想，并没有确切的答案。

5. B 推理题。本文全文都在讲鸟类与恐龙之间的关系，并在最后一段预测随着越来越多长羽毛的恐龙的化石的出现，科学家们将能够了解第一个像鸟一样的生物何时知道羽毛可用于飞翔的。然后作者说孩子们最好习惯T. rex may have started life looking an awful lot like Tweety Bird这样的想法。显然，T. rex应该是一个恐龙，而且既然要让孩子们习惯恐龙长得像小鸟，那么显然孩子们是熟悉T-rex这个形象的。





参考译文


鸟类的祖先是恐龙——甚至鸟类本身就是恐龙，是曾经在亿万年前统治地球的这个家族中唯一生活到今天的一个分支——这样的说法曾经被视为极端学说，但自从古生物学家几十年前第一次认真思考这个问题以来，这种观点得到了越来越多的支持。恐龙和鸟类骨骼结构的惊人相似是第一条线索。接下来还有证据。过去五年在中国辽宁的一系列惊人发现证明一些恐龙也许还长有羽毛。但一些科学家仍然认为两者之间的联系缺乏说服力；他们说骨骼相似也许只是个偶然。那些化石里看见的原始结构也许是羽毛——也许不是。只有通过想象你才能看见它们。

这种情况将一去不复返。由中国地质科学院和纽约市的美国自然历史博物馆的古生物学家组成的研究小组在最新一期《自然》杂志上宣布了一个保存极为完好的年轻恐龙化石，它极有可能是人们想要寻找的那个缺失的环节。“它身上的东西无疑是羽毛，”堪萨斯自然历史博物馆的羽毛进化专家理查德·普鲁姆高兴地说，“但它显然是一只体型不大却性情凶猛的兽脚亚目食肉恐龙，有点像《侏罗纪公园》里在厨房追逐孩子们的那种迅猛龙。”

这次发现为恐龙与鸟类之间的联系提供了强有力的证据，还为破解自然最初为何发明羽毛这个谜团带来了新希望。将近一个世纪以来，生物学家一直认为这些特殊结构是为了飞行的需要而进化出来的，但这种看法显然错了。“这些恐龙身上的羽毛并不能用于飞行，而且这些动物也不会飞，”加州大学伯克利分校的古生物学家凯文·帕迪恩说。“它们体型太大，而且它们没有翅膀。”那么羽毛最初的用途是什么呢?没有人能够给出确切的答案，它们也许可以帮助恐龙保持干燥，转移掠食者的注意力或者吸引配偶，就像今天的孔雀一样。

但许多生物学家猜想羽毛的最初用途是为了给恐龙保暖。恐龙的骨骼结构表明它们不同于现代的爬行动物，它们的生长速度像鸟类和哺乳动物一样快——这与越来越多证明恐龙实际上是温血动物的证据相吻合。帕迪恩说：“它们的基础新陈代谢率一定很高才能长那么快。如果它们小的时候身上长有某种阻热的皮肤遮盖物，我不会觉得惊讶。”诺雷尔说：“连幼年霸王龙跟它都很像。”

按照这种长羽毛的恐龙化石的发现速度，要不了多久科学家们就可以更确切地了解羽毛最初究竟怎样以及为什么会出现，第一只像鸟一样的生物是何时发现这些羽毛可用于飞行的。与此同时，孩子们最好习惯那种认为暴龙也许刚生下来的时候和小鸟崔弟长得差不多的想法。





Unit 51


Nouabalé-Ndoki national park, in the Republic of Congo, is 4,200 square kilometres of virgin tropical forest that is as densely populated with elephants and great apes as it is sparsely populated with rangers. There are 14 of them, and they have failed to catch a single poacher for more than a year. That is not for lack of illegal hunting in the park. Demand for ivory is up, driven largely by consumers in Japan and an increasingly wealthy China. The value of meat from elephants, apes and other animals has also risen as loggers and miners move deeper into the country's forests. Nor is this a problem confined to Congo. Last year poachers are estimated to have killed more than 23,000 African elephants. According to a study by the University of Washington, that is about one in 17 of the continent's total.

Nouabalé-Ndoki's rangers are, however, about to get some high-tech help in the form of TrailGuard, a system of small and easily hidden electronic detection and communication devices. They will soon begin burying radio-transmitting metal detectors alongside elephant trails leading into the park. Authorised travelers through the park will be given transponders that tell the detectors who they are, as with the “identification friend-or-foe”systems on military aircraft. But when poachers carrying rifles walk by a detector, it will send a radio signal to a treetop antenna. Seconds later the rangers will receive the intruder's co-ordinates on their satellite phones. They will then be able to respond precisely, rather than running around on fruitless and demoralising patrols on the small chance of catching a poacher up to no good.

TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick, an electrical engineer turned biologist who recently left the State University of New York (SUNY) to set up a not-for-profit organisation called Wildland Security, to promote his idea. Besides catching more (or, indeed, any) poachers, he hopes his invention will also prove to be an example of an idea from another one-time electrical engineer, Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke's Third Law, as it is known to fans of his science-fiction writing, is that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Many people in Congo do believe in magic and Mr. Gulick does not propose to disabuse them of the notion. Local people will receive no explanation for the rangers' new powers. That, Mr. Gulick hopes, will discourage potential poachers from turning thought into deed.

Nor are metal detectors the only magic to be deployed. Small fire detectors hidden in trees should add to the anti-poaching unit's reputation for detection. Poachers frequently smoke meat from their kills to preserve it during transport to market. Like the metal detectors, the fire detectors will alert the rangers by satellite phone, allowing them to swoop as from nowhere.

注（1）：本文选自Economist；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为1998年真题Text 2 和1997年真题Text 3第4题。

1. According to the author, illegal hunting is_______.

A) a shared problem in some tropical countries in Africa

B) not as serious as it seems because the number of poachers is declining

C) becoming less and less eyecatching due to the increased supply of ivory

D) already effectively controlled due to the rangers' efforts

2. What is the author's attitude towards the technology of TrailGuard?

A) supportive

B) objective

C) indifferent

D) worried

3. Local people's reaction to the rangers' new power is probably that_______.

A) they become keen of advanced technologies

B) they fear it is some kind of magical power

C) they tend to challenge the new technological equipment

D) they are not concerned about the issue at all

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A) Steve Gulick's invention is from Arthur C. Clarke's idea.

B) The radio-transmitting metal detectors can distinguish between travelers and poachers.

C) Arthur C. Clarke is known as a writer of science fictions.

D) There are various kinds of detectors buried across the national park.

5. It can be inferred from the passage that_______.

A) before adopting the new technology, the rangers could not catch any poacher

B) TrailGuard has already achieved significant success in fighting against illegal hunting

C) poachers use fire to smoke meat of their preys so as to make food

D) the fact that both Guilick and Clarke were electrical engineers has great influence on the invention of TrailGuard





篇章剖析


本文是一篇说明文，介绍诺娃贝尔多基国家公园如何通过高科技手段来提高与偷猎者作斗争的效率。第一段先说明了国家公园里存在着严重偷猎问题，而传统的守林方式已经无法继续对公园里的生物进行有效的保护；第二段介绍了一种电子探测通讯工具的特点和功能；第三段介绍了这种工具的发明者；最后一段则简要介绍了另一种高科技工具。





词汇注释


ranger /ˈreɪndʒə/ n. 巡逻骑兵；护林员

poacher /ˈpəʊtʃə/ n. 偷猎者

detection /dɪˈtekʃən/ n. 探测

trail /treɪl/ n. 踪迹，痕迹，形迹

transponder /trænˈspɒndə/ n. 【无】脉冲转发器

foe /fəʊ/ n. 反对者，敌人

rifle /ˈraɪfl/ n. 来复枪，步枪

antenna /ænˈtenə/ n. 天线

intruder /ɪnˈtruːdə/ n. 入侵者

demoralise /dɪˈmɒrəlaɪz/ v. 士气受挫

patrol /pəˈtrəʊl/ n. 巡逻





难句突破


TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick, an electrical engineer turned biologist who recently left the State University of New York (SUNY) to set up a not-for-profit organisation called Wildland Security, to promote his idea.

主体句式：TrailGuard is the brainchild of Steve Gulick.

结构分析：这个长句看上去结构复杂，其实其主句非常短，而后面部分都是Steve Gulick的同位语，用来补充说明Steve Gulick这个人物。同位语中包括了一个定语从句，而最后的不定式结构是对前面“建立非营利组织”的补充。

句子译文：“行踪警卫”由史蒂夫·固利克发明。固利克先生从电子工程师转行成为生物学家，他最近离开了美国纽约州立大学并创建了一个名为“野外安全”的非盈利组织，以推广他的构想。





题目分析


1. A 细节题。文章第一段提到偷猎并不是刚果一个国家的问题，可见这一问题存在于非洲的一些热带国家，是他们共有的问题。而B、C和D选项的表述均与第一段的文意相反。

2. B 情感态度题。本文作者自始至终都以非常客观的角度介绍“行踪警卫”技术，没有加入个人的观点，即使是对该技术一些成果的表述也不是作者自己的看法，而是引用事实或者他人的评价。

3. B 细节题。文章第三段指出固利克先生不会向本地人解释这种科技产品的原理和能力，从而利用当地人信奉魔法的心理来减少偷猎行为，由此可以推出当地人对这种未知的“魔力”会产生恐惧感。

4. A 细节题。文章第三段中指出固利克从亚瑟·克拉克那里学到的是让人们以为科技是魔力的想法，而不是他的发明灵感，因此A选项的意思不正确。

5. B 推理题。文章第三段提到这项技术几乎帮助抓获了每一个偷猎者，因此是非常成功的。A选项的错误原因在于，采用新技术之前护林员们抓获偷猎者的几率很低，但并不是完全抓不到。C选项的错误原因在于偷猎者们熏肉主要是为了能够长时间地保存动物尸体。D选项的错误原因在于两个人的背景对于“行踪警卫”的发明没有直接影响。





参考译文


位于刚果共和国的诺娃贝尔多基国家公园是一片面积达4200平方公里的热带雨林处女地，林中居住着大量大象和大猩猩，而护林员的数目却相对非常少。14名护林员在过去的一年多时间内没有抓到一个偷猎者。这不是因为森林中偷猎的人很少。在日本和越来越富有的中国，消费者对于象牙的需求量很大，并且不断上升。此外，随着伐木工和矿工们不断深入这个国家的森林，大象、猩猩和其他动物的食用价值也变得越来越高。这个问题并不仅限于刚果。有数据显示去年偷猎者们猎杀了23000多头非洲象。华盛顿大学的一项调查表明，这个数字相当于非洲大陆大象总数的1/17。

但是现在诺娃贝尔多基公园的护林员们将要开始使用一项名为“行踪警卫”的高科技手段，该系统是一个微型、易隐蔽的电子探测通讯工具。护林员们很快就会沿着大象通向国家公园的行踪埋下传播无线电的金属探测器。经过批准的森林旅游者们可以领到一个脉冲转发器，这个脉冲转发器可以使探测器确认旅游者的身份，就像战机上配备的“敌友认证”系统一样。但是当偷猎者们举着步枪经过探测器的时候，探测器就会向树顶上的天线发出无线电信号。几秒钟后护林员们就可以通过卫星电话收到入侵者们的坐标。这样他们就可以准确地作出反应，而不是盲目地在森林中进行没有成效且降低士气的巡逻（因为用这种方式抓到偷猎者的几率非常小）。

“行踪警卫”由史蒂夫·固利克发明。固利克先生从电子工程师转行成为生物学家，他最近离开了美国纽约州立大学并创建了一个名为“野外安全”的非盈利组织，以推广他的构想。固利克先生除了通过该系统抓获更多的（或实际上是每一个）非法偷猎者，他还希望他的发明能证明另一位曾经担任过电子工程师的名叫亚瑟·克拉克的人的想法。克拉克的“第三法则”是其科幻小说读者都非常熟悉的，该法则指出“任何一种高科技都无法与魔法相区别”。许多刚果人都迷信魔法，而固利克先生并不打算破除他们的迷信。对于护林员的新能力，本地人不会得到任何解释。固利克先生希望这样能打击潜在的偷猎者，使他们（在魔力的震慑下）不会把想法变为行动。

金属探测器并不是在林区使用的唯一魔法。隐藏在树木中的小型火事探测器也增强了护林员的侦查能力。非法偷猎者经常会在林区烟熏猎物，从而保证猎物在被运送到市场的过程中不会变质。火事探测器与金属探测器一样，发送信号到护林军的卫星电话上，使他们能够对偷猎者们进行突袭。





Unit 52


Bryant Linares has one heck of a secret family recipe: how to make world-class diamonds. Seven years ago his father, Robert, produced a diamond in a high-pressure chamber of carbon gas and dropped it into an acid solution to clean it off. When he returned the next morning, he expected to find the usual yellow stone——a crude artificial diamond of some use to industry, perhaps, but not the stuff of dreams. At first there didn't seem to be any stone at all. Then he saw, at the bottom of the beaker, so clear it was almost invisible, a perfect quarter-carat crystal of pure carbon. “It was the eureka moment,”says Bryant. ① His father had managed what many scientists had given up on long ago: to manufacture a stone that wouldn't look out of place on an engagement ring.

Man-made diamonds are nothing new——industry started making them in the 1950s, and each year about 80 tons of low-quality synthetic diamonds are used in tools like drill bits and sanders. ② High-quality crystals, though, open up huge possibilities, jewelry being the least of them. Scientists are most excited about the prospect of making diamond microchips. As chips have shrunk over the years, engineers have struggled with ways of dissipating the heat they create. Because silicon, the main component of semiconductors, breaks down at about 200 degrees Fahrenheit, some experts believe a new material will be needed in a decade or so. Diamonds might fit the bill. They can withstand 1,000 degrees, and electrons move through them so easily that they would tend not to heat up in the first place. Engineers could cram a lot more circuits onto a diamond-based micro-chip——if they could perfect a way of making pure crystals cheaply.

The race is on. After working in secrecy for years refining their technique, the Linareses' company, Apollo Diamond, now spits out 20 carats a week, both for jewelry and for diamond wafers that could be fashioned into microchips. Rivals have also been busy. Gemesis, a Sarasota, Fla., firm, has developed a “diamond growth chamber”——a press that squeezes out high-quality diamonds in much the same way that the early presses made rough ones. Gemesis is making blue diamonds——rare and sought-after gemstones.

Chipmakers are also getting into the act. The Japanese firm Nippon Telegraph and Telephone has already made prototype diamond semiconductors, and the Japanese government is actively promoting the technology. Most U.S. research is going on in universities and military labs, but Intel has recently taken an interest. Before the technology is ready for prime time, chipmakers will have to come up with a way to keep out impurities during manufacturing. And the attribute that makes diamonds so attractive——their hardness——also makes them difficult to manipulate.

The new diamonds are likely to show up first as tiny light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, in flat-screen displays and high-definition televisions. And then, of course, there's jewelry. Although synthetics still carry a stigma, even experts can't tell the difference. Natural-diamond merchants claim they aren't worried, but De Beers has made a device that can distinguish between the natural stones and the synthetics and is distributing it to jewelers. Will consumers care? We might find out next year when Gemesis is ready to market its blue diamonds in the United States.

注（1）：本文选自Newsweek；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象为2002年真题Text 4。

1. From the first paragraph, we learn that______.

A) all the diamonds are almost invisible

B) many scientists had tried hard to make perfect diamonds long time ago