阅读理解精选19
What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today’s leading killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memories.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond l20 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs. The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on — in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imaging that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic condition of human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
36. According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by
.
A. diseases and aging
B. accidents and war
C. accidents and aging
D. heart disease and war
37. In the author’s opinion, today’s most important advance in technology lies in
.
A. medicine
B. the Internet
C. brain cells
D. human organ
38. Humans may live longer in the future because
.
A. heart disease will be far away from us
B. human brains can decide the final death
C. the basic materials of cells will last forever
D. human organs can be repaired by new medicine
39. How long can humans live in the future according to the passage?
A. Over 100 years.
B. More than 120 years.
C. About 150 years.
D. The passage doesn’t tell us.
40. We can learn from the passage that
.
A. human life will not last more than 120 years in the future
B. humans have to take medicine to build new skin cells now
C. much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life
D. we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells
[答案及解析]本文主要讲述了人类的生命由于生物技术的发展可以无限期延长的愿望有可能成为现实。
36. A
细节理解题。由文章第一段最后一句得知，今天主要的杀手，如心脏病、癌症、年老将会成为遥远的记忆。
37. A
细节理解题。第二段前两句的意思是说“在讨论技术变化时，人们往往注意到的是网络。然而药学方面的变化可能是当今真正技术方面的大事件”，故选A。
38. D
推理判断题。由第二段的后半部分可知，在2050~2100期间，每隔10年左右，人们可以通过吃药来修整生病的或衰老的器官，这应是未来长生不老的原因。
39. B
细节理解题。阅读全文后得知，文章没有具体告诉我们人们将来能活多少年。
40. C
推理推断题。由最后一段得知，想象一下将来技术的发展改变了人类最基本的生存条件，真是让人兴奋，但想达到美好的将来还有很多技术问题要澄清。