2008年6月21日英语六级真题

12008年6月21日英语六级试题PartIWriting(30minutes)Directions:Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowriteashortessayentitledWillE-booksReplaceTraditionalBooks?Youshouldwriteatleast150wordsfollowingtheoutlinegivenbelow.1.随着信息技术的发展，电子图书越来越多2.有人认为电子图书会取代传统图书，理由是……3.我的看法PartⅡReadingComprehension(SkimmingandScanning)(15minutes)Whatwilltheworldbelikeinfiftyyears?Thisweeksometopscientists,includingNobelPrizewinners,gavetheirvisionofhowtheworldwilllookin2056,fromgas-poweredcarstoextraordinaryhealthadvances,JohnInghamreportsonwhattheworld’sfinestmindsbelieveourfutureswillbe.Forthoseofusluckyenoughtolivethatlong,2056willbeaworldofalmostperpetualyouth,whereobesityisaremotememoryandrobotsbecomeourcompanions.Wewillberubbingshoulderswithaliensandcolonizingouterspace.Betterstill,ourdescendantsmightatlastliveinaworldatpeacewithitself.Thepredictionisthatwewillhavefoundasourceofinexhaustible,safe,greenenergy,andthatsciencewillhavekilledoffreligion.Iftheyarerightwewillhaveremovedtwoofthemaincausesofwar-ourdependenceonoilandreligiousprejudice.Willwereally,astoday’sscientist’sclaim,beabletoliveforeveroratleastcheattheageingprocesssothattheaveragepersonlivesto150?Ofcourse,allthesepredictionscomewithascientifichealthwarning.HarvardprofessorStevenPinkersays:“Thisisaninvitationtolookfoolish,aswiththepredictionsofdomedcitiesandnuclear-poweredvacuumcleanersthatweremade50yearago.”LivinglongerAnthonyAtala,directoroftheWakeForestInstituteinNorthCarolina,belivesfailingorganswillberepairedbyinjectingcellsintothebody.Theywillnaturallytostraighttotheinjuryandhelphealit.Asystemofinjectionswithoutneedlescouldalsoslowtheageingprocessbyusingthesameprocessto“tune”cells.Lahn,professorofhumangeneticsattheUniversityofChicago,anticipatestheabilitytoproduce“unlimitedsupplies”oftransplantablehumanorganswithouttheneededaneworgan,suchaskidney,thesurgeonwouldcontactacommercialorganproducer,givehimthepatient’simmune-logicalprofileandwouldthenbesentakidneywiththecorrecttissuetype.Theseorganswouldbeentirelycomposedofhumancells,grownbyintroducingthemintoanimalhosts,andallowingthemtodevelopintoandorganinplaceoftheanimal’sown.ButProf.Lahnbelievesthatfarmedbrainswouldbe“offlimits”.Hesays:“Veryfewpeoplewouldwanttohavetheirbrainsreplacedbysomeoneelse’sandweprobablydon’twanttoputahumanbrainingananimalbody.”RichardMiller,aprofessorattheUniversityofMichigan,thinksscientistcoulddevelop“anthematicanti-ageingdrugs”byworkingouthowcellsinlargeranimalssuchaswhalesandhumanresistmanyformsofinjuries.Hesays:“It’sisnowroutine,inlaboratorymammals,toextendlifespanbyabout40%.Turningonthesameprotectivesystemsinpeopleshould,by2056,createthefirstclassof100-year-oldswhoareasvigorousandproductiveastoday’speopleintheir60s”2AliensConlinPillinger,professorofplanetarysciencesattheOpenUniversity,says:“IfancythatatleastwewillbeabletoshowthatlifedidstarttoevolveonMarswellasEarth.”Within50yearshehopesscientistswillprovethatalienlifecamehereinMartianmeteorites(陨石).ChrisMcKay,aplanetaryscientistatNASA’sAmesResearchCenterbelievesthatin50yearswemayfindevidenceofalienlifeinancientpermanentfrostofMarsoronotherplaners.Headds:“ThereisevenachancewewillfindalienlifeformshereonEarth.ItmightbeasdifferentasEnglishistoChinese.”PrincetonprofessorFreemanDysonthinksit“likely”thatlifeformouterspacewillbediscoveredbefore2056becausethetoolsforfindingit,suchasopticalandradiodetectionanddataprocessing,areimproving.Hesays:“Assoonasthefirstevidenceisfound,wewillknowwhattolookforandadditionaldiscoveriesarelikelytofollowquickly.Suchdiscoveriesarelikelytohaverevolutionaryconsequencesforbiology,astronomyandphilosophy.Theymaychangethewaywelookatourselvesandourplaceintheuniverse”.ColoniesinspaceRichardGotprofessorofastrophysicsatPrinceton,hopesmanwillsetupaself-sufficientcolonyonMars,whichwouldbea“lifeinsurancepolicyagainstwhatevercatastrophes,naturalorotherwise,mightoccuronEarth.“TherealspaceraceiswhetherwewillcolonizeoffEarthontootherworldsbeforemoneyforthespaceprogrammerunsout.”SpinalinjuriesEllenHeber-Katz,aprofessorattheWestarInstituteinPhiladelphia,foreseescuresforinjuriescausingparalysissuchastheonethatafflictedSupermanstarChristopherReeve.Shesays:Ibelievethatthedayisnotfaroffwhenwewillbeabletoproscribedrugsthatcausesevere(断裂的)spinalcordstoheal,heartstoregenerateandlostlimbstoregrow.“Peoplewillcometoexpectthatinjuredordiseasedorgansaremeanttoberepairedfromwithin,inmuchthesamewaythatwefixanapplianceorautomobile:byreplantingthedamagedpartwithamanufacturer-certifiednewpart.”Shepredictsthatwithin5to10yearsfingersandtoeswillberegrownandlimbswillstarttoberegrownafewyearslater.Repairstothenervoussystemwillstartwithopticnervesand,intime,thespinalcord.“Within50yearswholebodyreplacementwillberoutine,”Prof.Heber-Katzadds.ObesitySydneyBrenner,seniordistinguishedfellowoftheCrick-JacobsCenterinCalifornia,wonthe2002NobelPrizeforMedicineandsaysthatifthereisaglobaldisastersomehumanswillsurvive-andevolutionwillfavorsmallpeoplewithbodieslargeenoughtosupporttherequiredamountofbrainpower.“Obesity,”hesays.“willhavebeensolved.”RobotsRodneyBrooks,prof