And anyway, who would want to fire streams of rockets in a populated area? ‘What goes up must come down,’ points out Jean-Claude Diels of the University of New Mexico. Diels is leading a project, which is backed by EPRI, to try to use lasers to discharge lightning safely — and safety is a basic requirement since no one wants to put themselves or their expensive equipment at risk. With around 0,000 invested so far, a promising system is just emerging from the laboratory.

　　The idea began some 20 years ago, when high-powered lasers were revealing their ability to extract electrons out of atoms and create ions. If a laser could generate a line of ionisation in the air all the way up to a storm cloud, this conducting path could be used to guide lightning to Earth, before the electric field becomes strong enough to break down the air in an uncontrollable surge. To stop the laser itself being struck, it would not be pointed straight at the clouds. Instead it would be directed at a mirror, and from there into the sky. The mirror would be protected by placing lightning conductors close by. Ideally, the cloud-zapper (gun) would be cheap enough to be installed around all key power installations, and portable enough to be taken to international sporting events to beam up at brewing storm clouds.

　　A stumbling block

　　However, there is still a big stumbling block. The laser is no nifty portable: it’s a monster that takes up a whole room. Diels is trying to cut down the size and says that a laser around the size of a small table is in the offing. He plans to test this more manageable system on live thunderclouds next summer.

　　Bernstein says that Diels’s system is attracting lots of interest from the power companies. But they have not yet come up with the million that EPRI says will be needed to develop a commercial system, by making the lasers yet smaller and cheaper. ‘I cannot say I have money yet, but I’m working on it,’ says Bernstein. He reckons that the forthcoming field tests will be the turning point — and he’s hoping for good news. Bernstein predicts ‘an avalanche of interest and support‘ if all goes well. He expects to see cloud-zappers eventually costing ,000 to 0,000 each.

　　Other scientists could also benefit. With a lightning ‘switch’ at their fingertips, materials scientists could find out what happens when mighty currents meet matter. Diels also hopes to see the birth of ‘interactive meteorology’ — not just forecasting the weather but controlling it. ‘If we could discharge clouds, we might affect the weather,’ he says.

　　And perhaps, says Diels, we’ll be able to confront some other meteorological menaces. ‘We think we could prevent hail by inducing lightning,’ he says. Thunder, the shock wave that comes from a lightning flash, is thought to be the trigger for the torrential rain that is typical of storms. A laser thunder factory could shake the moisture out of clouds, perhaps preventing the formation of the giant hailstones that threaten crops. With luck, as the storm clouds gather this winter, laser-toting researchers could, for the first time, strike back.

　　Questions 1-3

　　Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

　　Write the correct letter in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

　　1 The main topic discussed in the text is

　　A the damage caused to US golf courses and golf players by lightning strikes.

　　B the effect of lightning on power supplies in the US and in Japan.

　　C a variety of methods used in trying to control lightning strikes.

　　D a laser technique used in trying to control lightning strikes.

　　2 According to the text, every year lightning

　　A does considerable damage to buildings during thunderstorms.

　　B kills or injures mainly golfers in the United States.

　　C kills or injures around 500 people throughout the world.

　　D damages more than 100 American power companies.

　　3 Researchers at the University of Florida and at the University of New Mexico

　　A receive funds from the same source.

　　B are using the same techniques.

　　C are employed by commercial companies.

　　D are in opposition to each other.

　　Questions 4-6

　　Complete the sentences below.

　　Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

　　Write your answers in boxes 4-6 on your answer sheet.

　　4 EPRI receives financial support from ..................... .

　　5 The advantage of the technique being developed by Diels is that it can be used.....................

　　6 The main difficulty associated with using the laser equipment is related to its.....................

　　Questions 7-10

　　Complete the summary using the list of words, A-I, below.

　　Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

　　In this method, a laser is used to create a line of ionization by removing electrons from 7 ..................... . This laser is then directed at 8 ..................... in order to control electrical charges, a method which is less dangerous than using 9..................... . As a protection for the lasers, the beams are aimed firstly at 10 ..................... .

　　A cloud-zappers B atoms C storm clouds

　　D mirrors E technique F ions

　　G rockets H conductors I thunder

　　Questions 11-13

　　Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

　　In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet write

　　YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

　　No if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

　　NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

　　11 Power companies have given Diels enough money to develop his laser.

　　12 Obtaining money to improve the lasers will depend on tests in real storms.

　　13 Weather forecasters are intensely interested in Diels’s system.

　　READING PASSAGE 2

　　You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

　　The Nature of Genius

　　There has always been an interest in geniuses and prodigies. The word ‘genius’, from the Latin gens (= family) and the term ‘genius’, meaning ‘begetter’, comes from the early Roman cult of a divinity as the head of the family. In its earliest form, genius was concerned with the ability of the head of the family, the paterfamilias, to perpetuate himself. Gradually, genius came to represent a person’s characteristics and thence an individual’s highest attributes derived from his ‘genius’ or guiding spirit. Today, people still look to stars or genes, astrology or genetics, in the hope of finding the source of exceptional abilities or personal characteristics.

　　The concept of genius and of gifts has become part of our folk culture, and attitudes are ambivalent towards them. We envy the gifted and mistrust them. In the mythology of giftedness, it is popularly believed that if people are talented in one area, they must be defective in another, that intellectuals are impractical, that prodigies burn too brightly too soon and burn out, that gifted people are eccentric, that they are physical weaklings, that there’s a thin line between genius and madness, that genius runs in families, that the gifted are so clever they don’t need special help, that giftedness is the same as having a high IQ, that some races are more intelligent or musical or mathematical than others, that genius goes unrecognised and unrewarded, that adversity makes men wise or that people with gifts have a responsibility to use them. Language has been enriched with such terms as ‘highbrow’, ‘egghead’, ‘blue-stocking’, ‘wiseacre’, ‘know-all’, ‘boffin’ and, for many, ‘intellectual’ is a term of denigration.

　　The nineteenth century saw considerable interest in the nature of genius, and produced not a few studies of famous prodigies. Perhaps for us today, two of the most significant aspects of most of these studies of genius are the frequency with which early encouragement and teaching by parents and tutors had beneficial effects on the intellectual, artistic or musical development of the children but caused great difficulties of adjustment later in their lives, and the frequency with which abilities went unrecognised by teachers and schools. However, the difficulty with the evidence produced by these studies, fascinating as they are in collecting together anecdotes and apparent similarities and exceptions, is that they are not what we would today call norm-referenced. In other words, when, for instance, information is collated about early illnesses, methods of upbringing, schooling, etc., we must also take into account information from other historical sources about how common or exceptional these were at the time. For instance, infant mortality was high and life expectancy much shorter than today, home tutoring was common in the families of the nobility and wealthy, bullying and corporal punishment were common at the best independent schools and, for the most part, the cases studied were members of the privileged classes. It was only with the growth of paediatrics and psychology in the twentieth century that studies could be carried out on a more objective, if still not always very scientific, basis.

　　Geniuses, however they are defined, are but the peaks which stand out through the mist of history and are visible to the particular observer from his or her particular vantage point. Change the observers and the vantage points, clear away some of the mist, and a different lot of peaks appear. Genius is a term we apply to those whom we recognise for their outstanding achievements and who stand near the end of the continuum of human abilities which reaches back through the mundane and mediocre to the incapable. There is still much truth in Dr Samuel Johnson’s observation, ‘The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular direction’. We may disagree with the ‘general’, for we doubt if all musicians of genius could have become scientists of genius or vice versa, but there is no doubting the accidental determination which nurtured or triggered their gifts into those channels into which they have poured their powers so successfully. Along the continuum of abilities are hundreds of thousands of gifted men and women, boys and girls.

　　What we appreciate, enjoy or marvel at in the works of genius or the achievements of prodigies are the manifestations of skills or abilities which are similar to, but so much superior to, our own. But that their minds are not different from our own is demonstrated by the fact that the hard-won discoveries of scientists like Kepler or Einstein become the commonplace knowledge of schoolchildren and the once outrageous shapes and colours of an artist like Paul Klee so soon appear on the fabrics we wear. This does not minimise the supremacy of their achievements, which outstrip our own as the sub-four-minute milers outstrip our jogging.

　　To think of geniuses and the gifted as having uniquely different brains is only reasonable if we accept that each human brain is uniquely different. The purpose of instruction is to make us even more different from one another, and in the process of being educated we can learn from the achievements of those more gifted than ourselves. But before we try to emulate geniuses or encourage our children to do so we should note that some of the things we learn from them may prove unpalatable. We may envy their achievements and fame, but we should also recognise the price they may have paid in terms of perseverance, single-mindedness, dedication, restrictions on their personal lives, the demands upon their energies and time, and how often they had to display great courage to preserve their integrity or to make their way to the top.

　　Genius and giftedness are relative descriptive terms of no real substance. We may, at best, give them some precision by defining them and placing them in a context but, whatever we do, we should never delude ourselves into believing that gifted children or geniuses are different from the rest of humanity, save in the degree to which they have developed the performance of their abilities.

　　Questions 14-18

　　Choose FIVE letters, A-K.

　　Write the correct letters in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

　　NB Your answers may be given in any order.

　　Below are listed some popular beliefs about genius and giftedness.

　　Which FIVE of these beliefs are reported by the writer of the text?

　　A Truly gifted people are talented in all areas.

　　B The talents of geniuses are soon exhausted.

　　C Gifted people should use their gifts.

　　D A genius appears once in every generation.

　　E Genius can be easily destroyed by discouragement.

　　F Genius is inherited.

　　G Gifted people are very hard to live with.

　　H People never appreciate true genius.

　　I Geniuses are natural leaders.

　　J Gifted people develop their greatness through difficulties.

　　K Genius will always reveal itself.

　　Questions 19-26

　　Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

　　In boxes 19-26 on your answer sheet, write

　　TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

　　FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

　　NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

　　19 Nineteenth-century studies of the nature of genius failed to take into account the uniqueness of the person’s upbringing.

　　20 Nineteenth-century studies of genius lacked both objectivity and a proper scientific approach.

　　21 A true genius has general powers capable of excellence in any area.

　　22 The skills of ordinary individuals are in essence the same as the skills of prodigies.

　　23 The ease with which truly great ideas are accepted and taken for granted fails to lessen their significance.

　　24 Giftedness and genius deserve proper scientific research into their true nature so that all talent may be retained for the human race.

　　25 Geniuses often pay a high price to achieve greatness.

　　26 To be a genius is worth the high personal cost.

　　READING PASSAGE 3

　　You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 on the following pages.

　　Questions 27-32

　　Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A-G.

　　Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.

　　Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

　　List of Headings

　　i The biological clock

　　ii Why dying is beneficial

　　iii The ageing process of men and women

　　iv Prolonging your life

　　v Limitations of life span

　　vi Modes of development of different species

　　vii A stable life span despite improvements

　　viii Energy consumption

　　ix Fundamental differences in ageing of objects and organisms

　　x Repair of genetic material

　　Example Answer

　　Paragraph A v

　　27 Paragraph B

　　28 Paragraph C

　　29 Paragraph D

　　30 Paragraph E

　　31 Paragraph F

　　32 Paragraph G

　　HOW DOES THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK TICK?

　　A Our life span is restricted. Everyone accepts this as ‘biologically’ obvious. ‘Nothing lives for ever!’ However, in this statement we think of artificially produced, technical objects, products which are subjected to natural wear and tear during use. This leads to the result that at some time or other the object stops working and is unusable (‘death’ in the biological sense). But are the wear and tear and loss of function of technical objects and the death of living organisms really similar or comparable?

　　B Our ‘dead’ products are ‘static’, closed systems. It is always the basic material which constitutes the object and which, in the natural course of things, is worn down and becomes ‘older’. Ageing in this case must occur according to the laws of physical chemistry and of thermodynamics. Although the same law holds for a living organism, the result of this law is not inexorable in the same way. At least as long as a biological system has the ability to renew itself it could actually become older without ageing; an organism is an open, dynamic system through which new material continuously flows. Destruction of old material and formation of new material are thus in permanent dynamic equilibrium. The material of which the organism is formed changes continuously. Thus our bodies continuously exchange old substance for new, just like a spring which more or less maintains its form and movement, but in which the water molecules are always different.

　　C Thus ageing and death should not be seen as inevitable, particularly as the organism possesses many mechanisms for repair. It is not, in principle, necessary for a biological system to age and die. Nevertheless, a restricted life span, ageing, and then death are basic characteristics of life. The reason for this is easy to recognise: in nature, the existent organisms either adapt or are regularly replaced by new types. Because of changes in the genetic material (mutations) these have new characteristics and in the course of their individual lives they are tested for optimal or better adaptation to the environmental conditions. Immortality would disturb this system — it needs room for new and better life. This is the basic problem of evolution.

　　D Every organism has a life span which is highly characteristic. There are striking differences in life span between different species, but within one species the parameter is relatively constant. For example, the average duration of human life has hardly changed in thousands of years. Although more and more people attain an advanced age as a result of developments in medical care and better nutrition, the characteristic upper limit for most remains 80 years. A further argument against the simple wear and tear theory is the observation that the time within which organisms age lies between a few days (even a few hours for unicellular organisms) and several thousand years, as with mammoth trees.

　　E If a life span is a genetically determined biological characteristic, it is logically necessary to propose the existence of an internal clock, which in some way measures and controls the ageing process and which finally determines death as the last step in a fixed programme. Like the life span, the metabolic rate has for different organisms a fixed mathematical relationship to the body mass. In comparison to the life span this relationship is ‘inverted’: the larger the organism the lower its metabolic rate. Again this relationship is valid not only for birds, but also, similarly on average within the systematic unit, for all other organisms (plants, animals, unicellular organisms).

　　F Animals which behave ‘frugally’ with energy become particularly old, for example, crocodiles and tortoises. Parrots and birds of prey are often held chained up. Thus they are not able to ‘experience life’ and so they attain a high life span in captivity. Animals which save energy by hibernation or lethargy (e.g. bats or hedgehogs) live much longer than those which are always active. The metabolic rate of mice can be reduced by a very low consumption of food (hunger diet). They then may live twice as long as their well fed comrades. Women become distinctly (about 10 per cent) older than men. If you examine the metabolic rates of the two sexes you establish that the higher male metabolic rate roughly accounts for the lower male life span. That means that they live life ‘energetically’ — more intensively, but not for as long.

　　G It follows from the above that sparing use of energy reserves should tend to extend life. Extreme high performance sports may lead to optimal cardiovascular performance, but they quite certainly do not prolong life. Relaxation lowers metabolic rate, as does adequate sleep and in general an equable and balanced personality. Each of us can develop his or her own ‘energy saving programme’ with a little self-observation, critical self-control and, above all, logical consistency. Experience will show that to live in this way not only increases the life span but is also very healthy. This final aspect should not be forgotten.

　　Questions 33-36

　　Complete the notes below.

　　Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

　　Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

　　? Objects age in accordance with principles of 33 .....................and of 34 .....................

　　? Through mutations, organisms can 35 ..................... better to the environment

　　? 36 .....................would pose a serious problem for the theory of evolution

　　Questions 37-40

　　Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

　　In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write

　　YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

　　NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

　　NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

　　37 The wear and tear theory applies to both artificial objects and biological systems.

　　38 In principle, it is possible for a biological system to become older without ageing.

　　39 Within seven years, about 90 per cent of a human body is replaced as new.

　　40 Conserving energy may help to extend a human’s life.

　　剑桥雅思阅读8原文参考译文(test3)

　　TEST 3 PASSAGE 1 参考译文：

　　用激光回击闪电

　　很少有比雷暴天气更令人感到恐怖的天气了。仅在美国，猛烈的雷暴电流每年都会造成大约500人死亡或重伤。云层翻滚而来的时候，在户外打一场轻松的高尔夫成了一件异常可怕的事情，无异于是在拿自己的性命开玩笑——孤身一人在户外的高尔夫球手可能是闪电最喜欢攻击的目标。此外，闪电也会带来财产损失。每年闪电会对美国电力公司造成超过一亿美元的损失。

　　不过，美国和日本的研究人员正在策划回击闪电的方案。他们已开始通过实验测试中和雷暴电荷的各种方法。今年冬天，他们将直面雷暴：使用配备的激光器射向空中的雨云，使其在闪电出现之前放电。

　　迫使雨云根据指令释放闪电并非一个新想法。早在20世纪60年代早期，研究者们就尝试过把带着拖曳线的火箭射入雨云，以期为这些云层发出的庞大的电荷群搭建起便捷的放电路径。由于受到建在加利福尼亚的电力研究所(EPRI)的支持，这一技术在佛罗里达的州立大学试验基地幸存到了今天。EPRI由电力公司资助，现正致力于研究保护美国输电网不受闪电袭击的方法。“我们可以通过火箭让闪电击向我们想让它去的地方，”EPRI的闪电项目经理Ralph Bernstein如此说道。该火箭基地现在能对闪电电压进行精确测量，并可以让工程师们检测电气设备的负载。

　　不良行为

　　虽然火箭在研究中功不可没，但它们无法提供闪电来袭时所有人都希求的保护。每支火箭造价大约 1,200美元，发射频率有限，而失败率却高达40%。即使它们确实能够引发闪电，事情也无法总是按计划顺利进行。“闪电可不那么听话”，Bernstein说，“它们偶尔会走岔路，射到它们本不该去的地方。”

　　但不管怎样，有谁会想在人口密集的地区发射成群的火箭呢? “射上去的肯定会掉下来，”新墨西哥大学的Jean-Claude Diels指出。Diels现在正在负责一个项目，该项目由ERPI所支持，试图通过发射激光使闪电安全放电——安全是一项基本要求，因为没人愿意把他们自己的性命或他们的昂贵设备置于危险之中。有了迄今为止的50万美元的投入，一套有巨大潜力的系统装置正在该实验室慢慢成形。

　　这一系统装置的想法始于大约20年前，当时正在开发大功率激光器从原子中提取电荷并生成离子的能力。如果激光器能够生成一条直达暴雨云的离子线，就可以在闪电电场增强为一股无法控制的涌流并击破空气之前，用这条传导通道把电荷引导到地面上来。为了防止激光器本身受到电击，不能把它直接对准云层，而是要把它对准一面镜子，让激光通过镜子折射向天空。要在靠近镜子的四周布置闪电传导器从而 对其进行保护。理想的做法是，云层遥控器(枪)要比较廉价，以便能够把它们安装在所有重点电力设备周围;另外还要方便携带，以便在国际运动赛事场地中用于使逐渐聚积的雨云失去威力。

　　绊脚石

　　可是，仍存在巨大的绊脚石。激光器并不方便携带：它是个能占据整个房间的庞然大物。Diels一直想要缩小它的体积，并表示很快就会有小型桌子大小的激光器了。他计划在明年夏天用真正的雨云来实际测试这个更容易操作的激光系统。

　　Bernstein表示，Diels的激光系统正在引起各电力公司的广泛兴趣。但他们还没有准备好EPRI提出的500万美元——开发一个让激光器更小巧、价格也更便宜的商用系统的所需资金。Bernstein说：“我还不能 说我已经拿到钱了，但是我正在为之努力。”他认为，即将进行的实地测试会成为一个转折点，而且他也在期待着好消息。Bernstein预言，如果一切顺利，这将吸引“排山倒海般的兴趣和支持”。他希望看到云层遥控器的最终价格能定在每台5万到10万美元之间。

　　其他科学家也能从中受益。如果手上有了控制闪电的“开关”，材料科学家就可以了解强大的电流遇到物质时会发生什么现象。Diels也希望看到“互动气象学”问世——不仅仅是预测天气，而且能控制天气。“如果我们能使云层放电，我们也许就能左右天气，”他说。

　　而且也许，Diels说，我们将能够对抗一些其他的气象威胁。“我们认为我们也许能通过引导闪电来阻止冰雹，”他说。雷，来自于闪电的冲击波，被认为是大暴雨——典型的雷暴天气——的触发器。一个激光雷工厂可以把水汽从云层中震出，这样也许可以阻止威胁庄稼的大冰雹的形成。如果运气好的话，在今年冬天雨云聚积的时候，持有激光器的研究者们就能第一次对其进行回击了。

　　TEST 3 PASSAGE 2 参考译文：

　　天才的本质

　　一直以来，天才和神童都倍受人们关注。genius一词源于拉丁语“gens”(=家族);拉丁语词条“genius”意 为“父”，来自于罗马早期，当时人们对一种祌明狂热崇拜，并尊其为家族的首领。在genius的最初形态中， 它与家族首领——也就是一家之长——永生的能力有关。后来，genius逐渐被用来表示人的特点;再后来，genius便用以指代一个人从他的“父亲”或精神领袖身上所传承的最佳特质。今天，人们仍然醉心于对星相和基因的研究，希望能够通过占星术或遗传学找到出色能力和个人特征的来源。

　　天才和天赋的概念已经成了民间文化的一部分，但人们对其所持的态度却是矛盾的。我们羡慕天才却不信任他们。在天才的神话里，人们普遍认为：如果人们在某方面很有天赋，那么他们一定会在其他方面有所不足;知识分子往往不切实际;神童过于才华横溢而早早地“泯然众人矣”;天才往往秉性古怪;天才的体质都很孱弱;天才和疯子只有一线之隔;天赋是家族遗传的;天才很聪明，所以不需要任何特别的帮助;天才和高智商是一回事;有些种族比其他人更聪明、更有音乐天赋或更有数学头脑;天才总被埋没, 得不到应有的回报;逆境出英才;天才有责任运用他们的天赋。英语中有很多这样的表达，如：highbrow (自以为文化修养很高的人)，egghead(书呆子)，blue-stocking(女学者)，wiseacre(自以为聪明的人)，know-all(自以为无所不知的人)，boffin(科学家);另外，对于很多人来说intellectual是一个贬义词。

　　19世纪，人们对于天才的本质表现出相当大的兴趣，而且做了不少针对著名神童的研究。或许现在对于我们来说，大部分对天才的研究中包含以下两个最重要的方面：其一，早期教育中父母和教师对孩子进行的频繁的鼓励和教导对孩子在智力、艺术或音乐方面的发展是有益的，但这也给孩子以后对生活的适应方面带来了巨大的困难;其二，老师和学校常常认识不到孩子所具备的才能。尽管在研究中搜集的轶闻趣事、显著相似点以及例外状况都颇为吸引人，但是，想要利用这些研究得出的证据也有一定困难，因为它们不符合我们今天所谓的常模参照。换句话说，比如当我们在搜集有关早期疾病、养育方式、学校教育等信息时，我们也要考虑到在其他的历史资料中所记载的、关于这种情况在当时有多么普 遍或不寻常的信息。例如，当时的婴儿死亡率很高，人的寿命也比今天短得多，家教对于贵族和富裕家庭司空见惯，恃强凌弱和体罚在最好的私立学校里也屡见不鲜，而且大多数的研究对象来自特权阶级。直到20世纪，随着儿科学和心理学的发展，相关研究才得以在更加客观的基础上进行——尽管依然并不总是很科学。

　　无论如何进行定义，天才只不过是从历史的迷雾之中凸显出来的一座座山峰，只有特定的观察者通过他们特殊的角度才能看到。而改变观察者和视角，拨开些许迷雾，许多不同的山峰出现在眼前。我们用“天才”这个词来指代那些因其出色成就而被我们所认可的人，那些人几乎处在了人类能力连续体的顶端，往下依次是平凡者、平庸者和无能者。Samuel Johnson博士的观察还是颇有道理的：“真正的天才在各方面都拥有着巨大的潜能，很偶然地被决定了向一个特定的方向发展。”但我们可能会对“各方面”这一点有所保留，因为我们怀疑是否所有天才音乐家都可以成为天才科学家，反之亦然。但是有一点毋庸置疑：正是偶然的决定培养或触发了他们的才能，使之有了用武之地，让他们可以成功地把自己的能量注入其中。在芸芸众生之中，有能之士成千上万，有男有女，有成人也有孩童。

　　天才的作品或神童的成就令人欣赏、喜爱和惊叹之处在于其体现了他们的技能和本领，这些技能和本领虽然与我们的相似，但远远高于我们的水平。然而事实可以证明他们的智力和我们的并非迥然不同，比如，像Kepler和Einstein这样的科学家历尽艰辛所取得的科学发现现已成为学童的常识性知识;像Paul Klee 这样的画家所创造的曾经非比寻常的形状和颜色很快就出现在了我们穿着的面料上。当然，这并没有降低天才成就的价值。他们的成就与普通人的相比就好像在四分钟内跑完一英里的运动员之于普通慢跑者一样，前者远远超越了后者。

　　只有在承认了每个人的大脑都是独特的这一前提下，认为天才和有天赋者的大脑独一无二、异于常人这一想法才能算是合理的。教育的目的就在于使我们更加与众不同，而在受教育的过程中，我们可以从比我们更有天赋的人的成就中学有所得。但是，在效仿天才或鼓励我们的孩子这样做之前，我们应该注意到，从他们身上学到的某些东西结果可能并不令人愉快。我们可能会羡慕他们的成就和名誉，但是也应该看到他们为此所付出的代价，看到他们的锲而不舍，专心致志，献身精神，自我约束，他们对自己时间和精力的严格要求，以及多少次他们不得不表现出极大的勇气来保持自身的正直或艰难地走成功。

　　天才和天赋只是具有相对意义的描述性术语，并没有实质内容。我们顶多可以通过对其进行定义并将其置于某一语境中来赋予它们一些准确的意思。但是，无论怎样做，我们都不能蒙蔽自己，认为神童或天才与其他人不一样，只是他们对自己能力表现开发的程度与我们不同而已。

　　TEST 3 PASSAGE 3 参考译文：

　　生物钟如何工作?

　　A我们的寿命是有限的。每个人都已经接受了这一点，因为从“生物学”角度来讲这是显而易见的。“没有什么会永生! ” 然而，在这句话中，我们想到了那些人造的技术产品，这些产品在使用过程中会产生自然磨损。这就意味着它们终究会有一天停止工作、不能用了(生物学意义上的“死亡”)。但这些技术产品的磨损及功能丧失与生物体的死亡这两者之间真的具有相似性或可比性吗?

　　B我们所谓“死掉”的产品是指一些“静态的”、封闭的系统。构成物体的基本材料总是会在自然过程中逐渐磨损，变得“老化”。根据物理化学和热力学的规律，在这种情况下老化是必然的。虽然相同的规律也适用于生物体，但这一规律并不会以同样的方式产生不可抗拒的结果。至少只要一个生物系统有能力自我更新，它就确实能够不断成长但不会老化;生物体是一个开放、动态的系统，新物质会通过这个系统不断流动。因此旧物质的消逝和新物质的形成总是处于永久的动态平衡中。形成生物体的物质不断改变，于是我们体内的旧物质也持续不断地被新物质替换，就像喷泉，它能大体上保持自身的形态和运动状态，但是其中的水分子总是不同的。

　　C因此，老化和死亡不该被看作是不可避免的，尤其当生物体拥有许多修复机制时。从理论上讲，一个生物体的老化和死亡不是必然的。尽管如此，有限的寿命，衰老，然后死亡构成了生命的基本特征。原因则显而易见：本质上，现存的生物体要么适应环境，要么有规律地被新的物种代替。因为基因物质的变化(突变)，生物体拥有了新的特征，并且个体生命的过程也在考验它们对周围的环境条件是否有最佳的或更好的适应性。永生可能会打乱这个系统，因为它需要为新的、更好的生命提供空间。这就是进化。

　　D每个生物体都有极具特色的寿命。不同的物种其寿命也有着显著差别，但在同一物种中，这个参数相对恒定。例如，几千年来人类的平均寿命几乎没变。虽然由于医疗服务的发展和营养的改善，越来越多的人达到高龄，但对大多数人来说人类普遍的寿命上限仍是80岁。此外，对抗简单磨损理论的另一个论点认为，生物体老去的时间短则几天(对单细胞生物来说甚至是几小时)，长则几千年，比如巨杉。

　　E如果寿命是一个由基因决定的生物特征，那么按照逻辑我们就有必要提出这样一个观点：生物体内存在一个内部时钟，这个时钟以某种方式测量和控制着衰老的进程，并且最终决定这一固定程序的最后一步：死亡。就像寿命，对于不同的生物体，其代谢速率跟体重有一个固定的数据关系。同寿命相比，这个关系是“反向的”：生物体体重越大，其代谢速率越低。另外，这个关系不仅适用于鸟类，由于系统单元内的情况大体类似，因此也适用于其他所有生物体(植物、动物、单细胞生物)。

　　F那些在能量消耗方面比较“节约”的动物寿命尤其长，例如鳄鱼和乌龟。鹦鹉和猛禽经常被锁链栓着，因此往往不能“体验生活”，于是在圈养状态下获得了较长的寿命。有些能通过冬眠或嗜睡来保存能量的动物(例如蝙蝠或刺猬)通常比那些总是很活跃的动物活得更长久。老鼠的代谢速率可以通过减少食物消耗量(饥饿饮食法)来降低，他们的寿命可能比那些平日吃饱喝足的同类寿命长一倍。另外，女性的寿命很明显比男性的寿命长(大约10%)。如果研究两性的代谢速率，你会发现男性代谢速率较高，这就意味着男性的寿命较短，也就是说他们在生活中比较耗费能量——比女性活动更为剧烈，但生命持续的时间没有女性长。

　　G从上面的讨论可以看出，节约使用我们的能量储备应该可以延长寿命。极端的剧烈运动可能会让心血管功能达到最佳状态，但肯定不会延长寿命。放松下来可以降低代谢率，而充足的睡眠及大体平和的性格也会起到相同的作用。只要进行一些自我观察、严格的自我控制，尤其重要的是保持逻辑连贯性，我们每个人都能发展自己的“节能程序”。经验表明这样的生活方式不仅能够延年益寿，而且非常健康。最后这点绝对不要忘记。

　　剑桥雅思阅读8原文解析(test3)

　　Passage 1

　　Question 1

　　答案： D

　　关键词： main topic

　　定位原文: 文章标题

　　解题思路: 通过标题知道整篇文章的主旨是“通过激光来回击闪电”，因此答案是 D 选项,意思为 “一种用于控制闪电袭击的激光技术”，属于对标题的同义替换。

　　Question 2

　　答案： A

　　关键词： every year lightening

　　定位原文： 第1段内容

　　解题思路： 本题考查关于每年闪电情况的细节,可 定位于第一段。B 选项可以通过 golfer 一词来定 位,也在第一段,原文意思是“孤单的高尔夫球 手或许将是闪电之箭最为有吸引力的目标”,选 项 B“在美国主要杀死或者伤害高尔夫球手”改 变了原意 ;C 和 D 选项可以分别通过 500,100 这两个数字来定位到第一段,但是 C 选项中将原 文 in the United States 偷换成了 throughout the world,因此不对;D中将原文的0 million 偷换成 100 companies,也不对。通过对第一段 的概括,可以知道闪电带来的影响是非常大的, 因此答案是 A。

　　Question 3

　　答案： A

　　关键词： University of Florida, University of New Mexico

　　定位原文： 第三段和第五段内容

　　解题思路： 题目问的是 University of Florida 和 University of New Mexico 的研究员的关系。通 过 University of Florida 和 University of New Mexico 分别定位至第三段和第五段。对两处论 述进行对比,不难得出两者共同之处是“从同一来源获得经费”，都是 EPRI。答案是 A。

　　Question 4

　　答案： power companies

　　关键词： EPRI, financial support

　　对应原文： 第3段第4句“EPRI, which is funded…”

　　解题思路： 用EPRI定位到文章第三段，EPRI第一次出现之后即指出其是由电力公司资助的，原文中的funded 等同于题干中的 receives financial support from, 因此答案应该填power companies。注意不要写成单数。

　　Question 5

　　答案： safely

　　关键词： Diels, advantage

　　定位原文： 第5段第3句“...to try to use lasers to…”

　　解题思路： 用人名Diels在文中定位到第五段，从题目看出这里应填入一个副词，所以可以在人名周围寻找 use或者use的替换词，并且在其周围找带有-ly形式的词，这样正确答案safely很快就能浮出水面了。

　　Question 6

　　答案: size

　　关键词: difficulty, laser equipment

　　定位原文: 第7段第1、2句“…The laser is no nifty…”

　　解题思路： 这道题目的定位稍微有一些困难，需要将 difficulty一词与文章中的stumbling block联系起来，进而找到第七段中的laser一词。文中提到，该激光设备并不方便携带，它是个体积占据了一整间房间的庞然大物。看到这里，通过理解，考生们可以想到激光设备最大的问题就是体积太大，不好携带，所以正确答案是size。

　　Question 7

　　答案： B

　　关键词： removing electrons

　　定位原文： 第6段第1句“...to extract electrons out…”

　　解题思路： 本题关键是要理解题目中的remove...from...与文中的extract...out of...属于同义替换，这里要表达的是从原子(atoms)中提取电荷(electrons)。

　　Question 8

　　答案: C

　　关键词: then, control electrical charges

　　定位原文: 第6段第2句“If a laser could generate a line of ionization in the air all the way up to a storm cloud...”

　　解题思路： 注意文中generate是“产生”的意思;directed at对应文中的 all the way up to，其后的 a storm cloud即对应空格处要填的内容。因此正确答案是C。

　　Question 9

　　答案: G

　　关键词: less dangerous than

　　定位原文: 第4段和第5段内容

　　解题思路：解答本题需要对文章有一个提炼,第 9 题问的是激光是相对于哪种方式更加有安全 的技术。根据第四段和第五段可以知道，第四段说火箭发射的缺点，第五段说出于安全性的考虑开始使用激光，因此答案应该是火箭(rockets)。

　　Question 10

　　答案: D

　　关键词： protection, aimed firstly

　　定位原文： 第6段第3、4句“To stop the laser…”

　　解题思路: protection对应文中的 stop...being struck; at是解题关键词，即使不知道文中的directed和题目中的aimed是同义词，也可以从词组的形式上看出来两者是同位的，其后的名词即为答案。由此可知答案是D。

　　Question 11

　　答案: NO

　　关键词: Diels, enough money

　　定位原文: 第8段第3句“‘I cannot say I have…”

　　解题思路: “I cannot say I have money yet, but I am working on it”( “我还不能说我已经拿到钱了，但是我正在为之努力。”)看到这句话，再联系上句：Bernstein says that Diels’ system is attracting lots of interest from the power companies. But they have not yet come up with the million that EPRI says will be needed to develop a commercial system...(Bernstein表示，Diels的激光系统正在引起各电力公司的广泛兴趣。但他们还没有准备EPRI提出的500万美元——开发一个……的商用系统的所需资金。)这两句话足以证明Diels系统还没有得到足够的资金支持。

　　Question 12

　　答案： YES

　　关键词： depend on tests in real storms

　　定位原文： 第8段第4句“He reckons…”

　　解题思路： 根据第八段Bernstein的话可知,他认为即将来临的实地测验将是转折点,他希望有好消息。如果一切进展顺利，Bernstein 预测关注和支持将潮涌而来。题目表述符合文意。

　　Question 13

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　关键词： Diels, weather forecasters

　　定位原文： 第9段最后两句“Diels also hopes…”

　　解题思路： 文章第九段虽然提到了天气预报，即Diels希望将来看到“交互式气象学”， 不仅是预报天气，还可以控制天气 ;但是却并没有提到过 weather forecasters 的态度，他们也许感兴趣,也许不感兴趣，无从判断。

　　Test 3 Passage 2

　　Question 14-Question 18

　　答案: B C F H J

　　关键词: popular beliefs

　　定位原文: 第2段整体内容

　　解题思路: A 对应“if people are talented…”意思是“如果一个人在某一方面具有天赋,他们必然在另一方面有缺陷”因此天才并非是在各个领域都具备天赋的，A错误;B对应“prodigies burn…” 意思是“神童只是昙花一现”B选项正确;C对应“people with gifts..” 言下之意也就是有天赋的人需要使用他们的天赋，C正确;F对应“genius runs in families” 也就是说天赋是遗传的，F对;H对应“we envy the gifted..”说明人们并不会真正欣赏天才，H正确;J对应“adversity makes…” 说明天才在困境中发展其天赋， J正确;其他选项没有提及。

　　Question 19

　　答案: TRUE

　　关键词： nineteen-century, studies

　　定位原文：第3段内容

　　解题思路: 本题需要通读第3段，可以得知，原文只提到了研究会考虑 the method of upbringing，但是没有考虑到 uniqueness of the person’s upbringing，题目表述符合文意。

　　Question 20

　　答案: TRUE

　　关键词： nineteen-century, objectivity

　　定位原文： 第3段最后1句“It was only with…”

　　解题思路： 通过本句首先可以推测出19世纪关于天才的研究缺乏客观性，然后通过if still not always very scientific得知，连20世纪有关天才的研究都并不总是很科学，那么就更别提19世纪的研究了，因此可以推测出本题正确答案是TRUE。

　　Question 21

　　答案： FALSE

　　关键词： general powers, area

　　定位原文：第4段第5句“We may disagree…”

　　解题思路：定位句的意思是“但我们可能会对“各方面”这一点有所保留，因为我们怀疑是否所有的天才音乐家都可以成为天才科学家，反之亦然。”这句话表明了作者对于所谓全能型天才的质疑，正好与题干的表述相反，故答案应该是 FALSE。

　　Question 22

　　答案： TRUE

　　关键词： skills, ordinary individuals, prodigies

　　定位原文：第5段第1句“What we appreciate,…”

　　解题思路：天才的技能和普通人的技能在本质上是相似的，尽管在表现上不一样。题目表述符合文意。

　　Question 23

　　答案： TRUE

　　关键词： truly great ideas

　　定位原文：第5段最后两句“But that their minds…”

　　解题思路： 作者先是举出数个例子来说明天才伟大的思想或者作品已经成为日常生活中司空见惯的东西，这就对应了题目的前半句the ease...，接着又提出This does not minimise the supremacy of their achievements，正好对应题干后半句。因此此题选TRUE。

　　Question 24

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　关键词： giftedness, genius, scientific research

　　定位原文：第6段第1句“To think of geniuses and the gifted…”

　　解题思路：第6段开头提到了“geniuses and the gifted…”但是题目表述的观点没有被提及。

　　Question 25

　　答案： TRUE

　　关键词： pay a high price

　　定位原文：第6段最后一句话“...but we should also recognize…”

　　解题思路： 这句话以及接下来的内容明确说明了天才在成为天才的道路上所付出的高昂代价，是本题中最容易判断的一道题目。

　　Question 26

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　关键词： high personal cost

　　定位原文：第6段最后1句的后半句“...but we should also…”

　　解题思路：…但是也应该看到他们为此所付出的代价，看到他们的锲而不舍，专心致志，献身精神，自我约束，他们对自己时间和精力的严格要求，以及多少次他们不得不表现出极大的勇气来保持自身的正直或艰难地走向成功。这些都是天才为了成为天才而付出的个人代价，但是通过其前后句，没有任何一个评述讲到这种个人付出值还是不值。典型的文中无此信息型题目。

　　Test 3 Passage 3

　　Question 27

　　答案： ix

　　关键词： fundamental differences, objects, organisms

　　定位原文：B段前4句“Our ‘dead’ products… the same way”

　　解题思路：要想弄清楚这一段的意思，至少要阅读前半段，才能明白作者是在对object变旧的过程和生物体衰老的过程做对比。通过is not inexorable in the same way 猜测出是对应答案中的fundamental differences。正确答案为ix。

　　Question 28

　　答案： ii

　　关键词： dying, beneficial

　　定位原文：C段第3、4句“Nevertheless, a restricted…”

　　解题思路：首先在C段找到表达转折意义的副词 nevertheless，一般段落大意都藏在转折词后面;接着发现the reason for this，这就可以对应选项ii中的why;接着读下去发现提到了死亡是必要的，immortality会扰乱整个生态系统，这样就可以进行选择了。正确答案是ii。

　　Question 29

　　答案： vii

　　关键词： stable, despite improvements

　　定位原文：D段第2句和第4句“... but within one species…”“Although more…”

　　解题思路：本段指出，每个生物体都有极具特色的寿命;不同物种之间的寿命有很大差别，但同一物种中，这个参数相对恒定，这就是选项vii中所提到的a stable life span; 接下来的although则可以对应Heading中的despite, improvement对应句中的 developments in medical care and better nutrition。这样就和Heading的意思完全吻合了。正确答案是vii。

　　Question 30

　　答案： i

　　关键词： biological clock

　　定位原文：E段第1句“If a life span is a genetically…”

　　解题思路：本段首句中提到：如果寿命是一个由基因决定的生物特征，那么我们就有必要提出这样一个观点，那就是生物体内存在一个内部时钟。这是文章第一次提到生物钟这样一个概念。正确答案是i。

　　Question 31：

　　答案： viii

　　关键词： energy consumption

　　定位原文： F段第1句“Animals which behave 'frugally' with…”

　　解题思路：本段列举了众多例子,都是为了说明一个问题——能力消耗的多少与寿命长短成反比：新陈代谢越快，寿命越，新陈代谢越慢，寿命越长。选项 iii“能力消耗”抽象概括了本段的主题。

　　Question 32：

　　答案： iv

　　关键词： prolonging

　　定位原文： G段首句“It follows from…”

　　解题思路： Heading中的prolong一词等同于本段首句中的extend。句意为：“从上面的讨论可以看出，节约使用我们的能量储备应该可以延长寿命。”正确答案是iv。

　　Question 33 & Question 34

　　答案： physical chemistry (and) thermodynamics

　　关键词： objects age in accordance with principle

　　定位原文： B段第3、4句“Ageing in this case…”

　　解题思路： 并列的两处空格中需填名词。首先到文中寻找 objects一词，可以在B段顺利找到，然后请注意寻找并列关系连接词and，很快可以发现正确答案。答案为physical chemistry (and) thermodynamics。

　　Question 35：

　　答案： adapt

　　关键词： mutations, organisms

　　定位原文： C段第5句“Because of…”

　　解题思路： 首先通过mutations一词将此题在文章中定位，虽然寻找过程不容易，但是一定要相信自己能找到。定位之后寻找空格后的关键字better to，根据空格前的情态动词can推测空格处只能填一个动词，而且是原型，还要能和to搭配。这么一来，这句话里只有一个对应词比较合适：adaptation, 将其变形为动词即可。

　　Question 36：

　　答案： immortality

　　关键词： evolution theory

　　定位原文： C段最后1句“Immortality would disturb …”

　　解题思路： 空格处要填入的是会对进化论带来严重问题的内容，可通过evolution进行定位。注意disturb一词意思 是“干扰、扰乱”，对应题目中的pose a serious problem for，因此答案为 immortality。

　　Question 37：

　　答案： NO

　　关键词： the wear and tear theory

　　定位原文： B段前4句“Our ‘dead’ products…”

　　解题思路：对于生物体而言，死亡并非不可阻挡的，因此自然磨损理论对于生物体来讲，当然就不太适用了。 inexorable在解题中起着关键作用。

　　Question 38：

　　答案： YES

　　关键词： older, ageing

　　定位原文： B段第5句“At least as long as…”

　　解题思路： 至少只要一个生物系统有能力自我更新，它就确实能够不断成长但不会老化……

　　这句话与题目中的叙述完全吻合，故答案应该是YES

　　Question 39：

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　关键词： seven years, 90 per cent

　　定位原文： B段和F段

　　解题思路： 文章在 B 段和 F 段均提到生物体的更新代谢，但是并没有提到具体的数值。

　　Question 40：

　　答案： YES

　　关键词： energy

　　定位原文： G段第1句“It follows from…”

　　解题思路： 题目表述是G段首句的同义替换, 其中题目中的 conserving energy 对应原文中的 sparing use of energy。

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