2012年雅思考试阅读模拟试题及答案(五) Don’twashthosefossils! StandardmuseumpracticecanwashawayDNA。 1。Washing,brushingandvarnishingfossilsallstandardconservationtreatmentsusedbymanyfossilhuntersandmuseumcuratorsalikevastlyreducesthechancesofrecoveringancientDNA。 2。Instead,excavatorsshouldbehandlingatleastsomeoftheirbountywithgloves,andfreezingsamplesastheyarefound,dirtandall,concludesapaperintheProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciencestoday。 3。AlthoughmanypalaeontologistsknowanecdotallythatthisisthebestwaytouptheoddsofextractinggoodDNA,EvaMariaGeigloftheJacquesMonodInstituteinParis,France,andhercolleagueshavenowshownjusthowimportantconservationpracticescanbe。Thisinformation,theysay,needstobehammeredhomeamongthepeoplewhoareactuallyoutinthefielddiggingupbones。 4。Geiglandhercolleagueslookedat3,200yearoldfossilbonesbelongingtoasingleinpidualofanextinctcattlespecies,calledanaurochs。ThefossilsweredugupatasiteinFranceattwodifferenttimeseitherin1947,andstoredinamuseumcollection,orin2004,andconservedinsterileconditionsat20oC。 5。Theteam’sattemptstoextractDNAfromthe1947bonesallfailed。Thenewlyexcavatedfossils,however,allyieldedDNA。 6。Becausetheboneshadbeenburiedforthesameamountoftime,andinthesameconditions,theconservationmethodhadtobetoblamesaysGeigl。AsmuchDNAwasdegradedinthese57yearsasinthe3,200yearsbefore,shesays。 Washin,washout 7。Becausemanypalaeontologistsbasetheirworkontheshapeoffossilsalone,theirmethodsofconservationarenotdesignedtopreserveDNA,Geiglexplains。 8。Thebiggestproblemishowtheyarecleaned。Fossilsareoftenwashedtogetheronsiteinalargebath,whichcanallowwaterandcontaminantsintheformofcontemporaryDNAtopermeateintotheporousbones。NotonlyistheauthenticDNAgettingwashedout,butcontaminationisgettingwashedin,saysGeigl。 9。MostancientDNAspecialistsknowthisalready,saysHendrikPoinar,anevolutionarygeneticistatMcMasterUniversityinOntario,Canada。Butthatdoesn’tmeanthatbestpracticehasbecomewidespreadamongthosewhoactuallyfindthefossils。 10。GettingholdoffossilsthathavebeenpreservedwiththeirDNAinmindreliesoncloserelationshipsbetweenlabbasedgeneticistsandtheexcavators,sayspalaeogeneticistSvantePbooftheMaxPlanckInstituteforEvolutionaryAnthropologyinLeipzig,Germany。Andthatonlyoccursinexceptionalcases,hesays。 11。Pbo’steam,whichhasbeensequencingNeanderthalDNA,continuallyfacestheseproblems。WhenyouwanttostudyancienthumanandNeanderthalremains,there’sabigissueofcontaminationwithcontemporaryhumanDNA,hesays。 12。Thisdoesn’tmeanthatallmuseumspecimensarefatallyflawed,notesPbo。TheNeanderthalfossilsthatwererecentlysequencedinhisownlab,forexample,hadbeenpartofamuseumcollectiontreatedinthetraditionalway。ButPboiskeentoseesamplesoffossilsfromeverymajorfindpreservedinlinewithGeigl’srecommendationsjustincase。 Warmandwet 13。Geiglherselfbelievesthat,withcooperationbetweenbenchandfieldresearchers,preservingfossilsproperlycouldopenupavenuesofdiscoverythathavelongbeenassumedclosed。 14。Muchhumanculturaldevelopmenttookplaceintemperateregions。DNAdoesnotsurvivewellinwarmenvironmentsinthefirstplace,andcanvanishwhenfossilsarewashedandtreated。Forthisreason,Geiglsays,mostancientDNAstudieshavebeendoneonpermafrostsamples,suchasthewoollymammoth,oronremainsshelteredfromtheelementsincoldcavesincludingcavebearandNeanderthalfossils。 15。Betterconservationmethods,andafocusonfreshfossils,couldboostDNAextractionfrommoredelicatespecimens,saysGeigl。Andthatcouldshedmorelightonthestoryofhumanevolution。 (640wordsnature) Glossary Palaeontologists古生物学家 Aurochs欧洲野牛 Neanderthal(人类学)尼安德特人,旧石器时代的古人类。 Permafrost(地理)永冻层 Questions16 AnswerthefollowingquestionsbyusingNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer。 1。Howdidpeopletraditionallytreatfossils? 2。WhatsuggestionsdoGeiglandhercolleaguesgiveonwhatshouldbedonewhenfossilsarefound? 3。Whatproblemsmaybeposediffossilbonesarewashedonsite?NameONE。 4。WhatcharacteristicdofossilboneshavetomakethemsusceptibletobecontaminatedwithcontemporaryDNAwhentheyarewashed? 5。Whatcouldbebetterunderstoodwhenconservationtreatmentsareimproved? 6。Thepassagementionedseveralanimalspeciesstudiedbyresearchers。Howmanyofthemarementioned? Questions711 Dothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninthepassage?Pleasewrite TRUEifthestatementagreeswiththewriter FALSEifthestatementdoesnotagreewiththewriter NOTGIVENifthereisnoinformationaboutthisinthepassage 7。IntheirpaperpublishedintheProceedingsoftheNationalAcademyofSciences,GeiglandhercolleagueshaveshownwhatconservationpracticesshouldbefollowedtopreserveancientDNA。 8。ThefossilbonesthatGeiglandhercolleaguesstudiedareallfromthesameaurochs。 9。Geneticistsdon’thavetoworkonsite。 10。OnlynewlyexcavatedfossilbonesusingnewconservationmethodssuggestedbyGeiglandhercolleaguescontainancientDNA。 11。Paaboisstillworriedaboutthepotentialproblemscausedbytreatmentsoffossilsintraditionalway。 Questions1213 CompletethefollowingthestatementsbychoosingletterADforeachanswer。 12。Thisinformationinparagraph3indicates: 〔A〕ItiscriticaltofollowproperpracticesinpreservingancientDNA。 〔B〕ThebestwayofgettinggoodDNAistohandlefossilswithgloves。 〔C〕Fossilhuntersshouldwearhomemadehammerswhilediggingupbones。 〔D〕Manypalaeontologistsknowhowoneshoulddointreatingfossils。 13。ThestudyconductedbyGeiglandhercolleaguessuggests: 〔A〕thefactthatancientDNAcannotberecoveredfromfossilbonesexcavatedinthepast。 〔B〕thecorrelationbetweentheamountofburyingtimeandthatoftherecovered DNA。 〔C〕thepaceatwhichDNAdegrades。 〔D〕thecorrelationbetweenconservationpracticesanddegradationofDNA。 Suggestedanswersandexplanations1。washing,brushing,varnishing见第一段。 2。handlingwithglovesfreezingsamples(anyoneofthetwo)见第二段。 3。losingauthenticDNAbeingcontaminatedcontamination(anyoneofthethree)见第八段NotonlyistheauthenticDNAgettingwashedout,butcontaminationisgettingwashedin(答beingcontaminated或contamination比较保险) 4。theyareporousporous的意思是多孔的。见第八段whichcanallowwaterandcontaminantsintheformofcontemporaryDNAtopermeateintotheporousbones。 5。humanevolution见第十五段。其中shedlightonsth的意思是使某事显得非常清楚,使人了解某事。 6。4分别为第四段的anextinctcattlespecies,calledanaurochs,即欧洲野牛,已经绝迹;第十一段Neanderthal,是人类学用语,尼安德特人,旧石器时代的古人类;第十四段woollymammoth和cavebear,其中mammoth是猛犸,一种古哺乳动物。 7。T见第二段。 8。T见第四段Geiglandhercolleagueslookedat3,200yearoldfossilbonesbelongingtoasingleinpidualofanextinctcattlespecies,calledanaurochs。即他们研究的骨化石是一头欧洲野牛身上的。 9。NG 10。F见第十二段第一、二句话。 11。T见第十二段末句ButPboiskeentoseesamplesoffossilsfromeverymajorfindpreservedinlinewithGeigl’srecommendationsjustincase。意即为保险起见,Paabo还是非常希望见到用Geigl建议的方法保存的化石样本。justincase的意思是以防万一,就是Paabo对用传统保存处理的化石不放心的意思。 12。A见第三段。Thisinformation就是前一句中justhowimportantconservationpracticescanbe(topreservegoodDNA)。behammered之中hammer一词的意思是不断重复强调。 13。D面信息。需要理解文章各处关于Geigl和她的同事所作的研究。