历年考研英语阅读理解mp3(94-4)

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[00:00.51]1994 Passage4
[00:02.93]"I have great confidence that by the end of the decade
[00:06.77]we'll know in vast detail how cancer cells arise,"
[00:11.41]says microbiologist Robert Weinberg, an expert on cancer.
[00:16.86]"But," he cautions, "some people have the idea
[00:20.88]that once one understands the causes,
[00:23.71]the cure will rapidly follow.
[00:26.23]Consider Pasteur.
[00:28.15]He discovered the causes of many kinds of infections,
[00:31.89]but it was fifty or sixty years before cures were available."
[00:37.12]This year, 50 percent of the 910,000 people
[00:42.05]who suffer from cancer will survive at least five years.
[00:46.60]In the year 2000,
[00:48.51]the National Cancer Institute estimates,
[00:51.33]that figure will be 75 percent.
[00:54.57]For some skin cancers, the five-year survival rate
[00:57.90]is as high as 90 percent.
[01:00.93]But other survival statistics are still discouraging
[01:04.85]--13 percent for lung cancer,
[01:07.58]and 2 percent for cancer of the pancreas.
[01:11.71]With as many as 120 varieties in existence,
[01:15.84]discovering how cancer works is not easy.
[01:19.67]The researchers made great progress in the early 1970s,
[01:24.31]when they discovered that oncogenes,
[01:26.85]which are cancer-causing genes¹,
[01:29.02]are inactive in normal cells.
[01:31.85]Anything from cosmic rays to radiation to diet
[01:35.88]may activate² a dormant³ oncogene,
[01:39.20]but how remains⁴ unknown.
[01:41.82]If several oncogenes are driven into action,
[01:44.85]the cell, unable to turn them off, becomes cancerous.
[01:49.58]The exact mechanisms⁵ involved are still mysterious,
[01:53.72]but the likelihood that many cancers
[01:55.94]are initiated⁶ at the level of genes suggests
[01:59.06]that we will never prevent all cancers.
[02:02.39]"Changes are a normal part of the evolutionary⁷ process,"
[02:06.12]says oncologist William Hayward.
[02:08.95]Environmental factors can never be totally eliminated;
[02:12.37]as Hayward points out,
[02:14.08]"We can't prepare a medicine against cosmic rays."
[02:18.73]The prospects⁸ for cure, though still distant, are brighter.
[02:22.34]在线英语听力室(www.tingroom.com)友情制作
[02:23.24]"First, we need to understand
[02:24.88]how the normal cell controls itself.
[02:28.31]Second, we have to determine
[02:30.13]whether there are a limited number of genes in cells
[02:33.05]which are always responsible for at least part of the trouble.
[02:37.69]If we can understand how cancer works,
[02:40.51]we can counteract⁹ its action."

1 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

2 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

3 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

7 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

8 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

9 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。