2012年职称英语理工类阅读理解新增文章]

第十九篇Graphene's SuperstrengthBig technology comes in tiny packages. New cell phones and personal computers get smallerevery year，which means these electronics require even smaller components on the inside.Engineers are looking for creative ways to build these components，and they've turned their eyes to graphene，a superthin2 material，made of carbon，that could change the future of electronics.This year's Nobel Prize for Physics3 has been awarded to Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselovfrom the University of Manchester4，UK. for the discovery of graphene. Graphene isn't just small,it's“the thinnest possible material in this world，” says Novoselov. He calls it a“wondermaterial. ”It's so thin that you would need to stack about 25,000 sheets just to make a pile as thick as a piece of ordinary white paper. If you were to hold a sheet of graphene in your fingers5，you'd have no idea because you wouldn't be able to see it. Carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the universe. Every known kind of lifecontains carbon. Graphene is a sheet of carbon，but only one atom thick. You don't have to lookfar to find grapheme —it's all around you.If you want this high-tech wonderstuff6，all you need is a pencil，paper and a little adhesivetape. Use the pencil to shade a small area on the paper, and then apply a small piece of adhesivetape over the area7. When you pull up the tape，you'll see that it pulls up a thin layer of some ofthe shading from your pencil. That layer is called graphite，one of the softest minerals in the world.Now stick the same piece of tape on another sheet of paper and pull the tape up —there should be an even thinner layer，this time left on the paper. Now imagine that you do this over and over，until you get the thinnest possible layer of material on the paper. This layer would be only one atom thick，and you wouldn't be able to see it. Graphite is made of layers of graphene，so when you get to the thinnest possible layer，you've found graphene.词汇：graphene/ 'græfi:n/ n．石墨烯abundant/ə’bʌndənt / adj．丰富的，充裕的atom/ 'ætəm/n．原子adhesive/ əd'hi:siv/ n．胶粘剂；adj. 黏着的stack/stæk/ v．使成堆，堆放graphite / 'græfait / n．石墨注释：1. superstrength：超强的力量。

2012年职称英语理工类-新增文章篇目D2012年职称英语理工类新增文章篇目阅读理解（6篇）……………………3页第六篇Making Light of1 Sleep第十九篇Graphene's Superstrength1*第三＋八篇"Life Form Found" on Saturn's Titan*第四十篇Teaching Math, Teaching Anxiety +第四＋五篇Teaching Math, Teaching Anxiety +第四十六篇Ants Have Big Impact on Environment as "Ecosystem Engineers"完形填空（6篇）……………………20页第三篇Germs on Banknotes第十篇Chicken Soup for the Soul：Comfort Food Fights Loneliness*第十一篇Climate Change Poses Major Risks for Unprepared Cities*第十二篇Free Statins With Fast Food Could Neutralize Heart Risk+第十三篇Solar Power without Solar Cells +第十五篇“Liquefaction” Key to Much of Japanese Earthquake DamageThey argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like surface covered with methane lakes and rivers. This,they say,points to the existence of some"bugs"5 consuming the hydrogen at the surface of the moon less than half the size of the Earth."We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan,similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,"says NASA scientist Chris McKay."If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life,it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth."To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere,though there are liquid-water-based microorganisms on Earth that grow well on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan, where temperatures are around 90 Kelvin6(minus 290 degreesFarenheit),a methanebased organism would have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes, but not water itself. Water is frozen solid on Titan's surface and much too cold to support life as we know it.Scientists had expected the Sun's interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce a coating of acetylene on Titan's surface. But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.The absence of detectable acetylene on the Titan's surface can very well have a non-biological explanation,said Mark Allen,a principal investigator7of the NASA Titan team."Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-biological explanations are addressed,"Allen said. "We have a lot of work to do to rule out8 possible non-biological explanations. It is more likely that a chemical process,without biology,can explain theseresults."词汇：Saturn /'sætən/ n．土星methane/'mi:θein/ n．甲烷，沼气Titan/'taitən/ n．土卫六acetylene/ə'setili:n/ n．乙炔alien/'eiljən/ n．外星人；adj．外星球的；相异的conservatism/kən'sʒ:vətizəm/ n．保守主义,守旧注释：1.hints of alien life：外星生命迹象。

*第三＋八篇"Life Form Found" on Saturn's Titan Scientists say they have discovered hints of alien life1 on the Saturn's moon2. The discovery of a sort of life was announced after researchers at the US space agency,NASA3,analyzed data from spacecraft Cassini4,which pointed to,the existence of methane-based form of life on Saturn's biggest moon.Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are"breathing" inTitan's dense atmosphere filled with hydrogen.They argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like surface covered with methane lakes and rivers. This,they say,points to the existence of some"bugs"5 consuming the hydrogen at the surface of the moon less than half the size of the Earth."We suggested hydrogen consumption because it's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan,similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,"says NASA scientist Chris McKay."If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life,it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth."To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere,though there are liquid-water-based microorganisms on Earth that grow well on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan, where temperatures are around 90 Kelvin6(minus 290 degrees Farenheit),a methanebased organism would have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes, but not water itself. Water is frozen solid on Titan's surface and much too cold to support life as we know it.Scientists had expected the Sun's interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce a coating of acetylene on Titan's surface. But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.The absence of detectable acetylene on the Titan's surface can very well have a non-biological explanation,said Mark Allen,a principal investigator7of the NASA Titan team."Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-biological explanations are addressed,"Allen said. "We have a lot of work to do to rule out8possible non-biological explanations. It is more likely that a chemical process,without biology,can explain these results."词汇：Saturn /'sætən/ n．土星methane/'mi:θein/ n．甲烷，沼气Titan/'taitən/ n．土卫六acetylene/ə'setili:n/ n．乙炔alien/'eiljən/ n．外星人；adj．外星球的；相异的conservatism/kən'sʒ:vətizəm/ n．保守主义,守旧注释：1.hints of alien life：外星生命迹象。

+第四＋五篇Small But WiseOn December 14,NASA1 blasted a small but mighty telescope into space. The telescope is called WISE and is about as wide around as a trashcan. Don't let its small size fool you:WISE has a powerful digital camera, and it will be taking pictures of some the wildest objects2 in the known universe,including asteroids,faint stars,blazing galaxies3 and giant clouds of dust where planets and stars are born."I'm very excited because we're going to be seeing parts of the universe that we haven't seen before,"said Ned Wright, a scientist who directs the WISE project.Since arriving in space,the WISE telescope has been circling the Earth,held by gravity in a polar orbit4(this means it crosses close to the north and south poles with each lap5).Its camera is pointed outward,away from the Earth,and WISE will snap a picture of a different part of the sky every 11 minutes. After six months it will have taken pictures across the entire sky.The pictures taken by WISE won't be like everyday digital photographs,however. WISE stands for"Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer."As its name suggests,the WISE camera takes pictures of features that give off infrared radiation6.Radiation is energy that travels as a wave. Visible light, including the familiar spectrum of light7 that becomes visible in a rainbow,is an example of radiation. When an ordinary digital camera takes a picture of a tree,for example,it receives the waves of visible light that are reflected off the tree. When these waves enter the camera through the lens,they're processed by the camera,which then puts the image together.Waves of infrared radiation are longer than waves of visible light, so ordinary digital cameras don't see them,and neither do the eyes of human beings. Although invisible to the eye,longer infrared radiation can be detected as warmth by the skin.That's a key idea to why WISE will be able to see things other telescopes can't. Not everything in the universe shows up in visible light. Asteroids,for example,are giant rocks that float through space 一but they absorb most of the light that reaches them. They don't reflect light,so they're difficult to see. But they do give off infrared radiation, so an infrared telescope like WISE will be able to produce images of them. During its mission WISE will take pictures of hundreds of thousands of asteroids.Brown dwarfs8 are another kind of deep-space object that will show up in WISE's pictures. These objects are"failed" stars 一which means they are not massive enough to jump start9 the same kind of reactions that power stars such as the sun. Instead,brown dwarfs simply shrink and cool down. They're so dim that they're almost impossible to see with visible light, but in the infrared spectrum they glow.练习：1 .What is so special about WISE?A It is small in size but carries a large camera.B It is as small as a trashcan.C Its digital camera can help astronomers to see the unknown space.D Never before has a telescope carried a digital camera in space.2. Which is NOT the synonym for the word "snap" in the third paragraph?A make.B shoot.C takeD photograph.3. The camera on WISEA is no different from an ordinary camera.B does not see infrared radiation while the ordinary camera does.C catches the infrared radiation while the ordinary camera does not.D reflects light that human eyes can see.4. Which of the following is NOT correct about"asteroids" according to paragraph 7?A Asteroids float through space giving off visible light.B Asteroids do not reflect light that reaches them.C It is difficult to take asteroids' pictures by ordinary cameras,D The WISE telescope can take pictures of asteroids5.What is implied in the last paragraph?A Brown dwarfs give off visible light.B Brown dwarfs give off infrared radiation.C Brown dwarfs are power stars like the sun.D Brown dwarfs are impossible to see with the WISE telescope.答案与题解：1. C 短文的第一和第二段提供了答案。

2011年理工类职称英语教材新增文章下载阅读理解新增文章（共6篇）目录：第二篇(C级)：World Crude Oil Production May Peak a Decade Earlier Than Some Predict第六篇(C级)：Weaving with Light第三十四篇(B级)：Batteries Built by Viruses第三十八篇(B级)：Longer Lives for Wild Elephants第四十五篇(A级)：Some People Do Not Taste Salt Like Others第四十六篇(A级)：Marvelous Metamaterials第二篇World Crude Oil Production May Peak a Decade Earlier Than Some PredictIn a finding that may speed efforts to conserve oil，scientists in Kuwait predict that world conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014.This prediction is almost a decade earlier than some other predictions. Their study is inACS’Energy&Fuels1.Ibrahim Nashawi and colleagues point out that rapid growth in global oil consumption has sparked a growing interest in predicting "peak oil". "Peak oil" is the point where oil production reaches a maximum and then declines. Scientists have developed several models to forecast this point，and some put the date at 2020 or later. One of the most famous forecast models is called the Hubbert model2.It assumes that global oil production will follow a bell shaped curve3.A related concept is that4 of "Peak Oil." The term "Peak Oil" indicates the moment in which world wide production will peak，afterwards to start on irreversible decline.The Hubbert model accurately predicted that oil production would peak in the United States in 1970.The model has since gained in popularity and has been used to forecast oil production worldwide.However，recent studies show that the model is insufficient to account for5 more complex oil production cycles of some countries. Those cycles can be heavily influenced by technology changes，politics，and other factors，the scientists say.The new study describes development of a new version of the Hubbert model that provides a more realistic and accurate oil production forecast. Using the new model，the scientists evaluated the oil production trends of 47 major oil-producing countries，which supply most of the world’s conventional crude oil6.They estimated that worldwide conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014，years earlier thananticipated. The scientists also showed that the world’s oil reserves7 are being reduced at a rate of 2.1 percent a year. The new model could help informenergy-related decisions and public policy debate，they suggest.词汇：conserve v.保护，保存irreversible adj.不可逆的，不可改变的crude oil原油spark v.闪耀;激发;鼓舞insufficient 不充分的，不足的curve n.曲线注释：1.ACS’Energy&Fuels：ACS是American Chemical Society(美国化学学会)的缩写。

What Is the Coolest Gas in the Universe?重点What is the coldest air temperature ever recorded on the Earth? Where was this low temperature recorded? The coldest recorded temperature on Earth was -91℃which —l（occurred）— in Antarctica in 1983．We encounter an interesting situation when we discuss temperatures in—2（space）一. Temperatures in Earth orbit actually range from about +120℃to -120℃．The temperature depends upon —3（whether）— you are in direct sunlight or shade．Obviously, -l20℃is colder than our body can safely endure．Thank NASA science for well-designed space —4（suits）—that protect astronauts from these temperature extremes．The space temperatures just discussed affect onlyOur area l of the solar Obviously，it is hotter closer to the Sun and colder as we travel away from the Sun．Astronomers estimate temperatures at Pluto are about -210℃．How cold is the lowest estimated temperature in the entire universe? Again，it depends upon your —6（location）—．We are taughtit is supposedly —7(impossible)—to have a temperature below absolute zero，which is-273℃，at which atoms do not move．Two scientists，whose names are Cornell and Wieman，have successfully cooled down a gas temperature barely —8(above)—absolute zero．They won a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001 for their work—not a discovery，in this case2．Why is the two scientists' work so important to science?In the l920s，Satyendra Nath Bose was studying an interesting —9(theory)— aboutparticles we now call photons．Bose had trouble —l0(convincing)— other scientists to believe—11(so)—he contacted Albert Einstein．Einstein's calculations helped him theorize—12(would)— behave as Bose thought——but only at very cold temperatures．Scientists have also discovered that —13(ultra-cold)—atoms can help them make the world's atomic clocks even more accurate．These clocks are so accurate todaythey would only lose3 0ne second —14(every)—six million years! Such accuracy will help us travel in space because distance is velocity times time4 (d=v×t)．With5 the long distances involved in space —15(travel)—to know time as accurately as possible to get accurate distance．*第十一篇China to Help Europe Develop GPS Rival(不重点)China is to contribute to a new global satellite navigation system being developed by European nations. The Galileo satellite system__1(__a more accurate civilian alternative to the Global Positioning System(GPS). operated by the US military. China will provided 230m Euros (USD 259m) in__2__and will cooperate with technical, manufacturing and market development. “China will help Galileo to__3__the major world infrastructure for the growing market for location services,” said Loyola de Palacio, EU transport commissioner.A new center that will coordinate co-operation wasalso announced__4__the European Commission, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology not long__5__.The China-Europe Global Navigation Satellite System Technical Training and Cooperation Center will be__6__at Beijing University. China has a substantial satellite launch industry and could potentially help the Galileo satellites.The US has claimed that Galileo could interfere__7__the US ability to downgrade the GPS service during military conflicts. European officials say this is unfounded and counter that US opposition__8__the commercial challenge Galileo would present to GPS. Galileo will be precise to within a meter, while civilian GPS service is accurate to around 10 meters.The Galileo satellite constellation will__9__27 operational and three reserve satellites orbiting the Earth at an altitude of 23, 600 km. The satellites will be strung along three medium-Earth orbits at 56 degreesinclination to the equator and will provide global coverage. The system should be operational by 2008 and the entire project is expected to__10__around 3.2 billion Euros(USD 3.6 billion).The European Commission has said Galileo will primarily be used for transportation technology, scientific research, land management and disaster monitoring.Galileo will provide two signals; a standard civilian one and an encrypted, wide-band signal__11__the Public Regulated Service (PRS). This second signal is designed to withstand localized jamming and will be used by police and military services in Europe. European Commission __12__ have said China will not be given access to the PRS.The first Galileo satellite is scheduled to launch late in 2004, Clocks on board the__13__Will be synchronized through 20 ground sensors stations, two command centers and 15 uplink stations.Receivers on the ground will use time signals from。

2012年职称英语理工类新增文章阅读理解（6篇）第六篇Making Light of1 Sleep第十九篇Graphene's Superstrength1*第三＋八篇"Life Form Found" on Saturn's Titan*第四十篇Teaching Math, Teaching Anxiety+第四＋五篇Teaching Math, Teaching Anxiety+第四十六篇Ants Have Big Impact on Environment as "Ecosystem Engineers" 注：1、+表示A级文章；*表示B即文章；其他为C级文章2、阅读理解3、2012年词汇部分与2011年教材相比未作任何变化阅读理解第六篇Making Light of1 SleepAll we have a clock located inside our brains. Similar to your bedside alarm clock，your internal clock2 runs on a 24-hour cycle. This cycle，called a circadian rhythm，helps control whenyou wake，when you eat and when you sleep.Somewhere around puberty，something happens in the timing of the biological clock. Theclock pushes forward，so adolescents and teenagers are unable to fall asleep as early as they used to. When your mother tells you it's time for bed，your body may be pushing you to stay up3 for several hours more. And the light coming from your computer screen or TV could be pushing you to stay up even later.This shift4 is natural for teenagers. But staying up very late and sleeping late can get your body's clock out of sync with the cycle of light and dark5. It can also make it hard to get out of bed in the morning and may bring other problems，too. Teenagers are put in a kind of a gray cloud6when they don't get enough sleep，says Mary Carskadon，a sleep researcher at Brown University in Providence，RI7 .It affects their mood and their ability to think and learn.But just like your alarm clock，your internal clock can be reset. In fact，it automatically resetsitself every day. How? By using the light it gets through your eyes.Scientists have known for a long time that the light of day and the dark of night play important roles in setting our internal clocks. For years，researchers thought that the signals that synchronize the body's clock8were handled through the same pathways that we use to see.But recent discoveries show that the human eye has two separate light-sensingsystems. One system allows us to see. The second system tells our body whether it's day or night.词汇：circadian/s3:'keidiən/ adj. 昼夜节奏的，生理节奏的adolescent/ædəu'lesənt/ n．青少年；adj．青少年的puberty/ 'pju:bəti/ n．发育；青春期sync/siŋk/ n. （口语）同步；和谐，协调synchronize/'siŋkrənaiz / V.（使）同时发生；（使）同步注释：1.make light of ：轻视，不在乎。

Telling Tales about PeopleOne of the most common types of nonfiction, and one that many people enjoy reading, is stories about people's lives. These stories fall into three general categories: autobiography, memoir, and biography.An autobiography is the story of a person's life written by himself or herself. Often it begins with the person's earliest recollections and ends in the present. Autobiography writers may not be entirely objective in the way they present themselves. However, they offer the reader a good look at the way they are and what makes them that way. People as diverse as Benjarmin Franklin and Helen Keller have written autobiographies. 1Other writers, such as James Joyce，have written thinly fictionalized accounts of their lives. These are not autobiographies，but they are very close to it.Memoirs, strictly speaking, are autobiographical accounts that focus as much on the events of the times as on the life of the author. 2Memoir writers typically use these events as backdrops for their lives. They describe them in detail and discuss their importance. Recently，though，the term memoir seems to be becoming interchangeab1e with autobiography. A memoir nowadays may or may not deal with the outside world.Biographies are factual accounts of someone else's life. In many senses，these may be the hardest of the three types to write. Autobiography writers know the events they write about because they lived them. But biography writers have to gather information from as many different sources as possible. Then they have to decide which facts to include. Their goal is to present a balanced picture of a person，not one that is overly positive or too critical. A fair well-presented biography may take years to research and write.词汇：backdrop n. 背景interchangeable adj. 可转换的注释：1. People as diverse as Benjamin Franklin and Helen Keller have written autobiographies. 就像本杰明?富兰克林和海伦?凯勒一样，各种各样的人们已经写了自传。

2012年职称英语理工类新增文章+第四＋五篇 Teaching Math, Teaching Anxiety+第四十六篇Ants Have Big Impact on Environment as "Ecosystem+第四十六篇Ants Have Big Impact on Environment as "Ecosystem Engineers"Research by the University of Exeter1 has revealed that ants have a big impact on their local environment as a result of their activity as "ecosystem engineers" and predators. The study, published in the Journal of Animal Ecology, found that ants have two distinct effects on their local environment.Firstly, through moving of soil by nest building2 activity and by collecting food they affect the level of nutrients in the soil. This can indirectly impact the local populations of many animal groups, from decomposers to species much higher up the food chain.Secondly, they prey on a wide range of other animals, including larger prey which can be attacked by vast numbers of ant workers.Dirk Sanders, an author of the study from the university's Centre for Ecology and Conservation, said:"Ants are very effective predators which thrive in huge numbers. They're also very territorial3 and very aggressive, defending their resources and territory against other predators. All of this means they have a strong influence on their surrounding area.""In this research, we studied for the first time how big this impact is and the subtleties of it. What we found is that despite being predators, their presence can also lead to an increase in density and diversity of other animal groups4. They genuinely play a key role in the local environment, having a big influence on the grassland food web," Sanders said.The study, carried out in Germany, studied the impact of the presence of different combinations and densities of black garden ants and common red ants, both species which can be found across Europe, including in the UK. It found that a low density of ants in an area increased the diversity and density of other animals in the local area,particularly the density of herbivores and decomposers. At higher densities ants had no or the opposite effect, showing that predation is counteracting the positive influence.Dr Frank van Veen, another author on the study, said:"What we find is that the impact of ants on soil nutrient levels has a positive effect on animal groups at low levels, but as the number of ants increases, their predatory impacts have the bigger effect — thereby counteracting the positive influence via ecosystem engineering."Ants are important components of ecosystems not only because they constitute a great part of the animal biomass5 but also because they act as ecosystem engineers. Ant biodiversity6is incredibly high and these organisms are highly responsive to human impact, which obviously reduces its richness. However, it is not clear how such disturbance damages the maintenance of ant services to the ecosystem．Ants are important in below ground processes8 through the alteration of the physical and chemical environment and through their effects on plants, microorganisms, and other soil organisms.词汇：predator /' predətə/ n．食肉动物nutrient/' nju:triənt/ n ．营养物；adj．营养的decomposer/,di:kəm'pəuzə/ n．腐生物；分解体prey/prei/ v．捕食；n．被捕食的动物subtlety/ 'sʌtlti/ n ，微妙，精妙herbivore/ 'hʒ:bivɔ: / n ．食草动物注释：1.the University of Exeter ：埃克斯特大学。

2012年职称英语理工类教材新增文章篇目
阅读理解（6篇）
第六篇Making Light of1 Sleep (详细内容)
第十九篇Graphene's Superstrength1 (详细内容)
第三＋八篇"Life Form Found" on Saturn's Titan (详细内容)
第四十篇Teaching Math, Teaching Anxiety (详细内容)
第四＋五篇Small But Wise (详细内容)
第四十六篇Ants Have Big Impact on Environment as "Ecosystem Engineers" (详细内容) 完形填空（6篇）
第三篇(详细内容)
第十篇Chicken Soup for the Soul：Comfort Food Fights Loneliness (详细内容)
第十一篇Climate Change Poses Major Risks for Unprepared Cities (详细内容)
第十二篇Free Statins With Fast Food Could Neutralize Heart Risk (详细内容)
第十三篇Solar Power without Solar Cells (详细内容)
第十五篇“Liquefaction” Key to Much of Japanese Earthquake Damage (详细内容)
注：
1、+表示A级文章；*表示B即文章；其他为C级文章。