Bài tập đọc hiểu (Có đáp án) (Đề 3)

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Biological diversity has become widely recognized as a critical conservation issue only in the past two decades. The rapid destruction of the tropical rain forests, which are the ecosystems with the highest known species diversity on Earth, has awakened people to the importance and fragility of biological diversity. The high rate of species extinctions in these environments is jolting, but it is important to recognize the significance of biological diversity in all ecosystems. As the human population continues to expand, it will negatively affect one after another of Earth‟s ecosystems. In terrestrial ecosystems and in fringe marine ecosystems (such as wetlands), the most common problem is habitat destruction. In most situations, the result is irreversible. Now humans are beginning to destroy marine ecosystems through other types of activities, such as disposal and runoff of poisonous waste; in less than two centuries, by significantly reducing the variety of species on Earth, they have irrevocably redirected the course of evolution.

Certainly, there have been periods in Earth‟s history when mass extinctions have occurred. The extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by some physical event, either climatic or cosmic. There have also been less dramatic extinctions, as when natural competition between species reached an extreme conclusion. Only 0.01 percent of the species that have lived on Earth have survived to the present, and it was largely chance that determined which species survived and which died out.

However, nothing has ever equaled the magnitude and speed with which the human species is altering the physical and chemical world and demolishing the environment. In fact, there is wide agreement that it is the rate of change humans are inflicting, even more than the changes themselves, that will lead to biological devastation. Life on Earth has continually been in flux as slow physical and chemical changes have occurred on Earth, but life needs time to adapt-time for migration and genetic adaptation within existing species and time for the proliferation of new genetic material and new species that may be able to survive in new environments.

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William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), who wrote under the pseudonym of O. Henry, was born in North Carolina. His only formal education was to attend his Aunt Lina‟s school until the age of fifteen, where he developed his lifelong love of books. By 1881 he was a licensed pharmacist. However, within a year, on the recommendation of a medical colleague of his Father‟s, Porter moved to La Salle County in Texas for two years herding sheep. During this time, Webster‟s Unabridged Dictionary was his constant companion, and Porter gained a knowledge of ranch life that he later incorporated into many of his short stories. He then moved to Austin for three years, and during this time the first recorded use of his pseudonym appeared, allegedly derived from his habit of calling “Oh, Henry” to a family cat. In 1887, Porter married Athol Estes. He worked as a draftsman, then as a bank teller for the First National Bank.

In 1894 Porter founded his own humor weekly, the “Rolling Stone”, a venture that failed within a year, and later wrote a column for the Houston Daily Post. In the meantime, the First National Bank was examined, and the subsequent indictment of 1886 stated that Porter had embezzled funds. Porter then fled to New Orleans, and later to Honduras, leaving his wife and child in Austin. He returned in 1897 because of his wife‟s continued ill-health, however she died six months later. Then, in 1898 Porter was found guilty and sentenced to five years imprisonment in Ohio. At the age of thirty five, he entered prison as a defeated man; he had lost his job, his home, his wife, and finally his freedom. He emerged from prison three years later, reborn as O. Henry, the pseudonym he now used to hide his true identity. He wrote at least twelve stories in jail, and after re-gaining his freedom, went to New York City, where he published more than 300 stories and gained fame as America‟s favorite short Story writer. Porter married again in 1907, but after months of poor health, he died in New York City at the age of forty-eight in 1910. O. Henry‟s stories have been translated all over the world.

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The Forbidden City is the former imperial palace in the center of Beijing, China. Construction began in 1406, and the emperor's court officially moved in by 1420. The Forbidden City got its name because most people were barred from entering the 72-hectare site, surrounded by walls. Even government officials and the imperial family were permitted only limited access. Only the emperor could enter any section at will.

The architecture of the Forbidden City conforms rigidly to traditional Chinese principles. All buildings within the walls follow a north-south line and the most important ones face south to honor the sun. The designers arranged the other buildings, and the ceremonial spaces between them, to impress all visitors with the great power of the Emperor, while reinforcing the insignificance of the individual. This architectural concept was carried out to the smallest detail. For example, the importance of a building was determined not only by its height or width but also by the style of its roof and the quantity of statuettes placed on the roof‟s ridges.

In recognition of the importance of its unparalleled architecture, UNESCO added the palace to its World Heritage List in 1987. Today, visitors from all over the world do not wait for an imperial invitation to walk about this palace, now a museum of imperial art.

One of the most impressive landmarks of the Forbidden City is the Meridian Gate, the formal entrance to the southern side of the Forbidden City. The gate, with its auxiliary wings on either side of the entryway, is 38 meters high at its roof ridge. When you stand in front of this majestic structure, you understand how awed people felt when they stood there listening to imperial proclamations.

As you walk through the gate, you come into a large courtyard, 140 meters long and 210 meters wide. Running through the courtyard is the Golden River, which is crossed by five parallel white marble bridges. These bridges lead to the Gate of Supreme Harmony, which, in turn, leads to the heart of the Forbidden City. At the northernmost end of the Forbidden City is the Imperial Garden, which is totally different from the rest of the compound. Instead of rigid formality, you see a seemingly spontaneous

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People have been donating blood since the early twentieth century to help accident victims and patients undergoing surgical procedures. Usually a pint of whole blood is donated, and it is then divided into platelets, white blood cells, and red blood cells. People can donate blood (for red blood cells) about once every two months. Transfusing the blood from the donor to the recipient is straightforward. It involves taking the blood from a donor‟s arm vein by means of a hypodermic syringe. The blood flows through a plastic tube to a collection bag or bottle that contains sodium citrate, which prevents the blood from clotting.

When the blood is given to a patient, a plastic tube and hypodermic needle are connected to the recipient's arm. The blood flows down from the container by gravity. This is a slow process and may last as long as 2 hours to complete the infusion of blood into the recipient. The patient is protected from being infected during the transfusion. Only sterile containers, tubing, and needles are used, and this helps ensure that transfused or stored blood is not exposed to disease causing bacteria. Negative reactions to transfusions are not unusual. The recipient may suffer an allergic reaction or be sensitive to donor leukocytes. Some may suffer from an undetected red cell incompatibility. Unexplained reactions are also fairly common. Although they are rare, other causes of such negative reactions include contaminated blood, air bubbles in the blood, overloading of the circulatory system through administration of excess blood, or sensitivity to donor plasma or platelets. Today, hospitals and blood banks go to great lengths to screen alt blood donors and their blood. All donated blood is routinely and rigorously tested for diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and syphilis.

When the recipient is a newborn or an infant, the blood is usually irradiated to eliminate harmful elements. Donated blood is washed, and the white blood cells and platelets removed. Storing the blood sometimes requires a freezing process. To freeze the red blood cells, a glycerol solution is added. To unfreeze the, the glycerolis removed. The ability to store blood for long periods has been a boon to human health

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Any list of the greatest thinkers in history contains the name of the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein. His theories of relativity led to entirely new ways of thinking about time, space, matter, energy, and gravity. Einstein's work led to such scientific advances as the control of atomic energy, even television as a practical application of Einstein's work.

In 1902 Einstein became an examiner in the Swiss patent office at Bern. In 1905, at age 26, he published the first of five major research papers. The first one provided a theory explaining Brownian movement, the zig-zag motion of microscopic particles in suspension. The second paper laid the foundation for the photon, or quantum, theory of light. In it he proposed that light is composed of separate packets of energy, called quanta or photons, that have some of the properties of particles and some of the properties of waves. A third paper contained the "special theory of relativity" which showed that time and motion are relative to the observer, if the speed of light is constant and the natural laws are the same everywhere in the universe. The fourth paper was a mathematical addition to the special theory of relativity. Here Einstein presented his famous formula, E = m(cc), known as the energy mass equivalence. In 1916, Einstein published his general theory of relativity. In it he proposed that gravity is not a force, but a curve in the space-time continuum, created by the presence of mass.

Einstein spoke out frequently against nationalism, the exalting of one nation above all others. He opposed war and violence and supported Zionism, the movement to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. When the Nazis came to power in 1933, they denounced his ideas. He then moved to the United States. In 1939 Einstein learned that two German chemists had split the uranium atom. Einstein wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him that this scientific knowledge could lead to Germany developing an atomic bomb. He suggested the United States begin its own atomic bomb research.

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BASKETBALL

Although he created the game of basketball at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, Dr. James A. Naismith was a Canadian. Working as a physical education instructor at the International YMCA, now Springfield College, Dr. Naismith noticed a lack of interest in exercise among students during the wintertime. The new England winters were fierce, and the students balked at participating in outdoor activities. Naismith determined a fast-moving game that could be played indoors would fill a void after the baseball and football seasons had ended.

First, he attempted to adapt outdoor games such as soccer and rugby to indoor play, but he soon found them unsuitable for confined areas. Finally, he determined that he would have to invent a game.

In December of 1891, Dr. Naismith hung two old peach baskets at either end of the gymnasium at the school, and, using a soccer ball and nine players on each side, organized the first basketball game. The early rules allowed three points for each basket and made running with the ball violation. Every time a goal was made, someone had to climb a ladder to retrieve the ball.

Nevertheless, the game became popular. In less than a year, basketball was being played in both the United States and Canada. Five years later, a championship tournament was staged in New York City, which was won by the Brooklyn Central YMCA.

The teams had already been reduced to seven players, and five became standard in 1897 season. When basketball was introduced as a demonstration sport in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Luis, it quickly spread throughout the world. In 1906, a metal hoop was used for the first time to replace the basket, but the name basketball has remained.

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FIRST TIME IN THE AIR

When John Mills was going to fly in an aeroplane for the first time, he was frightened. He did not like the idea of being thousands of feet up in the air. “ „I also didn‟t like the fact that I wouldn‟t be in control,” says John. “I‟m a terrible passenger in the car. When somebody else is driving, I tell them what to so. It drives everybody crazy.”

However John couldn‟t avoid flying any longer. It was the only way he could visit his grandchildren in Canada. “I had made up my mind that I was going to do it, I couldn‟t let my son, his wife and their three children travel all the way here to visit me. It would be so expensive for them and I know Tom‟s business isn‟t doing so well at the moment – it would also be tiring for the children – it‟s a nine-hour flight!” he says. To get ready for the flight John did lots of reading about aeroplanes. When he booked his seat, he was told that he would be flying on a Boeing 747, which is better known as a jumbo jet. “I needed to know as much as possible before getting in that plane. I suppose it was a way of making myself feel better. The Boeing 747 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world at the moment. The first one flew on February 9th 1969 in the USA. It can carry up to 524 passengers and 3.400 pieces of luggage. The fuel for aeroplanes is kept in the wings and the 747‟s wings are so big that they can carry enough fuel for an average car to be able to travel 16,000 kilometres a year for 70 years. Isn‟t that unbelievable? Even though I had discovered all this very interesting information about the jumbo, when I saw it for the first time, just before I was going to travel to Canada, I still couldn‟t believe that something so enormous was going to get up in the air and fly. I was even more impressed when I saw how big it was inside with hundreds of people!”