五、其他体裁

Task 1

On January 7， David Bennett went into the operating room at the University of Mary⁃land Medical Center for a surgical procedure never performed before on a human. The57⁃year⁃old Maryland resident had been hospitalized for months due to a life threateningdisease. His heart was failing him and he needed a new one.

Bennett's condition left him unresponsive to treatment and ineligible （不合格的） forthe transplant list or an artificial heart pump. The physician⁃scientists at the center， how⁃ever， had another also risky option： transplant （移植） a heart from a genetically⁃modified pig.

“It was either die or do this transplant，” Bennett had told surgeons a day before theoperation.“ I want to live. I know it's a shot in the dark， but it's also my last choice.”

It took the medical team eight hours to finish the operation， making Bennett the firsthuman to successfully receive a pig's heart. “It's working and it looks normal. We are  thrilled， but we don't know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before，”Barkley Griffith， who led the transplant team， told The New York Times.

While it's only been five days since the operation， the surgeons say that Bennett's newpig heart was， so far， functioning as expected and his body wasn't rejecting （排斥） theorgan. They are still monitoring his condition closely.

“I think it's extremely exciting，” says Robert Montgomery， a transplant surgeon anddirector of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute， who was not involved in Bennett's opera⁃tion. The result of the procedure was also personally meaningful for Montgomery， whoreceived a heart transplant in 2018 due to a genetic disease that may also affect members ofhis family in the future.“ It's still in the early days， but still the heart seems to be func⁃tioning. And that in and of itself is an extraordinary thing. Up to now， most experimentalheart transplant procedures have been done between pigs and other animals. This is thefirst time that surgeons have taken it into a living human.”

1. What do the words“ a shot in the dark” underlined in paragraph 3 mean？

A. Something that costs a fortune.

B. Something impossible to succeed.

C. Something drawing public attention.

D. Something with an uncertain outcome.

2. What was Barkley Griffiths attitude to Bennett's post⁃operation condition？

A. Negative. B. Cautious. C. Optimistic. D. Uncaring.

3. What is the text mainly about？

A. The heated debate over the pig heart transplant.

B. David Bennett's contribution to medical research.

C. The first experimental pig heart transplant in the world.

D. The first successful pig heart transplant into a living human.

4. In which section of a magazine may this text appear？

A. Political affairs. B. Global entertainment.

C. Sci⁃Tech front. D. Financial window.

Task 2

A new picture book called When Dinosaurs Conquered the Skies： The Incredible Story of Bird Evolution explains the scientific idea that birds are dinosaurs. The writer JingmaiO'Connor describes herself as a“ dead bird fan”. With her PhD， she works at the ChicagoField Museum as an expert on the evolution of birds and flying dinosaurs.

O'Connor says people may know that birds are little dinosaurs. But they might not con⁃nect that fact to the birds they see. One purpose of her book， she said， is to achieve it.O'Connor also wants people to see birds as she does—as fascinating flying dinosaurs.

In her book， O'Connor also talks about the larger idea of science—namely the impor⁃tance of making mistakes. Each mistake， she said， leads us closer to the truth.“ Science isessentially a series of mistakes. And every mistake， you know， informs us a little bit moreand gives us a little bit more information. But pretty much everything that we think is‘truth' right now is probably at least partly wrong. You know， there is so much we don'tknow. But mistakes are part of the process.”

O'Connor is a Chinese⁃Irish American who grew up in Pasadena， California. She didnot always want to study the remains of ancient living things. She began studying geology，like her mother.“ But in my case， my mother went back to school to do her PhD when I wasaround 10 years old. She had four kids. So， she would take us with her not only to the labo⁃ratory， but also into the field， which means going out to collect samples. So， I fell in lovewith geology.”

However， O'Connor had a larger goal in mind when she wrote her book. She said，“Through having greater respect for the living animals around us， I hope that people start tothink more about how they impact the environment through their actions， so that we can allmove towards a more sustainable future.”

1. Which is one of the goals of O'Connor's book according to paragraph 2？

A. To make connections. B. To write a review.

C. To give instructions. D. To make a profit.