Which came first, the chicken or the egg? This is one of life’s 1 questions and people have been debating about it for thousands of years. Now scientists believe they have solved this _2 . Researchers from Sheffield and Warwick Universities in England discovered the answer 3 . They used a super puter to observe the shell-making process while a new shell was 4 . Then they found one protein called OC17 that is 5 for forming eggshell. This is only found inside a chicken’s body, which is proof that the _6 came first. The team was 7 looking at how animals and birds make eggshells but suddenly made their surprising 8 . The big question now is where chickens came from. The _9 is from dinosaurs.
The research team said eggshells are one of nature’s most 10 creations. Professor John Harding from the team told reporters: “Understanding how chickens make eggshells is fascinating in itself, but it can also be 11 in designing new materials.” Eggshells are very lightweight but incredibly strong. Even the most up-to-date materials 12 by the world’s top engineers can not produce anything as 13 as an eggshell. Professor Harding added that 14 eggshells could help to cure bone diseases and design materials for the construction industry.“Nature has found wonderful ways that 15 for all kinds of problems in materials science and technology — we can learn a lot from them.” he said.
【小题1】A．strangestB．bestC．oldestD．longest【小题2】A．puzzleB．storyC．historyD．idea【小题3】A．on purposeB．by chanceC．without hesitationD．at work【小题4】A．breakingB．changingC．disappearingD．forming【小题5】A．necessaryB．easyC．kindD．impossible【小题6】A．eggB．eggshellC．chickenD．dinosaur【小题7】A．obviouslyB．originallyC．thoughtfullyD．surprisingly【小题8】A．inventionB．mistakeC．statementD．discovery【小题9】A．answerB．researchC．keyD．egg【小题10】A．strangeB．ridiculousC．funnyD．amazing【小题11】A．hopefulB．helpfulC．respectfulD．colorful【小题12】A．boughtB．cutC．designedD．carried【小题13】A．brilliantB．ordinaryC．1ightD．strong【小题14】A．findingB．watchingC．studyingD．making【小题15】A．happenB．workC．waitD．lookC
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(答案→)C
解析：
【小题1】C oldest“古老的”。
【小题1】A puzzle“难题，谜团”。
【小题1】B by chance“偶然”。符合题意。
【小题1】D shell-making process“蛋壳形成的过程”，故选D。
【小题1】A necessary，是蛋壳形成必须的。
【小题1】C chicken“(小)鸡”，蛋白质OC17只存在鸡的体内，故先有鸡。
【小题1】B originally“最初，起初”，起初在观察蛋壳如何形成时，
【小题1】D discovery“发现”。“突然发现了这个现象”。
【小题1】A“答案是鸡来自恐龙”。answer与question对应。
【小题1】D根据文意知，选D，蛋壳是自然界最令人惊异的发明之一。
【小题1】B helpful“有帮助的”。蛋壳能帮助组织新物质。
【小题1】C designed“被......设计”。
【小题1】A brilliant“灿烂的，光辉的”。形容蛋壳的优点。
【小题1】C研究团队是在“研究”蛋壳。
【小题1】B work for…“为......效力”。自然界蕴含解决各种问题的奇妙的的方法。