他们称结果与他们预想的差不多。在他们选择的19种多配物种中，有16种的各个年龄段的雄性在任何时期都比雌性更容易死亡。而且，随着年龄的增长，它们死亡率的差距就越大，也就是说它们老得越快。而单配物种的雄性就没有这些特征。在多配物种中，如果某一个雄性拥有10个雌性，那么它一旦出现衰弱的迹象，另外九个雄性就会推倒这位占有多个雌性的主人。强大的竞争压力意味着，胜利的那些雄性个体要把所有的精力集中在一个或两个繁殖季节。

很明显，这直接缩短了雄性的寿命。但是还存在另一个更不易被察觉的影响。大部分研究老化的学生都认为，动物的寿命极限取决于其能否逃避被捕食、疾病、意外和同类进攻等因素。如果它们很快就被杀死，那么进化就不可能将有限的资源用于保证整个种群处于最佳状态了。相反，这些资源应当用于繁殖。外界的环境越危险，寿命就应该越短。

同理，这种逻辑在性别或物种之间也存在。该实验旨在找到一种能将自己的生存环境变得非常安全，其大多数成员都可以安享天年的物种，从而检验上述差异是否仍然存在。幸运的是还真有这么一个物种——人类。Clutton-Brock博士估计，人类衰老的速度和正常的死亡年龄的性别差异标志着，一夫多妻曾是人类进化的法则，因为现在在某些地方还存在着这种现象。一些女权主义者可能会不高兴了，但这可能就是女性比男性寿命更长所要付出的代价吧。





TEXT FOUR


With technology leased from the German company Tronical, Gibson has modified its classic Les Paul design to create a guitar that adjusts itself to one of six preset tunings. This is no instrument for beginners. Retailing for between $2,200 and $2,500, the Robot Guitar is courting serious hobbyists and professionals who demand precision tuning, or frequently switch between different tunings and don't want the hassle of lugging multiple instruments around. “It's a cool idea. Nobody likes tuning,” concedes Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis. “But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs.” Another company, called TransPerformance, sells a similar tuning device that it will install in your nonrobotic guitar for you. But Gibson's is the first out-of-the-box self-tuning ax.

It sounds like a minor development in guitar technology, even rather gimmicky. But for an instrument that has barely evolved since the 1950s, the Robot Guitar is nothing short of magic: simply pull out the “master control knob” and strum the guitar. The knob lights up as a computer embedded in the back of the guitar measures each string's pitch. The tuning pegs turn by themselves, making a robotic whirring sound that enhances the wow. The control knob's lights flash blue when your instrument is locked into the tuning you select. If you're so inclined you can override the device and tune manually. But why would you? It takes all of 10 seconds for the Robot Guitar to do its thing—and blow your mind as it hasn't been blown since the first time you heard “Eruption”.

In an industry that has been flat to sagging, the Robot Guitar could provide a welcome boost to retailers. After 10 years of brisk growth, guitar sales headed south in 2006, according to the April 2007 Music Trades Magazine industry census. Low-end beginner acoustic guitar sales dropped 24.4 percent last year; electric guitars fell 19.1 percent. Certainly there is a dearth of righteous shredding on today's Top 40 radio. And the wildly popular videogame Guitar Hero allows even the most tone-deaf nonmusician to simulate the experience of rocking out. Professional musicians account for 15 percent of instrument purchases in the country, according to George Van Horn, a senior analyst at IBISWorld. “Gibson is obviously aiming high, but it's worth chasing” the pros, he says.

Judging by all the buzz the Robot Guitar has generated, Gibson won't have a hard time chasing down anyone. “You don't see this kind of excitement often,” says Norman Hajjar, the chief marketing officer at Guitar Center, which has stocked 1,000 of the 4,000 Robot Guitars hitting the market nationwide Dec. 7. “They're quite a draw. We let people touch and play with the guitars—they're putting them through their paces. It really charms people.” As of Thursday morning, Guitar Center had already taken deposits on roughly a third of the 1,000 Robot Guitars they have in stock.

The very fact that Guitar Hero and now Rock Band are power-chording their way off store shelves this holiday season proves that the dream is alive. The reason that the odious song Rock Star is currently ubiquitous has nothing to do with quality songwriting. Truth is, we all want to be rock stars; the videogames and Nickelback's opus get us all a little closer to living the fantasy. But with the Robot Guitar, it's the musicians themselves who have gotten a long overdue leg up.

1. By saying “But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs” (Paragraph 1), J. Mascis means _____.

[A] that he can use this kind of device only when the drummer stops

[B] that he has no necessity or urgency to use the self-tuning guitar

[C] that he can make use of the self-tuning guitar for precision tuning when the drummer takes a break

[D] that he has to wait for the drummer to follow him if he uses the self-tuning guitar

2. The word “override” (Line 6, Paragraph 2) most probably means _____.

[A] shift

[B] close

[C] set aside

[D] disregard

3. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of guitar sales?

[A] Guitar sales have been going up slowly in the past decade.

[B] Guitar sales has witnessed its switch to loss of margin in 2006.

[C] The fall of guitar sales is due to the drop of purchase by professional musicians.

[D] Guitar sales are pinched by the development of the music games.

4. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of George Van Horn's opinions on the gimmicky?

[A] He thinks although Gibson's plan is worth trying, it should lower its expectation.

[B] He thinks Gibson's target group is too narrow and it should expand to larger clients.

[C] He thinks Gibson's idea has its value and future though he thinks too highly of his invention.

[D] He thinks Gibson has made right choice in choosing future customers.

5. From the last paragraph, it can be inferred that _____.

[A] guitar videogames will be a threat to the Robot Guitar

[B] the Robot Guitar can not be mentioned in the same breath with Guitar Hero and Rock Band

[C] Guitar Hero and Rock Band triumphs over the Robot Guitar

[D] Rock Star will be defeated by the Robot Guitar





文章剖析


这篇文章介绍了一种新发明的自动吉他。第一段讲述Gibson发明的新吉他的特点；第二段讲述这种吉他的工作原理；第三段讲述该发明对吉他行业的影响；第四段讲述目前这种新型吉他的预定情况；第五段讲述该吉他和其他视频游戏的区别。





词汇注释


hassle n. 激战

nonrobotic adj. 不是机器人的

gimmicky n. 小发明

knob n. 旋钮，圆形的控制开关

override vt. 跳过，不管

dearth n. 缺乏

ubiquitous adj. 普遍存在的

opus n. 作品





难句突破


The very fact that Guitar Hero and now Rock Band are power-chording their way off store shelves this holiday season proves that the dream is alive.

主体句式：The very fact that... proves that...

结构分析：这是一个复合句，fact后面的that引导的是同位语从句；后面的that引导的是proves的宾语从句。

句子译文：而《吉他英雄》和现在的《摇滚乐队》有望在这个假期在商店货架上与这种新吉他争得一席之地，这说明这种梦想是实实在在的。





题目分析


1. By saying “But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs” (Paragraph 1), J. Mascis means _____.

[A] that he can use this kind of device only when the drummer stops

[B] that he has no necessity or urgency to use the self-tuning guitar

[C] that he can make use of the self-tuning guitar for precision tuning when the drummer takes a break

[D] that he has to wait for the drummer to follow him if he uses the self-tuning guitar

1. J. Mascis说“但是我必须得等鼓手在两首歌之间休息的时候才能调音”（第一段），他的意思是 _____。

[A] 他只有在鼓手停下来的时候才能使用这种装置

[B] 他不必也不急于用这种自动调音的吉他

[C] 他可以在鼓手休息的时候用自动调音的吉他进行精确的调音

[D] 如果他使用自动调音的吉他，就必须得等鼓手跟上他

答案：B　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：推理题。根据第一段：“It's a cool idea. Nobody likes tuning,” concedes Dinosaur Jr. frontman J. Mascis. “But I have to wait for the drummer to rest anyway between songs.” J. Mascis这样说的意思是，反正鼓手也要在两首歌之间休息，那他完全可以自己调音，而不必使用这种吉他。因此，答案为B。

2. The word “override” (Line 6, Paragraph 2) most probably means _____.

[A] shift

[B] close

[C] set aside

[D] disregard

2. override这个词（第二段第六行）最有可能的意思是 _____。

[A] 改变

[B] 关掉

[C] 放在一边

[D] 不理，忽略

答案：D　难度系数：☆

分析：猜词题。根据上下文：If you're so inclined you can override the device and tune manually. 即如果你自己愿意，也可以忽略这个装置，自己手动调节。选项中只有D有这个意思，因此，正确答案为D。

3. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of guitar sales?

[A] Guitar sales have been going up slowly in the past decade.

[B] Guitar sales has witnessed its switch to loss of margin in 2006.

[C] The fall of guitar sales is due to the drop of purchase by professional musicians.

[D] Guitar sales are pinched by the development of the music games.

3. 关于吉他销售，下列陈述中哪个是错误的？

[A] 吉他销售在过去的10年中一直在缓慢地上升。

[B] 吉他销售在2006年开始下滑。

[C] 吉他销售的下降是因为专业音乐人购买的减少。

[D] 吉他销售受到音乐游戏发展的冲击。

答案：A　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第三段：After 10 years of brisk growth, guitar sales headed south in 2006, according to the April 2007 Music Trades Magazine industry census. 这里提到的10 years指的是2006年之前的10年，而这篇文章中提到了2006年和2007年这两个年代，因此可以推测，文章最早也是在2007年写的。因此，选项A中所谓的the past decade就包括了2006年，内含和文章所指的“10年”不尽相同，可见，该选项是错误的，因此，答案为选项A。选项B谈到吉他销售在2006年开始下降，因此，该选项是正确表述。选项C和D都能够比较容易地在文章中定位。

4. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of George Van Horn's opinions on the gimmicky?

[A] He thinks although Gibson's plan is worth trying, it should lower its expectation.

[B] He thinks Gibson's target group is too narrow and it should expand to larger clients.

[C] He thinks Gibson's idea has its value and future though he thinks too highly of his invention.

[D] He thinks Gibson has made right choice in choosing future customers.

4. 关于George Van Horn对于该发明的观点，下列哪个陈述是正确的？

[A] 他认为Gibson的计划值得尝试，但是应该降低预期。

[B] 他认为Gibson的目标群体太窄，应该扩大客户群。

[C] 他认为Gibson的主意自有其价值和未来，虽然他对于自己的发明过于乐观。

[D] 他认为Gibson在选择未来的顾客上做出了正确的选择。

答案：C　难度系数：☆☆☆☆

分析：细节题。根据第三段：Professional musicians account for 15 percent of instrument purchases in the country, according to George Van Horn, a senior analyst at IBISWorld. “Gibson is obviously aiming high, but it's worth chasing” the pros, he says. 可见，他认为Gibson意在高端，但值得去追求，因此，选项C符合这个意思。

5. From the last paragraph, it can be inferred that _____.

[A] guitar videogames will be a threat to the Robot Guitar

[B] the Robot Guitar can not be mentioned in the same breath with Guitar Hero and Rock Band

[C] Guitar Hero and Rock Band triumph over the Robot Guitar

[D] Rock Star will be defeated by the Robot Guitar

5. 从最后一段可以推导出 _____。

[A] 吉他视频游戏会是自动吉他的一个威胁

[B] 自动吉他不能和《吉他英雄》和《摇滚乐队》相提并论

[C] 《吉他英雄》和《摇滚乐队》胜过了自动吉他

[D] 《摇滚明星》将会被自动吉他击败

答案：B　难度系数：☆☆☆

分析：推理题。根据最后一段：The very fact that Guitar Hero and now Rock Band are power-chording their way off store shelves this holiday season proves that the dream is alive... But with the Robot Guitar, it's the musicians themselves who have gotten a long overdue leg up. 即视频游戏是给普通人玩的，让我们与梦想接近了一点；但是自动吉他是专业音乐人自己的选择，不能相提并论。因此，答案为B。





参考译文


Gibson利用从德国公司Tronical租借来的技术改造了古典Les Paul的设计，从而创造出一把可以自动调节音调的吉他，能在已有的六个音调中任意设置。这可不是给那些初学者用的吉他。自动吉他的售价为2,200美元至2,500美元，其对象为真正的吉他爱好者或者专业人士，他们往往对音准有比较高的要求，或是那些要不停地在各个谐音间变换的人，他们不希望把那么多的工具拖来拖去。“这个主意太妙了，没有人喜欢调音，”恐龙乐队的主唱J. Mascis肯定了这一点，“但是我必须得等鼓手在两首歌之间休息的时候才能调音。”另外一个名为TransPerformance的乐队也在出售一种类似的调音器，可以安装在非自动吉他上。但是Gibson发明的是第一个盒外自动调音的吉他。

这听起来好像是吉他技术的一个小小的进展，甚至可以说是个小发明。但是对于这种从上世纪50年代起就再没有改进过的乐器来说，自动吉他绝对是个奇迹：只要把“主控制旋钮”拽出，就可以弹吉他了。这个按钮是发光的，好像是嵌在吉他背后的计算机一样，可以调节每根弦的音。调音栓会自己转动，发出自动运行的声音，从而加强了颤音。如果吉他被锁定在选定的谐音上，控制按钮就会闪烁蓝光。如果你愿意，也可以不理会这个装置而手动调节。但是为什么不用呢？只需要10秒钟自动吉他就设置好了，你第一次听到了“爆发”时，会受到前所未有的震动。

对于这么一个濒临衰败的产业，自动吉他能让销售商为之一振。根据2007年4月的《音乐贸易杂志》进行的行业调查，在经历了10年的快速发展后，吉他销售于2006年开始一路滑坡。面向低端初学者的声学吉他的销售去年下滑了24.4%，电子吉他的销售则下滑了19.1%。当然，当今排名前40位的电台缺乏优秀的吉他音乐，而广为流行的视频游戏《吉他英雄》可以让最五音不全的人模拟弹奏摇滚乐。IBIS世界的资深分析师George Van Horn说，专业音乐人占本国乐器购买者的15%。“Gibson意在高端，但值得去争取”更多的支持者，他谈到。

从自动吉他引发的广泛影响来看，Gibson要找到支持者不是件困难的事。“不会经常看到这种令人兴奋的事情。”吉他中心市场部负责人Norman Hajjar说道。他已经囤积了4,000把自动吉他中的1,000把，计划于12月7日将其推向全国市场。“这确实挺吸引人的，我们让人们触摸并弹奏吉他，他们都和节拍融在一起了。这真的很吸引人。”自从周四早上开始，吉他中心库存的1,000把吉他中已有1/3获得定金了。

而《吉他英雄》和现在的《摇滚乐队》有望在这个假期在商店货架上与这种新吉他争得一席之地，这说明这种梦想是实实在在的。现今难听的《摇滚之星》随处可见的原因与有品质的作曲不能扯上关系。实际上，我们都希望成为摇滚明星，视频游戏和Nickelback的作品把我们与幻想拉近了一点。而自动吉他的发明是音乐人开始追赶自己长期以来落下的距离。





Unit 25


TEXT ONE


With the benefit of hindsight, Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid's story about her first visit to China sounds like a tale of destiny. In 1981, China was just awakening and opening up to the outside world. Hadid was fascinated. She bought every color of Mao suit available (black, charcoal grey, green, blue). The cities were dark and drab, but she said it was a “very, very important trip.” She traveled by train to various towns and met Chinese who'd never seen foreigners before. “I bought Walkman tapes, and Chinese borrowed them to listen to at night,” she told Newsweek during a recent trip to Beijing. “Even then I thought, ‘You could do a lot of building here.’”

And since then, she has. As dusk fell on a crisp October day, thousands of well-wishers converged on Beijing's second ring road, jamming traffic and thronging what had been for several years a vast construction site. Everyone jostled to catch a glimpse of the architect and her boldest project yet—a futuristic development called Galaxy SOHO. “A few days ago we tweeted news about the project's completion and invited people to sign up for the opening,” said Zhang Xin, CEO and cofounder of SOHO China, which built the project. “Fifteen thousand people tweeted back, saying they wanted to come.” When Hadid and Zhang entered a central atrium to greet fans, a stampede nearly broke out as everyone surged to take cellphone photos.

Even by Beijing standards, the surrealistic project—with its bulging, organic shapes and mesmerizing curves—is an eye-opener. Without the high-tech computerized design methods developed over the last decade, said SOHO China cofounder Pan Shiyi (Zhang's husband), “you simply couldn't do this. Over here, every piece of glass is different. Over there, each strip of aluminum is not the same.” China-based architect Antonio Ochoa says the project's “fluidity is unique,” while U. S. ambassador Gary Locke declared it “just like the Starship Enterprise.” As if the building's sinuous, swooping lines weren't otherworldly enough, female staff hired for the opening celebration wore white Star Trek-style outfits with iridescent wigs in fuchsia, violet, and lime green. “I first came to Beijing more than 30 years ago,” Hadid told the adoring crowd. “We always thought we could do something amazing here. Now is the right time, and this is the right place.”

“No one's a bigger draw than Zaha,” said Zhang, whose firm is involved in two other projects with Hadid. “More of her firm's projects are in China than in any other single country.” China and Hadid seem to be a natural fit. In 1994 Hadid designed a radical opera house for Cardiff in Wales, but red tape prevented it from being built. In 2011 when the stunning black granite-and-glass Guangzhou Opera House, designed by Hadid's firm, opened to praise, many commented that this was the opera house that Britain could have had.

Indeed, onlookers say there's something subliminally “Chinese” about the Guangzhou Opera House and Galaxy SOHO, especially the way they evoke water and land forms. “Zaha has stressed the importance of the construction being part of nature,” says Beijing-based architect Zhu Pei. Even the language her firm uses to describe Galaxy evokes nature: its four domed masses “coalesce and fuse, pull apart and connect, via bridges and plateaus.” Retail units surround a central “canyon.” There's no question that the 2004 winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize (tantamount to a Nobel for architects) has left her mark on China's landscape. The secret of her success here may have something to do with the fact that China also left its mark on Hadid.