Passage 1

Pet ownership is thought to be a key to heart health, social support, and long life, but have you ever thought that letting a pet dog lick your face, picking up its feces (粪便)or allowing it to sleep on your bed could put you and your kids at the risk of catching infection? Pets can pass germs to human beings. Transmission of germs from animals to humans can occur either by direct contact between a person and an animal or through an intermediary insect like a mosquito or a tick. Although many germs are species–specific----meaning they can infect only one or a few closely related species ----other germs are able to cross species barriers and pass from animals or birds to humans. Viruses and fungi (真菌) are less likely to be transmitted from animals to humans, whereas bacteria and parasites (寄生虫) that are normally found in animals find humans to be suitable hosts as well. Thus, many of the animal-derived infections are caused by bacteria or parasites.

The risk of infection caused by a dog bite is somewhat lower than by a cat bite. This is because dogs have flatter teeth and larger jaws which cause crush-type injuries, whereas cats cause deep penetration wounds. Dog bites may cause localized redness, tenderness of deeper tissue, including bones. The infection may spread to the organs via blood also.

It is estimated that there are 400,000 cat bites every year in the USA. Cats’ teeth are sharp and pointy, so they can inject germs deep into the wound, resulting in a very high infection rate. Any bacteria present in cats' mouth can cause infection. Some of these rapidly cause redness and swelling around the bite site, which may progress to involve a larger area of skin and deeper layers of soft tissue. Glands near the bite may become infected and the germs may even extend down to bones. The infections of hand joints are particularly severe. Bacteria can also spread to the blood stream of the bite victim, causing infection of virtually all organ systems.

You can prevent infections from pets by maintaining personal health as well as health of your pets.

Passage2

HarvardUniversity revealed Thursday what could be its largest cheating scandal inmemory, saying that about 125 students might have worked in groups on atake-home final exam despite being explicitly required to work alone.

Theaccusations (指责),related to a single undergraduate class in the spring semester, deal with "academicdishonesty, ranging from inappropriate to outright plagiarism(剽窃),"the administration said in a note sent to students. Officials said that nearlyhalf of the more than 250 students in the class were under investigation by theHarvard College Administrative Board and that if they were found to havecheated, they could be suspended for a year. The students have been notifiedthat they are suspected and will be called to give their accounts ininvestigative hearings.

Administratorswould not reveal the name of the class or even the department, saying that theywanted to protect the identities of the accused students. The Harvard Crimson, the university's student newspaper, reportedthat it was a government class, Introduction to Congress, which had 279students, and that it was taught by Matthew B. Platt, an assistant professor.Professor Platt did not respond to messages seeking comments.

Whenfinal exams were graded in May, similarities were noticed in the answers givenby some students, officials said, and a professor brought the matter to the administrationimmediately. Over the summer, Harvard's administrative board conducted aninitial review, going over the exams of all of the students in the class forevidence of cheating. It concluded that almost half of them showed signs of possiblecollaboration.

"The enablingrole of technology is a big part of this picture. It’s the ease of sharing. Withthat has come, I believe, a certain absent attitude.” Professor Marten Harrissaid. The university said it planned to increase efforts to teach studentsabout academic integrity. Harvard's student handbook says that students must“comply with the policy on collaboration established for each course," andnotes that such policies vary from department to department, from class toclass, and even from assignment to assignment within a class.

Medical researchhas involved the use of animals in many situations and has been consideredhighly beneficial. Medical advances such as organ 1)interpretation/quotation/plantation/transplantation are made possibletoday. The physicians doing animal research, 2)however/hence/ therefore /moreover, are cast as devils by some people. Arehumans 3) damaging/ exploiting /abusing/insulting their rights? Whether animals have the right to live has becomea(n) 4) ridiculously/ extremely/ scarcely/deeply controversial issue among the public because of the supreme concernfor the respect for life. 5)Therefore/However/ Nevertheless/Anyhow, people believe it is necessary todebate animal rights.

 In order not to tip the 6) extent/ranges/scope/scales, let's look at thereasoning of why animals have been regarded as 7)superior/inferior/exterior/interior to humans. One outlook is that humanshave a higher intelligence level than animals. 8)Anyhow/However /Hence/Nevertheless, humans use animals in any situation asif they are humans' property. Another outlook is that animals cannot 9) imitate/ facilitate/dictate/stimulate what mandoes or don't have the reasoning ability, so human life is more 10) liable /valuable/sustainable /variable thananimal life, and thus animals can be man's medical subjects. 11) Therefore/Thus/ Hence/ Nevertheless, theproblem with these two outlooks is that the bigger picture was 12) disposed /eliminated /omitted /removed. Theoutlook of the intelligent level between humans and animals is 13) irrelevant/irrational/irresistible/irresponsible to the debate. What if humans'brains are severely wounded? Can we treat these 14)special /particular /exceptional /irregularhumansas we treat the animals in research?

    Some people would 15) bend /deform /twist/ turn the truth thatanimals are different from humans because they cannot reason, 16) which /that /what /this is simply not true. Weknow that mammals and birds, for example, have very 17)compressed /multiple /compound /complex mental abilities, yet there arehuman beings who cannot think 18) then/because /so /thus they were born with defective genes in their brains.Some people say that animals cannot talk, but animals 19) communicate /commute /educate/ indicate intheir own ways. To the contrary, there are some people who are 20) unwillingly /unhelpfully /unfortunately/unrealistically unable to talk. After all, animal research continues, nomatter whether you are for or against it.