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National Geographic Channel reveals the latest findings in fetal development.
國家地理頻道揭露關於胎兒成長的最新發現。






　　 Mother Nature usually intends the womb to be a hospitable environment where life can flourish and grow without problems before birth. But what if you are one of nature''s unparalleled killing machines? National Geographic Channel''s In the Womb: Extreme Animals tells the story of how menacing sharks begin to develop their snouts that can eventually track prey from up to five kilometers away. In what scientists call embryonic cannibalism, sand sharks use predatory instincts and their teeth to hunt down and kill siblings while still inside the womb. This means that only the strongest of many embryos will actually make it into the outside world.
　　 Daphne and Barbara are two women who didn''t know each other for 40 years, but are now realizing how coincidental their lives have actually been. At the age of 14, both women left school. In their twenties, Daphne and Barbara got married to childhood sweethearts and even suffered miscarriages at the same age. When they met for the first time, they were wearing nearly identical clothing. This strange set of coincidences is made all the more bizarre when National Geographic Channel reveals that Daphne and Barbara are identical twins that were separated at birth. They have had no contact with each other for 40 years, were raised by very different families, but are strikingly similar in manner and actions. The series, In the Womb: Identical Twins, tries to explain one of reproductive science''s greatest mysteries—the question of nature versus nurture.
　　 It''s not surprising that two people split from the same fertilized egg retain a close physical appearance, but how far does the influence of genes reach beyond physical looks? National Geographic Channel unravels some of the perplexing riddles of Mother Nature while using state-of-the-art 4-D ultrasounds as well as high definition visual effects with In the Womb: Identical Twins.


1. What is the main topic of the first paragraph?
(A) The birth and death of a shark.
(B) A shark''s amazing sense of smell.
(C) Sharks eating their siblings inside the womb.
(D) An account of a shark''s dental growth.


2. What does the word unparalleled in the first paragraph mean?
(A) First-hand.
(B) Second-rate.
(C) Unmatched.
(D) Unaccountable.


3. Why is the story of Daphne and Barbara so strange?
(A) They hadn''t seen each other since they were 14 years old.
(B) Daphne knew exactly what Barbara was going to wear.
(C) They both had children born on the same day.
(D) Even though they were identical twins that had never met, their lives have been similar.


4. According to the passage, what is one of nature''s greatest mysteries?
(A) Are genes or personal experiences more important to someone''s development?
(B) Why do identical twins have a strikingly similar appearance?
(C) How does the time of day someone is born affect them?
(D) Could a human be turned into a killing machine?



womb n. 子宮
hospitable a.（環境、氣候）適宜的
snout n.（動物的）口鼻
embryonic a. 胎兒的；初期的
cannibalism n. 同類相食
predatory a. 掠奪性的
sibling n. 兄弟姐妹
embryo n. 胚胎
coincidental a. 巧合的
miscarriage n. 流產
bizarre a. 奇異的，怪異的
identical twin n. 同卵雙胞胎
fraternal twin n. 異卵雙胞胎
separate vt. 使分離
strikingly adv. 顯著地；突出地
reproductive a. 生殖的
nurture n. 教養，養育
fertilized a. 受精的
unravel vt. 解開，闡明
state-of-the-art a. 最先進技術的
ultrasound n. 超音波
definition n. 清晰度
account n. 解釋，說明
dental a. 牙齒的
unmatched a. 無與倫比的


hunt down...　　追捕……
in one''s twenties/thirties/forties…　　在某人 20∕30∕40……歲時
in one''s early twenties/thirties/forties…　　在某人 20 歲∕30 歲∕40 歲……出頭時
in one''s mid-twenties/thirties/forties…　　在某人 25、26 歲∕35、36 歲∕45、46 歲……時
in one''s late twenties/thirties/forties…　　在某人 28、29 歲∕38、39 歲∕48、49 歲……時
have no contact with sb　　和某人沒有聯絡


intend sb/sth to V　　打算讓某人∕某物……
例: Marvin intended his new flat screen TV to impress all of his guests.
（馬文打算用他新買的平面電視讓所有的客人驚艷。）
flourish vi. 興旺，茂盛
例: The plants are flourishing in the warm sun.
（植物在溫暖的陽光下生長茂盛。）
unparalleled a. 無比的；空前的
例: The automaker claimed that their car was made with unparalleled precision.
（那家汽車製造商宣稱他們的車子製造得無比精密。）
menacing a. 險惡的，威脅的
menace n. 威脅，恐嚇
pose a menace to...　　對……構成威脅
= pose a threat to...
例: Tom''s dog poses a menace to the whole neighborhood.
（湯姆養的狗對整個社區造成威脅。）
prey n. 獵物，被捕食的動物
fall prey to...　　成為……的犧牲品∕受害者
= fall victim to...
例: Hundreds of people fell prey to the con man. 
（有數百人淪為那個騙子的受害者。）
instinct n. 本能；直覺
by instinct　　（出於）本能地；直覺地
例: Birds do not learn to build nests; they build them by instinct.
（鳥類築巢並不是靠後天學習，而是憑先天本能。）
suffer vt. 遭受，經歷 & vi. 患病
suffer from...　　罹患……疾病
例: The farmers suffered great losses because of the typhoon.
（農民因颱風來襲而遭受很大的損失。）
例: Hank suffers from asthma attacks about once a month.
（漢克的哮喘症大約一個月發作一次。）
identical a. 完全相同的
be identical to...　　與……完全相同
例: Her reply was identical to mine.
（她的回答和我的完全相同。）
coincidence n. 巧合
What a coincidence!　　真巧！
pure/sheer coincidence　　純為巧合
coincide vi. 同時發生；相符
coincide with...　　與……巧合；與……一致
例: It''s not an advanced arrangement; it''s pure coincidence. 
（這並非事先安排，這純屬巧合。）
例: The child''s birthday coincides with his parents'' anniversary.
（那小孩的生日恰巧與他父母的結婚紀念日同一天。）
all the more + 原級形容詞　　更加∕越發……
例: The lady looks all the more beautiful because of her smooth skin.
（這位女士光滑的皮膚使她看起來更美。）
manner n. 舉止，態度；方式
in a...manner　　以……方式
例: Susan conducted the meeting in a very professional manner.
（蘇珊以十分專業的方式主持此次會議。）
versus prep. ……對（抗）……（略作 v. 或 vs.）
例: In the boys versus girls softball game, the girls won.
（在那場男女壘球對抗賽中，結果女生獲勝。）
be split from...　　從……分離
例: Our team has been split from the two advanced classes.
（我們的隊伍是從兩個進階班級中挑選出來的。）
retain vt. 保留，保持
例: Peter retains his composure even in stressful situations.
（即使在緊張的情況下，彼得仍能保持鎮靜。）
perplexing a. 令人困惑的
perplex vt. 使困惑
例: Sandy''s response to my question perplexed me.
（對於我的問題，珊蒂的回應讓我很困惑。）
unaccountable a. 不能解釋的
例: Ed''s disappearance was unaccountable. No one knew where he was.
（艾德失蹤一事令人費解。沒有人知道他去哪裡了。）



　　大自然讓子宮成為有利於孕育生命之處，使胎兒在出生前得以安心成長。但如果你屬於自然界中所向披靡、殺人不眨眼的生物之一，那又會是什麼樣子呢？在《子宮內日記：奇特動物篇》節目中，國家地理頻道告訴我們深具威脅性的鯊魚如何發展出足以追蹤 5 公里外獵物的鼻子。科學家稱作胎兒時期的同類相食行為是指當還在子宮裡時，戟齒砂鮫運用自身的掠食本能和牙齒對手足痛下殺手。這代表只有最強壯的胚胎得以存活，見到子宮外面的世界。
　　 戴芙尼和芭芭拉 40 年來互不認識，但如今她們發現雙方生活竟充滿如此多的巧合。她們都在 14 歲時輟學、在 20 幾歲時嫁給青梅竹馬，之後甚至在同樣的年紀時流產。當她們初次見到彼此時，雙方居然穿著幾乎一模一樣的衣服。當國家地理頻道揭露戴芙尼和芭芭拉是剛出生就分離的同卵雙胞胎時，這一連串的奇怪巧合更顯奇異。她們 40 年來都沒和對方連絡，並由不同的家庭扶養長大，但在行為舉止上卻有著驚人的相似處。《子宮內日記：同卵雙胞胎篇》節目試圖解釋生殖科學中最大的謎題，也就是先天對上後天這兩種因素對人類的影響為何。
　　 從同一個受精卵孕育出來的兩個生命擁有相近的生理外觀一點都不令人意外，但除了生理外觀外，基因究竟能夠發揮影響到何種程度？在《子宮內日記：同卵雙胞胎篇》節目中，國家地理頻道運用最先進的 4-D 超音波和高解析視覺效果揭開自然界中令人困惑的謎團。


1. 文章第一段的主旨為何？
(A) 鯊魚的生與死。
(B) 鯊魚驚人的嗅覺。
(C) 鯊魚在子宮內獵食手足。
(D) 關於鯊魚牙齒成長的說明。
題解: 文章第一段提到，當還在子宮裡時，戟齒砂鮫會運用自身的掠食本能和牙齒對手足痛下殺手，這就是所謂的胎兒時期的同類相食行為，可知應選 (C)。


2. 第一段中的 "unparalleled" 是什麼意思？
(A) 第一手的。
(B) 次等的。
(C) 無可比擬的。
(D) 無法解釋的。
題解: "unparalleled" 表『無比的』之意，故選 (C)。


3. 戴芙尼和芭芭拉的故事為什麼如此奇特？
(A) 她們自 14 歲起就沒見過對方。
(B) 戴芙尼早就知道芭芭拉會穿什麼衣服。
(C) 她們的小孩都在同一天出生。
(D) 雖然她們是一對從沒見過面的同卵雙胞胎，她們的生活卻很相似。
題解: 根據文章第二段，戴芙尼和芭芭拉是剛出生就分離的同卵雙胞胎，40 年來互不認識，但她們發現雙方的生活竟充滿如此多的巧合，可知應選 (D)。


4. 根據本文，什麼是自然界最神秘的現象？
(A) 對於人的成長，是基因還是個人歷練較為重要？
(B) 為什麼同卵雙生的雙胞胎擁有如此驚人的相似處？
(C) 某人的出生時間會造成何種影響？
(D) 人類能成為殺人機器嗎？
題解: 根據本文第二段，生殖科學中最大的謎題，也就是先天對上後天這兩種因素對人類的影響為何，故 (A) 為正選。

標準答案: 1. (C)　2. (C)　3. (D)　4. (A)