The British couple's _3_ about gender selection led them to Virginia, US where a new sperm (精子)-separation technique, called MicroSort, was under _4_ . When MiShel became pregnant,she gave birth to a daughter. They will try to have a second daughter using the technique laterthis year.

　　This is not only a _5_ effective way to select a child’s gender. It also brings a host of ethical(倫理的)and practical considerations—especially for the majority of families who use thetechnique for _6_ reasons.

　　The clinic offers sex selection for two purposes: to help couples _7_ passing on a gender-linked_8_ disease and to allow those who already have a child to “balance” their family by having ababy of the opposite sex.

　　The technology is still _9_. However, Blauer says the company has an _10_ success rate: 91per cent of the women who become pregnant after sorting for a girl are successful, while 76 percent who sort for a boy and get pregnant are successful.

　　A) genetic B) overlapped C) impressive D) unaffected

　　E) perpetually F) investigation G) inquiries H) feats

　　I) disorder J) gropes K) experimental L) seemingly

　　M) elicit N) nonmedical O) avoid

　　解題思路

　　1. [I]此處應為單數名詞。根據該句中的blind—詞可以知道句中提到的condition其實是一種“疾病”或“不正常”的情況”,disorder為本題答案。

　　2.[D]此處應為名詞、動詞的分詞形式或形容詞,在句中作表語。根據該段對這種遺傳病的描述可以知道生女孩可以避免遺傳到這種病，因此，空格處的單詞應該表示“沒亊”、“不受影響”等意思，因此本題答案為unaffected。

　　3.[G]空格前的所有格couple’s表明此處需填入名詞，作句子主語。inquiries與about搭配，表示“咨詢…”,符合此處語義,表明這對英國夫妻咨詢與性別相關的事。

　　4.[F]此處應為名詞，可與under搭配，表明精子分離技術的現狀。在詞庫的名詞中,investigation最適合文中語境，under investigation表明這種技術正處于發展研究當中。

　　5.[L]此處應為副詞，形容這種新技術有效使用的程度或范圍。根據上文描述的個案，可以知道這種技術“看起來”很有用，詞庫的副詞中seemingly符合句意，因此為本題答案。

　　6.[N]此處應填人reasons的修飾成分，可為名詞、形容詞或動詞分詞。從破折號前的ethical and practicalconsiderations可以知道空格處提到的原因可能有悖倫理標準，即并非因為醫學上的需要而使用這種技術，由此可見，nonmedical“非醫學的”是答案。

　　7.[O]此處應填人動詞原形，構成短語help sb. do sth.。空格后的passing on a... disease(把……疾病往下傳)表明這種情況是要“避免”或“杜絕”的，故avoid符合語義要求。

　　8.[A]此處應填人修飾disease的詞，可為名詞、形容詞或動詞分詞。從本文首段提到的個案和本句提到的genderlinked可以推斷空格處的單詞應表明“遺傳性”疾病，因此genetic為本題答案。

　　9.[K]此處應為名詞、形容詞或動詞分詞，作句子表語。從本句中的still和下句However引出的內容可以知道，這種技術雖然成功率很髙，但研究仍沒有定論，因此本題答案應為experimental，表明技術仍處于“試驗階 段”。本文提到的技術與醫學有關，所以不選nonmedical“非醫學的”。

　　10.[C]空格處應為success rate的修飾語，可為名詞、形容詞或動詞分詞，an表明該詞以元音開頭。根據冒號后的數據91%和76%,可知成功率很高，故填入impressive“給人印象深刻的，令人贊嘆的”。

　　Rather than using custom machine tools to build early models of new parts, Ford is now using3-D printing technology to design and test its engineers’ latest ideas. The new method allowsproduct developers to have a _1_ in their hands in as little as a week after they create a newdesign-compared with having to wait three to four months _2_.

　　“We’re building more and more parts every day using this _3_,”says Harold Sears,a technicalexpert in rapid manufacturing at Ford’s design facility in Dearborn, Mich. Ford’s new hybridtransmission was developed on a 3-D printer that costs about $300,000 and which can turn apile of aluminum powder into a working prototype in a day or two.

　　While low-cost 3-D printing by consumers and small businesses looks like a market now readyfor takeoff, large businesses have already _4_ advanced versions of the technology. The resulthas been a _5_ improvement in the product-development process across a wide range ofindustries, including the _6_ of cars, consumer electronics, safety equipment and medicaldevices.

　　The process has done more than just save time and money. Engineers say rapid prototypingusing 3-D printing is producing more _7_, higher-quality products—from custom-fitted bicyclehelmets to better-sounding ear buds and loudspeakers.

　　Instead of waiting for tools and parts to come back from outside machine shops or injection,molding houses, product developers on tight _8_ now get more hands-on time to test theirmodels. 3-D printers allow them to test and _9_ more versions of their prototypes—in somecases tripling the number of duplicates of a new product that can be _10_ before beingproduced on a large scale.

　　A)previously B) thereafter C) process D) elastic

　　E) deadlines F) manufacturing G) significant H) innovative

　　I)ignited J) embraced K) lubricate L) prototype

　　M) refined N) update O) mechanisms

　　解題思路

　　1.[L]冠詞a提示空格處應填入名詞。該段概括介紹了 3-D打印這一新技術,首句指出運用新技術建造初期模型，第2句則補充說明該技術的優勢。根據上下文和空格后的in their hands可推知，空格所需名詞應與earlymodels 同義，故選用 prototype

　　2.[A]此處需填人副詞，修飾have to wait...。根據本句內容可知，有了 3-D打印技術之后，等待模具的時間大大縮短，而不像“以前”要等3、4個月，可見此處應選用previously。

　　3.[C] this提示此處應填入名詞，且該名詞在上文有具體所指。上文提到的主要內容是3-D打印這一“新技術”,此處的名詞應該帶有“技術”、“方法”等類似的意思,據此在名詞庫中選用process。

　　4.[J]解答本題需先弄清advanced的詞性。這里advanced是形容詞“先進的”,用于修飾名詞versions。因此空格處應填入過去分詞與have already連用，充當句子謂語。詞庫中embraced“采用”符合語境,說明一些大企 業使用了這種技術。

　　5.[G] a... improvement提示空格處應填人名詞、形容詞或分詞作定語。根據后面提到的這一技術在各行業的應用，可知其影響重大，應選用包含積極意義的詞匯。不定完詞a提示不能選用innovative,詞庫中significant符合句意。

　　6.[F]定冠詞the提示此處應填入名詞。前面講到福特汽車采用3-D打印技術制造最初模型，可知該技術可運用于汽車制造，詞庫中manufacturing符合句意。

　　7.[H] more...和higher-quality并列作定語修飾products。本段仍然是講3-D技術的優點，故推斷空格是一個褒義詞,innovative符合句意。

　　8.[E]空格應填入名詞，與on tight...構成介詞短語，作后置定語修飾前面的product developers。空格前的tight“緊的”與后面的more hands-on time前后形成對比，由此可見3-D技術出現之前產品研發人員的時間緊迫，deadlines填入文中構成短語on tight deadlines，表示“時間緊迫，限期很短”，符合上下文語境。

　　9.[N]空格前的and表明空格應該是和test并列的動詞原形。根據其后所接的賓語more versions of theirprototypes,選用update，意為“研發人員可以利用3-D打印技術不斷測試和更新模具”。

　　10.[M]此處應填入名詞、形容詞或動詞的分詞形式。3-D打印技術主要應用于產品的研發、調整階段，因此產品在正式投人生產前還可以修改。填入空格的詞應包含“修改，調整”之意，動詞refined“精煉;使完善”符合句意。