2018年可锐考研英语阅读真题范文（四）Microsoft brings instant chat to TV screen,through gamesMicrosoft planned to announce today that it will make its Windows Live Messenger service available on its Xbox 360 game consoles, bringing instant messaging from the computer to the television.The move was meant to help Microsoft stay ahead of Sony, its chief rival in the electronic games business, in delivering the richest online experience for game players. It is also an element of Microsofts overall strategy to connect people across PCs, televisions and mobile devices like cellphones.More than 200 million people use Windows Live Messenger to chat with friends, family members and colleagues. Separately, more than six million Xbox 360 owners are connected to the companys Xbox Live online community, an enhancement that lets people with broadband Internet connections communicate with one another.In the second week of May, those two worlds will begin to converge. Xbox Live members will be able to link their gamertag ,the online identity they use within the Xbox community, to an existing Windows Live Messenger account. Players will then be able to chat with their instant messaging contacts using a virtual on screen keyboard or a USB keyboard plugged into the game machine.Microsoft executives said they hoped to offer voice chat between Xbox and Live Messenger users later this year.We feel this is a huge step in driving social networking further into the family room by allowing Xbox 360 users to IM directly from their couch, said John Rodman, Microsofts group manager for the Xbox 360, in a telephone interview last week. Now you dont have to manage two separate groups of friends online.Microsoft and Sony are battling to dominate the high end of the console gaming market. In years past, game consoles stood out from one another mostly by their game offerings. But now it appears that top game publishers like Electronic Arts will release most of their biggest games for both the Xbox 360 and Sonys PlayStation 3.As a result, Microsoft and Sony are attempting to differentiate their game machines with other features, like film playback capabilities and online services.Microsoft has been ahead of Sony in online console game playing, but last month Sony announced that it was developing a new Internet service called PlayStation Home that could surpass some elements of Xbox Live. The instant messaging feature appears to be one part of Microsofts response.二．From Genes to GMOsToday, genes can be isolated, identified, and cloned, then inserted into other organisms to alter their traits. The process is called genetic engineering. For this technology to develop, a few tools were necessary. In the 1970s, scientists isolated bacterial plasmids. These are hula hoop shaped double stranded units of DNA that can be moved easily from one cell to another. They also discovered scissors, called restriction enzymes for cutting the DNA into predictable, reproducible patterns. These enzymes are used to snip apart plasmids at very specific DNA sequences, leaving free ends that can be rejoined as the scientist chooses. Restriction enzymes occur in bacteria as part of a natural defense mechanism to guard against invading viruses. Many different types are now available, each cutting DNA at a different sequence of base pairs.Once a plasmid is snipped open, a foreign piece of DNA, cut by the same enzyme scissors, can be taped, end to end, into the plasmid using another enzyme, DNA ligase. This is the glue that sticks all the pieces together. The new plasmid is inserted back into a cell, where numerous copies can be made. Introduction of specific genetic material into rapidly reproducing target bacteria can turn the cells into miniature factories for production of useful substances. For example, when the Exxon Valdez oil freighter ran aground in 1989 and spilled thirty eight million liters of oil, oil eating bacteria, created in just this manner, were used in the cleanup operation. The oil was broken down five times faster with help from the genetically modified organisms .Plasmid technology has also been developed for moving targeted genetic material into plants. In this technique, scientists use the plasmid from a bacterium that causes tumors on plants. In nature, this bacterium transfers genetic material into plant tissues by releasing plasmids onto damaged plant cells. The plasmids enter the plant tissue and produce a swelling, or tumor. Because of this special ability to invade plant tissue, these tumor inducing plasmids are now used routinely as taxi cabs to carry target genes into a wide variety of plant cells, including, for example, corn. The European corn borer is a common pest in this economically valuable crop. When pesticides are used against them, timing is critical. If sprayed too late, the corn borer will already have made a home inside the corn stem and will not be killed. CIBA Research was the first company to develop what has become commonly known as Bt corn. It contains genes that allow it to resist infestation by the corn borer. The Bt genes came from a bacterium called Bacillus thuring ensis . It produces a protein called Bt protoxin. When an insect larva eats these bacteria, the toxin contained in the bacterium attaches to the insect s gut and makes holes in it, and the larva starves to death. Bt corn can be grown using less pesticide, and sometimes even no pesticide.三．Seychelles: A president in paradiseBEST known as a destination for honeymooners in search of perfect white beaches andswaying palms, the Seychelles islands rarely make any sort of headlines. Few tourists would even have noticed the presidential election on July 30th, in which James Michel, leader of the Seychelles Peoples Progressive Front, was returned with 54% of the ballot. For Mr. Michel, it was the first time he had faced the islands 62,000 odd voters, having been promoted from vice president two years ago by his predecessor, Albert René, who had ruled the islands for 27 years since taking power in a coup in 1977.To the casual eye, Seychelles seems both fortunate and well governed. The 115 islands, most of them uninhabited, cover a mere 445 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean, north of Madagascar, and enjoy several advantages over most of the rest of Africa. The weather is never extreme. There is no malaria. The islanders have free education and health care. Their multiracial society is pretty harmonious. With GDP at around $8,000 a head, there is almost no discernible poverty.But this standard of living has come at a cost: the IMF says its public debt is too high and may be unsustainable. Mr. Michels main opposition, the Seychelles National Party, which scored 46% in the elections, claims that Seychelles, per person, is the worlds most indebted country; with some $590m of external debt for just 82,000 people, it is certainly one of them. A black market in foreign currency already exists as speculation persists that the government, unable to meet its obligations, may be forced to devalue. Basic consumer goods sometimes run out. If, as the IMF predicts, GDP falls by over 1% this year, Mr. Michel may find his next five years in power more testing than he had hoped.The country needs more ways of making money. In the cold war, it was easy. The Seychelles played each side off against the other, remaining a member of the Commonwealth as well as the Non Aligned Movement and taking military aid from the Soviet Union while leasing a satellite tracking station to the Americans. Since those streams of revenue dried up, the main Seychellois streams of revenue have been from tourism-leasing land to foreign hoteliers-and from tuna: the government earns about $200m a year from selling tuna fishing licenses to Spain, France and South Korea.But conflict in the Middle East has brought Seychelles an unexpected bonus: Western warships stop off in the islands, which offer rest and recreation. The soldiers and sailors scuba dive, sail and drink Seybrew, the local beer-and pay for it all in hard currency.。