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专题 14 阅读理解说明文
2024年
Passage 1
【2024全国甲卷】Animals can express their needs using a lot of ways. For instance, almost all animals have
distinct vocals (声音) that they rely on to either ask for help, scare away any dangerous animals or look for shelter.
But cats are special creatures who possess amazing vocalization skills. They are able to have entire conversations
with humans using meows and you're able to interpret it. If a pet cat is hungry, it will keep meowing to attract
attention and find food. However, when a cat is looking for affection, they tend to produce stretched and soft
meows. Meowing starts as soon as a baby cat is brought to life and uses it to get the mother's attention and be fed.
Cats have many heightened senses, but their sense of smell is quite impressive. They use their noses to assess
their environment and look out for any signs of danger. They will sniff out specific areas before they choose a place
to relax. However, another way the cats are able to distinguish between situations is by looking for familiar smells.
Your cat will likely smell your face and store the smell in its memory and use it to recognize you in the future.
That's why most pet cats are able to tell immediately if their owners were around any other cats, which they don't
usually like.
Dogs are known for their impressive fetching habit, but cats take this behavior up a notch. Many cats will find
random objects outside and bring them to their owners. This is a very old habit that's been present in all kinds of
predators (食肉动物). Cats bring gifts for their owners to show they love you. These adorable little hunters are just
doing something that it's been in their nature since the beginning of time. So just go along with it!
4. What can be learned about cats' meowing from the first paragraph?
A. It's a survival skill. B. It's taught by mother cats.
C. It's hard to interpret. D. It's getting louder with age.
5. How does a pet cat assess different situations?
A. By listening for sounds. B. By touching familiar objects.
C. By checking on smells. D. By communicating with other cats.
6. Which best explains the phrase "take. . . up notch" in paragraph 3?
A. Perform appropriately. B. Move faster. C. Act strangely. D. Do better.
7. What is a suitable title for the text?
A. Tips on Finding a Smart Cat B. Understanding Your Cat's Behavior
C. Have Fun with Your Cat D. How to Keep Your Cat HealthyPassage 2
【2024新课标Ⅰ卷】In the race to document the species on Earth before they go extinct, researchers and
citizen scientists have collected billions of records. Today, most records of biodiversity are often in the form of
photos, videos, and other digital records. Though they are useful for detecting shifts in the number and variety of
species in an area, a new Stanford study has found that this type of record is not perfect.
“With the rise of technology it is easy for people to make observations of different species with the aid of a
mobile application,” said Barnabas Daru, who is lead author of the study and assistant professor of biology in the
Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. “These observations now outnumber the primary data that comes
from physical specimens (标本), and since we are increasingly using observational data to investigate how species
are responding to global change, I wanted to know: Are they usable?”
Using a global dataset of 1.9 billion records of plants, insects, birds, and animals, Daru and his team tested
how well these data represent actual global biodiversity patterns.
“We were particularly interested in exploring the aspects of sampling that tend to bias (使有偏差) data, like
the greater likelihood of a citizen scientist to take a picture of a flowering plant instead of the grass right next to it,”
said Daru.
Their study revealed that the large number of observation-only records did not lead to better global coverage.
Moreover, these data are biased and favor certain regions, time periods, and species. This makes sense because the
people who get observational biodiversity data on mobile devices are often citizen scientists recording their
encounters with species in areas nearby. These data are also biased toward certain species with attractive or eye-
catching features.
What can we do with the imperfect datasets of biodiversity?
“Quite a lot,” Daru explained. “Biodiversity apps can use our study results to inform users of oversampled
areas and lead them to places — and even species — that are not well-sampled. To improve the quality of
observational data, biodiversity apps can also encourage users to have an expert confirm the identification of their
uploaded image.”
32. What do we know about the records of species collected now?
A. They are becoming outdated. B. They are mostly in electronic form.
C. They are limited in number. D. They are used for public exhibition.
33. What does Daru’s study focus on?A. Threatened species. B. Physical specimens.
C. Observational data. D. Mobile applications.
34. What has led to the biases according to the study?
A. Mistakes in data analysis. B. Poor quality of uploaded pictures.
C. Improper way of sampling. D. Unreliable data collection devices.
35. What is Daru’s suggestion for biodiversity apps?
A. Review data from certain areas. B. Hire experts to check the records.
C. Confirm the identity of the users. D. Give guidance to citizen scientists.
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Passage 3
【2024 全国甲卷】The Saint Lukas train doesn’t accept passengers—it accepts only the sick. The Saint
Lukas is one of five government-sponsored medical trains that travel to remote towns in central and eastern Russia.
Each stop lasts an average of two days, and during that time the doctors and nurses on board provide rural(乡
村)populations with basic medical care, X-ray scans and prescriptions.
“People started queuing to make an appointment early in the morning,” says Emile Ducke, a German
photographer who traveled with the staff of the Saint Lukas for a two-week trip in November through the vast
regions(区域)of Krasnoyarsk and Khakassia.
Russia’s public health care service has been in serious need of modernization. The government has struggled
to come up with measures to address the problem, particularly in the poorer, rural areas east of the Volga River,
including arranging doctor’s appointments by video chat and expanding financial aid programs to motivate doctors
to practice medicine in remote parts of the country like Krasnoyarsk.
The annual arrival of the Saint Lukas is another attempt to improve the situation. For 10 months every year,
the train stops at about eight stations over two weeks, before returning to the regional capital to refuel and
restock(补给). Then it starts all over again the next month. Most stations wait about a year between visits.
Doctors see up to 150 patients every day. The train’s equipment allows for basic checkups. “I was very
impressed by the doctors and their assistants working and living in such little space but still staying focused and
very concerned,” says Ducke. “They were the best chance for many rural people to get the treatment they want. ”
8. How is the Saint Lukas different from other trains?
A. It runs across countries. B. It reserves seats for the seniors.
C. It functions as a hospital. D. It travels along a river.9. What can we infer from paragraph 3 about Krasnoyarsk?
A. It is heavily populated. B. It offers training for doctors.
C. It is a modern city. D. It needs medical aid.
10. How long can the Saint Lukas work with one supply?
A. About a year. B. About ten months.
C. About two months. D. About two weeks.
11. What is Ducke’s attitude toward the Saint Lukas’ services?
A. Appreciative. B. Doubtful C. Ambiguous. D. Cautious.
Passage 4
【2024新课标ⅠⅠ卷】We all know fresh is best when it comes to food. However, most produce at the store
went through weeks of travel and covered hundreds of miles before reaching the table. While farmer’s markets are
a solid choice to reduce the journey, Babylon Micro-Farm (BMF) shortens it even more.
BMF is an indoor garden system. It can be set up for a family. Additionally, it could serve a larger audience
such as a hospital, restaurant or school. The innovative design requires little effort to achieve a reliable weekly
supply of fresh greens.
Specifically, it’s a farm that relies on new technology. By connecting through the Cloud, BMF is remotely
monitored. Also, there is a convenient app that provides growing data in real time. Because the system is
automated, it significantly reduces the amount of water needed to grow plants. Rather than watering rows of soil,
the system provides just the right amount to each plant. After harvest, users simply replace the plants with a new
pre-seeded pod (容器) to get the next growth cycle started.
Moreover, having a system in the same building where it’s eaten means zero emissions (排放) from
transporting plants from soil to salad. In addition, there’s no need for pesticides and other chemicals that pollute
traditional farms and the surrounding environment.
BMF employees live out sustainability in their everyday lives. About half of them walk or bike to work. Inside
the office, they encourage recycling and waste reduction by limiting garbage cans and avoiding single-use plastic.
“We are passionate about reducing waste, carbon and chemicals in our environment,” said a BMF employee.
8. What can be learned about BMF from paragraph 1?
A. It guarantees the variety of food. B. It requires day-to-day care.
C. It cuts the farm-to-table distance. D. It relies on farmer’s markets.
9. What information does the convenient app offer?A. Real-time weather changes. B. Current condition of the plants.
C. Chemical pollutants in the soil. D. Availability of pre-seeded pods.
10. What can be concluded about BMF employees?
A. They have a great passion for sports.
B. They are devoted to community service.
C. They are fond of sharing daily experiences.
.
D They have a strong environmental awareness.
11. What does the text mainly talk about?
A. BMF’s major strengths. B. BMF’s general management.
C. BMF’s global influence. D. BMF’s technical standards.
Passage 4
【2024浙江1月卷】On September 7, 1991, the costliest hailstorm (雹暴) in Canadian history hit Calgary’s
southern suburbs. As a result, since 1996 a group of insurance companies have spent about $2million per year on
the Alberta Hail Suppression Project. Airplanes seed threatening storm cells with a chemical to make small ice
crystals fall as rain before they can grow into dangerous hailstones. But farmers in east-central Alberta —
downwind of the hail project flights — worry that precious moisture (水分) is being stolen from their thirsty land
by the cloud seeding.
Norman Stienwand, who farms in that area, has been addressing public meetings on this issue for years
“Basically, the provincial government is letting the insurance companies protect the Calgary-Edmonton urban area
from hail,” Mr. Stienwan d says, “but they’re increasing drought risk as far east as Saskatchewan.”
The Alberta hail project is managed by Terry Krauss, a cloud physicist who works for Weather Modification
Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota. “We affect only a very small percentage of the total moisture in the air, so we cannot
be cousing drought.” Dr. Krauss says. “In fact, we may be helping increase the moisture downwind by creating
wetter ground.”
One doubter about the safety of cloud seeding is Chuck Doswell, a research scientist who just retired from the
University of Oklahoma. “In 1999, I personally saw significant tornadoes (龙卷风) form from a seeded storm cell
in Kansas,” Dr. Doswell says. “Does cloud seeding create killer storms or reduce moisture downwind? No one
really knows, of course, but the seeding goes on.”
Given the degree of doubt, Mr. Stienwand suggests, “it would be wise to stop cloud seeding.” In practice,doubt has had the opposite effect. Due to the lack of scientific proof concerning their impacts, no one has succeeded
in winning a lawsuit against cloud-seeding companies. Hence, private climate engineering can proceed in relative
legal safety.
8. What does the project aim to do?
A. Conserve moisture in the soil. B. Prevent the formation of hailstones.
C. Forecast disastrous hailstorms. D. Investigate chemical use in farming.
9. Who are opposed to the project?
A. Farmers in east-central Alberta. B. Managers of insurance companies.
C. Provincial government officials. D. Residents of Calgary and Edmonton
10. Why does Dr. Doswell mention the tornadoes he saw in 1999?
A. To compare different kinds of seeding methods.
B. To illustrate the development of big hailstorms.
C. To indicate a possible danger of cloud seeding.
D. To show the link between storms and moisture.
11. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. Scientific studies have proved Stienwand right.
B. Private climate engineering is illegal in Canada.
C. The doubt about cloud seeding has disappeared.
D. Cloud-seeding companies will continue to exist.
Passage 5
【2024北京卷】Franz Boas’s description of Inuit (因纽特人) life in the 19th century illustrates the probable
moral code of early humans. Here, norms (规范) were unwritten and rarely expressed clearly, but were well
understood and taken to heart. Dishonest and violent behaviours were disapproved of; leadership, marriage and
interactions with other groups were loosely governed by traditions. Conflict was often resolved in musical battles.
Because arguing angrily leads to chaos, it was strongly discouraged. With life in the unforgiving Northern Canada
being so demanding, the Inuit’s practical approach to morality made good sense.
The similarity of moral virtues across cultures is striking, even though the relative ranking of the virtues may
vary with a social group’s history and environment. Typically, cruelty and cheating are discouraged, while
cooperation, humbleness and courage are praised. These universal norms far pre-date the concept of any moralising
religion or written law. Instead, they are rooted in the similarity of basic human needs and our shared mechanismsfor learning and problem solving. Our social instincts (本能) include the intense desire to belong. The approval of
others is rewarding, while their disapproval is strongly disliked. These social emotions prepare our brains to shape
our behaviour according to the norms and values of our family and our community. More generally, social instincts
motivate us to learn how to behave in a socially complex world.
The mechanism involves a repurposed reward system originally used to develop habits important for self-care.
Our brains use the system to acquire behavioural patterns regarding safe routes home, efficient food gathering and
dangers to avoid. Good habits save time, energy and sometimes your life. Good social habits do something similar
in a social context. We learn to tell the truth, even when lying is self-serving; we help a grandparent even when it is
inconvenient. We acquire what we call a sense of right and wrong.
Social benefits are accompanied by social demands: we must get along, but not put up with too much. Hence
self-discipline is advantageous. In humans, a greatly enlarged brain boosts self-control, just as it boosts problem-
solving skills in the social as well as the physical world. These abilities are strengthened by our capacity for
language, which allows social practices to develop in extremely unobvious ways.
32. What can be inferred about the forming of the Inuit’s moral code?
A. Living conditions were the drive. B. Unwritten rules were the target.
C. Social tradition was the basis. D. Honesty was the key.
33. What can we learn from this passage?
A. Inconveniences are the cause of telling lies. B. Basic human needs lead to universal norms.
C. Language capacity is limited by self-control. D. Written laws have great influence on virtues.
34. Which would be the best title for this passage?
A. Virtues: Bridges Across Cultures B. The Values of Self-discipline
C. Brains: Walls Against Chaos D. The Roots of Morality
Passage 6
【2024 浙江 1 月卷】The Stanford marshmallow (棉花糖) test was originally conducted by psychologist
Walter Mischel in the late 1960s. Children aged four to six at a nursery school were placed in a room. A single
sugary treat, selected by the child, was placed on a table. Each child was told if they waited for 15 minutes before
eating the treat, they would be given a second treat. Then they were left alone in the room. Follow-up studies with
the children later in life showed a connect ion between an ability to wait long enough to obtain a second treat and
various forms of success.As adults we face a version of the marshmallow test every day. We’ re not tempted (诱惑) by sugary treats, but
by our computers, phones, and tablets — all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for various
types of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.
We are tempted by sugary treats because our ancestors lived in a calorie-poor world, and our brains developed
a response mechanism to these treats that reflected their value — a feeling of reward and satisfaction. But as we’ve
reshaped the world around us, dramatically reducing the cost and effort involved in obtaining calories, we still have
the same brains we had thousands of years ago, and this mismatch is at the heart of why so many of us struggle to
resist tempting foods that we know we shouldn’t eat.
A similar process is at work in our response to information. Our formative environment as a species was
information-poor, so our brains developed a mechanism that prized new information. But global connectivity has
greatly changed our information environment. We are now ceaselessly bombarded (轰炸) with new information.
Therefore, just as we need to be more thoughtful about our caloric consumption, we also need to be more
thoughtful about our information consumption, resisting the temptation of the mental “junk food” in order to
manage our time most effectively.
12. What did the children need to do to get a second treat in Mischel’s test?
A. Take an examination alone. B. Show respect for the researchers.
C. Share their treats with others. D. Delay eating for fifteen minutes.
13. According to paragraph 3, there is a mismatch between ___________.
A. the calorie-poor world and our good appetites
B. the shortage of sugar and our nutritional needs
C. the rich food supply and our unchanged brains
D. the tempting foods and our efforts to keep fit
14. What does the author suggest readers do?
A. Absorb new information readily. B. Be selective information consumers.
C. Use diverse information sources. D. Protect the information environment.
15. Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A. Eat Less, Read More B. The Bitter Truth about Early Humans
C. The Later, the Better D. The Marshmallow Test for Grownups
2023年
Passage 1【2023年新高考全国Ⅰ卷】The goal of this book is to make the case for digital minimalism, including a
detailed exploration of what it asks and why it works, and then to teach you how to adopt this philosophy if you
decide it’s right for you.
To do so, I divided the book into two parts. In part one, I describe the philosophical foundations of digital
minimalism, starting with an examination of the forces that are making so many people’s digital lives increasingly
intolerable, before moving on to a detailed discussion of the digital minimalism philosophy.
Part one concludes by introducing my suggested method for adopting this philosophy: the digital declutter.
This process requires you to step away from optional online activities for thirty days. At the end of the thirty days,
you will then add back a small number of carefully chosen online activities that you believe will provide massive
benefits to the things you value.
In the final chapter of part one, I’ll guide you through carrying out your own digital declutter. In doing so, I’ll
draw on an experiment I ran in 2018 in which over 1,600 people agreed to perform a digital declutter. You’ll hear
these participants’ stories and learn what strategies worked well for them, and what traps they encountered that you
should avoid.
The second part of this book takes a closer look at some ideas that will help you cultivate (培养) a sustainable
digital minimalism lifestyle. In these chapters, I examine issues such as the importance of solitude (独处) and the
necessity of cultivating high-quality leisure to replace the time most now spend on mindless device use. Each
chapter concludes with a collection of practices, which are designed to help you act on the big ideas of the chapter.
You can view these practices as a toolbox meant to aid your efforts to build a minimalist lifestyle that words for
your particular circumstances.
8. What is the book aimed at?
A. Teaching critical thinking skills. B. Advocating a simple digital lifestyle.
C. Solving philosophical problems. D. Promoting the use of a digital device.
9. What does the underlined word “declutter” in paragraph 3 mean?
A. Clear-up. B. Add-on. C. Check-in. D. Take-over.
10. What is presented in the final chapter of part one?
A. Theoretical models. B. Statistical methods.
C. Practical examples. D. Historical analyses.
11. What does the author suggest readers do with the practices offered in part two?
A. Use them as needed. B. Recommend them to friends.C. Evaluate their effects. D. Identify the ideas behind them.
Passage 2
【2023年新高考全国Ⅰ卷】On March 7, 1907, the English statistician Francis Galton published a paper
which illustrated what has come to be known as the “wisdom of crowds” effect. The experiment of estimation he
conducted showed that in some cases, the average of a large number of independent estimates could be quite
accurate.
This effect capitalizes on the fact that when people make errors, those errors aren’t always the same. Some
people will tend to overestimate, and some to underestimate. When enough of these errors are averaged together,
they cancel each other out, resulting in a more accurate estimate. If people are similar and tend to make the same
errors, then their errors won’t cancel each other out. In more technical terms, the wisdom of crowds requires that
people’s estimates be independent. If for whatever reasons, people’s errors become correlated or dependent, the
accuracy of the estimate will go down.
But a new study led by Joaquin Navajas offered an interesting twist (转折) on this classic phenomenon. The
key finding of the study was that when crowds were further divided into smaller groups that were allowed to have a
discussion, the averages from these groups were more accurate than those from an equal number of independent
individuals. For instance, the average obtained from the estimates of four discussion groups of five was
significantly more accurate than the average obtained from 20 independent individuals.
,
In a follow-up study with 100 university students the researchers tried to get a better sense of what the group
members actually did in their discussion. Did they tend to go with those most confident about their estimates? Did
they follow those least willing to change their minds? This happened some of the time, but it wasn’t the dominant
response. Most frequently, the groups reported that they “shared arguments and reasoned together.” Somehow,
these arguments and reasoning resulted in a global reduction in error. Although the studies led by Navajas have
limitations and many questions remain the potential implications for group discussion and decision-making are
enormous.
12. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?
A. The methods of estimation. B. The underlying logic of the effect.
C. The causes of people’s errors. D. The design of Galton’s experiment.
13. Navajas’ study found that the average accuracy could increase even if ________.
A. the crowds were relatively small B. there were occasional underestimatesC. individuals did not communicate D. estimates were not fully independent
14. What did the follow-up study focus on?
A. The size of the groups. B. The dominant members.
C. The discussion process. D. The individual estimates.
15. What is the author’s attitude toward Navajas’ studies?
A. Unclear. B. Dismissive. C. Doubtful. D. Approving.
Passage 3
【2023年新高考全国Ⅱ卷】Reading Art: Art for Book Lovers is a celebration of an everyday object — the
book, represented here in almost three hundred artworks from museums around the world. The image of the reader
appears throughout history, in art made long before books as we now know them came into being. In artists’
representations of books and reading, we see moments of shared humanity that go beyond culture and time.
In this “book of books,” artworks are selected and arranged in a way that emphasizes these connections
between different eras and cultures. We see scenes of children learning to read at home or at school, with the book
as a focus for relations between the generations. Adults are portrayed (描绘) alone in many settings and poses —
absorbed in a volume, deep in thought or lost in a moment of leisure. These scenes may have been painted hundreds
of years ago, but they record moments we can all relate to.
Books themselves may be used symbolically in paintings to demonstrate the intellect (才智), wealth or faith of
the subject. Before the wide use of the printing press, books were treasured objects and could be works of art in
their own right. More recently, as books have become inexpensive or even throwaway, artists have used them as the
raw material for artworks — transforming covers, pages or even complete volumes into paintings and sculptures.
Continued developments in communication technologies were once believed to make the printed page
outdated. From a 21st-century point of view, the printed book is certainly ancient, but it remains as interactive as
any battery-powered e-reader. To serve its function, a book must be activated by a user: the cover opened, the pages
parted, the contents reviewed, perhaps notes written down or words underlined. And in contrast to our increasingly
networked lives where the information we consume is monitored and tracked, a printed book still offers the chance
of a wholly private, “off-line” activity.
8. Where is the text most probably taken from?
A. An introduction to a book. B. An essay on the art of writing.
C. A guidebook to a museum. D. A review of modern paintings.
9. What are the selected artworks about?A. Wealth and intellect. B. Home and school.
C. Books and reading. D. Work and leisure.
10. What do the underlined words “relate to” in paragraph 2 mean?
A. Understand. B. Paint.
C. Seize. D. Transform.
11. What does the author want to say by mentioning the e-reader?
A. The printed book is not totally out of date.
B. Technology has changed the way we read.
C. Our lives in the 21st century are networked.
D. People now rarely have the patience to read.
Passage 4
【2023年新高考全国Ⅱ卷】As cities balloon with growth, access to nature for people living in urban areas
is becoming harder to find. If you’re lucky, there might be a pocket park near where you live, but it’s unusual to
find places in a city that are relatively wild.
Past research has found health and wellness benefits of nature for humans, but a new study shows that
wildness in urban areas is extremely important for human well-being.
The research team focused on a large urban park. They surveyed several hundred park-goers, asking them to
submit a written summary online of a meaningful interaction they had with nature in the park. The researchers then
examined these submissions, coding (编码) experiences into different categories. For example, one participant’s
experience of “We sat and listened to the waves at the beach for a while” was assigned the categories “sitting at
beach” and “listening to waves.”
Across the 320 submissions, a pattern of categories the researchers call a “nature language” began to emerge.
After the coding of all submissions, half a dozen categories were noted most often as important to visitors. These
include encountering wildlife, walking along the edge of water, and following an established trail.
Naming each nature experience creates a usable language, which helps people recognize and take part in the
activities that are most satisfying and meaningful to them. For example, the experience of walking along the edge
of water might be satisfying for a young professional on a weekend hike in the park. Back downtown during a
workday, they can enjoy a more domestic form of this interaction by walking along a fountain on their lunch break.
“We’re trying to generate a language that helps bring the human-nature interactions back into our daily lives.And for that to happen, we also need to protect nature so that we can interact with it,” said Peter Kahn, a senior
author of the study.
12. What phenomenon does the author describe at the beginning of the text?
A. Pocket parks are now popular. B. Wild nature is hard to find in cities.
C. Many cities are overpopulated. D. People enjoy living close to nature.
13. Why did the researchers code participant submissions into categories?
A. To compare different types of park-goers. B. To explain why the park attracts tourists.
C. To analyze the main features of the park. D. To find patterns in the visitors’ summaries.
14. What can we learn from the example given in paragraph 5?
A. Walking is the best way to gain access to nature.
B. Young people are too busy to interact with nature.
C. The same nature experience takes different forms.
D. The nature language enhances work performance.
15. What should be done before we can interact with nature according to Kahn?
A. Language study. B. Environmental conservation.
C. Public education. D. Intercultural communication.
Passage 5
【2023年全国乙卷】What comes into your mind when you think of British food? Probably fish and chips, or
a Sunday dinner of meat and two vegetables. But is British food really so uninteresting? Even though Britain has a
reputation for less-than-impressive cuisine, it is producing more top class chefs who appear frequently on our
television screens and whose recipe books frequently top the best seller lists.
It’s thanks to these TV chefs rather than any advertising campaign that Britons are turning away from meat-
and-two-veg and ready-made meals and becoming more adventurous in their cooking habits. It is recently reported
that the number of those sticking to a traditional diet is slowly declining and around half of Britain’s consumers
would like to change or improve their cooking in some way. There has been a rise in the number of students
applying for food courses at UK universities and colleges. It seems that TV programmes have helped change what
people think about cooking.
According to a new study from market analysts, 1 in 5 Britons say that watching cookery programmes on TV
has encouraged them to try different food. Almost one third say they now use a wider variety of ingredients (配料)
than they used to, and just under 1 in 4 say they now buy better quality ingredients than before. One in four adultssay that TV chefs have made them much more confident about expanding their cookery knowledge and skills, and
young people are also getting more interested in cooking. The UK’s obsession (痴迷) with food is reflected through
television scheduling. Cookery shows and documentaries about food are broadcast more often than before. With an
increasing number of male chefs on TV, it’s no longer “uncool” for boys to like cooking.
8. What do people usually think of British food?
A. It is simple and plain. B. It is rich in nutrition.
C. It lacks authentic tastes. D. It deserves a high reputation.
9. Which best describes cookery programme on British TV?
A. Authoritative. B. Creative. C. Profitable. D. Influential.
10. Which is the percentage of the people using more diverse ingredients now?
A. 20%. B. 24%. C. 25%. D. 33%.
11. What might the author continue talking about?
A. The art of cooking in other countries. B. Male chefs on TV programmes.
C. Table manners in the UK. D. Studies of big eaters.
Passage 6
【2023年全国甲卷】Grizzly bears, which may grow to about 2.5 m long and weigh over 400 kg, occupy a
conflicted corner of the American psyche — we revere (敬畏) them even as they give us frightening dreams. Ask
the tourists from around the world that flood into Yellowstone National Park what they most hope to see, and their
answer is often the same: a grizzly bear.
“Grizzly bears are re-occupying large areas of their former range,” says bear biologist Chris Servheen. As
grizzly bears expand their range into places where they haven’t been seen in a century or more, they’re increasingly
being sighted by humans.
The western half of the U.S. was full of grizzlies when Europeans came, with a rough number of 50,000 or
more living alongside Native Americans. By the early 1970s, after centuries of cruel and continuous hunting by
settlers, 600 to 800 grizzlies remained on a mere 2 percent of their former range in the Northern Rockies. In 1975,
grizzlies were listed under the Endangered Species Act.
Today, there are about 2,000 or more grizzly bears in the U.S. Their recovery has been so successful that the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has twice attempted to de-list grizzlies, which would loosen legal protections and
allow them to be hunted. Both efforts were overturned due to lawsuits from conservation groups. For now, grizzliesremain listed.
Obviously, if precautions (预防) aren’t taken, grizzlies can become troublesome, sometimes killing farm
animals or walking through yards in search of food. If people remove food and attractants from their yards and
campsites, grizzlies will typically pass by without trouble. Putting electric fencing around chicken houses and other
farm animal quarters is also highly effective at getting grizzlies away. “Our hope is to have a clean, attractant-free
place where bears can pass through without learning bad habits,” says James Jonkel, longtime biologist who
manages bears in and around Missoula.
32. How do Americans look at grizzlies?
A. They cause mixed feelings in people.
B. They should be kept in national parks.
C. They are of high scientific value.
D. They are a symbol of American culture.
33. What has helped the increase of the grizzly population?
.
A The European settlers’ behavior.
B. The expansion of bears’ range.
C. The protection by law since 1975.
D. The support of Native Americans.
34. What has stopped the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service from de-listing grizzlies?
A. The opposition of conservation groups.
B. The successful comeback of grizzlies.
C. The voice of the biologists.
D. The local farmers’ advocates.
35. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Food should be provided for grizzlies.
B. People can live in harmony with grizzlies.
C. A special path should be built for grizzlies.
D. Technology can be introduced to protect grizzlies.
Passage 7
【2023年北京卷】In recent years, researchers from diverse fields have agreed that short-termism is now a
significant problem in industrialised societies. The inability to engage with longer-term causes and consequencesleads to some of the world’s most serious problems: climate change, biodiversity collapse, and more. The historian
Francis Cole argues that the West has entered a period where “only the present exists, a present characterised at
once by the cruelty of the instant and by the boredom of an unending now”.
It has been proved that people have a bias (偏向) towards the present, focusing on loud attractions in the
moment at the expense of the health, well-being and financial stability of their future selves or community. In
business, this bias surfaces as short-sighted decisions. And on slow-burning problems like climate change, it
translates into the unwillingness to make small sacrifices (牺牲) today that could make a major difference
tomorrow. Instead, all that matters is next quarter’s profit, or satisfying some other near-term desires.
These biased perspectives cannot be blamed on one single cause. It is fair to say, though, that our
psychological biases play a major role. People’s hesitancy to delay satisfaction is the most obvious example, but
there are others.One of them is about how the most accessible information in the present affects decisions about the
future. For instance, you might hear someone say: “It’s cold this winter, so I needn’t worry about global
warming.”Another is that loud and urgent matters are given too much importance, making people ignore longer-
term trends that arguably matter more. This is when a pop star draws far more attention than, say, gradual
biodiversity decline.
As a psychologist once joked, if aliens (外星人) wanted to weaken humanity, they wouldn’t send ships; they
would invent climate change. Indeed, when it comes to environmental transformations, we can develop a form of
collective “poor memory”, and each new generation can believe the state of affairs they encounter is nothing out of
the ordinary. Older people today, for example, can remember a time with insect-covered car windscreens after long
drives. Children, on the other hand, have no idea that insect population has dropped dramatically.
28. The author quotes Francis Cole mainly to ________.
A. draw a comparison
B. introduce a topic
C. evaluate a statement
D. highlight a problem
29. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Climate change has been forgotten.
B. Lessons of history are highly valued.
C. The human mind is bad at noting slow change.
D. Humans are unwilling to admit their shortcomings.30. What does the author intend to tell us?
A. Far-sighted thinking matters to humans.
B. Humans tend to make long-term sacrifices.
C. Current policies facilitate future decision-making.
D. Bias towards the present helps reduce near-term desires.
Passage 8
,
【2023年北京卷】What is life? Like most great questions this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer.
The reason is simple: we know of just one type of life and it’s challenging to do science with a sample size of one.
The field of artificial life-called ALife for short — is the systematic attempt to spell out life’s fundamental
principles. Many of these practitioners, so-called ALifers, think that somehow making life is the surest way to
really understand what life is.
So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism,
such as declarations of the field’s doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith, a complexity scientist, is tired of such
complaints. Asking about “the point” of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely, he says. “The existence of
a living system is not about the use of anything.” Alan says. “Some people ask me, ‘So what’s the worth of artificial
life?’ Do you ever think, ‘What is the worth of your grandmother?’”
As much as many ALifers hate emphasizing their research’s applications, the attempts to create artificial life
could have practical payoffs. Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife’s cousin in that researchers in both
fields are enamored by a concept called open-ended evolution (演化). This is the capacity for a system to create
essentially endless complexity, to be a sort of “novelty generator”. The only system known to exhibit this is Earth’s
biosphere. If the field of ALife manages to reproduce life’s endless “creativity” in some virtual model, those same
principles could give rise to truly inventive machines.
Compared with the developments of Al, advances in ALife are harder to recognize. One reason is that ALife is
a field in which the central concept — life itself — is undefined. The lack of agreement among ALifers doesn’t
help either. The result is a diverse line of projects that each advance along their unique paths. For better or worse,
ALife mirrors the very subject it studies. Its muddled (混乱的) progression is a striking parallel (平行线) to the
evolutionary struggles that have shaped Earth biosphere.
Undefined and uncontrolled, ALife drives its followers to repurpose old ideas and generated novelty. It may
be, of course, that these characteristics aren’t in any way surprising or singular. They may apply universally to allacts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something：perhaps,
just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable.
31. Regarding Alan Smith’s defence of ALife, the author is .
A. supportive B. puzzled C. unconcerned D. doubtful
32. What does the word “enamored” underlined in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
A. Shocked. B. Protected. C. Attracted. D. Challenged.
33. What can we learn from this passage?
A. ALife holds the key to human future. B. ALife and AI share a common feature.
C. AI mirrors the developments of ALife. D. AI speeds up the process of human evolution.
34. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Life Is Undefined. Can AI Be a Way Out?
B. Life Evolves. Can AI Help ALife Evolve, Too?
C. Life Is Undefined. Can ALife Be Defined One Day?
D. Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ALife Evolve, Too?
Passage 9
【2023 年浙江 1 月卷】According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, the number of solar panels
installed(安装)has grown rapidly in the past decade, and it has to grow even faster to meet climate goals. But all of
that growth will take up a lot of space, and though more and more people accept the concept of solar energy, few
like large solar panels to be installed near them.
Solar developers want to put up panels as quickly and cheaply as possible, so they haven’t given much thought
to what they put under them. Often, they’ll end up filling the area with small stones and using chemicals to control
weeds. The result is that many communities, especially in farming regions, see solar farms as destroyers of the soil.
“Solar projects need to be good neighbors,” says Jordan Macknick, the head of the Innovative Site Preparation
and Impact Reductions on the Environment(InSPIRE)project. “They need to be protectors of the land and
contribute to the agricultural economy.” InSPIRE is investigating practical approaches to “low-impact” solar
development, which focuses on establishing and operating solar farms in a way that is kinder to the land. One of the
easiest low-impact solar strategies is providing habitat for pollinators(传粉昆虫).
Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate change have caused dramatic declines in pollinator populations over
the past couple of decades, which has damaged the U.S. agricultural economy. Over 28 states have passed laws
related to pollinator habitat protection and pesticide use. Conservation organizations put out pollinator-friendlinessguidelines for home gardens, businesses, schools, cities—and now there are guidelines for solar farms.
Over the past few years, many solar farm developers have transformed the space under their solar panels into a
shelter for various kinds of pollinators, resulting in soil improvement and carbon reduction. “These pollinator-
friendly solar farms can have a valuable impact on everything that’s going on in the landscape,” says Macknick.
32．What do solar developers often ignore?
A．The decline in the demand for solar energy.
B．The negative impact of installing solar panels.
C．The rising labor cost of building solar farms.
D．The most recent advances in solar technology.
33．What does InSPIRE aim to do?
A．Improve the productivity of local farms.
B．Invent new methods for controlling weeds.
C．Make solar projects environmentally friendly.
D．Promote the use of solar energy in rural areas.
34．What is the purpose of the laws mentioned in paragraph 4?
A．To conserve pollinators. B．To restrict solar development.
C．To diversify the economy. D．To ensure the supply of energy.
35．Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A．Pollinators: To Leave or to Stay B．Solar Energy: Hope for the Future
C．InSPIRE: A Leader in Agriculture D．Solar Farms: A New Development
Passage 10
2022年阅读理解说明文
Passage 1
【2022年新高考全国Ⅰ 卷】Like most of us, I try to be mindful of food that goes to waste. The arugula (芝
麻菜)was to make a nice green salad, rounding out a roast chicken dinner. But I ended up working late. Then
friends called with a dinner invitation. I stuck the chicken in the freezer. But as days passed, the arugula went bad.
Even worse, I had unthinkingly bought way too much; I could have made six salads with what I threw out.
In a world where nearly 800 million people a year go hungry, “food waste goes against the moral grain,” asElizabeth Royte writes in this month’s cover story. It’s jaw-dropping how much perfectly good food is thrown away
— from “ugly” (but quite eatable) vegetables rejected by grocers to large amounts of uneaten dishes thrown into
restaurant garbage cans.
Producing food that no one eats wastes the water, fuel, and other resources used to grow it. That makes food
waste an environmental problem. In fact, Royte writes, “if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest
producer of greenhouse gases in the world.”
If that’s hard to understand, let’s keep it as simple as the arugula at the back of my refrigerator. Mike Curtin
sees my arugula story all the time — but for him, it's more like 12 bones of donated strawberries nearing their last
days. Curtin is CEO of DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C., which recovers food and turns it into healthy
meals. Last year it recovered more than 807,500 pounds of food by taking donations and collecting blemished (有
瑕疵的) produce that otherwise would have rotted in fields. And the strawberries? Volunteers will wash, cut, and
freeze or dry them for use in meals down the road.
,
Such methods seem obvious yet so often we just don’t think. “Everyone can play a part in reducing waste,
whether by not purchasing more food than necessary in your weekly shopping or by asking restaurants to not
include the side dish you won’t eat,” Curtin says.
4. What does the author want to show by telling the arugula story?
A. We pay little attention to food waste. B. We waste food unintentionally at times.
C. We waste more vegetables than meat. D. We have good reasons for wasting food.
5. What is a consequence of food waste according to the test?
A. Moral decline. B. Environmental harm.
C. Energy shortage. D. Worldwide starvation.
6. What does Curtin’s company do?
A. It produces kitchen equipment. B. It turns rotten arugula into clean fuel.
C. It helps local farmers grow fruits. D. It makes meals out of unwanted food.
7. What does Curtin suggest people do?
A. Buy only what is needed. B. Reduce food consumption.
.
C Go shopping once a week. D. Eat in restaurants less often.
Passage 2
C
【2022年新高考全国Ⅰ 卷】The elderly residents (居民) in care homes in London are being given hens tolook after to stop them feeling lonely.
The project was dreamed up by a local charity (慈善组织) to reduce loneliness and improve elderly people’s
wellbeing, It is also being used to help patients suffering dementia, a serious illness of the mind. Staff in care homes
have reported a reduction in the use of medicine where hens are in use.
Among those taking part in the project is 80-year-old Ruth Xavier. She said: “I used to keep hens when I was
younger and had to prepare their breakfast each morning before I went to school. ”
“I like the project a lot. I am down there in my wheelchair in the morning letting the hens out and down there
again at night to see they’ve gone to bed.”
“It’s good to have a different focus. People have been bringing their children in to see the hens and residents
come and sit outside to watch them. I’m enjoying the creative activities, and it feels great to have done something
useful.”
There are now 700 elderly people looking after hens in 20 care homes in the North East, and the charity has
been given financial support to roll it out countrywide.
Wendy Wilson, extra care manager at 60 Penfold Street, one of the first to embark on the project, said:
“Residents really welcome the idea of the project and the creative sessions. We are looking forward to the benefits
and fun the project can bring to people here.”
Lynn Lewis, director of Notting Hill Pathways, said: “We are happy to be taking part in the project. It will
really help connect our residents through a shared interest and creative activities.”
8. What is the purpose of the project?
A. To ensure harmony in care homes. B. To provide part-time jobs for the aged.
C. To raise money for medical research. D. To promote the elderly people’s welfare.
9. How has the project affected Ruth Xavier?
A. She has learned new life skills. B. She has gained a sense of achievement.
C. She has recovered her memory. D. She has developed a strong personality.
10. What do the underlined words “embark on” mean in paragraph 7?
A. Improve. B. Oppose. C. Begin. D. Evaluate.
11. What can we learn about the project from the last two paragraphs?
A. It is well received. B. It needs to be more creative.
C. It is highly profitable. D. It takes ages to see the results.
Passage 3【2022年新高考全国Ⅰ 卷】Human speech contains more than 2,000 different sounds, from the common
“m” and “a” to the rare clicks of some southern African languages. But why are certain sounds more common than
others? A ground-breaking, five-year study shows that diet-related changes in human bite led to new speech sounds
that are now found in half the world’s languages.
More than 30 years ago, the scholar Charles Hockett noted that speech sounds called labiodentals, such as “f”
and “v”, were more common in the languages of societies that ate softer foods. Now a team of researchers led by
Damián Blasi at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has found how and why this trend arose.
They discovered that the upper and lower front teeth of ancient human adults were aligned (对齐), making it
hard to produce labiodentals, which are formed by touching the lower lip to the upper teeth. Later, our jaws
changed to an overbite structure (结构), making it easier to produce such sounds.
The team showed that this change in bite was connected with the development of agriculture in the Neolithic
period. Food became easier to chew at this point. The jawbone didn’t have to do as much work and so didn’t grow
to be so large.
Analyses of a language database also confirmed that there was a global change in the sound of world
languages after the Neolithic age, with the use of “f” and “v” increasing remarkably during the last few thousand
years. These sounds are still not found in the languages of many hunter-gatherer people today.
This research overturns the popular view that all human speech sounds were present when human beings
evolved around 300,000 years ago. ”The set of speech sounds we use has not necessarily remained stable since the
appearance of human beings, but rather the huge variety of speech sounds that we find today is the product of a
complex interplay of things like biological change and cultural evolution,“ said Steven Moran, a member of the
research team.
12. Which aspect of the human speech sound does Damián Blasi’s research focus on?
A. Its variety. B. Its distribution. C. Its quantity. D. Its development.
13. Why was it difficult for ancient human adults to produce labiodentals?
A. They had fewer upper teeth than lower teeth.
B. They could not open and close their lips easily.
C. Their jaws were not conveniently structured.
.
D Their lower front teeth were not large enough.
14. What is paragraph 5 mainly about?
A. Supporting evidence for the research results.B. Potential application of the research findings.
C. A further explanation of the research methods.
D. A reasonable doubt about the research process.
15. What does Steven Moran say about the set of human speech sounds?
A. It is key to effective communication. B. It contributes much to cultural diversity.
C. It is a complex and dynamic system. D. It drives the evolution of human beings.
Passage 4
【2022年新高考全国Ⅱ卷】Over the last seven years, most states have banned texting by drivers, and
public service campaigns have tried a wide range of methods to persuade people to put down their phones when
they are behind the wheel.
Yet the problem, by just about any measure, appears to be getting worse. Americans are still texting while
driving, as well as using social networks and taking photos. Road accidents, which had fallen for years, are now
rising sharply.
That is partly because people are driving more, but Mark Rosekind, the chief of the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, said distracted（分心）driving was "only increasing, unfortunately. "
"Big change requires big ideas. " he said in a speech last month, referring broadly to the need to improve
road safety. So to try to change a distinctly modern behavior, lawmakers and public health experts are reaching
back to an old approach: They want to treat distracted driving like drunk driving.
An idea from lawmakers in New York is to give police officers a new device called the Textalyzer. It would work
like this: An officer arriving at the scene of a crash could ask for the phones of the drivers and use the Textalyzer to
check in the operating system for recent activity. The technology could determine whether a driver had just
texted, emailed or done anything else that is not allowed under New York's hands-free driving laws.
"We need something on the books that can change people's behavior,” said Félix W. Ortiz, who pushed for
the state's 2001 ban on hand-held devices by drivers. If the Textalyzer bill becomes law, he said, "people are going
to be more afraid to put their hands on the cell phone. "
8. Which of the following best describes the ban on drivers' texting in the US?
A. Ineffective. B. Unnecessary.
C. Inconsistent. D. Unfair.
9. What can the Textalyzer help a police officer find out?A. Where a driver came from. B. Whether a driver used their phone.
C. How fast a driver was going. D. When a driver arrived at the scene.
10. What does the underlined word "something" in the last paragraph refer to?
A. Advice. B. Data. C. Tests. D. Laws.
11. What is a suitable title for the text?
A. To Drive or Not to Drive? Think Before You Start
B. Texting and Driving? Watch Out for the Textalyzer
C. New York Banning Hand-Held Devices by Drivers.
D. The Next Generation Cell Phone: The Textalyzer-
Passage 5
【2022年全国乙卷】Can a small group of drones(无人机)guarantee the safety and reliability of railways
and, at the same time, help railway operators save billions of euros each year? That is the very likely future of
applying today’s “eyes in the sky” technology to making sure that the millions of kilometres of rail tracks and
infrastructure(基础设施)worldwide are safe for trains on a 24/7 basis.
Drones are already being used to examine high-tension electrical lines. They could do precisely the same thing
to inspect railway lines and other vital aspects of rail infrastructure such as the correct position of railway tracks
and switching points. The more regularly they can be inspected, the more railway safety, reliability and on-time
performance will be improved. Costs would be cut and operations would be more efficient(高效)across the board.
That includes huge savings in maintenance costs and better protection of railway personnel safety. It is
calculated that European railways alone spend approximately 20 billion euros a year on maintenance, including
sending maintenance staff, often at night, to inspect and repair the rail infrastructure. That can be dangerous work
that could be avoided with drones assisting the crews’ efforts.
By using the latest technologies, drones could also start providing higher-value services for railways, detecting
faults in the rail or switches, before they can cause any safety problems. To perform these tasks, drones for rail
don’t need to be flying overhead. Engineers are now working on a new concept: the rail drones of the future. They
will be moving on the track ahead of the train, and programmed to run autonomously. Very small drones with
advanced sensors and AI and travelling ahead of the train could guide it like a co-pilot. With their ability to see
ahead, they could signal any problem, so that fast-moving trains would be able to react in time.8. What makes the application of drones to rail lines possible?
A. The use of drones in checking on power lines. B. Drones’ ability to work at high altitudes.
C. The reduction of cost in designing drones. D. Drones’ reliable performance in remote areas.
9. What does “maintenance” underlined in paragraph 3 refer to?
A. Personnel safety. B. Assistance from drones.
C. Inspection and repair. D. Construction of infrastructure.
10. What function is expected of the rail drones?
.
A To provide early warning. B. To make trains run automatically.
C. To earn profits for the crews. D. To accelerate transportation.
11. Which is the most suitable title for the text?
A. What Faults Can Be Detected with Drones
B. How Production of Drones Can Be Expanded
C. What Difficulty Drone Development Will Face
.
D How Drones Will Change the Future of Railways
Passage 6
D
【2022年全国乙卷】The Government's sugar tax on soft drinks has brought in half as much money as
Ministers first predicted it would generate, the first official data on the policy has shown.
First announced in April, 2016, the tax which applies to soft drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per
100ml, was introduced to help reduce childhood obesity（肥胖）. It is believed that today's children and teenagers
are consuming three times the recommended level of sugar, putting them at a higher risk of the disease.
Initially the sugar tax was expected to make £520m a year for the Treasury. However, data of the first six
months showed it would make less than half this amount. At present it is expected to generate £240m for the year
ending in April 2019, which will go to school sports.
It comes after more than half of soft drinks sold in shops have had their sugar levels cut by manufacturers（制
造商）so they can avoid paying the tax. Drinks now contain 45 million fewer kilos of sugar as a result of
manufacturers' efforts to avoid the charge, according to Treasury figures. Since April drinks companies have been
forced to pay between 18p and 24p for every litre of sugary drink they produce or import, depending on the sugar
content.
However, some high sugar brands, like Classic Coca Cola, have accepted the sugar tax and are refusing tochange for fear of upsetting consumers. Fruit juices, milk-based drinks and most alcoholic drinks are free of the tax,
as are small companies manufacturing fewer than 1m litres per year.
Today's figures, according to one government official, show the positive influence the sugar tax is having by
raising millions of pounds for sports facilities（设施）and healthier eating in schools. Helping the next generation
to have a healthy and active childhood is of great importance, and the industry is playing its part.
12. Why was the sugar tax introduced?
A. To collect money for schools. B. To improve the quality of drinks.
C. To protect children’s health. D. To encourage research in education.
13. How did some drinks companies respond to the sugar tax?
A. They turned to overseas markets. B. They raised the prices of their products.
C. They cut down on their production. D. They reduced their products’ sugar content.
14. From which of the following is the sugar tax collected?
A. Most alcoholic drinks. B. Milk-based drinks. C. Fruit juices. D. Classic Coke.
15. What can be inferred about the adoption of the sugar tax policy?
A. It is a short-sighted decision. B. It is a success story.
C. It benefits manufacturers. D. It upsets customers.
Passage 7
【2022年全国乙卷】Can a small group of drones(无人机)guarantee the safety and reliability of railways
and, at the same time, help railway operators save billions of euros each year? That is the very likely future of
applying today’s “eyes in the sky” technology to making sure that the millions of kilometres of rail tracks and
infrastructure(基础设施)worldwide are safe for trains on a 24/7 basis.
Drones are already being used to examine high-tension electrical lines. They could do precisely the same thing
to inspect railway lines and other vital aspects of rail infrastructure such as the correct position of railway tracks
and switching points. The more regularly they can be inspected, the more railway safety, reliability and on-time
performance will be improved. Costs would be cut and operations would be more efficient(高效)across the board.
That includes huge savings in maintenance costs and better protection of railway personnel safety. It is
calculated that European railways alone spend approximately 20 billion euros a year on maintenance, including
sending maintenance staff, often at night, to inspect and repair the rail infrastructure. That can be dangerous work
that could be avoided with drones assisting the crews’ efforts.By using the latest technologies, drones could also start providing higher-value services for railways, detecting
faults in the rail or switches, before they can cause any safety problems. To perform these tasks, drones for rail
don’t need to be flying overhead. Engineers are now working on a new concept: the rail drones of the future. They
will be moving on the track ahead of the train, and programmed to run autonomously. Very small drones with
advanced sensors and AI and travelling ahead of the train could guide it like a co-pilot. With their ability to see
ahead, they could signal any problem, so that fast-moving trains would be able to react in time.
8. What makes the application of drones to rail lines possible?
A. The use of drones in checking on power lines. B. Drones’ ability to work at high altitudes.
C. The reduction of cost in designing drones. D. Drones’ reliable performance in remote areas.
9. What does “maintenance” underlined in paragraph 3 refer to?
A. Personnel safety. B. Assistance from drones.
C. Inspection and repair. D. Construction of infrastructure.
10. What function is expected of the rail drones?
.
A To provide early warning. B. To make trains run automatically.
C. To earn profits for the crews. D. To accelerate transportation.
11. Which is the most suitable title for the text?
A. What Faults Can Be Detected with Drones
B. How Production of Drones Can Be Expanded
C. What Difficulty Drone Development Will Face
.
D How Drones Will Change the Future of Railways
Passage 8
D
【2022年全国乙卷】The Government's sugar tax on soft drinks has brought in half as much money as
Ministers first predicted it would generate, the first official data on the policy has shown.
First announced in April, 2016, the tax which applies to soft drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per
100ml, was introduced to help reduce childhood obesity（肥胖）. It is believed that today's children and teenagers
are consuming three times the recommended level of sugar, putting them at a higher risk of the disease.
Initially the sugar tax was expected to make £520m a year for the Treasury. However, data of the first six
months showed it would make less than half this amount. At present it is expected to generate £240m for the year
ending in April 2019, which will go to school sports.It comes after more than half of soft drinks sold in shops have had their sugar levels cut by manufacturers（制
造商）so they can avoid paying the tax. Drinks now contain 45 million fewer kilos of sugar as a result of
manufacturers' efforts to avoid the charge, according to Treasury figures. Since April drinks companies have been
forced to pay between 18p and 24p for every litre of sugary drink they produce or import, depending on the sugar
content.
However, some high sugar brands, like Classic Coca Cola, have accepted the sugar tax and are refusing to
change for fear of upsetting consumers. Fruit juices, milk-based drinks and most alcoholic drinks are free of the tax,
as are small companies manufacturing fewer than 1m litres per year.
Today's figures, according to one government official, show the positive influence the sugar tax is having by
raising millions of pounds for sports facilities（设施）and healthier eating in schools. Helping the next generation
to have a healthy and active childhood is of great importance, and the industry is playing its part.
12. Why was the sugar tax introduced?
A. To collect money for schools. B. To improve the quality of drinks.
C. To protect children’s health. D. To encourage research in education.
13. How did some drinks companies respond to the sugar tax?
A. They turned to overseas markets. B. They raised the prices of their products.
C. They cut down on their production. D. They reduced their products’ sugar content.
14. From which of the following is the sugar tax collected?
A. Most alcoholic drinks. B. Milk-based drinks. C. Fruit juices. D. Classic Coke.
15. What can be inferred about the adoption of the sugar tax policy?
A. It is a short-sighted decision. B. It is a success story.
C. It benefits manufacturers. D. It upsets customers.
Passage 9
【2022年全国甲卷】Goffin’s cockatoos, a kind of small parrot native to Australasia, have been shown to
have similar shape-recognition abilities to a human two-year-old. Though not known to use tools in the wild, the
birds have proved skilful at tool use while kept in the cage. In a recent experiment, cockatoos were presented with a
box with a nut inside it. The clear front of the box had a “keyhole” in a geometric shape, and the birds were given
five differently shaped “keys” to choose from. Inserting the correct “key” would let out the nut.
In humans, babies can put a round shape in a round hole from around one year of age, but it will be anotheryear before they are able to do the same with less symmetrical (对称的) shapes. This ability to recognize that a
shape will need to be turned in a specific direction before it will fit is called an “allocentric frame of reference”. In
the experiment, Goffin’s cockatoos were able to select the right tool for the job, in most cases, by visual recognition
alone. Where trial-and-error was used, the cockatoos did better than monkeys in similar tests. This indicates that
Goffin’s cockatoos do indeed possess an allocentric frame of reference when moving objects in space, similar to
two-year-old babies.
The next step, according to the researchers, is to try and work out whether the cockatoos rely entirely on visual
clues (线索), or also use a sense of touch in making their shape selections.
4. How did the cockatoos get the nut from the box in the experiment?
A. By following instructions. B. By using a tool.
C. By turning the box around. D. By removing the lid.
5. Which task can human one-year-olds most likely complete according to the text?
A. Using a key to unlock a door. B. Telling parrots from other birds.
C. Putting a ball into a round hole. D. Grouping toys of different shapes.
6. What does the follow-up test aim to find out about the cockatoos?
A. How far they are able to see. B. How they track moving objects.
C. Whether they are smarter than monkeys. D. Whether they use a sense of touch in the test.
7. Which can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Cockatoos: Quick Error Checkers B. Cockatoos: Independent Learners
C. Cockatoos: Clever Signal-Readers D. Cockatoos: Skilful Shape-Sorters
Passage 10
C
【2022年全国甲卷】As Ginni Bazlinton reached Antarctica, she found herself greeted by a group of little
Gentoo penguins(企鹅) longing to say hello. These gentle, lovely gatekeepers welcomed her and kick-started what
was to be a trip Ginni would never forget.
Ever since her childhood, Ginni, now 71, has had a deep love for travel. Throughout her career(职业) as a
professional dancer, she toured in the UK, but always longed to explore further When she retired from dancing and
her sons eventually flew the nest, she decided it was time to take the plunge.
After taking a degree at Chichester University in Related Arts, Ginni began to travel the world, eventuallygetting work teaching English in Japan and Chile. And it was in Chile she discovered she could get last-minute
cheap deals on ships going to Antarctica from the islands off Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the South
American mainland. “I just decided wanted to go,” she says. “I had no idea about what I’d find there and I wasn’t
nervous, I just wanted to do it. And I wanted to do it alone as I always prefer it that way.”
In March 2008, Ginni boarded a ship with 48 passengers she’d never met before, to begin the journey towards
Antarctica. “From seeing the wildlife to witnessing sunrises, the whole experience was amazing. Antarctica left an
impression on me that no other place has,” Ginni says. “I remember the first time I saw a humpback whale; it just
rose out of the water like some prehistoric creature and I thought it was smiling at us. You could still hear the
operatic sounds it was making underwater.”
The realization that this is a precious land, to be respected by humans, was one of the biggest things that hit
home to Ginni.
8. Which of the following best explains “take the plunge” underlined in paragraph 2?
A. Try challenging things. B. Take a degree.
C. Bring back lost memories. D. Stick to a promise.
9. What made Ginni decide on the trip to Antarctica?
A. Lovely penguins. B. Beautiful scenery.
C. A discount fare. D. A friend’s invitation.
10. What does Ginni think about Antarctica after the journey?
A. It could be a home for her. B. It should be easily accessible.
C. It should be well preserved. D. It needs to be fully introduced.
.
11 What is the text mainly about?
A. A childhood dream. B. An unforgettable experience.
C. Sailing around the world. D. Meeting animals in Antarctica.
Passage 11
【2022年北京卷】“What would the world be if there were no hunger?” It’s a question that Professor Crystal
would ask her students. They found it hard to answer, she wrote later, because imagining something that isn’t part
of real life—and learning how to make it real—is a rare skill. It is taught to artists and engineers, but much less
often to scientists. Crystal set out to change that, and helped to create a global movement. The result—an approach
known as systems thinking—is now seen as essential in meeting global challenges.Systems thinking is crucial to achieving targets such as zero hunger and better nutrition because it requires
considering the way in which food is produced, processed, delivered and consumed, and looking at how those
things intersect (交叉 ) with human health, the environment, economics and society. According to systems
thinking, changing the food system—or any other network—requires three things to happen. First, researchers need
to identify all the players in that system; second, they must work out how they relate to each other; and third, they
need to understand and quantify the impact of those relationships on each other and on those outside the system.
Take nutrition. In the latest UN report on global food security, the number of undernourished (营养不良
)people in the world has been rising, despite great advances in nutrition science. Tracking of 150 biochemicals in
food has been important in revealing the relationships between calories, sugar, fat and the occurrence of common
diseases. But using machine learning and artificial intelligence, some scientists propose that human diets consist of
at least 26,000 biochemicals—and that the vast majority are not known.This shows that we have some way to travel
before achieving the first objective of systems t hinking - which,in this example, is to identify more constituent
parts of the nutrition system.
A systems approach to creating change is also built on the assumption that everyone in the system has equal
power. But as some researchers find, the food system is not an equal one. A good way to redress (修正 ) such
power imbalance is for more universities to do what Crystal did and teach students how to think using a systems
approach.
More researchers, policymakers and representatives from the food industry must learn to look beyond their
direct lines of responsibility and adopt a systems approach. Crystal knew that visions alone don’t produce results,
but concluded that “we’ll never produce results that we can’t envision”.
28. The author uses the question underlined in Paragraph 1 to ________.
A. illustrate an argument B. highlight an opinion
C. introduce the topic D. predict the ending
29. What can be inferred about the field of nutrition?
A. The first objective of systems thinking hasn’t been achieved.
B. The relationships among players have been clarified.
C. Machine learning can solve the nutrition problem.
D. The impact of nutrition cannot be quantified.
30. As for systems thinking, which would the author agree with?
A. It may be used to justify power imbalance.B. It can be applied to tackle challenges.
C. It helps to prove why hunger exists.
D. It goes beyond human imagination.
Passage 12
【2022 年浙江卷 6 月】All around the world, there are small changes taking place. At the side of roads,
behind school playgrounds and on all kinds of unloved pieces of land across towns and cities, tiny forests barely the
size of tennis courts are appearing, making a great place for both wildlife and local people who may not normally
have easy access to nature. This is the Tiny Forest movement, which aims to prove that the best things in life really
do come in small packages.
Tiny forests were first pioneered as a concept in the 1970s by Dr Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist. As he went
on to share his concept with others, the idea soon took off in India and other countries before eventually reaching
Europe, where it became popular in places like France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
So how does it work? Louise Hartley, who is leading the Tiny Forest project in the UK, explains that the
process begins by identifying areas in which a tiny forest could have the biggest influence. “We focus on urban
areas where access to nature is often not that easy”, says Hartley. “We see it as a chance to try to break the growing
disconnect between people and nature.”
In a Tiny Forest, there must be a minimum of 600 trees, and the trees are planted much closer together and
without chemicals or fertilisers (肥料). There are usually around 30 different kinds of all-native tree species (物种).
This variety, coupled with the fact that tiny forests grow up to ten times faster than standard forests, means they
attract a rich abundance of wildlife. It’s also thought that these places could help reduce the risk of flooding,
remove carbon from the atmosphere and fight climate change, as well as improving the mental health of those
living locally.
4. What do we know about the Tiny Forest movement?
A. It has achieved notable success. B. It is led by number of schools.
C. It began in Europe in the 1970s. D. It will spread to the countryside.
5. What is the purpose of the project led by Hartley in the UK?
A. To promote eco-tourism. B. To improve forestry research.
C. To popularise gardening. D. To get people close to nature.
6. What is special about the trees in a Tiny Forest?A. They are small in size. B. They are thickly planted.
C. They are foreign species. D. They are heavily fertilised.
Passage 13
C
【2022 年浙江卷 6 月】Many people believe that working to the maximum is the secret to success, but
research has found that moderation(适度) also gets results on the job.
In a study led by Ellen Langer of Harvard University, researchers asked people to translate sentences into a
new a made-up language. Subjects who practiced the language moderately beforehand made fewer errors than those
who practiced extensively or not at all. High levels of knowledge can make people too attached to traditional ways
of viewing problems across fields the arts, sciences, and politics. High conscientiousness is related to lower job
performance, especially in simple jobs where it doesn’t pay to be a perfectionist.
How long we stay on the clock and how we spend that time are under careful examination in many
workplaces. The young banker who eats lunch at his desk is probably seen as a go-getter, while his colleagues who
chat over a relaxed conference-room meal get dirty looks from the corner office. “People from cultures that value
relationships more than ours does are shocked by the thought of eating alone in front of a computer”, says Art
Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. Social interaction has been shown to lift
mood(情绪) and get people thinking in new directions and in ways that could help improve any post-lunch effort.
Markman also promotes off-task time. “Part of being a good thinker is experiencing things that are seemingly
unrelated to what you are working on at the moment but give you fresh ideas about your work,” he says. “Also,
there is a lot of research showing that a positive mood leads to higher levels of productivity and creativity. So, when
people do things to increase their life satisfaction, they also make themselves more effective at work.”
7. What does Ellen Langer’s study show?
A. It is worthwhile to be a perfectionist B. Translation makes people knowledgeable.
C. Simpler jobs require greater caution. D. Moderate effort produces the best result.
8. The underlined word “go-getter” in paragraph 3 refers to someone Who_______.
A. is good at handling pressure B. works hard to become successful
C. a has a natural talent for his job. D. gets on well with his co-workers
9. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. A good thinker is able to inspire other people.B. Experience unrelated to your job is useless.
C. A cheerful mood helps make a creative mind.
D. Focusing on what you do raises productivity.
10. What does the text seem to advocate?
A. Middle-of-the-road work habits. B. Balance between work and family.
C. Long-standing cultural traditions. D. Harmony in the work environment.
Passage 14
【2022 年浙江卷 1 月】 The United States rose to global power on the strength of its technology, and the
lifeblood that technology has long been electricity. By providing long-distance communication and energy,
electricity created the modem world. Yet properly understood, the age of electricity is merely the second stage in
the age of steam, which began a century earlier.
"It is curious that no one has put together a history of both the steam and electric revolutions.*' writes Maury
Klein in his book The Power Makers, Steam, Electricity, and the Men Invented Modem America. Klein, a noted
historian of technology, spins a narrative so lively that at times it reads like a novel.
The story begins in the last years of the 18th century in Scotland, where Watt perfected "the machine that
changed the world*'. Klein writes, "America did not invent the steam engine, but once they grasped its passwords
they put it to more uses than anyone else."
Meanwhile, over the course of 19th century, electricity went from mere curiosity to a basic necessity. Morse
invented a code for sending messages over an electromagnetic circuit. Bell then gave the telegraph a voice. Edison
perfected an incandescent bulls that brought electric light into the American home.
Most importantly, Edison realized that success depended on mass electrification, which he showed in New
York City. With help from Tesla, Westinghouse's firm developed a system using alternating current, which soon
became the major forms of power delivery.
To frame his story, Klein creates the character of Ned, a fictional witness to the progress brought about by the
steams and electric revolutions in America during one man's lifetime. It's a technique that helps turn a long
narrative into an interesting one.
4. What is Klein's understanding of the age of electricity?
A. It is closely linked to the steam age.
B. It began earlier than proper thought.C. It is a little-studied period of history.
D. It will come to an end sooner or later.
5. What can be inferred about Ned?
A. He was born in New York City. B. He wrote many increasing stories,
C. He created an electricity company. D. He lived mainly in the 19th century.
6. What is the text?
A. A biography. B. A book review. C. A short story. D. A science report.
Passage 15
C
【2022年浙江卷1月】 The benefits of regular exercise are well documented but there ?s a new bonus to
add to the ever-growing list. New researchers found that middle-aged women who were physically fit could be
nearly 90 percent less likely to develop dementia in later life, and as they did, it came on a decade later than less
sporty women.
Lead researcher Dr. Helena Horder, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said : "These findings are
exciting because ifs possible that improving people's cardiovascular （'ll、血管 ）fitness in middle age could
delay or even prevent them from developing dementia. ”
For the study, 191 women with an average age of 50 took a bicycle exercise test until they were exhausted to
measure their peak （最大值的） cardiovascular capacity. The average peak workload was measured at 103
watts.
A total of 40 women met the criteria for a high fitness level, or 120 watts or higher. A total of 92 women were
in the medium fitness category; and 59 women were in the low fitness category, defined as a peak workload of 80
watts or less, or having their exercise tests stopped because of high blood pressure, chest pain or other
cardiovascular problems.
These women were then tested for dementia six times over the following four decades. During that time, 44 of
the women developed dementia. Five percent of the highly fit women developed dementia, compared to 25 percent
of the women with medium fitness and 32 percent of the women with low fitness.
"However, this study does not show cause and effect between cardiovascular fitness and dementia, it only
shows an association. More research is needed to see if improved fitness could have a positive effect on the risk of
dementia and also to look at when during a lifetime a high fitness level is most important. " She also admitted that arelatively small number of women were studied, all of whom were form Sweden, so the results might not be
applicable to other groups.
7. What is on the ever-growing list mentioned in the first paragraph?
A. Positive effects of doing exercises.
B. Exercises suitable for the middle-aged.
C. Experimental studies on diseases.
D. Advantages of sporty woman over man
8. Why did the researchers ask the woman to do bicycle exercise?
A. To predict their maximum heart rate.
B. To assess their cardiovascular capacity
C. To change their habits of working out
D. To detect their potential health problems
9. What do we know about Dr Horder's study?
A. It aimed to find a cure for dementia.
B. Data collection was a lengthy process.
C. Some participants withdrew from it.
D. The results were far from satisfactory.
10. Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A. More Women Are Exercising to Prevent Dementia
B. Middle-Aged Women Need to Do More Exercise
C. Fit Women Are Less Likely to Develop Dementia
D. Biking Improves Women*s Cardiovascular Fitness
Passage 16
【2022 年浙江卷 6 月】All around the world, there are small changes taking place. At the side of roads,
behind school playgrounds and on all kinds of unloved pieces of land across towns and cities, tiny forests barely the
size of tennis courts are appearing, making a great place for both wildlife and local people who may not normally
have easy access to nature. This is the Tiny Forest movement, which aims to prove that the best things in life really
do come in small packages.
Tiny forests were first pioneered as a concept in the 1970s by Dr Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist. As he went
on to share his concept with others, the idea soon took off in India and other countries before eventually reachingEurope, where it became popular in places like France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
So how does it work? Louise Hartley, who is leading the Tiny Forest project in the UK, explains that the
process begins by identifying areas in which a tiny forest could have the biggest influence. “We focus on urban
areas where access to nature is often not that easy”, says Hartley. “We see it as a chance to try to break the growing
disconnect between people and nature.”
In a Tiny Forest, there must be a minimum of 600 trees, and the trees are planted much closer together and
without chemicals or fertilisers (肥料). There are usually around 30 different kinds of all-native tree species (物种).
This variety, coupled with the fact that tiny forests grow up to ten times faster than standard forests, means they
attract a rich abundance of wildlife. It’s also thought that these places could help reduce the risk of flooding,
remove carbon from the atmosphere and fight climate change, as well as improving the mental health of those
living locally.
4. What do we know about the Tiny Forest movement?
A. It has achieved notable success. B. It is led by number of schools.
C. It began in Europe in the 1970s. D. It will spread to the countryside.
5. What is the purpose of the project led by Hartley in the UK?
A. To promote eco-tourism. B. To improve forestry research.
C. To popularise gardening. D. To get people close to nature.
6. What is special about the trees in a Tiny Forest?
A. They are small in size. B. They are thickly planted.
C. They are foreign species. D. They are heavily fertilised.
Passage 17
C
【2022 年浙江卷 6 月】Many people believe that working to the maximum is the secret to success, but
research has found that moderation(适度) also gets results on the job.
In a study led by Ellen Langer of Harvard University, researchers asked people to translate sentences into a
new a made-up language. Subjects who practiced the language moderately beforehand made fewer errors than those
who practiced extensively or not at all. High levels of knowledge can make people too attached to traditional ways
of viewing problems across fields the arts, sciences, and politics. High conscientiousness is related to lower job
performance, especially in simple jobs where it doesn’t pay to be a perfectionist.How long we stay on the clock and how we spend that time are under careful examination in many
workplaces. The young banker who eats lunch at his desk is probably seen as a go-getter, while his colleagues who
chat over a relaxed conference-room meal get dirty looks from the corner office. “People from cultures that value
relationships more than ours does are shocked by the thought of eating alone in front of a computer”, says Art
Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. Social interaction has been shown to lift
mood(情绪) and get people thinking in new directions and in ways that could help improve any post-lunch effort.
Markman also promotes off-task time. “Part of being a good thinker is experiencing things that are seemingly
unrelated to what you are working on at the moment but give you fresh ideas about your work,” he says. “Also,
there is a lot of research showing that a positive mood leads to higher levels of productivity and creativity. So, when
people do things to increase their life satisfaction, they also make themselves more effective at work.”
7. What does Ellen Langer’s study show?
A. It is worthwhile to be a perfectionist B. Translation makes people knowledgeable.
C. Simpler jobs require greater caution. D. Moderate effort produces the best result.
8. The underlined word “go-getter” in paragraph 3 refers to someone Who_______.
A. is good at handling pressure B. works hard to become successful
C. a has a natural talent for his job. D. gets on well with his co-workers
9. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. A good thinker is able to inspire other people.
B. Experience unrelated to your job is useless.
C. A cheerful mood helps make a creative mind.
D. Focusing on what you do raises productivity.
10. What does the text seem to advocate?
A. Middle-of-the-road work habits. B. Balance between work and family.
C. Long-standing cultural traditions. D. Harmony in the work environment.
Passage 18
【2022年天津卷第二次】Is it true that our brain alone is responsible fo human cognition(认知)? What about
our body? Is it possible for thought and behavior to originate from somewhere other than our brain? Psychologists
who study Embodied Cognition(EC) ask similar questions. The EC theory suggests our body is also responsible for
thinking or problem-solving. More precisely, the mind shapes the body and the body shapes the mind in equal
measure.If you think about it for a moment, it makes total sense. When you smell something good or hear amusing
sounds, certain emotions are awakened. Think about how newborns use their senses to understand the world around
them. They don’t have emotions so much as needs—they don’t feel sad, they’re just hungry and need food. Even
unborn babies can feel their mothers’ heartbeats and this has a calming effect. In the real world，they cry when
they’re cold and then get hugged. That way, they start to as-sociate being warm with being loved.
Understandably, theorists have been arguing for years and still disagree on whether the brain is the nerve
centre that operates the rest of the body. Older Western philosophers and mainstream language researchers believe
this is fact, while EC theorises that the brain and body are working together as an organic supercomputer,
processing everything and forming your reactions.
Further studies have backed up the mind-body interaction. In one ex-periment, test subjects(实验对象) were
asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They all made warm evaluations when their
fingertips perceived warmth rather than coolness. And it works the other way too; in another study, subjects’
fingertip temperatures were measured after being“included” in or “rejected” from a group task. Those who were
included felt physically warmer.
For further proof, we can look at the metaphors(比喻说法) that we use without even thinking. A kind and
sympathetic person is frequently referred to as one with a soft heart and someone who is very strong and calm in
difficult situations is often described as solid as a rock. And this kind of metaphorical use is common across
languages.
Now that you have the knowledge of mind-body interaction, why not use it? If you’re having a bad day,a
warm cup of tea will give you a flash of pleasure. If you know you’re physically cold, warm up before making any
interpersonal decisions.
46. According to the author, the significance of the EC theory lies in ________.
A. facilitating our understanding of the origin of psychology
B. revealing the major role of the mind in human cognition
C. offering a clearer picture of the shape of human brain
D. bringing us closer to the truth in human cognition
47. Where does the new borns’ understanding of their surroundings start from?
A. Their personal looks.
B. Their mental needs.
C. Their inner emotions.D. Their physical feelings.
48. The experiments mentioned in Paragraph 4 further prove________.
A. environment impacts how we judge others
B. how body temperature is related to health
C. the mind and the body influence each other
D. how humans interact with their surroundings
49. What does the author intend to prove by citing the metaphors in Paragraph 5?
A. Human speech is alive with metaphors.
B. Human senses have effects on thinking.
C. Human language is shaped by visual images.
D. Human emotions are often compared to natural materials.
50. What is the author’s purpose in writing the last paragraph?
A. To share with the reader ways to release their emotions.
B. To guide the reader onto the path to career success.
C. To encourage the reader to put EC into practice.
D. To deepen the reader’s understanding of EC.
2021年阅读理解说明文
Passage1
【2021年新高考全国Ⅰ 卷】When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the
skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these
precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few
decades to decimate a large part of these resources. Millions of waterfowl ( 水 禽 ) were killed at the hands of
market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and
house the ever-increasing populations, greatly reducing waterfowl habitat.
In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation
took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory ( 迁徙的) waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their
survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal
Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from
Des Moines, lowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of
Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources.About 98 cents of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to
purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures
,
this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934 better than half a billion dollars
has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp
Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated.
28. What was a cause of the waterfowl population decline in North America?
A. Loss of wetlands. B. Popularity of water sports.
C. Pollution of rivers. D. Arrival of other wild animals.
29. What does the underlined word “decimate” mean in the first paragraph?
A. Acquire. B. Export.
C. Destroy. D. Distribute.
30. What is a direct result of the Act passed in 1934?
A. The stamp price has gone down. B. The migratory birds have flown away.
C. The hunters have stopped hunting. D. The government has collected money.
31. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?
A. The Federal Duck Stamp Story B. The National Wildlife Refuge System
C. The Benefits of Saving Waterfowl D. The History of Migratory Bird Hunting
Passage2
D
【2021年新高考全国Ⅰ 卷】 Popularization has in some cases changed the original meaning of emotional
(情感的) intellingence. Many people now misunderstand emotional intelligence as almost everything desirable in a
person's makeup that cannot be measured by an IQ test, such as character, motivation, confidence, mental stability,
optimism and “people skills.” Research has shown that emotional skills may contribute to some of these qualities,
but most of them move far beyond skill-based emotional intelligence.
We prefer to describe emotional intelligence as a specific set of skills that can be used for either good or bad
purposes. The ability to accurately understand how others are feeling may be used by a doctor to find how best to
help her patients, while a cheater might use it to control potential victims. Being emotionally intelligent does not
necessarily make one a moral person.
Although popular beliefs regarding emotional intelligence run far ahead of what research can reasonably
support, the overall effects of the publicity have been more beneficial than harmful. The most positive aspect of thispopularization is a new and much needed emphasis (重视) on emotion by employers, educators and others
interested in promoting social well-being. The popularization of emotional intelligence has helped both the public
and researchers re-evaluate the functionality of emotions and how they serve people adaptively in everyday life.
Although the continuing popular appeal of emotional intelligence is desirable, we hope that such attention will
excite a greater interest in the scientific and scholarly study of emotion. It is our hope that in coming decades,
advances in science will offer new perspectives (视角) from which to study how people manage their lives.
Emotional intelligence, with its focus on both head and heart, may serve to point us in the right direction.
32. What is a common misunderstanding of emotional intelligence?
A. It can be measured by an IQ test. B. It helps to exercise a person’s mind.
C. It includes a set of emotional skills. D. It refers to a person’s positive qualities.
33. Why does the author mention “doctor” and “cheater” in paragraph 2?
A. To explain a rule. B. To clarify a concept.
C. To present a fact. D. To make a prediction.
34. What is the author’s attitude to the popularization of emotional intelligence?
A. Favorable. B. Intolerant.
C. Doubtful. D. Unclear.
35. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about concerning emotional intelligence?
A. Its appeal to the public. B. Expectations for future studies.
C. Its practical application. D. Scientists with new perspectives.
Passage3
【2021年新高考全国Ⅱ 卷】An Australian professor is developing a robot to monitor the health of grazing
cattle, a development that could bring big changes to a profession that's relied largely on a low-tech approach for
decades but is facing a labor shortage.
Salah Sukkarieh, a professor at the University of Sydney, sees robots as necessary given how cattlemen are
aging. He is building a four-wheeled robot that will run on solar and electric power. It will use cameras and sensors
to monitor the animals. A computer system will analyze the video to determine whether a cow is sick. Radio tags
(标签) on the animals will measure temperature changes. The quality of grassland will be tracked by monitoring
the shape, color and texture (质地) of grass. That way, cattlemen will know whether they need to move their
cattle to another field for nutrition purposes.
Machines have largely taken over planting, watering and harvesting crops such as com and wheat, but themonitoring of cattle has gone through fewer changes.
For Texas cattleman Pete Bonds, it's increasingly difficult to find workers interested in watching cattle. But
Bonds doesn't believe a robot is right for the job. Years of experience in the industry - and failed attempts to use
technology - have convinced him that the best way to check cattle is with a man on a horse. Bonds, who bought his
first cattle almost 50 years ago, still has each of his cowboys inspect 300 or 400 cattle daily and look for signs that
an animal is getting sick.
Other cattlemen see more promise in robots. Michael Kelsey Paris, vice president of the Oklahoma
Cattlemen's Association, said a robot could be extremely useful given rising concerns about cattle theft. Cattle tend
to be kept in remote places and their value has risen, making them appealing targets.
12. What is a problem with the cattle-raising industry?
A. Soil pollution. B. Lack of workers.
C. Aging machines. D. Low profitability.
13. What will Sukkarieh's robot be able to do?
A. Monitor the quality of grass. B. Cure the diseased cattle.
C. Move cattle to another field. D. Predict weather changes.
14. Why does Pete Bonds still hire cowboys to watch cattle?
A. He wants to help them earn a living. B. He thinks men can do the job better.
C. He is inexperienced in using robots. D. He enjoys the traditional way of life.
15. How may robots help with cattle watching according to Michael Kelsey?
A. Increase the value of cattle. B. Bring down the cost of labor.
C. Make the job more appealing. D. Keep cattle from being stolen.
Passage4
【2021年全国甲卷】Port Lympne Reserve, which runs a breeding (繁育) programme, has welcomed the
arrival of a rare black rhino calf (犀牛幼崽). When the tiny creature arrived on January 31, she became the 40th
black rhino to be born at the reserve. And officials at Port Lympne were delighted with the new arrival, especially
as black rhinos are known for being difficult to breed in captivity (圈养).
Paul Beer, head of rhino section at Port Lympne, said: “Obviously we're all absolutely delighted to welcome
another calf to our black rhino family. She's healthy, strong and already eager to play and explore. Her mother,
Solio, is a first-time mum and she is doing a fantastic job. It's still a little too cold for them to go out into the open,but as soon as the weather warms up, I have no doubt that the little one will be out and about exploring and playing
every day.”
The adorable female calf is the second black rhino born this year at the reserve, but it is too early to tell if the
calves will make good candidates to be returned to protected areas of the wild. The first rhino to be born at Port
Lympne arrived on January 5 to first-time mother Kisima and weighed about 32kg. His mother, grandmother and
great grandmother were all born at the reserve and still live there.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, the global black rhino population has dropped as low as 5500, giving
the rhinos a “critically endangered” status.
4. Which of the following best describes the breeding programme?
A. Costly. B. Controversial. C. Ambitious. D. Successful.
5. What does Paul Beer say about the new-born rhino?
A. She loves staying with her mother. B. She dislikes outdoor activities.
C. She is in good condition D. She is sensitive to heat.
6. What similar experience do Solio and Kisima have?
A. They had their first born in January. B. They enjoyed exploring new places
C. They lived with their grandmothers. D. They were brought to the reserve young
7. What can be inferred about Porn Lympne Reserve?
A. The rhino section will be open to the public.
B. It aims to control the number of the animals.
C. It will continue to work with the World Wildlife Fund.
D. Some of its rhinos may be sent to the protected wild areas.
Passage5
【2021年全国乙卷】You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans — between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes
enter ocean ecosystems every year. But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist Benjamin Von
Wong wants you to know that it does. He builds massive sculptures out of plastic garbage, forcing viewers to re-
examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year, the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse,” a pair of 10-foot-tall plastic
waves, frozen mid-crash. Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several volunteer beach cleanups, the
sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled. Plastic straws are by no means the biggest source（来源）ofplastic pollution, but they’ve recently come under fire because most people don’t need them to drink with and,
because of their small size and weight, they cannot be recycled. Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork
likely came from a drink that someone used for only a few minutes. Once the drink is gone, the straw will take
centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018, Von Wong wanted to illustrate（说明） a specific statistic: Every 60 seconds, a
truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean. For this work, titled “Truckload of Plastic,” Von Wong and a group of
volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic, which were then tied together to look like they’d been
dumped（倾倒） from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic footprint.
28. What are Von Wong’s artworks intended for?
A. Beautifying the city he lives in. B. Introducing eco-friendly products.
C. Drawing public attention to plastic waste. D. Reducing garbage on the beach.
29. Why does the author discuss plastic straws in paragraph 3?
A. To show the difficulty of their recycling.
B. To explain why they are useful.
C. To voice his views on modern art.
D. To find a substitute for them.
30. What effect would “Truckload of Plastic” have on viewers?
A. Calming. B. Disturbing.
C. Refreshing. D. Challenging.
.
31 Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Artists’ Opinions on Plastic Safety
B. Media Interest in Contemporary Art
C. Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies
D. Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures
Passage6
【2021年全国乙卷】During an interview for one of my books, my interviewer said something I still think
about often. Annoyed by the level of distraction（干扰）in his open office, he said, “That’s why I have a
membership at the coworking space across the street — so I can focus”. His comment struck me as strange. After
all, coworking spaces also typically use an open office layout（布局）. But I recently came across a study thatshows why his approach works.
The researchers examined various levels of noise on participants as they completed tests of creative thinking.
They were randomly divided into four groups and exposed to various noise levels in the background, from total
silence to 50 decibels（分贝）, 70 decibels, and 85 decibels. The differences between most of the groups were
statistically insignificant; however, the participants in the 70 decibels group — those exposed to a level of noise
similar to background chatter in a coffee shop — significantly outperformed the other groups. Since the effects
were small, this may suggest that our creative thinking does not differ that much in response to total silence and 85
decibels of background noise.
But since the results at 70 decibels were significant, the study also suggests that the right level of background
noise — not too loud and not total silence — may actually improve one’s creative thinking ability. The right level
of background noise may interrupt our normal patterns of thinking just enough to allow our imaginations to wander,
without making it impossible to focus. This kind of “distracted focus” appears to be the best state for working on
creative tasks.
So why do so many of us hate our open offices? The problem may be that, in our offices, we can’t stop
ourselves from getting drawn into others’ conversations while we’re trying to focus. Indeed, the researchers found
that face-to-face interactions and conversations affect the creative process, and yet a coworking space or a coffee
shop provides a certain level of noise while also providing freedom from interruptions.
32. Why does the interviewer prefer a coworking space?
A. It helps him concentrate. B. It blocks out background noise.
C. It has a pleasant atmosphere. D. It encourages face-to-face interactions.
33. Which level of background noise may promote creative thinking ability?
A. Total silence. B. 50 decibels C. 70 decibels. D. 8 5 decibels.
34. What makes an open office unwelcome to many people?
A. Personal privacy unprotected. B. Limited working space.
C. Restrictions on group discussion. D. Constant interruptions.
35. What can we infer about the author from the text?
A. He’s a news reporter.
B. He’s an office manager.
C. He’s a professional designer.
D. He’s a published writer.Passage7
【2021年北京卷】Hundreds of scientists, writers and academics sounded a warning to humanity in an open
letter published last December: Policymakers and the rest of us must engage openly with the risk of global collapse.
Researchers in many areas have projected the widespread collapse as “a credible scenario(情景) this century”.
A survey of scientists found that extreme weather events, food insecurity, and freshwater shortages might
create global collapse. Of course, if you are a non-human species, collapse is well underway.
The call for public engagement with the unthinkable is especially germane in this moment of still-
uncontrolled pandemic and economic crises in the world's most technologically advanced nations. Not very long
ago, it was also unthinkable that a virus would shut down nations and that safety nets would be proven so
disastrously lacking in flexibility.
The international scholars’ warning letter doesn't say exactly what collapse will look like or when it might
happen. Collapseology, the study of collapse, is more concerned with identifying trends and with them the dangers
of everyday civilization. Among the signatories(签署者) of the warning was Bob Johnson, the originator of the
“ecological footprint” concept, which measures the total amount of environmental input needed to maintain a given
lifestyle. With the current footprint of humanity, “it seems that global collapse is certain to happen in some form,
possibly within a decade, certainly within this century,” Johnson said in an email.
“Only if we discuss the consequences of our biophysical limits,” the December warning letter says, “can we
have the hope to reduce their speed, severity and harm”. And yet messengers of the coming disturbance are likely to
be ignored. We all want to hope things will turn out fine. As a poet wrote,
Man is a victim of dope(麻醉品)
In the incurable form of hope.
The hundreds of scholars who signed the letter are intent(执着) on quieting hope that ignores preparedness.
“Let's look directly into the issue of collapse,” they say, “and deal with the terrible possibilities of what we see there
to make the best of a troubling future.”
28. What does the underlined word “germane” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. Scientific. B. Credible.
C. Original. D. Relevant.
29. As for the public awareness of global collapse, the author is________.
A. worried B. puzzled
C. surprised D. scared30. What can we learn from this passage?
A. The signatories may change the biophysical limits.
B. The author agrees with the message of the poem.
C. The issue of collapse is being prioritized.
D. The global collapse is well underway.
Passage8
【2021年浙江卷6月】If you ever get the impression that your dog can "tell" whether you look content or
annoyed, you may be onto something. Dogs may indeed be able to distinguish between happy and angry human
faces, according to a new study
Researchers trained a group of 11 dogs to distinguish between images(图像)of the same person making either
a happy or an angry face. During the training stage, each dog was shown only the upper half or the lower half of the
person's face. The researchers then tested the dogs' ability to distinguish between human facial expressions by
showing them the other half of the person's face on images totally different from the ones used in training. The
researchers found that the dogs were able to pick the angry or happy face by touching a picture of it with their noses
more often than one would expect by random chance.
The study showed the animals had figured out how to apply what they learned about human faces during
training to new faces in the testing stage. "We can rule out that the dogs simply distinguish between the pictures
based on a simple cue, such as the sight of teeth," said study author Corsin Muller. "Instead, our results suggest that
the successful dogs realized that a smiling mouth means the same thing as smiling eyes, and the same rule applies
to an angry mouth having the same meaning as angry eyes."
"With our study, we think we can now confidently conclude that at least some dogs can distinguish human
facial expressions," Muller told Live Science.
At this point, it is not clear why dogs seem to be equipped with the ability to recognize different facial
expressions in humans. "To us, the most likely explanation appears to be that the basis lies in their living with
humans, which gives them a lot of exposure to human facial expressions," and this exposure has provided them
with many chances to learn to distinguish between them, Muller said.
8. The new study focused on whether dogs can_________.
A. distinguish shapes B. make sense of human faces
C. feel happy or angry D. communicate with each other9. What can we learn about the study from paragraph 2?
A. Researchers tested the dogs in random order.
B. Diverse methods were adopted during training.
C. Pictures used in the two stages were different
D. The dogs were photographed before the lest.
10. What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A. A suggestion for future studies. B. A possible reason for the study findings.
C. A major limitation of the study D. An explanation of the research method.
Passage9
【2021年浙江卷1月】 At the start of the 20th century, an American engineer named John Elfreth Watkins
made predictions about life today. His predictions about slowing population growth, mobile phones and increasing
height were close to the mark. But he was wrong in one prediction: that everybody would walk 10 miles a day.
Today, in Australia, most children on average fall 2, 000 steps short of the physical activity they need to avoid
being overweight. In the early 1970s, 40 per cent of children walked to school, while in 2010, it was as low as 15
per cent.
The decline is not because we have all become lazy. Families are pressed for time, many with both parents
working to pay for their house, often working hours not of their choosing, living in car-dependent neighborhoods
with limited public transport.
The other side of the coin is equally a deprivation: for health and well-being, as well as lost opportunities（机
会）for children to get to know their local surroundings. And for parents there are lost opportunities to walk and
talk with their young scholar about their day.
Most parents will have eagerly asked their child about their day, only to meet with a “good”, quickly followed
by "I'm hungry". This is also my experience as a mother. But somewhere over the daily walk more about my son's
day comes out. I hear him making sense of friendship and its limits. This is the unexpected and rare parental
opportunity to hear more.
Many primary schools support walking school-bus routes（路线）, with days of regular, parent-
accompanied walks. Doing just one of these a few times a week is better than nothing. It can be tough to begin and
takes a little planning-running shoes by the front door, lunches made the night before, umbrellas on rainy days and
hats on hot ones-but it's certainly worth trying.4．Why does the author mention Watkins' predictions in the first paragraph?
A．To make comparisons. B．To introduce the topic.
C．To support her argument. D．To provide examples.
5．What has caused the decrease in Australian children's physical activity?
A．Plain laziness. B．Health problems.
C．Lack of time. D．Security concerns.
6．Why does the author find walking with her son worthwhile?
A．She can get relaxed after work. B．She can keep physically fit.
C．She can help with her son's study. D．She can know her son better.
Passage10
【2021年浙江卷1月】 Researchers say they have translated the meaning of gestures that wild chimpanzees
(黑猩猩) use to communicate. They say wild chimps communicate 19 specific messages to one another with a
"vocabulary" of 66 gestures. The scientists discovered this by following and filming groups of chimps in Uganda,
and examining more than 5,000 incidents of these meaningful exchanges.
Dr Catherine Hobaiter, who led the research, said that this was the only form of intentional communication to
be recorded in the animal kingdom. Only humans and chimps, she said, had a system of communication where they
deliberately sent a message to another group member.
"That's what's so amazing about chimp gestures," she said. "They're the only thing that looks like human
language in that respect. ”
Although previous research has shown that apes and monkeys can understand complex information from
another animal's call, the animals do not appear to use their voices intentionally to communicate messages. This
was a significant difference between calls and gestures, Dr Hobaiter said.
Chimps will check to see if they have the attention of the animal with which they wish to communicate. In one
case, a mother presents her foot to her crying baby, signaling:" Climb on me. " The youngster immediately jumps
on to its mothers back and they travel off together. "The big message from this study is that there is another species
(物种) out there. that is meaningful in its communication, so that's not unique to humans," said Dr Hobaiter.
Dr Susanne Shultz, an evolutionary biologist from the University of Manchester, said the study was
praiseworthy in seeking to enrich our knowledge of the evolution of human language. But, she added, the results
were "a little disappointing"."The vagueness of the gesture meanings suggests either that the chimps have little to communicate, or we are
still missing a lot of the information contained in their gestures and actions," she said. "Moreover, the meanings
seem to not go beyond what other animal convey with non-verbal communication. So, it seems the gulf remains. "
7．What do chimps and humans have in common according to Dr Hobaiter?
A．Memorizing specific words. B．Understanding complex information.
C．Using voices to communicate. D．Communicating messages on purpose.
8．What did Dr Shultz think of the study?
A．It was well designed but poorly conducted.
B．It was a good try but the findings were limited.
C．It was inspiring but the evidence was unreliable.
D．It was a failure but the methods deserved praise.
9．What does the underlined word "gulf" in the last paragraph mean?
A．Difference. B．Conflict. C．Balance. D．Connection.
10．Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A．Chimpanzee behaviour study achieved a breakthrough
B．Chimpanzees developed specific communication skills
C．Chimpanzees: the smartest species in the animal kingdom
D．Chimpanzee language: communication gestures translated
Passage11
【2021年天津卷第二次】In the fictional worlds of film and TV, artificial intelligence （Al） has been
described as so advanced that it is indistinguishable from humans. But what if we're actually getting closer to a
world where Al is capable of thinking and feeling?
Tech company UneeQ is heading for its "digital humans", which appear life like on the screen not only in
terms of language, but also because of facial movements: raised eyebrows, a smile, even a nod. They look close to a
human, but not quite.
What lies beneath UneeQ9 s digital humans? Their 3D faces are modeled on actual human features. Speech
recognition enables them to understand what a person is saying, and natural language processing is used to work
out a response. Meanwhile, another Al company, Soul Machines, is taking a more biological approach, with a
"digital brain", that imitates aspects of the human brain to adjust the emotions "fblt" and "expressed" by its "digitalpeople".
Shiwali Mohan, an Al scientist at the Palo Research Center, is skeptical of these digital beings. "They're
humanlike in their looks and the way they sound, but that in itself is not being human," she says. "Human qualities
also involve how you think, how you approach problems, and how you break them down; and that takes a lot of
algorithmic (算 法)design. Designing for human-level intelligence is a different attempt than designing images
that behave like humans." She then continues, “If something looks like a human, we have high expectations of
them, but they might behave differently in ways that humans just instinctively (直觉地)know how other humans
react.
Yet the demand is there, with UneeQ seeing high adoption of its digital employees across the financial, health
care, and commercial sectors （行业）. "Unless these sectors make their business models much more efficient
digitally, they might be left behind," says Chetan Dube, UneeQ9s CEO.
Some other companies are taking their digital beings a step further, enabling organizations and individuals to
create digital humans themselves using free-access platforms they provide. "The biggest motivation for such
platforms is to popularize Al," Dube says.
Mohan is cautious about this approach, yet she supports the purpose behind these digital beings and is
optimistic about where they are headed. "As we develop more advanced Al technology, we would then have to use
new ways of communicating with that technology,she says. "'Hopefully, all of that is designed to support humans in
their goals."
46. According to Para. 2, in what respect（s） do UneeQ9s "digital humans" resemble human beings?
A. In the way they move around.
B. In the way they act and react.
C. In observation and analysis.
D. In speech and facial expressions.
47. Soul Machines’digital brain is a technological breakthrough because it .
A. leams to make proper emotional responses
B. tends to imitate human beings' tone vividly
C. recognizes the speech sounds it receives
D. processes the natural language it hears
48. In Mohan's opinion, what human quality is lacking in digital beings?
A. Calculating brain..
B Language skills.
C. Instinctive judgements.
D. Problem-solving ability.
49. What makes many sectors employ digital humans?
A. The fear of falling behind in efficiency.
B. The urgency to promote e-commerce.
C. The wish to spread digital technology.
D. The need to upgrade the health care system.
50. What does Mohan think of the future of digital beings?
A. It's well planned.
B. It is promising.
C. It is uncertain.
D. It's quite hopeless.
Passage12
D
【2021年天津卷第二次】Art is everywhere. Any public space has been carefully designed by an artistic
mind to be both functional and beautiful. Why, then, is art still so widely considered to be "the easy subject" at
school, insignificant to wider society, a waste of time and effort?
Art can connect culture with commercial products in a way that not many other things can; art generates
money and holds significant emotional and cultural value within communities. When people attend a concert, they
are paying for music, sure, maybe even hotel rooms, meals, and transport, but they also gain an incredible
experience, a unique atmosphere and a memory that will go through the rest of their lives. People don't just want
material things anymore, they want to experience life一the arts are a perfect crossover （交迭）between culture
and commerce.
Furthermore, the arts can bring communities together, reducing loneliness and making people feel safer. Social
bonds are created among individuals when they share their arts experiences through reflection and discussion, and
their expression of common values through artworks in honour of events significant to a nation's experience.
The arts clearly have a pretty positive impact on physical and psychological health. It is found that people who
frequent cultural places or participate in artistic events are more likely to gain good health compared to those whodo not; more engagement with the arts is linked to a higher level of people's wellbeing. The Royal Society of Public
Health discovered that music and art, when used in hospitals, help to improve the conditions of patients by reducing
stress, anxiety and blood pressure.
Children who are involved with the arts make greater achievements in their education: those engaged with
drama have greater literary ability while others taking part in musical practice exhibit greater skills in math and
languages. Kids with preference fbr the arts have a greater chance of finding employment in the future.
Participating in the arts is essential fbr child development; encouraging children to express themselves in
constructive ways could help to form healthy emotional responses in later life.
Vital to human life, art is celebrated and used by nations across the world for various purposes. Life without
art would be boring and dead still, fbr art is a part of what makes us human.
51. Art products differ from most other commercial products because .
A. most people purchase them for collection
B. they are more expensive and less accessible
C. they have both commercial and cultural values
D. their prices may climb up as time passes
52. By sharing their arts experiences, community members can .
A. keep the community safe from illnesses
B. develop a stronger tie between them
C. learn to appreciate their own works of art
D. offer honourable solutions to their problems
53. What can we learn about people who are involved in artistic activities?
A. They enjoy better living conditions.
B. They like to compare themselves with others.
C. They are particularly good at both music and art.
D. They tend to be healthier physically and mentally.
54. How does kids' engagement with the arts benefit them?
A. It promotes their academic performance and emotional growth.
B. It gives them more confidence in exhibiting their learning skills.
C. It inspires their creativity in designing their future career.
D. It helps to make responsible people out of them.
55. What is the best title for this passage?A. How Art Cures Our Hearts
B. Art: A Blessing to Humankind
C. How Art Benefits Communities
D. Art: A Bridge Between Cultures
Passage13
【2021年天津卷第一次】 A trial project by the Montreal Children's Hospital suggested that the use of
medical hypnosis(催眠)can reduce pain and anxiety in patients. The project also resulted in a reduction in the
amount of medicines used to perform medical-imaging imaging(医学影像) procedures.
“During the examination children don't move. It works perfectly. It's amazing,“ said Johanne L'Ecuyer, a
medical-imaging technologist at the hospital.
The project was inspired by a French team from Rouen University Hospital Centre where examinations are
done under hypnosis instead of general anesthesia(麻醉）.
A French medical-imaging technologist-also a hypnotist — was invited to train a few members in the medical-
imaging department of the children's hospital. In all, 80 examinations were conducted for the project between
January and September, 2019, focusing on the imaging procedures that would cause anxiety.
Hypnosis is not a state of sleep: It is rather a modified(改变的)state of consciousness. The technologist will
guide the patient to this modified state—an imaginary world that will disassociate itself more and more from the
procedure that follows.
“The technologist must build up a story with the patient," Ms. L'Ecuyer said. "The patient is left with the
power to choose what he wants to talk about. Do you play sports? Do you like going to the beach? We establish a
subject that we will discuss throughout the procedure."
Everything that happens next during the procedure must be related to this story — an injection （注射）
becomes the bite of an insect; the heat on the skin becomes the sensation of the sun and a machine that rings
becomes a police car passing nearby.
“The important thing is that the technologist associates what is happening outside the patient's body with what
the patient sees in his head," Ms. L'Ecuyer said. "It requires creativity on the part of the technologist, imagination, a
lot of patience and kindness."
The procedure appealed to the staff a lot when it was introduced in January. It spread like wildfire that
someone from France was here to train the technologists," Ms. L'Ecuyer said. She added that she had a line ofstaff at her door wanting to take the training.
45．One of the results produced by the trial project is ________ .
A．a better understanding of children
B．less use of certain medicines
C．new medical-imaging technology
D．an improved reputation of the hospital
46．The French technologist came to the children's hospital to ________.
A．assist in treating a patient
B．carry out hypnosis training
C．start up a new department
D．learn about the procedure
47．According to Paragraph 5, hypnosis works by ________.
A．creating a perfect world for patients
B．forcing patients into a state of deep sleep
C．putting patients into an unconscious state
D．leading patients' consciousness away from reality
48．What can we learn about the story used in the procedure?
A．It should keep pace with the procedure.
B．It reflects the patient's creativity.
C．It is selected by the technologist.
D．It tells what doctors are doing to the patient.
49．The procedure was received among the staff with ________.
A．uncertainty
B．enthusiasm
C．worry
D．criticism
50．What is the passage mainly about?
A．An easy way to communicate with patients.
B．The standard method of conducting hypnosis.
C．An introduction of medical-imaging technology.
D．The use of hypnosis in medical-imaging procedures.2020年阅读理解说明文
Passage1
【2020年新课标Ⅰ】 Returning to a book you’ve read many times can feel like drinks with an old friend.
There’s a welcome familiarity - but also sometimes a slight suspicion that time has changed you both, and thus the
relationship. But books don’t change, people do. And that’s what makes the act of rereading so rich and
transformative.
The beauty of rereading lies in the idea that our bond with the work is based on our present mental register. It’s
true, the older I get, the more I feel time has wings. But with reading, it’s all about the present. It’s about the now
and what one contributes to the now, because reading is a give and take between author and reader. Each has to pull
their own weight.
There are three books I reread annually .The first, which I take to reading every spring is Emest
Hemningway’s A Moveable Feast. Published in 1964, it’s his classic memoir of 1920s Paris. The language is
almost intoxicating (令人陶醉的)，an aging writer looking back on an ambitious yet simpler time. Another is
Annie Dillard’s Holy the Firm, her poetic 1975 ramble (随笔) about everything and nothing. The third book is
Julio Cortazar’s Save Twilight: Selected Poems, because poetry. And because Cortazar.
While I tend to buy a lot of books, these three were given to me as gifs, which might add to the meaning I
attach to them. But I imagine that, while money is indeed wonderful and necessary, rereading an author’s work is
the highest currency a reader can pay them. The best books are the ones that open further as time passes. But
remember, it’s you that has to grow and read and reread in order to better understand your friends.
24. Why does the author like rereading?
A. It evaluates the writer-reader relationship.
B. It’s a window to a whole new world.
C. It’s a substitute for drinking with a friend.
D. It extends the understanding of oneself.
25. What do we know about the book A Moveable Feast?
A. It’s a brief account of a trip.
B. It’s about Hemingway’s life as a young man.
C. It’s a record of a historic event.
D. It’s about Hemingway’s friends in Paris.26. What does the underlined word ＂currency＂ in paragraph 4 refer to?
A. Debt
B. Reward.
C. Allowance.
D. Face value.
27. What can we infer about the author from the text?
A. He loves poetry.
B. He’s an editor.
C. He’s very ambitious.
D. He teaches reading.
Passage2
【2020年新课标Ⅰ】Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most
likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-
kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race
walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at
all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg,
an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers
moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately
twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000
or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her
research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do
not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon
among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people
with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race
walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takessome practice.
28. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?
A. They must run long distances.
B. They are qualified for the marathon.
C. They have to follow special rules.
D. They are good at swinging their legs.
29. What advantage does race walking have over running?
A. It’s more popular at the Olympics.
B. It’s less challenging physically.
C. It’s more effective in body building.
D. It’s less likely to cause knee injuries.
30. What is Dr. Norberg’s suggestion for someone trying race walking?
A. Getting experts’ opinions.
B. Having a medical checkup.
C. Hiring an experienced coach.
D. Doing regular exercises.
31. Which word best describes the author’s attitude to race walking?
A. Skeptical. B. Objective.
C. Tolerant. D. Conservative.
Passage3
D
【2020 年新课标Ⅰ】 The connection between people and plants has long been the subject of scientific
research. Recent studies have found positive effects. A study conducted in Youngstown，Ohio，for example,
discovered that greener areas of the city experienced less crime. In another，employees were shown to be 15%
more productive when their workplaces were decorated with houseplants.
The engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)have taken it a step further changing the
actual composition of plants in order to get them to perform diverse，even unusual functions. These include plants
that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they’re short of water and a plant that can detect harmful
chemicals in groundwater. ＂We’re thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the things
that we use every day,＂explained Michael Strano, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT.One of his latest projects has been to make plants glow(发光)in experiments using some common vegetables.
Strano’s team found that they could create a faint light for three-and-a-half hours. The light，about one-thousandth
of the amount needed to read by，is just a start. The technology, Strano said, could one day be used to light the
rooms or even to turn trees into self-powered street lamps.
In the future，the team hopes to develop a version of the technology that can be sprayed onto plant leaves in a
one-off treatment that would last the plant’s lifetime. The engineers are also trying to develop an on and off＂
switch＂where the glow would fade when exposed to daylight.
Lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US. Since lighting is often far removed
from the power source(电源)-such as the distance from a power plant to street lamps on a remote highway-a lot of
energy is lost during transmission(传输).Glowing plants could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy.
32. What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A. A new study of different plants.
B. A big fall in crime rates.
C. Employees from various workplaces.
D. Benefits from green plants.
33. What is the function of the sensors printed on plant leaves by MIT engineer?
A. To detect plants’ lack of water
B. To change compositions of plants
C. To make the life of plants longer.
D. To test chemicals in plants.
34. What can we expect of the glowing plants in the future?
A. They will speed up energy production.
B. They may transmit electricity to the home.
C. They might help reduce energy consumption.
D. They could take the place of power plants.
35. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Can we grow more glowing plants?
B. How do we live with glowing plants?
C. Could glowing plants replace lamps?
D. How are glowing plants made pollution-free?Passage4
【2020年新课标Ⅱ】 Some parents will buy any high-tech toy if they think it will help their child, but
researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills.
Psychologist Susan Levine, an expert on mathematics development in young children the University of
Chicago, found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills. Puzzle play
was found to be a significant predictor of cognition(认知) after controlling for differences in parents’ income,
education and the amount of parent talk, Levine said.
The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child-parent pairs during everyday activities at home and
found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at
54 months of age.
“The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not, on tasks that assessed their
ability to rotate(旋转)and translate shapes,” Levine said in a statement.
The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would, and about half of children in the
study played with puzzles at one time. Higher-income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more
frequently, and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills. However, boys tended to play
with more complex puzzles than girls, and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more
active during puzzle play than parents of girls.
The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.
24. In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play?
A. Building confidence. B. Developing spatial skills.
C. Learning self-control. D. Gaining high-tech knowledge.
25. What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment？
A. Parents’ age. B. Children’s imagination.
C. Parents’ education. D. Child-parent relationship.
26. How do boy differ from girls in puzzle play?
A. They play with puzzles more often.
B. They tend to talk less during the game.
C. They prefer to use more spatial language.
D. They are likely to play with tougher puzzles.
27. What is the text mainly about?
A. A mathematical method. B. A scientific study.C. A woman psychologist D. A teaching program.
Passage5
【2020年新课标Ⅱ】When you were trying to figure out what to buy for the environmentalist on your
holiday list, fur probably didn’t cross your mind. But some ecologists and fashion (时装)enthusiasts are trying to
bring back the market for fur made from nutria(海狸鼠).
Unusual fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn have(showcased)nutria fur made into clothes in different
styles. “It sounds crazy to talk about guilt-free fur-unless you understand that the nutria are destroying vast
wetlands every year”, says Cree McCree, project director of Righteous Fur.
Scientists in Louisiana were so concerned that they decided to pay hunters $5 a tail. Some of the fur ends up in
the fashion shows like the one in Brooklyn last month.
Nutria were brought there from Argentina by fur farmers and let go into the wild. “The ecosystem down there
can’t handle this non-native species(物种).It’s destroying the environment. It’s them or us.” says Michael Massimi,
an expert in this field.
The fur trade kept nutria check for decades，but when the market for nutria collapsed in the late 1980s，the
cat-sized animals multiplied like crazy.
Biologist Edmond Mouton runs the nutria control program for Louisiana. He says it’s not easy to convince
people that nutria fur is green, but he has no doubt about it. Hunters bring in more than 300,000 nutria tails a year,
so part of Mouton’s job these days is trying to promote fur.
Then there’s Righteous Fur and its unusual fashion. Model Paige Morgan says，”To give people a guilt-free
option that they can wear without someone throwing paint on them-1 think that’s going to be a massive thing, at
least here in New York.” Designer Jennifer Anderson admits it took her a while to come around to the opinion that
using nutria fur for her creations is morally acceptable. She trying to come up with a lable to attach to nutria
fashions to show it is eco-friendly.
28. What is the purpose of the fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn?
A. To promote guilt-free fur.
B. To expand the fashion market.
C. To introduce a new brand.
D. To celebrate a winter holiday.
29. Why are scientists concerned about nutria?A. Nutria damage the ecosystem seriously.
B. Nutria are an endangered species.
C. Nutria hurt local cat-sized animals.
D. Nutria are illegally hunted.
30. What does the underlined word “collapsed” in paragraph 5 probably mean?
A. Boomed. B. Became mature. C. Remained stable. D. Crashed.
31. What can we infer abouf wearing fur in New York according to Morgan?
A. It’s formal. B. It’s risky. C. It’s harmful. D. It’s traditional.
Passage6
【2020年新课标Ⅲ】We are the products of evolution, and not just evolution that occurred billions of years
ago. As scientists look deeper into our genes (基因), they are finding examples of human evolution in just the past
few thousand years. People in Ethiopian highlands have adapted to living at high altitudes. Cattle -raising people in
East Africa and northern Europe have gained a mutation (突变) that helps them digest milk as adults.
On Thursday in an article published in Cell, a team of researchers reported a new kind of adaptation - not to
air or to food, but to the ocean. A group of sea-dwelling people in Southeast Asia have evolved into better divers.
The Bajau, as these people are known, number in the hundreds of thousands in Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines. They have traditionally lived on houseboats; in recent times, they’ve also built houses on stilts (支柱)
in coastal waters. “They are simply a stranger to the land,” said Redney C. Jubilado, a University of Hawaii
researcher who studies the Bajau.
Dr. Jubilado first met the Bajau while growing up on Samal Island in the Philippines. They made a living as
divers, spearfishing or harvesting shellfish. “We were so amazed that they could stay underwater much longer than
us local islanders,” Dr. Jubilado said. “I could see them actually walking under the sea.”
In2015, Melissa Ilardo, then a graduate student in genetics at the University of Copenhagen, heard about the
Bajau. She wondered if centuries of diving could have led to the evolution of physical characteristics that made the
task easier for them. “it seemed like the perfect chance for natural selection to act on a population,” said Dr. Ilardo.
She also said there were likely a number of other genes that help the Bajau dive.
32. What does the author want to tell us by the examples in paragraph 1?
A. Environmental adaptation of cattle raisers. B. New knowledge of human evolution.
C. Recent findings of human origin. D. Significance of food selection.33. Where do the Bajau build their houses?
A. In valleys. B. Near rivers. C. On the beach. D. Off the coast.
34. Why was the young Jubilado astonished at the Bajau?
A. They could walk on stilts all day. B. They had a superb way of fishing.
C. They could stay long underwater. D. They lived on both land and water.
35. What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Bodies Remodeled for a Life at Sea B. Highlanders’ Survival Skills
C. Basic Methods of Genetic Research D. The World’s Best Divers
Passage7
【2020年新高考全国Ⅰ 卷（山东卷）】According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research,
both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to
existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the
beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.
To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first,
95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about
movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the
researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore
a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.
Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking
more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.
For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case,
she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly
more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.
The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow
participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the
influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his
eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?
12. What is the recent study mainly about?
A. Food safety. B. Movie viewership.
C. Consumer demand. D. Eating behavior.13. What does the underlined word “beanpoles” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. Big eaters. B. Overweight persons.
C. Picky eaters. D. Tall thin persons.
14. Why did the researchers hire the actor?
A. To see how she would affect the participants.
B. To test if the participants could recognize her.
C. To find out what she would do in the two tests.
D. To study why she could keep her weight down.
15. On what basis do we “adjust the influence” according to the last paragraph?
A. How hungry we are. B. How slim we want to be.
C. How we perceive others. D. How we feel about the food.
Passage8
【2020年新高考全国Ⅱ 卷（海南卷）】Rainforests are home to a rich variety of medicinal plants, food,
birds and animals. Can you believe that a single bush（灌木丛）in the Amazon may have more species of ants
than the whole of Britain! About 480 varieties of trees may be found in just one hectare of rainforest.
Rainforests are the lungs of the planet-storing vast quantities of carbon dioxide and producing a significant
amount of the world's oxygen. Rainforests have their own perfect system for ensuring their own survival; the tall
trees make a canopy（树冠层）of branches and leaves which protect themselves, smaller plants, and the forest
animals from heavy rain, intense dry heat from the sun and strong winds.
Amazingly, the trees grow in such a way that their leaves and branches, although close together, never actually
touch those of another tree. Scientists think this is the plants' way to prevent the spread of any tree diseases and
make life more difficult for leaf-eating insects like caterpillars. To survive in the forest, animals must climb, jump
or fly across the gaps. The ground floor of the forest is not all tangled leaves and bushes, like in films, but is
actually fairly clear. It is where dead leaves turn into food for the trees and other forest life.
They are not called rainforests for nothing! Rainforests can generate 75%of their own rain. At least 80 inches
of rain a year is normal-and in some areas there may be as much as 430 inches of rain annually. This is real rain-
your umbrella may protect you in a shower, but it won't keep you dry if there is a full rainstorm. In just two hours,
streams can rise ten to twenty feet. The humidity（湿气）of large rainforests contributes to the formation of
rainclouds that may travel to other countries in need of rain.12. What can we learn about rainforests from the first paragraph?
A. They produce oxygen. B. They cover a vast area.
C. They are well managed. D. They are rich in wildlife.
13. Which of the following contributes most to the survival of rainforests?
A. Heavy rains B. Big trees.
C. Small plants. D. Forest animals.
14. Why do the leaves and branches of different trees avoid touching each other?
A. For more sunlight. B. For more growing space.
C. For self-protection. D. For the detection of insects.
15. What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Life-Giving Rainforests B. The Law of the Jungle
C. Animals in the Amazon D. Weather in Rainforests
Passage9
【2020年北京卷】Baggy has become the first dog in the UK—and potentially the world—to join the fight
against air pollution by recording pollutant levels near the ground.
Baggy wears a pollution monitor on her collar so she can take data measurements close to the ground. Her
monitor has shown that air pollution levels are higher closer to ground level, which has helped highlight concerns
that babies and young kids may be at higher risk of developing lung problems.
Conventional air pollution monitors are normally fixed on lampposts at about nine feet in the air. However,
since Baggy stands at about the same height as a child in a pushchair（婴儿车）, she frequently records pollution
levels which are much higher than the data gathered by the Environment A gency.
The doggy data research was the idea of Baggy's 13-year-old owner Tom Hunt and his dad Matt. The English
youngster noticed that pollution levels are around two-thirds higher close to the ground than they are in the air at
the height where they are recorded by the agency. Tom has since reported the shocking findings to the government
in an attempt to emphasise that babies are at higher risk of developing asthma（哮喘）.Matt Hunt said he was "very proud" of his son because “when the boy gets an idea, he keeps his head down
and gets on with it, and he really does want to do some good and stop young kids from getting asthma."
“Tom built up a passion for environmental protection at a very early age," Matt added. “He became very
interested in gadgets（小装置）. About one year ago, he got this new piece of tech which is like a test tube. One
Sunday afternoon, we went out to do some monitoring, and he said, why don't we put it on Baggy's collar and let
her monitor the pollution？'So we did it."
Tom said, "Most of the time, Baggy is just like any other dog. But for the rest of the time she is a super dog,
and we are all really proud of her."
34. With a monitor on her collar, Baggy can ____________.
A. take pollutant readings B. record pollutant levels
C. process collected data D. reduce air pollution
35. What can we learn from the Baggy data?
A. High places are free of air pollution.
B. Higher pushchairs are more risky for kids.
C. Conventional monitors are more reliable.
D. Air is more polluted closer to the ground.
36. What is Tom's purpose of doing the research?
A. To warn of a health risk. B. To find out pollution sources.
C. To test his new monitor. D. To prove Baggy's abilities.
37. According to the passage, which word can best describe Tom Hunt?
A. Modest. B. Generous. C. Creative. D. Outgoing.
Passage10
【2020年浙江卷1月】Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is road testing a new way to keep winter roads ice-free – by
spreading on them cheese brine, the salty liquid used to make soft cheese, like mozzarella.
Wisconsin, also called "America's Dairyland," is famous for its cheese. The state produced 2.8 billion pounds
of cheese last year! a result, there was a lot of leftover cheese brine. Disposing of(处置)the brine can be expensive.
So what should cheese makers do with the waste?
Normally, towns use rock salt to de-ice streets. The salt lowers waters' freezing point, causing ice to melt(融
化). But using cheese brine could help both cheese producers and cities save money, while keeping roads safe.
Cheese brine has salt in it, which, like the rock salt, helps lower water's freezing point.In addition to saving money, cheese brine could also be a more environment-friendly option. Many people
suspect that all the rock salt used every winter is harming the environment.
Rock salt is made of sodium chloride, the sane con-pound (化合物)in ordinary table salt. Sounds harmless,
right? But while you probably add only a small amount of salt to your food, road crews spread about 20 million
tons of salt on U.S. Roads every year!
The chemical washes off roads and goes into the ground. There it can pollute drinking water, harm plants. and
eat away soil. By spreading cheese brine on streets before adding a layer of rock salt, Milwaukee may be able to cut
its rock salt use by 30 percent.
Cheese brine has a downside too – a shell similar to that of bad milk. "I don't really mind it," Emil Norby told
Modern Farmer magazine. He works for one of Wisconsin's county highway commissions and came up with the
idea of using cheese brine. "Our roads smell like Wisconsin!" he said.
24. Why can cheese brine help keep winter roads ice-free?
A. It is soft. B. It contains salt. C. It is warm. D. It has milk in it.
25. What is a benefit of using cheese urine on roads?
A. Improving air quality. B. Increasing sales of rock salt.
C. Reducing water pollution. D. Saving the cheese industry.
26. Milwaukee's new way to de-ice streets may be an example of_______________.
A. barking up the wrong tree B. putting the cart before the horse
C. robbing Peter to pay Paul D. killing two birds with one stone
Passage11
C
【2020年浙江卷1月】Today's world is not an easy adjustment for young adults. Key skill set for success is
persistence (毅力), a characteristic that researchers say is heavily influenced by fathers. Researchers from Brigham
Young University discovered that fathers are in a unique position to help their adolescent children learn persistence.
BYU professors Laura Padilla-Walker and Randal Day arrived at these findings after following 325 American
families over several years. And over time，the persistence gained through fathers led to higher achievement in
school.
"There are relatively few studies that stress the unique role of fathers，"Padilla-Walker said. "This research
also helps to prove that characteristics such as persistence-which can be taught-are key to a child's life success.”
Researchers determined that dads need to practice an "authoritative" parenting style. Authoritative parenting isnot authoritarian:rigid，demanding or controlling. Rather，an authoritative parenting style includes some of the
following characteristics:children feel warmth and love from their father；responsibility and the reasons behind
rules are stressed children are given an appropriate level of autonomy(自主权).
In the study，about 52 percent of the dads exhibited above-average levels of authoritative parenting. A key
finding is that over time，children raised by an authoritative father were significantly more likely to develop
persistence，which leads to better outcomes in school.
This particular study examined 11 to 14-year-olds living in two-parent homes. Yet the researchers suggest that
single parents still may play a role in teaching the benefits of persistence，which is an avenue of future research.
27. What is special about the BYU professors' study?
A. It centered on fathers' role in parenting.
B. It was based on a number of large families.
C. It analyzed different kinds of parenting styles.
D. It aimed to improve kids' achievement in school.
28. What would an authoritative father do when raising his children?
A. Ignore their demands. B. Make decisions for them.
C. Control their behaviors. D. Explain the rules to them.
29. Which group can be a focus of future studies according to the researchers?
A. Single parents.
B. Children aged from 11 to 14.
C. Authoritarian fathers.
D. Mothers in two-parent homes.
30. Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A. Three Characteristics of Authoritative Fathers.
B. Key Skills for Young Adults to Succeed in Future.
C. Children Tend to Learn Determination from Father.
D. Family Relationship Influences School Performance.
Passage12
【2020年江苏卷】 Sometimes it’s hard to let go. For many British people, that can apply to institutions and
objects that represent their country’s past-age-old castles, splendid homes… and red phone boxes.
Beaten first by the march of technology and lately by the terrible weather in junkyards (废品场), the phoneboxes representative of an age are now making something of a comeback. Adapted in imaginative ways, many have
reappeared on city streets and village greens housing tiny cafes, cellphone repair shops or even defibrillator
machines (除颤器).
The original iron boxes with the round roofs first appeared in 1926. They were designed by Giles Gilbert
Scott, the architect of the Battersea Power Station in London. After becoming an important part of many British
streets, the phone boxes began disappearing in the 1980s, with the rise of the mobile phone sending most of them
away to the junkyards.
About that time, Tony Inglis’ engineering and transport company got the job to remove phone boxes from the
streets and sell them out. But Inglis ended up buying hundreds of them himself, with the idea of repairing and
selling them. He said that he had heard the calls to preserve the boxes and had seen how some of them were listed
as historic buildings.
As Inglis and, later other businessmen, got to work, repurposed phone boxes began reappearing in cities and
villages as people found new uses for them. Today, they are once again a familiar sight, playing roles that are often
just as important for the community as their original purpose.
In rural areas, where ambulances can take a relatively long time to arrive, the phone boxes have taken on a
lifesaving role. Local organizations can adopt them for l pound, and install defibrillators to help in emergencies.
Others also looked at the phone boxes and saw business opportunities. LoveFone, a company that advocates
repairing cellphones rather than abandoning them, opened a mini workshop in a London phone box in 2016.
The tiny shops made economic sense, according to Robert Kerr, a founder of LoveFone. He said that one of
the boxes generated around $13,500 in revenue a month and cost only about $400 to rent.
Inglis said phone boxes called to mind an age when things were built to last. I “like what they are to people,
and I enjoy bringing things back,” he said.
58. The phone boxes are making a comeback ______.
A. to form a beautiful sight of the city
B. to improve telecommunications services
C. to remind people of a historical period
D. to meet the requirement of green economy
59. Why did the phone boxes begin to go out of service in the 1980s?
A. They were not well-designed. B. They provided bad services.
C. They had too short a history. D. They lost to new technologies.60. The phone boxes are becoming popular mainly because of ______.
A. their new appearance and lower prices B. the push of the local organizations
C. their changed roles and functions D. the big funding of the businessmen
Passage13
C
【2020年江苏卷】 For those who can stomach it, working out before breakfast may be more beneficial for
health than eating first, according to a study of meal timing and physical activity.
Athletes and scientists have long known that meal timing affects performance. However, far less has been
known about how meal timing and exercise might affect general health.
To find out, British scientists conducted a study. They first found 10 overweight and inactive but otherwise
healthy young men, whose lifestyles are, for better and worse, representative of those of most of us. They tested the
men’s fitness and resting metabolic (新陈代谢的) rates and took samples (样品) of their blood and fat tissue.
Then, on two separate morning visits to the scientists’ lab, each man walked for an hour at an average speed
that, in theory should allow his body to rely mainly on fat for fuel. Before one of these workouts, the men skipped
breakfast, meaning that they exercised on a completely empty stomach after a long overnight fast (禁食). On the
other occasion, they ate a rich morning meal about two hours before they started walking.
Just before and an hour after each workout, the scientists took additional samples of the men’s blood and fat
tissue.
Then they compared the samples. There were considerable differences. Most obviously, the men displayed
lower blood sugar levels at the start of their workouts when they had skipped breakfast than when they had eaten.
As a result, they burned more fat during walks on an empty stomach than when they had eaten first. On the other
hand, they burned slightly more calories (卡路里), on average, during the workout after breakfast than after fasting.
But it was the effects deep within the fat cells that may have been the most significant, the researchers found.
Multiple genes behaved differently, depending on whether someone had eaten or not before walking. Many of these
genes produce proteins (蛋白质) that can improve blood sugar regulation and insulin (胰岛素) levels throughout
the body and so are associated with improved metabolic health. These genes were much more active when the men
had fasted before exercise than when they had breakfasted.
The implication of these results is that to gain the greatest health benefits from exercise, it may be wise to skip
eating first.61. The underlined expression “stomach it” in Paragraph 1 most probably means “______”.
A. digest the meal easily B. manage without breakfast
C. decide wisely what to eat D. eat whatever is offered
62. Why were the 10 people chosen for the experiment?
A. Their lifestyles were typical of ordinary people.
B. Their lack of exercise led to overweight.
C. They could walk at an average speed.
D. They had slow metabolic rates.
63. What happened to those who ate breakfast before exercise?
A. They successfully lost weight. B. They consumed a bit more calories.
C. They burned more fat on average. D. They displayed higher insulin levels.
64. What could be learned from the research?
A. A workout after breakfast improves gene performances.
B. Too much workout often slows metabolic rates.
C. Lifestyle is not as important as morning exercise.
D. Physical exercise before breakfast is better for health.
2019年阅读理解说明文
Passage1
【2019年全国卷 Ⅰ】As data and identity theft becomes more and more common, the market is growing for
biometric(生物测量)technologies—like fingerprint scans—to keep others out of private e-spaces. At present, these
technologies are still expensive, though.
Researchers from Georgia Tech say that they have come up with a low-cost device(装置)that gets around this
problem: a smart keyboard. This smart keyboard precisely measures the cadence(节奏)with which one types and
the pressure fingers apply to each key. The keyboard could offer a strong layer of security by analyzing things like
the force of a user's typing and the time between key presses. These patterns are unique to each person. Thus, the
keyboard can determine people's identities, and by extension, whether they should be given access to the computer
it's connected to—regardless of whether someone gets the password right.
It also doesn't require a new type of technology that people aren't already familiar with. Everybody uses a
keyboard and everybody types differently.
In a study describing the technology, the researchers had 100 volunteers type the word “touch”four timesusing the smart keyboard. Data collected from the device could be used to recognize different participants based on
how they typed, with very low error rates. The researchers say that the keyboard should be pretty straightforward to
commercialize and is mostly made of inexpensive, plastic-like parts. The team hopes to make it to market in the
near future.
28. Why do the researchers develop the smart keyboard?
A. To reduce pressure on keys. B. To improve accuracy in typing
C. To replace the password system. D. To cut the cost of e-space protection.
29. What makes the invention of the smart keyboard possible？
A. Computers are much easier to operate.
B. Fingerprint scanning techniques develop fast.
C. Typing patterns vary from person to person.
D. Data security measures are guaranteed.
30. What do the researchers expect of the smart keyboard？all 1o soisgitieoco oll.
A. It'll be environment-friendly. B. It'll reach consumers soon.
C. It'll be made of plastics. D. It'll help speed up typing.
31. Where is this text most likely from?
A. A diary. B. A guidebook C. A novel. D. A magazine.
Passage 2
【2019年全国卷 Ⅰ】During the rosy years of elementary school(小学), I enjoyed sharing my dolls and jokes,
which allowed me to keep my high social status. I was the queen of the playground. Then came my tweens and
teens, and mean girls and cool kids. They rose in the ranks not by being friendly but by smoking cigarettes,
breaking rules and playing jokes on others, among whom I soon found myself.
Popularity is a well-explored subject in social psychology. Mitch Prinstein, a professor of clinical psychology
sorts the popular into two categories: the likable and the status seekers. The likables’ plays-well-with-others
qualities strengthen schoolyard friendships, jump-start interpersonal skills and, when tapped early, are employed
ever after in life and work. Then there’s the kind of popularity that appears in adolescence: status born of power and
even dishonorable behavior.
Enviable as the cool kids may have seemed, Dr. Prinstein’s studies show unpleasant consequences. Those who
were highest in status in high school, as well as those least liked in elementary school, are “most likely to
engage(从事)in dangerous and risky behavior.”In one study, Dr. Prinstein examined the two types of popularity in 235 adolescents, scoring the least liked, the
most liked and the highest in status based on student surveys(调查研究). “We found that the least well-liked teens
had become more aggressive over time toward their classmates. But so had those who were high in status. It clearly
showed that while likability can lead to healthy adjustment, high status has just the opposite effect on us."
Dr. Prinstein has also found that the qualities that made the neighbors want you on a play date-sharing,
kindness, openness — carry over to later years and make you better able to relate and connect with others.
In analyzing his and other research，Dr. Prinstein came to another conclusion: Not only is likability related to
positive life outcomes, but it is also responsible for those outcomes, too. "Being liked creates opportunities for
learning and for new kinds of life experiences that help somebody gain an advantage, ” he said.
32. What sort of girl was the author in her early years of elementary school?
A. Unkind. B. Lonely. C. Generous. D. Cool.
33. What is the second paragraph mainly about？
A. The classification of the popular.
B. The characteristics of adolescents.
C. The importance of interpersonal skills.
.
D. The causes of dishonorable behavior
34. What did Dr. Prinstein’s study find about the most liked kids?
A. They appeared to be aggressive.
B. They tended to be more adaptable.
C. They enjoyed the highest status.
D. They performed well academically.
35. What is the best title for the text?
A. Be Nice-You Won’t Finish Last
B. The Higher the Status, the Beer
C. Be the Best-You Can Make It
D. More Self-Control, Less Aggressiveness
Passage 3
【2019年全国卷Ⅱ】Marian Bechtel sits at West Palm Beach’s Bar Louie counter by herself, quietly reading
her e-book as she waits for her salad. What is she reading? None of your business! Lunch is Bechtel’s “me” time.
And like more Americans, she’s not alone.
A new report found 46 percent of meals are eaten alone in America. More than half(53 percent)have breakfastalone and nearly half(46 percent)have lunch by themselves. Only at dinnertime are we eating together anymore，
74 percent，according to statistics from the report.
“I prefer to go out and be out. Alone，but together，you know？”Bechtel said，looking up from her book.
Bechtel，who works in downtown West Palm Beach，has lunch with coworkers sometimes，but like many of
us，too often works through lunch at her desk. A lunchtime escape allows her to keep a boss from tapping her on
the shoulder. She returns to work feeling energized. “Today，I just wanted some time to myself，”she said.
Just two seats over，Andrew Mazoleny，a local videographer，is finishing his lunch at the bar. He likes that
he can sit and check his phone in peace or chat up the barkeeper with whom he's on a first-name basis if he wants to
have a little interaction(交流). “I reflect on how my day's gone and think about the rest of the week,” he said. “It's a
chance for self-reflection, You return to work recharged and with a plan.”
That freedom to choose is one reason more people like to eat alone. There was a time when people may have
felt awkward about asking for a table for one，but those days are over. Now，we have our smartphones to keep us
company at the table. “It doesn't feel as alone as it may have before al the advances in technology,” said Laurie
Demerit， whose company provided the statistics for the report.
28. What are the statistics in paragraph 2 about?
.
A. Food variety B. Eating habits.
C. Table manners. D. Restaurant service.
29. Why does Bechtel prefer to go out for lunch?
A. To meet with her coworkers.
B. To catch up with her work.
C. To have some time on her own.
D. To collect data for her report.
30. What do we know about Mazoleny?
A. He makes videos for the bar.
B. He’s fond of the food at the bar.
C. He interviews customers at the bar.
D. He’s familiar with the barkeeper.
31. What is the text mainly about?
A. The trend of having meals alone.
B. The importance of self-reflection.
C. The stress from working overtime.D. The advantage of wireless technology.
Passage 4
【2019年全国卷Ⅱ】Bacteria are an annoying problem for astronauts. The microorganisms(微生物) from our
bodies grow uncontrollably on surfaces of the International Space Station, so astronauts spend hours cleaning them
up each week. How is NASA overcoming this very tiny big problem? It’s turning to a bunch of high school kids.
But not just any kids. It depending on NASA HUNCH high school class, like the one science teachers Gene Gordon
and Donna Himmelberg lead at Fairport High School in Fairport, New York.
HUNCH is designed to connect high school classrooms with NASA engineers. For the past two years,
Gordon’s students have been studying ways to kill bacteria in zero gravity, and they think they’re close to a
solution(解决方案). “We don’t give the students any breaks. They have to do it just like NASA engineers,” says
Florence Gold, a project manager.
“There are no tests,” Gordon says. “There is no graded homework. There almost are no grades, other
than‘Are you working towards your goal?’ Basically, it’s ‘I’ve got to produce this product and then, at the
end of year, present it to NASA.’ Engineers come and really do an in-person review, and…it’s not a very nice
thing at time. It’s a hard business review of your product.”
Gordon says the HUNCH program has an impact(影响) on college admissions and practical life skills. “These
kids are so absorbed in their studies that I just sit back. I don’t teach.” And that annoying bacteria? Gordon says his
students are emailing daily with NASA engineers about the problem, readying a workable solution to test in space.
32. What do we know about the bacteria in the International Space Station?
A. They are hard to get rid of. B. They lead to air pollution.
C. They appear different forms. D. They damage the instruments.
33. What is the purpose of the HUNCH program?
A. To strengthen teacher-student relationships. B. To sharpen students’ communication skills.
C. To allow students to experience zero gravity. D. To link space technology with school education
34. What do the NASA engineers do for the students in the program?
A. Check their product. B. Guide project designs
C. Adjust work schedules. D. Grade their homework.
35. What is the best title for the text?
A. NASA: The Home of Astronauts.
B. Space: The Final Homework Frontier.C. Nature: An Outdoor Classroom.
D. HUNCH:A College Admission Reform.
Passage 5
【2019 年全国卷 III】For Western designers, China and its rich culture have long been an inspiration for
Western creative.
"It's no secret that China has always been a source(来源)of inspiration for designers," says Amanda Hill, chief
creative officer at A+E Networks, a global media company and home to some of the biggest fashion(时尚)shows.
Earlier this year, the China Through A Looking Glass exhibition in New York exhibited 140 pieces of China-
inspired fashionable clothing alongside Chinese works of art, with the aim of exploring the influence of Chinese
aesthetics(美学)on Western fashion and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. The
exhibition had record attendance, showing that there is huge interest in Chinese influences.
"China is impossible to overlook," says Hill. "Chinese models are the faces of beauty and fashion campaigns
that sell dreams to women all over the world, which means Chinese women are not just consumers of fashion —
they are central to its movement. "Of course, only are today's top Western designers being influenced by China-
some of the best designers of contemporary fashion are themselves Chinese." Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason
Wu are taking on Galiano, Albaz, Marc Jacobs-and beating them hands down in design and sales," adds Hil.
For Hill, it is impossible not to talk about China as the leading player when discussing fashion. "The most
famous designers are Chinese, so are the models, and so are the consumers," she says. "China is no longer just
another market; in many senses it has become the market. If you talk about fashion today, you are talking about
China-its influences, its direction, its breathtaking clothes, and how young designers and models are finally
acknowledging that in many ways."
24. What can we learn about the exhibition in New York?
A. It promoted the sales of artworks. B. It attracted a large number of visitors.
C. It showed ancient Chinese clothes. D. It aimed to introduce Chinese models.
25. What does Hill say about Chinese women?
A. They are setting the fashion. B. They start many fashion campaigns.
C. They admire super models. D. They do business all over the world.
26. What do the underlined words "taking on" in paragraph 4 mean?
A. learning from B. looking down on C. working with D. competing against
27. What can be a suitable title for the text?A. Young Models Selling Dreams to the World
B. A Chinese Art Exhibition Held in New York
C. Differences Between Eastern and Western Aesthetics
D. Chinese Culture Fueling International Fashion Trends
Passage 6
,
【2019年全国卷III】Before the 1830s most newspapers were sold through annual subscriptions in America,
usually $8 to $10 a year. Today $8 or $10 seems a small amount of money, but at that time these amounts were
forbidding to most citizens. Accordingly, newspapers were read almost only by rich people in politics or the trades.
In addition, most newspapers had little in them that would appeal to a mass audience. They were dull and visually
forbidding. But the revolution that was taking place in the 1830s would change all that.
The trend, then, was toward the "penny paper"-a term referring to papers made widely available to the public.
It meant any inexpensive newspaper; perhaps more importantly it meant newspapers that could be bought in single
copies on the street.
This development did not take place overnight. It had been possible(but not easy)to buy single copies of
newspapers before 1830,but this usually meant the reader had to go down to the printer's office to purchase a copy.
Street sales were almost unknown. However, within a few years, street sales of newspapers would be commonplace
in eastern cities. At first the price of single copies was seldom a penny-usually two or three cents was charged-and
some of the older well-known papers charged five or six cents. But the phrase "penny paper " caught the public's
fancy, and soon there would be papers that did indeed sell for only a penny.
This new trend of newspapers for "the man on the street" did not begin well. Some of the early ventures(企
业)were immediate failures. Publishers already in business, people who were owners of successful papers, had little
desire to change the tradition. It took a few youthful and daring businessmen to get the ball rolling.
28. Which of the following best describes newspapers in America before the 1830s?
A. Academic. B. Unattractive. C. Inexpensive. D. Confidential.
29. What did street sales mean to newspapers?
A. They would be priced higher. B. They would disappear from cities.
C. They could have more readers. D. They could regain public trust.
30. Who were the newspapers of the new trend targeted at?
A. Local politicians. B. Common people.C. Young publishers. D. Rich businessmen.
31. What can we say about the birth of the penny paper?
A. It was a difficult process. B. It was a temporary success.
C. It was a robbery of the poor. D. It was a disaster for printers.
Passage 7
【2019年全国卷III】Monkeys seem to have a way with numbers.
A team of researchers trained three Rhesus monkeys to associate 26 clearly different symbols consisting of
numbers and selective letters with 0-25 drops of water or juice as a reward. The researchers then tested how the
monkeys combined—or added—the symbols to get the reward.
Here's how Harvard Medical School scientist Margaret Livingstone, who led the team, described the
experiment: In their cages the monkeys were provided with touch screens. On one part of the screen, a symbol
would appear, and on the other side two symbols inside a circle were shown. For example, the number 7 would
flash on one side of the screen and the other end would have 9 and 8. If the monkeys touched the left side of the
screen they would be rewarded with seven drops of water or juice; if they went for the circle, they would be
rewarded with the sum of the numbers—17 in this example.
After running hundreds of tests, the researchers noted that the monkeys would go for the higher values more
than half the time, indicating that they were performing a calculation, not just memorizing the value of each
combination.
When the team examined the results of the experiment more closely, they noticed that the monkeys tended to
underestimate(低估)a sum compared with a single symbol when the two were close in value—sometimes choosing,
for example, a 13 over the sum of 8 and 6. The underestimation was systematic: When adding two numbers, the
monkeys always paid attention to the larger of the two, and then added only a fraction(小部分)of the smaller
number to it.
"This indicates that there is a certain way quantity is represented in their brains, "Dr. Livingstone says. “But
in this experiment what they're doing is paying more attention to the big number than the little one.”
32. What did the researchers do to the monkeys before testing them?
A. They fed them. B. They named them.
C. They trained them. D. They measured them.
33. How did the monkeys get their reward in the experiment?A. By drawing a circle. B. By touching a screen.
C. By watching videos. D. By mixing two drinks.
34. What did Livingstone's team find about the monkeys?
A. They could perform basic addition. B. They could understand simple words.
C. They could memorize numbers easily. D. They could hold their attention for long.
35. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?
A. Entertainment. B. Health. C. Education. D. Science.
Passage 8
【2019年浙江卷6月】California has lost half its big trees since the 1930s, according to a study to be
published Tuesday and climate change seems to be a major factor(因素).
The number of trees larger than two feet across has declined by 50 percent on more than 46, 000 square miles
of California forests, the new study finds. No area was spared or unaffected, from the foggy northern coast to the
Sierra Nevada Mountains to the San Gabriels above Los Angeles. In the Sierra high country, the number of big
trees has fallen by more than 55 percent; in parts of southern California the decline was nearly 75 percent.
Many factors contributed to the decline, said Patrick Mclntyre, an ecologist who was the lead author of the
study. Woodcutters targeted big trees. Housing development pushed into the woods. Aggressive wildfire control has
left California forests crowded with small trees that compete with big trees for resources(资源).
But in comparing a study of California forests done in the 1920s and 1930s with another one between 2001
and 2010, Mclntyre and his colleagues documented a widespread death of big trees that was evident even in
wildlands protected from woodcutting or development.
The loss of big trees was greatest in areas where trees had suffered the greatest water shortage. The researchers
figured out water stress with a computer model that calculated how much water trees were getting in comparison
with how much they needed, taking into account such things as rainfall, air temperature, dampness of soil, and the
timing of snowmelt(融雪).
Since the 1930s, Mclntyre said, the biggest factors driving up water stress in the state have been rising
temperatures, which cause trees to lose more water to the air, and earlier snowmelt, which reduces the water supply
available to trees during the dry season.
27. What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A. The seriousness of big-tree loss in California.
B. The increasing variety of California big trees.C. The distribution of big trees in California forests.
D. The influence of farming on big trees in California.
28. Which of the following is well-intentioned but may be bad for big trees?
A. Ecological studies of forests.
B. Banning woodcutting.
C. Limiting housing development.
D. Fire control measures.
29. What is a major cause of the water shortage according to Mclntyre?
A. Inadequate snowmelt. B. A longer dry season.
C. A warmer climate. D. Dampness of the air.
30. What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. California's Forests: Where Have All the Big Trees Gone?
B. Cutting of Big Trees to Be Prohibited in California Soon
C. Why Are the Big Trees Important to California Forests?
D. Patrick Mclntyre: Grow More Big Trees in California
Passage 9
【2019年北京卷】The problem of robocalls has gotten so bad that many people now refuse to pick up calls
from numbers they don't know. By next year，half of the calls we receive will be scams(欺诈).We are finally
waking up to the severity of the problem by supporting and developing a group of tools，apps and approaches
intended to prevent scammers from getting through. Unfortunately，it's too little，too late. By the time these
“solutions"(解决方案)become widely available，scammers will have moved onto cleverer means. In the near
future，it's not just going to be the number you see on your screen that will be in doubt. Soon you will also
question whether the voice you're hearing is actually real.
That's because there are a number of powerful voice manipulation ( 处理 ) and automation technologies that
are about to become widely available for anyone to use .At this year's I/O Conference ,a company showed a new
voice technology able to produce such a convincing human –sounding voice that it was able to speak to a
receptionist and book a reservation without detection.
These developments are likely to make our current problems with robocalls much worse. The reason that
robocalls are a headache has less to do with amount than precision A decade of data breaches(数据侵入)of personal
information has led to a situation where scammers can easily learn your mother 's name ，and far more. Armedwith this knowledge. they're able to carry out individually targeted campaigns to cheat people. This means. for
example，that a scammer could call you from what looks to be a familiar number and talk to you using a voice that
sounds exactly like your bank teller 's，ricking you into "confirming " your address，mother's name，and card
number. Scammers follow money，so companies will be the worst hit. A lot of business is still done over the
phone，and much of it is based on trust and existing relationships. Voice manipulation technologies may weaken
that gradually.
We need to deal with the insecure nature of our telecom networks. Phone carriers and consumers need to work
together to find ways of determining and communicating what is real. That might mean either developing a uniform
way to mark videos and images, showing when and who they were made by. or abandoning phone calls altogether
and moving towards data-based communications—using apps like Face Time or WhatsApp, which can be tied to
your identity.
Credibility is hard to earn but easy to lose, and the problem is only going to harder from here on out.
38. How does the author feel about the solutions to problem of robecalls?
A. Panicked. B. Confused. C. Embarrassed. D. Disappointed.
39. taking advantage of the new technologies，scammer can______.
A. aim at victims precisely B. damage databases easily
C. start campaigns rapidly D. spread information widely
40. What does the passage imply?
A. Honesty is the best policy.
B. Technologies can be double-edited.
C. There are more solutions than problems.
D. Credibility holds the key to development.
41. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Where the Problem of Robocalls Is Rooted
B. Who Is to Blame for the Problem of Roboealls
C. Why Robocalls Are About to Get More Dangerous
D. How Robocalls Are Affecting the World of Technology
Passage 10
【2019年北京卷】By the end of the century，if not sooner，the world's oceans will be bluer and greener
thanks to a warming climate，according to a new study.At the heart of the phenomenon lie tiny marine microorganisms(海洋微生物)called phytoplankton. Because of
the way light reflects off the organisms，these phytoplankton create colourful patterns at the ocean surface. Ocean
colour varies from green to blue，depending on the type and concentration of phytoplankton. Climate change will
fuel the growth of phytoplankton in some areas，while reducing it in other spots，leading to changes in the ocean's
appearance.
Phytoplankton live at the ocean surface，where they pull carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)into the ocean while
giving off oxygen. When these organisms die，they bury carbon in the deep ocean，an important process that
helps to regulate the global climate. But phytoplankton are vulnerable to the ocean's warming trend. Warming
changes key characteristics of the ocean and can affect phytoplankton growth，since they need not only sunlight
and carbon dioxide to grow，but also nutrients.
Stephanie Dutkiewicz，a scientist in MIT's Center for Global Change Science，built a climate model that
projects changes to the oceans throughout the century. In a world that warms up by 3℃，it found that multiple
changes to the colour of the oceans would occur. The model projects that currently blue areas with little
phytoplankton could become even bluer. But in some waters，such as those of the Arctic，a warming will make
conditions riper for phytoplankton，and these areas will turn greener. “Not only are the quantities of phytoplankton
in the ocean changing. ”she said，“but the type of phytoplankton is changing. ”
42. What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?
A. The various patterns at the ocean surface.
B. The cause of the changes in ocean colour.
C. The way light reflects off marine organisms.
D. The efforts to fuel the growth of phytoplankton.
43. What does the underlined word“vulnerable”in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. Sensitive. B. Beneficial C. Significant D. Unnoticeable
44. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Phytoplankton play a declining role in the marine ecosystem.
B. Dutkiewicz's model aims to project phytoplankton changes
C. Phytoplankton have been used to control global climate
D. Oceans with more phytoplankton may appear greener.
45. What is the main purpose of the passage？
A. To assess the consequences of ocean colour changesB. To analyse the composition of the ocean food chain
C. To explain the effects of climate change on oceans
D. To introduce a new method to study phytoplankton
Passage 11
【2019年江苏卷】In the 1960s，while studying the volcanic history of Yellowstone National Park，Bob
Christiansen became puzzled about something that，oddly，had not troubled anyone before:he couldn't find the
park's volcano. It had been known for a long time that Yellowstone was volcanic in nature — that's what
accounted for all its hot springs and other steamy features. But Christiansen couldn't find the Yellowstone volcano
anywhere.
Most of us，when we talk about volcanoes，think of the classic cone(圆锥体)shapes of a Fuji or
Kilimanjaro，which are created when erupting magma(岩浆)piles up. These can form remarkably quickly. In
1943，a Mexican farmer was surprised to see smoke rising from a small part of his land. In one week he was the
confused owner of a cone five hundred feet high. Within two years it had topped out at almost fourteen hundred
feet and was more than half a mile across. Altogether there are some ten thousand of these volcanoes on Earth，all
but a few hundred of them extinct. There is，however，a second les known type of volcano that doesn't involve
mountain building. These are volcanoes so explosive that they burst open in a single big crack，leaving behind a
vast hole，the caldera. Yellowstone obviously was of this second type，but Christiansen couldn't find the caldera
anywhere.
Just at this time NASA decided to test some new high-altitude cameras by taking photographs of Yellowstone.
A thoughtful official passed on some of the copies to the park authorities on the assumption that they might make a
nice blow-up for one of the visitors' centers. As soon as Christiansen saw the photos，he realized why he had failed
to spot the caldera; almost the whole park-2.2 million acres—was caldera. The explosion had left a hole more than
forty miles across—much too huge to be seen from anywhere at ground level. At some time in the past Yellowstone
must have blown up with a violence far beyond the scale of anything known to humans.
58. What puzzled Christiansen when he was studying Yellowstone？
A. Its complicated geographical features.
B. Its ever-lasting influence on tourism.
C. The mysterious history of the park.
D. The exact location of the volcano.
59. What does the second-paragraph mainly talk about？A. The shapes of volcanoes.
B. The impacts of volcanoes.
C. The activities of volcanoes.
D. The heights of volcanoes.
60. What does the underlined word "blow-up" in the last paragraph most probably mean？
A. Hot-air balloon. B. Digital camera.
C. Big photograph. D. Bird's view.
Passage 12
【2018年浙江卷11月】The most welcome sight on a cold, wet winter night in London is the familiar shape
of a London taxi cab approaching with its yellow “for hire” sign shining brightly. That shows it is ready to pick you
up. Travelling by taxi in London is not just a way of going from one place to another. It is an experience to be
enjoyed and remembered.
The main reason for this is the drivers, who are called "cabbies." Many of them are true Cockneys. This means
they were born in the heart of London and speak their own special dialect(方言) of English. All of them know
every street and famous building in the city, and all of them love to talk. A simple twenty-minute Journey across
town can become very interesting. You may have a discussion about the government and its leaders or a friendly
talk about the driver’s Aunty Nellie! One thing is for sure, it will never be boring. Cabbies know all the latest news
about film stars, the Royal Family, government leaders, and popular singers or actors and actresses.
They also know the best places to eat, shop and relax. And they can take you straight to any large hotel,
department store, theatre or museum. They know the shortest way possible without even looking at a map, because
everyone who wants to become a taxi driver must pass a very difficult examination in order to get a license to drive
a taxi. The exam is called “The Knowledge.” It is a written test, and in it drivers are asked the shortest way from
one place to another. They must take into account the time of day—in rush hour, a longer route(路线) may be
quicker—and describe the best way. Moreover they must never forget the one-way streets!
21．From what can we tell that someone is a Cockney?
A．Their interest. B．Their manners. C．Their speech. D．Their appearance.
22．What does the author suggest by mentioning "Aunty Nellie" in paragraph 2?
A．Passengers are full of curiosity.
B．Cabbies’ topics are wide-ranging.
C．Aunty Nellie is popular in London.D．Londoners are friendly to each other.
23．What is the purpose of "The Knowledge"?
A．To qualify one to drive a taxi. B．To assess one’s driving skills.
C．To test drivers’ ability to write. D．To check taxi drivers memory.
Passage 13
【2018年浙江卷11月】This month millions of American kids can forget about classroom bells and set off
for grandparents’ homes, sleep-away camps and life guard stands. But summer vacation hasn’t always been a birth
right of U.S. school children. Before the Civil War, schools operated on one of two calendars(日历), neither of
which included a summer vacation. Rural(农村的) schooling was divided into summer and winter terms, leaving
kids free to help with the farm work in the spring planting and fall harvest seasons. Urban students, meanwhile,
regularly had as many as 48 weeks of study a year, with one break per quarter.
In the 1840s, however, educational reformers like Horace Mann moved to combine the two calendars out of
concern that rural schooling was not enough and that overusing of young minds could lead to nervous disorders.
Summer appeared as the obvious time for a break：it offered a rest for teachers, fit in the farming calendar and
reduced doctors’ concern that packing students into hot classrooms would promote the spread of disease.
But people’s opinion about the modern U.S. school year, which averages 180 days, is still divided. Some
experts say its pleasant but lazy summer break, which took hold in the early 20th century, is one of the reasons
math skills and graduation rates of U.S. high schoolers ranked well below average in two international education
reports published in 2007. Others insist that with children under increasing pressure to devote their downtime to
internships(实习) or study, there’s still room for an institution that protects the lazy days of childhood.
24．What did the rural school calendar before the Civil War allow children to do?
A．Enjoy a summer vacation.
B．Take a break each quarter.
C．Have 48 weeks of study a year.
D．Assist their parents with farm work.
25．What did the educational reformers do in the 1840s?
A．They introduced summer vacation.
B．They shortened rural school terms.
C．They promoted the study of farming.
D．They advocated higher pay for teachers.26．Why are some people unhappy about the modern U.S. school year?
A．It pushes the teachers too hard. B．It reduces the quality of education.
C．It ignores science instruction. D．It includes no time for internships.
Passage 14
【2019年天津卷】How does an ecosystem（生态系统）work？What makes the populations of different
species the way they are？Why are there so many flies and so few wolves？To find an answer，scientists have
built mathematical models of food webs，noting who eats whom and how much each one eats.
With such models，scientists have found out some key principles operating in food webs. Most food webs，
for instance，consist of many weak links rather than a few strong ones. When a predator（掠食动物）always eats
huge numbers of a single prey（猎物），the two species are strongly linked；when a predator lives on various
species，they are weakly linked. Food webs may be dominated by many weak links because that arrangement is
more stable over the long term. If a predator can eat several species，it can survive the extinction（灭绝）of one
of them. And if a predator can move on to another species that is easier to find when a prey species becomes rare，
the switch allows the original prey to recover. The weak links may thus keep species from driving one another to
extinction.
Mathematical models have also revealed that food webs may be unstable，where small changes of top
predators can lead to big effects throughout entire ecosystems. In the 1960s，scientists proposed that predators at
the top of a food web had a surprising amount of control over the size of populations of other species---including
species they did not directly attack.
And unplanned human activities have proved the idea of top-down control by top predators to be true. In the
ocean，we fished for top predators such as cod on an industrial scale，while on land，we killed off large predators
such as wolves. These actions have greatly affected the ecological balance.
Scientists have built an early-warning system based on mathematical models. Ideally，the system would tell
us when to adapt human activities that are pushing an ecosystem toward a breakdown or would even allow us to
pull an ecosystem back from the borderline. Prevention is key，scientists says because once ecosystems pass their
tipping point（临界点），it is remarkably difficult for them to return.
46. What have scientists discovered with the help of mathematical models of food webs？
A. The living habits of species in food webs.
B. The rules governing food webs of the ecosystems.
C. The approaches to studying the species in the ecosystems.D. The differences between weak and strong links in food webs.
47. A strong link is found between two species when a predator______
A. has a wide food choice
B. can easily find new prey
C. sticks to one prey species
D. can quickly move to another place
48. What will happen if the populations of top predators in a food web greatly decline？
A. The prey species they directly attack will die out.
B. The species they indirectly attack will turn into top predators.
C. The living environment of other species will remain unchanged.
D. The populations of other species will experience unexpected changes.
49. What conclusion can be drawn from the examples in Paragraph 4？
A. Uncontrolled human activities greatly upset ecosystems.
B. Rapid economic development threatens animal habitats.
C. Species of commercial value dominate other species.
D. Industrial activities help keep food webs stable.
50. How does an early-warning system help us maintain the ecological balance？
A. By getting illegal practices under control.
B. By stopping us from killing large predators.
C. By bringing the broken-down ecosystems back to normal.
D. By signaling the urgent need for taking preventive action.
2018年阅读理解说明文
Passage1
【2018 年全国Ⅰ卷】Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid is used to grilling guests on the sofa every
morning, but she is cooking up a storm in her latest role – showing families how to prepare delicious and nutritious
meals on a tight budget.
In Save Money: Good Food, she visits a different home each week and with the help of chef Matt Tebbutt
offers top tips on how to reduce food waste, while preparing recipes for under £5 per family a day. And the Good
Morning Britain presenter says she’s been able to put a lot of what she’s learnt into practice in her own home,
preparing meals for sons, Sam, 14, Finn, 13, and Jack, 11.“We love Mexican churros, so I buy them on my phone from my local Mexican takeaway restaurant,” she
explains. “I pay £5 for a portion (一份), but Matt makes them for 26p a portion, because they are flour, water, sugar
and oil. Everybody can buy takeaway food, but sometimes we’re not aware how cheaply we can make this food
ourselves.”
The eight-part series (系列节目), Save Money: Good Food, follows in the footsteps of ITV’s Save Money:
Good Health, which gave viewers advice on how to get value from the vast range of health products on the market.
With food our biggest weekly household expense, Susanna and Matt spend time with a different family each
week. In tonight’s Easter special they come to the aid of a family in need of some delicious inspiration on a budget.
The team transforms the family’s long weekend of celebration with less expensive but still tasty recipes.
24. What do we know about Susanna Reid?
A. She enjoys embarrassing her guests. B. She has started a new programme.
C. She dislikes working early in the morning. D. She has had a tight budget for her family.
25. How does Matt Tebbutt help Susanna?
A. He buys cooking materials for her. B. He prepares food for her kids.
C. He assists her in cooking matters. D. He invites guest families for her.
26. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 4?
A. Summarize the previous paragraphs. B. Provide some advice for the readers.
C. Add some background information. D. Introduce a new topic for discussion.
27. What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Keeping Fit by Eating Smart B. Balancing Our Daily Diet
C. Making Yourself a Perfect Chef D. Cooking Well for Less
Passage 2
【2018年全国Ⅰ卷】Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there
has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly
knit (联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts
believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000
languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too
became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialisation, the development of the
nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communicationsin the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English,
Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The
general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages, often spoken by many people, while hot, wet zones
have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 languages; the Americas about 1,000; Africa
2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The
median number (中位数) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the world’s languages are spoken by
fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction (消亡), with only a few elderly
speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico (150), Lipan
Apache in the United States (two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems
to have much chance of survival.
28. What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times?
A. They developed very fast. B. They were large in number.
C. They had similar patterns. D. They were closely connected.
29. Which of the following best explains “dominant” underlined in paragraph 2?
A. Complex. B. Advanced.
C. Powerful. D. Modern.
30. How many languages are spoken by less than 6,000 people at present?
A. About 6,800. B. About 3,400.
C. About 2,400. D. About 1,200.
31. What is the main idea of the text?
A. New languages will be created.
B. People’s lifestyles are reflected in languages.
C. Human development results in fewer languages.
D. Geography determines language evolution.
Passage 3
【2018年全国Ⅰ卷】We may think we’re a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of
something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices (装置) well after they go out
of style. That’s bad news for the environment – and our wallets – as these outdated devices consume much moreenergy than the newer ones that do the same things.
To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester
Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life – from
when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home
energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation. Desktop computers, basic
mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart
phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.
As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn’t throw out our old ones. “The living-room television is
replaced and gets planted in the kids’ room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house,”
said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in
2007. We’re not just keeping these old devices – we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt’s
team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy
consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (排放) more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007
window.
So what’s the solution (解决方案)? The team’s data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored
what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function,
such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on
tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.
32. What does the author think of new devices?
A. They are environment-friendly. B. They are no better than the old.
C. They cost more to use at home. D. They go out of style quickly.
33. Why did Babbitt’s team conduct the research?
A. To reduce the cost of minerals.
B. To test the life cycle of a product.
C. To update consumers on new technology.
D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.
34. Which of the following uses the least energy?
A. The box-set TV. B. The tablet. C. The LCD TV. D. The desktop computer.
35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?
A. Stop using them. B. Take them apart.C. Upgrade them. D. Recycle them.
Passage 4
【2018年全国Ⅱ卷】Many of us love July because it’s the month when nature’s berries and stone fruits are
in abundance. These colourful and sweet jewels form British Columbia’s fields are little powerhouses of nutritional
protection.
Of the common berries, strawberries are highest in vitamin C, although, because of their seeds, raspberries
contain a little more protein (蛋白质), iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein). Blueberries are particularly
high in antioxidants (抗氧化物质). The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids
we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants. As for cherries (樱桃), they are so delicious who cares?
However, they are rich in vitamin C.
When combined with berries of slices of other fruits, frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick, cooling
fruit shakes and low fat “ice cream”. For this purpose, select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter.
Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze. If you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
on the bananas will prevent them turning brown. Frozen bananas will last several weeks, depending on their
ripeness and the temperature of the freezer.zx.x.k
If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a
“soft-serve” creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children’s party; they love
feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below.
24. What does the author seem to like about cherries?
A. They contain protein. B. They are high in vitamin A.
C. They have a pleasant taste. D. They are rich in antioxidants.
25. Why is fresh lemon juice used in freezing bananas?
A. To make them smell better. B. To keep their colour.
C. To speed up their ripening. D. To improve their nutrition.
26. What is “a juicer” in the last paragraph?
A. A dessert. B. A drink.
C. A container. D. A machine.
27. From which is the text probably taken?
A. A biology textbook. B. A health magazine.
C. A research paper. D. A travel brochure.Passage 5
【2018年全国Ⅱ卷】Teens and younger children are reading a lot less for fun, according to a Common Sense
Media report published Monday.
While the decline over the past decade is steep for teen readers, some data in the report shows that reading
remains a big part of many children’s lives, and indicates how parents might help encourage more reading.
According to the report’s key findings, “the proportion (比例) who say they ‘hardly ever’ read for fun has
gone from 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds in 1984 to 22 percent and 27 percent respectively
today.”
The report data shows that pleasure reading levels for younger children, ages 2—8, remain largely the same.
But the amount of time spent in reading each session has declined, from closer to an hour or more to closer to a half
hour per session.
When it comes to technology and reading, the report does little to counsel(建议) parents looking for data about
the effect of e-readers and tablets on reading. It does point out that many parents still limit electronic reading,
mainly due to concerns about increased screen time.
The most hopeful data shared in the report shows clear evidence of parents serving as examples and
important guides for their kids when it comes to reading. Data shows that kids and teens who do read frequently,
compared to infrequent readers, have more books in the home, more books purchased for them, parents who read
more often, and parents who set aside time for them to read.
As the end of school approaches, and school vacation reading lists loom(逼近) ahead, parents might take this
chance to step in and make their own summer reading list and plan a family trip to the library or bookstore.
28. What is the Common Sense Media report probably about?
A. Children’s reading habits.
B. Quality of children’s books.
C. Children’s after-class activities.
D. Parent-child relationships.
29. Where can you find the data that best supports "children are reading a lot less for fun"?
A. In paragraph 2. B. In paragraph 3.
C. In paragraph 4. D. In paragraph 5.
30. Why do many parents limit electronic reading?
A. E-books are of poor quality.
B. It could be a waste of time.C. It may harm children’s health.
D. E-readers are expensive.
31. How should parents encourage their children to read more?
A. Act as role models for them.
B. Ask then to write book reports.
C. Set up reading groups for them.
D. Talk with their reading class teachers.
Passage 6
【2018年全国Ⅲ卷】Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river.
People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade. New
York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River. Over 300 years its population
grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million. But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom
towns grow from nothing almost overnight. In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness(荒野). But gold
was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of
30,000.
Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London or Paris. People went there for
gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed hundreds of miles up icy rivers. The path to Dawson
was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming. An avalanche(雪崩) once closed the path,
killing 63 people. For many who made it to Dawson, however, the rewards were worth the difficult trip. Of the first
20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed rich men for the rest of their lives.
But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food and wood were very
expensive. But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found. The city was crowded with
disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when they heard there were new gold discoveries in
Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come. Today, people still come and go — to see where the
Canadian gold rush happened. Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City — its present population is 762.
24. What attracted the early settlers to New York City?
A. Its business culture.
B. Its small population.
C. Its geographical position.
D. Its favourable climate.
25. What do we know about those who first dug for gold in Dawson?A. Two-thirds of them stayed there.
B. One out of five people got rich.
C. Almost everyone gave up.
D. Half of them died.
26. What was the main reason for many people to leave Dawson?
A. They found the city too crowded.
B. They wanted to try their luck elsewhere.
C. They were unable to stand the winter.
D. They were short of food.
27. What is the text mainly about?
A. The rise and fall of a city.
B. The gold rush in Canada.
C. Journeys into the wilderness.
D. Tourism in Dawson.
Passage 7
【2018年浙江卷6月】Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when
you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduce litter, including things that
fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein's jobs is
defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.
Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or
along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts(收银台) . The bags are
prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag
makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most
people assume.
Among the bag makers' argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which
are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look
at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground today.
The industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags.
The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-
lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used atleast 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.
Environmentalists don't dispute（质疑） these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too
and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.
24. What has Steven Stein been hired to do?
A. Help increase grocery sales. B. Recycle the waste material.
C. Stop things falling off trucks. D. Argue for the use of plastic bags.
25. What does the word “headwinds”in paragraph 2 refer to?
A. Bans on plastic bags. B. Effects of city development.
C. Headaches caused by garbage. D. Plastic bags hung in trees.
26. What is a disadvantage of reusable bags according to plastic-bag makers?
A. They are quite expensive. B. Replacing them can be difficult.
C. They are less strong than plastic bags. D. Producing them requires more energy.
27. What is the best title for the text?
A. Plastic, Paper or Neither B. Industry, Pollution and Environment
C. Recycle or Throw Away D. Garbage Collection and Waste Control
Passage 8
【2018年浙江卷6月】As cultural symbols go, the American car is quite young. The Model T Ford
was built at the Piquette Plant in Michigan a century ago, with the first rolling off the assembly line（装
配线）on September 27, 1908. Only eleven cars were produced the next month. But eventually Henry
Ford would build fifteen million of them.
Modern America was born on the road, behind a wheel. The car shaped some of the most lasting
aspects of American culture: the roadside diner, the billboard, the motel, even the hamburger. For most of
the last century, the car represented what it meant to be American—going forward at high speed to find
new worlds. The road novel, the road movie, these are the most typical American ideas, born of abundant
petrol, cheap cars and a never-ending interstate highway system, the largest public works project in
history.
In 1928 Herbert Hoover imagined an America with “a chicken in every pot and a car in every
garage.” Since then, this society has moved onward, never looking back, as the car transformed America
from a farm-based society into an industrial power.
The cars that drove the American Dream have helped to create a global ecological disaster. InAmerica the demand for oil has grown by 22 percent since 1990.
The problems of excessive（过度的）energy consumption, climate change and population growth have
been described in a book by the American writer Thomas L. Friedman. He fears the worst, but hopes for
the best.
Friedman points out that the green economy（经济）is a chance to keep American strength. “The
ability to design, build and export green technologies for producing clean water, clean air and healthy and
abundant food is going to be the currency of power in the new century.”
28. Why is hamburger mentioned in paragraph 2?
A. To explain Americans’ love for travelling by car.
B. To show the influence of cars on American culture.
C. To stress the popularity of fast food with Americans.
D. To praise the effectiveness of America’s road system.
29. What has the use of cars in America led to?
A. Decline of economy. B. Environmental problems.
C. A shortage of oil supply. D. A farm-based society.
30. What is Friedman’s attitude towards America’s future?
A. Ambiguous. B. Doubtful. C. Hopeful. D. Tolerant.
Passage 9
【2018年北京卷】 Find Your Adventure at the Space and Aviation(航空) Center
If you’re looking for a unique adventure, the Space and Aviation Center (SAC) is the place to be. The Center
offers programs designed to challenge and inspire with hands-on tasks and lots of fun.
More than 750,000 have graduated from SAC, with many seeking employment in engineering, aviation,
education, medicine and a wide variety of other professions. They come to camp, wanting to know what it is like
to be an astronaut or a pilot, and they leave with real-world applications for what they’re studying in the classroom.
For the trainees, the programs also offer a great way to earn merit badges(荣誉徽章). At Space Camp,
trainees can earn their Space Exploration badge as they build and fire model rockets, learn about space tasks and try
simulated(模拟) flying to space with the crew from all over the world. The Aviation Challenge program gives
trainees the chance to earn their Aviation badge. They learn the principles of flight and test their operating skills
in the cockpit(驾驶舱) of a variety of flight simulators. Trainees also get a good start on their Wilderness Survival
badge as they learn about water- and land-survival through designed tasks and their search and rescue of ＂downed＂ pilot.
With all the programs, teamwork is key as trainees learn the importance of leadership and being part of a
bigger task. zxx. k
All this fun is available for ages 9 to 18. Families can enjoy the experience together, too, with Family Camp
programs for families with children as young as 7.
Stay an hour or stay a week — there is something here for everyone!
For more details, please visit us online at www. oursac. com.
40. Why do people come to SAC?
A. To experience adventures.
B. To look for jobs in aviation.
C. To get a degree in engineering.
D. To learn more about medicine.
41. To earn a Space Exploration badge, a trainee needs to .
A. fly to space
B. get an Aviation badge first
C. study the principles of flight
D. build and fire model rockets
42. What is the most important for trainees?
A. Leadership. B. Team spirit.
C. Task planning. D. Survival skills.
Passage 10
【2018年北京卷】 Plastic-Eating Worms
Humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. Almost
half of that winds up in landfills(垃圾填埋场), and up to 12 million tons pollute
the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study
suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms.
Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the
greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of
plastics. The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms
consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms’ chewing alone was
not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste(糊状物) andapplied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass — apparently broken down by
enzymes (酶) from the worms’ stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017.
Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the study, says the worms’ ability to break down their everyday food —
beeswax — also allows them to break down plastic. ＂Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in
polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well, ＂she explains, ＂The wax worm evolved a method or
system to break this bond. ＂
Jennifer DeBruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is
not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the
speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the
breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes(肠道微生物)?
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team’s findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down
plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process — not simply ＂millions
of worms thrown on top of the plastic.＂
43. What can we learn about the worms in the study?
A. They take plastics as their everyday food.
B. They are newly evolved creatures.
C. They can consume plastics.
D. They wind up in landfills.
44. According to Jennifer DeBruyn, the next step of the study is to .
A. identify other means of the breakdown
B. find out the source of the enzyme
C. confirm the research findings
D. increase the breakdown speed
45. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the chemical might .
A. help to raise worms
B. help make plastic bags
C. be used to clean the oceans
D. be produced in factories in future
46. What is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To explain a study method on worms.
B. To introduce the diet of a special worm.C. To present a way to break down plastics.
D. To propose new means to keep eco-balance.
Passage 11
【2018年江苏卷】If you want to disturb the car industry, you'd better have a few billion dollars: Mom-and-
pop carmakers are unlikely to beat the biggest car companies. But in agriculture, small farmers can get the best of
the major players. By connecting directly with customers, and by responding quickly to changes in the markets as
well as in the ecosystems(生态系统), small farmers can keep one step ahead of the big guys. As the co-founder of
the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC, 美国青年农会) and a family farmer myself. I have a front-row
seat to the innovations among small farmers that are transforming the industry.
For example, take the Quick Cut Greens Harvester, a tool developed just a couple of years ago by a young
farmer, Jonathan Dysinger, in Tennessee, with a small loan from a local Slow Money group. It enables small-scale
farmers to harvest 175 pounds of green vegetables per hour—a huge improvement over harvesting just a few dozen
pounds by hand—suddenly making it possible for the little guys to compete with large farms of California. Before
the tool came out, small farmers couldn't touch the price per pound offered by California farms. But now, with the
combination of a better price point and a generally fresher product, they can stay in business.
The sustainable success of small farmers, though, won't happen without fundamental changes to the industry.
One crucial factor is secure access to land. Competition from investors, developers, and established large farmers
makes owning one's own land unattainable for many new farmers.
From 2004 to 2013, agricultural land values doubled, and they continue to rise in many regions.
Another challenge for more than a million of the most qualified farm workers and managers is a non-existent
path to citizenship — the greatest barrier to building a farm of their own. With farmers over the age of 65
outnumbering(多于）farmers younger than 35 by six to one, and with two-thirds of the nation's farmland in need
of a new farmer, we must clear the path for talented people willing to grow the nation's food.
There are solutions that could light a path toward a more sustainable and fair farm economy, but farmers can't
clumsily put them together before us. We at the NYFC need broad support as we urge Congress to increase
farmland conservation, as we push for immigration reform, and as we seek policies that will ensure the success of a
diverse and ambitious next generation of farms from all backgrounds. With a new farm bill to be debated in
Congress, consumers must take a stand with young farmers.
61. The author mentions car industry at the beginning of the passage to introduce .
A. the progress made in car industryB. a special feature of agriculture
C. a trend of development in agriculture
D. the importance of investing in car industry
62. What does the author want to illustrate with the example in paragraph 2?
A. Loans to small local farmers are necessary.
B. Technology is vital for agricultural development.
C. Competition between small and big farms is fierce
D. Small farmers may gain some advantages over big ones.
63. What is the difficulty for those new famers?
A. To gain more financial aid.
B. To hire good farm managers.
C. To have farms of their own.
D. To win old farmers’ support.
64. What should farmers do for a more sustainable and fair farm economy?
A. Seek support beyond NYFC.
B. Expand farmland conservation.
C. Become members of NYFC.
D. Invest more to improve technology.
Passage 12
【2018年天津卷】There’s a new frontier in 3D printing that’s beginning to come into focus: food. Recent
development has made possible machines that print, cook, and serve foods on a mass scale. And the industry isn’t
stopping there.
Food production
With a 3D printer, a cook can print complicated chocolate sculptures and beautiful pieces for decoration on a
wedding cake. Not everybody can do that — it takes years of experience, but a printer makes it easy. A restaurant in
Spain uses a Foodini to “re-create forms and pieces” of food that are “exactly the same,” freeing cooks to complete
other tasks. In another restaurant, all of the dishes and desserts it serves are 3D-printed,rather than farm to table.
Sustainability(可持续性）
The global population is expected to grow to 9.6 billion by 2050, and some analysts estimate that food
production will need to be raised by 50 percent to maintain current levels. Sustainability is becoming a necessity.
3D food printing could probably contribute to the solution. Some experts believe printers could use hydrocolloids
(水解胶体) from plentiful renewables like algae(藻类) and grass to replace the familiar ingredients(烹饪原料). 3Dprinting can reduce fuel use and emissions. Grocery stores of the future might stock "food" that lasts years on end,
freeing up shelf space and reducing transportation and storage requirements.
Nutrition
Future 3D food printers could make processed food healthier. Hod Lipson, a professor at Columbia University,
said, “Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins. So
instead of eating a piece of yesterday’s bread from the supermarket, you’d eat something baked just for you on
demand.”
Challenges
Despite recent advancements in 3D food printing, the industry has many challenges to overcome. Currently,
most ingredients must be changed to a paste(糊状物) before a printer can use them, and the printing process is quite
time-consuming, because ingredients interact with each other in very complex ways. On top of that, most of the 3D
food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad. Some
experts are skeptical about 3D food printers, believing they are better suited for fast food restaurants than homes
and high-end restaurants.
46. What benefit does 3D printing bring to food production?
A. It helps cooks to create new dishes.
B. It saves time and effort in cooking.
C. It improves the cooking conditions.
D. It contributes to restaurant decorations.
47. What can we learn about 3D food printing from Paragraphs 3?
A. It solves food shortages easily.
B. It quickens the transportation of food.
C. It needs no space for the storage of food.
D. It uses renewable materials as sources of food.
48. According to Paragraph 4, 3D-printed food ________.
A. is more available to consumers
B. can meet individual nutritional needs
C. is more tasty than food in supermarkets
D. can keep all the nutrition in raw materials
49. What is the main factor that prevents 3D food printing from spreading widely?
A. The printing process is complicated.B. 3D food printers are too expensive.
C. Food materials have to be dry.
D. Some experts doubt 3D food printing.
50. What could be the best title of the passage?
A. 3D Food Printing: Delicious New Technology
B. A New Way to Improve 3D Food Printing
C. The Challenges for 3D Food Production
D. 3D Food Printing: From Farm to Table
2017年阅读理解说明文
Passage1
【2017年新课标Ⅰ卷】A build-it-yourself solar still（蒸馏器） is one of the best ways to obtain
drinking water in areas where the liquid is not readily available. Developed by two doctors in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, it’s an excellent water collector. Unfortunately, you must carry the necessary
equipment with you, since it’s all but impossible to find natural substitutes. The only components
required, though, are a 5＇ 5＇ sheet of clear or slightly milky plastic, six feet of plastic tube, and a
container — perhaps just a drinking cup — to catch the water. These pieces can be folded into a neat
little pack and fastened on your belt.
To construct a working still, use a sharp stick or rock to dig a hole four feet across and three feet
deep. Try to make the hole in a damp area to increase the water catcher ’ s productivity. Place your cup in
the deepest part of the hole. Then lay the tube in place so that one end rests all the way in the cup and
the rest of the line runs up — and out — the side of the hole.
Next, cover the hole with the plastic sheet, securing the edges of the plastic with dirt and weighting
the sheet’s center down with a rock. The plastic should now form a cone(圆锥体) with 45-degree-angled
sides. The low point of the sheet must be centered directly over, and no more than three inches above,
the cup.
The solar still works by creating a greenhouse under the plastic. Ground water evaporates(蒸发) and
collects on the sheet until small drops of water form, run down the material and fall off into the cup.
When the container is full, you can suck the refreshment out through the tube, and won’t have to break
down the still every time you need a drink.
32. What do we know about the solar still equipment from the first paragraph?A. It’s delicate. B. It’s expensive.
C. It’s complex. D. It’s portable.
33. What does the underlined phrase ＂the water catcher＂ in paragraph 2 refer to?
A. The tube. B. The still.
C. The hole. D. The cup.
34. What is the last step of constructing a working solar still?
A. Dig a hole of a certain size. B. Put the cup in place.
C. Weight the sheet’s center down. D. Cover the hole with the plastic sheet.
35. When a solar still works, drops of water come into the cup from .
A. the plastic tube B. outside the hole
C. the open air D. beneath the sheet
Passage 2
【2017年新课标Ⅱ卷】Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight, bringing
the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle — named the Transition —
has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The Transition, which flew at 1,400
feet for eight minutes last month, can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a
23-gallon tank of gas and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.
Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and
those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New
York Auto Show. But don’t expect it to show up in too many driveways. It’s expected to cost $279,000. And it
won’t help if you’re stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.
Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry
expert. But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government
has already permitted the company to use special materials to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The Transition is
now going through crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.
Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision five years ago to create a
separate set of standards for light sport aircraft, which are lower than those for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia
says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a
requirement pilots would find relatively easy to meet.
28. What is the first paragraph mainly about?A. The basic data of the Transition.
B. The advantages of flying cars.
C. The potential market for flying cars.
D. The designers of the Transition.
29. Why is the Transition unlikely to show up in too many driveways?
A. It causes traffic jams.
B. It is difficult to operate.
C. It is very expensive.
D. It burns too much fuel.
30. What is the government’s attitude to the development of the flying car?
A. Cautious. B. Favorable.
C. Ambiguous. D. Disapproving.
31. What is the best title for the text?
A. Flying Car at Auto Show B. The Transition’s First Flight
C. Pilots’ Dream Coming True D. Flying Car Closer to Reality
Passage 3
【2017年新课标Ⅱ卷】When a leafy plant is under attack, it doesn’t sit quietly. Back in 1983, two scientists, Jack
Schultz and Ian Baldwin, reported that young maple trees getting bitten by insects send out a particular smell that
neighboring plants can get. These chemicals come from the injured parts of the plant and seem to be an alarm.
What the plants pump through the air is a mixture of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds, VOCs for
short.
Scientists have found that all kinds of plants give out VOCs when being attacked. It’s a plant’s way of crying
out. But is anyone listening? Apparently. Because we can watch the neighbors react.
Some plants pump out smelly chemicals to keep insects away. But others do double duty. They pump out
perfumes designed to attract different insects who are natural enemies to the attackers. Once they arrive, the tables
are turned. The attacker who was lunching now becomes lunch.
In study after study, it appears that these chemical conversations help the neighbors. The damage is usually
more serious on the first plant, but the neighbors, relatively speaking, stay safer because they heard the alarm and
knew what to do.
Does this mean that plants talk to each other? Scientists don’t know. Maybe the first plant just made a cry ofpain or was sending a message to its own branches, and so, in effect, was talking to itself. Perhaps the neighbors
just happened to "overhear" the cry. So information was exchanged, but it wasn’t a true, intentional back and forth.
Charles Darwin, over 150 years ago, imagined a world far busier, noisier and more intimate(亲密的) than the
world we can see and hear. Our senses are weak. There’s a whole lot going on.
32. What does a plant do when it is under attack?
A. It makes noises. B. It gets help from other plants.
C. It stands quietly. D. It sends out certain chemicals.
33. What does the author mean by "the tables are turned" in paragraph 3?
A. The attackers get attacked. B. The insects gather under the table.
C. The plants get ready to fight back. D. The perfumes attract natural enemies.
34. Scientists find from their studies that plants can .
A. predict natural disasters B. protect themselves against insects
C. talk to one another intentionally D. help their neighbors when necessary
35. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. The world is changing faster than ever. B. People have stronger senses than before.
C. The world is more complex than it seems. D. People in Darwin’s time were more imaginative.
Passage 4
【2017年新课标Ⅲ卷】After years of heated debate, gray wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National
Park. Fourteen wolves were caught in Canada and transported to the park. By last year, the Yellowstone wolf
population had grown to more than 170 wolves.
Gray wolves once were seen here and there in the Yellowstone area and much of the continental United States,
but they were gradually displaced by human development. By the 1920s, wolves had practically disappeared from
the Yellowstone area. They went farther north into the deep forests of Canada, where there were fewer humans
around.
The disappearance of the wolves had many unexpected results. Deer and elk populations — major food
sources (来源) for the wolf — grew rapidly. These animals consumed large amounts of vegetation (植被), which
reduced plant diversity in the park. In the absence of wolves, coyote populations also grew quickly. The coyotes
killed a large percentage of the park’s red foxes, and completely drove away the park’s beavers.
As early as 1966, biologists asked the government to consider reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone Park.
They hoped that wolves would be able to control the elk and coyote problems. Many farmers opposed the planbecause they feared that wolves would kill their farm animals or pets.
The government spent nearly 30 years coming up with a plan to reintroduce the wolvers. The U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service carefully monitors and manages the wolf packs in Yellowstone. Today, the debate continues over
how well the gray wolf is fitting in at Yellowstone. Elk, deer, and coyote populations are down, while beavers
and red foxes have made a comeback. The Yellowstone wolf project has been a valuable experiment to help
biologists decide whether to reintroduce wolves to other parts of the country as well.
28. What is the text mainly about?
A. Wildlife research in the United States.
B. Plant diversity in the Yellowstone area.
C. The conflict between farmers and gray wolves.
D. The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park.
29. What does the underlined word ＂displaced＂ in paragraph 2 mean?
A. Tested. B. Separated. C. Forced out. D. Tracked down.
30. What did the disappearance of gray wolves bring about?
A. Damage to local ecology. B. A decline in the park’s income.
C. Preservation of vegetation. D. An increase in the variety of animals.
31. What is the author’s attitude towards the Yellowstone wolf project?
A. Doubtful. B. Positive. C. Disapproving. D. Uncaring.
Passage 5
【2017年新课标Ⅲ卷】The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University have turned an electric car
into a mobile laboratory named ＂DriveLAB＂ in order to understand the challenges faced by older drivers and to
discover where the key stress points are.
Research shows that giving up driving is one of the key reasons for a fall in health and well-being among older
people, leading to them becoming more isolated(隔绝) and inactive.
Led by Professor Phil Blythe, the Newcastle team are developing in-vehicle technologies for older drivers
which they hope could help them to continue driving into later life.
These include custom-made navigation(导航) tools, night vision systems and intelligent speed adaptations.
Phil Blythe explains: ＂For many older people, particularly those living alone or in the country, driving is
important for preserving their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely
on others.＂＂But we all have to accept that as we get older our reactions slow down and this often results in people
avoiding any potentially challenging driving conditions and losing confidence in their driving skills. The result is
that people stop driving before they really need to.＂
Dr Amy Guo, the leading researcher on the older driver study, explains: ＂The DriveLAB is helping us to
understand what the key points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to address
these problems.
＂For example, most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly,
we found that in 30mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed
limit and be at risk of getting fined. We’re looking at the benefits of systems which control their speed as a way of
preventing that.
＂We hope that our work will help with technological solutions(解决方案) to ensure that older drivers stay
safer behind the wheel.＂
32. What is the purpose of the DriveLAB?
A. To explore new means of transport.
B. To design new types of cars.
C. To find out older driver’s problems.
D. To teach people traffic rules.
33. Why is driving important for older people according to Phil Blythe?
A. It keeps them independent.
B. It helps them save time.
C. It builds up their strength.
D. It cures their mental illnesses.
34. What do researchers hope to do for older drivers?
A. Improve their driving skills.
B. Develop driver-assist technologies.
C. Provide tips on repairing their cars.
D. Organize regular physical checkups.
35. What is the best title for the text?
A. A new Model Electric Car
B. A Solution to Traffic Problems
C. Driving Services for EldersD. Keeping Older Drivers on the Road
Passage 6
【2017年北京卷】Inspiring young minds!
TOKNOW Magazine is a big hit in the world of children’s publishing, bringing a unique combination of
challenging ideas and good fun to young fans every month.
What is so special about TOKNOW magazine? What’s inside?
Well, it has no ads or promotions inside— Every month the magazine introduces a
instead it is jam-packed with serious ideas. fresh new topic with articles, experiments
TOKNOW makes complex ideas attractive and and creative things to make — the magazine
accessible to children, who can become involved also explores philosophy and wellbeing to
in advanced concepts and even philosophy（哲 make sure young readers have a balanced take
学）—and they will soon discover that TOKNOW on life.
feels more like a club than just a magazine.
Sounds too good to be true?
Take a look online—evidence shows that thousands of teachers and parents know a good thing when
they see it and recommend TOKNOW to their friends.
Happy Birthday All Year!
What could be more fun than a gift that keeps coming through the letterbox every month? The first
magazine with your gift message will arrive in time for the special day.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
□Annual Subscription
Europe £55 Rest of World £65
□Annual Subscription with Gift Pack
Includes a Mammoth Map, a Passport Puzzle Booklet, and Subscription
Europe £60 Rest of World £70
Refund Policy—the subscription can be cancelled within 28 days and you can get your money back.
59. Why is TOKNOW a special magazine?
A. It entertains young parents.
B. It provides serious advertisements.
C. It publishes popular science fictions.
D. It combines fun with complex concepts.
60. What does TOKNOW offer its readers?A. Online courses.
B. Articles on new topics.
C. Lectures on a balanced life.
D. Reports on scientific discoveries.
61. How much should you pay if you make a 12-mouth subscription to TOKNOW with gift pack from China?
A. £55. B. £60. C. £65. D. £70.
62. Subscribers of TOKNOW would get .
A. free birthday presents
B. full refund within 28 days
C. membership of the TOKNOW club
D. chances to meet the experts in person
Passage 7
【2017年北京卷】Measles(麻疹), which once killed 450 children each year and disabled even more,
was nearly wiped out in the United States 14 years ago by the universal use of the MMR vaccine(疫苗).
But the disease is making a comeback, caused by a growing anti-vaccine movement and misinformation
that is spreading quickly. Already this year, 115 measles cases have been reported in the USA, compared
with 189 for all of last year.
The numbers might sound small, but they are the leading edge of a dangerous trend. When
vaccination rates are very high, as they still are in the nation as a whole, everyone is protected. This is
called ＂herd immunity＂, which protects the people who get hurt easily, including those who can’t be
vaccinated for medical reasons, babies too young to get vaccinated and people on whom the vaccine
doesn’t work.
But herd immunity works only when nearly the whole herd joins in. When some refuse vaccination
and seek a free ride, immunity breaks down and everyone is in even bigger danger.
That’s exactly what is happening in small neighborhoods around the country from Orange County,
California, where 22 measles cases were reported this month, to Brooklyn, N.Y., where a 17-year-old
caused an outbreak last year.
The resistance to vaccine has continued for decades, and it is driven by a real but very small risk.
Those who refuse to take that risk selfishly make others suffer.
Making things worse are state laws that make it too easy to opt out(决定不参加) of what aresupposed to be required vaccines for all children entering kindergarten. Seventeen states allow parents to
get an exemption（豁免）, sometimes just by signing a paper saying they personally object to a vaccine.
Now, several states are moving to tighten laws by adding new regulations for opting out. But no one
does enough to limit exemptions.
Parents ought to be able to opt out only for limited medical or religious reasons. But personal
opinions? Not good enough. Everyone enjoys the life-saving benefits vaccines provide, but they’ll exist
only as long as everyone shares in the risks.
63. The first two paragraphs suggest that ____________.
A. a small number of measles cases can start a dangerous trend
B. the outbreak of measles attracts the public attention
C. anti-vaccine movement has its medical reasons
D. information about measles spreads quickly
64. Herd immunity works well when ____________.
A. exemptions are allowed
B. several vaccines are used together
C. the whole neighborhood is involved in
D. new regulations are added to the state laws
65. What is the main reason for the comeback of measles?
A. The overuse of vaccine.
B. The lack of medical care.
C. The features of measles itself.
D. The vaccine opt-outs of some people.
66. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To introduce the idea of exemption.
B. To discuss methods to cure measles.
C. To stress the importance of vaccination.
D. To appeal for equal rights in medical treatment.
Passage 8
【2017 年江苏卷】Before birth, babies can tell the difference
between loud sounds and voices. They can even distinguish theirmother’s voice from that of a female stranger. But when it comes to embryonic learning(胎教),birds could rule the
roost. As recently reported in The Auk: Ornithological Advances, some mother birds may teach their young to sing
even before they hatch(孵化). New-born chicks can then imitate their mom’s call within a few days of entering the
world.
This educational method was first observed in 2012 by Sonia Kleindorfer, a biologist at Flinders University in
South Australia, and her colleagues. Female Australian superb fairy wrens were found to repeat one sound over and
over again while hatching their eggs. When the eggs were hatched, the baby birds made the similar chirp to their
mothers — a sound that served as their regular "feed me!" call.
To find out if the special quality was more widespread in birds, the researchers sought the red-backed fairy
wren, another species of Australian songbird. First they collected sound data from 67 nests in four sites in
Queensland before and after hatching. Then they identified begging calls by analyzing the order and number of
notes. A computer analysis blindly compared calls produced by mothers and chicks, ranking them by similarity.
It turns out that baby red-backed fairy wrens also emerge chirping like their moms. And the more frequently
mothers had called to their eggs, the more similar were the babies’ begging calls. In addition, the team set up a
separate experiment that suggested that the baby birds that most closely imitated their mom’s voice were rewarded
with the most food.
This observation hints that effective embryonic learning could signal neurological(神经系统的) strengths of
children to parents. An evolutionary inference can then be drawn. "As a parent, do you invest in quality children, or
do you invest in children that are in need?"Kleindorfer asks. "Our results suggest that they might be going for
quality."
58. The underlined phrase in Paragraph 1 means " ".
A.be the worst B.be the best
C.be just as bad D.be just as good
59. What are Kleindorfer’s findings based on?
A. Similarities between the calls of moms and chicks.
B. The observation of fairy wrens across Australia.
C. The data collected from Queensland’s locals.
D. Controlled experiments on wrens and other birds.
60. Embryonic learning helps mother birds to identify the baby birds which .
A. can receive quality signals B. are in need of trainingC. fit the environment better D. make the loudest call
Passage 9
【2017 年江苏卷】A new commodity brings about a highly profitable, fast-growing industry, urging
antitrust(反垄断) regulators to step in to check those who control its flow. A century ago, the resource in question
was oil. Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants(巨头) that deal in data, the oil of the digital age. The
most valuable firms are Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. All look unstoppable.
Such situations have led to calls for the tech giants to be broken up. But size alone is not a crime. The giants’
success has benefited consumers. Few want to live without search engines or a quick delivery. Far from charging
consumers high prices, many of these services are free (users pay, in effect, by handing over yet more data). And
the appearance of new-born giants suggests that newcomers can make waves, too.
But there is cause for concern. The internet has made data abundant, all-present and far more valuable,
changing the nature of data and competition. Google initially used the data collected from users to target
advertising better. But recently it has discovered that data can be turned into new services: translation and visual
recognition, to be sold to other companies. Internet companies’ control of data gives them enormous power. So they
have a "God’s eye view" of activities in their own markets and beyond.
This nature of data makes the antitrust measures of the past less useful. Breaking up firms like Google into
five small ones would not stop remaking themselves: in time, one of them would become great again. A rethink is
required — and as a new approach starts to become apparent, two ideas stand out.
The first is that antitrust authorities need to move from the industrial age into the 21st century. When
considering a merger(兼并), for example, they have traditionally used size to determine when to step in. They now
need to take into account the extent of firms’ data assets(资产) when assessing the impact of deals. The purchase
price could also be a signal that an established company is buying a new-born threat. When this takes place,
especially when a new-born company has no revenue to speak of, the regulators should raise red flags.
The second principle is to loosen the control that providers of on-line services have over data and give more to
those who supply them. Companies could be forced to reveal to consumers what information they hold and how
much money they make from it. Governments could order the sharing of certain kinds of data, with users’ consent.
Restarting antitrust for the information age will not be easy. But if governments don’t want a data economy
controlled by a few giants, they must act soon.
61. Why is there a call to break up giants?
A. They have controlled the data market.B. They collect enormous private data.
C. They no longer provide free services.
D. They dismissed some new-born giants.
62. What does the technological innovation in Paragraph 3 indicate?
A. Data giants’ technology is very expensive.
B. Google’s idea is popular among data firms.
C. Data can strengthen giants’ controlling position.
D. Data can be turned into new services or products.
63. By paying attention to firms’ data assets, antitrust regulators could .
A. kill a new threat B. avoid the size trap
C. favour bigger firms D. charge higher prices
64. What is the purpose of loosening the giants’ control of data?
A. Big companies could relieve data security pressure.
B. Governments could relieve their financial pressure.
C. Consumers could better protect their privacy.
D. Small companies could get more opportunities.
Passage 10
【2017年天津卷】 Suppose you’re in a rush, feeling tired, not paying attention to your screen, and
you send an email that could get you in trouble.
Realisation will probably set in seconds after you’ve clicked “send”. You freeze in horror and burn
with shame.
What to do? Here are four common email accidents, and how to recover.
Clicking “send” too soon
Don’t waste your time trying to find out if the receiver has read it yet. Write another email as
swiftly as you can and send it with a brief title explaining that this is the correct version and the
previous version should be ignored.
Writing the wrong time
The sooner you notice, the better. Respond quickly and briefly, apologising for your mistake. Keep
the tone measured: don’t handle it too lightly, as people can be offended, especially if your error suggests
a misunderstanding of their culture(i.e. incorrect ordering of Chinese names).Clicking “reply all” unintentionally
You accidentally reveal(透露)to the entire company what menu choices you would prefer at the staff
Christmas dinner, or what holiday you’d like to take. In this instance, the best solution is to send a
quick, light-hearted apology to explain your awkwardness. But it can quickly rise to something worse,
when everyone starts hitting “reply all” to join in a long and unpleasant conversation. In this instance,
step away from your keyboard to allow everyone to calm down.
Sending an offensive message to its subject
The most awkward email mistake is usually committed in anger. You write an unkind message about
someone, intending to send it to a friend, but accidentally send it to the person you’re discussing. In that
case, ask to speak in person as soon as possible and say sorry. Explain your frustrations calmly and
sensibly — see it as an opportunity to clear up any difficulties you may have with this person.
36. After realising an email accident, you are likely to feel ____________.
A. curious B. tired C. awful D. funny
37. If you have written the wrong name in an email, it is best to ____________.
A. apologise in a serious manner
B. tell the receiver to ignore the error
C. learn to write the name correctly
D. send a short notice to everyone
38. What should you do when an unpleasant conversation is started by your “reply all” email?
A. Try offering other choices.
B. Avoid further involvement.
C. Meet other staff members.
D. Make a light-hearted apology.
39. How should you deal with the problem caused by an offensive email?
A. By promising not to offend the receiver again.
B. By seeking support from the receiver’s friends.
C. By asking the receiver to control his anger.
D. By talking to the receiver face to face.
40. What is the passage mainly about?
A. Defining email errors.
B. Reducing email mistakes.C. Handling email accidents.
D. Improving email writing.
2016年阅读理解说明文
Passage1
【2016年新课标Ⅰ卷】Grandparents Answer a Call
As a third-generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never planned to move away. Even when
her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help with their children, she politely refused. Only after a
year of friendly discussion did Ms. Garza finally say yes. That was four years ago. Today all three generations
regard the move as a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.
No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to adult children and
grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing. Even President Obama’s mother-in-law,
Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and move into the White House to help care for her granddaughters.
According to a study by grandparents. Com, 83 percent of the people said Mrs. Robinson’s decision will influence
grandparents in the American family. Two-thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama’s family.
＂In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn’t get away from home far enough for fast enough to prove
we could do it on our own,＂says Christine Crosby, publisher of Grand , a magazine for grandparents.＂We now
realize how important family is and how important it is＂to be near them, especially when you’re raising children.
＂
Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing
to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead. Having your grandchildren far
away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.
25. Why was Garza’s move a success?
A. It strengthened her family ties. B. It improved her living conditions.
C. It enabled her to make more friends. D. It helped her know more new places.
26. What was the reaction of the public to Mrs. Robinson’s decision?
A. 17% expressed their support for it. B. Few people responded sympathetically.
C. 83% believed it had a bad influence. D. The majority thought it was a trend.
27. What did Crosby say about people in the 1960s?
A. They were unsure of themselves. B. They were eager to raise more children.C. They wanted to live away from their parents. D. They had little respect for their grandparents.
28. What does the author suggest the grandparents do in the last paragraph?
A. Make decisions in the best interests of their own. B. Ask their children to pay more visits to them.
C. Sacrifice for their struggling children. D. Get to know themselves better.
Passage 2
【2016年新课标Ⅰ卷】
The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups. Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when
a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, uneasiness,or worry. Silence
may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every
gap(间隙) with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for
understanding a person’s needs.
Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some
traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and
suddenly stops, what may be implied(暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said
before continuing. In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.
Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in
relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may
use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use
silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him
or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder
or a person in authority.
Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the
personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural
construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A
nurse who understands the healing(治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients
from their own and from other cultures.
32. What does the author say about silence in conversations?
A. It implies anger.
B. It promotes friendship.
C. It is culture-specific.D. It is content-based.
33. Which of the following people might regard silence as a call for careful thought?
A. The Chinese.
B. The French.
C. The Mexicans.
D. The Russians.
34. What does the author advise nurses to do about silence?
A. Let it continue as the patient pleases.
B. Break it while treating patients.
C. Evaluate its harm to patients.
D. Make use of its healing effects.
35. What may be the best title for the text?
A. Sound and Silence
B. What It Means to Be Silent
C. Silence to Native Americans
D. Speech Is Silver; Silence Is Gold
Passage 3
【2016年新课标Ⅱ卷】Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They
choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now, the website BookCrossing.com turns the page on the
traditional idea of a book group.
Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share. BookCrossing provides an
identification number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will
have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.
Bruce Pederson, the managing director of BookCrossing, says, "The two things that change your life are the
people you meet and books you read. BookCrossing combines both."
Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book
will go to the site and record where they found it.
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it.E-mails are then sent
to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea
is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the "real" and not the virtual(虚拟).
The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries.
9. Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph?
A. To explain what they are.
B. To introduce BookCrossing.
C. To stress the importance of reading.
D. To encourage readers to share their ideas.
10. What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. The book. B. An adventure.
C. A public place. D. The identification number.
11. What will a BookCrosser do with a book after reading it?
A. Meet other readers to discuss it. B. Keep it safe in his bookcase.
C. Pass it on to another reader. D. Mail it back to its owner.
12. What is the best title for the text?
A. Online Reading: A Virtual Tour
B. Electronic Books: A New Trend
C. A Book Group Brings Tradition Back
D.A Website Links People through Books
Passage 4
【2016年新课标Ⅲ卷】If you are a fruit grower — or would like to become one — take advantage of Apple
Day to see what’ around. It’ called Apple Day but in practice it’ more like Apple Month. The Day itself is on
October 21, but since it has caught on, events now spread out over most of October around Britain.
Visiting an apple event is a good chance to see, and often taste, a wide variety of apples. To people who are
used to the limited choice of apples such as Golden Delicious and Royal Gala in supermarkets, it can be quite an
eye opener to see the range of classical apples still in existence, such as Decio which was grown by the Romans.
Although it doesn’t taste of anything special, it’s still worth a try, as is the knobbly(多疙瘩的) Cat’ Head which is
more of a curiosity than anything else.
There are also varieties developed to suit specific local conditions. One of the very best varieties for eating
quality is Orleans Reinette, but you’ll need a warm, sheltered place with perfect soil to grow it, so it’ a pipe dream
for most apple lovers who fall for it.At the events, you can meet expert growers and discuss which ones will best suit your conditions, and because
these are family affairs, children are well catered for with apple-themed fun and games.
Apple Days are being held at all sorts of places with an interest in fruit, including stately gardens and
commercial orchards(果园). If you want to have a real orchard experience, try visiting the National Fruit Collection
at Brogdale, near Faversham in Kent.
28. What can people do at the apple events?
A. Attend experts’ lectures.
B. Visit fruit-loving families.
C. Plant fruit trees in an orchard.
D. Taste many kinds of apples.
29. What can we learn about Decio?
A. It is a new variety.
B. It has a strange look.
C. It is rarely seen now.
D. It has a special taste.
30. What does the underlined phrase ＂a pipe dream＂ in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. A practical idea. B. A vain hope.
C. A brilliant plan. D. A selfish desire.
31. What is the author’ purpose in writing the text?
A. To show how to grow apples.
B. To introduce an apple festival.
C. To help people select apples.
D. To promote apple research.
Passage 5
【2016 年浙江卷】A scientist working at her lab bench and a six-month-old baby playing with his food
might seem to have little in common. After all, the scientist is engaged in serious research to uncover the very
nature of the physical world,and the baby is, well, just playing...right? Perhaps, but some developmental
psychologists (心理学家)have argued that this "play" is more like a scientific investigation than one might think.
Take a closer look at the baby playing at the table. Each time the bowl of rice is pushed over the table edge, it
falls to the ground — and, in the process, it brings out important evidence about how physical objects interact(相互作用):bowls of rice do not float in mid-air, but require support to remain stable. It is likely that babies are not born
knowing this basic fact of the universe; nor are they ever clearly taught it. Instead, babies may form an
understanding of object support through repeated experiments and then build on this knowledge to learn even more
about how objects interact. Though their ranges and tools differ, the baby’s investigation and the scientist’s
experiment appear to share the same aim (to learn about the natural world), overall approach (gathering direct
evidence from the world), and logic (are my observations what I expected?).
Some psychologists suggest that young children learn about more than just the physical world in this way —
that they investigate human psychology and the rules of language using similar means. For example, it may only be
through repeated experiments, evidence gathering, and finally overturning a theory, that a baby will come to accept
the idea that other people can have different views and desires from what he or she has, for example, unlike the
child, Mommy actually doesn’t like Dove chocolate.
Viewing childhood development as a scientific investigation throws light on how children learn, but it also
offers an inspiring look at science and scientists. Why do young children and scientists seem to be so much alike?
Psychologists have suggested that science as an effort — the desire to explore, explain, and understand our world
— is simply something that comes from our babyhood. Perhaps evolution(进化) provided human babies with
curiosity and a natural drive to explain their worlds, and adult scientists simply make use of the same drive that
served them as children. The same cognitive(认知的) systems that make young children feel good about figuring
something out may have been adopted by adult scientists. As some psychologists put it, "It is not that children are
little scientists but that scientists are big children."
50.According to some developmental psychologists, .
A. a baby’s play is nothing more than a game
B. scientific research into babies’ games is possible
C. the nature of babies’ play has been thoroughly investigated
D. a baby’s play is somehow similar to a scientist’s experiment
51.We learn from Paragraph 2 that .
A. scientists and babies seem to observe the world differently
B. scientists and babies often interact with each other
C. babies are born with the knowledge of object support
D. babies seem to collect evidence just as scientists do
52.Children may learn the rules of language by .A. exploring the physical world B. investigating human psychology
C. repeating their own experiments D. observing their parents’ behaviors
53.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. The world may be more clearly explained through children’s play.
B. Studying babies’ play may lead to a better understanding of science.
C. Children may have greater ability to figure out things than scientists.
D. One’s drive for scientific research may become stronger as he grows.
54.What is the author’s tone when he discusses the connection between scientists’ research and babies’ play?
A. Convincing. B. Confused. C. Confident. D. Cautious.
Passage 6
【2016年北京卷】California Condor’s Shocking Recovery
California condors are North America’s largest birds, with wind-length
of up to 3 meters. In the 1980s, electrical lines and lead poisoning(铅中毒)
nearly drove them to dying out. Now, electric shock training and medical
treatment are helping to rescue these big birds.
In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wild to be bred(繁殖). Since 1992, there have been
multiple reintroductions to the wild, and there are now more than 150 flying over California and nearby Arizona,
Utah and Baja in Mexico.
Electrical lines have been killing them off. ＂As they go in to rest for the night, they just don’t see the power
lines,＂ says Bruce Rideout of San Diego Zoo. Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in
electrocution(电死) if they touch two lines at once.
So scientists have come up with a shocking idea. Tall poles, placed in large training areas, teach the birds to
stay clear of electrical lines by giving them a painful but undeadly electric shock. Before the training was
introduced, 66% of set-freed birds died of electrocution. This has now dropped to 18%.
Lead poisonous has proved more difficult to deal with. When condors eat dead bodies of other animals
containing lead, they absorb large quantities of lead. This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby
birds, and can lead to kidney(肾) failures and death. So condors with high levels of lead are sent to Los Angeles
Zoo, where they are treated with calcium EDTA, a chemical that removes lead from the blood over several days.
This work is starting to pay off. The annual death rate for adult condors has dropped from 38% in 2000 to 5.4% in
2011.Rideout’s team thinks that the California condors’ average survival time in the wild is now just under eight years.
＂Although these measures are not effective forever, they are vital for now,＂ he says. ＂They are truly good
birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them. ＂
63. California condors attract researchers’ interest because they _________.
A. are active at night
B. had to be bred in the wild
C. are found only in California
D. almost died out in the 1980s
64. Researchers have found electrical lines are _________.
A. blocking condors’ journey home
B. big killers of California condors
C. rest places for condors at night
D. used to keep condors away
65. According to Paragraph 5, lead poisoning _________.
A. makes condors too nervous to fly
B. has little effect on condors’ kidneys
C. can hardly be gotten rid of from condors’ blood
D. makes it difficult for condors to produce baby birds
66. This passage shows that _________.
A. the average survival time of condors is satisfactory
B. Rideout’s research interest lies in electric engineering
C. the efforts to protect condors have brought good results
D. researchers have found the final answers to the problem
Passage 7
【2016年江苏卷】Chimps (黑猩猩) will cooperate in certain ways, like gathering in war parties to protect
their territory. But beyond the minimum requirements as social beings, they have little instinct (本能) to help one
another. Chimps in the wild seek food for themselves. Even chimp mothers regularly decline to share food with
their children, who are able from a young age to gather their own food.
In the laboratory, chimps don’t naturally share food either. If a chimp is put in a cage where he can pull in one
plate of food for himself or, with no greater effort, a plate that also provides food for a neighbor in the next cage, he
will pull at random — he just doesn’t care whether his neighbor gets fed or not. Chimps are truly selfish.Human children, on the other hand, are naturally cooperative. From the earliest ages, they desire to help
others, to share information and to participate in achieving common goals. The psychologist Michael Tomasello has
studied this cooperativeness in a series of experiments with very young children. He finds that if babies aged 18
months see an unrelated adult with hands full trying to open a door, almost all will immediately try to help.
There are several reasons to believe that the urges to help, inform and share are not taught, but naturally
possessed in young children. One is that these instincts appear at a very young age before most parents have started
to train their children to behave socially. Another is that the helping behaviors are not improved if the children are
rewarded. A third reason is that social intelligence develops in children before their general cognitive (认知的)
skills, at least when compared with chimps. In tests conducted by Tomasello, the human children did no better than
the chimps on the physical world tests but were considerably better at understanding the social world.
The core of what children’s minds have and chimps’ don’t is what Tomasello calls shared intentionality. Part of
this ability is that they can infer what others know or are thinking. But beyond that, even very young children want
to be part of a shared purpose. They actively seek to be part of a "we", a group that intends to work toward a shared
goal.
58.What can we learn from the experiment with chimps?
A. Chimps seldom care about others’ interests.
B. Chimps tend to provide food for their children.
C. Chimps like to take in their neighbors’ food.
D. Chimps naturally share food with each other.
59.Michael Tomasello’s tests on young children indicate that they _______.
A. have the instinct to help others B. know how to offer help to adults
C. know the world better than chimps D. trust adults with their hands full
60.The passage is mainly about _________.
A. the helping behaviors of young children
B. ways to train children’s shared intentionality
C. cooperation as a distinctive human nature
D. the development of intelligence in children
Passage 8
【2016年江苏卷】El Niño, a Spanish term for "the Christ child," was named by South American fishermen
who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishescaught around Christmas. El Niño sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back
eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects, both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful
Niños, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Niño in 1997-98 helped America’s economy grow by
$15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvests: farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total
rise in agricultural incomes in rich countries is greater than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought (干旱) in south-east Brazil is
becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Niño may relieve the drought in California, they are
likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Niño, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion
around the globe. But such Niños come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that
governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-
relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding
afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure (基础设施) can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers (下水道)
make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean
villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang
and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Niño’s harmful effects — and the poorer the country, the stronger the
link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least
reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to
make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Niño, reducing their losses needs to be the priority.
61.What can we learn about El Niño in Paragraph 1?
A. It is named after a South American fisherman.
B. It takes place almost every year all over the world.
C. It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas.
D. It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean.
62.What may El Niños bring about to the countries affected?
A. Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall.
B. Droughts become more harmful than floods.
C. Rich countries’ gains are greater than their losses.D. Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically.
63.The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that .
A. more investment should go to risk reduction
B. governments of poor countries need more aid
C. victims of El Niño deserve more compensation
D. recovery and reconstruction should come first
64.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A. To introduce El Niño and its origin.
B. To explain the consequences of El Niño.
C. To show ways of fighting against El Niño.
D. To urge people to prepare for El Niño.
Passage 9
【2016年上海卷】Enough ＂meaningless drivel＂. That’s the message from a group of members of the UK
government who have been examining how social media firms like LinkedIn gather and use social media data.
The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s report, released last week, has blamed firms for
making people sign up to long incomprehensible legal contracts and calls for an international standard or kitemark
(认证标记) to identify sites that have clear terms and conditions.
＂The term and conditions statement that we all carelessly agree to is meaningless drivel to anyone,＂ says
Andrew Miller, the chair of the committee. Instead, he says, firms should provide a plain-English version of their
terms. The simplified version would be checked by a third party and awarded a kitemark if it is an accurate
reflection of the original.
It is not yet clear who would administer the scheme, but the UK government is looking at introducing it on a
voluntary basis. ＂we need to think through how we make that work in practice,＂ says Miller.
Would we pay any more attention to a kitemark? ＂I think if you went and did the survey, people would like to
think they would,＂ says Nigel Shadbolt at the University of Southampton, UK, who studies open data. ＂We do
know people worry a lot about the inappropriate use of their information.＂ But what would happen in practice is
another matter, he says.
Other organisations such as banks ask customers to sign long contracts they may not read or understand, but
Miller believes social media requires special attention because it is so new. ＂We still don’t know how significant
the long-term impact is going to be of unwise things that kids put on social media that come back and bite them in20 years’ time,＂ he says.
Shadbolt, who gave evidence to the committee, says the problem is that we don’t know how companies will use
our data because their business models and uses of data are still evolving. Large collections of personal information
have become valuable only recently, he says.
The shock and anger when a social media firm does something with data that people don’t expect, even if users
have apparently permission, show that the current situation isn’t working. If properly administered, a kitemark on
terms and conditions could help people know what exactly they are signing up to. Although they would still have to
actually read them.
73. What does the phrase ＂ meaningless drivel＂ in paragraphs 1 and 3 refer to?
A. Legal contracts that social media firms make people sign up to.
B. Warnings from the UK government against unsafe websites.
C. Guidelines on how to use social media websites properly.
D. Insignificant data collected by social media firms.
74. It can be inferred from the passage that Nigel Shadbolt doubts whether _______.
A. social media firms would conduct a survey on the kitemark scheme
B. people would pay as much attention to a kitemark as they think
C. a kitemark scheme would be workable on a nationwide scale
D. the kitemark would help companies develop their business models
75. Andrew Miller thinks social media needs more attention than banks mainly because _______.
A. their users consist largely of kids under 20 years old
B. the language in their contracts is usually harder to understand
C. the information they collected could become more valuable in future
D. it remains unknown how users’ data will be taken advantage of
76. The writer advises users of social media to _______.
A. think carefully before posting anything onto such websites
B. read the terms and conditions even if there is a kitemark
C. take no further action if they can find a kitemark
D. avoid providing too much personal information
77. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Say no to social media?
B. New security rules in operation?C. Accept without reading?
D. Administration matters!
Passage 10
【2016 年四川卷】In the depths of the French Guianese rainforest, there still remain unusual groups of
indigenous (土著的) people. Surprisingly, these people live largely by their own laws and their own social customs.
And yet, people in this area are in fact French citizens because it has been a colony (殖民地) of the French
Republic since 1946. In theory, they should live by the French law. However, their remote locations mean that the
French law is often ignored or unknown, thus making them into an interesting area of "lawlessness" in the world.
The lives of these people have finally been recorded thanks to the efforts of a Frenchman from Paris called
Gin. Gin spent five months in early 2015 exploring the most remote corners of this area, which sits on the edge of
the Amazon rainforest, with half its population of only 250,000 living in its capital, Cayenne.
"I have a special love for the French Guianese people. I have worked there on and off for almost ten years,"
says Gin. "I’ve been able to keep firm friendships with them. Thus I have been allowed to gain access to their living
environment. I don’t see it as a lawless land. But rather I see it as an area of freedom."
"I wanted to show the audience a photographic record touching upon the uncivilized life," continues Gin. "I
prefer to work in black and white, which allows me to show different specific worlds more clearly."
His black-and-white pictures present a world almost lost in time. These pictures show people seemingly
pushed into a world that they were unprepared for. These local citizens now have to balance their traditional self-
supporting hunting lifestyle with the lifestyle offered by the modern French Republic, which brings with it not only
necessary state welfare, but also alcoholism, betrayal and even suicide.
28.Why does the author feel surprised about the indigenous people in French Guiana?
A. They seldom follow the French law.
B. They often ignore the Guianese law.
C. They are separated from the modern world.
D. They are both Guianese and French citizens.
29.Gin introduces the special world of the indigenous Guianese as________.
A. a tour guide B. a geographer C. a film director D. a photographer
30.What is Gin’s attitude towards the lives of the indigenous Guianese?
A. Cautious. B. Doubtful. C. Uninterested. D. Appreciative.
31.What does the underlined word "it" in the last paragraph refer to?A. The modern French lifestyle. B. The self-supporting hunting.
C. The uncivilized world. D. The French Republic.
Passage 11
【2016年四川卷】A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good
night’s sleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off — if it is milked from a cow at night.
Researchers have discovered that "night milk" contains more melatonin (褪黑激素),which has been proven to
help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety.
The study, by researchers from Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder made
from cows milked both during the day and at night.
Those given night milk, which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxious
than those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the study published
in The Journal of Medicinal Food.
Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer.
While the effect of cows milk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now, taking
melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fall asleep at night.
Previous studies have also indicated that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calcium content,
which helps people to relax.
Milk is also sugar-free and additive-free with nutritionists recommending skimmed milk as the best choice
before bed as it is the least fattening. The more fat you take in before bedtime, the greater burden you will put on
your body at night.
1.According to the text, the mice fed with daytime milk .
A. started sleep more easilyB. were more anxious
C. were less active D. woke up later
2.Which of the following is true of melatonin according to the text?
A. It’s been tested on mice for ten times.
B. It can make people more energetic.
C. It exists in milk in great amount.
D. It’s used in sleeping drugs.
3.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Night Milk and Sleep B. Fat, Sugar and HealthC. An Experiment on Mice D. Milk Drinking and Health
4.How does the author support the theme of the text?
A. By giving examples. B. By stating arguments.
C. By explaining statistical data. D. By providing research results.
Passage 12
【2016年天津卷】 When John was growing up, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had
him weeding the garden, carrying out the garbage and delivering newspapers. But when John reached
adulthood, he was better off than his childhood playmates. He had more job satisfaction, a better marriage
and was healthier. Most of all, he was happier. Far happier.
These are the findings of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 teenage boys from Boston.
The study showed that those who had worked as boys enjoyed happier and more productive lives than
those who had not. “Boys who worked in the home or community gained competence (能力) and came
to feel they were worthwhile members of society,” said George Vaillant, the psychologist (心理学家) who
made the discovery. “And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them.”
Vaillant’s study followed these males in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25, 31 and 47.
Under Vaillant, the researchers compared the men’s mental-health scores with their boyhood-activity scores.
Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.
The link between what the men had done as boys and how they turned out as adults was
surprisingly sharp. Those who had done the most boyhood activities were twice as likely to have warm
relations with a wide variety of people, five times as likely to be well paid and 16 times less likely to
have been unemployed. The researchers also found that IQ and family social and economic class made no
real difference in how the boys turned out.
Working — at any age — is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence,
confidence and competence — the underpinnings (基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that
people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how
to do this. Yet work isn’t everything. As Tolstoy once said, “One can live magnificently in this world if
one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one’s work.”
46. What do we know about John?
A. He enjoyed his career and marriage. B. He had few childhood playmates.C. He received little love from his family. D. He was envied by others in his childhood.
47. Vaillant’s words in Paragraph 2 serve as _____________.
A. a description of personal values and social values
B. an analysis of how work was related to competence
C. an example for parents’ expectations of their children
D. an explanation why some boys grew into happy men
48. Vaillant’s team obtained their findings by _____________.
A. recording the boys’ effort in school B. evaluating the men’s mental health
C. comparing different sets of scores D. measuring the men’s problem solving
ability
49. What does the underlined word “sharp” probably mean in Paragraph 4?
A. Quick to react. B. Having a thin edge.
C. Clear and definite. D. sudden and rapid.
50. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Competent adults know more about love than work.
B. Emotional health is essential to a wonderful adult life.
C. Love brings more joy to people than work does.
D. Independence is the key to one’s success.
2015年阅读理解说明文
Passage1
【2015年新课标Ⅰ卷】Salvador Dali (1904—1989)was one of the most popular of modern artists. The
Pompidou Centre in Paris is showing its respect and admiration for the artist and his powerful personality with an
exhibition bringing together over 200 paintings, sculptures, drawings and more. Among the works and masterworks
on exhibition the visitor will find the best pieces, most importantly The Persistence of Memory. There is also L’
Enigme sans Fin from 1938, works on paper, objects, and projects for stage and screen and selected parts from
television programmes reflecting the artist’s showman qualities.
The visitor will enter the World of Dali through an egg and is met with the beginning, the world of birth. The
exhibition follows a path of time and subject with the visitor exiting through the brain.The exhibition shows how Dali draws the viewer between two infinities(无限), "From the infinity small to the
infinity large, contraction and expansion coming in and out of focus: amazing Flemish accuracy and the showy
Baroque of old painting that he used in his museum-theatre in Figueras," explains the Pompidou Centre.
The fine selection of the major works was done in close collaboration(合作)with the Museo Nacional Reina
Sofia in Madrid, Spain, and with contributions from other institutions like the Salvador Dali Museum in St.
Petersburg, Florida.
28. Which of the following best describes Dali according to Paragraph 1?
A. Optimistic. B. Productive. C. Generous. D. Traditional.
29. What is Dali’s The Persistence of Memory considered to be?
A. One of his masterworks. B. A successful screen adaptation.
C. An artistic creation for the stage. D. One of the best TV programmes.
30. How are the exhibits arranged at the World of Dali?
A. By popularity. B. By importance.
C. By size and shape. D. By time and subject.
31. What does the word "contributions" in the last paragraph refer to?
A. Artworks. B. Projects. C. Donations. D. Documents.
Passage 2
【2015 年新课标Ⅰ卷】Conflict is on the menu tonight at the café La Chope. This evening, as on every
Thursday night, psychologist Maud Lehanne is leading two of France’s favorite pastimes, coffee drinking and the
＂talking cure＂. Here they are learning to get in touch with their true feelings. It isn’t always easy. The customers
—some thirty Parisians who pay just under $2 (plus drinks) per session—care quick to intellectualize (高谈阔论),
slow to open up and connect. ＂You are forbidden to say ‘one feels’ or ‘people think’＂Lehanne told them. ＂Say
‘I think,’ ‘Think me’.＂
A café society where no intellectualizing is allowed? It couldn’t seem more un-French. But Lehanne’s
psychology café is about more than knowing oneself: It’s trying to help the city’s troubled neighborhood cafes.
Over the years, Parisian cafes have fallen victim to changes in the French lifestyle—longer working hours, a fast
food boom and a younger generation’s desire to spend more time at home. Dozens of new theme cafes appear to
change the situation. Cafes focused around psychology, history, and engineering are catching on, filling tables well
into the evening.
The city’s ＂psychology cafes＂, which offer great comfort, are among the most popular places. Middle-agedhomemakers, retirees, and the unemployed come to such cafes to talk about love, anger, and dreams with a
psychologist. And they come to Lehanne’s group just to learn to say what they feel.＂There’s a strong need in Paris
for communication,＂says Maurice Frisch, a café La Chope regular who works as a religious instructor in a nearby
church.＂People have few real friends. And they need to open up＂. Lehanne says she’d like to see psychology
cafes all over
France.＂If people had normal lives, these cafes wouldn’t exist,＂she says.＂If life weren’t a battle, people
wouldn’t need a special place just to speak.＂But then, it wouldn’t be France.
32. What are people encouraged to do at the cafe La Chope?
A. Learn a new subject. B. Keep in touch with friends.
C. Show off their knowledge. D. Express their true feelings.
33. How are cafes affected by French lifestyle changes?
A. They are less frequently visited. B. They stay open for longer hours.
C. They have bigger night crowds. D. They start to serve fast food.
34. What are theme cafes expected to do?
A. Create more jobs. B. Supply better drinks.
C. Save the cafe business. D. Serve the neighborhood.
35. Why are psychology cafes becoming popular in Paris?
A. They bring people true friendship. B. They give people spiritual support.
C. They help people realize their dreams. D. They offer a platform for business links.
Passage 3
【2015年新课标Ⅱ卷】Your house may have an effect on your figure. Experts say the way you design your
home could play a role in whether you pack on the pounds or keep them off. you can make your environment work
for you instead of against you. Here are some ways to turn your home into part of your diet plan.
Open the curtains and turn up the lights. Dark environments are more likely to encourage overeating, for
people are often less self-conscious(难为情) when they’re in poorly lit places – and so more likely to eat lots of
food. If your home doesn’t have enough window light, get more lamps and flood the place with brightness.
Mind the colors. Research suggests warm colors fuel our appetites. In one study, people who ate meals in a
blue room consumed 33 percent less than those in a yellow or red room. Warm colors like yellow make food appear
more appetizing, while cold colors make us less hungry. So when it’s time to repaint, go blue.
Don’t forget the clock – or the radio. People who eat slowly tend to consume about 70 fewer calories(卡路里)per meal than those who rush through their meals. Begin keeping track of the time, and try to make dinner last at 30
minutes. And while you’re at it, actually sit down to eat. If you need some help slowing down, turning on relaxing
music. It makes you less likely to rush through a meal.
Downsize the dishes. Big serving bowls and plants can easily makes us fat. We eat about 22 percent more
when using a 12-inch plate instead of a 10-inch plate. When we choose a large spoon over a smaller one, total
intake(摄入) jumps by 14 percent. And we’ll pour about 30 percent more liquid into a short, wide glass than a tall,
skinny glass.
25. The text is especially helpful for those who care about ____.
A. their home comforts
B. their body shape
C. house buying
D. healthy diets
26. A home environment in blue can help people ____.
A. digest food better
B. reduce food intake
C. burn more calories
D. regain their appetites
27. What are people advised to do at mealtimes?
A. Eat quickly.
B. Play fast music
C. Use smaller spoons
D. Turn down the lights
28. What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Is Your House Making You Fat?
B. Ways of Serving Dinner
C. Effects of Self-Consciousness
D. Is Your Home Environment Relaxing?
Passage 4
【2015 年浙江卷】Graphs can be a very useful tool for conveying information, especially numbers,
percentages, and other data. A graph gives the reader a picture to interpret. That can be a lot more efficient than
pages and pages explaining the data.
Graphs can seem frightening, but reading a graph is a lot like reading a story. The graph has a title, a main
idea, and supporting details .You can use your active reading skills to analyze and understand graphs just like anyother text.
Most graphs have a few basic parts: a caption or introduction paragraph, a title, a legend or key, and labeled
axes. An active reader looks at each part of the graph before trying to interpret the data. Captions will usually tell
you where the data came from (for example, a scientific study of 400 African elephants from 1980 to 2005).
Captions usually summarize the author's main point as well. The title is very important. It tells you the main idea
of the graph by stating what kind of information is being shown. A legend, also called a key, is a guide to the
symbols and colors used in the graph. Many graphs, including bar graphs and line graphs, have two axes that
form a corner. Usually these axes are the left side and the bottom of the graph .Each axis will always have a label.
The label tells you what each axis measures.
Bar Graphs
A bar graph has two axes and uses bars to show amounts. In Graph 1, we
see that the x-axis shows grades that students earned, and the y-axis shows
how many students earned each grade .You can see that 6 students earned an
A because the bar for A stretches up to 6 on the vertical measurement. There
is a lot of information we can get from a simple graph like this(See Graph 1).
Line Graphs
A line graph looks similar to a bar graph, but instead of bars, it plots points
and connects them with a line .It has the same parts as a bar graph — two
labeled axes — and can be read the same way. To read a line graph, it's
important to focus on the points of intersection rather than the line segments
between the points, This type of graph is most
commonly used to show how something changes over time.
Here is a graph that charts how far a bird flies during the first five days of its spring migration (See Graph 2).
The unit of measurement for the x-axis is days. The unit of measurement for the y-axis is kilometers. Thus we
can see that ,on the first day, the pipit flew 20 kilometers. The line segment goes up between Day 1 and Day
2,which means that the bird flew farther on Day 2.If the line segment angled dawn, as between Day 4 and Day 5,it
would mean that the bird flew fewer kilometers than the day before. This line graph is a quick, visual way to tell
the reader about the bird's migration.
Pie Graphs
A typical pie graph looks like a circular pie. The circle is divided into sections, and each section represents afraction of the data. The graph is commonly used to show percentages; the whole pie represents l00 percent, so
each piece is a fraction of the whole.
A pie graph might include a legend，or it might use icons or labels within each slice. This pie graph shows
on month's expense (See Graph 3 ).
Food $ 25
Movies $ 12
Clothing $ 36
Savings $ 20
Books $ 7
46. When used in a graph，a legend is_____
A. a guide to the symbols and colors B. an introduction paragraph
C. the main idea D. the data
47. What is the total number of students who earned a C or better ?
A .4. B.6. C.10. D.20 .
48. The bird covered the longest distance on _____
A. Day 1 B. Day 2 C. Day 3 D. Day 4
49. Which of the following cost Amy most ?
A. Food. B. Books C. Movies D. Clothing.
Passage 5【2015 年重庆卷】In ancient Egypt, a shopkeeper discovered that he could attract customers to his shop
simply by making changes to its environment. Modern businesses have been following his lead, with more tactics
（策略）.
One tactic involves where to display the goods. For example, stores place fruits and vegetables in the first
section. They know that customers who buy the healthy food first will feel happy so that they will buy more junk
food（垃圾食品）later in their trip. In department stores, the women’s shoe section is generally next to the
women’s cosmetics(化妆品) section：while the shop assistant is going back to find the right size shoe, bored
customers are likely to wander over and find some cosmetics they might want to try later.
Besides, businesses seek to appeal to customers’ senses. Stores notice that the smell of baked goods
encourages shopping, so they make their own bread each morning and then fan the bread smell into the store
throughout the day. Music sells goods, too. Researchers in Britain found that when French music was played, sales
of French wines went up.
When it comes to the selling of houses, businesses also use highly rewarding tactics. They find that customers
make decision in the first few second upon walking in the door, and turn it into a business opportunity. A California
builder designed the structure of its houses smartly. When entering the house, the customer would see the Pacific
Ocean through the windows, and then the poll through an open stairway leading to the lower level. The instant view
of water on both levels helped sell these $10 million houses.
40.Why do stores usually display fruits and vegetables in the first section?
A. To save customers times.
B. To show they are high quality foods.
C. To help sell junk food.
D. To sell them at discount prices.
41.According to Paragraph 3, which of the following encourages customers to buy?
A. Opening the store early in the morning.
B. Displaying British wines next to French ones.
C. Inviting customers to play music.
D. Filling the store with the smell of fresh bread.
42.What is the California builder’s story intended to prove?
A. The house structure is a key factor customers consider.
B. The more costly the house is, the better it sells.
[来源:Z.xx.k.Com]
C. An ocean view is much to the customers’ taste.D. A good first impression increases sales.
43.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To explain how businesses turn people into their customers.
B. To introduce how businesses have grown from the past.
C. To report researches on customer behavior.
D. To show dishonest business practices.
Passage 6
【2015 年重庆卷】The values of artistic works, according to cultural relativism(相对主义), are simply
reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works
of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.
History has witnessed the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It
is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries.
Unique works of this kind are different from today’s popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They
have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.
In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because“the general principles of taste are
uniform(不变的) in human nature,”the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed
that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and
unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.
Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example,
evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in
fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings
seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great
scientist.
52.According to the passage, what do we know about cultural relativism?
A.It introduces different cultural values.
B.It explains the history of artistic works.
C.It relates artistic values to local conditions.
D.It excites the human mind throughout the world.
53. In Paragraph 2, the artists are mentioned in order to show that _______.A.great works of art can go beyond national boundaries
B.history gives art works special appeal to set them apart
C.popular arts are hardly distinguishable from great arts
D.great artists are skilled at combining various cultures
54.According to Hume, some works of art can exist for centuries because ________.
[来源:学。科。网Z。X。X。K]
A.they are results of scientific study
B.they establish some general principles of art
C.they are created by the world’s greatest artists
D.they appeal to unchanging features of human nature
55.Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
A.Are Artistic Values Universal? B.Are Popular Arts Permanent?
C.Is Human Nature Uniform? D.Is Cultural Relativism Scientific?
Passage 7
【2015年安徽卷】 As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information,
are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own
personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and
how.
In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team
wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40
unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would
save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second
group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information
again, so they did not try to remember it.
In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find
the information on the computer. The information was in a specific computer folder ( 文 件 夹 ).
Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location (位置) better than the facts. When people use the
Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called
"transactive memory (交互记忆)".
According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet.
Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how toorganize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn’t
mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory
is changing.
64. The passage begins with two questions to ____________.
A. introduce the main topic B. show the author’s altitude
C. describe how to use the Internet. D. explain how to store information
65. What can we learn about the first experiment?
A. The Sparrow’s team typed the information into a computer.
B. The two groups remembered the information equally well.
C. The first group did not try to remember the information.
D. The second group did not understand the information.
66. In transactive memory, people ____________.
A. keep the information in mind B. change the quantity of information
C. organize information like a computer D. remember how to find the information
67. What is the effect of the Internet according to Sparrow’s research?
A. We are using memory differently. B. We are becoming more intelligent.
[来源:学科网ZXXK]
C. We have poorer memories than before. D. We need a better way to access information.
Passage 8
【2015年安徽卷】There are an extremely large number of ants worldwide. Each individual (个体的) ant
hardly weighs anything, but put together they weigh roughly the same as all of mankind. They also live
nearly everywhere, except on frozen mountain tops and around the poles. For animals their size, ants have
been astonishingly successful, largely due to their wonderful social behavior.
In colonies (群体) that range in size from a few hundred to tens of millions, they organize their lives with a
clear division of labor. Even more amazing is how they achieve this level of organization. Where we use sound
and sight to communicate, ants depend primarily on pheromone (外激素), chemicals sent out by individuals
and smelled or tasted by fellow members of their colony. When an ant finds food, it produces a pheromone that
will lead others straight to where the food is. When an individual ant comes under attack or is dying, it sends out an
alarm pheromone to warn the colony to prepare for a conflict as a defense unit.
In fact, when it comes to the art of war, ants have no equal. They are completely fearless and will readily
take on a creature much larger than themselves, attacking in large groups and overcoming their target. Such is theirdevotion to the common good of the colony that not only soldier ants but also worker ants will sacrifice their lives
to help defeat an enemy.
Behaving in this selfless and devoted manner, these little creatures have survived on Earth for more than 140
million years, far longer than dinosaurs. Because they think as one, they have a collective (集体的) intelligence
greater than you would expect from its individual parts.
68. We can learn from the passage that ants are ____________.
A. not willing to share food
B. not found around the poles
C. more successful than all other animals
D. too many to achieve any level of organization
69. Ants can use pheromones for ____________.
A. escape B. communication C. warning enemies D. arranging labor
70. What does the underlined expression "take on" in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Accept. B. Employ. C. Play with. D. Fight against.
71. Which of the following contributes most to the survival of ants?
A. Their behavior. B. Their size. C. Their number. D. Their weight.
Passage 9
[来源:Zxxk.Com]
【2015年安徽卷】Food serves as a form of communication in two fundamental ways. Sharing bread or other
foods is a common human tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also have a specific meaning, and
play a significant role in a family or culture’s celebrations or traditions. The foods we eat — and when and how
we eat them — are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between rural (农村的) and urban areas
within one country.
Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion (时刻) or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of
togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the
guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition hits its roots in the custom of sharing
bread.
[来源:Z,xx,k.Com]
Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of
corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake
called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies (预示) success in the New Year for the person whoreceives it.
Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China,
when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-
colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome
celebrations to represent family unity.
Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures
around the world.
72. According to the passage, sharing bread____________.
A. indicates a lack of food B. can help to develop unity
C. is a custom unique to rural areas D. has its roots in birthday celebrations
73. What does the coin in vasilopita signify for its receiver in the New Year?
A. Trust. B. Success. C. Health. D. Togetherness.
74. The author explains the role of food in celebrations by____________.
A. using examples B. making comparisons
C. analyzing causes D. describing processes
75. What is the passage mainly about?
A. The custom of sharing food. B. The specific meaning of food.
C. The role of food in ceremonies. D. The importance of food in culture.
Passage 10
【2015年北京卷】Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These
animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3, 300 feet — as far as most light can
reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in
biology, says, ＂These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or
unless something is eating them.＂
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? It’s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But
some materials slow and scatter(散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping
it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so
you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light, at least not very much. Light can pass through it withoutbending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water.
You don’t see it — you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can
stop light because they contain pigments(色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t
have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The
real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials — skin, fat, and more — and light moves through each at a
different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals
use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue
to scatter light, it is easier to be see-through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-like(果冻状的)
material and spread themselves over it.
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in
their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they’re doing it is
still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die,
they turn a non-transparent milky white.
63. According to Paragraph 1, transparent animals __________.
A. stay in groups B. can be easily damaged
C. appear only in deep ocean D. are beautiful creatures
64. The underlined word ＂dead＂ in Paragraph 3 means __________.
A. silently B. gradually
C. regularly D. completely
65. One way for an animal to become transparent is to __________.
A. change the direction of light travel B. gather materials to scatter light
C. avoid the absorption of light D. grow bigger to stop light
66. The last paragraph tells us that larger transparent animals __________.
A. move more slowly in deep water
B. stay see-through even after death
C. produce more tissues for their survival
D. take effective action to reduce light spreading
Passage 11
【2015年福建卷】Food festivals around the worldStilton Cheese Rolling
May Day is a traditional day for celebrations, but the 2,000 English villagers of Stilton must be the only people
in the world who include cheese rolling in their annual plans. Teams of four, dressed in a variety of strange and
funny clothes, roll a complete cheese along a 50-metre course. On the way, they must not kick or throw their
cheese, or go into their competitors’ lane(赛道). Competition is fierce and the chief prize is a complete Stilton
cheese weighing about four kilos (disappointingly, but understandably the cheeses used in the race are wooden
ones). All the competitors are served with beer or port wine, the traditional accompaniment for Stilton cheese.
Fiery Foods Festival — The Hottest Festival on Earth
Every year more than 10,000 people head for the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They come from as far
away as Australia, the Caribbean and China, but they all share a common addiction — food that is not just spicy,
but hot enough to make your mouth burn, your head spin and your eyes water. Their destination is the Fiery Food
and BBQ Festival which is held over a period of three clays every March. You might like to try a chocolate-covered
habanero pepper — officially the hottest pepper in the world — or any one of the thousands of products that are on
show. But one thing’s for sure — if you don’t like the feeling of a burning tongue, this festival isn’t for you!
La Tomatina — The World’s Biggest Food Fight
On the last Wednesday of every August, the Spanish town of Bunol hosts Ea Tomatina — the world’s largest
food fight. A week-long celebration leads up to an exciting tomato battle as the highlight of the week’s events. The
early morning sees the arrival of large trucks with tomatoes — official fight-starters get things going by casting
tomatoes at the crowd.
The battle lasts little more than half an hour, in which time around 50,000 kilograms of tomatoes have been
thrown at anyone or anything that moves, runs, or fights back. Then everyone heads down to the river to make
friends again — and for a much-needed wash!
56. In the Stilton cheese rolling competition, competitors on each team must___________.
A. wear various formal clothes
B. roll a wooden cheese in their own lane
C. kick or throw their cheese
D. use a real cheese weighing about four kilos
57. Where is the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival held?
A. In New Mexico. B. In the Caribbean.
C. In Australia. D. In China.58. The celebration of La Tomatina lasts_____________.
A. three days B. seven days
C. less than three days D. more than seven days
59. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The chief prize for the Stilton cheese rolling competition is beer or port wine.
B. More than 10,000 Chinese take part in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival.
C. Thousands of spicy foods are on show in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival.
D. An exciting tomato battle takes place at the beginning of La Tomatina.
[
Passage 12
【2015 年福建卷】Life can be so wonderful, full of adventure and joy. It can also be full of challenges,
setbacks(挫折) and heartbreaks. Whatever our circumstances, we generally still have dreams, hopes and desires —
that little something more we want for ourselves and our loved ones. Yet knowing we can have more can also create
a problem, because when we go to change the way we do things, up come the old patterns and pitfalls(陷阱) that
stopped us from seeking what we wanted in the first place.
This tension between what we feel we can have and what we’re seemingly able to have is the niggling(烦人
的) suffering, the anxiety we feel. This is where we usually think it’s easier to just give up. But we’re never meant
to let go of the part of us that knows we can have more. The intelligence behind that knowing is us — the real us.
It’s the part that believes in life and its possibilities. If you drop that, you begin to feel a little "dead" inside because
you’re dropping "you".
So, if we have this capability but somehow life seems to keep us stuck, how do we break these patterns?
Decide on a new course and make one decision at a time. This is good advice for a new adventure or just
getting through today’s challenges.
While, deep down, we know we can do it, our mind — or the minds of those close to us — usually says we
can’t. That isn’t a reason to stop, it’s just the mind, that little man or woman on your shoulder, trying to talk you out
of something again. It has done it many times before. It’s all about starting simple and doing it now.
Decide and act before overthinking. When you do this you may feel a little, or large, release from the jail of
your mind and you’ll be on your way.
68. It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that we should_______________.
A.slow down and live a simple life
B.be careful when we choose to changeC.stick to our dreams under any circumstances
D.be content with what we already have
69. What is the key to breaking the old patterns?
A. To focus on every detail. B. To decide and take immediate action.
C. To listen to those close to us. D. To think twice before we act.
70. Which of the following best explains the underlined part in the last paragraph?
A. Escape from your punishment. B. Realization of your dreams.
C. Freedom from your tension. D. Reduction of your expectations.
71. What does the author intend to tell us?
A. It’s easier than we think to get what we want.
B. It’s important to learn to accept sufferings in life.
C. It’s impractical to change our way of thinking.
D. It’s harder than we expect to follow a new course.
Passage 13
【2015 年福建卷】Group exercise is one of the most effective ways to improve physical fitness and
sustain(保持) a healthy lifestyle. Group exercise is challenging, yet fun and empowering! Of course everyone
knows that exercise is good for the body. However, studies have shown that when exercise is performed in groups,
it’s not only great for improving physical health but for psychological health. It’s an opportunity to be social,
release endorphins（内啡肽）, and improve your strength. Additionally, group exercise creates a community feel
and the shared common goal motivates participants to work hard. The instrumental support of taking on a fitness
journey with others proves more effective than going to the gym alone.
Another beneficial aspect of group exercise is the informational support participants receive from the
instructor. Many people fear the gym because they feel lost and don’t want to embarrass themselves. If you feel you
can relate, then group training is an even better option for you. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about fitness
through the clear instruction and supervision (监管) of a fitness instructor. If you’re tired of wandering around the
gym wasting time and becoming bored, you can attend an upbeat group fitness class that’ll keep your workout on
track. Don’t let fitness frighten you!
If you’re serious about wanting to live a healthy lifestyle, it’s extremely important to surround yourself with
people who’ll provide you with the proper emotional support. I wouldn’t scold anyone for deciding to party on
weekends and in turn I wouldn’t expect anyone to give offence to me for focusing on my health. Surround yourselfwith people who uplift, encourage and understand you! Make fitness even more fun by trying something new or
any group fitness class, with a friend. Plan to go for a jog together. Then try a fun healthy restaurant or fresh juice
bar! Fitness can be both fun and social!
Surrounding yourself with people who’ll provide you with respect and support can be very beneficial while
working towards reaching health and fitness goals. First, decide to do it for yourself and work towards staying
positive. Then make sure the people you surround yourself with are supportive. Don’t let negativity ruin your
motivation.
72. The first paragraph focuses on__________.
A. the greatest challenge of group exercise
B. the most effective way to improve physical fitness
C. the contribution of group exercise to psychological health
D. the shared common goal in performing exercise in groups
73. The underlined word "upbeat" in the second paragraph probably means "___________".
A. cheerful B. average C. serious D. temporary
74. When it comes to emotional support, the author thinks it necessary ___________.
A. to sustain a colorful lifestyle
B. to party on weekends with positive people
C. to try a fun healthy restaurant regularly
D. to surround yourself with supportive people
75. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Seeking Support B. Supporting Health
C. Improving Your Strength D. Building Up Fitness
Passage 14
【2015年广东卷】It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had
unique characteristics.
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak of the ‘decline of class’ and ‘classless society’ in Britain.
And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.
But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging study of public opinion found 90
percent of people still placing themselves in a particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of
British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and
politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification.One unchanging aspect of a British person’s class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his
class. A study of British accents during the 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was viewed
as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded ‘educated’ and ‘soft’. The accents placed at the
bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional(地区的)city accents. These accents were seen as ‘common’
and ‘ugly’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some
regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards
accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice.
In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional
accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995
pop song ‘Common People’ puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may ‘want to live like
common people’ they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.
41.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain .
A.it is time to end class distinction
B. most people belong to middle class
C.it is easy to recognize a person’s class
D. people regard themselves socially different
42.The word stratification in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to .
A. variety B. division C. authority D. qualification
43.The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as________.
A. regional B. educated C. prejudiced D. unattractive
44.British attitudes towards accent________.
A. have a long tradition B. are based on regional status
C. are shared by the Americans D. have changed in recent years
45.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The middle class is expanding.
B.A person’s accent reflects his class.
C. Class is a key part of British society.
D. Each class has unique characteristics.
Passage 15
【2015年湖北卷】Hilversum is a medium-sized city between the major cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht inthe Gooi area of North Holland, the Netherlands. Unlike most of the Netherlands, Hilversum is actually in a hilly
area with the soil mostly consisting of sand. Once called the Garden of Amsterdam, it still attracts travelers to come
over to cycle and walk through the surrounding forests. They visit it for a relaxing day off from the urban madness.
For Dutch people, Hilversum is all about textile (纺织) and media industries, and modern architecture.
In history, Hilversum was largely an agricultural area. Daily life was marked by farming, sheep raising and
wool production. A railway link to Amsterdam in 1874 attracted rich traders from Amsterdam to Hilversum. They
built themselves large villas (别墅) in the wooded surroundings of the town. One of the families moving in was the
Brenninkmeijers, currently the wealthiest family of the Netherlands. They moved in after big success in the textile
industry and aided a substantial textile industry in Hilversum. But the textile boom lasted only several decades. The
last factory closed in the 1960s.
The change to a media economy started in 1920, when the Nederlandse Seintoestellen Fabriek (NSF)
established a radio factory in Hilversum. Most radio stations settled in the large villas in the leafy areas of the
town. Television gave another push to the local economy. Hilversum became the media capital of the Netherlands,
and Dutch television stars moved into the leafy neighborhoods surrounding the town.
In the early 1900s, modern architects W.M. Dudok and J. Duiker placed hundreds of remarkable buildings in
Hilversum. These modern architectural masterpieces (杰作) are so many that Hilversum almost feels like an open
air museum. Dudok alone shaped most of century Hilversum and approximately 75 buildings still bear his
unique characteristics. His masterpiece , Hilversum Town Hall,was built in 1928-1931. It has wide
international fame and is included in many architecture textbooks. The building has a remarkable shape and looks
like a combination of “blocks”. Actually, one may start his journey of modern architecture by walking or biking the
W.M. Dudok Architectural Route in Hilversum.
59.Hilversum is different from most of the Netherlands in that ______.
A. it has a large population
B. it is cut off from big cities
C. it has many beautiful gardens
D. it is in a hilly area with sandy soil
60.What was the greatest contribution of the Brenninkmeijers to Hilversum?
A. Building a railway link to Amsterdam
B. Helping its textile industry to developC. Constructing large villas for the poor
D. Assisting its agricultural industry
61.The beginning of the media industry in Hilversum was marked by the establishment of ______.
A. a radio factory
B. the medial capital
C. a radio station
D. a TV station
62.What is known about W.M. Dudok’s Hilversum Town Hall?
A. It consists of approximately 75 buildings
B. It looks like an open air museum in the city
C. It is a classic example in architecture textbooks
D. It has shaped most of century Hilvesum.
Passage 16
【2015年湖北卷】The oddness of life in space never quite goes away. Here are some examples.
First consider something as simple as sleep. Its position presents its own challenges. The main question is
whether you want your arms inside or outside the sleeping bag. If you leave your arms out, they float free in zero
gravity, often giving a sleeping astronaut the look of a funny ballet（芭蕾）dancer. “I’m an inside guy,” Mike
Hopkins says, who returned from a six-month tour on the International Space Station. “I like to be wrapped up.”
On the station, the ordinary becomes strange. The exercise bike for the American astronauts has no handlebars.
It also has no seat. With no gravity, it’s just as easy to pedal violently. You can watch a movie while you pedal by
floating a microcomputer anywhere you want. But station residents have to be careful about staying in one place
too long. Without gravity to help circulate air, the carbon dioxide you exhale (呼气) has a tendency to form an
invisible （隐形的）cloud around your head. You can end up with what astronauts call a carbon-dioxide
headache.
Leroy Chiao, 54, an American retired astronaut after four flights, describes what happens even before you float
out of your seat.”Your inner ear thinks your’re falling . Meanwhile your eyes are telling you you’re standing
straight. That can be annoying—that’s why some people feel sick.” Within a couple days —truly terrible days for
some —astronauts’ brains learn to ignore the panicky signals from the inner ear, and space sickness disappears.
Space travel can be so delightful but at the same time invisibly dangerous. For instance, astronauts lose bonemass. That’s why exercise is considered so vital that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) puts
it right on the workday schedule. The focus on fitness is as much about science and the future as it is about keeping
any individual astronauts healthy. NASA is worried about two things: recovery time once astronauts return
home, and, more importantly, how to maintain strength and fitness for the two and a half years or more that it
would take to make a round-trip to Mars.
63.What is the major challenge to astronauts when they sleep in space?
A. Deciding on a proper sleep position
B. Choosing a comfortable sleeping bag
[来源:学科网]
C. Seeking a way to fall asleep quickly
D. Finding a right time to go to sleep.
64.The astronauts will suffer from a carbon-dioxide headache when _____.
A. the y circle around on their bikes
B. they use microcomputers without a stop
C. they exercise in one place for a long time
D. they watch a movie while pedaling
65.Some astronauts feel sick on the station during the first few days because _____.
A. their senses stop working
B. they have to stand up straight
C. they float out of their seats unexpectedly
D. their brains receive contradictory messages
66.One of the NASA’s major concerns about astronauts is _____.
A. how much exercise they do on the station
B. how they can remain healthy for long in space
C. whether they can recover after returning home
D. whether they are able to go back to the station
Passage 17
【2015年湖南卷】
In its early history,Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that
people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man isstuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help,he replies, "No,thanks. I’ve got a good
horse under me."
The city planners decided to build an underground drainage(排水)system,but there simply wasn’t enough
difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the
Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground
and then cover them with dirt.This raised the level of the city’s streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem:dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago.Building
owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second
stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings
could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like the Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story
brick building?
That’s where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big
structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews ( 螺旋千斤顶)beneath the
building’s foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman’s signal
each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly.
Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stayed open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn’t even notice
anything was happening.
Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago’s early history, every engineering
solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago’s waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago
River, the city’s next step was to clean the polluted river.
61. The author mentions the joke to show_______.
A. horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B. Chicago’s streets were extremely muddy
C. Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D. the Chicago people were particularly humorous
62. The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough to _______.
A. get rid of the street dirt
B. lower the Chicago River
C. fight against heavy floodsD. build the pipes above ground
63. The underlined word "hoist" in Paragraph 4 means "_______".
A. change B. lift C. repair D. decorate
64. What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel?
A. It went on smoothly as intended.
B. It interrupted the business of the hotel.
C. It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews.
D. It separated the building from its foundation.
65. The passage is mainly about early Chicago’s_______.
A. popular lifestyles and their influences
B. environmental disasters and their causes
C. engineering problems and their solutions
D. successful businessmen and their achievements
Passage18
【2015年湖南卷】 Have your parents ever inspected your room to see if you cleaned it properly? Imagine having
your entire house, garage, and yard inspected at any time — with no warning. Inspections were a regular part of
lighthouse(灯塔) living, and a keeper’s reputation depended on the results. A few times each year, an inspector
arrived to look over the entire light station. The inspections were supposed to be a surprise, but keepers sometimes
had advance notice.
Once lighthouses had telephones, keepers would call each other to warn that the inspector was approaching.
After boats began flying special flags noting the inspector was aboard, the keeper’s family made it a game to see
who could notice the boat first. As soon as someone spotted the boat, everyone would do last-minute tidying and
change into fancy clothes. The keeper then scurried to put on his dress uniform and cap. Children of keepers
remember inspectors wearing white gloves to run their fingers over door frames and windowsills looking for dust.
Despite the serious nature of inspections, they resulted in some funny moments. Betty Byrnes remembered when
her mother did not have time to wash all the dishes before an inspection. At the time, people did not have
dishwashers in their homes. In an effort to clean up quickly, Mrs. Byrnes tossed all the dishes into a big bread pan,
covered them with a cloth, and stuck them in the oven. If the inspector opened the oven door, it would look like
bread was baking. He never did.One day, Glenn Furst’s mother put oil on the kitchen floor just before the inspector entered their house. Like
floor wax, the oil made the floors shiny and helped protect the wood. This time, though, she used a little too much
oil. When the inspector extended his hand to greet Glenn’s mother, he slipped on the freshly oiled surface. "He
came across that floor waving his arms like a young bird attempting its first flight," Glenn later wrote. After he
steadied himself, he shook Glenn’s mother’s hand, and the inspection continued as though nothing had happened.
66. What does Paragraph 1 tell us about the inspection at the light station?
A. It was carried out once a year.
B. It was often announced in advance.
C. It was important for the keeper’s fame.
D. It was focused on the garage and yard.
67. The family began making preparations immediately after .
A. one of the members saw the boat
B. a warning call reached the lighthouse
C. the keeper put on the dress uniform and cap
D. the inspector flew special flags in the distance
[来源:Z*xx*k.Com]
68. Mrs. Byrnes put the dishes in the oven because this would .
A. result in some fun
B. speed up washing them
C. make her home look tidy
D.be a demand from the inspector
69. If the inspector had opened the oven door, he would have seen .
A.an empty pan
B. many clean dishes
C. pieces of baked bread
D. a cloth covering something
70. The inspector waved his arms .
A.to try his best to keep steady
B.to show his satisfaction with the floor
C.to extend a warm greeting to Glenn’s mother
D.to express his intention to continue the inspectionPassage 19
【2015年江苏卷】In the United States alone, over 100 million cell-phones are thrown away each year. Cell-
phones are part of a growing mountain of electronic waste like computers and personal digital assistants. The
electronic waste stream is increasing three times faster than traditional garbage as a whole.
Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver. A Swiss study reported that while the
weight of electronic goods represented by precious metals was relatively small in comparison to total waste, the
concentration(含量) of gold and other precious metals was higher in so-called e-waste than in naturally occurring
minerals.
Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals. Even when the machines are recycled and the harmful
metals removed, the recycling process often is carried out in poor countries, in practically uncontrolled ways which
allow many poisonous substances to escape into the environment.
Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material, up to 100 times more, than the
material contained in the finished products. Consider again the cell-phone, and imagine the mines that produced
those metals, the factories needed to make the box and packaging (包装) it came in. Many wastes produced in the
producing process are harmful as well.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in that "the production,
distribution, and use of products — as well as management of the resulting waste — all result in greenhouse gas
release. "Individuals can reduce their contribution by creating less waste at the start — for instance, buying
reusable products and recycling.
In many countries the concept of extended producer responsibility is being considered or has been put in place
as an incentive(动机) for reducing waste. If producers are required to take back packaging they use to sell their
products, would they reduce the packaging in the first place?
Governments’ incentive to require producers to take responsibility for the packaging they produce is usually
based on money. Why, they ask, should cities or towns be responsible for paying to deal with the bubble wrap(气泡
垫) that encased your television?
From the governments’ point of view, a primary goal of laws requiring extended producer responsibility is to
transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of waste management from the government and tax-payers
back to the producers.
58.By mentioning the Swiss study, the author intends to tell us that ________.
A. the weight of e-goods is rather smallB. e-waste deserves to be made good use of
C. natural minerals contain more precious metals
D. the percentage of precious metals is heavy in e-waste
59.The responsibility of e-waste treatment should be extended ________.
A. from producers to governments B. from governments to producers
C. from individuals to distributors D. from distributors to governments
60.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The increase in e-waste. B. The creation of e-waste.
C. The seriousness of e-waste. D. The management of e-waste.
Passage 20
【2015年江苏卷】Freedom and Responsibility
Freedom’s challenge in the Digital Age is a serious topic. We are facing today a strange new world and we are
all wondering what we are going to do with it.
Some 2,500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great
civilizations, splendid empires, but no freedom anywhere. Egypt and Babylon were both tyrannies, one very
powerful man ruling over helpless masses.
In Greece, in Athens(雅典), a little city in a little country, there were no helpless masses. And Athenians
willingly obeyed the written laws which they themselves passed, and the unwritten, which must be obeyed if free
men live together. They must show each other kindness and pity and the many qualities without which life would
be very painful unless one chose to live alone in the desert. The Athenians never thought that a man was free if he
could do what he wanted. A man was free if he was self-controlled. To make yourself obey what you approved was
freedom. They were saved from looking at their lives as their own private affair. Each one felt responsible for the
welfare of Athens, not because it was forced on him from the outside, but because the city was his pride and his
safety. The essential belief of the first free government in the world was liberty for all men who could control
themselves and would take responsibility for the state.
But discovering freedom is not like discovering computers. It cannot be discovered once for all. If people do
not prize it, and work for it, it will go. Constant watch is its price. Athens changed. It was a change that took place
without being noticed though it was of the extreme importance, a spiritual change which affected the whole state. It
had been the Athenian’s pride and joy to give to their city. That they could get material benefits from her never
entered their minds. There had to be a complete change of attitude before they could look at the city as an employerwho paid her citizens for doing her work. Now instead of men giving to the state, the state was to give to them.
What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them; and with this as the
primary object, ideas of freedom and self-reliance and responsibility were neglected to the point of disappearing.
Athens was more and more looked on as a cooperative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had
a right to share.
Athens reached the point when the freedom she really wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be
only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of self-dependence and responsibility for the
common good, they would cease to be free. Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom. It is to be
had on no other terms. Athens, the Athens of Ancient Greece, refused responsibility; she reached the end of
freedom and was never to have it again.
But, "the excellent becomes the permanent, "Aristotle said. Athens lost freedom forever, but freedom was
not lost forever for the world. A great American, James Madison, referred to: "The capacity(能力) of mankind for
self-government. "No doubt he had not an idea that he was speaking Greek. Athens was not in the farthest
background of his mind, but once man has a great and good idea, it is never completely lost. The Digital Age
cannot destroy it. Somehow in this or that man’s thought such an idea lives though unconsidered by the world of
action. One can never be sure that it is not on the point of breaking out into action only sure that it will do so
sometime.
65.What does the underlined word "tyrannies" in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. Countries where their people need help.
B. Powerful states with higher civilization.
C. Splendid empires where people enjoy freedom.
D. Governments ruled with absolute power.
66.People believing in freedom are those who _________.
A. regard their life as their own business B. seek gains as their primary object
C. behave within the laws and value systems D. treat others with kindness and pity
67.What change in attitude took place in Athens?
A. The Athenians refused to take their responsibility.
B. The Athenians no longer took pride in the city.
C. The Athenians benefited spiritually from the government.
D. The Athenians looked on the government as a business.68.What does the sentence "There could be only one result. "in Paragraph 5 mean?
A. Athens would continue to be free.
B. Athens would cease to have freedom.
C. Freedom would come from responsibility.
D. Freedom would stop Athens from self-dependence.
69.Why does the author refer to Aristotle and Madison?
A. The author is hopeful about freedom.
B. The author is cautious about self-government.
C. The author is skeptical of Greek civilization.
D. The author is proud of man’s capacity.
70.What is the author’s understanding of freedom?
A. Freedom can be more popular in the digital age.
B. Freedom may come to an end in the digital age.
C. Freedom should have priority over responsibility.
D. Freedom needs to be guaranteed by responsibility.
Passage 21
【2015年陕西卷】The production of coffee beans is a huge, profitable business, but, unfortunately, full-sun
production is taking over the industry and bringing about a lot of damage. The change in how coffee is grown from
shade-grown production to full-sun production endangers the very existence of certain animals and birds, and even
disturbs the world’s ecological balance.
On a local level, the damage of the forest required by full-sun fields affects the area’s birds and animals. The
shade of the forest trees provides a home for birds and other species(物种)that depend on the trees’ flowers and
fruits. Full-sun coffee growers destroy this forest home. As a result, many species are quickly dying out.
On a more global level, the destruction of the rainforest for full-sun coffee fields also threatens(威胁)human
life. Medical research often makes use of the forests’ plant and animal life, and the destruction of such species
could prevent researchers from finding cures for certain diseases. In addition, new coffee-growing techniques are
poisoning the water locally, and eventually the world’s groundwater.
Both locally and globally, the continued spread of full-sun coffee plantations( 种植园)could mean the
destruction of the rainforest ecology. The loss of shade trees is already causing a slight change in the world’s
climate, and studies show that the loss of oxygen-giving trees also leads to air pollution and global warming.Moreover, the new growing techniques are contributing to acidic(酸性的)soil conditions.
It is obvious that the way much coffee is grown affects many aspects of life, from the local environment to the
global ecology. But consumers do have a choice. They can purchase shade-grown coffee whenever possible,
although at a higher cost. The future health of the planet and mankind is surely worth more than an inexpensive cup
of coffee.
54.What can we learn about full-sun coffee production from Paragraph 4?
A. It limits the spread of new growing techniques.
B. It leads to air pollution and global warming.
C. It slows down the loss of shade trees.
D. It improves local soil conditions.
55.The purpose of the text is to .
A. entertain B. advertise C instruct D. persuade
58.Where does this text probably come from?
A. An agricultural magazine. B.A medical journal.
C. An engineering textbook. D.A tourist guide.
59.Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text?
（P：Paragraph)
Passage 22
【2015 年陕西卷】Parents who help their children with homework may actually be bringing down their
school grades. Other forms of parental involvement, including volunteering at school and observing a child’s class,
also fail to help, according to the most recent study on the topic.
The findings challenge a key principle of modern parenting(养育子女)where schools expect them to
act as partners in their children’s education. Previous generations concentrated on getting children to
school on time, fed, dressed and ready to learn.
Keith Robinson, the author of the study, said, "I really don’t know if the public is ready for this but there aresome ways parents can be involved in their kids’ education that leads to declines in their academic performance.
One of the things that were consistently negative was parents’ help with homework. "Robinson suggested that may
be because parents themselves struggle to understand the tasks. "They may either not remember the material their
kids are studying now, or in some cases never learnt it themselves, but they’re still offering advice."
Robinson assessed parental involvement performance and found one of the most damaging things a parent
could do was to punish their children for poor marks. In general, about 20% of parental involvement was positive,
about 45% negative and the rest statistically insignificant.
Common sense suggests it was a good thing for parents to get involved because "children with good academic
success do have involved parents", admitted Robinson. But he argued that this did not prove parental involvement
was the root cause of that success. "A big surprise was that Asian-American parents whose kids are doing so well in
school hardly involved. They took a more reasonable approach, conveying to their children how success at school
could improve their lives."
58.The underlined expression "parental involvement" in Paragraph 1 probably means________.
A. parents’ expectation on children’s health
B. parents’ participation in children’s education
C. parents’ control over children’s life
D. parents’ plan for children’s future
59.What is the major finding of Robinson’s study?
A. Modern parents raise children in a more scientific way.
B. Punishing kids for bad marks is mentally damaging.
C. Parental involvement is not so beneficial as expected.
D. Parents are not able to help with children’s homework.
60.The example of Asian-American parents implies that parents should________.
A. help children realize the importance of schooling
B. set a specific life goal for their children
C. spend more time improving their own lives
D. take a more active part in school management
Passage 23
【2015年四川卷】 Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and
daughters rush to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers. But, according to a new study, we should beplacing a higher value on motherhood all year.
Mothers have long known that their home workload was just as heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has
shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as£172,000 a year.
The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to determine the
figure. This would make their yearly income £30，000 more than the Prime Minister earns.
By analysing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week,40 of which would usually be
paid at a standard rate and 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18,it found
that ,on most days, mums started their routine work at 7am and finished at around 11pm.
To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour, it suggested some of the roles that mums
could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time
lawyer, at £48.98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jobs”, with psychologist（心理学
家）a close second.
It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional（情感的） demand
as the hardest thing about motherhood.
Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.
The study shows mothers matter all year long and not just on Mother’s Day. The emotional, physical and
mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and
happiness. Investing（投入）in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent.
38.How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister?
A.￡30,000. B.￡142,000.
C.￡172,000. D.￡202,000.
39. The biggest challenge for most mothers is from .
A.emotional demand B.low pay for work
C.heavy workload D.lack of training
40.What is stressed in the last paragraph?
A.Mothers’importance shows in family all year long.
B.The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile.
C.Mothers’devotion to children can hardly be calculated.
D.Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return.
41.What can we conclude from the study?
A.Mothers’working hours should be largely reduced.B.Mothers should balance their time for work and rest.
C.Mothers’labour is of a higher value than it is realised.
D.Mothers should be freed from housework for social life.
Passage 24
【2015 年四川卷】Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of wearing
themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all night — as well as during the day, British-based
researchers say.
David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is affecting
the birds' biological clocks, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep.
Dr Dominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put
the birds' health at risk. His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some
genes being active at the wrong time of day. And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at
night.
He told people at a conference, "There have been a couple of studies suggesting they are increasing their song
output at night and during the day they are still singing. Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy. So by
increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy."
And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being
more nocturnal. Dr Dominoni said, "In Glasgow where I live, gulls are a serious problem. I have people coming to
me saying ‘You are the bird expert. Can you help us kill these gulls?'. During the breeding(繁殖)season, between
April and June, they are very active at night and very noisy and people can't sleep."
Although Dr Dominoni has only studied light pollution, other research concluded that robins living in noisy
cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise.
However, some birds thrive( 兴 旺 )in noisy environments. A study from California Polytechnic State
University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery. It is thought that they are
capitalising on their predators(天敌)fleeing to quieter areas.
42. According to Dr Dominoni's study, what causes robins to sing so much?
A. The breeding season. B. The light in modem life
C. The dangerous environment. D. The noise from heavy machinery.
43. What is the researchers' concern over the increase of birds' song output?
A. The environment might be polluted.B. The birds' health might be damaged.
C. The industry cost might be increased.
D. The people's hearing might be affected.
44. What does the underlined word "nocturnal" in Paragraph 5 mean?
A. Active at night. B. Inactive at night.
C. Active during the day. D.Inactive during the day.
45. Why do some birds thrive in noisy environments?
A. Because there are fewer dangers.
B. Because there is more food to eat.
C. Because there is less light pollution
D. Because there are more places to take shelter.
Passage 25
【2015年四川卷】No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo. But a new study
suggests they used a little rock‘n’roll. Long-ago builders could have attached wooden poles to the stones and rolled
them across the sand, the scientists say.
“Technically, I think what they’re proposing is possible,” physicist Daniel Bonn said.
People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks. And there’s no obvious answer. On
average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck. The Egyptians
somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away.
The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths. Many scientists suspect
workers first would have put the blocks on sleds(滑板). Then they would have dragged them along paths. To make
the work easier, workers may have lubricated the paths either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle. Bonn has
now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand.
Evidence from the sand supports this idea. Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a large amount
of stone and the remains of paths.
However, physicist Joseph West thinks there might have been a simpler way, who led the new study. West
said, “I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid
construction. I thought, ‘Why don’t they just try rolling the things?’ ” A square could be turned into a rough sort of
wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides, he realized. That, he notes, should make a block of stone “a lot easier
to roll than a square”.So he tried it.
He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30-kilogram stone block. That action turned the
block into somewhat a wheel. Then they placed the block on the ground.
They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled. The researchers found they could easily roll the
block along different kinds of paths. They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as
moving it along a slippery(滑的) path.
West hasn’t tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over sliding. At least,
workers wouldn’t have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.
46.It’s widely believed that the stone blocks were moved to the pyramid site by ______.
A.rolling them on roads
B.pushing them over the sand
C.sliding them on smooth paths
D.dragging them on some poles
47.The underlined part “lubricated the paths” in Paragraph 4 means____.
A.made the paths wet
B.made the paths hard
C.made the paths wide
D.made the paths slippery
48.What does the underlined word “it”in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A.Rolling the blocks with poles attached.
B.Rolling the blocks on wooden wheels.
C.Rolling poles to move the blocks.
D.Rolling the blocks with fat.
49. Why is rolling better than sliding according to West ?
A. Because more force is needed for sliding.
B. Because rolling work can be done by fewer cattle.
[来源:学科网ZXXK]
C. Because sliding on smooth roads is more dangerous.
D. Because less preparation on paths is needed for rolling.
50. What is the text mainly about ?
A. An experiment on ways of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
B. An application of the method of moving blocks to the pyramid site.C. An argument about different methods of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
D. An introduction to a possible new way of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
Passage 26
【2015 年天津卷】Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more
common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more
humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions
than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows
them to respond more appropriately to the user.
The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the
robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general
answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things
such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from
education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s “Oshbot” robot is built to assist
customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the
store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the
customer is shopping for.
The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not
intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to
do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.
41. How are social robots different from household robots?
A. They can control their emotions. B. They are more like humans.
C. They do the normal housework. D. They respond to users more slowly.
42. What can a Jibo robot do according to Paragraph 3?
A. Communicate with you and perform operations.
B. Answer your questions and make requests.
C. Take your family pictures and deliver milk.
D. Obey your orders and remind you to take pills.43. What can Oshbot work as?
A. A language teacher. B. A tour guide.
C. A shop assistant. D. A private nurse.
44. We can learn from the last paragraph that social robots will ____________.
A. train employees B. be our workmates
C. improve technologies D. take the place of workers
45. What does the passage mainly present?
A. A new design idea of household robots.
B. Marketing strategies for social robots.
C. Information on household robots.
D. An introduction to social robots.
