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选择性必修第一册 Unit 5 Revealing nature
Ⅰ.阅读理解
A(★)
Your Garden Escape
Even in the big city you can find oases(绿洲)of calm and beauty.From a royal palace to a
classical garden，we recommend great green spaces to escape the hustle and bustle of London.
Horniman Gardens
Horniman Gardens cover 16 acres with breathtaking views of London.Visitors can enjoy the
Sound Garden，Meadow Field，and even a Prehistoric Garden，which features a display of
“living fossils”．The gardens are very popular with families，and dogs can be let off their leads
in the Meadow Field.
Chiswick Garden
As a classical garden landscape in London，it was here that the English Landscape Movement
was born with William Kent’s designs.Enjoy fresh bread，seasonal food，and natural wines in
the award-winning cafe，while admiring the beauty of the naturalistic landscape，spotted with
impressive art and statues.
Buckingham Palace Garden
The 39-acre garden boasts more than 350 types of wildflowers，over 200 trees and a three-
acre lake.The garden also provides a habitat for native birds rarely seen in London.A tour of the
garden can be completed by having a cream tea in the cafe overlooking the Palace’s famous
grassland and lake.
Kew Garden
The Royal Botanic Garden at Kew is one of the world’s most famous gardens and a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.Have a walk through the vast garden，spot local wildlife at the
lake，or get your hands dirty by trying a gardening lesson.Be sure to visit the Temperate House，
which contains some of the rarest and most threatened plants.
1．What can visitors do in both Horniman Gardens and Chiswick Garden?
A．Study living fossils. B．Taste delicious food.
C．Enjoy impressive art. D．Appreciate fine views.
2．Where should visitors go if they want to join in hands-on activities?
A．Horniman Gardens. B．Chiswick Garden.
C．Buckingham Palace Garden. D．Kew Garden.
3．What is the purpose of the text?
A．To inform visitors of famous gardens.B．To entertain interested garden visitors.
C．To stress the necessity of garden escape.
D．To show the benefits of touring gardens.
B
Scientists have solved a puzzle about modern humans，after research showed that a famous
skull of a human ancestor found in South Africa is a million years older than experts thought.This
discovery has changed what we know of human history.
The skull，which scientists have named “Mrs Ples”，is from an ape-like human relative
from a species called Australopithecus africanus( 南方古猿非洲种 )．It was found near
Johannesburg in 1947 and，based on evidence from its surroundings，was thought to be between
2.1 and 2.6 million years old.This puzzled scientists，because although Mrs Ples looks like a
possible early ancestor of early humans，the first true humans had already evolved by the time she
apparently lived.For this reason，scientists had decided that Australopithecus afarensis，a similar
species from East Africa that lived about 3.5 million years ago，was our most likely ancestor
instead.
To get a more accurate age for Mrs Ples，a team led by Professor Darryl Granger of Purdue
University in Indiana，US，used a new method to date the sandy rocks where the skull lay.They
measured the amount of certain chemicals in rocks，which form at a steady rate when they are
exposed to cosmic rays (宇宙射线) on Earth’s surface.Once rocks are buried，these chemicals
stop forming and slowly disappear；the surviving amount reveals how much time has passed since
the rocks (or bones) were on the surface.
The new study shows that Mrs Ples and other australopithecine bones nearby are between 3.4
and 3.7 million years old.This means they lived at the same time as their East African relatives，so
that either group could have given rise to modern humans.However，team member Dr Laurent
Bruxelles pointed out that over millions of years，at only 2,500 miles away，these groups had
plenty of time to travel and to breed with each other.In other words，the groups could quite easily
have met，had children together and both been part of the history of modern humans.
4．What can we learn about Mrs Ples from the first two paragraphs?
A．It is a skull found in East Africa.
B．It is the most possible ancestor of humans.
C．It is a million years older than scientists expected.
D．It is proved to live between 2.1 and 2.6 million years ago.
5．How did scientists get the accurate age of “Mrs Ples”？
A．By studying the effect of cosmic rays.
B．By calculating the forming rate of chemicals.
C．By locating the sandy rocks where the skull lay.
D．By measuring the surviving amount of chemicals.6．What can we infer from the new study?
A．Modern humans came into being in East Africa.
B．Mrs Ples travelled and had children with East African relatives.
C．The history of modern humans might begin 3.5 million years ago.
D．Ape-like species from Africa could have interacted with each other.
7．Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A．Historical Puzzle Unsolved
B．Ancestor Mystery Solved
C．Mrs Ples: The Earliest Human Being
D．Mrs Ples: A Famous Skull
C(★)
After a five-year travel to study plants，animals and fossils(化石) in South America and on
the islands in the Pacific，British naturalist Charles Darwin brought the idea of natural selection to
the attention of the world in his bestselling book，On the Origin of Species.
Natural selection is the process through which populations of living organisms adapt and
change naturally.Individuals in a population are naturally variable.In other words，they are all
different in some ways.This variation means that some individuals have characteristics better suited
to the environment than others.Individuals with adaptive characteristics—characteristics that give
them some advantage—are more likely to survive and reproduce.These individuals then pass the
adaptive characteristics on to their children.Over time，these characteristics become more common
in the population.Through this process of natural selection，adaptive characteristics are passed on
to the next generations.Those organisms that cannot adapt fast enough through natural selection
will die out.
Natural selection can also lead to new and distinctly different species.It is one of the processes
that drive phylogenesis and help to explain the diversity of life on Earth.
Darwin chose the name natural selection to contrast with artificial selection that is controlled
by humans.Darwin and other scientists of his day argued that a process much like artificial
selection happened in nature，without any human help.He argued that natural selection explained
how a wide variety of life forms developed over time from a single common ancestor.
Through studying the fossil record，we know that some species may not be able to adapt fast
enough through natural selection and many of them that once lived on Earth are now
extinct.Dinosaurs are one example.However ， human actions such as over-hunting and the
destruction of habitats have become the main cause of extinctions today.
8．Why do some species die out according to the text?
A．They can’t adapt to the changed environments.
B．They fail to learn from their common ancestors.
C．They have too many variable individuals in the species.D．They cannot find enough food and starve to death slowly.
9．What does the underlined word “phylogenesis” in paragraph 3 refer to?
A．Extinction. B．Exposure. C．Development. D．Replacement.
10．Which paragraph mentions the difference between artificial and natural selections?
A．Paragraph 1. B．Paragraph 2. C．Paragraph 3. D．Paragraph 4.
11．What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A．Species’ extinction is slowing down recently.
B．Human actions can lead to species’ extinctions.
C．Measures must be taken to stop eating animals.
D．Artificial selection is more important than natural selection.
Ⅱ.七选五
I came to Russia to study in the winter of 2021.My university is located in Moscow，the
capital of Russia，which is a city with a long history.
The second I stepped out of the airport，I immediately felt how cold it was outside. 1
When I saw the main building of Moscow State University，I was deeply shocked by its beautiful
architecture with its 270-year-long history.Sensing how small I was in front of this splendid
building，I felt the crystallization(结晶) of human wisdom resonate within me.
2 The snow and ice won’t melt until April of the following year.Just like the melting
snow，I gradually overcame the difficulties of studying abroad and came to adjust to my new
environment.
The first challenge was the language barrier.After learning Russian in China，I realized that
my skills were nowhere near enough.I was not fluent in Russian ， sometimes causing
misunderstandings. 3 In Russia，everyone intentionally stands on the right side when taking
the escalator(自动扶梯)，which takes time to get used to.
The artistic atmosphere in Russia is very strong，however. 4 Tickets for concerts and
cultural events here are relatively cheap，making it easy to enrich my life on weekends.
In a nutshell，living abroad means overcoming all kinds of difficulties.The experience will
always leave a colorful shade in our lives.Just as the old saying in Chinese goes，“It is better to
travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books.” 5
A．Take a look at the outside world while you are young!
B．Obviously，the freezing climate does not agree with me.
C．The cultural differences were also hard to deal with at first.
D．I can visit many of the attractions that I used to see in my textbooks.
E．And the buildings surrounding me looked so different from the ones in China.
F．Starting from early November each year，the snow season in Moscow is very long.
G．Thanks to the abundant activities I get to explore what I’ve learned in practical contexts.
