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文体分类练(四) 说明文之研究报告/书评类
Passage 1(2024 安徽安庆二模)
主题:利用藻类除碳 词数:335
难度:★★★☆☆
Nobody knows yet what the best way of removing all that carbon will be,but scientists
around the world are developing a new method.The Swiss company Climeworks is building
big extractor(抽油烟机) fans to remove carbon.
But other scientists are looking to nature’s carbon cycle for inspiration.They’re looking
for ways to improve it,speed it up and help it take more carbon out of the air permanently.
One of those scientists is Professor Luke Mackinder,a plant biologist at the University of
York.His research into carbon removal is inspired by ocean algae(海藻).“About half of
carbon absorption takes place in the ocean,” he says.“Algae are extremely efficient at
absorbing it.”
In order to do this,his team has studied the genetic code(基因密码) of algae to work out
which genes play a vital role in carbon absorption.He believes they have now figured this
out.“Now we have a list and we can start thinking about how to bring them together in
different living things,” he says.“We place the genes into those of other plants.It’s genetic
modification.”
Mackinder anticipates adding them to a range of crops and trees.The resulting increased
production could be good for food security.Alternatively,they could help to enhance the
influence of climate change.It all depends on what we do with the carbon once it’s trapped in
those plants.Eating them would quickly return it to the atmosphere.But if instead we find
ways to store it,we could keep it out of the atmosphere for good.
Dave Hillyard,chief administrator of the Carbon Technology Research Foundation that
is funding Mackinder’s research,says that it is important to fund work on a wide range of
carbon removal methods,because “some will not get the results they’re looking for and some
will succeed.There are a lot of opportunities here but very little funding and research going
into it.”
【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了关于利用藻类除碳的研究。
1.What is discussed in the first paragraph?
A.An approach to carbon removal.
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【www.xue-ba.org 12 年学霸网】
B.A way to improve big extractor fans.
C.A means of joining a company.
D.A method of doing scientific research.
答案 A
解析 主旨大意题。根据文章第一段内容可知,第一段讨论了一种去除碳的方法。故选
A 项。
2.Why does Professor Luke Mackinder focus on ocean algae?
A.It is secure.
B.It is effective.
C.It is sufficient.
D.It is accessible.
答案 B
解析 细节理解题。根据文章第三段中“Algae are extremely efficient at absorbing it.”可
知,卢克·麦金德教授关注海洋藻类是因为它是有效的。故选B 项。
3.What can we know about the genes of algae from the fourth paragraph?
A.They bring about great side effects.
B.They are useless for carbon absorption.
C.They help increase food production.
D.They have been put into other plants.
答案 D
解析 细节理解题。根据文章第四段中“We place the genes into those of other plants.It’s
genetic modification.”可知,藻类的基因被植入到其他植物中。故选D 项。
4.What is required according to Dave Hillyard?
A.The government’s permission.
B.More scientists’ participation.
C.Increasing experimental chances.
D.The input into the research.
答案 D
解析 推理判断题。根据文章最后一段中“There are a lot of opportunities here but very
little funding and research going into it.”可知,根据Dave Hillyard 的说法,对研究的投入是
需要的。故选D 项。
Passage 2(2024 福建福州三模)
主题:机器学习研究 词数:367
难度:★★★☆☆
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【www.xue-ba.org 12 年学霸网】
Our species’ incredible capacity to quickly acquire words from 300 by age 2 to over
1,000 by age 4 isn’t fully understood.Some cognitive scientists and linguists have theorized
that people are born with built-in expectations and logical constraints (约束) that make this
possible.Now,however,machine-learning research is showing that preprogrammed
assumptions aren’t necessary to swiftly pick up word meanings from minimal data.
A team of scientists has successfully trained a basic artificial intelligence model to
match images to words using just 61 hours of naturalistic footage (镜头) and sound—
previously collected from a child named Sam in 2013 and 2014.Although it’s a small slice of
a child’s life,it was apparently enough to prompt the AI to figure out what certain words
mean.
The findings suggest that language acquisition could be simpler than previously
thought.Maybe children “don’t need a custom-built,high-class language-specific mechanism”
to efficiently grasp word meanings,says Jessica Sullivan,an associate professor of psychology
at Skidmore College.“This is a really beautiful study,” she says,“because it offers evidence
that simple information from a child’s worldview is rich enough to kick-start pattern
recognition and word comprehension.”
The new study also demonstrates that it’s possible for machines to learn similarly to the
way that humans do.Large language models are trained on enormous amounts of data that can
include billions and sometimes trillions of word combinations.Humans get by on orders of
magnitude less information,says the paper’s lead author Wai Keen Vong.With the right type
of data,that gap between machine and human learning could narrow dramatically.
Yet additional study is necessary in certain aspects of the new research.For one,the
scientists acknowledge that their findings don’t prove how children acquire
words.Moreover,the study only focused on recognizing the words for physical objects.
Still,it’s a step toward a deeper understanding of our own mind,which can ultimately
help us improve human education,says Eva Portelance,a computational linguistics
researcher.She notes that AI research can also bring clarity to long-unanswered questions
about ourselves.“We can use these models in a good way,to benefit science and society,”
Portelance adds.
【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章讲述了现在机器学习研究表明,要从最少的数据
中快速获取单词的含义并不需要预先编程的假设。
5.What is a significant finding of machine-learning research?
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A.Vocabulary increases gradually with age.
B.Vocabulary can be acquired from minimal data.
C.Language acquisition is tied to built-in expectations.
D.Language acquisition is as complex as formerly assumed.
答案 B
解析 细节理解题。根据文章第一段中“Now,however,machine-learning research is
showing that preprogrammed assumptions aren’t necessary to swiftly pick up word meanings
from minimal data.”可知,机器学习研究的一个重要发现是词汇可以从最小的数据中获得。
6.What does the underlined word “prompt” in paragraph 2 mean?
A.Facilitate.
B.Persuade.
C.Advise.
D.Expect.
答案 A
解析 词句猜测题。根据上文“A team of scientists has successfully trained a basic
artificial intelligence model to match images to words using just 61 hours of naturalistic
footage and sound—previously collected from a child named Sam in 2013 and 2014.”可知,
虽然只是孩子生活中的一小部分,但显然足以促使人工智能弄清楚某些单词的意思。
prompt 意为“促使”。
7.What is discussed about the new research in paragraph 5?
A.Its limitations.
B.Its strengths.
C.Its uniqueness.
D.Its process.
答案 A
解析 主旨大意题。根据文章第五段内容可知,第五段主要讲述了这项新研究的局限性。
8.What is Eva Portelance’s attitude to the AI research?
A.Doubtful.
B.Cautious.
C.Dismissive.
D.Positive.
答案 D
解析 推理判断题。根据文章最后一段中“She notes that AI research can also bring
clarity to long-unanswered questions about ourselves.‘We can use these models in a good
way,to benefit science and society,’Portelance adds.”可推知,Eva Portelance 对人工智能研
究的态度是积极的。
Passage 3(2024 河北保定一模)
主题:手势对听众的影响 词数:330
难度:★★★☆☆
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【www.xue-ba.org 12 年学霸网】
Politicians,business bosses,and other types of leaders indeed tend to like speaking with
their hands,but does the habit influence how others interpret those words?To get to the
bottom of it,a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
conducted a series of experiments on volunteers who viewed videos of people speaking with
and without hand movements.
After showing the volunteers videos of people speaking under different conditions,the
researchers asked them questions about what they had heard.Some conditions involved the
speaker stressing different parts of words in a sentence.Other conditions involved the speaker
making various types of hand gestures,such as pointing and sweeping movements.The team
recorded the volunteers as they viewed the video recordings,questioning the volunteers
afterward about what they had seen and heard.
Researchers found that the volunteers were more affected by syllables(音节) spoken
with the conjunction of hand gestures:In 20 percent of the cases,the viewers were more likely
to have heard and interpreted the word spoken with a hand
gesture.Interestingly,however,volunteers were 40 percent more likely to hear the wrong
sound when a mismatch between the word spoken and the hand gesture occurred.
Body language expert Carol Goman said,“Studies have found that speaking with your
hands really can change the view of your character.People who communicate through active
gesturing tend to be considered warm,agreeable,and energetic,while those who remain still
are seen as logical,cold,and analytic.In fact,a 2015 study that studied TED Talks,which posts
international talks online,found that the most popular speakers used nearly twice as many
gestures as the least popular speakers used.”
The research team said that their findings suggest that hand gestures are an important
part of in-person communication that have a direct impact on what the listener
hears.Furthermore,they suggest that our responses to hand gestures may be something we
learn as we grow up.
【语篇导读】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了研究人员通过实验发现,在谈话中使
用或不使用手势会对听众产生很大影响。
9.What’s the researchers’ purpose of doing the experiments?
A.To examine the volunteers’ interpreting skills.
B.To test the effect hand gestures have on speaking.
C.To record the volunteers’ questions for the speaker.
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【www.xue-ba.org 12 年学霸网】
D.To confirm the influence hand movements have on leaders.
答案 B
解析 细节理解题。根据第一段内容可知,研究人员做实验的目的是测试手势对说话的
影响。
10.What did the researchers find in the experiments?
A.Hand movements affected what the listener heard.
B.The speaker stressed different parts of words in a sentence.
C.People speaking with different hand gestures had different effects.
D.The most popular speakers used more gestures than the least popular speakers did.
答案 A
解析 细节理解题。根据第三段中“In 20 percent of the cases,the viewers were more likely
to have heard and interpreted the word spoken with a hand
gesture.Interestingly,however,volunteers were 40 percent more likely to hear the wrong
sound when a mismatch between the word spoken and the hand gesture occurred.”可知,研究
人员在实验中发现手的动作会影响听者听到的内容。
11.What does the underlined word “conjunction” mean in paragraph 3?
A.Assistance.
B.Combination.
C.Disturbance.
D.Interpretation.
答案 B
解析 词句猜测题。根据第三段中的“In 20 percent of the cases,the viewers were more
likely to have heard and interpreted the word spoken with a hand gesture.”可推知,此处是指
志愿者更容易受到与手势相结合的音节的影响,所以conjunction 意为“结合”。
12.What may the researchers agree with?
A.Gestures can influence others’ view on one’s personality.
B.Understanding gestures is a must in every language.
C.In-person communication helps interpret gestures.
D.Responses to gestures are learning behavior.
答案 D
解析 推理判断题。根据最后一段中“Furthermore,they suggest that our responses to hand
gestures may be something we learn as we grow up.”可推知,研究人员可能认同“对手势的
反应是一种学习行为”的观点。
