The sea horse is a magical animal, which has puzzled （使困惑） people for thousands
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The sea horse is a magical animal, which has puzzled （使困惑） people for thousands of years. In ancient Rome sea horses were believed to be the babies of Neptune’s horses. And Neptune was the god of the ocean. Now we know they are not horses at all — they are a kind of fish. They still seem as magical as ever, especially to divers who have watched them horsing around(瞎闯) in the sea. But today, sea horse populations face an uncertain future. Fishermen are catching too many of them, and their undersea habitats （栖息地） are being destroyed.
At least 20 million sea horses are taken from the ocean each year. More than 95% are used for traditional medicines in Asian countries. The sea horses are usually dried and then made into powder which is used to treat such problems as asthma（哮喘）, throat infections, skin diseases and cuts. How well the medicines work is unclear.
Sea horses are also bought and sold in large numbers as pets. Sea horse expert Amanda Vincent warns against buying pet sea horses. “A lot of people treat them as if they’re goldfish,” she says. But sea horses require very special care and live food. Most captive (被猎取的) sea horses pick up diseases and die.
Sea horse experts are trying to teach fishermen to become sea horse farmers. Instead of pulling nets of sea horses from the ocean, fishermen could learn to raise them in specially designed saltwater “farms”. That way, fishermen would have sea horses to sell, but ocean populations would not be hurt.
Vincent and her team have only discovered the 35 different species of sea horses, and they still have plenty of sea horse secrets left to unlock. That is why, Vincent told TFK, protecting future sea horse populations is especially important: “I promise your readers that by the time they grow up to be marine biologists, we’ll still have a lot to learn.”
小题1:In the past, Romans thought the sea horse to be ______.| A．a kind of horse | B．a kind of fish | | C．the god of the ocean | D．one of Neptune’s pets |
小题2:Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?| A．People in Asian countries hunt sea horses for food. | | B．Most sea horses caught are used as medicine. | | C．The effects of the powder of sea horses are uncertain. | | D．35 different kinds of sea horses have been discovered. |
小题3:The underlined phrase “pick up” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.| A．follow | B．collect | C．get | D．create |
小题4:It can be inferred that the best way to protect sea horses is to ______.| A．do more research on sea horses | | B．teach fishermen how to farm sea horses | | C．stop hunting sea horses | | D．ban the sea horse trade |
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答案
小题1:A
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:B |
解析
试题分析：文章介绍海马这种鱼类，因为人类的捕***和生存环境的破坏，数量正变得越来越少，专家认为最好的保护海马的方法是教渔民养海马。
小题1:细节题：从第一段的句子：In ancient Rome sea horses were believed to be the babies of Neptune’s horses.可知古罗马人因为海马是一种马。选A
小题2:细节题：从第二段的句子：More than 95% are used for traditional medicines in Asian countries. 可知亚洲人捕捉海马主要是做药不是做食物。选A
小题3:猜词题：句意：大部分海马得病死了。这里的pick up是“染上”，选C
小题4:细节题：从第四段的句子：Sea horse experts are trying to teach fishermen to become sea horse farmers. 可知最好的保护海马的方法是教渔民养海马。选B
点评：文章分析了具体的原因。测试考生在阅读基础上的逻辑推理能力，要求考生根据文章所述事件的逻辑关系，对未说明的趋势或结局作出合理的推断；或根据作者所阐述的观点理论，对文章未涉及的现象、事例给以解释。考生首先要仔细阅读短文，完整了解信息，准确把握作者观点。 |
举一反三
The south and east of the Great Lakes is famous for the huge amounts of snow it receives. When the snow starts to fall every year, people start discussing the phrase “lake-effect snow”.
Lake-effect snow which is influenced by the movement of cold air over the relatively warm water of the Great Lakes often comes in late autumn and early winter. Because of the at least 20 degrees’ difference between the lake water and the overrunning air, it’s easy to form huge amounts of snow.
As the cool air crosses the water of Great Lakes, the lowest levels of the atmosphere begin to warm and pick up moisture. This newly warmed atmosphere is lighter than the cold air above it, so it starts rising. As the changed air continues to climb higher and higher, it finally meets much colder atmosphere which changes the moisture into water drops and ice, forming clouds. After this course repeats a number of times, the clouds become heavier and heavier, and then they are changed into snow and fall down.
The most important point that decides the amount of snowfall is the direction of the wind. If the wind runs perpendicularly（垂直地）across the lake, there won’t be plenty of time for clouds to develop. However, if the wind runs in the opposite direction, clouds will form easily. The longer the cold air travels over the lake, the more moisture it is able to produce, which leads to a greater amount of snow.
The largest amount of the lake-effect snow was found across the U.P. of Michigan, the northwestern Pennsylvania and the far southwestern and northwestern New York, which are all along the south or east of the Great Lakes. It has been over 100 inches of snowfall in a winter season.
小题1:The level of the snowfall depends on ________.| A．the size of the lake | | B．the direction of the wind | | C．the temperature of the lake | | D．the strength of the wind |
小题2:From the passage, we can learn that ________.| A．clouds are easy to produce with the help of the perpendicular wind | | B．cold air always falls down and picks up moisture to form clouds | | C．the temperature of the lake water is the same as the overrunning air’s above it | | D．the longer journey of the cold atmosphere can make a grater amount of snow |
小题3:The passage is mainly about ________.| A．the influences of the lake-effect snow for local people | | B．the weight between moisture and atmosphere | | C．how the phrase “lake-effect snow” comes in New York | | D．how the lake-effect snow forms around the Great Lakes |
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For most of us, the rain that falls on our roof runs off into the ground or the sewer(下水道) system. But if you want to save a little water and reuse it on your lawns or plants --- or even use it for laundry, dishes, or other needs --- collecting rainwater from your gutter’s downspouts(檐槽的水落管) is a no-brainer.
According to John C. Davis, writing in E / The Environmental Magazine, just about any homeowner can collect rainwater, given that the roof and gutters do most of the work. And since an inch of rain falling on a 2,000-square-foot roof produces some 1,200 gallons of water, you can harvest enough to water your lawn or garden.
Plants and grass actually do better when fed rainwater instead of tap water, which is usually treated with substances that can hold back plant growth. Using rainwater can also extend the life of pipes, since the salts added to tap water may gradually damage the pipes. However, homeowners should set up a water purification system if they do plan to use rainwater for inside needs.
Rainwater harvesting can also be good for the local community, as it reduces the erosion, flooding, and pollution associated with heavy rainfall, and reduces dependence on public water supplies. So some states fund rainwater collection systems in their local communities.
Many varieties of rain barrel(桶) systems, starting at just $100, are available for home use. A typical setup is simply a rain barrel positioned under a gutter’s downspout. Skillful homeowners can make their own water harvesting systems, but buying one is a lot easier. Most garden centres offer a range of choices as well as tips.
小题1:The underlined word “no-brainer” in Para. 1 probably means something that ______.| A．is hard to deal with | B．is very easy | | C．is of no real value | D．deserves more attention |
小题2:From Paragraphs 3 and 4, we can learn _______.| A．how to set up a water harvesting system | B．how a rain barrel system works | | C．some advice on saving tap water | D．the benefits of using rainwater |
小题3:What is the topic of the passage ?| A．Basic gardening skills. | B．Water-saving techniques. | | C．Wastewater treatment systems. | D．Roof rainwater collection. |
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We like to think our intelligence is self-made; it happens inside our heads, the product of our inner thoughts alone. But the rise of Google, Wikipedia and other online tools has made many people question the impact of these technologies on our brains. Is typing in “Who has played James Bond in the movies?” the same as our knowledge about the names like Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig? Can we say we know the answer as long as we know how to rapidly get the information on Google?
Here the question is about how we define intelligence itself. The answer appears to be interesting, because the evidence from psychological studies suggests that much of our intelligence comes from how we coordinate ourselves with other people and our environment.
An influential theory among psychologists is that we"re cognitive misers(认知吝啬者). This is the idea that we are unwilling to do mental work unless we have to. We try to avoid thinking things fully when a short cut is available. If you"ve ever voted for the presidential candidate(总统候选人) with the most honest smile, or chosen a restaurant based on how many people are already sitting in there, then you are a cognitive miser. The theory explains why we"d much rather type a zip code into Google Maps than memorize and recall the location of a place – it"s so much easier to do so.
Research shows that people don"t tend to rely on their memories for things they can easily access. Buildings can somehow disappear from pictures we"re looking at, or the people we"re talking to can be changed with someone else, and often we won"t notice – a phenomenon called “change blindness”. This isn"t an example of human stupidity – far from it, in fact – this is an example of mental efficiency. The mind relies on the world as a better record than memory.
Philosophers have suggested that thinking is really happening in the environment as much as it is happening in our brains. The philosopher Andy Clark called humans "natural born cyborgs(电子人)", those naturally capable of absorbing and combining new tools, ideas and abilities. In Clark"s view, the route to a solution is not the issue – having the right tools really does mean you know the answers, just as much as already knowing the answer.
Rather than being forced to rely on our own resources for everything, we can share our knowledge. Technology keeps track of things for us so we don"t have to, while large systems of knowledge serve the needs of society as a whole. I don"t know how a computer works, or how to grow vegetables, but that knowledge is out there and I can get to benefit. The internet provides even more potential to share this knowledge. Wikipedia is one of the best examples – an increasingly large database of knowledge from which everyone can benefit.
So as well as having a physical environment – like the rooms or buildings we live or work in – we also have a mental environment, which means that when I ask you where your mind is, you shouldn’t point toward the centre of your forehead. As research shows, our minds are made up just as much by the people and tools around us as they are by the brain cells inside our skull.
小题1:Why did the writer raise the questions in Paragraph 1? | A．To find out who has played James Bond in the movies. | | B．To introduce the topic to be discussed in the passage. | | C．To show that he knows the answer to the questions. | | D．To attract readers’ attention by mentioning James Bond. |
小题2:What is the writer’s attitude towards the rise of technologies like Google and Wikipedia? | A．Supportive | B．Objective | C．Indifferent | D．Neutral |
小题3: Which of the following might the philosopher Andy Clark agree with? | A．Intelligence is something that is made by one’s brain itself. | | B．Intelligence is something that only happens inside one’s head. | | C．Intelligence is the product of one’s inner thoughts alone. | | D．Intelligence is a mixture of the environment, people and one’s brain cells. |
小题4:It is true about the phenomenon called “change blindness” that human beings____.| A．are stupid not to notice the changes | | B．are efficient in mental work | | C．are blind to changes around them | | D．rely on memory when dealing with things |
小题5:According to the text, how do technologies like Google, Wikipedia affect us? | A．They make us much more intelligent. | | B．They make us lazier and more stupid. | | C．They have little to do with our intelligence. | | D．They have a negative effect on our intelligence. |
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Is language, like food, a basic human need? Judging from the extreme experiment of Frederick in the 13th century, it may be. Hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue he told the nurses to keep silent.
All the babies died before the first year. But clearly there was more than language deprivation (剥夺，丧失). What was missing was good mothering. Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the ability to survive is seriously affected.
Today no such extreme deprivation exists as that ordered by Frederick. Nevertheless, some children are still backward in speaking. Most often the reason for this is that the mother is insensitive to signals of the baby, whose brain is programmed, to mop up language rapidly. There are critical times, it seems when children learn more rapidly. If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again.
Linguists suggest that speech milestones are reached in a fixed order and at a constant age, but there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ.
Recent evidence suggests that a baby is born with the ability to speak. What is special about man’s brain, compared with that of the monkey, is the complex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a teddy bear with the sound pattern “teddy bear”.
But speech has to be developed, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the signals in the child’s babbling, clinging, grasping, crying, smiling, and responds to them. Insensitivity of the mother to these signals reduces the interaction because the child gets discouraged and sends out only the obvious signals. Sensitivity to the child’s nonverbal (非语言的) signals is basic to the growth and development of language.
小题1:Frederick’s experiment was extreme because _________. | A．he wanted to prove children are born with ability to speak | | B．he wanted his nurses to say another language | | C．he was unkind to the nurses | | D．he ignored the importance of mothering to the babies |
小题2:The reason that some children are backward in speaking is most likely that _________.| A．they do not listen carefully to their mothers | | B．their mothers do not respond to their attempts to speak | | C．their brain has to absorb too much language at once | | D．their mothers are not intelligent enough to help them |
小题3:In paragraph 3, by “critical times” the author means _________.| A．difficult periods in the child’s life | | B．moments when the child becomes critical towards its mother | | C．important stages in the child’s development | | D．times when mothers often neglect their children |
小题4:If a child starts to speak later than others, he will _________ in future.| A．have a high IQ | B．be less intelligent | | C．not necessarily be backward | D．be insensitive to verbal signals |
小题5:If the mother seldom responds to her child’s signals, _________.| A．the child will be able to speak properly | | B．the child will continue to give out signals | | C．the child will invent a language of own | | D．the child will make little effort to speak |
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Even if we have an extremely healthy diet and lifestyle, the human body is programmed to wear out at a maximum of about 120 years, and usually less. We all have a biological clock inside us which determines the moment when our organs cease to function properly. This is because our cells have stopped renewing themselves and our body can no longer repair itself. This is also the moment when we are more likely to begin to suffer from the diseases of old age such as arthritis and Alzheimer’s. However, rapid advances in DNA research are beginning to throw light on the secrets of the ageing process. By the end of this century we could literally have the power of life over death.
Although it has long been accepted that humans have a fixed lifespan, it is also a fact that certain other organisms, such as reptiles and amphibians, appear to live indefinitely. The only reason we do not see 500-year-old alligators is because in the wild their lives are always in danger, from man, from pollution and from other animals. When they are kept in zoos they do not seem to age at all after they are fully grown. The same is true of some species of fish, which grow indefinitely and show no signs of ageing. The existence of animals with no fixed lifespan seems to indicate that an age gene really does exist. It is this gene which scientists are searching for, which may delay or repair damage to the body caused by ageing.
Another new area of research involves the oxidation（氧化） theory, which says that ageing is caused by the same process that makes iron rust. In controlled experiments, the lifespans of certain animals were shown to be lengthened with anti-oxidants; for example, the lifespan of mice can be increased by 30%. Antioxidants are already being used in face creams and other cosmetics, and they are likely to play an important part in keeping people physically young.
Perhaps the most immediate advance we are likely to see in the battle to halt（停止）the ageing process will be organ replacement. By the year 2020 it is likely that we will be replacing injured bones or even organs like livers and kidneys with ones “grown” in laboratories. By 2050 perhaps every organ in the body, except the brain, will have become commercially available. Recent experiments also show that it may one day be possible to “grow” new organs inside our body to replace worn-out ones, something which lizards and alligators already do.
Suddenly immortality（不死，不朽） seems within reach. We can begin to imagine a future where we are born, we grow to maturity, but we never grow old and die. But do we really want to live forever?
小题1: When all humans reach a certain age, .| A．they suffer the effects of their diet and lifestyle | | B．the organs stop to perform appropriately | | C．their cells continue to renew themselves | | D．they develop arthritis and Alzheimer’s |
小题2: The purpose of showing the case of alligators is to prove .| A．alligators are in danger in the wild because of the threat from man, pollution and other animals | | B．it is widely accepted that humans have a fixed lifespan | | C．there exists an age gene which may control ageing | | D．the age gene damages the body |
小题3:The underlined phrase “live indefinitely” in Paragraph 2 probably mean .| A．live for a period of time without a fixed end | | B．live without a clear aim | | C．live in an uncertain way | | D．live without being fully grown |
小题4:It can be inferred from Paragraph 4 that .| A．by 2050 we might have most of our worn-out organs replaced with new ones commercially | | B．never can the ageing process be avoided | | C．livers and kidneys are sure to be grown in laboratories by the year 2020 | | D．lizards and alligators grow new organs inside their body to replace worn-out ones |
小题5: What is the main topic of this passage?| A．DNA researches show how our cells renew themselves. | | B．Anti-oxidants are likely to play an important part in keeping people young. | | C．How our biological clock works? | | D．Eternal（永恒的） youth: new developments in anti-ageing research. |
小题6:By saying “But do we really want to live forever”, the author may probably mean .| A．a future where we are born, we grow to maturity, but we never grow old and die is on its way | | B．he is uncertain whether we can live forever | | C．it remains to be seen whether immortality is a blessing or a curse | | D．immortality is no longer a dream |
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