Can you remember a morning when you’ve woken up to the ring of your alarm clock
题型：不详难度：来源：
Can you remember a morning when you’ve woken up to the ring of your alarm clock and wished you could stay in bed? You haven’t slept well, your hair is a mess. Worse, you can’t stop yawning. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans do! Yawning is an involuntary(无意识的,不自觉的) action during which you open your mouth and breathe deeply. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.
The purpose and cause of yawning are still a mystery. Scientists are not sure what causes a yawn. People yawn when they are tired or bored, but they also yawn when they aren’t. There are many ideas explaining why we yawn.
One idea is that yawning is a way for the body to become more alert by taking in more oxygen. A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream, and brings oxygen to the brain. But one study showed that volunteers given a lot of oxygen did not yawn any less than before, while those given a lot of carbon dioxide did not yawn more.
Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication. If one decided it was time to sleep, they would tell the others by yawning and they would do it in return to show they agreed.
A third explanation comes from psychology professor Gordon Gallup of University at Albany in New York. He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains. “Brains are like computers.” he said. “They only operate efficiently and effectively when they’re cool. Many things connected to yawning, like being tired, make the brain hot, and yawning can reduce the heat.”
Scientists have sent people into space, and created terrible nuclear weapons, but there are lots of seemingly simple things, such as why we yawn, or hiccup（打嗝）, that they can’t figure out. Next time you are in class in the morning, let out a big yawn and watch to see how many of your classmates yawn in response!
小题1:What’s the purpose of the description of how bad you may feel when you’re woken up in the morning?| A．To explain why humans yawn. | | B．To explain how humans start yawning. | | C．To lead into the topic of yawning. | | D．To complain about being woken up by the clock. |
小题2:Which is not among the possible reasons for yawning mentioned in the passage?| A．A way to show that you feel hot. | | B．A way to get rid of carbon dioxide. | | C．A way to cool off your brain. | | D．A way to communicate. |
小题3:In which situation are you likely to yawn?| A．When you feel frustrated. | | B．The weather is hot. | | C．Someone else yawns near you. | | D．When you breathe in a lot of carbon dioxide. |
小题4:What can we learn from the passage?| A．The real reason why humans and most animals yawn. | | B．Hiccups are an involuntary human action similar to yawns. | | C．The more an action can be studied, the easier it is to research. | | D．Finding out why humans yawn should be easier than sending people into space. |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:B |
解析
试题分析:
小题1:这是一道作者意图题。文章主要是为什么人们会打哈欠，从几个方面进行了阐述。所以文章开篇是为了引出这一讨论的话题。故选C。
小题2:细节考察题。从第三段的A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream可知B是打哈欠的原因之一。从第五段的He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains.可知C是打哈欠的原因之一。从第四段的Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication.可知D是打哈欠的原因之一。故选A。
小题3:细节题。由文章的第二，三，四段可知其他三项的表述不正确，故选C。
小题4:推理判断题。由文章的最后一段可知科学家们对于打哈欠，打嗝的原因还没有明确的研究结果。故选B。
点评：文章主要讲述了人们对于打哈欠的不同认识。分别从身体，交流和心态方面进行了阐述。最后作者又说明了打哈欠，打嗝这样的现象，科学家都没有准确的研究结果。文章相对来说比较简单，带着问题，再读全文，找出答题所需要的依据，完成阅读。 |
举一反三
Recently, a scientist did some experiments．He left a group of 4-year-olds in a room with a bell and a candy．If they rang the bell, he would come back and they could eat the candy．If, however, they didn"t ring the bell and waited for him to come back on his own, they could then have two candies.
In videos of the experiment, he can see the children kicking, hiding their eyes--trying to exercise self-control so they can wait and get two candies．The results are different．Some broke down and rang the bell within a minute．Others lasted 15 minutes.
The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores．They got into better colleges and had better adult success．The children who rang the bell quickest were more likely to have received worse teacher and parental evaluations （评价） 10 years later and were more likely to have drug problems at age 32.
The experiments are worth noting because people spend a lot of time thinking about how to improve education, how to become rich．But when the result is not good, they will come back to ask "how do we get people to get the sort of self-control that leads to success?" This is to enter the world of human nature.
So these experiments along with everyday experience, tell us that self-control is most important．Young people who can sit through sometimes boring classes to get a degree can work hard in order to learn a language well．They can avoid drugs and alcohol．For people without self-control skills, however, school is a series of failed ordeals（煎熬）．No wonder they drop out and their later life is a group of foolish ideas, such as drug use, stealing and so on.
小题1:The scientist did some experiments to .| A．test children"s self control and later success | | B．test children"s intelligence of ringing the bell | | C．find good ways of training children to learn | | D．prove that children"s education is important |
小题2:We can learn from the experiment that | A．all children tried to ring the bell for more candies | | B．some children didn"t get any candy in the end | | C．the children have different self- control | | D．the last one to ring the bell is most successful |
小题3:What is the best title for this passage?| A．Ways of self-control training | | B．Experiments on children"s ringing the bell | | C．Higher score, better achievements | | D．Self-control is the key to success |
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India was once part of the British Empire, but thanks to modern technology and a booming economy, it has turned the tables on its former colonial master. Indian tutors are helping to teach math to British children over high-speed Internet connections. Early results suggest the idea is improving exam results. But not everyone is happy at this “outsourcing” of tutoring.
It’s 3:30, and pupils at Raynham Primary School in London are gathering for their after-school maths lessons.
Five time zones— thousands of kilometers away—their math tutors are also arriving for class. High-speed Internet has made it possible for Indian tutors to teach British pupils in real time. Each pupil gets a dedicated one-to-one online tutor. The students work with activities on their computer screen and wear a headset and microphone to talk to their tutor.
The class teacher, Altus Basson, says he has seen an improvement in results. “There are some children who’ve really rocketed in their results. Children who struggleto focus in class focus a lot better on the laptops. The real advantage is that each child gets a focused activity and a single tutor,” he said.
Such individualized teaching is the core idea of Brightspark Education, the company that provides the online tutoring, says founder Tom Hooper. “Children today feel very confident online; they feel very engaged; they feel very in control. And that"s half the battle with education.Give them control, make them feel confident and enjoy their learning and you"ll see them start to improve and embrace it," he said.
Raynham Primary School is among the first in Europe to try online tutoring. At between $20 and $25 an hour, it"s about half the cost of face-to-face coaching. But some people say an Internet connection is not enough of a connection for teaching and learning. Kevin Courtney is deputy General Secretary of Britain"s National Union of Teachers. "We think, there"s a really important emotional connection between a teacher and a child whether it"s a whole class or whether it"s one-to-one. You need that immediacy of feedback and we"re not convinced that that can happen across an Internet connection. In one of the wealthiest.countries in the world, we think that we can afford to have teachers with genuine emotional connection there with the children," he said.
Brightspark Education says the online tutoring is used only as an addition to supplement regular teaching. The company says its service does not represent a threat to teachers" jobs in Britain.
Parents say they"re very satisfied with the results they"ve seen. And what about the children?Children: "I love it!"I love it!"I hate maths!" So math--or, as the British call it, maths—is still not everyone"s favorite subject even with the latest technology to teach it.
小题1:What do we know about the online tutoring?| A．Indian tutors are helping to teach math in Britain. | | B．Tutors and students are in different places. | | C．An online tutor helps several students at the same time. | | D．Tutors and students communicate by telephone. |
小题2:What can we learn about Brightspark Education? | A．It shows a threat to teachers’ jobs in Britain. | | B．It can take place of the regular teaching. | | C．It only pays attention to math teaching. | | D．It emphasizes the individualized teaching. |
小题3:According to Kevin Courtne, _________. .| A．online tutoring will represent a threat to teachers’ jobs in Britain | | B．online tutoring has a great influence on British. | | C．the emotional connection between a teacher and a child is important | | D．immediacy of feedback can happen across an Internet connection |
小题4:What’s the best title for this passage ?| A．A New Teaching Pattern | | B．Indian Teachers and British Students | | C．To Learn Maths with the Latest Technology | | D．Indian Tutors Teach British Kids Online |
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Technology: Taking the good without the bad?
Very soon, unimaginably powerful technologies will remake our lives．This could have dangerous consequences, especially because we may not even understand the basic science underlyi ng them．There’s a growing gap between our technological capability and our basic scientific understanding．We can do very clever things with the technology of the future without necessarily understanding some of the science underneath, and that is very dangerous．
The technologies that are particularly dangerous over the next hundred years are nanotechnology （纳米技术）, artificial intelligence and biotechnology．The benefits that they will bring are beyond doubt．But they are going to be very, very dangerous．I’m working in the field of artificial intelligence．I have a model design for something that might be 50,000 million times smarter than the human brain．Target date is 2010．The only thing that"s not possible in the film Terminator（终结者） is that the people win．If you"re fighting against technology w hich is 50,000 million times smarter than you, you probably will not win．
Nanotechnology．We"ve all heard of the grey glue problem, that self-replicating nanotech devices might keep on copying until the world has become sticky glue．And certainly in biotechnology, we"ve really got a big problem because it"s converging with nanotechnology and IT．Once you start mixing nanotech with organisms and you start feeding nanotech-enabled bacteria, we can really go an awful lot further than the Borg in Star Trek（星际迷航）．And those superhuman organisms might not like us very much．
Eventually these technologies will become routine．That’s a threat to humanity．I don’t think it’s possible to slow it down．So what we need to do is accelerate the scientific research and try to get some extra tools．The problems facing us in the future are getting bigger and bigger．I think if we don’t get some proper science done, the future is hopeless indeed．
小题1:From the text, we know that the author’s greatest concern is ．| A．our lack of technological understanding of the process involved | | B．our lack of technological capability | | C．creating technology without really understanding the basic science | | D．Our refusal to face the consequences of the technology we create |
小题2:It can be inferred from the text that the author ．| A．thinks people overvalue the capabilities of technology | | B．is not optimistic that artificial intelligence will always be used positively | | C．thinks that we should take science fiction movies more seriously | | D．believes artificial intelligence is the greatest threat we face technologically |
小题3:Why does the author say it is not possible in the film Terminator that the humans win?| A．Because the power of the technology is exaggerated（夸大）． | | B．Because the strength of the machines is much greater． | | C．Because machines with that much intelligence can easily defeat humans． | | D．Because human beings are not courageous enough to win the battle． |
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D
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet (彗星) is heading towards the Earth . Most of it will miss our planet , but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of the Earth .
On 17 July , a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere (大气层) with a massive explosion . About half of the piece is destroyed , but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound . The sea boils and a huge hole is made in the sea bed . Huge waves are created and spread outwards from the hole . The wall of water , a kilometer high , rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour . Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people re drowned .
Before the waves reach South America , the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina . Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Mountains . The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean . The cities of Los Angeles , San Francisco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes . Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead, but the north won’t escape for long . Because of the explosions , the sun is hidden by clouds of dust , temperatures around the world fall to almost zero .Crops are ruined . The sun won’t be seen again for many years . Wars break out as countries fight for food . A year later , no more than 10 million people remain alive .
Could it really happen ? In fact , it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth . The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years . Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared . Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space . The dinosaurs couldn’t live through the cold climate that followed and they died out . Will we meet the same end ?
小题1:What is mainly described in the passage ?| A．A historic discovery . | B．An event of imagination | | C．A research on space . | D．A scientific adventure . |
小题2:When the first piece hits the South Atlantic , it causes .| A．an earthquake | B．damages to cities | | C．an Earth explosion | D．huge waves |
小题3:Why can’t the northern half of the earth escape for long ?| A．Because the land is covered with water | | B．Because the light and heat from the sun can not reach the earth . | | C．Because people there can not live at the temperature of zero . | | D．Because wars break out among countries . |
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This morning, a Virgin Atantin 747 Jumbo Jet became the first commercial airplane to fly on biofuel. The short flight from London to Amsterdam used a blend of 20% babassu(棕榈) oil mixed with 80% conventional jet fuel.
What was really exciting about the flight was the fact that the engine did not have to be altered in any way for the biofuel to work While this is a great initial step in trying to reduce CO2(carbon-dioxide)emissions(排放)from airplanes. there are a lot of hurdles (障碍)that still need to be overcome.
First and foremost, unlike the normal fuel used to run airplanes (known as Jet A),biofuel freezes at high altitudes. Also, Jet‘A’fuel burns consistently (at the same pace),which means it provides a safe and reliable fuel for long flights--engineers are not sure if biofuel will be able to do the same.
The biggest hurdle to a full biofuel switch is our ability to be able to grow enough crops that can be converted to biofuel. There are two concerns that scientists have in this matter – the first is that the land to grow the extra crops will come from clearing more of our forests and the second is that since it competes with what we eat, the price of food will go up.
However, Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines, envisions that if biofuel starts to replace oil on a greater basis, it will be manufactured from algae（藻类）produced in sewage treatment plants, not from food sources.
Birgin Airlines is not the only one trying to look for alternative fuel sources. Earlier this year, an Airbus A380 used another alternative fuel－a man-made mix of gas-to-liquid, in one of its four engines. The flight was tested by Rolls Royce (manufacturer of jet engines), in partnership with Shell (an oil company). Rolls Royce is also working with Air New Zealand on a similar project.
While a complete switch to alternative fuel may take years, it is very encouraging to see airlines, oil companies and airplane manufacturers all coming together to try to make it happen!
小题1:．Why does Virgin Airlines try to replace normal fuel with biofuel?| A．To cut down the flight cost of the company. | | B．To remove some hurdles for the biofuel to work. | | C．To reduce CO2 emissions from airplanes. | | D．To test plane engines on biofuel. |
小题2:．Which is NOT true for a full biofuel switch of airplanes?
A Biofuel cannot run for long flights.
B．Biofuel cannot work at high altitudes.
C．Man has not enough land to grow extra crops for biofuel.
D．It’s not easy for sewage treatment plants to manufacture biofuel.
小题3:．One of the hurdles to be overcome for a full biofuel switch is to .| A．alter the engine for airplanes | | B．make biofuel burn consistently | | C．open more land to grow more crops | | D．develop sewage treatment plants |
小题4:．We can infer from the last paragraph that .| A．there is a long way to go for a complete switch to alternative fuel | | B．it won’t be long before alternative fuel comes into use | | C．airlines, oil companies and airplane manufacturers are reliable | | D．alternative fuel has a bright future |
小题5:．Which of the following can best serves as the title of this passage?| A．Biofuel-Alternative Fuel Sources. | | B．The First Commercial Flight Powered by Biofuel. | | C．How to Reduce CO2 Emissions from Airplanes. | | D．Vigin Airlines Trying to Alter Fuel Sources. |
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