阅读理解。 Construction workers in Southern California have made a wild discovery
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| 阅读理解。 |
Construction workers in Southern California have made a wild discovery. They were digging at a building
site in San Timoteo Canyon (峡谷) when they unearthed hundreds of ancient animal fossils. Researchers say
the bones hold important clues about the history of the region.
Nearly 1, 500 fossils were recovered from the dusty canyon. The remains are about 1.4 million years old.
They include the bones of a new species of deer, several small rodents (啮齿目动物) and more. A giant cat
fossil was also found. Scientists believe the animal was an ancestor of the saber- toothed tiger. Signs of plant
life were uncovered as well.
"This is a huge find," says Rick Greenwood, a scientist studying the site. "I don"t think most people had
any idea that those types of animals were wandering around here more than a million years ago."
San Timoteo Canyon is located about 85 miles from Los Angeles. The area of the canyon where the fossils
were found was once part of a green river valley. Today, the region is dry and plant life is rare.
Most of the fossils are well preserved. Experts say a muddy lake bed may have trapped thirty animals that
wandered over for a drink. The mud helped to protect the animal fossils.
The remains are a million years older than those discovered at the famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.
Scientists studying the bones will be able to learn more about how the animals adapted to changes in the
environment.
"We have a confused view of what this time period was like," says another scientist. "A discovery like this
could really be an important contribution."
About 35 different animal species are represented in the fossil collection. Scientists began removing bones
from the site last fall. The project was completed this summer. Starting next year, the fossils will be on display
at the Western Science Center in the nearby city of Hemet, California. |
| 1. What does the passage mainly focus on? |
A. The secret of ancient animals" deaths.
B. The preparation for a future fossil exhibition.
C. A great discovery of fossils.
D. The history of San Timoteo Canyon. |
| 2. From what Rick says, we know ______. |
A. fossils were discovered in the canyon for the first time.
B. the canyon in ancient times was quite different.
C. more research work will be carried on in the canyon.
D. the river water helped to protect the animal fossils. |
| 3. Compared to the discovery at the La Brea Tar Pits, the canyon-involved fossils ______. |
A. are far older
B. include more species
C. are better preserved
D. make experts more confused |
| 4. What do we know about the fossils from the passage? |
A. All of them are of new species.
B. Some of them have been destroyed.
C. They were looked for under experts" guidance.
D. They will be on show in the near future. |
答案
| 1-4: CCAD |
举一反三
| 阅读理解。 |
Pet owners are being encouraged to take their animals to work, a move scientists say can be god for
productivity, workplace morale (士气), and the well-being of animals.
A study found that 25% of Australian women would like to keep an office pet. Sue Chaseling of Petcare
information Service said the practice of keeping office pets was good both for the people and the pets. "On
the pets" side, they are not left on their own and won"t feel lonely and unhappy," she said. A study of major
US companies showed that 73% found office pets beneficial (有益的), while 27% experienced a drop in
absenteeism (缺勤).
Xarni Riggs has two cats walking around her Global Hair Salon in Paddington."My customers love them.
they are their favorites," she said."They are not troublesome. They know when to go and have a sleep in the
sun."
Little black BJ has spent nearly all his two years "working" at Punch Gallery in Balmain. Owner Iain
Powell said he had had cats at the gallery for 15 years. "BJ often lies in the shop window and people walking
past tap on the glass," he said.
Ms Chaseling said cats were popular in service industries because they enabled a point of conversation.
But she said owners had to make sure both their co-workers and the cats were comfortable. |
| 1. The percentage of American companies that are in favor of keeping office pets is _____. |
A. 73%
B. 27%
C. 25%
D. 15% |
| 2. We know from the text that "BJ" _____. |
A. works in the Global Hair Salon
B. often greets the passers-by
C. likes to sleep in the sun
D. is a two-year-old cat |
| 3. The best title for this text would be _____. |
A. Pets Help Attract Customers
B. Your Favorite Office Pets
C. Pets Join the Workforce
D. Busy Life for Pets |
| 阅读理解。 |
When Babbage was working at Cambridge, a new idea occurred to him. He wanted to construct a
calculating machine to work out the solutions (解法) to maths problems not only with correctness but
also with a speed beyond the power of any human mind. His machine could solve problems involving
(涉及) long rows of figures in one continuous operation (运算).
In 1822 Babbage exhibited his invention and won a prize from the government. After that, he
immediately started to work on a larger machine designed to solve more difficult problems. Although he
received some money left by his father, the money was not enough to support his design. He wrote to
the government about his plan and was given ￡2500 to start with, a sum worth much more in those days
than it is now.
Babbage continued his work in London for four years. Then his health broke down, and he had to take
a long holiday abroad. When he returned to London in 1828, he was at the end of his resources. Many bills
remained unpaid. His chief assistant and co-workers quarreled with him and left with many expensive tools.
For one year no work was done. During this period, Babbage, whose mind was always active, suddenly
thought of a completely new idea for the machine. He rushed to meet the government officials to explain his
new idea. But this time, they were unwilling to help him. For eight years, they refused to say whether they
wanted the machine or not, and their final answer was "No."
From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the position of professor at Cambridge very successfully. But his
greatest work was the unfinished calculating machine which stood covered in dust in his house. It was the
beginning of the modern computer. |
|
| 1. The machine Babbage designed would solve difficult maths problems ______. |
A. in one operation with few mistakes
B. in more than one operation without any mistakes
C. in more than one operation with slight mistakes
D. in one operation without any mistakes |
| 2. Babbage failed to continue his research work in 1828 mainly because _______. |
A. he was in poor health
B. he almost ran out of money
C. his co-workers argued with him
D. he spent all his money on his bills |
| 3. Babage explained his new idea to the government officials, expecting that _______. |
A. they would agree to his plan
B. they would pay for his new idea
C. they would support him with money
D. they would exhibit his new design |
| 4. From the passage, we can infer that _______. |
A. Babbage failed to be a famous scientist at Cambridge
B. Babbage always had new ideas but gave them up easily
C. Babbage always needed support from the government officials
D. Babbage was the first designer of the modern computer |
| 阅读理解。 |
Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all, you
probably sing or whistle when you are happy.
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However, they
sing most of the time for a very different reason. Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay
out of their territory.
Do you know what a "territory" is? A territory is an area that an animal,usually the male, claims (声称)
as its own. Only he and his family are welcome there.No other families of the same species (物种) are
welcome. Your yard and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a
stranger should enter your territory and threaten you,you might shout. Probably this would be enough to
frighten him away.
If so, you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing.
But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting (筑巢) season. So he is screaming all the
time,whether he can see an outsider or not. This screaming is what we call a bird"s song,and it is usually
enough to keep an outsider away.
Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the
territory of theirs.
You can see that birds have a language all their own. Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting
up territories. |
|
| 1. Some scientists believe that most of the time birds" singing is actually _____. |
A. an expression of happiness
B. a way of warning
C. an expression of anger
D. a way of greeting |
| 2. What is a bird"s "territory"? |
A. A place where families of other species are not accepted.
B. A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice.
C. An area for which birds fight against each other.
D. An area which a bird considers to be its own. |
| 3. Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season? |
A. Because they want to invite more friends.
B. Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away.
C. Because they want to find outsiders around.
D. Because their singing helps get rid of their fears. |
| 4. How does the writer explain birds" singing? |
A. By comparing birds with human beings.
B. By reporting experiment results.
C. By describing birds" daily life.
D. By telling a bird"s story. |
| 阅读理解。 |
From the moment that an animal is born it has to make decisions. It has to decide which of the things
around it are for eating, and which are to be avoided ; when to attack and when to run away. The animal
is, in fact, playing a very dangerous game with its environment, a game in which it must make decision-a
matter of life or death.
Animals" ability to act reasonably is believed to come partly from what we may call"genetic (遗传性的)
learning", which is different from the individual (个体的) learning that an animal does in the course of its
own lifetime. Genetic learning is learning by a species -animals of the same kind-as a whole, and it is
achieved by selection of those members of each generation that happen to act in the right way. However,
the role of genetic learning depends upon how similar the future environment is to the past. The more
important individual experience is likely to be, the less important is genetic learning as a means of getting over
the problems of the survival game. Because most animals live in ever changing environments from one
generation to the next, it is not surprising to find that very few species indeed depend wholly upon genetic
learning.
In the great majority of animals, their particular ways of acting in a new environment are a compound
(复合体) of individual experience added to the action patterns animals are born with.That is why animals
can survive. |
| 1. The animal"s life will come to an end _____. |
A. if the animal makes a wrong decision
B. if the animal plays a dangerous game
C. when the animal attacks its enemy
D. when the animal runs too slowly |
| 2. Very few species depend entirely on genetic learning because _____. |
A. each generation has its own way of learning
B. their environments change all the time
C. they can act reasonably on their own
D. it takes their whole life to learn |
| 3. When the environment doesn"t change much, _____. |
A. animals cannot act in a right way
B. genetic learning is less important for animals
C. individual learning plays a less important role
D. animals cannot get over problems on their on their own |
| 4. Animals" living on generation after generation depends on _____. |
A. their natural action pattern with their own experience
B. the lessons they have learnt during their lifetime
C. their experience in particular environments
D. the knowledge passed on by their parents |
| 阅读理解。 |
Walk through the Amazon rainforest today and you will find it is steamy,warm,damp and thick.But if you
had been around 15,000 years ago, during the last ice age, would it have been the same?For more than 30
years, scientists have been arguing about how rainforests like the Amazon might have reacted (反应) to the
cold, dry climates of the ice ages, but until now, no one has reached a satisfying answer.
Rainforests like the Amazon are important for mopping up CO2 from the atmosphere and helping to slow
global warming. Currently the trees in the Amazon take in around 500 million tonnes of CO2 each year; equal
to the total amount of CO2 giving off in the UK each year. But how will the Amazon react to future climate
change? If it gets drier, will it still survive and continue to draw down CO2? Scientists hope that they will be
able to learn in advance how the rainforest will manage in the future by understanding how rainforests reacted
to climate change in the past.
Unfortunately,getting into the Amazon rainforest and collecting information are very difficult. To study past
climate, scientists need to look at fossilized pollen,kept in lake muds. Going back to the last ice age means
drilling deep down into lake sediments (沉淀物),which requires specialized equipment and heavy machinery.
There are very few roads and paths,or places to land helicopters and aeroplanes. Rivers tend to be the easiest
way to enter the forest,but this still leaves vast ares between the rivers completely unsampled (未取样). So far,
only a handful of cores have been drilled that go back to the last ice age and none of them provide enough
information to prove how the Amazon rainforest reacts to climate change. |
| 1. The underlined phrase "mopping up" in the second paragraph means _____. |
A. cleaning up
B. taking in
C. wiping out
D. giving out |
| 2. How will the Amazon rainforest react to future climate change? |
A. It"ll get drier and continue to remove CO2.
B. It"ll remain steamy,warm,damp and thick.
C. It"ll get warmer and then colder and drier.
D. There is no exact answer up to present. |
| 3. What"s the main idea of the last paragraph? |
A. It"s important to drill deep down into lake sediments to collect information.
B. It"s impossible to prove how climate changes in the Amazon rainforest.
C. It"s hard to collect information for studies of the past climate in the Amazon rainforest.
D. It"s necessary to have specialized equipment and machinery to study the past climate. |
| 4. The best title for this passage may probably be _____. |
A. Studies of the Amazon
B. Climates of the Amazon
C. Secrets of the Rainforests
D. Changes of the Rainforests |
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