What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We - 高中英语试题 - 超级试练试题库

What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We

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What will man be like in the future — in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make guesses, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today, for man is slowly changing all the time.
Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller. Again in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain’s capacity (容量). As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more, and eventually we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too: the head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger.
Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man’s eyes will grow stronger.
On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.
But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald.
Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may well be true. All the same, in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.
56. The size of man’s forehead will probably grow bigger because _______.
A. he will use his brain more and more as time goes on
B. he makes use only 20% of the brain’s capacity
C. his brain has grown larger over the past centuries
D. the other 80% of his brain will grow in due time
57. What serves as the evidence that man is changing?
A. Man has got stronger eyes now than he ever had.
B. Man has been growing taller over the past 500 years.
C. Man’s hair is getting thinner and thinner.
D. Man’s arms and legs have become lighter and weaker.
58. What will be true about a human being in the future?
A. He will be hairless because hair is no longer useful.
B. He will have smaller eyes and will wear better glasses.
C. His fingers will grow weaker because he won’t have to make use of them.
D. He will think and feel in a different way.
59. It is implied that __________________.
A. human beings will become more attractive in the future
B. body organs will become poorer if they are not used often
C. human beings hope for a change in the future life
D. future life is always predictable
60. The passage mainly tells us that _______________.
A. man’s life will be different in the future B. man is growing taller and uglier as time passes
C. future man will look quite different from us
D. human beings’ organs will function weaker

答案

56-60 ABABC

解析

略

举一反三

C
Scientists used to explore on the surface of the ocean. Now they are exploring below the surface, too. They want to know about ocean water and the plant and animal life deep in the ocean.
In 1934 the scientist William Beebe dived 3,000 feet below the surface in a hollow steel ball. In 1935 August Piccard dived 10, 330 feet. In 1960 his son Jean dived to a depth of 35,800 feet.
All these early dives were deep. But the divers could not stay down for very long. They had to come back up to the surface after a few seconds. Scientists needed to stay down longer to study life below the surface. Gradually they succeeded. Cousteau, a Frenchman, was able to keep men down to a depth of 36 feet for one month and to a depth of 90 feet for a week.
Now scientists are developing even better equipment. With this new equipment, men can stay below the surface for days or even weeks. In 1962 Cousteau set up a research station 35 feet below the surface. Then in 1964 he set up another station on the ocean floor of the Red Sea. This was the first undersea station to operate without help from the surface.
Many countries are now studying undersea living things. The former Soviet Union had an undersea laboratory in the Crimean Sea. The United States has a laboratory 50 feet down on the ocean floor off the Virgin Islands. In 1970 five men lived there for two weeks. Then a team of five women scientists stayed in the laboratory. Next came other teams of men. All were there to explore the ocean depths and to make plans for the use of its resources. Scientists hope to find enough mineral, vegetable, and animal wealth there to provide food for the entire world.
64. In order to _____, scientists are exploring below the surface of the ocean.
A. know about the ocean water deep in the ocean
B. know about the plant and animal life deep in the ocean
C. stay down longer to study life of the plant and animal below the surface
D. both A and B
65. Who set up the first undersea station?
A. A Frenchman B. An American
C. A Russian D. The passage made no mention
66. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Nobody can stay below the surface of the ocean.
B. The early divers could not stay below the surface of the ocean for very long.
C. The purpose of setting up the undersea laboratories is to make plans for the use of the resources in the ocean.
D. Up to now only five women scientists have stayed in the undersea laboratory.

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B
Science isn’t something mysterious, only for the few. Every one of us—whether a poet, worker, or physicist has to be able to think scientifically, and to understand some science, such as whether to smoke, what to eat, and what protection to use. Even for decisions that don’t depend on some scientific facts, science remains the proven set of best methods for getting exact information about the world.
Some people will end up as policy-makers in government or business. People such as these make decisions that affect the life of everyone, and most of them know no more about science than does the rest of the general public. Yet they are called upon to decide what to do about nuclear reactors(核反应堆), global warming, environmental toxins(环境霉素), expensive space programs, and biomedical research. It’s nonscientists, not scientists, who have the last word on whether the milk we drink can safely come from cows t

reated with medicine. To make such decisions wisely, the decision makers have to be drawn from a scientifically educated public.
Even if science is irrelevant（不相***） to the lives of ordinary Americans, a strong scientific spirit is basic to our economy, educational system, and society. This requires lots of young people to become excited enough by science that they decide to become professional scientists. This also requires, to some degree, the support and understanding of the general public.
Scientists are not always able to communicate their findings in an easy-to-understand manner. Although the scientists should do a better job of explaining what they have discovered, members of the general public have to make efforts to understand what is being said.
46．What does the author mean by saying that “a strong scientific spirit is basic to the economy, educational system and society”?
A．School and society should encourage young people to become professional scientists.
B．The school should only teach lessons of economy and education·
C．A scientifically educated public is basic to the economy，educational system and society.
D．More scientists work in our economy, educational system and society.
47．The general public is required to _______.
A．support and understand the need of scientific education
B．check what the scientists are saying
C．give help to the policy-makers
D．become professional scientists
48．The main idea of this passage is _________.
A．policy—makers must be science professionals
B．science is not far from everyone’s life
C．science has nothing to do with ordinary Americans
D．science professionals make decisions that affect the life of everyone
49．According to the passage, who can decide whether the milk we drink can safely come from
cows treated with medicine?
A．Scientists B．Young people C．The public D．Policy-makers

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E
One reaction to all the concern about tropical deforestation（砍伐森林） is a blank stare that asks the question, "Since I don"t live there, what does it have to do with me?"
The answer is that your way of life, wherever you live in the world, is tied to the tropics in many ways. If you live in a house, wash your hair, eat fruits and vegetables, drink soda, or drive a car, you can be certain that you are affected by the loss of tropical forests.
Biologically, we are losing the richest regions on earth when, each minute, a piece of tropical forest, the size of ten city blocks ,disappears. As many as five million species of plants, animals, and insects (40 to 50 percent of all living things) live there, and are being lost faster than they can be found and described. Their loss is immeasurable.
Take rubber for example. For many uses, only natural rubber from trees will do. Synthetics are not good enough. Today over half the world"s commercial rubber is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, while the Amazon"s rubber industry produces much of the world"s four million tons. And rubber is an important material in making gloves, balloons, footwear and many sporting goods. Thousands of other tropical plants are valuable for their industrial use.
Many scientists strongly believe that deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect -- or heating of the earth from increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As we destroy forests, we lose their ability to change carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Carbon dioxide levels could double within the next half-century, warming the earth by as much as 4.5 degrees. The result? A partial melt-down of polar ice caps, raising sea levels as much as 24 feet; even 15 feet could threaten anyone living within 35 miles of the coast. Unbelievable? Maybe. But scientists warn that by the time we realize the severe effects of tropical deforestation, it will be 20 years too late.
Can tropical deforestation affect our everyday lives? Now, you should have got the answer.
58．The underlined word "synthetics" probably means a kind of _________.
A．natural rubber B．tropical material C．man-made material D．tropical tree
59．In the last paragraph the author tries to__________.
A．tell people how to avoid the tropical deforestation
B．show us how important it is to protect the tropical forests
C．persuade people to buy something synthetic
D．let people realize the effect of tropical deforestation
60．The author"s attitude towards the tropical deforestation is____________.
A．puzzling B．cold C．supporting D．opposed

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E
There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in rural areas away from any major concentration （集中）of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution.
Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of coal and oil is creating a “greenhouse effect” - raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be in water.
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is preventing sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature - a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen though one recent government reports that the greenhouse effect is very possible. Perhaps, if we are lucky enough, the two tendencies will offset（抵消）each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now. Driven by economic profits, people don’t think about the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”. Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development. But is it really worth?
72. As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ________.
A. caused widespread damage in the countryside
B. affected the entire eastern half of the United States
C. had damaged effect on health
D. existed only in urban and industrial areas
73. As to the greenhouse effect, the author ________.
A. shares the same view with the scientists
B. is uncertain of its happening
C. rejects it as being ungrounded
D. thinks it will destroy the world soon
74. It can be concluded from the last paragraph that ________.
A. lowering the world’s temperature only a few degrees would lead major farming areas to disaster
B. raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth
C. almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade
D. the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come
75. This passage is mainly about ________.
A. the greenhouse effect
B. the burning of coal and oil
C. the potential effect of air pollution
D. the likelihood of a new ice age

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（C）
Astronaut Jim Voss has enjoyed many memorable moments in his career，including three space flights and one space walk. But he recalls with special fondness a decidedly earthbound（为地球引力所束缚的）experience in the summer of 1980 when he participated in the NASA ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program. Voss， then a science teacher at West Poin，was assigned to the Marshall Space Flight Center"s propulsion（推进） lab in Alabama to analyze why a hydraulic fuel pump seal （液压燃料泵的密封圈）on the space shuttle（航天飞机） was working so well when previous seals had failed. It was a seemingly tiny problem among the vast complexities of running the space program. Yet it was important to NASA because any crack in the seal could have led to destructive results for the astronauts who relied on them.
“I worked a bit with NASA engineers，” says Voss， “but I did it mostly by an analysis. I used a handheld calculator， not a computer， to do a thermodynamic（热力学的） analysis.” At the end of the summer，he，like the other NASA ASEE fellows working at Marshall，summarized his findings in a formal presentation and detailed paper. It was a valuable moment for Voss because the ASEE program gave him added understanding of NASA，deepened his desire to fly in space，and intensified his application for astronaut status.
　　It was not an easy process. Voss was actually passed over when he first applied for the astronaut program in 1978. Over the next nine years he reapplied repeatedly，and was finally accepted in 1987. Since then he has participated in three space missions. The 50 year old Army officer，who lives in Houston，is now in training for a four-month mission as a crew member on the International Space Station starting in July 2000.
　Voss says the ASEE program is wonderful for all involved. “It brings in people from the academic world and gives NASA a special property for a particular period of time. It brings some fresh eyes and fresh ideas to NASA，and establishes a link with our colleges and universities，” Voss explains. “There"s an exchange of information and an exchange of perspectives that is very important.”
For the academic side，Voss says，the ASEE program also “brings institutions of higher learning more insight into new technology. We give them an opportunity to work on real world problems and take it back to the classroom.”
66. Why was the hydraulic fuel pump seal important for the space shuttle？
A） Because previous seals all failed.
B） Because it was very complex in running the space program.
C） Because great care has to be taken of the hydraulic fuel pump sealing.
D） Because any crack in the seals would cause disastrous results for the astronauts.
67.The great significance of Voss"s findings lies in_________ .
A） strengthening his determination to join in space flights
B） furthering his understanding of NASA
C） consolidating his astronaut status in NASA programs
D） Both A and B
68. How many flights will Voss have finished if his four-month mission starting in July 2000 ends up successfully？
A） Three B） Two C） Four D） Five
69. Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to what Voss said on the ASEE program？
A） Fresh members from the academic world participate in the program.
B） The program brings new outlooks to NASA space programs.
C） It is important for the space scientists to exchange information and perspectives.
D） American colleges and universities are a special property of NASA.
70. What does Voss want to stress in the last paragraph？
A） The technological significance of the program.
B） The educational significance of the program.
C） The philosophical significance of the program.
D） The historical significance of the program.

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