BBCNews(May11,2008)—EdinburghZ-优题课

C
Are some people born clever and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius（天才）out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his / her intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he / she reaches those limits will depend on his / her environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing,and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part.This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.
64. The writer holds the view that human beings’ intelligence depends on .
A) birth
B) education
C) both birth and environment
D) neither birth nor education
65. It can be learned from the passage that if a child is born with low intelligence, he can .
A) not become a genius.
B) still become a genius if he is given special education.
C) exceed(超过) his intelligence limits in rich surroundings.
D) not fulfill his intelligence in his life.
66. In the second paragraph, “if we take two unrelated people at random from the population” means “if we ”.
A) pick any two persons.
B) choose two persons who are relatives.
C) take out two different persons on purpose.
D) choose two persons with different intelligence.
67. The example of the twins in the third paragraph is used to show .
the importance of their intelligence.
the role of environment on intelligence.
the importance of their social positions.
the part that birth plays.

B
You are standing under the most famous neon lights in the centre of London, waiting to cross the road. Suddenly the traffic stops. You hear the distant sounds of cheering, clapping and shouting. Then, like a multi-colored train, 2, 000 people with wheels on their feet zoom past you. You have just witnessed the London Skate, a twice weekly roller-skate(溜旱冰) event that attracts people in their hundreds and thou-
sands London. Skate is a completely free tour of the streets of London -the only condition is that you go along on roller-skates. It lasts between two and three hours and by the end of it you have skated between 10 and 12 miles. The skate snakes round the streets of London along several different routes. Many of the routes pass by tourist attractions such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. Marshals (交通协调员) go ahe- of the group, stopping the traffic so that people can skate as safely as possible. Everyone is welcome to take part and people from the age of 4 to 63 years old join the fun. "I love it very much, it is amazing. It feels just like a carnival (狂欢节)，" said Celeste Beverage regular skater.
Roller-skating is really taking off across Europe and America. It is a very good way to keep fit and can be practised anywhere there is a smooth surface. Many big cities in Western Europe and in the US now ha- ve a regular group skating event. The biggest skates take place in Paris and Munich and tens of thousands of fans show up on warm evenings. "Roller-skating is taking over the world," said Julian Grenoble, a 25- year-old ski shop employee from London. Grenoble went to the Paris-Roller (Paris skate) regularly until he moved to Britain.
"It's so exciting to skate in Paris. Everyone skates so fast and puts in their best efforts!" he said. The Paris Roller is well known because of the huge attendance, the presence of marshals and the police protection. Paris is a great city for roller-skating because of its long wide streets and smooth surfaces. Roller-skating is also becoming more popular in China among young people and children. Skating fans' favorite places to practise in China are big squares.
60. We can infer from the passage that London Skate Event ________.
A. is probably supported by the city government
B. attracts a great many tourists from all over the world
C. usually causes a lot of traffic problems
D. draws people of all ages into the sport
61. The underlined phrase "taking off " in the passage means________ .
A. rising from the ground
B. becoming popular
C. setting out
D. getting exciting
62. Paris is regarded as one of the most suitable places for roller-skating because ________.
A. a large number of roller players attend it
B. the police protect the roller skaters
C. the streets are safe, wide and smooth
D. the event usually takes place on warm evenings
63. This article mainly talks about________ .
A. places and streets for roller-skating
B. roller-skating in big cities
C. London Skate Event
D. roller skaters in different countries

第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A.
Have you ever wondered why different animals or pests have their particular colours? Colours in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves.
Birds, especially seagulls, are very fond of locusts, but birds cannot easily catch locusts because locusts change their colours together with the change of the colour of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But when crops are ripe, locusts take on exactly the same brown colour as crops have. Some other pests with different colours from plants are usually easily found and eaten by their enemies. So they have to hide themselves in terror for lives and appear only at night.
If you study the animal life in any part of the world, you will find the main use of colouring is to protect themselves. Bears, wolves and other beasts move quietly through forests. They are usually invisible to the eyes of hunters, because they have the colour much like the barks of trees.
An even more strange act remains to be noticed. A kind of fish living in seas can send out a kind of very black liquid when it faces danger. While the liquid spreads over, its enemies cannot find it, and it immediately swims away. Thus, it has existed up to now though it is not powerful at all.
56. This passage mainly talks about ________.
A. the change of colour in locusts
B. the protective coloration of animals and pests
C. how a certain sea fish protects itself
D. animals or pests can dye themselves different colours
57. Locusts are ________ but they are not easily wiped out by their enemies because ________.
A. animals; they are powerful enough B. beasts; they are dangerous to their enemies
C. pests; they take on the same colours as crops D. birds; they fly extraordinarily fast
58. The pests that have different colours from plants usually appear at night because ________.
A. their enemies can easily find them and eat them
B. they have the habit of coming out in darkness
C. it’s easy for them to destroy plants in darkness
D. birds take their rest when night comes
59. Bears and wolves have the same colour as barks of trees because ________.
A. they fear other beasts
B. they like brown or grey colours
C. they enjoy walking through forests quietly
D. the colours help prevent themselves from being noticed

E
The elephant was lying heavily on its side, fast asleep. A few dogs started barking at it. The elephant woke up in a terrible anger: it chased the dogs into the village where they ran for safety.
That didn't stop the elephant. It destroyed a dozen houses and injured several people. The villagers were scared and angry. Then someone suggested calling Parbati, the elephant princess.
Parbati Barua's father was a hunter of tigers and an elephant tamer. He taught Parbati to ride an elephant before she could even walk. He also taught her the dangerous art of the elephant round-up -- how to catch wild elephants.
Parbati hasn't always lived in the jungle. After a happy childhood hunting with her father, she was sent to boarding school in the city. But Parbati never got used to being there and many years later she went back to her old fife. "Life in the city is too dull. Catching elephants is an adventure and the excitement lasts for days after the chase," she says.
But Parbati doesn't catch elephants just for fun. "My work," she says, "is to rescue man from the elephants, and to keep the elephants safe from man." And this is exactly what Parbati has been doing for many years. Increasingly, the Indian elephant is angry: for many years, illegal hunters have attacked it and its home in the jungle has been reduced to small pieces of land. It is now fighting back. Whenever wild elephants enter a tea garden or a village, Parbati is called to guide the animals back to the jungle before they can kill.
The work of an elephant tamer also involves love and devotion. A good elephant tamer will spend hours a day singing love songs to a newly captured elephant. "Eventually they grow to love their tamers and never forget them. They are also more loyal than humans," she said, as she climbed up one of her elephants and sat on the giant, happy animal. An elephant princess indeed!
72. For Parbati, catching elephants is mainly to .
A. get long lasting excitement B. keep both man and elephants safe
C. send them back to the jungle D. make the angry elephants tame
73. Before Parbati studied in a boarding school, .
A. she spent her time hunting with her father
B. she learned how to sing love songs
C. she had already been called an elephant princess
D. she was taught how to hunt tigers
74. Indian elephants are getting increasingly angry and they revenge because __________.
A. they are caught and sent for heavy work
B. illegal hunters capture them and kill them
C. they are attacked and their land gets limited
D. dogs often bark at them and chase them
75. The passage starts with an elephant story in order to explain that in India _________.
A. people easily fall victim to elephants' attacks
B. the man-elephant relationship is getting worse
C. elephant tamers are in short supply
D. dogs are as powerful as elephants

D
The term “multitasking” originally referred to a computer’s ability to carry out several tasks at one time. For many people, multitasking has become a way of life and even a key to success. In fact, some excellent mental aerobic exercises (大脑训练) involve engaging the brain in two or more challenging activities at a time. Although checking e-mail while talking on a phone and reading the newspaper may be second nature for some people, many times multitasking can make us less productive, rather than more. And studies show that too much multitasking can lead to increased stress, anxiety and memory loss.
In order to multitask, the brain uses an area known as the prefrontal cortex (前额叶脑皮层). Brian scans of volunteers performing multiple tasks together show that as they shift from task to task, this front part of the brain actually takes a moment of rest between tasks. You may have experienced a prefrontal cortex “moment of rest” yourself if you’ve ever dialed (拨电话) a phone number and suddenly forgotten who you dialed when the line is answered. What probably occurred is that between the dialing and the answering, your mind shifted to anther thought or task, and then took that “moment” to come back. Research has also shown that for many volunteers, job efficiency (效率) declines while multitasking, as compared to when they perform only one task at a time.
Multitasking is easiest when at least one of the tasks is habitual, or requires little thought. Most people don’t find it difficult to eat and read the newspaper at the same time. However, when two or more attention-requiring tasks are attempted at one time, people sometimes make mistakes.
We often don’t remember things as well when we’re trying to manage several details at the same time. Without mental focus, we may not pay enough attention to new information coming in, so it never makes it into our memory stores. That is one of the main reasons we forget people’s names---even sometimes right after they have introduced themselves. Multitasking can also affect our relationships. If someone checks their e-mail while on the phone with a friend, they may come off as absent-minded or disinterested. It can also cause that person to miss or overlook key information being passed on to them.
68. Why are some mental aerobic exercises designed to engage people in multitasking?
A. To make them more productive. B. To reduce their stress and anxiety.
C. To develop their communication skills.D. To help them perform daily tasks more easily.
69. According to Paragraph 2, why may a person suddenly forget who has called?
A. He may leave his prefrontal cortex temporarily damaged.
B. He is probably interrupted by another task.
C. He is probably not very familiar with the person he has called.
D. He may need a rest between dialing and speaking.
70. People tend to make mistake when ____.
A. they perform several challenging tasks at a time.
B. new messages are processed one after another
C. their relationships with others are affected
D. the tasks require little thought
71. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Multitasking has become a way of life.
B. Multitasking often leads to efficiency decline.
C. Multitasking exercises need to be improved.
D. Multitasking enables people to remember things better.