Thistourtakesyoubackinhistoryt-优题课

Human civilization has truly come a long way．From using animals for transport to the super fast automobiles that we have today．From using flint to making fire to using one touch lighters．But there are some things that we will never let go of．Some ancient traditions that have been brought down through the ages are still followed today．

Groundhog Day(土拔鼠节)，falls on the 2nd of February every year．It is observed in the United States and Canada．While this day may be a public holiday and a bank holiday，it is not a compulsory holiday declared by the government．But this is not so for all the states．State-wise holidays may vary．
Ever heard of Punxsutawney Phil? Groundhog Day is observed because of this groundhog．The day is indeed about a groundhog．Punxsutawney is the name of an apparently weather forecasting groundhog．He lives in his burrow(洞穴)on Gobler’s Knob，Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania，for a short period before the 2nd of February every year．On the 2nd of February，Phil comes out from his burrow and looks for his shadow．If he sees his shadow and goes back into the burrow，then America will have an extended winter of six weeks，But if he cannot see his shadow，and he remains outside．It means winter will soon end and spring will arrive very shortly .Phil has been‘predicting’the length of winter in this manner for almost a century and they have always been almost 100％ accurate．
Groundhog Day is celebrated in some parts of the USA and Canada．The largest celebration is held at Punxsutawney，Pennsylvania．People come in scores to visit Punxsutawney Phil．They wait eagerly, camping days in advance，to see the small groundhog appear from his burrow，check for his shadow and either go back in or stay out．People cheer when they hear it is time for winter to end and celebrate by eating sweets and singing and dancing．Today．the Groundhog Day is a widespread tradition and an exciting event．
People celebrate Groundhog Day because ______________.

A．some sweets are provided on Groundhog Day

B．more and more people love groundhogs

C．the groundhog predicts the beginning of spring

D．Punxsutawney Phil is worth respecting

What does the author intend to tell us in Paragraph 1？

A．Human civilization has a long history．

B．Some old traditions should be carried on．

C．Human civilization develops very fast．

D．Some old traditions have disappeared．

We learn from the passage that Punxsutawney Phil ____________．

A．forecasts the weather based on his shadow

B．witnesses the history of human development

C．organizes celebrations on Groundhog Day

D．gives performances on Groundhog Day

We may infer from the passage that ________________．

A．groundhogs will replace TV weathermen soon

B．groundhogs can forecast the weather accurately

C．Groundhog Day is becoming popular in the US and Canada

D．a longer shadow of a groundhog indicates a longer winter

Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．Winter will end if the groundhog goes back into the burrow.

B．Groundhog Day is a compulsory’holiday in the US and Canada．

C．A groundhog will remain outside if he sees his shadows on 2^nd，Feb．

D．The celebration in Punxsutawney attracts large numbers of visitors．

Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors and generals and soldiers, whereas the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year, or manured(施肥)a field; but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think a great deal of them, so much so that on all the highest pillars (纪念柱) in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general or a soldier. And I think most people believe that the greatest countries are those that have beaten in battle the greatest number of other countries and ruled over them as conquerors. It is just possible they are, but they are not the most civilized.
　　Animals fight; so do savages (野蛮人); hence to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized. Even being good at getting other people to fight for you and telling them how to do it most efficiently －this, after all, is what conquerors and generals have done －is not being civilized. People fight to settle quarrels. Fighting means killing, and civilized peoples ought to be able to find some way of settling their disputes other than by seeing which side can kill off the greater number of the other side, and then saying that that side which has killed most has won. And it not only has won, but, because it has won, has been in the right. For that is what going to war means; it means saying that might is right.
　　That is what the story of mankind has on the whole been like. Even our own age has fought the two greatest wars in history, in which millions of people were killed or disabled. And while today it is true that people do not fight and kill each other in the streets －while, that is to say, we have got to the stage of keeping the rules and behaving properly to each other in daily life － nations and countries have not learnt to do this yet, and still behave like savages.
In the opening sentence the author indicates that ________.

A．conquerors, generals and soldiers should not be mentioned in history books.

B．history books focus more on those who helped civilization forward.

C．those who truly helped civilization forward is rarely mentioned in history books.

D．most history books were written by conquerors, generals and soldiers.

In the author’s opinion, the countries that ruled over a large number of other countries are

A．certainly both the greatest and the most civilized

B．neither the most influential nor the most civilized.

C．possibly the most civilized but not the most powerful.

D．likely the greatest in some sense but not the most civilized.

The meaning of “it means saying that might is right.”(The last sentence of Paragraph 2) is that ________.

A．in a war only those who are powerful will win.

B．those who are right should fight against those who are wrong.

C．only those who are powerful have the right to go to war.

D．those who fight believe that the winner is right and the loser wrong.

In the third paragraph, what the author wants to convey to us is that ________.

A．we have fought fewer wars but suffered heavier casualties.

B．modern time is not so civilized compared with the past.

C．our age is not much better than those of the past.

D．World War I and World War II are different from previous wars.

According to the passage, who helped civilization forward?
A. The pioneers in science and technology.
B. Conquerors and generals.
C. Those setting disputes by force.
The experts in military matters
This passage is most likely taken from an article entitled ________.

A．Who Should Be Remembered

B．Civilization and History

C．War and World Peace

D．Great conquerors in the world

Scientists have long puzzled over how iguanas, a group of lizards(蜥蜴) mostly found in the Americas, came to live in the isolated Pacific islands of Fiji and Tonga. Some scientists used to suppose that they must have traveled there on a raft, a journey of around 5,000 miles from South America to the islands. There are documented cases of iguanas reaching remote Caribbean islands and the Galapagos Islands on floating logs. But new research in January by Brice Noonan and Jack Sites suggested that iguanas may have simply walked to Fiji and Tonga when the islands were still a part of an ancient southern supercontinent.
The ancient supercontinent was made up of present-day Africa, Australia, Antarctica and parts of Asia. If that’s the case, the island species would need to be very old. Using “molecular (分子) clock” analysis of living iguanas’ DNA, Noonan and Sites found that, sure enough, the lineage of iguanas has been around for more than 60 million years—easily old enough to have been in the area when the islands were still connected by land bridges to Asia or Australia.
Fossils (化石) uncovered in Mongolia suggest that iguanid ancestors did once live in Asia. Though there’s currently no fossil evidence of iguanas in Australia, that doesn’t necessarily mean they were never there. “The fossil record of this continent is surprisingly poor and cannot be taken as evidence of true absence,” the authors write.
So if the iguanas simply walked to Fiji and Tonga from Asia or possibly Australia, why are they not also found on the rest of the Pacific islands? Noonan and Sites say fossil evidence suggests that iguana species did once inhabit other islands, but went extinct right around the time when humans settled in those islands. But Fiji and Tonga have a much shorter history of human presence, which may have helped the iguanas living there to escape extinction.
The researchers say that their study can’t completely rule out the rafting theory, but it does make the land bridge theory “far more reasonable than previously thought.”
What did some scientists previously believe about the iguanas?

A．They were once discovered in America.

B．They traveled by raft to Fiji and Tonga.

C．They could survive in poor living conditions.

D．They moved to Fiji and Tonga from Australia.

According to Noonan and Sites, 60 million years ago ____.

A．the land of the world was a supercontinent

B．Fiji and Tonga were connected to Asia or Australia

C．Africa, Australia and America were a continent

D．iguanas walked to Fiji and Tonga from Africa

The underline word “lineage” in Paragraph 2 probably refers to ____.

A．conditions in which creatures can survive

B．the change in ancient plants and animals.

C．the line of generations of an ancestor

D．the habitat of a type of an ancient animal

What is the main topic of this passage?

A．The life span of animals living on the ancient supercontinent.

B．The two islands being home to several iguana species in the Pacific region.

C．The fossil evidence suggesting iguanas’ ancestors’ swimming to Fiji and Tonga

D．By raft or by land — how did iguanas reach the tiny Pacific islands?

Sometime in the next century, the familiar early-newspaper on the front porch (门廊) will disappear. And instead of reading your newspaper, it will read to you. You'll get up and turn on the computer newspaper just like switching on the TV An electronic voice will distribute stories about the latest events, guided by a program that selects the type of news you want. You'll even get to choose the kind of voice you want to hear. Want more information on this brief story? A simple touch makes the entire text appear. Save it in your own personal computer if you like. These are among the predictions from communication experts working on the newspapers of the future. Pictured as part of broader home-based media and entertainment systems, computer newspapers will unite print and broadcast reporting, and offer news and analysis with video images of news events.
Most of the technology is available now, but convincing more people that they don't need to read a newspaper is the next step. But resistance to computer newspapers may be stronger from within journalism. Since it is such a cultural change, it may be that the present generation of journalists and publishers will have to die off before the next generation realizes that the newspaper industry is no longer a newspaper industry. Technology is making the end of ' traditional newspapers unavoidable.
Despite technological advances, it could take decades to replace newsprint with computer screens. It might take 30 t0 40 years to complete the changeover because people need to buy computers and because newspapers have established financial interests in the paper industry.
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of computer newspapers?

A．They are cheaper than traditional newspapers.

B．They are more convenient to read.

C．You can choose the kind of voice you want to hear.

D．You can easily save information for future use.

Which of the following is a reason why it will take a long time to complete the changeover?

A．The technology is impossible now.

B． Computer newspaper s are too expensive.

C．The popularization of computers needs a long time.

D．Traditional newspapers are easier to read.

It can be inferred that journalists are against computer newspapers because _______ .

A．they don't know how to use computers

B．they think computer newspapers take too much time to read

C．they think the new technology is bad

D．they have been trained to write For traditional newspapers

We can infer from the passage that

A．all technological changes are good

B．new technologies don't always replace old ones

C．new technologies will eventually replace old ones

D．traditional newspapers are here to stay for another century

What is the best title of the passage?

A．Computer newspapers are well liked.

B．Newspapers of the future will be on the computer.

C．Newspapers are out of fashion.

D．New communications technology.

Losing weight comes with a lot of health benefits—including making your brain sharper.
Yes, it turns out that overweight may damage cognitive functions (认知功能) such as memory and attention. There have been few studies of overweight and cognitive functioning, possibly because it is generally believed that it is not a primary risk cause for poor cognitive performance. Losing weight, therefore, may help improve these mental functions, according to a new research led by John Gunstad, assistant professor of psychology at Kent State University.
Growing evidence suggests that being fat is linked to cognitive deficits (缺陷). So Gunstad and his team guessed that losing weight might improve mental function. For their study, they measured memory and attention in a group of 150 overweight participants, some of whom had some kind of operation for weight loss and some did not. All of the volunteers completed mental skills tests to assess their abilities of memory and attention at the beginning of the study, and again 12 weeks later. To begin with, about 24% of the patients showed damaged learning and 23% showed signs of poor memory when tested. At the end of the study, those who had lost weight after operation improved their scores into the average or above average range for cognitive functions. Scores for the volunteers who didn’t lose weight dropped even further.
The study helped Gunstad to find out whether losing weight had any effect on mental function. Now that he’s seen the positive effect that weight loss can have on memory and attention, he says he will next study those who choose to lose weight by the traditional way—eating healthier and getting more active. He expects that losing weight in this way will have a similarly positive effect on the brain. “If we can improve the condition with operations, then we can probably produce the same change with behavioral weight loss as well,” he says.
There is less research on overweight and cognitive functions because researchers _____.

A. believe overweight only affects our body

B. have focused on ways to sharpen people’s mind

C. do not consider overweight a main cause for low cognitive ability

D. are clear about the relation between weight and mental functions

The result of Gunstad’s study shows that ______.

A. losing weight has little effect on people’s memory

B. losing weight can improve people’s mental functions

C. overweight people are likely to have psychology problems

D. overweight people’s abilities of concentration differ greatly

What is Gunstad planning to prove next in his research?

A. Slim people are smarter than overweight people.

B. Healthy diet is better than exercise in losing weight.

C. Traditional ways of losing weight are better than operation.

D. Overweight people will get smarter by taking more exercise.

Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A. Body Weight and Health

B. Losing Weight by Operation

C. Ways to Improve Mental Functions

D. Losing Weight to Sharpen Your Mind