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第二部分:阅读理解(共25题,第一节每小题2分,第二节每小题1分,满分45分)
第一节:阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从41—60各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
Be careful what you say around your dog. It might understand more than you think.
A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany. The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3-year-old child. Its word-learning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩).
In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divided them into 20 groups of 10 objects. Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back. In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right. As the dog couldn’t see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words.
In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew. The owner then told Rico to fetch the object , using a word the dog had never heard before.
The correct object was chosen in seven out of 10 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination(排除法). A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive.
Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog. For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed(品种)known for its mental abilities. In addition, the 9-year-old dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months.
It’s hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say. Even if they do, they can’t talk back. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to sweet-talk your dog every now and then. You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!
41.From paragraph 2 we know that .
A.animals are as clever as human beings
B.dogs are smarter than parrots and chimpanzees
C.chimpanzees have very good word-learning skills
D.dogs have similar learning abilities as 3-year-old children
42.Both experiments show that .
A.Rico is smart enough to get all commands right
B.Rico can recognize different things including toys
C.Rico has developed the ability of learning mathematics
D.Rico won’t forget the names of objects once recognizing them
43.Which of the following statements is true?
A.The purpose of the experiments is to show the border collie’s mental abilities.
B.Rico has a better memory partly because of its proper early training.
C.The border collie is world-famous for recognizing objects.
D.Rico is born to understand its owner’s commands.
44.What does the writer want to tell us?
A.To train your dog.
B.To command your dog to do something.
C.To be friendly to your dog.
D.To be careful with your dog.
How could we have thought so wrongly of as banana peel that it always hits the garbage? Utility of anything seems to be in the eyes of the beholder. The banana peel hasn't been an exception.
What most of us looked at as waste was converted to a thing of utility by Prithwis Mukhopadlyay, a 14-year-old prodigy. This Bengali boy, nourished in the US, Lake Junior High in Woodbury, Minnesota, has come up with an idea to convert banana peels to biogas.(生物气).
It's well known that almost any organic waste can be converted to biogas. But why biogas from banana peel has hit the news is because it produced five times as much biogas as manure(粪), a commonly used source for producing biogas, in the experiments Prithwis conducted.
He filled two airtight containers, one with manure and the other with banana peels. Then he mixed each content with water and connected them to empty jars via pipes to collect the gas produced. He placed a heater next to each jar and measured the gas collected for 60 days. His studies proved that banana peels produced five times more biogas than manure.
This project titled 'Comparison analysis: Eco-friendly source of energy for the future,' earned him a spot in Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. This weekend, the young whiz is to showcase his research work along with 40 other finalists at Washington. "Initially, I thought of doing a project that would reduce global warming. Things changed after I visited a biogas plant in a village in India during my summer vacations. It was an amazing experience," Prithwis says.Why could Prithwis's finding receive the attention of the media?
| A.Because he is a prodigy. |
| B.Because he is of Bengali descent. |
| C.Because he used an extremely rare organic waste to produce biogas. |
| D.Because his research proved that banana peels can produce more biogas. |
Where did Prithwis derive his inspiration from?
A.Lake Junior High. B Discovery Channel.
C. India. D.His laboratory at home.This article probably appeared in a _________ magazine.
| A.gourmet | B.science | C.computer | D.fashion |
Baby girls make their way directly for dolls as soon as they can crawl, while boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown. The findings, the first to show differences in very young babies, suggest there is a biological(生物学的) basis to their preferences(偏爱).
Psychologists Dr. Brenda Todd from City University London carried out an experiment involving 90 infants(婴儿) aged nine months to 36 months. The babies were allowed to choose from seven toys. Some were stereotypically boys' toys - a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy. The rest were girls’ toys: a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked. Their choice and the amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.
Of the youngest children (nine to 14 months), girls spent significantly longer playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and ball than the girls did. Among the two-and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched. There was no link between the parents’ view on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children’s choice.
Dr Brenda Todd said: “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization(社会化). Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preference. But these findings agree with the former idea that children show natural interests in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to prefer moving objects, probably through hunting instincts(本能), while girls prefer warmer colours such as pink, the colour of a newborn baby.”Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because__________.
| A.baby boys are much more active |
| B.baby girls like bright colours more |
| C.there is a natural difference between them |
| D.their parents treat them differently |
What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
| A.Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all. |
| B.Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls. |
| C.Parents should teach their babies to share each other’s toys. |
| D.The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is. |
What conclusion did Dr. Brenda Todd draw from the results of the study?
| A.Babies’ preference isn’t affected by social surroundings. |
| B.Adults purposely(故意地) influence their babies preference. |
| C.Baby boys preferring to moving toys will be good at hunting. |
| D.Baby girls preferring warmer colors will be warm-hearted. |
We may read this article in a_________ section of a newspaper.
| A.health | B.science | C.education | D.entertainment |
“Our aim is to take our art to the world and make people understand what it is to move,” said David Belle, the cofounder of parkour (跑酷).
Do you love running? It is a good exercise, yet many people find it boring. But what if making your morning jog a creative one?Like jumping from walls and over gaps and ground rolls? Just like the James Bond in the movie Casino Royale? Bond jumps down from a roof to a windowsill and then runs several blocks over obstacles on the way. It is just because of Bond's wonderful performances that the sport has become popular worldwide.
Yes, that's parkour, an extreme street sport aimed at moving from one point to another as quickly as possible, getting over all the obstacles in the path using only the abilities of the human body. Parkour is considered an extreme sport. As its participants dash around a city, they may jump over fences, run up walls and even move from rooftop to rooftop.
Parkour can be just as exciting and charming as it sounds,but its participants see parkour much more than that.
Overcoming all the obstacles on the course and in life is part of the philosophy (哲理) behind parkour. This is the same as life. You must determine your destination, go straight, and jump over all the barriers as if in parkour and never fall back from them in your life, to reach the destination successfully. A parkour lover said,“I love parkour because its philosophy has become my life, my way to do everything.”
Another philosophy we've learnt from parkour is freedom. It can be done by anyone, at any time, anywhere in the world. It is a kind of expression of trust in yourself that you earn energy and confidence.Parkour has become popular throughout the world because of ________.
| A.its cofounder, David Belle |
| B.the film, Casino Royale |
| C.its risks and tricks |
| D.the varieties of participants |
The underlined word “obstacles” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to “________”.
| A.streets | B.objects | C.barriers | D.roofs |
Which of the following is TRUE of parkour?
| A.It challenges human abilities. |
| B.It is a good but boring sport. |
| C.It needs special training. |
| D.It is a team sport. |
Which of the following is the philosophy of parkour?
| A.Sports and extremes. |
| B.Excitement and popularity. |
| C.Dreams and success. |
| D.Determination and freedom. |
There were a family of nine: the father, the mother, two boys and five girls. The father worked as a kitchen cleaner at a local school and the rest of the family did the same job-----clean people’s yards.
Then one day, the father lost his job at the school. He asked me if I could allow him to clean my yard.He and his family came to our house three times a week to clean the yard.
One Sunday morning, the father suffered a stroke and died in the hospital two days later. The poor family had lost their main bread-winner. The eldest boy had just completed high school and was getting ready to go to college.
For the following years, Andrew, my husband and I did all our best to help make sure the family got their education, and provided some daily needs, like clothes.. They didn’t have a toilet in their home! Imagine! A mother, a fifteen-year-old girl, and four smaller children without a toilet or bathroom!
The next morning, my friend Peter came to my house. Then I told him I wanted to do something for the poor family. As a helpful man, he promised to offer some money. So together we built a bathroom and a toilet for this family in three days.. And we felt happy, too.
| A.Clearly, they lived a poor life. |
| B.The others were just little kids |
| C.Realizing his situation, I offered him the job at once. |
| D.This brought a lot of smiles and happiness to the family. |
E.Every day we gave her some pocket money.
F.We visited the family once and one thing made us greatly surprised.
G.You would be surprised to know that this poor family lived in just two rooms!
Our cat has a sweet nature, and she can let us know what she wants. When we fail to meet her needs, she gently leads us in the proper direction. When I forget to fill her water bowl early in the morning, she runs after my legs, and then pushes me in the direction of her bowl. She doesn’t get irritated (生气的); instead, she expresses her wishes in the best way. And I always understand what she is telling me.
One day I found myself envying (羡慕) her simple expression. How many times had I expected my husband or my children to know my wants without my ever giving voice to them? How many times had I been disappointed that they couldn’t understand when I needed a hug, a compliment (恭维) or a chocolate bar?
After a pleasant afternoon with my husband, I wanted to stop somewhere nice and have dinner, but he didn’t understand my hints (暗示). “Couldn’t you see that I wanted to go out to dinner?” I complained when he pulled into our driveway.
“Why didn’t you say so? I can’t read your mind,” he answered in impatience. His words gave me pause. Had I expected him to read my mind? Why hadn’t I expressed my desire more clearly? I realized I had fallen into the female trap of “If you love me, you can read my mind.”
Now, I state my needs clearly and directly. I look at my cat and know she agrees.Why was the author disappointed in her husband or her children?
| A.Her husband didn’t give her a hug. |
| B.Her children didn’t give her a chocolate bar. |
| C.They didn’t give her a compliment. |
| D.They didn’t understand her mind. |
What will the author do if she wants something from her husband now?
| A.She will give him her hints. | B.She lets him guess what she wants. |
| C.She tells him her needs directly. | D.She buys what she wants herself. |
What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the fourth paragraph?
| A.I realized what I did was wrong. |
| B.I stopped and didn’t go with my husband. |
| C.My husband prevented me from going on. |
| D.My husband stopped me from saying something. |