(2013·高考新课标全国卷Ⅰ,B)The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital.She is quiet but alert (警觉).Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it.She stares at it carefully.A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another,this time with the spots differently spaced.As the cards change from one to the other,her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus—until a third,with three black spots,is presented.Her gaze returns:she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card.Can she tell that the number two is different from three,just 24 hours after coming into the world?
Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment,but with three spots shown before two,shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes.Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb,a key,an orange and so on),changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves.Could it be the pattern that two things make,as opposed to three? No again.Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly on a screen when their number changed from two to three,or three to two.The effect even crosses between senses.Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two;likewise (同样地) when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.The experiment described in Paragraph 1 is related to the baby’s________.
A.sense of hearing | B.sense of sight |
C.sense of touch | D.sense of smell |
Babies are sensitive to the change in________.
A.the size of cards | B.the colour of pictures |
C.the shape of patterns | D.the number of objects |
Why did the researchers test the babies with drumbeats?
A.To reduce the difficulty of the experiment. |
B.To see how babies recognize sounds. |
C.To carry their experiment further. |
D.To keep the babies’ interest. |
Where does this text probably come from?
A.Science fiction. |
B.Children’s literature. |
C.An advertisement. |
D.A science report. |
We often hear people talking about a generation gap (代沟). The name is new, but the idea is old. Young people and th eir parents don’t understand each other. The world has always kept changing. During the second century after Christ a wise man said, “Bury me on my face because in a little while everything will be turned upside down.”
There has always been a gap between generations, but more people talk about it now. Old Mr. Ellis thinks he understands what has happened.
“When I was a boy, I thought the world was a beautiful place. My life was very pleasant. But when I was older, I learned about people who were treated badly, people who didn’t have enough to eat. I wanted to help them, and I married a girl who wanted to help them, too. We went to meetings and talked a lot, but it didn’t seem to make much difference. ”
“Our children grew up in a world at war. They didn’t know when the fighting would stop. They wanted their children to have nice clothes and toys. They didn’t want to think about the future. They thought nothing could be done about it.”
“Now I have grandchildren, and they have their own ideas. They are trying to make the world better. They are trying to help other people. They’re making people listen to them. I am proud of their generation.”The wise man mentioned in the text told people to bury him on his face so that when everything is turned upside down he will _____.
A.lie on his stomach |
B.lie on his back |
C.stand quietly |
D.sit in peace |
Which generation did NOT want to do anything to make the world a better one?
A.Mr. Ellis’ generation |
B.His children’s generation |
C.His grandchildren’s generation |
D.None of the above. |
Which generation is/was more efficient in making the world better one?
A.Mr. Ellis’ generation. |
B.His children’s generation. |
C.His grandchildren’s generation. |
D.None of the above. |
What is the writer’s attitude towards the generation gap?
A.Unacceptable. |
B.Awful. |
C.Funny. |
D.Common. |
Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to(属于) a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the grounD. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed(服从) and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting.
"I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he saiD.
"But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man askeD.
"I met your children outside, and they stole(偷) some of the apples."Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man? Because
A.he was poor |
B.he liked the rich man |
C.his farm belonged to the rich man |
D.the rich man’s children liked apples |
What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps?
A. They jumped and jumpe
B. They playeD.
C. They ran away.
D. They ate some of the apples.The monkeys left the basket because
A.they had thrown apples on the ground |
B.the farmer had politely asked them to get off |
C.they were afraid of the hat |
D.the farmer wa s angry wit h them |
How did the rich man feel when he saw the basket? He felt 。
A.pleased |
B.unhappy |
C.excited |
D.moved |
Algae(水藻) are very simple plants. They grow in fresh water or salty water. Seaweed is algae that grow in salty water. Seaweed is red or brown in color. The Japanese people use these plants from the sea in many ways. From it, they make a food called Kombu. Kombu is seaweed that has been dried, cooked and pressed together. Then it is dried again and cut into long pieces. The Japanese eat a lot of Kombu and like it very much.
Japanese farmers often use seaweed as fertilizer. It makes their plants grow better. Many farmers also find seaweed makes a fine food for their animals.
From seaweed the Japanese also get iodine(碘), which they sell to other countries. Iodine is used in many ways all over the worlD. It is used in making medicine. It is added to the salt we use at the table. Scientists even use one form of iodine to “ seed clouds” when they want rain to fall.Kombu is a kind of ____ according to the text.
A.plant |
B.medicine |
C.food |
D.fertilizer |
In the last sentence of the text, “seed clouds” means ____.
A.clouds spreading like seeds |
B.the seeds like clouds |
C.to make rain fall with human power |
D.dropping seeds by clouds |
The main idea of the story is that ____.
A.The Japanese eat seaweed when they want rain to fall. |
B.Kombu is made into medicine for farmers. |
C.The Japanese use seaweed in many ways. |
D.The Japanese eat a lot of Kombu. |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before a huge pile of troublesome stuff they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn’t answer, in fact I dared not.
The clock struck 12"Oh, dear!" I cried, "ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched creatures in the worlD. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy ."
The clock struck one. I was quite ho peless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I coulD. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were heavy, so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were_____ .
A.asleep |
B.working in bed |
C.outside |
D.quietly laughing at him |
Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because ________.
A.it was too late at night |
B.he was very tired |
C.his eyes l ids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open |
D.he hadn’t studied hard before the examination |
What do you suppose happened to the author?
A.He went to a church to pray again |
B.He passed the exam by luck |
C.He failed in the exam |
D.He was punished by his teacher |
The best title for the passage would be __________ .
A.The Night Before the Examination |
B.Working Far into the Night |
C.A Slow Student |
D.Going Over My Lessons |
In 2012, the Tower of London welcomed two new inhabitants: a pair of ravens(乌鸦) named Jubilee and Grip. Their arrival celebrated the bicentenary(二百周年) of Charles Dickens’s birth. This Grip was the third of the Tower ravens to be named after the novelist’s own pet birD. One of his predecessors(前辈) was resident during World War Two; he and his mate Mabel were the only ravens to survive a bombing attack on the Tower.
Dickens’s Grip, who had an impressive vocabulary, appears as a character in the author’s fifth novel, Barnaby Rudge. On 28 January 1841, Dickens wrote to his friend George Cattermole: “my notion is to have [Barnaby] always in company with a pet raven, who is immeasurably more knowing than himself. To this end I have been studying my bird, and think I could make a very distinctive character of him.”
Unfortunately, just a few weeks after Dickens wrote that letter, Grip died, probably as a result of having stolen and eaten paint some months earlier. The bird had developed a strange habit – tearing sections off painted surfaces (including the family's carriage) and even drinking a quantity of white paint out of a tin. Dickens mourned his loss and wrote a humorous letter to his friend, the illustrator Daniel Maclise, about the raven’s death.
He related how, when Grip began to show signs of sickness, the vet was called and “administered a powerful dose of castor(蓖麻) oil”. Initially this seemed to have a positive effect and the author was thrilled to see Grip restored to his usual personality when he bit the coachman (who was used to the raven and took it in good humor). The following morning, Grip was able to eat “some warm porridge”, but his recovery was short liveD.
As Dickens wrote to Maclise, “On the clock striking twelve he appeared slightly upset, but soon recovered, walking twice or thrice along the coach-house, stopped to bark, exclaimed ‘Hello old girl’ (his favorite expression) and dieD. He behaved throughout with a decent manner, which cannot be too much admireD. .. The children seem rather glad of it. He bit their ankles. But that was play.”Which of the following is right about Dickens’s pet Grip?
A.he liked painting a lot. |
B.he could speak English fluently. |
C.he was quite ill before his death. |
D.he and Mabel survived a bombing attack. |
Why did Dickens study his bird Grip?
A.Because the bird was very strange looking. |
B.Because Dickens liked the bird immeasurably. |
C.Because Barnaby needs a companion who was always with him. |
D.Because Dickens wanted to base one character of his novel on him. |
What caused the death of Dickens’s Grip?
A.His old age. |
B.His strange diet. |
C.The killing of the coachman. |
D.His bad habit of biting people. |
Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. A bird in a novel.
B. The writer’s birD.
C. The death of a birD.
D. Dickens and his bird