高考英语 阅读微技能训练 科普类阅读.doc

阅读微技能训练10科普类阅读i. 科普类文章的特点科普知识与现代技术是高中课程标准规定的话题之一。此类题材的文章涉及内容广泛，如天文地理、生物医药、发明创造、计算机技术等等。这类文章的总体特点是：科技词汇多，句子结构复杂，理论性强，逻辑严谨。具体说来它有以下几个特点：1. 文章中词汇的意义比较单一、稳定、简明，不带感情色彩，具有单一性和准确性的特点。2. 句子结构较复杂，语法分析较困难。为了描述一个客观事物，严密地表达自己的思想，作者经常会使用集多种语法现象于一体的长句。3. 常使用被动语态，尤其是一些惯用被动句式。4. 科技环保类文章在高考英语试题中出现的频率最高，一直是高考的主要测试内容，此类文章一般为说明文，但也常常夹杂着叙述和议论，并经常出现一些较新的科技名词或术语。着重从不同侧面考查学生筛选、提取、推断信息的能力。考生若经常阅读英语报刊，具备丰富的课外知识，并积累一定的时新词汇，对解读此类文章会大有帮助。example 1animals can move from place to place，but plants cannot. when an animal is under attack，it can run away or fight back. plants certainly cannot run away，and they lack teeth and claws. but plants can defend themselves by using both physical and chemical means.some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. for example，the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines that discourage grass-eating animals. holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. this is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.some plants，such as the oak tree，have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. some grasses may contain a sandy material；eating such grasses wears down the animals teeth.many plants also have chemical defenses. some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. when a caterpillar bites a tobacco leaf，the leaf produces a chemical messenger. this messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. the higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. a certain plant in china，for instance，has prickly leaves，and each prickle contains poisonous venom. a single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.1. the holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals_.a. are not tall enough b. like the lower leaves onlyc. are not clever enough d. can get the lower leaves easily2. to defend themselves，oak trees use_.a. chemical means b. physical means c. bitter chemicals d. sandy materials3. how does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?a. its leaves fight against the attack by physical means.b. its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar.c. its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked.d. its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away.4. what would be the best title for this passage? a. plants and animals b. how plants defend themselvesc. attacks and defenses d. how animals eat plant leavessummary: 这类文章的主要命题形式有事实细节题、词义猜测题、推理判断题以及主旨概括题等，其中细节和推理判断题居多。建议如下： 1. 细节理解题的解答关键是依靠题干找准答题区间，着重研读某一段落，注意用词的肯定性、可能性、推测性便能解决问题。2. 推理判断题的解答，要先整体感知；然后再扣住关键语句，充分认识哪些信息是最重要的，是事关全局的，增强筛选和提取的自觉性；最后对照题目，逐一找准题干每一选项对应的区间，按需踩点，与原文进行对照比较，瞻前顾后找准联系。3. 要熟悉科普类文章的结构特点。科普类文章一般由导语(introduction)，背景( background)，主体(main body)和结尾(end)五部分构成。导语一般位于整篇文章的首段。背景交待一个事实的起因。主体则对导语概括的事实进行详细叙述，这一部分命题往往最多。因此，阅读时，同学们要把这部分作为重点。结尾往往也是中心思想的概括，并与导语相呼应，命题者常在此要设计一道推理判断题。example 2for those who are tired doing the laundry, samsung has found an answer: a washing machine that can tell you when your laundry is done via a smart phone app(application). strange though it may seem “my wife already does that” was a common response among attendees viewing the device when it was introduced at the consumer electronics show (ces) this week samsung is just one of many appliance makers racing to install a large number of internet-connected features in machines in an effort to make them “smart”.last year, it was a refrigerator that tweeted. this year, its wi-fi-enabled laundry machines and fridges that can tell you when your groceries are going bad. the washers and dryers, available starting in the spring, connect to any smart phone through a downloadable application. the phone can then be used as a remote control, so the machines can be turned on and off while their owners is at work or on the bus. samsung says its not just something new the app connection actually has some practical uses. “if you started to dry clothes in the morning and forgot to take them out, you can go to your phone and restart your dryer for the time when come home, so your clothes are refreshed and ready to go,” said spokesperson amy schmidt. the company also says that with electricity rate varying depending on the time of day, more control over when the machines are used can help save money. perhaps, but what they will probably really accomplish is what all good technologies do enable laziness. rather than getting up to check on whether the laundry is done, users will instead monitor it on their phones while watching tv. 5. what can be inferred from the common response of the attendees at the ces?a. the machine will be a big success.b. their wives like doing the laundry.c. the machine is unrelated to their life.d. this kind of technology is familiar to them. 6. what can we learn about the new laundry machines?a. they can tell you when your clothes need washingb. they can be controlled with a smartphone c. they are difficult to operated. they are sold at a low price7. we can conclude form samsungs statements that _.a. the app connection makes life easierb. it is better to dry clothes in the morningc. smart phone can shorten the drying time d. we should refresh clothes back at home8. what is the main idea of the last paragraph?a. the laundry should be frequently checked b. lazy people like using such machinesc. good technologies also cause problems d. television may help do the laundry. ii. practice(a) are robots our friends?imagine that your parents have bought you the most advanced robot. he looks like a real person. he talks to you and plays with you. he can even think for himself and figure out what you need.it may feel as if you have a considerate new brother who keeps you company all the time. but come to think of it, can you really trust him?ever since the first robot was created decades ago, scientists have obsessed over the task of making robots more like humans. however, as they have gotten closer to that goal, doubts have grown. according to the bbc, japanese robot designer masahiro mori argues that the more lifelike robots become, the more humans feel a connection to them. but once they become too similar to humans, people begin to feel uncomfortable.this theory is what led to the creation of a brand new robot in switzerland earlier this month. roboy, as the new machine is called, has various human-like abilities such as hand-shaking and bicycle-riding, but instead of a skin-like covering, roboy is wrapped in shiny white armor (盔甲) that clearly indicates its robot status.“as long as people can clearly see that the robot is a machine, even if they project their feelings into it, then they feel comfortable,” rolf pfeifer, the creator of roboy from the university of zurich, switzerland, told the bbc.but the problem that people have with robots is not just with the way they look. it also has to do with the roles that they play in our lives.a survey last year of european union countries showed that 88 percent of those interviewed agreed that robots are “necessary as they can do jobs that are too hard or dangerous for people”, such as space exploration and war fighting. but when it comes to taking care of children, 60 percent of respondents said that robots should not be allowed to participate, because as robots become more sophisticated (精良的), parents may be tempted to (倾向于) hand over too much responsibility to them.no matter what, robots will soon enter our homes, pfeifer said. what is not yet clear is whether they will act more like servants who work for us or companions who live with us.1. what is the purpose of the text?a. to introduce the newly-invented robot, roboy.b. to discuss problems related to designing robots.c. to explore the roles robots will play in our future lives.d. to argue what kinds of robots appeal to people more.2. why did pfeifer make roboy look like a robot?a. to better protect it.b. to make it look cool and modern.c. to distinguish it clearly from a human.d. to keep its price down.3. according to the second-to-last paragraph, most of the people interviewed _.a. welcome robots into their homesb. believe robots are useful for certain dangerous tasksc. think families with children shouldnt use robots for houseworkd. are afraid that children will become less responsible if robots take care of them4. which best describes the authors tone in the article?a. objective. b. critical.c. admiring. d. anxious.(b) toward a stormy futureeight years ago in 2005, the southeast us was hit by one of the deadliest hurricanes in american history, katrina, in which at least 1,833 people were killed. last year, the country once again experienced a monstrous storm, sandy, which brought damaging winds, flooding, blackouts and heavy snow and claimed more than 140 lives.for coastal cities, hurricanes are frequent visitors during summer time. however, recent years have seen more destructive hurricanes in the us and around the world. and the bad news is that they are not going to slow down any time soon scientists say stormy weather will happen more often in the future. the cause is the same as that of many other world problems global warming.“we find that 0.4 degrees celsius warming of the climate corresponds to a doubling of the frequency of extreme storms,” climate scientist aslak grinsted from the university of copenhagen, denmark, told science daily. it means that if the global climate becomes 2 degrees warmer, there will be about 10 times as many extreme storm surges, which is to say “there will be a katrina magnitude (严重性) storm surge every other year”, according to grinsted.storms are powered by temperature differences between two regions. the bigger the gap is, the stronger the storm will be. with the rest of the world heating up, the air in the polar areas stays relatively cool because the heat has been absorbed by the melting ice, which makes the storm build up much faster, according to new scientist.also, since warmer air contains more water vapor, when it rains, there is a good chance that it will be heavy and will cause flooding in the affected area.to make matters worse, lightning will occur more frequently too. according to nasas website, in the formation of a storm, warm air moves up from earths surface to the freezing atmosphere and brings with it little water drops, which are a necessary ingredient for lightning. as co2 increases, the earth becomes warmer, creating stronger upward-moving air that is more likely to produce lightning.besides the storm itself, grinsted also pointed out that with the sea levels rising due to global warming, storms might be more destructive since there will be more flooding damage to coastal areas.5. by mentioning katrina and sandy in the first paragraph, the author intends to _.a. show the destructive effects of stormsb. compare the consequences of the two disastersc. draw readers attention to the frequent storms around the worldd. get readers to think about the reasons for the two disasters6. what is the direct cause of storms?a. global warming.b. ice in the polar areas of the earth.c. large gaps in temperatures.d. human activities.7. according to the article, global warming is likely to result in _.a. more lightning b. more droughts c. rising sea levels d. less fresh water e. more floodinga. ace b. abd c. bce d. ade8. which best describes the authors tone in the article?a. critical. b. optimistic. c. doubtful. d. concerned.(c) natures wake up callin the past, before alarm clocks were invented, what did people depend on to wake them up in the morning? roosters.“a roosters crow symbolizes the break of dawn in many countries,” takashi yoshimura, professor at nagoya university in japan, told national geographic. they are known to regularly crow two to three hours before dawn.however, scientists have long been unsure about why the animals do this. “it wasnt clear whether crowing is under the control of a biological clock or is simply a response to external stimuli (外部刺激).”roosters do react to the environment such as car headlights at any time of day. so it was previously thought that the increasing light in the morning might be the trigger (触发物) for roosters crowing.but yoshimura and his colleagues now claim to have finally figured out the reason roosters dont need morning light to know when to start crowing; they will crow at the same time every day regardless of whether they can see dawn breaking.in the study, which was published march 18 in the journal current biology, researchers placed 40 roosters in a soundproof, windowless room under dim lighting for 24 hours. but this didnt deter the roosters. no matter what, they kept crowing each morning just before dawn.“it is proof that the behavior is entrained (导致) to a circadian rhythm (生理节奏),” said yoshimura. in short, the roosters are genetically programmed to crow at a certain time every 24 hours.most animals, as well as plants, have such an internal time-keeping system. thats why we tend to eat, sleep and exercise at around the same times every day. by consciously being aware of the schedule, our body has a chance to adapt to it, so keeping a regular biological clock is often tied to good health.this experiment is the first of its kind to investigate the timing of roosters crowing. kristen navara, a scientist at the university of georgia in the us who was not involved in the study, said that she isnt sure why no one had taken a closer look at this well-known phenomenon before.“i think many times we dont think to study what appears right in front of us,” said navara. “this is a very interesting study and something that should have been done a long time ago.”9. what has been recently discovered to make roosters crow in the morning?a. external stimuli like noises.b. their biological clocks.c. exposure to morning light.d. increased hormones in their bodies in the morning.10. what does the underlined word “deter” mean in paragraph 6?a. prevent. b. attract.c. focus on. d. take care of.11. which of the following statements is true according to the article?a. roosters have the same circadian rhythms as humans.b. we can make use of our biological clocks to improve our health.c. it has been discovered that dark conditions can have some effects on roosters crowing.d. roosters have a regular biological clock which helps them adapt to the environment well.12. how would kristen navara describe yoshimuras study?a. worthless. b. meaningful.c. controversial. d. unscientific.(d) how our brains evolvedwhat makes humans smarter than other animals? weve got a bigger brain, of course. but when it comes to brains, is bigger always better?traditionally, scientists have thought that humans superior intelligence derived (源于) mostly from the fact that our brains are three times bigger than those of our nearest living relatives, chimpanzees, not to mention other animals. people even used to believe that because men have slightly larger brains than women that men are smarter.this, however, is not the truth. scientists at university college london in the uk have found that brain organization, and not brain size, is the key to the superiority of human intelligence, reported live science.through millions of years of evolution, our ancestors were constantly pushed to get smarter so that they could meet the demands of new environments. however, holding this growing intelligence in increasingly large brains was not the best choice because bigger brains require more energy to power. “this is when reorganization may come into play,” said christophe soligo, a member of the london research team.in the study, scientists looked at the brains of 17 species of primates (灵长类动物), including monkeys, apes and humans. they found that in the process of evolution, brains didnt keep growing as a whole. certain regions of the brain grew prior to others in response to species needs, and in this way they could make the best use of their limited brain space.for example, when early humans were struggling to survive, the brain region in charge of using tools and finding food grew in size more than other regions. but in modern times, the prefrontal cortex (前额皮质) the region in charge of social cognition, moral judgments and goal-directed planning grew more than the rest of the brain.think of the brain as a room. if a big room is poorly organized, it doesnt necessarily store more stuff than a smaller one.paul manger, professor at the university of the witwatersrand, south africa, explains this principle using the example of whales. he told scientific american: “whales have big brains, absolutely. but if you look at the actual structure of the brain, its not very complex. brain size only matters if the rest of the brain is organized properly.”13. it has recently been found that humans are smarter than the other animals mainly because _.a. they are a species of primatesb. they have a much larger brainc. their brain structure is more complexd. they were constantly pushed to get smarter14. according to the article, in recent human evolution, _.a. the brain kept growing in size to adapt to new environmentsb. most regions of the brain didnt changec. the prefrontal cortex grew more than the rest of the braind. humans brains became increasingly simple so that humans could survive15. what can we conclude from the article?a. gender makes a diff