高三英语 阅读复习第三期 科普知识与现代技术10(1).doc

2014年高三英语 阅读复习第三期 科普知识与现代技术10【导读】你了解龙鱼吗？鱼龙的身体弯曲的原因是什么？有什么后果呢？if a diver surfaces too quickly, he may suffer the bends. nitrogen (氮) dissolved (溶解) in his blood is suddenly liberated by the reduction of pressure. the consequence, if the bubbles (气泡) accumulate in a joint, is sharp pain and a bent bodythus the name. if the bubbles form in his lungs or his brain, the consequence can be death.other air-breathing animals also suffer this decompression (减压) sickness if they surface too fast: whales, for example. and so, long ago, did ichthyosaurs. that these ancient sea animals got the bends can be seen from their bones. if bubbles of nitrogen form inside the bone they can cut off its blood supply. this kills the cells in the bone, and consequently weakens it, sometimes to the point of collapse. fossil (化石) bones that have caved in on themselves are thus a sign that the animal once had the bends.bruce rothschild of the university of kansas knew all this when he began a study of ichthyosaur bones to find out how widespread the problem was in the past. what he particularly wanted to investigate was how ichthyosaurs adapted to the problem of decompression over the 150 million years. to this end, he and his colleagues traveled the worlds natural-history museums, looking at hundreds of ichthyosaurs from the triassic period and from the later jurassic and cretaceous periods.when he started, he assumed that signs of the bends would be rarer in younger fossils, reflecting their gradual evolution of measures to deal with decompression. instead, he was astonished to discover the opposite. more than 15% of jurassic and cretaceous ichthyosaurs had suffered the bends before they died, but not a single triassic specimen (标本) showed evidence of that sort of injury.if ichthyosaurs did evolve an anti-decompression means, they clearly did so quicklyand, most strangely, they lost it afterwards. but that is not what dr rothschild thinks happened. he suspects it was evolution in other animals that caused the change.whales that suffer the bends often do so because they have surfaced to escape a predator (捕食动物) such as a large shark. one of the features of jurassic oceans was an abundance of large sharks and crocodiles, both of which were fond of ichthyosaur lunches. triassic oceans, by contrast, were mercifully shark- and crocodile-free. in the triassic, then, ichthyosaurs were top of the food chain. in the jurassic and cretaceous, they were prey (猎物) as well as predatorand often had to make a speedy exit as a result.【文章大意】本篇为科普说明文，讲的鱼龙的身体弯曲的原因和后果。dr rothschild通过实验推翻了关于鱼龙进化的一些猜测。【篇章结构】段落关键词、句大意概括第一部分（para. 1-2）nitrogen dissolved; the reduction of pressure; sharp pain and a bent body; death; other air-breathing animals; decompression; sickness 压力减少导致的氮溶解；结果时剧痛和弯曲，甚至死亡。其它动物也会遭受减压疾病。第二部分（para. 3-6）rothschild began a study; he assumed; instead, he was astonished to discover; he suspects rothschild开始一项调查；他先假设；然后惊奇发现结果并非如此；他怀疑【信息提取】1. which of the following is a typical symptom of the bends?a. a twisted body.b. a gradual decrease in blood supply.c. a sudden release of nitrogen in blood.d. a drop in blood pressure.2. the purpose of rothschilds study is to see _.a. how often ichthyosaurs caught the bendsb. how ichthyosaurs adapted to decompressionc. why ichthyosaurs bent their bodiesd. when ichthyosaurs broke their bones3. rothschilds finding stated in paragraph 4 _.a. confirmed his assumptionb. speeded up his research processc. disagreed with his assumptiond. changed his research objectives4. rothschild might have concluded that ichthyosaurs _.a. failed to evolve an anti-decompression meansb. gradually developed measures against the bendsc. died out because of large sharks and crocodilesd. evolved an anti-decompression means but soon lost it【解析】1. a。细节理解题。根据the bends可定位到首段。由the consequenceis sharp pain and a bent bodythus the name.可知答案，a bent body和a twisted body是同义转换。由第二句的“suddenly liberated by the reduction of pressure.”可知这是说the bends的形成原因，故c和d项错，而b项文章没有提及。2. b。推理判断题。题干中的关键词是rothschilds study。由此可定位到第三段的前两句。根据to find out how widespread the problem was in the past和to investigate was how ichthyosaurs adapted to the problem of decompression可知答案为b。其它各项与rothschilds study没有关系。3. c。推理判断题。第四段开始说到he assumed that signs of the bends would be rarer in younger fossils，接下来又说instead, he was astonished to discover the opposite。可见，他的实验结果和他开始的预测相反，故c项符合。instead是一个转换话题的标志词，一般为题眼所在。4. a。推理判断题。由倒数第二段的if ichthyosaurs did evolve an anti-decompression meansbut that is not what dr rothschild thinks happened.可知，dr rothschild并不认可鱼龙的抗溶解进化途径。故a项符合。b项文章没有提及；文章只是说they have surfaced to escape a predator，并不是说鱼龙的灭绝是鲨鱼造成的；d项与dr rothschild的看法正好相反。【词汇扩充】1.suffer vi.受痛苦； 受损害； 变糟； 变差vt.忍受； 容忍； 容许； 遭受within a few days she had become seriously ill, suffering great pain and discomfort.几天的时间，她就病得很严重了，疼痛难忍，周身不舒服。can you assure me that my father is not suffering?你能保证我父亲不会受罪吗？he was eventually diagnosed as suffering from terminal cancer.他最终被诊断出患了晚期癌症。2. consequence n.结果，成果it was an inevitable consequence of the decision.那是这个决定的必然后果。this matter is of great consequence to all of us.对于我们来说这件事非常重要。in consequence of your bad work i am forced to dismiss you.由于你的工作很糟，我不得不把你解雇。3. investigate vt.调查； 审查； 研究he felt impelled to investigate further.他觉得有必要作进一步调查。the fbi has been called in to investigate.联邦调查局奉命进行调查。we should not jump to conclusions. lets investigate first.我们不应草率下结论，还是先调查一下吧。4. exit n.出口，通道； 退场vi.离开； 退出there is a fire exit on each floor of the building.这栋建筑每层楼都有个消防通道。at the roundabout, take the second exit.到环岛后，走第二个出口。people were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit.有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。his farewell speech marked his exit from politics.他的告别演说是他退出政界的标志。she made a dart for the exit.她冲向出口。【长难句分析】1. the consequence, if the bubbles (气泡) accumulate in a joint, is sharp pain and a bent bodythus the name. 【句意】如果气泡在一个关节处累积，后果就是剧痛和弯曲的身体因此它的名字就这样产生了。【分析】本句中的if引导的状语从句是插入语，主干是the consequence is sharp pain and a bent body。2. when he started, he assumed that signs of the bends would be rarer in younger fossils, reflecting their gradual evolution of measures to deal with decompression. 【句意】开始时，他假设弯曲的迹象在年纪轻的化石中会少见，这也反映在针对减压的措施中他们的逐渐进化。【分析】本句主