Section III 科学小品篇　

Passage 23

　　Researchers (研究者) have announced (宣布) the result of two studies on the health effects of the drug aspirin (阿斯匹林). One study shows aspirin can sharply reduce the chance that a healthy, older man will suffer from a heart attack (心脏病).

　　The study offered two new results from earlier findings. It said taking one aspirin pill every other day helped only healthy men over the age of fifty. It also said aspirin gave the greatest protection against heart attacks to men with low blood cholesterol (胆固醇) levels.

　　Earlier in the United States began a major aspirin study in the early 1980s. It included 22,000 healthy men doctors. All were between the ages of forty and eighty-four. More than 11,000 of the doctors took a harmless pill that contained no drug. The men did not know which kind of pill they were taking.

　　The doctors who took aspirin suffered 44% fewer heart attacks than those taking the harmless pill. 139 men who took aspirin suffered from heart attacks. Ten of them died. 239 men who did not take aspirin suffered from heart attacks. Twenty-six of them died.

　　The researchers said the doctors’ study provides clear proof that taking aspirin can prevent a first heart attack in healthy, older men. They said, however, the result does not mean every man over the age of fifty should take aspirin. They said aspirin couldn’t help men who do not eat healthy foods, who smoke cigarettes and who are fat. The researchers said men who think they would be helped by taking aspirin should talk with their doctors first.

　　1.The passage tells us that the new use of aspirin is ______.

　　A.to treat heart disease 　　B. to reduce pain while one suffers from a heart attack

　　C. to help old people to be more healthy 　D. to reduce the chance of a heart attack in old men

　　2.Aspirin can help those who ______.

　　A work as doctors 　　　　　　　 B. are under 40 years old

　　C. are fat and smoke cigarettes 　 D. are older and healthy

　　3.At last the researchers advised us to take aspirin ______.

　　A.with care B. as much as we like 　　C. every day 　D. only considering the age

　　4.From the experiment we can conclude that about _____ of people who suffered from heart attacks without aspirin died.

　　A. 7% B. 11% C. 19% D. 44%

　　Passage 24

　　It seems to be strange to you there is a blind spot (盲点)on the eyes. Here is an interesting experiment (实验) that can make something disappear, when one eye is open.

　　Make a card about the size of a postcard and write two English letters L and R on it, L on the left and R on the right. First, hold the card about 80 cm away and you see both the letters. Then close your right eye and look at the letter R only with your left eye. And now, as you move the card slowly towards you, you’ll find the letter L disappearing. But if you move the card nearer to your face, the letter will be seen again. Now do the same experiment with your left eye closed, you’ll find the letter R disappearing.

　　Why does the letter disappear? It is because there is a blind spot on the eye. When the image (影像) of the letter falls on the blind spot, it won’t be seen. That is why either of the letters disappears.

　　1.The writer of the passage thinks that _____ there is a blind spot on the eye.

　　A. few people know B. no one knows C. most people know D. all the people know

　　2. The word “disappear” in the passage means ________ in Chinese.

　　A. 驱散 B. 消散 C. 消失 D. 遗失

　　3. You fail to see the letter L in the experiment because ___________.

　　A. your eyes are poor B. its image falls on the blind spot

　　D. your left eye is not open C. you move it close to your eye

　　4. In which order (顺序) should you do the experiment?

　　①Hold the card ②Move the card nearer ③Close your right eye

　　④Write two English letters ⑤Look at the letter R ⑥Make a card

　　A. ④⑥①②③⑤ B. ①③⑥④⑤② C. ⑥①④③②⑤ D. ⑥④①③⑤②

　　5. The passage mainly (主要) tells us _______.

　　A. how to find the blind spot 　 B. an interesting experiment

　　C. where the blind spot is 　　 D. there is blind spot on the eye

　　Passage 25

　　Different weather makes people feel different. It influences (影响) health, intelligence (智力) and feelings.

　　In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. People there have heart trouble and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and every cold at other times. People in these states have more heart trouble after the weather changes in February or March.

　　The weather can also influence intelligence. For example, in a 1983 report by scientists, IQ (智商) of a group students were very high when a very strong wind came, but after the strong wind, their IQ was 10% below. The wind can help people have more intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand (另一方面), can make it lower. Students in many schools of the United States often get worse on exams in the hot months of the year (July and August).

　　Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel unhappy during cold weather. But fat people may have a hard time in hot summer. At about 18C, people become stronger.

　　Low air pressure (气压) may make people forgetful. People leave more bags on buses and in shops on low-pressure days. There are a “good weather” for word and health. People feel best at a temperature of about 18 centigrade (摄氏度).

　　Are you feeling sad, tired, forgetful, or unhappy today? It may be the weather’s problem.

　　1.____ can have a bad effect (作用) on health.

　　A. Hot and wet weather B. Good weather 　　C. Warm weather D. High intelligence

　　2.People may have more intelligence when _____ comes.

　　A. a rain B. very hot weather 　　C. a strong wind D. low air pressure

　　3.Low air pressure may make people _______.

　　A. forgetful B. sad C. angry D. tired

　　4.In “good weather” of 18 centigrade, _______.

　　A. people are very forgetful B. people can’t do their work well

　　C. thin people feel cold D. people are in better health

　　5.The writer wants to tell us that _______.

　　A.hot and cold weather influences all people in the same way

　　B.weather influences people’s lives 　　C.IQ never changes during weather changes

　　D.There is a good kind of weather for people’s work and health

　　Passage 26

　　Now satellites are helping to forecast(预报)the weather. They are in space, and they can reach any part of the world. The satellites take pictures of the atmosphere (大气), because this is where the weather forms (形成). They send these pictures to the weather stations. So meteorologists (气象学家) can see the weather of any part of the world. From the pictures, the scientists can often say how the weather will change.

　　Today, nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive satellite pictures.When they receive new pictures, the meteorologists compare them with earlier ones. Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours. This may mean that the weather on the ground may soon change, too. In their next weather forecast, the meteorologists can say this.

　　So the weather satellites are a great help to the meteorologists. Before satellites were invented, the scientists could forecast the weather for about 24or 48 hours. Now they can make good forecasts for three or five days. Soon, perhaps, they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead (提前).

　　1.Satellites travel __________.

　　A. in space B. above space C. above the ground D. in the atmosphere

　　2.Why do we use the weather satellites to take pictures of the atmosphere？Because _______.

　　A. clouds form there B. the weather forms there

　　C. the weather satellites can do it easily D. the pictures can forecast the weather

　　3.Meteorologists forecast the weather _______.

　　A.without studying satellite pictures 　　B. before they receive satellite pictures

　　C. when they have received satellite pictures

　　D. after they have compared the new satellite pictures with the earlier ones

　　4.Maybe we'll soon be able to forecast the weather for _________.

　　A. one day B. two days 　C. five days D. seven days or even longer

　　5.The main idea of this passage is that satellites are now used in __________.

　　A. taking pictures of the earth B. receiving pictures of the atmosphere

　　C. weather forecasting D. doing other work in many ways

　　Passage 27

　　Paragraph 1

　　Scientists have learned a lot about the kinds of people need. They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day, they are: (1) green and yellow vegetables of all kinds; (2) citrus (柑桔) fruits and tomatoes; (3) potatoes and other fruits and vegetables; 94) meat of all kinds, fish and eggs; (5) milk and foods made from milk; (6) bread or cereal (谷类), rice is also in this kind of food; (7) butter, or something like butter.

　　Paragraph 2

　　People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things. Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways. People in different countries eat at different times of the day. In some places people eat once or twice a day; in other countries people eat three or four times a day. Scientists say that none of the differences is really important. It doesn’t matter whether foods are eaten raw or cooked, canned (罐装的) or frozen (冷冻的). It doesn’t matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o’clock in the afternoon or at eleven o’clock at night. The important thing is what you eat every day.

　　Paragraph 3

　　There are two problems, then, in feeding the large number of people on the earth. The first is to find some way to feed the world’s population so that no one is hungry. The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kinds of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy.

　　1.According to(依据)the scientists，which of the following groups of food is the healthiest for your lunch？

　　A. Chicken, apples, cereal and cabbages. 　　B. Potatoes, carrots, rice and bread.

　　C. Oranges, bananas, fish and tomatoes. 　　D. Beef, pork, fish and milk,

　　2.It is important for people to eat ______.

　　A.three times a day 　　B. dinner at twelve o'clock

　　C. cooked food all the time 　D. something from each of the seven kinds of food every day

　　3.People in different countries and different places of the world ____ .

　　A. have the right kinds of food to eat 　B. cook their food in the same way

　　C. have their meals at the same time 　D. eat food in different ways

　　4.Which of the following is not true？

　　A. People in some places don't have enough to eat. B. There are too many people in the world.

　　C. One of the problems is that no one is hungry.

　　D. The scientists are trying to make people grow to be strong and healthy.

　　5.If there is Paragraph (段落) 4, what do you think is going to be talked about？

　　A. When people eat their lunch.　　B. What to do with the two problems.

　　C. How to cook food in different ways.　　D. Why people eat different kinds of food.

　　Passage 28

　　What do Napoleon, Clinton and Wang Nan have in common? They are all left-handed.

　　Today, about 15% of the number of people is left-handed. But why are people left-handed? The answer is the way the brain (大脑) works. The brain has two halves---- the right half controls the left side of the body, and the left controls the right side of the body. So right-handed people have a strong left-brain and left-handed people have a strong right brain.

　　The two halves of he brain are about the same size. But each side controls different things. The left side controls language, math and logical (逻辑的). When you remember new words, or when you put things in order, you use your left side.

　　The right side of the brain controls your love of art, colors and music. It is also good at recognizing (识别) faces.

　　This does not mean that all artists are left-handed and all accountants (会计) are right-handed. Some right-handers have a strong right brain, and some left-handers have a strong left-brain.

　　1.The phrase “in common” in the first sentence means ______.

　　A. the same B. different C. strange D. interesting

　　2.People who are right-handed or left-handed are mostly decided by ______.

　　A. their parents B. their minds 　C. the way the brain works D. the way the head works

　　3.Each side of the brain ______.

　　A. likes music and math B. controls different things C. controls the same thing D. has two halves

　　4.When you are singing, you are using your _____.

　　A. logic thinking B. heart C. left brain D. right brain

　　Passage 29

　　Before you use your new microwave oven, read the instructions carefully. Each oven has its own control panel (控制板), but most microwave ovens operate in a similar way. Look at the control panel shown here. It shows the time at the top of the panel. Under the time are the different functions(功能).You can press (按) Defrost, Cook, Clock, or Power. You can also warm food by pressing Reheat Times.

　　Under the functions are the numbers. These numbers are shown as on telephone, from zero through nine. You can press the numbers to set the cooking time in seconds or minutes. Under the numbers are Start and Clear.

　　A microwave oven will automatically (自动的) cook on HIGH (power level 10) unless you enter a lower power level. Suppose (假设)you want to cook a serving of broccoli for two minutes and forty-five seconds on MEDIUM power (level 5). First, press the numbers 2, 4 and 5 (two minutes, forty-five seconds). Then press Power. Next, press the number 5. At last, press Start to begin cooking. If you make a mistake, press Clear. This will clear the display and allow you to start over again.

　　阅读短文，然后根据其内容回答下列问题。　

　　1.What is the main idea of the passage?

　　______________________________

　　2.What functions does a microwave oven have?

　　______________________________

　　3.How would you cook green beans for two minutes and thirty seconds at power level 7?

　　___________________________________________________________________

　　4.What is the last function you press each time you set the controls?

　　______________________________

　　5.What does “Clear” allow you to do when you press it?

　　______________________________

　　Passage 30

　　No one knows why we sleep, but it’s certain that we need to. People who are prevented from sleeping begin to suffer obvious effects after a few days—they think less clearly, and they fall asleep during the working hours.

　　There are no rules about sleep. Generally speaking, grown-ups sleep about 7 and a half hours each night and probably more than 60 percent get between seven and eight hours. But perhaps eight percent are quite happy with 5 hours or less, and four percent or so find that they want ten hours or more. If you feel all right, you’re probably getting enough sleep. The important thing is not to worry how much other people get—their needs may be different. Exercise doesn’t seem to increase the need for sleep—office workers, for example, sleep for about as long as people doing physically active work.

　　Children sleep more than grown-ups—perhaps 14 to 18 hours soon after birth, going down to grown-up levels by early teenage (青少年). Sleep patterns also tend (倾向) to be different in the old people, who may sleep less at night than they did when younger, find sleep getting more broken, and often make it a rule to sleep during the daytime.

　　1.Some people can’t think clearly because _______.

　　A. they have bad memory B. they feel sleepy during the working hours

　　C. they don’t have enough sleep D. they are certain to be kept from going to bed

　　2.Whether you have got enough sleep is judged (判断) by _______.

　　A.how many hours you have slept B. how many hours you need to sleep

　　C. if you do exercise and physical work D. if you feel fresh energetic

　　3.According to the passage, a boy of 14 years old sleeps _____.

　　A.as long hours as a grown-up　　B.much longer hours than a grown-up

　　C.for 14 hours each night　　D.for less than 8 hours each night

　　4.Which of the following is True?

　　A.All grown-ups much have at least eight-hour sleep.

　　B.Most of grown-ups sleep for seven or eight hours.

　　C.Quite a few people need only 5 hours or less for them to sleep.

　　D.No grown-ups sleep more than ten hours.

　　Passage 31

　　Some people want to be sent into space after their death, others want to lie deep under the sea. But most people want to go into the freezer (冷藏库). These are believers in cryogenics (低温冷冻学).

　　Now some diseases can't be cured, but they may be cured sometime in the future. So some people hope that their bodies can be frozen after they die. When a cure is found，warm up his or her body, bring it back to life and take the cure. Once the body is frozen, it is kept in liquid nitrogen(液态氮)at a temperature of 328 degrees below zero.

　　Now around a thousand people are going to take cryogenic treatment (处理), though most scientists say it won't work. If we freeze huge creatures(生物)like humans, every one of their cells(细胞)will be broken. Can they be brought back to life in the future？

　　阅读短文，然后根据其内容回答下列问题。

　　1.Where do most people hope that their bodies are kept after their death？

　　___________________________________

　　2.Why do they want the world to keep their bodies well？

　　3.How do scientists usually keep a dead man's body？

　　4.How many people are going to take cryogenic treatment after they die？

5.Can a man who died of cancer come back to life in the future if his body is frozen？Why？

Section III 科普小品篇答案与解析

　　Passage 23　　【答案与解析】本文介绍了科学家对阿斯匹林的研究成果。实验表明，阿斯匹林可以预防或削弱老年人患心脏病的危险，但实际的效果和服用者的饮食有一定的关系。研究人员说，服用可药品要遵医嘱。

　　1. D。短文首段的末句“…sharply reduce the chance that a healthy, older man will suffer from a heart attack.”即是本题答案的出处.

　　2.D。注意“…reduce the chance that a healthy, older man will suffer from a heart attack .”本句中的healthy, older这两个词，即可得出答案。

　　3.A。文章最后一段是说，尽管的这种新用途对病人很有帮助，但患者在使用时必须格外小心，一定要严遵医嘱。

　　4. B。根据“239 men who did not take aspirin suffered from heart attacks. Twenty-six of them died.”一句中的239和26这两个数字即可算出。

　　Passage 24　　【答案与解析】这篇科普说明文通过一个简易的小实验，证实了人的眼睛里有一个盲点。当外界物体的影像落在盲点上时，人就看不见该物体了。

　　1.A。仔细品读文章首句的意思，可知答案只能是A。

　　2.C。“…But if you move the card nearer to your face, the letter will be seen again”，由这几个句子的意思可知字母L在眼睛中消失了。注意消失和消散的区别。

　　3.B。答案在“When the image of the letter falls on the blind spot, it won’t be seen.”中。

　　4.D。根据第二段的意思可知，此实验的顺序是：先制作一张卡片—在上面写上两个字母—拿起卡片—闭上右眼—看到字母R—让卡片离眼睛再近些。故答案是D。

　　5.D。通篇考虑短文，可知D为最佳答案。这由文首一句及“…It is because there is a blind spot on the eye.”也可得出。

　　Passage 25　　【答案与解析】这篇短文告诉我们的是：天气的冷热干湿对人体健康有很大的影响。比如心脏病高发区所在地往往是严寒或酷热。大风或炎热天气里，人的智商会降低。瘦人怕冷天，而炎炎夏日对胖人又不利。此外，低气压还能导致健忘。

　　1.A。根据文章第二自然段的描述可知，冷湿天气对人的健康是有害的。

　　2.C。第三段的首句“The weather can also influence intelligence”说的就是这个意思。

　　3.A。本题属表层理解题。答案就在“Low air pressure may make people forgetful.”中。

　　4.D。由“People feel best at a temperature of about 18 centigrade.”一句可知。

　　5.B。根据文章最后的“Are you feeling sad, tired, forgetful, or unhappy today? It may be the

　　weather’s problem.”这一句，我们可以推测出作者的写作意图。

　　Passage 26　　【答案与解析】这篇阅读材料向我们介绍了气象卫星在预报天气中所发挥的重要作用。如今，许多国家的气象站都是在接收到卫星云图后，由气象学家进行研究分析，然后预报天气的。在卫星的帮助下，人们可以预测未来三五天或更长时间内的天气状况。

　　1.A。本题属表层理解题。短文首句即是答案之所在。

　　2.D。“From the pictures，the scientists can often say how the weather will change.”是该小题答案的出处。

　　3.D。答案就在“the meteorologists compare them with earlier ones. Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours. This may mean that the weather on the ground may soon change, too.”中。

　　4.D。文章结尾的“Soon, perhaps, they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead.”这句即是答案之所在。

　　5.C。短文首句即点明了主旨。

　　Passage 27　　【答案与解析】这篇短文分为三个落：第一段列举了科学家研究了人们每天要吃的食物；第二段讲述了不同国家的人们饮食习惯和饮食结构等各方面有很大差异。但这些对人来说都没不是很重要的，重要的是每天吃什么。第三段阐述了两个问题：如何解决世界人口的吃饭问题，既要吃饱，又要吃得健康。

　　1.A。本题属表层理解题。由第一段科学家建议七大类食品可知答案非A莫属。

　　2.D。由“The important thing is what you eat every day.”及第一段的内容可知D是正确答案。而根据第二段可知A、B、C皆为错误的。

　　3.D。第二段开头的“People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things. Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways.”这两句是解答本题的关键。

　　4.C。根据第三段所讲的内容，C项显然是错误的。

　　5. B。A、C和D都是在上文刚刚谈论过的，又根据第三段“There are two problems, then, in feeding the large number of people on the earth.”所提的两个问题，可以推知下文可能要谈论

　　如何解决这两个问题。故答案为B。

　　Passage 28　　【答案与解析】该短文的大意是：百分之十五的人习惯于使用左手进行工作。这是因为大脑的工作方式造成的。人的两个大脑半球大小相差无几，但各有分工。左半球掌管语言、数学和逻辑等；右半球则控制艺术、颜色和音乐等。惯用左手的人，他们的大脑左半球相比右脑更发达些。不过这也不是绝对的。

　　1.A。本小题有一定的难度，但考虑到短文首句的后的“They are all left-handed”一句还是可以推测出来正确答案的。

　　2.C。“The answer is the way the brain works.”，本句是解答该题的关键。

　　3.B。第三段是本题答案之所在。

　　4. D。“唱歌”属于艺术类，根据“The right side of the brain controls your love of art, colors and

　　music.”这句话，显然可知答案为D。

　　Passage 29　【答案与解析】这篇科学说明文浅显的文字，介绍了微波炉的构造并详细讲述了它的操作使用方法。

　　1.It tells us how to use a new microwave oven。由文首的“Before you use your new microwave oven, read the instructions carefully”，可以得到本文的主旨是“讲述微波炉的使用方法”。2.Defrost, cook or warm food。短文末句的 “Under the time are the different functions (功能).You can press (按) Defrost, Cook, Clock, or Power. You can also warm food by pressing Reheat Times.”这句话是答案的出处。

　　3.First, press the number 2, 3, and 0. Then press Power. Next press the number 7. Finally press Start to begin cooking. 由短文中的“Suppose (假设)you want to cook a serving of broccoli for two minutes and forty-five seconds on MEDIUM power (level 5). First, press the numbers 2, 4 and 5 (two minutes, forty-five seconds). Then press Power. Next, press the number 5.”可以知道若是需要两分钟四十秒的时间来做菜的话，则是这样来操作。由此可知要是做豆角的话，需要用时两分钟三十秒，则应按2，3，0这三个钮。再根据前面的说明，可不难找到答案。

　　4. Start. 由“Under the numbers are and Clear.”和“At last, press Start to begin cooking.”可知这是答案的出处。

　　5.It will clear the display and allow you to start over again. 这是文章最后讲的一层意思，答案即在“If you make a mistake, press Clear. This will clear the display and allow you to start over again.”一句中。

　　Passage 30　　【答案与解析】睡觉要占去人一生三分之一左右的时间。人为什么要睡觉？这个问题一直使人们，包括科学家在内，都困惑不解。本文向读者介绍了不同年龄层次的人们，睡眠的需求也不尽相同。

　　1.C.A、B两个答案是睡眠的结果而不是导致人们思维不清的主要原因，故不能选，D也不能说明原因。由第二段我们知道，睡眠不足是引起人们思维混乱的根本原因。

　　2.B.短文的第二段有交待：60%以上的成年人大约睡7-8小时。

　　3.D.判断人们是否得到足够的睡眠不是根据睡眠时间的长短而是人们是否精神焕发地去从事一天的工作与学习。

　　4.A.14岁的孩子属于early teenage. 他们的睡眠时间与成年人相同。故答案为A。

　　Passage 31

　　【答案与解析】这篇小品文的意思是：有很多人希望死后被送进冷藏库，将尸体保存在零下320度的液态氮中。等将来医疗条件允许，可以治愈时，再解冻，接受治疗，就可以死回生了。尽管科学家们对此想法表示怀疑，仍有一千多人打算接受低温处理。

　　1.In the freezer. 答案就在“But most people want to go into the freezer.”这句话中。但要注意most一词方能正确解答。

　　2.They hope that they can come back to life one day. “…When a cure is found, warm up his or her body，bring it back to life and take the cure.”是答题的依据。

　　3.They usually keep it in liquid nitrogen at a temperature of 328 degrees below zero. 显然，答案出自“Once the body is frozen, it is kept in liquid nitrogen(液态氮)at a temperature of 328 degrees below zero.”这句话中。

　　4.Around 1000 people. 本题属表层理解题。由“Now around a thousand people are going to take cryogenic treatment(处理)，though most scientists say it won't work.”可知，

　　5.No，he can't. “…Because every one of his cells will be broken.” “…it won't work. If we freeze huge creatures(生物)like humans, every one of their cells(细胞)will be broken.”是答案的出处。