题目内容

【题目】Some people are like homing pigeons: Drop them off anywhere, and they’ll find their way around. Other people, though, can’t tell when they’re holding a map upside down. Are the directionally challenged just bad learners?

Not all of your navigational (导航的)skills are learned. Research shows that your sense of direction is innate. An innate ability is something you are born with. Your brain has special navigational neurons—head-direction cells, place cells, and grid cells (网格细胞)—and they help program your inside compass when you’re just a baby.

In 2010, scientists carried out an experiment to study baby rats’ neural activity in their brains. Although the rats were newborns, the researchers discovered that their head-direction cells (which help them recognize the direction they’re facing) were fully grown and developed. The rats, it seemed, were born with a sense of direction. And they hadn’t even opened their eyes yet!

Humans, of course, are not rats. But the hippocampus—the brain area we use for navigation—is similar in most mammals. If the rat’s compass develops this way, then it’s likely that a human’s compass does, too.

If we’re born with a sense of direction, then why are some people so good at getting lost? The scientists found that the two other cells—place and grid cells—developed within the first month. Place cells are thought to help us form a map in our mind, while grid cells help us navigate new and unfamiliar places. The two cells work together, and that’s where the trouble might be.

People who took part in a 2013 study played a video game that required them to travel quickly between different places. Monitoring their brains, the scientists found that grid cells helped the gamers recognize where they were—even without landmarks. According to researcher Michael Kahana, differences in how grid cells work may help explain why some people have a better sense of direction than others.

【1】What did the 2010 research find?

A. Rats have a natural ability to recognize directions.

B. Rats’ hippocampus is different from that of humans.

C. Rats usually find their way without opening their eyes.

D. Baby rats have as many head-direction cells as grown-ups.

【2】What do we know about our navigational neurons?

A. Place cells let us know how to read a map.

B. Grid cells help us reach the place we are going to.

C. They help us use a compass when we lose our way.

D. Place and grid cells grow later than head-direction cells.

【3】Why are some people so good at getting lost?

A. They can’t remember landmarks.

B. Their grid cells can’t work very well.

C. They are unfamiliar with new places.

D. Their ability to follow directions is poor.

【4】What is the text mainly about?

A. Human navigational skills.

B. The compass in rats’ body.

C. Why grid cells are useful.

D. How homing pigeons work.

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】B

【4】A

【解析】

试题分析:本文属于科普类短文,有些人天生就可以识别方向不会迷路,但另外一些人却经常会迷失方向。文章通过介绍一项对老鼠的实验结果告诉我们人的方向感是天生就有的,有些人迷路是因为grid cells所起效果不好。

【1】A 细节理解题。根据第三段后两句The rats, it seemed, were born with a sense of direction. And they hadn’t even opened their eyes yet!可知刚刚出生的老鼠就已经有了明确的方向感,说明老鼠识别方向的能力是天生的。故A正确。

【2】D 细节理解题。根据第五段第二句The scientists found that the two other cells—place and grid cells—developed within the first month.可知place and grid cells是在出生以后第一个月里形成的。而head-direction cells是天生就有的,也就是说place and grid cells晚于head-direction cells。故D项正确。

【3】B 推理判断题。根据第五段第三句中.....while grid cells help us navigate new and unfamiliar places.可知grid cells帮助我们确定新的不熟悉的地方。人们会迷路就是因为grid cells没有很好地发挥作用。故B项正确。

【4】A 主旨大意题。本文属于科普类短文,有些人天生就可以识别方向不会迷路,但另外一些人却经常会迷失方向。文章通过介绍一项对老鼠的实验结果告诉我们人的方向感是天生就有的,有些人迷路是因为grid cells所起效果不好。所以A项“Human navigational skills”符合文章的中心思想。

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【题目】No one can deny China’s efforts to reach for the sky.

At one kilometer high, the two Phoenix Towers planned for Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province in central China, will be the tallest in the world if completed on schedule in 2017.

The towers will also be pink, crazily futuristic and environmentally friendly.

Designed to sit on an island in a lake, the largest of the towers will stand 172 meters taller than Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

“We were asked to create an iconic building for Wuhan, which embodies a strong environmental and social content as well as reflecting Chinese tradition,” Laurie Chetwood of UK-based design firm Chetwoods Architects told CNN.

The design is inspired by dualism(二元论) in Chinese culture-the traditional Chinese phoenix symbol of the two birds, Feng and Huang, as well as the idea of yin and yang.

Feng and Huang, or phoenix, are a pair of mythical birds in Chinese culture traditionally used to denote royalty.

Three large spheres containing restaurants will be accessible via suspended “skywalks” between the two towers.

The spheres “represent planets orbiting the towers”, according to the designers.

The larger building will also have the unlikely boast of housing the world’s tallest kaleidoscope(万花筒) driven by a wind turbine(涡轮机).

A commercial square at the towers’ base will meet China’s growing demand for cultural tourism.

“You’ll have a French street, a Japanese street, a Turkish street, and so forth… to allow people to see the world without necessarily having to leave China,” Chetwood told the Guardian.

The towers are designed /span>to have green features such as pollution-absorbing surfaces to filter the city’s air as well as technology to filter the water.

The towers are designed to be able to produce enough power to fulfill their own needs and those of neighboring areas.

“If you work in the UK, if you come up with anything that’s off the wall ( 有点出格的) or slightly out there, you sort of get kicked back,” Chetwood said. In China it goes the other way- they ask for a bit more. That’s a stimulating experience for a designer.”

【1】Which of the following about the two Phoenix Towers is TRUE?

A. Their inspiration comes from Chinese culture.

B. At present they are the tallest in the world.

C. They will be surrounded by three ground-level spheres.

D. People will have a taste of foreign flavors inside the spheres.

【2】According to Laurie Chetwood in the last paragraph, China’s response to new ideas is _________.

A. doubtful B. negative

C. cautious D. enthusiastic

【3】This article focuses on the _________ of the two Phoenix Towers.

A. appearances B. construction

C. features D. height

【4】 Which would be the best title for the passage?

A. The Phoenix Towers: Pink and controversial.

B. The Phoenix Towers: Super tall and green.

C. The Phoenix Towers: Work of a Great Architect.

D. The Phoenix Towers: Work of China-UK cooperation.

【题目】七选五

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

How to teach a child to respect

As a child grows out of being an baby and begins to notice and react to the world around him, you may find yourself wondering how you possibly impart (传授) all of the things that he needs to become a responsible, respectful adult. 【1】 A child who learns to respect all he meets not only receives respect from others, but also learns to respect himself as well. Here are some instructions.

Show your child respect. This is perhaps the best way to teach your child how to respect others. Listen to your child by giving him your full attention and he will learn to listen to you, understanding how important this is in communication.

2 The more you say “please” and “thank you” to your child, the more likely he will learn to use them with you and others. Politeness then becomes a normal part of any conversation.

Agree to disagree. 3 Explain your decision so that he will understand your reasoning and expect respectful responses. Disagreeing with you doesnt equate to disobedience (违抗).

Control your impulse (冲动) to overact. When a situation arises between you and your child that requires calmness, keep in mind that you are supposed to be modeling correct behavior. 4

Praise, praise, praise! So much is focused on what a child does wrong and how to correct it that the accomplishments are not celebrated enough.5】.

A. Teach manners by using polite requests and responses.

B. Try to remember that a child won’t always agree with you.

C. Respect is necessary for a meaningful and successful life.

D. If he sees you lose your temper, he is more likely to respond that way in future.

E. A child may act like he pleases, but will respect being given limits.

F. When you see your child exhibit respectful behavior, make sure he knows just how proud you are of him.

G. Setting a good example is the best way to start a child on the path to respect.

【题目】

The Post Office in Britain is famous for getting letters and parcels to places to which they should be sent. The problem is that we the public have to observe the rules. For example, we must put a stamp on a letter. If we don’t, the receiver will have to pay double. We often see the sign ALL LETTERS MUST BE CORRECTLY ADDRESSED. These days, this means having to use postcodes. If you didn’t use a postcode, it’s no good complaining that your letter should have arrived sooner. Parcels are a problem because they must be correctly packaged. If Aunt Sophie is going to send you a jar of your favorite jam, she will have to wrap it up well. The most important thing we have to do is to address our letters and parcels legibly(易读) and correctly. This means clear handwriting and correct spelling. What we should do and what we actually do are often miles apart. Recently, the Post Office had to deliver a letter which showed a name followed by the word Arijaba. What is this, do you think? Arabic? Hiodustani(兴都斯坦语)? Wrong both times! Say it out loud and you’ll see it’s just plain English. HARWICH HARBOUR

【1】In England _______ if you forget to put on a stamp.

A. nobody can receive your letter

B. you will have to give some money as a punishment

C. you can’t have your letter posted

D. you can still have your letter posted

2If you didn’t use a postcode, _______.

A. your letter couldn’t arrive soon

B. your letter would be surely lost

C. your letter could not be posted

D. your letter would be sent back at last

3When we post parcels, we must _______.

A. address them correctly

B. address them clearly

C. package them correctly

D. all of the above

4From the passage we can see that postmen _______.

A. have no difficulty in delivering any letters

B. have difficulty in delivering mis-spelt letters

C. won’t deliver any letters with bad handwriting

D. can deliver all letters to their destinations(目的地)

【题目】阅读下面材料,在空白处填入适当的内容(不多于3个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

What is the most popular communication tool today? 【1】_______your answer is QQ or MSN, I must say you are a bit old fashioned. Today ,a new form of communication “Wechat”, which 【2】__________ (own) a Chinese name Weixin, is becoming the most influential text and useful tool all over the world.

What advantages do Wechat have? First, Wechat is 【3】________relative cheap way of communication; that is to say, it uses network traffic instead of telephone fare. Next, we can know 【4】__________is going on at any time. And we can have 【5】__________ (easy) access(通道) to information available than other messaging tools.

What roles does it play 【6】__________ our daily life? According to the latest report, the registered (登记的) users on Wechat platform has topped 200 million and expanded its business to overseas market. Can you imagine that a mobile phone “app” is so 【7】____________(attract) that it reaches 200 million users within 8 months? Wechat itself has become the most popular mobile chat application in the world. A large 【8】________ of people have become “Wechataholic”, which means they keep staring at the mobile phone all the time and can’t live without 【9】___________.

However, while enjoying its great convenience, people should not ignore the danger of 【10】___________ (cheat), for information on Wechat is publicly known.

【题目】

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Organizing Your Time

You can set a budget for your time just as you can set a budget for your money. Since you’re trying to reduce worry rather than increase it, go into this process with a focus on maximizing(使……最大化) your personal time, rather than cramming(塞满) as much as you can into each day.

●Set a sleep schedule. 1 Give yourself a one-hour target window for bedtime in the evening, and set a strict time to get up in the morning. Be sure that the space between your bedtime and the start of your day gives you roughly an hour more than the amount of sleep you actually need. 2

●Take care of tasks at the same time every day. Plan time for daily health care, commuting(乘公交下上班), work, shopping, eating, and chores(家务). Add in time for anything else you do most days, such as homework, exercise, or an active hobby. 3 All the time left over is your free time, to use for relaxation or whatever else you want.

4 For example, you might plan to go, dropping on your way home from work, to save the extra trip.

For many people, an irregular work schedule make this kind of budgeting difficult. 5

A.However, you can still plan to work around your schedule in the same order every day.

B.Stick to it,even on weekends.

C.Try to combine trips outside the home to maximize your free time.

D.Different days call for different approaches.

E.Therefore, you won’t lay down and start worrying about whether or not you’ll fall asleep on time.

F.Sit comfortably and focus on your breathing until the rest of your thoughts become quiet.

G.Put them in a specific order that works for you.

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