Botany, the study of plants, occupies a special position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest (含糊的) of insight. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, eyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognized accurately hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of knowledge at all.

    Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer productions the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture; cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the built up knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relationship with plants in the wild would begin fade away.

Which of the following statements about early humans is expressed in the passage?

A. They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.

B. They thought there was no need to cultivate crops.

C. They did not enjoy the study of botany.

D. They placed great importance on the ownership of property.

What does the comment “This is logical.” In the first paragraph mean?

A. There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor’s knowledge of plants.

B. It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.

C. It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in pre-industrial societies.

D. Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.

According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany begun to fade?

A. People no longer value plants as a useful resource.

B. Botany is not recognized as a special branch of science.

C. Research is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of plants.

D. Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.

In the second paragraph, what is the author’s purpose in mentioning “ a rose, an apple, or an orchid”?

 A. To make the passage more poetic.

 B. To give an example of plant that are attractive.

 C. To give botanical examples that all readers will recognize.

 D. To explain the variety of botanical life.

According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the practice of agriculture?

A. The invention of agricultural tools and machinery.       

B. The development of a system of names for plants.

C. The discovery of grasses that could be harvested and replanted.

D. The changing diets of early humans. 

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so.  We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

The new products become more and more time-saving because         .

A. our love of speed seems never-ending            B. time is limited.

C. the prices are increasingly high.                 D. the manufactures boast a lot.

What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Imaginary life                              B. Simple life in the past.

C. Times of inventions                          D. Time for constant activity.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The present and past times.                   B. Machinery and human beings.

C. Modern technology and its influence.           D. Imaginations and inventions.        

 (10·江西D篇)

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boats (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so.  We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientist; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

68. The new products become more and more time-saving because         .

A. our love of speed seems never-ending

B. time is limited.

C. the prices are increasingly high.

D. the manufactures boast a lot.

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boats (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so.  We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientist; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.
There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.
【小题1】 The new products become more and more time-saving because        .

A.our love of speed seems never-endingB.time is limited.
C.the prices are increasingly high.D.the manufactures boast a lot.
【小题2】What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to ?
A.Imaginary lifeB.Simple life in the past.
C.Times of inventionsD.Time for constant activity.
【小题3】 What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?
A.CriticalB.Objective.C.Optimistic.D.Negative.
【小题4】 What does the passage mainly discuss?
A.The present and past times.B.Machinery and human beings.
C.Imaginations and inventions.D.Modern technology and its influence.

Botany (植物学) , the study of plants, occupies a particular position in the history of human knowledge.For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest (模糊的)) of insights.It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient.This is logical.Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things even for other plants.They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people not only for food but also for clothing, tools, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes.Tribes living today in the jungle of the Amazon recognize hundreds of plants and know many properties of each.To them, botany has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of "knowledge" at all.

Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become, the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge grows.Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose or an apple.When nor Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer fields the next season—the first, great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken.Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture: cultivated crops.From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild, and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience with plants in the wild would begin to fade away.

1.What does the writer mean when he says "This is logical" in the first paragraph?

    A.Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.

    B.It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.

    C.There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor's knowledge of plant.

    D.It is reasonable to assume our ancestors behave much like people in pre-industrial societies.

2.According to the passage, general knowledge of botany begun to fade away because ____.

    A.people no longer value plants as a useful resource

    B.direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased

    C.botany is not recognized as a special branch of science

    D.research is unable to keep up with the increasing number of plants

3.We learn that the first great step toward the practice of agriculture is____.

    A.the changing diets of early humans

    B.the development of a system of names for plants

    C.the invention of agricultural implements (工具) and machinery

    D.the discovery of certain grasses that could be harvested and replanted

4.Human would depend on the controlled production of a few plants for living with

    A.the knowledge of plants                     

B.the discovery of certain grasses

    C.the development of machinery           

D.the appearance of agriculture

 

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