题目内容
They had some difficulty in working out the plan, so they ________ the discussion late into the night.
- A.went on
- B.kept on
- C.called on
- D.carried on
阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
第一节:(共15小题,每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When she flew into Athens on an unseasonably cold day in September, she quickly realized that she hadn’t brought enough warm clothes. Walking through the streets of the Greek capital, she happened to see a nice coat in a shop window and went in to ask about the price. The coat was too expensive, but as Christine was about to leave the shop, the woman asked her where she was from. When Christine answered Australia, the woman agreed to reduce the price because she knew a nice girl from Australia called Elena. Christine then noticed a photo of a young man standing next to a motorbike. Her eyes opened wide with astonishment. It was Nicos! Indeed the young man was Nicos, and the woman in the shop was Maria. She had come to Athens from Santorini to look after the shop for a friend.
Sadly, the story has a tragic ending. Nicos had been killed in a motorcycle accident.
“I wanted to tell Elena,” said Maria. “But I didn’t know how. Now that I have met you, I know that it’s time to tell her.”
【小题1】Elena went to Greece in order to visit .
A.her parents | B.Christine | C.Nicos. | D.her grandparents |
A.He had moved away. |
B.His mother forbade him to do so. |
C.He h ad died in an accident. |
D.They had lost touch with each other. |
A.They two had planned the talk before. | B.They met each other accidentally. |
C.They were business partners. | D.They recognized each other. |
Scientists have transformed men’s minds into a virtual(虚拟的)woman’s body in an experiment that could throw light upon how humans distinguish themselves form others.
In a study at Barcelona University, men wore a virtual reality headset that allowed them to see and hear the world as a female character. When they looked down, they could even see their new body and clothes.
The “body-swapping” effect was so convincing that the men’s sense of self was transferred into the virtual woman, causing them to react to events in the virtual world they were immersed(沉浸). “This work opens up another avenue for virtual reality, which is not just to transform your sense of place, but also your sense of self,” said Mel Slater, “If you can temporarily give people the illusion that their bodies are different, then the evidence suggests it also affects their behavior and the way they think. They can have new experiences: a person who is thin can know what it is like to be fat. A man can have an experience of what it’s like to be a woman.”
During the experiment, a “female” approached and hit the face of the character another man was playing. “Their reaction was immediate,” said Slate. “They would take in a quick breath and maybe flinch(退缩). The more people reported being in the girl’s body, the stronger physical reaction they had.” But in all cases, the feeling was temporary and lasted only as long as the study.
The study shows that our minds have a very fluid picture of our bodies. The research is expected to shed light on the puzzle of how our brain tells the difference between a part of our own body and something else in the wider world. Thus the work might improve the conditions for those who have experienced strokes by placing them in a world that helps them to use their bodies to the full again.
【小题1】How can a man’s mind get into a woman’s body?
A.by distinguishing themselves from women |
B.by taking part in an activity actively |
C.by wearing a special device(设备) |
D.by transforming his sense of place |
A.Men in the experiment can temporarily have the wrong feeling that they are women. |
B.When hit, the men in the virtual world will react angrily to it. |
C.As soon as the experiment is finished, the men will return to the normal state |
D.Probably, this study can be applied to medical fields and benefit humans. |
A.to introduce an interesting and advanced study |
B.to inform us of the latest development of virtual reality |
C.to illustrate the importance of virtual reality |
D.to build up our confidence to fight stroke |
B
What happens inside the skull of a soccer player when repeatedly heads a soccer ball? That question motivated a challenging new study of the brains of experienced players that has caused discussion and debate among soccer players, and some anxiety among those of us with soccer-playing children.
For the study, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York selected 34 adults, men and women. All of the volunteers had played soccer since childhood and now competed year-round in adult soccer leagues. Each filled out a detailed questionnaire developed especially for this study to determine how many times they had headed a soccer ball in the previous year, as well as whether they had experienced any known concussions (脑震荡) in the past.
Then the players completed computerized tests of their memory and other learning skills and had their brains scanned, using a complicated new M.R.I. technique which can find structural changes in the brain that can’t be seen during most scans.
According to the data they presented at Radiological Society of North America meeting last month, the researchers found that the players who had headed the ball more than about 1,100 times in the previous 12 months showed significant loss of white matter in parts of their brains involved with memory, attention and the processing of visual information, compared with players who had headed the ball fewer times.
This pattern of white matter loss is “similar to those seen in traumatic (外伤的) brain injury”, like that after a serious concussion, the researchers reported, even though only one of these players was reported to have ever experienced a concussion.
The players who had headed the ball about 1,100 times or more in the past year were also generally worse at recalling lists of words read to them, forgetting or fumbling the words far more often than players who had headed the ball less.
【小题1】The passage is most probably a ________.
A.news report | B.research report |
C.story for soccer players | D.text for doctors |
A.Computerized test | B.Questionnaire |
C.Scanning | D.M.R.I. technique |
A.significant effect on brain | B.little effect on one’s brain |
C.nothing to do with the brain injury | D.one’s memory improved |
A.Playing soccer frequently | B.Tests of their memory |
C.White matter loss | D.Information processing |
A.remembering | B.misunderstanding | C.recalling | D.missing |
Terraforming (Earth-forming) other planets, also known as planetary engineering (行星工程), seems like a task still centuries away for mankind to accomplish. However, it is a vigorous topic that attracts both popular and scientific interest. Why should the possibility of terraforming other planets be studied when it may be centuries before we know enough to even decide if it’s a good idea?
Mankind is getting more and more hard facts about other planets. The atmosphere of Venus has been explored; robots have surveyed the surface of Mars; Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn have been studied by spacecraft. Speculations have been answered; new questions have been raised, and enough hard data is right now becoming available to allow us to make the first attempt of planetary engineering.
In the past, people with excellent ideas about terraforming have kept them to themselves, or buried them in a desk drawer because they did not realize that anyone else was interested. But now, a wide circle of people has begun to do this kind of work. For instance, NASA funded a project on transforming Mars.
There are several strong reasons which demand that the possibilities of terraforming be studied carefully. First, it’s an exciting idea of a possible future for human beings. Such thinking has a valuable role in providing options for our future directions. Secondly, the techniques of terraforming will also help contemporary technologies in weather and climate control. Thirdly, such study may assist us in detecting any possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, 地外文明搜索) and alien (异己的) civilizations on other planets.
Though the mission is far beyond our reach at the moment, we should at least keep our options open. Through debate and study on this subject, the possibility of rebuilding other planets to make them suitable homes for people may come true some day in the future.
【小题1】.
. According to the context, what’s the meaning of the word “speculation” in paragraph 2?
A.The act of discussing something with a group of people. |
B.The act of studying and researching. |
C.The act of guessing without knowing all the facts about something. |
D.The acting of writing letters to a certain organization. |
Why did people keep the idea of terraforming to themselves in the past?
A.They thought no one else would show interest in the idea. |
B.They gradually came to find the idea crazy. |
C.They thought the idea would never come true. |
D.They had few resources for further study on this topic. |
. Which is NOT the reason to support the study of terraforming?
A.Even if we don’t succeed in terraforming, such study may help us to better understand technologies such as climate and weather control. |
B.Such study may explore a new direction of development for human beings. |
C.Such study may enable us to find the lives on other planets. |
D.As the resources on Earth are being drained, it’s very urgent to study how to migrate (迁移) to other planets。 |
What’s the main idea of the article?
A.It’s highly possible that terraforming other planets will come true so we should increase investing in this program. |
B.Even if the idea of terraforming other planets may take centuries to realize, we have many reasons to support such studies. |
C.Terraforming other planets is the best option for human being’s future. |
D.More and more people are taking planetary engineering as their occupation. |