69. In paragraph 2, the underlined word “marvel” is closest in meaning to _____.

A. edge　　　 　　　　B. sign　　　 　　　　C. beginning　　　 　　D. wonder

68.According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany decreased?

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 number of plants.

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

67. Which of the following assumptions(假设)about early humans is expressed in the passage?

A. They probably had wide knowledge of plants.

B. They clearly divided knowledge into separate fields

C. They did not enjoy the study of botany.

D. They placed great importance on ownership of property.

54. What can we know from the last paragraph?

　 A. Hulbert thinks evolution explains why people prefer blue.

　 B. Hulbert has a strong desire for “savannah days”.

　 C. Blue is a natural signal of many good things

　 D. While boys like blue, girls like pink.

答案　 51.D　 52.B　 53.C　 54.A

Passage 11

(江苏省金坛一中2009届高三5月模拟E篇)

Botany, the study of plants, plays a strange role in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was one field about which humans had little knowledge. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age Ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of preindustrial societies that still exists, a detailed learning of plants and their properties(特征)must be very ancient. This is reasonable. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been greatly important to the good of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, medicines, housing, and a great many other purposes. Tribes(部落)living today in the woods of the Amazon recognize 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 relation with plants, and the less clear our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on a surprising amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose or an apple. When our New Stone Age ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10 000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer production the next season, the first great step in a new connection of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel of agriculture: planted 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 collected knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relations with plants in the wild would begin to disappear.

53. By saying “ the Chinese students for red.” In Para. 5, the writer means_____.

　 A. red is the Chinese students’ favorite color

　 B. the Chinese prefer red more than the British

　 C. culture influences people’s color preferences

　 D. the study was carried out by two nations

52. It can be inferred that the underlined word “ fuchsia”_____.

　 A. is probably a kind of toy

　 B. is probably pink in color

　 C. can be only found in Africa

　 D. hardly causes men’s interest

51. The passage mentions “ the African savannah” to show that_____.

　 A. the ancient Africa was a a beautiful place

　 B. human beings lived in Africa at first

　 C. women and men have different color preference

　 D. color preference has its historical origins

71. From the passage, we can know that the most important thing to improve your SQ is　　　 .

　A. a peaceful mind　　 B. deep thought　 C. spare time and hobbies　 D. good spirits

答案　 68.B　 69.A　 70.D　 71.A

Passage 10

(湖北省黄冈中学2009届高三五月适应性考试(B卷)A篇)

Girls really prefer pink and boys prefer blue, recent research shows.

The reasons could have its origins in the hunt for food on the African savannah(稀树草原) thousands of years ago. Evolution may have developed women’s preference for pink, perhaps because it helped to find ripe fruit and healthy men with reddish faces, while both men and women have a natural desire for blue, according to scientists at Newcastle University.

“ Everyone in today’s western culture, from parents to toy manufactures, seems to assume that little girls like pink.” Said Prof. Anya Hulbert, who wanted to find out whether the reason was cultural or to do with biology.

A love of salmon, fuchsia and coral does seem to be rooted into females, rather than picked up from their mothers.

The participants in the study were Chinese and British. The Chinese students showed a marked preference for red, “ Culture may contribute to this natural female preference,” said Pro. Hulbert.

In her experience, 208 young adult men and women were asked to select, as rapidly as possible, their preferred color. Hulbert and her colleague Dr. Yazhu Ling marked the results and found that while men preferred blue, women tended to choose pink.

Hulbert said she could only prefer about the preference for blue: “ Here again, I would favor evolutionary arguments. Going back to our savannah days, we would have a natural preference for a clear blue sky, because it signaled good weather. Clear blue also signals a good water source.”

70. The author mentions the example of Reverend Joan Carter to show that 　　　　　　.

　　 A. there are no immediate answers to your questions

B. e-mails can't keep working out a problem

　　 C. the more questions you ask, the better answers you'll get 　　　

D. changing your way of thinking might help you solve a problem

69. The underlined phrase "tune in to your spirit" in the third paragraph probably means to _____.

　　 A. get your spirit relaxed　　　　　　　　　 　 B. keep up your spirit

　　 C. keep seated quietly　　　　　　　　　　　 D. change your spirit