71. The author presents this passage by　　　 .　

A. telling an interesting story　　　　　　　　 B. describing an activity in a lively way

C. testing an idea by reasoning　　　　　　　 D. introducing a practical method

答案　 68.C　 69.B　 70.A　 71.D

Passage 12

(09·湖南C篇)

People diet to look more attractive. Fish diet to avoid being beaten up, thrown out of their social group, and getting eaten as a result. That is the fascinating conclusion of the latest research into fish behavior by a team of Australian scientists.

The research team have discovered that subordinate fish voluntarily diet to avoid challenging their larger competitors. “In studying gobies we noticed that only the largest two individuals, a male and female, had breeding (繁殖) rights within the group,” explains Marian Wong. “All other group members are nonbreeding females, each being 5-10% smaller than its next largest competitor. We wanted to find out how they maintain this precise size separation.”

The reason for the size difference was easy to see. Once a subordinate fish grows to within 5-10% of the size of its larger competitor, it causes a fight which usually ends in the smaller goby being driven away from the group. More often than not, the evicted fish is then eaten up.

It appeared that the smaller fish were keeping themselves small in order to avoid challenging the boss fish. Whether they did so voluntarily, by restraining how much they ate, was not clear. The research team decided to do an experiment. They tried to fatten up some of the subordinate gobies to see what happened. To their surprise, the gobies simply refused the extra food they were offered, clearly preferring to remain small and avoid fights, over having a feast.

The discovery challenges the traditional scientific view of how boss individuals keep their position in a group. Previously it was thought that large individuals simply used their weight and size to threaten their subordinates and take more of the food for themselves, so keeping their competitors small.

While the habits of gobies may seem a little mysterious, Dr. Wong explains that understanding the relationships between boss and subordinate animals is important to understanding how hierarchical (等级的) societies remain stable.

The research has proved the fact that voluntary dieting is a habit far from exclusive to humans. “As yet, we lack a complete understanding of how widespread the voluntary reduction of food intake is in nature,” the researchers comment. “Data on human dieting suggests that, while humans generally diet to improve health or increase attractiveness, rarely does it improve long-term health and males regularly prefer females that are fatter than the females’ own ideal.”

70. Which of the following pictures best shows the way of finding the direction of south?

69. The passage would probably be most helpful to　　　 .　

A. those who draw maps　　　　　 B. those who get lost

C. those who make compasses　　　 D. those who do experiments

68. To find the direction, we ought to be patient probably because

A. it is not easy to find a proper stick　　　 B. it is not easy to position the stick

C. it takes hours to make the marks　　　 　D. it takes about half an hour to make the marks

75. What is the main idea of the passage?

　A. Science and its applications bring us many dangers.

　B. The development of science mostly lies in people's attitudes.

　C. Mankind can largely take control of science with their efforts.

D. The future of science will be influenced by the dangerous ideas.

答案　 72.B　 73.C　 74.D　 75.B

Passage 11

(09·福建D篇)

Find Which Direction Is South

Do you have a good sense of direction? If not, please take with you a compass. But if you forget to take a compass, you can still find your way.　

It’s never a good idea to imagine that the family member who was entrusted(委托)with the job of map-reading actually knows where the family is. You can tell by the slightly confused load on their faces that nothing on the ground seems to match the map. Never mind. The shu is shining and it’s still morning. If you don’t know the exact time, you can still find out where south is, but you’ll need to be patient.　

①Find a straight sick and put it in the ground in a place where you can mark its shadow.　

②Try to position the stick as vertically(垂直)as you can. You can check this by making a simple plumb line (铅锤线)with a piece of string and weight. You haven’t got any string? OK, use a thread from your clothes with a button tied at the end to act as a weight.　

③Mark the end of the shadow cast by the stick.　

④Wait approximately half an hour and mark the end of the shadow again.　

⑤Keep doing this until you have made several marks.　

⑥The mark nearest the stick will represent the shortest shadow, which is cast at midday, when the sun is highest in the sky and pointing to the exact south.　

⑦Pick a point in the distance along the line between the shortest shadow and the stick.　

⑧That point is south of where you are.　

⑨Now you can turn the map, like you did before, and find which way you should be travelling.　

74. The discussion should reach beyond scientific societies because_______

　A. scientists have failed to predict the outcomes

　B. the ties between different areas need strengthening

　C. united efforts are necessary for the development of science

　D. people need to work together to prevent the bad use of science

73. According to the passage , what will happen if we hold that science is getting beyond control?

　A. The development of science will hopelessly slow down.

　B. Businesses will have even greater influence on science.

　C. The public will lose faith in bringing about a bright future.

　D. People will work more actively to put science under control.

72. What can we conclude from the recent study?

　A. People think highly of science.

　B. People hold mixed opinions about science.

　C. Science is getting dangerously out of control.

　D. Science is used for both good and bad purposes.

67. The author writes the passage to_______.

　A. show us the function of major sports

　B. encourage us to go in for green sports

　C. discuss the major influence of popular sports

　D. introduce different types of environment-friendly sports

答案　 64.A　 65.B　 66.C　 67.B

Passage 10

(09·重庆E篇)

A recent study, while showing a generally positive attitude toward science, also suggests a widespread worry that it may be “running out of control”, This idea is dangerous.

　Science can be a force for evil as well as for good. Its applications can be channeled either way, depending on our decisions. The decisions we make, personally or collectively, will determine the outcomes of science. But here is a real danger. Science is advancing so fast and is so strongly influenced by businesses that we are likely to believe whatever decisions we come to will make little difference. And, rather than fighting for the best possible policies, we may step back and do nothing.

　Some people go even further. They say that despite the moral and legal objections(反对), whatever is scientifically possible will be done-somewhere , sometime. They believe that science will get out of control in the end. This belief is dangerous too, because it fuels a sense of hopelessness and discourages then from making efforts to build a safer world.

　In our interconnected world, the lack of agreement in and out of the world of science can lead to the failure to control the use of science. Without a common understanding, the challenges of “controlling” science in this century will be really tough. Take human cloning for example. Despite the general agreement among scientists on its possible huge impact(影响) on traditional moral values, some countries still go ahead with the research and development of its related techniques. The outcomes are hard to predict.

　Therefore, discussions on how science is applied should be extended far beyond scientific societies. Only through the untied efforts of people with hope, can we be fully safe against the misuse of science and can science best serve mankind in the future.

66. The author uses power walking as an example mainly because______.

　A. it is an outdoor sport

　B. it improves our health

　C. it uses fewer resources

　D. it is recommended by experts