第二部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15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。
If you are looking for a new pet, don’t even think about Komodo dragons, which are the largest lizards and can grow to be 10 feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds. Komodo dragons run fast and eat almost any kind of meat, including dead or live animals, other Komodo dragons and people. “These things are powerful killing machines,” says Bryan Fry, a biologist.
If those reasons aren’t good enough, consider the bite of a Komodo dragon. According to a new study, it may kill prey like snakes by injecting venom. This chemical, according to Fry and his team of scientists at the University of Melbourne in Australia, can cause shock in the unlucky victim. A person or animal goes into shock when the body can’t offer enough blood to organs to keep functioning. As a result, the body starts to shut down.
Scientists have only recently begun to understand why a Komodo dragon is so deadly. Some people used to believe that a Komodo dragon’s bite contained bacteria from the mouth that would cause a severe infection in the victim’s blood. The infection would finally kill the animal. Fry says that after being bitten by a Komodo dragon, animal usually die quickly.
After more studies, Fry and his team found that Komodo dragon venom contained some of the same ingredients as snake venom. These ingredients thin the blood and cause blood vessels to become larger. To test the venom, the scientists injected rats with it and observed that the rats became still.
Fry’s work shows that Komodo dragons kill their prey with venom, and not by bacteria — and gives us another reason why we should avoid coming across them. That is easy to do, since they live on a few islands in the tropical country of Indonesia.
41. From the passage we can learn that ______.
A. Komodo dragons live on a few islands of India
B. a Komodo dragon weighs more than 300 kilograms
C. a Komodo dragon is more than eleven feet long
D. nobody dares to keep a Komodo dragon as a pet
42. The underlined word “venom” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
A. the chemical that does no harm
B. a kind of way that kills its enemy
C. a kind of poisonous liquid of some animals
D. the gas which could cause death
43. Why does a victim get into shock after being injected?
A. He or it is too afraid to move about.
B. His or its organs can’t get enough blood.
C. His or its body was hurt and shuts down.
D. He or it is bitten and loses much blood.
44. Komodo dragons can’t easily hurt us because ______.
A. they are afraid of human beings
B. the venom in them is not so powerful
C. our blood can make them close to us
D. they only inhabit a few islands in Indonesia
When you close your eyes and try to think of the shape of your own body, what you imagine (or rather, what you feel) is quite different from what you see when you open your eyes and look in the mirror. The image you feel is much vaguer（模糊的） than the one you see. And if you lie still, it is quite hard to imagine yourself as having any particular size or shape.
When you move, when you feel the weight of your arms and legs and the natural resistance of the objects around you, the “felt” image of yourself starts to become clearer. It is almost as if it were created by your own actions and the feelings they cause.
The image you create for yourself has rather strange proportions（部分）; certain parts feel much larger than they look. If you get a hole in one of your teeth, it feels enormous; you are often surprised by how small it looks when you inspect it in the mirror.
Although the “felt” image may not have the shape you see in the mirror, it is much more important. It is the image through which you recognize your physical existence in the world. In spite of its strange proportions, it is all one piece, and since it has a consistent(前后一致的) right and left and atop and bottom, it allows you to locate new feelings when they occur. It allows you to find your nose in the dark and point to a pain.
If the felt image is damaged for any reason—if it is cut in half or lost as it often is after certain strokes （中风）which wipe out recognition of one entire side –these tasks become almost impossible. What is more, it becomes hard to make sense of one’s own visual appearance. If one half of the “felt” image is wiped out or injured, the patient stops recognizing the affected part of his body. It is hard for him to find the location of feelings on that side, and, although he feels the doctor’s touch, he locates it as being on the undamaged side.According to the passage the “felt” image the mirror image.
| A．is precisely the same as | B．is as clear as |
| C．often differens from | D．is always much smaller than |
Which the following staterants is NOT true?
| A．The felt Image is much more important because it helps you locate new feelings. |
| B．When you are in bed with your eyes closed, it is not easy to imagine your image. |
| C．When you move, the “felt” image of yourself starts to become clearer. |
| D．The “felt” image is not so important as the mirror image. |
If a man loses the ability to recognize his right side, .
| A．he can’t locate the doctor’s touch on his left side |
| B．he can’t locate the doctor’s touch on his right side |
| C．he loses his sense of touch on the left side |
| D．he loses feeling on both sides |
What is this passage mainly about?
| A．Stroke victims’“felt” images | B．Stroke victims’ mirror images. |
| C．The importance of “felt” images | D．The importance of mirror images. |
According to Andrew, it never would have happened if he had not had a flat tire on Highway 10 last night at about 7:30. He was on his way to attend a three-day sales meeting when he had the flat. tyre. Unfortunately, he did not have a spare, so he pushed the car off the road, locked it up, and managed to thumb a ride back to Pine Grove. It was after eleven o'clock when he finally got home, and it was then that his real problems started.
When Andrew left home at about 5:30, he had told his wife not to expect him back until Thursday or Friday. Knowing that his wife was nervous about staying in the house alone at night, Andrew took the precaution of checking all the windows in the house to be sure they were locked, so that he could report to his wife that the house was secure. He convinced his wife that the house was burglar-proof, and that she would be perfectly safe, providing she bolted （闩上）the front door as soon as he drove away.
Andrew's only thought as he made his way in the dark to his front door was how surprised his wife was going to be to see him, since he was not supposed to be back until Thursday or Friday. He had forgotten about the bolt on the front door. When he turned his key in the lock and the door wouldn't budge, he remembered the bolt. And he remembered that he had carefully locked all of the windows.
Although Andrew didn't know it at the time, a next-door neighbor had seen him approaching the house and had watched him go up the steps to the front door. In the dark, it was impossible for the neighbor to recognize Andrew, and, besides, the neighbor knew that Andrew had gone out-of-town for a three-day meeting. As a matter of fact, Andrew had asked the neighbor to keep an eye on the house while he was gone.
Finding that he couldn't get in, Andrew began pounding（砰砰地敲） on the front door to get his wife to open the door. According to Andrew, however, his wife is a very sound sleeper, and he knew it was going to be hard to wake her up. In the meantime, because of all the noise he had been making, the neighbor was convinced that somebody was trying to break into the house; so she called the police.
When we talked to Andrew at the country jail this morning, he said that he still didn't understand how the police managed to circle the house without his seeing them. He stated that he had decided the only way to get in was to break one of the dining room windows, and that he was about, to hurl his briefcase into the window to break it when two of the officers grabbed him from behind.
Andrew could not make the officers believe that he lived there; so they took him off to jail. Apparently, he did succeed in convincing them that they ought to wake up the woman in the house to check his story. But there was no answer when they knocked at the door. He tried to explain to them that his wife was a very sound sleeper, but they concluded there was nobody in the house. As Andrew had a flat tyre on the way, he .
| A．had to take another car to attend the meeting |
| B．rode on a bike to attend the meating |
| C．asked for a lift to go back home |
| D．borrowed a car to go back home |
When Andrew was approaching the house .
| A．he was sure he would pleasently surprise his wife |
| B．he was deep in thought |
| C．he was sure that his neighbor would help him |
| D．he was worried about how to wake his wife up |
The underlined word “budge” in Paragraph 3 probably means .
| A．move slightly | B．lock tightly | C．knock lightly | D．close tightly |
Why did the police officers take Andrew off to jail?
| A．It was too late for them to contact Andrew’s wife. |
| B．Andrew did not explain clearly why he broke into the house. |
| C．They thought it unnecessary to check Andrew’s story. |
| D．they concluded that Andrew’s story was a complete invention. |
Sometimes life gets a little dull. What used to be fun and different becomes boring. That is the time to look for something new. It is the time for a big idea to get your mind off everyday life. So why not search for extraterrestrial (地球外的) intelligence? Or even better, why not get your computer to do it for you?
Over two million people have joined the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence（SETI）project. Based in California, the SETI project analyzes information taken from a giant radio telescope based in South America. Its task is to look for signals from outer space that might prove that life exists on other planets.
Processing this information is far too big a job for one computer. So the SETI project workers divide the work among volunteers who visit their website. Each computer gets some information to work out from the SETI network through the Internet. This process is often known as “meta-computing”.
It is a wonderful thought. You are sleeping, eating a meal or going out with friends. All this time, your computer is searching the stars for signs that might show something is out there trying to get in touch. Volunteers are proud of being involved in the SETI project. It shows that they understand the potential (潜能) of computing. They know that it is more than just a way of working or playing games.
Meta-computing may also be creating intelligence as well as looking for it. This idea is based on the theory that human intelligence is created by the way in which different parts of the brain communicate with each other. As the saying goes, “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” People who join the SETI project sometimes wonder whether their computer will become part of a huge network that has learned to think for itself.According to the writer, meta-computing may be creating intelligence .
| A．because human beings are intelligent | B．because a computer works as the brain does |
| C．because of a network of many computers | D．because of the number of computers |
Which of the following shows the order in which the SETI network works?
| A．Radio telescope→SETI website→Volunteers’ computer→SETI base |
| B．Radio telescope→SETI base→SETI website→Volunteers’ computer |
| C．SETI base→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers→Radio telescope |
| D．SETI base→Radio telescope→SETI website→Volunteers’ computers |
The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to _____ .
| A．extra-terrestrial intelligence | B．human intelligence |
| C．the SETI project | D．meta-computing |
The passage mainly tells us about _____.
| A．a new way to work on the computer |
| B．a new way to work and play games |
| C．a new way to search for life outside the earth |
| D．a new way to make computers learn to think for itself |
Health officials issued a waring over common energy-saving l一ghtbulbs(灯泡) after research showed some types could potentially harm the skin and may even raise the risk of cancer.
A study by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) found that some eco-friendly lightbuulbs release levels of ultraviolet (UV) (紫外线) radiation that are above recognized safety limits. The agency urged people who work with lamps nearby to avoid spending more than one hour within a foot of the eco-friendly bulbs. The warning was directed at those using desk lamps for long periods, such as jewellery makers, and others who might have lights close to their faces, such as car mechanics.
John O’Hagan, a scientist at the HPA’s centre for radiation, chemical and environmental dangers, began tests on the ligthbulbs after patient groups raised concern about them. Among the groups were patients with a skin disease called lupus, which makes people highly sensitive to light.
The tests measured UV light from the lamps and found the highest levels of UV radiation, measured 2cm from the lightbulbs, were equivalent to being outside in direct sunlight in the summer. The most immediate risk from the lightbulbs is a reddening of the skin similar to sunburn, but there is also a small increased risk of skin cancer associated with this, again similar to that of sunburn.
The risk of health problems from the lightbulbs was not so high that people should remove them from their homes. People are advised to avoid using open lightbulbs for long close work until the problem is sorted out. It has confirmed that the government will not be reviewing its strategy on introducing energy efficient lightbulbs.The underlined word “equivalent” in paragraph 4 most probably means ______.
| A．equal | B．vital | C．relevant | D．harmful |
In order not to be harmed by the UV radiation from some lightbulbs, people should ______.
| A．stop using eco-friendly lightbulbs at home |
| B．avoid using open lightbulbs for long close work |
| C．take care not to expose their skin to direct sunlight |
| D．urge the government to ban the use of lightbulbs |
In the next part, the author would most probably further explain _____.
| A．why people needn’t remove the lightbulbs from their homes |
| B．how researchers have planned to sort out the problem |
| C．how the government has responded to HPA’s discovery |
| D．how long people should work close to the open lightbulbs |
We can learn from the passage that ____.
| A．health officials issued a warning over common lightbulbs. |
| B．jewellery makers should avoid working with the eco-friendly bulbs for more than one hour |
| C．John O’Hagan did tests on the lightbulbs with some patients |
| D．people are advised to avoid using open lightbulbs for long close work |
Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?
To see whether babies know objects are solid, T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion（视觉影像） of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out and touch, and then to show them the illusion. If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for the illusion and found empty air, they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the 16-to 24- week -old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.
Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?
Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to reappear. If the experimenter took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week -old babies did not seem to notice the switch. Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence,” while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object. The passage is mainly about _____.
| A．babies' sense of sight | B．effects of experiments on babies |
| C．babies' understanding of objects | D．different tests on babies' feelings |
In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, an object _____.
| A．still exists | B．keeps its shape | C．still stays solid | D．is beyond reach |
What did Bower use in his experiments?
| A．A chair. | B．A screen. | C．A film. | D．A box. |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The babies didn't have a sense of direction. |
| B．The older babies preferred toy trains to balls. |
| C．The younger babies liked looking for missing objects. |
| D．The babies couldn't tell a ball from its optical illusion. |
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