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专题16:科普类说明文

D
The oddness of life in space never quite goes away. Here are some examples.
First consider something as simple as sleep. Its position presents its own challenges. The main question is whether you want your arms inside or outside the sleeping bag. If you leave your arms out, they float free in zero gravity, often giving a sleeping astronaut the look of a funny balled (芭蕾)dancer. "I'm an inside guy," Mike Hopkins says, who returned from a six-month tour on the International Space Station. "I like to be wrapped up."
On the station, the ordinary becomes strange. The exercise bike for the American astronauts has no handlebars. It also has no seat. With no gravity, it's just as easy to pedal violently. You can watch a movie while you pedal by floating a microcomputer anywhere you want. But station residents have to be careful about staying in one place too long. Without gravity to help circulate air, the carbon dioxide you exhale (呼气) has a tendency to form an invisible (隐形的)cloud around you head. You can end up with what astronauts call a carbon-dioxide headache.
Leroy Chiao, 54, an American retired astronaut after four flights, describes what happens even before you float out of your seat,"Your inner ear thinks your're falling . Meanwhile your eyes are telling you you're standing straight. That can be annoying-that's why some people feel sick." Within a couple days -truly terrible days for some -astronauts' brains learn to ignore the panicky signals from the inner ear, and space sickness disappears.
Space travel can be so delightful but at the same time invisibly dangerous. For instance, astronauts lose bone mass. That's why exercise is considered so vital that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) puts it right on the workday schedule. The focus on fitness is as much about science and the future as it is about keeping any individual astronauts return home, and, more importantly, how to maintain strength and fitness for the two and a half years or more that it would take to make a round-trip to Mars.

What is the major challenge to astronauts when they sleep in space?

Deciding on a proper sleep position Choosing a comfortable sleeping bag Seeking a way to fall asleep quickly Finding a right time to go to sleep.

The astronauts will suffer from a carbon-dioxide headache when _____.

the y circle around on their bikes they use microcomputers without a stop they exercise in one place for a long time they watch a movie while pedaling

Some astronauts feel sick on the station during the first few days because _____.

their senses stop working they have to stand up straight they float out of their seats unexpectedly whether they are able to go back to the station

One of the NASA's major concerns about astronauts is _____.

how much exercise they do on the station how they can remain healthy for long in space whether they can recover after returning home whether they are able to go back to the station
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·北京卷】C
Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet—as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, “These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? It’s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter(散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light, at least not very much, Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don’t see it ----you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials----skin, fat, and more----and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see—through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-lie(果冻状的)material and spread themselves over it .
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they’re doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die, they turn a non-transparent milky white.
According to Paragraph 1, transparent animals_______.

A.stay in groups B.can be easily damaged
C.appear only in deep ocean D.are beautiful creatures

The underlined word “dead” in Paragraph 3 means__________.

A.silently B.gradually
C.regularly D.completely

One way for an animal to become transparent is to ________.

A.change the direction of light travel
B.gather materials to scatter light.
C.avoid the absorption of light
D.grow bigger to stop light.

The last paragraph tells us that larger transparent animals________.

A.move more slowly in deep water
B.stay see-through even after death
C.produce more tissues for their survival
D.take effective action to reduce light spreading
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·江苏】B
In the United States alone, over 100 million cell-phones are thrown away each year. Cell-phones are part of a growing mountain of electronic waste like computers and personal digital assistants. The electronic waste stream is increasing three times faster than traditional garbage as a whole.
Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver. A Swiss study reported that while the weight of electronic goods represented by precious metals was relatively small in comparison to total waste, the concentration (含量) of gold and other precious metals was higher in   So-called e-waste than in naturally occurring minerals.
Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals. Even when the machines are recycled and the harmful metals removed, the recycling process often is carried out in poor countries, in practically uncontrolled ways which allow many poisonous substances to escape into the environment.
Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material, up to 100 times more, than the material contained in the finished products. Consider again the cell-phone, and imagine the mines that produced those metals, the factories needed to make the box and packaging(包装) it came in. Many wastes produced in the producing process are harmful as well.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in that “the production, distribution, and use of products — as well as management of the resulting waste — all result in greenhouse gas release.” Individuals can reduce their contribution by creating less waste at the start — for instance, buying reusable products and recycling.
In many countries the concept of extended producer responsibility is being considered or has been put in place as an incentive (动机) for reducing waste. If producers are required to take back packaging they use to sell their products, would they reduce the packaging in the first place?
Governments’ incentive to require producers to take responsibility for the packaging they produce is usually based on money. Why, they ask, should cities or towns be responsible for paying to deal with the bubble wrap (气泡垫) that encased your television?
From the governments’ point of view, a primary goal of laws requiring extended producer responsibility is to transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of waste management from the government and tax-payers back to the producers.
By mentioning the Swiss study, the author intends to tell us that _________ .

A.the weight of e-goods is rather small
B.E-waste deserves to be made good use of
C.natural minerals contain more precious metals
D.the percentage of precious metals is heavy in e-waste

The responsibility of e-waste treatment should be extended _________ .

A.from producers to governments
B.from governments to producers
C.from individuals to distributors
D.from distributors to governments

What does the passage mainly talk about?

A.The increase in e-waste.
B.The creation of e-waste.
C.The seriousness of e-waste.
D.The management of e-waste.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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C
Suppose you become a leader in an organization. It’s very likely that you’ll want to have volunteers to help with the organization’s activities. To do so, it should help to understand why people undertake volunteer work and what keeps their interest in the work.
Let’s begin with the question of why people volunteer. Researchers have identified several factors that motivate people to get involved. For example, people volunteer to express personal values related to unselfishness, to expand their range of experiences, and to strengthen social relationships. If volunteer positions do not meet these needs, people may not wish to participate. To select volunteers, you may need to understand the motivations of the people you wish to attract.
People also volunteer because they are required to do so. To increase levels of community service, some schools have launched compulsory volunteer programs. Unfortunately, these programs can shift people’s wish of participation from an internal factor (e.g., “I volunteer because it’s important to me”) to an external factor (e.g., “I volunteer because I’m required to do so”). When that happens, people become less likely to volunteer in the future. People must be sensitive to this possibility when they make volunteer activities a must.
Once people begin to volunteer, what leads them to remain in their positions over time? To answer this question, researchers have conducted follow-up studies in which they track volunteers over time. For instance, one study followed 238 volunteers in Florida over a year. One of the most important factors that influenced their satisfaction as volunteers was the amount of suffering they experienced in their volunteer positions. Although this result may not surprise you, it leads to important practical advice. The researchers note that attention should be given to “training methods that would prepare volunteers for troublesome situations or provide them with strategies for coping with the problem they do experience”.
Another study of 302 volunteers at hospitals in Chicago focused on individual differences in the degree to which people view “volunteer” as an important social role. It was assumed that those people for whom the role of volunteer was most part of their personal identity would also be most likely to continue volunteer work. Participants indicated the degree to which the social role mattered by responding to statements such as “Volunteering in Hospital is an important part of who I am.” Consistent with the researchers’ expectations, they found a positive correlation (正相关) between the strength of role identity and the length of time people continued to volunteer. These results, once again, lead to concrete advice: “Once an individual begins volunteering, continued efforts might focus on developing a volunteer role identity.... Items like T-shirts that allow volunteers to be recognized publicly for their contributions can help strengthen role identity”.
People volunteer mainly out of ______ .

A.academic requirements B.social expectations
C.financial rewards D.internal needs

What can we learn from the Florida study?

A.Follow-up studies should last for one year.
B.Volunteers should get mentally prepared.
C.Strategy training is a must in research.
D.Volunteers are provided with concrete advice.

What is most likely to motivate volunteers to continue their work?

A.Individual differences in role identity.
B.Publicly identifiable volunteer T-shirts.
C.Role identity as a volunteer.
D.Practical advice from researchers.

What is the best title of the passage?

A.How to Get People to Volunteer
B.How to Study Volunteer Behaviors
C.How to Keep Volunteers’ Interest
D.How to Organize Volunteer Activities
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·广东】C
Daniel Anderson, a famous psychologist, believes it’s important to distinguish television’s influences on children from those of the family. We tend to blame TV, he says, for problems it doesn’t really cause, overlooking our own roles in shaping children’s minds.
One traditional belief about television is that it reduces a child’s ability to think and to understand the world. While watching TV, children do not merely absorb words and images (影像). Instead, they learn both explicit and hidden meanings from what they see. Actually, children learn early the psychology of characters in TV shows. Furthermore, as many teachers agree, children understand far more when parents watch TV with them, explaining new words and ideas. Yet, most parents use an educational program as a chance to park their kids in front of the set and do something in another room.
Another argument against television is that it replaces reading as a form of entertainment. But according to Anderson, the amount of time spent watching television is not related to reading ability. TV doesn’t take the place of reading for most children; it takes the place of similar sorts of recreation, such as listening to the radio and playing sports. Things like parents’ educational background have a stronger influence on a child’s reading. “A child’s reading ability is best predicted by how much a parent reads.” Anderson says.
Traditional wisdom also has it that heavy television-watching lowers IQ (智商) scores and affects school performance. But here, too, Anderson notes that no studies have proved it. In fact, research suggests that it’s the other way around. “If you’re smart young, you’ll watch less TV when you’re older,” Anderson says. Yet, people of lower IQ tend to be lifelong television viewers.
For years researchers have attempted to show that television is dangerous to children. However, by showing that television promotes none of the dangerous effects as conventionally believed, Anderson suggests that television cannot be condemned without considering other influences.
By watching TV, children learn _________.

A.images through words
B.more than explicit meanings
C.more about images than words
D.little about people’s psychology

An educational program is best watched by a child _________.

A.on his own
B.with other kids
C.with his parents
D.with his teachers

Which of the following is most related to children’s reading ability?

A.Radio-listening
B.Television-watching
C.Parents’ reading list
D.Parents’ educational background

Anderson believed that _________.

A.the more a child watches TV, the smarter he is
B.the younger a child is, the more he watches TV
C.the smarter a child is, the less likely he gets addicted to TV
D.the less a child watches TV, the better he performs at school

What is the main purpose of the passage?

A.To advise on the educational use of TV.
B.To describe TV’s harmful effects on children.
C.To explain traditional views on TV influences.
D.To present Anderson’s unconventional ideas.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·陕西】C
The production of coffee beans is a huge, profitable business, but, unfortunately, full-sun production is taking over the industry and bringing about a lot of damage. The change in how coffee is grown from shade-grown production to full-sun production endangers the very existence of, certain animals and birds, and even disturbs the world’s ecological balance.
On a local level, the damage of the forest required by full-sun fields affects the area’s birds and animals. The shade of the forest trees provides a home for birds and other special(物种) that depend on the trees’ flowers and fruits. Full-sun coffee growers destroy this forest home. As a result, many special are quickly dying out.
On a more global level, the destruction of the rainforest for full-sun coffee fields also threatens(威胁)human life. Medical research often makes use of the forests' plant and animal life, and the destruction of such species could prevent researchers from finding cures for certain diseases. In addition, new coffee-growing techniques are poisoning the water locally, and eventually the world's groundwater.
Both locally and globally, the continued spread of full-sun coffee plantations (种植园)could mean the destruction of the rainforest ecology. The loss of shade trees is already causing a slight change in the world's climate, and studies show that loss of oxygen-giving trees also leads to air pollution and global warming. Moreover, the new growing techniques are contributing to acidic(酸性的) soil conditions.
It is obvious that the way much coffee is grown affects many aspects many aspects of life, from the local environment to the global ecology. But consumers do have a choice. They can purchase shade-grown coffee whenever possible, although at a higher cost. The future health of the planet and mankind is surely worth more than an inexpensive cup of coffee.
What can we learn about full-sun coffee production from Paragraph 4?

A.It limits the spread of new growing techniques.
B.It leads to air pollution and global warming.
C.It slows down the loss of shade trees.
D.It improves local soil conditions.

The purpose of the text is to .

A.entertain B.advertise C.instruct D.persuade

Where does this text probably come from ?

A.An agricultural magazine.
B.A medical journal.
C.An engineering textbook.
D.A tourist guide.

Which of the following shows the structure of the whole text?

来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·四川】D
Their cheery song brightens many a winter's day. But robins are in danger of wearing themselves out by singing too much. Robins are singing all night一as well as during the day, British-based researchers say.
David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is affecting the birds' biological clocks, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep.
Dr Dominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put the birds’ health at risk. His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some genes being active at the wrong time of day. And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at night.
He told people at a conference, "There have been a couple of studies suggesting they are increasing their song output at night and during the day they are still singing. Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy. So by increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy."
And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light. Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal. Dr Dominoni said, "In Glasgow where I live, gulls are a serious problem. I have people coming to me saying `You are the bird expert. Can you help us kill these gulls?'.During the breeding(繁殖)season, between April and June, they are very active at night and very noisy and people can't sleep."
Although Dr Dominoni has only studied light pollution, other research concluded that robins living in noisy cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise.
However, some birds thrive(兴旺)in noisy environments. A study from California Polytechnic University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery. It is thought that they are capitalising on their predators(天敌)fleeing to quieter areas.
According to Dr Dominoni's study, what cause robins to sing so much?

A.The breeding season.
B.The light in modern life
C.The dangerous environment.
D.The noise from heavy machinery.

What is the researchers' concern over the increase of birds' song output?

A.The environment might be polluted.
B.The birds' health might be damaged.
C.The industry cost might be increased.
D.The people's hearing might be affected.

What does the underlined word "nocturnal" in Paragraph 5 mean?

A.Active at night. B.Inactive at night.
C.Active during the day. D.Inactive during the day.

Why do some birds thrive in noisy environments?

A.Because there are fewer dangers.
B.Because there is more food to eat.
C.Because there is less light pollution
D.Because there are more places to take shelter.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·四川】E
No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo. But a new study suggests they used a little rock‘n’roll. Long-ago builders could have attached wooden pole s to the stones and rolled then across the sand, the scientists say.
“Technically, I think what they’re proposing is possible,” physicist Daniel Bonn said.
People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks. And there’s no obvious answer. On average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck. The Egyptians somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away.
The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths. Many scientists suspect workers first would have put the blocks on sleds(滑板). Then they would have dragged them along paths. To make the work easier, workers may have lubricated the paths either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle. Bonn has now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand.
Evidence from the sand supports this idea. Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a large amount of stone and the remains of paths.
However, physicist Joseph West thinks there might have been a simpler way , who led the new study . West said , “I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid construction . I thought , ‘Why don’t they just try rolling the things?’“A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides , he realized . That , he notes , should make a block of stone” a lot easier to roll than a square”.
So he tried it.
He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30-kilogram stone block. That action turned the block into somewhat a wheel. Then they placed the block on the ground.
They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled. The researchers found they could easily roll the block along different kinds of paths. They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery(滑的)path.
West hasn’t tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over sliding. At least, workers wouldn’t have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.
It’s widely believed that the stone blocks were moved to the pyramid site by ______.

A.rolling them on roads
B.pushing them over the sand
C.sliding them on smooth paths
D.dragging them on some poles

The underlined part “lubricated the paths” in Paragraph 4 means____.

A.made the path wet
B.made the path hard
C.made the path wide
D.made the path slippery

What does the underlined word “it”in Paragraph 7 refer to?

A.Rolling the blocks with poles attached.
B.Rolling the blocks on wooden wheels.
C.Rolling poles to move the blocks.
D.Rolling the blocks with fat.

Why is rolling better than sliding according to West ?

A.Because more force is needed for sliding.
B.Because rolling work can be done by fewer cattle.
C.Because sliding on smooth road is more dangerous.
D.Because less preparation on path is needed for rolling.

What is the text mainly about ?

A.An experiment on ways of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
B.An application of the method of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
C.An argument about different methods of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
D.An introduction to a possible new way of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·天津】B
Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.
The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.
The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.
How are social robots different from household robots?

A.They can control their emotions.
B.They are more like humans.
C.They do the normal housework.
D.They respond to users more slowly.

What can a Jibo robot do according to Paragraph 3?

A.Communicate with you and perform operations.
B.Answer your questions and make requests.
C.Take your family pictures and deliver milk.
D.Obey your orders and remind you to take pills.

What can Oshbot work as?

A.A language teacher. B.A tour guide.
C.A shop assistant. D.A private nurse.

We can learn from the last paragraph that social robots will ______.

A.train employees B.be our workmates
C.improve technologies D.take the place of workers

What does the passage mainly present?

A.A new design idea of household robots.
B.Marketing strategies for social robots.
C.Information on household robots.
D.An introduction to social robots.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·浙江】C
If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars,we would go in darkness happily,the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal(夜间活动的) species on this planet. Instead,we are diurnal creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun’s light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve done to the night: We’ve engineered it to  receive us by filling itwith light.
The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequences 一 called light pollution 一 whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad  lighting design,which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky.III-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels 一 and light  rhythms — to which many forms of life, including, ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect or life is affected .
In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze(霾) that mirrors our fear of the dark. We’ve grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit nigh, - dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadow on Earth, is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.
Weve lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further form the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing, Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet(磁铁). The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being“captured”by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.
Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times righter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint including most other creatures ,we do need darkness .Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.
Living in a glare of our making,we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage—the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night .In a very real sense light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way—the edge of our galaxy arching overhead.
According to the passage, human being           .

A.prefer to live in the darkness
B.are used to living in the day light
C.were curious about the midnight world
D.had to stay at home with the light of the moon

What does “it”(Paragraph 1) most probably refer to?

A.The night. B.The moon
C.The sky D.The planet

The writer mentions birds and frogs to        .

A.provide examples of animal protection
B.show how light pollution affects animals
C.compare the living habits of both species
D.explain why the number of certain species has declined

It is implied in the last paragraph that         .

A.light pollution dose harm to the eyesight of animals
B.light pollution has destroyed some of the world heritages
C.human beings cannot go to the outer space
D.human beings should reflect on their position in the universe

What might be the best title for the passage?

A.The Magic light.
B.The Orange Haze.
C.The Disappearing Night.
D.The Rhythms of Nature.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·安徽】C
As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remember less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory, your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.
In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood thatthe computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.
In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder (文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remember the folder location (位置) better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called "transactive memory (交互记忆)".
According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn't mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.
The passage begins with two questions to ______.

A.introduce the main topic
B.show the author's altitude
C.describe how to use the Interne.
D.explain how to store information

What can we learn about the first experiment?

A.Sparrow's team typed the information into a computer.
B.The two groups remembered the information equally well.
C.The first group did not try to remember the formation.
D.The second group did not understand the information.

In transactive memory, people ______.

A.keep the information in mind
B.change the quantity of information
C.organize information like a computer
D.remember how to find the information

What is the effect of the Internet according to Sparrow's research?

A.Weare using memory differently.
B.We arebecoming more intelligent.
C.We have poorer memories than before.
D.We need a better way to access information.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·湖南】B
In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, "No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me."
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced me the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?
That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening. Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
The author mentions the joke to show ______.

A.horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B.Chicago's streets were extremely muddy
C.Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D.the Chicago people were particularly humorous

The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough to_______.

A.get rid of the street dirt
B.lower the Chicago River
C.fight against heavy floods
D.build the pipes above ground

The underlined word "hoist" in Paragraph 4 means "_______".

A.change B.lift
C.repair D.decorate

What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel?

A.It went on smoothly as intended.
B.It interrupted the business of the hotel.
C.It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews.
D.It separated the building from its foundation.

The passage is mainly about the early Chicago's ______.

A.popular life styles and their influences
B.environmental disasters and their causes
C.engineering problems and their solutions
D.successful businessmen and their achievements
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·新课标全国II】B
Your house may have an effect on your figure. Experts say the way you design your home could play a role in whether you pack on the pounds or keep them off. you can make your environment work for you instead of against you. Here are some ways to turn your home into part of your diet plan.
Open the curtains and turn up the lights. Dark environments are more likely to encourage overeating, for people are often less self-conscious(难为情) when they’re in poorly lit places – and so more likely to eat lots of food. If your home doesn’t have enough window light, get more lamps and flood the place with brightness.
Mind the colors. Research suggests warm colors fuel our appetites. In one study, people who ate meals in a blue room consumed 33 percent less than those in a yellow or red room. Warm colors like yellow make food appear more appetizing, while cold colors make us less hungry. So when it’s time to repaint, go blue.
Don’t forget the clock – or the radio. People who eat slowly tend to consume about 70 fewer calories(卡路里) per meal than those who rush through their meals. Begin keeping track of the time, and try to make dinner last at 30 minutes. And while you’re at it, actually sit down to eat. If you need some help slowing down, turning on relaxing music. It makes you less likely to rush through a meal.
Downsize the dishes. Big serving bowls and plants can easily makes us fat. We eat about 22 percent more when using a 12-inch plate instead of a 10-inch plate. When we choose a large spoon over a smaller one, total intake(摄入) jumps by 14 percent. And we’ll pour about 30 percent more liquid into a short, wide glass than a tall, skinny glass.
The text is especially helpful for those who care about ____.

A.their home comforts
B.their body shape
C.house buying
D.healthy diets

A home environment in blue can help people ____.

A.digest food better
B.reduce food intake
C.burn more calories
D.regain their appetites

What are people advised to do at mealtimes?

A.Eat quickly.
B.Play fast music
C.Use smaller spoons
D.Turn down the lights

What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Is Your House Making You Fat?
B.Ways of Serving Dinner
C.Effects of Self-Consciousness
D.Is Your Home Environment Relaxing?
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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【2015·新课标全国I】D
Conflict is on the menu tonight at the café La Chope. This evening, as on every Thursday night, psychologist Maud Lehanne is leading two of France’s favorite pastimes, coffee drinking and the “talking cure”. Here they are learning to get in touch with their true feelings. It isn’t always easy. They customers - some thirty Parisians who pay just under $2 (plus drinks) per session - care quick to intellectualize (高谈阔论),slow to open up and connect. “You are forbidden to say ‘one feels,’ or ‘people think’,” Lehane told them. “Say ‘I think,’ ‘Think me’.”
A café society where no intellectualizing is allowed? It couldn’t seem more un-French. But Lehanne’s psychology café is about more than knowing oneself: It’s trying to help the city’s troubled neighborhood cafes. Over the years, Parisian cafes have fallen victim to changes in the French lifestyle - longer working hours, a fast food boom and a younger generation’s desire to spend more time at home. Dozens of new theme cafes appear to change the situation. Cafes focused around psychology, history, and engineering are catching on, filling tables well into the evening.
The city’s psychology cafes, which offer great comfort, are among the most popular places. Middle-aged homemakers, retirees, and the unemployed come to such cafes to talk about love, anger, and dreams with a psychologist. And they come to Lehanne’s group just to learn to say what they feel. “There’s a strong need in Paris for communication,” says Maurice Frisch, a cafe La Chope regular who works as a religious instructor in a nearby church. “People have few real friends. And they need to open up.” Lehanne says she’d like to see psychology cafes all over France. “If people had normal lives, these cafes wouldn’t exist”, she says, “If life weren’t a battle, people wouldn’t need a special place just to speak.” But them, it wouldn’t be France.
What are people encouraged to do at the cafe La Chope?

A.Learn a new subject
B.Keep in touch with friends.
C.Show off their knowledge.
D.Express their true feelings.

How are cafes affected by French lifestyle changes?

A.They are less frequently visited.
B.They stay open for longer hours.
C.They have bigger night crowds.
D.They start to serve fast food.

What are theme cafes expected to do?

A.Create more jobs.
B.Supply better drinks.
C.Save the cafe business.
D.Serve the neighborhood.

Why are psychology cafes becoming popular in Paris?

A.They bring people true friendship.
B.They give people spiritual support.
C.They help people realize their dreams.
D.They offer a platform for business links.
来源:专题16:科普类说明文
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