1、Unit 4Making the news.阅读AKristen Adamczyk,20,doesnt have a drivers license.In fact,she grew up in a neighborhood in the US where she didnt need a car to get around.In high school,Adamczyk took the bus and subway.Now,as an incoming university junior,she usually travels by subway or on foot.“I dont re
2、ally feel like I need (a license),”Adamczyk said.“When Im traveling around the city,its more convenient not to have a car.”Adamczyk represents a trend(趋势) among young adults in the US who delay(推迟)or choose to forgo(放弃)getting their drivers license.The percentage of 16-year-olds with a license in th
3、e US decreased from 46.2 percent in 1983 to 24.5 percent in 2014,according to a 2016 study by the University of Michigan.Some young people say they just dont need a car,while others worry about accidents.For new drivers,safety is a reasonable concern.The fatal(致命的) crash rate per mile for teenage dr
4、ivers is nearly three times the rate for drivers aged 20 and over,and the rate for 16- and 17-year-olds is almost twice the rate for drivers aged 18 and 19 years old.“Older(people) tend to be more mature and have other experiences that they can bring to the driving context that allow them to learn m
5、ore quickly,”said Bruce Gordon Simons-Morton,an investigator(调查人) at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.Fear didnt stop Ruby Garden,18,who couldnt wait to get her learners permit when she turned 16.After failing her drivers test twice,she passed on the third try and got her
6、 license a few months before her 17th birthday.Garden doesnt drive often,but she saw getting her license as “the next step in ensuring the independence I wanted at the time.”She admitted she sometimes feels nervous behind the wheel when she is carrying a lot of passengers.Indeed,some states even lim
7、it the number of passengers young drivers can transport when they first get their licenses,recognizing the added distraction that passengers can cause.To help teenagers get over their fears,Cami Winkelspecht,director of psychology at the Nemours/Alfred I.duPont Hospital for Children,recommends gradu
8、al exposure to driving.“I think having a plan,talking about it,and understanding what your childs fears and thoughts about(driving) are is important,”Winkelspecht said.1.Why did the author mention Adamczyks experience?A.To explain why she doesnt want to drive.B.To explain why young Americans are afr
9、aid of driving.C.To suggest driving is not necessarily needed in daily life.D.To show driving is not so popular among US young people nowadays.2.The statistics in Paragraph 6 aim to show that .A.young drivers tend to drive at high speedB.people drive at an earlier age nowadaysC.traffic accidents are
10、 caused mostly by young driversD.young drivers are more likely to cause accidents3.Garden couldnt wait to get a drivers license mainly because she thinks .A.its cool to drive like an adultB.its a sign of independenceC.its convenient for her to drive to schoolD.she wants to overcome her fear of drivi
11、ng4.What did Winkelspecht advise young drivers to do to deal with their fears?A.Expose themselves to driving as much as possible.B.Drive accompanied by an older driver.C.Make a driving plan and practice it gradually.D.Limit the number of passengers they carry.语篇解读:本文主要介绍了美国年轻人不愿意开车的原因。答案及剖析:1.D细节理解题
12、。根据第四段第一句“Adamczyk represents a trend(趋势) among young adults in the US who delay(推迟)or choose to forgo(放弃)getting their drivers license.”可知,D项符合题意。2.D细节理解题。根据第六段第二句“The fatal(致命的) crash rate per mile for teenage drivers is nearly three times the rate for drivers aged 20”可知,D项符合题意。3.B细节理解题。根据第九段“but
13、she saw getting her license as the next step in ensuring the independence I wanted at the time.”可知,B项符合题意。4.C细节理解题。根据倒数第二段“.recommends gradual exposure to driving.”可知,C项符合题意。BWhats small, buzzes here and there and visits flowers? If you said bees or hummingbirds, you got it.You wouldnt be the first
14、if you mixed the two up.Now a group of researchers even say we should embrace our history of considering the two together in the same group.The way scientists study bees could help them study hummingbird behavior, too.Scientists first compared the two back in the 1970s when studying how animals sear
15、ch for food.The idea is that animals use a kind of math to make choices in order to minimize the work it takes to earn maximum rewards.Researchers at the time focused on movement rules, like the order in which they visited flowers, and where flowers were located relative to others.It was “almost lik
16、e an algorithm(算法)” for efficient searching, said David Pritchard, a biologist at the University of St.Andrews in Scotland.Hummingbirds and bees had similar solutions.As the field of animal cognition(认知) appeared, hummingbird and bee research parted.Neuroscientists and behavioral ecologists develope
17、d ways to study bee behavior in naturalistic settings.Hummingbird researchers compared hummingbirds to other birds and borrowed methods from psychology to study their ability to learn in the lab.To be fair, hummingbirds and bees differ.For example, hummingbirds have more advanced eyes and brains tha
18、n bees.Honeybees and bumblebees are social; hummingbirds typically arent.But however they perceive(感知) or process information, they both experience similar information, Dr.Pritchard said.In day-to-day searching for food, for example, hummingbirds may rely on more of a bees-eye view than a birds-eye
19、view.Like other birds, they rely on landmarks, distances and directions to make maps when travelling long distances, but they dont use these cues to find flowers.Move a flower just an inch or so away from where a hummingbird thought it was and it will hover over the flowers original location.Dr.Prit
20、chard is investigating if, like bees, hummingbirds engage in view matching hovering, scanning snapshots of a place to its memory and using those as references later.5.What was the center of research on hummingbirds and bees in the 1970s?A.Memory. B.Movement rules.C.Reward calculating.D.Information p
21、rocessing.6.Which subjects research methods were adopted to study the learning ability of hummingbirds?A.Math. B.Biology.C.Ecology.D.Psychology.7.How do researchers find out that hummingbirds are not like birds?A.By setting them free.B.By moving flowers.C.By matching view. D.By making maps.8.Which o
22、f the following can be the best title for the text?A.Hummingbirds and Bees B.Hummingbirds in the LabC.New Trends in Studying BeesD.Thinking of Hummingbirds as Bees语篇解读:本文是一篇科普类短文阅读。我们经常把蜂鸟和蜜蜂搞混,然而科学家发现研究蜜蜂的方法可以帮助他们研究蜂鸟的行为。答案及剖析:5.B细节理解题。根据文章第二段中Researchers at the time focused on movement rules, like
23、 the order in which they visited flowers, and where flowers were located relative to others.可知,当时的研究人员把注意力集中在运动规则上。故选B。6.D细节理解题。根据文章第三段中Hummingbird researchers compared hummingbirds to other birds and borrowed methods from psychology to study their ability to learn in the lab.可知,蜂鸟研究者采用心理学的研究方法来研究它们
24、在实验室中学习的能力。故选D。7.B推理判断题。根据文章最后一段Like other birds, they rely on landmarks, distances and directions to make maps when travelling long distances, but they dont use these cues to find flowers.Move a flower just an inch or so away from where a hummingbird thought it was and it will hover over the flower
25、s original location.可以推断出研究者是通过移动花而发现蜂鸟不像鸟。故选B。8.D主旨大意题。根据全文大意结合第一段中Now a group of researchers even say we should embrace our history of considering the two together in the same group.The way scientists study bees could help them study hummingbird behavior, too.两句话可以确定最佳标题为“把蜂鸟看作蜜蜂”。故选D。.语法填空We thin
26、k that life in Chinese high school is 1. adventure because we have to survive mountains of homework and 2. (exam).Yet would it be surprising if I tell you that high school life in the US is almost as 3. (stress) and demanding as it is in China?In US high school, everything is recorded and 4. (grade)
27、, including your grades on quizzes, tests and final examinations.Failing 5. (turn) in your homework on time will 6. (direct) affect your grade for a certain course.Perhaps contrary to 7. we used to think of the US high school students, they pay great attention to their learning performance to try to
28、 get into famous university,or,theyll be disappointed after graduation from high school.Like university students, US high school students have the 8. (free) to choose the courses 9. most interest them.Even a ninth-grader can sit in the same classroom as 12th-graders.But this also means he or she has
29、 to work very hard.The teacher will not treat him or her differently just because he or she is a few years 10.(young).语篇解读:本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍美国的高中学习生活和人们的想法并不一样,美国的中学生也非常重视学习成绩以及各种表现,同时他们有很多的课程可供选择。答案及剖析:1.an考查冠词。不定冠词a/an通常表示泛指,本句中an adventure指一次探险。所以要填an。2.exams考查名词复数。根据语境可知exam的复数更合适。所以要填exams。3.stress
30、ful考查形容词。形容词stressful有压力的,与demanding属于并列结构一起和系动词is构成系表结构。所以要填stressful。4.graded考查语态。主语everything与record和grade构成被动语态,都要用过去分词形式。所以要填过去分词graded。5.to turn考查固定短语。短语fail to do sth未能做某事,所以要填to turn。6.directly考查副词。副词directly作状语修饰谓语动词affect。所以要填directly。7.what考查宾语从句。句中what引导宾语从句,作介词to的宾语。所以要填what。8.freedom考查
31、名词。句中free的名词freedom作动词have的宾语,后面的不定式作定语修饰freedom。所以要填freedom。9.that/which考查定语从句。本题定语从句的先行词是the courses,关系代词that/which指代先行词在句中作主语。所以要填that/which。10.younger考查形容词比较级。根据句意可知此处要使用形容词比较级。所以要填younger。.应用文写作假定你是李华,下个周将有一个来自美国的学生代表团访问你校,学校向全校学生招募形象大使,参与接待来访的美国学生。你写信申请,内容包括:1.希望成为形象大使(Goodwill Ambassador);2.介
32、绍自己的优势(英语口语,性格等);3.对形象大使的认识。注意:1.词数80左右;2.可以增加适当细节,使行文连贯;3.开头和结尾已经给出,不计入总词数。Dear Sir,Yours sincerely,Li HuaOne possible version:Dear Sir,My name is Li Hua.Im writing to apply for the opportunity to be one of the Goodwill Ambassadors.Im a student in senior two who has a good knowledge of English and
33、can communicate with native speakers freely.As an outgoing and hard-working boy, I often devote my spare time to making friends with foreigners, watching English movies and reading English novels, which makes me quite familiar with western cultures.As a Goodwill Ambassador, not only can I exchange ideas with the guests and spread Chinese culture, but also I can put my talent into good use.Id appreciate it if you offer me the precious opportunity.Im looking forward to your early reply.Yours sincerely,Li Hua
