1、2012届高考英语实战演练专题阅读理解（71-75）附详析 (第71篇)Mankind is still evolving(进化), according to a recent study by a team of scientists led by a Yale University evolutionary biologist. But research suggests that the natural selection process is no longer driven by survival, perhaps because of differences in womens f
2、ertility(能生育性)The team examined 2,238 women in Framingham, Massachusetts, the US and studied the medical histories of some 14,000 residents since 1948.They found that strong，slightly fat women tend to have more children. And if this trend were to continue for the next 10 generations, by 2409 the ave
3、rage woman would be 2 cm shorter,1 kg heavier, and have a healthier heart.That rate of evolution is pretty similar to what we see in plants and animals. Humans_don_t_seem_to_be_any_exception,_the team said.Other recent genetic research backs up that belief. One study by John Hawks, an anthropologist
4、 at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, found that some 1,800 human gene variations (变异) are common in recent generations because of evolution. Among the changes are mutations (突变) that allow people to digest milk or resist malaria(疟疾) and others that govern brain development.Since the Industria
5、l Revolution, modern humans have grown taller and stronger. It s easy to assume that evolution is making humans fitter. But according to anthropologist Peter McAllister, the contemporary male has evolved physically into “the sorriest example of male ever on the planet”. An average Neanderthal woman,
6、 McAllister notes, could have beat Arnold Schwarzenegger in an armwrestling (腕力) match. And early Australian Aborigines could easily defeat Usain Bolt in a 100-m dash.However, Douglas Ewbank, of the University of Pennsylvania, says that cultural factors tend to have a much greater impact than natura
7、l selection on future generations, so people tend to ignore evolution s effects.And, despite evidence indicating evolution still works, Steve Jones, an evolutionary biologist at University College London, thinks that the impact of evolution on humans is not the most important. “What makes humans wha
8、t we are is in our minds, in our society, and not in our evolution，” said Jones.语篇解读科学家们发现人类还在不断地进化，但是他们认为自然选择对人类进化的影响已经没那么大了。1What does the underlined sentence “Humans don t seem to be any exception” imply?A. Plants and animals are evolving faster than humans.B. Evolution doesnt work in humans any
9、longer.C. The rate of evolution in plants and animals also applies to humans.D. Humans are unique in their evolution.解析推理判断题。根据第四段内容可知，人类的进化速度和动植物的很相似，人类并不例外，由此可判断动植物的进化速度也适用于人类。答案C2Why is the recent genetic research quoted in the fifth paragraph?A. To support the belief that mankind is still evolvi
10、ng.B. To show human gene variations are common in recent generations.C. To prove modern humans have grown fitter.D. To suggest that the natural selection process is no longer driven by survival.解析细节理解题。根据第五段中的Other recent genetic research backs up that belief可知最近的其他基因研究也支持“人类还在进化”这一观点，和文章开头的主题句照应。答案
11、A3According to the passage, we can infer that Arnold Schwarzenegger _.A. used to be a famous actorB. is an American governorC. is very weakD. is very strong解析推理判断题。第六段中举施瓦辛格的例子是为了证明在人类越来越健壮的进化中，男性成为最令人遗憾的例子。由对施瓦辛格的了解和文段内容可判断阿诺德施瓦辛格很强壮，力气很大。答案D4According to Douglas Ewbank, which of the following fact
12、ors plays a greater part in the future generations?A. Culture. B. Evolution.C. Natural selection. D. Genetic mutations.解析细节理解题。根据倒数第二段内容可知，在未来的后代中，起更大作用的是文化因素。答案A5What is the main idea of the passage?A. Mankind is still evolving.B. Women will get fatter.C. The history of human evolution.D. Future wo
13、men tend to have more children.解析主旨大意题。本文第一句就是主题句，后面都是围绕着“人类还在不断地进化”这一观点进行论述的。答案A长难句解读1.Among the changes are mutations(突变)that allow people to digest milk or resist malaria(疟疾) and others that govern brain development.本句主语很长，为了句子结构的平衡进行了倒装。主句的主语是mutations and others，定语从句that allow people to digest
14、milk or resist malaria修饰mutations，定语从句that govern brain development修饰others。2And, despite evidence indicating evolution still works, Steve Jones, an evolutionary biologist at University College London, thinks that the impact of evolution on humans is not the most important.本句的主语是Steve Jones, an evol
15、utionary biologist at University College London是Steve Jones的同位语，that引导一个宾语从句。despite evidence为介词短语作状语，后面的非谓语动词短语作evidence的后置定语。 (第72篇)THURSDAY, July 9 ( HealthDay News) A new study that found that a lowercalorie diet slowed the aging process in monkeys could be the best proof yet that restricted die
16、ts might do the same for humans.“The big question in aging research is, Will caloric restriction in species closely related to humans slow aging？” said Richard Weindruch, senior author of a paper appearing in the July 10 issue of Science.This is the first clear demonstration that, in a primate speci
17、es, we re inducing a slowdown of the aging process showing increased survival, resistance to disease, less brain atrophy and less muscle loss.“This predicts humans would respond similarly，” added Weindruch, professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin and an investigator at the Veterans Hosp
18、ital in Madison. Another expert noted that, despite some highly publicized studies in certain species, the link between restricted eating and longer lifespan has been far from proven.“The idea that dietary restriction extends lifespan in all species is not true. Many strains of rats and mice do not
19、respond. In some strains, it s actually deleterious，” explained Felipe Sierra, director of the biology of aging program at the US National Institute on Aging (NIA), which supported the new study. “The fact that it doesnt work in some mice but it does seem to work in monkeys is surprising and it give
20、s us hope.”But there s a larger question: how to change humans increasingly lax eating habits. “This_finding_doesnt_give_me_hope_that_humans_are_going_to_go_into_dietary_restriction，” added Marianne Grant, a registered dietitian at Texas A&M Health Science Center Coastal Bend Health Education Center
21、 in Corpus Christi.语篇解读这是一篇新闻报道，研究人员通过对动物的研究证明低热量的饮食可能会延长人的寿命。1The underlined word “restricted” means“_”A. limited B. satisfiedC. reserved D. fascinated解析词义猜测题。根据第一段可知，低热量的饮食可以延长猴子的寿命，这一试验证明有节制的饮食可能同样会延长人的寿命。答案A2Which of the following statements about Weindruch is true?A. This experiment indicates r
22、estricted diets could extend humans lifespan.B. Adequate sleep is another way to reduce the speed of aging process.C. The experiment was a failure in some species such as mice.D. The experiment which had been tested on humans got a great success.解析细节理解题。根据第三段第一句话可知答案为A。答案A3According to Felipe Sierra
23、 s idea, we know that_.A. the restricted diets experiment really had no distinct effect on rats and miceB. humans are finding new ways to slowdown the aging process of all the speciesC. the experiment is unnecessary to be carried on because of the response of the miceD. the experiment confirmed that
24、 restricted diets extend lifespan in all species解析细节理解题。从第四段的第二句“Many strains of rats and mice do not respond.”可知答案。答案A4It can be inferred from the underlined sentence that _.A. the result of the experiment shows that humans are not pigging out nowadaysB. nowadays humans are turning unhealthy diets
25、into lowercalorie dietsC. how to change humans careless eating habits is a long way to goD. the experiment changed humans increasingly careless eating habits解析细节理解题。由画线句子可知人们目前并没有进入到控制饮食的状态中，也就是说要改变人们漫不经心的饮食习惯还有很长的路要走。答案C5The author most likely wrote this text to_.A. compare the two experiments on r
26、ats and monkeysB. illustrate the data from the researchC. call on people to pay attention to their daily dietsD. introduce a lively debate to amuse the reader解析写作目的题。作者的目的是通过介绍试验”低热量的饮食可能会延长人的寿命”，呼吁人们注意控制饮食。答案C长难句解读Another expert noted that, despite some highly publicized studies in certain species,
27、 the link between restricted eating and longer lifespan has been far from proven.本句的主句为Another expert noted that，其中that引导的是一个宾语从句。从句用despite表示让步关系，后面的far from proven意为”远没有得到证明”。 (第73篇)The treadle pump is based on a design developed in the 1970s by Norwegian engineer Gunnar Barnes. It can be made loc
28、ally.The treadle pump is easy to build from bamboo or other wood and two metal cylinders (圆筒) with pistons (活塞). The pistons go up and down as a person stands on lever devices treadles and uses a natural walking motion.How many hours a day the pump needs to be operated depends on the season and how
29、much water is needed for crops. It could be two hours a day. It could be seven hours a day.Small children sometimes stand with their parents on the treadles. Everyone in the family can take turns operating the pump.The Acumen Fund is a nonprofit group that invests in business projects to fight pover
30、ty. It studied the effects of treadle pumps in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh has three treadle pump manufacturers and more than seventythree thousand pumps.Acumen reported that families using them ate more vegetables, because they were able to grow more to eat and to sell. Many of
31、 these families also drank more milk, because they bought a cow with their added earnings. Men with treadle pumps often no longer have to leave the farm to seek extra work in cities.The pump can also improve education. Farmers often use their extra earnings to buy books for their children or to pay
32、for schooling.A farmer in Zambia said he hoped to have enough money in three years to buy a dieselpowered pump (柴油泵). Then he could grow more crops over a larger area.But the world economic crisis has had an effect on some farmers. IDE executive director Zenia Tata says some who were able to buy die
33、sel pumps now do not have enough money to buy fuel. So they are using their treadle pumps again.语篇解读脚踏泵因其简单、易行、实用之特点，正在世界的广大贫困地区被推广，以帮助农民脱贫致富，且已取得了显著的效果。1The treadle pump _.A. is invented by an American engineerB. is mainly made of metalC. consists of two cylinders with pistonsD. consists of two cyl
34、inders with an engine解析事实细节题。根据第二段第一句可知答案为C。答案C2What does the author want to tell us about the treadle pump in the second paragraph?A. Its history.B. Its working principle.C. Its structure.D. Its usage and effects.解析作者意图题。A和D显然不对，C有一定干扰性，但其不能概括第二句，介绍工作原理时，一般要同时介绍其结构，故选B。答案B3It can be inferred from t
35、he passage that _.A. it is easy to learn how to operate the treadle pumpB. it is difficult to build a treadle pumpC. the treadle pump is used more in winter than in summerD. operating the treadle pump can keep fit解析推理判断题。B和C与文中内容相悖，可排除。易错选D，但文中没有依据，无法推知。根据第四段，小孩也可帮忙，家庭中每个人都可参与，可推知A为答案。答案A4Each tread
36、le pump manufacturer in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has produced on average about _.A. 18, 000 pumps B. 24, 000 pumpsC. 37, 000 pumps D. 73, 000 pumps解析数据推算题。根据第五段第三句可知，该州共三家生产商，共有七万三千多架脚踏泵，平均每家生产两万四千架左右，故选B。答案B5Why does the farmer in Zambia hope to buy a dieselpowered pump?A. Because he wants
37、 to grow crops on a larger scale.B. Because he hates to leave the farm to seek fortune in cities.C. Because a dieselpowered pump is cheaper than before.D. Because oil is much cheaper than before.解析事实细节题。根据倒数第二段第二句可知答案。答案A长难句解读IDE executive director Zenia Tata says some who were able to buy diesel pu
38、mps now do not have enough money to buy fuel.该句为双重复合句。主句主语为IDE executive director Zenia Tata，谓语为says，后面为省略了that的宾语从句。该宾语从句的主干部分为some do not have enoueh money to buy fuel，who were able to buy diesel pumps为定语从句，修饰主语some。 (第74篇)It was near dusk, and Kim Cooper and her husband, Steve, were trucking thro
39、ugh northern Kentucky transportation auto parts from Louisville to Detroit for a goods company. “Steve, wake up！” she shouted. “Theres a truck on fire！”Inside the burning truck, Ronnie Sanders, 38, was fighting for his life. Hed been running a heavy load of tractors and forklifts from Georgia to Ind
40、ianapolis when a van in front of him stopped suddenly in traffic on the icy road. As Ronnie bore down, he could see children in the backseat. The trucks bulk would probably protect him from the worst of the impact, but the force of 23 tons would likely crush(压碎) everyone inside the van.“I figured in
41、stead of killing other people, Id just put the truck in the ditch. ”At the bottom, rocks cut a fuel tank, which caught fire. A tree branch destroyed the windshield and knocked Ronnie unconscious. He came to life a couple of minutes later to find the cabin flames and his legs on fire.Steve dashed to
42、Ronnie, who was hanging headfirst from the passenger door. Ronnie had used his pocketknife to cut himself free from the driversside seat belt only to get his boot trapped in another one. Steve climbed into the burning cab to free him.He tried three times to pull Ronnie out before finally freeing him
43、. But Ronnies legs were still burning, so Steve laid him on the ground, ripped off his own shirt, and beat the flames with it. Hed managed to drag him about 20 yards when one of the trucks 150gallon fuel tanks exploded.Both Steve and Ronnie paid a price for risking their lives for strangers. Ronnie
44、spent two months in the hospital and received skin grafts on both of his legs. Steve suffered smoke breathing and minor burns, and shrapnel from the fuel tank explosion broke a tooth.In February, the Coopers received a Hero of the Highway award from the Open Road Foundation for rescuing an injured d
45、river. Steve insists Ronnie is the real hero: “If he hadnt gone into the ditch, he would have hit that van. It was his decision to drive off the road.”“I feel pretty good about it，” says Ronnie. “A lot of people could have been hurt.”解读：本文为记叙文，主要讲述了the Coopers途中遇到Ronnie开的大卡车着火了；Ronnie为了不造成更大的伤害，不顾自身
46、的安危，将卡车开进水沟里，而Steve则竭尽全力救助Ronnie。1. According to the passage, Ronnies putting the truck in the ditch contributes to_.A. his concern for his own safetyB. his poor driving skillC. the icy roadD. his concern for others lives解析细节推断题。由文章的第三段第一句话“I figured instead of killing other people，Id just put the t
47、ruck in the ditch.”可推断出。答案D2. What probably made Ronnie come to life after driving the truck in the ditch?A. The noise from the highway.B. The call from the Coopers.C. The pain from the burning legs.D. The heat of the fire.解析细节推断题。根据文章的第三段最后一句话He came to life a couple of minutes later to find the ca
48、b in flames and his legs on fire.利用排除法。答案C3. How did Steve put out the flames in Ronnies legs?A. He beat the flames with Ronnies shirt.B. He beat the flames with his own shirt.C. He put out the fire with a tank of water.D. He put out the fire with a bag of sand.解析细节理解题。根据文章第五段第二句话，Steve撕下自己的衬衫，用它来扑灭
49、(Ronnie双腿上的)火焰。答案B4. What does the underlined word “shrapnel” in Paragraph 6 mean?A. A branch of a tree.B. A small piece of metal.C. A wave of the explosion.D. The heat of the explosion.解析词义猜测题。根据下文shrapnel from the fuel tank explosion broke a tooth可知是“油箱爆炸产生的金属片打碎了一颗牙”。答案B5. Which of the following
50、can be the best title of this passage?A. Heroes: The CoopersB. Heroes: Roadside FlamesC. Accidents on the Icy RoadD. Accidents in the Ditch解析确定文章标题。综观全文，A，C，D三项不够全面；而B项即表明事故，也表明了事故中竭力营救他人的英雄。答案B (第75篇)Astronauts aboard the space station Celebrated a space first on Wednesday by drinking water that ha
51、d been recycled from their urine and sweat and water that condenses from exhaled air. They said “cheers” ，clicked drinking bags and toasted NASA workers on the ground who were sipping their own version of recycled drinking water.The recycling system is needed for astronaut stations on the moon and M
52、ars. It also will save NASA money because it won t have to ship up as much water to the station by space shuttle or cargo rockets.Besides, it s important as the space station is about to expand from three people living on board to six.The recycling system had been brought up to the space station las
53、t November by space shuttle Endeavour, but it couldn t be used until samples were tested back on Earth. So when it came time to actually drink up, NASA made a big deal of it. The threeman crew stood, holding their drinks and congratulated engineers in two NASA centers that worked on the system.“This
54、 is something that had been the stuff of science fiction，” Barratt said before taking a small mouthful. “The taste is worth trying.”NASA deputy space shuttle manager LeRoy Cain called it “a huge milestone”The new system takes the combined urine of the crew from the toilet, moves it to a big tank, wh
55、ere the water is boiled off, and the vapor is collected. The rest of the urine is thrown away. The water vapor is mixed with water from air condensation, and then it goes through filters. When six crew members are aboard it can make about six gallons from urine in about six hours.“Some people may fi
56、nd the idea of drinking recycled urine distasteful, but it is also done on Earth with a lot longer time between urine and the tap”said Marybeth Edeen, the space stations national lab manager.The technology NASA developed for this system has already been used for quick water purification after the 20
57、04 Asian tsunami, Edeen said.“We are happy to have this water work through the system we re happy to have it work through our systems，”Barratt said.语篇解读本文讲的是国际空间站宇航员试饮尿液循环水。1According to the text, the recycling system is important because_.A. it makes traveling to the moon for the common person poss
58、ibleB. with it NASA won t need to ship any water up to the space stationC. it can help to meet the need for more water after the crew are expandedD. it protects the environment in space by reducing the amount of waste解析细节理解题。根据第二段中的“its important as the space station is about to expand from three pe
59、ople living on board to six”可知C项正确。答案C2What is the RIGHT time order of the following events?a. The samples of the recycled water were tested on Earth.b. Astronauts celebrated the space first of making water from urine.c. The recycling system was brought up to the space station.d. The technology for
60、the system was used to quickly purify water.A. a，d，c，b B. a，c，b，dC. d，a，c，b D. d，c，a，b解析细节理解题。根据倒数第二段的“The technology NASA developed for this system has already been used for quick water purification after the 2004 Asian tsunami”可知d发生最早。根据第三段的“ The recycling system had been brought up to the space s
61、tation last November. couldn t be used until samples were tested back on Earth”可知c发生在a的前面，因此D项正确。答案D3From Para. 6 we can know_.A. the theory behind the recycling systemB. the effect of the recycling systemC. the process of the recycling systemD. an opinion on the recycling system解析段落概括题。该段主要讲述的是使用尿液
62、循环系统将尿制成水的过程。答案C4What did Edeen say about recycled urine and the recycling system?A. The taste of recycled urine is not as good as common water.B. The recycling system has made a science fiction story come true.C. The idea of drinking recycled urine makes astronauts feel unpleasant.D. It takes a lon
63、ger time on Earth to make water from urine than in space.解析细节理解题。根据第七段中的“with a lot onger time between urine and the tap”可知D项正确。答案D5What is the best title for the passage?A. The research of NASA has made great progressB. New technology is used in the space stationC. Drink up: space station recycles
64、urine to waterD. Good news: water recycled from urine tastes good解析标题概括题。本文报道了国际空间站的宇航员试饮尿液循环水，“Drink up”生动反映饮用时的情景，“space station recycles urine to watert”点明了制造技术。故C项最佳。答案C长难句解读Astronauts aboard the space station celebrated a space first on Wednesday by drinking water that had been recycled from their urine and sweat and water that condenses from exhaled air.主句是：Astronautscelebrated a space first on Wednesday by drinking water.aboard the space station和that had been recycled from their urine and sweat and water充当定语分别修饰名词Astronauts和water。