1、Week Sixteen 科普小品一、阅读理解（共20小题；共40.0分）A As any plane passenger will confirm, a crying baby is almost impossible to ignore, no matter how hard you try. Now scientists believe they may have worked out why. An infants cries pull at the heartstrings in a way that other cries dont, researchers found. Rese
2、archers found that the sound of a baby crying can trigger unique emotional responses in the brain, making it impossible for us to ignore themwhether we are parents or not. Other types of cry, including calls of animals in sadness, fail to cause the same responsesuggesting the brain is programmed to
3、respond specifically to a babys cry. A team of Oxford University scientists scanned the brains of 28 men and women as they listened to a variety of calls and cries. After 100 millisecondsroughly the time it takes to blinktwo regions of the brain that respond to emotion lit up. Their response to a ba
4、bys cry was particularly strong. The response was seen in both men and womeneven if they had no children. You might read that men should barely notice a baby and step over it and not see any of them but its not true. There is a specialized processing in men and women which makes sense from an evolut
5、ionary perspective that both genders would be responding to these cues. The study was in people who were not parents, yet they are all responding at 100ms to these particular sounds, so this might be a fundamental response present in all of us regardless of parental status. Fellow researcher Katie Y
6、oung said it may take a bit longer for someone to recognize their own childs cries because they need to do more fine-grained analysis. The team had previously found that our reactions speed up when we hear a baby crying. Adults performed better on computer games when they played the sound of a baby
7、crying than after they heard recordings of adults crying or high-pitched birdsong. 1. Why is a babys crying difficult to ignore? A. Because it cries louder than others. B. Because it cries in a different manner. C. Because its cry is moving. D. Because its cry is absorbing. 2. What does the underlin
8、ed word trigger in Paragraph 2 mean? A. Cause.B. Avoid.C. Remove.D. Cure. 3. According to the passage, responses to a babys cry are strong . A. in people with childrenB. in people with no children C. in neither men nor womenD. in both men and women 4. Peoples response to babys cry can be understood
9、. A. from humans fundamental emotion B. from a view of parents C. from a view of people who are not parents D. from an evolutionary view 5. When do grown-ups play computer games much better? A. When hearing recordings of adults crying. B. When hearing recordings of high-pitched birdsong. C. When hea
10、ring recordings of old people crying. D. When hearing recordings of babies crying.B At last, good news to report about the greenest government ever. A package of railway spending across England and Wales worth 9.4bnof which 4.2bn will be spent on previously unannounced projects. The projects include
11、 a high capacity electric spine running between Yorkshire and the East Midlands down to south coast ports, and the electrification of the line between Sheffield and Bedford. Further electrification is also planned in Wales meaning two-thirds of the Welsh population will have access to electric train
12、s. Speaking on Radio 4s Today program this morning, she said, we all know that diesel(柴油机) is massively expensive so if we can move over to electric trains, not only are they greener, theyre also cheaper and also they are lighter too, so what that means is that when they are on the track they dont d
13、amage it so much, so maintenance costs go down too. Rail electrification is an important part of the Departments carbon strategy. Typically an electric train emits between 20% and 35% less carbon per passenger mile than a diesel train. This benefit will only improve as the electricity generation ind
14、ustry reduces its carbon levels. Electric trains also have zero emissions at the point of use, of particular benefit for air quality in pollution hot spots like city centres and mainline stations such as London Paddington. A lot depends on the decarbonisation(低碳排放) of our electricity generation, but
15、 by the time these new electrified lines are fully operational in the 2020s we should be advancing with the decarbonisation of the grid. However you calculate it, though, electric trains are greener than diesel trains. Interestingly, he added that a high-speed electric train traveling at 300km per h
16、ouras might be seen on HS2would still emit less CO2 per passenger kilometer than a diesel train traveling at its top speed of 220km per hour. Combine all this with the fact that railway electrification, particularly on city commuter routes, helps to reduce local air pollutiona topical subject in Lon
17、don this week-and it seems clear that electric trains are the way to go. 6. Which parts will benefit most from electric trains? A. England and Ireland.B. England and Scotland. C. Wales and Scotland.D. Wales and England. 7. Whats the main idea of Paragraph 2? A. The benefits of the electric trains. B
18、. The benefits of the diesel trains. C. The shortcoming of the electric trains. D. The shortcoming of the diesel trains. 8. The underlined word emits means . A. gives awayB. gives overC. gives outD. gives up 9. Whats the authors attitude on the decarbonisation? A. Doubtful.B. Confident.C. Negative.D
19、. Unclear.10. According to the passage, the Londoners will focus a lot on . A. railway electrificationB. high-speed electric trains C. city commuter routesD. diesel train travelingC It has long been believed that drinking green tea is good for the memory. Now researchers have discovered how the chem
20、ical properties of Chinas favorite drink affect the generation of brain cells, providing benefits for memory and spatial(空间的) learning. There has been plenty of scientific attention on its use in helping prevent cardiovascular diseases, but now there is emerging evidence that its chemical properties
21、 may impact cellular mechanisms in the brain, said Professor Yun Bai. Professor Bais team focused on the organic chemical EGCG, a key property of green tea. The team believed it can also have a beneficial effect against age-related degenerative(退化的) diseases. We proposed that EGCG can improve cognit
22、ive function by impacting the generation of neuron cells, a process known as neurogenesis, said Bai. We focused our research on the hippocampus, the part of the brain which processes information from short-term to long-term memory. The team found that EGCG boosts the production of neural progenitor
23、cells, which like stem cells can adapt, or differentiate, into various types of cells. The team then used laboratory mice to discover if this increased cell production gave an advantage to memory or spatial learning. We ran tests on two groups of mice, one which had imbibed EGCG and a control group,
24、 said Bai. First the mice were trained for three days to find a visible platform in their maze(迷宫). Then they were trained for seven days to find a hidden platform. The team found that the EGCG treated mice required less time to find the hidden platform. Overall the results revealed that EGCG enhanc
25、es learning and memory by improving object recognition and spatial memory. We have shown that the organic chemical EGCG acts directly to increase the production of neural progenitor cells, both in glass tests and in mice, concluded Bai. This helps us to understand the potential for EGCG, and green t
26、ea which contains it, to help combat degenerative diseases and memory loss.11. The new evidence suggests chemical properties . A. in black tea may impact cellular mechanisms in the brain B. in green tea may affect cellular mechanisms in the brain C. in black tea may damage cellular mechanisms in the
27、 brain D. in green tea may damage memory and spatial learning12. According to the passage, Professor Bais team paid attention to . A. short-term and long-term memory B. the generation of neuron cells and hippocampus C. age-related degenerative diseases D. the organic chemical EGCG and hippocampus13.
28、 The underlined word imbibed refers to . A. drunkB. stolenC. carriedD. refused14. The team found that it took more time . A. for the EGCG treated mice to find the hidden platform B. for the EGCG treated mice to find the visible platform C. for the control mice to find the hidden platform D. for the
29、control mice to find the visible platform15. What might be the potential for EGCG? A. To decrease the blood level. B. To improve the time memory. C. To help treat memory loss. D. To cure degenerative diseases.D Students who stay up late to cram for a test or finish a project have lower comprehension
30、 and worse performance in the classroom as a result, research shows. The old saying that you snooze, you lose doesnt apply to students who stay up late to cram for a test or finish a class project. The UCLA team found that regardless of how much time a high schooler normally spends on homework each
31、day, a student who gives up sleep for extra study time will have trouble the next day understanding material in class and be more likely to struggle with an assignment or test-the opposite of the students intent. The researchers didnt quantify(量化) the increased risk for academic problems following a
32、 longer-than-usual study session, but they said the number of problems was surprisingly greater. The relationship held up no matter how ambitious the student was, as measured by the amount of time spent studying on a typical day, and it became stronger as students progressed through high school. The
33、 results rang true to Kai Daniels, a senior at the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies. On occasions when shes stayed up late to study, shes had more trouble absorbing material in class. Id have to re-teach myself at night, she said. The finding makes a lot of sense, and several new studies are
34、showing that the quantity and the quality of sleep are important for remembering new information and consolidating(巩固) learning. Students who get too little sleep dont have enough time to process what they study; even just one night of sleep deprivation(剥夺) can have a negative effect. Parents should
35、 do what they can to make sure their children have sufficient and consistent sleep. Most adolescents need just over nine hours of sleep a night, which 9% of high school students actually get, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Though a consistent study and sleep schedule are ideal, the dema
36、nds that high school students face make that infeasible(办不到的), the researchers wrote.16. New research shows that giving away sleep for school work is . A. a good tradeB. a special trade C. a common tradeD. a bad trade17. Students give up their sleep just to . A. understand material in classB. get mo
37、re time to play C. get more time to studyD. struggle with a test18. The underlined it in Paragraph 3 means . A. The relationshipB. The risk C. The problemD. The student19. What does the example of Kai Daniels prove? A. The importance of staying up late to study. B. The importance of the quantity and
38、 the quality of sleep. C. The importance of remembering new information. D. The importance of consolidating learning.20. Why can NOT most students in high school get enough sleep? A. Because they should obey the school rules. B. Because their parents force them to stay up. C. Because they obey the r
39、ules of the National Sleep Foundation. D. Because they face the pressure of going to college.二、阅读理解（共4小题；共8.0分） Animals do amazing things. Birds migrate immense distances. Whales communicate across vast oceans. Honeybees remember familiar flowers. Crows can turn sticks into tools. Elephants can imit
40、ate sounds. Monkeys do simple math. Can animals also warn us if a natural disaster is about to strike? A few days before the Asian tsunami(海啸) several months ago, a person watched thousands of ants rush away from the beach into the forest. According to other accounts, elephants screamed and ran to h
41、igher ground as many as 10 days before disaster struck. Dogs refused to go outside. Despite decades of research, scientists dont know how to predict earthquakes and tsunamis. Maybe animals can do better. Some people say that animals have a special kind of power for sensing the future. They call it a
42、 “sixth sense”. The scientific evidence for an animal sixth sense, however, is slim, says John Caprio, a neurobiologist(神经生物学家) at Louisiana State University. If reports about animals escaping danger are actually true, Caprio says, the animals must be responding to real sensations, rather than using
43、 some mysterious type of otherworldly perception. When it comes to sensing earthquakes and tsunamis, feeling the vibrations(震动) they create in the earth is probably key, says Joel Greenspan. “Animals are always in direct contact with the ground,” Greenspan says. “We dont do that anymore. We have sho
44、es and clothes. We pay attention to other people, sights, and sounds.” That way, if an animal is standing or lying around, it can sense the footsteps of predators(食肉动物) coming its way. Perhaps the animals in Asia mistook the earthquake and tsunami for a monster coming to eat them. In response, they
45、ran in the opposite direction and ended up saving themselves. Even though scientists are far from knowing everything about why animals behave the way they do, most scientists are sure there must be rational explanations. Further research, however, might help us understand what it feels like to be a
46、fish, a cat, an elephant, or a mouse.21. This article is mainly about . A. amazing animalsB. amazing world C. sixth senseD. sense of danger22. Where may this article appear? A. Science news.B. Entertainment. C. Science fiction.D. Latest News on TV.23. According to Joel, how can elephants sense the c
47、oming of tsunami? A. They can feel the vibration in the earth. B. They mistook tsunami for a monsters coming. C. They were using mysterious type of perception. D. They have sixth sense which humans dont have.24. The underlined word “slim” in the second paragraph means . A. clearB. sufficientC. strangeD. little答案一、阅读理解 1. B 2. A 3. C 4. D 5. D 6. D 7. A 8. C 9. B10. A11. B12. D13. A14. C15. C16. D17. C18. A19. B20. D二、阅读理解21. D22. A23. A24. D
