1、Unit 2 Making a difference阅读理解ASamuel Morse was born in Massachusetts USA. He started off his career as an inventor after being a painter and sculptor (雕塑家). He even earned a gold medal from the famous Adelphi Society of Arts for his first effort in sculpture, the “Dying Hercules”. He became the fir
2、st president of the National Academy of Design, and was made Professor of the Arts of Design in the University of the City of New York.Yet, this painter turned to inventing to make his fortune during a sea voyage. On this journey, Samuel Morse heard about many attempts to create usable telegraphs. H
3、e was fascinated by this problem and began to study books on physics for two years to gain more scientific knowledge. He realized that pulses (脉冲) of electrical current could carry information over wires.Thus the worlds first working model of a telegraph was born. His signaling device was quite simp
4、le. It consisted of a transmitter (containing a battery and a key), a small buzzer (蜂鸣器) as a receiver and a pair of wires connecting the_two. Samuel Morse improved it by adding a switch and a second buzzer to allow transmission (传播) in the opposite direction as well.On May 24, 1844 Samuel Morse sen
5、t the first electronic message between Baltimore and Washington, “Look what God has enabled us to build, and benefit by.”Seventeen years later, the two coasts of the United States were linked by telegraph. The telegraph continued to enjoy the position of being the fastest and most reliable means of
6、communication for almost 140 years since its invention.这是一篇记叙文。记叙了塞缪尔莫尔斯发明了世界上第一个电报模型的经过。1From the passage we learn that Samuel Morse _.Awas a famous sculptor at one timeBwas president of New York UniversityCfirst discovered pulses of electrical currentDbecame a millionaire after inventing the teleg
7、raph解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中He started off his career as an inventor after being a painter and sculptor(雕塑家). He even earned a gold medal from the famous Adelphi Society of Arts for his first effort in sculpture, the “Dying Hercules”(在成为画家和雕塑家之后，他开始了自己的发明家生涯。他甚至还获得了著名的阿德尔菲艺术学会的金牌，因为他在雕塑方面的第一次努力垂死的大力神。)可知，塞缪尔
8、莫尔斯曾是一位著名的雕塑家。故选A。答案：A2Samuel Morse wanted to invent a telegraph because _.Ahe was very interested in itBhe thought he was a talented inventorChe thought he could make a fortuneDhe thought he would be famous解析：推理判断题。根据第二段中On this journey, Samuel Morse heard about many attempts to create usable teleg
9、raphs. He was fascinated by this problem and began to study books on physics for two years to gain more scientific knowledge.(在这次旅行中，塞缪尔莫尔斯听说了许多创造可用电报的尝试。他对这个问题很感兴趣，为了获得更多的科学知识，他开始研究两年的物理书籍。)可知，塞缪尔莫尔斯想发明电报，因为他对电报很感兴趣。故选A。答案：A3The underlined words “the two” in Paragraph 3 refer to _.Athe battery and
10、the keyBthe transmitter and the buzzerCthe wires and the batteryDthe receiver and the key解析：词义猜测题。根据It consisted of a transmitter (containing a battery and a key), a small buzzer (蜂鸣器) as a receiver and a pair of wires connecting the_two 可知，它由一个发射器(包括一个电池和一个按键)，一个作为接收器的小型蜂鸣器和一对连接这两个的金属线组成。所以，画线部分单词指
11、代上文的发射器和蜂鸣器。故选B。答案：BBIts nothing unusual for people to multitask nowadays. But the ability to do a number of things at the same time could be different between the two sexes.A team of UK researchers recently compared the performances of 120 women and 120 men in a computer test about switching(转换) be
12、tween tasks of counting and shape recognition.Men equaled women when tasks were done one at a time. But when the tasks were mixed up, there was a clear difference. According to the paper published in the journal BMC Psychology, both women and men slowed down and made more mistakes as the switching b
13、ecame more rapid. But men were slower, taking 77 percent longer to answer, while women took 69 percent longer.To make the experiment more connected to daytoday life, researchers tried a second test. A group of women and men were given eight minutes to complete a series of everyday tasks, such as fin
14、ding restaurants on a map, doing simple math problems, answering a phone call, or deciding how they would search for a lost key in a field.Once again, women performed better than men in the test, especially in the keysearching task.Where do women get the ability to keep organized under pressure bett
15、er than men? Researchers believe that it has its origins in evolution (进化). In ancient times, women had to keep an eye on children while cooking meals. Meanwhile, men only needed to focus on hunting.However, as with all studies, the results dont necessarily apply to every single person in the world.
16、 “We dont mean that men cant multitask, or that only women can，” researcher Keith Laws of the University of Hertfordshire, UK, told BBC News. “We are saying that the average woman is better able to organize her time and switch between tasks than the average man.”本文是一篇说明文。文章主要讲了在测试中，研究人员发现一般而言，女性比男性更
17、善于在不同任务之间切换，但是有些男性和女性一样擅长多任务处理。4In the tests, researchers found that _.Awomen were better at switching between tasks than menBwomen made more mistakes than men when multitaskingCmen were better at counting and shape recognition than womenDmen completed a series of daily tasks more quickly than women
18、解析：细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句及倒数第三段Once again, women performed better than men in the test, especially in the keysearching task.(同样，女性在测试中表现得比男性更好，尤其是在线索寻找任务中。)可知，在测试中，研究人员发现女性比男性更善于在不同任务之间切换，故选A。答案：A5What is the main purpose of Paragraph 6?ATo give advice on how to improve the ability to multitask.BTo show ho
19、w men and women think and respond otherwise.CTo compare the roles of men and women in human communities.DTo explain why men and women perform differently in multitasking.解析：推理判断题。第六段开头便提出女性在压力下比男性更有组织能力的原因是什么。研究人员认为它起源于进化。在古代，妇女做饭时必须照看孩子。与此同时，男性只需要专注于狩猎。由此推断出，第六段的主要目的是解释为什么男性和女性在多任务处理方面表现不同，故选D。答案：D
20、6Which of the following would Keith Laws most probably agree with?AAll women are born to be good at multitasking.BSome men are as good at multitasking as women.CMen shouldnt do jobs that call for multitasking skills.DEvery woman is better able to multitask than every man.解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段 “We dont mea
21、n that men cant multitask, or that only women can，” researcher Keith Laws of the University of Hertfordshire, UK, told BBC News. “We are saying that the average woman is better able to organize her time and switch between tasks than the average man.”(英国赫特福德郡大学的研究人员Keith Laws在接受BBC采访时说：“我们并不是说男性不能同时处理多项任务，或者只有女性才能。我们的意思是，平均来说，女性比男性更善于安排自己的时间，在不同的任务之间切换。”)由此推断出，Keith Laws会同意“有些男人和女人一样擅长多任务处理”这样的观点，故选B。答案：B