科普类阅读理解模拟训练(111020)-高三英语阅读(590)-21英语网

A

难度：★★★★ 话题：Music/Medical science 建议时间:8分钟文章词数：415 正确率： /4

We all know that listening to music can soothe emotional pain, but Taylor Swift, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys can also ease physical pain, according to a study of children and teenagers who had major surgery (手术).

The research was carried out because of a very personal experience. Sunitha Suresh was a college student when her grandmother had major surgery and was put in intensive care (重症监护). This meant her family couldn’t always be with her. They decided to put her favorite music on an iPod so she could listen around the clock.

It was very calming, Suresh says. “She knew that someone who loved her had left that music for her and she was in a familiar place.”

Suresh could see that the music relaxed her grandmother and made her feel less anxious, but she wondered if she also felt less pain. That would make sense, because anxiety can make people more vulnerable (脆弱的) to pain. At the time Suresh was majoring in biomedical engineering with a minor (兼修) in music cognition (认知) at Northwestern University where her father, Santhanam Suresh, is a professor of anesthesiology (麻醉) and pediatrics (儿科).

So the father and daughter decided to do a study. And since Dr Suresh works with children, they decided to look at how music chosen by the children themselves might affect their tolerance for pain.

It was a small study, involving 60 patients between 9 and 14 years old. All the patients were undergoing big operations that required them to stay in the hospital for at least a couple of days. Right after surgery, patients received narcotics (麻醉药) to control pain. The next day they were divided into three groups. One group heard 30 minutes of music of their choice, one heard 30 minutes of stories of their choice and one listened to 30 minutes of silence via noise canceling headphones (降噪耳机).

After a 30-minute session, the children who listened to music or books reduced their pain burden by 1 point on a 10-point scale. That might not sound like much, but Sunitha Suresh says it’s the equivalent (相等物) of taking an over-the-counter pain medication like Advil or Tylenol.

The findings suggest that doctors may be able to use less pain medication for their pediatric patients. And that’s a good thing, says Santhanam Suresh, as children are smaller and are more likely to suffer side effects. So the less pain medication, he says, the better.

1. What inspired Sunitha Suresh to do the research on the effects of music?

A. Her father’s study into music cognition.

B. Her grandmother’s experience of recovery.

C. Her desire to find a new way to help patients relieve pain.

D. A book that claims anxiety can make people more vulnerable to pain.

2. During the research, the participants ______.

A. were all patients under 12 years old

B. received narcotics to control pain after surgeries

C. were required to stay in the hospital for a couple of months

D. were divided into three groups to listen to three different kinds of music

3. What did Suresh and her father find out from their research?

A. Books didn’t reduce the children’s pain burden at all.

B. Music was even more effective than pain medication for the children.

C. Music did reduce the children’s pain burden to a great extent.

D. The longer the children listened to music, the less pain they felt.

4. The findings are especially significant for children because ______.

A. they are more sensitive to music than adults

B. they can easily get addicted to pain medication

C. they usually don’t like to take pain medication

D. they are more likely to suffer from the side effects of pain medication

B

难度：★★★ 话题：Family 建议时间:6分钟文章词数：376 正确率： /3

Going back to work can be a difficult decision for some mothers after having children.

But a study has found that leaving their children to go to work may have significant benefits for them later in life. Daughters of working mothers have been found to be more likely to be employed, earn more and have more senior positions than girls with a stay-at-home parent. And while it has little impact on a son’s employment prospects, working mothers do tend to have boys who are more caring as adults.

Researchers from Harvard Business School analyzed data from the Family and Changing Gender Roles section of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). The survey covers 24 countries, including North and South America, Australia, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

They discovered that adult daughters of employed mothers are more likely to be employed than adult daughters of mothers who stay home full-time when their children are young. When employed, daughters of employed mothers work more hours, are better compensated (付报酬), and are more likely to hold senior positions than daughters of stay-at-home mothers. But at home, daughters of employed mothers do fewer hours of housework each week.

For sons, though, the pattern is different.

The researchers found no link between a son’s employment and a mother’s employment when their child is growing up. But sons of employed mothers spend more time caring for family members than sons of stay-at-home mothers.

“The pattern of findings offers strong support for our view that employed mothers provide non-traditional gender (性别) role models for their children,” explained the study. It continued that by having a non-traditional role model, in this case a working mother, it gives the children more equal view of genders, and what is “right” and “normal” for men and women.

“Our findings reveal the potential for non-traditional gender role models to gradually erode (削弱) gender inequality in homes and labor markets,” the study concluded.

Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show the proportion (比例) of women who are stay-at-home mothers has dropped by more than a third in the past two decades to a historic low. Recent research found that only one woman in ten now stays at home to raise a family.

5. What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. Working mothers. B. Children of working mothers.

C. Sons of working mothers. D. Daughters of working mothers.

6. It was found that daughters of employed mothers tend to _______ than daughters of stay-at-home mothers.

A. work fewer hours and earn less B. do more housework at home

C. be more successful in their careers D. spend more time with family members

7. What did the researchers conclude from their findings?

A. Employed mothers could help to reduce the existing gender inequality in society.

B. Employed mothers have far more impact on their daughters’ family lives than their sons’.

C. Gender inequality in America’s labor market has increased noticeably in recent decades.

D. Children of working mothers are more likely to admire traditional gender role models.

C

难度：★★★★ 话题：Space research 建议时间：7分钟文章词数：383 正确率： /4

Humans have launched (发射) themselves into the outer space. They’ve landed on the moon. They’ve built habitable space stations that orbit (绕轨道运行) the Earth. The next giant leap for mankind is to reach another planet – specifically, Mars.

The problem is, it’s no easy task. The planet is 586 times further away from Earth than the moon, and it’ll take around 180 to 220 days to reach Mars, depending on where each planet is in its orbit. Such long periods in space have suggested many potential health problems, including hormonal (激素的) changes, skin conditions, and muscle and bone deterioration (损耗).

Here’s where some furry friends come in. A wide range of animals have been in space, from fruit flies and spiders to cats, dogs, and even geckos (壁虎). Such experiments began as far back as the late 1940s in first tests to see if living things could withstand the extreme g-force (重力) of a rocket launch.

Mice continue to play a very important part in space experiments, mainly because the animals make excellent test subjects. They’re small, which makes them inexpensive and easy to care for. In addition, their size and short life span make it possible to do the equivalent of several human years of tests in a much shorter time. Finally, because mice are mammals, they share many common characteristics with humans in terms of genetics, biology and behavior.

Astromice have hit the headlines recently, as a team of scientists led by Betty Nusgens, professor of biology at the University of Liege in Belgium, found that the mice suffered a 15 percent thinning of their skin after 91 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

This experiment was part of a wider NASA mission (任务) called the Mice Drawer System (MDS). The Italian Space Agency developed the facility, which allows six mice to be housed, monitored, and automatically fed and watered aboard the ISS, among which three survived the mission duration.

The mice have participated in 20 separate experiments, to study such effects as osteoporosis (骨质疏松症), anemia (贫血) and heart health.

Results for the 20 experiments are coming in gradually. But it’s clear that mice continue to play an important role in the ongoing quest to conquer (征服) the final frontier.

8. We can infer from Paragraphs 2-3 that ______.

A. Mars is the farthest planet away from Earth discovered so far

B. the journey to Mars could put humans’ health at risk

C. it was in the late 1940s that animals were first sent to the ISS

D. animals that have been sent into space have mostly survived

9. What makes mice ideal test subjects for space experiments according to the article?

a. They are small and can reproduce quickly.

b. They are inexpensive and easy to handle.

c. They can easily adapt to new environments.

d. Mice are genetically very similar to humans.

e. They are able to show the effects of living in space in a much shorter time.

A. ace B. bde C. bcde D. abce

10. According to Betty Nusgens and her team, the mice aboard the ISS ______.

A. suffered the loss of part of their skin

B. all survived for the duration of the mission

C. were fed and watered by the astronauts

D. participated in 20 experiments that made great breakthroughs

11. The main purpose of the article is to _____.

A. describe the role mice play in scientific research

B. report on the results of the Mice Drawer System

C. analyze how mice could pave the way to Mars

D. change people’s traditional attitudes toward mice

D

难度：★★★ 话题： Robot 建议时间：7分钟词数：363 正确率： /5

Search-and-rescue operations in dangerous environments are often seen as the first activities that will employ advanced robots. But there is another part of everyday life that may soon see many robots taking over jobs usually reserved for humans: the restaurant industry.

At the DARPA Robotic Challenge competition held in California, robots were required to complete tasks that are quite simple for humans – drive a vehicle, climb up steps, shut a valve (阀门). Some spectacular failures showed how hard it is to design efficient walking machines.

Only a few days later, at an annual food machinery and technology exhibition in Tokyo, a stationary (静止不动的) robotic chef prepared food with remarkable versatility (多功能性), while other machines cooked, baked pastries (酥皮糕点), and even wrapped perfect sushi (寿司).

Akihiro Suzuki, assistant manager at Yaskawa Electric, said his company’s robot, MOTOMAN-SDA5, could be an excellent kitchen assistant because he never gets tired. “Obviously, it’s difficult for him to taste or adjust heat or seasonings (调料) properly to get the best flavor,” Suzuki said. “But if it’s simple cooking with a specific proportion of seasoning, he can repeat the same movement to reproduce the same dish.” Visitors were impressed. Masayo Mori, watching the robot at work, said: “I wouldn’t mind getting a husband like this for myself.”

Suzumo Machinery displayed its sushi maker, which takes over the repetitive task of wrapping the increasingly popular Japanese delicacy. Hiroshi Monden, one of the company managers, said sushi “has been spread to the world, but sushi chefs have not so much. With this machine, anybody can make sushi easily and repeatedly.”

Another new technology that impressed onlookers was a machine designed by the Furukawa Kikou company for scooping (挖出) and moving soft ingredients without leaving any residue (残渣). Manager Takuya Furukawa said the machine, SWITL, was perfect for the fast-food industry. “This machine is devised to scoop up soft material like hamburger patties (肉饼) or dough (面团) to put them into ovens or freezers without spoiling their shapes,” he said.

Other robots, such as those that frost cakes or peel (削皮) apples, may also find their way into today’s kitchens.

12. What is the article mainly about?

A. Jobs that robots are most likely to take over in the future.

B. Robots that could be soon employed in kitchens.

C. Robots that stood out in the DARPA Robotic Challenge competition.

D. Scientists’ difficulties in developing efficient walking machines.

13. Which of the following is TRUE about MOTOMAN-SDA5?

A. He can adjust seasoning properly to give a dish the best flavor.

B. Many visitors think his cooking is even better than their husbands’.

C. He is able to repeat simple movements to cook simple dishes.

D. He is a good sushi maker who can help to promote sushi across the world.

14. According to Takuya Furukawa, the machine his company designed could ______.

A. scoop up even hard material B. make perfect food in a short time

C. be helpful and economical in the fast-food industry

D. put hamburger patties or dough into ovens or freezers

15. How many robots are specifically mentioned in the article?

A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.

16. This writing would be most likely to appear in ______.

A. a newspaper ad B. a women’s magazine

C. a science news report D. a science fiction story

E

难度：★★★ 话题： Health 建议时间：6分钟词数：328 正确率： /4

In a time when a dangerous number of people are overweight, many people seem to have forgotten the most important way to keep healthy and slim – exercise. And as a new study carried out on mice in the lab has shown, exercise done early in life can reward you in your adult years.

A team of researchers at the University of California studied the effects of early exercise on adult physical activity, body mass and eating. They found that early-age exercise in mice has positive effects on adult levels of voluntary exercise in addition to reducing body mass.

“These results may have an effect on the importance of regular physical education in elementary and middle schools,” said Theodore Garland, a professor of biology, who led the research project. “If kids exercise regularly through their school years, then they may be more likely to exercise as adults, which could have far-reaching positive effects on human health and well-being.”

Although the positive effects of early-life exercise lasted for only one week, it is important to note that one week in the life of a mouse is the same as about nine months for humans. “Our results suggest that any positive effects of early-life exercise on adult exercise will need to be kept up if they are to be long-lasting.”

His team of researchers found, too, that all mice that had access to early exercise were lighter in weight than non-exercised mice.

Garland explained that, in general, exercise will stimulate appetite sooner or later. However, it is possible that certain types of exercise, done for certain periods of time or at certain light levels, might not stimulate appetite much, if at all, at least in some individuals.

“If we could understand what sorts of exercise these might be, then we might be able to tailor exercise recommendations in a way that would bring the benefits of exercise without increases in appetite, leading to a better chance of weight loss,” he said.

17. How long do the positive effects of early-life exercise last for a mouse?

A. One day. B. One week. C. One month. D. Nine months.

18. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?

A. Early-life exercise has life-long positive effects on people.

B. The new study on mice mainly focused on how exercise affects appetite.

C. More study is needed to better understand the effects of different types of exercise.

D. Kids should be encouraged to do exercise as early as possible to ensure physical health.

19. The underlined word “stimulate” in the last-but-one paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

A. improve B. decrease C. change D. harm

20. What is the article mainly about?

A. New ways to fight against being overweight.

B. How to do exercise properly.

C. The possible risks of doing exercise.

D. The positive effects of early-life exercise.