Everyone has heard of the San Andreas fault （断层）, which constantly threatens California and the West Coast with earthquakes. But how many people know about the equally serious New Madrid fault in Missouri?
Between December of 1811 and February of 1812, three major earthquakes occurred, all centered around the town of New Madrid, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. Property damage was severe. Buildings in the area were almost destroyed. Whole forests fell at once, and huge cracks opened in the ground, releasing some strong smell chemicals.
The Mississippi River itself completely changed character, developing sudden rapids and whirlpools (激流和漩涡). Several times it changed its course, and once, according to some observers, it actually appeared to run backwards. Few people were killed in the New Marid earthquakes, probably simply because few people lived in the area in 1811; but the severity of the earthquakes are shown by the fact that the shock waves rang bells in church towers in Charleston, South Carolina, on the coast. Buildings shook in New York City, and clocks were stopped in Washington, D.C.
Scientists now know that America's two major faults are essentially different. The San Andreas is a horizontal boundary between two major land masses that are slowly moving in opposite directions. California earthquakes result when the two masses make a sudden move.
The New Madrid fault, on the other hand, is a vertical fault; at some points, possibly hundreds of millions of years ago, rock was pushed up toward the surface, probably by volcanoes under the surface. Suddenly, the volcanoes cooled and the rock collapsed, leaving huge cracks. Even now, the rock continues to settle downwards, and sudden sinking motions cause earthquakes in the region. The fault itself, a large crack in this layer of rock, with dozens of other cracks that split off from it, extends from northeast Arkansas through Missouri and into southern Illinois.
Scientists who have studied the New Madrid fault say there have been numerous smaller quakes in the area since 1811; these smaller quakes indicate that larger ones are probably coming, but the scientists say they have no method of predicting when a large earthquake will occur.
【小题1】This passage is mainly about ___________.
| A．current scientific knowledge about faults |
| B．the San Andreas and the New Madrid faults |
| C．the causes of faults |
| D．the New Madrid fault in Missouri |
| A．a vertical fault |
| B．a horizontal fault |
| C．a more serious fault than the San Andreas fault |
| D．responsible for forming the Mississippi River |
| A．horizontal faults are more dangerous than vertical faults |
| B．Vertical faults are more dangerous than horizontal faults |
| C．The volcanoes that caused the New Madrid fault are still alive |
| D．A lot of people would die if the 1811 New Madrid earthquakes happened today |
【小题1】D
【小题2】A
【小题3】D
解析试题分析：本文通过历史回顾和科学分析，提醒人们多关注New Madrid地区频繁的地震。
【小题1】主旨大意题。由本文第一段的最后一句话“But how many people know about the equally serious New Madrid fault in Missouri? ”可知这篇文章讲的是New Madrid地区的断层。选D
【小题2】细节理解题。本文第四段和第五段内容可以判断The San Andreas fault是水平地震，而The New Madrid fault是垂直地震，所以A项正确。
【小题3】推理判断题。根据第五段中第二句“Suddenly, the volcanoes cooled and the rock collapsed, leaving huge cracks. Even now, the rock continues to settle downwards”可以排除D项；根据第三段第三句“Few people were killed in the New Madrid earthquakes, probably simply because few people lived in the area in 1811”可以如果1811年的地震在今天发生很多人就会死了，推测答案为D
考点：考查科普类短文
亮点激活精编提优100分大试卷系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Speaking two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world．But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism （双语能力） are even more important than being able to converse with a wider range of people．Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter．It can have a deep effect on your brain, improving skills not related to language and even protecting against a serious mental disorder in old age．
This view of bilingualism is different from the understanding of bilingualism through much of the 20th century．Researchers, educators and policy makers long considered a second language to be an interruption that prevented a child's school work and ability to think and understand things．They were not wrong about the interruption: there is ample evidence that in a bilingual \s brain both language systems are active even when he is using only one language, thus creating situations in which one system disturbs the other．But this interruption, researchers are finding out, isn't so much a disturbance．It forces the brain to solve inside conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its thinking muscles．
The key difference between bilinguals and monolinguals may be more basic: a heightened ability to monitor the environment．"Bilinguals have to switch languages quite often—you may talk to your father in one language and to your mother in another language," says Albert Costa, a researcher at the University of Pompea Fabra in Spain．
"It requires keeping track of changes around you in the same way that we monitor our surroundings when driving．" In a study comparing German-Italian bilinguals with Italian monolinguals on monitoring tasks, Mr．Costa and his colleagues found that the bilingual subjects not only performed better, but they also did so with less activity in parts of the brain involved in monitoring, showing that they did better in it．
【小题1】From the passage we can learn that experts used to believe that ______．
| A．interruption forced a bilingual's brain to strengthen its thinking ability |
| B．a second language stopped children's studying as well as mental development |
| C．using two languages annoyed the children who have trouble in learning skills |
| D．language systems were busy in a bilingual's brain when he was using languages |
| A．change | B．use | C．speak | D．study |
| A．Cautious． | B．Doubtful． | C．Concerned． | D．Favourable． |
| A．How Bilinguals Use Languages |
| B．What Bilingualism Is Really about |
| C．Why Bilinguals Are More Intelligent |
| D．When People Learn a Second Language |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different sense, to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses. while most animals use more than one sense.
Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda (大熊猫) eats only one particular type of bamboo (竹子). Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly (蝴蝶) will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied diet (多样化饮食). The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.
Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health, Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life.
【小题1】We can infer from the text that humans and animals - —.
| A．depend on one sense in choosing food |
| B．are not satisfied with their food |
| C．eat entirely different food |
| D．choose food in similar ways |
| A．The small bird. | B．The bear. | C．The fox. | D．The white butterfly. |
| A．the food color changes |
| B．the season changes |
| C．they move to different places |
| D．they are attracted by different smells |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Everyone may all have the experience of feeling anxious and stressed when having a rough day or having some troubles. Different people may choose different ways to deal with it, and for most people a break for a 10-minute walk may be quite useful.www.zxxk.com
Anyway, here is another way around: to get a piece of chewing gum, and chew it. According to a Swinburne University of Technology study, gum-chewing has been found to “relieve anxiety, improve alertness(机敏性) and reduce stress among individuals in a laboratory setting.”
Some may argue that a laboratory is not the same as an office. But check out the conditions of the study: individuals were monitored while performing “a group of ‘multi-tasking’ activities.” Doesn’t it sound like the situation in the office?www.zxxk.com
Here’s a summary of some of the study’s findings:
Gum chewers showed a reduction in anxiety as compared to non-gum chewers by nearly 17 percent during mild stress and nearly 10 percent in appropriate stress.
Gum chewers showed improvement in alertness over non-gum chewers by nearly 19 percent during mild stress and 8 percent in moderate stress.
Improved Performance: Chewing gum resulted in a big improvement in overall performance on multi-tasking activities.
Although these aren’t major improvements, every little bit works and chewing a piece of gum is a lot quicker and easier than slipping outside for a 10-minute walk. So, how does gum work this magic? In part it does so by lowering the level of cortisol(皮质醇)—a steroid(类固醇) hormone that is released in response to stress in your system.
A few words of advice before you reach for the gum: don’t crack your gum, and be sure to chew it with your mouth closed. In fact, I’d say keep the gum out of meetings, because it really looks impolite to others around you.
【小题1】From the study in the text we know that_________________.
| A．gum chewers may lack alertness |
| B．gum chewers tend to be less stressed |
| C．gum chewers can finish many jobs perfectly |
| D．gum chewers can reduce their anxiety and anger easily |
| A．It works by improving alertness. |
| B．It works by allowing a 10-minute walk. |
| C．It works by reducing one’s level of cortisol. |
| D．It works by being chewed in a laboratory setting. |
| A．People should chew gum with their mouths closed in a meeting. |
| B．It is impolite to chew gum in a meeting with people around you. |
| C．People can crack gum freely when meeting friends. |
| D．People should be careful when chewing gum at home. |
| A．How to chew gum. | B．How to relieve stress. |
| C．Why people love chewing gum. | D．Chewing gum can relieve stress. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy．After all, you probably sing when you are happy．
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy．However they sing most of the time for a very different reason．Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory．
Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims (声称) as its own．Only he and his family are welcome there． No other families of the same species are welcome．Your house is your territory where only your family and friends are welcome．If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout．Probably this would be enough to frighten him away．
If so, you have actually frightened the stranger away without having to fight him．A bird does the same thing．But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting (筑巢) season．So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not．This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away．
【小题1】Some scientists believe that most of the time bird’s singing is actually ______．
| A．an expression of happiness | B．a way of warning |
| C．an expression of anger | D．a way of greeting |
| A．A place where families of other species are not accepted. |
| B．A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice． |
| C．An area for which birds fight against each other． |
| D．An area which a bird considers to be its own． |
| A．Because they want to invite more friends． |
| B．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away． |
| C．Because they want to find outsiders around． |
| D．Because their singing helps get rid of their fears． |
| A．By comparing birds with human beings． |
| B．By reporting experiment results． |
| C．By describing birds’ daily life． |
| D．By telling a bird’s story． |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Many people in the world live in big cities, which are often dirty and difficult places to live. So, some cities will get bigger. They will also get higher, and lower, because people will begin to live under the ground as well as in tall buildings. Scientists also say that men can begin to live in cities under the sea, when there is not enough space on the land. Of course, these new cities will be very expensive, and difficult to build, but they are not impossible. Already, some countries are building places to live under the ground so their people can go there if there is a new war. There are underground cities in Switzerland（瑞士）and China, built by the government（政府）to help some of the people live during a great war.
But will people change if they live under the ground for a long time？For example some fish go blind if they live in the dark sea for a long time. People will not go blind, because there will be light underground, but they may change in some way. Scientists say that people who live in cities today are losing their senses of smell, touch and taste. They can’t smell the dirty air, they can’t taste the chemicals（化学制剂）in their food. These senses are not as strong as before, when people lived in the country and grew their own food. The city has changed that. What will the underground city change in everyone？
【小题1】People will live under the ground because _________．
| A．it’s neither hot nor cold there |
| B．they’ll be afraid of the war |
| C．there’ll be less space on the ground |
| D．they’ll make their life comfortable |
| A．when summer comes |
| B．when a war breaks out |
| C．because they think it’ll be safer for them |
| D．when they’re fed up with the life on the land |
| A．There’ll be enough light under the ground |
| B．It’ll be easy to go upstairs |
| C．Glasses will be sold under the ground |
| D．Medicine will be supplied for free |
| A．the world are polluted |
| B．it’s dark there |
| C．the air is dirty and there are a lot of chemicals in their food |
| D．they can’t grow their own food in the sun |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and, as a result, we are growing old unnecessarily soon.
Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why quite healthy in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a rather early age, and how the speed of getting old could be slowed down.
With a team of researchers at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages with different jobs. Computer technology helped the researchers to get most exact measurements of the volume of the front and side parts of the brain, which have something to do with intellect and feelings, and decide the human character. As we all know, the back part of the brain, which controls task like eating and breathing, does not contract with age.
Contraction of front and side parts—as cells die off—was seen in some people in their thirties, but it was still not found in some sixty and seventy-year-olds.
Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple way to prevent the contraction—using the head.
The findings show that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. “Those with least possibility,” says Matsuzawa, “are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing the same work day after day in government offices are, however, as possible to have contracting brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant.”
【小题1】The team of doctors wanted to find out _____.
| A．at what point people grow mentally old |
| B．how to make people live longer |
| C．the size of certain people’s brains |
| D．which people are the most clever |
| A．an examination of farmers in northern Japan |
| B．tests given on a thousand old people |
| C．examining the brain volumes of different people |
| D．using computer technology |
| A．our brains contract as we grow older |
| B．one part of the brain does not contract |
| C．sixty-year-olds have better brains than thirty-year-olds |
| D．some people’s brains have contracted earlier than other people’s |
| A．most of us take more exercise |
| B．it’s better to live in the town |
| C．the brain contracts if it is not used |
| D．the more one uses his brain, the sooner he becomes old |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can't take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We'd take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the train, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn't like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom's friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just lightrail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestrut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where's the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I'm writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn't try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me.
【小题1】 According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?
| A．Building confidence in herself. |
| B．Reducing her use of private cars. |
| C．Developing her sense of direction. |
| D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles. |
| A．displayed | B．justified | C．ignored | D．ruined |
| A．Airplane. | B．Subway. | C．Train. | D．Car. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
In South America, the rich soil of the Amazon River basin（流域）in Brazil is known as “black gold”. Scientists found that the secret of this rich soil was charcoal（木炭）. Local people made it from animal bones and tree branches. They mixed the charcoal with the soil about 1.500 years ago.
Now, scientists in the United States have done a modern demonstration. They say charcoal fertilization offers a revolutionary way to improve soil quality for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Mingxin Guo and his team at Delavare State University heated tree leaves, corn stalks（茎）, small pieces of wood and poultry waste into “biochar”（生物碳）. They reported their findings at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans.
Biochar could be good news for farmers with poor soil and hungry populations to feed. Professor Guo says it could even help against global warming. Intensive（集约的） farming and overuse of chemical fertilizer give out carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Biochar does the opposite, he says. It traps carbon in the ground.
The researchers planted winter wheat in containers of soil in a greenhouse — some with biochar, some without. Professor Guo says the wheat grows much better in the pots with biochar. The soil was added two percent charcoal to. But he says even a one percent treatment will increase productivity.
The results demonstrated that biochar can increase organic matter in soil. Loss of nutrients in soil is an increasing problem worldwide as farmers try to grow more food for growing populations.
Next, the team will carry out a five-year study of biochar with spinach（菠菜）, green peppers and tomatoes.
Mingxin Guo says he learns about the “black gold” in Brazil from a magazine story. He explains that it was discovered in the jungle, in the area where waters flow to the Amazon, in the 1960’s. But it was not until recent years that scientists began to bring public attention to it.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The researchers will go on proving their theory. |
| B．The leading researcher learns the theory from the magazine. |
| C．Charcoal was discovered 1,500 years ago. |
| D．Common farming can produce more carbon dioxide. |
| A．it can improve the condition of the soil |
| B．it can be used as a kind of energy |
| C．it can help against global warming |
| D．it can increase productivity of the corn |
| A．reduce the carbon dioxide |
| B．keep the carbon in the soil |
| C．reduce the loss of nutrients in the soil |
| D．absorb the carbon dioxide |
| A．Using Charcoal to Make soil into “Black Gold” |
| B．Using Charcoal to Reduce the Carbon Dioxide |
| C．How Amazon River Basin Produces “Golden Black” |
| D．Guo’s Research on Producing Biochar |
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