What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技术). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today's leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(细胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
【小题1】According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.
| A．diseases and aging | B．accidents and war |
| C．accidents and aging | D．heart diseases and war |
| A．medicine | B．the internet |
| C．brain cells | D．human organs |
| A．heart disease will be far away from us |
| B．human brains can decide the final death |
| C．the basic materials of cells will last forever |
| D．human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
| A．human life will not last more than 120 years in the future |
| B．human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now |
| C．much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life |
| D．we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells. |
【小题1】A
【小题2】A
【小题3】D
【小题4】C
解析试题分析：文章讲述了现代药物技术的进步是人类最重要的进步，通过修复受损的器官可以延长人的寿命。
【小题1】细节题。根据第一段最后一句Today’s leading killers, such as heart disease, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memories.说明现在人们死亡的主要原因是疾病和衰老。故A正确。
【小题2】细节题。根据第二段第二句But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times.说明如今最重要的进步是医学的进步，A正确。
【小题3】细节题。根据第二段倒数2,3,4行Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine repair their organs(器官).说明以后人可以更长寿，因为器官可以修复，D正确。
【小题4】推理题。根据文章最后一段的句子：but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.可知在人类寿命更长之前，还有很多事情需要做。选C。
考点：考查科普类短文阅读
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Scientists are developing a new kind of machine to take the place of humans. These machines can do jobs in places that are too dangerous for humans. For example, they are being developed to work in nuclear power center, deep under the oceans and in outer space.
John Marrit, a psychologist(心理学家) in Williamsburg Massachusetts, helped develop the new machine. This is how they work. A machine is placed in an area far away from the person who operates it. The person wears special hard hat with television screens and sound equipment. The screens and sound equipment let the person see and hear exactly what the machine is seeing and hearing. Mr. Marrit says this gives the person the feeling of being in the same place as the machine. The idea, he says, is being there without going there. The person uses an electronic control to make the machine move. The machine copies the person’s movements exactly. If the person raises his right arm, the machine raises the right arm, too. This means an expert can do a dangerous job while staying in the safe place. For example, a person can direct the machine to destroy a bomb without going near the bomb himself.
【小题1】The new kind of machine being introduced in the passage is _______.
| A．in existence | B．only an idea |
| C．being tried out | D．being researched and developed |
| A．follows the person’s order |
| B．is controlled by a computer |
| C．does exactly what the person does |
| D．is controlled by a television on the person’s head |
| A．the new machine is more difficult to make than a robot |
| B．the new machine is more difficult to be controlled |
| C．a robot is controlled by man indirectly |
| D．a robot can’t be used in places too dangerous or faraway |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Most animals have little connection with animals of a different kind, unless they hunt them for food. Sometimes, however, two kinds of animals come together in a partnership(伙伴关系) which does good to both of them. You may have noticed some birds sitting on the back of sheep. This is not because they want a ride, but because they find easy food in the parasites(寄生虫）on sheep. The sheep allow the birds to do so because they remove the cause of discomfort. So although they can manage without each other, they do better together.
Sometimes an animal has a plant partner. The relationship develops until the two partners cannot do without each other. This is so in the corals(珊瑚）of the sea. In their skins they have tiny plants which act as “dustman”, taking some of the waste products from the coral and giving in return oxygen which the animal needs to breathe. If the plants are killed, or are even prevented from light so that they cannot live normally, the corals will die.
【小题1】Some birds like to sit on a sheep because _________.
| A．they can eat its parasites |
| B．they consider the sheep as their shelter |
| C．they enjoy traveling with the sheep |
| D．they find the position most comfortable |
| A．birds and parasites | B．sheep, birds and parasites |
| C．parasites and sheep | D．birds and sheep |
| A．comfort | B．light | C．oxygen | D．food |
| A．Some plants depend on each other for food. |
| B．Some animals and plants develop their relationship easily. |
| C．Some animals and plants depend on each other for existence. |
| D．Some animals live better together. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Why would an animal kill itself? It seems a strange question, and yet it is one that has made some scientists curious for a long time. For there is a kind of animal called lemming（旅鼠）, that periodically killed themselves together, and no one knows just why!
The small creatures which live in the Scandinavian mountains, feed on a diet of roots and special insects and live in nests they dig underground. When their food supply is large, the lemmings live a normal and undisturbed life.
However, when the lemmings’ food supply becomes too low to support the population, a singular migration（迁徙）begins. The lemmings leave their nests in groups. Great numbers of them begin to travel across the Scandinavian plains, a journey that may last weeks. The lemmings eat everything in their path, continuing their long march until they reach the sea.
The reason for what follows remains unbelievable to naturalists. Upon reaching the coast, the lemmings do not stop but swim by the thousands into the sea. Most stay afloat only a short time before they tire, sink and drown.
A common theory for this mass self-killing is that the lemmings do not realize that the ocean is such a huge body of water in their cross-country journey, the animals must cross many smaller bodies of water, such as rivers and small lakes. They may think that the sea is just another such swimmable path to go through. But no final answer has been found to the strange happening.
【小题1】The passage is mainly about______.
| A．how lemmings find food |
| B．why animals kill themselves |
| C．the lemmings’ self-killing |
| D．the food supply in the Scandinavian mountains |
| A．go mad from a lack of food |
| B．hope to find fish for food |
| C．decide to reduce the population |
| D．think they can cross the sea |
| A．Because they are the only animals that live in Scandinavia. |
| B．Because it is very unusual for animals to kill themselves. |
| C．Because of the amount of food they can eat on their march to the sea. |
| D．Because they can gather together in such huge numbers. |
| A．unusual | B．single | C．wonderful | D．common |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I hardly went to bed before midnight, and I would always get up late the next morning.
But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high relationship between success and rising early. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity (效率) was always higher. So I set out to become a habitual early riser. But whenever my alarm went off, my first thought was always to stop that noise and go back to sleep. Eventually some sleep research showed that my strategy was wrong.
The most common wrong strategy is this: supposing you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. It sounds very reasonable, but will usually fail.
There are two main schools (流派) of thought on sleep patterns. One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same time every day. The second school says you should go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up. However, I have found both are wrong if you care about productivity. If you sleep at fixed hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake.
My solution is to combine both methods. I go to bed when I’m sleepy and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time. So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5 a.m.), but I go to bed at different times every night.
However, going to bed only when I’m sleepy, and getting up at a fixed time every morning are my ways. If you want to become an early riser, you can try your own.
【小题1】According to the passage, the underlined phrase refers to ________.
| A．people who stay up until the next morning |
| B．people who get up early in the morning |
| C．people who feel sleepy in the morning |
| D．people whose productivity is the lowest in the morning |
| A．Because he / she wanted to have more sleep time. |
| B．Because he / she wanted to do morning exercise. |
| C．Because he / she wanted to test which school is better. |
| D．Because he / she found that the productivity was higher. |
| A．going to bed after midnight |
| B．asking scholars for advice on sleeping habits |
| C．getting up early occasionally |
| D．pressing off the alarm to go on sleeping |
| A．Going to bed early and getting up early. |
| B．Going to bed late and getting up late. |
| C．Going to bed when sleepy and getting up at a fixed early time. |
| D．Going to bed early and getting up late. |
| A．main schools of thought on sleep patterns |
| B．how to have a good sleep |
| C．wrong strategies for getting up early |
| D．how to become an early riser |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Humans have sewn by hand for thousands of years. It was said that the first thread was made from animal muscle and sinew (肌腱). And the earliest needles were made from bones. Since those early days, many people have been involved in the process of developing a machine that could do the same thing more quickly and with greater efficiency.
Charles Wiesenthal, who was born in Germany, designed and received a patent on a double-pointed needle that eliminated the need to turn the needle around with each stitch (缝合) in England in 1755. Other inventors of that time tried to develop a functional sewing machine, but each design had at least one serious imperfection.
Frenchman Barthelemy Thimonnier finally engineered a machine that really worked. However, he was nearly killed by a group of angry tailors when they burned down his garment factory. They feared that they would lose their jobs to the machine.
American inventor Elias Howe, born on July 9, 1819, was awarded a patent for a method of sewing that used thread from two different sources. Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point, and it used the two threads to make a special stitch called a lockstitch. However, Howe faced difficulty in finding buyers for his machines in America. In frustration, he traveled to England to try to sell his invention there. When he finally returned home, he found that dozens of manufacturers were adapting his discovery for use in their own sewing machines.
Isaac Singer, another American inventor, was also a manufacturer who made improvements to the design of sewing machines. He invented an up-and-down-motion mechanism that replaced the side-to-side machines. He also developed a foot treadle (脚踏板) to power his machine. This improvement left the sewer’s hands free. Undoubtedly, it was a huge improvement of the hand-cranked machine of the past. Soon the Singer sewing machine achieved more fame than the others for it was more practical. It could be adapted to home use and it could be bought on hire-purchase. The Singer sewing machine became the first home appliance, and the Singer company became one of the first American multinationals.
However, Singer used the same method to create a lockstitch that Howe had already patented. As a result, Howe accused him of patent infringement (侵犯). Of course, Elias Howe won the court case, and Singer was ordered to pay Howe royalties (版税). In the end, Howe became a millionaire, not by manufacturing the sewing machine, but by receiving royalty payments for his invention.
【小题1】Barthelemy Thimonnier’s garment factory was burned down because __________.
| A．people did not know how to put out the fire |
| B．Elias Howe thought Thimonnier had stolen his invention |
| C．the sewing machines couldn’t work finally |
| D．workers who feared the loss of their jobs to a machine set fire |
| A．Because the judge was against Singer for his unfriendly attitude. |
| B．Because Howe had already patented the lockstitch used by Singer. |
| C．Because Singer had borrowed money from Howe and never repaid it. |
| D．Because Singer and Howe had both invented the same machine. |
| A．A Stitch in Time Saves Nine |
| B．The Case between Howe and Singer |
| C．Patent Laws on the Sewing Machine |
| D．The Early History of the Sewing Machine |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of a comet (彗星). When the fragments (碎片) landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions(爆炸) were watched by scientists here on the earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.
On 17 July, a fragment, four kilometers wide, enters the Earth's atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous(巨大的) wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometres an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.
Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth, but the north won't escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed(崩溃). No more than 10 million people have survived.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn't survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?
【小题1】Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author's description of the disaster in 2094?
| A．The whole world becomes extremely cold |
| B．All the coastal cities in Africa are destroyed |
| C．The visit of the comet results in wars |
| D．The whole mankind becomes extinct |
| A．Because they could only live in the warm climate |
| B．Because their extinction indicates future disasters |
| C．Because they once dominated(控制) the earth |
| D．Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age |
| A．give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future |
| B．prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed |
| C．warn of a possible disaster in the future |
| D．tell the historical development of the Earth |
| A．article of popular science | B．news report |
| C．research paper | D．horror story |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Our senses aren't just delivering a strict view of what’s going on in the world; they're affected by what’s going on in our heads. A new study finds that hungry people see food-related words more clearly than people who've just eaten.
Psychologists have known for decades that what's going on inside our head affects our senses. For example, poorer children think coins are larger than they are, and hungry people think pictures of food are brighter. Rémi Radel of University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France, wanted to investigate how this happens.
Does it happen right away as the brain receives signals from the eyes or a little later as the brain’s high-1evel thinking processes get involved. Radel recruited 42 students with a normal body mass index. On the day of his or her test, each student was told to arrive at the lab at noon after three or four hours of not eating. Then they were told there was a delay. Some were told to come back in 10 minutes; others were given an hour to get lunch first. So half the students were hungry when they did the experiment and the other half had just eaten.
For the experiment, the participant looked at a computer screen. One by one, 80 words flashed on the screen for about l/300th of a second each. They flashed at so small a size that the students could only consciously perceive. A quarter of the words were food-related. After each word, each person was asked how bright the word was and asked to choose which of two words they’d seen-a food-related word like cake or a neutral word like boat. Each word appeared too briefly for the participant to really read it.
Hungry people saw the food-related words as brighter and were better at identifying food- related words. Because the word appeared too quickly for them to be reliably seen, this means that the difference is in perception, not in thinking processes, Radel says. "This is something great to me. Humans can really perceive what they need or what they strive for. From the experiment, I know that our brain can really be at the disposal of our motives and needs. "Radel says.
【小题1】Why was there a delay on the day of the experiment?
| A．Because hungry people needed time to fill their stomach. |
| B．Because Radel wanted to create two groups of testers, hungry and non-hungry. |
| C．Because noon was not the right time for any experiment. |
| D．Because Radel needed time to select participants in terms of body mass index. |
| A．Human’s senses aren’t just delivering a strict view of what’s going on in the world. |
| B．What’s perceived by our senses affects our way of thinking. |
| C．Human brains can really be at the disposal of our motives and needs. |
| D．Thinking processes guarantee the normal functions of our senses. |
| A．42 participants are too small a number for a serious investigation. |
| B．An experiment with hungry and non-hungry participants is not reliable. |
| C．Our thinking processes are independent of our senses. |
| D．Humans can perceive what they need without involving high-level thinking processes |
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