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． |
【小题1】B
【小题2】D
【小题3】B
【小题4】A
解析试题分析：文章介绍了鸟为什么会唱歌，大部分鸟的歌声是一种警告，为了保护自己的领地不被外来者侵犯。
【小题1】细节题：从第二段的句子：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．可知鸟唱歌是一种警告，选B
【小题2】猜词题：从第二段的句子：A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims (声称) as its own.可知这个单词是“领地”的意思。选D
【小题3】细节题：从文章最后一段的句子：This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.可知在筑巢的时候鸟的歌唱是为了赶走外来者。选B
【小题4】细节题：从第一段的句子：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.可知作者解释鸟的歌唱是把它和人相比较。选A
考点：考查科普类短文
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
My house is made of wood, glass and stone. It is also made of software.
If you come to visit, you'll probably be surprised when you come in: Someone will give you an electronic PIN to wear. The PIN tells the house who you are and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it's dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights near you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you, too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it for you. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to want something. There is a home control console (控制台) which is a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you the key to my car, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the key. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that in ten years from now, most new houses will have the systems that I've put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I've got.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others'. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, ”How did I live without them?”
【小题1】The writer’s house is made of the following EXCEPT_________.
| A．bamboo | B．wood | C．glass | D．software |
| A．An IT expert. | B．A famous doctor. |
| C．A sportsman. | D．An experienced teacher. |
| A．it has your favorite music following you |
| B．you can make a telephone call anywhere |
| C．the writer is able to change his new idea into practice |
| D．it is controlled by computers |
| A．How to develop a new system. | B．The function of the PIN. |
| C．How great the computers are. | D．Easy life in the future. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical dies away. Other nearby ants then notice the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
【小题1】What is the function of the first paragraph?
| A．Leading the following paragraphs. |
| B．Showing the main idea of the passage. |
| C．Introducing the background of the passage. |
| D．Giving a summary of the passage. |
| A．is weaker than | B．is stronger than | C．is better than | D．is worse than |
| A．Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving. |
| B．When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical. |
| C．A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical. |
| D．Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
New research shows sheep are clever
People often make jokes about how dull sheep are, but new research shows they may be cleverer than we think. Researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered that Welsh mountain sheep have brainpower that equals rodents (啮齿动物). Tests found that the sheep can map the area they live in, and some may even be able to plan ahead.
Young fish prefer noisy neighbors
A new study has shown that young fish like to live on reefs with noisy neighbors! Researchers from the universities of Auckland and Bristol found that young fish looking for a home choose areas where other noisy fish live. The scientists produced all kinds of sounds which had been recorded in different natural environments. The young fish seemed to prefer the sounds of natural reefs, complete with noisy animals! The scientists compared the choice to a music fan wandering around at a music festival, choosing to set up a tent closest to the music they like best!
Butterflies are disappearing
A new study has shown that 17 species (物种) of butterfly found in Europe have dropped by 70% in the last 20 years. The information collected from 3,000 sites across 15 countries shows it may be caused by the loss (减少) of grasslands covered with flowers. You can encourage butterflies to come into your garden by planting flowers.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Some new studies about animals. |
| B．People’s wrong ideas about animals. |
| C．Why the number of animals has dropped. |
| D．The importance of protecting animals. |
| A．are less clever than rodents |
| B．can find their home |
| C．can read maps |
| D．are good planners |
| A．live in a noisy environment |
| B．live in areas close to their parents |
| C．choose the reefs which are quiet |
| D．choose other kinds of fish as neighbors |
| A．The species of grass in grasslands. |
| B．The species of trees in grasslands. |
| C．The number of flowers in grasslands. |
| D．The number of animals in grasslands. |
| A．Geography. | B．Culture. | C．Travel. | D．Nature |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert, seeking a million in prize money. To win, they had to finish the 142-mile race in less than 10 hours. Teams and watchers knew there might be no winner at all, because these vehicles were missing a key part—drivers.
DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, organized the race as part of a push to develop robotic vehicles for future battlefields. But the Grand Challenge, as it was called, just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance. One had its brake lock up in the starting area, Another began by throwing itself onto a wall. Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles.
One turned upside down. One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote (远距离的) consol. One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence; another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock. The “winner,”if there was any, reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long, narrow hole, and the front wheels caught on fire.
“You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things,” says Reinhold Behringer, who helped design two of the ear-size vehicles for a company called Sci-Autonics, “Even ants (蚂蚁) can do all these tasks effortlessly. It’s very hard for us to put these abilities into our machines.”
The robotic vehicles, though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance, had trouble figuring out fast enough the blocks ahead that a two-year-old human recognizes immediately. Sure, that very young child, who has just only learned to walk, may not think to wipe apple juice off her face, but she already knows that when there’s a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table, and that when she gets to the cookie it will taste good. She is more advanced, even months old, than any machine humans have designed.
【小题1】DARPA organized the race in order to ______.
| A．raise money for producing more robotic vehicles |
| B．push the development of vehicle industry |
| C．train more people to drive in the desert |
| D．improve the vehicles for future wars |
| A．can do effortlessly whatever tasks living things can |
| B．can take part in a race across 142 miles with a time limit |
| C．can show off their ability to turn themselves upside down |
| D．can move from place to p1ace without being driven by human beings |
| A．about eight miles | B．six miles | C．almost two miles | D．about one mile |
| A．for a robotic vehicle to finish a 142-mile race without any difficulties |
| B．for a little child who has just learned to walk to reach the cookie on the table |
| C．for a robotic vehicle to deal with a simple problem that a little child can solve |
| D．for a little child to understand the importance of wiping apple juice off its face |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
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 |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.
Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practiced sewing machine.
Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.
To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.
【小题1】According to the passage, Elias Howe was________.
| A．the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleep |
| B．much more hard-working than other inventors |
| C．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked |
| D．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams |
| A．what kind of thread to use |
| B．how to design a needle which would not break |
| C．where to put the needle |
| D．how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle |
| A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine |
| B．he got some of his ideas from dreams |
| C．he was one of Howe’s best friends |
| D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep |
| A．strange images are used to communicate ideas |
| B．images which have no meaning are used |
| C．we can never understand the real meaning |
| D．only specially trained people can understand them |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Everyone likes living in a clean and comfortable environment. If the envionment(环境) are bad, it will affect（影响）our body, and make us not feel well. Sometimes we may be terribly ill. At that time we don’t want to work, and we have to stay in bed and rest at home. So the envrionment is very important to us.
It’s germs that makes us ill. There are germs everywhere, They are very small and you can’t find them with your own eyes, but you can see them with a microscope（显微镜）They are very small and there may be hundreds of them on a very small thing, Germs can always be found in dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope, we shall see them in it. Germs can also be found in air and dust（灰尘）. If you cut your finger, some of the dust from the floor may go into it, and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs will go into all of your boby, and you will have pain everywhere.
To keep us healthy, we should try to our best to make our environment become cleaner and tidier. This needs us to act together.
【小题1】The writer tell us that________.
| A．we like working when we are ill |
| B．germs can’t live in the water. |
| C．we can’t feel ill if the environment is bad. |
| D．we feel well when the environment is good. |
| A．very small things that you can’t see with your eyes. |
| B．the things that don’t effect people. |
| C．the things that you can find with your eyes. |
| D．the things that are very big. |
| A．on the small thing | B．in air and dust |
| C．only in dirty water | D．everywhere |
| A．I will feel nothing. | B．I won’t mind. |
| C．I will feel tense. | D．I will feel painful. |
| A．environment doesn’t affect our life |
| B．we don’t need to improve our environment |
| C．germs may make us ill |
| D．if the environment is better, germs will be more. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Back in old times, people had little knowledge about the universe and nature. Things we now consider to be common sense were mysteries to our ancestors.
Over the years, major breakthroughs have been made in science and many phenomena have been explained. But still, there are always questions we can't yet answer, and The Guardian has listed some of them.
1. What makes us human?
Just looking at your DNA won't tell you - human DNA is 99 percent identical to that of the chimpanzee and, believe it or not, 50 percent identical to a banana's! A lot of the things we once thought were unique about us - language and tool use, recognizing ourselves in the mirror and so on – have since been seen in other animals. Perhaps it's our culture that makes the difference or maybe our ability to use fire. It's also possible that our capacity (能力) for co-operation and our trading skills are what make us unique.
2. Why do we dream?
Given the fact that we spend around a third of our lives sleeping, shouldn't we know everything about it? Unfortunately, scientists are still searching for a complete explanation of what happens when we sleep and why we dream.
Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud believed dreams were the expressions of wishes that we can't fulfill in our real lives. Others have wondered whether dreams are just random "noise" coming from a sleeping brain.
3. Could we someday live forever?
Apart from accidents, most people die because of diseases that can be treated and aging. And since many diseases, such as diabetes（糖尿病） and cancer, are diseases of aging, treating aging itself could be the key to extending our lives.
Our knowledge of what causes us to age - and what allows some animals to live longer than others - is expanding rapidly. And though we haven't quite worked out all the details, we've worked out some pieces of the puzzles such as DNA damage and metabolism (新陈代谢), which are all leading to the invention of drugs that can slow down the aging process.
If we're lucky enough to lengthen our lives, we might even get to see the day when all of these questions are answered.
【小题1】The main point of the passage is ______.
| A．to inform people of the knowledge about the universe and nature |
| B．to introduce major breakthroughs that have been made in science |
| C．to present some questions we can't yet answer |
| D．to explain what were once mysteries to our ancestors |
| A．human beings are actually not different from other animals |
| B．animals have completely different DNA from that of plants |
| C．both animals and plants share the same amount of DNA |
| D．DNA alone is not good enough to make humans different |
| A．mysterious | B．unique | C．advanced | D．same |
| A．What were mysteries to our ancestors are considered to be common sense now. |
| B．Now we know much more about dreams than our ancestors did in the past. |
| C．With the invention of new drugs people can possibly live even longer. |
| D．If all the diseases can be treated people can theoretically live forever. |
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