题目
题型：0127 模拟题难度：来源：
a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.
The method relies on measuring how chemical variations in drinking water show up in people"s hair.
"You"re what you eat and drink, and that"s recorded in your hair," said Thure Cerling, a geologist at the
University of Utah.
While U.S. diet is relatively identical, water supplies vary. The differences result from weather patterns.
The chemical composition of rainfall changes slightly as rain clouds move.
Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable, but traces of both elements are also present as
heavier isotopes (同位素). The heaviest rain falls first. As a result, storms that form over the Pacific deliver
heavier water to California than to Utah.
Similar patterns exist throughout the U.S. By measuring the proportion of heavier hydrogen and oxygen
isotopes along a strand of hair, scientists can construct a geographic timeline. Each inch of hair corresponds
to about two months. Cerling"s team collected tap water samples from 600 cities and constructed a map of
the regional difference. They checked the accuracy of the map by testing 200 hair samples collected from
65 barber shops. They were able to accurately place the hair samples in broad region roughly corresponding
to the movement of rain systems.
"It"s not good for pinpointing (精确定位)," Cerling said. "It"s good for eliminating many possibilities."
Todd Park, a local detective, said the method has helped him learn more about an unidentified woman
whose skeleton was found near Great Salt Lake. The woman was 5 feet tall. Police recovered 26 bones, a
T-shirt and several strands of hair. When Park heard about the research, he gave the hair samples to the
researches. Chemical testing showed that over the two years before her death, she moved about every two
months. She stayed in the Northwest, although the test could not be more specific than somewhere between
eastern Oregon and western Wyoming.
"It"s still a substantial area," Park said,"But it narrows its way down for me."
B. A person"s hair may show where they have lived.
C. Hair analysis accurately identifies criminal suspects.
D. The chemical composition of hair varies from person to person.
B. The water it delivers becomes lighter when it moves inland.
C. Its chemical composition is less stable than in other areas.
D. It gathers more light isotopes as it moves eastward.
B. A collection of hair samples from various barber shops.
C. A method to measure the amount of water in human hair.
D. A chart illustrating the movement of the rain system.
B. It helps the police determine where a crime is committed.
C. It helps the police narrow down possibilities in detective work.
D. It helps identify the drinking habits of the person under investigation.
答案
核心考点
试题【阅读理解。 Scientists have devised a way to determine roughly where a person has 】；主要考察你对题材分类等知识点的理解。[详细]
举一反三
new-born baby as he picked him up at home.
The Chinese tradition of raising sons to support parents in their old age has been weakened by the rapidly
growing economy and improved standard of living. As is the case with developed countries, China faces an
aging society. People are living longer and having fewer children. Therefore many Chinese families are falling
into a 4-2-1 family pattern: a couple raises one child and supports four elderly parents. But few realize this
problem.
The aging of the population is a trend that now affects a growing number of countries. Not long ago, the
Information Office of the State Council, China"s cabinet, issued a white paper on measures China is taking to
help its elderly population. The paper said China"s population entered the aging phase (阶段) at the end of the
20th century as the proportion of people aged 60 and above accounted for over 10 percent of the entire
population. By the end of 2005, China had nearly 144 million people over 60, accounting for 11 percent of the
population, according to the white paper.
An expanding aged population inevitably means that many issues must be settled, as the problem concerns
every aspect of society. It puts more pressure on each family, causing disturbing economic consequences
and serious social problems. It also challenges the labor force supply and the pension system.
"I used to think that it"s not an issue for me to provide for the aged," said Han, whose parents and
parents-in-law all enjoy pensions and medical insurance. But last year Han"s father suffered a serious illness
and afterward Han began to feel the pressure on his shoulders.
B. The problem of the pension system.
C. More pressure on the family.
D. Unemployment.
B. China will encourage young couples to have more than one child
C. many people haven"t realized the problem of an aging society
D. children will not support their parents in an aging society
B. naturally
C. hopefully
D. unluckily
B. most of the developing countries face an aging society
C. countries with a large population face an aging society
D. more and more developed countries face an aging society
Royal Horticultural (园艺的) Society carried out an experiment to find that the voice of a woman gardener
makes plants grow faster.
The experiment lasted a month and by the end of the study scientists managed to discover that tomato
plants grew two inches taller when women gardeners talked to them instead of male.
Sarah Darwin was the one of making the plants registered the best growth. Her voice was the most
"inspiring" for plants than the voices of nine other gardeners when reading a passage from The Origin of
Species. The great-great-granddaughter of the famous botanist Charles Darwin found that her plant grew
about two inches taller than the plant of the best male gardener.
Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent (主管人) at RHS, said that the findings cannot yet be explained.
He presumes (认定) that that women have a greater range of pitch (音调) and tone which might have a
certain effect on the sound waves that reach the plant. "Sound waves are an environmental effect just like
rain or light," said Mr. Crosbie.
The study began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey. Scientists started with open auditions (试听,
试演) for the people who were asked to record passages from John Wyndham"s The day of the Triffids,
Shakespeare"s A Midsummer Night"s Dream and Darwin"s The Origin of Species.
Afterwards researchers selected a number of different voices and played them to 10 tomato plants during
a period of a month. Each plant had headphones connected to it. Through the headphones the sound waves
could hit the plants. Scientists decided to leave two plants in silence, thus to be positive that the experiment
is fair. It was discovered that plants that"listened" to female voices on average grew taller by an inch in
comparison to plants that heard male voices.
Sarah Darwin said, "I think it is an honor to have a voice that can make tomatoes grow, and especially
fitting because for a number of years I have been studying wild tomatoes from the Galapagos Islands at the
Natural History Museum in London."
B. A botanical experiment in a museum.
C. Strange phenomenon at Royal Horticultural Society.
D. Voice influence on plant growing.
B. Sound is basic nutrition to the plant.
C. Sound has a good effect as rain or light does.
D. Plants are hungry for sound as well as rain and light.
B. A garden superintendent.
C. A gardener.
D. An environmentalist.
development, a leading education expert said.
Lilian Katz, Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, said that four-year-olds engaged in reading
and writing went on to perform worse academically than those engaged in imaginative learning. They scored
higher in tests at the age of 5, but children whose first year at school was stimulating outstripped them four
years later.
The findings suggest that the government"s structured approach to early years" learning could be storing
up problems for children. They also raise serious questions about the plan for all children to be able to read
by the age of 6.
In many countries formal teaching does not start until children are 6 or 7 and have improved their social
and manual skills. Children start learning to read and write at 6 in the United States, France and Germany,
and at 7 in Finland and Sweden.
Professor Katz said that in many schools the courses were"boring children to tears". Much academic
teaching required children to learn by memorizing pieces of information out of context, she said. Teaching
in reception class should instead allow children to develop their intellect by exploring their environments
and asking questions.
"Research suggests the benefits of formal academic instruction for four-and five-year-olds seem to be
promising when they are tested early, but considerably less so in the long term. When these children are
followed over a period of three or more years, those who had early experience in more intellectually engaging
curricula were more likely to do well in school than their peers, who had received early academic instruction."
She advocates teaching children through first-hand experience and play, in mixed-aged classes. This can
include puppet shows, drawing or running a pretend shop in the classroom.
A. prefer a lot of interaction and stimulation while teaching
B. teach in a lively way to motivate kids" interest
C. push the kids to memorize pieces of information
D. care about the kids" physical development
B. looked down upon
C. caught up with
D. performed worse than
B. should not be started too early
C. is best carried out in Finland and Sweden
D. should include teaching children social and manual skills
B. Learning in a mixed-age class is good for children.
C. Running a shop can help children get good marks.
D. Puppet shows and drawing are useful and easy in teaching children.
Icelandic volcanic eruption seems to create even more disruption and chaos. The major eruption from this
massive volcano has halted almost 500,000 people a day who wanted to fly in and out of the UK due to all
flights being suspended.
The last time an event took place on such a large scale was roughly around two hundred years ago, but
as aircraft were not a factor then it had almost no effects at all, and the last time domestic flights were delayed
for any length of time was in the Second World War.
A cloud of volcanic ash has risen 20,000 feet into the sky from a major eruption in Iceland which lies 700
miles north of the United Kingdom, so why would an event like this create so much fuss for Britons and parts
of Europeans?
Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and sulphur (硫), which when sucked into an aircraft"s jet
engine can cause the engine to stop. This is the time when you can imagine a pretty catastrophic event to
happen. Back in 1982 an incident involving a jet aircraft and volcanic ash did exactly that. The ash caused all
engines to fail and it was only thanks to the skill of the pilot that everyone on board managed to survive.
So the governing bodies of the airways have decided to cease all air traffic that could be affected by the
cloud of volcanic ash as it is carried by a southward wind down from the north of Scotland across the entire
length and breadth of the UK across the English Channel and over Europe.
On land there have been statements that there is no danger to humans, but people with asthma and
respiratory diseases should stay indoors.
The Iceland volcano that has erupted is apparently not the only one that is worrying scientists, and there
is another volcano which is the Mount Etna. So if it erupted anytime soon with the wind blowing south, an
ash cloud from that one would cause long-term devastation (破坏) and disruption for a very long time. Fingers
crossed, then.
B. Back in 1982.
C. During World War Two.
D. In the 1950s.
B. To show that British people are very kind.
C. To tell us what is contained in volcanic ash.
D. To show the urgent demand for skilled pilots.
B. People with heart trouble.
C. People with headaches.
D. People with breathing problems.
B. Another volcanic eruption is just going to take place soon.
C. The Volcano of Mount Etna would be very destructive.
D. Scientists can do nothing to stop volcanic eruptions.
根据短文内容，从下框的A---F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。 选项中有一项为多余选项。