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剑桥雅思阅读10真题精讲(test4)

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剑桥雅思阅读10真题精讲(test4)

篇1:剑桥雅思阅读10真题精讲(test4)

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

The megafires of California

Drought, housing expansion, and oversupply of tinder make for bigger, hotter fires in the western United States

Wildfires are becoming an increasing menace in the western United States, with Southern California being the hardest hit area. There’s a reason fire squads battling more frequent blazes in Southern California are having such difficulty containing the flames, despite better preparedness than ever and decades of experience fighting fires fanned by the ‘Santa Ana Winds’. The wildfires themselves, experts say, are generally hotter, faster, and spread more erratically than in the past.

Megafires, also called ‘siege fires’, are the increasingly frequent blazes that burn 500, 000 acres or more — 10 times the size of the average forest fire of 20 years ago. Some recent wildfires are among the biggest ever in California in terms of acreage burned, according to state figures and news reports.

One explanation for the trend to more superhot fires is that the region, which usually has dry summers, has had significantly below normal precipitation in many recent years. Another reason, experts say, is related to the century-long policy of the US Forest Service to stop wildfires as quickly as possible. The unintentional consequence has been to halt the natural eradication of underbrush, now the primary fuel for megafires.

Three other factors contribute to the trend, they add. First is climate change, marked by a 1-degree Fahrenheit rise in average yearly temperature across the western states. Second is fire seasons that on average are 78 days longer than they were 20 years ago. Third is increased construction of homes in wooded areas.

‘We are increasingly building our homes in fire-prone ecosystems,’ says Dominik Kulakowski, adjunct professor of biology at Clark University Graduate School of Geography in Worcester, Massachusetts. ‘Doing that in many of the forests of the western US is like building homes on the side of an active volcano.’

In California, where population growth has averaged more than 600, 000 a year for at least a decade, more residential housing is being built. ‘What once was open space is now residential homes providing fuel to make fires burn with greater intensity,’ says Terry McHale of the California Department of Forestry firefighters’ union. ‘With so much dryness, so many communities to catch fire, so many fronts to fight, it becomes an almost incredible job.’

That said, many experts give California high marks for making progress on preparedness in recent years, after some of the largest fires in state history scorched thousands of acres, burned thousands of homes, and killed numerous people. Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that allowed fires to spread when they might have been contained, personnel are meeting the peculiar challenges of neighborhood — and canyon- hopping fires better than previously, observers say.

State promises to provide more up-to-date engines, planes, and helicopters to fight fires have been fulfilled. Firefighters’ unions that in the past complained of dilapidated equipment, old fire engines, and insufficient blueprints for fire safety are now praising the state’s commitment, noting that funding for firefighting has increased, despite huge cuts in many other programs. ‘We are pleased that the current state administration has been very proactive in its support of us, and [has] come through with budgetary support of the infrastructure needs we have long sought,’ says Mr. McHale of the firefighters’ union.

Besides providing money to upgrade the fire engines that must traverse the mammoth state and wind along serpentine canyon roads, the state has invested in better command-and-control facilities as well as in the strategies to run them. ‘In the fire sieges of earlier years, we found that other jurisdictions and states were willing to offer mutual-aid help, but we were not able to communicate adequately with them,’ says Kim Zagaris, chief of the state’s Office of Emergency Services Fire and Rescue Branch. After a commission examined and revamped communications procedures, the statewide response ‘has become far more professional and responsive,’ he says. There is a sense among both government officials and residents that the speed, dedication, and coordination of firefighters from several states and jurisdictions are resulting in greater efficiency than in past ‘siege fire’ situations.

In recent years, the Southern California region has improved building codes, evacuation procedures, and procurement of new technology. ‘I am extraordinarily impressed by the improvements we have witnessed,’ says Randy Jacobs, a Southern California-based lawyer who has had to evacuate both his home and business to escape wildfires. ‘Notwithstanding all the damage that will continue to be caused by wildfires, we will no longer suffer the loss of life endured in the past because of the fire prevention and firefighting measures that have been put in place,’ he says.

Test 4

Questions 1-6

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

Wildfires

Characteristics of wildfires and wildfire conditions today compared to the past:

— occurrence: more frequent

— temperature: hotter

— speed: faster

— movement: 1 more unpredictably

— size of fires: 2 greater on average than two decades ago

Reasons wildfires cause more damage today compared to the past:

— rainfall: 3 average

— more brush to act as 4

— increase in yearly temperature

— extended fire 5

— more building of 6 in vulnerable places

Questions 7-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 7—13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

7 The amount of open space in California has diminished over the last ten years.

8 Many experts believe California has made little progress in readying itself to fight fires.

9 Personnel in the past have been criticised for mishandling fire containment.

10 California has replaced a range of firefighting tools.

11 More firefighters have been hired to improve fire-fighting capacity.

12 Citizens and government groups disapprove of the efforts of different states and agencies working together.

13 Randy Jacobs believes that loss of life from fires will continue at the same levels, despite changes made.

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading

Passage 2 below.

Second nature

Your personality isn’t necessarily set in stone. With a little experimentation, people can reshape their temperaments and inject passion, optimism, joy and courage into their lives

A Psychologists have long held that a person’s character cannot undergo a transformation in any meaningful way and that the key traits of personality are determined at a very young age. However, researchers have begun looking more closely at ways we can change. Positive psychologists have identified 24 qualities we admire, such as loyalty and kindness, and are studying them to find out why they come so naturally to some people. What they’re discovering is that many of these qualities amount to habitual behaviour that determines the way we respond to the world. The good news is that all this can be learned. Some qualities are less challenging to develop than others, optimism being one of them. However, developing qualities requires mastering a range of skills which are diverse and sometimes surprising. For example, to bring more joy and passion into your life, you must be open to experiencing negative emotions. Cultivating such qualities will help you realise your full potential.

B ‘The evidence is good that most personality traits can be altered,’ says Christopher Peterson, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, who cites himself as an example. Inherently introverted, he realised early on that as an academic, his reticence would prove disastrous in the lecture hall. So he learned to be more outgoing and to entertain his classes. ‘Now my extroverted behaviour is spontaneous,’ he says.

C David Fajgenbaum had to make a similar transition. He was preparing for university, when he had an accident that put an end to his sports career. On campus, he quickly found that beyond ordinary counselling, the university had no services for students who were undergoing physical rehabilitation and suffering from depression like him. He therefore launched a support group to help others in similar situations. He took action despite his own pain — a typical response of an optimist.

D Suzanne Segerstrom, professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky, believes that the key to increasing optimism is through cultivating optimistic behaviour, rather than positive thinking. She recommends you train yourself to pay attention to good fortune by writing down three positive things that come about each day. This will help you convince yourself that favourable outcomes actually happen all the time, making it easier to begin taking action.

E You can recognise a person who is passionate about a pursuit by the way they are so strongly involved in it. Tanya Streeter’s passion is freediving — the sport of plunging deep into the water without tanks or other breathing equipment. Beginning in , she set nine world records and can hold her breath for six minutes. The physical stamina required for this sport is intense but the psychological demands are even more overwhelming. Streeter learned to untangle her fears from her judgment of what her body and mind could do. ‘In my career as a competitive freediver, there was a limit to what I could do — but it wasn’t anywhere near what I thought it was,’ she says.

F Finding a pursuit that excites you can improve anyone’s life. The secret about consuming passions, though, according to psychologist Paul Silvia of the University of North Carolina, is that ‘they require discipline, hard work and ability, which is why they are so rewarding.’ Psychologist Todd Kashdan has this advice for those people taking up a new passion: ‘As a newcomer, you also have to tolerate and laugh at your own ignorance. You must be willing to accept the negative feelings that come your way,’ he says.

G In , physician-scientist Mauro Zappaterra began his PhD research at Harvard Medical School. Unfortunately, he was miserable as his research wasn’t compatible with his curiosity about healing. He finally took a break and during eight months in Santa Fe, Zappaterra learned about alternative healing techniques not taught at Harvard. When he got back, he switched labs to study how cerebrospinal fluid nourishes the developing nervous system. He also vowed to look for the joy in everything, including failure, as this could help him learn about his research and himself.

One thing that can hold joy back is a person’s concentration on avoiding failure rather than their looking forward to doing something well. ‘Focusing on being safe might get in the way of your reaching your goals,’ explains Kashdan. For example, are you hoping to get through a business lunch without embarrassing yourself, or are you thinking about how fascinating the conversation might be?

H Usually, we think of courage in physical terms but ordinary life demands something else. For marketing executive Kenneth Pedeleose, it meant speaking out against something he thought was ethically wrong. The new manager was intimidating staff so Pedeleose carefully recorded each instance of bullying and eventually took the evidence to a senior director, knowing his own job security would be threatened. Eventually the manager was the one to go. According to Cynthia Pury, a psychologist at Clemson University, Pedeleose’s story proves the point that courage is not motivated by fearlessness, but by moral obligation. Pury also believes that people can acquire courage. Many of her students said that faced with a risky situation, they first tried to calm themselves down, then looked for a way to mitigate the danger, just as Pedeleose did by documenting his allegations.

Over the long term, picking up a new character trait may help you move toward being the person you want to be. And in the short term, the effort itself could be surprisingly rewarding, a kind of internal adventure.

Questions 14-18

Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet

Psychologists have traditionally believed that a personality 14 was impossible and that by a 15 , a person’s character tends to be fixed. This is not true according to positive psychologists, who say that our personal qualities can be seen as habitual behaviour. One of the easiest qualities to acquire is 16 . However, regardless of the quality, it is necessary to learn a wide variety of different 17 in order for a new quality to develop; for example, a person must understand and feel some 18 in order to increase their happiness.

Questions 19-22

Look at the following statements (Questions 19-22) and the list of people below.

Match each statement with the correct person, A-G.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet

19 People must accept that they do not know much when first trying something new.

20 It is important for people to actively notice when good things happen.

21 Courage can be learned once its origins in a sense of responsibility are understood.

22 It is possible to overcome shyness when faced with the need to speak in public.

List of People

A Christopher Peterson

B David Fajgenbaum

C Suzanne Segerstrom

D Tanya Streeter

E Todd Kashdan

F Kenneth Pedeleose

G Cynthia Pury

Questions 23-26

Reading Passage 2 has eight sections, A-H.

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet

23 a mention of how rational thinking enabled someone to achieve physical goals

24 an account of how someone overcame a sad experience

25 a description of how someone decided to rethink their academic career path

26 an example of how someone risked his career out of a sense of duty

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

When evolution runs backwards

Evolution isn’t supposed to run backwards — yet an increasing number of examples show that it does and that it can sometimes represent the future of a species

The description of any animal as an ‘evolutionary throwback’ is controversial. For the better part of a century, most biologists have been reluctant to use those words, mindful of a principle of evolution that says ‘evolution cannot run backwards’. But as more and more examples come to light and modern genetics enters the scene, that principle is having to be rewritten. Not only are evolutionary throwbacks possible, they sometimes play an important role in the forward march of evolution.

The technical term for an evolutionary throwback is an ‘atavism’, from the Latin atavus, meaning forefather. The word has ugly connotations thanks largely to Cesare Lombroso, a 19th-century Italian medic who argued that criminals were born not made and could be identified by certain physical features that were throwbacks to a primitive, sub-human state.

While Lombroso was measuring criminals, a Belgian palaeontologist called Louis Dollo was studying fossil records and coming to the opposite conclusion. In 1890 he proposed that evolution was irreversible: that ‘an organism is unable to return, even partially, to a previous stage already realised in the ranks of its ancestors’. Early 20th-century biologists came to a similar conclusion, though they qualified it in terms of probability, stating that there is no reason why evolution cannot run backwards — it is just very unlikely. And so the idea of irreversibility in evolution stuck and came to be known as ‘Dollo’s law’.

If Dollo’s law is right, atavisms should occur only very rarely, if at all. Yet almost since the idea took root, exceptions have been cropping up. In 1919, for example, a humpback whale with a pair of leg-like appendages over a metre long, complete with a full set of limb bones, was caught off Vancouver Island in Canada. Explorer Roy Chapman Andrews argued at the time that the whale must be a throwback to a land-living ancestor. ‘I can see no other explanation,’ he wrote in 1921.

Since then, so many other examples have been discovered that it no longer makes sense to say that evolution is as good as irreversible. And this poses a puzzle: how can characteristics that disappeared millions of years ago suddenly reappear? In 1994, Rudolf Raff and colleagues at Indiana University in the USA decided to use genetics to put a number on the probability of evolution going into reverse. They reasoned that while some evolutionary changes involve the loss of genes and are therefore irreversible, others may be the result of genes being switched off. If these silent genes are somehow switched back on, they argued, long-lost traits could reappear.

Raff’s team went on to calculate the likelihood of it happening. Silent genes accumulate random mutations, they reasoned, eventually rendering them useless. So how long can a gene survive in a species if it is no longer used? The team calculated that there is a good chance of silent genes surviving for up to 6 million years in at least a few individuals in a population, and that some might survive as long as 10 million years. In other words, throwbacks are possible, but only to the relatively recent evolutionary past.

As a possible example, the team pointed to the mole salamanders of Mexico and California. Like most amphibians these begin life in a juvenile ‘tadpole’ state, then metamorphose into the adult form — except for one species, the axolotl, which famously lives its entire life as a juvenile. The simplest explanation for this is that the axolotl lineage alone lost the ability to metamorphose, while others retained it. From a detailed analysis of the salamanders’ family tree, however, it is clear that the other lineages evolved from an ancestor that itself had lost the ability to metamorphose. In other words, metamorphosis in mole salamanders is an atavism. The salamander example fits with Raff’s 10-million-year time frame.

More recently, however, examples have been reported that break the time limit, suggesting that silent genes may not be the whole story. In a paper published last year, biologist Gunter Wagner of Yale University reported some work on the evolutionary history of a group of South American lizards called Bachia. Many of these have minuscule limbs; some look more like snakes than lizards and a few have completely lost the toes on their hind limbs. Other species, however, sport up to four toes on their hind legs. The simplest explanation is that the toed lineages never lost their toes, but Wagner begs to differ. According to his analysis of the Bachia family tree, the toed species re-evolved toes from toeless ancestors and, what is more, digit loss and gain has occurred on more than one occasion over tens of millions of years.

So what’s going on? One possibility is that these traits are lost and then simply reappear, in much the same way that similar structures can independently arise in unrelated species, such as the dorsal fins of sharks and killer whales. Another more intriguing possibility is that the genetic information needed to make toes somehow survived for tens or perhaps hundreds of millions of years in the lizards and was reactivated. These atavistic traits provided an advantage and spread through the population, effectively reversing evolution.

But if silent genes degrade within 6 to 10 million years, how can long-lost traits be reactivated over longer timescales? The answer may lie in the womb. Early embryos of many species develop ancestral features. Snake embryos, for example, sprout hind limb buds. Later in development these features disappear thanks to developmental programs that say ‘lose the leg’. If for any reason this does not happen, the ancestral feature may not disappear, leading to an atavism.

Questions 27-31

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

27 When discussing the theory developed by Louis Dollo, the writer says that

A it was immediately referred to as Dollo’s law.

B it supported the possibility of evolutionary throwbacks.

C it was modified by biologists in the early twentieth century.

D it was based on many years of research.

28 The humpback whale caught off Vancouver Island is mentioned because of

A the exceptional size of its body.

B the way it exemplifies Dollo’s law.

C the amount of local controversy it caused.

D the reason given for its unusual features.

29 What is said about ‘silent genes’?

A Their numbers vary according to species.

B Raff disagreed with the use of the term.

C They could lead to the re-emergence of certain characteristics.

D They can have an unlimited life span.

30 The writer mentions the mole salamander because

A it exemplifies what happens in the development of most amphibians.

B it suggests that Raff’s theory is correct.

C it has lost and regained more than one ability.

D its ancestors have become the subject of extensive research.

31 Which of the following does Wagner claim?

A Members of the Bachia lizard family have lost and regained certain features several times.

B Evidence shows that the evolution of the Bachia lizard is due to the environment.

C His research into South American lizards supports Raff’s assertions.

D His findings will apply to other species of South American lizards.

Questions 32-36

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.

32 For a long time biologists rejected

33 Opposing views on evolutionary throwbacks are represented by

34 Examples of evolutionary throwbacks have led to

35 The shark and killer whale are mentioned to exemplify

36 One explanation for the findings of Wagner’s research is

A the question of how certain long-lost traits could reappear.

B the occurrence of a particular feature in different species.

C parallels drawn between behaviour and appearance.

D the continued existence of certain genetic information.

E the doubts felt about evolutionary throwbacks.

F the possibility of evolution being reversible.

G Dollo’s findings and the convictions held by Lombroso.

Questions 37-40

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

37 Wagner was the first person to do research on South American lizards.

38 Wagner believes that Bachia lizards with toes had toeless ancestors.

39 The temporary occurrence of long-lost traits in embryos is rare.

40 Evolutionary throwbacks might be caused by developmental problems in the womb.

篇2:剑桥雅思阅读10真题精讲(test4)

Passage 1

Question 1

参考译文: 风向的运动:____更加无法预测。

难度及答案:难度低;答案为spread

关键词:movement

定位原文: 第 1 段最后1句“The wildfire themselves... than in the past” 专家表示,总的来说, 现在的森林大火比过去温度更高,蔓延的得更快,扩散踪迹更为飘忽不定。

解题思路: 原文中erratically与题目中unpredictably属于同义替换,因此spread为movement的特点。

Question 2

参考译文:火势的大小,比过去前平均大了_____。

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为10/ten times

关键词: size of fires

定位原文:第 2 段第 1 句“…10 times the size of average...20 years ago.” 这种大火烧毁的土地面积相当于20年前一般森林大火破坏面积的10倍。

解题思路:原文中 10 times the size of average 与题目中 greater on average than 属于同义替换,因此应当填入10/ten times。

Question 3

参考译文:降水:____平均值。

难度及答案:难度低;答案为below.

关键词: rainfall

定位原文: 第3段第1句“One explanation for the trend to…in many recent years.” 关于频发超级火灾这—趋势,其屮-个解释便是该地区通常夏天干燥,且近几年降水远远低于正常水平。

解题思路:原文中 precipitation、normal 与题目中 rainfall 、average 分别属于同义替换,因此应当填入below。

Question 4

参考译文: 更多的灌木丛被用于_____

难度及答案:难度低;答案为fuel

关键词: brush

定位原文: 第 3 段最后1句话 “The unintentional consequence... primary fuel for megafires.”由此产生了无意识的后果,中断了灌木丛自然的根除过程,现在致使灌木丛成为特大火灾的主要燃料。

解题思路:根据原文可知brush的特性,原文underbrush与题目中brush属于同义替换. 因此空格应填入fuel。

Question 5

参考译文: 扩大的火灾____

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为seasons

关键词: extended fire

定位原文: 第 4 段第 3 句 “Second is fire seasons that... 20 years ago.” 第二点是火险季节相比20年前平均延长了78天。

解题思路: 根据原文可知有什么东西在过去的20年里变长了。因此答案为seasons。

Question 6

参考译文: 更多的______建在容易着火的区域。

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为homes/housing

关键词: more building

定位原文: 第 4 段最后一句 “Third is increased construction of homes...” 第三,是在多树地区,房屋的不断扩建。

解题思路: 根据原文可知homes变多了,因此可以填入homes/housing。

Question 7

参考译文: 在加利福尼亚州的空旷土地的数量在过去的十年里已经减少了很多。

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为TRUE

关键词: open space 、diminished

定位原文: 第6段第1句“In California, where…built.”至少十多年来,加利福尼亚州平均每年增加60多万人口,越来越多的住宅正在建造当中。

解题思路: 原文中有a decade对应题目问的last ten years,且原文提到有更多的住房被建造,与题目中space属于同义替换,因此答案为TRUE。

Question 8

参考译文: 很多专家认为加利福尼亚州的灭火准备工作没有进展。

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为FALSE

关键词: many experts 、little progress

定位原文: 第 7 段第 1 句 “That said many... killed numerous people.” 据称,有史以来最大的几场火灾烤焦了成千上万英亩的土地, 烧毁了数以万计的房屋, 烧死大量的居民之后,许多专家给予了加利福尼亚州相当高的评价,因其近几年来在消防准备工作中取得的进步。

解题思路: 根据关键词定位至第7段,找到experts的态度,experts的态度为high marks on making progress on preparedness,因此与题目不符合,为 FALSE。

Question 9

参考译文: 消防工作人员过去被指责错误地处理火灾。

难度及答案: 难度难;答案为TRUE

关键词: personnel 、criticize for mishandling fire containment

定位原文: 第 7 段最后一句 “Stung in the past…previously,observers say.” 观察家们表示这些火灾本该受到控制却依旧蔓延开来,相关部门过去被严厉指责为工作不力。如今,他们正面临着来自周边地区和峡谷的前所未有的巨大挑战。

解题思路: 该题难点在于对应原文为长难句,通过对对应原文的解读,可知题干所描述内容与原文相符,因此为TRUE。

Question 10

参考译文:加利福尼亚已经更换了一批消防用具。

难度及答案:难度中等;答案为TRUE

关键词: arrange of firefighting tools

定位原文: 第 8 段第 1 句 “State promises to provide…fulfilled.” 州政府已经实现了关于提供更多先进的消防车、飞机和直升机以对抗火灾的承诺。

解题思路: 通过对应原文可知,题干所描述事件正确因此为true。

Question 11

参考译文: 已经雇佣了更多的消防人员来提高处理火灾的能力。

难度及答案: 难度中;答案为NOT GIVEN

关键词: More firefighters

定位原文:无

解题思路: 因为原文中无法找到题干所描述的事件,因此答案为NOT GIVEN。

Question 12

参考译文:居民和政府组织不同意不同的州和社会组织之间的合作-

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为FALSE

关键词:disapprove 、working together

定位原文: 第 8 段第 3 句 “We are pleased that…of the firefighters union.” “我们很高兴现任加利福尼亚州的行政部门.非常积极主动地支持我们,同时已经通过了我们渴望已久的、满足基础设施需求的预算支持方案。”消防队联盟的麦克黑尔先生表示。

解题思路: 根据对应原文,发现居民和政府对于州际之间联合是proactive的态度,而是题干中所说的disapprove,因此为FALSE。

Question 13

参考译文:Randy Jacobs认为因为火灾而失去生命的人的数量不会改变,尽管(在救火能力上)已经有了改变。

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为FALSE

关键词: Randy Jacobs、the same level.

定位原文: 第 10 段最后—句 “Notwithstanding all the damage.., he says.” “尽管由森林 大火引起的损失还将持续,但我们不会像过去那样蒙受生命损失了,因为火灾预防和消防措施已经到位。”他说道。

解题思路: 由原文可知we will no longer suffer... endured in the past.题干描述与之不符, 因此为FALSE。

Passage 2

Questions 14-15

参考译文:传统意义上,心理学家认为人的性格是不可能____并且在一个人_____时候,性格就已经定型了。

难度及答案:难度低;答案为 transformation/change; young age

关键词:第1空的关键闻为traditionally believe、impossible;第二空的关键词为person's character tend to be fixed.

定位原文:A 部分第 1 段第 1 句 “Psychologists have long…a very young age.” 心理学家 长期以来持有一种观点,即人们的性格在任何有意义的方式下都不会经受改变, 并且人们的主要性格特点在小时候就已经确定了。

解题思路:根据对应原文发现原文有两个分句刚好对应题目的两个空格,从and前的分句中 cannot undergo 对应 impossible, 因此第 1 个空格为 transformation 从第2空格句中发现空格前有定冠词“a”,且traits of personality对应person's characteristics,determined 对应 fixed,因此第 2 空为 young age。

Questions 16

参考译文: 其中一个最容易获得的品质是___。

难度及答案: 难度高;答案为optimism

关键词: the easiest qualities

定位原文: A部分第2段第1句“Some qualities... of them.”有一些品质没有另一些品质如此难以开发,乐观这个品质就是其中一个。

解题思路: 从对应原文中找到比较级,原文中出现比较级的部分一般为考点。文中指出有一些品质没有另外一些品质那么难养成,乐观(optimism)就是其中一个,与 one of the easiest 对应,此空格填 optimism。

Questions 17

参考译文: 但是,不管是哪种品行,人们都有必要学习各种各样的______以发展新的品行。

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为skills/techniques 。

关键词:learn、a wide variety of

定位原文: A部分第2段第2句“However, developing qualities...and sometimes surprising.”但是,人们想要开发这些品质要求掌握一系列的技巧,这些技巧五花八门,有时候还可能让人很吃惊。

解题思路: 原文中的learn、a range of与题目中master、a wide variety of 分别为同义替换,因此此空可填 techniques/skills。

Questions 18

参考译文: 例如,一个人必须要明白和感受一些_____.目的是提高他们的快乐程度。

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为 negative emotions/feelings

关键词: understand and feel 、increase their happiness

定位原文: A部分第2段第3句“For example, to bring more…emotions.” 例如,你如果想为你的生活增加更多的快乐和激情,你必须敞开胸怀对待消极的情绪。

解题思路: 原文中 bring more joy and passion in my life、experience 与題干中 increase their happiness、understand and fed分别属于同义替换。因此,本题答案为 negative, emotion。

Questions 19

参考译文: 他们必须接受这个事实,即人们在第一次尝试一些新事物的时候知道的不多。

难度及答案:难度高;答案为E

关键词: accept、first trying something new

定位原文: F 部分第 3,4 句 “Psychologist Todd Kashdan has this…he says.” 心理学家 Todd Kashdan提供了这类的建议给人们去获取这些新的激情。他说:“作为一个新人,你通常需要去忍受并嘲笑自己的无知。你必须接受那些消极的情绪。”

解题思路: 在对应原文中找到Kashdan的态度,原文中own ignorance、accept与題干中 they do not know、tolerate and laugh at your own 分别属于同义替换,因此此题配对E项。

Question 20

参考译文: 去主动留意美好的事情对一个人是很重要的。

难度答案: 难度高;答案为C

关键词: actively notice、good things happen

定位原文: D段第2句“She recommends you train...come about each day.”她建议人们应该训练自己去关注那些美好的事情并且记录下每天发生的三件美好的事情。这样做有助于自己说服自己让人开心的事情每时每刻都在发生,也更加容易使你采取实际的行动(去做积极的事情)。

解题思路: 参照对应原文,找到了Segerstrom的态度,原文中train yourselves to pay attention to、positive things that come about each day 与题干中的actively notice、good things happen分别属于同义替换,因此此题答案为C。

Question 21

参考译文:勇气是可以学习的,只要人们意识到勇气源于责任感。

难度及答案:难度高;答案为G

关键词: courage、sense of responsibilities

定位原文: H 部分第 I 段第 5 句 “According to Cynthia Pury... obligation.” 根据一位来自克莱姆森大学的心理学会Cynthia Pury的观点,Pedeleose的故事证明了一个观点,这个观点就是勇气不是被无畏所激发,而是通过道德责任所激发。

解题思路: 参照对应原文,原文中moral obligation与题干中sense of responsibilities属于同义替换,且由原文中可知courage是obligation产生的,因此此題答案为G。

Question 22

参考译文: 当面对需要在公众面前演讲的需求时,害羞是可以被克服的。

难度及答案:难度中等;答案为A

关键词: overcome shyness、speak in public

定位原文: B部分第3句“So he learned to be…his classes.”因此,他开始学怎样变得亲和, 怎样活跃他的课堂。

解题思路: 根据对应原文,原文中 be more outgoing、entertain his classes 与题干中 overcome shyness、speak in the public分别属于同义替换,因此本题答案为A。

Question 23

参考译文:提到了关于提到如何理性的思考,从而达到生理上的目标。

难度及答案:难度中等;答案为E

关键词:rational thinking、physical goals

定位原文: E 部分第 5 句 “Streeter learned to untangle... and mind could do.” Streeter 通过判断自己身体和心理可以承受的程度,学习了如何去解除她的恐惧。

解题思路: 题干中rational thinking对应原文learn to untangle her fears,原文全句表达了 Streeter战胜了她心理上和生理上的恐惧,达到了自己的目标,即为题干中的 physical goals,因此此题匹配E段。

Question 24

参考译文:解释一个人是如何克服悲伤的心情的经历。

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为C

关键词:overcome a sad experience

定位原文: C部分全文,再发生了一场终止他运动生涯的意外时,David Fajgenbaum也做过相似的性格转换,那时他正准备上大学。在大学校园里,他很快发现:除了普通的询问,学校里并没有为像他那样正在经受生理恢复和心理沮丧的学生提供服务。 他因此发起了一个提供服务小组去帮助其他的那些和他有着相似境况的人。他对于这样的情况采取了行动,尽管他自己也在经受运伤痛,这是一种积极者的反应。

解题思路: C段全文在描写David Fajgenbaum在事故之运如何以一种乐观的心态面对已经积极的帮助他人的。因此匹配C段。

Question 25

参考译文: 描述一个人如何决定去重新思考自己的学术研究之路。

难度及答案: 难度高;答案为G

关键词: rethink their academic career path

定位原文: G部分第1段,在,医学科学家Mauro Zappaterra开始在哈佛大学医学院开展他的博士学位的研究。不幸的是,他相当痛苦,因为他的研究与他所好奇的关于治疗相关疾病的方案不相符合。最终他在Santa Fe休息了一段时间,在这八个月的时间里,Zappaterra学到一种没有在哈佛学过的可替代的治疗技术。当回来的时候,他改变了他的实验项目,转而研究脑脊髓液是如何滋养神经系统的发展。他也发誓要在一切事物中,包括失败中,寻找快乐。因为失败可以帮助他了解自己的研究和他自身。

解题思路: G段描述了 Zappaterra这个人从事的研究方向。从G段第四句描述了 Zappaterra 转变了自己的研究方向,因此该题匹配G段。

Question 26

参考译文:举例说明一个人出于责任感不惜以自己的事业作为代价.

难度及答案; 难度中等;答案为H

关键词: risked his career、sense of duty

定位原文: H部分第 1 段第 3 句“ The new manger was intimidating ...would be threatened.” 一个新上任的经理恐吓员工,Pedeleose明知自己的事业会遭到威胁,仍仔细地录下他每次作恶的片段,并且最终将证据交给高级主管。

解题思路: 原文以Pedeleose为例,讲述他出于道义举报领导的不良行为的事迹。文中的 his own job security would be threatened 与题目中的 risked his career属于同义替换。

Passage 3

Question 27

参考译文: 当讨论Louis Dollo的理论时,作者说____

难度及答案:难度中等;答案为C。

关键词: Louis Dollo

定位原文: 第3段第2, 3句“In 1890...”在1890年,他提出进化是不可以逆转的:“一个有机体不能够回转到之前它的祖先已经实现了的阶段,哪怕只是一部分。” 在20世纪早期,生物学家得出一个相似的结论,即尽管他们认同返祖现象的可能性,并表示没有理由证明为什么进化不能被反向运行,但他们就是认为发生的可能性极小。

解题思路: 根据关键词Louis Dollo定位至第3段,得知他提出进化是不可逆转的,可是20世纪的时候,生物学家认为没有原因不可逆转,也就是进化是可逆转的。所 以是答案C。

Question 28

参考译文: 文中提到在Vancouver岛附近捉到的座头鲸,因为_____。

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为D

关键词: humpback whale、vancouver

定位原文: 第4段前4句“If Dollo’s...”如果多洛氏法则是正确的,返祖现象就算真的有, 应该也很少发生。然而,几乎自这种想法产生起,就已经出现特例了。比如, 在19,一头座头鲸在加拿大温哥华岛被捕获,它带有一双长达1米、像脚的附肢,且有着一套完整的肢骨。探险家Roy Chapman Andrews在那时表明这头鲸鱼一定是某种陆地生活的祖先动物的反向进化结果。

解题思路: 原文中对于座头鲸的特征有详细的描述,为什么长成这个样子也做出了解释,说是一种反向进化的结果。所以选择D。

Question 29

参考译文: 关于“休眠基因”有何描述?

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为C

关键词: silent genes

定位原文: 第5段最后一句“If these...”如果这些休眠基因在以某种方式再次激活,他们表示,生物长时间丢失的特征可以重现。

解题思路: 关键词silent genes 在原文中重现。long-lost traits 替换了 certain characteristics,原文中的 reappear替换了 re-emergence。

Question 30

参考译文: 作者提到鼹钝口螈,因为_____

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为B

关键词: mole salamander

定位原文: 第7段第1句及最后—句“As a possible example...”作为一个有可能例证的事件, 团队列举了墨西哥和加利福尼亜的鼹钝口螈。鼹钝口螈的例子与Raff的1000万年的学说框架相符合。

解题思路: 找到mole salamander这个例子并不难,难度在于解题点在这段的最后一句话, 距离有点远而已。原文最后一句fits With与选项B中的correct属于同义替换c。证明Raff的理论是正确的。

Question 31

参考译文: 下面哪一个是Wagner的理论?

难度及答案:难度低;答案为A

关键词: Wagner

定位原文: 第8段第2句到段尾“In a paper...”在一个去年发表的文章中,耶鲁大学的生物学家Gunter Wagner汇报了一些关于南美蜥蜴Bachia进化史研究的工作。 它们中的一些拥有非常小的肢节;有一些看起来更像蛇而非蜥錫;有一些完全失去了后肢的趾头。然而,其他的则彰显出了后肢的四个趾头。 最简单的解释就是这些有趾的蜥蜴品种从没有失去过趾头,但Wagner并不认同。根据他对 Bachia的族谱的区别,有趾的物种从它们无趾的祖先进化而成,更有甚者,脚趾的消失和产生在过去的数百万年间发生过不止一次。

解题思路: 根据关键词Wagner定位至第8段。最后一句中的re-evolved、loss and gain和 occurred on more than one occasion 与选项 A 中的 lost and regained several times属于同义替换。

Question 32

参考译文: 很长一段时间,生物学家都拒绝____。

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为F

关键词: for a long time、biologist、rejected

定位原文:第1段第2句“For the better part…”在一个世纪的大部分时间里,大多数生物学家不愿意用反向进化等这些词,他们铭记着一个进化原则即“进化是不可以反向运行的”。

解题思路: 这个題不难,原文中for the better part of a century替换了 for a long time,原文中reluctant 替换了 rejected。

Question 33

参考译文: 对于返祖进化持有相对立的观点代表有_____。

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为G

关键词: opposing views

定位原文: 第3段第1句“While Lombroso...”当Lombroso在观测犯人时,一位比利时的古生物学家Louis Dollo正在研究化石记录并得出了相反的结论。

解题思路: 根据关键词opposing views定位到第3句opposite condusion,句话里的两个人的意见是相反的。

Question 34

参考译文: 反向进化的例子导致了____。

难度及答案: 难度中等;答案为A

关键词: examples 、led to

定位原文: 第5段前两句“Since then...”自从那时起,很多其他的例子已被发现,所以进化是不可逆转的这种观点再也无法成立了。这同时产生了困惑:消失了几千万年的特征是如何能重新出现的?

解题思路: 关键词examples中原文中重现。原文中propose与题目中led to属于同义替换, 原文中 characteristics that disappeared millions of years ago 与选项 A 中 long?est traits 也属于同义替换。

Question 35

参考译文: 提到鲨鱼和虎鲸是为了_____.

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为B

关键词: shark、killer whale

定位原文: 倒数第2段第2句“One possibility is…”其中一个可能性就是这三种特性只是失去了,之后又简单地重现。这就像相似的结构可以独立地产生在没有血缘关系的物种中,就像鲨鱼和虎鲸的背部的鳍一样。

解题思路: 根据关键词定位至倒数第2段。原文中similar structures替换了选项B中的particular feature,原文中 unrelated species 替换了选项 B 中的 different species。

Question 36

参考译文:Wabner 的研究成果的解释之一是____.

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为D.

关键词: explanation finding、Wagner

定位原文: 倒数第2段第3句‘Another more...” 另一种更加有吸引力的可能性是那些用来生长趾头的基因信息在蜥蜴上存活了几百或者是几千万年,并且这种基因信息被重新激活了。

解题思路: 倒数第2段讲了 Wagner的发现。原文中的possibility与题目中的explanation 属于同义替换。原文中survive与选项D中continued existence属于同义替换。

Question 37

参考译文: Wagner是第一个做南美洲蜥蜴研究的人。

答案及难度: 难度低;答案为NOT GIVEN .

关键词: Wagner 、south American lizards

定位原文: 第8段第2 句 “In a paper...” 在一个去年发表的文章中,耶鲁大学的生物学家 Gunter Wagner汇报了一些关于南美蜥蜴Bachia进化史研究的工作。

解题思路: 在文中并没有提到Wagner是否是第一人,所以未提及。

Question 38

参考译文: Wagner相信有趾头的Bachia撕锡,其祖先并没有趾头。

难度及答案: 难度低; 答案为YES

关键词: Bachia lizards,toeless、ancestors

定位原文: 第8段最后两句“The simplest.,”最简单的解释就是这些有趾的蜥蜴品种从没有失去过趾头, 但Wagner并不认同。根据他对Bachia的族谱的区别,有趾的物种从它们无趾的祖先进化而成,更有甚者,脚趾的消失和产生在过去的数百万年间发生过不止一次。

解题思路:关键词Bachia和toeless在文中重现,根锯Wagner的调查.它们是从toeless ancestors进化来的;文中内容与题目一致。

Question 39

参考译文: 胚胎时期,短暂出现了消失很久的特点的这种情况是非常少见的。

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为NO。

关键词: embryos

定位原文: 最后1段第3句话 “Early embryos...”许多物种早期的胚胎发展出了祖先的特性。

解题思路: 关键词embryos在文中重现。原文中说这种现象存在于许多物种中(many species),可是题目说这个现象非常少见(rare),所以很明显矛盾。其中,原文中ancestral features与题目中long-lost trails 属于同义替换。

Question 40

参考译文: 反向进化可能是由于子宫内的发展问题

难度及答案: 难度低;答案为YES

关键词: womb、developmental

定位原文: 最后1段最后两句“Later in development...”这些特性在后期发展中由于某些进化程式消失了,该程式可能导致“腿部的消失”。如果因为任何原因这些事情没有发生,祖先的种.种特性也许就不会消失,导致返祖现象。

解题思路: 根据关键间womb和developmental定位至最后一段。 原文中thanks to 中caused by属于同义替换。最后一句说,如果发展的过程没有进行的话,那么就会造成返祖现象,与题目一致,所以答案为YES。

剑桥雅思阅读10真题精讲(test4)

篇3:剑桥雅思阅读10真题精讲(test4)

Passage 1参考译文:

加利福尼亚州的特大火灾

干旱,房屋的大量扩建,易燃物的过度供给导致美国西部发生更大更热的火灾。

森林大火正在成为美国西部不断增大的威胁,而加利福尼亚州南部是受影响最严重的地区。加利福尼亚州南部大火愈加频发,尽管与其对抗的救火队有着相比以前更为充分的准备和多年消除由“圣安娜之风”煽动起的火灾的经验,他们还是在控制大火上遇到了困难。这是有原因的。专家表示,总的来说,现在的森林大火比过去溫度更高,蔓延得更快,扩散踪迹更为飘忽不定。

特大火灾,也称为“围攻火”,是指近来频发的能够烧毁万英亩及以上土地的大火,这种大火烧毁的土地面积相当于20年前一般森林大火破坏面积的10倍。据州政府统计和新闻报道显示,最近几场森林大火已被列入加利福尼亚州有史以来在烧毁面积上的最重大型火灾。

关于频发超级火灾这一趋势,其中一个解释便是该地区通常夏天干燥,且近几年降水量远远低于正常水平。专家表示,另外一个原因是与美国林务局一项长达一个世纪的政策有关。该政策规定发生森林大火时应尽快阻止大火。由此产生了无意识的后果,即是:中断了灌木丛自然的根除过程,现在致使灌木丛成为特大火灾的主要燃料。

他们补充道,还有其他三个因素导致该趋势。首先是气候的变化,整个西部地区平均每年温度上升1 华氏摄氏度。第二点是火险季节相比20年前平均延长了78天。第三,是在多树地区房屋的不断扩建。

“我们在易燃的生态系统中不断地建造我们的房屋,”马萨诸塞州伍斯特市克拉克大学地理研究生院的副教授多米尼克?库拉考斯基表示,“在美国西部大多数森林中这样做,如同在一个活火山的边上建房。”

至少十多年来,加利福尼亚州平均每年增加60多万人口,越来越多的住宅正在建造当中。“曾一度空旷的地带现在是高密度的住宅屋群,这为火灾的发生提供了燃料。”加利福尼亚州林业消防员联盟部的特里?麦克黑尔指出,“这么严重的干旱,这么多可能发生大火的社区,这么多需要去努力的方面,消防已成为一项不可思议的工作。”

据称,有史以来最大的几场火灾烤焦了成千上万英亩的土地,烧毁了数以万计的房屋,烧死大量的居民之后,许多专家给予了加利福尼亚州相当高的评价,因其近几年来在消防准备工作中取得的进步。观察家们表示,这些火灾本该受到控制却依旧蔓延开来,相关部门过去被严厉指责为工作不力。如今,他们正面临着来自周边地区和峡谷的前所未有的巨大挑战。

州政府已经实现了关于提供更多先进的消防车、飞机和直升机以对抗火灾的承诺。消防员联盟在过去曾抱怨破旧的设备、陈旧的消防车和数量不足的消防安全蓝图。现如今称赞州政府的允诺行为。 尽管消防资金并未增加,政府却大量削减其他项目的资金以支援消防建设。“我们很高兴现任加利福尼亚州的行政部门非常积极主动地支持我们,同时已经通过了我们渴望已久的关于满足基础设施需求的预算支持方案。”消防员联盟的麦克黑尔先生表示。

除了提供资金以升级需横穿辽阔大州和沿着坑堤的峡谷道路而上的消防车外,州政府还已经投资建设更好的指挥与控制设施和相关策略来运作它们。“早些年在消防上,我们发现其他的地区和州政府愿意提供相互援助,但我们没能和它们做好充分沟通。”该州的火突应急服务和援救部首席官Kim Zagaris说道,“在委员会审查和修改沟通流程后,全州的反应变得更为专业和迅速。”在政府官员和居民中有这样一种共识,即相比以前遇到的特大火灾的时候,来自不同州和地区的消防员的高速运作、奉献和合作正带来更高的效率。

在近几年,加利福尼亚州南部地区已经在建筑规范、疏散程序和新技术的引入上有所改善提高。“我对我们已见证的进步有着深刻的印象,”加利福尼亚州南部的律师兰迪雅克布说道,他曾不得不撤出他的家和生意以逃离森林大火。“尽管由森林大火引起的损失还将持续,但我们不会像过去那样蒙受生命损失,因为火灾预防和消防措施已经到位。”他说道。

Test 4 Passage 2参考译文:

第二种天性

人们的性格不是必然被设定在一种基调上。通过一个小小的实验,一个人就可以重新塑造他的牌气或者点燃激情、乐观、快乐和勇气到他们的日常生活中。

A. 心理学家长期以来持有一种观点,即人们的性格在任何有意义的方式下都不会经受改变,并且人们的主 要性格特点在小时候就已经确定了。但是,研咳嗽痹诮袈嗝芄牡匮罢铱梢愿谋涞姆椒ā3只鹊男睦硌Ъ乙丫既隙ㄎ颐窃奚偷24种人类性格特性,例如忠诚、友善。 与此同时,研究人员也在研究为什么对于一些人,这样的品质产生得如此自然。他们在寻找的是为什么这些品质发展成习惯的行为,并且这些行为决定着我们对这个我们如何对世界作出反馈。好消息是,所有这一切都是可以学习的。

有一些品质没有比其他品质更难开发,乐观这个品质就是其中一个。但是,人们想要开发这些品质,要求掌握一系列的技巧,这些技巧五花八门,有时候还让人很吃惊。例如,你如果想为你的生活增加更多的快乐和激情,你必须敞开胸怀对待消极的情绪。培养这样的性格还利于帮助你释放你所有的潜能。

B. Christopher Peterson, 密西根大学的心理学教授,他认为:这个证据是有效的,就是说大部分的性格都可以转变”,他引用了自己的例子来证实这个观点。他有天生的内向性格,他很早就意识到,作为一名学者,在演讲大厅沉默寡言是灾难性的属性。因此,他开始学习怎样变得亲和,怎样活跃他的课堂。他说:“我现在外向的行为是很自然的。”

C. 在发生了一场终止他运动生涯的意外时,David Fajgenbaum也做过相似的性格转换。 那时他正准备上大学。在大学校园里,他很快发现除了普通的询问,学校里并没有为像他那样正在经受生理恢复和心理沮丧的学生提供服务。 他因此发起了一个提供服务小组去帮助其他的那些和他有着相似境况的人。他对于这样的情况采取了行动,尽管他自己也在经受伤痛,这是一种积极者的反应。

D.Suzanne Segerstrom是肯塔基大学的心理学教授,她相信提高乐观情绪的关键是通过培养一个人乐观的行为而不是积极的想法。 她建议人们应该训练自己去关注那些美好的事情并且记录下每天发生的三件美好的事情。这样做有助于自己说服自己让人开心的事情每时每刻都在发生,也更加容易使你采取实际的行动(去做积极的事情)。

E. 你可以通过一个人深深投入到一项工作中意识到一个人是充满激情的。Tanya Streeter的激情就是自由的潜水——这是一种没有其他任何的氧气筒或者其他的呼吸装备的潜水运动。她于(开始这项运动),她创造了九项世界纪录并且可以在水里憋气六分钟。对于这项运动,生理上的要求相当严格,但是心理上的要求更加可以使人崩溃。Streeter通过判断自己身体和心理可以承受的程度,学习了如何去解除她的恐惧。她说:“作为一个充满竞争意识的自由潜水者,在职业生涯中始终存在一个局限我的事物,但是它不是像我想象的那样无处不在地出现。”

F. 寻找一项可以使人们兴奋的工作会提高任何人的生活质量。尽管南加州大学的心理学家Paul Silvia宣称,人们消耗激情的秘密就在于“他们需要自律,刻苦工作和能力,这就是为什么激情如此有价值”。心理学家Todd Kashdan提供了这类的建议给人们去获取这些新的激情。他说:“作为一个新人,你通常需要去忍受并嘲笑自己的无知。你必须接受那些消极的情绪。”

G. 在20,医学科学家Mauro Zappaterra开始在哈佛大学医学院开展他的博士学位的研究。不幸的是,他相当痛苦,因为他的研究与他所好奇的关于治疗相关疾病的方法不相符合。最终他在Santa Fe 休息了一段时间,在这八个月的时间里,Zappaterra学到一种没有在哈佛学过的可替代的治疗技术。当他回来的时候,他改变了他的实验项目,转而研究脑脊髄液是如何滋养神经系统的发展。他也发誓要在一切事物中,包括失败中,寻找快乐。因为失败可以帮助他了解自己的研究和他自身。

有一种事物可以把我们的快乐追回,这就是人们专注于避免失败,而不是希望可以把一件事情做得好。 Kashdan解释道:“专注让自己处在安全地带可能会阻止你达到你的目标。”例如你是希望在不使自己尴尬的情况下参加一顿应酬?还是在想这段谈话会有多么吸引人?

H. 通常来说,我们认为勇气属于生理上的专有名词,但是普通的生活要求更多。对于市场主管Kenneth pedeleose而言,这意味着要揭露与他的道德价值观背道而驰的行为。一个新上任的经理恐吓员工,Pedeleose明知自己的事业会遭到威胁,仍仔细地录下他每次作恶的片段,并且最终将证据交给高级主管。最终,这个新来的经理就是那个被开除的人。根据一位来自克莱姆森大学的心理学家Cynthia Pury的观 点,Pedeleose的故事证明了一个观点,这个观点就是勇气不是被无畏所激发,而是通过道德责任所激发。Pury还认为人们可以获得勇气。许多她的学生说到,当他们遇到具有冒险性的情况时,他们首先尝试使自己冷静,然后寻找办法缓解遇到的危机,就像Pedeleose所做的通过记录他的行为一样。

通过很长的一段时间,获取一个新的性格特点可能会帮助你成为一个你想要成为的人。在短时间内,它的效果会有让人意想不到的价值,这是一种内心世界的探险之旅。

Test 4 Passage 3参考译文:

进化反向进行

进化不应该反向进行,但是越来越多的例子表示确实可以如此而且进化反向有时候展示着一个物种的未来。

把任何动物当作一种返祖现象的描述是带有争议性的。在一个世纪的大部分时间里,大多数生物学家不愿意用反向进化等这些词,他们铭记着一个进化原则即“进化是不可以反向进行的。”但越来越多的相关例子为人知晓,同时出现了现代遗传学,这些都表明原则正不得不被改写。反向进化不单单变得有可能,它们还有时候在进化的未来发展上扮演着重要的角色。

一个反向进化的术语为“返祖现象”,该词来自拉丁语atavus,意思是“祖先” 。该词有一个不好的含义,这绝大部分得归功于Cesare Lombroso, 他是一位19世纪的意大利军医,他主张犯人是天生的而不是后天养成的,而且犯人可以通过一些身体特征被识别,而这些特征是亚人类特征的再现。

当Lombroso在观测犯人时,一位比利时的古生物学家Louis Dollo正在研究化石记录并得出了相反的结论。在1890年,他提出进化是不可以逆转的:“一个有机体不能够回转到之前它的祖先已经实现了的阶段,哪怕只是一部分。”在20世纪早期,生物学家得出一个相似的结论,即尽管他们认同返祖现象的可能性,并表示没有理由证明为什么进化不能被反向运行,但他们就是认为发生的可能性极小。所以进化的不可逆性这一观点的研究停住了,并被称为“多洛氏法则”。

如果多洛氏法则是正确的,返祖现象就算真的有,应该也很少发生。然而,几乎自这种想法产生起,就已经出现特例了。比如,在1919年,一头座头鲸在加拿大温哥华岛被捕获,它带有一双长达1 米、像脚的附肢,且有着一套完整的肢骨。探险家Roy Chapman Andrews在那时表明这头鲸一定是某种陆地生活的祖先动物的反向进化结果。“我想不到任何其他的解释。”他在19写道。

自从那时起,很多其他的例子已被发现,所以进化是不可逆转的这种观点再也无法成立了。这同时产生了一个困惑:消失了几千万年的特征是如何能重新出现的?在1994年,美国印第安纳大学的Rudolf Raff和他的同事决定采用遗传学研究使得进化逆转增加一定的可能性。他们论证到一些进化过程中因包含了基因丢失的情况而无法逆转,而另一些进化过程或是因为基因的闭合。如果这些休眠基因以某种方式再次激活,他们表示,生物长时间丢失的特征可以重现。

Raff的团队继续计算进化逆转发生的可能性。休眠基因随机突变次数增加,他们推理到,这最终会导致休眼基因失效。那么,如果一个基因长期不被使用,它能在一个物种中存活多长时间呢?该团队计算出休眠基因很可能存在于一个物种的某些个体中,可存活高达六百万年,甚至有的可以存活一千万年。换句话说,进化逆转是可能的,但这仅相对于较近期的进化史而言。

作为一个可能成为例证的事件,团队列举了墨西哥和加利福尼亚的鼹钝口螈。像大多数的两栖类动物一样,这种生物以幼小的蝌蚪状开始他们的生命,然后变形成成年的状态——除了其中一个种类,蝾螈,它们通常会以它的幼年形态一直生活下去。最简单的解释就是蝾螈血统一直丧失了变形的能力,但是其他种类还保持着这样的能力。然而,从对鼹钝口螈的血缘谱的详细分析来说,这是一个明显的事实,其他血统的鼹钝口螈都是从一个本身已经失去变形能力的祖先那里进化而来的。换句话说,变形在鼹钝口螈之中就是一种返祖现象。鼹钝口螈的例子与Raff的100万年的学说框架相符合。

然而,已知的更近的报道说明这个时间界限被打破,它指出了休眠基因不完全是全部的解释。在去年发表的一篇文幸中,耶鲁大学的生物学家Gunter Wagner汇报了一些关于南美蜥蜴Bachia进化史研究的工作。 它们中的一些拥有非常小的肢节;有一些看起来更像蛇而非蜥蜴;有一些完全失去了后肢的趾头。然而,其他的种类则彰显出了后肢的四个趾头。最简单的解释就是这些有趾的蜥蜴品种从没有失去过趾头,但Wagner并不认同。根据他对Bachia的族谱的区别,有趾的物种从它们无趾的祖先进化而成,更有甚者,脚趾的消失和产生在过去的数百万年间发生过不止一次。

因此,到底发生了什么?其中一个可能性就是这三种特性只是失去了,之后又简单地重现。这就像相似的结构可以独立地产生在没有血缘关系的物种中,就像鲨鱼和杀人鲸的背部的鳍一样。另一种更加有吸引力的可能性是那些用来生长趾头的基因信息在蜥蜴上存活了几百或者是几千万年,并且这种基因信息被重新激活了。这些返祖性的特征提供了一种优势,这种优势适用于所有物种,能有效地进行进化逆转。

但是,如果休眠基因在60万到100万年内退化,这种长时间消失的特性是怎样在这么长的时间范围内被重新激活的?这个答案也许在子宫里面可以被找到。 许多物种早期的胚胎形成了祖先的特性。例如蛇的胚胎萌发出后肢的肢芽。这些特性在后期发展中由于某些进化模式而消失了,该程式可能导致“腿部消失”。如果因为任何原因这些事情没有发生,祖先的种.种特性也许就不会消失,从而导致返祖现象。

篇4:剑桥雅思阅读7(test4)真题精讲

剑桥雅思阅读7原文(test4)

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

Pulling strings to build pyramids

No one knows exactly how the pyramids were built. Marcus Chown reckons the answer could be ‘hanging in the air’.

The pyramids of Egypt were built more than three thousand years ago, and no one knows how. The conventional picture is that tens of thousands of slaves dragged stones on sledges. But there is no evidence to back this up. Now a Californian software consultant called Maureen Clemmons has suggested that kites might have been involved. While perusing a book on the monuments of Egypt, she noticed a hieroglyph that showed a row of men standing in odd postures. They were holding what looked like ropes that led, via some kind of mechanical system, to a giant bird in the sky. She wondered if perhaps the bird was actually a giant kite, and the men were using it to lift a heavy object.

Intrigued, Clemmons contacted Morteza Gharib, aeronautics professor at the California Institute of Technology. He was fascinated by the idea. ‘Coming from Iran, I have a keen interest in Middle Eastern science,’ he says. He too was puzzled by the picture that had sparked Clemmons’s interest. The object in the sky apparently had wings far too short and wide for a bird. ‘The possibility certainly existed that it was a kite,’ he says. And since he needed a summer project for his student Emilio Graff, investigating the possibility of using kites as heavy lifters seemed like a good idea.

Gharib and Graff set themselves the task of raising a 4.5-metre stone column from horizontal to vertical, using no source of energy except the wind. Their initial calculations and scale-model wind-tunnel experiments convinced them they wouldn’t need a strong wind to lift the 33.5-tonne column. Even a modest force, if sustained over a long time, would do. The key was to use a pulley system that would magnify the applied force. So they rigged up a tent-shaped scaffold directly above the tip of the horizontal column, with pulleys suspended from the scaffold’s apex. The idea was that as one end of the column rose, the base would roll across the ground on a trolley.

Earlier this year, the team put Clemmons’s unlikely theory to the test, using a 40-square-metre rectangular nylon sail. The kite lifted the column clean off the ground. ‘We were absolutely stunned,’ Gharib says. ‘The instant the sail opened into the wind, a huge force was generated and the column was raised to the vertical in a mere 40 seconds.’

The wind was blowing at a gentle 16 to 20 kilometres an hour, little more than half what they thought would be needed. What they had failed to reckon with was what happened when the kite was opened. ‘There was a huge initial force — five times larger than the steady state force,’ Gharib says. This jerk meant that kites could lift huge weights, Gharib realised. Even a 300-tonne column could have been lifted to the vertical with 40 or so men and four or five sails. So Clemmons was right: the pyramid builders could have used kites to lift massive stones into place. ‘Whether they actually did is another matter,’ Gharib says. There are no pictures showing the construction of the pyramids, so there is no way to tell what really happened. ‘The evidence for using kites to move large stones is no better or worse than the evidence for the brute force method,’ Gharib says.

Indeed, the experiments have left many specialists unconvinced. ‘The evidence for kite-lifting is non-existent,’ says Willeke Wendrich, an associate professor of Egyptology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Others feel there is more of a case for the theory. Harnessing the wind would not have been a problem for accomplished sailors like the Egyptians. And they are known to have used wooden pulleys, which could have been made strong enough to bear the weight of massive blocks of stone. In addition, there is some physical evidence that the ancient Egyptians were interested in flight. A wooden artefact found on the step pyramid at Saqqara looks uncannily like a modern glider. Although it dates from several hundred years after the building of the pyramids, its sophistication suggests that the Egyptians might have been developing ideas of flight for a long time. And other ancient civilisations certainly knew about kites; as early as 1250 BC, the Chinese were using them to deliver messages and dump flaming debris on their foes.

The experiments might even have practical uses nowadays. There are plenty of places around the globe where people have no access to heavy machinery, but do know how to deal with wind, sailing and basic mechanical principles. Gharib has already been contacted by a civil engineer in Nicaragua, who wants to put up buildings with adobe roofs supported by concrete arches on a site that heavy equipment can’t reach. His idea is to build the arches horizontally, then lift them into place using kites. ‘We’ve given him some design hints,’ says Gharib. ‘We’re just waiting for him to report back.’ So whether they were actually used to build the pyramids or not, it seems that kites may make sensible construction tools in the 21st century AD.

Questions 1-7

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1 It is generally believed that large numbers of people were needed to build the pyramids.

2 Clemmons found a strange hieroglyph on the wall of an Egyptian monument.

3 Gharib had previously done experiments on bird flight.

4 Gharib and Graff tested their theory before applying it.

5 The success of the actual experiment was due to the high speed of the wind.

6 They found that, as the kite flew higher, the wind force got stronger.

7 The team decided that it was possible to use kites to raise very heavy stones.

Questions 8-13

Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.

Additional evidence for theory of kite-lifting

The Egyptians had 8.................., which could lift large pieces of 9.................., and they knew how to use the energy of the wind from their skill as 10.................. .The discovery on one pyramid of an object which resembled a 11.................. suggests they may have experimented with 12.................. . In addition, over two thousand years ago kites were used in China as weapons, as well as for sending 13 .................. .

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

Endless Harvest

More than two hundred years ago, Russian explorers and fur hunters landed on the Aleutian Islands, a volcanic archipelago in the North Pacific, and learned of a land mass that lay farther to the north. The islands’ native inhabitants called this land mass Aleyska, the ‘Great Land’; today, we know it as Alaska.

The forty-ninth state to join the United States of America (in 1959), Alaska is fully one-fifth the size of the mainland 48 states combined. It shares, with Canada, the second longest river system in North America and has over half the coastline of the United States. The rivers feed into the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska — cold, nutrient-rich waters which support tens of millions of seabirds, and over 400 species of fish, shellfish, crustaceans, and molluscs. Taking advantage of this rich bounty, Alaska’s commercial fisheries have developed into some of the largest in the world.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Alaska’s commercial fisheries landed hundreds of thousands of tonnes of shellfish and herring, and well over a million tonnes of groundfish (cod, sole, perch and pollock) in . The true cultural heart and soul of Alaska’s fisheries, however, is salmon. ‘Salmon,’ notes writer Susan Ewing in The Great Alaska Nature Factbook, ‘pump through Alaska like blood through a heart, bringing rhythmic, circulating nourishment to land, animals and people.’ The ‘predictable abundance of salmon allowed some native cultures to flourish,’ and ‘dying spawners_feed bears, eagles, other animals, and ultimately the soil itself.’ All five species of Pacific salmon — chinook, or king; chum, or dog; coho, or silver; sockeye, or red; and pink, or humpback — spawn_ in Alaskan waters, and 90% of all Pacific salmon commercially caught in North America are produced there. Indeed, if Alaska was an independent nation, it would be the largest producer of wild salmon in the world. During 2000, commercial catches of Pacific salmon in Alaska exceeded 320,000 tonnes, with an ex-vessel value of over $US260 million.

Catches have not always been so healthy. Between 1940 and 1959, overfishing led to crashes in salmon populations so severe that in 1953 Alaska was declared a federal disaster area. With the onset of statehood, however, the State of Alaska took over management of its own fisheries, guided by a state constitution which mandates that Alaska’s natural resources be managed on a sustainable basis. At that time, statewide harvests totalled around 25 million salmon. Over the next few decades average catches steadily increased as a result of this policy of sustainable management, until, during the 1990s, annual harvests were well in excess of 100 million, and on several occasions over 200 million fish.

The primary reason for such increases is what is known as ‘In-Season Abundance-Based Management’. There are biologists throughout the state constantly monitoring adult fish as they show up to spawn. The biologists sit in streamside counting towers, study sonar, watch from aeroplanes, and talk to fishermen. The salmon season in Alaska is not pre-set. The fishermen know the approximate time of year when they will be allowed to fish, but on any given day, one or more field biologists in a particular area can put a halt to fishing. Even sport fishing can be brought to a halt. It is this management mechanism that has allowed Alaska salmon stocks — and, accordingly, Alaska salmon fisheries — to prosper, even as salmon populations in the rest of the United States are increasingly considered threatened or even endangered.

In , the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)__commissioned a review of the Alaska salmon fishery. The Council, which was founded in , certifies fisheries that meet high environmental standards, enabling them to use a label that recognises their environmental responsibility. The MSC has established a set of criteria by which commercial fisheries can be judged. Recognising the potential benefits of being identified as environmentally responsible, fisheries approach the Council requesting to undergo the certification process. The MSC then appoints a certification committee, composed of a panel of fisheries experts, which gathers information and opinions from fishermen, biologists, government officials, industry representatives, non-governmental organisations and others.

Some observers thought the Alaska salmon fisheries would not have any chance of certification when, in the months leading up to MSC’s final decision, salmon runs throughout western Alaska completely collapsed. In the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers, chinook and chum runs were probably the poorest since statehood; subsistence communities throughout the region, who normally have priority over commercial fishing, were devastated.

The crisis was completely unexpected, but researchers believe it had nothing to do with impacts of fisheries. Rather, they contend, it was almost certainly the result of climatic shifts, prompted in part by cumulative effects of the el nino/la nina phenomenon on Pacific Ocean temperatures, culminating in a harsh winter in which huge numbers of salmon eggs were frozen. It could have meant the end as far as the certification process was concerned. However, the state reacted quickly, closing down all fisheries, even those necessary for subsistence purposes.

In September 2000, MSC announced that the Alaska salmon fisheries qualified for certification. Seven companies producing Alaska salmon were immediately granted permission to display the MSC logo on their products. Certification is for an initial period of five years, with an annual review to ensure that the fishery is continuing to meet the required standards.

_spawners: fish that have released eggs

_ spawn: release eggs

__MSC: a joint venture between WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and Unilever, a Dutch-based multi-national

Questions 14-20

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information.

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

14 The inhabitants of the Aleutian islands renamed their islands ‘Aleyska.’

15 Alaska’s fisheries are owned by some of the world’s largest companies.

16 Life in Alaska is dependent on salmon.

17 Ninety per cent of all Pacific salmon caught are sockeye or pink salmon.

18 More than 320,000 tonnes of salmon were caught in Alaska in 2000.

19 Between 1940 and 1959, there was a sharp decrease in Alaska’s salmon population.

20 During the 1990s, the average number of salmon caught each year was 100 million.

Questions 21-26

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-K, below.

Write the correct letter, A-K, in boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet.

21 In Alaska, biologists keep a check on adult fish

22 Biologists have the authority

23 In-Season Abundance-Based Management has allowed the Alaska salmon fisheries

24 The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was established

25 As a result of the collapse of the salmon runs in 1999, the state decided

26 In September 2000, the MSC allowed seven Alaska salmon companies

A to recognize fisheries that care for the environment.

B to be successful.

C to stop fish from spawning.

D to set up environmental protection laws.

E to stop people fishing for sport.

F to label their products using the MSC logo.

G to ensure that fish numbers are sufficient to permit fishing.

H to assist the subsistence communities in the region.

I to freeze a huge number of salmon eggs.

J to deny certification to the Alaska fisheries.

K to close down all fisheries.

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

EFFECTS OF NOISE

In general, it is plausible to suppose that we should prefer peace and quiet to noise. And yet most of us have had the experience of having to adjust to sleeping in the mountains or the countryside because it was initially ‘too quiet’, an experience that suggests that humans are capable of adapting to a wide range of noise levels. Research supports this view. For example, Glass and Singer (1972) exposed people to short bursts of very loud noise and then measured their ability to work out problems and their physiological reactions to the noise. The noise was quite disruptive at first, but after about four minutes the subjects were doing just as well on their tasks as control subjects who were not exposed to noise. Their physiological arousal also declined quickly to the same levels as those of the control subjects.

But there are limits to adaptation and loud noise becomes more troublesome if the person is required to concentrate on more than one task. For example, high noise levels interfered with the performance of subjects who were required to monitor three dials at a time, a task not unlike that of an aeroplane pilot or an air-traffic controller (Broadbent, 1957). Similarly, noise did not affect a subject’s ability to track a moving line with a steering wheel, but it did interfere with the subject’s ability to repeat numbers while tracking (Finkelman and Glass, 1970).

Probably the most significant finding from research on noise is that its predictability is more important than how loud it is. We are much more able to ‘tune out’ chronic background noise, even if it is quite loud, than to work under circumstances with unexpected intrusions of noise. In the Glass and Singer study, in which subjects were exposed to bursts of noise as they worked on a task, some subjects heard loud bursts and others heard soft bursts. For some subjects, the bursts were spaced exactly one minute apart (predictable noise); others heard the same amount of noise overall, but the bursts

Unpredictable Noise Predictable Noise Average

Loud noise 40.1 31.8 35.9

Soft noise 36.7 27.4 32.1

Average 38.4 29.6

Table 1: Proofreading Errors and Noise

occurred at random intervals (unpredictable noise). Subjects reported finding the predictable and unpredictable noise equally annoying, and all subjects performed at about the same level during the noise portion of the experiment. But the different noise conditions had quite different after-effects when the subjects were required to proofread written material under conditions of no noise. As shown in Table 1 the unpredictable noise produced more errors in the later proofreading task than predictable noise; and soft, unpredictable noise actually produced slightly more errors on this task than the loud, predictable noise.

Apparently, unpredictable noise produces more fatigue than predictable noise, but it takes a while for this fatigue to take its toll on performance.

Predictability is not the only variable that reduces or eliminates the negative effects of noise. Another is control. If the individual knows that he or she can control the noise, this seems to eliminate both its negative effects at the time and its after-effects. This is true even if the individual never actually exercises his or her option to turn the noise off (Glass and Singer, 1972). Just the knowledge that one has control is sufficient.

The studies discussed so far exposed people to noise for only short periods and only transient effects were studied. But the major worry about noisy environments is that living day after day with chronic noise may produce serious, lasting effects. One study, suggesting that this worry is a realistic one, compared elementary school pupils who attended schools near Los Angeles’s busiest airport with students who attended schools in quiet neighbourhoods (Cohen et al., 1980). It was found that children from the noisy schools had higher blood pressure and were more easily distracted than those who attended the quiet schools. Moreover, there was no evidence of adaptability to the noise. In fact, the longer the children had attended the noisy schools, the more distractible they became. The effects also seem to be long lasting. A follow-up study showed that children who were moved to less noisy classrooms still showed greater distractibility one year later than students who had always been in the quiet schools (Cohen et al, 1981). It should be noted that the two groups of children had been carefully matched by the investigators so that they were comparable in age, ethnicity, race, and social class.

Questions 27-29

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 27-29 on your answer sheet.

27 The writer suggests that people may have difficulty sleeping in the mountains because

A humans do not prefer peace and quiet to noise.

B they may be exposed to short bursts of very strange sounds.

C humans prefer to hear a certain amount of noise while they sheep.

D they may have adapted to a higher noise level in the city.

28 In noise experiments, Glass and Singer found that

A problem-solving is much easier under quiet conditions.

B physiological arousal prevents the ability to work.

C bursts of noise do not seriously disrupt problem-solving in the long term.

D the physiological arousal of control subjects declined quickly.

29 Researchers discovered that high noise levels are not likely to interfere with the

A successful performance of a single task.

B tasks of pilots or air traffic controllers.

C ability to repeat numbers while tracking moving lines.

D ability to monitor three dials at once.

Questions 30-34

Complete the summary using the list of words and phrases, A-J, below.

Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 30-34 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

Glass and Singer (1972) showed that situations in which there is intense noise have less effect on performance than circumstances in which 30..................noise occurs. Subjects were divided into groups to perform a task. Some heard loud bursts of noise, others soft. For some subjects, the noise was predictable, while for others its occurrence was random. All groups were exposed to 31..................noise. The predictable noise group 32..................the unpredictable noise group on this task.

In the second part of the experiment, the four groups were given a proofreading task to complete under conditions of no noise. They were required to check written material for errors. The group which had been exposed to unpredictable noise 33..................the group which had been exposed to predictable noise. The group which had been exposed to loud predictable noise performed better than those who had heard soft, unpredictable bursts. The results suggest that 34..................noise produces fatigue but that this manifests itself later.

A no control over

B unexpected

C intense

D the same amount of

E performed better than

F performed at about the same level as

G no

H showed more irritation than

I made more mistakes than

J different types of

Questions 35-40

Look at the following statements (Questions 35-40) and the list of researchers below.

Match each statement with the correct researcher(s), A-E.

Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

35 Subjects exposed to noise find it difficult at first to concentrate on problem-solving tasks.

36 Long-term exposure to noise can produce changes in behaviour which can still be observed a year later.

37 The problems associated with exposure to noise do not arise if the subject knows they can make it stop.

38 Exposure to high-pitched noise results in more errors than exposure to low-pitched noise.

39 Subjects find it difficult to perform three tasks at the same time when exposed to noise.

40 Noise affects a subject’s capacity to repeat numbers while carrying out another task.

List of Researchers

A Glass and Singer

B Broadbent

C Finkelman and Glass

D Cohen et al.

E None of the above

剑桥雅思阅读7原文参考译文(test4)

PASSAGE 1 参考译文:

线牵金字塔

没有人知道金字塔到底是怎么建成的。Marcus Chown料想答案可能是“悬空而造”。

埃及的金字塔是在3000多年前建造的,但是没有人知道它们是以何方式建造的。传统的描述是由成千上万的奴隶拖动载有石头的雪橇来建造的。但是没有证据正明这一观点。加利福尼亚的软件顾问 Maureen Clemmons日前提出在金字搭的建造过程中可能使用了风筝。在翻阅一本有关埃及古迹的书时,她发现一个象形文字描述的是一群人以奇怪的姿势站立。他们手里拉着类似绳索的东西,通过某种机械连着空中的一只巨鸟。她想知道那只巨鸟是否可能就足一只大的风筝,而那些人正用它来举起重物。

好奇心驱使下的Clemmons联系了加州理工学院的航空学教授Morteza Gharib。后者对她的想法很感兴趣。他说:“我来自伊朗,对中东的科技有浓厚的兴趣,他同样也对令Clemmons甘心去的图片感到疑惑。悬在空中无题的两翼对于鸟类来说明显太短太宽。是风筝的可能性确实是存在的,”他说。因为他刚好需要给学生Emilio Graff布置一项暑期研究计划,调查用风筝做起重器的可能性是一个好主意。

Gharib和Graff尝试只借助风力(除此之外没有其他能源)来把一块水平放置的4.5米长的石柱直立起来。最初的计算以及风洞模型试验让他们相信不用太强的风力就举起这块33.5吨重的石柱。甚至只要风力适度,如果能维持一定的时间就能做到。关键是要用一个滑轮系统把使用的风力扩大。因此他们在横放的石柱顶部正上方搭了一个帐篷形的支架,在支架的顶部悬挂了滑车。理论是当石柱的一端被吊起,另一端就能顺着下面的手推车翻转过来。

今年早些吋候,他们用一块40平方米的方形尼龙风帆把Clemmons的空头理论付诸实验。最终风帆把石柱完全抬离地面。“我们完全目瞪口呆”,Gharib说。“风帆在风中展开那一刻产生一股巨大的风力,仅花了40 秒石柱就被抬离地面。”

当时的风力时速仅为16到20公里,还不足他们预想所需风力的一半。他们没有想到的是当风筝打开时会发生什么。“巨大的初始风力比恒稳状态风力大五倍,”Gharib说。他意识到这种猛然的拉力意味着风筝能够举起巨大的重量,只需40个左右的人力加上四五个风帆就能把一根300吨的石柱直立起来。所以 Clemmons是对的,金字塔的建造者们可能使用了风筝把巨大的石块抬升至指定位置。“他们是否真的使用了风筝是另外一回事,”Gharib说。没有图画描述金字塔的建造情况,所以没有办法知道“真正发生的事情”。使用风筝搬运巨石的证据和使用强力法的证据不相上下,Gharib说。

事实上,这些实验许多专家并不信服。洛杉矶加州大学的埃及古物学副教授WillekeWendrich就说: “支持风筝搬运的证据并不存在”。

其他人则认为支持该理论的实例不在少数。对像埃及人这样熟练的水手来说驾驭风力不是问题。而且我们都知道他们制造了坚固的木质滑车以承运大块巨石。此外,有物证表明古埃及人对飞翔很感兴趣。在塞加拉的阶梯金字塔上发现的一块木制加工品就酷似现代的滑翔机。尽管它出现在金字塔建成几百年后,但是它的精密程度却显示埃及人想要飞翔的想法已经非常久远。而其他古文明确实也了解风筝;早在公元前1250年,中国人就用它们来传递信息或向敌人倾倒燃烧的碎片。

甚至现在这一实验可能还具有实用性。全世界很多地方的人们没有大型机械,却知道如何利用风能. 航海和基本的机械原理。一位尼加拉瓜的土木工程师就联系了Gharib,想要在一个没有重型机械的地方建造用混凝土拱支持土坯屋顶的房子。他的想法是先在地平线上边建造拱顶,然后用风筝抬升拱顶到预定位置。“我们给了他一些设计建议,还在等待他的反馈”。Gharib说。所以不用风筝有没有被用来建造金字塔,似乎它们在公元21世纪却可能是实用的建筑工具。

TEST 4 PASSAGE 2 参考译文:

无尽的丰收

两百多年前,俄罗斯探险者和皮毛狩猎者抵达阿留申群岛(位于北太平洋的一个火山群岛),发现了位于北部远方的一块大陆。岛上的原住民把这块大陆称为阿留斯卡,意为“伟大的土地”。如今,我们叫它阿拉斯加。

1959年,阿拉斯加加入美利坚合众国,成为美国的第49个州,其面积相当于美国其他48个州总面积的五分之一。它与加拿大共用北美大陆第二长水系,拥有美国一半以上的海岸线。多条河流注人白令海峡和阿拉斯加湾——冰冷而富含养分的水域是成千上万海鸟赖以生存的家园。此外,这片水域中还生活着400 多种鱼类、贝类,虾蟹和软体动物。阿拉斯加的商业渔场充分利用了大自然的馈赠,已经发展成为世界上规模最大的渔业聚集地之一。

据阿拉斯加渔业与捕捞局称,在阿拉斯加商业渔场出产了成百上千吨的贝类和鲱鱼,还有一百多万吨底栖鱼(包括鳕鱼、鳎鱼、鲈鱼和青鳕)。阿拉斯加渔业真正的文化心脏和灵魂却是大马哈鱼。随笔作家苏珊?尤因在她的著作《伟大的阿拉斯加自然概况》一书中指出,大马哈鱼从阿拉斯加游过,就像血液流经心脏一样,为这片土地、动物和人们带来独具韵律、循环通畅的给养。可预见的丰富的大马哈鱼产量使本土文化得以繁荣发展,垂死的产卵鱼为熊、鹰和其他动物提供食物,最终为这片土地提供养料。5种太平洋大马哈鱼都在阿拉斯加水域产卵:奇努克大马哈鱼(王鲑)、马苏大马哈鱼(狗鲑)、银大马哈鱼(银鲑)、红大马哈鱼(红鲑)、粉大马哈鱼(驼背大马哈鱼)。北美90%的商业太平洋大马哈鱼都产自阿拉斯加。如果阿拉斯加是一个独立国家的话,它将是全世界最大的野生大马哈鱼产地。20,阿拉斯加商业大马哈鱼产量超过320,000吨,船边交易额超过2.6亿美元。

然而,捕鱼业并非一直这么风调雨顺。1940到1959年,过度捕捞使得大马哈鱼的数量急剧减少,1953 年,阿拉斯加成为“联邦受灾渔区”。不过,州政府通过抗争夺回了渔业自主管理权,在州法院的指导下开展渔业活动。而州法院负责确保阿拉斯加的自然资源在可持续发展的基础上进行开发利用。那时候,全国范围内的大马哈鱼产量大约为2500万条。在可持续捕捞政策的管理下,接下来的几十年里,大马哈鱼的产量平稳上升。20世纪90年代,大马哈鱼的年产超过1亿条,个别年份甚至超过了2亿条。

产量提高的首要原因是实施了被称作“当季捕捞盈余为本”的管理方法。全州范围内的生物学家负责持续监测将要产卵的成年大马哈鱼。生物学家们坐在河滨的观测计算塔里,研究声纳系统,从飞机上进行观察,并与渔民交谈。大马哈鱼捕捞季节不是预先设定好的某一时刻。渔民们知道一年中政府允许捕捞的大概时间段。但是在某些特定的日子,某个地区的一个或多个领域的生物学家有权要求停止捕鱼活动。甚至连体育比赛性的钓鱼活动也会被禁止。正是这样的管观机制使得阿拉斯加的大马哈鱼储量得到保证,并使阿拉斯加的捕鱼业得以持续发展。而同时,美国其他地区的大马哈鱼数量却日益令人担忧,处在备受威胁、甚至是危险的状态中。

,海洋管理委员会(MSC)授权审查阿拉斯加大马哈鱼捕捞业。该委员会成立于,它为符合高环保标准的渔业发放证明,允许他们使用标签,表明他们知道自己肩负的环保责任。海洋管理委员会设定了一套评定商业捕鱼业的标准。渔业公司认识到通过环保负责评定所带来的潜在利益后,纷纷要求该委员会为自己做相关评定。于是,海洋管理委员建立了一个专门的评定委员会,组建专门的渔业专家小组,从渔民、生物学家、政府官员、产业代表和非政府组织等人士那里收集相关信息和观点。

在海洋管理委员会做最后决定的那几个月里,西阿拉斯加的大马哈鱼鱼群全线崩溃。于是,一些观察家认为,阿拉斯加大马哈鱼渔业不会有任何获得官方机构认证的机会了,在育空河和卡斯科奎姆河流域,奇努克大马哈鱼和马苏大马哈鱼几乎处于建州以来最贫瘠的状态。该地区对商业捕鱼拥有优先权的可持续发展机构对此束手无策。

这场危机完全出乎人们的意料,但研咳嗽毕嘈耪獠⒉皇怯嬉捣⒄挂鸬摹O喾矗潜绯普獗囟ㄊ瞧虮浠慕峁翘窖笃蛳窒蠖蚨崤岛屠崮瘸中饔玫暮蠊U庑┢蛳窒笤斐啥斓目岷, 结果大量大马哈鱼的卵在冰冷的海水里被冻死。海洋管理委员会的评定也似乎走到了尽头。然而,阿拉斯加州迅速做出反应,关闭所有渔场,甚至包括那些为了研究可持续发展的渔场。

2000年9月,海洋管理委员会宣布阿拉斯加大马哈鱼渔业通过了资格审查。7家也产阿拉斯加大马哈鱼的渔业公司立即获准在产品上使用海洋管理委员会专用徽标。该证明的起始期限为5年,之后每年进行一次评定,以确保渔业公司仍然符合规定的标准。

TEST 4 PASSAGE 3 参考译文:

噪音影响

总体来说,人们应该更喜欢和平宁静而不喜欢噪音——这种想法貌似有些道理。我们大多数人都有过这样的经历:如果在深山或者乡村睡觉,必须作一些调整才能睡得着,因为这些地方起初“太安静”了。这一例子说明人类有能力去适应不同程度、分贝跨度较大的各种噪音。研究也证实了这一点。例如,Glass和 Singer(1972)将人们说于瞬间发出的非常刺耳的噪声环境之中,然后测量他们解决问题的能力和由此产生的生理反应。起初,噪音让人心烦意乱。但大约四分钟后,将置于噪音下的实验对象与处于正常环境中的人们相比发现,前者在完成任务方而做得很不错,而且他们对噪音的生理反应也会迅速降低到与后者持平的水平。

但如果要求试验对象同时专注几项任务时,其对噪音的适应性能力就会达到极限,噪音也会变得更加让人心烦意乱。例如,如果一个实验对象需要同时监视三个刻度盘,那么高分贝噪音就会严重干扰他们完成工作。同时监视多个刻度盘其实和飞行员或者空中交通调解员的工作別无二致(Broadbent, 1957)。同理,噪音并不会影响实验对象追踪一个旋转轮子形成的不断移动的轨迹,但如果让实验对象在追踪的同时重复数字,那么噪音对他们的影响就很大了(Finkelman and Glass,1970)。

或许,此项关于噪音的研究最重大的发现,就是噪音的可预见性要比它分贝的大小更为重要。我们完全有能力对长期存在的背景噪音“听而不闻”,即使它们确实很吵;而如果人们工作时受到突如其来的噪音的侵袭,他们就会很不适应。在Glass和Singer的研究中,当实验对象正做一项工作时,把他们置于突然发出的噪音环境中,有些人听到的声音非常大,而有些人听到的声音却要柔和得多。实验对象中一部分人听到的噪音是严格按照一分钟的时间间隔产生的(可预测性噪音);他人听到的噪音总量是不变的,但是产生时间却是随机的(非可预测性噪音)。实验组称,可预测性噪音和非可预测性噪音都很恼人,而所有实验对象在噪音测试部分的表现都处在同一水平线上,然而,在无噪音环境下要求实验对象校对书面材料时,不同噪音条件带来的副作用是迥然不同的。如表1所和可预测性噪音相比,非可预测性噪音使试验对象在校对时出现更多错误;柔和的非可预测性噪音实际上比吵闹的可预测性噪音让人出现更多错误。

表格1:校对错误与噪音

非可预测性噪音 可预测性噪音 均值

高分贝噪音 40. 1 31.8 35.9

轻柔噪音 36.7 27.4 32.1

均值 38.4 29.6

显然,非可预测性噪音会让人更疲劳,不过疲劳导致工作上的错误还需要一段时间。

预测性不是唯一可以减少或者消除噪音负而影响的变量。另一个变量是噪音的可控性。如果一个人知道自己可以控制噪音的话,这一点似乎可以消除当时噪音的负面影响和副作用。 即使人们没有真正实践他的想法,去关掉噪音,这种效果也是可以达到的。仅知道自己有控制噪音的能力就足够了。

到目前为止,所讨论的研究都是将人们短时间置于噪音环境中,也只是研究了由此带来的瞬间影响。但是噪音环境所引起的主要忧虑是,日复一日地长期生活在噪音环境中可能会产生严重、持久的影响。一项研究表明,此担心是有现实性的。将在洛杉矶最繁忙的机场旁边上学的小学生和那些在安静环境中上学的小学生相比较(Cohen et al., 1980),就会发现噪音地区的小学生血压较高,更容易转移注意力。此外,并没有迹象表明孩子们会逐渐适应噪音。事实上,孩子们在喧闹的学校待的时间越久,他们越难以集中注意力。另外一项跟踪研究表明,和那些一直在安静学校上学的孩子相比,即使喧闹学校里的孩子们搬到安静一些的学校待上一年以后,他们还是难以集中注意力。有一点需要说明的是,两组孩子都是经过研究人员精心匹配的,他们在年龄、民族习性、种族和社会阶层上都具有可比性。

剑桥雅思阅读7原文解析(test4)

Passage 1

Question 1

答案:TRUE

关键词:large numbers of people, build the pyramids

定位原文: 第1段第2句: “The conventional picture is that…”

解题思路: 此题通过定位词可以迅速定位至首段第2句话,题干对文章定位句的概括性改写分析如下:generally believed — conventional picture, large numbers of people — tens of thousands of slaves. 因此答案很明显应该是TRUE。

Question 2

答案:FALSE

关键词:hieroglyph, Egyptian monument

定位原文: 首段第5句: “While perusing a book…”

解题思路: 此题定位词在文中原词出现,可以快速定位。文中定位句指出Clemmons是在一本关于埃及古迹的书中读到的象形文字信息,而题目却说她在一座埃及古迹的墙上发现了象形文字,显然题目与文章相悖,因此此题答案为FALSE。

Question 3

答案:NOT GIVEN

关键词:experiment, bird flight

定位原文: 无

解题思路: 题干的定位信息在文章中未出现,此题为最典型的“原文完全未提及型”,故答案为NOT GIVEN

Question 4

答案: TRUE

关键词:theory

定位原文: 第4段首句:”Earlier this year...” 今年早些时候,他们把Clemmons空头理论付诸实验

解题思路: 题目与文章完全相符,因此此题答案为TRUE

Question 5

答案:FALSE

关键词:high speed of the wind

定位原文: 第5段首句: “The wind was blowing at…”

解题思路: 此题按照顺序原则,在第五段首句定位出与风速相关的信息,但文中对于风速的描述为 gentle和little more than half(与一半差不多),显然题目与原文不符,因此答案为FALSE

Question 6

答案:NOT GIVEN

关键词:kite, wind force

定位原文: 第5段第2句、第3句: “What they had failed to… ‘There was a huge initial force …”他们没有想到的是当风帆打开时会发生什么“巨大的初始风力比恒稳状态风力还大五倍。” Gharib说道。

解题思路: 此题定位比较容易。在定位句中只提到了kite打开的吋候wind force很大,对于题目中的两个比较级完全没提及,此题为典型的“题目内容文章部分提及型”,故答案为NOT GIVEN。

Question 7

答案:TRUE

关键词:kite, very heavy stones

定位原文: 第5段第4句:“This jerk meant that…”

解题思路: 此题按照顺序原则在上一题定位句之后就能找到定位词。题目与原文含义一致,均为“风帆可以提升极大的重量”,故答案为TRUE。

Question 8

答案:(wooden) pulleys

关键词: Egyptians

定位原文: 第7段第2句、第3句: “...like the Egyptians. And they are known to have used wooden pulleys...

解题思路: 在定位段中查找定位词可以迅速定位于该段第二句。题中空格前为动词had,所以应于文中定位处扫描该动词或其同义词或其上下义词。此处扫描结果为to have used,则其后单词即为答案: (wooden) pulleys。

Question 9

答案:stone

关键词: large pieces

定位原文: 第7段第3句: “…, which could have been made strong enough to bear the weight of massive blocks of stone.”

解题思路: 此题在文中定位紧接着上一题。通过扫描定位词得出 large pieces of 对应文中 massive blocks of,于是其后单词即为答案:stone。

Question 10

答案:(accomplished) sailors

关键词:energy from the wind

定位原文: 第7段第2句: “Harnessing the wind would not…”

解题思路: 此题为同一定位段内的乱序题,由于确定解题段为第七段,在两次定位后仍能将此空定位于段落次句。此空格前为介词as,则在定位处扫描该介词或其他介词。此处扫描结果为for,则其后单词即为答案:(accomplished) sailors。

Question 11

答案:(modern) glider

关键词:pyramid, resembled

定位原文: 第7段第5句: “A wooden artefact found…”

解题思路: 此题通过顺序原则可以很快定位,定位处looks uncannily like对应题中resembled, 且空格需填写一个单数名词,则答案为(modem) glider。

Question 12

答案:flight

关键词:suggest, have experimented with

定位原文: 第7段倒数第2句 “…, its sophistication suggests that…”

解题思路: 此题解题技巧同第10题,由于空格前为介词with, 故在定位句中扫描后定位于介词of,且have been developing ideas of对应于题中 have experimented with,所以答案为of后单词:flight。

Question 13

答案:messages

关键词:China

定位原文: 第7段末句:“the Chinese were using them to…”

解题思路: 空格前为动词sending, 则在定位句中扫描得到动词deliver与之对应,其后单词即为答案:messages。

Test 4 Passage 2

Question 14

答案: FALSE

关键词:inhabitants, Aleutian islands, Aleyska

定位原文: 第1段末句: “The islands’ native inhabitants called…”

解题思路: 此题定位词均在文章第一段以原词出现。其含义为“岛上居民称此岛为Aleyska”,而题中关键词为重命名(renamed),与文章不符,故此题答案为FALSE。

Question 15

答案: NOT GIVEN

关键词:Alaska's fisheries, largest companies

定位原文: 第2段末句: “Taking advantage of this rich bounty…”

解题思路: 此题通过定位词可以快速定位。文中定位句指出,阿拉斯加的一些商业渔场发展成为世界上最大的渔场。题目中所提到的“渔场为最大的公司所拥有”在文中并未提及,所以此题答案为NOT GIVEN。

Question 16

答案: TRUE

关键词:life, salmon

定位原文: 第3段第3句: “‘Salmon,’ notes writer Susan Ewing…”

解题思路: 通过题中定位词可定位于首次出现salmon的第三段。定位处运用比喻的手法说明大马哈鱼对于阿拉斯加意义重大,就像流过心脏的血液一样,这与题目中的dependent on(依赖于)对应,故此题答案为TRUE。

Question 17

答案:NOT GIVEN

关键词:ninety per cent, Pacific salmon

定位原文: 第3段倒数第3句: “All five species of Pacific salmon…”

解题思路: 此题定位词均在文中以原词出现,定位句介绍了在阿拉斯加水域产卵的五种太平洋大马哈鱼,并指出被捕捞的太平洋大马哈鱼有90%都产自此水域。而题目却将产自此水域的五种鱼等同为一种,是典型的“由文到题范围缩小型”,故此题答案为NOT GIVEN。

Question 18

答案: TRUE

关键词:Alaska, in 2000

定位原文: 第3段末句: “During 2000, commercial catches…”

解题思路: 根据顺序原则可迅速定位此题,且定位句和题目内容一致,文章中的exceeded与题目中的more than属于同义转述。故此题答案为TRUE。

Question 19

答案:TRUE

关键词:Between 1940 and 1959, Alaska's salmon population

定位原文: 第4段第2句: “Between 1940 and 1959...”

解题思路: 定位词均以原词出现,定位句指出:在1940到1959年间,过度捕捞导致大马哈鱼总量大跌,这与题目完全一致。文章中的crashes与题目中的sharp decrease属于同义转述。故此题答案为TRUE。

Question 20

答案: FALSE

关键词:1990s, average number

定位原文: 第4段末句:“…during the 1990s, annual harvests were…”

解题思路: 根据年代可迅速定位于第四段末句,定位句指出年捕捞量超过(in excess of)1亿,还有些年份为2亿,而题目则说平均为1亿,故此题答案为FALSE。

Question 21

答案: G

关键词:biologists, adult fish

定位原文: 第5段第2句:“There are biologists throughout the state…”

解题思路: 此题定位较易,但解题较难。由定位句可知生物学家从成年鱼类开始产卵时对其进行监控,但是并未直接指出其目的,考生只能通过理解该段上下文分析得出:生物学家的监控是“当季捕捞盈余为本”管理方法的一部分,而这项管理带来了鱼量的增加,从而得出生物学家的目的是监控鱼是否充足(abundance)。通过扫描选项关键词,只有G选项关键词能与之对应:to ensure that fish numbers are sufficient(对应abundance)to permit fishing。故正确答案为G

Question 22

答案:E

关键词:authority

定位原文: 第5段倒数第2句: “..., but on any given day, one or more field biologists…”

解题思路: 此题定位较难,考生应使用排除法,最后解决这道题定位句指出生物学家可以制止(halt)捕鱼行为。通过扫描选项关键同,只有E选项关键词能与之对应:to stop(对应halt)people fishing for sport。故正确答案为E

Question 23

答案: B

关键词:allowed

定位原文: 第5段末句: “It is this management mech?anism that…”

解题思路: 此题按照顺序原则可迅速定位,定位句指出该项管理手段使得阿拉斯加的大马哈鱼渔业开始繁荣(prosper)。通过扫描选项关键词,只有B选项关键词能与之对应:to be successful(对应prosper)。故正确答案为B。

Question 24

答案:A

关键词:MSC, established

定位原文: 第6段第2句: “The Council, which was found in 1996, certifies…”

解题思路: 要定位此题,必须先辨识出established在文中的同义转述was found,定位句指出MSC会认证满足高环保标准的渔场;通过扫描选项关键词,只有A选项关键词能与之对应:to recognize(对应certifies)fisheries that care for the environment (对应 meet high environmental standards)。故正确答案为A

Question 25

答案:K

关键词:the state

定位原文: 第8段末句: “However, the state reacted quickly…”

解题思路: 通过题干主语可快速定位,通过扫描定位句和剩余选项可以很快看出K选项“to close down all fisheries”与原文几乎完全一致。故正确答案为K

Question 26

答案:F

关键词:seven Alaska salmon

定位原文: 第9段第2句: “Seven companies producing Alaska salmon were…”

解题思路: 此题定位句指出题目中提到的7家公司被授权可以在自己的产品上使用MSC的标志。通过扫描选项关键词及剩余选项,发现F选项“to label(对应 display)their products using the MSC logo” 几乎与原文一致。故正确答案为F

Test 4 Passage 3

Question 27

答案: D

关键词:sleeping in the mountains

定位原文: 对应第1段前2句: “In general, it is plausible to…”

解题思路: 第1段前2句先指出人类似乎(plausible意为“貌似真实的”)更喜欢安静, 然后利用yet转折引出在山区睡觉会因为太安静而难以入睡。此题使用排除法能很快解题:A中的“喜欢噪音不喜欢宁静”文章并未提及;B中的“瞬间产生的奇怪声音”在定位句中也末提及;C中的“人喜欢睡觉时听噪音”也未提及;只有D 选项符合文意,其中adapted to a higher noise level对应文中的adjust(调节),因为城市噪音较大,所以在山里睡觉时需要调节适应。正确答案:D。

Question 28

答案:C

关键词:Glass and Singer

定位原文: 对应第1段最后2句: “The noise was quite disruptive…Their physiological arousal…”

解题思路: 这两句说的是:起初,噪音让人心烦意乱。但在大约四分钟后,被研究者就能像那些未处于噪音之中的对照实验组一样很好地工作。他们的生理反应也迅速的消退到与对照实验组相当的水平。正确答案:C。

Question 29

答案: A

关键词:high noise levels,not... interfere with

定位原文: 第2段首句: “But there are limits to adaptation…” 但如果要求试验对象同时专注几项任务时,其对噪音的适应能力就会到达极限,噪音也会变得更加让人心烦意乱。

解题思路: 从第2句开始就开始举例(For example),因此例子之前的引导句就是解题句。噪音干扰同时专注多项任务的人,则A选项就可能不被干扰,为正确答案,其他三个选项都是原文出现的内容,都是包含多项任务的选项。正确答案:A。

Question 30

答案: B

关键词:Glass and Singer, circumstances

定位原文: 第3段第2句:“We are much more able to…”

解题思路: 空格所填词为noise的修饰词,于是答案只限于BCDGJ。由题目所在句句意分析,可得出空格所填词应与intense构成反义关系。经过筛选可以确定答案为B选项:unexpected。另外,通过比较题目和文中定位处的对应关系,可得出题中in which____occurs对应文中with unexpected intrusions,也能选出正确答案B

Question 31

答案:D

关键词:all

定位原文: 第3段第4句: “For some subjects, the bursts were…”

解题思路: 按照顺序原则在第30题后扫描定位词可以迅速定位。空格所填词为noise的修饰词,答案也只可能为BCDGJ,在这五个选项中只有D选项与原文the same amount一致,故正确答案为D。

Question 32

答案:F

关键词:predictable group, unpredictable group

定位原文: 第3段倒数第3句: “Subjects reported finding the predictable and…”

解题思路: 此题定位同样可按照顺序原则。该题空格前后为两类人,因此中间应填同为比较关系,故答案只能为EFHI。通过扫描文中对应点:可发现两种人 performed at about the same level, 因此只能选择F选项

Question 33

答案:I

关键词:written material

定位原文: 第3段最后一句: “As shown in Table 1…”

解题思路: 通过分析空格前后内容,可知空格内须填写处在可预测性噪音和非可预测性噪音中的两类人的比较关系,答案只能为EFHI。可以在文中对应点后扫描出相关比较关系:produced more errors,选项中只有I中的关键词made more mistakes与之相符, 故答案为I

Question 34

答案: B

关键词:fatigue

定位原文: 第4段: “Apparently, unpredictable noise produces…”

解题思路: 此题定位词在文中原词出现,且题目空格所填词为造成疲劳(fatigue)的噪音类别,显然对应原文中的unpredictable noise。正确答案为B。

Question 35

答案: A

关键词:difficult at first

定位原文: 第1段倒数第2句: “The noise was quite disruptive at first…” 起初,噪音让人心烦意乱。

解题思路: 扫描到定位词disruptive at first,与第35题相符。再往上回溯第1段第4句,提到是发现是 “ Glass and Singer (1972) exposed people to…” 故答案为A

Question 36

答案: D

关键词:long-term exposure, changes

定位原文: 末段倒数第2句: “A follow-up study showed that… in the quiet schools (Cohen et al, 1981)” 另外一项跟踪研究表明,和那些一直在安静学校上学的孩子相比,即使喧闹学校的孩子们搬到安静一些的学校待上一年以后,他们还是难以集中注意力。

解题思路: 36题中关键词在D选项研究者的研究结果中全部出现,且含义一致.故答案为D

Question 37

答案:A

关键词:make it stop

定位原文: 第5段第2句、第3句: “If the individual knows that… This is true even…the noise off (Glass and Singer, 1972)”

解题思路: 定位处关键词control与第35题中make it stop对应,故答案为A

Question 38

答案:E

关键词:high-pitched, low-pitched

定位原文: 无

解题思路: 文中对应处均未提及噪音分贝高低问题,故此题通过排除法只能选择E。

Question 39

答案:B

关键词:three tasks

定位原文: 定位于第2段第2句: “For example, high noise levels interfered with the performance of subjects who were required to monitor three dials at a time... (Broadbent, 1957)” 例如,如果每个试验对象需要同时监视三个刻度盘,那么高分贝噪音就会严重干扰他们完成工作

解题思路: 定位处monitor three dials at a time 与第39题中perform three tasks at the same time相对应。故答案为B。

Question 40

答案:C

关键词:repeat numbers, another task

定位原文: 定位于第二段末句: “... but it did interfere with the subject's ability to repeat numbers while tracking (Finkelman and Glass, 1970).” 但如果让实验对象在追踪的同时重复数字,那么噪音对他们的影响就很大了。

解题思路: 定位处tracking对应第40题中carrying out another task。故答案为C。

剑桥雅思阅读7(test4)真题精讲

篇5:剑桥雅思阅读真题

Otter

A

Otters have long, thin bodies and short legs – ideal for pushing through dense undergrowth or hunting in tunnels. An adult male may be up to 4 feet long and 30lbs. Females are smaller typically. The Eurasian otter’s nose is about the smallest among the otter species and has a characteristic shape described as a shallow ‘W’. An otter’s tail (or rudder, or stern) is stout at the base and tapers towards the tip where it flattens. This forms part of the propulsion unit when swimming fast underwater. Otter fur consists of two types of hair: stout guard hairs which form a waterproof outer covering, and under-fur which is dense and fine, equivalent to an otter’s thermal underwear. The fur must be kept in good condition by grooming. Seawater reduces the waterproofing and insulating qualities of otter fur when saltwater in the fur. This is why freshwater pools are important to otters living on the coast. After swimming, they wash the salts off in pools and the squirm on the ground to rub dry against vegetation.

B

The scent is used for hunting on land, for communication and for detecting danger. Otterine sense of smell is likely to be similar in sensitivity to dogs. Otters have small eyes and are probably short-sighted on land. But they do have the ability to modify the shape of the lens in the eye to make it more spherical, and hence overcome the refraction of water. In clear water and good light, otters can hunt fish by sight. The otter’s eyes and nostrils are placed high on its head so that it can see and breathe even when the rest of the body is submerged. Underwater, the cotter holds its legs against the body, except for steering, and the hind end of the body is flexed in a series of vertical undulations. River otters have webbing which extends for much of the length of each digit, though not to the very end. Giant otters and sea otters have even more prominent webs, while the Asian short-clawed otter has no webbing – they hunt for shrimps in ditches and paddy fields so they don’t need the swimming speed. Otter’s ears are tiny for streamlining, but they still have very sensitive hearing and are protected by valves which close them against water pressure.

C

A number of constraints and preferences limit suitable habitats of otters. Water is a must and the rivers must be large enough to support a healthy population of fish. Being such shy and wary creatures, they will prefer territories where man’s activities do not impinge greatly. Of course, there must also be no other otter already in residence – this has only become significant again recently as populations start to recover. Coastal otters have a much more abundant food supply and range for males and females may be just a few kilometres of coastline. Because male range overlaps with two or three females – not bad! Otters will eat anything that they can get hold of – there are records of sparrows and snakes and slugs being gobbled. Apart from fish, the most common prey are crayfish, crabs and water birds. Small mammals are occasionally taken, most commonly rabbits but sometimes even moles.

D

Eurasian otters will breed any time where food is readily available. In places where the condition is more severe, Sweden for example where the lakes are frozen for much of winter, cubs are born in spring. This ensures that they are well grown before severe weather returns. In the Shetlands, cubs are born in summer when fish is more abundant. Though otters can breed every year, some do not. Again, this depends on food availability. Other factors such as food range and quality of the female may have an effect. Gestation for Eurasian otter is 63 days, with the exception of Lutra canadensis whose embryos may undergo delayed implantation. Otters normally give birth in more secure dens to avoid disturbances. Nests are lined with bedding to keep the cub’s warm mummy is away feeding.

E

Otters normally give birth in more secure dens to avoid disturbances. Nests are lined with bedding (reeds, waterside plants, grass) to keep the cub’s warm while is away feeding. Litter Size varies between 1 and 5. For some unknown reason, coastal otters tend to produce smaller litters. At five weeks they open their eyes – a tiny cub of 700g. At seven weeks they’re weaned onto solid food. At ten weeks they leave the nest, blinking into daylight for the first time. After three months they finally meet the water and learn to swim. After eight months they are hunting, though the mother still provides a lot of food herself. Finally, after nine months she can chase them all away with a clear conscience, and relax – until the next fella shows up.

F

The plight of the British otter was recognised in the early 60s, but it wasn’t until the late 70s that the chief cause was discovered. Pesticides, such as dieldrin and aldrin, were first used in1955 in agriculture and other industries – these chemicals are very persistent and had already been recognised as the cause of huge declines in the population of peregrine falcons, sparrow hawks and other predators. The pesticides entered the river systems and the food chain – micro-organisms, fish and finally otters, with every step increasing the concentration of the chemicals. From 1962 the chemicals were phased out, but while some species recovered quickly, otter numbers did not – and continued to fall into the 80s. This was probably due mainly to habitat destruction and road deaths. Acting on populations fragmented by the sudden decimation in the 50s and 60s, the loss of just a handful of otters in one area can make an entire population unviable and spell the end.

G

Otter numbers are recovering all around Britain – populations are growing again in the few areas where they had remained and have expanded from those areas into the rest of the country. This is almost entirely due to legislation, conservation efforts, slowing down and reversing the destruction of suitable otter habitat and reintroductions from captive breeding programs. Releasing captive-bred otters is seen by many as a last resort. The argument runs that where there is no suitable habitat for them they will not survive after release and where there is suitable habitat, natural populations should be able to expand into the area. However, reintroducing animals into a fragmented and fragile population may add just enough impetus for it to stabilise and expand, rather than die out. This is what the Otter Trust accomplished in Norfolk, where the otter population may have been as low as twenty animals at the beginning of the 1980s. The Otter Trust has now finished its captive breeding program entirely, great news because it means it is no longer needed.

Questions 1-9

The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-GWhich paragraph contains the following information?Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

1 A description of how otters regulate vision underwater

2 The fit-for-purpose characteristics of otter’s body shape

3 A reference to an underdeveloped sense

4 An explanation of why agriculture failed in otter conservation efforts

5 A description of some of the otter’s social characteristics

6 A description of how baby otters grow

7 The conflicting opinions on how to preserve

8 A reference to the legislative act

9 An explanation of how otters compensate for heat loss

Questions 10-13

Answer the questions below.Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBERfrom the passage for each answer

10 What affects the outer fur of otters?

11 What skill is not necessary for Asian short-clawed otters?

12 Which type of otters has the shortest range?

13 Which type of animals do otters hunt occasionally?

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