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高考英语阅读理解强化训练
Day 57
Passage 1
Senses
That Work Together
When we think about how our
senses work, we usually imagine them operating
separately:
you sniff a
flower, and the smell is delivered uninterrupted
from nose to
brain.
However,
it's
more
complex
than
that.
Most
evidence
for
cross’modal
perception(
视觉
)
comes from studies into sound and
vision(
视觉
). But research
that
shows other senses crossing over
is coming out all the time, and it seems that even
sound and smell sometimes form an
unlikely pairing.
When New York researchers,
Danial Wesson and Donald Wilson, tried to find out
the truth about a
to deal
with this fact. Originally, they only intended to
measure how olfactory tubercle
cells in
mice responded to smell. But during testing,
Wesson noticed that every time he
put
his
coffee
cup
down,
the
mouse
cells
jumped
in
activity.
In
fact,
the
olfactory
tubercle is
well’placed to receive both smell and sound
information from the outside
world.
Later they found that among separate
cells, most responded to a smell but a
significant number were also active
when a sound was made. Some cells even behaved
differently when smell and sound were
presented together, by increasing or decreasing
their activity.
Of
course,
mice
aren't
people,
so
research
team
has
been
carrying
out
further
experiments. They
pulled together a group of people and gave them
various drinks to
smell. Participants
were asked to sniff the drinks, and then match
them to appropriate
musical
instruments
and
produce
the
notes
at
different
levels.
The
results
were
interesting: piano was regularly paired
with fruity fragrances; strong smells sounded
like the instruments that are made of
metal.
Further
research
found
that
listening
to
different
sounds
can
change
your
perceptions. Studying taste this time,
the team ordered some special
toffee(
太妃糖
) and
put
together
corresponding
to
bitterness
and
sweetness.
Participants
tasted similar pieces of toffee while
listening to each soundscape, and found the toffee
1
more bitter or
sweeter, depending on which soundtrack they were
listening to.
Studies like this are helping
scientists correctly describe our understanding of
the
senses, and how the brain combines
them with its advantage. The consequences are
worth
considering.
Could
we
see
musicians
work
together
with
chefs
to
produce
sound’improved food and drink? Will you
be ordering a coffee with a soundtrack to
bring out your favourite smell? Come to
think of it,that could be one thing you hope
coffee shop chains don't get round
to.
1. What does the
underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer
to?________
A. A lot of
research focuses on the senses.
B. Sound and Vision are relatively very
easy to study.
C. There can
be a link between sound and smell.
D. Evidence about the way senses work
is hard to obtain.
2. In
Wesson and Wilson's research, ________
.
A. the mice were affected
more significantly by sound
B. the result confirmed with the
researchers had suspected
C.
the mice seemed to be afraid of certain sounds or
smells
D. the connection
between sound and smell was found by
chance
3. What is the main
idea of Paragraph 3?________
A. Participants took an active part in
the experiments.
B. The
purpose of the further experiments was totally
different.
C. The result
failed to support what was found in previous
experiments.
D. Experiments
showed that links between sound and smell were
consistent.
4. How does the
author feel about the effect of the
research?________
A. She is
excited about the creative chances.
B. She is surprised at the recent
developments.
C. She is
convinced that the findings will be used
soon.
D. She is worried
about how the knowledge can be applied.
Passage 2
Are you
concerned about that tree in the front yard? Have
tree branches been falling
2
off that evergreen tree
over the garage? Or maybe you just need tree
removal or some
regular tree pruning to
let that rare Portland sunshine shine
in?
Urban Forest Pro in Portland is a
full’service tree care company providing the
Portland area with tree services. If
you have a problem, any problem, that involves
trees,
our tree service and removal
experts can help you solve it. Below are our most
popular
tree services.
Tree
Pruning
—Our
arborists(
树艺师
)
are
trained
to
recognize
the
unique
needs of your trees,
taking into account factors such as the tree's
age, health & prior
pruning. Doing tree
pruning, we selectively remove certain parts of a
tree according to
the goals of our
customers such as roof protection, increased
sunlight, view clearance,
and privacy
protection. Our arborists can in most cases come
up with a pruning method
that is both
beneficial for the tree's health and longevity and
meets the needs of our
customers.
Tree Removal
—Our
arborists use the latest techniques and skills to
assure
the safety of your home, roof,
and nearby structures to make sure your tree
removal is
done successfully. All tree
debris(
残骸
) is roped down and
kept under our control at all
times to
ensure your tree removal is safe.
Tree
Assessment
—A
tree
assessment
provides
customers,
for
a
small
fee,
with a
verbal explanation of the condition of their
trees. In addition, the arborist may
describe any DIY options you might have
to correct or improve the problem. It is also
of value for customers who cannot
afford to have tree services done at this time but
only want to make a budget
now.
Tree Planting
—We have a
large selection of affordable high quality trees
that
are handpicked by our arborists,
or our customers can also purchase their own trees
and
have them planted under the best
conditions by a knowledgeable professional from
our
company.
Our
arborists
can
also
use
their
extensive
knowledge
of
trees
to
make
recommendations as to
which trees would work best in your
yard.
For more information, please check our
blog!
3
1. Urban Forest Pro in Portland
________ .
A. provides free
training on tree protection
B. takes care of trees in public
areas
C. offers tree
services to customers
D.
focuses on tree sales
2.
What will an arborist do in the process of tree
pruning?________
A. Select
the healthiest trees.
B.
Move the tree to a new place.
C. Cut off unnecessary
branches.
D. Clear leaves
away from the roof.
3.
Customers who are short of money may receive the
service of ________ .
A.
Tree Pruning
C. Tree
Planting
Passage
3
The coyote
（丛林狼）
, that clever animal of
wide-open spaces, has come to the
nation's
capital.
In
fact,
coyotes
have
spread
to
every
corner
of
the
United
States,
changing their
behaviors to fit new environments and causing
researchers to deal with
a troublesome
new kind of creature: the city coyote.
The coyote originally lived
in the middle of the continent. One of its most
obvious
B. Tree Removal
D. Tree Assessment
characters is its smartness, which has
made the animal a notorious
（臭名昭著的）
pest.
Hunters trapped, shot and poisoned more than a
million coyotes in the 1900s. It's
still one of America's most hunted
animals. Yet the coyote has survived. How has the
coyote shown this extraordinary
ability? “I guess if you wanted to use one word,
it'd be
‘plasticity ’,” says Eric Gese,
an expert at Utah State University. Coyotes can
live alone,
in pairs, or in large packs
like wolves; hunt at night or during the day;
occupy a small
region or an area up to
40 square miles; and live on all sorts of food,
from lizards and
shoes, to ants and
melons.
Unbelievably people helped coyotes
increase when they killed most of the wolves
4
in the United States. The
spreading of coyotes into city areas, though, is
recent. They
travel at night, crossing
sidewalks and bridges, running along roads and
ducking into
culverts
（钻入涵洞）
and
underpasses. No one knows why coyotes are moving
into
cities, but experts explain that
cleverer, more human-tolerant
（不怕人的）
coyotes
are teaching urban survival skills to
new generations.
Occasionally,
coyotes
might
attack
human
beings.
There
have
been
about
160
attacks
on people in recent years. Therefore, people have
been consistently told not to
feed
coyotes or leave pet food unsecured. That, plus a
large trapping program in the
neighborhood, has cut down on the
coyote population.
1. The underlined word “plasticity” in
Paragraph 2 refers to ______.
A. the ability to fit the
environment
C.
hunting ability
B. notorious
smartness
D. being human-
tolerant
2. The
aim of the passage is to ______.
A. tell people how to fight
against coyotes
B. tell us why the coyote is the most
hunted animal
C.
supply the reason why the coyote is a kind of
notorious pest
D. explain how the coyote has spread to
and survived in cities
3. According to the passage, coyotes
______.
A.
originally lived in the west of the
continent
B.
sleep during the day but look for food at
night
C. are
teaching survival skills to their younger
generations
D.
suffered a population decrease because people
killed wolves
4.
According to the passage, to cut down on the
coyote population, people are advised
to______.
A. leave pet food secured
B. keep coyotes in small
regions
D. avoid using
trapping programs
C. force coyotes to live
alone
Passage 4
Hearing
Feelings behind Words
5
Most of us are taught to
pay attention to what is said—the words. Words do
provide
us with some information, but
meanings come from so many other sources. So it
would
be difficult for us to have an
effective understanding if we rely too heavily on
words
alone. Words are used to describe
only a small part of the many ideas we associate
with
any given message. Sometimes we
can gain insight into some of those associations
if
we listen for more than words. We
don’t always say what we mean or mean what we
say. Sometimes our words don’t mean
anything except “I’m letting off some steam. I
don’t really want you to pay close
attention to what I’m saying. Just pay attention
to
what
I’m
feeling.
”
Mostly
we
mean
several
things
at
once. A
person
wanting
to
purchase a house says to the current
owner, “This step has to be fixed before I’ll buy.
”
The owner says, “It’s been like that
for years. ” Actually, the step hasn’t been like
that
for years, but the unspoken
message is :”I don’t want to fix it. We put up
with it. Why
can’t you?” The more
expansive meaning a message can be obtained by
examining who
said it, when it
occurred, the related conditions or situation, and
how it was said.
When a
message occurs can also disclose associated
meaning. Let us assume two
couples do
exactly the same amount of kissing and arguing.
But one couple always
kisses after an
argument and the other couple always argues after
a kiss. The ordering
of the behaviors
may mean much more than the frequency of the
behavior. How about
a
friend’s
unusually
quiet
behavior?
It
may
only
be
understood
by
nothing
what
happened previously and the situations
that required an abnormal amount of confidence.
Some responses may be directly linked
to a developing pattern of responses and seem
illogic.
For
example,
a
person
who
says
“No!”
to
a
serials
of
charges
like
“You’re
stupid,” “You’re
lazy,” and “You’re dishonest,” may also say “No!”
and try to justify
his or her response
if the next statement is “And you’re good looking.
”
We would do well to listen
for how messages are presented. The words, “It
sure
has
been
nice
to
have
you
over,”
can
be
said
with
emphasis
and
excitement
or
ritualistically. The phrase can be said
once or repeated several times. And the meanings
we associate with the phrase will
change accordingly. Sometimes if we say something
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