2020届高考英语二轮培优新专题限时检测（二十二）　阅读理解C篇高分练（三）

2020届高考英语二轮培优新专题限时检测（二十二）　阅读理解C篇高分练（三）

专题限时检测(二十二)　阅读理解C篇高分练(三)‎ ‎(共3篇，限时24分钟)‎ A ‎(2019·南通七市模拟)Australian magpies can understand what other birds are saying to each other, a new study has found.‎ The research, published in the journal Animal Behaviour, says the magpie has learned the meanings of different noisy miner calls and essentially eavesdrops (偷听) to find out which predators (食肉动物) are near.‎ Noisy miners — a small, native honeyeater — have different warning calls for groundbased and aerial (飞行的) predators. By playing both kinds of recording to a series of wild magpies, researchers observed the magpies raising their beaks (喙) to the sky, or dropping their heads to the ground.‎ Researchers attracted the magpies with cheese, then played the noisy miner calls, videotaping the results.‎ As a control, they also rolled a large orange ball towards the magpies to see how they ordinarily tilted (倾斜) their beaks to ground threats, and threw the ball to see how they reacted to aerial threats.‎ The researchers recorded an average maximum beak angle of 29 degrees for the thrown ball, and an average maximum of nine degrees when it was rolled.‎ The miners' aerial warning caused an average maximum beak angle of 31 degrees, and the ground warning caused an average maximum of 24.‎ One of the study's authors, Dominique Potvin, said the magpies showed an astonishing level of insight.‎ Magpies and miners broadly face the same types of predators and the two frequently live in the same ecosystem.‎ Potvin said this had encouraged the magpies' learned behaviour.‎ ‎“Magpies are generally found on the ground and noisy miners are generally found up in trees. It pays for the magpie to pay attention to somebody who has a better view of predators than they do.”‎ She said it was unclear whether other birds could do the same, but it was highly likely other magpies around Australia already did.‎ ‎“Magpies are a pretty smart group. We're not sure if they're learning this from other magpies or if they're figuring it out on their own, but the ability is there.”‎ As part of the experiment, researchers also played a third call: a common, nonwarning call from a crimson rosella. They found the magpies did not respond.‎ Potvin said that we had been actively exploring animal cognition (认知) research.“It's a good piece of the puzzle，” Potvin said.“Looking at the social relationships between species that live in communities.”‎ 语篇解读：一项研究发现，澳大利亚喜鹊能理解其他鸟类的交谈。而关于动物的认知能力还有待于人类进一步的探索。‎ ‎1．What have the researchers found about Australian magpies?‎ ‎ A．They can understand other bird calls. ‎ ‎ B．They can communicate with noisy miners. ‎ ‎ C．They have a special preference for cheeses. ‎ ‎ D．They have the ability to warn the predators.‎ ‎ 解析：选A　细节理解题。根据第二段中的“the magpie has learned the meanings of different noisy minercalls”可知，喜鹊能理解其他鸟类的叫声。‎ ‎2．How did the researchers get their findings?‎ ‎ A．By calculating the beak angles of aerial and ground predators. ‎ ‎ B．By comparing the magpie and the miner responses to threats. ‎ ‎ C．By monitoring the magpie responses to the miner warning calls. ‎ ‎ D．By recording the magpie louder scream for other birds' attention. ‎ ‎ 解析：选C　细节理解题。第四至七段中，研究人员通过定量研究，先研究喜鹊平时的喙是怎么倾斜的，再与掘穴鸟有叫声时候的反应进行监控、对比，获得了研究结果。‎ ‎3．The magpies' cognition can help them ________. ‎ ‎ A．have a better view of the predators than the miners ‎ B．better protect themselves from the potential threats ‎ C．cooperate with other birds to drive away the predators ‎ D．live in harmony with other birds in the same ecosystem ‎ 解析：选B　细节理解题。根据倒数第五段第二句“It pays for the magpie to pay attention to somebody who has a better view of predators than they do.”可知，喜鹊关注能够更好地观察捕食者的掘穴鸟有利于保护自身的安全。所以喜鹊的认知能力能更好地保护自己免受潜在威胁。‎ ‎4．We can learn from the passage that ________. ‎ ‎ A．the magpies are smart learners of other birds' behaviour ‎ B．it's likely that other birds have developed the same ability ‎ C．the findings have clarified the relationships between species ‎ D．a lot more remains to be explored about animal cognition ‎ 解析：选D　推理判断题。 根据最后一段的内容，尤其是第一句“we had been actively exploring animal cognition (认知) research.‘It's a good piece of the puzzle’”可知人类一直都在探索动物的认知能力，这是一个很好的未知。由此可见关于动物的认知能力至今还是一个谜，仍然需要进一步探索。‎ B ‎(2019·苏、锡、常、镇模拟)Alarming headlines suggest one in four teenage girls in the UK are selfharming, motivated by sex discrimination and pressures to look good in a selfie (自拍) society. These stories come from a report by UK charity The Children's Society, based on an ongoing survey of 11,000 children aged 14. Among the girls, 22 per cent said they had selfharmed while boys 9 per cent.‎ But while the term selfharm improves images of teenagers cutting themselves, that may, thankfully, be only the most extreme end of a broader range. In this survey, participants were merely asked if they had “hurt themselves on purpose in any way”．‎ Some could have answered yes for things like punching (击拳) a wall in dissatisfaction or deliberately getting fallingdown drunk. Others could have thought the question included mental hurt. Such selfdestructive behaviour would naturally be of concern to parents, but wouldn't be that unusual for teenagers. Max Davie, a health promotion officer, does believe that selfharm among teens is somewhat on the rise — but thinks the question in this survey was not specific enough to reveal its real universality.‎ The latest headlines join an ongoing account about a mental health crisis in today's youth. Some blame cutbacks in social services, while others point to a loosening of sexual standards putting teens at risk. For those cautious of new technologies, it is social media or the latest popular computer games.‎ But such reports also deserve some skepticism. Claims of high rates of depression are usually based on surveys with very loose, nonmedical criteria. Thankfully, clinical depression is still rare in this age group.‎ In fact, a different and regularly repeated survey has found no change in 11to15yearolds' happiness with life as a whole between 1995 and 2016. Nor did their satisfaction with their appearance change, which makes it strange to blame the selfie culture for the apparent selfharm increase. This survey, called Understanding Society, even found improvement in happiness with family and schoolwork over that period. These more optimistic findings were also in the latest Children's Society report but were buried at the bottom of their press release.‎ Davie thinks the rise in selfharm may not be due to a rise in unhappiness, but simply that this age group now sees selfharm as a more culturally acceptable way to express extreme sufferings.“It may be that previously people didn't know that this was something you could do. If people are talking about something and normalizing it, it's probably more likely that their peers will do it.”‎ If that is the case, it is all the more reason not to make selfharm seem more common than it really is.‎ 语篇解读：本文主要谈论了青少年自残这种社会现象。‎ ‎5．In response to the survey reported by The Children's Society, the author believes ________.‎ ‎ A．the survey is unscientific as it asked very specific questions ‎ B．the selfdestructive behavior for teens is worrying to parents ‎ C．the number of selfharming teens is alarming because of selfies ‎ D．the images of teens' selfharm are becoming more specific ‎ 解析：选B　细节理解题。根据第三段第二句“Such selfdestructive behaviour would naturally be of concern to parents, but wouldn't be that unusual for teenagers.”可知，这种自我毁灭性的行为自然会引起父母的关注，但对于青少年来说也不算罕见。‎ ‎6．What does Max Davie think of selfharm among teenagers?‎ ‎ A．The situation is too worrying.‎ ‎ B．The rise is somewhat beneficial.‎ ‎ C．The problem is actually widespread.‎ ‎ D．The phenomenon is not so universal.‎ ‎ 解析：选D　细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句“Max Davie, a health promotion officer, does believe that selfharm among teens is somewhat on the rise — but thinks the question in this survey was not specific enough to reveal its real universality.”可知麦克斯·戴维(Max Davie)确实认为青少年的自我伤害有所上升，但认为本次调查中的问题不够具体，无法揭示其真正的普遍性。‎ ‎7．What can we know from the survey called Understanding Society?‎ ‎ A．Teenagers in the past lived a happier life.‎ ‎ B．Selfie culture is responsible for the increase of selfharm.‎ ‎ C．There is no connection between selfharm and selfie.‎ ‎ D．With selfie teenagers are more satisfied with their appearance.‎ ‎ 解析：选C　细节理解题。根据第六段的内容，特别是第二句“Nor did their satisfaction with their appearance change, which makes it strange to blame the selfie culture for the apparent selfharm increase.”可知，从1995到2016，青少年的幸福感整体并没有太大变化，他们对自己外貌的满意度也没有发生变化，所以说把自残这一现象的增长归因到自拍文化是很奇怪的。‎ ‎8．The last two paragraphs mainly imply that ________.‎ ‎ A．selfharm results from too much pressure ‎ B．selfharm is the result of social development ‎ C．teens need correct guidance from the outside ‎ D．teens should avoid following peers' examples ‎ 解析：选C　推理判断题。根据最后两段的内容，尤其是倒数第二段第一句“Davie thinks the rise in selfharm may not be due to a rise in unhappiness, but simply that this age group now sees selfharm as a more culturally acceptable way to express extreme sufferings.”‎ 可知戴维认为，自残情绪的上升可能不是因为不快乐情绪的上升，而是因为这个年龄段的人现在把自残看作是一种在文化上可以接受的表达极度痛苦的方式。而青少年的这种理解是不正确的，所以需要外界正确的引导。‎ C ‎(2019·南京模拟)Babies have an astonishing talent that adults entirely lose. By the age of one, they can recognise the significant noises around them and group them into a language. When we have lost this capacity as adults, it becomes enormously difficult to distinguish between sounds that are glaringly different to a native speaker. It all sounds Greek to us. This is because the range of possible sounds that humans use to convey meaning may be as high as 2,000, but few languages use more than 100 and even then the significant noises — the phonemes (音素) of a language — each cover a range of sounds and so vague distinctions which would change the meaning of a word in other languages.‎ But where do these phonemes come from and why do they shift over time? New research suggests that the apparently arbitrary distribution of some sounds around the world may be partially explained by diet. This is unexpected. We'd rather think of language as the product of our thought, rather than of the arrangement of our teeth. In reality, though, any given language must be both.‎ Hunter gatherer languages very seldom use the sounds known as labiodentals (唇齿音) — those such as “f” and “v” that are made by touching the lower lip with the upper teeth. Only two of the hundreds of Australian aboriginal languages use them, for example. But in cultures that have discovered farming, these consonants (辅音) are much more common. The argument goes that farmers eat more cooked food and more dairy than hunter gatherers. Either way, they need to chew mush less, and to bite less with their front teeth. So farmers grew up with smaller lower jaws and more of an overbite than their ancestors who had to bite through harder foods. It became easier for them to make the labiodental consonants instead of purely labial (唇音) ones: one example is that “f” came to take the place of “p”. Romans said“pater”but English speakers(unless they're ReesMoggs) say “father”．‎ Beyond these particular changes, the story highlights the way in which everything distinctively human is both material and spiritual: speech must combine sound and meaning, and the meaning can't exist or be transmitted without a real object. But neither can it be reduced to the purely physical, as our inability to understand or even to recognise foreign languages makes clear. The food we eat shapes our jaws, and our jaws in turn shape the sounds of our language. The ease with which we eat probably shapes our thought too, as anyone who has suffered toothache could testify. What we eat may have shaped the sounds of our language, but how we eat changes how we feel and what we use language to express. A family meal is very different from a sandwich at the office desk, even if the calorie is the same. Food has purposes and meanings far beyond keeping us alive and pleasing the palate (味觉)．‎ 语篇解读：本文阐述了日常饮食和思维、语言发展之间的关系。‎ ‎9．Compared with adults, babies could more easily ________. ‎ ‎ A．create significant noises ‎ B．classify the forms of noises ‎ C．understand the Greek language ‎ D．distinguish meaningful sounds ‎ 解析：选D　推理判断题。根据第一段的内容，特别是前两句可知，婴儿有着成年人完全失去了的惊人的天赋，到了一岁的时候，他们就可以识别周围的明显噪声，并把它们分成一种语言。所以说与成人相比，婴儿更容易辨别有意义的声音。‎ ‎10．According to the passage, which of the following factors help shape language?‎ ‎ A．Lips and teeth.　　　　 B．Jobs and habits. ‎ ‎ C．Age and regions. D．Food and thinking. ‎ ‎ 解析：选D　推理判断题。根据第二段最后两句“We'd rather think of language as the product of our thought, rather than of the arrangement of our teeth. In reality, though, any given language must be both.”可知，我们宁愿把语言看作是我们思想的产物，而不是我们牙齿的排列。然而，实际上，任何给定的语言都必须是两者。由此推断食物和思维有助于塑造语言。‎ ‎11．The reason for farmers' making sounds of “f” and “v” is ________. ‎ ‎ A．enjoying more cooked foods ‎ B．biting more with front teeth ‎ C．constantly chewing harder foods ‎ D．growing up with lager lower jaws ‎ 解析：选A　细节理解题。根据第三段中的“But in cultures that have discovered ... farmers eat more cooked food and more dairy than hunter gatherers.”可知在发现了农业的文化中，“f”和“v”这些辅音更为常见，这是因为农民比狩猎采集者吃更多的熟食和奶制品。‎ ‎12．By writing this passage, the author intends to reveal ________. ‎ ‎ A．jaws help shape our thought B．food determines our thought ‎ C．diet has some influence on language ‎ D．language consists of sound and meaning ‎ 解析：选C　写作意图题。阅读全文可知，文章主要介绍了日常饮食、思维和语言发展之间的关系。因此作者写这篇文章的目的是为了揭示饮食对语言的影响。‎