2020届高考英语二轮培优新专题限时检测（二十一）　阅读理解C篇高分练（二）

2020届高考英语二轮培优新专题限时检测（二十一）　阅读理解C篇高分练（二）

专题限时检测(二十一)　阅读理解C篇高分练(二)‎ ‎(共3篇，限时24分钟)‎ A ‎(2019·苏州模拟)One sunny afternoon in the autumn of the year ‎1861 a soldier lay in a clump of laurel (月桂树) by the side of a road in western Virginia. He lay at full length upon his stomach, his head upon the left forearm.His extended right hand loosely grasped his gun. But for the slight rhythmic movement of his back, he might have been thought to be dead. He was asleep at his post of duty. But if found, he would be dead shortly afterward, death being the just and legal penalty for his crime.‎ The sleeping soldier was a young Virginian named Carter Druse. He was the son of wealthy parents, an only child. His home was but a few miles from where he now lay. One morning he had risen from the breakfast table and said, quietly but gravely, “Father, the Union Army has arrived at Grafton, I am going to join it.”‎ The father lifted his head, looked at the son for a moment in silence, and replied, “Go, Carter, and whatever may occur, do what you consider to be your duty. Virginia, which you betray, must get on without you. Should we both live to the end of the war, we will speak further of the matter. Your mother, as the physician has informed you, is in a most critical condition; at best she cannot be with us longer than a few weeks, but that time is precious. It would be better not to disturb her.”‎ So Carter Druse, bowed to his father and left the home of his childhood. By conscience and courage, he was soon well received by his fellows and his officers; and it was to these qualities and to some knowledge of the country that he owed his selection for his present duty at the extreme post. Nevertheless, he fell asleep, exhausted. What good or bad angel came in a dream to awake him from his state of crime, who shall say? He quietly raised his forehead from his arm and looked between the laurels.‎ His first feeling was a keen artistic delight. On the cliff was a statue of impressive dignity. The figure of the man sat on the horse, straight and soldierly. The face of the rider, turned slightly away; he was looking downward to the bottom of the valley.‎ Broad awake and keenly alive now, Druse cautiously pushed the gun forward through the bushes and covered a vital spot of the horseman's breast. A touch upon the trigger (扳机) and all would have been well with Druse. At that instant the horseman turned and looked in his direction — seemed to look into his very face, into his eyes, into his brave heart.‎ Druse grew pale; he shook in every limb (肢) and turned faint. His hand fell away from his weapon, his head slowly dropped until his face rested on the leaves in which he lay.‎ The duty of the soldier was plain — the man must be shot dead. But no — there is a hope; he may have discovered nothing — perhaps he is but admiring the beauty of the landscape. Druse turned his head and looked through the deeps of air downward. He saw some foolish commander was permitting the soldiers to water their beasts in the open!‎ Druse withdrew his eyes from the valley and fixed them again upon the group of man and horse in the sky, and again it was through the sights of his gun. But this time his aim was at the horse. In his memory rang the words of his father, “Whatever may occur, do what you consider to be your duty.”‎ He fired.‎ Ten minutes had hardly passed when a Federal officer crept cautiously to him.‎ ‎“Did you fire？” the officer whispered.‎ ‎“Yes.”‎ ‎“At what？”‎ ‎“A horse. It was standing on the rock, pretty far out. You see it is no longer there. It went over the cliff.”‎ The man's face was white, but he showed no other sign of emotion. Having answered, he turned away his eyes and said no more. The officer did not understand.‎ ‎“See here, Druse，” he said, after a moment's silence, “it's no use making a mystery. I order you to report. Was there anybody on the horse？”‎ ‎“Yes.”‎ ‎“Well？”‎ ‎“My father.”‎ 语篇解读：本文是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了富家子弟Carter Druse在父亲的同意下参加了联邦军队并忠于职守的故事。‎ ‎1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?‎ ‎ A．The soldier was thought to be dead.‎ ‎ B．The soldier was watching attentively.‎ ‎ C．The soldier was punished for his crime.‎ ‎ D．The soldier was sleeping on his duty.‎ ‎ 解析：选D　细节理解题。根据第一段中的“He was asleep at his post of duty.”可知，这位士兵值勤时睡着了，故选D。‎ ‎2．What can be concluded from Paragraphs 2 and 3?‎ ‎ A．The father discouraged the son.‎ ‎ B．The son decided to fight for his belief.‎ ‎ C．Both the son and the father survived the war.‎ ‎ D．The mother was critical of her son's decision.‎ ‎ 解析：选B　推理判断题。根据第二段中的“Father, the Union Army has arrived at Grafton, I am going to join it.”可知，儿子要参加联邦军队；再结合第三段中的“Go，Carter, and whatever may occur, do what you consider to be your duty.Virginia, which you betray, must get on without you.”‎ 可知，父亲鼓励儿子为信念而战斗。由此可以判断，儿子决定为自己的信念而战斗。故选B。‎ ‎3．Why did Carter Druse fire in the end?‎ ‎ A．He did his duty.‎ ‎ B．He was coldblooded.‎ ‎ C．He recognized the horse rider.‎ ‎ D．He pulled the trigger accidentally.‎ ‎ 解析：选A　细节理解题。根据第九段最后一句“In his memory rang the words of his father, ‘Whatever may occur, do what you consider to be your duty.’”可知，在他犹豫着是不是要扣动扳机时，他想起了父亲的话：无论发生什么事情，都要履行自己的职责。据此可知，儿子最终开枪的原因是完成他的职责。故选A。‎ ‎4．The writer wrote this story mainly to show ________.‎ ‎ A．the greatness of the father ‎ B．the inner thoughts of a soldier ‎ C．the cruelty of the war ‎ D．the bravery of a soldier ‎ 解析：选C　写作意图题。阅读全文可知，文章描写了战争中儿子在杀死父亲的这个过程中的痛苦与挣扎：儿子为尽士兵的职责不得不向父亲开枪，亲手杀死了自己的父亲。由此可知，作者想要通过这个故事告诉读者战争的残酷。故选C。‎ B ‎(2019·徐州、淮安、连云港模拟)When a caterpillar (毛虫) pretends to be a snake to keep off potential predators (捕食者), it should probably expect to be treated like one. This is exactly what happened in Costa Rica earlier this year, when researchers witnessed a hummingbird defending its nest from what it interpreted to be a snake, but was actually a caterpillar, which was feeding on a leaf above the nest.‎ These caterpillars resemble flat dried leaves as adults. They can expand the top of their heads to expose a pair of eyespots that discourage potential predators. When disturbed, they raise their heads up and move from side to side, increasing the snakelike appearance. In particular they resemble green parrot snakes, known to feed on nesting birds.‎ Hummingbirds have a few styles of flying: visiting flowers, feeding on some tiny insects, chasing each other, and mating territory (领土) display flight. Mobbing (围攻) behavior directed against a threat to their nest is much less common but easy to recognize if you know their flight behaviors.‎ The interaction of the caterpillar and the hummingbird took place in Costa Rica. The comings and goings of the female hummingbird around its nest may have disturbed the caterpillar, causing it to expose its eyespots, which in turn caused the hummingbird to defend its nest using what is referred to as “mobbing behavior” by birds.‎ The caterpillar was unable to feed during the 26minutes of nearly continuous attacks. Most of the bird's movements were cautious, but included quick attacks to peck or bite the eyespots.‎ It was difficult for either the bird or the caterpillar to withdraw from the standoff (僵局), with the hummingbird protecting its nest and the caterpillar just trying to finish its leafy meal. Eventually the caterpillar gave up on eating and crawled away while still under attack, and the hummingbird continued normal nesting behavior.‎ When birds exhibit this mobbing behavior targeting snakes' eyes, it often ends with snakes being killed by repeated bites and pecks near the head. As for creatures that imitate snakes to protect themselves from being eaten, can they in turn protect themselves? Because the hummingbird's behavior was typical antisnake behavior, it can be considered replicable (可复制的)．‎ Future studies of this behavior can be conducted using a tiny, caterpillar robot. It should be remotely controlled, light enough to attach to a leaf or stem, and wireless. With such a robot, researchers could vary the eyelike nature and contrast of spots on the head of the robot to test various responses of nestdefending birds. A study like this could definitively test the effects of eyelike versus other imitating patterning for exciting the defensive attacks.‎ And, it turns out that the caterpillar feeds on a leaf on the same plant, as far away from the nest as possible!‎ 语篇解读：本文是一篇说明文。研究人员观察到蜂鸟为了护巢，攻击伪装成蛇的毛虫，伪装的毛虫有膨胀的头和眼点，于是研究人员就想明确地测试类似眼睛和其他模仿模式对激发防御攻击的影响。‎ ‎5. What do we know about caterpillars and hummingbirds from the passage?‎ ‎ A．They belong to the same species.‎ ‎ B．They are natural enemies of each other.‎ ‎ C．They are insects and birds respectively.‎ ‎ D．They compete against each other for territory.‎ ‎ 解析：选C　推理判断题。根据第一段内容可知，hummingbird(蜂鸟)需要保护自己的巢不受蛇的破坏，蛇其实是caterpillar(毛虫)伪装的，毛虫只是为了吃鸟巢上方的叶子，但是为了躲避攻击，假扮成蛇，故选C。毛虫与蜂鸟不是天敌关系，排除B，也不互相争夺领地，排除D。‎ ‎6．Hummingbirds will show their mobbing behavior when visitors ________.‎ ‎ A．are picking flowers ‎ B．are chasing each other ‎ C．interrupt their eating leaves ‎ D．set foot on their territories ‎ 解析：选D　细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Mobbing (围攻) behavior directed against a threat to their nest”及第四段的第二句“The comings and goings of the female hummingbird ... defend ‎ its nest using what is referred to as ‘mobbing behavior’by birds.”可知，蜂鸟的围攻行为是为了保护巢，即它们的领地，故选D。‎ ‎7. Why is neither the hummingbird nor the caterpillar willing to withdraw at first?‎ ‎ A. Because the hummingbird is trying to finish its leafy meal.‎ ‎ B．Because the caterpillar is protecting the hummingbird's nest.‎ ‎ C．Because they behave in this way out of their own interest.‎ ‎ D．Because there is a green parrot snake watching them.‎ ‎ 解析：选C　细节理解题。根据第六段可知，蜂鸟需要保护自己的巢，毛虫为了进食，所以双方僵持不下。它们的表现都是出于保护自身的利益，故选C。‎ ‎8. A tiny caterpillar robot can be used to ________.‎ ‎ A．imitate the antisnake behavior ‎ B．test nestdefending birds' responses ‎ C．take control of the snake's behavior ‎ D．guard against the defensive attacks ‎ 解析：选B　细节理解题。根据倒数第二段第三句“With such a robot, researchers could vary the eyelike nature and contrast of spots on the head of the robot to test various responses of nestdefending birds.”可知，毛虫机器人可以用来测试护巢鸟类的反应。故选B。‎ C ‎(2019·南京、盐城模拟)Listen carefully to the footsteps in the family home, especially if it has wooden floors, and you can probably work out who it is that is walking about. The features most commonly used to identify people are faces, voices, finger prints and retinal scans. But their“behavioural biometrics”， such as the way they walk, are also giveaways.‎ Researchers have, for several years, used video cameras and computers to analyse people's gaits, and are now quite good at it. But translating such knowledge into a practical identification system can be tricky — especially if that system is supposed to be hidden. Cameras are often visible, are hard to set up, require good lighting and may have their view blocked by other people. So a team led by Krikor Ozanyan of the University of Manchester, in England and Patricia Scully of the National University of Ireland, in Galway have been looking for a better way to recognise gait. Their answer: pressuresensitive mats.‎ In themselves, such mats are nothing new. They have been part of security systems for donkeys' years. But Dr Ozanyan and Dr Scully use a complex version that can record the amount of pressure applied in different places as someone walks across it. These measurements form a pattern unique to the walker. Dr Ozanyan and Dr Scully therefore turned, as is now common for anything to do with pattern recognition, to an Artificial Intelligence system that uses machine learning to recognise such patterns.‎ It seems to work. In a study published earlier this year the two researchers tested their system ‎ on a database of footsteps trodden by 127 different people. They found that its error rate in identifying who was who was a mere 0.7%. And Dr Scully says that even without a database of footsteps to work with the system can determine someone's sex — women and men, with wide and narrow pelvises (骨盆) respectively, walk in different ways, — and guess, with reasonable accuracy, a subject's age.‎ A matbased gaitrecognition system has the advantage that it would work in any lighting conditions — even pitchdarkness. And though it might fail to identify someone if, say, she was wearing stilettos and had been entered into the database while wearing trainers, it would be very hard to fool it by imitating the gait of an individual who was allowed admission to a particular place.‎ The latest phase of Dr Ozanyan's and Dr Scully's project is a redesign of the mat. The old mats contained individual pressure sensors. The new ones contain optical fibres (光纤). Lightemitting diodes (二极管) distributed along two neighbouring edges of a mat transmit light into the fibres. Sensors on the opposite edges (and thus the opposite ends of the optical fibres) measure how much of that light is received. Any pressure applied to part of the mat causes a distortion (变形) in the fibres and a consequent change in the amount of light transmitted. Both the location and amount of change can be plotted and analyzed by the machinelearning system.‎ Dr Ozanyan says that the team have built a demonstration fibre optic mat, two meters long and a metre wide, using materials that cost ￡100(D|S130). They are now talking to companies about commercializing it. One application might be in health care, particularly for the elderly. A fibre optic mat installed in a nursing home or an old person's own residence could monitor changes in an individual's gait that warn certain illnesses. That would provide early warning of someone being at greater risk of falling over, say, or of their cognition becoming damaged.‎ Gait analysis might also be used as a security measure in the workplace, monitoring access to restricted areas, such as parts of military bases, server farms or laboratories dealing with harmful materials. In these cases, employees would need to agree to their gaits being scanned, just as they would agree to the scanning of their faces or retinas for optical security systems.‎ Perhaps the most fascinating use of gaitrecognition mats, though, would be in public places, such as airports. For that to work, the footsteps of those to be recognised would need to have been stored in a database, which would be harder to arrange than the collection of mugshots and fingerprints that existing airport security systems rely on. Some people, however, might volunteer for it. Many aircrew or preregistered frequent flyers would welcome anything that speeded up one of the most tiresome parts of modern travel.‎ 语篇解读：本文主要介绍了一种新的识别方法：步态识别。‎ ‎9．Camerabased gait recognition fails to come into wide use, because ________.‎ ‎ a．it's not easy to find the cameras ‎ b．finger print recognition is still popular ‎ c．sometimes the cameras can be covered ‎ d．it's a waste of money to fix the equipment ‎ e．good lighting conditions can't be guaranteed ‎ f．it's difficult to set up the system ‎ A．a, c, f　　　　　　　 B．b, d, e ‎ C．c, d, f D．c, e, f ‎ 解析：选D　细节理解题。根据第二段的第三句可知虽然人们已经很擅长利用摄像机和计算机来分析人们的步态，但是要将这些知识转化为实际的识别系统可能很难。主要有这样几个原因：cameras are hard to set up, require good lighting；may have their view blocked by other people。‎ ‎10．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraphs 6－8?‎ ‎ A．The new mats function greatly with individual pressure sensors built in.‎ ‎ B．The new mats will be likely to work better with enough pressure.‎ ‎ C．The elderly are cured of their diseases with the monitor of the fibre optic.‎ ‎ D．Restricted areas are accessible to those with their gaits scanned beforehand.‎ ‎ 解析：选D　细节理解题。根据倒数第二段第二句“In these cases, employees would need to agree to their gaits being scanned ...”可知在这些场合，员工(的步态)需要和(之前)扫描过的步态一致。即事先扫描过步态的人可以进入禁区。‎ ‎11．What does the underlined word “it” refer to in Paragraph 5?‎ ‎ A．The matbased gaitrecognition system.‎ ‎ B．The gait stored in the database.‎ ‎ C．The advantage of working in any light condition.‎ ‎ D．The admission to a particular place.‎ ‎ 解析：选A　代词指代题。阅读第五段的内容可知 “it”指代上文中所提到过的名词短语“A matbased gaitrecognition system”。‎ ‎12．What's the best title of the passage?‎ ‎ A．Listen to your footsteps ‎ B．Applaud pattern recognition ‎ C．Love the way you walk ‎ D．Better the mats you step on ‎ 解析：选C　标题归纳题。本文主要介绍了一种新的安全识别方法：步态识别。这种识别方法可以用在公共场所，而且比传统的指纹识别方法速度更快，受到人们的欢迎。所以你走路的姿态将来可以成为识别你的一种方法，所以要珍惜、爱你自己的步态。用“Love the way you walk”作为标题，能够表达文章的主题。‎