In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of a comet (彗星). When the fragments (碎片) landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions(爆炸) were watched by scientists here on the earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.
On 17 July, a fragment, four kilometers wide, enters the Earth's atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous(巨大的) wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometres an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.
Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth, but the north won't escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed(崩潰). No more than 10 million people have survived.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn't survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?
【小題1】Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author's description of the disaster in 2094?
| A．The whole world becomes extremely cold |
| B．All the coastal cities in Africa are destroyed |
| C．The visit of the comet results in wars |
| D．The whole mankind becomes extinct |
| A．Because they could only live in the warm climate |
| B．Because their extinction indicates future disasters |
| C．Because they once dominated(控制) the earth |
| D．Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age |
| A．give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future |
| B．prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed |
| C．warn of a possible disaster in the future |
| D．tell the historical development of the Earth |
| A．article of popular science | B．news report |
| C．research paper | D．horror story |
【小題1】D
【小題2】B
【小題3】C
【小題4】A
解析試題分析：本文是一篇科普類文章。文章講述了未來由于彗星撞擊地球可能會出現的災難。
【小題1】考查細節理解。根據文章的第四段中的As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. 可知A正確；根據第三段中的Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. 可知B正確；根據文章的第四段中的Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. 可知C正確；根據文章最后一段中的Will we meet the same end?可知，人類是否會滅絕沒有講清楚。故四個選項中D不正確。
【小題2】考查推理判斷。根據文章的最后兩句話The dinosaurs couldn't survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?可知，恐龍在那種寒冷的環境下會滅絕，人類未來也可能有同樣的遭遇。故選B。
【小題3】考查作者的寫作意圖。根據文章最后一段中的Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. 和Will we meet the same end?可知，作者在給人類提出未來可能發生災難的警示。故選C。
【小題4】考查文章的出處。此處article of popular science大眾科學文章；news report新聞報道；research paper研究論文；horror story恐怖故事。根據文章的大意可知，是一篇大眾科學文章。故選A。
考點：考查科普類文章的閱讀。
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
New research shows that overweight or even mildly obese people have a lower risk of early death than people considered to be normal weight.
Researchers examined the results of 97 studies. Most of the studies were less than 10 years old. They included almost three million adults from around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, Brazil, India and Mexico.
The researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics found that people who are considered overweight or slightly obese were five to six percent less likely to die from all causes than people of normal weight. People with higher obesity ratings, however, had almost a 30 percent greater risk of death compared to normal-weight individuals.
Katherine Flegal was the lead author of the study. She says she was not surprised that overweight people would not have a higher risk of death.
“Because we’d actually already read a lot of this literature and realized it was likely that mortality rates (死亡率) for overweight would be at least not higher than normal weight. I guess I was a little bit surprised that it was definitely lower. And I was also surprised that the lower rates of obesity also didn’t seem to differ from normal weight.”
But she says the difference in death rates appears to be small between normal-weight people and those who are overweight or mildly obese.
The study has raised new questions about “body mass index,”（體重指數） or BMI. This is a measurement of body fat as a ratio（比率） of height to weight. In recent years, many public health experts have promoted body mass index as a way to predict the risk of health problems. Bu t a person's BMI can be misleading in some cases.
Steven Heymsfield ,the executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, says people can be physically fit and in good health, but might weigh more because they are more muscular.
Still, Dr. Heymsfield says people should not think gaining extra weight is OK just because of the new findings. He says being at a healthy weight lowers the risk for heart disease and diabetes（糖尿�。�.
【小題1】According to the new findings, the researchers found that __________ .
| A．People with high obesity have a lower risk of early death than people with low obesity |
| B．People with overweight have a greater risk of early death than people of normal weight. |
| C．People with mild obesity are less likely to die than people of normal weight. |
| D．People with obesity live much longer than people of normal weight. |
| A．works like novels and poems |
| B．books and articles on a particular subject |
| C．printed material |
| D．magazines and newspapers |
| A．BMI is commonly used to measure body fat as a ratio of height to weight. |
| B．Not all people with a little higher BMI are fat . |
| C．Many public health experts encourage more people to use BMI as a way to predict the risk of health problem |
| D．Because of the ne w findings, people should think about gaining extra weight. |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
What will people die of 100 years from now? If you think that is a simple question, you have not been paying attention to the revolution that is taking place in bio-technology(生物技術). With the help of new medicine, the human body will last a very long time. Death will come mainly from accidents, murder and war. Today's leading killers, such as heart diseases, cancer, and aging itself, will become distant memory.
In discussion of technological changes, the Internet gets most of the attention these days. But the change in medicine can be the real technological event of our times. How long can humans live? Human brains were known to decide the final death. Cells(細胞) are the basic units of all living things, and until recently, scientists were sure that the life of cells could not go much beyond 120 years because the basic materials of cells, such as those of brain cells, would not last forever. But the upper limits will be broken by new medicine. Sometime between 2050 and 2100, medicine will have advanced to the point at which every 10 years or so, people will be able to take medicine to repair their organs(器官). The medicine, made up of the basic building materials of life, will build new brain cells, heart cells, and so on---in much the same way our bodies make new skin cells to take the place of old ones.
It is exciting to imagine that the advance in technology may be changing the most basic conditional human existence, but many technical problems still must be cleared up on the way to this wonderful future.
【小題1】According to the passage, human death is now mainly caused by _______.
| A．diseases and aging | B．accidents and war |
| C．accidents and aging | D．heart diseases and war |
| A．medicine | B．the internet |
| C．brain cells | D．human organs |
| A．heart disease will be far away from us |
| B．human brains can decide the final death |
| C．the basic materials of cells will last forever |
| D．human organs can be repaired by new medicine |
| A．human life will not last more than 120 years in the future |
| B．human have to take medicine to build new skin cells now |
| C．much needs to be done before humans can have a longer life |
| D．we have already solved the technical problems in building new cells. |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
The State Council declared Wednesday it would restart China's nuclear power program, ending the hiatus（中斷）in nuclear construction since Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster last year.
China has been the most courageous country in building nuclear power, with the largest number of plants currently under construction. Nuclear power is facing a tough time in developed countries. The Japanese public is demanding the closure of all the country's nuclear power plants. China is at the forefront of nuclear power development. But it has been forced into this position.
Rapid economic development coupled with improvements in people's life both demand more electricity. It is impossible to exploit fossil resources forever as the supply of coal, oil and natural gas is limited. China has no choice but to develop nuclear power.
China must be the safest user of nuclear power. It should become a leading country in developing nuclear power technologies and increasing the world's knowledge of nuclear power.
It needs to do at least two things. First, it needs to promote safety in nuclear power plants, based on the technologies of the West. The former Soviet Union, the US and Japan all had severe nuclear accidents, proving there are risks. China should try to remove these risks.
Second, China should establish effective communication mechanisms（機制）between the government, power plants and the public. It's wrong to think the government can control every aspect of nuclear power plant construction.
The opposition to nuclear power program in developed countries has prevented them from building new plants, but they already have many. These governments are reluctant to close these plants despite strong opposition, because they cannot find better substitutes.
Nuclear power only occupies 1.8 percent of China's current electricity grid（輸電網）, much lower than the proportion in many developed countries. China's nuclear power plan should introduce the advantages of the technologies of other countries and also be creative in providing security. Its space technology is not the most advanced, but its launch safety measures have proven to be among the best.
China's high-profile high-speed railway development has drawn a lot of controversy, as will the active attitude towards developing nuclear power. But China cannot just copy what the developed countries have done. The development of nuclear power must be unique to China and it must be a ground-breaking success. But now, the real test lies ahead.
【小題1】In the third paragraph the writer focuses on ______.
| A．the reason why China is to develop nuclear power |
| B．the difficulty China has in developing nuclear power |
| C．the measures China will take to develop nuclear power |
| D．the benefits China will have by developing nuclear power |
| A．Supportive. | B．Opposed. | C．Indifferent. | D．Objective. |
| A．copy exactly what the developed countries have done |
| B．depend entirely on domestic scientists and technologies |
| C．avoid people’s involvement in nuclear power plant construction |
| D．do everything in its power to guarantee safety in nuclear power plants |
| A．It will be unique but can hardly pass too many tests. |
| B．It will be full of controversy but carried out firmly. |
| C．It will be on a smooth way to a ground-breaking success. |
| D．It will receive much opposition from developed countries. |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Can people change their skin colour without suffering like pop king Michael Jackson? Perhaps yes. Scientists have found the gene that determines skin colour. The gene comes in two versions, one of which is found in 99 per cent of Europeans. The other is found in 93 to 100 per cent of Africans, researchers at Pennsylvania State University report in the latest issue of Science.
Scientists have changed the colour of a dark-striped zebra fish to uniform gold by inserting a version of the pigment (色素) gene into a young fish. As with humans, zebra fish skin colour is determined by pigment cells, which contain melanosomes (黑色素體). The number, size and darkness of melanosomes per pigment cell determines skin colour.
It appears that, like the golden zebra fish, light-skinned Europeans also have a mutation (突變)in the gene for melanosome production. This results in less pigmented skin. However, Keith Cheng, leader of the research team, points out that the mutation is different in human and zebra fish genes.
Humans acquired dark skin in Africa about 1.5 million years ago to protect bodies from ultra-violet rays of the sun, which can cause skin cancer. But when modern humans leave Africa to live in northern latitudes, they need more sunlight on their skin to produce vitamin D. So the related gene changes, according to Cheng. Asians have the same version of the gene as Africans, so they probably acquired their light skin through the action of some other gene that affects skin colours, said Cheng.
The new discovery could lead to medical treatments for skin cancer. It also could lead to research into ways to change skin colour without damaging it like chemical treatment done on Michael Jackson.
【小題1】According to the passage, scientists have found .
| A．people living in northern latitudes need more sunlight |
| B．the reason why people change their skin colour |
| C．the reason why people get skin cancer |
| D．the gene that determines skin colour |
| A．people like to change their skin colour |
| B．a mutation in the gene for melanosome production is different in human and zebra fish gene |
| C．people will be able to change their skin colour without chemical treatment in the future |
| D．skin cancer can be cured now |
| A．The version of the pigment gene of Asians and that of Africans are the same. |
| B．Scientists have succeeded in turning the colour of a dark-striped zebra fish into uniform gold. |
| C．Dark skin can protect bodies from utral-violet rays of the sun. |
| D．People like pop king Michael Jackson. |
| A．a novel | B．a science report |
| C．a story book | D．a science fiction |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell. He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other words, we learn our looks ---- we are not born with them. A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around-family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the United States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that cannot be explained by genetics(遺傳學). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth, it is learned after. In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many, this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country area people smile more than those in other areas. In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York State still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do.
【小題1】Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance ____.
| A．has little to do with culture |
| B．has much to do with culture |
| C．is ever changing |
| D．is different from place to place |
| A．before birth |
| B．as soon as one’s teeth are newly set |
| C．sometime after new teeth are set |
| D．around 15 years old |
| A．how much he or she laughs |
| B．how he or she raises his or her eyebrows |
| C．what he or she likes best |
| D．the way he or she talks |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Below is a selection from a popular science book.
| If blood is red, why are veins (靜脈) blue? Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish color. Although blood looks red when it’s outside the body, when it’s sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin, it’s more of a dark reddish purple color. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison. Which works harder, your heart or your brain? That kind of depends on whether you’re busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker（超級油輪）. But, in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you’re sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it. Why do teeth fall out, and why don’t they grow back in grown-ups? Baby (or “milk”) teeth do not last long; they fall out to make bigger room for bigger, stronger adult teeth later on. Adult teeth fall out when they become damaged, decayed（腐爛）and infected by bacteria. Once this second set of teeth has grown in, you’re done. When they’re gone, they are gone. This is because nature figures you’re set for life, and what controls regrowth of your teeth switches off. Do old people shrink（收縮）as they age? Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn’t because they’re shrinking all over. They simply lose height as their spine (脊柱) becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effect of gravity (重力). Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again? No, because old people don’t really shrink! It is not that they are growing backwards—their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it’s because the spine has shortened a little. Or, more often, become more bent and curved. Why does spinning make you dizzy)? Because your brain gets confused between what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling. The brain senses that you’re spinning using special gravity-and-motion-sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning the system goes out of control, and your brain thinks you’re moving while you’re not. Where do feelings and emotions come from? Mostly from an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system（邊緣系統）. All mammals have this brain area — from mice to dogs, cats, and humans. So all mammals feel basic emotions like fear, pain and pleasure. But since human feelings also involve other, newer bits of the brain, we feel more complex emotions than any other animal on this planet. If exercise wears you out, how can it be good for you? Because our bodies adapt to everything we do to them. And as far as your body is concerned, it’s “use it, or lose it”! It’s not that exercise makes you healthy, it’s more that a lack of exercise leaves your body weak and easily affected by disease. |
| A．Blue | B．Light yellow |
| C．Red | D．Dark reddish purple |
| A．Because their spine is in active use. |
| B．Because they are more easily affected by gravity. |
| C．Because they keep growing backwards. |
| D．Because their spine becomes more bent. |
| A．In the long run, our brain probably works harder than our heart. |
| B．When our brain senses the spinning, we will feel dizzy. |
| C．The brains of the other mammals are as complex as those of humans. |
| D．Our feelings and emotions come from the most developed area in our brain. |
| A．To give advice on how to stay healthy. |
| B．To provide information about our body. |
| C．To challenge new findings in medical research. |
| D．To report the latest discoveries in medical science. |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Clothes can make phone calls, play music, dial your pal’s number, keep you warm during cold weather and operate your computer?
This is not a fantasy. A British company, called Electrotextiles, has created a wide range of clothes—clothes that have minds of their own! Scientists, working for the company, have invented a kind of fabric that can be blended(混合) with flexible electronic materials to create intelligent clothing. The result are electronic garments.
If you think the wearer has to be wired to different devices, think again. These designer clothes are wire-free, soft to touch and washable! Like any electronic device, these high-tech clothes have to be powered. Currently, a tiny nine-volt battery serves the purpose. But the researchers hope that in the near future the clothes will generate electricity by using body heat. These clothes are 100 percent shock proof, they say.
The Electrotextiles team has also created the world’s first cloth keyboard. This keyboard can be sewn into your trousers or skirt. To use this device, you will have to sit down and tap on your lap! These ‘lap-tap’ gadgets(器具) are all set to take over laptop computers!
Another useful garment is the shirt-cum-mobile phone. This handy invention enables drivers to chat comfortably with others at the wheel! Other popular electronic wear include the denim(牛仔布) jacket with flexible earphones sewn into the hood(風帽) and the electronic ski jacket with a built-in heater. The ski jacket is also programmed to send signals to a satellite. This technology is known as global positioning system and can be used to track lost skiers and wandering kids.
Having completed the cloth keyboard, scientists have already started to work on a new project—a necktie that can be used as a computer mouse. What is the next? Do you have any idea?
【小題1】The electronic garments are similar to other electronic devices in that _________.
| A．they feel smooth and soft | B．they use electricity as power |
| C．they can be washed in water | D．they are made from flexible materials |
| A．Body heat will be used as power. | B．The wearer will not get shocked. |
| C．A tiny nine-volt battery will work. | D．They will get charged automatically. |
| A．The laptop computer. | B．The electronic ski jacket. |
| C．The shirt-cure-mobile phone. | D．The world’s first cloth keyboard. |
| A．The cloth keyboard. | B．The electronic ski jacket. |
| C．The necktie to be used as a mouse. | D．The denim jacket with earphones. |
| A．to advertise for an English company | B．to predict the future trend of science |
| C．to show how rapidly science develops | D．to introduce some intelligent clothing |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Global Positioning Systems are now a part of everyday driving in many countries. These satellite-based systems provide turn-by-turn directions to help people get to where they want to go. But they can also cause a lot of problems, sending you to the wrong place or leave you completely lost. Many times, the driver is to blame. Sometimes a GPS error is responsible. Most often, says Barry Brown, it is a combination of the two.
Barry Brown is with the Mobile Life Centre in Stockholm, Sweden. The center studies human-computer interaction, or HCI, especially communications involving wireless devices. We spoke to Mr. Brown by Skype. He told us about an incident involving a friend who had flown to an airport in the eastern United States. There he borrowed a GPS-equipped car to use during his stay.
Barry Brown: “And they just plugged in an address and then set off to their destination. And, then it wasn’t until they were driving for thirty minutes that they realized they had put in a destination back on the West Coast where they lived. They actually put their home address in. So again, the GPS is kind of “garbage in garbage out”. Mr. Brown says this is a common human error. But, he says, what makes the problem worse has to do with some of the shortcomings, or failures, of GPS equipment.
Barry Brown: “One problem with many GPS units is they have a very small screen and they just tell you the next turn. Because they just give you the next turn, sometimes that means that it is not really giving you the overview that you would need to know that it’s going to the wrong place.”
Barry Brown formerly served as a professor with the University of California, San Diego. While there, he worked on a project with Eric Laurier from the University of Edinburgh. The two men studied the effects of GPS devices on driving by placing cameras in people’s cars. They wrote a paper based on their research. It is called “The Normal, Natural Troubles of Driving with GPS.”
Barry Brown: “One of the things that struck us, perhaps the most important thing was that you have to know what you’re doing when you use a GPS. There are these new skills that people have developed. There are these new competencies that you need to have to be able to use a GPS because they sometimes go wrong.” Barry Brown says this goes against a common belief that GPS systems are for passive drivers who lack navigational (導航) skills.
“The Normal, Natural Troubles of Driving with GPS” lists several areas where GPS systems can cause confusion for drivers. These include maps that are outdated, incorrect or difficult to understand. They also include timing issues related to when GPS commands are given.
Barry Brown says to make GPS systems better we need a better understanding of how drivers, passengers and GPS systems work together.
【小題1】What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Is GPS system reliable to use? | B．What is the use of GPS? |
| C．How to make the most of GPS? | D．Blame! GPS or Passengers? |
| A．GPS is just a garbage device. |
| B．GPS will not correct human errors. |
| C．GPS adjusts your wrong destination. |
| D．GPS is just as smart as human beings. |
| A．Small screen. | B．Timing of commands. |
| C．Outdated maps. | D．Dear cameras GPS uses. |
| A．you have to know where to go when using GPS |
| B．you need to have new competencies to use GPS well |
| C．GPS is proper for drivers with little sense of direction |
| D．GPS is fit for people having good understanding of maps |
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