专题06 阅读理解之说明文10篇
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）“Time is a problem for kids,” states a new report for a new Swiss watch. Children in some countries “learn time slowly” because “they don’t wear watches” and “parents don’t really know how to teach them time”. The kids grow up with this handicap and become adults — and then can’t get to work on time. Is there an answer to this problem Of course — it’s the Flik Flak made by a famous Swiss watch company.
The Flik Flak is being marked as something teaching watch for children aged 4 to 10. The watch itself does not teach kids how to tell time, of course; it merely “captures their imagination” by presenting the “hour” hand as a beautiful red girl named Flak and the “minute” hand as a tall blue boy named Flik. Flik points to the corresponding “blue” minute on the dial, while Flak points to the red hour number. The characters and the colors combined with parental help are supposed to teach young children how to tell time.
The watch comes equipped with a standard battery and a nylon band. Peter Lipkin, the United States sales manager for the Flik Flak, calls it “kidproof”: if it gets dirty you can throw the whole watch in the washing machine. The product is being sold in select department stores in Europe, Asia and the United States for a suggested price of $25. Parents who buy the watch may discover that it is one thing for kids to tell time; it’s quite another for them to be on time.
1．The author doesn’t seem to believe ________.
A．the Flik Flak can capture children’s imagination
B．a Flik Flak can help parents teach their children how to tell time
C．children will be on time if they have learnt how to tell time
D．children usually have trouble telling time if they don’t wear watches
2．Flik and Flak in the passage stand for ________.
A．a tall boy and a beautiful girl B．the designers of the watch
C．the Swiss watch company D．the minute hand and the hour hand
3．The United States sales manager calls the new watch “kidproof” because ________.
A．it is designed to teach children to be on time
B．it proves to be effective in teaching children time
C．it is made so as not to be easily damaged by children
D．it is the children’s favourite watch
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Give the Senate (参议院) some credit: in shaping the current immigration-reform bill, it has come up with one idea that almost everybody hates. That’s the plan to create a new class of “guest workers” — immigrants who would be allowed to work in the U.S. for three two-year stretches, at most, provided that they return home to stay for a year after each visit. Conservatives dislike the plan because they believe that the guest workers won’t return home after their visas expire. Liberals dislike it because they believe the program will depress American wages and trap guest workers. The only supporters of the bill are businesses that rely heavily on immigrant labor, and they’re probably just looking out for themselves.
With the broader concerns about the effects of illegal immigration, the hostility to the new plan is understandable. However imperfect, the guest-worker program is better than any politically feasible alternative. Opponents of immigration sometimes imply that adding workers to a work-force automatically brings wages down. But immigrants tend to work in different industries than native workers, and have different skills, and so they often end up complementing native workers rather than competing with them. That can make native workers more productive and therefore better off.
According to a recent study by the economists Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri, immigration actually boosted the wages of most American workers; its only negative effect was a small one, on the wages of workers without a high-school diploma. And if by increasing the number of legal guest workers we reduced the number of undocumented workers, the economy would benefit even more.
Guest workers are also, paradoxically, less likely than illegal immigrants to become permanent residents. The U.S. already has a number of smaller—and less well-designed—temporary-worker programs, and there’s no evidence that workers in those plans routinely overstay their visas. One remarkable study found that after border enforcement was stepped up in 1993 the chance of an illegal immigrant returning to his homeland to stay fell by a third.
In fact, whatever benefits the guest-worker program brought to the U.S. economy or to particular businesses, the biggest winners would be the workers themselves. There are few, if any, foreign-aid programs that do as much for people in developing countries as simply allowing them to work in U. S. legally. This program’s costs to American workers are insignificant, the gains for the guest workers are enormous, and the U.S. economy will benefit. This is that rare option which is both sensible and politically possible.
4．According to the passage, the guest-worker program ________.
A．allows immigrants to work in the U.S. for six continuous years
B．has aroused criticism from conservatives, liberals and the business world
C．will make local workers more productive as it brings fierce competition
D．is a sensible approach to resolving the illegal immigration problems
5．Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri point out that immigration ________.
A．is immune from negative effects
B．will root out undocumented labourers
C．has led to economic prosperity and social stability
D．has enhanced wages of most American workers
6．Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 4
A．Illegal immigrants are more likely to stay permanently in the U.S. than guest workers.
B．With stepped-up border control, illegal immigrants are more likely to stay in their homeland.
C．Workers in temporary-worker programs usually pay no attention to their visa duration.
D．Guest workers will not stay too long because of the enhanced border enforcement.
7．What is the author’s attitude towards guest workers’ plan
A．Indifferent. B．Neutral. C．Favorable. D．Negative.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）The outstanding biography portrays the life of the complicated Renaissance artist with details. We come to see da Vinci as not only an inventor of musical instruments and early flying machines, but also a notebook keeper and vegetarian, who had trouble finishing many of the projects and paintings he started.
Yet what is most thrilling is getting to know da Vinci the scientist. Isaacson explains how loving science and applying the scientific method to observing the world was really what made da Vinci a great artist and, Isaacson argues, a genius. Da Vinci was fascinated with observing and understanding phenomena in nature. He wanted to know about everything around him, in minute detail, Isaacson writes. He wondered about questions “most people over the age of ten no longer puzzle about”—for instance, how the tongue of a woodpecker works.
To learn about the world, da Vinci combined his own observations with experimentation. Never formally schooled, “he preferred to induce from experiments rather than deduce from theoretical principles,” Isaacson explains. He recorded his observations, looked for patterns among them, and then tested those patterns through additional observation and experimentation.
When he became fascinated with the idea that he could invent flying machines, he observed various birds and filled notebooks with the function and speed at which their wings flapped. That’s why Isaacson calls da Vinci an exemplar of this scientific method. He goes on: “Galileo, born 112 years after Leonardo, is usually credited with being the first to develop this kind of approach and is often regarded as the father of modern science.” There can be no doubt that this honor would have been bestowed on Leonardo da Vinci had he published his scientific writings during his lifetime.
Da Vinci’s emphasis on empirical observation also helped him improve his art. First, he was able to use what he learned from looking at nature to paint and draw. His studies of the body, animals, motion, shadow and light, perspective and proportion helped him better understand what he was seeing in front of him, and render it in art more accurately and finely than anyone else of his time. Most importantly, his ability to connect art and science, helped him innovate in his work. Da Vinci made surprisingly diverse series of discoveries, including conceptualizing the helicopter and solar power and advancing knowledge about everything from the reproductive organs to botany. This genius is also what drew Isaacson to Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs as subjects: They’re all innovators who were inspired by and drew connections between art and science.
“Leonardo da Vinci is the ultimate example of the main theme of my previous biographies: how the ability to make connections across disciplines-arts and sciences, humanities and technology—is a key to innovation, imagination, and genius,” Isaacson writes. And this wonderful book is a reminder, in a time of increasingly narrow specialization and focus, that the methods of Renaissance men like da Vinci are as relevant as ever.
8．What made da Vinci a great artist
A．Viewing the world from the perspective of science.
B．Combining experimentation with theoretical principles.
C．Attempting to know about the world like a child.
D．Being filled with ambition to become an artist and inventor.
9．Why does Isaacson mention Galileo in the book
A．To introduce his important findings.
B．To memorize the father of modern science.
C．To show the prejudice faced by da Vinci during his lifetime.
D．To illustrate the significance of da Vinci’s research method.
10．Which of the following statements is true
A．Da Vinci improved his art and drew more accurately by painting mostly in the natural world.
B．The methods of Renaissance men like da Vinci can still apply to contemporary scientific research.
C．Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs are as famous as da Vinci because they all have a talent for combining art with science.
D．Da Vinci failed to publish his scientific writing because the scientific method kept in it was too complicated to understand at that time.
11．What might be the best title for the passage
A．How a Genius Changed the World
B．The Features of Renaissance Art
C．How Science Shaped His Art
D．The Comparison between Induction and Deduction
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Lawmakers in New Jersey recently advanced a bill that would ban businesses from going cashless — a move that would put the state at odds with the global trend toward electronic payments but would strengthen resistance from local officials who see no-cash policies as discriminatory.
Almost 1 of 3 Americans in 2018 say they don’t use cash during a typical week of purchases, according to a Pew Research Center study released this week. The findings reveal that Americans are becoming less reliant on paper currency, mirroring shifts in Sweden, India and China.
But state and local officials say that restaurants and shops that adopt cashless policies have left some members of the community behind - individuals without the means to open a bank account or who lack access to lines of credit or the mobile apps that power digital payments.
The New Jersey measure, which would apply only to face-to-face sales and would exclude Internet and phone purchases, comes as officials push similar efforts to bar no-cash rules in New York, Philadelphia and the District.
While cashless policies offer consumers the promise of convenience and provide businesses greater protection against theft and shoddy record-keeping, they also can exclude low-income consumers or undocumented immigrants, critics say.
“Cash-free businesses are discriminatory by design and pose challenges to low-income communities that may not have access to credit/debit,” New York City Council member Ritchie Torres said on Twitter last month when he introduced a bill that would ban the practice.
According to the Pew study, the decline in the use of physical currency is uneven among the population when race, age and income are accounted for. Pew found a significant gap in cashless adoption tied to annual household income, with adults making at least $75,000 more than twice as likely to make all their purchases without using cash in a typical week, compared with people who make less than $30,000.
The Pew findings suggest that the benefits of going cashless may come with a cost that only some groups of people will bear. Americans with lower incomes are roughly four times as likely than higher earners to make all or almost all of their purchases with cash, according to the study.
As CNBC has noted, business leaders have defended cashless policies by pointing to higher security and improved customer service and efficiency, even as they acknowledge their critics. Some advocates have focused on providing people who are underserved by the traditional banking system with more affordable options, attacking the root cause behind the criticisms of cashless payments.
*Note: CNBC美国消费者新闻与商业频道
12．What can be inferred about the global trend towards electronic payments
A．Countries in the world are banning digital payments in their own ways.
B．Most countries are experiencing the increasing digitalization of payments.
C．Some countries are proposing measures to discourage cashless policies.
D．Most countries are actively promoting the circulation of physical currencies.
13．Why are some people left behind by no-cash policies
A．Because they are opposed to electronic payments.
B．Because they lack the motive to open a bank account.
C．Because they don’t have access to financial institutions.
D．Because they are unable to use payment-related mobile apps.
14．Cashless policies may bring about the following benefits EXCEPT ________.
A．great convenience to consumers
B．greater protection against theft
C．excluding undocumented immigrants
D．improvement in customer service and efficiency
15．What is implied in the passage
A．Americans with higher income are more likely to use cash.
B．Paper currencies will be replaced by digital payments soon.
C．Some people may pay a price for adopting electronic payments.
D．The gap in household income is irrelevant to the payment habits of people.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Our lives are made up of human-machine interactions—with smartphones, televisions, computers—that have the power to delight and, often, frustrate. Into this area has stepped a new class of professional: the user-experience, or UX, designer, whose job is to see a product not from an engineer’s, marketer’s, or legal department’s perspective but from the viewpoint of the user alone. And to insist that the customer should not have to learn to speak the company’s internal language. The company should learn to speak the customer’s.
According to a recent survey, the role of UX designers has become a fixture on those year-end “hottest job” lists. If you want to study UX, you now have the option at some three dozen institutions in the United States, including Carnegie Mellon and the University of Washington. But Ford is one of the few major industrial companies in the U.S. to put a UX expert, Jim Hackett, in charge.
At present, the question facing the car industry is basically whether high-tech giants such as Tesla and Google can learn car-making technology trains faster than Ford, GM, and other carmakers can learn software and algorithms. But Hackett reflects Ford’s bet that the winner won’t be the best chassis (底盘) maker or software maker, but the company that nails the interaction between man and machine. “One of the things that drew me to Jim was his commitment to design thinking, which puts the human being at the center of the equation,” explained Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman.
Hackett retired from Steelcase, a furniture maker, in 2014 and in 2016, Bill Ford hired him to run the automaker’s Smart Mobility subsidiary, which was tasked with rethinking from the ground up how cars would be driven, powered, and owned. “This is what we call the design gap,” said Hackett in an interview, pointing to the space between two lines on a graph he’d drawn on a whiteboard. One line climbs up—this is a company’s skill at making things, which goes up over time. Below it is a downward line, representing a company’s understanding of the customer’s experience. This, he said, can decline over time, as a company loses sight of the problems it’s in the business of solving. The design gap may be noticeable when the job is, say, building a marginally better tailgate for the Ford F-150. But it becomes positively yawning when your industry is so thoroughly turned on its head that you’re forced to ask some basic questions: Do people want to own their cars or share them Drive them or have them driven The flood of new technologies makes everything possible.
16．Which of the following statements best describes a UX designer’s responsibility
A．He is devoted to designing innovative products.
B．He is devoted to making a product satisfy users’ needs.
C．He is devoted to improving a company’s internal language.
D．He is devoted to understanding human-machine interactions.
17．What can be inferred from the passage
A．UX designers are regarded as one of those best-paid jobs.
B．High-tech giants have taken the lead in car manufacturing.
C．Companies are laying greater emphasis on customers’ feelings.
D．The UX courses provided by the US institutions are far from enough,
18．Ford hires Jim Hackett because the company believes that _______.
A．it is currently facing the biggest challenge that needs a new perspective
B．Hackett’s design thinking is quite different from other UX professionals
C．customers’ experience plays a decisive role in the car-making competition
D．Steelcase gave Hackett enough time and experience to grow up into an expert
19．What is Jim Hackett most likely to agree with
A．Ford should pay less attention to new technologies.
B．Ford has long been ignoring customers’ experience.
C．Ford is no longer a leading company in auto making skills.
D．Ford has made a wrong decision to build a tailgate for the F-150.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）The last time the horse seriously competed with man-made transport for speed was 1830, when a stagecoach won a race against America’s first domestically manufactured steam locomotive (蒸汽机车).
Now horsekind has emerged victorious over what is in theory a far more powerful opponent — the broadband internet connection.
The contest over the gently rolling hills of the Sauerland, a pretty district in western Germany, started as a joke.
Klaus-Peter Kappest, a photographer from Oberkirchen, had been frustrated for years by the slow pace of his uploads. At 15 megabits (比特,一种信息量单位) per second, it sometimes takes him several hours to send a batch of high-resolution images to his clients. One day Mr Kappest, 52, was chatting to his colleagues at Woll, a local magazine. He suggested that he would be better off delivering his photographs by horse. “That was the most reliable communications technology in the Middle Ages,” he said. “And the editor said, ‘Well let’s do it then, let’s see which is truly faster.”
Mr Kappest turned to Jakob Schutte, a rider who lives in the same village, and Favo, his horse. The photographer burnt 4.2GB of images on to a DVD, packed it into a bag and sent it off with Favo and Mr Schutte on the 10km ride to the printer’s office in Schmallenberg.
At the same time he uploaded the data through WeTransfer, a popular file-sharing service. The computer had a 20-minute head start while Mr Schutte started off down the road, past Wilzenberg mountain. Favo made the journey in 104 minutes. The file transfer, however, was not finished until the horse had returned to Oberkirchen more than two hours later. In total it took five hours.
There was a serious point behind the story. Germany has long been known for its poor broadband and mobile internet coverage, particularly in the countryside. Two years ago a report by a network regulator found that 29 per cent of internet users received less than half the speed to which they were contractually entitled. While things have improved, a global survey carried out this year found that it took on average 16 minutes and eight seconds to download a 5GB film through a German internet connection—a little better than the UK but worse than Puerto Rico and Barbados.
In the Sauerland, Mr Kappest’s area, millions of euros have been spent on a new network but the connections have yet to be switched on in dozens of towns and villages, including Oberkirchen. The horse race did its job: Mr Kappest has since been assured that his broadband will be up and running next month.
20．The story of a stagecoach is mentioned in the first paragraph mainly to _______.
A．lead in the topic B．introduce a new race
C．highlight a historical year D．correct people’s misunderstanding
21．Which of the following is true of Jakob Schutte and his horse
A．They were hired by WeTransfer.
B．They used to live in Schmallenberg.
C．They completed the task in less than two hours.
D．They spent five hours on the way to Oberkirchen.
22．Which of the following is a consequence of the horse race
A．Germany will realize its poor broadband service.
B．Mr Kappest will soon have a better internet connection.
C．More euros will be spent on the new network in the Sauerland.
D．Oberkirchen will be the first in Germany to stop any horse race,
23．Which of the following may be the best title of the passage
A．Germany falls behind in wifi connection
B．History hardly repeats itself in normal ways
C．Uploading photographs in a modern world is all that easy
D．Horse power still has an advantage in race with village wifi
1．C 2．D 3．C
【导语】本文是一篇说明文，介绍了一款瑞士儿童手表，这款手表专为儿童设计，可以用来教孩子认时间。
1．细节理解题。根据最后一段中的“Parents who buy the watch may discover that it is one thing for kids to tell time; it’s quite another for them to be on time.(买这款手表的父母可能会发现，对孩子来说认时间是一回事，准时是另一回事。)”可知，作者不认为教孩子认时间后孩子可以变得准时。故选C。
2．细节理解题。根据第二段中的“The watch itself does not teach kids how to tell time, of course; it merely ‘captures their imagination’ by presenting the ‘hour’ hand as a beautiful red girl named Flak and the ‘minute’ hand as a tall blue boy named Flik.(当然，手表本身并没有教孩子们如何认时间；它只是‘抓住了他们的想象力’，将‘时’针呈现为一个名叫Flak的漂亮红色女孩，将‘分’针呈现为一个名叫Flik的高个子蓝色男孩。)”可知，Flik是代表分针的高个子蓝色男孩，Flak是代表时针的漂亮红色女孩。故选D。
3．推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“Peter Lipkin, the United States sales manager for the Flik Flak, calls it ‘kidproof’: if it gets dirty you can throw the whole watch in the washing machine.(Flik Flak的美国销售经理Peter Lipkin称之为‘防孩子’：如果它变脏了，你可以把整个手表扔进洗衣机。)”并结合构词法可知，词缀-proof意为“耐……的，防……的”，所以kidproof表示“防孩子”，且手表可以直接扔到洗衣机清洗，这说明手表非常耐磨损，由此可推测，这款手表不会轻易被孩子损坏。故选C。
4．D 5．D 6．A 7．C
【导语】这是一篇说明文，美国参议院提出了移民新措施“客工”计划，文章介绍了不同的人对该计划的态度以及它对美国的影响。
4．细节理解题。根据第二段中“With the broader concerns about the effects of illegal immigration, the hostility to the new plan is understandable. However imperfect, the guest-worker program is better than any politically feasible alternative.(由于对非法移民影响的广泛担忧，对新计划的敌意是可以理解的。尽管不完美，但客工计划比任何政治上可行的替代方案都要好)”以及文章最后一句“This is that rare option which is both sensible and politically possible.(这是一个既明智又在政治上可行的罕见选择)”可知，客工计划是解决非法移民问题的明智方案。故选D。
5．细节理解题。根据第三段中“According to a recent study by the economists Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri, immigration actually boosted the wages of most American workers(根据经济学家Gianmarco Ottaviano和Giovanni Peri最近的一项研究，移民实际上提高了大多数美国工人的工资)”可知，Gianmarco Ottaviano和Giovanni Peri的研究表明移民实际上提高了大多数美国工人的工资，故选D。
6．细节理解题。根据第四段中“Guest workers are also, paradoxically, less likely than illegal immigrants to become permanent residents.(与非法移民相比，客工成为永久居民的可能性也更小)”可知，客工比非法移民在美国永久定居的可能性更小，反过来说，非法移民在美国永久定居的可能性更大，故选A。
7．推理判断题。根据文章最后一句“This is that rare option which is both sensible and politically possible.(这是一个既明智又在政治上可行的罕见选择)”可知，作者对客工计划持支持态度。故选C。
8．B 9．D 10．B 11．C
【导语】本文是一篇说明文，介绍了文艺复兴时期的著名艺术家——达·芬奇的生活。达芬奇不仅是一个艺术家，还是一个科学家，他在科学上的贡献同样具有非凡意义。
8．细节理解题。根据第二段中的“Isaacson explains how loving science and applying the scientific method to observing the world was really what made da Vinci a great artist and, Isaacson argues, a genius.(艾萨克森解释了热爱科学并将科学方法应用于观察世界是如何使达·芬奇成为一位伟大艺术家的，并且艾萨克森所认为的一位天才的。)”可知，让达·芬奇成为一位伟大艺术家的是将实验与理论原理相结合的这种行为方式。故选B。
9．推理判断题。根据第四段中的“That’s why Isaacson calls da Vinci an exemplar of this scientific method.（这就是为什么艾萨克森称达芬奇为这种科学方法的典范。）”可知，艾萨克森认为达·芬奇在飞行器方面的研究方法是一种典范，对之给予了很高的评价。再结合后艾萨克森说的话“Galileo, born 112 years after Leonardo, is usually credited with being the first to develop this kind of approach and is often regarded as the father of modern science(伽利略出生于列奥纳多之后112年，通常被认为是第一个开发这种方法的人，并且经常被认为是现代科学之父)”和后面的“There can be no doubt that this honor would have been bestowed on Leonardo da Vinci had he published his scientific writings during his lifetime.（毫无疑问，如果列奥纳多·达·芬奇生前出版了他的科学著作，这一荣誉就会授予他。）”可知，艾萨克森在高度赞扬了达·芬奇的研究方法，后面又提到伽利略得到了这种方法的荣誉，但其实这种荣誉应归于达芬奇。由此可推测，艾萨克森这么做是为了突出达·芬奇研究方法的重要性。故选D。
10．细节理解题。根据最后一段中的“And this wonderful book is a reminder, in a time of increasingly narrow specialization and focus, that the methods of Renaissance men like da Vinci are as relevant as ever.(这本精彩的书提醒我们，在一个专业化和关注度越来越窄的时代，像达·芬奇这样的文艺复兴时期的人的方法一如既往地重要。)”可推知，像达·芬奇这样的文艺复兴时期的人的方法在现代科学研究中仍然适用。故选B。
11．标题归纳题。根据第二段中的“Isaacson explains how loving science and applying the scientific method to observing the world was really what made da Vinci a great artist and, Isaacson argues, a genius.(艾萨克森解释了热爱科学并将科学方法应用于观察世界是如何使达·芬奇成为一位伟大艺术家的，并且艾萨克森认为，一位天才的。)”可知，热爱科学并运用科学方法观察世界，正是达·芬奇成为伟大艺术家和天才的真正原因。下文接着对这一观点进行了详细阐述。由此可推测，C项“科学如何塑造（达·芬奇）的艺术”适合作本文标题。故选C。
12．B 13．D 14．C 15．C
【导语】这是一篇说明文。新泽西州的立法者最近提出了一项法案，禁止企业使用无现金支付。此举将使该州与全球电子支付的趋势背道而驰，但会加强地方官员的抵制，他们认为无现金支付政策具有歧视性。文章介绍了人们对无现金政策的不同看法。
12．推理判断题。根据第一段“Lawmakers in New Jersey recently advanced a bill that would ban businesses from going cashless — a move that would put the state at odds with the global trend toward electronic payments but would strengthen resistance from local officials who see no-cash policies as discriminatory.(新泽西州的立法者最近提出了一项法案，禁止企业使用无现金支付。此举将使该州与全球电子支付的趋势背道而驰，但会加强地方官员的抵制，他们认为无现金支付政策具有歧视性。)”和第二段中“The findings reveal that Americans are becoming less reliant on paper currency, mirroring shifts in Sweden, India and China.(调查结果显示，美国人对纸币的依赖程度正在降低，这与瑞典、印度和中国的情况相似。)”可知，电子支付是全球化趋势，由此可推知，大多数国家正在经历越来越多的支付数字化。故选B。
13．细节理解题。根据第三段“But state and local officials say that restaurants and shops that adopt cashless policies have left some members of the community behind - individuals without the means to open a bank account or who lack access to lines of credit or the mobile apps that power digital payments.(但州政府和地方官员表示，实行无现金政策的餐馆和商店让一些社区成员落在了后面——这些人没有办法开设银行账户，或者无法获得信用额度或支持数字支付的移动应用。)”可知，实行无现金政策让一些社区成员落在了后面，这是因为他们无法使用与支付相关的移动应用程序。故选D。
14．细节理解题。根据第五段中“While cashless policies offer consumers the promise of convenience and provide businesses greater protection against theft and shoddy record-keeping, they also can exclude low-income consumers or undocumented immigrants, critics say.(批评人士表示，虽然无现金政策为消费者提供了便利的承诺，为企业提供了更好的保护，使其免遭盗窃和伪造记录，但它们也可能将低收入消费者或无证移民排除在外。)”和最后一段中“As CNBC has noted, business leaders have defended cashless policies by pointing to higher security and improved customer service and efficiency, even as they acknowledge their critics(正如CNBC指出的那样，商业领袖为无现金政策辩护时指出，尽管他们赞同批评者，但他们认为无现金政策安全性更高、客户服务和效率更高。)”可知，无现金政策带来的好处是为消费者提供极大方便，加强防盗措施，改善客户服务和提高效率，C项“排除非法入境者”不是其好处，故选C。
15．推理判断题。根据第六段中““Cash-free businesses are discriminatory by design and pose challenges to low-income communities that may not have access to credit/debit,” New York City Council member Ritchie Torres said on Twitter last month(纽约市议会成员里奇·托雷斯（Ritchie Torres）上月在 Twitter 上表示: “无现金业务在设计上具有歧视性，对可能无法获得信贷/借记的低收入社区构成了挑战。”)”可推知，有些人可能会为采用电子支付付出代价。故选C。
16．B 17．C 18．C 19．B
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章主要通过介绍UX设计师的职责，说明了企业竞争中，顾客的体验起着决定性的作用。
16．细节理解题。根据文章第一段“Into this area has stepped a new class of professional: the user-experience, or UX, designer, whose job is to see a product not from an engineer’s, marketer’s, or legal department’s perspective but from the viewpoint of the user alone.(进入这个领域的是一类新的专业人士：用户体验设计师，他们的工作不是从工程师、营销人员或法律部门的角度来看待产品，而是从用户的角度来看待产品)”可知，UX设计师的职责是致力于使产品满足用户的需求。故选B项。
17．推理判断题。根据文章第一段“And to insist that the customer should not have to learn to speak the company’s internal language. The company should learn to speak the customer’s.(并坚持认为，客户不应该学习说公司的内部语言。公司应该学会说客户的语言)”和第二段“According to a recent survey, the role of UX designers has become a fixture on those year-end “hottest job” lists.(根据最近的一项调查，用户体验设计师的角色已经成为年终“最热门工作”名单上的固定角色)”可推知，公司更加重视顾客的感受。故选C项。
18．推理判断题。根据文章第三段““One of the things that drew me to Jim was his commitment to design thinking, which puts the human being at the center of the equation,” explained Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman.(公司执行主席比尔·福特解释说：“吉姆吸引我的原因之一是他对设计思维的执着，他把人放在等式的中心。”)”可推知，福特雇佣吉姆·哈克特是因为公司相信在汽车制造竞争中，顾客的体验起着决定性的作用。故选C项。
19．推理判断题。根据文章第三段“But Hackett reflects Ford’s bet that the winner won’t be the best chassis (底盘) maker or software maker, but the company that nails the interaction between man and machine.(但哈克特反映出，福特的赌注是，赢家不会是最好的底盘制造商或软件制造商，而是能够把握人机交互的公司)”和最后一段的““This is what we call the design gap,” said Hackett in an interview, pointing to the space between two lines on a graph he’d drawn on a whiteboard. One line climbs up—this is a company’s skill at making things, which goes up over time. Below it is a downward line, representing a company’s understanding of the customer’s experience. (哈克特在一次采访中指着他在白板上画的图上两条线之间的空间说。有一条线在上升——这是一家公司制造东西的技能，随着时间的推移而上升。下面是一条向下的线，代表一家公司对客户体验的理解)”推知，长期以来，福特一直忽视客户的体验。故选B项。
20．A 21．C 22．B 23．D
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了一场通过赛马进行网速比拼的比赛，介绍了经过以及背后存在的网速问题。
20．推理判断题。根据第一段“The last time the horse seriously competed with man-made transport for speed was 1830, when a stagecoach won a race against America’s first domestically manufactured steam locomotive (蒸汽机车).(上一次马与人造交通工具在速度上的激烈竞争是在1830年，当时一辆公共马车赢得了与美国第一辆国产蒸汽机车的比赛)”以及第二段“Now horsekind has emerged victorious over what is in theory a far more powerful opponent — the broadband internet connection.(现在，“马”战胜了理论上强大得多的对手——宽带互联网连接)”可推知，第一段提到公共马车的故事主要是为了引出话题。故选A。
21．细节理解题。根据第六段“Favo made the journey in 104 minutes.(Favo只用了104分钟就走完了全程)”可知，C选项“他们在不到两个小时内完成了任务”正确。故选C。
22．细节理解题。根据最后一段“The horse race did its job: Mr Kappest has since been assured that his broadband will be up and running next month.(这场“赛马”起到了它的作用：从那以后，Kappest先生得到了保证，他的宽带将于下个月投入使用)”可知，比赛结果是Kappest先生很快就会有更好的网络连接。故选B。
23．主旨大意题。根据第二段“Now horsekind has emerged victorious over what is in theory a far more powerful opponent — the broadband internet connection.(现在，“马”战胜了理论上强大得多的对手——宽带互联网连接)”结合文章主要说明了一场通过赛马进行网速比拼的比赛，介绍了经过以及背后存在的网速问题。可知，D选项“在与乡村wifi的比赛中，马力仍然有优势”最符合文章标题。故选D。
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）More and more, movies are either partly or entirely digital constructions that are created with computers. Right before our eyes, motion pictures are undergoing a revolution that may have more far-reaching, fundamental impact than the introduction of sound, color or television. Whether these changes are hardly visible or overwhelmingly obvious, digital technology is transforming how we look at movies and what movies look like, from modestly budgeted movies shot with digital cameras to blockbusters loaded with computer-generated imagery.
Predigital artifacts-typewriters and record players, maybe also books and newspaper — are often beautiful, but their charm will not save them from being eliminated. And the new techniques have their own appeal, to artists as well as consumers. Leading manufacturers are pushing out the production of 35-millimeter cameras. Within the next few years digital projection will not only be dominant at the major cinemas, but at art houses too
But film isn’t dead yet, despite the rush to bury it, particularly by the big studios. Film does not have to disappear. Film isn’t broken — it works wonderfully well and has done so for a century. There is nothing inevitable or natural about the end of film, no matter how seductive (诱人的) the digital technologies and. gadgets that are transforming cinema. A 16-millimeter film camera is plenty cool. A 35-millimeter film image can look amazing. On the other hand, we’re seeing too many movies that look thin, smeared (图像模糊), or too sharply outlined and don’t have the luxurious density of film and often the color.
The end of film isn’t technologically inevitable; it’s also about economics. In 2002 seven major studios formed the Digital Cinema Initiative, the purpose of which was “to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.”
What these initiatives effectively did was outline the technological parameters (参数) that everyone who wants to do business with the studios — from software developers to hardware manufacturers — must follow. As the theorist David Bordwell writes, “Theaters’ shift from 35-millimeter film to digital presentation was designed by and for an industry that deals in mass output, saturation releases and quick turnover.”
24．The movie industry is now experiencing a bigger revolution than ________.
A．the transmission of sound signal through telephone
B．the birth of color film in the history of film-making
C．the broadcasting of news report on the television
D．the invention of computer and its application
25．Unlike record players, books, etc., film ________.
A．is more attractive to consumers and artists
B．is more readily accessible in public places
C．looks more amazing when it is created digitally
D．has not become eliminated owing to its unique appeal
26．Film has all the advantages over tech-support movies except ________.
A．greater image clarity B．rich color C．sharper outline D．higher density
27．The main objective of the Digital Cinema Initiatives is to ________.
A．set up technological standards for digitally made movies
B．help the movie industry survive the economic difficulties
C．save film from dying or being replaced by moving pictures
D．make it technologically possible to mass produce movies
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Now that you know the answer to the question “What is artificial intelligence ” you might be wondering where it is. The fact of the matter is that AI is everywhere in our world. Here are just a few common ways you interact with it on a daily basis without even realizing it.
Gaming
One of the most famous examples of early AI was the chess computer we noted earlier, Deep Blue. In 1997, the computer was able to think much like a human chess player and beat chess grand master Garry Kasparov. This artificial intelligence technology has since progressed to what we now see in Xboxes, PlayStations and computer games. When you’re playing against an opponent in a game, AI is running that character to anticipate your moves and react. If you’re a gamer, you’ll definitely be interested in the difference between AR and VR—and how AI relates to both.
Cars
Another example of artificial intelligence is collision correction in cars and self-driving vehicles. The AI anticipates what other drivers will do and reacts to avoid collisions using sensors and cameras as the computer’s eyes. While current self-driving cars still need humans at the ready in case of trouble, in the future you may be able to sleep while your vehicle gets you from point A to point B．Fully autonomous cars have already been created, but they are not currently available for purchase due to the need for further testing.
Health care
Currently, doctors are using artificial intelligence in health care to detect tumors at a better success rate than human radiologists, according to a paper published by the Royal College of Physicians in 2019. Robots are also being used to assist doctors in performing surgeries. For example, AI can warn a surgeon that they are about to puncture an artery accidentally, as well as perform minimally invasive surgery and subsequently prevent hand tremors by doctors.
Plus, robots come in handy when organizing clinical trials. AI can pick out possible candidates much more quickly than humans by scanning applications for the right ages, sex, symptoms and more. They can also input and organize data about the candidates, trial results and other information quickly.
28．What do we know about Deep Blue
A．It is the first AI chess game computer ever created by human.
B．It defeated a grand chess master because it could think like a human.
C．If you play against Deep Blue, you will be interested in it.
D．Deep Blue is able to guess its opponents’ next moves and take actions against them.
29．What does the underlined words mean
A．come into force B．are of help C．are readily available D．come into being
30．Which of the following statement is true according to the passage
A．As long as the test is done, self-driving cars will be available for sale.
B．AI is highly accurate in tumor detection in health care industry.
C．AI can function as good assistants for doctors in multiple aspects.
D．AI can help correct the errors made by doctors when performing surgeries.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Like many historical films, Amadeus is far from a faithful account of what is known about the period and the people that it portrays. Events are exaggerated and simplified, and the complexity of real characters is reduced to suit the needs of a dramatic contrast between good and evil. Such historical liberties are often complained by experts, but few have seemed to mind the wayward story points of Amadeus. This is no doubt partly attributable to the film’s high entertainment value: it is an unusually lively and funny historical film. Furthermore, the film’s appeal is also attributable to Mozart’s music.
For all its liberties, the story is actually based on a real rumor that circulated in Vienna in the 1820s. While gravely ill, the rival composer Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) confessed he had murdered Mozart decades earlier by poisoning him. Salieri was suffering from dementia (痴呆) at the time of this confession, and he later withdrew it, but some chose to believe the claim. More than 150 years later, the English playwright Peter Shaffer based the story of Amadeus not just on Salieri’s confession but also the idea that Salieri had suffered from a deep and bitter jealousy of Mozart. In the fun-loving Mozart, the story goes, Salieri saw a true genius — one who made his own talent and accomplishments appear overshadowed — and this drove him on a vendetta (宿怨) that ultimately resulted in murder.
Shaffer’s story makes for great drama biased against Salieri. If Salieri had little reason to fear or resent Mozarfs success, there was naturally a degree of rivalry between two men working in the same profession and in the same city. Salieri and Mozart belonged to separate musical groups, and Italian and German opera fell into and out of favor during this period. The composers were therefore striving for work, including post of musical tutor to the Princess of Wiirttemberg, which Salieri successfully attained, they saw their operas’ debut side by side, yet there is little evidence of any hostility Mozart did complain in a letter to his father that Joseph H favored Salieri over all other that observation was an accurate one. Both Mozart and his father suspected that, behind the scenes, Salieri tried to undermine Mozart’s success, but these were hardly unusual suspicions in a field so reliant on sponsorship. In public, fellow composers reported that Mozart, and Salieri were friendly with another. Shortly after the premiere of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Salieri attended a performance with Mozart, and applauded warmly and vigorously. Thus, any ill feeling between Mozart and Salieri was borne by the former rather than the latter — contrary to what is strongly depicted in Amadeus — and it stemmed from Salieri’s status and success rather than his perceived averageness.
31．According to the author, Amadeus’s appeal comes from the following EXCEPT ________.
A．depiction of Mozart’s character
B．actors’ excellent performance
C．a storyline true to history
D．Mozart’s music in the film
32．There was some rivalry between Mozart and Salieri mainly because they ________.
A．lived and worked in the same city
B．competed for musical work and post
C．joined different musical groups
D．suspected each other on some occasions
33．What does the author think of the cause of ill feeling between the two men
A．Mozart’s experience of breaking up with his father.
B．Salieri’s attempt to undermine Mozart’s success.
C．Mozart’s success and status as a musical talent.
D．Salieri’s success and status in the musical circle.
34．Throughout the passage, the author mainly attempts to ________.
A．correct some distorted details in the film
B．analyze how the film appeals to audience
C．highlight the entertainment value of the film
D．give an account of Mozart as a genius musician
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）How to Survive a Disaster
At seven o’clock in the evening of 27 September 1994, the cruise ferry MS Estonia left Tallin with 989 people on board, heading for Stockholm. It never got there. Within an hour it had sunk, taking with it 852 of its passengers and crew. The death toll was so high that it appeared that many people drowned because they did nothing to save themselves. John Leach, a military survival instructor, found that in life-threatening situations, around 75% of people are so bewildered by the situation that they are unable to think clearly or plot their escape.
Why do so many people die when they need not, when they have the physical means to save themselves Why do so many give up, or fail to adjust to the unfolding crisis In most disaster scenarios, you don’t need special skills to survive. You just need to know what you should do.
Emergency exit
We haven’t always had a clear picture of what people really do in emergencies. Engineers designing evacuation procedures used to assume that people respond immediately when they hear an alarm, smell smoke or feel their building shake or their boat begins to list.
Yet as cases in recent decades began to show, the real challenge is getting them to move quickly enough. Rather than madness, or an animalistic stampede for the exits, it is often people’s reluctance to panic that puts them at higher risk.
One study found that half of those who survived delayed before trying to escape, making phone calls, tidying things into drawers, locking their office door, going to the toilet, completing emails, shutting down their computer. One woman accustomed to bicycling to work even returned to her office to change into her tracksuit before trying to leave.
Survival mode
The prevailing psychological explanation for these kinds of behaviours is that they are caused by a failure to adapt to a sudden change in the environment.
“In emergencies, quite often events are happening faster than you can process them” explains Leach. The situation outruns our capacity to think our way out of it. This explains why in emergencies people often fail to do things that under normal circumstances would seem obvious. So the only reliable way to shortcut this kind of impaired thinking is by preparing for an emergency in advance. Typically, survivors survive not because they are braver or more heroic than anyone else, but because they are better prepared.
Stronger together
Drury, Cocking and Reicher have documented many examples of collective resilience. Cocking thinks that people’s tendency to cooperate during emergencies increases the chances of survival for everyone.
The chances are you will never find yourself in a disaster situation. But it’s a good idea to imagine that you will: to be aware that there are threats out there, and that you can prepare for them, without sliding into panic. “All you have to do is ask yourself one simple question,” says Leach. “If something happens, what is my first response Once you can answer that, everything else will fall into place. It’s that simple.”
35．What happened to the cruise ferry MS Estonia
A．It sank in an hour after its departure from Tallin.
B．75% of the people on board were killed in the end.
C．Many were mentally paralyzed facing the disaster.
D．People on board lacked necessary survival facilities.
36．Which of the following behaviors is appropriate when a disaster happens
A．Reminding others by phone B．Recalling specific survival kills
C．Being brave to help others D．Responding to the alarm quickly
37．Which of the following is True
A．It is beneficial to imagine the threats to conquer panic when you’re facing a disaster.
B．Preparation ahead of time works best to handle inability to respond to emergency.
C．Emergencies often happen so fast that people can’t think out of the box on the scene.
D．Engineers design evacuation procedures by fully understanding people’s responses.
24．C 25．D 26．C 27．A
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了数字电影正在替代传统胶片电影。
24．细节理解题。根据第一段中“Right before our eyes, motion pictures are undergoing a revolution that may have more far-reaching, fundamental impact than the introduction of sound, color or television. (就在我们眼前，电影正在经历一场革命，它可能比声音、色彩或电视的引入产生更深远、更根本的影响)”可知，电影业正在经历一场比彩色电影在电影制作史上的诞生更大的革命。故选C项。
25．推理判断题。根据第二段中“Predigital artifacts-typewriters and record players, maybe also books and newspaper — are often beautiful, but their charm will not save them from being eliminated.(前数字时代的人工制品——打字机和电唱机，也许还有书和报纸——通常都很漂亮，但它们的魅力并不能使它们免于被淘汰)”以及第三段中“But film isn’t dead yet, despite the rush to bury it, particularly by the big studios.(但电影还没有死，尽管人们急于埋葬它，尤其是大制片厂)”可推知，与电唱机、书籍等不同，电影因为其独特的吸引力没有被淘汰。故选D项。
26．推理判断题。根据第三段中“On the other hand, we’re seeing too many movies that look thin, smeared, or too sharply outlined and don’t have the luxurious density of film and often the color.(另一方面，我们看到太多的电影看起来很薄，模糊不清，或者轮廓太明显，没有电影的奢华密度和色彩)”可推知，除了更清晰的轮廓之外，电影拥有技术支持电影的所有优势。故选C项。
27．细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中“In 2002 seven major studios formed the Digital Cinema Initiative, the purpose of which was “to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.”(2002年，七家主要电影公司成立了数字电影倡议组织，其目的是“建立和记录数字电影开放架构的自愿规范，以确保统一和高水平的技术性能、可靠性和质量控制。”)”可知，the Digital Cinema Initiatives的主要目标是建立数码电影的技术标准。故选A项。
28．D 29．B 30．D
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章简要介绍了人工智能在日常生活中的几个应用场景。
28．细节理解题。根据“Gaming”部分的“When you’re playing against an opponent in a game, AI is running that character to anticipate your moves and react.( 当你在游戏中与对手比赛时，人工智能会运行该角色来预测你的动作并做出反应)”可知，深蓝能够猜测对手的下一步行动，并采取行动，故选D项。
29．词句猜测题。根据下文“AI can pick out possible candidates much more quickly than humans by scanning applications for the right ages, sex, symptoms and more.( 人工智能可以通过扫描合适的年龄、性别、症状等应用程序，比人类更快地筛选出可能的候选人)”可知，人工智能在组织临床试验时派上了用场，所以可以推理出划线词的含义应为“有帮助”，故选B项。
30．细节理解题。根据倒数第二段“For example, AI can warn a surgeon that they are about to puncture an artery accidentally, as well as perform minimally invasive surgery (例如，人工智能可以警告外科医生，他们即将意外刺破动脉。人工智能也可以进行微创手术)”可知，人工智能可以帮助纠正医生在进行手术时犯下的错误，故选D项。
31．C 32．B 33．D 34．A
【导语】本文是一篇说明文，主要讲的是Amadeus这部史诗电影中的一些失真的细节。
31．细节理解题。根据第一段的“Like many historical films, Amadeus is far from a faithful account of what is known about the period and the people that it portrays. Events are exaggerated and simplified, and the complexity of real characters is reduced to suit the needs of a dramatic contrast between good and evil. Such historical liberties are often complained by experts, but few have seemed to mind the wayward story points of Amadeus. This is no doubt partly attributable to the film’s high entertainment value: it is an unusually lively and funny historical film. Furthermore, the film’s appeal is also attributable to Mozart’s music. (像许多历史电影一样，Amadeus远没有忠实地描述它所描绘的时代和人物。事件被夸大和简化，真实人物的复杂性被降低，以适应善恶之间戏剧性对比的需要。专家们经常抱怨这样的历史自由，但似乎很少有人在意Amadeus中任性的故事点。毫无疑问，这在一定程度上归功于这部电影的高娱乐价值：这是一部异常生动有趣的历史电影。此外，这部电影的吸引力也归功于莫扎特的音乐。)”可知，Amadeus的吸引力不包括C选项“a storyline true to history (真实的历史故事情节)”，故选C。
32．细节理解题。根据第三段的“If Salieri had little reason to fear or resent Mozarfs success, there was naturally a degree of rivalry between two men working in the same profession and in the same city. Salieri and Mozart belonged to separate musical groups, and Italian and German opera fell into and out of favor during this period. The composers were therefore striving for work, including post of musical tutor to the Princess of Wiirttemberg, which Salieri successfully attained, they saw their operas’ debut side by side, yet there is little evidence of any hostility Mozart did complain in a letter to his father that Joseph H favored Salieri over all other that observation was an accurate one. (如果Salieri没有理由害怕或怨恨莫扎特的成功，那么在同一城市从事同一职业的两人之间自然会有一定程度的竞争。Salieri和莫扎特属于不同的音乐团体，意大利和德国的歌剧在这一时期兴衰交替。因此，作曲家们都在努力工作，包括Salieri成功获得的Princess of Wiirttemberg的音乐导师职位，他们并肩观看了他们的歌剧首演，但几乎没有任何敌意的证据，莫扎特在给父亲的一封信中抱怨说，Joseph H最喜欢Salieri，这是一个准确的观察。)”可知，莫扎特和Salieri之间有一些竞争，主要是因为他们竞争音乐作品和职位，故选B。
33．细节理解题。根据第三段的“The composers were therefore striving for work, including post of musical tutor to the Princess of Wiirttemberg, which Salieri successfully attained (因此，作曲家们都在努力工作，包括Salieri成功获得的Princess of Wiirttemberg的音乐导师职位)”和最后一段的“Thus, any ill feeling between Mozart and Salieri was borne by the former rather than the latter — contrary to what is strongly depicted in Amadeus — and it stemmed from Salieri’s status and success rather than his perceived averageness. (因此，莫扎特和Salieri之间的任何怨恨都是由前者承担的，而不是后者——这与Amadeus中强烈描述的相反——而且这种怨恨源于Salieri的地位和成功，而不是他被认为的平庸。)”可知，作者认为这两个人之间产生嫌隙的原因是Salieri在音乐界的成功和地位。故选D。
34．细节理解题。通读全文，尤其是第一段的“Like many historical films, Amadeus is far from a faithful account of what is known about the period and the people that it portrays. Events are exaggerated and simplified, and the complexity of real characters is reduced to suit the needs of a dramatic contrast between good and evil. (像许多历史电影一样，Amadeus远没有忠实地描述它所描绘的时代和人物。事件被夸大和简化，真实人物的复杂性被降低，以适应善恶之间戏剧性对比的需要。)”和最后一段的“Thus, any ill feeling between Mozart and Salieri was borne by the former rather than the latter — contrary to what is strongly depicted in Amadeus — and it stemmed from Salieri’s status and success rather than his perceived averageness. (因此，莫扎特和Salieri之间的任何怨恨都是由前者承担的，而不是后者——这与Amadeus中强烈描述的相反——而且这种怨恨源于Salieri的地位和成功，而不是他被认为的平庸。)”可知，在整篇文章中，作者主要试图修正影片中一些失真的细节，故选A。
35．C 36．D 37．B
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了如何在灾难中存活下来的方法。
35．细节理解题。根据第一段“The death toll was so high that it appeared that many people drowned because they did nothing to save themselves. John Leach, a military survival instructor, found that in life-threatening situations, around 75% of people are so bewildered by the situation that they are unable to think clearly or plot their escape.(死亡人数如此之高，以至于似乎许多人淹死了，因为他们没有采取任何自救措施。军事生存教官约翰·利奇发现，在危及生命的情况下，大约75%的人会被这种情况弄得不知所措，以至于他们无法清晰地思考或计划逃跑)”可知，“爱沙尼亚号”邮轮上许多人在面对灾难时精神崩溃。故选C。
36．细节理解题。根据第三段“Engineers designing evacuation procedures used to assume that people respond immediately when they hear an alarm, smell smoke or feel their building shake or their boat begins to list.(设计疏散程序的工程师过去常常假设，当人们听到警报、闻到烟味、感觉到建筑物晃动或船只开始倾斜时，他们会立即做出反应)”可知，当灾难发生时，合适的行为是迅速对警报作出反应。故选D。
37．细节理解题。根据倒数第三段“So the only reliable way to shortcut this kind of impaired thinking is by preparing for an emergency in advance.(因此，唯一可靠的捷径就是提前为紧急情况做好准备)”可知，B选项“提前准备是处理无法应对紧急情况的最佳方法”正确。故选B。专题06 阅读理解之说明文10篇
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）“Time is a problem for kids,” states a new report for a new Swiss watch. Children in some countries “learn time slowly” because “they don’t wear watches” and “parents don’t really know how to teach them time”. The kids grow up with this handicap and become adults — and then can’t get to work on time. Is there an answer to this problem Of course — it’s the Flik Flak made by a famous Swiss watch company.
The Flik Flak is being marked as something teaching watch for children aged 4 to 10. The watch itself does not teach kids how to tell time, of course; it merely “captures their imagination” by presenting the “hour” hand as a beautiful red girl named Flak and the “minute” hand as a tall blue boy named Flik. Flik points to the corresponding “blue” minute on the dial, while Flak points to the red hour number. The characters and the colors combined with parental help are supposed to teach young children how to tell time.
The watch comes equipped with a standard battery and a nylon band. Peter Lipkin, the United States sales manager for the Flik Flak, calls it “kidproof”: if it gets dirty you can throw the whole watch in the washing machine. The product is being sold in select department stores in Europe, Asia and the United States for a suggested price of $25. Parents who buy the watch may discover that it is one thing for kids to tell time; it’s quite another for them to be on time.
1．The author doesn’t seem to believe ________.
A．the Flik Flak can capture children’s imagination
B．a Flik Flak can help parents teach their children how to tell time
C．children will be on time if they have learnt how to tell time
D．children usually have trouble telling time if they don’t wear watches
2．Flik and Flak in the passage stand for ________.
A．a tall boy and a beautiful girl B．the designers of the watch
C．the Swiss watch company D．the minute hand and the hour hand
3．The United States sales manager calls the new watch “kidproof” because ________.
A．it is designed to teach children to be on time
B．it proves to be effective in teaching children time
C．it is made so as not to be easily damaged by children
D．it is the children’s favourite watch
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Give the Senate (参议院) some credit: in shaping the current immigration-reform bill, it has come up with one idea that almost everybody hates. That’s the plan to create a new class of “guest workers” — immigrants who would be allowed to work in the U.S. for three two-year stretches, at most, provided that they return home to stay for a year after each visit. Conservatives dislike the plan because they believe that the guest workers won’t return home after their visas expire. Liberals dislike it because they believe the program will depress American wages and trap guest workers. The only supporters of the bill are businesses that rely heavily on immigrant labor, and they’re probably just looking out for themselves.
With the broader concerns about the effects of illegal immigration, the hostility to the new plan is understandable. However imperfect, the guest-worker program is better than any politically feasible alternative. Opponents of immigration sometimes imply that adding workers to a work-force automatically brings wages down. But immigrants tend to work in different industries than native workers, and have different skills, and so they often end up complementing native workers rather than competing with them. That can make native workers more productive and therefore better off.
According to a recent study by the economists Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri, immigration actually boosted the wages of most American workers; its only negative effect was a small one, on the wages of workers without a high-school diploma. And if by increasing the number of legal guest workers we reduced the number of undocumented workers, the economy would benefit even more.
Guest workers are also, paradoxically, less likely than illegal immigrants to become permanent residents. The U.S. already has a number of smaller—and less well-designed—temporary-worker programs, and there’s no evidence that workers in those plans routinely overstay their visas. One remarkable study found that after border enforcement was stepped up in 1993 the chance of an illegal immigrant returning to his homeland to stay fell by a third.
In fact, whatever benefits the guest-worker program brought to the U.S. economy or to particular businesses, the biggest winners would be the workers themselves. There are few, if any, foreign-aid programs that do as much for people in developing countries as simply allowing them to work in U. S. legally. This program’s costs to American workers are insignificant, the gains for the guest workers are enormous, and the U.S. economy will benefit. This is that rare option which is both sensible and politically possible.
4．According to the passage, the guest-worker program ________.
A．allows immigrants to work in the U.S. for six continuous years
B．has aroused criticism from conservatives, liberals and the business world
C．will make local workers more productive as it brings fierce competition
D．is a sensible approach to resolving the illegal immigration problems
5．Gianmarco Ottaviano and Giovanni Peri point out that immigration ________.
A．is immune from negative effects
B．will root out undocumented labourers
C．has led to economic prosperity and social stability
D．has enhanced wages of most American workers
6．Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 4
A．Illegal immigrants are more likely to stay permanently in the U.S. than guest workers.
B．With stepped-up border control, illegal immigrants are more likely to stay in their homeland.
C．Workers in temporary-worker programs usually pay no attention to their visa duration.
D．Guest workers will not stay too long because of the enhanced border enforcement.
7．What is the author’s attitude towards guest workers’ plan
A．Indifferent. B．Neutral. C．Favorable. D．Negative.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）The outstanding biography portrays the life of the complicated Renaissance artist with details. We come to see da Vinci as not only an inventor of musical instruments and early flying machines, but also a notebook keeper and vegetarian, who had trouble finishing many of the projects and paintings he started.
Yet what is most thrilling is getting to know da Vinci the scientist. Isaacson explains how loving science and applying the scientific method to observing the world was really what made da Vinci a great artist and, Isaacson argues, a genius. Da Vinci was fascinated with observing and understanding phenomena in nature. He wanted to know about everything around him, in minute detail, Isaacson writes. He wondered about questions “most people over the age of ten no longer puzzle about”—for instance, how the tongue of a woodpecker works.
To learn about the world, da Vinci combined his own observations with experimentation. Never formally schooled, “he preferred to induce from experiments rather than deduce from theoretical principles,” Isaacson explains. He recorded his observations, looked for patterns among them, and then tested those patterns through additional observation and experimentation.
When he became fascinated with the idea that he could invent flying machines, he observed various birds and filled notebooks with the function and speed at which their wings flapped. That’s why Isaacson calls da Vinci an exemplar of this scientific method. He goes on: “Galileo, born 112 years after Leonardo, is usually credited with being the first to develop this kind of approach and is often regarded as the father of modern science.” There can be no doubt that this honor would have been bestowed on Leonardo da Vinci had he published his scientific writings during his lifetime.
Da Vinci’s emphasis on empirical observation also helped him improve his art. First, he was able to use what he learned from looking at nature to paint and draw. His studies of the body, animals, motion, shadow and light, perspective and proportion helped him better understand what he was seeing in front of him, and render it in art more accurately and finely than anyone else of his time. Most importantly, his ability to connect art and science, helped him innovate in his work. Da Vinci made surprisingly diverse series of discoveries, including conceptualizing the helicopter and solar power and advancing knowledge about everything from the reproductive organs to botany. This genius is also what drew Isaacson to Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs as subjects: They’re all innovators who were inspired by and drew connections between art and science.
“Leonardo da Vinci is the ultimate example of the main theme of my previous biographies: how the ability to make connections across disciplines-arts and sciences, humanities and technology—is a key to innovation, imagination, and genius,” Isaacson writes. And this wonderful book is a reminder, in a time of increasingly narrow specialization and focus, that the methods of Renaissance men like da Vinci are as relevant as ever.
8．What made da Vinci a great artist
A．Viewing the world from the perspective of science.
B．Combining experimentation with theoretical principles.
C．Attempting to know about the world like a child.
D．Being filled with ambition to become an artist and inventor.
9．Why does Isaacson mention Galileo in the book
A．To introduce his important findings.
B．To memorize the father of modern science.
C．To show the prejudice faced by da Vinci during his lifetime.
D．To illustrate the significance of da Vinci’s research method.
10．Which of the following statements is true
A．Da Vinci improved his art and drew more accurately by painting mostly in the natural world.
B．The methods of Renaissance men like da Vinci can still apply to contemporary scientific research.
C．Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs are as famous as da Vinci because they all have a talent for combining art with science.
D．Da Vinci failed to publish his scientific writing because the scientific method kept in it was too complicated to understand at that time.
11．What might be the best title for the passage
A．How a Genius Changed the World
B．The Features of Renaissance Art
C．How Science Shaped His Art
D．The Comparison between Induction and Deduction
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Lawmakers in New Jersey recently advanced a bill that would ban businesses from going cashless — a move that would put the state at odds with the global trend toward electronic payments but would strengthen resistance from local officials who see no-cash policies as discriminatory.
Almost 1 of 3 Americans in 2018 say they don’t use cash during a typical week of purchases, according to a Pew Research Center study released this week. The findings reveal that Americans are becoming less reliant on paper currency, mirroring shifts in Sweden, India and China.
But state and local officials say that restaurants and shops that adopt cashless policies have left some members of the community behind - individuals without the means to open a bank account or who lack access to lines of credit or the mobile apps that power digital payments.
The New Jersey measure, which would apply only to face-to-face sales and would exclude Internet and phone purchases, comes as officials push similar efforts to bar no-cash rules in New York, Philadelphia and the District.
While cashless policies offer consumers the promise of convenience and provide businesses greater protection against theft and shoddy record-keeping, they also can exclude low-income consumers or undocumented immigrants, critics say.
“Cash-free businesses are discriminatory by design and pose challenges to low-income communities that may not have access to credit/debit,” New York City Council member Ritchie Torres said on Twitter last month when he introduced a bill that would ban the practice.
According to the Pew study, the decline in the use of physical currency is uneven among the population when race, age and income are accounted for. Pew found a significant gap in cashless adoption tied to annual household income, with adults making at least $75,000 more than twice as likely to make all their purchases without using cash in a typical week, compared with people who make less than $30,000.
The Pew findings suggest that the benefits of going cashless may come with a cost that only some groups of people will bear. Americans with lower incomes are roughly four times as likely than higher earners to make all or almost all of their purchases with cash, according to the study.
As CNBC has noted, business leaders have defended cashless policies by pointing to higher security and improved customer service and efficiency, even as they acknowledge their critics. Some advocates have focused on providing people who are underserved by the traditional banking system with more affordable options, attacking the root cause behind the criticisms of cashless payments.
*Note: CNBC美国消费者新闻与商业频道
12．What can be inferred about the global trend towards electronic payments
A．Countries in the world are banning digital payments in their own ways.
B．Most countries are experiencing the increasing digitalization of payments.
C．Some countries are proposing measures to discourage cashless policies.
D．Most countries are actively promoting the circulation of physical currencies.
13．Why are some people left behind by no-cash policies
A．Because they are opposed to electronic payments.
B．Because they lack the motive to open a bank account.
C．Because they don’t have access to financial institutions.
D．Because they are unable to use payment-related mobile apps.
14．Cashless policies may bring about the following benefits EXCEPT ________.
A．great convenience to consumers
B．greater protection against theft
C．excluding undocumented immigrants
D．improvement in customer service and efficiency
15．What is implied in the passage
A．Americans with higher income are more likely to use cash.
B．Paper currencies will be replaced by digital payments soon.
C．Some people may pay a price for adopting electronic payments.
D．The gap in household income is irrelevant to the payment habits of people.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Our lives are made up of human-machine interactions—with smartphones, televisions, computers—that have the power to delight and, often, frustrate. Into this area has stepped a new class of professional: the user-experience, or UX, designer, whose job is to see a product not from an engineer’s, marketer’s, or legal department’s perspective but from the viewpoint of the user alone. And to insist that the customer should not have to learn to speak the company’s internal language. The company should learn to speak the customer’s.
According to a recent survey, the role of UX designers has become a fixture on those year-end “hottest job” lists. If you want to study UX, you now have the option at some three dozen institutions in the United States, including Carnegie Mellon and the University of Washington. But Ford is one of the few major industrial companies in the U.S. to put a UX expert, Jim Hackett, in charge.
At present, the question facing the car industry is basically whether high-tech giants such as Tesla and Google can learn car-making technology trains faster than Ford, GM, and other carmakers can learn software and algorithms. But Hackett reflects Ford’s bet that the winner won’t be the best chassis (底盘) maker or software maker, but the company that nails the interaction between man and machine. “One of the things that drew me to Jim was his commitment to design thinking, which puts the human being at the center of the equation,” explained Bill Ford, the company’s executive chairman.
Hackett retired from Steelcase, a furniture maker, in 2014 and in 2016, Bill Ford hired him to run the automaker’s Smart Mobility subsidiary, which was tasked with rethinking from the ground up how cars would be driven, powered, and owned. “This is what we call the design gap,” said Hackett in an interview, pointing to the space between two lines on a graph he’d drawn on a whiteboard. One line climbs up—this is a company’s skill at making things, which goes up over time. Below it is a downward line, representing a company’s understanding of the customer’s experience. This, he said, can decline over time, as a company loses sight of the problems it’s in the business of solving. The design gap may be noticeable when the job is, say, building a marginally better tailgate for the Ford F-150. But it becomes positively yawning when your industry is so thoroughly turned on its head that you’re forced to ask some basic questions: Do people want to own their cars or share them Drive them or have them driven The flood of new technologies makes everything possible.
16．Which of the following statements best describes a UX designer’s responsibility
A．He is devoted to designing innovative products.
B．He is devoted to making a product satisfy users’ needs.
C．He is devoted to improving a company’s internal language.
D．He is devoted to understanding human-machine interactions.
17．What can be inferred from the passage
A．UX designers are regarded as one of those best-paid jobs.
B．High-tech giants have taken the lead in car manufacturing.
C．Companies are laying greater emphasis on customers’ feelings.
D．The UX courses provided by the US institutions are far from enough,
18．Ford hires Jim Hackett because the company believes that _______.
A．it is currently facing the biggest challenge that needs a new perspective
B．Hackett’s design thinking is quite different from other UX professionals
C．customers’ experience plays a decisive role in the car-making competition
D．Steelcase gave Hackett enough time and experience to grow up into an expert
19．What is Jim Hackett most likely to agree with
A．Ford should pay less attention to new technologies.
B．Ford has long been ignoring customers’ experience.
C．Ford is no longer a leading company in auto making skills.
D．Ford has made a wrong decision to build a tailgate for the F-150.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）The last time the horse seriously competed with man-made transport for speed was 1830, when a stagecoach won a race against America’s first domestically manufactured steam locomotive (蒸汽机车).
Now horsekind has emerged victorious over what is in theory a far more powerful opponent — the broadband internet connection.
The contest over the gently rolling hills of the Sauerland, a pretty district in western Germany, started as a joke.
Klaus-Peter Kappest, a photographer from Oberkirchen, had been frustrated for years by the slow pace of his uploads. At 15 megabits (比特,一种信息量单位) per second, it sometimes takes him several hours to send a batch of high-resolution images to his clients. One day Mr Kappest, 52, was chatting to his colleagues at Woll, a local magazine. He suggested that he would be better off delivering his photographs by horse. “That was the most reliable communications technology in the Middle Ages,” he said. “And the editor said, ‘Well let’s do it then, let’s see which is truly faster.”
Mr Kappest turned to Jakob Schutte, a rider who lives in the same village, and Favo, his horse. The photographer burnt 4.2GB of images on to a DVD, packed it into a bag and sent it off with Favo and Mr Schutte on the 10km ride to the printer’s office in Schmallenberg.
At the same time he uploaded the data through WeTransfer, a popular file-sharing service. The computer had a 20-minute head start while Mr Schutte started off down the road, past Wilzenberg mountain. Favo made the journey in 104 minutes. The file transfer, however, was not finished until the horse had returned to Oberkirchen more than two hours later. In total it took five hours.
There was a serious point behind the story. Germany has long been known for its poor broadband and mobile internet coverage, particularly in the countryside. Two years ago a report by a network regulator found that 29 per cent of internet users received less than half the speed to which they were contractually entitled. While things have improved, a global survey carried out this year found that it took on average 16 minutes and eight seconds to download a 5GB film through a German internet connection—a little better than the UK but worse than Puerto Rico and Barbados.
In the Sauerland, Mr Kappest’s area, millions of euros have been spent on a new network but the connections have yet to be switched on in dozens of towns and villages, including Oberkirchen. The horse race did its job: Mr Kappest has since been assured that his broadband will be up and running next month.
20．The story of a stagecoach is mentioned in the first paragraph mainly to _______.
A．lead in the topic B．introduce a new race
C．highlight a historical year D．correct people’s misunderstanding
21．Which of the following is true of Jakob Schutte and his horse
A．They were hired by WeTransfer.
B．They used to live in Schmallenberg.
C．They completed the task in less than two hours.
D．They spent five hours on the way to Oberkirchen.
22．Which of the following is a consequence of the horse race
A．Germany will realize its poor broadband service.
B．Mr Kappest will soon have a better internet connection.
C．More euros will be spent on the new network in the Sauerland.
D．Oberkirchen will be the first in Germany to stop any horse race,
23．Which of the following may be the best title of the passage
A．Germany falls behind in wifi connection
B．History hardly repeats itself in normal ways
C．Uploading photographs in a modern world is all that easy
D．Horse power still has an advantage in race with village wifi
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）More and more, movies are either partly or entirely digital constructions that are created with computers. Right before our eyes, motion pictures are undergoing a revolution that may have more far-reaching, fundamental impact than the introduction of sound, color or television. Whether these changes are hardly visible or overwhelmingly obvious, digital technology is transforming how we look at movies and what movies look like, from modestly budgeted movies shot with digital cameras to blockbusters loaded with computer-generated imagery.
Predigital artifacts-typewriters and record players, maybe also books and newspaper — are often beautiful, but their charm will not save them from being eliminated. And the new techniques have their own appeal, to artists as well as consumers. Leading manufacturers are pushing out the production of 35-millimeter cameras. Within the next few years digital projection will not only be dominant at the major cinemas, but at art houses too
But film isn’t dead yet, despite the rush to bury it, particularly by the big studios. Film does not have to disappear. Film isn’t broken — it works wonderfully well and has done so for a century. There is nothing inevitable or natural about the end of film, no matter how seductive (诱人的) the digital technologies and. gadgets that are transforming cinema. A 16-millimeter film camera is plenty cool. A 35-millimeter film image can look amazing. On the other hand, we’re seeing too many movies that look thin, smeared (图像模糊), or too sharply outlined and don’t have the luxurious density of film and often the color.
The end of film isn’t technologically inevitable; it’s also about economics. In 2002 seven major studios formed the Digital Cinema Initiative, the purpose of which was “to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that ensures a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.”
What these initiatives effectively did was outline the technological parameters (参数) that everyone who wants to do business with the studios — from software developers to hardware manufacturers — must follow. As the theorist David Bordwell writes, “Theaters’ shift from 35-millimeter film to digital presentation was designed by and for an industry that deals in mass output, saturation releases and quick turnover.”
24．The movie industry is now experiencing a bigger revolution than ________.
A．the transmission of sound signal through telephone
B．the birth of color film in the history of film-making
C．the broadcasting of news report on the television
D．the invention of computer and its application
25．Unlike record players, books, etc., film ________.
A．is more attractive to consumers and artists
B．is more readily accessible in public places
C．looks more amazing when it is created digitally
D．has not become eliminated owing to its unique appeal
26．Film has all the advantages over tech-support movies except ________.
A．greater image clarity B．rich color C．sharper outline D．higher density
27．The main objective of the Digital Cinema Initiatives is to ________.
A．set up technological standards for digitally made movies
B．help the movie industry survive the economic difficulties
C．save film from dying or being replaced by moving pictures
D．make it technologically possible to mass produce movies
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Now that you know the answer to the question “What is artificial intelligence ” you might be wondering where it is. The fact of the matter is that AI is everywhere in our world. Here are just a few common ways you interact with it on a daily basis without even realizing it.
Gaming
One of the most famous examples of early AI was the chess computer we noted earlier, Deep Blue. In 1997, the computer was able to think much like a human chess player and beat chess grand master Garry Kasparov. This artificial intelligence technology has since progressed to what we now see in Xboxes, PlayStations and computer games. When you’re playing against an opponent in a game, AI is running that character to anticipate your moves and react. If you’re a gamer, you’ll definitely be interested in the difference between AR and VR—and how AI relates to both.
Cars
Another example of artificial intelligence is collision correction in cars and self-driving vehicles. The AI anticipates what other drivers will do and reacts to avoid collisions using sensors and cameras as the computer’s eyes. While current self-driving cars still need humans at the ready in case of trouble, in the future you may be able to sleep while your vehicle gets you from point A to point B．Fully autonomous cars have already been created, but they are not currently available for purchase due to the need for further testing.
Health care
Currently, doctors are using artificial intelligence in health care to detect tumors at a better success rate than human radiologists, according to a paper published by the Royal College of Physicians in 2019. Robots are also being used to assist doctors in performing surgeries. For example, AI can warn a surgeon that they are about to puncture an artery accidentally, as well as perform minimally invasive surgery and subsequently prevent hand tremors by doctors.
Plus, robots come in handy when organizing clinical trials. AI can pick out possible candidates much more quickly than humans by scanning applications for the right ages, sex, symptoms and more. They can also input and organize data about the candidates, trial results and other information quickly.
28．What do we know about Deep Blue
A．It is the first AI chess game computer ever created by human.
B．It defeated a grand chess master because it could think like a human.
C．If you play against Deep Blue, you will be interested in it.
D．Deep Blue is able to guess its opponents’ next moves and take actions against them.
29．What does the underlined words mean
A．come into force B．are of help C．are readily available D．come into being
30．Which of the following statement is true according to the passage
A．As long as the test is done, self-driving cars will be available for sale.
B．AI is highly accurate in tumor detection in health care industry.
C．AI can function as good assistants for doctors in multiple aspects.
D．AI can help correct the errors made by doctors when performing surgeries.
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）Like many historical films, Amadeus is far from a faithful account of what is known about the period and the people that it portrays. Events are exaggerated and simplified, and the complexity of real characters is reduced to suit the needs of a dramatic contrast between good and evil. Such historical liberties are often complained by experts, but few have seemed to mind the wayward story points of Amadeus. This is no doubt partly attributable to the film’s high entertainment value: it is an unusually lively and funny historical film. Furthermore, the film’s appeal is also attributable to Mozart’s music.
For all its liberties, the story is actually based on a real rumor that circulated in Vienna in the 1820s. While gravely ill, the rival composer Antonio Salieri (1750-1825) confessed he had murdered Mozart decades earlier by poisoning him. Salieri was suffering from dementia (痴呆) at the time of this confession, and he later withdrew it, but some chose to believe the claim. More than 150 years later, the English playwright Peter Shaffer based the story of Amadeus not just on Salieri’s confession but also the idea that Salieri had suffered from a deep and bitter jealousy of Mozart. In the fun-loving Mozart, the story goes, Salieri saw a true genius — one who made his own talent and accomplishments appear overshadowed — and this drove him on a vendetta (宿怨) that ultimately resulted in murder.
Shaffer’s story makes for great drama biased against Salieri. If Salieri had little reason to fear or resent Mozarfs success, there was naturally a degree of rivalry between two men working in the same profession and in the same city. Salieri and Mozart belonged to separate musical groups, and Italian and German opera fell into and out of favor during this period. The composers were therefore striving for work, including post of musical tutor to the Princess of Wiirttemberg, which Salieri successfully attained, they saw their operas’ debut side by side, yet there is little evidence of any hostility Mozart did complain in a letter to his father that Joseph H favored Salieri over all other that observation was an accurate one. Both Mozart and his father suspected that, behind the scenes, Salieri tried to undermine Mozart’s success, but these were hardly unusual suspicions in a field so reliant on sponsorship. In public, fellow composers reported that Mozart, and Salieri were friendly with another. Shortly after the premiere of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Salieri attended a performance with Mozart, and applauded warmly and vigorously. Thus, any ill feeling between Mozart and Salieri was borne by the former rather than the latter — contrary to what is strongly depicted in Amadeus — and it stemmed from Salieri’s status and success rather than his perceived averageness.
31．According to the author, Amadeus’s appeal comes from the following EXCEPT ________.
A．depiction of Mozart’s character
B．actors’ excellent performance
C．a storyline true to history
D．Mozart’s music in the film
32．There was some rivalry between Mozart and Salieri mainly because they ________.
A．lived and worked in the same city
B．competed for musical work and post
C．joined different musical groups
D．suspected each other on some occasions
33．What does the author think of the cause of ill feeling between the two men
A．Mozart’s experience of breaking up with his father.
B．Salieri’s attempt to undermine Mozart’s success.
C．Mozart’s success and status as a musical talent.
D．Salieri’s success and status in the musical circle.
34．Throughout the passage, the author mainly attempts to ________.
A．correct some distorted details in the film
B．analyze how the film appeals to audience
C．highlight the entertainment value of the film
D．give an account of Mozart as a genius musician
（22-23高二下·上海·期中）How to Survive a Disaster
At seven o’clock in the evening of 27 September 1994, the cruise ferry MS Estonia left Tallin with 989 people on board, heading for Stockholm. It never got there. Within an hour it had sunk, taking with it 852 of its passengers and crew. The death toll was so high that it appeared that many people drowned because they did nothing to save themselves. John Leach, a military survival instructor, found that in life-threatening situations, around 75% of people are so bewildered by the situation that they are unable to think clearly or plot their escape.
Why do so many people die when they need not, when they have the physical means to save themselves Why do so many give up, or fail to adjust to the unfolding crisis In most disaster scenarios, you don’t need special skills to survive. You just need to know what you should do.
Emergency exit
We haven’t always had a clear picture of what people really do in emergencies. Engineers designing evacuation procedures used to assume that people respond immediately when they hear an alarm, smell smoke or feel their building shake or their boat begins to list.
Yet as cases in recent decades began to show, the real challenge is getting them to move quickly enough. Rather than madness, or an animalistic stampede for the exits, it is often people’s reluctance to panic that puts them at higher risk.
One study found that half of those who survived delayed before trying to escape, making phone calls, tidying things into drawers, locking their office door, going to the toilet, completing emails, shutting down their computer. One woman accustomed to bicycling to work even returned to her office to change into her tracksuit before trying to leave.
Survival mode
The prevailing psychological explanation for these kinds of behaviours is that they are caused by a failure to adapt to a sudden change in the environment.
“In emergencies, quite often events are happening faster than you can process them” explains Leach. The situation outruns our capacity to think our way out of it. This explains why in emergencies people often fail to do things that under normal circumstances would seem obvious. So the only reliable way to shortcut this kind of impaired thinking is by preparing for an emergency in advance. Typically, survivors survive not because they are braver or more heroic than anyone else, but because they are better prepared.
Stronger together
Drury, Cocking and Reicher have documented many examples of collective resilience. Cocking thinks that people’s tendency to cooperate during emergencies increases the chances of survival for everyone.
The chances are you will never find yourself in a disaster situation. But it’s a good idea to imagine that you will: to be aware that there are threats out there, and that you can prepare for them, without sliding into panic. “All you have to do is ask yourself one simple question,” says Leach. “If something happens, what is my first response Once you can answer that, everything else will fall into place. It’s that simple.”
35．What happened to the cruise ferry MS Estonia
A．It sank in an hour after its departure from Tallin.
B．75% of the people on board were killed in the end.
C．Many were mentally paralyzed facing the disaster.
D．People on board lacked necessary survival facilities.
36．Which of the following behaviors is appropriate when a disaster happens
A．Reminding others by phone B．Recalling specific survival kills
C．Being brave to help others D．Responding to the alarm quickly
37．Which of the following is True
A．It is beneficial to imagine the threats to conquer panic when you’re facing a disaster.
B．Preparation ahead of time works best to handle inability to respond to emergency.
C．Emergencies often happen so fast that people can’t think out of the box on the scene.
D．Engineers design evacuation procedures by fully understanding people’s responses.
