专题01 阅读理解(说明文)
高频话题01 人与自然—环境保护
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏镇江·高二期中试卷
Fifty millilitres of perfume rests inside a piece of an elegantly engineered glassware. This delicate bottle, in turn, sits within an equally elegant cardboard box. This box is wrapped(包装)in a thin layer of transparent plastic film and sealed with a holographic sticker. "Would you like it gift-wrapped ”, asks the eager salesperson. Now another layer of glossy paper, complexity and ribbons is added. Finally, the whole thing is dropped into a cardboard gift bag, bearing the shop's branding.
Surely, it's the gift that counts. It turns out, however, that we appear to appreciate gifts more if they have been gift-wrapped. Studies found gift-wrapped presents were, on average, always rated more highly than non-wrapped ones. This preference was true even when gift-wrapping was pretty basic, that is, no bows or ribbons. One explanation is that, on some level, what we appreciate is the extra effort that it takes to package and gift-wrap items so delicately.
The downside of our love of beautiful packaging and seemly gift-wrapping, however, is that it has an impact on the environment. According to The Guardian, the United Kingdom alone consumes 8,000 tons of wrapping paper a year. Using the most conservative estimates, it takes approximately 12 trees to produce one ton of paper: that's about 96,000 trees in gift-wrap each year for the UK alone.
Perhaps during festive periods, we could launch highly visible campaigns urging the disposal of gift-wrap and product packaging within easily accessible recycling bins. Similarly, shops that offer gift-wrapping could be strongly encouraged to use only recycled paper. Beyond consumer and retailer efforts, producers also need to rethink their packaging - less is best. I would like to see all perfume bottles manufactured so as to be refillable, as they once were and still are in the more traditional Arabian perfume shops.
1. How does the writer begin the passage
A. By making a comparison. B. By describing a scene.
C. By presenting a reason. D. By raising a question.
2. What does the gift-wrapping preference cause
A. The boom of non-wrapped gifts.
B. Fierce competitions between shops.
C. The disappearance of simple packaging.
D. Unnecessary consumption of resources.
3. What's the writer's attitude towards traditional Arabian perfume shops
A. Reserved. B. Favorable. C. Ambiguous. D. Opposed.
4. What can be the best title for the passage
A. Sending Fewer Gifts Is Better B. Gift-wrapping Is Here to Stay
C. It Makes No Sense to Wrap Gifts D. Gift-wrapping Culture Needs to Change
【答案】1. B 2. D 3. B 4. D
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章通过讲述人们对礼物包装的偏爱会对环境带来影响，进而提出礼品包装文化要改变。
1. 推理判断题。结合文章第一段中“"Would you like it gift-wrapped ” ，asks the eager salesperson. Now another layer of glossy paper, complexity and ribbons is added. Finally, the whole thing is dropped into a cardboard gift bag, bearing the shop's branding.” 急切的售货员问道：“你喜欢礼物包装吗 ”现在，另一层光面纸加上复杂的缎带被包裹在礼物上。最后，所有的东西都被放入了一个纸板礼品袋里，上面印着商店的商标。通过描述生活中店员把礼品包裹起来放在礼品袋里，引出全文的话题：礼品包装，所以作者通过描述一个场景，开始这篇文章。故选B。
2. 推理判断题。根据文章第三段“According to The Guardian, the United Kingdom alone consumes 8,000 tons of wrapping paper a year. Using the most conservative estimates, it takes approximately 12 trees to produce one ton of paper: that's about 96,000 trees in gift-wrap each year for the UK alone.” 据《卫报》报道，仅英国一年就消耗8000吨包装纸。使用最保守的估计，大约需要12棵树才能生产1吨纸:仅英国每年就需要9.6万棵树被包装成礼物。由此推知，对礼物包装的偏爱会造成不必要的资源消耗。故选D。
3. 推理判断题。结合文章最后一段最后一句“I would like to see all perfume bottles manufactured so as to be refillable, as they once were and still are in the more traditional Arabian perfume shops.” 我希望看到所有的香水瓶都能被制造出来可以再装，就像过去和现在在更传统的阿拉伯香水商店里一样。据此可以推知，传统的阿拉伯香水店的瓶子是可以再次充装的，所以作者对此是喜欢的，选项B. favorable“赞同的，称赞的”符合文意，故选B。
4. 主旨大意题。根据最后一段“Beyond consumer and retailer efforts, producers also need to rethink their packaging - less is best.”(除了消费者和零售商的努力外，生产商还需要重新思考包装——越少越好)结合全文内容，可知本文在第一段通过描述社会现象：礼物包装，进而在第二、三段引出文章话题：礼物包装的偏爱会对环境造成影响；进而最后一段提出解决此问题的方法：我们可以通过使用再生纸或者再次充装的瓶子来达到包装的目的。所以，文章标题应该为：礼品包装文化需要改变。选项D符合文意。故选D。
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏无锡·期中
Deciduous forests(落叶林) are home to many wild animals. The development and expansion of human presence in the forests has caused many of their native species to become endangered.
Giant Panda
The giant panda, one of the most recognizable endangered species, is a large, docile species of bear native to the deciduous forest of eastern China Myanmar and Vietnam because of its limited diet--the panda’s main source of food is bamboo--the species is limited in its habitat to areas where bamboo is available. Now the species only can be found today in 20small patches of forest at the western edge of its historic range.
Gray and red wolves
The gray wolf, which once ranged from the East Coast of America to the west, and south to Mexico, now has a population of only 5,000 in the lower 48 states, mostly in the Rocky Mountains. The smaller red wolf, native to the southeastern United States, was declared extinct in the wild in 1980, though conservation efforts have reintroduced small captive populations to the wild in California.
Red-Crowned crane
The red -crowned crane is native to Japan, Korea and eastern China. Agricultural expansion and deforestation in these areas have removed a great deal of the marshes and forests that are the crane’s primary habitats. For a time, the crane was thought to have completely disappeared from Japan, but the recent discovery of cranes in Japanese marshlands has restarted conservation efforts. Today, around 2,500 cranes live in the wild, including 1,000 in Japan.
European Mink
Native to Europe, the European mink ranges from France in the west to Finland in the north, Russia in the cast and the Balkans in the south. Destruction of the mink habitat and use of the species for fur have caused dramatic drops in the species’ population, which has been reduced by 85 percent since the mid-19th century.
5. What has caused the wild animals to become endangered
A. Global warming. B. International trade.
C. Environmental pollution. D. The invasion of mankind.
6. Which is mentioned as the reason for the decline of European minks
A. The loss of their natural food.
B. The hunting of human beings.
C. Drought and forest fire.
D. Excessive deforestation.
7. What is the purpose of the text
A. To call for more efforts to protect forests.
B. To study the living habits of wild animals.
C. To introduce some endangered species.
D. To find ways to protect wild animals.
【答案】5. D 6. B 7. C
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。人类对森林资源的过度开采已经造成了多种动物濒危的现状。本文列举了其中四个例子。
5. 细节理解题。根据第一自然段“The development and expansion of human presence in the forests has caused many of their native species to become endangered. (森林中人类活动的发展和扩大导致许多本土物种濒临灭绝。)”可知, 人类向落叶林入侵已经导致许多当地物种濒临灭绝, 结合选项, 故选D。
6. 细节理解题。根据European Mink部分“Destruction of the mink habitat and use of the species for fur have caused dramatic drops in the species’ population, which has been reduced by 85 percent since the mid-19th century. (水貂栖息地的破坏和对该物种毛皮的使用导致了该物种数量的急剧下降, 自19世纪中期以来, 该物种的数量减少了85%。)”可知, 水貂的水生栖息地遭到破坏以及人类对其的猎杀导致其数量的下降, 结合选项, 故选B。
7. 推理判断题。根据第一自然段“The development and expansion of human presence in the forests has caused many of their native species to become endangered. (森林中人类活动的发展和扩大导致许多本土物种濒临灭绝。)”可知, 人类向落叶林的入侵已经导致许多当地物种濒临灭绝, 下文就介绍了大熊猫、灰狼和红狼、丹顶鹤以及欧洲水貂等几种濒临灭绝的以落叶林为栖息地的野生动物。因此, 本文的目的是介绍一些濒临灭绝的物种, 结合选项, 故选C。
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏镇江·高二期中试卷
With the help of modern technology, people have killed up to 99 percent of certain types of whales. Some scientists thought this would cause krill(磷虾), tiny shrimp-like animals that many whales eat, to explode in number. But that didn’t happen. Krill numbers in Antarctic waters with of whale hunting have dropped by more than 80 percent. New research suggests a lack of whale poop(粪便) may explain this. A new study finds whales eat more than we thought. Lots more food means lots more poop that is rich in iron. So with fewer whales, ecosystems get less iron and other crucial nutrients that they need to thrive. That hurts other species, including krill.
Figuring out whale diets isn’t easy. In the past, scientists looked at the contents of dead whales’ stomachs to see what they ate. Or they estimated how much food whales should need based on their size. However, the new study, led by Matthew Savoca, a marine biologist at Stanford University, used some different techniques. Savoca’s team put sensors on 321 whales. The sensors tracked when the whales hunted for food.
Using all this information, the scientists found that whales eat about three times as much food as earlier estimates had suggested. The amount of food that whales eat and poop out is astonishing. And it suggests that whales play a bigger role in shaping ocean ecosystems than previously thought.
Whales are nutrient cyclers. If whales and krill returned to their early 1900s numbers, the productivity of the Southern Ocean could be boosted by 11 percent, the researchers calculate. That increased productivity would translate into more carbon-rich life. Together, those creatures would store 215 million tons of carbon each year. The carbon stored in those creatures wouldn’t be able to escape into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
8. What is the first paragraph mainly about
A. The present situation of whale killing.
B. The reason for krill numbers declining.
C. The help from the modern technology.
D. The relationship between food and poop.
9. What does the underlined word “thrive” in paragraph I probably mean
A. Grow happily. B. Change rapidly.
C. Develop well. D. Stay wealthy.
10. How did the new study figure out whales’ diets
A. By referring to past studies.
B. By tracking whales with sensors.
C. By observing whales’ sizes.
D. By examining whales’ stomachs.
11. What do the scientists findings suggest
A. Whales hurt other ocean species.
B. Whales eat as much as estimated.
C. Whales slow ocean productivity.
D. Whales matter more than expected.
【答案】8. B 9. C 10. B 11. D
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍随着鲸鱼数量的减少，海洋生态系统获得的铁和其他重要营养物质也减少了，鲸鱼是海洋生态系统营养循环者，在塑造海洋生态系统方面发挥的作用比之前认为的更大。
8. 主旨大意题。通读第一段可知，第一段第六句和第七句“Some scientists thought this would cause krill (磷虾), tiny shrimp-like animals that many whales eat, to explode in number. But that didn’t happen. (一些科学家认为这将导致很多鲸鱼所食用的磷虾的数量爆炸性的增长，但这是这并没有发生)”提出问题：鲸鱼的数量减少，并没有造成磷虾数量的增长，第五句“New research suggests a lack of whale poop (粪便) may explain this.(一项新的研究表明缺乏鲸鱼粪便便可以解释这一点)”及其后内容分析了其原因，所以第一段主要分析了磷虾数量下降的原因。故选B。
9. 词句猜测题。根据第一段“So with fewer whales, ecosystems get less iron and other crucial nutrients that they need to thrive.(因此，随着鲸鱼数量的减少，生态系统获得的铁和其他重要营养物质也减少了，它们需要这些营养物质来thrive)”可知，海洋生物(they)需要“iron and other crucial nutrients”等营养物质，结合常识可知，营养物质能有助于生物的健康成长，由此推知，划线词指“良好发展/成长”。故选C。
10. 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“Savoca’s team put sensors on 321 whales. The sensors tracked when the whales hunted for food.(萨伏卡的团队在321头鲸鱼身上安装了传感器。传感器追踪鲸鱼何时觅食)”和第三段“Using all this information, the scientists found that whales eat about three times as much food as earlier estimates had suggested.(利用所有这些信息，科学家们发现鲸鱼吃的食物大约是早期估计的三倍)”可知，研究者是通过用传感器追踪鲸鱼，弄清鲸鱼的饮食习惯的。故选B。
11. 细节理解题。根据文章第三段最后一句“ And it suggests that whales play a bigger role in shaping ocean ecosystems than previously thought.(这表明，鲸鱼在塑造海洋生态系统方面发挥的作用比之前认为的更大)”可知，鲸鱼比我们想象的更加重要。故选D。
Passage 4
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏苏州·期中
Gracing every continent of the Earth, wetlands are essential to the planet’s health, often compared to its vital organs, acting as arteries (动脉)that carry water and as kidneys(肾脏)that filter(过滤)harmful substances.
Wetlands serve as protectors: they form protective barriers against tsunamis and absorb the excess rainfall. During the dry season in dry climates, wetlands release the stored water which helps delay the attack of drought and reduce water shortages. They also store vast quantities of carbon, helping ease climate change. Home to some of the most diverse and rich ecosystems, wetlands support one billion people.40 percent of all plant and animal species live or breed in wetlands.
World Wetlands Day is observed each year on 2 February to increase people’s understanding ofthe importance of wetlands and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect the threatened natural treasure.
“We are proud to join in this celebration and recognize the unique and valuable ecosystemservices provided by wetlands. We are committed to doing our part to conserve and protect wetlands,and we are calling on all of you to join us in this vital cause,” said UNCCD (The United NationsConvention to Combat Desertification) Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.
To date, nearly 90 percent of the world’s wetlands have been degraded or lost,with 35 percentin the last 5O years alone. That is why on this World Wetlands Day,UNCCD is joining the RamsarConvention on Wetlands and other partners to highlight the examples of countries and communities making strides in wetland restoration.
As stressed by the UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw, successful wetland restoration requires a joint effort from governments, civil society and the private sector. Investments in science for technology innovation, infrastructure for effective management and financial mechanisms for project implementation(实施)can turn the tide toward a better futurefor wetlands.
12. Why are wetlands essential to us
A. They help fight against viruses.
B. They offer clean drinking water.
C. They maintain ecological balance.
D. They prevent the natural disasters.
13. How does the author present the current situation of wetlands in paragraph 5
A. By giving examples.
B. By listing figures.
C. By making comparisons.
D. By analyzing causes.
14. What do the underlined words “turn the tide” mean in paragraph 6
A. Follow the trend. B. Break the ice.
C. Run the risk. D. Change the game.
15. What is the text mainly about
A. Wetland ecosystem.
B. Wetland restoration.
C. Wetland exploration.
D. Wetland biodiversity.
【答案】12. C 13. B 14. D 15. B
【导语】这是一篇说明文。短文介绍了湿地的重要性以及对湿地的恢复。
12. 细节理解题。根据第二段“Wetlands serve as protectors: they form protective barriers against tsunamis and absorb the excess rainfall. During the dry season in dry climates, wetlands release the stored water which helps delay the attack of drought and reduce water shortages. They also store vast quantities of carbon, helping ease climate change. Home to some of the most diverse and rich ecosystems, wetlands support one billion people.”(地起到了保护作用:它们形成了抵御海啸的屏障, 并吸收了多余的降雨。在干旱气候的旱季, 湿地释放储存的水, 这有助于推迟干旱的袭击, 减少水资源短缺。它们还储存了大量的碳, 有助于缓解气候变化。湿地拥有一些最多样化和最丰富的生态系统, 养活了10亿人)可知, 湿地维持了生态系统的平衡。故选C项。
13. 推理判断题。根据第五段“To date, nearly 90 percent of the world’s wetlands have been degraded or lost, with 35 percent in the last 5O years alone.”(迄今为止, 世界上近90%的湿地已经退化或消失, 仅在过去50年里就有35%的湿地退化或消失。)可知, 第五段主要是通过列举数字来展示湿地的现状。故选B项。
14. 词句猜测题。根据最后一段“Investments in science for technology innovation, infrastructure for effective management and financial mechanisms for project implementation(实施)”(投资于科技创新、有效管理的基础设施和项目实施的财政机制)根据“a better future or wetlands”(湿地的美好未来)可知, 对科技创新、有效管理的基础设施和项目实施的财政机制的投资可以扭转趋势, 使湿地的未来更加美好。所以划线词的意思是“逆转”。故选D项。
15. 主旨大意题。根据第三段“World Wetlands Day is observed each year on 2 February to increase people’s understanding of the importance of wetlands and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect the threatened natural treasure.”(每年的2月2日是世界湿地日, 目的是提高人们对湿地重要性的认识, 提高人们对保护这一濒危自然宝藏的迫切需要的认识。)根据第四段“We are committed to doing our part to conserve and protect wetlands, and we are calling on all of you to join us in this vital cause”(我们承诺尽自己的一份力量来养护和保护湿地, 我们呼吁你们所有人加入我们这一至关重要的事业)根据最后一段“Investments in science for technology innovation, infrastructure for effective management and financial mechanisms for project implementation(实施)can turn the tide toward a better future for wetlands”(对科技创新、有效管理的基础设施和项目实施的财政机制的投资可以扭转趋势, 使湿地的未来更加美好)所以短文主要是关于湿地的恢复。故选B项。
高频话题02 人与社会—科学技术
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏镇江·高二期中试卷
Stroke(中风) survivors often struggle with manipulating objects. They lose the sensation(知觉) in their hands and fingers, which is the usual impairment(损伤) they experience daily. This condition affects their activities and lowers the quality of their lives to an extent. As a solution to this problem, a group of scientists from the UK’s University of Hertfordshire has developed a special touchpad that can allow them to feel once again.
In an article by E&T, the University of Hertfordshire researchers have created a unique invention that can bring back the sense of touch among stroke survivors. This particular device is capable of sending tiny vibrations(振动) to the patient’s fingertips. This will give life to the brain cells so they can function once again and restore the sensation of the limbs.
If the survivor wears this device, they could now normally function as before. They can do tasks on their own without asking for help from other people. “Improvement in touch sensation should lead to them being able to sense that they are holding hands. That definitely should be possible,” Dr. Am it Pujari, the inventor of the device, said.
During the British Science Festival, the device developer urged the participants to tell if they had sensations on their hands while the tool was placed. The trial lasted for 10 minutes. The researchers found that 20 to 40%of them have shown an improved sensation in their limbs.
Besides enhancing the patient's movements, the test proved that it could also be a huge help in improving a patient's mental well-being. The study is expected to undergo a peer review in the future. The experts are still wondering about the device's impact in the long run. They also want to tackle how effective it is for patients who suffer from stroke.
1. What’s the function of the special touchpad
A. Increasing stroke survivors' brain cells.
B. Changing the way stroke survivors seize objects.
C. Helping stroke survivors regain the sense of touch.
D. Monitoring the life quality of stroke survivors.
2. What does “That” in paragraph 3 refer to
A. Preventing stroke. B. Restoring the sensation of hands.
C. Turning to others for help. D. Wearing the special device.
3. What can we learn about the special device
A. It has undergone a peer review.
B. It cures stroke immediately.
C. It helps improve patients' mental health.
D. It has produced long-term impact on patients.
4. What can be inferred about the outcome of the 10-minute trial
A. It’s negative. B. It’s typical.
C. It’s encouraging. D. It’s disappointing.
【答案】1. C 2. B 3. C 4. C
【导语】本文是说明文。介绍了英国赫特福德大学的一组科学家开发了一种特殊的触摸板, 可以帮助中风患者恢复触觉。
1. 细节理解题。根据第二段中“In an article by E&T, the University of Hertfordshire researchers have created a unique invention that can bring back the sense of touch among stroke survivors.(在E&T的一篇文章中, 赫特福德大学的研究人员创造了一项独特的发明, 可以让中风幸存者恢复触觉)”可知, 这个特殊的触摸板可以帮助中风幸存者恢复触觉。故选C项。
2. 词句猜测题。划线词为that, 代指前文提到的事, 所以根据第三段中“Improvement in touch sensation should lead to them being able to sense that they are holding hands.(触觉的改善应该会使他们能够感觉到他们在牵手)”可知, “That”指的是恢复手的感觉。故选B项。
3. 细节理解题。根据最后一段中“Besides enhancing the patient's movements, the test proved that it could also be a huge help in improving a patient's mental well-being. The study is expected to undergo a peer review in the future. The experts are still wondering about the device's impact in the long run. They also want to tackle how effective it is for patients who suffer from stroke.(除了增强病人的运动能力外, 这项测试还证明, 它对改善病人的心理健康也有很大的帮助。这项研究预计将在未来接受同行评审。专家们仍对该设备的长期影响感到疑惑。他们还想研究它对中风患者的疗效)”可知, 这个特殊装置有助于改善病人的心理健康。故选C项。
4. 推理判断题。根据倒数第二段中“The trial lasted for 10 minutes. The researchers found that 20 to 40%of them have shown an improved sensation in their limbs.(审判持续了10分钟。研究人员发现, 其中20%到40%的人四肢感觉有所改善)”可推知, 有20%到40%的人四肢感觉有所改善, 所以结果是令人鼓舞的。故选C项。
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏常熟·高二期中试卷
In a world where nearly 6 million fingerprint records of government employees are stolen in one computer hack(非法侵入), and here millions of people are victims of identity theft every year, the next step in cyber security may well be mapping your brain.
Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York are working on a biometric(生物特征识别的)system that records how your brain reacts to certain images. With a little more polishing, the scientists’ brainchild could become the way you get into a safe deposit box, your office or past scanners at the airport. It could replace the password for your online banking, your email or your social media accounts.
They started their project by measuring the brain waves of 30 subjects. The subjects were fitted with a cap that had 30 electrodes(电极)attached to it, and then shown various images and symbols — celebrity faces, words, pictures of food — on a computer screen in 200-millisecond bursts. The brain’s reaction was recorded.
The idea is that every time a person needs to use a “password”, he or she goes through the same procedure, and the results are matched with their first time reaction. If the “brainprint” is cracked — like what happened with the fingerprint records — then the system is merely reset by running another set of images and collecting a different set of brain waves. “Even if that was stolen, you could just cancel it and record one to something else”, says professor Laszlo.
Laszlo and her team have shown that their system can be 100 percent accurate. So one of the more difficult parts of making the system practical already has been overcome. Now, they’re spending much time recording accurate brainprints with as few as three electrodes, which could make recording in the future as easy as wearing a pair of special glasses. They’re also working with cheaper materials and different methods to see if they can bring the cost down.
5. What does the underlined word “brainchild” in Paragraph 2 refer to
A. The brain function.
B. The fingerprint record.
C. The biometric system.
D. The online password.
6. Why were the images and symbols shown to the subjects
A. To create their brainprints.
B. To check the brain’s reaction.
C. To match brainprints with pictures.
D. To connect brain waves to electrodes.
7. What will happen when a brainprint fails
A. A spare one will be ready beforehand.
B. A new one will be set again.
C. The users’ security will be leaked.
D. The fingerprint record will replace it.
8. What are the researchers doing with the program now
A. Making it user-friendly.
B. Improving its accuracy.
C. Recording more brainprints.
D. Increasing the number of electrodes.
【答案】5. C 6. A 7. B 8. A
【导语】本文是一篇科普说明文。网络安全越来越重要, 科学家也在研究新的网络安全密码。来自纽约宾汉姆顿大学的研究人员发现了一种脑部扫描系统——脑印。
5. 词义猜测题。根据上文“Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York are working on a biometric(生物特征识别的)system that records how your brain reacts to certain images.”(约州立大学宾汉姆顿大学的研究人员正在研究一种生物识别系统, 该系统可以记录大脑对特定图象的反应。)可知, 研究人员研究了一种生物识别系统, 再根据划线句“With a little more polishing, the scientists’ brainchild could become the way you get into a safe deposit box, your office or past scanners at the airport”(再稍加打磨, 这些科学家的brainchild就可以成为你进入保险箱、办公室或机场扫描仪的方式)由此可知, "brainchild"指的是“生物识别系统”, 故选C。
6. 推理判断题。根据第三自然段“The subjects were fitted with a cap that had 30 electrodes(电极)attached to it, and then shown various images and symbols — celebrity faces, words, pictures of food --- on a computer screen in 200-millisecond bursts. The brain’s reaction was recorded.”(受试者戴上一个有30个电极的帽子, 然后在电脑屏幕上以20毫秒的速度显示出各种各样的图象和符号--名人的脸、文字、食物的图片, 大脑的反应被记录下来。)可知, 图像和符号被展示给受试者是为了创造他们的脑印。故选A。
7. 细节理解题。根据第四自然段“If the "brainprint" is compromised --- like what happened with the fingerprint records --- then the system is merely reset by running another set of images and collecting a different set of brain waves.”(如果“脑印”受损——就像指纹记录那样——那么只需运行另一组图像并收集一组不同的脑电波, 就可以重置系统。)可知, 当一个脑印失败时, 可以重新设置一个新的。故选B。
8. 推理判断题。根据最后一段“Now, they’re spending much time recording accurate brainprints with as few as three electrodes, which could make recording in the future as easy as wearing a pair of special glasses. They're also working with cheaper materials and different methods to see if they can bring the cost down.”(现在, 他们只需要三个电极就可以记录下精确脑印, 这使得在未来记录起来就像戴上一副特殊的眼镜一样简单, 他们也在使用更便宜的材料和不同的方法, 看看是否能降低成本现在。)可知, 现在, 研究人员正在使这个程序更容易使用, 也就是说对用户更友好, 故选A。
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏盐城·三校高二期中联考试卷
Virtual reality gamers (VR game) who finished it faster than their fellow gamers also have higher levels of general intelligence and processing capacity. This was the result of a study conducted by Markus Weinmann from the University of Cologne. The results also indicate that virtual reality games can be useful supplementary(补充) human resource management tools in companies for predicting the job performance of an applicant.
Several studies have already shown that video games may indicate or even help to develop intellectual and cognitive abilities. As intelligence is one of the most commonly used predictors for job performance, video games could be interesting for the human resource management. Although many companies are increasingly using VR technology to recruit(招募) candidates, only few studies have specifically investigated whether and how VR games can be used to draw conclusions about intelligence in this area. The study contributes to bridging the gap between research and practice.
Weinmann invited 103 participants to their lab. Under controlled laboratory conditions, they played the commercial VR game “Job Simulator”and completed the short version of the intelligence test BIS-4. The researcher’s analyses show that an increase of 17% in processing capacity correlated with less time spent playing the game (by an average of 3.7 minutes).
The results are a scientific novelty, as it has hardly been possible to conduct VR studies with state-of-the-art VR hardware. There are thus few studies that have investigated the correlation between behavior in VR and intelligence, “There are already some companies that use games, so-called ‘serious games’, for recruiting. The new results are in line with this specific application of VR games and show that they can be used for recruiting,” said Weinmann.
The scientists intend to continue their research on the potential of video games for practical applications. Among other things, they are investigating how people behave in virtual world.
9. What can we learn from Weinmann’s study
A. The results are far from satisfactory.
B. The participants can play the game freely.
C. It aims to develop intellectual ability.
D. It helps to combine research with practice.
10. What is Weinmann’s attitude to the result of the study
A. Unclear. B. Intolerant. C. Favorable. D. Doubtful.
11. What is the last paragraph mainly about
A. Limitations of the study.
B. Possible directions for future study.
C. The present situation of the study.
D. The explanation of the research method.
12. Which of the following is the best title for the text
A. VR games can be used in recruitment
B. VR games can indicate intelligence level
C. VR games improve applicants’ performance
D. VR games have gain popularity in management
【答案】9. D 10. C 11. B 12. A
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍的是一项研究发现虚拟现实游戏可以作为人力资源管理的辅助工具, 用于对应聘者的工作能力进行测试。
9. 细节理解题。根据第二段中的“Although many companies are increasingly using VR technology to recruit(招募) candidates, only few studies have specifically investigated whether and how VR games can be used to draw conclusions about intelligence in this area. The study contributes to bridging the gap between research and practice.(尽管许多公司越来越多地使用VR技术来招聘候选人, 但只有少数研究专门调查了VR游戏是否以及如何用于得出这一领域的智力结论。这项研究有助于弥合研究与实践之间的空缺。)”可知, 该项研究填补了在研究与实践之间的空缺, 所以这项研究帮助把研究与实践结合起来。故选D项。
10. 推理判断题。根据倒数第二段中的“The new results are in line with this specific application of VR games and show that they can be used for recruiting,” said Weinmann.(新的结果与VR游戏的具体应用相一致, 并表明它们可以用于招聘。”)”可知, Weinmann认为这项研究成果可用于招聘中, 所以他对研究结果持赞成态度。故选C项。
11. 主旨大意题。根据尾段“The scientists intend to continue their research on the potential of video games for practical applications. Among other things, they are investigating how people behave in virtual world.(科学家们打算继续研究电子游戏在实际应用中的潜力。除此之外, 他们正在调查人们在虚拟世界中的行为。)”可知, 科学家将继续研究电子游戏在实际应用中的潜力以及人们在虚拟世界中的行为, 由此可推断, 该段主要介绍的是未来研究的方向。故选B项。
12. 主旨大意题。根据首段中的“The results also indicate that virtual reality games can be useful supplementary(补充) human resource management tools in companies for predicting the job performance of an applicant.(研究结果还表明, 虚拟现实游戏可以作为企业人力资源管理的辅助工具, 用于预测应聘者的工作表现。)”并结合下文对该研究成果的分析可知, 本文主要介绍的为VR虚拟现实游戏可知用于招聘中对应聘人员的工作表现进行测试, 所以“VR game可用于招聘”作为文章题目概括了全文内容也体现了文章主题。故选A项。
高频话题03 人与社会—饮食和健康
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏盐城·三校高二期中联考试卷
Ever been hungry enough to eat a house Now, you actually could.
Food waste is a big problem in Japan and globally. Japan produced around 5.7 million tons of food waste in 2019. The government plans to reduce that by around 2.7 million tons by 2030. Tokyo University researchers Kota Machida and Yuya Sakai have developed a way to transform food waste into cement (水泥) for construction use and more. This is the first-ever process created for making cement entirely from food waste. The researchers say their product is four times as strong as traditional concrete. This particular cement can be used to make things like tea cups or chairs as well. However, there’s one additional feature — it’s also eatable.
Kota and Yuya are the intelligence behind the formation of Fabula Inc., a company with purposes of reducing food waste, and helping fight global warming. As expected, something this unique took years to develop. It took a few attempts to find just the right process. Kota and Yuya created the unique technology while researching possible environment-friendly materials to replace cement-based concrete. Cement production accounts for 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide release.
After a few failures, they realized they could get the cement to bind (黏合) by adjusting the temperatures. “The most challenging part was that each type of food waste requires different temperatures,” Yuya said. So the researchers had to observe them and respond in time. In the experiments, Kota and Yuya have successfully made cement using tea leaves, coffee grounds, cabbage and even lunchbox leftovers.
Fabula Inc. is currently working to make tea cups and furniture, but Yuya is thinking a little bit bigger. Their product could provide relief in the form of eatable emergency shelters in disaster ones. “For example, if food cannot be delivered to the people, they could eat makeshift beds made out of food cement,” he said. To eat the material, a person needs to break it apart and boil it.
1. What’s mainly talked about in paragraph 1 and 2
A. The functions of this particular cement.
B. The effects of food waste in the whole world.
C. The characteristics of the newly made cement.
D. The process of transforming food waste to cement.
2. Which is one of Kota and Yuya’s purposes in making use of food waste
A. To handle global climate change.
B. To extend concrete’s service life.
C. To offer Fabula Inc. more cement.
D. To warn how serious food waste is.
3. What made the experiment of making cement out of food waste harder
A. Making sure to make cement tasty.
B. Selecting correct food waste timely.
C. Getting cement broken apart easily.
D. Adjusting the temperatures constantly.
4. What does the underlined word “makeshift” in the last paragraph mean
A. bendable. B. commercial. C. recyclable. D. temporary.
【答案】1. C 2. A 3. D 4. D
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了一种用粮食垃圾制造的一种新型可以食用的水泥。
1. 主旨大意题。根据第二段中“This is the first-ever process created for making cement entirely from food waste. The researchers say their product is four times as strong as traditional concrete. This particular cement can be used to make things like tea cups or chairs as well. However, there’s one additional feature — it’s also eatable. (这是第一个完全从食物垃圾中制造水泥的过程。研究人员表示, 他们的产品的强度是传统混凝土的四倍。这种特殊的水泥也可以用来制作茶杯或椅子之类的东西。然而, 它还有一个额外的特点——它也是可以吃的。)”可知, 这两段主要讨论了新制水泥的特点。故选C项。
2. 细节理解题。根据第三段中“Kota and Yuya are the intelligence behind the formation of Fabula Inc., a company with purposes of reducing food waste, and helping fight global warming. (Kota和Yuya是Fabula公司成立背后的智慧, 这家公司的宗旨是减少食物浪费, 帮助对抗全球变暖。)”可知, Kota和Yuya利用食物垃圾是为了应对全球气候变化。故选A项。
3. 细节理解题。根据第四段中“The most challenging part was that each type of food waste requires different temperatures. (最具挑战性的部分是每种食物垃圾需要不同的温度。)”可知, 需要不断调节温度让从食物垃圾中制造水泥的实验变得更加困难。故选D项。
4. 词句猜测题。划线词句前文“Their product could provide relief in the form of eatable emergency shelters in disaster ones. (他们的产品可以在灾难中以可食用的紧急避难所的形式提供救济。)”说明他们的产品可以用作临时紧急避难所, 从而推知划线词句“For example, if food cannot be delivered to the people, they could eat makeshift beds made out of food cement. (例如, 如果食物不能送到人们手中, 他们可以吃用食品水泥做成的makeshift床。)”其中划线词汇意思为“临时的, 暂时的”, 即：如果赈灾食品不能及时到位, 被困人员可以吃食品水泥做成的临时床救急, 故选D项。
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏扬州·宝应县高二期中试卷
Plant-based products have been breaking into the foodie mainstream in the United States, after years in which vegan(素食的) burgers and milk alternatives knocked on the market’s door. That is partly because more companies are targeting people who seek to reduce the amount of meat they eat, rather than forswear it altogether.
Now, as fish alternatives begin to attract investment and land at restaurants in the United States and beyond, people who track the fishless fish sector say that it could achieve significant growth.
One reason, they say, is that consumers in rich countries are becoming more aware of the seafood industry’s environmental problems, including overfishing and the health risks of some seafood. Another is that today’s plant-based companies do a better job of approaching fish flavor than earlier ones did—an important consideration for non-vegetarians(非素食者).
“There are a number of people already looking at alternative hamburgers,” said Joshua Katz, an analyst at the consulting firm McKinsey who has studied the alt-protein(替代蛋白) industry. “You might actually say, ‘I should work on something else.’ And seafood is still a massive market with convincing reasons to work on.” People who reduce their consumption of animal proteins for environmental reasons often stop eating red meat, which requires enormous amounts of land and water to farm.
But alt-fish advocates say that seafood also comes with environmental problems. Unsustainable fishing practices have destroyed fisheries(鱼汤) in recent decades, a problem both for biodiversity and the millions of people who depend on the sea for income and food.
“It’s simply a smarter way to make seafood,” says Mirte Gosker, the acting managing director of the Good Food Institute Asia-Pacific, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes alternative proteins. “Full stop.”
So far plant-based seafood products in the United States account for only 0.1 percent of the country’s seafood sales, less than 1.4 percent of the U.S. meat market occupied by plant-based meat alternatives. But alt-seafood enterprises worldwide received at least $83 million from investors in 2020, compared with $1 million three years earlier. As of this June, 83 companies were producing alt-seafood products around the world, a nearly threefold rise since 2017. All but 18 of those 83 companies focus on plant-based products. A dozen others are developing lab-grown seafood, which is not yet commercially available in any country.
5. What does the underlined word “forswear” in paragraph 1 probably mean
A. Sample. B. Consume. C. Produce. D. Abandon.
6. Which aspect of seafood do non-vegetarians focus on
A. The health risks. B. The protein intake.
C. The taste and mouthfeel. D. The overfishing problem.
7. What is Mirte Gosker’s tone when he says “Full stop” in paragraph 6
A. Determined. B. Concerned. C. Humorous. D. Enthusiastic.
8. What do the figures in the last paragraph mainly show
A. Seafood companies are struggling.
B. Plant-based meat products will be a trend.
C. Alt-seafood products have a promising future.
D. Seafood will be commercially available soon.
【答案】5. D 6. C 7. A 8. C
【导语】这是一篇说明文。主要介绍了植物性产品已成为美国素食家的主流食物替代品, 逐渐敲开了市场的大门。
5. 词义猜测题。根据划线单词所在句子“That is partly because more companies are targeting people who seek to reduce the amount of meat they eat, rather than forswear it altogether. (这在一定程度上是因为越来越多的公司瞄准了那些试图减少肉类摄入量的人, 而不是完全____肉类)”可知此处划线单词和前面的动词reduce相呼应, 表示肉类的摄入是减少而不是“完全放弃”, 因此第一段中带下划线的单词的意思是“D. Abandon放弃”, 故选D。
6. 细节理解题。文章第三段讲到“Another is that today’s plant-based companies do a better job of approaching fish flavor than earlier ones did—an important consideration for non-vegetarians (非素食者). (另一个原因是, 与早期相比, 今天的植物性公司在接近鱼类风味方面做得更好, 这是非素食者要考虑的一个重因素)”可知, 非素食主义者关注海鲜的味道和口感方面。故选C。
7. 推理判断题。文章第四段讲到“People who reduce their consumption of animal proteins for environmental reasons often stop eating red meat, which requires enormous amounts of land and water to farm. (由于环境原因减少动物蛋白消费人通常会停止食用红肉, 因为红肉需要大量的土地和水来耕种。) ”以及第六段讲到“It’s simply a smarter way to make seafood (这只是一种更聪明的海鲜制作方法)”可知Mirte Gosker认为这种海鲜制作方法是可行的, 因此第六段中说“到此为止, 不必多说”时的语气是坚定的, 故选A。
8. 推理判断题。文章最后一段讲到“As of this June, 83 companies were producing alt-seafood products around the world, a nearly threefold rise since 2017. All but 18 of those 83 companies focus on plant-based products. (截至今年6月, 全球有83家公司生产另类海鲜产品, 自2017年以来增长了近三倍。在这83家公司中, 除18家外, 其余都专注于植物性产品。)”可知, 最后一段的数字主要表明了替代海鲜产品前景光明, 故选C。
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏溧水·高二期中试题
Water poisoning is caused by too much consumption of water during a short period of time. Water in and of itself is not poisonous by any means, but rapid intake of a large quantity of water can break the careful balance of sodium(钠)in the body fluids(体液). This contributes to a swelling of the cells, often in the central nervous system, including the brain.
When the cells can no longer bear the pressure, they can begin to die. This is indicated in serious forms of water poisoning. Symptoms of this condition include vomiting, headache and unresponsiveness. When the sodium in the blood falls to dangerous levels, brain damage and possibly death may occur.
What is a fatal(致命的)amount of water can vary from person to person, depending on one’s state of health, his or her physical activity at the time, the temperature and the amount of time in which the person consumes the water. For some, a one-time consumption of three liters can prove deadly. Although the person consuming the water may lose a lot of fluid during heavy labor or exercise, the electrolytes(电解质)are not replaced fast enough to avoid water poisoning.
Those particularly at risk for water poisoning are athletes engaged in long distance running like a marathon. Due to the need to replace large quantities of lost fluid, runners must drink a lot of water. This can lead to poisoning, so runners must replace their fluids with sports drinks that have added electrolytes. Other factors that contribute to water poisoning include activities that stimulate heavy sweating. The person working under extreme heat or intense humidity(湿气)must be careful when consuming water in order to maintain electrolyte balance. Mental diseases can also lead to water poisoning. Psychogenic polydipsia is a condition in which the affected person feels a need to drink a lot of water for unknown reasons.
9. What harm does water poisoning bring
A. It can affect brain function. B. It disturbs the balance of sodium.
C. It causes a drop in blood pressure. D. It tends to make its victims nervous.
10. What can we know about proper amount of water to drink
A. Three liters per day is deadly. B. No single rule fits everyone.
C. It doesn’t bother healthy people. D. Physical activity is its decisive factor.
11. Who would probably fall victim to water poisoning
A. A patient suffering from stomachache.
B. A laborer working with heavy sweating.
C. An athlete fond of drinking sports drinks.
D. A teenager doing appropriate exercise daily.
12. What might be discussed in the paragraph that follows
A. What has been found about sports drinks.
B. What else contributes to water poisoning.
C. What are the symptoms of water poisoning.
D. What can be done to avoid water poisoning.
【答案】9. A 10. B 11. B 12. D
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。主要讲述了水中毒的危害、致病原因、致病人群以及如何避免水中毒。
9. 细节理解题。根据文章第一段中“This contributes to a swelling of the cells, often in the central nervous system, including the brain. (这会导致细胞肿胀, 通常在中枢神经系统, 包括大脑。)”根据第二段“When the sodium in the blood falls to dangerous levels, brain damage and possibly death may occur.”(当血液中的钠降至危险水平时, 可能会发生脑损伤, 甚至死亡。)可知, 水中毒会影响中枢神经系统, 即影响大脑的功能。故选A。
10. 细节理解题。根据文章第三段中“What is a fatal(致命的)amount of water can vary from person to person, depending on one’s state of health, his or her physical activity at the time, the temperature and the amount of time in which the person consumes the water.(什么是致命的水量可能因人而异, 具体取决于一个人的健康状况、他或她当时的身体活动、温度和人消耗水的时间。)”可知, 合适的饮水量是没有一定的规律的, 因人而异, 故选B。
11. 推理判断题。根据文章第四段中“Other factors that contribute to water poisoning include activities that stimulate heavy sweating. The person working under extreme heat or intense humidity(湿气)must be careful when consuming water in order to maintain electrolyte balance. (导致水中毒的其他因素包括刺激大量出汗的活动。在极端高温或强湿下工作的人在饮水时必须小心, 以保持电解质平衡。)”可知, 搬运工等剧烈出汗的人比较容易患上水中毒, 故选B。
12. 推理判断题。根据最后一段中“Those particularly at risk for water poisoning are athletes engaged in long distance running like a marathon. (那些特别容易发生水中毒的人是像马拉松一样进行长跑的运动员。)”以及“Mental diseases can also lead to water poisoning. Psychogenic polydipsia is a condition in which the affected person feels a need to drink a lot of water for unknown reasons. (精神疾病也会导致水中毒。精神性多饮症是指受影响的人因未知原因感到需要大量饮水的情况。)”可知推断接下来文章会讨论的是如何避免水中毒, 故选D。
热点考向01 人与自然—人与动植物
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏南京·南师大附中高二期中试卷
Animal populations across the world have been reduced by 69% in less than 50 years, according to a new scientific report. The report’s authors are calling for urgent action to restore the natural world.
The Living Planet Report (LPR) is produced every two years by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London. The most recent report, released on October 13, 2022, shows that almost 70% of the world’s monitored wildlife was lost between 1970 and 2018. The report is based on research from 195 countries around the world. Data was collected from almost 32,000 populations of 5,230 species.
Although the average global loss of wildlife is 69%, the rate is greater in the global south. Latin America and the Caribbean in particular have seen the sharpest fall, having lost 94% of their wildlife since 1970. Across the world, the biggest drop was in freshwater populations of wildlife — including almost 1,400 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles — which have decreased by 83%.
The report identifies several causes for wildlife loss, including hunting, farming, the loss of forests, pollution and climate change. However, the report also promotes solutions, such as designing less destructive food production systems, urgently protecting the Amazon rainforest, limiting the use of fossil fuels, and creating new laws to protect our natural environment.
Commenting on the report, Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, called the figures “terrifying”, and said “we need to restore nature and not simply halt its loss.” In December 2022, world leaders are meeting in Montreal for the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference, also known as COP 15. The authors of the LPR say that this is an opportunity for a global plan to deal with wildlife loss and restore nature. “Government leaders must step up at COP 15,” said Lambertini. “The world is watching.”
1. What does the author mainly want to show by listing the numbers in the first three paragraphs
A. The causes of the urgent situation.
B. The detailed process of the research.
C. The severity of wildlife loss worldwide.
D. The drop in freshwater populations of wildlife
2. According to the report, what is a possible solution to population decline of wildlife
A. Stop hunting and farming.
B. Ban the production of wildlife food.
C. Offer legal protection of natural environment.
D. Replace the fossil fuels with renewable energy
3. What does the underlined word “halt” mean in the last paragraph
A. Accept. B. Stop. C. Fear. D. Suffer.
4. What is Lambertini’s attitude towards wildlife loss
A. Objective. B. Indifferent.
C. Ambiguous. D. Concerned.
【答案】1. C 2. C 3. B 4. D
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了全球野生动物损失严重性, 因此需要全球共同努力, 关注并解决该问题。
1. 推理判断题。根据第一段“Animal populations across the world have been reduced by 69% in less than 50 years, according to a new scientific report. The report’s authors are calling for urgent action to restore the natural world.(根据一份新的科学报告, 在不到50年的时间里, 世界各地的动物数量减少了69%。该报告的作者呼吁采取紧急行动来恢复自然世界)”以及第二段中“The most recent report, released on October 13, 2022, shows that almost 70% of the world’s monitored wildlife was lost between 1970 and 2018. The report is based on research from 195 countries around the world. Data was collected from almost 32,000 populations of 5,230 species.(2022年10月13日发布的最新报告显示, 1970年至2018年期间, 全球近70%的受监测野生动物消失。该报告基于全球195个国家的研究。数据来自5230个物种的近32000个种群)”以及第三段中“Latin America and the Caribbean in particular have seen the sharpest fall, having lost 94% of their wildlife since 1970. (拉丁美洲和加勒比地区的野生动物数量下降尤其严重, 自1970年以来已经失去了94%的野生动物)”可知, 作者主要想通过列举前三段的数字来展示世界范围内野生动物损失的严重性。故选C。
2. 细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中“However, the report also promotes solutions, such as designing less destructive food production systems, urgently protecting the Amazon rainforest, limiting the use of fossil fuels, and creating new laws to protect our natural environment.(然而, 该报告也提出了解决方案, 例如设计破坏性较小的粮食生产系统, 紧急保护亚马逊雨林, 限制化石燃料的使用, 以及制定新的法律来保护我们的自然环境)”可知, 根据该报告, 为自然环境提供法律保护是解决野生动物数量下降的一个可能的解决方案。故选C。
3. 词句猜测题。根据划线词前面的句子“Commenting on the report, Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, called the figures “terrifying”,( 在评论该报告时, 世界自然基金会国际总干事马可·兰伯蒂尼称这些数字“令人恐惧”)”以及“we need to restore nature(我们需要恢复自然)”可知, 面临野生动物数量急剧下降的情况, 我们不仅仅是停止当前的损失, 更需要做的是需要去恢复自然。由此可知, 划线词halt与stop(停止)意思接近。故选B。
4. 推理判断题。根据最后一段中“The authors of the LPR say that this is an opportunity for a global plan to deal with wildlife loss and restore nature. “Government leaders must step up at COP 15,” said Lambertini. “The world is watching.”(LPR的作者说, 这是一个应对野生动物损失和恢复自然的全球计划的机会。兰伯蒂尼说：“政府领导人必须在第15届缔约方会议上采取行动。“全世界都在看着。”)”可知, 兰伯蒂尼认为领导人必须在第15届缔约方会议上采取行动。由此推知, 他对野生动物数量减少的态度是担心的。故选D。
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏南京·六校联合体高二5月期中试题
Despite the bad reputation of sharks, they are crucial to the health of the marine ecosystem and can even help fight climate change.
In the shallows of Shark Bay, Western Australia, seagrass is food for the sea cows, which can weigh as much as 500 kg and eat roughly 40 kg of seagrass a day. Sea cows are a rich source of food for tiger sharks. By keeping the sea cow population controlled, tiger sharks here help the seagrass grow sustainably. A booming seagrass meadow stores twice as much CO2 per square mile as forests typically do on land.
But tiger shark numbers are declining. Off Australia’s northeast coast of Queensland, tiger sharks are estimated to have fallen by at least 71 percent, largely due to overfishing. A reduction in tiger sharks means more seagrass consumed by herbivores (食草动物) and less carbon stored in sea vegetation. This raised the question: What if they were absent from the Shark Bay — would the seagrass-dominated ecosystem survive
To find out, researchers led by Rob Nowicki of Florida International University, spent time in Eastern Australia, where shark numbers were lower and sea cows ate seagrass largely undisturbed. “When uncontrolled, sea cows can rapidly destroy wide areas of seagrass.” said Nowicki.
Those findings emphasized that tiger sharks were playing an important role in preventing the reduction of seagrass in Shark Bay. If their populations continue to decline, the resilience of carbon-rich ocean ecosystems will likely decrease.
When it comes to stimulating shark numbers, there have been movements toward more sustainable fishing, but a large percentage of the industry have not changed their methods, which is a reason why the population of many marine top predators (捕食者) continues to decline.
Aside from supporting sustainable fishing, Nowicki said the only way to truly protect marine life is to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions. “Ultimately, if we are going to protect our ecosystems in the centuries to come, we are going to need to solve climate change while undertaking species protection at the same time.”
5. Why are tiger sharks vital to the marine ecosystem
A. They feed on various sea animals.
B. They can store large amounts of CO2.
C. They can prevent the loss of seagrass.
D. They influence marine species’ distribution.
6. What does the underlined word “resilience” in paragraph 5 mean
A. Sustainability. B. Recovery. C. Preservation. D. Construction.
7. What is the main cause of the population reduction of many top predators
A. Climate change. B. Lack of protection.
C. Unsustainable fishing. D. Loss of seagrass.
8. What’s the main idea of the text
A. The number of tiger sharks is decreasing.
B. Climate change causes the loss of seagrass.
C. Environmental protection is at the top of the agenda.
D. Tiger sharks are vital to the health of the marine ecosystem.
【答案】5. C 6. B 7. C 8. D
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述虎鲨对于海洋生态系统的健康至关重要, 以及目前虎鲨数量急剧减少的现象和可能造成的危害, 最后呼吁我们支持可持续的捕捞和减少温室气体排放。
5. 细节理解题。根据第二段中“In the shallows of Shark Bay, Western Australia, seagrass is food for the sea cows, which can weigh as much as 500 kg and eat roughly 40 kg of seagrass a day. Sea cows are a rich source of food for tiger sharks. By keeping the sea cow population controlled, tiger sharks here help the seagrass grow sustainably.(在澳大利亚西部鲨鱼湾的浅滩, 海牛以海草为食, 它们的体重可达500公斤, 每天要吃大约40公斤的海草。海牛是虎鲨丰富的食物来源。通过控制海牛的数量, 虎鲨帮助海草持续生长)”可知, 虎鲨吃海牛, 海牛数量减少, 其食物来源海草数量可以增长, 从而维持海洋生态平衡, 即虎鲨可以防止海草数量的减少。故选C。
6. 词义猜测题。根据画线词前一句“Those findings emphasized that tiger sharks were playing an important role in preventing the reduction of seagrass in Shark Bay.(这些研究结果强调, 虎鲨在防止鲨鱼湾海草减少方面发挥着重要作用)”可知, 虎鲨在防止鲨鱼湾海草减少方面发挥着重要作用, 故如果虎鲨数量减少, 海草会被消耗得更多, 海洋生态系统的恢复能力会下降, 由此推知画线词所在句意为“如果它们的数量继续下降, 富含碳的海洋生态系统的恢复能力可能会下降”, resilience意为“恢复”, 故选B。
7. 细节理解题。根据倒数第二段“When it comes to stimulating shark numbers, there have been movements toward more sustainable fishing, but a large percentage of the industry have not changed their methods, which is a reason why the population of many marine top predators (捕食者) continues to decline.(在刺激鲨鱼数量方面, 已经有了支持更可持续捕捞的运动, 但该行业的很大一部分人没有改变他们的方法, 这就是许多海洋顶级捕食者数量持续下降的原因)”可知, 海洋顶级捕食者数量减少的原因主要在于捕鱼业仍在使用不可持续的捕捞方法。故选C。
8. 主旨大意题。根据全文内容, 并结合第一段“Despite the bad reputation of sharks, they are crucial to the health of the marine ecosystem and can even help fight climate change.(尽管鲨鱼名声不好, 但它们对海洋生态系统的健康至关重要, 甚至可以帮助对抗气候变化)”可知, 文章主要介绍虎鲨对于海洋生态系统的健康至关重要, 并呼吁人们支持可持续的捕捞和减少温室气体排放。故选D。
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏泰州·高二期中试卷
Whenever Alyssa Bohart heard a voice from her computer repeatedly- status alert, status alert—the search was on. The warning came from a radar device installed in Churchill, Manitoba—a modified (改进的) military system programmed with artificial intelligence (AI) and trained to detect polar bears.
Over the past four years, the nonprofit Polar Bears International (PBI) has led radar, or “bear-dar”, tests to hopefully help northern communities stay safe. Polar bears are powerful predators, and for people in the Arctic, an essential part of coexisting with bears is maintaining a respectful distance. But with climate changes reducing sea ice, polar bears conflicts are spending more time on land. The chances of polar bears and humans conflicts are increasing, which can have terrible consequences for both parties.
The project came into being when PBI was looking for new ways to prevent human-polar bear conflicts. A chance meeting with SpotterRF, a company that makes military radar devices, gave them an idea: maybe they could use the radar system to detect polar bears heading toward towns and send out an early warning.
In their initial tests, the researchers discovered that “the technology works great”, says Geoff York, FBI’s senior director of conservation. “If anything, it detects too much.” The radar turned out to send thousands of motion alerts. So in 2020, the team turned to AI to try to narrow down the hits. “By incorporating this AI, we are truly teaching this radar to learn what a polar bear is,” says Alysa McCall, a staff scientist with PBI.
This past fall, the team positively identified 28 polar bears and had 89 alerts that didn’t turn out to be bears. McCall says their goals is to have more positive identifications than negative. In rare events, the team noticed polar bears, either on the camera or in person, that the bear-dar didn’t identify. In those cases, the two most confusing variables for the bear-dar were variations in the bears’ sizes, and the direction the bears were walking in relation to the radar. “We are not quite there yet. But I think the results have proved we have a good direction of where to go with the AI,” says MeCall.
9. What is PBI trying to do
A. To provide new homes for polar bears.
B. To help humans stay away from polar bears.
C. To protect polar bears with advanced technology.
D. To look into the cause of human-polar bear conflicts.
10. What was the problem with PBI’s initial radar system
A. It was often damaged by polar bears.
B. It cost too much money to operate well.
C. It sent out unnecessary warning signals.
D. It needed much time to find the target.
11. How did McCall feel about the test results
A. Hopeless. B. disappointed. C. Concerned. D. satisfied.
12. What can be the best title of the text
A. AI does a great job in polar bear conservation
B. Climate change intensifies human-bear conflicts
C. Bear-dar warns humans of approaching polar bears
D. Polar bears pose a big threat to northern communities
【答案】9. B 10. C 11. D 12. C
【导语】这是一篇说明文。本文主要介绍了PBI利用一个名为bear-dar的人工智能报警系统提醒人类正在靠近北极熊, 以此让人类和北极熊保持安全距离。
9. 细节理解题。根据第二段的“Polar bears are powerful predators, and for people in the Arctic, an essential part of coexisting with bears is maintaining a respectful distance. (北极熊是强大的捕食者, 对北极地区的人们来说, 与熊共存的一个重要部分是保持尊重的距离)”和第三段的“The project came into being when PBI was looking for new ways to prevent human-polar bear conflicts.(该项目是在PBI寻找防止人类与北极熊冲突的新方法时产生的)”可知, PBI努力帮助人类与北极熊保持安全距离, 即让人类远离北极熊。故选B。
10. 细节理解题。根据第四段的““If anything, it detects too much.” The radar turned out to send thousands of motion alerts. (“如果有什么不足的话, 那就是它探测到的太多了。”雷达发出了数千个运动警报)”可知, PBI最初的雷达系统的问题是它发出了太多不必要的警告信号。故选C。
11. 推理判断题。根据最后一段的““We are not quite there yet. But I think the results have proved we have a good direction of where to go with the AI,” says MeCall.(MeCall说：“我们还没有完全达到目标。但我认为结果已经证明, 我们在人工智能方面有一个很好的方向。”)”推知, MeCall对测试结果是满意的。故选D。
12. 主旨大意题。通读全文, 并结合第一段“Whenever Alyssa Bohart heard a voice from her computer repeatedly- status alert, status alert—the search was on. The warning came from a radar device installed in Churchill, Manitoba—a modified (改进的) military system programmed with artificial intelligence (AI) and trained to detect polar bears.(每当 Alyssa Bohart反复听到电脑里的声音——状态警报, 状态警报——搜索就开始了。警报来自安装在曼尼托巴省丘吉尔的雷达装置——一个经过人工智能编程的改良军用系统, 经过训练可以探测北极熊)”可知, 本文主要介绍了PBI利用一个名为bear-dar的人工智能报警系统提醒人类正在靠近北极熊, 以此让人类和北极熊保持安全距离。因此C项“Bear-dar警告人类接近北极熊”可以作为本文的最佳标题。故选C。
热点考向02 人与社会—社会问题和社会现象
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏扬州·宝应县高一期中试卷
Nowadays, instead of scrolling(滚屏) through apps like TikTok and Instagram all day on a smartphone, many people begin to use a so-called “dumb phone ” according to the latest report, and seventeen-year-old Robin West is one of them.
Dumb phones are basic devices, with very limited functionality compared to an iPhone. Typically, you can only make and receive calls and text messages. And if you are lucky, you can also listen to the radio and take very basic photos, but definitely you cannot connect to the Internet or apps.
Robin West’s decision to rid himself of the former smartphone two years ago was out of a sudden urge. “I didn’t notice how much a smartphone was taking over my life until I bought a dumb phone. I had a lot of social media apps on it, and I didn’t get much work done as I was always on my phone.” He said that he would never buy another smartphone. “I don’t think my dumb phone limits me; I’m definitely more active,” he added.
Outdated for a while with the appearance of smartphones, dumb phones are now regaining popularity. A 2021 study said that one in ten mobile phone users in the UK had a dumb phone. “Many of us once had a dumb phone as our first mobile phone and TikTok videos remind us of that, so it’s natural that we feel a sense of nostalgia (怀旧) towards these classic markers, which have a part to play in dumb phones’ revival (再流行),” said a mobile expert.
One maker of dumb phones is The Light Phone. Slightly cleverer than the norm for such products, it has handsets that do allow users to listen to music and podcasts, and connect by Bluetooth to headphones. Yet the firm promised that its phones “will never have social media click bait news, email or a web browser”.
Light co-founder, Kaiwei Tang, says that, surprisingly, the firm’s main customers are aged between 25 and 35. He says he was expecting buyers to be much older. Tech expert, Prof. Sandra Wachter, says it is understandable that some of us are looking for simpler mobile phones. “Smartphones always want to grab our attention with updates, breaking news and the like constantly disrupting (扰乱) our day.”
1. What does Robin West probably fail to do on his dumb phone
A. Make a call to his friend.
B. Have access to the radio.
C. Store photos in the album.
D. Visit social networking pages.
2. Why do many people start to use dumb phones according to the mobile expert
A. They are very easy to operate.
B. They can impact people’s life.
C. They come into fashion again.
D. They make people recall old days.
3. What’s Prof. Sandra Wachter’s attitude towards people’s using dumb phones
A. Flexible. B. Supportive. C. Confused. D. Doubtful.
4. What would be the best title for the text
A. The return of dumb phones
B. The popularity of smartphones
C. The marketing strategies of phones
D. The intense competition between phones
【答案】1. D 2. D 3. B 4. A
【导语】本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍的是目前越来越多的人选择使用只有基本功能的简易手机(dumb phone)并分析了出现这一现象的原因。
1. 细节理解题。根据第二段中“Typically, you can only make and receive calls and text m专题01 阅读理解(说明文)
高频话题01 人与自然—环境保护
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏镇江·高二期中试卷
Fifty millilitres of perfume rests inside a piece of an elegantly engineered glassware. This delicate bottle, in turn, sits within an equally elegant cardboard box. This box is wrapped(包装)in a thin layer of transparent plastic film and sealed with a holographic sticker. "Would you like it gift-wrapped ”, asks the eager salesperson. Now another layer of glossy paper, complexity and ribbons is added. Finally, the whole thing is dropped into a cardboard gift bag, bearing the shop's branding.
Surely, it's the gift that counts. It turns out, however, that we appear to appreciate gifts more if they have been gift-wrapped. Studies found gift-wrapped presents were, on average, always rated more highly than non-wrapped ones. This preference was true even when gift-wrapping was pretty basic, that is, no bows or ribbons. One explanation is that, on some level, what we appreciate is the extra effort that it takes to package and gift-wrap items so delicately.
The downside of our love of beautiful packaging and seemly gift-wrapping, however, is that it has an impact on the environment. According to The Guardian, the United Kingdom alone consumes 8,000 tons of wrapping paper a year. Using the most conservative estimates, it takes approximately 12 trees to produce one ton of paper: that's about 96,000 trees in gift-wrap each year for the UK alone.
Perhaps during festive periods, we could launch highly visible campaigns urging the disposal of gift-wrap and product packaging within easily accessible recycling bins. Similarly, shops that offer gift-wrapping could be strongly encouraged to use only recycled paper. Beyond consumer and retailer efforts, producers also need to rethink their packaging - less is best. I would like to see all perfume bottles manufactured so as to be refillable, as they once were and still are in the more traditional Arabian perfume shops.
1. How does the writer begin the passage
A. By making a comparison. B. By describing a scene.
C. By presenting a reason. D. By raising a question.
2. What does the gift-wrapping preference cause
A. The boom of non-wrapped gifts.
B. Fierce competitions between shops.
C. The disappearance of simple packaging.
D. Unnecessary consumption of resources.
3. What's the writer's attitude towards traditional Arabian perfume shops
A. Reserved. B. Favorable. C. Ambiguous. D. Opposed.
4. What can be the best title for the passage
A. Sending Fewer Gifts Is Better B. Gift-wrapping Is Here to Stay
C. It Makes No Sense to Wrap Gifts D. Gift-wrapping Culture Needs to Change
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏无锡·期中
Deciduous forests(落叶林) are home to many wild animals. The development and expansion of human presence in the forests has caused many of their native species to become endangered.
Giant Panda
The giant panda, one of the most recognizable endangered species, is a large, docile species of bear native to the deciduous forest of eastern China Myanmar and Vietnam because of its limited diet--the panda’s main source of food is bamboo--the species is limited in its habitat to areas where bamboo is available. Now the species only can be found today in 20small patches of forest at the western edge of its historic range.
Gray and red wolves
The gray wolf, which once ranged from the East Coast of America to the west, and south to Mexico, now has a population of only 5,000 in the lower 48 states, mostly in the Rocky Mountains. The smaller red wolf, native to the southeastern United States, was declared extinct in the wild in 1980, though conservation efforts have reintroduced small captive populations to the wild in California.
Red-Crowned crane
The red -crowned crane is native to Japan, Korea and eastern China. Agricultural expansion and deforestation in these areas have removed a great deal of the marshes and forests that are the crane’s primary habitats. For a time, the crane was thought to have completely disappeared from Japan, but the recent discovery of cranes in Japanese marshlands has restarted conservation efforts. Today, around 2,500 cranes live in the wild, including 1,000 in Japan.
European Mink
Native to Europe, the European mink ranges from France in the west to Finland in the north, Russia in the cast and the Balkans in the south. Destruction of the mink habitat and use of the species for fur have caused dramatic drops in the species’ population, which has been reduced by 85 percent since the mid-19th century.
5. What has caused the wild animals to become endangered
A. Global warming. B. International trade.
C. Environmental pollution. D. The invasion of mankind.
6. Which is mentioned as the reason for the decline of European minks
A. The loss of their natural food.
B. The hunting of human beings.
C. Drought and forest fire.
D. Excessive deforestation.
7. What is the purpose of the text
A. To call for more efforts to protect forests.
B. To study the living habits of wild animals.
C. To introduce some endangered species.
D. To find ways to protect wild animals.
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏镇江·高二期中试卷
With the help of modern technology, people have killed up to 99 percent of certain types of whales. Some scientists thought this would cause krill(磷虾), tiny shrimp-like animals that many whales eat, to explode in number. But that didn’t happen. Krill numbers in Antarctic waters with of whale hunting have dropped by more than 80 percent. New research suggests a lack of whale poop(粪便) may explain this. A new study finds whales eat more than we thought. Lots more food means lots more poop that is rich in iron. So with fewer whales, ecosystems get less iron and other crucial nutrients that they need to thrive. That hurts other species, including krill.
Figuring out whale diets isn’t easy. In the past, scientists looked at the contents of dead whales’ stomachs to see what they ate. Or they estimated how much food whales should need based on their size. However, the new study, led by Matthew Savoca, a marine biologist at Stanford University, used some different techniques. Savoca’s team put sensors on 321 whales. The sensors tracked when the whales hunted for food.
Using all this information, the scientists found that whales eat about three times as much food as earlier estimates had suggested. The amount of food that whales eat and poop out is astonishing. And it suggests that whales play a bigger role in shaping ocean ecosystems than previously thought.
Whales are nutrient cyclers. If whales and krill returned to their early 1900s numbers, the productivity of the Southern Ocean could be boosted by 11 percent, the researchers calculate. That increased productivity would translate into more carbon-rich life. Together, those creatures would store 215 million tons of carbon each year. The carbon stored in those creatures wouldn’t be able to escape into the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.
8. What is the first paragraph mainly about
A. The present situation of whale killing.
B. The reason for krill numbers declining.
C. The help from the modern technology.
D. The relationship between food and poop.
9. What does the underlined word “thrive” in paragraph I probably mean
A. Grow happily. B. Change rapidly.
C. Develop well. D. Stay wealthy.
10. How did the new study figure out whales’ diets
A. By referring to past studies.
B. By tracking whales with sensors.
C. By observing whales’ sizes.
D. By examining whales’ stomachs.
11. What do the scientists findings suggest
A. Whales hurt other ocean species.
B. Whales eat as much as estimated.
C. Whales slow ocean productivity.
D. Whales matter more than expected.
Passage 4
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏苏州·期中
Gracing every continent of the Earth, wetlands are essential to the planet’s health, often compared to its vital organs, acting as arteries (动脉)that carry water and as kidneys(肾脏)that filter(过滤)harmful substances.
Wetlands serve as protectors: they form protective barriers against tsunamis and absorb the excess rainfall. During the dry season in dry climates, wetlands release the stored water which helps delay the attack of drought and reduce water shortages. They also store vast quantities of carbon, helping ease climate change. Home to some of the most diverse and rich ecosystems, wetlands support one billion people.40 percent of all plant and animal species live or breed in wetlands.
World Wetlands Day is observed each year on 2 February to increase people’s understanding ofthe importance of wetlands and raise awareness of the urgent need to protect the threatened natural treasure.
“We are proud to join in this celebration and recognize the unique and valuable ecosystemservices provided by wetlands. We are committed to doing our part to conserve and protect wetlands,and we are calling on all of you to join us in this vital cause,” said UNCCD (The United NationsConvention to Combat Desertification) Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw.
To date, nearly 90 percent of the world’s wetlands have been degraded or lost,with 35 percentin the last 5O years alone. That is why on this World Wetlands Day,UNCCD is joining the RamsarConvention on Wetlands and other partners to highlight the examples of countries and communities making strides in wetland restoration.
As stressed by the UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw, successful wetland restoration requires a joint effort from governments, civil society and the private sector. Investments in science for technology innovation, infrastructure for effective management and financial mechanisms for project implementation(实施)can turn the tide toward a better futurefor wetlands.
12. Why are wetlands essential to us
A. They help fight against viruses.
B. They offer clean drinking water.
C. They maintain ecological balance.
D. They prevent the natural disasters.
13. How does the author present the current situation of wetlands in paragraph 5
A. By giving examples.
B. By listing figures.
C. By making comparisons.
D. By analyzing causes.
14. What do the underlined words “turn the tide” mean in paragraph 6
A. Follow the trend. B. Break the ice.
C. Run the risk. D. Change the game.
15. What is the text mainly about
A. Wetland ecosystem.
B. Wetland restoration.
C. Wetland exploration.
D. Wetland biodiversity.
高频话题02 人与社会—科学技术
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏镇江·高二期中试卷
Stroke(中风) survivors often struggle with manipulating objects. They lose the sensation(知觉) in their hands and fingers, which is the usual impairment(损伤) they experience daily. This condition affects their activities and lowers the quality of their lives to an extent. As a solution to this problem, a group of scientists from the UK’s University of Hertfordshire has developed a special touchpad that can allow them to feel once again.
In an article by E&T, the University of Hertfordshire researchers have created a unique invention that can bring back the sense of touch among stroke survivors. This particular device is capable of sending tiny vibrations(振动) to the patient’s fingertips. This will give life to the brain cells so they can function once again and restore the sensation of the limbs.
If the survivor wears this device, they could now normally function as before. They can do tasks on their own without asking for help from other people. “Improvement in touch sensation should lead to them being able to sense that they are holding hands. That definitely should be possible,” Dr. Am it Pujari, the inventor of the device, said.
During the British Science Festival, the device developer urged the participants to tell if they had sensations on their hands while the tool was placed. The trial lasted for 10 minutes. The researchers found that 20 to 40%of them have shown an improved sensation in their limbs.
Besides enhancing the patient's movements, the test proved that it could also be a huge help in improving a patient's mental well-being. The study is expected to undergo a peer review in the future. The experts are still wondering about the device's impact in the long run. They also want to tackle how effective it is for patients who suffer from stroke.
1. What’s the function of the special touchpad
A. Increasing stroke survivors' brain cells.
B. Changing the way stroke survivors seize objects.
C. Helping stroke survivors regain the sense of touch.
D. Monitoring the life quality of stroke survivors.
2. What does “That” in paragraph 3 refer to
A. Preventing stroke. B. Restoring the sensation of hands.
C. Turning to others for help. D. Wearing the special device.
3. What can we learn about the special device
A. It has undergone a peer review.
B. It cures stroke immediately.
C. It helps improve patients' mental health.
D. It has produced long-term impact on patients.
4. What can be inferred about the outcome of the 10-minute trial
A. It’s negative. B. It’s typical.
C. It’s encouraging. D. It’s disappointing.
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏常熟·高二期中试卷
In a world where nearly 6 million fingerprint records of government employees are stolen in one computer hack(非法侵入), and here millions of people are victims of identity theft every year, the next step in cyber security may well be mapping your brain.
Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York are working on a biometric(生物特征识别的)system that records how your brain reacts to certain images. With a little more polishing, the scientists’ brainchild could become the way you get into a safe deposit box, your office or past scanners at the airport. It could replace the password for your online banking, your email or your social media accounts.
They started their project by measuring the brain waves of 30 subjects. The subjects were fitted with a cap that had 30 electrodes(电极)attached to it, and then shown various images and symbols — celebrity faces, words, pictures of food — on a computer screen in 200-millisecond bursts. The brain’s reaction was recorded.
The idea is that every time a person needs to use a “password”, he or she goes through the same procedure, and the results are matched with their first time reaction. If the “brainprint” is cracked — like what happened with the fingerprint records — then the system is merely reset by running another set of images and collecting a different set of brain waves. “Even if that was stolen, you could just cancel it and record one to something else”, says professor Laszlo.
Laszlo and her team have shown that their system can be 100 percent accurate. So one of the more difficult parts of making the system practical already has been overcome. Now, they’re spending much time recording accurate brainprints with as few as three electrodes, which could make recording in the future as easy as wearing a pair of special glasses. They’re also working with cheaper materials and different methods to see if they can bring the cost down.
5. What does the underlined word “brainchild” in Paragraph 2 refer to
A. The brain function.
B. The fingerprint record.
C. The biometric system.
D. The online password.
6. Why were the images and symbols shown to the subjects
A. To create their brainprints.
B. To check the brain’s reaction.
C. To match brainprints with pictures.
D. To connect brain waves to electrodes.
7. What will happen when a brainprint fails
A. A spare one will be ready beforehand.
B. A new one will be set again.
C. The users’ security will be leaked.
D. The fingerprint record will replace it.
8. What are the researchers doing with the program now
A. Making it user-friendly.
B. Improving its accuracy.
C. Recording more brainprints.
D. Increasing the number of electrodes.
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏盐城·三校高二期中联考试卷
Virtual reality gamers (VR game) who finished it faster than their fellow gamers also have higher levels of general intelligence and processing capacity. This was the result of a study conducted by Markus Weinmann from the University of Cologne. The results also indicate that virtual reality games can be useful supplementary(补充) human resource management tools in companies for predicting the job performance of an applicant.
Several studies have already shown that video games may indicate or even help to develop intellectual and cognitive abilities. As intelligence is one of the most commonly used predictors for job performance, video games could be interesting for the human resource management. Although many companies are increasingly using VR technology to recruit(招募) candidates, only few studies have specifically investigated whether and how VR games can be used to draw conclusions about intelligence in this area. The study contributes to bridging the gap between research and practice.
Weinmann invited 103 participants to their lab. Under controlled laboratory conditions, they played the commercial VR game “Job Simulator”and completed the short version of the intelligence test BIS-4. The researcher’s analyses show that an increase of 17% in processing capacity correlated with less time spent playing the game (by an average of 3.7 minutes).
The results are a scientific novelty, as it has hardly been possible to conduct VR studies with state-of-the-art VR hardware. There are thus few studies that have investigated the correlation between behavior in VR and intelligence, “There are already some companies that use games, so-called ‘serious games’, for recruiting. The new results are in line with this specific application of VR games and show that they can be used for recruiting,” said Weinmann.
The scientists intend to continue their research on the potential of video games for practical applications. Among other things, they are investigating how people behave in virtual world.
9. What can we learn from Weinmann’s study
A. The results are far from satisfactory.
B. The participants can play the game freely.
C. It aims to develop intellectual ability.
D. It helps to combine research with practice.
10. What is Weinmann’s attitude to the result of the study
A. Unclear. B. Intolerant. C. Favorable. D. Doubtful.
11. What is the last paragraph mainly about
A. Limitations of the study.
B. Possible directions for future study.
C. The present situation of the study.
D. The explanation of the research method.
12. Which of the following is the best title for the text
A. VR games can be used in recruitment
B. VR games can indicate intelligence level
C. VR games improve applicants’ performance
D. VR games have gain popularity in management
高频话题03 人与社会—饮食和健康
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏盐城·三校高二期中联考试卷
Ever been hungry enough to eat a house Now, you actually could.
Food waste is a big problem in Japan and globally. Japan produced around 5.7 million tons of food waste in 2019. The government plans to reduce that by around 2.7 million tons by 2030. Tokyo University researchers Kota Machida and Yuya Sakai have developed a way to transform food waste into cement (水泥) for construction use and more. This is the first-ever process created for making cement entirely from food waste. The researchers say their product is four times as strong as traditional concrete. This particular cement can be used to make things like tea cups or chairs as well. However, there’s one additional feature — it’s also eatable.
Kota and Yuya are the intelligence behind the formation of Fabula Inc., a company with purposes of reducing food waste, and helping fight global warming. As expected, something this unique took years to develop. It took a few attempts to find just the right process. Kota and Yuya created the unique technology while researching possible environment-friendly materials to replace cement-based concrete. Cement production accounts for 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide release.
After a few failures, they realized they could get the cement to bind (黏合) by adjusting the temperatures. “The most challenging part was that each type of food waste requires different temperatures,” Yuya said. So the researchers had to observe them and respond in time. In the experiments, Kota and Yuya have successfully made cement using tea leaves, coffee grounds, cabbage and even lunchbox leftovers.
Fabula Inc. is currently working to make tea cups and furniture, but Yuya is thinking a little bit bigger. Their product could provide relief in the form of eatable emergency shelters in disaster ones. “For example, if food cannot be delivered to the people, they could eat makeshift beds made out of food cement,” he said. To eat the material, a person needs to break it apart and boil it.
1. What’s mainly talked about in paragraph 1 and 2
A. The functions of this particular cement.
B. The effects of food waste in the whole world.
C. The characteristics of the newly made cement.
D. The process of transforming food waste to cement.
2. Which is one of Kota and Yuya’s purposes in making use of food waste
A. To handle global climate change.
B. To extend concrete’s service life.
C. To offer Fabula Inc. more cement.
D. To warn how serious food waste is.
3. What made the experiment of making cement out of food waste harder
A. Making sure to make cement tasty.
B. Selecting correct food waste timely.
C. Getting cement broken apart easily.
D. Adjusting the temperatures constantly.
4. What does the underlined word “makeshift” in the last paragraph mean
A. bendable. B. commercial. C. recyclable. D. temporary.
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏扬州·宝应县高二期中试卷
Plant-based products have been breaking into the foodie mainstream in the United States, after years in which vegan(素食的) burgers and milk alternatives knocked on the market’s door. That is partly because more companies are targeting people who seek to reduce the amount of meat they eat, rather than forswear it altogether.
Now, as fish alternatives begin to attract investment and land at restaurants in the United States and beyond, people who track the fishless fish sector say that it could achieve significant growth.
One reason, they say, is that consumers in rich countries are becoming more aware of the seafood industry’s environmental problems, including overfishing and the health risks of some seafood. Another is that today’s plant-based companies do a better job of approaching fish flavor than earlier ones did—an important consideration for non-vegetarians(非素食者).
“There are a number of people already looking at alternative hamburgers,” said Joshua Katz, an analyst at the consulting firm McKinsey who has studied the alt-protein(替代蛋白) industry. “You might actually say, ‘I should work on something else.’ And seafood is still a massive market with convincing reasons to work on.” People who reduce their consumption of animal proteins for environmental reasons often stop eating red meat, which requires enormous amounts of land and water to farm.
But alt-fish advocates say that seafood also comes with environmental problems. Unsustainable fishing practices have destroyed fisheries(鱼汤) in recent decades, a problem both for biodiversity and the millions of people who depend on the sea for income and food.
“It’s simply a smarter way to make seafood,” says Mirte Gosker, the acting managing director of the Good Food Institute Asia-Pacific, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes alternative proteins. “Full stop.”
So far plant-based seafood products in the United States account for only 0.1 percent of the country’s seafood sales, less than 1.4 percent of the U.S. meat market occupied by plant-based meat alternatives. But alt-seafood enterprises worldwide received at least $83 million from investors in 2020, compared with $1 million three years earlier. As of this June, 83 companies were producing alt-seafood products around the world, a nearly threefold rise since 2017. All but 18 of those 83 companies focus on plant-based products. A dozen others are developing lab-grown seafood, which is not yet commercially available in any country.
5. What does the underlined word “forswear” in paragraph 1 probably mean
A. Sample. B. Consume. C. Produce. D. Abandon.
6. Which aspect of seafood do non-vegetarians focus on
A. The health risks. B. The protein intake.
C. The taste and mouthfeel. D. The overfishing problem.
7. What is Mirte Gosker’s tone when he says “Full stop” in paragraph 6
A. Determined. B. Concerned. C. Humorous. D. Enthusiastic.
8. What do the figures in the last paragraph mainly show
A. Seafood companies are struggling.
B. Plant-based meat products will be a trend.
C. Alt-seafood products have a promising future.
D. Seafood will be commercially available soon.
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏溧水·高二期中试题
Water poisoning is caused by too much consumption of water during a short period of time. Water in and of itself is not poisonous by any means, but rapid intake of a large quantity of water can break the careful balance of sodium(钠)in the body fluids(体液). This contributes to a swelling of the cells, often in the central nervous system, including the brain.
When the cells can no longer bear the pressure, they can begin to die. This is indicated in serious forms of water poisoning. Symptoms of this condition include vomiting, headache and unresponsiveness. When the sodium in the blood falls to dangerous levels, brain damage and possibly death may occur.
What is a fatal(致命的)amount of water can vary from person to person, depending on one’s state of health, his or her physical activity at the time, the temperature and the amount of time in which the person consumes the water. For some, a one-time consumption of three liters can prove deadly. Although the person consuming the water may lose a lot of fluid during heavy labor or exercise, the electrolytes(电解质)are not replaced fast enough to avoid water poisoning.
Those particularly at risk for water poisoning are athletes engaged in long distance running like a marathon. Due to the need to replace large quantities of lost fluid, runners must drink a lot of water. This can lead to poisoning, so runners must replace their fluids with sports drinks that have added electrolytes. Other factors that contribute to water poisoning include activities that stimulate heavy sweating. The person working under extreme heat or intense humidity(湿气)must be careful when consuming water in order to maintain electrolyte balance. Mental diseases can also lead to water poisoning. Psychogenic polydipsia is a condition in which the affected person feels a need to drink a lot of water for unknown reasons.
9. What harm does water poisoning bring
A. It can affect brain function. B. It disturbs the balance of sodium.
C. It causes a drop in blood pressure. D. It tends to make its victims nervous.
10. What can we know about proper amount of water to drink
A. Three liters per day is deadly. B. No single rule fits everyone.
C. It doesn’t bother healthy people. D. Physical activity is its decisive factor.
11. Who would probably fall victim to water poisoning
A. A patient suffering from stomachache.
B. A laborer working with heavy sweating.
C. An athlete fond of drinking sports drinks.
D. A teenager doing appropriate exercise daily.
12. What might be discussed in the paragraph that follows
A. What has been found about sports drinks.
B. What else contributes to water poisoning.
C. What are the symptoms of water poisoning.
D. What can be done to avoid water poisoning.
热点考向01 人与自然—人与动植物
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏南京·南师大附中高二期中试卷
Animal populations across the world have been reduced by 69% in less than 50 years, according to a new scientific report. The report’s authors are calling for urgent action to restore the natural world.
The Living Planet Report (LPR) is produced every two years by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London. The most recent report, released on October 13, 2022, shows that almost 70% of the world’s monitored wildlife was lost between 1970 and 2018. The report is based on research from 195 countries around the world. Data was collected from almost 32,000 populations of 5,230 species.
Although the average global loss of wildlife is 69%, the rate is greater in the global south. Latin America and the Caribbean in particular have seen the sharpest fall, having lost 94% of their wildlife since 1970. Across the world, the biggest drop was in freshwater populations of wildlife — including almost 1,400 species of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles — which have decreased by 83%.
The report identifies several causes for wildlife loss, including hunting, farming, the loss of forests, pollution and climate change. However, the report also promotes solutions, such as designing less destructive food production systems, urgently protecting the Amazon rainforest, limiting the use of fossil fuels, and creating new laws to protect our natural environment.
Commenting on the report, Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, called the figures “terrifying”, and said “we need to restore nature and not simply halt its loss.” In December 2022, world leaders are meeting in Montreal for the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference, also known as COP 15. The authors of the LPR say that this is an opportunity for a global plan to deal with wildlife loss and restore nature. “Government leaders must step up at COP 15,” said Lambertini. “The world is watching.”
1. What does the author mainly want to show by listing the numbers in the first three paragraphs
A. The causes of the urgent situation.
B. The detailed process of the research.
C. The severity of wildlife loss worldwide.
D. The drop in freshwater populations of wildlife
2. According to the report, what is a possible solution to population decline of wildlife
A. Stop hunting and farming.
B. Ban the production of wildlife food.
C. Offer legal protection of natural environment.
D. Replace the fossil fuels with renewable energy
3. What does the underlined word “halt” mean in the last paragraph
A. Accept. B. Stop. C. Fear. D. Suffer.
4. What is Lambertini’s attitude towards wildlife loss
A. Objective. B. Indifferent.
C. Ambiguous. D. Concerned.
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏南京·六校联合体高二5月期中试题
Despite the bad reputation of sharks, they are crucial to the health of the marine ecosystem and can even help fight climate change.
In the shallows of Shark Bay, Western Australia, seagrass is food for the sea cows, which can weigh as much as 500 kg and eat roughly 40 kg of seagrass a day. Sea cows are a rich source of food for tiger sharks. By keeping the sea cow population controlled, tiger sharks here help the seagrass grow sustainably. A booming seagrass meadow stores twice as much CO2 per square mile as forests typically do on land.
But tiger shark numbers are declining. Off Australia’s northeast coast of Queensland, tiger sharks are estimated to have fallen by at least 71 percent, largely due to overfishing. A reduction in tiger sharks means more seagrass consumed by herbivores (食草动物) and less carbon stored in sea vegetation. This raised the question: What if they were absent from the Shark Bay — would the seagrass-dominated ecosystem survive
To find out, researchers led by Rob Nowicki of Florida International University, spent time in Eastern Australia, where shark numbers were lower and sea cows ate seagrass largely undisturbed. “When uncontrolled, sea cows can rapidly destroy wide areas of seagrass.” said Nowicki.
Those findings emphasized that tiger sharks were playing an important role in preventing the reduction of seagrass in Shark Bay. If their populations continue to decline, the resilience of carbon-rich ocean ecosystems will likely decrease.
When it comes to stimulating shark numbers, there have been movements toward more sustainable fishing, but a large percentage of the industry have not changed their methods, which is a reason why the population of many marine top predators (捕食者) continues to decline.
Aside from supporting sustainable fishing, Nowicki said the only way to truly protect marine life is to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions. “Ultimately, if we are going to protect our ecosystems in the centuries to come, we are going to need to solve climate change while undertaking species protection at the same time.”
5. Why are tiger sharks vital to the marine ecosystem
A. They feed on various sea animals.
B. They can store large amounts of CO2.
C. They can prevent the loss of seagrass.
D. They influence marine species’ distribution.
6. What does the underlined word “resilience” in paragraph 5 mean
A. Sustainability. B. Recovery. C. Preservation. D. Construction.
7. What is the main cause of the population reduction of many top predators
A. Climate change. B. Lack of protection.
C. Unsustainable fishing. D. Loss of seagrass.
8. What’s the main idea of the text
A. The number of tiger sharks is decreasing.
B. Climate change causes the loss of seagrass.
C. Environmental protection is at the top of the agenda.
D. Tiger sharks are vital to the health of the marine ecosystem.
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏泰州·高二期中试卷
Whenever Alyssa Bohart heard a voice from her computer repeatedly- status alert, status alert—the search was on. The warning came from a radar device installed in Churchill, Manitoba—a modified (改进的) military system programmed with artificial intelligence (AI) and trained to detect polar bears.
Over the past four years, the nonprofit Polar Bears International (PBI) has led radar, or “bear-dar”, tests to hopefully help northern communities stay safe. Polar bears are powerful predators, and for people in the Arctic, an essential part of coexisting with bears is maintaining a respectful distance. But with climate changes reducing sea ice, polar bears conflicts are spending more time on land. The chances of polar bears and humans conflicts are increasing, which can have terrible consequences for both parties.
The project came into being when PBI was looking for new ways to prevent human-polar bear conflicts. A chance meeting with SpotterRF, a company that makes military radar devices, gave them an idea: maybe they could use the radar system to detect polar bears heading toward towns and send out an early warning.
In their initial tests, the researchers discovered that “the technology works great”, says Geoff York, FBI’s senior director of conservation. “If anything, it detects too much.” The radar turned out to send thousands of motion alerts. So in 2020, the team turned to AI to try to narrow down the hits. “By incorporating this AI, we are truly teaching this radar to learn what a polar bear is,” says Alysa McCall, a staff scientist with PBI.
This past fall, the team positively identified 28 polar bears and had 89 alerts that didn’t turn out to be bears. McCall says their goals is to have more positive identifications than negative. In rare events, the team noticed polar bears, either on the camera or in person, that the bear-dar didn’t identify. In those cases, the two most confusing variables for the bear-dar were variations in the bears’ sizes, and the direction the bears were walking in relation to the radar. “We are not quite there yet. But I think the results have proved we have a good direction of where to go with the AI,” says MeCall.
9. What is PBI trying to do
A. To provide new homes for polar bears.
B. To help humans stay away from polar bears.
C. To protect polar bears with advanced technology.
D. To look into the cause of human-polar bear conflicts.
10. What was the problem with PBI’s initial radar system
A. It was often damaged by polar bears.
B. It cost too much money to operate well.
C. It sent out unnecessary warning signals.
D. It needed much time to find the target.
11. How did McCall feel about the test results
A. Hopeless. B. disappointed. C. Concerned. D. satisfied.
12. What can be the best title of the text
A. AI does a great job in polar bear conservation
B. Climate change intensifies human-bear conflicts
C. Bear-dar warns humans of approaching polar bears
D. Polar bears pose a big threat to northern communities
热点考向02 人与社会—社会问题和社会现象
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏扬州·宝应县高一期中试卷
Nowadays, instead of scrolling(滚屏) through apps like TikTok and Instagram all day on a smartphone, many people begin to use a so-called “dumb phone ” according to the latest report, and seventeen-year-old Robin West is one of them.
Dumb phones are basic devices, with very limited functionality compared to an iPhone. Typically, you can only make and receive calls and text messages. And if you are lucky, you can also listen to the radio and take very basic photos, but definitely you cannot connect to the Internet or apps.
Robin West’s decision to rid himself of the former smartphone two years ago was out of a sudden urge. “I didn’t notice how much a smartphone was taking over my life until I bought a dumb phone. I had a lot of social media apps on it, and I didn’t get much work done as I was always on my phone.” He said that he would never buy another smartphone. “I don’t think my dumb phone limits me; I’m definitely more active,” he added.
Outdated for a while with the appearance of smartphones, dumb phones are now regaining popularity. A 2021 study said that one in ten mobile phone users in the UK had a dumb phone. “Many of us once had a dumb phone as our first mobile phone and TikTok videos remind us of that, so it’s natural that we feel a sense of nostalgia (怀旧) towards these classic markers, which have a part to play in dumb phones’ revival (再流行),” said a mobile expert.
One maker of dumb phones is The Light Phone. Slightly cleverer than the norm for such products, it has handsets that do allow users to listen to music and podcasts, and connect by Bluetooth to headphones. Yet the firm promised that its phones “will never have social media click bait news, email or a web browser”.
Light co-founder, Kaiwei Tang, says that, surprisingly, the firm’s main customers are aged between 25 and 35. He says he was expecting buyers to be much older. Tech expert, Prof. Sandra Wachter, says it is understandable that some of us are looking for simpler mobile phones. “Smartphones always want to grab our attention with updates, breaking news and the like constantly disrupting (扰乱) our day.”
1. What does Robin West probably fail to do on his dumb phone
A. Make a call to his friend.
B. Have access to the radio.
C. Store photos in the album.
D. Visit social networking pages.
2. Why do many people start to use dumb phones according to the mobile expert
A. They are very easy to operate.
B. They can impact people’s life.
C. They come into fashion again.
D. They make people recall old days.
3. What’s Prof. Sandra Wachter’s attitude towards people’s using dumb phones
A. Flexible. B. Supportive. C. Confused. D. Doubtful.
4. What would be the best title for the text
A. The return of dumb phones
B. The popularity of smartphones
C. The marketing strategies of phones
D. The intense competition between phones
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏淮安·淮安区高二期中调研测试卷
Consider what goes through your mind after you’ve taken your seat on an airplane. You’ve not seen the captain, but his or her voice comes over the air. “Hello, this is your captain speaking.” Are you about to fly the friendly skies What you probably don’ realize is that you do make quick judgments(判断) based on very few factors the moment you hear “hello”.
Experts have discovered that “hello” carries enough information for listeners to draw judgments about the speakers personality, such as how reliable(可信赖的) he or she is. They recorded 64 students reading a telephone conversation. The word “hello” was then picked from each recording, and 320 different students listened to that word through a computer. The students were asked to score the voices according to personality, including attractiveness and warmth, giving them points from l to 10. Although every voice was played in one third a second, the students formed an opinion quickly.
It is amazing that from such short voices of speech they can get such an obvious impression of a person. And whether it is correct, their impressions are mostly the same as what the other listeners get. The research also suggests that people’ impressions are based on the tone (语调) of voice. Men and women who present the strength of their voices are regarded as more reliable.
The speed with which the students made their judgments makes much sense. Deciding who to trust can be important to your survival. There’s no point in listening to someone talk for 5 minutes to decide if they’re reliable or not — you could be dead already. The discovery may help improve computer-made voice technologies, experts say.
5. Why does the author mention “the captain” in paragraph 1
A. To present a fact. B. To make a prediction.
C. To introduce a new research. D. To explain the rule on a plane.
6. How did the students tell the speakers’ personality
A. Making telephone calls.
B. Playing voices at high speeds.
C. Picking “hello” from conversations.
D. Listening to and scoring the records of “hello”.
7. What can we do to leave a good first impression
A. Make a long speech. B. Give powerful voice.
C. Follow other listeners. D. Speak as fast as possible.
8. What will probably be talked about in the following paragraph
A. The secret to tallying for 5 minutes. B. The different ways you say “hello”.
C. The application in voice technologies. D. The method of listening with attention.
Passage 3
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏姜堰·高二期中
Like many people, public speaking once filled me with a sense of fear. As a writer, I felt much more comfortable expressing myself on the page, rather than from central stage. Strangely, I found that the feelings of anxiety were perfectly tolerable. Meanwhile, I tried my best to contain the feelings as I assumed that I’d be judged negatively for any non-verbal(非言语的) signal that showed my lack of confidence. I bet you must have had the same experience as me!
However, according to a striking new study, these concerns may be unreasonable. Jamie Whitehouse, a researcher at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, has shown that visible signs of stress are often appealing, making others like us and treat us warmly.
In 2021 Whitehouse found some initial evidence supporting this idea. Observing a group of 45 rhesus macaques(恒河猴) in Punta Santiago Puerto Rico, he found that individuals tended to show more nervous scratching when they were around higher-ranking individuals and relative strangers with whom they did not already have a strong social bond. And that, in turn, seemed to change the nature of the interaction -- resulting in gentler behavior from the other monkey.
Inspired by this finding, Whitehouse decided to test whether humans displays of stress might also change individuals’ responses to us -- perhaps through a heart-warming response.
Whitehouse’s team first asked 23 participants to undergo the “Trier Social Stress Test”-- an anxiety-inducing routine in which the participants must undergo a fake job interview, with a three-minute speech about why they are the ideal candidate and an on-the-spot mental arithmetic test.
A further 133 participants were then asked to rate videos of the fake interviews -- with questions about how stressed the person appeared to be, and how much they liked the person they saw. Psychologsts, meanwhile, counted how many times the participants showed non-verbal signs of stress.
As the researchers had expected, the people rating the videos were able to predict how stressed the interviewees felt, and this seemed to come from those characteristic non-verbal signals. Most importantly, those perceptions then influenced the raters’ judgements of the interviewees’ likeability -- for the better. The more the interviewees showed signs of stress, the more appealing they were to the people watching their videos.
“This tells us that these behaviors are not just functionless by-products of stress, but actually have communicative functions,” Whitehouse says.
9. What can we learn from the author’s experience
A. He can hardly put up with his anxiety.
B. He tends to hide his anxious feelings.
C. He encourages others to express themselves.
D. He is good at comforting someone with anxiety.
10. What did Whitehouse find out about rhesus macaques in his 2021 study
A. Their anxiety could help bring others closer to them.
B. Their anxiety could be easily discovered by humans.
C. They behaved gently around higher-ranking individuals.
D. They showed various non-verbal sigals before stranger.
11. What is the finding of the researchers’ test
A. Showing stress can lead to negative judgements.
B. Showing stress can make people more likeable.
C. People who show stress perform better in the test.
D. People tend to look down upon those who show stress.
12. What is the significance of the study’s results
A. To help us prepare for job interviews.
B. To provide a proper way to deal with stress.
C. To show the value of nervous interviewees.
D. To justify the behaviors caused by stress.
热点考向 03 人与自我—工作和职业
Passage 1
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏海门·高二期中试卷
A lot of media attention has focused on the harmful effects of working long hours. Logging excessive hours at work is rooted in the work culture of the West. From Bay Area startups to various multinationals, their idea is centered around how many hours you can clock at work. It is assumed that the more hours you put into your job, the more career prospects you’ll get out of it.
A new study in Europe challenged this assumption, however. From their analysis of nearly 52, 000 people from 36 European countries, they concluded that it’s not the number of hours you clock at the office, but how intensely you work during those hours, that affects career-related outcomes. Researchers found people, with similar jobs and education levels, were more likely to suffer poorer well-being and inferior career prospects, including satisfaction, security and promotion, when they worked at an intense level for long periods. According to Hans Frankort, a senior lecturer in strategy at Cass Business School, the research suggests career benefits of excessive work effort-longer hours or harder work-may never materialize.
Employers should reduce work intensity rather than try to control excessive hours, the authors concluded. “Compared with overtime, work intensity predicts much greater reductions in well-being and career benefits,” Hans Frankort said.
There is also a range of things for employees to do to ensure they’re working smarter, and not just harder. Beth Belle Cooper, a former content creator at Buffer, the social media scheduling app, suggests taking more breaks to refresh your mind and reset your attention span. She also recommends taking naps to consolidate new information in the brain and help you avoid burnout. You might also consider completely unplugging from work more consistently, and for longer periods of time. This is what Sean McCabe and his small team does when they take a week-long vacation every seventh week.
1. What is common in the work culture of western countries
A. Having bright career prospects.
B. Spending long hours at work.
C. Starting up one’s own business.
D. Earning long paid days off work.
2. What can be the effect of working intensely according to the text
A. It leads to more career challenges.
B. It brings out greater promotion opportunity.
C. It reduces one’s work passion and efficiency.
D. It worsens one’s health conditions and job outlook.
3. What is advisable to work smarter according to Sean Mccabe
A. Requiring breaks occasionally.
B. Taking days off work regularly.
C. Catching up on sleep properly.
D. Refreshing one’s brain constantly.
4. What does the text mainly intend to tell us
A. Working intensively is necessary.
B. Working whole-heartedly is useless.
C. Working more diligently does more harm.
D. Working more wisely brings more benefits.
Passage 2
2022-2023学年下学期·江苏淮安·高中校协作体高二期中试卷
You have everything you think you need for your dream job, but could something else be holding you back You possess hard skills for the job, but you may lack soft skills. Hard skills are things that are measurable and technical. A master’s degree in business is a hard skill. The ability to speak Spanish is a hard skill. Many specific qualifications for a job are hard skills, such as years of work experience or proficiency (精通) with particular computer programs.
On the other hand, soft skills are harder to define. And they can’t be defined. And they can’t be measured. Soft skills covers a wide range of characteristics that you can work on for a lifetime but some of the most common and most necessary for success include being a good listener and speaker, a wise leader, a problem solver, a strong communicator or a team player. It’s also helpful if you can accept feedback, settle conflicts with others, deal with difficult people or be flexible. These soft skills are what many employers desire.
Soft skills benefit you in many ways. Being a good listener, for example, is very helpful if you’re a doctor. Being flexible, a team player and a problem solver help you succeed when dealing with deadlines.
Soft skills are something extra that help a particular person to succeed. Being able to show you possess them could make a difference in landing a job you’ll love, or being more successful in the job you already have. They make the difference between someone who is just OK at their job and someone who is outstanding, the person you always want on your team. In general, soft skills make you more likable and more competent.
Soft skills are what can set people apart from each other on resumés or in job interviews, but soft skills don’t come naturally.
5. Which of the following belongs to hard skills
A. Having a good command of English. B. Communicating with others efficiently.
C. Being good at expressing oneself. D. Being able to solve problems.
6. Which of the following is TRUE about soft skills
A. They are measurable and technical. B. They are taught in many universities.
C. They are desired by many employers. D. They are specific job qualifications.
7. What’s the best title for the passage
A. Hard Skills Differ from Soft Skills B. Soft skills Can Be Learnt at School
C. Soft Skills Needed in Workplace D. Soft Skills Matter to Your Success at Work
8. What will be probably talked about following the last paragraph
A. Why soft skills are important. B. How soft skills are developed.
C. Where soft skills are applied. D. What the key soft skills are.
