2015四川卷标准精校精改版

B．To collect manure for his crops． C．To get rid of the terrible smell． D．To set a good example to us．

35．What can we infer about Dad?s stew?

A．It is popular among the neighbors． B．It contains honey and vegetables． C．It looks very wonderful． D．It tastes quite delicious．

36．What does the underlined word “offend” in the last paragraph mean?

A．To attract

B．To upset

C．To air

D．To shut

37．What can we learn about Dad form the text?

A．He is an experienced cook． B．He is a troublesome father． C．He has a positive attitude to life． D．He suffers a lot from his disability．

C

Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters rush to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers．But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year．

Mothers have long known that their home workload was just heavy as paid work．Now, the new

study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labors, they would earn as much as ￡172,000 a year．

The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to

determine the figure．This would make their yearly income ￡3000 more than the Prime Minister earns．

By analyzing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week,40 of which

would usually be paid at a standard rate and 79 hours as overtime．After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18,it found that,on most days, mums started their routine work at 7am and finished at around 11pm．

To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labor, it suggested some of the roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer． Being a part-time lawyer, at ￡48.98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum

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jobs”, with psychologist (心理学家) a close second．

It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional(情感 的)demand as the hardest thing about motherhood．

Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends．

The study shows mothers matter all year long and not just on Mother?s Day．The emotional, physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness．Investing(投入)in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent．

38．How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister? A．￡30,000. B．￡142,000. C．￡172,000. D．￡202,000. 39．The biggest challenge for most mothers is from．

A．emotional demand B．low pay for work

C．heavy workload D．lack of training 40．What is stressed in the last paragraph?

A．Mothers? importance shows in family all year long. B．The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile. C．Mothers? devotion to children can hardly be calculated. D．Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return. 41．What can we conclude from the study?

A．Mothers? working hours should be largely reduced. B．Mothers should balance their time for work and rest. C．Mothers? labor is of a higher value than it is realised. D．Mothers should be freed from housework for social life.

D

Their cheery song brightens many a winter?s day．But robins are in danger of wearing themselves out by singing too much．Robins are singing all night——as well as during the day, British-based researchers say．

David Dominoni, of Glasgow University, said that light from street lamps, takeaway signs and homes is affecting the birds? biological clock, leading to them being wide awake when they should be asleep．

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DrDominoni, who is putting cameras inside nesting boxes to track sleeping patterns, said lack of sleep could put the birds?health at risk．His study shows that when robins are exposed to light at night in the lab, it leads to some genes being active at the wrong time of day．And the more birds are exposed to light, the more active they are at night．

He told people at a conference, “There have been a couple of studies suggesting they are increasing their song output at night and during the day they are still singing．Singing is a costly behaviour and it takes energy．So by increasing their song output, there might be some costs of energy．”

And it is not just robins that are being kept awake by artificial light．Blackbirds and seagulls are also being more nocturnal．DrDominoni said, “In Glasgow where I live, gulls are a serious problem．I have people coming to me saying ?You are the bird expert．Can you help us kill these gulls??．During the breeding(繁殖)season,between April and June,they are very active at night and very noisy and people can?t sleep．”

Although DrDominoni has only studied light pollution,other research concluded that robins living in noisy cities have started to sing at night to make themselves heard over loud noise．

However, some birds thrive(兴旺)in noisy environments．A study from California Polytechnic University found more hummingbirds in areas with heavy industrial machinery．It is thought that they are capitalising on their predators(天敌)fleeing to quieter areas． 42．According to DrDominoni?s study,what causerobins to sing so much?

A．The breeding season．

B．The light in modem life

D．The noise from heavy machinery．

C．The dangerous environment．

43．What is the researchers? concern over the increase of birds? song output?

A．The environment might be polluted． B．The birds? health might be damaged． C．The industry cost might be increased． D．The people?s hearing might be affected．

44．What does the underlined word “nocturnal” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Active at night． B．Inactive at night． C．Active during the day．

D．Inactive during the day．

45．Why do some birds thrive in noisy environments?

A．Because there are fewer dangers．

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B．Because there is more food to eat． C．Because there is less light pollution

D．Because there are more places to take shelter．

E

No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo．But a new study

suggests they used a little rock?n?roll．Long-ago builders could have attached wooden poles to the stones and rolled them across the sand, the scientists say．

“Technically, I think what they?re proposing is possible,” physicist Daniel Bonn said． People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks．And there?s no

obvious answer．On average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck．The Egyptians somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away．

The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths．Many

scientists suspect workers first would have put the blocks on sleds(滑板)．Then they would have dragged them along paths．To make the work easier, workers may have lubricated the paths either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle．Bonn has now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand．

Evidence from the sand supports this idea．Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a

large amount of stone and the remains of paths．

However, physicist Joseph West think there might have been a simpler way, led the new

study．West said, “I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid construction．I thought, ?Why don?t they just try rolling the things? ? ” A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides, he realized．That, he notes, should make a block of stone “a lot easier to roll than a square”．

So he tried it．

He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30-kilogram stone block．That

action turned the block into somewhat a wheel．Then they placed the block on the ground．

They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled．The researchers found they could

easily roll the block along different kinds of paths．They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery(滑的)path．

West hasn?t tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over

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