环球雅思中小学-[十年高考]2005-2014年全国各地高考英语试题分类汇编：科普知识类阅读理解

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to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal's teeth.

Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.

Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for instance, has prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液) A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future. 68. The holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals________. A. are not tall enough B. like the lower leaves only

C. are not clever enough D. can get the lower leaves easily 69. To defend themselves, oak trees use________.

A. chemical means B. physical means C. bitter chemicals D. sandy materials 70. How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar? A. Its leaves fight against the attack by physical means. B. Its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar.

C. Its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked. D. Its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away. 71. What would be the best title for this passage?

A. Plants and Animals B. How Plants Defend Themselves C. Attacks and Defenses D. How Animals Eat Plant Leaves

答案 68.D 69.B 70.C 71.B

Passage 76

(05·浙江B篇)

Special Bridges Help Animals Cross the Road

----- Reported by Sheila Carrick

Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side.

Most people know this joke. But recently, some people have been much more concerned with how the grizzly bear and mountain lion can cross the road.

Millions of animals die each year on U.S. roads, the Federal Highway Administration reports. In fact, only about 80 ocelots, an endangered wild cat, exist in the U.S. today. The main reason? Roadkill.

\may help animals cross the road without being hit by cars. They are paths both over and under roads. \ecopassages can be extremely useful, so that wildlife can avoid human conflicts,\

But do animals actually use the ecopassages? The answer is yes. Paul Beier of Northern Arizona University found foot marks left by mountain lions on an ecopassage that went under a highway. This showed that the lion used the passage.

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Builders of some ecopassages try to make them look like a natural part of an area by planting trees on and around them. Animals seem to be catching on. Animals as different as salamanders and grizzly bears are using the bridges and underpasses.

The next time you visit a park or drive through an area with a lot of wildlife, look around. You might see an animal overpass!

45. The writer uses the example of “ocelots” to show that_________. A．wild animals have become more dangerous B．the driving conditions have improved greatly C．the measure for protecting wildlife fails to work

D．an increasing number of animals are killed in road accidents 46. From the news story, we know an ecopassage is_________.

A．an underground path for cars B．a fence built for the safety of the area C．a bridge for animals to get over a river D．a pass for animals to cross the road 47. When the writer says that animals seem “to be catching on”, he means_________.

A．animals begin to realize the dangers on the road B．animals begin to learn to use ecopassages C．animals are crossing the road in groups D．animals are increasing in number

48. The writer asks visitors and drivers to look around when traveling because_________.

A．wild animals may attack cars B．wild animals may jam the road C．they may see wild animals in the park D．they may see wild animals on ecopassages

答案 45.D 46.D 47.B 48.D

Passage 77

(05·福建C篇)

Walk through the Amazon rainforest today and you will find it is steamy ,warm ,damp and thick .But if you had been around 15,000 years ago, during the last ice age ,would it have been the same ?For more than 30 years, scientists have been arguing about how rainforests like the Amazon might have reacted（反应）to the cold ,dry climates of the ice ages ,but until now ,no one has reached a satisfying answer.

Rainforests like the Amazon are important for mopping up CO2 from the atmosphere and helping to slow global warming . Currently the trees in the Amazon take in around 500 million tonnes of CO2 each year; equal to the total amount of CO2 giving off in the UK each year. But how will the Amazon react to future climate change? If it gets drier ,will it still survive and continue to draw down CO2 ?Scientists hope that they will be able to learn in advance how the rainforest will manage in the future by understanding how rainforests reacted to climate change in the past.

Unfortunately ,getting into the Amazon rainforest and collecting information are very difficult .To study past climate ,scientists need to look at fossilized pollen ,kept in lake muds .Going back to the last ice age means drilling deep down into lake sediments （沉淀物）,which requires specialized equipment and heavy machinery .There are very few roads and paths ,or places to land helicopters and aeroplanes .Rivers tend to be the easiest way to enter the

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forest ,but this still leaves vast areas between the rivers completely unsampled（未取样）.So far ,only a handful of cores have been drilled that go back to the last ice age and none of them provide enough information to prove how the Amazon rainforest reacts to climate change. 64．The underlined phrase “mopping up” in the second paragraph means .

A．cleaning up

B．taking in

C．wiping out

D．giving out

65．How will the Amazon rainforest react to future climate change?

A．It’ll get drier and continue to remove CO2 . B．It’ll remain steamy ,warm ,damp and thick . C．It’ll get warmer and then colder and drier. D．There is no exact answer up to present.

A．It’s important to drill deep down into lake sediments to collect information. B．It’s impossible to prove how climate changes in the Amazon rainforest.

C．It’s hard to collect information for studies of the past climate in the Amazon rainforest. D．It’s necessary to have specialized equipment and machinery to study the past climate. A．Studies of the Amazon C．Secrets of the Rainforests 答案 64.B 65.D 66.C 67.C

B．Climates of the Amazon D．Changes of the Rainforests

66．What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

67．The best title for this passage may probably be . Passage 78

(05·辽宁A篇)

When building houses, people used to think about not only the climate of the areas but also the building materials and the fashions for their houses. However, since electricity became more and more expensive, people began to pay much more attention to the energy they could get for their houses and the new ways they could find to protect their houses from both cold and heat. Now, houses of an old yet new type have been widely built. In some parts of the world, people share their houses with their livestock（家畜）.During cold weather, they gather their cows, goats, or other animals and keep them on the first floor of their houses. The reasons are that the animals can be protected from the cold and that they can help to heat the houses as well. The body heat given off by the animals rises to the second floor of the houses, where people live. By sharing their houses with their livestock, people gain a source of heat.

People who live in or near cities do not usually keep livestock. However, home builders use the fact that heat rises. This natural law can be used in building houses in these areas. Instead of keeping livestock on the first floor, builders fill it with large rocks. As they are open to the sun’s rays during cold weather, these rocks take in heat. They also give off the heat, and, of course, the warm air rises into the living areas of the houses. So these houses are energy-saving.

House-building becomes a great challenge（挑战）to building designers and energy engineers. They try to meet this challenge by learning from old traditions and by using modern technology.

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And someday in the future, people will be able to live in more energy-saving houses. 56．What did people begin to consider as electricity was no longer cheap? A．The climate of their areas. B．The energy for their houses.

C．The fashions for their houses. D．The building materials for their houses.

57．People in some areas gain a source of heat by _________. A．keeping their livestock downstairs B．protecting their livestock from the cold C．sharing their houses only with their cows D．living on the second floor with their livestock

58．The underlined words “natural law” in the third paragraph refer to the fact that ________. A．heat raises the temperature in the houses B．heat goes in the upward direction C．heat goes up if temperature is raised D．heat increases the temperature of rocks

59．From the passage, we can conclude that __________.

A．people will no longer consider building materials in the future B．energy-saving buildings will become more popular in the future C．almost all people will move into the houses heated by large rocks D．energy engineers will devote themselves only to modern technology 答案 56.B 57.A 58.B 59.B

Passage 79

(05·辽宁E篇)

There are two kinds of physical activity which require special training. The first demands exact careful movements of the muscles（肌肉）. This kind of activity must be strictly controlled because even a slight movement in the wrong direction will lead a mistake. To type quickly, for example, a person needs training; the slightest movement of a finger in the wrong direction may cause a spelling mistake. A dancer who has to dance on the point of her shoes or turn around on one foot must be trained for a long period of time before she can sense her own center and balance herself. You may have seen a girl walking on a rope across an empty space, which, too, requires a lot of practice.

The second kind of physical activity needs greater strength or extra effort. Most of us get tired if we try to run half a mile without stopping, but a specially-trained person can do this without much effort. Three years ago, some scientists carried out experiments, which produced meaningful and unexpected results. They wanted to find out whether a certain amount of physical exercise would injure those suffering from heart problems. They selected some male patients and trained them in continuous bicycle riding. They were surprised to find that the harmful effect of given amount of physical effort was actually less on the hearts of these trained