阅读理解----- (2011·湖南卷，C)
A recent study of ancient and modern elephants has come up with the unexpected conclusion that the African elephant is divided into two distinct(不同的) species.
The discovery was made by researchers at York and Harvard Universities when they were examining the genetic relationship between the ancient woolly mammoth and mastodon to modern elephants—the Asian elephant, African forest elephant, and African savanna elephant.
Once they obtained DNA sequences (序列)from two fossils (化石), mammoths and mastodons, the team compared them with DNA from modern elephants. They found to their amazement that modern forest and savanna elephants are as distinct from each other as Asian elephants and mammoths.
The scientists used detailed genetic analysis to prove that the African savanna elephant and the African forest elephant have been distinct species for several million years. The divergence of the two species took place around the time of the divergence of Asian elephants and woolly mammoths. This result amazed all the scientists.
There has long been debate in the scientific community that the two might be separate species, but this is the most convincing scientific evidence so far that they are indeed different species.
Previously, many naturalists believed that African savanna elephants and African forest elephants were two populations of the same species, despite the elephants' significant size differences. The savanna elephant has an average shoulder height of 3.5 metres while the forest elephant has an average shoulder height of 2.5 metres. The savanna elephant weighs between six and seven tons, roughly double the weight of the forest elephant. But the fact that they look so different does not necessarily mean they are different species. However the proof lay in the analysis of the DNA.
Alfred Roca, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois, said, “We now have to treat the forest and savanna elephants as two different units for conservation purposes. Since 1950, all African elephants have been conserved as one species. Now that we know the forest and savanna elephants are two very distinctive animals, the forest elephant should become a bigger priority (优先) for conservation purposes.”
本文讲述了一项新的科学发现：通过对非洲森林大象和非洲草原大象DNA的鉴定，科学家们得出结论：它们是两种不同的物种。我们要保护这些珍稀动物。
12．One of the fossils studied by the researchers is that of ________
A．the Asian elephant
B．the forest elephant
C．the savanna elephant D．the mastodon elephant
答案：D。细节理解题。由第3段第一句话“...two fossils，mammoths and mastodons...”可知D项正确。
13．The underlined word “divergence”in Paragraph 4 means “________ ”．
A．evolution
B．exhibition
C．separation
D．examination
答案：C。词义猜测题。科学家门一直在证明非洲森林大象和非洲草原大象是两种不同的物种，他们之间的分歧使科学家们大为惊讶。
14．The researchers' conclusion was based on a study of the African elephant's ________.
A．DNA
B．height
C．weight
D．population
答案：A。细节理解题。由倒数第二段最后一句话“However the proof lay in the analysis of the DNA”可知。
15．What are Alfred Roca's words mainly about?
A．The conservation of African elephants.
B．The purpose of studying African elephants.
C．The way to divide African elephants into two units.
D．The reason for the distinction of African elephants.
答案：A。推理判断题。由文章最后一段“...for conservation purposes”可知A项正确。
16．Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A．Naturalists' Beliefs about Elephants
B．Amazing Experiments about Elephants
C．An Unexpected Finding about Elephants
D．A Long Scientific Debate about Elephants
答案：C。主旨大意题。全文讲述了关于非洲大象的一项意外的发现。
高考英语冲刺阅读理解专项US billionaires are back on top with Microsoft founder Bill Gates again the world's richest man in a year when even billionaires felt the heat of the global recession, Forbes magazine said Wednesday.
The wealthy few did not escape big shocks this year, with net worth on the list of 793 billionaires -- down from 1,125 billionaires in 2008 -- plummeting to 2.4 trillion dollars from 4.4 trillion, Forbes said.
"The biggest news today is that we are here and there still are billionaires," Forbes spokeswoman Monie Begley joked at a press conference.
The much-watched annual rich list put Gates back on top with a net worth of 40 billion dollars, although he saw his bank balance lose 18 billion over the last 12 months. In second came investor Warren Buffett with 37 billion dollars, despite losing 25 billion dollars this year in the value of his Berkshire Hathaway shares. Also losing 25 billion dollars, Mexican telecoms king Carlos Slim still managed to come in third with 35 billion dollars.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at number 17, was notable as the only top 20 member to see a net gain. That was not because of his salary, which is a symbolic one dollar a year, but thanks to re-evaluation of Bloomberg financial news agency after the mayor bought a 20 percent stake from Merrill Lynch last year for 4.5 billion dollars.
About 64 percent of the billionaires are self-made and their average age is 63.7, a slight rise resulting from the lower number of rich Russians and Chinese, whose average ages last year were 46 and 48.
By contrast with that aging trend, Gates is a relatively youthful 53. The youngest billionaire prize this year goes to Albert von Thurn und Taxis of Germany, who is 25 and listed as having 2.1 billion dollars. But one of the young success stories from last year -- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg -- dropped off the list altogether.
1. Of all the billionaires mentioned above, who didn’t lose in the global recession?
A. Bill Gates.
B. Warren Buffet.
C. Carlos Slim.
D. Michael Bloomberg.
答案解析：答案为D。本题为细节题。由第五段“New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at number 17, was notable as the only top 20 member to see a net gain.”可知，排名第十七的Michael Bloomberg是唯一一位前20名富翁中获得净利“The biggest news today is that we are here and there still are billionaires” may probably means ______
A. the number of billionares in 2009 is much smaller than that in 2008
B. the number of billionares in 2009 is a bit larger than that in 2008
C. there are many billionaires in America, which is the biggest news today.
D. the biggest news is that many billionaires are at the press conference
答案解析：答案为A。本题为语义理解题。该句话出现在第三段《财富(福布斯)》杂志“The wealthy few did not escape big shocks this year, with net worth on the list of 793 billionaires -- down from 1,125 billionaires in 2008 -- plummeting to 2.4 trillion dollars from 4.4 trillion, Forbes said.”可知，发言人指出今年（2009年）有793位亿万富翁，2008年却有1,125位，因此该发言人的言外之意就是2009年的亿万富翁比2008年少了，故答案为A。C选项只是文字的表层意思，D选项与文意完全不符合，均不选。
3. How many billion dollars did the US billionaires lose in 2008 altogether mentioned in the paragraph 4?
A. 18
B. 25
C. 43
D. 50
答案解析：答案为C。本题为数字计算题。题干要求算出第四段中美国的亿万富翁在2008年总共损失多少美元，由第四段可知，Gates损失了18 billion，Warren Buffett损失了25 billion，他们都是美国人，总共是43 billion，故答案为C。第四段提到的第三位虽然也损失了25 billion，但是是墨西哥人At the age of ten I could not figure out what this Elvis Presley guy had that the rest of us boys did not have. I mean, he had a head, two arms and two legs, just like the rest of us. About nine o’clock on Saturday morning I decided to ask Eugene Correthers, one of the older boys, what it was that made this Elvis guy so special. He told me that it was Elvis’ wavy hair and the way he moved his body.
About half an hour later all the boys in the orphanage（孤儿院）were called to the main dining-room and told we were all going to downtown Jacksonville, Florida to get a new pair of Buster Brown shoes and a hair cut.That is when I got this big idea, which hit me like a ton of bricks.If the Elvis hair cut was the big secret, then that’s what I was going to get.
All the way to town I told everybody, including the matron（女管家）from the orphanage who was taking us to town, that I was going to look just like Elvis Presley and that I would learn to move around just like he did and that I would be rich and famous one day, just like him.
When I got my new Buster Brown shoes, I could hardly wait for my new hair cut and now that I had my new Buster Brown shoes I would be very happy to go back to the orphanage and practice being like Elvis.
We finally arrived at the big barber shop, where they cut our hair for free because we were orphans（孤儿). I looked at the barber and said, “I want an Elvis hair cut. Can you make my hair like Elvis?” I asked him, with a big smile on my face. “Let’s just see what we can do for you, little man,” he said. I was so happy when he started to cut my hair. Just as he started to cut my hair, the matron signed for him to come over to where she was standing. She whispered something into his ear and then he shook his head, like he was telling her “No”. Then he told me they were not allowed to give us Elvis hair cuts. Then I saw my hair falling onto the floor.
51.In the author’s eyes, Elvis Presley was _________.
A. disgustingB. admirable C. ambitious D. dynamic
52. From the passage, we can know that _________.
A. Buster Brown was more appealing than Elvis Presley
B. An Elvis hair cut cost the orphans a lot of money
C. The author was fascinated with the stars Buster and Elvis
D. The barber was unwilling to give the boy an Elvis hair cut
53. We can learn from the underlined sentence that the boy was _________.
A. excited to have an Elvis hair cut
B. worried to think about the secret
C. anxious to remove the ton of bricks
D. careful to seize the chance
54. How would the boy probably feel when he walked out of the barber shop?
A. Delighted. B. Guilty. C. Self-satisfied. D. Depressed.
【参考答案】5.BCAD
高考英语冲刺阅读理解专项B
The "Earth Hour" initiative(自发行动) started in Australia' s biggest city Sydney last year when an estimated 2. 2 million people flicked the switch --- leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbor Bridge blacked out.
Organizer Andy Ridley said Sydney ' s 60 minutes of darkness generated huge interest around the world and 23 other cities from the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and the Middle East had now signed up to be part of the 2008 event.
The eight latest cities to join "Earth Hour" are Atlanta, San Francisco and Phoenix in the US; Thailand's capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland. They joined Australian cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide; Denmark's Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense; the Philippine capital Manila, Fiji ' s biggest city Suva. Christchurch in New Zealand; Chicago; Tel Aviv and Toronto.
Ridley said he expected the "Earth Hour" concept, which is managed by the conservation group WWF, to extend beyond the borders of these countries on the scheduled start time of 8:00 p. m. local time on Saturday March 29.
“ I think it already has become much bigger," he said. "The idea was that anyone could do it, whether they were in a small village in France or a city like Sydney. "
Ridley said the Sydney event, in which residents were asked to switch off lights and appliances for one hour, had raised awareness about the problem of global warming while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving energy.
"I know that on the night we thought we might be able to cut energy use in the city by five percent but it ended up being 10. 1 percent," he said.
He said he hoped Earth Hour provided a "very big visual message" to politicians that climate change must be addressed quickly.
“The problem is massive but we do make a difference when we all take action," he said.
1. The purpose of the "Earth Hour" activity is _____ .
A. to conserve energy
B. to change the climate
C. to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions
D. to draw people' s attention to the global warming
答案解析：答案为C。本题为细节推理题。由第六段 “Ridley said the Sydney event, in which residents were asked to switch off lights and appliances for one hour, had raised awareness about the problem of global warming while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving energy..” 可知，地球日就是人们关灯一小时，此活动已经提高了人们全球气候变暖问题的意识，通过节能的方式来减少温室气体排放，故C选项正确。 A选项 “节能”是方式，D选项 “引起人们对全球气候变暖的关注”，是地球日的影响而不是目的。故答案为C。
2. The underlined word "flick" in paragraph 1 means ______.
A. switch on
B. switch off
C. move quickly
D. hit quickly
答案解析：答案为B。本题为词义猜测题。结合该词出现的上下文 “…when an estimated 2. 2 million people flicked the switch --- leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbor Bridge blacked out.” 可知，破折号后面的内容是对前面的“flicked the switch”进行解释，让悉尼歌剧院沐浴在月光中，悉尼大桥一片漆黑，可以推断flicked the switch就是关灯。flick 即意为switch off “关掉”。switch on 意为“打开”，move quickly 意为“迅速移动”，hit quickly意为“迅速打击”，均不符合该词意思。故答案为B。
3. Which city doesn’t join the black-out organization?
A. Bangkok.
B. Manchester.
C. Montreal.
D. Brisbane.
答案解析：答案为B。本题为细节题。由第三段 “…Thailand's capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland. They joined Australian cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, …”可知，
Manchester没有加入该组织。故答案为B。
4. From the passage we can learn that_____ .
A. the black-out activity will have a great effect on climate change
B. the " Earth Hour" initiative first began in the capital of Australia
C. all the countries in the world become interested in the black-out activity
D. the black-out activity has already caught politician' s attention to the climate change
答案解析：答案为A。本题为推理题。由最后一段 ““The problem is massive but we do make a difference when we all take action," he said.”可推断，地球日关灯一小时会对气候变化产生影响， 故答案为A。
由第一段 “The ‘Earth Hour’ initiative started in Australia' s biggest city Sydney last year…” 可知，B选项表述错误，悉尼不是澳大利亚的首都。C选项明显表述错误。由倒数第二段 “He said he hoped Earth Hour provided a ‘very big visual message’ to politicians that climate change must be addressed quickly.”可知，政治家对气候变化的重视是Ridley的希望，D选项与此不符，均不选。