专题限时训练(三十三) [史地自然型阅读理解(一)]
(限时：25分钟)
(一)
Bees add an estimated eighteen billion dollars a year to the value of American crops. They pollinate(授粉)flowers that become fruits, nuts and vegetables. But, in recent years, honeybee colonies in the United States and Europe have been shrinking. Scientists have proposed different theories to explain what is known as colony collapse disorder.
New research suggests that a commonly used group of insecticide(杀虫剂) could cause bees to have a hard time finding their way back to their hive. The new research looks at the use of pesticides called neonicotinoids. They were first used in the 1990s. They are now put on the seeds of many major crops around the world. The seedlings absorb the chemicals as they grow. That means farmers do not need to spray a whole field. Instead there is a little bit of insecticide inside each plant—including the pollen(花粉) and the nectar(花蜜) that the bees want. There is not enough pesticide to kill them. But the new research in the journal Science says it may harm them anyway.
Researchers stuck microchips to the backs of the bees. These chips recorded the bees' movements as they came and went from their hive. The scientists fed some bees sugar water with a low dose of a neonicotinoid. The study found that these bees were about twice as likely not to return as other bees.
Dave Goulson at the University of Stirling in Britain worked on another study published in Science. He says the pesticides could help explain why bumblebee populations are also decreasing.
Bayer CropScience makes neonicotinoid pesticides. The company's spokesman Jack Boyne disputed the findings. He also notes that researchers are studying other factors that could affect the bees' population. These include parasites, diseases and stress caused by transporting beehives to farms. Some European countries have banned the pesticides. And there are growing calls to ban them in the United States as well.
1．The underlined word“shrinking”in Paragraph 1 most probably means “ ________”．
A．increasing B．decreasing
C．disappearing D．continuing
2．Why were microchips tied to the backs of the bees?
A．To record how much honey the bees produce.
B．To test how the bees react to the microchips.
C．To find if the insecticide affects the bees' population.
D．To keep track of the bees' movements.
3．It can be inferred from the last paragraph that________.
A．the pesticides have been forbidden to use in all European countries
B．Bayer CropScience agrees that the pesticides affect the bees' population
C．transporting beehives to farms can surely have an effect on bees
D．the use of pesticides is likely to be banned in more countries
4．What does the passage mainly talk about?
A．The relationship between pesticides and bees.
B．Honeybee colony collapse disorder.
C．New findings about the reduction of bees.
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D．Pesticides that kill bees must be banned.
(二)
The brown widow spider became established in Southern California in early 2000 and has become part of the local spider family in urban Los Angeles and San Diego. The brown widow spider is continuing its expansion in Southern California and could possibly move northwards into Central California.
The brown widow is suspected to have evolved in Africa although it was first described from South America, which adds confusion as to where it might have originated. It is a tropical and subtropical spider having established populations in Hawaii, Florida, parts of Australia, South Africa and Japan. In North America, the brown widow was restricted for many decades to the Florida peninsula. However, around the year 2000, it started showing up in other Gulf Coast states. Brown widows are now known from Texas to Georgia and South Carolina.
The brown widow builds its web in protected sites around homes and in woody vegetation with branches. Some typical sites selected by brown widows for web building are empty containers such as buckets and nursery pots, mail boxes, entry way corners, under eaves(屋檐), storage closets and garages, undercarriages of motor vehicles that are stationary for long periods, and the undersides of outdoor furniture. They choose places that are more exposed than sites chosen by black widows and therefore appear to be at higher risk for interactions with humans as far as bites are concerned.
One recent study demonstrates that the brown widow spider is less poisonous than other widow species. The reason for the weaker effect of brown widow bites on humans is possibly because the brown widow does not have much poison as its larger relatives, but it is really a threat to humans as to its poison. The two major symptoms of a brown widow bite are that the bite hurts when it is given and it leaves a red mark. These two symptoms are not much different from the bite of normal household spiders.
There is no specific information regarding the control of brown widows by farm chemicals. Most current advice is what is used for controlling spiders in general. Therefore, most commercially available farm chemicals should work on brown widows. Avoiding a mess of the house and the garage should reduce nest sites for them. Also, one should store garage items in plastic bags where there might be interactions with spiders. These items include rarely worn garments such as gardening clothes and gloves, recreational items like sports equipment(i.e., baseball gloves) and other items where spiders can crawl up into holes where fingers can be inserted.
5．The author wrote this article to ________.
A．announce the result of a research on spiders
B．introduce the ways to get rid of the spiders
C．report a new finding of the widow species
D．warn readers against the brown widow
6．From the passage we can conclude that ________.
A．brown widows are spreading northwards
B．the brown widow originated from Africa
C．brown widows now can be found in all countries
D．there used to be no brown widows in North America
7．The third paragraph is mainly about ________.
A．the brown widow's web building
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B．the characteristics of the brown widow
C．the habitat preferences of the brown widow
D．the brown widow's threat to human beings
8．It can be inferred that ________.
A．brown widows can be killed with any farm chemical
B．at present people can only control brown widow spiders
C．the brown widow has more poison than the black widow
D．victims bitten by the brown widow needn't see the doctor
(三)
A famous building in New York City is turning 100 years old this month. A yearlong celebration is planned for Grand Central Terminal, which is usually called Grand Central Station.
The huge building has not changed much since it opened in February, 1913. About 750,000 people pass through Grand Central every day, making it the sixth mostvisited place in the world. Some just come to look at it, and others come to visit the stores. But most are there to catch the trains that enter and leave from the station. With 67 underground train tracks, it is the largest train station in the world.
The main part of the building has large, arched windows, a jewelled foursided clock and ticket windows. Grand Central has been seen in many movies through the years. Having worked for the transit authority at Grand Central for 30 years and never having lost interest in the building, Dan Brucker is with the New York City Transit Authority, which operates the station.“Grand Central is the kind of temple, cathedral that shows the magnificence of rail transportation, and the kind that God would have built if he'd had the money.”
This is the beginning of 20th century architecture. The ceiling overhead, with its famous mural of the stars, is one of Grand Central Terminal's most famous features. However, eagleeyed visitors will notice that the zodiac(黄道带) on the ceiling is depicted backwards. Some have assumed that this was a mistake by the artist, Paul Helleu. The real reason, according to official documents, is that the painter was inspired by a medieval(中世纪的) painting that showed the heavens as they would have been seen from outside the celestial sphere(天球)．
Justin Ferate, a historian, has been giving tours of Grand Central Station for 30 years. He says the station was designed to make travel a pleasure.
“You know that you're a traveller, that you're going off on a great adventure, and that you're going to follow your stars and find your dream. You're also going to find your train where it's supposed to be—which is one of the brilliant parts of the design of the building.”
Justin Ferate likes to show how the building was designed for large numbers of people.
“Why people don't run into each other in Grand Central is simple: each block of stone in Grand Central is the length of your leg. Each block of stone in Grand Central is the length of your arm. Each block of stone is a different colour, so it's a checkerboard, based on you.”
A tenyearlong fight against a plan to build a huge office building over Grand Central in 1968 helped create the modern preservation movement. Now, no one would think of changing the beauty of the station.
9．The main purpose of the passage is to ________.
A．announce to people that a celebration is planned for Grand Central
B．encourage people to go to visit Grand Central
C．introduce to people the architectural feature of the building of Grand Central Station
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D．tell people the important role Grand Central played in history
10．What can we learn about Grand Central Station?
A．It receives about 750,000 passengers every day.
B．Despite its long history, it almost remains what it was.
C．With a huge office building over it, it has become more beautiful.
D．It is under the charge of Dan Brucker.
11．According to the passage, what impresses Justin Ferate most is ________.
A．the long history of the building
B．the mystery of the building
C．the ceiling of the building
D．the way the building was designed
12．What Dan Brucker said showed the________ of Grand Central.
A．importance B．grandness
C．perfectness D．value
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专题限时训练(三十三) 【史地自然型阅读理解(一)】
(一)
【文章大意】 本文是一篇科普说明文。最新研究表明杀虫剂的使用是导致蜜蜂数量减少的罪魁祸首。
1．B 词义猜测题。根据本句中转折连词But和下文的colony collapse disorder可知，蜜蜂对美国的农作物有重要作用，但是最近几年蜜蜂蜂群数量一直在下降，故选B项。
2．C 细节理解题。根据第三段中的“These chips recorded the bees' movements as they came and went from their hive.”可推知，这样做的主要目的是记录蜜蜂往返于蜂房的活动规律，从而进一步推断杀虫剂是否影响其活动规律，影响其数量。故选C项。
3．D 推理判断题。根据最后一段的内容可知，欧洲一些国家已经禁止使用杀虫剂，美国禁用杀虫剂的呼声也越来越高，因此可推知可能会有更多的国家禁用杀虫剂。故选D项。
4．C 主旨大意题。本文是一篇科普说明文，主要说的是最新研究发现蜜蜂蜂群近年数量下降，故选C项。
(二)
【文章大意】 一种褐色的毒蜘蛛正在美国蔓延，其危害不容忽视。更糟糕的是，目前还没有消灭它的方法，只能尽力进行控制和预防。
5．D 作者意图题。文章从这种蜘蛛的渊源谈起，预测了它的蔓延范围，进而介绍了它的生活习性、危害以及控制方法，所以作者意在警告读者当心这种蜘蛛，故选D项。
6．A 细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句可知，它们可能会朝北方蔓延，故选A项。
7．C 段落大意题。本段指出了这种蜘蛛经常选择的织网的地方，即主要介绍了这种蜘蛛的栖息偏好，故选C项。
8．B 推理判断题。最后一段提到还没有掌握控制这种蜘蛛应当使用的化学药品的具体信息，目前的建议是采用控制蜘蛛的一般方法，并提供了一些预防措施，由此可推断目前人们只能控制它们，故选B项。
(三)
【文章大意】 本文重点介绍了纽约大中央车站的建筑风格。
9．C 写作意图题。通读全文可知，文章从第三段开始都在介绍大中央车站的建筑特点，故选C项。
10．B 细节理解题。根据文章第二段中的“The huge building has not changed much since it opened in February,1913.”可知，尽管历史悠久，但大中央车站几乎保持原来的模样，故选B项。
11．D 细节理解题。根据第五段和第七、八段内容可知，令Justin Ferate印象最深刻的是大中央车站的设计，故选D项。
12．B 推理判断题。根据文章第三段中的“‘Grand Central is the kind of…he'd had the money.’”可推出，Dan Brucker的话主要为了表明大中央车站的壮观，故选B项。
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