发布时间 : 星期四 文章北京市朝阳区2020届高三下学期学业水平等级性考试练习(一模)英语(含答案)z更新完毕开始阅读
37.How could we best describe Nenad Sestan? A. Responsible and reliable. C. Determined and inspiring.
B. Cooperative and creative. D. Professional and cautious.
C
A butterfly’s wings can have many jobs besides keeping the insect high up in the air. They may be used to attract mates, or to warn potential attackers to stay away. All of these roles, though, depend on their unchanging colouration. This plays into the idea that butterfly wings are
dead tissue, like a bird’s feathers. In fact, that’s not true. For example, in some species males’ wings have special cells releasing some chemicals which attract females.
Nanfang Yu, a physicist at Columbia University, in New York, has been looking into the matter. Together with Naomi Pierce, a butterfly specialist at Harvard University, he has now shown, in a paper published in Nature Communications in February, 2020, that butterfly wings are, indeed, very much alive.
In their experiments, the two researchers used a laser(激光) to heat up spots on the wings of dozens of butterfly species. When the temperature of the area under the laser reached 40°C or so, the insects responded within seconds by doing things that stopped their wings heating up further. These actions included a butterfly turning around to minimize its profile to the laser, moving its wings up and down or simply walking away.
Butterflies engaged in all of these heat-minimising activities even when the researchers blindfolded them. That suggested the relevant sensors were on the wings themselves. Dr Yu and Dr Pierce therefore searched those wings for likely looking sensory cells. They found some, in the form of neurons(神经元) that were similar to heat detectors known from other insects. They also uncovered disc-shaped cells that appeared to be similar to pressure-sensitive neurons. They guess that these are there to detect deformation of the wing—information an
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insect could use to control its flight pattern.
The third discovery they made to contradict the “dead wing” idea was that some butterfly wings have a heartbeat. A butterfly’s wings have veins(静脉). These carry a bloodlike liquid which, researchers have now found in males, shows a pulse(脉搏) of several dozen beats per minute. The source of this pulse appears to be the scent(气味) pad, a dark spot on the wings that produces the female-attracting chemicals. Apparently, this “wing heart” acts as a pump that helps bloodlike
liquid through the scent pad.
In all their experiments simulating different environmental conditions, Dr Yu and Dr Pierce consistently found that, different parts of the wing are covered by different sorts of scales(鳞屑). In particular, tubes pass through scales over the scent pads. This improves their ability to spread heat away and helps keep the living parts of a butterfly’s wings alive. 38. A bird’s feathers are mentioned in Paragraph 1 to A. introduce the latest research findings on a bird B. highlight the special feature of a bird’s feathers C. show common knowledge about butterfly wings D. stress the difference between a butterfly and a bird 39. What can we learn from Dr Yu and Dr Pierce’s experiments? A. Butterfly wings are complicated living organs. B. Butterfly wings have little reaction to external heat. C. The scent pads on some male butterfly wings are their hearts. D. Heat-minimising activities help detect deformation of the wings.
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. 40. What is the function of scales over the scent pads? A. Attracting mates. C. Covering powerful tubes.
B. Increasing blood flow. D. Producing the cooling effect.
41. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? A. Seeing Is Believing C. Nothing Seek, Nothing Find
B. More Than Meets The Eye D. Fine Feathers Make Fine Birds
D Fact or Fiction?
Non-fiction can be broken down into many categories. One category is literary non-fiction, which is still based in fact but employs some of the storytelling elements that fiction uses. Literary non-fiction includes a type of autobiography(自传) called memoir. Memoir most often focuses on a certain period of the author’s life. It is, by definition, rooted in truth. Still, people sometimes question whether memoir should be categorized as non-fiction at all.
As non-fiction, memoir is intended to be factual. Is this really the case, though, considering memoir relies on human memory? One classic study, led by psychologist Elizabeth Loftus, showed how easily an interviewer’s choice of wording can influence an eyewitness’s account of a traffic accident. It is therefore reasonable to wonder whether memoir should continue to be branded as non-fiction.
Certainly, human memory can be unreliable. However, a memoir author is undoubtedly writing about significant and impactful life events. Memories of such events are actually more
reliable than others. Studies show that the more influential an event is, the more accurately
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people recall the details. As an emotionally charged event unfolds, the brain activity changes in a way that amplifies small details. This activity helps build a more precise and accurate memory.
Of course the brain is not a camera that can “save” any memory with perfect accuracy. But if memoir is questionable due to the imperfections of the human mind, then critics will have to tackle non-fiction more broadly. All writers are using their memories when they create, and moreover, they are relying on the memories of others. Journalists conduct interviews to tell a news story and history writers depend on the accuracy of accounts from long ago. Yet they all rightfully fall under the umbrella of non-fiction.
Some people may doubt memoir not because they mistrust human memory, but because they mistrust the author’s morality. Critics may suspect an author of making up events. However, there is no reason to be suspicious of memoir author’s intentions. Writing a factual memoir that appeals to readers has the potential to be profitable for the author, and there is no motivation for a memoir writer to knowingly change or beautify the truth.
Looking beyond the author’s own life events, memoir can inform readers about the world in the same way that other non-fiction can. Memoir has a way of relaying facts about anything from an occupation to brief fashion trends, all of it meaningful to the author. 42. The author introduces the topic in Paragraph 1 by _.
A. illustrating why it is important to talk about memoir B. listing some interesting facts and features of memoir C. defining key terms that are discussed later in the passage D. making a comparison between autobiography and memoir
43. What does the underlined word “amplifies” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
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