18考研英语:阅读理解模拟训练之理学话题(二)
做题引导
①阅读并完成题目只是第一步,做完之后一定要认真评读解析,尤其要学会理解、分析错误选项错误的原因,思考今后如何避免在做错的地方再犯错。
②重点词汇、难句译注根据自己的实际情况去掌握。
③时间充足的话,还可拿原文来做翻译和长难句的练习。
原文阅读
The once radical notion that birds descended from dinosaurs——or may even be dinosaurs, the only living branch of the family that ruled the earth eons ago——has got stronger and stronger since paleontologists first started taking it seriously a couple of decades ago. Remarkable similarities in bone structure between dinos and birds were the first clue. Then came evidence, thanks to a series of astonishing discoveries in China's Liaoning province over the past five years, that some dinosaurs may have borne feathers. But a few scientists still argued that the link was weak; the bone similarities could be a coincidence, they said. And maybe those primitive structures visible in some fossils were feathers——but maybe not. You had to use your imagination to see them.
Not anymore. A spectacularly preserved fossil of a juvenile dinosaur, announced by a team of paleontologists from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and New York City's American Museum of Natural History in the latest issue of Nature, is about as good a missing link as anyone could want. “It has things that are undeniably feathers,” exults Richard Prum, of the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, an expert on the evolution of feathers. “But it is clearly a small, vicious theropod similar to the velociraptors that chased the kids around the kitchen in Jurassic Park.”
The find helps cement the dinosaur-bird connection, but it also casts new light on the mystery of why nature invented feathers in the first place. For the better part of a century, biologists have assumed that these specialized structures evolved for flight, but that's clearly not true. “The feathers on these dinosaurs aren't flight-worthy, and the animals couldn't fly,” says paleontologist Kevin Padian, of the University of California, Berkeley. “They're too big, and they don't have wings.” So what was the original purpose of feathers? Nobody knows for sure; they might have been useful for keeping dinos dry, distracting predators or attracting mates, as peacocks do today.
But many biologists suspect that feathers originally arose to keep dinosaurs warm. The bone structure of dinosaurs shows that, unlike modern reptiles, they grew as fast as birds and mammals——which dovetails with a growing body of evidence that dinos were, in fact, warm-blooded. Says Padian: “They must have had a high basal metabolic rate to grow that fast. And I wouldn't be surprised if they had some sort of skin covering for insulation when they were small.” Says Norell: “Even baby tyrannosaurs probably looked like this one.”
At the rate feathered dinosaurs are turning up, it shouldn't take long to solidify scientists' understanding of precisely how and why feathers first arose and when the first birdlike creature realized they were useful for flight. Meanwhile, kids had better get used to the idea that T. rex may have started life looking an awful lot like Tweety Bird.
注:(1)本文选自New York Times;05/07/2001, p56, 2p, 1 map, 2c
注:(2)本文习题命题模仿对象1999年真题text2(1、2、3、5)和text4第3题(4)
1. We learn from the beginning of the passage that ____.
[A] scientists are split as to whether birds descended from dinosaurs
[B] the bone similarities between birds and dinosaurs are a coincidence
[C] fossils have proven that birds evolved from dinosaurs
[D] the idea that birds are connected with dinosaurs has always been taken seriously
2. Speaking of the recently-announced fossil of a juvenile dinosaur, the author implies that ______.
[A] it shows vividly how dinosaur flies
[B] it brings new mystery to paleontologists
[C] it further proves the link between birds and dinosaurs
[D] it solves the puzzle of birds‘ evolution
3. In the view of Kevin Padian, the feathers on those dinosaurs ______.
[A] were of no practical value
[B] were useful for flight
[C] could protect dinosaurs from their natural enemy
[D] were good for insulation
4. The original purpose of feather was_____.
[A] to help dinosaurs fly
[B] to keep dinosaurs warm
[C] to distract predators
[D] a mystery
5. We learn from the last paragraph that _____.
[A] a baby dinosaur looks like a bird
[B] T-rex is a kind of dinosaur figure familiar to kids
[C] living feathered dinosaurs can still be found in certain parts of the world
[D] scientists understand precisely how and why feathers first arose
参考答案
A C D D B
猜你喜欢
- 来日留学不可不知的十大APP
小编根据自己的留学生活经验给大家推荐以下十款必备的App,几乎涵盖生活的方方面面,无论你是找兼职还是要网购,是阅览资讯还是观看视频,都能提供极大便利。
- 日本动漫游戏:学校的圣域
feng社第9作第1弹《彼女のセイイキ(她的圣域)》,而系列的第2弹《妹的圣域》已于2015年08月28日发售,系列第3弹《学校的圣域》在2016年11月发售。
- 日本惊悚恐怖电影《裸体之夜:掠夺狂爱》
《裸体之夜2:掠夺狂爱》是由石井隆执导,竹中直人、佐藤宽子等领衔主演日本惊悚情色电影。该片讲述了主人公红次郎替年轻女孩加藤怜寻找叫“多绘”的救命恩人,结果踏入充满危机的“粉红”漩涡中。
- 秒变单身狗:哪些话不能对恋人说
恋爱初期总是美好而甜蜜的,然而两人长期处下来,就会发现对方的不足之处。生气起来口不择言,结果深深的伤害到两人的感情。这期给大家介绍一些对恋人可不能说的一些话。
- 「こんにちわ」是个啥?你知道吗?
常逛日站或是和日本朋友聊天的小伙伴们肯定经常会听到一句:こんにちわ,从发音上我们可以猜出来是こんにちは,但是这个こんにちわ是怎么来的呢?他又是什么呢?下面就让沪江日语教研君来告诉你吧!
- 日本礼仪:你真的会斟酒吗?
走进社会,我们不仅要在工作上努力努力再努力,还要一边学习一些社交礼仪。酒会作为一种常见的社交活动,学会其中的斟酒礼仪也是一门学问。今日,小编给大家整理了日本的斟酒礼仪供大家参考学习。
- 动漫日语脱口而出:痛痛飞走了
看动漫不学日语?那就太可惜啦!花花团小组节目《动漫日语每日一句》,每天教大家一句动漫中的实用台词,让你在看动漫的同时学到地道日语口语。爱动漫,爱生活!一起来练习口语吧!