2015年高考英语真题分类汇编：专题16 科普类说明文

专题16 科普类说明文2018高考题D【2018·全国I】We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.32. What does the author think of new devices?A. They are environment-friendly.B. They are no better than the old.C. They cost more to use at home.D. They go out of style quickly.33. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?A. To reduce the cost of minerals.B. To test the life cycle of a product.C. To update consumers on new technology.D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.34. Which of the following uses the least energy?A. The box-set TV.B. The tablet.C. The LCD TV.D. The desktop computer.35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?A. Stop using them.B. Take them apart.C. Upgrade them.D. Recycle them.【答案】32. A 33. D 34. B 35. A【解析】本文是一篇科普说明文。

专题十六阅读理解之科普类说明文1.【2015·湖北卷】DThe oddness of life in space never quite goes away. Here are some examples.First consider something as simple as sleep. Its position presents its own challenges. The main question is whether you want your arms inside or outside the sleeping bag. If you leave your arms out, they float free in zero gravity, often giving a sleeping astronaut the look of a funny balled （芭蕾）dancer. “I’m an inside guy,” Mike Hopkins says, who returned from a six-month tour on the International Space Station. “I like to be wrapped up.”On the station, the ordinary becomes strange. The exercise bike for the American astronauts has no handlebars. It also has no seat. With no gravity, it’s just as easy to pedal violently. You can watch a movie while you pedal by floating a microcomputer anywhere you want. But station residents have to be careful about staying in one place too long. Without gravity to help circulate air, the carbon dioxide you exhale (呼气) has a tendency to form an invisible （隐形的）cloud around you head. You can end up with what astronauts call a carbon-dioxide headache.Leroy Chiao, 54, an American retired astronaut after four flights, describes what happens even before you float out of your seat,”Your inner ear thinks your’re falling . Mea nwhile your eyes are telling you you’re standing straight. That can be annoying—that’s why some people feel sick.” Within a couple days —truly terrible days for some —astronauts’ brains learn to ignore the panicky signals from the inner ear, and space sickness disappears.Space travel can be so delightful but at the same time invisibly dangerous. For instance, astronauts lose bone mass. That’s why exercise is considered so vital that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) puts it right on the workday schedule. The focus on fitness is as much about science and the future as it is about keeping any individual astronauts return home, and, more importantly, how to maintain strength and fitness for the two and a half years or more that it would take to makea round-trip to Mars.63.What is the major challenge to astronauts when they sleep in space?A. Deciding on a proper sleep positionB. Choosing a comfortable sleeping bagC. Seeking a way to fall asleep quicklyD. Finding a right time to go to sleep.64.The astronauts will suffer from a carbon-dioxide headache when _____.A. the y circle around on their bikesB. they use microcomputers without a stopC. they exercise in one place for a long timeD. they watch a movie while pedaling65.Some astronauts feel sick on the station during the first few days because _____.A. their senses stop workingB. they have to stand up straightC. they float out of their seats unexpectedlyD. whether they are able to go back to the station66.One of the NASA’s major concerns about astronauts is _____.A. how much exercise they do on the stationB. how they can remain healthy for long in spaceC. whether they can recover after returning homeD. whether they are able to go back to the station【解析】试题分析：这是一篇说明文。

专题16 科普类说明文2018高考题D【2018·全国I】:We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.32. What does the author think of new devices?A. They are environment-friendly.B. They are no better than the old.C. They cost more to use at home.D. They go out of style quickly.33. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?A. To reduce the cost of minerals.B. To test the life cycle of a product.C. To update consumers on new technology.D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.34. Which of the following uses the least energy?A. The box-set TV.B. The tablet.C. The LCD TV.D. The desktop computer.35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?A. Stop using them.B. Take them apart.C. Upgrade them.D. Recycle them.【答案】:32. A 33. D 34. B 35. A【解析】:本文是一篇科普说明文.文章讲述了新旧电子设备的差别，旧电子设备耗能高，不环保.所以作者主张使用新电子设备.33. 细节理解题.根据文章第二段中的To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life 可知，Babbitt’s team研究的目的是弄清楚这些设备用了多少电.故选D.34. 细节理解题.根据文章最后一段中的They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.可知，平板电脑是耗能最少的电子设备，可以降低44%的耗能.故选B.35. 推理判断题.根据文章的整体内容可知，因为旧的电子设备耗能高，不环保.所以作者建议停止使用旧的电子设备.故选A.点睛:熟悉比较句型是彻底理解本文的关键，也是解题的关键.本文中的比较句型:1. That’s bad news for the environment – and our wallets – as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the news ones that do the same things做同样的事，旧的过时的装置比新装置消耗更多能源，对环境有害，浪费钱财.2. According to the analysis of Babbitt’s team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions (排放) more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.根据Babbitt团队的分析，旧的桌面监视器和阴极射线管箱式电视机是最差的电子设备，它们的耗能和温室气体的排放是1992到2007window的两倍还多.3. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.他们发现在平板电脑上看的随需变化的娱乐节目比在电视和电脑上看耗能减少了44%.B【2018·浙江】:Steven Stein likes to follow garbage trucks. His strange habit makes sense when you consider that he’s an environmental scientist who studies how to reduc e litter, including things that fall off garbage trucks as they drive down the road. What is even more interesting is that one of Stein's jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.Americans use more than 100 billion thin film plastic bags every year. So many end up in tree branches or along highways that a growing number of cities do not allow them at checkouts(收银台) . The bags are prohibited in some 90 cities in California, including Los Angeles. Eyeing these headwinds, plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.Among the bag makers' argument: many cities with bans still allow shoppers to purchase paper bags, which are easily recycled but require more energy to produce and transport. And while plastic bags may be ugly to look at, they represent a small percentage of all garbage on the ground todayThe industry has also taken aim at the product that has appeared as its replacement: reusable shopping bags. The stronger a reusable bag is, the longer its life and the more plastic-bag use it cancels out. However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require more energy to make. One study found that a cotton bag must be used at least 131 times to be better for the planet than plastic.Environmentalists don't dispute（质疑） these points. They hope paper bags will be banned someday too and want shoppers to use the same reusable bags for years.24. What has Steven Stein been hired to do?A. Help increase grocery sales.B. Recycle the waste material.C. Stop things falling off trucks.D. Argue for the use of plastic bags.25. What does the word “headwinds”in paragraph 2 refer to?A. Bans on plastic bags.B. Effects of city development.C. Headaches caused by garbage.D. Plastic bags hung in trees.26. What is a disadvantage of reusable bags according to plastic-bag makers?A. They are quite expensive.B. Replacing them can be difficult.C. They are less strong than plastic bags.D. Producing them requires more energy.27. What is the best title for the text?A. Plastic, Paper or NeitherB. Industry, Pollution and EnvironmentC. Recycle or Throw AwayD. Garbage Collection and Waste Control【答案】:24. D 25. A 26. D 27. A【解析】:文章分析了几种购物袋的使用情况，塑料袋造成了环境问题，尽管纸袋容易回收，但生产和运输需要更多的能源，希望消费者使用耐用可重复使用的袋子.24. 细节理解题.根据第一段one of Stein's jobs is defending an industry behind the plastic shopping bags.和第二段plastic-bag makers are hiring scientists like Stein to make the case that their products are not as bad for the planet as most people assume.可知塑料袋生产商雇用Steven Stein是为了证明他们的产品并不像大多数人想象的那样对地球有害，是对塑料袋被禁用的解释和争论.故选D.25. 词义猜测题.上文介绍在许多美国大城市塑料袋被禁用，看到这种现状，塑料袋生产商雇用Steven Stein等科学家是为了证明他们的产品并不像大多数人想象的那样对地球有害.headwinds“逆风”，此处指塑料袋被禁用的现状，即Bans on plastic bags，故选A.26. 细节理解题.根据第四段However, longer-lasting reusable bags often require moreenergy to make.可知塑料袋生产商认为生产耐用且能重复使用的袋子需要更多的能量，故选D.27. 标题归纳题.文章讲述了使用塑料袋造成的环境问题，纸袋容易回收，但生产和运输需要更多的能源，希望消费者使用耐用可重复使用的袋子.对这三种方式进行了对比，Plastic, Paper or Neither既能概括全文，又能吸引读者，最适合作为标题.故选A.【点睛】:概括主旨的方法是:先看首尾或各段开头再看全文找主题句，若无明显主题句，就通过关键词句来概括(如议论文中寻找表达作者观点态度的词句，要看懂全文的主要内容，明白了主要内容就能准确概括文章标题.小题4要求概括标题，本文讲述了使用塑料袋造成的环境问题，纸袋容易回收，但生产和运输需要更多的能源，希望消费者使用耐用可重复使用的袋子.对这三种方式进行了对比，Plastic, Paper or Neither既能概括全文，又能吸引读者，适合作为标题.C【2018·天津卷】:There’s a new frontier in 3D printing that’s beginning to come into focus: food. Recent development has made possible machines that print, cook, and serve foods on a mass scale. And the industry isn’t stopping there.Food productionWith a 3D printer, a cook can print complicated chocolate sculptures and beautiful pieces for decoration on a wedding cake. Not everybody can do that — it takes years of experience, but a printer makes it easy. A restaurant in Spain uses a Foodini to “re-create forms and pieces” of food that are “exactly the same,” freeing cooks to complete other tasks. In another restaurant, all of the dishes and desserts it serves are 3D-printed,rather than farm to table. Sustainability(可持续性）The global population is expected to grow to 9.6 billion by 2050, and some analysts estimate that food production will need to be raised by 50 percent to maintain current levels. Sustainability is becoming a necessity. 3D food printing could probably contribute to the solution. Some experts believe printers could use hydrocolloids (水解胶体) from plentiful renewables like algae(藻类) and grass to replace the familiar ingredients(烹饪原料). 3D printing can reduce fuel use and emissions. Grocery stores of the future might stock "food" that lasts years on end, freeing up shelf space and reducing transportation and storage requirements.NutritionFuture 3D food printers could make processed food healthier. Hod Lipson, a professor at Columbia University, said, “Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins. So instead of eating a piece of yesterday’s bread from the supermarket, you’d eat something baked just for you on demand.”ChallengesDespite recent advancements in 3D food printing, the industry has many challenges to overcome. Currently, most ingredients must be changed to a paste(糊状物) before a printer can use them, and the printing process is quite time-consuming, because ingredients interact with each other in very complex ways. On top of that, most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad. Some experts are skeptical about 3D food printers, believing they are better suited for fast food restaurants than homes and high-end restaurants.46. What benefit does 3D printing bring to food production?A. It helps cooks to create new dishes.B. It saves time and effort in cooking.C. It improves the cooking conditions.D. It contributes to restaurant decorations.47. What can we learn about 3D food printing from Paragraphs 3?A. It solves food shortages easily.B. It quickens the transportation of food.C. It needs no space for the storage of food.D. It uses renewable materials as sources of food.48. According to Paragraph 4, 3D-printed food ________.A. is more available to consumersB. can meet individual nutritional needsC. is more tasty than food in supermarketsD. can keep all the nutrition in raw materials49. What is the main factor that prevents 3D food printing from spreading widely?A. The printing process is complicated.B. 3D food printers are too expensive.C. Food materials have to be dry.D. Some experts doubt 3D food printing.50. What could be the best title of the passage?A. 3D Food Printing: Delicious New TechnologyB. A New Way to Improve 3D Food PrintingC. The Challenges for 3D Food ProductionD. 3D Food Printing: From Farm to Table【答案】:46. B 47. D 48. B 49. C 50. A【解析】:本文是一篇科普类短文阅读.文章主要介绍了3D打印技术在食物上的应用取得了进展，但目前仍面临着许多方面的挑战.46. 推理判断题.根据文章Food production中叙述了没有经验的人可以用3D打印机做出复杂的巧克力雕塑和美丽的婚礼蛋糕，以及餐厅能够用3D打印出所有的菜肴和甜点，从而可以推断出3D打印的优势是节省了做饭的时间和精力.故选B.48. 推理判断题.根据文章第四段Food printing could allow consumers to print food with customized nutritional content, like vitamins.（食品打印可以让消费者打印定制营养的食物），从而可以推断出3D打印出来的食物可以满足个人营养需求.故选B.49. 细节理解题.根据文章最后一段most of the 3D food printers now are restricted to dry ingredients, because meat and milk products may easily go bad.可知，阻止3D打印食物进一步广泛使用的原因是原料必须是干的，含水多的肉和牛奶不能应用于3D打印因为很容易坏.故选C.50. 主旨大意题.文章主要介绍了3D打印技术在食物上的应用取得了进展，但目前仍面临着许多方面的挑战.所以用标题3D Food Printing: Delicious New Technology，故选A.点睛:科普类说明文历来是高考阅读理解命题的重点.本文是一篇3D打印技术在食物方面的应用，文章运用一些小标题和对一些专业词汇作了多处中文注释，降低了考生的阅读难度.文章逻辑性强，条理清楚，主要考查学生对语篇的整体把握和领悟能力以及对特定细节的认读和处理能力.最后一小题考查主旨大意，为文章选择出最好的标题.考生做此题时一定要注意选择项必须要能概括整个文章的内容，不能以偏概全.如B、C、D选择项在文章中都有所涉及，但不足以概括全文，所以需要考生正确概括全文的主旨大意.C[2018•北京卷]Plastic-Eating WormsHumans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year.Almost half of that winds up in landfills(垃圾填埋场), and up to 12million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way toget rid of it, but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachsof some hungry worms.Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms ofthe greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics. The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down abo ut 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms’ chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste(糊状物) and applied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass —apparently broken down by enzymes (酶) from the worms’ stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017.Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the stu dy, says the worms’ ability to break down their everyday food — beeswax — also allows them to break down plastic. ＂Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well, ＂she explains, ＂The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond. ＂Jennifer DeBruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes(肠道微生物)?Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team’s findings mi ght one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process — not simply ＂millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic.＂43. What can we learn about the worms in the study?A. They take plastics as their everyday food.B. They are newly evolved creatures.C. They can consume plastics.D. They wind up in landfills.44. According to Jennifer DeBruyn, the next step of the study is to .A. identify other means of the breakdownB. find out the source of the enzymeC. confirm the research findingsD. increase the breakdown speed45. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the chemical might .A. help to raise wormsB. help make plastic bagsC. be used to clean the oceansD. be produced in factories in future46. What is the main purpose of the passage?A. To explain a study method on worms.B. To introduce the diet of a special worm.C. To present a way to break down plastics.D. To propose new means to keep eco-balance.C【文章大意】: 本文是一篇科普知识类文章.从环保理念出发，文章围绕一种可以降解塑料的虫子大蜡螟展开，描述了研究进展及虫子能降解塑料的原理，即使用其胃中的酶降解塑料，为塑料污染问题提供了新的思路.43. C 细节理解题.根据文章第二段中的“The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it.”可知，这些虫子可以消耗聚乙烯购物袋，即塑料袋.故选C.44. B 推理判断题.根据文章第二段中的“The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes (肠道微生物)？”可知，下一步是探究酶的来源.故选C.45. D 推理判断题.根据文章最后一段“But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrialprocess-not simply" millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic”可知研究者希望那些化学物品可以批量生产，而不是将许多虫子直接扔在垃圾堆里.故选D.46. C 写作意图题.全文都在围绕可以降解垃圾的虫子展开，文章的目的就是向读者呈现这种独特的降解塑料的方式.故选A.2017高考题科普知识类[2017·北京卷]DHollywood's theory that machines with evil(邪恶的) minds will drive armies of killer robots is just silly. The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want. In 1960 a well­known mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics(控制论), put it this way: “If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot effectively interfere(干预), we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire.”A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence. For the machine, this quality is not in­born, nor is it something introduced by humans; it is a logical consequence of the simple fact that the machine cannot achieve its original purpose if it is dead. So if we send out a robot with the single instruction of fetching coffee, it will have a strong desire to secure success by disabling its own off switch or even killing anyone who might interfere with its task. If we are not careful, then, we could face a kind of global chess match against very determined, super intelligent machines whose objectives conflict with our own, with the real world as the chessboard.The possibility of entering into and losing such a match should concentrate the minds of computer scientists. Some researchers argue that we can seal the machines inside a kind of firewall, using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world. Unfortunately, that plan seems unlikely to work: we have yet to invent a firewall that is secure against ordinary humans, let alone super intelligent machines.Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible but not easy. There are probably decades in which to plan for the arrival of super intelligent machines.But the problem should not be dismissed out of hand, as it has been by some AI researchers. Some argue that humans and machines can coexist as long as they work in teams—yet that is not possible unless machines share the goals of humans. Others say we can just “switch them off” as if super intelligent machines are too stupid to think of that possibility. Still others think that super intelligent AI will never happen. On September 11, 1933, famous physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with confidence, “Anyone who expects a source of power in the transformat ion of these atoms is talking moonshine.” However, on September 12, 1933, physicist Leo Szilard invented the neutron­induced(中子诱导) nuclear chain reaction.67．Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intelligence may ________．A．run out of human controlB．satisfy human's real desiresC．command armies of killer robotsD．work faster than a mathematician68．Machines with specific purposes are associated with living things partly because they might be able to ________．A．prevent themselves from being destroyedB．achieve their original goals independentlyC．do anything successfully with given ordersD．beat humans in international chess matches69．According to some researchers, we can use firewalls to ________．A．help super intelligent machines work betterB．be secure against evil human beingsC．keep machines from being harmedD．avoid robots' affecting the world70．What does the author think of the safety problem of super intelligent machines?A．It will disappear with the development of AI.B．It will get worse with human interference.C．It will be solved but with difficulty.D．It will stay for a decade.【文章大意】: 本文为科普类文章，讲的是随着科技的发展，人工智能 (AI)可能会超出人类的控制.67．A 段落大意题.第一段第二句说“人工智能虽然擅长完成任务，但这有可能不是我们真正想要的”.因此选A.【名师点睛】:推理判断题属于主观题，是层次较高的题目.它包括判断题和推理题.这两类题常常相互依存，推理是为了作出正确的判断，正确的判断又依赖于合乎逻辑的推理.此类题要求在理解表面文字的基础上，作出判断和推论，从而得到文章的隐含意思和深层意思，也就是通过文章中的文字信息、上下文的逻辑关系及事物的发展变化等已知的信息，推断出作者没有直接表达的态度和观点.推理判断题的解题方法 :推理判断题不仅要求考生读懂文章中的每个句子的意思还要推理它们之间的关系，结合自己的生活常识和经验，再通过逻辑推理和判断，理解文章的言外之意，从而揭示文章的深层涵义.任何一篇文章都有其特定的写作目的，读者需要知道如何去做或按照某种方式思考问题.推理判断题的答案不可能在文章中直接找到，因此推理时我们务必要忠于原文，在文章中寻找并确定可推论的依据，即:已知部分－推论的前提，从中推测出未知部分－推理的结论，切忌妄加评论，把自己的观点当成作者的观点.[2017·江苏卷]BBefore birth，babies can tell the difference between loud sounds and voices. They can even distinguish their mother's voice from that of a female stranger. But when it comes to embryonic learning (胎教)，birds could rule the roost. As recently reported in TheAuk:Ornithological Advances，some mother birds may teach their young to singeven before they hatch (孵化). New­born chicks can then imitate th eir mum'scall within a few days of entering the world.This educational method was first observed in 2012 by Sonia Kleindorfer，a biologist at Flinders University in South Australia，and her colleagues. Female Australian superb fairy wrens were found to repeat one sound over and over again while hatching their eggs. Whenthe eggs were hatched，the baby birds made the similar chirp to their mothers—a sound that served as their regular “feed me！” call.To find out if the special quality was more widespread in birds，the researchers sought the red­backed fairy wren，another species of Australian songbird. First they collected sound data from 67 nests in four sites in Queensland before and after hatching. Then they identified begging calls by analysing the order and number of notes. A computer analysis blindly compared calls produced by mothers and chicks，ranking them by similarity.It turns out that baby red­backed fairy wrens also emerge chirping like their mums. And the more frequently mothers had called to their eggs，the more similar were the babies' begging calls. In addition，the team set up a separate experiment that suggested that the baby birds that most closely imitated their mum's voice were rewarded with the most food.This observation hints that effective embryonic learning could signal neurological (神经系统的) strengths of children to parents. An evolutionary inference can then be drawn. “As a parent，do you invest in quality children，or do you invest in children that are in need？”Kleindorfer asks. “Our results su ggest that they might be going for quality.”58．The underlined phrase in Paragraph 1 means “________”．A．be the worst B．be the bestC．be just as bad D．be just as good59．What are Kleindorfer's findings based on?A．Similarities between the calls of mums and chicks.B．The observation of fairy wrens across Australia.C．The data collected from Queensland's locals.D．Controlled experiments on wrens and other birds.60．Embryonic learning helps mother birds to identify the baby birds which ________．A．can receive quality signalsB．are in need of trainingC．fit the environment betterD．make the loudest call【文章大意】: 本文是一篇科普说明文.文章介绍了一项新发现:幼鸟在被孵化前母鸟便教它们识别声音了.母亲呼唤它们的鸟蛋越频繁，则它们的孩子越会发出相似的声音；幼鸟的声音越像它们母亲的声音，则它们获得的食物奖励就越多.58. B 词义猜测题.第一段将人类婴儿与幼鸟进行了对比，画线词组所在句上文讲出生前人的辨别声音的能力很强，下文讲一些母鸟在幼鸟被孵化之前就教它们学唱歌了.据此可以判断，在胎教方面，鸟儿的表现是最好的，推测“rule the roost”意为“be the best”，故选B项.59. A 细节理解题.根据第二段第三句“When the eggs were hatched, the baby birds made the similar chirp to their mothers—a sound that served as their regular ‘feed me！’ call.”可知，当这些幼鸟被孵化出来的时候，它们也发出了和它们的妈妈类似的鸣叫.据此可知，Sonia Kleindorfer 的发现是以母鸟和幼鸟叫声的相似点为基础的，故选A项.60. C 推理判断题.第四段“In addition, the team set up a separate experiment that suggested that the baby birds that most closely imitated their mum's voice were rewarded with the most food.(一项单独的实验表明模仿母鸟声音最接近的幼鸟会得到最多的食物)”和最后一段研究人员的研究结果表明，母鸟会选择质量优良的孩子，因此可以推断，母鸟通过胎教来确定质量优良的幼鸟，即最会模仿它们声音的幼鸟.质量优良的幼鸟无需过多帮助就能更好地适应环境，故选C项.【名师点睛】:猜测词义题概况词义猜测是应用英语的重要能力，也是高考必考的题型.它不但需要准确无误地理解上下文，而且要有较大的泛读量，掌握或认识较多的课外词汇.考生应学会通过构词、定义、同位、对比、因果、常识、同义、反义及上下文线索等确定词义.一、题型特点与命题方式:此类题型有逐渐增加的趋势，尤其是猜测词组、句义题.因为猜测词组、句义题涉及题材背景、句子结构、文章主旨、作者的观点态度等.联系主旨、整合上下文信息是解答这类题的关键.近几年阅读理解的生词率略有上升，加大了猜测难度.命题者着重考查考生利用同义或反义关系、构词法、语法和语篇文脉等理解生词的能力.【命题趋势】:1.要求根据阅读材料所提供的信息，结合中学生应有的常识和经验，正确判断生词词组的含义或成熟词在特定语境中表达的具体含义以及一些句子的意思.2.要求猜测词义的词一般为实词及其词组，通过构词、定义、对比、因果、联想、上下文等线索确定词义的具体内容.例如第65题.3.代词复指理解题也是猜测词义的常考类型.用“逻辑关系梳理法”、“递向寻踪法”理清人物及事物之间的逻辑关系是关键所在.【设问形式】:The underlined word “…” in the second(third…) paragraph refers to(means) ______.By saying that “…” in the first(second…) paragraph, the author means that ______.In paragraph …, “…” can be replaced by “______”.The meaning of “…” in paragraph… is related to ______.Which of the following has the closest meanin g to…(paragraph…)?The underlined sentence in the … paragraph probably means that _____.解题思路做这种类型的题目，要根据词、词组、句子所在的语境上下文来判断其意义.因此熟练掌握一些猜词技巧是做好这类题的关键.命题者在出这类题时惯用常规词义来麻痹考生，我们要特别注意熟词生义，切不可脱离语境主观臆断.考点:考查科普说明文阅读[2017·江苏卷]DOld problem，new approachesWhile clean energy is increasingly used in our daily life，global warming will continue for some decades after CO2emissions (排放) peak. So even if emissions were to begin to decrease today，we would still face the challenge of adapting to climate change. Here I will stress some smarter and more creative examples of climate adaptation.When it comes to adaptation，it is important to understand that climate change is a process. We are therefore not talking about adapting to a new standard，but to a constantly shifting set of conditions. This is why, in part at least，the US National Climate Assessment says that:“There is no ‘one­size fits all’ adaptation.” Nevertheless，there are some actions that offer much and carry little risk or cost.Around the world, people are adapting in surprising ways，especially in some poor countries. Floods have become more damaging in Bangladesh in recent decades. Mohammed Rezwan saw opportunity where others saw only disaster. His not­for­profit organization runs 100 river boats that s erve as floating libraries，schools，and health clinics，and are equipped with solar panels and other communicating facilities. Rezwan is creating floating connectivity(连接) to replace flooded roads and highways. But he is also working at a far more fundamental level:his staff show people howto make floating gardens and fish ponds to prevent starvation during the wet season.Elsewhere in Asia even more astonishing actions are being taken. Chewang Norphel lives in a mountainous region in India, where he is known as the Ice Man. The loss of glaciers (冰川) there due to global warming represents an enormous threat to agriculture. Without the glaciers, water will arrive in the rivers at times when it can damage crops. Norphel's inspiration came from seeing the waste of water over winter, when it was not needed. He directed the wasted water into shallow basins where it froze, and was stored until the spring. His fields of ice supply perfectly timed irrigation(灌溉) water. Having created nine such ice reserves, Norphel calculates that he has stored about 200，000m3of water. Climate change is a continuing process, so Norphel's ice reserves will not last forever. Warming will overtake them. But he is providing a few years during which the farmers will, perhaps, be able to find other means of adapting.Increasing Earth's reflectiveness can cool the planet. In southern Spain the sudden increase of greenhouses (which reflect light back to space) has changed the warming trend locally, and actually cooled the region. While Spain as a whole is heating up quickly, temperatures near the greenhouses have decreased. This example should act as an inspiration for all cities. By painting buildings white, cities may slow down the warming process.In Peru, local farmers around a mountain with a glacier that has already fallen victim to climate change have begun painting the entire mountain peak white in the hope that the added reflectiveness will restore the life­giving ice. The outcome is still far from clear. But the World Bank has included the pr oject on its list of “100 ideas to save the planet”．More ordinary forms of adaptation are happening everywhere. A friend of mine owns an area of land in western Victoria. Over five generations the land has been too wet for cropping. But during the past decade declining rainfall has allowed him to plant highly profitable crops. Farmers in many countries are also adapting like this—either by growing new produce, or by growing the same things differently. This is common sense. But some suggestions for adapting are not. When the polluting industries argue that we've lost the battle to control carbon pollution and have no choice but to adapt, it's a nonsense designed to make the case for business as usual.Human beings will continue to adapt to the changing climate in both ordinary and astonishing ways. But the most sensible form of adaptation is surely to adapt our energy systems to emit less carbon pollution. After all, if we adapt in that way, we may avoid the need to change in so many。

专题16 科普类说明文2018高考题D【2018·全国I】We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.32. What does the author think of new devices?A. They are environment-friendly.B. They are no better than the old.C. They cost more to use at home.D. They go out of style quickly.33. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?A. To reduce the cost of minerals.B. To test the life cycle of a product.C. To update consumers on new technology.D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.34. Which of the following uses the least energy?A. The box-set TV.B. The tablet.C. The LCD TV.D. The desktop computer.35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?A. Stop using them.B. Take them apart.C. Upgrade them.D. Recycle them.【答案】32. A 33. D 34. B 35. A【解析】本文是一篇科普说明文。

1.【2015·湖北卷】DThe oddness of life in space never quite goes away. Here are some examples.First consider something as simple as sleep. Its position presents it s own challenges. The main question is whether you want your arms inside or outside the sleeping bag. If you leave your arms out, they float free in zero gravity, often giving a sleeping astronaut the look of a funny balled （芭蕾）dancer. “I’m an inside guy,” Mike Hopkins says, who returned from a six-month tour on the International Space Station. “I like to be wrapped up.”On the station, the ordinary becomes strange. The exercise bike for the American astronauts has no handlebars. It also has no seat. With no gravity, it’s just as easy to pedal violently. You can watch a movie while you pedal by floating a microcomputer anywhere you want. But station residents have to be careful about staying in one place too long. Without gravity to help circulate air, the carbon dioxide you exhale (呼气) has a tendency to form an invisible （隐形的）cloud around you head. You can end up with what astronauts call a carbon-dioxide headache.Leroy Chiao, 54, an American retired astronaut after four flights, describes what happens even before you float out of your seat,”Your inner ear thinks your’re falling . Meanwhile your eyes are telling you you’re standing straight. That can be annoying—that’s why some people feel sick.” Within a couple days —truly terrible days for some —astronauts’ brains learn to ignore the panicky signals from the inner ear, and space sickness disappears.Space travel can be so delightful but at the same time invisibly dangerous. For instance, astronauts lose bone mass. That’s why exercise is considered so vital that National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) puts it right on the workday schedule. The focus on fitness is as much about science and the future as it is about keeping any individual astronauts return home, and, more importantly, how to maintain strength and fitness for the two anda half years or more that it would take to make a round-trip to Mars.63.What is the major challenge to astronauts when they sleep in space?A. Deciding on a proper sleep positionB. Choosing a comfortable sleeping bagC. Seeking a way to fall asleep quicklyD. Finding a right time to go to sleep.64.The astronauts will suffer from a carbon-dioxide headache when _____.A. the y circle around on their bikesB. they use microcomputers without a stopC. they exercise in one place for a long timeD. they watch a movie while pedaling65.Some astronauts feel sick on the station during the first few days because _____.A. their senses stop workingB. they have to stand up straightC. they float out of their seats unexpectedlyD. whether they are able to go back to the station66.One of the NASA’s major concerns about astronauts is _____.A. how much exercise they do on the stationB. how they can remain healthy for long in spaceC. whether they can recover after returning homeD. whether they are able to go back to the station【解析】试题分析：这是一篇说明文。

专题16 科普类说明文2018高考题D【2018·全国I】We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.32. What does the author think of new devices?A. They are environment-friendly.B. They are no better than the old.C. They cost more to use at home.D. They go out of style quickly.33. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?A. To reduce the cost of minerals.B. To test the life cycle of a product.C. To update consumers on new technology.D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.34. Which of the following uses the least energy?A. The box-set TV.B. The tablet.C. The LCD TV.D. The desktop computer.35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?A. Stop using them.B. Take them apart.C. Upgrade them.D. Recycle them.【答案】32. A 33. D 34. B 35. A【解析】本文是一篇科普说明文。

专题16 科普类说明文2019高考题D【2019·全国I】We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 2019. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2019, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2019.As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2019. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2019 window.So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2019, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.32. What does the author think of new devices?A. They are environment-friendly.B. They are no better than the old.C. They cost more to use at home.D. They go out of style quickly.33. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?A. To reduce the cost of minerals.B. To test the life cycle of a product.C. To update consumers on new technology.D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.34. Which of the following uses the least energy?A. The box-set TV.B. The tablet.C. The LCD TV.D. The desktop computer.35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?A. Stop using them.B. Take them apart.C. Upgrade them.D. Recycle them.【答案】32. A 33. D 34. B 35. A【解析】本文是一篇科普说明文。

2015-2017三年高考英语真题分类汇编16科普类说明文2017高考题科普知识类DHollywood's theory that machines with evil(邪恶的) minds will drive armies of killer robots is just silly. The real problem relates to the possibility that artificial intelligence(AI) may become extremely good at achieving something other than what we really want. In 1960 a well­known mathematician Norbert Wiener, who founded the field of cybernetics(控制论), put it this way: “If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot effectively interfere(干预), we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire.”A machine with a specific purpose has another quality, one that we usually associate with living things: a wish to preserve its own existence. For the machine, this quality is not in­born, nor is it something introduced by humans; it is a logical consequence of the simple fact that the machine cannot achieve its original purpose if it is dead. So if we send out a robot with the single instruction of fetching coffee, it will have a strong desire to secure success by disabling its own off switch or even killing anyone who might interfere with its task. If we are not careful, then, we could face a kind of global chess match against very determined, super intelligent machines whose objectives conflict with our own, with the real world as the chessboard.The possibility of entering into and losing such a match should concentrate the minds of computer scientists. Some researchers argue that we can seal the machines inside a kind of firewall, using them to answer difficult questions but never allowing them to affect the real world. Unfortunately, that plan seems unlikely to work: we have yet to invent a firewall that is secure against ordinary humans, let alone super intelligent machines.Solving the safety problem well enough to move forward in AI seems to be possible butnot easy. There are probably decades in which to plan for the arrival of super intelligent machines. But the problem should not be dismissed out of hand, as it has been by some AI researchers. Some argue that humans and machines can coexist as long as they work in teams—yet that is not possible unless machines share the goals of humans. Others say we can just “switch them off” as if super intelligent machines are too stupid to think of that possibility. Still others think that super intelligent AI will never happen. On September 11, 1933, famous physicist Ernest Rutherford stated, with confidence, “Anyone who expects a so urce of power in the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine.” However, on September 12, 1933, physicist Leo Szilard invented the neutron­induced(中子诱导) nuclear chain reaction.67．Paragraph 1 mainly tells us that artificial intelligence may ________．A．run out of human controlB．satisfy human's real desiresC．command armies of killer robotsD．work faster than a mathematician68．Machines with specific purposes are associated with living things partly because they might be able to ________．A．prevent themselves from being destroyedB．achieve their original goals independentlyC．do anything successfully with given ordersD．beat humans in international chess matches69．According to some researchers, we can use firewalls to ________．A．help super intelligent machines work betterB．be secure against evil human beingsC．keep machines from being harmedD．avoid robots' affecting the world70．What does the author think of the safety problem of super intelligent machines?A．It will disappear with the development of AI.B．It will get worse with human interference.C．It will be solved but with difficulty.D．It will stay for a decade.【文章大意】本文为科普类文章，讲的是随着科技的发展，人工智能 (AI)可能会超出人类的控制。

专题16 科普类说明文2018高考题D【2018·全国I】We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.32. What does the author think of new devices?A. They are environment-friendly.B. They are no better than the old.C. They cost more to use at home.D. They go out of style quickly.33. Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?A. To reduce the cost of minerals.B. To test the life cycle of a product.C. To update consumers on new technology.D. To find out electricity consumption of the devices.34. Which of the following uses the least energy?A. The box-set TV.B. The tablet.C. The LCD TV.D. The desktop computer.35. What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?A. Stop using them.B. Take them apart.C. Upgrade them.D. Recycle them.【答案】32. A 33. D 34. B 35. A【解析】本文是一篇科普说明文。