高考题型提能练十五 Unit 15 LearningⅠ.阅读理解ARecordings of angry bees are enough to send big, tough African elephants running away, a new study says.Beehives (蜂窝) —either recorded or real —may even prevent elephants from damaging farmers' crops.In 2002, scientist Lucy King and her team found that elephants a void certain trees with bees living in them.Today, Lucy wants to see if African honeybees might discourage elephants from eating crops.But before she asked farmers to go to the trouble of setting up beehives on their farms, she needed to find out if the bees would scare elephants away.Lucy found a wild beehive inside a tree in northern Kenya and set up a recorder.Then she threw a stone into the beehive, which burst into life.Lucy and her assistant hid in their car until the angry bees had calmed down.Next, Lucy searched out elephant families in Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya and put a speaker in a tree close to each family.From a distance, Lucy switched on the prerecorded sound of angry bees whi le at the same time recording the elephants with a video camera.Half the elephant groups left the area within ten seconds.Out of a total of 17 groups, only one group ignored the sound of the angry bees.Lucy reported that all the young elephants immediately ran to their mothers to hide under them.When Lucy played the sound of a waterfall (瀑布) instead of the angry bees to many of the same elephant families, the animals were undisturbed.Even after four minutes, most of the gr oups stayed in one place.Lucy is now studying whether the elephants will continue to avoid the sound of angry bees after hearing it several times.She hasn't tested enough groups yet to know, but her initial (最初的) results were promising enough to begin trials with farmers.She has now begun placing speakers in the fields to see if elephants are frightened away.1.We know from the passage that elephants may be frightened of________.A.loud noisesB.some cropsC.video camerasD.angry bees2.Why did Lucy throw a stone into a wild beehive?A.To record the sound of bees.B.To make a video of elephants.C.To see if elephants would run away.D.To find out more about the behavior of bees.3.As mentioned in the passage, Lucy________.A.works by herself in AfricaB.needs to test more elephant groupsC.has stopped elephants eating cropsD.has got farmers to set up beehives on their farms4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?A.Young elephants ignore African honeybees.B.Waterfalls can make elephants stay in one place.C.Elephants do not go near trees with bees living in them.D.Farmers do not allow Lucy to conduct tests in their fields.B(2016·江西重点中学联考)I've just got to talk about this problem I'm having with my postman. It all began a year ago, after the birth of his first child. Not wanting to appear rude, I asked him about the baby. The next week, not wanting him to think I had asked out of mere politeness the week before, I asked all about the baby again. Now I can't break the habit. I freeze w henever I see him c oming. The words “How's the baby？” come out on their own. It holds me up. It holds him up. So why can't I stop it? The answer is that I want him to like me. Come to think of it, I want everyone to like me.My sister had the same problem with the caretaker of her block of flats: “All he ever does is complain; he talks at me rather than to me, never listens to a word I say, and yet for some reason I'm always really nice to him. I'm worried in case I have a difficulty one day, and he won't lift a finger to he lp.”What about at work? Richard Lawton, a management trainer, warns: “Those managers who are actually liked by most of their staff are always those to whom being liked is not the primary goal. The qualities that make managers popular are being honest with staff, treating them as human beings and observing common politeness like saying hello in the morning.” To explain the point, Richard mentions the story of the company chairman who desperately wanted to be liked and who, after making one of his managers fired, said with moist (湿润的) eyes that he was so, so sorry the man was leaving. The employee replied: “If you were that sorry, I wouldn't be leaving.” The lesson being, therefore, that if you try too hard to be liked, people won't like you.The experts sa y it all starts in childhood. “If children feel they can only get love from their parents by being good，” says Zelda WestMeads, a marriage guidance consultant, “they develop low selfconfidence and become compulsive_givers.” But is there anything wrong in being a giver, the world not being exactly short of takers? Anne Cousins believes there is. “There is a point at which giving becomes unhealthy，” she says. “It comes when you do things for others but feel bad about it.”I am now trying hard to say to peop le “I feel uncomfortable about saying this, but ...” and tell myself “Ref usal of a request does not mean rejection of a person” and I find I can say almost anything to almost anyone.5.Why does the author ask the postman about his baby?A.He is interested in the baby.B.He wants to create a good impression.C.He wants to be always polite to him.D.It's a way to start a chat with great politeness.6.What could we find out about the author's sister and the caretaker?A.She doesn't want to risk displeasing him.B.She doesn't pay attention to him.C.He often refuses to help her.D.He is impatient of her overreaction.7.The underlined words “compulsive givers” in the fourth paragraph refer to the people who ________.A.are willing to help othersB.couldn't bear to turn down requestsC.are unconfident of denying demandsD.are less selfish than takers8.What is the author's intention of writi ng this passage?A.To show how to let others like you more.B.To prove how to create a harmonious atmosphere.C.To encoura ge people to have more selfconfidence.D.To suggest ways of dealing with difficult people.CParties and social gatherings no longer excite us the same way they once did. This is not due to a lack of desire to socialize, but the smartphone.At parties, more people are on their smartphones than on their drinks. According to a recent International Data Corporation study, well over half of all Americans have a smartphone and reach for it the moment they wake up, keeping it in hand all day. In addition, too many people in society are using smartphones while driving and as a result, they get into car crashes. 34 percent of teenagers admit to texting while driving, and they confirm that text messaging is their number one driving interruption. People's attachment to their smartphones is unbelievably becoming more important than the lives of themselves and others.Just as drivers dismiss the importance of focusing while on the road, many people also fail to recognize the significance of human interaction. When with their friends, some people pointlessly check or send text messages in the presence of a friend, which sends a message to that friend: the person I am texting is more important than you. In addition, relying on our smartphones to make friends does not give us the same advantage as being able to make new friendships in the real world. Facetoface conversations will give us much stronger communication skills in the long run.As many people risk their lives and the lives of people around them just to send a text or mindlessly check their messages, smartphones are in many ways more dangerous to people. The quality of this technology is preventing societal achievements and weakening the value of communication. Not only is the smartphone affecting our desire to interact (交流) facetoface, but it is also lowering society's ability to communicate.9.The purpose of this text is to ________.A.call for an end to use the smartphone while drivingB.appeal to us to pay attention to communication skillsC.express a concern about the overuse of the smartphoneD.advise us to be cautious about the addiction to the smartphone10.The second paragraph is developed by ________.A.giving examplesB.listing figuresparing factsD.analyzing the effects11.The author advocates us to make new friends ________.A.by using smartphonesB.in a facetoface wayC.in different waysD.under a free circumstance12.Overdependence on the smartphone leads to the fact that ________.A.parties and gatherings limit their social circleB.people are more and more narrowmindedC.people's communication skills are weakenedD.facetoface communication becomes less importantⅡ.任务型阅读There is an old Spanish Proverb which states, “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week”. How many tim es have we put off our dreams until tomorrow?1.________ We have to go for them now! Here's why.Tomorrow is not promisedNobody likes to talk about death, but the reality is everybody is going to die at one point. None of us know the day, or the hour. Therefore, today is all we have. 2.________ Make the decision to go after every dream, big or small right now.The world is waiting on your giftI know this may be hard to believe, but the world is waiting on YOU! You were born into the world with a unique gift. Other people may be able to sing. But they'll never be able to sing exactly like you. 3.________Thus, it is your responsibility to figure out exactly what your gift is, and use to better your life and the lives of those around you.You can't let fear winOne of the biggest dream killers is fear. There are so many people who could have achieved amazing things if only they weren't afraid. Just think about all the things you've wanted to do, but allowed fear to convince you that you weren't capable. Fear is not real. It is a product of thoughts you create. 4.________ You'll be much happier if you go for itImagine how much happier you'll be if you're living the life you always dreamed about. The only thing that is stopping you is yourself. 5.________ Don't keep your dreams waiting.A.Don't go to your grave with unfulfilled dreams.B.Other people can write, but they'll never be able to write from the same perspective in which you write.C.Unless you take the first step, your dreams will never come true.D.Take control of your own happiness.E.Doors that you couldn't imagine open up when you go after what you want.F.Choose not to let fear stop you from achieving your dreams.G.Our dreams should not, and cannot wait.Ⅲ.语法填空(2016·贵州适应性测试)It was the day of the poetry festival, and I was 1.________ (excite). At my old school, I had won the poetry ribbon every year. I do write good poetry. When Mrs. Baker called on me, I stood up. I didn't even bother to look at my paper. I'd spent so much time 2.________ (perfect) the rhymes, and counting the 3.________ (beat), that I knew the poem by heart. I had just started the third verse when I noticed Mrs. Baker was glaring at me. “Linda, you 4.________ (suppose) to be reading an original work, a poem you made up yourself, not reciting something you learned.” I opened my mouth to ex plain, but no words came out. “You will leave the room and will not return until you are ready 5.________ (apologize)，” said Mrs. Baker. “Now. Go！” I turned and left the room. I'd been standing outside for about half an hour when Joseph, another school teacher, came over to ask me why. Now, as Joseph waited 6.________ me to answer, he looked so kind and symp athetic 7.________ I poured out the whole story, trying not to cry. “Li nda, accepting defeat, when you should stand up for 8.________ (you), can become a very dangerous habit. You know you are the only Linda Brown in the whol e world.” 9.________ eyes smiling into mine, I took a deep breath and 10.________ (knock) on the classroom door, ready to face Mrs. Baker —ready to recite my poem.Ⅳ.书面表达(2016·江西省九校联合考试)每年高考，各个考点都会挤满陪考的家长。
