2014年高考英语重庆卷阅读理解C篇原文
C
The idea of being able to walk on water has long interested humans greatly. Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid--we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink.
However, several types of animals can walk on water. One of the most interesting is the common basilisk Basilicus basilicus, a lizard (蜥蜴) native to Central and South America. It can run across water for a distance of several meters, avoiding getting wet by rapidly hitting the water's surface with its feet. The lizard will take as many as 20 steps per second to keep moving forward. For humans to do this, we'd need huge feet that we could bring up to our ears in order to create adequate "hitting."
But fortunately there is an alternative: cornflour. By adding enough of this common thickening agent to water (and it does take a lot), you can create a "non-Newtonian" liquid that doesn't behave like normal water. Now, if the surface of the water is hit hard enough, particles(粒子) in the water group together for a moment to make the surface hard. Move quickly enough and put enough force into each step, and you really can walk across the surface of an adequately thick liquid of cornflour.
Fun though all this may sound, it's still rather messy and better read about in theory than carried out in practice, if you must do it, then keep the water wings handy in case you start to sink--and take a shower afterward!
44. Walking on water hasn't become a reality mainly because
humans.
A. are not interested in it
B. have biological limitations
C. have not invented proper tools
D. are afraid to make an attempt
45. What do we know about Basiilius basilicus from the passage?
A. It is light enough to walk on water.
B. Its huge feet enable it to stay above water.
C. It can run across water at a certain speed.
D. Its unique skin keeps it from getting wet in watch
46, What is the function of the cornflour according to the passage?
A. To create a thick liquid.
B. To turn the water into solid.
C. To help the liquid behave normally.
D. To enable the water to rove rapidly.
47. What is the author's attitude toward the idea of humans' walking on water?
A. It is risky but beneficial.
B. It is interesting and worth trying.
C. It is crazy and cannot become a reality.
D. It is impractical thigh theoretically possible.
2014年高考英语重庆卷阅读理解C篇翻译
人类一直对水上行走的想法很感兴趣。可悲的是，我们的生物本能使我们无法在没有人工帮助的情况下来完成这样的事。很简单，我们太重了，并且我们把大部分重量集中在我们相对较小的脚上，导致巨大的压力让我们下沉。
然而，有几种类型的动物可以在水上行走。最有趣的动物之一就是常见的一种称作Basilicus的蛇怪，它是一种原产于中美洲和南美洲的蜥蜴。它可以在水中行走数米远的距
离，并能用它的脚快速拍击水面而不被水打湿。蜥蜴能以每秒20步之多的速度前进。而我
们人类要做到这一点，要能够达到足够的拍击，就需要有巨大的脚，而这脚要一直长到我们的耳朵处。
但幸运的是我们还有一种替代品:玉米淀粉。通过向水中添加足够的普通增稠剂(并且需要很多)，你可以创建一种不像正常的水的非牛顿液体。现在，如果水的表面拍打起来足够
坚硬，那么水中的粒子就会聚集起来，使得水面更加坚硬。如果你行动足够迅速，也能把力量聚集到每一步，那么你真的可以穿过玉米淀粉制成的足够粘稠的液体表面。
虽然这一切听起来很有趣，但是它仍然很难处理，并且理论比实践要好得多。如果你非要这样做，那么你要制作便捷水翼，以防你开始下沉，最终落入水中。
2014年高考英语重庆卷阅读理解C篇答案精析
44. B 细节理解题。根据第一段第二句"Sadly, biological facts prevent us ever accomplishing such a thing without artificial aid - we simply weigh too much, and all our mass pushes down through our relatively small feet, resulting in a lot of pressure that makes us sink."可知，由于人类有生物方面的限制，在水上行走不会成为现实。故选B项。
