2021年上海职称英语考试模拟卷（1）.docx

2021年上海职称英语考试模拟卷（1）本卷共分为1大题50小题，作答时间为180分钟，总分100分，60分及格。一、单项选择题（共50题，每题2分。每题的备选项中，只有一个最符合题意） 1.第一篇Why Dont Babies Talk Like Adults Over the past half-century, scientists have settled on two reasonable theories related to baby talk. One states that a young childs brain needs time to master language, in the same way that it does to master other abilities such as physical movement. The second theory states that a childs vocabulary level is the key factor. According to this theory, some key steps have to occur in a logical sequence before sentence formation occurs. Childrens mathematical knowledge develops in the same way.In 2007, researchers at Harvard University, who were studying the two theories, found a clever way to test them. More than 20,000 internationally adopted children enter the U.S. each year. Many of them no longer hear their birth language after they arrive, and they must learn English more or less the same way infants do 一that is, by listening and by trial and error. International adoptees dont take classes or use a dictionary when they are learning their new tongue and most of them dont have a well-developed first language. All of these factors make them an ideal population in which to test these competing hypotheses about how language is learnedNeuroscientists Jesse Snedeker, Joy Geren and Carissa Shafto studied the language development of 27 children adopted from China between the ages of two and five years. These children began learning English at an older age than US natives and had more mature brains with which to tackle the task. Even so, just as with American-born infants, their first English sentences consisted of single words and were largely bereft (缺乏的）of function words, word endings and verbs. The adoptees then went through the same stages as typical American-born children, though at a faster clip. The adoptees and native children started combining words in sentences when their vocabulary reached the same sizes, further suggesting that what matters is not how old you are or how mature your brain is, but the number of words you know.This finding 一that having more mature brains did not help the adoptees avoid the toddle-talk stage 一suggests that babies speak in baby talk not because they have baby brains,but because they have only just started learning and need time to gain enough vocabulary to be able to expand their conversations. Before long, the one-word stage will give way to the two-word stage and so on. Learning how to chat like an adult is a gradual process.But this potential answer also raises an even older and more difficult question. Adult immigrants who learn a second language rarely achieve the same proficiency in a foreign language as the average child raised as a native speaker. Researchers have long suspected there is a "critical period" for language development, after which it cannot proceed with full success to fluency. Yet we still do not understand this critical period or know why it ends.When the writer says "critical period", he means a period whenAstudies produce useful results.Badults need to be taught like children.Clanguage learning takes place effectively.Dimmigrants want to learn another language. 2.Scientists Develop Ways of Detecting Heart AttackGerman researchers have come up with a new generation of defibrillators (除颤器) and early-warning software aimed at offering heart patients greater_(51) from sudden death from cardiac arrest (心脏停搏).In Germany alone, around 100,000 people die annually_ (52) a result of cardiac arrest and many of these cases are caused by disruption to the hearts rhythm. Those most at_ (53) are patients who have already suffered a heart attack, and for years the use of defibrillators has proved useful in _ (54) life-threatening disruptions to heart rhythms and correcting them automatically by intervening within seconds. These devices_(55) on a range of functions, such as that of pacemaker（起搏器）Heart specialists at Freiburgs University Clinic have now achieved a breakthrough with an implanted defibrillator _ (56) of generating a six-channel electrocardiogram (ECG,心电图）within the body. This integrated systemallows _(57) diagnosis of severe blood-flow problems and a pending (即将发生的）heart attack. It will. be implanted in _(58) for the first time this year. Meanwhile, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Mathematics in Kaiserslautern have developed new computer software that_(59) the evaluation of ECG data more precise.The overwhelming majority of patients at risk will not have an implanted defibrillator and must for this _ (60) undergo regular ECGs. "Many of the current programs only take into_(61) a linear correlation of the data. We are, however, making use of a non-linear process_(62) reveals the chaotic patterns of heart beats as an open and complex system," Hagen Knaf says. "In this way changes in the heart_ (63) over time can be monitored and individual variations in patients taken into account." An old study of ECG data, based upon 600 patients who had to compare risks and to show that the new software evaluates the considerably better.AlastBallConceDrisk 3.Toads are Arthritic and in PainArthritis is an illness that can cause pain and swelling in your bones. Toads, a big problem in the north of Australia, are suffering from painful arthritis in their legs and backbone, a new study has shown. The toads that jump the fastest are more likely to be larger and to have longer legs. 46.The large yellow toads, native to South and Central America, were introduced into the north-eastern Australian state of Queensland in 193S in an attempt to stop beetles and other insects from destroying sugarcane crops. Now up to 200 million of the poisonous toads exist in the country, and they are rapidly spreading through the state of Northern Territory at a rate of up to 60 km a year. The toads can now be found across more than one million square kilometers. 47. A Venezuelan poison virus was tried in the 1990s but had to be abandoned after it was found to also kill native frog species.The toads have severely affected ecosystems in Australia. Animals, and sometimes pets, that eat the toads die immediately from their poison, and the toads themselves eat anything they can fit inside their mouth. 48.A co-author of the new study, Rick Shine,a professor at the University of Sydney, says that little attention has been given to the problems that toads face. Rick and his colleagues studied nearly 500 toads from Queensland and the Northern Territory and found that those in the latter state were very different. They were active, sprinting down roads and breeding quickly.According to the results of the study, the fastest toads travel nearly one kilometre a night. 49. But speed and strength come at a price arthritis of the legs and backbone due to constant pressure placed on them.In laboratory tests, the researchers found that after about 15 minutes of hopping, arthritic toads would travel less distance with each hop. 50. These toads are so programmed to move, apparently, that even when in pain the toads travelled as fast and as far as the healthy ones, continuing their relentless march across the landscape.A. Toads with longer legs move faster and travel longer distances, while the others are being left behind.B. But arthritis didnt slow down toads outside the laboratory, the researchers found.C. Furthermore, they soon take over the natural habitats of Australias native species.D. The task now facing the country is how to remove the toads.E. But this advantage also has a big drawback up to 10% of the biggest toads suffer from arthritis.F. Toads are not built to be road runners they are built to sit around ponds and wet areas. 4.Organic Food: Why1. Europe is now the biggest market for organic food in the world, expanding by 25 percent a year over the past 10 years. So what is the attraction of organic food for some people The really important thing is that organic sounds more “natural”. Eating organic is a way of defining oneself as natural, good, caring, different from the junk-food-eating masses.2. Unlike conventional farming, the organic approach means farming with natural rather than man-made, fertilisers and pesticides. Techniques such as crop rotation improve soil quality and help organic farmers compensate for the absence of man-made chemicals. As a method of food production, organic is, however, inefficient in its use of labour and land; there are severe limits to how much food can be produced. Also, the environmental benefits of not using artificial fertiliser are tiny compared with the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by transporting food.3. Organic farming is often claimed to be safer than conventional farming. Yet studies into organic farming worldwide continue to reject this claim. An extensive review by the UK Food Standards Agency found that there was no statistically significant difference between organic and conventional crops. Even where results indicated there was evidence of a difference, the reviewers found no sign that these differences would have any noticeable effect on health4. The simplistic claim that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food was always likely to be misleading. Food is a natural product, and the health value of different foods will vary for a number of reasons, including freshness, the way the food is cooked, the type of soil it is grown in, the amount of sunlight and rain crops have received, and so on. Likewise, the flavour of a carrot has less to do with whether it was fertilised with manure or something out of a plastic sack than with the variety of carrot and how long ago it was dug up.5. The notion that organic food is safer than “normal” food is also contradicted by the fact that many of our most common foods are full of natural toxins. As one research expert says: “People think that the more natural something is, the better it is for them. That is simply not the case. In fact, it is the opposite that is true: the closer a plant is to its natural state, the more likely it is that it will poison you. Naturally many plants do not want to be eaten, so we have spent 10,000 years developing agriculture and breeding out harmful traits from crops.”A. Main reason for the popularity of organic foodB. Description of organic farmingC. Factors that affect food health valueD. Testing the taste of organic foodE. Necessity to remove hidden dangers from foodF. Research into whether organic food is betterThe weather conditions during the growth of crops _ . 5.第三篇On the Trail of the Honey BadgersOn a recent field trip to the Kalahari Desert, a team of researchers learnt a lot more about honey badgers (獾). The team employed a local wildlife expert, Kitso Khama, to help them locate and follow the badgers across the desert. Their main aim was to study the badgers movements and behaviour as discreetly (谨慎地) as possible, without frightening them away or causing them to change their natural behaviour. They also planned to trap a few and study them close up before releasing them. In view of the animals reputation, this was something that even Khama was reluctant to do.“The problem with honey badgers is they are naturally curious animals, especially when they see something new,” he says. “that, combined with their unpredictable nature, can be a dangerous mixture. If they sense you have food, for example, they wont be shy about coming right up to you for something to eat. Theyre actually quite sociable creatures around humans, but as soon as they feel they might be in danger, they can become extremely vicious (凶恶的). Fortunately this is rare, but it does happen.”The research confirmed many things that were already known. As expected, honey badgers ate any creatures they could catch and kill. Even poisonous snakes, feared and avoided by most other animals, were not safe from them. The researchers were surprised, however, by the animals fondness for local melons, probably because of their high water content. Previously researchers thought that the animal got all of its liquid requirements from its prey (猎物). The team also learnt that, contrary to previous research findings, the badgers occasionally formed loose family groups. They were also able to confirm certain results from previous research, including the fat that female badgers never socialized with each other.Following some of the male badgers was a challenge, since they can cover large distances in a short space of time. Some hunting territories cover more than 500 square kilometers. Although they seem happy to share these territories with other males, there are occasional fights over an important food source, and male badgers can be as aggressive towards each other as they are towards other species.As the badgers became accustomed to the presence of people, it gave the team the chance to get up close to them without being the subject of the animals curiosity or their sudden aggression. The badgers eating patterns, which had been disrupted, returned to normal. It also allowed the team to observe more closely some of the other creatures that form working associations with the honey badger, as these seems to adopt the badgers relaxed attitude when near humans.What happened when honey badgers got used to humans around themAThey became less aggressive towards other creatures.BThey lost interest in people.CThey started eating more.DOther animals started working with them. 6.第二篇DNA FingerprintingDNA is the genetic material found within the cell nuclei of all living things. In mammals the strands of DNA are grouped into structures called chromosomes. With the exception of identical siblings (as in identical twins), the complete DNA of each individual is unique.DNA fingerprinting is sometimes called DNA typing. It is a method of identification that compares bits of DNA. A DNA fingerprint is constructed by first drawing out a DNA sample from body tissue or fluid such as hair, blood, or saliva. The sample is then segmented using enzymes, and the segments are arranged by size. The segments are marked with probes and exposed on X-ray film, where they form a pattern of black bars the DNA fingerprint. If the DNA fingerprints produced from two different samples match, the two samples probably came from the same person.DNA fingerprinting was first developed as an identification technique in 1985. Originally used to detect the presence of genetic diseases, it soon came to be used in criminal investigations and legal affairs. The first criminal conviction based on DNA evidence in the United States occurred in 1988. In criminal investigations, DNA fingerprints derived from evidence collected at the crime scene ar