高考英语专题练之说明文阅读.docx
2022高考英语专题练之说明文阅读(A)If you want to stay in shape, but dont have the time to go to the gym, the Mobile Gym is a good solution. Its basically a large bus filled with the latest fitness equipment. You can find everything you need for a complete workout, and heres the best part you dont need to go to the gym, and the gym comes to you!The Mobile Gym was the idea of Adam Zickerman, founder of Inform Fitness, a popular chain of gyms across the United States. It hit him when he ordered lunch from a food truck one afternoon. So why not put a gym on a truck?Zickerman experimented with a few designs and then invested $60,000 on making adaptations and fixing machines. He didnt really need an advertising budget as the bus advertised itself. Carole Pallmeyer, for instance, found herself driving behind the Mobile Gym one day. At first she thought it was a regular bus with ads for a gym. But then she realized the bus itself was a gym, so she booked workout sessions for her entire family. “We are all busy, but we know the bus is coming and make sure we are home at 4:30 for the workouts,” she said. “You forget youre on a bus because the workouts are tightly scheduled.”Unfortunately, it is illegal to use the fitness equipment while the bus is moving, so you dont get to save time by working out during the rush time. It operates only once a week, only two clients ( 客 户 ) can be accommodated at a time on the bus. And it doesnt come cheap. Sessions start at $100, while in-house workouts are $65. But the Mobile Gym appears to be a big hit.“There are so many benefits to having the Mobile Gym come to you,” Zickerman said. “Only five to seven exercises complete a total-body workout when performed using our special equipment.” He also added that a 20-minute workout might sound easy, but it is really difficult and provides instant results. “It is very challenging and clients understand quickly why rest is important between workouts.”1What inspired Zickerman to invent the Mobile Gym?AA usual order for a meal. BA casual visit to a gym.CA tight schedule for workout. DA specific experience of exercise. 2Which of the following is NOT the benefit of the Mobile Gym?A.It saves much of clients time.B.It creates adequate private space.C.It offers special equipment needed for a total-body workout.D.It provides clients with an appropriate and effective workout.3.Whats Zickermans attitude towards the Mobile Gym?A.Concerned. BNegative. CObjective. DOptimistic.(B)“We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth.” These are the words of the famous scientist Stephen Hawking, spoken at a science festival in Norway in 2017, a year before his death.Hawking was not alone in this view. Many experts feel that the only way for humanity to last far into the future is to colonize other planets. That way, if an asteroid(小行星), a terrible disease, nuclear war, or some other disaster strikes Earth, civilization as we know it would still have a chance. Mars is one of the most tempting destinations. NASA, the United Arab Emirates, the private company SpaceX, and the organization Mars One all have plans to send humans there. “Either we spread Earth to other planets, or we risk going extinct, SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at a conference in 2013.But not everyone agrees that colonizing Mars or any other planet is such a great plan. The most common argument against going is that its just too expensive or dangerous. It will take huge amounts of money and other resources just to get people there, let alone set up a place for them to live. Its not even clear if humans could survive on Mars. One of the biggest dangers there is deadly radiation that bombards the planet.Maybe all the time and money people would pour into a Mars mission would be better spent on more urgent projects here on Earth, like dealing with poverty or climate change. Some experts argue that handling a problem like an asteroid strike or disease outbreak while staying here on Earth would be much easier and less expensive than surviving on a new planet.In addition, moving to a new planet could harm or destroy anything that already lives there. Mars seems uninhabited, but it could possibly host microbial( 微生物的) life. Human visitors may destroy this life or permanently change or damage the Martian environment. Some feel thats too much of a risk to take.What do you think? Should humans colonize outer space or stay home?1.What can be inferred from the passage?A.Many experts insist that humans should take the risk.B.Mars is the most attractive destinations for human beings.C.Hawking firmly believes the only way to save humans is moving to Mars.D.All the other experts dont agree with Hawkings idea.2.Why do some experts disagree with the plan to colonize Mars?A.It will cost much more money to settle on Mars than on Earth.B.It is too long a distance from the Earth to the Mars.C.Human visitors will bring diseases to Martian environment.D.The deadly radiation that bombards the planet is the biggest danger.3.Whats the writing purpose of the passage?A.To raise peoples awareness of protecting the environment.B.To present different opinions on whether to move to the Mars.C.To arouse readers reflection on whether to colonize outer space.D.To inspire people to deal with the environmental problems.4.In which section of a magazine is the passage most likely from?A. Fiction. B. Current affairs. C. Social Studies. D. Science.(C)We use what is known as inner speech, where we talk to ourselves, to evaluate situations and make decisions. Now, a robot has been trained to speak aloud its inner decision-making process, giving us a view of how it responds to contradictory demands.Arianna Pipitone and Antonio Chella at the University of Palermo, Italy, programmed a humanoid robot named Pepper, with software that models human cognitive(认知的)processes, which allowed Pepper to retrieve (检索)relevant information from its memory and find the correct way to act based on human commands, as well as a text to speech processor. It allowed Pepper to voice its decision-making process while completing a task, "With inner speech, we can better understand what the robot wants to do and what its plan is," says Chella.The researchers asked Pepper to set a dinner table according to etiquette (礼仪)rules they had programmed into the robot. Inner speech was either enabled or disabled to see how it affected Peppers ability to do what was instructed.When instructed to place a napkin on a fork with its inner speech enabled, Pepper asked itself what the etiquette required and concluded that this request went against the rules it had been given. It then asked the researchers if putting the napkin on the fork was the correct action. When told it was, Pepper said, “OK, I prefer to follow your desire," and explained how it was going to place the napkin on thefork.When asked to do the same task with inner speech disabled, Pepper knew this contradicted etiquette rules, so it didnt perform the task or explain why.With the potential for robots to become more common in the future, this type of programming could help the public understand their abilities and limitations, says Sarah Sebo at the University of Chicago. "It maintains peoples trust and enables cooperation and interactions between humans and robots," she says. However, this experiment only used a single human participant, says Sebo. "Its unclear how their approach would compare across a wide range of human participants," she says.1. Why does the author mention how people make decisions in the first paragraph?A. To introduce the topic. B. To make comparisons.C. To provide an example. D. To support his argument.2. How did Pepper react to the contradictory instruction with its inner speech enabled?A. It failed to complete the task. B. It followed the etiquette rules.C. It made a random decision. D. It communicated with theresearchers.3. What did Sarah Sebo think of the research?A. It was creative but worthless.B. It was a good try but the result was a failure.C. It was inspiring but needed further evidence.D. It was carefully designed but poorly performed.4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?A. Robot Taught To Be PoliteB. Robot Can Explain Its DecisionC. Robot Making Decisions: No Longer A DreamD. Robot-Human Communication: No Longer A Problem(D)Researchers have found that most shy children,even the most painfully shy of them,are not shy adults.The process from shy to outgoing does not require treatment,behavior modification(矫正) or any extraordinary measures. It just happens.Most shy kids grow out of their shyness by their young adult years,and even those who do not get rid of it manage to cope with it reasonably well. They learn how to hide it,mostly because they realize that shyness puts them at a disadvantage in certain situations.I myself am a living example to the transformation.I was socially awkward until I went to college where I tried out for the role of a lead singer in a rock band and suddenly found myself on stage with four musicians behind me and hundreds of people in front of me. My social awkwardness didnt go away until I was forced to make a choice between shyness or being a campus rock star. Thats a no-brainer for an 18-year-old. I had to cure myself of my lifelong shyness, and I did.But this article is not really about childhood shyness. Its about the distinction between a childs personality and behavior. Personality is just like a surface upon which an artist begins a painting. If the artist doesnt like the way his painting is progressing, he can paint over what hes done, but the surface remains as it was at the beginning-a constant (恒量)。Though personality (the surface) doesnt change, behavior (what one puts on top of the surface) can be changed. So, returning to my personal example, I forced myself to overcome shyness, but my closest friends dont even know that Im still the same shy person. My behavior has changed, however. Who changed it? Me!Likewise, as research has found, a child comes into the world with a fairly set personality. He is born more or less to be shy or outgoing. His behavior, however, can change.1. Why can most shy kids grow out of shyness?bapg3iaHA.They get medical treatment.B.They are taught how to hide it.C. They consider shyness to be awkward.D. They are aware of its unfavorable effects.2. What does the underlined phrase “a no-brainer” in Paragraph 3 mean?A.A careless choice. B.An easy decision.C.A stupid person. D.A shy teenager.3. In Paragraph 4, the author presents his viewpoint by A. describing a mathematical constantB.sharing his own personal experienceC.comparing the transformation to paintingD. giving the definitions of personality and behavior4. What does the author mainly want,to tell us in this article?A. A child is born with a fairly set personality.B. Friends play a key role in overcoming shynessC. A childs personality and behavior are different.D. Kids can overcome shyness by changing behavior.(E)Plant cloning has been an agricultural technique used by farmers and gardeners for centuries. Grafting (嫁接) is a common form of plant cloning. Many plants in nature actually clone themselves and reproduce asexually (无性生殖地).Cloned plants are much more predictable than normal plants, so their yield (产量) is more reliable. Cloned plants also reproduce faster, limiting the amount of time between planting and harvesting. It is also often cheaper to produce seeds through cloning than through traditional methods. Plants can essentially be optimized so that farmers or individual growers always have the best seeds available. With higher yield at a faster rate, farms can produce more food for more people while decreasing overall costs.Cloning can be used to wipe out diseases that previously killed off entire fields of crops. This would make plants immune to the kinds of diseases that farmers and gardeners around the world fear each year. Crop failures due to disease and virus could become a thing of the past. Also, plants that are near extinction can be brought back to life through cloning.Through cloning scientists can develop super fruits and vegetables of superior (更好的) nutritional quality. This could make for a healthier population overall. This has already been done through selective pollination (授粉), and genetic cloning could take it to the next level.By plant cloning we have a population of identical plants and all these plants equally suffer from the same diseases, but in nature the weak would die and the strong would survive. While there are some dangers to consider with plant cloning, there are plenty of benefits that could prove vital to the propagation (繁衍) of the human species.1. The underlined word "optimized" in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to " ".A. grown B. produced C. perfected D. examined2. According to the text, cloned plants .A. have lower yield than normal plants B. need less care from peopleC. prevent various kinds of diseases D. have a shorter growth cycle3. What can we infer from the text?A. The fruits produced by cloned plants taste much better.B. There are more cloned plants than normal plants now.C. Plant cloning can disturb the laws of nature.D. People should avoid eating cloned fruits.4. What is the main purpose of the text?A. To warn the negative effects of plant cloning.B. To show different kinds of plant cloning.C. To predict the future of plant cloning.D. To introduce the advantages of plant cloning.(F)We may think were 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. Thats 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 h