雅思閱讀練習(xí)test1

1、ACADEM I|C READiiNGREADING PASSAGE 1You should spe nd about 20 minu tes on questi ons 1-13, which are basedon Read ing Passage 1 below.The people of ancientEgypt emergedWesterncivilisati ons.Sustai nedby the River Nile andprotectedby vast deserts, theEgyptia nslived incomparative security, prosperit

2、y and peace far thousa nds ofas one of the firstyears. When such conditionseGist, the civilisationand its arts usuallyflourish. To this day, many of the Egyptian artistic creations display the wealth, sple ndour and tale nt of this great civilisati on.Ancient Egypt has been called a land of temples

3、and tombs, and for centuries people have been filled with wonder at the ingenuity of the Egyptia ns, whose impressive works have withstood the ravages of time so well. Had it not been for the Iong-lasting nature of their monuments and carved in scripti ons in the form of hieroglyphics, much evide ne

4、e of their activities would have vani shed from ail historical records. In about 3000 BC, Upper and Lower Egypt were un ited un der the first pharaoh, and gen erally from that time un til the in vasi on by AleGa nder the Great in332 BC, Egypt prospered as a nation of skilful craftsmen and artists.Th

5、e Egyptians were an industrious, highly civilised and deeply religiouspeople, who obedientlyaccepted the supreme authority of their pharaohs. The people were content to serve and work for the state in return for a secure livelihood. They considered this earthly life to be a segment in a great cycle,

6、 at the end of which everything would be returned to its orig inal form. The richer and more importa nt the pers on, the more careful and elaborate would be his or her burial, and the stron ger and safer the tomb in which they would be buried.The burial of the dead in the ground was not con sidered

7、sufficie ntly safefor kings,queens andcourtofficials,so sunken, sealed tombswereingenio usly con structed toprotectpers onal treasures, food andin structi ons for the safe con duct of the soul after death. The desig n of these tombs developed into the stepped pyramid, and fin ally in to the square p

8、yramid that we know today.There are about 80 ancient pyramids in Egypt. The Great Pyramid at Gizeh, which King Cheops built as his tomb 5000 years ago, holds most in terest. It sta nds with two other pyramids on a slight rise overlook ing the River Nile. At the centre of the pyramid is the Kin gs Ch

9、amber and leading down from there is a long narrow area known as the Grand Gallery. The pyramid covers 13 acres and contains 2,300,000 blocks of limest one, each weighi ng an average of 1.5 ton s. Its pyramidal form has a perfectly square base with sides of 756 feet and a height of 481 feet. Situate

10、d directly below the Kin gs Chamber is the Quee ns Chamber and there are two air channels leading upwards from the centre of the pyramid to the outside.Origi nally the eGterior was covered in highly polished limest one slabs, all of which have bee n stole n over the years. It is estimated that a tot

11、al of 100,000 men laboured for 20 years to build this giga ntic structure, and although architecturallyunimportantin design,it has aroused thecuriosity of millions of people because of the uncanny accuracy of its measureme nts and proporti on s. It reveals the remarkable ingenuity and the great orga

12、 nising ability of the an cie nt Egyptia ns.Near these pyramids sta nds the Great SphinG, the orig in and purpose of which con stitute one of the worlds most famous puzzles. Shaped from an outcropof stone in the form of a human-headedlion, the face ispossibly a portrait of King Khafra, the son of Ch

13、eops, who was buried in the second largest pyramid. The SphinG is one of the biggest statues ever made.The Egyptia n people showed revere nee towards n atural objects such as the lotus flower, the scarab beetle, the falc on, the lion, the sun and the River Nile. AII these subjects and many more were

14、 used symbolically and conven ti on ally as motifs in low-relief carv ing and pain ti ng. It was the custom of the Egyptia ns to depict the various parts of the huma n figure, usually in the most characteristicpositions. The head was shown inprofile eGcept for the eye, which was represented from the

15、 front, theshoulders and a porti on of the arms wert portrayed from the front, while the hips and legs were side views. Wall decorati on showed little or no attempt to indicate depth or perspective, eGcept by placing distant objects above near things.It was essentiallytwo-dimensional,andrelative siz

16、e in dicated the status of the pers on, so the pharaoh was the largest figure in the compositi on.Egyptian art is characterised by a passion for permanence, a desire to impress by size, and a determ in ati on to make each item serve its fun cti on without much regard for the whole. It is obvious tha

17、t art among these people reached a very high level and the strong in flue neeofEgyptia n art can be see n in the work of n earby civilisatio ns.The fortunatediscovery and subsequent deciphering in 1822 of theRosetta Stone, which showed the same laws in scribed both in Egyptia n hieroglyphics and the

18、 Egyptian demotic, or popular version of their Ian guage, as well as the Greek Ian guage, eve ntually gave the key to the meaning of Egyptia n in scriptio ns, and therefore the sig ni fica nee of much Egyptia n art.Questio ns 1-3Complete the senten ces below.Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the

19、passage for each an swer.Write your an swers in boGes 1-3 on your an swer sheet.1 Security and peace are twothatare n ecessary for acivilisati on to be successful.2 Ancient Egyptia ns worked as both3 Ordinary Egyptia ns eGpected to receivefor their hard work.Questio ns 4-7Label the diagram below.J .

20、亠from theChoose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR NUMBERSpassage for each an swer.KingsChamber4 .亍EntryWrite your an swersin boGes 4-7 on your a nswer sheet.Questio ns 8-12Do the following statements agree with the information given in theRead ing Passage 1.In boGes 8-12 on your an swer sheet, writeTR

21、UEif the statement agrees with the informationFALSEif the stateme nt con tradicts the in formatio nNOT GIVENif there is no information on this8 The surface of the Great Pyramid is covered in polished limest one slabs.9 King Khafra died before King Cheops.10 Egyptia n carv ings were ofte n based on t

22、hi ngs found in n ature.11 Importa nt characters in Egyptia n carv ings were bigger tha n less importa nt characters.12 Egyptia n art was greatly in flue need by the art of n eighbouri ng cultures.Question 13Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.Write the correct letter in boG 13 on your answer she

23、et.The writers aim in this passage is toA describe the con truct ion methods of the pyramids.B eGplain the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.C offer an interpretation of Egyptian art and sculptureD provide an overview of early Egyptia n society.READING PASSAGE 2You should spend about 20 minutes on qu

24、estions 14-26, which are basedon Read ing Passage 2 below.Stick ing powerWant to walk on the ceiling?All it takes is a bit of fancy footworkA If Keilar Autumn, an eGpert in Biomechanik at Clark College in Portland, Oreg on, has his way, the first footpri nts on Mars wont be huma n. Theyll bel ong to

25、 a gecko. Gecko toes have lege ndary stick ing power -and the Clark College scie ntist would like to see the n eGt gen erati on ofMartia n robots walki ng about on gecko-style feet. A gecko can whizup the smoothest wall and hang from the ceili ng by one foot, with nofear of falli ng.B Autu mn is one

26、 of a long line of researchers who have puzzled over thegeckos gravity-defy ing footwork. Earlier this year, he and hiscolleagues discovered that the geckos toes dont just stick, they bondto the surface ben eath them. Engin eers are already tryi ng to copy thegeckos tech nique - but reptilia n feet

27、are not the only ones they arein terested in.C Some of the most persiste nt ha nging creatures are in sects. They candefy not just gravity, but gusts of wind, rain drops and a predatorsattempt to prize them loose. Rece nt discoveries about how theyachieve this could lead to the developme nt of quick

28、-release adhesivesand mini ature grippers, ideal for man ipulat ing microscopiccomp onents or holdi ng tiny bits of tissue together duri ng surgery.There are lots of ways to make two surfaces stick together, but thereare very few which provide precise and reversible attachme nt, saysStas Gorb, a bio

29、logi st in T u bingen, Germany, working on the problem.D Geckos and in sects have both perfected ways of doing this, andengin eers and scie ntists would dearly love to know how. Frict ioncerta inly plays a part in assist ing horiz on tal moveme nt, but whe n theani mal is running up a slope, climbi

30、ng vertically or travelli ng upsidedow n, it n eeds a more powerful adhesive. Just what that adhesive is has bee n hotly debated for years. Some people suggested that in sects had micro-suckers. Some reck oned they relied on electrostatic forces. Others thought that in termolecular forces betwee n p

31、ad and leaf might provide a firm foothold.E Most of the evide nee suggests that in sects rely on wet adhesi on, hanging on with the help of a thi n film of fluid on the bottom of the pad. In sects ofte n leave tiny trails of oily footpri nts. Some clearly secrete a fluid on to the soles of their fee

32、t. And they tend to lose their footi ng whe n they have their feet clea ned or dried.F This year, Walter Federle, an en tomologist at the Un iversity ofWu rzburg, showed e Gperime ntally that an in sects stick ing power depe nds on a thin film of liquid un der its feet. He placed an ant on a polishe

33、d tur ntable in side the rotor of a cen trifuge, and switched it on. At slow speeds, the ant carried on walk ing un perturbed. But as the scie ntist slowly in creased the speed, the pulli ng forces grew stron ger and the ant stopped dead, legs spread out and all siG feet pla nted firmly on the groun

34、d. At higher speeds still, the an ts feet bega n to slide. This can only be eGpla ined by the prese nee of a liquid, says Federle. If the ant relied on some form of dry adhesi on, its feet would pop abruptly off the surface once the pull got too stro ng.G But the liquid isnt the whole story. What en

35、gin eers really find eGcit ing about in sect feet is the way they make almost perfect con tact with the surface ben eath. Stick ing to a perfectly smooth surface is no big deal, says Gorb. But in n ature, eve n the smoothest-look ing surfaces have microscopic lumps and bumps. For a footpad to make g

36、ood con tact, it must follow the con tours of the Ian dscape ben eath it. Flies, beetles and earwigs have solved the problem with hairy footpads, with hairs that bend like the bristles of a toothbrush to accommodate the troughs below.H Gorb has tested doze ns of species with this sort of pad to see

37、which had the best stick. Flies resist a pull of three or four times their body weight - perfectly adequate for cross ing the ceili ng. But beetles can do better and the champi on is a small, blue beetle with oversized yellow feet, found in the south-easter n parts of the US.I Tom Eis ner, a chemica

38、l ecologist at Corn ell Un iversity in New York, has bee n fasci nated by this beetle for years. Almost 30 years ago, he suggested that the beetle clung an tight to avoid being picked off by predators - ants in particular. Whe n Eisher measured the beetles stick ing power earlier this year, he found

39、 that it can withsta nd pulli ng forces of around 80 times its own weight for about two minu tes and an ast onishing 200 times its own weight for shorter periods. The ants give up because the beetle holds on Ion ger tha n they can be bothered to attack it, he says.J Whatever liquid in sects rely on,

40、 the gecko seems able to man age without it. No one knows quite why the gecko n eeds so much stick ing power. It seems overbuilt for the job, says Autu mn. But whatever the geckos n eeds are, its skills are in dema nd by huma ns. Autu mn and his colleagues in Oreg on have already helped to create a

41、robot that walkslike a gecko. Mecho-Gecko, a robot built by iRobot of Massachusetts, walks like a lizard - rolling its toes down and peeling them up again. At the moment, though, it has to make do with balls of glue to give it stick. The neGt step is to try to reproduce the hairs on a geckos toes an

42、d create a robot with the full set of gecko skills. Then we could build robots with feet that stick without glue, clea n themselves and work just as well un derwater as in the vacuum of space, or crawli ng over the dusty Ian dscape of Mars.Questio ns 14-18Look at the following statements (Questions

43、14-18) and the list ofscie ntists below.Match each statement with the correct scientistA, B, C or D.Write the correct letter A, B, C or D in boGes 14-18 on your answer sheet.List of ScientistsA Kellar AutumnB Stas GorbC Walter FederleD Tom Eisner14 Some in sects use their ability to stick to surface

44、s as a way of defe nding themselves.15 What makes sticky in sect feet special is the fact thatthey can also detach themselves easily from a surface.16 Gecko feet seem to be stickier than they need to be.17 A robot with gecko-style feet would be ideal for eGploring other pla nets.18 Evide nee shows t

45、hat in order to stick, in sect feet have to be wet.Questio ns 19-22Reading Passage 2 has ten paragraphs A-J .Which paragraph contains the followi ng in formati on?Write the correct letter A-J in boGes 19-22 on your answer sheet.19 some of the practical things a gecko-style adhesive could be used for

46、20 a descripti on of a test involving an in sect in moti on21 three differe nt theories scie ntists have had about how in sect feet stick22 eGamples of remarkable gecko moveme ntsQuestio ns 23-26Complete each sentence with the correct endingA-G below.Write the correct Ietter A-G in boGes 23-26 on yo

47、ur answer sheet.23 In sect feet lose their stick ing power whe n they24 If you put ants on a rapidly rotating object, their feet25 Beetles can stick to un eve n surfaces because they26 The toes on robots like Mecho-GeckoA stick to surfaces in and out of waterB curl up and downC are washed and driedD

48、 resist a pull of three times their body weightE start to slip across the surfaceF leave yellow footprintsG have hairy footpadsREADING PASSAGE 3You should spe nd about 20 minu tes on questi ons 27-40, which are based on Read ing Passage 2 below.Questio ns 27-32Choose the correct head ing for paragra

49、phsB- G from the list of head ingsbelow.Write the correct number i-G in boGes 27-32 on your answer sheet.List of Head ingsi Why some early social science methods lost popularityii The cost implications of researchiii Looking ahead to an unbiased assessment of researchiv A range of social issues that

50、 have been usefully studiedvAn eGampie of a poor decision that was made too quicklyEGample ParagwpAhappens when thAnsgweGare wrongvii One area of research that is rigorously carried out2728viiiParagrapGThe changing nature of medical trialsBn investigative study that may lead to a new systemG Why som

51、e scientists theories are considered second-rateParagraphC29 Paragraph D30 Paragraph E31 Paragraph F32 Paragraph GTRY IT AND SEEIn the social scie nces, it is often supposed that there can be no suchthi ng as a con trolled eGperime nt. Think aga in.A In the scientific pecking order, social scientist

52、s are usually looked down on by their peers in the natural sciences. NaturalscientistseGperiments to test their theories or, if they cannot, they try to look fordonaturalphenomenathat can act in lieu of eGperiments. Socialscie ntists, it is widely thought, do not subject their own hypotheses to any

53、such rigorous treatment. Worse, they peddle their untested hypotheses to gover nments and try to get them turned into policies.B Gover nmentsrequire sellers of new medici nes to dem on stratetheirsafety and effective ness. The accepted gold sta ndard of evide nee is a ran domised con trol trial, in

54、which a new drug is compared with the best eGisti ng therapy (or with a placebo, if no treatme nt is available).Patients are assigned to one arm or the other of such a study at ran dom, en suri ng that the only differe nee betwee n the two groups is the new treatme nt. The best studies also en sure

55、that n either patie nt nor physicia n knows which patie nt is allocated to which therapy. Drugtrials must also in clude eno ugh patie nts to make it un likely that cha nee alone may determ ine the result.C But few education programmes or social initiatives are evaluated in carefully con ducted studi

56、es prior to their in troduct ion. A case in point is the whole-la nguage approach to read ing, which swept much of the En glish-speak ing world in the 1970s and 1980s. The whole-la nguage theory holds that childre n lear n to read best by absorb ing con teGtualclues from teGts, not bybreak ingin div

57、idualwordsintotheircomp onentparts andreassembli ngthem (amethodknownaspho ni cs).Unfortun ately,theeducati onaltheoristswhopushedthewhole-la nguage no ti on so successfully did not wait for evide nee from con trolled ran domised trials before adva ncing their claims. Had they done so, they might have con eluded, as did an an alysis of 52 randomised studies carried out by the US National Reading Panel in 20GG, that effective read ing in structi on requires phoni cs.D To avoid the widespread adoptionof misguided ideas, the sensiblething is to eGperimentfirst and ma