高二英语练习题21 (1)

语篇提能阅读理解AWhen a Swedish ship that sank in 1628 was recovered from the port of Stockholm, historians and scientists were overjoyed with the chance to examine the remains of the past. The ship construction showed how ships were built and operated during the seventeenth century. In this way, artifacts, objects made by human beings, provided a picture of daily life almost 400 years ago.Underwater archaeology —the study of ships, aircraft and human settlements that have sunk under large bodies of water is really a product of the last 50 years. The rapid growth of this new area of study has occurred because of the invention of better diving equipment. Besides the Swedish ship wreck (残骸), underwater archaeologists have made more exciting discoveries such as the 5 000-year-old boats in the Mediterranean Sea.Underwater archaeology can provide facts about the past. In ancient ports all over the world are ships sunken in the past 6 000 years. There are also sunken settlements in seas and lakes telling of people's way of life and their systems of trade in ancient times. Underwater archaeologists want to study these objects to add to the world's knowledge of history, but they have to fight two enemies. One enemy is treasure hunters who dive for ancient artifacts that they can sell to collectors. Once sold, these objects are lost to experts. The second enemy is dredging machines (挖掘机) often used to repair ports. These machines destroy wrecks and artifacts or bury them deeper under sand and mud. By teaching the public about the importance of underwater “museums” of the past, archaeologists are hoping to get support from laws to protect underwater treasures.语篇解读本文主要介绍水下考古学有关历史、意义和面临的困难等等。

1．What purpose does Paragraph 1 serve in the passage?A. To provide background information of the topic.B. To attract readers' attention to the topic.C. To use an example to support the topic.D. To offer basic knowledge of the topic.答案与解析C推理判断题。

根据第一段最后一句“In this way, artifacts, objects made by human beings, provided a picture of daily life almost 400 years ago.”和第二段的第一句“Underwater archaeology — the study of ships, aircraft and human settlements that have sunk under large bodies of water is really a product of the last 50 years.”可知答案。

2．The aim of underwater archaeology is to ________.A. exploit water bodiesB. search for underwater lifeC. study underwater artifactsD. examine underwater environment答案与解析C细节理解题。

从最后一段的第四句“Underwater archaeologists want to study these objects to add to the world's knowledge of history”可知答案。

3．Underwater archaeologists are worried because ________.A. sea hunters have better diving equipmentB. their knowledge of world history is limitedC. dredging machines cause damage to the portsD. sold artifacts can hardly be regained for research答案与解析D细节理解题。

根据最后一段的“Once sold, theseobjects are lost to experts.”可知答案。

4．What is the main purpose of the passage?A. To introduce a young branch of learning.B. To discuss the scientists' problems.C. To explain people's way of life in the past.D. To describe the sunken ships.答案与解析A主旨大意题。

从第二段第一句话“Underwater archaeology — the study of ships, aircraft and human settlements that have sunk under large bodies of water is really a product of the last 50 years.”可知全文主要介绍水下考古研究。

BThe discovery of a dwarfed (矮个的) “human being” who lived in Flores, Indonesia (印度尼西亚), up to 18 000 years ago is changing the way we think about the human family. This “Flores Human” was three feet t all and her brain was smaller than that of the average chimp (黑猩猩), yet she and her relatives apparently lived fully human lives. They seemed to have made tools, worked together to find food and cook it，and perhaps even buried the dead with ceremony.It was a big surprise to find tools associated with the new human family member. The tools are like those formerly seen only with European fossils (化石) from our own species, Homo sapiens (智人), and the oldest of them were made 94 000 years ago. Homo sapiens is thought to have arrived in the island about 40 000 years ago, much too late to be responsible for the tools. If this_tiny_human made the tools, then the inside structure (结构) of its brain must have been more like our own than a chimp's, despite being just a third the size of ours.This “new human” was suspected to be a dwarfed branch of Homo erectus (直立人). When creatures are separated in regions with rare resources but few enemies，being big is a disadvantage, and evolution tends to shrink them, a process known as island dwarfing. Could natural selection make a human smaller while keeping — even improving — mental ability? Quite possibly, believes Christopher Wills of the University of California.5．What did the dwarfed “human beings” look like?A. They were not small.B. They were very tall.C. They were 30 inches tall.D. They were 36 inches tall.答案与解析D细节理解题。