高考英语阅读理解专项突破：科普知识与现代科技

科普知识与现代科技

一、阅读理解

1 You can’t always predict a heavy rain or remember your umbrella. But designer Mikhail Belyaev doesn’t think that forgetting to check the weather forecast before heading out should result in you getting wet. That’s why he created Lampbrella, a lamp post with its own rain-sensing umbrella.

The designer says he came up with the idea after watching people get wet on streets in Russia. “Once, I was driving on a central Saint Petersburg street and saw the street lamps lighting up people trying to hide from the rain. I thought it would be appropriate to have a canopy(伞蓬) built into a street lamp,” he said.

The Lampbrella is a standard-looking street lamp fitted with an umbrella canopy. It has a built-in electric motor which can open or close the umbrella on demand Sensors(传感器) then ensure that the umbrella offers pedestrians shelter whenever it starts raining.

In addition to the rain sensor, there’s also a 360° motion sensor on the fiberglass street lamp which detects whether anyone is using the Lampbrella. After three minutes of not being used the canopy is closed.

According to the designer, the Lampbrella would move at a relatively low speed, so as not to cause harm to the pedestrians. Besides, it would be grounded to protect from possible lightning strike. Each Lampbrella would offer enough shelter for several people. Being installed(安装) at 2 metres off the ground, it would only be a danger for the tallest of pedestrians.

While there are no plans to take the Lampbrella into production, Belyaev says he recently introduced his creation to one Moscow Department, and insists his creation could be installed on any street where a lot of people walk but there are no canopies to provide shelter.

1.For what purpose did Belyaev create the Lampbrella?

A.To predict a heavy rain.

B.To check the weather forecast.

C.To protect people from the rain.

D.To remind people to take an umbrella.

2.What do we know from Belyaev's words in Paragraph 2?

A.His creation was inspired by an experience.

B.It rains a lot in the city of Saint Petersburg.

C.Street lamps are protected by canopies.

D.He enjoyed taking walks in the rain.

3.Which of the following shows how the Lampbrella works?

A.motor→canopy→sensors

B.sensors→motor→canopy

C.motor→sensors→can opy

D.canopy→motors→sensors

4.What does Paragraph 5 mainly tell us about the Lampbrella?

A.Its moving speed.

B.Its appearance.

C.Its installation.

D.Its safety.

5.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A.The designer will open a company to promote his product.

B.The Lampbrella could be put into immediate production.

C.The designer is confident that his creation is practical.

D.The Lampbrella would be put on show in Moscow.

2 Scientists around the world have been studying the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean known as El Nino (厄尔尼诺). The appearance of El Nino is known to affect the weather around the world. Scientists still do not completely understand it. Yet they now find they can use it to tell about the future in different areas of the world.

One example is the work of two scientists at Columbia University in New York, Mark Cane and Gordon Eshel. A scientist of Zimbabwe(津巴布韦), Roger Buckland worked with them. They have found that when El Nino appears, Zimbabwe has little or no rain. This means corn crops in Zimbabwe are poor. The last El Nino was in 1991 to 1993. That was when southeastern Africa suffered a serious lack of rain.

The scientists wrote about their recent work in the publication(出版物)Nature. Their computer program can tell when an El Nino will develop up to a year before it does. They suggest that this could provide an effective early warning system for southern Africa, and could prevent many people from starving.

1.El Nino is known as ___.

A.the changing of the weather in southern Africa

B.the warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean

C.the weather which brings drought(旱灾)to Africa

D.the weather phenomenon(现象)that brings heavy rains to Africa

2.Scientists study El Nino in order that ___.

A.they can provide a kind of early warning to the place that will suffer from drought

B.they can tell why Zimbabwe has little or no rain

C.they can do some research work in this field.

D.they can put all this information into their computers.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Scientists come to understand how El Nino appears.

B.Three scientists from the USA work on this subject.

C.Southern Africa suffered a serious drought and many people died from hunger.

D.El Nino has something to do with Zimbabwe’s poor crops.

4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?

A.The computer is used in this research work.

B.Scientists know when an El Nino appears by means of the computer program.

C.The scientists published their results of the research work.

D.Nature is the name of the article written recently by the scientists.

5.What’s the best title for this passage?

A.Appearance of El Nino is Predictable(可预测的)