题文
400-year-old plants from the Little Ice Age were brought back to life, which could help us understand how the Earth will deal with climate change.Moss(藓类植物) found buried beneath the Teardrop glacier(冰川) on Ellesmere Island in Canada has been brought back to life. Findings suggest that these plants could help repopulate regions exposed by melting ice caps. Plants that were buried beneath thick ice in Canada more than 400 years ago and were thought to have frozen to death have been brought back to life by Canadian scientists.
Samples of the moss plant, covered by the glacier during the Little Ice Age of 1550 to 1850 AD, were replanted in a lab at the University of Alberta and grew new stems(茎). Researchers now think these findings can give indication as to how regions can recover as the ice covering them melts.
Biologist Dr. Catherine La Farge and her team at the University of Alberta were exploring the region around the Teardrop glacier on Ellesmere Island. Ice on Ellesmere Island region has been melting at around four meters each year for the past nine years. This means that many areas of land that were previously covered by ice have since been exposed. Many ecosystems that were thought to have been destroyed during the Little Ice Age between 1550 and 1850 AD can now be studied, including many species that have never been studied before.
While examining an exposed area of land, La Farge and her team discovered a small area of moss called Aulacomnium turgidum. It is a type of bryophyte(苔藓类植物) plant that mainly grows across Canada, the US and the Highlands of Scotland.
Dr La Farge noticed that the moss had small patches of green stems, suggesting it is either growing again or can be encouraged to repopulate. Dr La Farge told the BBC, “When we looked at the samples in detail and brought them to the lab, I could see some of the stems actually had new growth of green branches, suggesting that these plants are growing again, and that blew my mind. When we think of thick areas of ice covering the landscape, we’ve always thought that plants have to come from refugia(濒绝生物保护区), never considering that land plants come from underneath a glacier. It’s a whole world of what’s coming out from underneath the glacier that really needs to be studied. The ice is disappearing pretty fast. We really have not examined all the biological systems that exist in the world; we don’t know it all.”
Dr La Farge took samples of the moss and, using carbon-dating techniques, discovered that the plants date back to the Little Ice Age. Dr La Farge’s team took the samples, planted them in dishes full of nutrient-rich potting soil and fed them with water.
The samples were from four separate species including Aulacomnium turgidum, Distichium capillaceum, Encalypta procera and Syntrichia ruralis. The moss plants found by Dr La Farge are types of bryophytes. Bryophytes can survive long winters and regrow when the weather gets warmer.
However, Dr La Farge was surprised that the plants buried under ice have survived into the twenty-first century. Her findings appear in proceedings(论文集)of the National Academy of Sciences.
小题1:Dr La Farge’s research is of great importance to ________.A.knowing what the plants during the Little Ice Age were likeB.understanding how ecosystems recover from glaciers.C.regrowing many species that have been destroyed before.D.figuring out the effects of melting ice caps on moss.小题2:The underlined part “blew my mind” in Paragraph 6 can best be replaced by “________”.A.surprised meB.greatly frightened me C.put my doubt out of my mindD.was exactly what I had in my mind小题3:According to the passage, Aulacomnium turgidum ________.A.lives better in small groupsB.is very active in hot weatherC.is strong enough to survive coldness D.is chosen from Canadian refugia小题4:Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?A.Bryophyte ecology is greatly affected by climate change.B.400-year-old moss’s survival is a mystery to solve.C.Moss in ancient times was discovered in Canada.D.400-year-old plants were brought back to life. 题型:未知 难度:其他题型
答案
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:D
解析
文章介绍了生物学家凯瑟琳La Farge博士和她的团队发现400年前冰封在冰川里的苔藓类植物,在带回实验室后放置在营养丰富的土壤中,浇水之后又再次生长。研究表明即使冰封四百年的植物在适宜条件下还会复活。
小题1:推理题:根据第二段中“Findings suggest that these plants could help repopulate regions exposed by melting ice caps. ”研究表明这些植物可以重新覆盖冰帽融化地区。由此可知当地的生态系统可从冰川中恢复过来。故选B。
小题2:推理题:根据第六段中“I could see some of the stems actually had new growth of green branches, suggesting that these plants are growing again, and that blew my mind.”我可以看到一些绿色的茎有新的增长,表明这些植物可以再次增长,这出乎我的意料。划线部分意思是“出乎意料”,只有A选项符合语意。故选A。
小题3:细节题:根据第八段中“Bryophytes can survive long winters and regrow when the weather gets warmer.”苔藓植物可以在漫长的冬季存活和当天气变暖时再生。 Aulacomnium turgidum是苔藓类植物中一种,因此也可在寒冷中存活。故选C。
小题4:推理题:根据文章内容可知冰封400年的植物也可以在适合温度中再次复活。故选D。
考点
据考高分专家说,试题“400-year-old plants .....”主要考查你对 [科教类阅读 ]考点的理解。科教类阅读
科教类阅读的概念:
科教类阅读主要考查考生对书面语篇的整体领悟能力和接受及处理具体信息的能力。试题的取材,密切联系当前我国和世界经济、科技等方面的变化,有关数据的来源真实可信。
科教类文章阅读技巧:
一、材料特点:
这类文章的总体特点是:科技词汇多,句子结构复杂,理论性强,逻辑严谨。具体说来它有以下几个特点:
1、文章中词汇的意义比较单一、稳定、简明,不带感情色彩,具有单一性和准确性的特点。这类文章通常不会出现文学英语中采用的排比、比喻、夸张等修辞手法,一词多义的现象也不多见。
2、句子结构较复杂,语法分析较困难。为了描述一个客观事物,严密地表达自己的思想,作者经常会使用集多种语法现象于一体的长句。
3、常使用被动语态,尤其是一些惯用被动句式。
二、命题特点:
科普类阅读的主要命题形式有事实细节题、词义猜测题、推理判断题以及主旨概括题等,其中推理判断题居多。
三、应对策略:
1、要想做好科普英语阅读理解题,同学们就要注意平时多读科普知识类文章,学习科普知识,积累常见的科普词汇,从根本上提高科普英语的阅读能力。
2、要熟悉科普类文章的结构特点。科普类文章一般由标题(Head line),导语(Introduction),背景(Back ground),主体(Main body)和结尾(End)五部分构成。标题是文章中心思想高度而又精辟的概括,但根据历年的高考情况来看,这类阅读理解材料一般不给标题,而要同学们选择标题。导语一般位于整篇文章的首段。背景交待一个事实的起因。主体则对导语概括的事实进行详细叙述,这一部分命题往往最多,因此,阅读时,同学们要把这部分作为重点。结尾往往也是中心思想的概括,并与导语相呼应,命题者常在此要设计一道推理判断题。
3、在进行推理判断时,同学们一定要以阅读材料所提供的科学事实为依据,同时所得出的结论还应符合基本的科普常识。
科普类阅读应试策略:
【命题趋势】
阅读理解题主要考查考生对书面语篇的整体领悟能力和接受及处理具体信息的能力。试题的取材,密切联系当前我国和世界经济、科技等方面的变化,有关数据的来源真实可信。因此科普知识类文章是每年的必考题。分析历年的科普类文章我们不难发现以下特点:
1、文章逻辑性强,条理清楚,语法结构简单,用语通俗。
2、文章内容注重科技领域的新发现。内容新颖,从而使文章显得陌生,内容抽象复杂。
3、命题方面注意对具体细节的准确理解和以之为依据的推理判断。
4、以人们的日常行为或饮食健康入手,探讨利弊,诠释过程,阐述概念。
【应试对策】
许多考生在考试时感到困惑的是:为什么一些没有超越中学语法和词汇范围的篇章,读起来却不能正确理解,或者要花费很多时间才能读懂呢?这种现象的产生与阅读方法有很大的关系。例如,有的考生在考试时一见到文章就立刻开始读,结果读了半天,还不知道短文讲的是什么,试题要求了些什么,结果浪费了大量的时间,而阅读效果并不好。那么,怎样读效果才好呢?任何一种阅读方法或技巧的使用,都是由篇章特点和试题本身的要求决定的,应根据不同的体裁和试题要求采取不同的策略。
1、浏览。浏览的主要目的就是确定文章的体裁。如果文章属于人物传记、记叙文、故事、科普小品和有关社会文化、文史知识的文章,一般来说,应该先看看文章的试题考查内容,对题目类型做到心中有数,针对不同问题,在通读时有粗有细地去阅读,这样不仅能把握篇章的基本结构和逻辑线索,也能做好有关具体事实信息考查的试题。
2、挖掘寓意,掌握中心思想,推出结论。任何文章,作者在行文时都有一定的写作目的和主要话题。在通读篇章时应该吃透作者的写作意图,抓住文章的主题句,充分发挥自己的想象力和概括力,作出对中心思想的归纳和结论的推断。
3、把握篇章结构,利用上下文进行推测。高考中的阅读理解篇章往往是一个较完整的短文,其结构、思想,前后上下连贯统一。考试时应充分利用这一特点推测一些生词、短语在句中的含义,切莫盲目孤立猜测。
4、综观全篇,前后呼应。这是阅读理解的最后一步,在做完阅读理解题后,要立足于文章整体,再迅速读一遍短文,短文中的问题和答案的设置前后都是相关联的,有着一定的连续性,体现着文章的基本脉络。



