From the moment that an animal is born it has...

From the moment that an animal is born it has to make decisions. It has to decide which of the things around it are for eating, and which are to be avoided; when to attack and when to run away. The animal is, in fact, playing a complicated and potentially dangerous game with its environment, discomfort or destruction.

This is a difficult and unpleasant business and few animals would survive if they had to start from the beginning and learn about the world wholly by trial and error, for there are too many possible decisions which would prove fatal. So we find, in practice, that the game is always arranged in favor of the young animal in one way or another. Either the animal is protected during the early stages of its learning about the world around it, or the knowledge of which way to respond is built into its nervous system from the start.

The fact that animals behave sensibly can be attributed partly to what we might call genetic learning, to distinguish it from individual learning that an animal does in the cause of its own life time. Genetic learning is learning by a species as a whole, and it is achieved by selection of those members of each generation that happen to behave in the right way. However, genetic learning depends upon a prediction that the future will more or less exactly resemble the past. The more variable individual experience is likely to be, the less efficient is genetic learning as a means of getting over the problems of the survival game. It is not surprising to find that very few species indeed depend wholly upon genetic learning. In the great majority of animals, behavior is a compound of individual experience added to the action patterns animals are born with．That is why animals can survive．

1.The survival game is considered complicated and potentially very dangerous because ________.

A. decisions made by animals may prove fatal

B. animals are often in danger of being attacked

C. animals make decisions entirely by trial

D. environment is not fit for animals to survive

2.Most animals survive because they can make right decisions by ________.

A. a series of trials and errors

B. knowledge obtained in their life time

C. the nervous system

D. genetic learning and individual experience

3.Concerning the relationship between genetic learning and individual experience, which of the following is right?

A. They develop side by side.

B. They are contradictory, but individual experience is the dominant.

C. Genetic learning is likely to function more if the environments don’t vary much.

D. Genetic learning is more efficient than individual experience.

4.“Genetic learning” refers to ________.

A. learning after an animal is born

B. learning obtained by some members of each generation who happen to behave properly

C. learning gained by all the members in a species

D. learning gained by young animals from their experience

5.What cannot be inferred from the article?

A. The majority of animals depend thoroughly upon genetic learning.

B. Animal behave in particular ways as a result of both individual experience and genetic learning.

C. If animal depended wholly upon individual experience, its chance of survival would be little.

D. Genetic learning depends on the assumption of resemblance between the future and the past.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it can run away or fight back. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But plants can defend themselves by using both physical and chemical means.

Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines(刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.

Some plants , such as the oak trees, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal’s teeth.

Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar(毛虫)bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.

Many plants depends on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China , for instance, has prickly(多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom(毒液). A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.

1.The holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals ________.

2.To defend themselves , oak trees use ________.

3. How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Animals can move from place to place, but plants cannot. When an animal is under attack, it can run away or fight back. Plants certainly cannot run away, and they lack teeth and claws. But plants can defend themselves by using both physical and chemical means.

Some plants have their own ways to keep animals away. For example, the leaves of the holly plant have sharp spines (刺) that discourage grass-eating animals. Holly leaves on lower branches have more spines than leaves on upper branches. This is because the lower leaves are easier for most animals to reach.

Some plants, such as the oak tree, have thick and hard leaves that are difficult for animals to eat. Some grasses may contain a sandy material; eating such grasses wears down the animal’s teeth.

Many plants also have chemical defenses. Some plants produce chemicals that taste bitter or cause an unpleasant reaction. Some plants may fight against an attack by increasing the production of these chemicals. When a caterpillar (毛虫) bites a tobacco leaf, the leaf produces a chemical messenger. This messenger sends to the roots the information to produce more nicotine. The higher levels of nicotine discourage the caterpillar.

Many plants depend on both physical and chemical defenses. A certain plant in China, for instance, has prickly (多刺的) leaves, and each prickle contains poisonous venom (毒液). A single experience with this kind of plant will teach an animal to stay away from it in the future.

1.The holly plant has more spines on the lower leaves because most animals________.

A．are not tall enough             B．like the lower leaves only

C．are not clever enough           D．can get the lower leaves easily

2.To defend themselves, oak trees use________.

A．chemical means B．physical means

C．bitter chemicals                 D．sandy materials

3.How does tobacco protect itself against an attack from a caterpillar?

A．Its leaves fight against the attack by physical means.

B．Its roots send a messenger to discourage the caterpillar.

C．Its roots increase the production of nicotine when it is attacked.

D．Its leaves produce poisonous sand to drive the caterpillar away.

4.What would be the best title for this passage?

A．Plants and Animals           B．How Plants Defend Themselves

C．Attacks and Defenses       D．How Animals Eat Plant Leaves

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

An entire industry has been built upon the assumption that image is everything, but when it comes to it, an appealing image is not enough．If there is no substance（事实）behind the image, the product, service or person will fail eventually．

First of all, one should consider how important image is in the selling of products and services．Advertising agencies have raised the art of creating an image to a state of near perfection．Public concept of that product or service is certainly managed by the images created by the advertising agencies．But if the product or service does not live up to the image that was created, the customer will be very dissatisfied and possibly ask for their money back．For example, the Arthur Andersen accounting firm had spent decades building up an image of trustworthiness．But the recent scandal（丑闻）showed that behind that image, it cheated in business practices．Despite the previous positive image, the firm is being accused of criminal actions and it will probably not survive as a business unit．Although the image had been nearly perfect, the reality, behind the image has led to the downfall of the word-famous accounting firm．

Similarly, personal advisers can build up a public image for politicians and movie stars．Putting out positive news releases, making sure that only the best photographs are published, and ensuring that the person is seen in all the right places can build up a very positive image in the view of the general commons．But once again, history is filled with examples of both politicians and movie stars that fell from grace like the story of the Hollywood actor giving in to the pressures of fame and fortune．With people, just as with products and services, image is certainly important, but without positive substance behind the image, failure is close．

To summarize, it is clear that an appealing image is extremely important to success, whether that image is related to selling a product or service or to the “selling” of a person．But image is only half of the equation（等式）．What lies behind that image is every bit as important as the image itself—the person or product must deliver truth on that image or there is little chance for long-term success．

1.The down fall of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm is due to ________．

A．its previous images．　　　　　　 B．its dishonesty in business．

C．its bad management．　　　　　　 D．its poor service．

2.Why did some famous people fall from grace?

A．They failed to live up to their images．

B．Their images were not well built up．

C．They felt much pressure from the public．

D．They paid little attention to fame and fortune．

3.The structure of the passage is _________．

A：Argument　　 P：Point　　　　 C．Conclusion

4.The author tries to argue that ________．

A．image creates everything．

B．image is the key to success．

C．truth is unlikely ever to be equaled．

D．truth and image are equally important．

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The desire to make explorations is born with man. Wherever his imagination goes, man also has a strong wish to go. A large part human history is connected with the exploration of the world in which we live. Again and again people have set out with surprising courage and patience to look into unknown regions and lands to see what had not yet been seen, to make known the unknown. With kites, balloons and aircraft they left the ground to pass through the lower atmosphere. Now the outer space receives their attention.

Why should man take the trouble of conquering space? It is hard to list the specific practical benefits that will result in. But one knows, from past experience in other areas, that man will surely see and discover new things in space that will increase our scientific knowledge, and this new knowledge will find its way into valuable practical uses. What we learn about man himself, from his experience in space, and from the effects of space and the space flight environment on him, will be extremely valuable. The new techniques developed to carry out the exploration of space, and to keep man alive in space, will certainly find practical uses in everyday life in some way. The areas that will benefit are manifold. They include communication, generation of power, transportation and travel, food production, materials, fuels and many others. But to say definitely just what the practical results will be is almost impossible.

1.

The main idea of the first paragraph is that __________.

A. man desires to explore what is unknown

B. man often goes wherever his dreams go

C. man is no longer interested in the study of the land and sea now

D. man’s history is the exploration of the world

2.

The word “manifold” in the second paragraph probably means __________.

A. vast              B. various          C. valuable         D. practical

3.

The author seems to be in favor of__________.

A. doubting the necessity of the space exploration

B. the exploration of space

C. exploring more in space than in the sea

D. his experience in space

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

It is in their ability to speak ______ humans ______ from animals.

A. which; differ     B. that; different      C. which; different       D. that; differ

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

It is in their ability to speak ______ humans ______ from animals.

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

It hasn’t been ______ that food from cloned animals is really safe for humans to eat.

A. confirmed　　　　　　 B. considered

C. turned out　　　　　 D. proved

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

ABORIGINAL is a term used to describe the people and animals that lived in a place from the earliest known times or before Europeans arrived. Examples are the Maori in New Zealand, the Aborigines in Australia and the Indians in America. They all share the fact that they were pushed off their land by European settlers.

Maori

The Maori were the first people to go to New Zealand, about 1,000 years ago. They came from the islands of Polynesia in the Pacific. They brought dogs, rats and plants with them and settled mainly on the Northern Island. In 1769, Captain James Cook from Britain took possession of the Island and from that time British people started to settle. The Maori signed an agreement on land rights with these settlers, but in later years there were arguments and battles between them.

Aborigines

The native people of Australia came from somewhere in Asia more than 40,000 years ago. They lived by hunting and gathering. Their contact with British settlers began in 1788. By the 1940s almost all of them were mixed into Australian society as low-paid workers. Their rights were limited. In 1976 and 1993 the Australian Government passed laws that returned some land to the Aborigines and recognized their property rights.

American Indians

Long before the Europeans came to America in the 16th and 17th century, the American Indians, or Native Americans, lived there. It is believed that they came from Asia. Christopher Columbus mistook the land for India and so called the people there Indians. The white settlers and American Indians lived in peace at the beginning, but conflicts finally arose and led to the Indian Wars (1866-1890). After the wars, the Indians were driven to the west of the country. Not until 1924 did they gain the right to vote.

1.The similarity among Maoris, Aborigines and American Indians is that _________.

A．they lost their vote right after European settlers’ arrival

B．they lost their land after European settlers’ arrival

C．they were driven out of their country after European settlers’ arrival

D．they were not treated as citizens until recently

2.Before European settlers arrived, we can infer that the Aboriginals had lived _________ life.

A．a miserable        B．a bitter           C．a peaceful         D．a troublesome

3.Which of the following was first interrupted by the Europeans?

A．Maoris.           B．Aborigines.        C．American Indians.   D．Not mentioned.

4.The passage mainly tells us _______.

A．the war between aboriginal people and white settlers

B．the history of Maoris, Aborigines and American Indians

C．the present unfair treatment to aboriginal people of the world

D．European settlers were the enemy of all aboriginal people

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

From what she has done we can predict that she is ______enough to make up her own decision and behave in a proper way.

A. positive        　　 B. severe                C. mature            D. admirable

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析