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Flowers make people happy. And while that might seem obvious, there hasn’t been much research to prove the point until now.
Some new studies by Rutgers University scientists support the idea strongly, and the experts go on to assume that flowers have flourished on this planet, with their beauty evolving in recent thousands of years, partly because humans are so attached to them.
In a test, bunches of flowers were sent by florists to 113 men and women in a retirement community. All 113 got flowers and a notebook, but some got them earlier and received a second bunch when the others got theirs. By now you can guess the outcome. The more flowers, the more smiles.
The results of the studies got the scientists to thinking about how the flower industry of today has evolved into growing things that serve no other purpose than emotional (情感上的) satisfaction. Nature won’t even pollinate (授粉) many of the domesticated flowers. Just among roses, there are so many types created by humans that, clearly, flowers aren’t what they used to be. But it’s likely our collective hand has played a role longer than you might think.
Geneticist (遗传学家) Terry McGuire suggests that nature’s prettier flowers got to survive and develop well because people didn’t destroy them when they cleared for agriculture. Instead, they grew them and have been doing so for over 5,000 years. “Because they’re a source of pleasure, we take care of them. In that sense they’re like dogs. They are the pets of the plant world.” McGuire says.
Here is one way that might have worked:
Many species of flowers that are now planted used to grow only when the ground was disturbed, McGuire explains. “As humans moved into agricultural settings, these flowers would have been weeds.” “These flowers might have been tolerated because of their beauty. The seeds would have been preserved and replanted. Over time, the best of these flowers might have been selected and the seeds more carefully preserved.”
1.The underlined word “theirs” probably means ________.
A. flowers B. notebooks
C. flowers and notebooks D. a second bunch of flowers
2.Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
A. We keep dogs because they make us happy.
B. People grow flowers for thousands of years.
C. The more flowers people get, the happier they are.
D. People left all the flowers alive when clearing land.
3.According to Terry McGuire, one possible way of flower evolution is ________.
a. the most beautiful flowers were chosen
b. people replanted the seeds of the flowers
c. flowers were wild plants at the beginning
d. people protected the prettier flowers while clearing land
A. c, d, b, a, B. c, b, d, a
C. c, d, a, b D. c, b, a, d
4.What is the best title of this passage?
A. More Flowers, More Smiles B. Flowers: Pets of Plant World
C. Human’s Affection & Flowers’ Evolution D. Human’s Love Towards Flowers
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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That robots, automation, and software can replace people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked in automotive manufacturing. But MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s claim is more troubling and controversial. They believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them.
They believe that technology increases productivity and makes societies wealthier, but it became clear to them that the same technologies making many jobs safer, easier, and more productive were also reducing the demand for many types of human workers. Technologies like the Web, artificial intelligence, and big data are automating many routine tasks. Countless traditional white-collar jobs, such as many in the post office and in customer service, have disappeared.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a chart on which separate lines represent productivity and total employment in the United States. For years after World War II, the two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. Then, beginning in 2000, the lines diverge; productivity continues to rise steadily, but employment suddenly shrinks. By 2011, a significant gap appears between the two lines, showing economic growth with no parallel increase in job creation.
United States Productivity and Employment
But are these new technologies really responsible for a decade of lackluster (无生气) job growth? David Autor, an economist at MIT who has studied the connections between jobs and technology, doubts that technology could account for such a sudden change in total employment. Moreover, he also doubts that productivity has, in fact, risen steadily in the United States in the past decade. If he’s right, it raises the possibility that poor job growth could be simply a result of a depressed economy. The sudden slowdown in job creation “is a big puzzle,” he says, “but there’s not a lot of evidence that it’s linked to computers.” “To be sure, computer technologies are changing the types of jobs available, but that is very different from saying technology is affecting the total number of jobs,” he adds. “Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.”
Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist, says that while technological changes can be painful for workers whose skills no longer match the needs of employers, no historical pattern shows these shifts leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended period. Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is something different about today’s digital technologies. Though he expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough, who knows what will happen?”
1.Which period on the chart strongly supports McAfee’s claim?
A. 1947—1967. B. 1985—1987.
C. 1997—2000. D. 2011—2013.
2.According to David Autor, the change in job growth ________.
A. is not necessarily caused by technology
B. results from a weakening economy
C. has no connection with productivity
D. affects the current types of jobs
3.What is Lawrence Katz’s attitude towards the topic?
A. Optimistic. B. Defensive.
C. Objective. D. Disapproving.
4.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.
A. show the relation between productivity and job creation
B. discuss the effect of technological advances on employment
C. argue against the wide use of artificial intelligence
D. explain the impact of technologies on productivity
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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That robots, automation, and software can replace people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked in automotive manufacturing. But MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s claim is more troubling and controversial. They believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them.
They believe that technology increases productivity and makes societies wealthier, but it became clear to them that the same technologies making many jobs safer, easier, and more productive were also reducing the demand for many types of human workers. Technologies like the Web, artificial intelligence, and big data are automating many routine tasks. Countless traditional white-collar jobs, such as many in the post office and in customer service, have disappeared.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a chart on which separate lines represent productivity and total employment in the United States. For years after World War II, the two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. Then, beginning in 2000, the lines diverge; productivity continues to rise steadily, but employment suddenly shrinks. By 2011, a significant gap appears between the two lines, showing economic growth with no parallel increase in job creation.
United States Productivity and Employment
But are these new technologies really responsible for a decade of lackluster (无生气) job growth? David Autor, an economist at MIT who has studied the connections between jobs and technology, doubts that technology could account for such a sudden change in total employment. Moreover, he also doubts that productivity has, in fact, risen steadily in the United States in the past decade. If he’s right, it raises the possibility that poor job growth could be simply a result of a depressed economy. The sudden slowdown in job creation “is a big puzzle,” he says, “but there’s not a lot of evidence that it’s linked to computers.” “To be sure, computer technologies are changing the types of jobs available, but that is very different from saying technology is affecting the total number of jobs,” he adds. “Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.”
Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist, says that while technological changes can be painful for workers whose skills no longer match the needs of employers, no historical pattern shows these shifts leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended period. Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is something different about today’s digital technologies. Though he expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough, who knows what will happen?”
1.Which period on the chart strongly supports McAfee’s claim?
A. 1947—1967. B. 1985—1987.
C. 1997—2000. D. 2011—2013.
2.According to David Autor, the change in job growth ________.
A. is not necessarily caused by technology
B. results from a weakening economy
C. has no connection with productivity
D. affects the current types of jobs
3.What is Lawrence Katz’s attitude towards the topic?
A. Optimistic. B. Defensive.
C. Objective. D. Disapproving.
4.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.
A. show the relation between productivity and job creation
B. discuss the effect of technological advances on employment
C. argue against the wide use of artificial intelligence
D. explain the impact of technologies on productivity
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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That robots, automation, and software can replace people might seem obvious to anyone who’s worked in automotive manufacturing. But MIT business scholars Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee’s claim is more troubling and controversial. They believe that rapid technological change has been destroying jobs faster than it is creating them.
They believe that technology increases productivity and makes societies wealthier, but it became clear to them that the same technologies making many jobs safer, easier, and more productive were also reducing the demand for many types of human workers. Technologies like the Web, artificial intelligence, and big data are automating many routine tasks. Countless traditional white-collar jobs, such as many in the post office and in customer service, have disappeared.
As evidence, Brynjolfsson and McAfee point to a chart on which separate lines represent productivity and total employment in the United States. For years after World War II, the two lines closely tracked each other, with increases in jobs corresponding to increases in productivity. Then, beginning in 2000, the lines diverge; productivity continues to rise steadily, but employment suddenly shrinks. By 2011, a significant gap appears between the two lines, showing economic growth with no parallel increase in job creation.
United States Productivity and Employment
But are these new technologies really responsible for a decade of lackluster (无生气) job growth? David Autor, an economist at MIT who has studied the connections between jobs and technology, doubts that technology could account for such a sudden change in total employment. Moreover, he also doubts that productivity has, in fact, risen steadily in the United States in the past decade. If he’s right, it raises the possibility that poor job growth could be simply a result of a depressed economy. The sudden slowdown in job creation “is a big puzzle,” he says, “but there’s not a lot of evidence that it’s linked to computers.” “To be sure, computer technologies are changing the types of jobs available, but that is very different from saying technology is affecting the total number of jobs,” he adds. “Jobs can change a lot without there being huge changes in employment rates.”
Lawrence Katz, a Harvard economist, says that while technological changes can be painful for workers whose skills no longer match the needs of employers, no historical pattern shows these shifts leading to a net decrease in jobs over an extended period. Still, Katz doesn’t dismiss the notion that there is something different about today’s digital technologies. Though he expects the historical pattern to hold, it is “genuinely a question,” he says. “If technology disrupts enough, who knows what will happen?”
1.Which period on the chart strongly supports McAfee’s claim?
A. 1947—1967. B. 1985—1987.
C. 1997—2000. D. 2011—2013.
2.According to David Autor, the change in job growth ________.
A. is not necessarily caused by technology
B. results from a weakening economy
C. has no connection with productivity
D. affects the current types of jobs
3.What is Lawrence Katz’s attitude towards the topic?
A. Optimistic. B. Defensive.
C. Objective. D. Disapproving.
4.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.
A. show the relation between productivity and job creation
B. discuss the effect of technological advances on employment
C. argue against the wide use of artificial intelligence
D. explain the impact of technologies on productivity
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Not too many decades ago it seemed “obvious” both to the general public and to sociologists that modern society has changed people’s natural relations, loosened their responsibilities to kin (亲戚) and neighbors, and substituted in their place superficial relationships with passing acquaintances. However, in recent years a growing body of research has revealed that the “obvious” is not true. It seems that if you are a city resident, you typically know a smaller proportion of your neighbors than you do if you are a resident of a smaller community. But, for the most part, this fact has few significant consequences. It does not necessarily follow that if you know few of your neighbors you will know no one else.
Even in very large cities, people maintain close social ties within small, private social worlds. Indeed, the number and quality of meaningful relationships do not differ between more and less urban people. Small-town residents are more involved with kin than are big-city residents. Yet city dwellers compensate by developing friendships with people who share similar interests and activities. Urbanism many produce a different style of life, but the quality of life does not differ between town and city. Nor are residents of large communities any likelier to display psychological symptoms of stress or alienation, a feeling of not belonging, than are residents of smaller communities. However, city dwellers do worry more about crime, and this leads them to a distrust of strangers.
These findings do not imply that urbanism makes little or no difference. If neighbors are strangers to one another, they are less likely to sweep the sidewalk of an elderly couple living next door or keep an eye out for young trouble makers. Moreover, as Wirth suggested, there may be a link between a community’s population size and its social heterogeneity (多样性). For instance, sociologists have found much evidence that the size of a community is associated with bad behavior including gambling, drugs, etc. Large-city urbanities are also more likely than their small-town counterparts to have a cosmopolitan(见多识广)outlook, to display less responsibility to traditional kinship roles, to vote for leftist political candidates, and to be tolerant of nontraditional religious groups, unpopular political groups, and so—called undesirables. Everything considered, heterogeneity and unusual behavior seem to be outcomes of large population size.
1.Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the first paragraph?
A.An argument is examined and possible solutions given.
B.Two contrasting views are presented.
C.Research results concerning the quality of urban life are presented in order of time.
D.A detail description of the difference between urban and small-town life is given.
2.According to the passage, it was once a common belief that urban residents .
A.could not develop long-standing relationships.
B.did not have the same interests as their neighbors.
C.tended to be associated with bad behavior.
D.usually had more friends.
3.One of the consequences of urban life is that impersonal relationships among neighbors .
A.disrupt people’s natural relations.
B.make them worry about crime.
C.cause them no to show concern for one another.
D.cause them to be suspicious of each other.
4.It can be inferred from the passage that the bigger a community is____,
A.the better its quality of life
B.the more tolerant and open-minded it is.
C.the likelier it is to display psychological symptoms of stress.
D.the more similar its interests
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
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Obviously the only way to make people realize that an action is morally wrong is to punish them if they ________ it.
A. confirm B. create C. commit D. compensate
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
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We all think that we know what happiness is. We all seem to be making great efforts towards this goal of happiness but what is it really? It is an agreed fact that all the creatures want happiness and are afraid of pain and sadness. The question, however, is “what is real happiness?” What really is called happiness? The desire for happiness has no meaning without understanding the real nature of happiness.
Some thinkers say, “Happiness does not lie in objects of enjoyment; happiness or unhappiness lies in imagination.”
To prove their belief, they give examples like the following one: A man has a two-storey house; on the right is a five-storey building and on the left a cottage. When he sees right, he feels unhappy and when he sees left he feels happy. As such happiness does not lie in possession of sensory objects, but in imagination. They advise people to look towards those who have fewer possessions and be happy. If you look towards people having more wealth and possessions, you will always be unhappy.
It is unreasonable to hold this point of view. It is unkind to regard one happy by imagining that one is better than the poor and the unhappy. “If you want to be happy, look towards the poor”. We know that those poor people cannot satisfy even their basic needs. This attitude satisfies the sense of pride of possessions, but this can never be called happiness.
Unless we really find where happiness lies, we cannot really be happy.
Some ask people to do this and do that and say, “This way your desires would be satisfied. You would get the desired objects and become happy.” People holding these views regard happiness as satisfaction of desires. But it is not possible to satisfy one’s desires because there are countless desires of countless people and the material things are limited. Then new desires arise as soon as the previous ones are satisfied. Therefore, desires, which are changing all the time, can never be satisfied.
Happiness is a characteristic of a good life, that is, a life in which a person fulfills (履行) human nature in an excellent way. People have a set of purposes which are typically human: these belong to our nature. Happiness is also a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated (培养), and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives and come to being happy. Happiness lies in the distribution of easiness among others. Happiness stands for forgiveness and justice. Happiness is the name of struggle and courage. Happiness may be founded in seeking of true knowledge and rule of wisdom. Happiness may be shared in service and duty. This life is combination of joys and sorrows, and honest efforts should be done to make this life journey full of happiness, love, peace and harmony.
1. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To show how to achieve happiness.
B. To encourage people to achieve happiness.
C. To explain the features of happiness.
D. To argue how to understand happiness.
2. According to the passage, people who think happiness lies in imagination will try to achieve happiness by .
A. looking towards those with fewer possessions
B. looking towards people having more wealth
C. imagining how rich you will be in the future
D. imagining that you have a five-storey building
3.The writer doesn’t think that happiness lies in the satisfaction of desires because .
A. no desires of a person can be satisfied at all
B. ever-changing desires can never be satisfied
C. there isn’t enough money to meet people’s needs
D. the desires of a person are limited
4.In the writer’s opinion, happiness .
A. can be achieved easily by earning money
B. must belong to those with rich knowledge
C. can be gained by setting small goals
D. can be gained by controlling inner experience
5.According to the last paragraph, who can have real happiness?
A. Jack who often struggles with others.
B. Tom who has life of a high quality.
C. Mike who always forgives others’ mistakes.
D. Tim whose requirements are always met.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Now that so much data is stored and circulated electronically, a library might seem to be a slightly outdated concept. However, a huge proportion of the world’s information and learning is still not available electronically, so libraries retain their importance for research and study. It is should also be remembered that libraries store books, inscriptions(铭文), and documents that are beautiful, and valuable not just for their contents, but also for their historic and artistic significance.
British Library (United Kingdom, London)
The British Library was created by Act of Parliament in 1972. Previously, the library had been part of the British Museum, where the famous circular reading room had accommodated researchers including Karl Marx, who worked on Das Kapital there, as well as Oscar Wilde and Mohandas Gandhi. The British Library is now housed in a new building in St. Pancras, London, where its treasures include two Gutenberg Bibles, the Lindisfarne Gospels, and one of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks.
Library of Congress(United States, Washington, D. C)
Founded in 1800 with the private collection of Thomas Jefferson, the Library of Congress is in fact the USA’s National Library, although only Congress members and employees can borrow books. It receives two copies of everything published in the United States. The Library of Congress was burned by the British Army in 1812, and severely damaged by fire again in 1851. The collection includes many rare books and drawings, and two Stradivarius violins.
National Library of China(Beijing)
Holding over 30 million books and documents, and visited by over five million people every year, this is the largest collection of Chinese writing in the world, and the largest library is Asia. It includes Chinese inscriptions on bone, stone, and tortoise shell which date back as far as the sixteenth century BC, and some of the oldest printed documents in existence as well as items in foreign languages and many rare books.
1.Despite the current electronic world, libraries are of importance because ________.
A. they are historically and artistically significant
B. they play an important role in preserving written accounts
C. they have available places for readers to rest
D. they are as convenient as electronic resources
2.Which of the following statements on British Library is TRUE?
A. The library has the most famous circular reading room in the world
B. Both Karl Marx and Oscar Wilde worked and lived in British Library
C. British Museum was once in charge of the British Library
D. All of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are kept there
3.Library of Congress differs from other two libraries in the fact that ________.
A. not all people are allowed to borrow books
B. its collection includes many rare written works
C. it was created by the British Army in 1812
D. Thomas Jefferson has nothing to do with its foundation
4.In National Library of China, you are able to ___________.
A. find copies of everything published in the US
B. read Chinese inscriptions on various materials before the 16th century BC
C. borrow rare books and books written in different languages
D. have access to treasures like Gutenberg Bibles and Lindisfarne Gospels
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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While it may seem that a cab driver has only one responsibility—to drive customers to and from certain destinations, this is not the case. Instead, a cab driver must be ready to take on a number of different tasks. 1. Taxis have been around in various forms for many centuries, and the many duties of a cab driver increase as time goes on.2. Not only do cab drivers have to pick up all kinds of people, but many of them have to interact with their customers. Frequently, cab drivers are hired by tourists or business people for an entire day, and this can mean making unavoidable contact with different people with different personalities.
Taxi drivers must also be able to operate different types of vehicles. 3.The vehicles have ramps (斜面) that can be raised and lowered. This type of vehicle requires a special license that most cab drivers must get before obtaining a position as a taxi driver.
Generally, cab drivers are not required to repair vehicles. 4. For example, almost all taxi drivers know how to change tires（轮胎）, lights, and other small vehicle parts. Many drivers are also responsible for checking the taxi on a regular basis.
Perhaps the most important task that a cab driver must be aware of is how to charge a customer for each trip. While the prices of some trips have been predetermined（商定）, such as airport fares, other trips must be calculated using taximeters（计价器） and fee charts. 5.
A. One of them is cleaning the inside of cabs.
B. Being a taxi driver can be emotionally rewarding.
C. A cab driver must have excellent communication skills.
D. There are some taxis specially made for disabled people.
E. However, some drivers may be asked to make small repairs.
F. These prices must be calculated before the driver sets off on the trip.
G. Taxi drivers should have a basic knowledge of a country ’s spoken language.
高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Those who plan to film a hostage （人质） scene might want to make it obvious to everyone around them that it' s a simulation．That may be the lesson that an independent film crew learned in Larimer County, Colo．after sheriff s deputies （治安警察） surrounded them during a shoot for a low -budget feature movie．Members of the crew were at a campground near Lake Carter, shooting a scene where the lead actor takes a girl hostage and beats up on a man who tries to intervene （干涉）．"It happened very suddenly after that．We heard, 'freeze' " said Director Eileen Agosta．They were in the middle of the scene when a team of Larimer County sheriff s deputies ran over, shouting orders to get on the ground, pointing guns at the crew, actor Chris Borden said．Members of the crew were cuffed （戴上手铐） and held on the ground until the situation was sorted out．Borden said he believes the only reason the deputies didn't shoot him was because they saw a cameraman．Maj．Justin Smith of the Larimer County Sheriff s Department said deputies received a call from someone at the lake and sheriff s deputies raced to the park, blocking roads．"I think it shows great self - control, great training and great judgment " said Cpl, Scott Shellhaas, a sheriff s spokesman．"They didn't rush into the situation and make a potentially bad situation worse．"Borden said the incident would have been funny except for the fact that he was issued a citation （传票） for disorderly conduct．Agosta was also cited for being an accessory to disorderly conduct．"It was complete ignorance on my part," said Agosta．"I honestly thought you could tell what we were doing… I wouldn' t have chosen a state park at 3 : 30 （p．m．） on Saturday if I was going to hurt somebody．" Authorities said the scene they saw was realistic enough - - - a woman handcuffed to a car, a man handgun - striking another man, people injured and bloodied and someone with a small video camera filming the event．"It is certainly not beyond belief these days that individuals do videotape crimes as they commit them," said Smith．"Having a video camera there did not necessarily mean there was not a threat．"
1.The underlined word probably means something that is ______．
A．not real B．really interesting
C．simply terrible D．seemingly true
2.The sheriff s deputies surrounded the film crew, because _____．
A．they found a girl hostage was terribly beaten
B．they were informed of a terrible scene at the lake
C．shooting a film was illegal at a state park in the county
D．they saw a cameraman shoot the hostage scene
3.According to the spokesman, the sheriff s deputies _____．
A．needed to be well trained later
B．made the situation from bad to worse
C．dealt with the situation successfully
D．made the situation from good to better
4.What the authorities and Smith said suggested that _____．
A．people should have told what really happened when they saw the scene
B．they couldn' t believe that individuals should do videotape crimes publicly
C．it was very surprising that the film crew shot such a bloody scene at the park
D．it' s not the sheriff s deputies but the film crew that was to blame for the incident
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析