Can trees talk? Yes, not in words. Scientists...

Can trees talk? Yes, but not in words. Scientists have reason to believe that trees do communicate (交际) with each other. Not long ago, researchers learned some surprising things. First a willow tree attacked in the woods by caterpillars (毛虫) changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves and stopped eating them. Then even more astonishing, the tree sent out a special smell---a signal (信号) causing its neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty.

Communication, of course, doesn’t need to be in words. We can talk to each other by smiling, raising our shoulders and moving our hands. We know that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals, flying in certain patterns that tell other bees where to find nectar (花蜜) for honey. So why shouldn’t trees have ways of sending message?

1. It can be concluded from the passage that caterpillars do not feed on leaves that ______.

2.According to the passage, the willow tree was able to communicate with other trees by ______.

3.According to this passage, bees communicate by ______.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Can trees talk? Yes, not in words. Scientists have reasons to believe that trees do communicate 1. each other.

Not long ago, researchers 2.(learn) some surprising things. First a willow tree 3.(attack) in the woods by caterpillars(毛虫) changed the chemistry of its leaves and made them taste so terrible that they got tired of the leaves 4.(gradual) and stopped eating them. Then even more 5.(astonish), the tree sent out a special smell—a signal causing 6. neighbors to change the chemistry of their own leaves and make them less tasty.

Communication, of course, doesn’t need to be in words. We can talk to each other by smiling, raiding our shoulders and moving our hands. 7. we know is that birds and animals use a whole vocabulary of songs, sounds, and movements. Bees dance their signals. 8.(fly) in certain patterns that tell other bees where 9. (find) nectar(花蜜) for honey. So why shouldn’t trees have 10.(way) of sending messages?

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If your mother wants to tell you something, she uses words. Birds can not talk as we do. But some birds can make sounds to warn their young of danger. They have their own ways to make the young birds do certain things.

The jackdaw is a kind of blackbirds that lives in Europe. Jackdaws live together in flocks(群). Young jackdaws do not know their enemies.When an older jackdaw see a dog, it makes a loud tattling(格格响的) sound. The young birds know this sound means an enemy is nearby.The sounds warn them to know their enemy.

If a young jackdaw is in a dangerous place, a jackdaw parent flies over him from behind. The parent bird flies low over the young bird’s back, the parents’ tail feathers move quickly from side to side. It is trying to say, “Follow me.”

At the same time,the parent calls out, “Key-aw, Key-aw.” The parent means, “Fly home with me.” The young bird then follows the older one home.

Young jackdaws do not have to learn what certain sounds mean. They know the meaning of these sounds from the time they hatch.

1.The jackdaw lives in ______.

A. Europe       B. Australia                C. America                 D. Africa

2.When an old jackdaw sees a dog, it ______.

A. calls out “Follow me.”        B. makes a loud sound

C. flies away                  D. fights the dog

3.parent jackdaw can use their tail feathers to ______.

A. ask their young to follow them       B. play a game with the young

C. tell the meal time                  D. give a warning of a fire

4. The story tells much about ______

A. the danger of jackdaws

B. in which mother can talk to their children

C. the way jackdaws warn their young of danger

D. how the jackdaws are living

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

If your mother wants to tell you something, she uses words. Birds can not talk as we do. But some birds can make sounds to warn their young of danger. They have their own ways to make the young birds do certain thing.

The jackdaw is a kind of blackbirds that lives in Europe. Jackdaws live together in flocks. ( 群) Yong jackdaws do not know their enemies. When an older jackdaw sees a dog , it makes a loud tattling (格格响的)sound.The young birds know this sound means an enemy is nearby.  The sounds warns them to know their enemy.

If a young jackdaw is in a dangerous place, a jackdaw parent flies over him from behind.The parent bird flies low over the young bird’s back, the parents’ tail feathers move quickly from side to side, It is trying to say, “ Follow me.”

At the same time , the parent calls out, “ Key-aw ,Key-aw.” The parent means, “ Fly home with me.” The young bird then follows the older one home.

Young jackdaws do not have to learn what certain sounds mean.They know the meaning of these sounds from the time they hatch.

1.The jackdaw lives in _____ .

A. Europe     B . Australia    C. America   D .Africa

2.When an old jackdaw sees a dog , it _____ .

A. calls out “Follow me .”    B . makes a loud sound

C. flies away               D. fights the dog .

3. Parent jackdaw can use their tail feathers to ______ .

A . ask their young to follow them      B . play a game with the young

C. tell the meal time                 D.give a warning of a fire

4.The story tells much about _____ .

A.the danger of jackdaws.

B .in which mother can talk to their children.

C. the way jackdaws warn their young of danger.

D. how the jackdaws are living.

5. Which of the following does this story lead you to believe ?

A. All animal parents can talk to their young.

B . Dogs are the most dangerous enemies for jackdaws.

C. Young jackdaws know the meaning of their parents’ sound when they grow older .

D. Some birds can give certain information to one another.

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Scientists have proved that sleeping and learning go hand in hand. Even a short nap can boost our memory and sharpen our thinking. But the relationship goes deeper than that.

“The brain is not passive while you sleep,” scientist Anat Arzi said. “It’s quite active. You can do many things while you are asleep.”

Arzi and her coworkers didn’t try to teach the sleeping volunteers any complex information, like new words or facts. Instead, the scientists taught volunteers to make new connections between smells and sounds.

When we smell something good, like a flower, we take deep breaths. When we smell something bad, we take short breaths. Arzi and her co-workers based their experiment on these reactions.

Once the volunteers fell asleep in the lab, the scientists went to work. They gave them a whiff of something pleasant and meanwhile played a particular musical note. They didn’t wake up, but they heard—and sniffed(吸气) deeply. Then the scientists gave the volunteers a whiff of something terrible and played a different musical note. Again, the volunteers heard and smelled—a short snort this

time—but didn’t wake up. The researchers repeated the experiment.

After just four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their paired smells. When the scientists played the musical tone that went with good smells, the sleepers breathed deeply. And when the scientists played the musical tone that went with bad smells, the sleepers breathed briefly—despite there being no bad smell.

The next day, the volunteers woke up with the sound-smell connection. They breathed deeply when hearing one tone and cut their breaths short when hearing the other, which must have been unusual for them. Imagine walking down the street and taking a deep breath upon hearing a particular sound!

1.In the study, the volunteers were taught _______.

A．to become active during sleep

B．to tell the difference between smell

C．to learn new words and scientific facts

D．to make sound-smell connections

2. How did the volunteers react when smelling something nice and hearing musical notes?

A．They took a deep breath.                 B．They had a wonderful dream.

C．They woke up at once.                   D．They took a short breath.

3. When the volunteers woke up the next day, they_______.

A．learned how to play to musical tones

B．forgot what happened during their sleep

C．continued with the sound-smell connection

D．changed their reaction when hearing.

4.The passage mainly tell us______

A．special smells and sounds can improve our memory.

B．our brain can actually learn something new during the sleep.

C．the volunteers will always hear similar sounds in the street.

D．our brain can tell the difference between smells during the sleep.

5.Which of the following is NOT true?

A．A short sleep can improve our memory and sharpen our thinking.

B．Arzi and her coworkers didn’t try to teach the sleeping volunteer some simple information.

C．When the volunteer smelt something terrible, they didn’t wake up.

D．After four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their pared smells.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Scientists have proved that sleeping and learning go hand in hand. Even a short nap can boost our memory and sharpen our thinking. But the relationship goes deeper than that.

“The brain is not passive while you sleep,” scientist Anat Arzi said. “It’s quite active. You can do many things while you are asleep.”

Arzi and her coworkers didn’t try to teach the sleeping volunteers any complex information, like new words or facts. Instead, the scientists taught volunteers to make new connections between smells and sounds.

When we smell something good, like a flower, we take deep breaths. When we smell something bad, we take short breaths. Arzi and her co-workers based their experiment on these reactions.

Once the volunteers fell asleep in the lab, the scientists went to work. They gave them a whiff of something pleasant and meanwhile played a particular musical note. They didn’t wake up, but they heard—and sniffed(吸气) deeply. Then the scientists gave the volunteers a whiff of something terrible and played a different musical note. Again, the volunteers heard and smelled—a short snort this time—but didn’t wake up. The researchers repeated the experiment.

After just four repetitions, volunteers made a connection between the musical notes and their paired smells. When the scientists played the musical tone that went with good smells, the sleepers breathed deeply. And when the scientists played the musical tone that went with bad smells, the sleepers breathed briefly—despite there being no bad smell.

The next day, the volunteers woke up with the sound-smell connection. They breathed deeply when hearing one tone and cut their breaths short when hearing the other, which must have been unusual for them. Imagine walking down the street and taking a deep breath upon hearing a particular sound!

1.In the study, the volunteers were taught _______.

A. to become active during sleep

B. to tell the difference between smells

C. to learn new words and scientific facts

D. to make sound-smell connections

2.How did the volunteers react when smelling something nice and hearing musical notes?

A. They took a deep breath.

B. They had a wonderful dream.

C. They woke up at once.

D. They took a short breath.

3.When the volunteers woke up the next day, they_______.

A. learned how to play to musical tones

B. forgot what happened during their sleep

C. continued with the sound-smell connection

D. changed their reaction when hearing the sound

4.The passage mainly tells us _______.

A. special smells and sounds can improve our memory

B. our brain can actually learn something new during sleep

C. the volunteers will always hear similar sounds on the street

D. our brain can tell the difference between smells during sleep

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Have you ever wondered what the longest word in the English language is? Believe it or not, there’s no simple answer to the question. You might think it would be as easy as opening a dictionary and looking for the longest word. However, it’ s far more complicated than that.

Over time, many people have suggested many different words for the title of the longest word in English. How can that be? That’s because the first thing that people have different opinions on is what should be considered a word. Some of the words were simply made up to be the longest! For example, there is one really famous long word that most kids know. It comes from Disney’s movie Mary Poppins: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, which means wonderful. But since that 34-letter word was made up simply to be sung as a song in a movie, should it count?

How about long words that actually describe something in the world? Scientists have come up with several possible choices. The name of a virus totals 1, 185 letters. There’s also a protein whose name totals 1, 909 letters. Should these win the title? “Not so fast!” say some people. Are these words ever actually used? Can they even be pronounced? And are they meaningful just because they are made up to be long?

If you’re wondering about some long words in common English, here are some examples. Those words include uncharacteristically (20 letters), deinstitutionalization (22 letters) and counterrevolutionaries (also 22 letters). Or perhaps the word “smiles” is the longest word in English. Sure, it has only six letters, but there is a “mile” between the first and the last letters!

1.What is the first thing to consider when we decide the longest word?

A.Whether it is a real word. B.Whether it can be pronounced.

C.Whether it is used in daily life. D.Whether it can be understood.

2.Why does the author mention the underlined questions in paragraph 3?

A.To express the writer’s concern. B.To compare different ideas.

C.To amuse readers. D.To show people’s doubt.

3.How does the author sound in the last paragraph?

A.Proud. B.Humorous.

C.Excited. D.Surprised.

4.The text is mainly about _________________________.

A.English words change a lot as time goes by

B.it is hard to decide what the longest word is

C.long words are often used in scientific fields

D.why we can’t understand some English words

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Animals, including insects, don't have a "language" like ours. They do not 'talk' to each other in words and sentences. But if we watch them, we can see that they do have their ways of communicating with each other.

Can you see the rabbit's tail? When rabbits see this white tail moving up and down, they run away. They know that they are in danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has given them a signal.

Many other animals use this kind of "language". When a cobra is angry, it raises its head and makes itself look powerful . This warns other animals. When a bee has found food, it goes back to its home. It cannot 'tell' the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance. This tells the bees where the food is.

Some animals "say" things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs when it is pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning. Sometimes we human beings speak in the same way. We make sounds like "Oh" or "Ah" when we are frightened or pleased or when we drop something on our toes.

1.Which one is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Animals have languages like human beings.

B. Bees communicate with each other by dancing.

C. Animals can use words.

D. Animals are brave.

2.A rabbit uses its tail to ______.

A. warn other rabbits when they are in danger

B. tell other rabbits where food is

C. make itself look powerful

D. help it to run fast

3.When a cobra is angry, it ______.

A. makes a loud noise　　 B. raises its head

C. moves up and down　　　　 D. does a little dance

4.Several different sounds can be made by a _　　　 _

A. rabbit　　 B. bee　 C. bird　　 D. fish

5.From the passage, we know that _____ use words and sentences to express ideas and thoughts.

A. all living things　 B. all animals

C. some birds　　　 　　 D. human beings

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

－Did you have a good time last night?

－Not at all. Someone kept talking loudly in the theatre, ________ me from watching the movie.

A．having prevented                       B．to prevent

C．prevented                             D．preventing

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

British scientists have discovered the willow trees planted at an angle could increase sugars for biofuel production.

Willow is a fast-growing species. It is already used to produce fuels for the renewable heating and power market. In future it could also help to produce biofuel to power vehicles. It has been known that when willows growing in the wild are blown sideways, they tend to produce more sugars. But for a while it has not been known why this happens.

Researchers at Imperial College London, led by Dr Nicholas Brereton and Dr Michael Ray of the Department of Life Sciences, have now solved the mystery. When the tree is blown sideways, its genes (基因) produce large numbers of sugar molecules (分子) to straighten the tree upwards.

“This is an important breakthrough. Our study now shows that natural genetic changes are related to these differences. And this could well be the key to unlocking the future for green energy from willow,” said Dr Brereton.

The research was carried out under lab conditions. The willows were grown at an angle of 45 degrees. They were compared to willows which grow naturally straight upwards. The team then looked for the same effect among the willows growing on the Isle of Orkney where strong winds cause the trees to bend at extreme angles. They discovered that the Orkney trees produce five times the amount of sugars found in willows grown in sheltered conditions.

Willow is widely planted across the UK. The results show that biofuel crops such as willows could be grown in climatically changeable conditions where chances of growing food crops are limited.

The study is published in Biotechnology for Biofuels.

1.What may happen when willows are planted in strong winds?

A. They stop growing.　　 B. Few sugars are produced.

C. They try to grow sideways.　　 D. Changes in genes take place.

2.The Orkney willows ________.

A. are unusually rich in sugars　　 B. grow naturally straight upward

C. look taller than ordinary willows　　 D. are stronger than those growing in labs

3.Farmers living in changeable climate _______.

A. use biofuel for heating and power　　 B. are encouraged to grow biofuel crops

C. can plant different kinds of food crops　　 D. should make their willows grow straight

4.Where does this passage most probably come from?

A. A personal diary.　　 B. A travel magazine.

C. A scientific journal.　　 D. A newspaper advertisement.

高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析