房山区高考英语阅读理解专题选练8及答案暑假.docx

1、房山区高考英语阅读理解专题选练8及答案暑假阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A,B,C或D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。In a recent announcement, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) said that they have joined forces to offer free online courses in an effort to attract millions of online learners worldwide. Beginning this fall, a number o

2、f courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new $60 million program, known as edX. “Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can use our online courses, ” Harvard President Drew Faust said during a meeting to announce the plan. MIT has offere

3、d a program called OpenCourseWare for ten years that makes materials from more than 2, 000 classes free online. It has been used by more than 100 million people. In December, the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate, known as MITx, for people who complete certain onlin

4、e courses. Harvard has long offered courses to a wider population through a similar program. The MITx will serve as the foundation for the new learning platform. MIT President Susan Hockfield said more than 120, 000 people signed up for the first MITx course. She said Harvard and MIT hope other univ

5、ersities will join them in offering courses on the open- source edX platform. “Fasten your seatbelts, ” Hockfield said. Other universities, including Stanford, Yale and Carnegie- Mellon, have been experimenting with teaching to a global population online. The Harvard- MIT program will be monitored b

6、y a not- for- profit (非盈利的) organization based in Cambridge, to be owned equally by the two universities. Both MIT and Harvard have provided $30 million to start the program. They also plan to use the edX platform to research how students learn and which teaching methods and tools are most successfu

7、l. 1. According to this text, edX is.A. a part of the free MIT OpenCourseWareB. a free computer program by MIT and HarvardC. a Harvard- MIT platform of free online coursesD. a free program online for universities worldwide2. What is said about online education in the text? A. Universities have been

8、trying online courses. B. About 2, 000 online courses have been offered. C. Over 100 million people have finished courses online. D. Stanford and Yale together have courses similar to edX. 3. The underlined part in the text probably means “”.A. Get ready for the difficultiesB. Get ready for this edu

9、cational changeC. Get prepared to complete the online coursesD. Get prepared to make materials for the edX courses4. What can be said about MITx according to the text? A. It is first offered as part of the edX learning program. B. It is another free MIT- Harvard online learning program. C. It is a s

10、tandard to recognize online learnersachievement. D. It is a new kind of free online course of Harvard and MIT. 【参考答案】14、CABCPassage Thirteen (Cryptic Coloring) Cryptic coloring is by far the commonest use of color in the struggle for existence. It is employed for the purpose of attack (aggressive re

11、semblance or anticryptic coloring ) as well as of defense (protective resemblance or procryptic coloring ). The fact that the same method concealment, may be used both for attack and defense has been well explained by T.Belt who suggests as an illustration the rapidity of movement which is also made

12、 use of by both pursuer and pursued, which is similarly raised to a maximum in both by the gradual dying out of the slowest through a series of generations. Cryptic coloring is commonly associated with other aids in the struggle for life. Thus well-concealed mammals and birds, when discovered, will

13、generally endeavor to escape by speed and will often attempt to defend themselves actively. On the other hand, small animals which have no means of active defense, such as large, numbers of insects, frequently depend upon concealment alone. Protective resemblance is far commoner among animals than a

14、ggressive resemblance, in correspondence with the fact that predaceous forms are as a rule much larger and much less numerous than their prey. In the case of insectivorous Vertebrata and their prey such differences exist in an exaggerated form. Cryptic coloring, whether used for defense of attack, m

15、ay be either general or special. In general resemblance the animal, in consequence of its coloring, produces the same effect as its environment, but the conditions do not require any special adaptation of shape and outline. General resemblance is especially common among the animal inhabiting some un

16、iformly colored expanse of the earths surface, such as an ocean or a desert. In the former, animals of all shapes are frequently protected by their transparent blue color, on the latter, equally diverse forms are defended by their sandy appearance. The effect of a uniform appearance may be produced

17、by a combination of tints in startling contrast. Thus the black and white stripes of the zebra blend together at a little distance, and “their proportion is such as exactly to match the pale tint which arid ground possesses when seen by moonlight.” Special resemblance is far commoner than general an

18、d is the form which is usually met with on the diversified surface of the earth, on the shores, and in shallow water, as well as on the floating masses of algae on the surface of the ocean, such as the Sargasso Sea. In these environments the cryptic coloring of animals is usually aided by special mo

19、difications of shape, and by the instinct which leads them to assume particular attitudes. Complete stillness and the assumption of a certain attitude play an essential part in general resemblance on land; but in special resemblance the attitude is often highly specialized, and perhaps more importan

20、t than any other element in the complex method by which concealment is effected. In special resemblance the combination of coloring, shape, and attitude is such as to produce a more or less exact resemblance to some one of the objects in the environment, such as a leaf of twig, a patch of lichen, a

21、flake of bark. In all cases the resemblance is to some object which is of no interest to the enemy or prey respectively. The animal is not hidden from view by becoming indistinguishable from its background as in the case of general resemblance, but it is mistaken for some well-know object.In seeking

22、 the interpretation of these most interesting and elaborate adaptations, attempts have been made along two lines. The first seeks to explain the effect as a result of the direct influence of the environment upon the individual (G.L.L.Buffon), or by the inherited effects of efforts and the use and di

23、suse of parts (J.B.P.Lamarck). The second believes that natural selection produced the result and afterwards maintained it by the survival of the best concealed in each generation. The former suggestion breaks down when the complex nature of numerous special resemblances is appreciated. Thus the arr

24、angement of colors of many kinds into an appropriate pattern requires the cooperation of a suitable shape and the rigidly exact adoption of a certain elaborate attitude. The latter is instinctive and thus depends on the central nervous system. The cryptic effect is due to the exact cooperation of al

25、l these factors; and in the present state of science, the only possible hole of an interpretation lies in the theory of natural selection, which can accumulate any and every variation which tends toward survival. A few of the chief types of methods by which concealment is effected may be briefly des

26、cribed. The colors of large numbers of vertebrate animals are darkest on the back and become gradually lighter on the sides, passing into white on the belly. Abbot H. Thayer has suggested that this gradation obliterates the appearance of solidity, which is due to shadow. The color harmony, which is

27、also essential to concealment, is produced because the back is of the same tint as the environment (e. g. earth), bathed in the cold blue-white of the sky, while the belly, being cold blue-white and bathed in shadow and yellow earth reflections produces the same effects. This method of neutralizing

28、shadow for the purpose of concealment by increased lightness of tint was first suggested by E.B.Poulton in the case of a larva and a pupa, but he did not appreciate the great importance of the principle. In an analogous method an animal in front of a background of dark shadow may have part of its bo

29、dy obliterated by the existence of a dark tint, the remainder resembling, e.g., a part of a leaf. This method of rendering invisible any part which would interfere with the resemblance is well know in mimicry.1. The black and white stripes of the zebra are most useful form A. hunters. . nocturnal pr

30、edatorsC. lions and tigers. C. insectivorous Vertrbrata2. Aggressive resemblance occurs whenA. a predaceous attitude is assumed. special resemblance is utilized.C. an animal relies on speed.D. an animal blends in with its background.3. Special resemblance differs from general resemblance in that the

31、 animal relies onA. its ability to frighten its adversary. . speed.C. its ability to assume an attitude. D. mistaken identify4. The title below that best expresses the ides of this passage is A. Cryptic coloration for Protection. . How Animals Survive.C. The uses of Mimicry in Nature. D. Resemblances of Animals.5. Of the following which is the least common?A. protective resemblance. . General resemblance.C. Aggressive resemblance. D. Special resemblance.Vocabulary1. cryptic 隐藏的，保护的 cryptic coloring 保护色，隐藏色2. predaceous 食肉的，捕食其他动物的。3. vertebrate 脊椎动物门4. tint 色泽，色彩5. zebra 斑马6. Sargass