of experiments on sunflowers in the field, in pots outdoors and in indoor growth chambers.
By staking plants so that they could not move, Harmer showed that he could destroy their ability to track the sun. He also noticed that sunflowers prevented from moving were not as tough and leafy as those that were free to move. When plants were moved indoor with a settled overhead light, they continued to swing back and forth for a few days.
The indoor plants did start tracking the “sun” again when the apparent source of lighting was moved across the room. The plants could reliably track the movement and return at night when the artificial day was close to a 24-hour cycle, but not when it was closer to 30 hours.
When sunflowers track the sun, the east sides of their
stems grew more rapidly than the west sides. At night, the west sides grew faster as the stem swung the other way. The team identified a number of genes that were expressed at higher levels on the sunward side of the plant during the day, or on the other side at night. A
plant
growth-regulating
hormone (激素), called auxin, appears to be a key driver.
The “dance” to the sun cycle obviously slows when the sunflower matures (成熟) and its flowers open up. At that point, the plants stop moving during the day and settle down facing the sun in the east.
“Bees
like
warm
flowers.” Harmer said, adding that the bees are cold-blooded, so landing on a warm flower saves them energy and perhaps feels really good.
“The
morning
warmth
changes the flowers in a way to
make them more appealing to insects, perhaps causing them to release more attractive scents earlier in the day.” he said
“We’re
currently
testing this idea.”
28. Why did Harmer do the experiment on sunflowers?
A. To see how sunflowers grow up
B.
To
show
what
sunflowers’ genes are.
C. To study why sunflowers track the sun.
D. To check if sunflowers swing in cloudy days.
29.
What
does
the
underlined word “staking” probably mean in Paragraph 3?
A. tracking
B. fixing C. growing
D. searching
30. What is the result of sunflowers being stopped from moving?
A. They will produce a
number of new genes.
B. They will grow faster than usual.
C. They won’t swing back though set free.
D. They won’t grow well. 31. What is the advantage of sunflowers’ dance to the sun?
A. They attract more
insects. B. They save more energy.
C. They mature more rapidly.
D. They produce more
flowers. D
【2020届辽宁省实验中学、大连八中、大连二十四中、鞍山一中、东北育才学校高三上学期期末英语试题】A research has shown that nearly 90 percent of
traffic accidents are caused by human errors. So our aim is a fully autonomous car that gets rid of the cause of most accidents:
the
driver.
Researcher Hodgson points out,
“For safety, the faster you can remove humans, the better, even if there are unfortunately a few accidents from new causes. It’s a question of balancing the number injured or killed by autonomous vehicles with the people
whose
lives
are
potentially saved.”
It’s an idea that Elon Musk, chief executive of electric car company Tesla Motors, has long believed. His company are determined to be the first to deliver a fully autonomous
vehicle
to
consumers. Last year, Musk announced that Tesla’s 2020 goal was “to do an example drive of full autonomy all the way from LA to New York…and have the car park itself.”
However, even Tesla admits that there are problems to overcome——the software needs further validation and the appropriate
regulatory
approval needs to be in place. Indeed, recent crashes of Tesla vehicles and Google cars confirm that the software isn’t ready yet.
The UK government appears committed to encouraging the development
of
autonomous
vehicles. It’s supporting four city trials, publishing the Modem Transport Bill to reduce red tape around their introduction and adapting the legal system to take into account problems such as insurance liability when a human isn’t in control of a vehicle.
The insurance industry is similarly
eager to
help
increase autonomy in cars. As the Association of British Insurers (ABI) points out, “More than 90 percent of road accidents are caused by human error.” This costs motor insurers a shocking ￡20m per
day in claims.
32. What difficulty does the company Tesla Motors have?
A. New inventions may cause more injuries and deaths.
B. The company lacks confidence to
make
new
creations.
C. The software should be made officially acceptable.
D. The traffic regulation has proved unreasonable.
33. What is the UK government’s
attitude
to
autonomous cars?
A. Ambiguous. B.
Positive.
C. Cautious. D. Disapproving.
34. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Insurance companies would
like
to
support autonomous cars.
B. Human mistakes may be the key cause of traffic accidents.
C. Traffic accidents
wastes insurance companies quite a lot.
D. Motorists are surprised to hear about autonomous cars.
35. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A. To show his deep love for autonomous cars.
B. To introduce a new development in technology.
C. To amuse readers with funny examples.
D. To provide a persuasive argument against autonomy.
第二节 （共5小题；每小题2 分，满分10分）
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余项。
【2020届内蒙古包钢第一中学高三适应性考试】Lavender essential oil (薰衣草精油) is obtained mostly from the flowers of the lavender plant. It has not only been used in making perfumes for many years
but also has various health benefits.
___36___
Lavender
essential oil is known as an excellent treatment for various
types
of
pains
including those caused by sore and tense muscles, muscular aches, backache, and so on. A study on postoperative pain relief showed that combining lavender essential oil vapor with the oxygen significantly reduced the amount of pain experienced.
Induce (引起) sleep. Frequent studies on elderly patients have shown an increase in their sleep regularity when their normal sleep medication is replaced with some lavender essential oil being placed on their
pillows.
___37___Therefore, it often replaces modern medicines for sleep issues.
Reduce mental stress and
anxiety. Lavender essential oil has a calming scent which makes it an excellent treatment for the nerve and anxiety issues. The refreshing aroma removes nervous exhaustion and restlessness
while
also
increasing mental activity. __38___
Provide hair care. ___39___A
Scottish
study
reported that more than 40% of alopecia(脱发)patients in the study reported an increase in hair growth when they regularly applied lavender essential oil to the skin under their hair. Therefore, lavender oil is sometimes recommended as a preventative measure for male pattern hairlessness.
___40___There
is
a
significant research on the effects
of
lavender, in
combination with
other
essential oils, as a way to prevent the occurrence of
吉林省松原高中2020届高三英语第一次模拟考试题（一）
