Yet walking upright has its disadvantage. The bone structure of our ancestors developed for millions of years to support a creature that walked on all fours and has a relatively small head. Adjusting to an upright position was quite a challenge, especially when the bones had to support an extra-large skull. Humankind paid for its broad vision and skillful hands backaches and painful necks.
We assume that a large brain makes huge advantages. It seems obvious that these have made humankind the most powerful animal on earth. But humans enjoyed all of these advantages for a full 2 million years during which they remained weak and marginal creature. Thus humans who lived a million years ago despite their big brains and sharp stone tools, lived in constant fear of meat-eating animals.
The Cost of Thinking ? Large brains for their bodies and the ability to walk Introduction upright are two ___71___ of human beings. ? The larger brains may not be better because of the cost. ? The big brains make it harder for the body to move The ___72___ of around and consume more energy. large human brains ? The animal brain requires less ___73___ when the body is at rest. ? Large human brains consume more food, and weaken muscles. ? Walking upright makes it easy to find food or ___75___ against enemies. ? Freed hands can serve some ___76___ purpose and The ___74___ of walking upright ? Walking upright challenges the human bone structure, and ___77___ the size of brains. ? Walking upright results in ___78___ sufferings. ? With a large brain, human beings ___79___ other beings in terms of intelligence. Conclusion ? Weak and marginal, human beings remained ___80___ of meat-eating animals.
【答案】71. characteristics 72. disadvantages
73. energy 74. impact(s) 75. guard 76. other 77. limits 78. physical 79. beat 80. fearful/afraid 【解析】
perform complex tasks. 本文为记叙文。主要叙述人用大脑思考的代价。人类与动物相比有两大特点：大大的大脑和直立行走。超大的大脑使人类拥有更高的智商，但却消耗巨大的能量。直立行走让人类擅长寻找食物和抵御敌人，解放了的双手来更复杂的事。但却让人类遭受腰痛和颈部疼痛等。人类成为地球上最强大的动物，享受无与伦比的优势，却对食肉动物怀有恐惧。 【71题详解】
考查信息归纳。根据第一段“all human beings share defining characteristics ,such as large brains and the ability to walk upright on two legs.”可知，大脑袋和双腿直立行走的能力是人类共有的特点(characteristics)。故填characteristics。 【72题详解】
考查信息归纳。72题就是对第三段内容的总结。第三段主要叙述了人类的大脑大的缺点。因此本空格填写disadvantages。 【73题详解】
考查信息来源。根据第三段中的“a huge brain is a huge drain--consumption of energy ”以及“It (the brain) consumes 25% of the body’s energy when the body is at rest.By comparison the brains of apes require only 8% of rest- time energy”可知，人类巨大的大脑是一个巨大的能量消耗。 当身体处于休息时，大脑要消耗25%的身体能量。相比之下，类人猿的大脑只需要8%的休息时间能量。人类与动物相比，动物需要的能量（energy）要比人类少。故填energy。 【74题详解】
考查信息归纳题。分析空后的75--78小题所在的第五段和第六段的内容可知，此部分主要叙述了直立行走对人类的影响。故填impact(s)。 【75题详解】
考查考查信息转换。根据第五段的第一句“Another unique human characteristic is that we walk upright. Standing up, it’s easier to find food or enemies.”可知，另一个独特的人类特征是我们直立行走。站起来，更容易找到食物或敌人。找到敌人，就是为了防御敌人。因为or为连词，在此句中连结两个动词短语，故空格填动词。“guard against...”为固定搭配，意为“防御......”，故本空填写guard。 【76题详解】
考查信息来源。根据第五段中的”...their arms that are unnecessary for moving around are freed for other purposes ,like throwing stones or signaling. As a result, humans can perform very complex tasks with their hands. ”可知，解放了的双手可以用于做其它的事，即有其它的目的。故填other。 【77题详解】
考查信息归纳。根据第五段“walking upright has disadvantages. The bone structure of our ancestors developed for millions of years to support a creature that walked on four and a relative small head. Adjusting to an upright position was quite a challenge , especially when the bones had to support an extra -large skull.” 可知，直立行走也有缺点。我们祖先进化了上百亿年，?骼也只能支撑四肢行走和有一个相对较小的头。直立行走对人类的骨架是一个相当大的挑战，限制了人的头脑的大小。故本空填limits。 【78题详解】
考查信息转换。根据第六段“..., Humankind paid for its vision and skillful hands with backaches and painful necks.” 可知，直立对人类的骨架是一个相当大的挑战，人类为自己的视力和灵巧的双手付出了代价，换来的是腰酸背痛和脖子疼痛。由此得出，直立导致
身体方面的(physical)痛苦，故填physical。 【79题详解】
根据最后一段“We assume that a large brain makes huge advantages.It seems obvious that these have made humankind the most powerful animal on earth.”可知，我们假设大脑越大，优势越大。很明显，这些使得人类成为地球上最强大的动物。由此可推断出我们的大脑比动物大，在智力方面人类比动物更聪明，即在智力方面击败了(beat)其他动物。故本空填beat。 【80题详解】
根据最后一段“...humans enjoyed all of these advantages for a full 2 million years during which they weak and marginal creatures. Thus humans who lived a million years ago, despite their big brains and sharp stone tools, lived in constant fear of meat--eating animals.”可知，尽管人类享受着所有这些优势，但也是弱小的生物。因此尽管拥有巨大的大脑和锋利的石器，但也曾经对食肉动物仍旧害怕/恐惧。因为空前是系动词，故本空要填形容词(afraid/fearful)可知，此处要填名词，故填fearful/afraid。
第五部分: 书面表达(满分25 分)
81.请阅读下面文字，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
Li Jiang:Have you heard this？A group of exchange students from the UK are visiting our school next month.
Su Hua:Yes，I have. Some are already recommending the traditional Chinese dress for the welcome ceremony.
Li Jiang:But it seems people have different opinions.
2024年高考江苏卷英语试题（含答案）
