高考英语阅读理解全程基础训练（5）
阅读理解------B People who enjoy a dream-filled sleep are better at recalling information and making links between facts when waking. But recharging with a shallow (小睡) offers no such mental improvement, the research suggests. The results of the study added to the growing body of evidence that Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is very important to the brain’s ability to form strong memories.
An average night's rest includes four or five spells of REM sleep, but these bursts tend to be lengthier towards the end of the night. This means adults getting less than the recommended seven to eight hours a night -- and therefore inadequate REM sleep -- may be damaging their mind's ability to memorize: Although REM sleep is not classified as a type of deep sleep, it is only reached after the brain has passed through deep sleep stages.
In the recent study, participants were shown groups of three words --- such as “cookie”, “heart”, and “sixteen”----and asked to find another word that can be associated with all three words. They were tested once in the morning and then given the same task again in the afternoon. In between, some were allowed a nap with REM sleep, some a nap without REM sleep, while the others had a quiet rest period. The quiet rest and non-REM sleep groups didn't improve, but the REM sleep group improved on their morning performance by an average of almost 40 per cent.
Dr Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher at the University of California who led the study, believes the formation of connections between previously unassociated information in the brain occurs during REM sleep. People woken while their closed eyes made rapid movements recalled much more colorful and detailed dreams than people woken during other stages of sleep.
1. According to the passage, to have a good memory, a person had better _______ at night.
A. sleep four to five hours at most B. sleep as much as possible C. sleep with four or five periods of REM D. have a shallow sleep
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答案解析：答案为C。本题为细节题。由第二段 “An average night's rest includes four or five spells of REM sleep…This means adults getting less than the recommended seven to eight hours a night -- and therefore inadequate REM sleep -- may be damaging their mind's ability to memorize:”可知，REM 睡眠包括四个或者五个阶段，如果成年人睡眠少于七到八个小时，会伤害大脑的记忆力，故答案为C。
2. If you don’t sleep seven to eight hours at night very often, _______. A. you will tend to have longer periods of REM B. your strong memories might be ruined C. you will have an adequate REM sleep D. your mind can form strong memories
答案解析：答案为B。本题为细节题。结合上题的分析可知，如果睡眠少于七到八个小时，记忆力会受到伤害。故答案为B。
3. The third paragragh is mainly about _______ of the most recent study.
A. the process B. the results C. the participants D. the content
答案解析：答案为A。通读第三段可知，本段是关于研究的过程。故答案为A。 4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage? A. To explain the imortance of REM sleep to one’s memories B. To persuade readers to sleep seven to eight hours at night. C. To discuss the relationship between sleep and memories D. To introduce the new study on sleep and memories
答案解析：答案为D。本题考查作者的写作目的。本文第一段引入了REM 睡眠对人的记忆力的影响，第二段对其进行了具体介绍，第三段介绍了研究的过程，最后一段对REM 睡眠作出了进一步的解释，故答案为D，介绍一项睡眠和记忆的新研究。
阅读理解--------C
When Joan gave birth to the first boy in her family in three generations, she and her husband were overjoyed. So were her parents. Joan expected her elder sister, Sally, to be just as delighted as them. Joan had always admired Sally--the beauty and the star of the family--and felt happy about her achievements.
But since the baby's arrival, the sisters have become distant. Joan feels hurt
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for Sally seems completely uninterested in her baby. Sally, who has no children, claims that her younger sister \
Neither Sally nor Joan understands that the real cause of the current coldness is that their family roles have suddenly changed to the opposite. Finally Joan seems to be better than her elder sister--and Sally doesn't like it! Their distance may be temporary, but it shows that childhood competition don't fade easily as ages grow. It can remain powerful in relationships throughout life.
In a study of the University of Cincinnati,65 men and women between ages 25 and 93 were asked how they felt about their brothers and sisters. Nearly 75 percent admitted having hidden competitive feelings. In a few cases, these emotions were so strong as to have affected their entire lives.
Many adult brothers and sisters are close, supportive--yet still tend to compete. Two brothers I know turn into killers when on opposite sides of a tennis net. Off the court, they are the best of friends. My own younger sister can't wait to tell me when I've put on weight. However, she's a terrible cook and that pleases me; I tease her when she comes to dinner. Happily, despite these small failings, we have been an important resource for each other.
In between the very competitive and the generally supportive children lie those who say that no friendship should survive. Some brothers and sisters stay at arm's length, hut never give upcompetition completely. Why do these puzzling, unproductive, often painful relationships continue to exist? 36. When Joan's son was born, Sally. A. felt very happy B. was undelighted C. moved away D. admired her a lot 【答案】B
【解析】细节理解题。根据Sally seems completely uninterested in her baby. Sally感到不高兴，故选B。
37. What happens to children's desire to compete with their brothers and sisters?
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A. It sometimes will disappear when they grow up. B. It will never disappear throughout life.
C. It will improve their relationships when they grow up. D. It will never harm their relationships when they grow up. 【答案】B
【解析】细节理解题。根据it shows that childhood competition don't fade easily as ages grow. It can remain powerful in relationships throughout life.在他们的一生中都存在对孩子渴望的竞争，故选B。
38. What can we learn about the two brothers? A. They wanted to kill each other. B. They played tennis against others. C. They were enemies in their daily life. D. They were very good friends. 【答案】D
【解析】细节理解题。根据they are the best of friends.两个兄弟是好朋友，故选D。 39. Why does the author's sister often tell her when she's put on weight? A. Because she wants the author to go on a diet.
B. Because she wants the author to stop calling her a bad cook. C. Because she wants to make fun of the author's weight. D. Because she wants to be honest with the author. 【答案】C
【解析】细节理解题。根据I tease her when she comes to dinner. Happily, despite these small failings, we have been an important resource for each other.她想取笑作者的体重，故选C。
40. The underlined sentence means that although some brothers and sisters. A. live near each other, they still have competitions B. live away from each other, they stop their competitions C. live together, they often think of ending their competitions D. live within a big family, they often try to end their competitions 【答案】A
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【解析】句意理解题。根据In between the very competitive and the generally supportive children lie those who say that no friendship should survive.可推出兄弟姐妹虽然住得很近，但是他们之间仍然存在竞争，故选A。
阅读理解------B (2013·江苏，C)
If a diver surfaces too quickly, he may suffer the bends. Nitrogen(氮) dissolved (溶解)in his blood is suddenly liberated by the reduction of pressure. The consequence, if the bubbles (气泡)accumulate in a joint, is sharp pain and a bent body—thus the name. If the bubbles form in his lungs or his brain, the consequence can be death.
Other airbreathing animals also suffer this decompression(减压)sickness if they surface too fast: whales, for example. And so, long ago, did ichthy osaurs (鱿). That these ancient sea animals got the bends can be seen from their bones. If bubbles of nitrogen form inside the bone they can cut off its blood supply. This kills the cells in the bone, and consequently weakens it, sometimes to the point of collapse. Fossil(化石)bones that have caved in on themselves are thus a sign that the animal once had the bends.
Bruce Rothschild of the University of Kansas knew all this when he began a study of ichthyosaur bones to find out how widespread the problem was in the past. What he particularly wanted to investigate was how ichthyosaurs adapted to the problem of decompression over the 150 million years. To this end, he and his colleagues traveled the world's naturalhistory museums, looking at hundreds of ichthyosaurs from the Triassic period and from the later Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
When he started, he assumed that signs of the bends would be rarer in younger
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fossils, reflecting their gradual evolution of measures to deal with decompression. Instead, he was astonished to discover the opposite. More than 15% of Jurassic and Cretaceous ichthyosayurs had suffered the bends before they died, but not a single Triassic specimen(标本)showed evidence of that sort of injury.
If ichthyosaurs did evolve an antidecompression means, they clearly did so quickly—and, most strangely, they lost it afterwards. But that is not what Dr Rothschild thinks happened. He suspects it was evolution in other animals that caused the change.
Whales that suffer the bends often do so because they have surfaced to escape a predator (捕食动物)such as a large shark. One of the features of Jurassic oceans was an abundance of large sharks and crocodiles, both of which were fond of ichthyosaur lunches. Triassic oceans, by contrast, were mercifully sharkand crocodilefree. In the Triassic, then, ichthyosaurs were top of the food chain. In the Jurassic and Cretaceous, they were prey(猎物)as well as predator—and often had to make a speedy exit as a result.
文章大意：当下潜者突然浮出水面，血液中的氮气会突然释放出来，引起剧烈的疼痛和身体的弯曲。Bruce Rothschild研究为什么普遍存在的这种现象在早期鱼龙身上不存在，晚期的鱼龙身上就出现了。
5．Which of the following is a typical symptom of the bends? A．A twisted body.
B．A gradual decrease in blood supply. C．A sudden release of nitrogen in blood. D．A drop in blood pressure.
答案：A 推理判断题。根据第一段第二句话“The consequence, if the bubbles accumulate in a joint, is sharp pain and a bent body—thus the name”当血液中的氮气释放，聚集在关节处，结果就是剧烈的疼痛和身体的弯曲——这就是bends这个名字的由来。由此可知，bends的典型症状就是弯曲的身体。
6．The purpose of Rothschild's study is to see ________. A．how often ichthyosaurs caught the bends B．how ichthyosaurs adapted to decompression C．why ichthyosaurs bent their bodies D．when ichthyosaurs broke their bones
答案：B 细节理解题。根据第三段第二句话“What he particularly wanted to investigate was how ichthyosaurs adapted to the problem of decompression over the
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150 million years.”可得出答案。
7．Rothschild's finding stated in Paragraph 4 ________. A．confirmed his assumption B．speeded up his research process C．disagreed with his assumption D．changed his research objectives
答案：C 推理判断题。根据根据第四段第二句话“Instead，he was astonished to discover the opposite.”说明他的发现和他的假设是相反的。
8．Rothschild might have concluded that ichthyosaurs ________. A．failed to evolve an antidecompression means B．gradually developed measures against the bends C．died out because of large sharks and crocodiles D．evolved an antidecompression means but soon lost it
答案：A 推理判断题。根据最后一段，最初鱼龙处于食物链的顶端，没有动物捕杀它们，所以它们无需急剧浮出水面，因此无bends现象，但是到了鱼龙成为了猎物，所以有了bends现象，而它们没有跟着进化。
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高考英语阅读理解全程基础训练(5)
