高一英语时文阅读限时训练
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It’s a popular belief that fish can’t remember anything for longer than seven seconds.
It may seem sad to think that they don’t remember what they’ve eaten or where they’ve been, and they don’t recognize you or any of their friends – every moment in their lives would be like seeing the world for the first time.
But don’t be so quick to feel sorry for them. A recent study has found that fish have much better memories than we used to think. In fact, certain species of fish can even remember events from as long as 12 days ago, BBC reported.
In the study, researchers from MacEwan University in Canada trained a kind of fish called African cichlids (非洲丽鱼科鱼) to go to a certain area of their tank (缸) to get food. They then waited for 12 days before putting them back in the tank again.
This suggested that they could remember their past experiences. Researchers used computer software to monitor (监视) the fish’s movements. They found that after such a long break the fish still went to the same place where they first got food.
In fact, scientists had been thinking for a long time that African cichlids might
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have a good memory.
An earlier study showed that they behaved aggressively (攻击性地) in front of certain fish, perhaps because they remembered their past fights. But until the latest findings, there was no clear evidence.
Just as a good memory can make our lives easier, it also plays an important part when a fish is trying to survive in the wild.
“If fish are able to remember that a certain area contains safe food, they will be able to go back to that area without putting their lives in danger,” lead researcher Trevor Hamilton told Live Science.
For a long time, fish were placed far below chimpanzees, dolphins and mice on the list of smart animals. But this study has given scientists a new understanding of their intelligence.
So next time you are watching your pet fish from outside the tank, perhaps you should feel closer to them – they may remember who you are.
1. What is the article mainly about?
A. Fish having very bad memories.
B. Fish being smarter than we thought.
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C. How fish improve their memories.
D. What we humans can learn from fish.
2. What belief did people have in the past?
A. Fish can’t recognize any of their friends.
B. Fish can’t remember for longer than three minutes.
C. Fish can only remember part of their experiences.
D. Fish can remember things that happened 12 days ago.
3. How do fish benefit most from a good memory?
A. They can remember their enemies and fight.
B. They can remember where to get food and survive.
C. They can remember their friends and help each other.
D. They can remember where to escape to when in danger.
B
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You are walking down the street. Suddenly it starts to rain and you don’t have an umbrella. What do you do? Run or walk?
Most people would choose to run because it will get you out of the rain faster. But if you run, you also run into more raindrops. So what should you do?
Things are more complicated than you might think. Franco Bocci, a professor at the University of Brescia in Italy, found that whether you should travel slowly or quickly in rain depends on the wind’s direction and your body’s shape, according to the BBC.
When there is no wind, and the rain falls directly on you, Bocci suggests that you should run and hide as fast as possible.
But if the wind comes from behind and blows the rain onto your back, the best thing to do is walk at the same speed as the wind. This way, both your front and back will stay mostly dry.
This is not all. When the wind blows in from the side, you’ll have to think about one more thing – your body shape. Thinner people are hit by fewer raindrops. In this case, a fatter person had better run while a thinner person should still try to match their speed to the wind.
“In general, the best thing is to run, as fast as you can – not always, but in general,” Bocci told BBC News. “If you’re really thin, it’s more probable that
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there will be an optimal speed. Otherwise, it is better to run fast.” In fact, the question of how to hide away from the rain has puzzled scientists for many years. Back in 1987, they thought that running or walking did not really make a difference. Years later they realized that wind direction might be a factor (因素). And here, more complicated study results have been found by Bocci.
Now you know what to do next time the rain catches you in the middle of the street. But the best way to stay dry is still to carry an umbrella.
4. According to Franco Bocci’s study, whether you should run in the rain depends on ______.
①the wind’s direction
②your body’s size
③how fast you can run
④how heavy the rain is
A. ①② B. ③④ C. ①③ D. ②④
5. According to the article, which is the best way to stay as dry as possible on a rainy day?
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A. If there is no wind, walk at your usual speed.
B. If the wind is from behind, run as fast as you can.
C. If the wind is from the front, fat people should match the speed of the wind.
D. If the wind is from the side, thin people should match the speed of the wind.
6. What does the underlined word “optimal” probably mean?
A. Fastest B. slowest C. best D. possible
7. What opinion did scientists have before Bocci’s study?
A. Running was always the best choice to stay as dry as possible.
B. It was best to always carry an umbrella with you.
C. Wind direction had more influence than running speed.
D. Running or walking made no difference to people caught in the rain.
C
When was the last time you heard a “male (男性的)” voice assistant(助手)? Chances are never, as most of the artificial intelligence (AI, 人工智能) we’re used
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to hearing is “female”, like Apple’s Siri Amazon’s Alexa. However, a new UN study argues that this shows a negative gender bias (性别歧视).
The UNESCO report has looked into the effect of having female voice assistants, saying they encourage the idea that women typically hold assistant jobs and that they should be “docile (温顺的)”.
“Because the speech of most voice assistants is female, it sends a signal that women are obliging (乐于助人的), docile and eager-to-please helpers, available at the touch of a button or with a blunt (生硬的) voice command like ‘hey’ or ‘OK’,” said the report.
Meanwhile, by naming voice assistants with traditionally female names, like Alexa and Siri, tech companies have also strengthened stereotypes (刻板印象) of women, according to the report. For example, in Norwegian (挪威语), Siri means “a beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, according to The Week magazine.
The stereotypes caused by female voice assistants have raised concerns.
“Stereotypes do matter because they come back to affect how young girls and young women see themselves and the way they have dreams and aspirations (愿望) for the future. It’s almost like going back to the image of women that was held in the 1950s or 1960s,” UNESCO’s gender equality director, Saniye Gulser Corat, told Time magazine.
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It’s believed that the problem is a result of the fact that there are not so many women workers in the tech field.
Currently, 80 percent of AI professors are men, while just 15 percent of AI research workers at Facebook and 10 percent at Google are women, according to a New York University report in April.
“These mistakes happen because you do not have the diverse teams and diversity of thought,” Allison Gardner, a co-founder of Women Leading in AI, a UK think tank, told The New York Times.
To deal with the problem, some technologists have been designing a genderless digital (数字的) voice, reported BBC News. The report also calls for more women to be involved (参与) in the tech field.
“A more gender-equal digital space is a distinct possibility, but to realize this future, women need to be involved in the inception (开始) and implementation (实施) of technology,” noted the report.
BY JOE WILLETTS,
21ST CENTURY TEENS STAFF
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Stereotyping technology?
It’s claimed that speakers sometimes talk to “female” virtual assistants in an insulting way and receive answers that may offend women.
8. What image of women do the voice assistants present?
A. Serious. B. Smart. C. Full of energy. D. Willing to follow orders.
9. What do we know about Alexa from the article?
A. It’s Amazon’s voice assistant.
B. She is an Amazon employee.
C. She is an attractive woman from Norwegian tales.
D. It’s a name coined by the Apple company.
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10. Why are tech companies’ voice assistants mostly “female”?
A. Females are often more helpful than men.
B. It’s easier to design female voices with computers.
C. People are more relaxed when hearing female voices.
D. There are not enough female workers in tech companies.
11. What are technologists doing to solve the gender bias problem?
A. Forming female-only research teams.
B. Working on genderless voice technology.
C. Adding male voice assistants to their products.
D. Changing female voice assistant names to male names.
D
I was at the market at 5 pm, the worst time of day to shop, to pick up a few essentials: cream for coffee, eggs for breakfast and Advil for my headache.
I’d been rushing all day doing jobs for people. I did not want to be shopping,
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to say the least. But I told myself it was my last stop before going home to put my feet up.
So I scored a parking place, grabbed a bag from the trunk (后备箱) and found a shopping cart.
The market wasn’t as crowded as I had expected. I grabbed a package of linguini (意粉) and some pesto (松子青酱).
That’s when I saw her. She was sitting in a shopping cart. She looked to be maybe 9 months old. Short blond curls, blue eyes. A white lace dress and shiny black shoes.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Then I did what I always do with children: I gave her my best smile. I may have looked a bit mad, but it came from my heart.
That is a habit I formed long ago when I became a mother. It started with my first child, in that unforgettable, life-changing moment of her birth.
At times my smile would fade to a look of fear or worry, but it never left my face for long. It always came back, even through tears.
I’ve learned that everyone needs a smile sometimes, young and old, friends and strangers, even strangers at the market in a rush to get home.
She took her time deciding just what to make of my smile. But finally, she lit
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up.
I laughed and waved goodbye. And she blew me a kiss.
That put a smile on my face that got a smile in return from every shopper I passed.
I was still smiling when I got home and realized I’d forgotten to get Advil. Luckily, I didn’t need it. My headache was gone.
Somehow, in that simple exchange of smiles, this weary (使人厌烦的) old world became a better place.
Want to change the world? Try smiling. Someone will smile back at you. I guarantee (保证) it.
If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll even blow you a kiss and make your headache go away.
By Sharon Randall
12. What can we know about the author from the first four paragraphs?
A. She couldn’t wait to go shopping.
B. She didn’t know what to shop at the market.
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C. She was disappointed at the goods in the market.
D. She didn’t want to go to the market at that time.
13. What does the underlined word “that” refer to?
A. Shopping in the afternoon.
B. Suffering from a headache.
C. Smiling at kids she meets.
D. Observing different people.
14. What happened to the author after seeing the girl?
A. She thought about her childhood.
B. She got blank looks from others.
C. She no longer felt low.
D. She wanted to kiss the girl.
15. What is the main purpose of this article?
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A. To show how to find joy in daily shopping.
B. To share her thoughts on smiling in a story.
C. To recall happy times with her children.
D. To show how to communicate with children.
A篇BAB
B篇 ADCD
C篇DABA
D篇DCCB
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