科普类阅读2.doc

专题限时训练(三十九)　[科普知识型阅读理解(二)]
(限时：25分钟)

(一)
The forces that make Japan one of the world's most earthquake­prone(有地震倾向的) countries could become part of its long­term energy solution.
Water from deep below the ground at Japan's tens of thousands of hot springs could be used to produce electricity.
Although Japanese high­tech companies are leaders in geothermal(地热的) technology and export it, its use is limited in the nation.
“Japan should no doubt make use of its resources of geothermal energy，” said Yoshiyasu Takefuji, a leading researcher of thermal­electric power production.
The disastrous earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 caused a reaction against atomic power, which previously made up 30 percent of Japan's energy needs, and increased interest in alternative energies, which account for only 8 percent.
Artist Yoko Ono has called on Japan to explore its natural energy, following the example of Iceland which uses renewable energy for more than 80 percent of its needs.
For now, geothermal energy makes up less than 1 percent of the energy needs in Japan, which has for decades relied heavily on fossil fuels and atomic power.
The biggest problem to geothermal energy is the high initial cost of the exploration and constructing the factories.Another problem is that Japan's potentially best sites are already being developed for tourism or are located within national parks where construction is forbidden.
“We can't even dig 10cm inside national parks，” said Shigeto Yamada of Fuji Electric, adding that regulations protecting nature would need to be relaxed for geothermal energy to grow.
Researcher Hideaki Matsui said, “Producing electricity by using hot springs is a decades­long project.We also have to think about what to do for now as energy supplies will decline in the short term.”
The Earth Policy Institute in Washington, the US, believed Japan could produce 80，000 megawatts(兆瓦)and meet more than half its electricity needs with geothermal technology.
Japanese giants such as Toshiba are already global leaders in geothermal technology, with a 70 percent market share.In 2010, Fuji Electric built the world's largest geothermal factory in New Zealand.
1．What would be the best title for the text?
A．Alternative energies in Japan
B．The world's largest geothermal plant
C．Japan takes the lead in geothermal technology
D．Japan thinks of geothermal energy
2．What percentage of Japan's energy needs is geothermal energy?
A．About 8%. B．Below 1%.
C．Around 30%. D．Over 80%.
3．According to Shigeto Yamada, the growth of geothermal power in Japan needs ________．
A．a change of rules
B．financial support
C．local people's help
D．high technology
4．Geothermal energy is considered as a long­term program by ________．
A．Yoshiyasu Takefuji B．Hideaki Matsui
C．Shigeto Yamada D．Yoko Ono
5．It can be learned from the last two paragraphs that ________．
A．the world's biggest geothermal plant was built by America
B．Japan will not export its geothermal technology
C．the potential of Japan's geothermal energy is great
D．it is hard to find geothermal energy in Japan
(二)
Doctors sometimes prescribe light therapy to treat a form of depression in people who get too little morning sun. But too much light at other time may actually cause such mood disorders. Long­lasting exposure to light at night brings depression, a new study finds, at least in animals.
The new data confirm observations from studies of people who work night shifts, says Richard Stevens of the University of Connecticut Health Centre. Mood disorders join a growing list of problems, including cancer, obesity and diabetes—that can occur when light throws life out of balance by disturbing the biological clock and its timing of daily rhythms.
In the new study, Tracy Bedrosian and Randy Nelson of Ohio State University exposed mice to normal light and dark cycles for four weeks. For the next four weeks, half of the mice remained on this schedule, and the rest received continuous dim light throughout their night. Compared with mice exposed to normal nighttime darkness, those getting dim light at night lost their strong preference for sweet drinks，“a sign they no longer get pleasure out of activities they once enjoyed，” Bedrosian says.
In a second test, mice were clocked on how long they actively tried to escape a pool of water. Those exposed to night lights stopped struggling and just floated in the water, a sign of “behavioural despair”，10 times as long as the mice that had experienced normal nighttime darkness. All symptoms of depression disappeared within two weeks of the mice returning to a normal light­dark cycle, the researchers report. The scientists also could quash the behavioural symptoms by injecting (注射)the brains of animals with a drug that prohibits the activity of certain molecules linked with human depression. This finding further suggests that light at night may cause something related to depression.
Human studies linking nighttime light and mood disorders are important but can't easily detect molecular underpinnings (分子结构)as animal studies can，says George Brainard of Thomas Jefferson University. The new work, he says, suggests that the change of the biological clock by light at night can be “an extremely powerful force in regulating biology and behaviour”．
1．After being exposed to continuous nighttime light，the mice ________．
A．changed their preferences
B．escaped from the water more eagerly
C．remained active as before
D．showed less interest in their favourites
2．What does the underlined word “quash” in Para. 4 probably mean?
A．Study.　　B．Predict.　　C．Ease.　　D．Cause.
3．We can learn from the last paragraph that ________．
A．light at night may have practical value
B．the biological clock is beneficial to humans
C．human mood disorders cannot be healed easily
D．human studies are more important than animal studies
4．What is the main idea of the passage?
A．Nighttime light may foster depression.
B．A drug has been found to cure mood disorders.
C．The study on animals can be applied to humans.
D．Human biological clock can be controlled by light.
(三)
Housed in Milan, one of Europe's dirtiest cities, Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece The Last Supper still faces a threat from air pollution, researchers say, despite preventative measures that have significantly decreased pollutants in the church where the famous painting is on display.
In 2009, Italian authorities installed a heating, ventilation (通风) and air­conditioning system to protect the painting from Milan's polluted air. To see whether the system could improve air quality, a team of researchers led by Constantinos Sioutas, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, placed two air­quality monitors inside the church for a year to collect samples from around painting. Results showed the levels of fine and coarse particulates were reduced near the painting by 88 percent and 94 percent, respectively, compared with the corresponding outdoor levels. “It's a spectacular reduction，” Sioutas said in a statement. “It is, frankly, very impressive.”
Although the researchers applauded the successful decrease in particulates around da Vinci's painting, they warned that indoor sources of pollution may still pose a threat to the priceless painting. Fatty lipids (油脂) from the skin of customers in the church appeared in significant quantities around the painting, despite the fact that visitors getting access to the artwork are strictly regulated.
Only a few visitors are allowed inside the church at a time, and they enter the building and can stay for only 15 minutes each. However, fatty lipids from visitors' skin can combine with dust in the air and pollute the painting if they come in contact with it, says study researcher Nancy Daher of the University of Southern California.
Even previous restorations of the painting may pollute its surface, Daher said. Tiny particulates of the wax applied during early repair efforts can be emitted from the painting, get into the air and tarnish (使失去光泽) the painting in the same manner as the fatty lipids.
The researchers noted that their air­sample analysis could be used as a point of reference for future studies aimed at protecting valuable artwork and artefacts.
1．What does the underlined word “particulates” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A．The smallest parts of a chemical substance.
B．Things dirtier than usual.
C．Certain types of gas.
D．Extremely small pieces of dirt, which cause serious pollution.
2．According to the text, the following factors pollute the painting EXCEPT ________．
A．fatty lipids from the skin
B．tiny particles of the wax
C．breath of the visitors
D．dust in the air
3．According to the researchers, which of the following is NOT true of their air­sample analysis?
A. The air­sample analysis was got by gathering air in the church for a year.
B．The air­sample analysis showed that the painting was completely away from air pollution.
C．The air­sample analysis can be helpful for future studies protecting valuable artwork.
D．The air­sample analysis showed that the particulates around da Vinci's painting were decreased successfully.
4．What can be the best title of the text?
A．How to decrease levels of particulates effectively
B．The famous painting —da Vinci's The Last Supper
C．Keeping air pollution from damaging da Vinci's The Last Supper
D．How to protect artwork in households

专题限时训练(三十九)
(一)
【要点综述】文章主要讲述了日本正在考虑开发地热能。因为日本是地震多发国家，国家地热能非常丰富，所以地热能将是日本的新型替代能源。
1．D　主旨大意题。文章主要讲述了日本正在考虑开发地热能，围绕地热能的话题展开。故选D项。
2．B　细节理解题。从第七段“For now，geothermal energy makes up less than 1 percent of the energy needs in Japan，which has for decades relied heavily on fossil fuels and atomic power.”可知，日本地热能不到1%，主要依赖于化石燃料和原子能。故选B项。
3．A　细节理解题。从倒数第四段“…adding that regulations protecting nature would need to be relaxed for geothermal energy to grow.”可知，要开发地热能需要将现行的规章制度进行改变，故选A项。
4．B　细节理解题。从“Researcher Hideaki Matsui said，‘Producing electricity by using hot springs is a decades­long project…”可知，Hideaki Matsui 认为地热能是个长期的项目，故选B项。
5．C　推理判断题。从最后两段可知，日本在地热能方面有着巨大的潜力，故选C项。
(二)
【要点综述】光照疗法可以治疗抑郁症，但是，新的研究表明长期暴露于夜晚的灯光也可带来抑郁症，这项研究至少在动物身上得到了验证。
1．D　细节理解题。根据“Compared with mice exposed to normal nighttime darkness，those getting dim light at night lost their strong preference for sweet drinks…”可知，那些在夜晚持续接受暗淡灯光的老鼠失去了对于甜饮料的浓厚喜好，即没有那么喜欢甜饮料了，故选D项。
2．C　词义猜测题。通过原文quash前面also可以断定，quash的意思等于前面一句话的意思，即症状消失了，故选ease“缓解，减轻”。
3．A　推理判断题。根据最后一句可知，灯光可以影响生物钟，生物钟的改变可以影响行为，故选择A项。
4．A　主旨大意题。根据文章首段“Doctors sometimes prescribe light therapy to treat a form of depression in people who get too little morning sun.But too much light at other time may actually cause such mood disorders.”可知，本文主要讨论nighttime light与mood disorder或depression的关系，故A项正确。
(三)
【要点综述】保存在意大利米兰市一家教堂的达·芬奇名画《最后的晚餐》受到空气污染的影响。虽采取了措施使教堂空气质量得到提高，但仍存在一些污染隐患。
1．D　词义猜测题。综合分析文章及该词所在句子，可推知该词意为“颗粒(污染)物”。
2．C　细节理解题。根据文章信息可知，对名画《最后的晚餐》带来污染的因素主要有参观者皮肤上的油脂、修复时产生的蜡颗粒及空气中的灰尘等。
3．B　细节理解题。从文章第一、二段可知，虽然教堂室内环境大为改善，但这幅伟大的画作仍受到各种污染物的威胁。
4．C　主旨大意题。综合分析文章可知，本文主要介绍如何保护达·芬奇的名画《最后的晚餐》免受污染物的影响，故C项为标题最佳。