【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 of the world39。s current species. Because we are living through this extinction, it is relatively easy for us to study the driving forces behind it. But how do we determine what caused other mass dieoffs that happened long ago? To do so we have to look at what archaeologists, palaeontologists, geologists and other scientists have concluded from the evidence they have gathered. The trouble is, those scientists do not always agree with one another —— even about the most recent extinction event. As well as the fiveor six mass extinctions, there have also been many smaller extinctions. One of these mini extinction events happened towards the end of the Pleistocene, a few tens of thousands of years ago. It is sometimes called the ＂megafaunal＂ extinction because many of the species it claimed were particularly large animals, weighing more than 97lb (44kg). However, its cause remains a debate amongst scientists.（1）What can we learn about the sixth mass extinction？ A.Humans are the main cause of it.B.It means a global decline over a long time.C.It occurred towards the end of the Pleistocene.D.Scientists still disagree about the cause of it.（2）What can be inferred from the text about species？ A.99% of species will not be around any more by 2100.B.By the 22nd century, there will probably be about five million on this planet.C.About eight years later we will enter what is called the ＂Anthropocene＂.D.It is not easy for us to figure out causes behind the＂Anthropocene＂.（3）Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word in the last paragraph ? A.Land animals.B.Marine life.C.Huge animals.D.Flesheating creatures.【答案】（1）A（2）B（3）C 【解析】【分析】本文是一篇說明文，許多科學(xué)家認為，我們正經(jīng)歷著地球史上第六次大規(guī)模物種滅絕，主要原因是人類的過度捕獵、過度捕撈和人類棲息地的喪失。但是，各個科學(xué)家對過去物種滅絕原因有著不同的看法，即便是最近的一次小規(guī)模物種滅絕——大型動物滅絕，有關(guān)的滅絕原因，科學(xué)家仍在爭論。(1)考查細節(jié)理解。第三段提到大規(guī)模物種滅絕是在a relatively short period of time，所以B錯誤；最后一段提到大型動物的滅絕發(fā)生在the end of the Pleistocene，而第六次大規(guī)模物種滅絕是當(dāng)下正在發(fā)生的，所以C錯誤；根據(jù)第三段中的＂They call this current episode the sixth mass extinction —— a large, global decline in a wide variety of species over a relatively short period of time. And they tend to agree that humans are the main cause.＂可知，科學(xué)家認為人類是第六次大規(guī)模物種滅絕的主要原因，沒有不同意見，因此D錯誤，因此選A。(2)考查推理判斷。根據(jù)第一段中的“There might be as many as 10 million species of plex life on this planet today ”，以及第四段中的＂By 2100, it is expected that humans will have caused the extinction of up to half of the world39。s current species.＂可知，到22世紀(jì)，地球還會有目前物種的1/2會滅絕，也就是10million的半，即five million，因此選B。(3)考查詞義猜測。根據(jù)最后一段中的＂because many of the species it claimed were particularly large animals, weighing more than 97lb (44kg).＂可推知 ＂megafaunal＂應(yīng)為大型動物，因此選C?！军c評】本題考點涉及細節(jié)理解，詞義猜測和推理判斷三個題型的考查，是一篇科普類閱讀，考生需要準(zhǔn)確捕捉細節(jié)信息，并根據(jù)上下文進行邏輯推理，選出正確答案。5．閱讀理解 Weighing too much can damage your health, and obesity is a growing problem for both kids and adults around the world. Sleep might be one answer to the problem. A new study has found that elementary school students who slept too little were more likely to gain pounds. Past studies have shown a link between sleeping less and weighing more, but scientists have had a tough time determining which came first, the chicken or the egg, says Julie C. Lumeng of the university of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In other words, it hasn39。t been clear whether kids who weigh too much have trouble sleeping, or whether sleeping less leads to weight gain. Both scenarios (可能出現(xiàn)的情況) seemed equally possible. To get a better idea of which causes which, Lumeng and her colleagues interviewed the parents of 785 third graders from around the United States. The parents answered questions about how well their kids slept that year. Three years later, the parents answered the same questions. By sixth grade, 18percent of kids involved in the study were obese. The scientists found no relationship between weight and the students39。 race or gender. It also didn39。t matter how strict their parents were, or whether they were boys or girls. Obesity struck all of these groups equally. Instead, sleep seemed to be the key factor. Over the three years of study, the children averaged a healthy 9. 5 hours of sleep a night. Some kids, however, slept a lot more or less than others. For the sixth graders, every hour of sleep above the 9. 5houraverage was linked to a 20 percent lower risk of being obese. Sleep appeared doubly important for the third graders. Every extra hour of sleep they got was linked to a 40 percent drop in obesity.（1）What does the underlined sentence on paragraph 2 imply? A.Scientists have found the exact causes of children39。s obesity.B.There is always something difficult to understand through theoryC.The cause–effect relationship between weight and sleep isn39。t clear.D.A person39。s weight has something to do with the amount of his sleep.（2）What did the interview find out? A. hours of sleep a night is enough for children.B.The more a child sleeps, the healthier he will be.C.Sixth graders need much more sleep than third graders.D.One39。s race or gender has nothing to do with his weight.（3）How does the author develop the passage? A.By listing figuresB.By paring different opinionsC.By providing examplesD.By conducting a survey（4）What is the suitable title for the passage? A.The benefits of enough sleep for childrenB.Sleeping less increases the risk of obesityC.Which es first, little sleep or obesityD.How many hours of sleep do children need?【答案】（1）C（2）D（3）A（4）B 【解析】