And anyway, who would want to fire streams of rockets in a populated area? ‘What goes up must come down,’ points out Jean-Claude Diels of the University of New Mexico. Diels is leading a project, which is backed by EPRI, to try to use lasers to discharge lightning safely — and safety is a basic requirement since no one wants to put themselves or their expensive equipment at risk. With around 0,000 invested so far, a promising system is just emerging from the laboratory.

　　The idea began some 20 years ago, when high-powered lasers were revealing their ability to extract electrons out of atoms and create ions. If a laser could generate a line of ionisation in the air all the way up to a storm cloud, this conducting path could be used to guide lightning to Earth, before the electric field becomes strong enough to break down the air in an uncontrollable surge. To stop the laser itself being struck, it would not be pointed straight at the clouds. Instead it would be directed at a mirror, and from there into the sky. The mirror would be protected by placing lightning conductors close by. Ideally, the cloud-zapper (gun) would be cheap enough to be installed around all key power installations, and portable enough to be taken to international sporting events to beam up at brewing storm clouds.

　　A stumbling block

　　However, there is still a big stumbling block. The laser is no nifty portable: it’s a monster that takes up a whole room. Diels is trying to cut down the size and says that a laser around the size of a small table is in the offing. He plans to test this more manageable system on live thunderclouds next summer.

　　Bernstein says that Diels’s system is attracting lots of interest from the power companies. But they have not yet come up with the million that EPRI says will be needed to develop a commercial system, by making the lasers yet smaller and cheaper. ‘I cannot say I have money yet, but I’m working on it,’ says Bernstein. He reckons that the forthcoming field tests will be the turning point — and he’s hoping for good news. Bernstein predicts ‘a(chǎn)n avalanche of interest and support‘ if all goes well. He expects to see cloud-zappers eventually costing ,000 to 0,000 each.

　　Other scientists could also benefit. With a lightning ‘switch’ at their fingertips, materials scientists could find out what happens when mighty currents meet matter. Diels also hopes to see the birth of ‘interactive meteorology’ — not just forecasting the weather but controlling it. ‘If we could discharge clouds, we might affect the weather,’ he says.

　　And perhaps, says Diels, we’ll be able to confront some other meteorological menaces. ‘We think we could prevent hail by inducing lightning,’ he says. Thunder, the shock wave that comes from a lightning flash, is thought to be the trigger for the torrential rain that is typical of storms. A laser thunder factory could shake the moisture out of clouds, perhaps preventing the formation of the giant hailstones that threaten crops. With luck, as the storm clouds gather this winter, laser-toting researchers could, for the first time, strike back.

　　Questions 1-3

　　Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

　　Write the correct letter in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

　　1 The main topic discussed in the text is

　　A the damage caused to US golf courses and golf players by lightning strikes.

　　B the effect of lightning on power supplies in the US and in Japan.

　　C a variety of methods used in trying to control lightning strikes.

　　D a laser technique used in trying to control lightning strikes.

　　2 According to the text, every year lightning

　　A does considerable damage to buildings during thunderstorms.

　　B kills or injures mainly golfers in the United States.

　　C kills or injures around 500 people throughout the world.

　　D damages more than 100 American power companies.

　　3 Researchers at the University of Florida and at the University of New Mexico

　　A receive funds from the same source.

　　B are using the same techniques.

　　C are employed by commercial companies.

　　D are in opposition to each other.

　　Questions 4-6

　　Complete the sentences below.

　　Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

　　Write your answers in boxes 4-6 on your answer sheet.

　　4 EPRI receives financial support from ..................... .

　　5 The advantage of the technique being developed by Diels is that it can be used.....................

　　6 The main difficulty associated with using the laser equipment is related to its.....................

　　Questions 7-10

　　Complete the summary using the list of words, A-I, below.

　　Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

　　In this method, a laser is used to create a line of ionization by removing electrons from 7 ..................... . This laser is then directed at 8 ..................... in order to control electrical charges, a method which is less dangerous than using 9..................... . As a protection for the lasers, the beams are aimed firstly at 10 ..................... .

　　A cloud-zappers B atoms C storm clouds

　　D mirrors E technique F ions

　　G rockets H conductors I thunder

　　Questions 11-13

　　Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

　　In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet write

　　YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

　　No if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

　　NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

　　11 Power companies have given Diels enough money to develop his laser.

　　12 Obtaining money to improve the lasers will depend on tests in real storms.

　　13 Weather forecasters are intensely interested in Diels’s system.

　　READING PASSAGE 2

　　You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

　　The Nature of Genius

　　There has always been an interest in geniuses and prodigies. The word ‘genius’, from the Latin gens (= family) and the term ‘genius’, meaning ‘begetter’, comes from the early Roman cult of a divinity as the head of the family. In its earliest form, genius was concerned with the ability of the head of the family, the paterfamilias, to perpetuate himself. Gradually, genius came to represent a person’s characteristics and thence an individual’s highest attributes derived from his ‘genius’ or guiding spirit. Today, people still look to stars or genes, astrology or genetics, in the hope of finding the source of exceptional abilities or personal characteristics.

　　The concept of genius and of gifts has become part of our folk culture, and attitudes are ambivalent towards them. We envy the gifted and mistrust them. In the mythology of giftedness, it is popularly believed that if people are talented in one area, they must be defective in another, that intellectuals are impractical, that prodigies burn too brightly too soon and burn out, that gifted people are eccentric, that they are physical weaklings, that there’s a thin line between genius and madness, that genius runs in families, that the gifted are so clever they don’t need special help, that giftedness is the same as having a high IQ, that some races are more intelligent or musical or mathematical than others, that genius goes unrecognised and unrewarded, that adversity makes men wise or that people with gifts have a responsibility to use them. Language has been enriched with such terms as ‘highbrow’, ‘egghead’, ‘blue-stocking’, ‘wiseacre’, ‘know-all’, ‘boffin’ and, for many, ‘intellectual’ is a term of denigration.

　　The nineteenth century saw considerable interest in the nature of genius, and produced not a few studies of famous prodigies. Perhaps for us today, two of the most significant aspects of most of these studies of genius are the frequency with which early encouragement and teaching by parents and tutors had beneficial effects on the intellectual, artistic or musical development of the children but caused great difficulties of adjustment later in their lives, and the frequency with which abilities went unrecognised by teachers and schools. However, the difficulty with the evidence produced by these studies, fascinating as they are in collecting together anecdotes and apparent similarities and exceptions, is that they are not what we would today call norm-referenced. In other words, when, for instance, information is collated about early illnesses, methods of upbringing, schooling, etc., we must also take into account information from other historical sources about how common or exceptional these were at the time. For instance, infant mortality was high and life expectancy much shorter than today, home tutoring was common in the families of the nobility and wealthy, bullying and corporal punishment were common at the best independent schools and, for the most part, the cases studied were members of the privileged classes. It was only with the growth of paediatrics and psychology in the twentieth century that studies could be carried out on a more objective, if still not always very scientific, basis.

　　Geniuses, however they are defined, are but the peaks which stand out through the mist of history and are visible to the particular observer from his or her particular vantage point. Change the observers and the vantage points, clear away some of the mist, and a different lot of peaks appear. Genius is a term we apply to those whom we recognise for their outstanding achievements and who stand near the end of the continuum of human abilities which reaches back through the mundane and mediocre to the incapable. There is still much truth in Dr Samuel Johnson’s observation, ‘The true genius is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular direction’. We may disagree with the ‘general’, for we doubt if all musicians of genius could have become scientists of genius or vice versa, but there is no doubting the accidental determination which nurtured or triggered their gifts into those channels into which they have poured their powers so successfully. Along the continuum of abilities are hundreds of thousands of gifted men and women, boys and girls.

　　What we appreciate, enjoy or marvel at in the works of genius or the achievements of prodigies are the manifestations of skills or abilities which are similar to, but so much superior to, our own. But that their minds are not different from our own is demonstrated by the fact that the hard-won discoveries of scientists like Kepler or Einstein become the commonplace knowledge of schoolchildren and the once outrageous shapes and colours of an artist like Paul Klee so soon appear on the fabrics we wear. This does not minimise the supremacy of their achievements, which outstrip our own as the sub-four-minute milers outstrip our jogging.

　　To think of geniuses and the gifted as having uniquely different brains is only reasonable if we accept that each human brain is uniquely different. The purpose of instruction is to make us even more different from one another, and in the process of being educated we can learn from the achievements of those more gifted than ourselves. But before we try to emulate geniuses or encourage our children to do so we should note that some of the things we learn from them may prove unpalatable. We may envy their achievements and fame, but we should also recognise the price they may have paid in terms of perseverance, single-mindedness, dedication, restrictions on their personal lives, the demands upon their energies and time, and how often they had to display great courage to preserve their integrity or to make their way to the top.

　　Genius and giftedness are relative descriptive terms of no real substance. We may, at best, give them some precision by defining them and placing them in a context but, whatever we do, we should never delude ourselves into believing that gifted children or geniuses are different from the rest of humanity, save in the degree to which they have developed the performance of their abilities.

　　Questions 14-18

　　Choose FIVE letters, A-K.

　　Write the correct letters in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

　　NB Your answers may be given in any order.

　　Below are listed some popular beliefs about genius and giftedness.

　　Which FIVE of these beliefs are reported by the writer of the text?

　　A Truly gifted people are talented in all areas.

　　B The talents of geniuses are soon exhausted.

　　C Gifted people should use their gifts.

　　D A genius appears once in every generation.

　　E Genius can be easily destroyed by discouragement.

　　F Genius is inherited.

　　G Gifted people are very hard to live with.

　　H People never appreciate true genius.

　　I Geniuses are natural leaders.

　　J Gifted people develop their greatness through difficulties.

　　K Genius will always reveal itself.

　　Questions 19-26

　　Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

　　In boxes 19-26 on your answer sheet, write

　　TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

　　FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

　　NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

　　19 Nineteenth-century studies of the nature of genius failed to take into account the uniqueness of the person’s upbringing.

　　20 Nineteenth-century studies of genius lacked both objectivity and a proper scientific approach.

　　21 A true genius has general powers capable of excellence in any area.

　　22 The skills of ordinary individuals are in essence the same as the skills of prodigies.

　　23 The ease with which truly great ideas are accepted and taken for granted fails to lessen their significance.

　　24 Giftedness and genius deserve proper scientific research into their true nature so that all talent may be retained for the human race.

　　25 Geniuses often pay a high price to achieve greatness.

　　26 To be a genius is worth the high personal cost.

　　READING PASSAGE 3

　　You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 on the following pages.

　　Questions 27-32

　　Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A-G.

　　Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.

　　Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

　　List of Headings

　　i The biological clock

　　ii Why dying is beneficial

　　iii The ageing process of men and women

　　iv Prolonging your life

　　v Limitations of life span

　　vi Modes of development of different species

　　vii A stable life span despite improvements

　　viii Energy consumption

　　ix Fundamental differences in ageing of objects and organisms

　　x Repair of genetic material

　　Example Answer

　　Paragraph A v

　　27 Paragraph B

　　28 Paragraph C

　　29 Paragraph D

　　30 Paragraph E

　　31 Paragraph F

　　32 Paragraph G

　　HOW DOES THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK TICK?

　　A Our life span is restricted. Everyone accepts this as ‘biologically’ obvious. ‘Nothing lives for ever!’ However, in this statement we think of artificially produced, technical objects, products which are subjected to natural wear and tear during use. This leads to the result that at some time or other the object stops working and is unusable (‘death’ in the biological sense). But are the wear and tear and loss of function of technical objects and the death of living organisms really similar or comparable?

　　B Our ‘dead’ products are ‘static’, closed systems. It is always the basic material which constitutes the object and which, in the natural course of things, is worn down and becomes ‘older’. Ageing in this case must occur according to the laws of physical chemistry and of thermodynamics. Although the same law holds for a living organism, the result of this law is not inexorable in the same way. At least as long as a biological system has the ability to renew itself it could actually become older without ageing; an organism is an open, dynamic system through which new material continuously flows. Destruction of old material and formation of new material are thus in permanent dynamic equilibrium. The material of which the organism is formed changes continuously. Thus our bodies continuously exchange old substance for new, just like a spring which more or less maintains its form and movement, but in which the water molecules are always different.

　　C Thus ageing and death should not be seen as inevitable, particularly as the organism possesses many mechanisms for repair. It is not, in principle, necessary for a biological system to age and die. Nevertheless, a restricted life span, ageing, and then death are basic characteristics of life. The reason for this is easy to recognise: in nature, the existent organisms either adapt or are regularly replaced by new types. Because of changes in the genetic material (mutations) these have new characteristics and in the course of their individual lives they are tested for optimal or better adaptation to the environmental conditions. Immortality would disturb this system — it needs room for new and better life. This is the basic problem of evolution.

　　D Every organism has a life span which is highly characteristic. There are striking differences in life span between different species, but within one species the parameter is relatively constant. For example, the average duration of human life has hardly changed in thousands of years. Although more and more people attain an advanced age as a result of developments in medical care and better nutrition, the characteristic upper limit for most remains 80 years. A further argument against the simple wear and tear theory is the observation that the time within which organisms age lies between a few days (even a few hours for unicellular organisms) and several thousand years, as with mammoth trees.

　　E If a life span is a genetically determined biological characteristic, it is logically necessary to propose the existence of an internal clock, which in some way measures and controls the ageing process and which finally determines death as the last step in a fixed programme. Like the life span, the metabolic rate has for different organisms a fixed mathematical relationship to the body mass. In comparison to the life span this relationship is ‘inverted’: the larger the organism the lower its metabolic rate. Again this relationship is valid not only for birds, but also, similarly on average within the systematic unit, for all other organisms (plants, animals, unicellular organisms).

　　F Animals which behave ‘frugally’ with energy become particularly old, for example, crocodiles and tortoises. Parrots and birds of prey are often held chained up. Thus they are not able to ‘experience life’ and so they attain a high life span in captivity. Animals which save energy by hibernation or lethargy (e.g. bats or hedgehogs) live much longer than those which are always active. The metabolic rate of mice can be reduced by a very low consumption of food (hunger diet). They then may live twice as long as their well fed comrades. Women become distinctly (about 10 per cent) older than men. If you examine the metabolic rates of the two sexes you establish that the higher male metabolic rate roughly accounts for the lower male life span. That means that they live life ‘energetically’ — more intensively, but not for as long.

　　G It follows from the above that sparing use of energy reserves should tend to extend life. Extreme high performance sports may lead to optimal cardiovascular performance, but they quite certainly do not prolong life. Relaxation lowers metabolic rate, as does adequate sleep and in general an equable and balanced personality. Each of us can develop his or her own ‘energy saving programme’ with a little self-observation, critical self-control and, above all, logical consistency. Experience will show that to live in this way not only increases the life span but is also very healthy. This final aspect should not be forgotten.

　　Questions 33-36

　　Complete the notes below.

　　Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

　　Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

　　? Objects age in accordance with principles of 33 .....................and of 34 .....................

　　? Through mutations, organisms can 35 ..................... better to the environment

　　? 36 .....................would pose a serious problem for the theory of evolution

　　Questions 37-40

　　Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

　　In boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet, write

　　YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

　　NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

　　NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

　　37 The wear and tear theory applies to both artificial objects and biological systems.

　　38 In principle, it is possible for a biological system to become older without ageing.

　　39 Within seven years, about 90 per cent of a human body is replaced as new.

　　40 Conserving energy may help to extend a human’s life.

　　劍橋雅思閱讀8原文參考譯文(test3)

　　TEST 3 PASSAGE 1 參考譯文：

　　用激光回?fù)糸W電

　　很少有比雷暴天氣更令人感到恐怖的天氣了。僅在美國(guó)，猛烈的雷暴電流每年都會(huì)造成大約500人死亡或重傷。云層翻滾而來的時(shí)候，在戶外打一場(chǎng)輕松的高爾夫成了一件異?？膳碌氖虑?，無(wú)異于是在拿自己的性命開玩笑——孤身一人在戶外的高爾夫球手可能是閃電最喜歡攻擊的目標(biāo)。此外，閃電也會(huì)帶來財(cái)產(chǎn)損失。每年閃電會(huì)對(duì)美國(guó)電力公司造成超過一億美元的損失。

　　不過，美國(guó)和日本的研究人員正在策劃回?fù)糸W電的方案。他們已開始通過實(shí)驗(yàn)測(cè)試中和雷暴電荷的各種方法。今年冬天，他們將直面雷暴：使用配備的激光器射向空中的雨云，使其在閃電出現(xiàn)之前放電。

　　迫使雨云根據(jù)指令釋放閃電并非一個(gè)新想法。早在20世紀(jì)60年代早期，研究者們就嘗試過把帶著拖曳線的火箭射入雨云，以期為這些云層發(fā)出的龐大的電荷群搭建起便捷的放電路徑。由于受到建在加利福尼亞的電力研究所(EPRI)的支持，這一技術(shù)在佛羅里達(dá)的州立大學(xué)試驗(yàn)基地幸存到了今天。EPRI由電力公司資助，現(xiàn)正致力于研究保護(hù)美國(guó)輸電網(wǎng)不受閃電襲擊的方法?！拔覀兛梢酝ㄟ^火箭讓閃電擊向我們想讓它去的地方，”EPRI的閃電項(xiàng)目經(jīng)理Ralph Bernstein如此說道。該火箭基地現(xiàn)在能對(duì)閃電電壓進(jìn)行精確測(cè)量，并可以讓工程師們檢測(cè)電氣設(shè)備的負(fù)載。

　　不良行為

　　雖然火箭在研究中功不可沒，但它們無(wú)法提供閃電來襲時(shí)所有人都希求的保護(hù)。每支火箭造價(jià)大約 1,200美元，發(fā)射頻率有限，而失敗率卻高達(dá)40%。即使它們確實(shí)能夠引發(fā)閃電，事情也無(wú)法總是按計(jì)劃順利進(jìn)行?！伴W電可不那么聽話”，Bernstein說，“它們偶爾會(huì)走岔路，射到它們本不該去的地方?！?/p>

　　但不管怎樣，有誰(shuí)會(huì)想在人口密集的地區(qū)發(fā)射成群的火箭呢? “射上去的肯定會(huì)掉下來，”新墨西哥大學(xué)的Jean-Claude Diels指出。Diels現(xiàn)在正在負(fù)責(zé)一個(gè)項(xiàng)目，該項(xiàng)目由ERPI所支持，試圖通過發(fā)射激光使閃電安全放電——安全是一項(xiàng)基本要求，因?yàn)闆]人愿意把他們自己的性命或他們的昂貴設(shè)備置于危險(xiǎn)之中。有了迄今為止的50萬(wàn)美元的投入，一套有巨大潛力的系統(tǒng)裝置正在該實(shí)驗(yàn)室慢慢成形。

　　這一系統(tǒng)裝置的想法始于大約20年前，當(dāng)時(shí)正在開發(fā)大功率激光器從原子中提取電荷并生成離子的能力。如果激光器能夠生成一條直達(dá)暴雨云的離子線，就可以在閃電電場(chǎng)增強(qiáng)為一股無(wú)法控制的涌流并擊破空氣之前，用這條傳導(dǎo)通道把電荷引導(dǎo)到地面上來。為了防止激光器本身受到電擊，不能把它直接對(duì)準(zhǔn)云層，而是要把它對(duì)準(zhǔn)一面鏡子，讓激光通過鏡子折射向天空。要在靠近鏡子的四周布置閃電傳導(dǎo)器從而 對(duì)其進(jìn)行保護(hù)。理想的做法是，云層遙控器(槍)要比較廉價(jià)，以便能夠把它們安裝在所有重點(diǎn)電力設(shè)備周圍;另外還要方便攜帶，以便在國(guó)際運(yùn)動(dòng)賽事場(chǎng)地中用于使逐漸聚積的雨云失去威力。

　　絆腳石

　　可是，仍存在巨大的絆腳石。激光器并不方便攜帶：它是個(gè)能占據(jù)整個(gè)房間的龐然大物。Diels一直想要縮小它的體積，并表示很快就會(huì)有小型桌子大小的激光器了。他計(jì)劃在明年夏天用真正的雨云來實(shí)際測(cè)試這個(gè)更容易操作的激光系統(tǒng)。

　　Bernstein表示，Diels的激光系統(tǒng)正在引起各電力公司的廣泛興趣。但他們還沒有準(zhǔn)備好EPRI提出的500萬(wàn)美元——開發(fā)一個(gè)讓激光器更小巧、價(jià)格也更便宜的商用系統(tǒng)的所需資金。Bernstein說：“我還不能 說我已經(jīng)拿到錢了，但是我正在為之努力?！彼J(rèn)為，即將進(jìn)行的實(shí)地測(cè)試會(huì)成為一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)，而且他也在期待著好消息。Bernstein預(yù)言，如果一切順利，這將吸引“排山倒海般的興趣和支持”。他希望看到云層遙控器的最終價(jià)格能定在每臺(tái)5萬(wàn)到10萬(wàn)美元之間。

　　其他科學(xué)家也能從中受益。如果手上有了控制閃電的“開關(guān)”，材料科學(xué)家就可以了解強(qiáng)大的電流遇到物質(zhì)時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)生什么現(xiàn)象。Diels也希望看到“互動(dòng)氣象學(xué)”問世——不僅僅是預(yù)測(cè)天氣，而且能控制天氣。“如果我們能使云層放電，我們也許就能左右天氣，”他說。

　　而且也許，Diels說，我們將能夠?qū)挂恍┢渌臍庀笸{?！拔覀冋J(rèn)為我們也許能通過引導(dǎo)閃電來阻止冰雹，”他說。雷，來自于閃電的沖擊波，被認(rèn)為是大暴雨——典型的雷暴天氣——的觸發(fā)器。一個(gè)激光雷工廠可以把水汽從云層中震出，這樣也許可以阻止威脅莊稼的大冰雹的形成。如果運(yùn)氣好的話，在今年冬天雨云聚積的時(shí)候，持有激光器的研究者們就能第一次對(duì)其進(jìn)行回?fù)袅恕?/p>

　　TEST 3 PASSAGE 2 參考譯文：

　　天才的本質(zhì)

　　一直以來，天才和神童都倍受人們關(guān)注。genius一詞源于拉丁語(yǔ)“gens”(=家族);拉丁語(yǔ)詞條“genius”意 為“父”，來自于羅馬早期，當(dāng)時(shí)人們對(duì)一種祌明狂熱崇拜，并尊其為家族的首領(lǐng)。在genius的最初形態(tài)中， 它與家族首領(lǐng)——也就是一家之長(zhǎng)——永生的能力有關(guān)。后來，genius逐漸被用來表示人的特點(diǎn);再后來，genius便用以指代一個(gè)人從他的“父親”或精神領(lǐng)袖身上所傳承的最佳特質(zhì)。今天，人們?nèi)匀蛔硇挠趯?duì)星相和基因的研究，希望能夠通過占星術(shù)或遺傳學(xué)找到出色能力和個(gè)人特征的來源。

　　天才和天賦的概念已經(jīng)成了民間文化的一部分，但人們對(duì)其所持的態(tài)度卻是矛盾的。我們羨慕天才卻不信任他們。在天才的神話里，人們普遍認(rèn)為：如果人們?cè)谀撤矫婧苡刑熨x，那么他們一定會(huì)在其他方面有所不足;知識(shí)分子往往不切實(shí)際;神童過于才華橫溢而早早地“泯然眾人矣”;天才往往秉性古怪;天才的體質(zhì)都很孱弱;天才和瘋子只有一線之隔;天賦是家族遺傳的;天才很聰明，所以不需要任何特別的幫助;天才和高智商是一回事;有些種族比其他人更聰明、更有音樂天賦或更有數(shù)學(xué)頭腦;天才總被埋沒, 得不到應(yīng)有的回報(bào);逆境出英才;天才有責(zé)任運(yùn)用他們的天賦。英語(yǔ)中有很多這樣的表達(dá)，如：highbrow (自以為文化修養(yǎng)很高的人)，egghead(書呆子)，blue-stocking(女學(xué)者)，wiseacre(自以為聰明的人)，know-all(自以為無(wú)所不知的人)，boffin(科學(xué)家);另外，對(duì)于很多人來說intellectual是一個(gè)貶義詞。

　　19世紀(jì)，人們對(duì)于天才的本質(zhì)表現(xiàn)出相當(dāng)大的興趣，而且做了不少針對(duì)著名神童的研究?；蛟S現(xiàn)在對(duì)于我們來說，大部分對(duì)天才的研究中包含以下兩個(gè)最重要的方面：其一，早期教育中父母和教師對(duì)孩子進(jìn)行的頻繁的鼓勵(lì)和教導(dǎo)對(duì)孩子在智力、藝術(shù)或音樂方面的發(fā)展是有益的，但這也給孩子以后對(duì)生活的適應(yīng)方面帶來了巨大的困難;其二，老師和學(xué)校常常認(rèn)識(shí)不到孩子所具備的才能。盡管在研究中搜集的軼聞趣事、顯著相似點(diǎn)以及例外狀況都頗為吸引人，但是，想要利用這些研究得出的證據(jù)也有一定困難，因?yàn)樗鼈儾环衔覀兘裉焖^的常模參照。換句話說，比如當(dāng)我們?cè)谒鸭嘘P(guān)早期疾病、養(yǎng)育方式、學(xué)校教育等信息時(shí)，我們也要考慮到在其他的歷史資料中所記載的、關(guān)于這種情況在當(dāng)時(shí)有多么普 遍或不尋常的信息。例如，當(dāng)時(shí)的嬰兒死亡率很高，人的壽命也比今天短得多，家教對(duì)于貴族和富裕家庭司空見慣，恃強(qiáng)凌弱和體罰在最好的私立學(xué)校里也屢見不鮮，而且大多數(shù)的研究對(duì)象來自特權(quán)階級(jí)。直到20世紀(jì)，隨著兒科學(xué)和心理學(xué)的發(fā)展，相關(guān)研究才得以在更加客觀的基礎(chǔ)上進(jìn)行——盡管依然并不總是很科學(xué)。

　　無(wú)論如何進(jìn)行定義，天才只不過是從歷史的迷霧之中凸顯出來的一座座山峰，只有特定的觀察者通過他們特殊的角度才能看到。而改變觀察者和視角，撥開些許迷霧，許多不同的山峰出現(xiàn)在眼前。我們用“天才”這個(gè)詞來指代那些因其出色成就而被我們所認(rèn)可的人，那些人幾乎處在了人類能力連續(xù)體的頂端，往下依次是平凡者、平庸者和無(wú)能者。Samuel Johnson博士的觀察還是頗有道理的：“真正的天才在各方面都擁有著巨大的潛能，很偶然地被決定了向一個(gè)特定的方向發(fā)展?！钡覀兛赡軙?huì)對(duì)“各方面”這一點(diǎn)有所保留，因?yàn)槲覀儜岩墒欠袼刑觳乓魳芳叶伎梢猿蔀樘觳趴茖W(xué)家，反之亦然。但是有一點(diǎn)毋庸置疑：正是偶然的決定培養(yǎng)或觸發(fā)了他們的才能，使之有了用武之地，讓他們可以成功地把自己的能量注入其中。在蕓蕓眾生之中，有能之士成千上萬(wàn)，有男有女，有成人也有孩童。

　　天才的作品或神童的成就令人欣賞、喜愛和驚嘆之處在于其體現(xiàn)了他們的技能和本領(lǐng)，這些技能和本領(lǐng)雖然與我們的相似，但遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于我們的水平。然而事實(shí)可以證明他們的智力和我們的并非迥然不同，比如，像Kepler和Einstein這樣的科學(xué)家歷盡艱辛所取得的科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)現(xiàn)已成為學(xué)童的常識(shí)性知識(shí);像Paul Klee 這樣的畫家所創(chuàng)造的曾經(jīng)非比尋常的形狀和顏色很快就出現(xiàn)在了我們穿著的面料上。當(dāng)然，這并沒有降低天才成就的價(jià)值。他們的成就與普通人的相比就好像在四分鐘內(nèi)跑完一英里的運(yùn)動(dòng)員之于普通慢跑者一樣，前者遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超越了后者。

　　只有在承認(rèn)了每個(gè)人的大腦都是獨(dú)特的這一前提下，認(rèn)為天才和有天賦者的大腦獨(dú)一無(wú)二、異于常人這一想法才能算是合理的。教育的目的就在于使我們更加與眾不同，而在受教育的過程中，我們可以從比我們更有天賦的人的成就中學(xué)有所得。但是，在效仿天才或鼓勵(lì)我們的孩子這樣做之前，我們應(yīng)該注意到，從他們身上學(xué)到的某些東西結(jié)果可能并不令人愉快。我們可能會(huì)羨慕他們的成就和名譽(yù)，但是也應(yīng)該看到他們?yōu)榇怂冻龅拇鷥r(jià)，看到他們的鍥而不舍，專心致志，獻(xiàn)身精神，自我約束，他們對(duì)自己時(shí)間和精力的嚴(yán)格要求，以及多少次他們不得不表現(xiàn)出極大的勇氣來保持自身的正直或艱難地走成功。

　　天才和天賦只是具有相對(duì)意義的描述性術(shù)語(yǔ)，并沒有實(shí)質(zhì)內(nèi)容。我們頂多可以通過對(duì)其進(jìn)行定義并將其置于某一語(yǔ)境中來賦予它們一些準(zhǔn)確的意思。但是，無(wú)論怎樣做，我們都不能蒙蔽自己，認(rèn)為神童或天才與其他人不一樣，只是他們對(duì)自己能力表現(xiàn)開發(fā)的程度與我們不同而已。

　　TEST 3 PASSAGE 3 參考譯文：

　　生物鐘如何工作?

　　A我們的壽命是有限的。每個(gè)人都已經(jīng)接受了這一點(diǎn)，因?yàn)閺摹吧飳W(xué)”角度來講這是顯而易見的。“沒有什么會(huì)永生! ” 然而，在這句話中，我們想到了那些人造的技術(shù)產(chǎn)品，這些產(chǎn)品在使用過程中會(huì)產(chǎn)生自然磨損。這就意味著它們終究會(huì)有一天停止工作、不能用了(生物學(xué)意義上的“死亡”)。但這些技術(shù)產(chǎn)品的磨損及功能喪失與生物體的死亡這兩者之間真的具有相似性或可比性嗎?

　　B我們所謂“死掉”的產(chǎn)品是指一些“靜態(tài)的”、封閉的系統(tǒng)。構(gòu)成物體的基本材料總是會(huì)在自然過程中逐漸磨損，變得“老化”。根據(jù)物理化學(xué)和熱力學(xué)的規(guī)律，在這種情況下老化是必然的。雖然相同的規(guī)律也適用于生物體，但這一規(guī)律并不會(huì)以同樣的方式產(chǎn)生不可抗拒的結(jié)果。至少只要一個(gè)生物系統(tǒng)有能力自我更新，它就確實(shí)能夠不斷成長(zhǎng)但不會(huì)老化;生物體是一個(gè)開放、動(dòng)態(tài)的系統(tǒng)，新物質(zhì)會(huì)通過這個(gè)系統(tǒng)不斷流動(dòng)。因此舊物質(zhì)的消逝和新物質(zhì)的形成總是處于永久的動(dòng)態(tài)平衡中。形成生物體的物質(zhì)不斷改變，于是我們體內(nèi)的舊物質(zhì)也持續(xù)不斷地被新物質(zhì)替換，就像噴泉，它能大體上保持自身的形態(tài)和運(yùn)動(dòng)狀態(tài)，但是其中的水分子總是不同的。

　　C因此，老化和死亡不該被看作是不可避免的，尤其當(dāng)生物體擁有許多修復(fù)機(jī)制時(shí)。從理論上講，一個(gè)生物體的老化和死亡不是必然的。盡管如此，有限的壽命，衰老，然后死亡構(gòu)成了生命的基本特征。原因則顯而易見：本質(zhì)上，現(xiàn)存的生物體要么適應(yīng)環(huán)境，要么有規(guī)律地被新的物種代替。因?yàn)榛蛭镔|(zhì)的變化(突變)，生物體擁有了新的特征，并且個(gè)體生命的過程也在考驗(yàn)它們對(duì)周圍的環(huán)境條件是否有最佳的或更好的適應(yīng)性。永生可能會(huì)打亂這個(gè)系統(tǒng)，因?yàn)樗枰獮樾碌?、更好的生命提供空間。這就是進(jìn)化。

　　D每個(gè)生物體都有極具特色的壽命。不同的物種其壽命也有著顯著差別，但在同一物種中，這個(gè)參數(shù)相對(duì)恒定。例如，幾千年來人類的平均壽命幾乎沒變。雖然由于醫(yī)療服務(wù)的發(fā)展和營(yíng)養(yǎng)的改善，越來越多的人達(dá)到高齡，但對(duì)大多數(shù)人來說人類普遍的壽命上限仍是80歲。此外，對(duì)抗簡(jiǎn)單磨損理論的另一個(gè)論點(diǎn)認(rèn)為，生物體老去的時(shí)間短則幾天(對(duì)單細(xì)胞生物來說甚至是幾小時(shí))，長(zhǎng)則幾千年，比如巨杉。

　　E如果壽命是一個(gè)由基因決定的生物特征，那么按照邏輯我們就有必要提出這樣一個(gè)觀點(diǎn)：生物體內(nèi)存在一個(gè)內(nèi)部時(shí)鐘，這個(gè)時(shí)鐘以某種方式測(cè)量和控制著衰老的進(jìn)程，并且最終決定這一固定程序的最后一步：死亡。就像壽命，對(duì)于不同的生物體，其代謝速率跟體重有一個(gè)固定的數(shù)據(jù)關(guān)系。同壽命相比，這個(gè)關(guān)系是“反向的”：生物體體重越大，其代謝速率越低。另外，這個(gè)關(guān)系不僅適用于鳥類，由于系統(tǒng)單元內(nèi)的情況大體類似，因此也適用于其他所有生物體(植物、動(dòng)物、單細(xì)胞生物)。

　　F那些在能量消耗方面比較“節(jié)約”的動(dòng)物壽命尤其長(zhǎng)，例如鱷魚和烏龜。鸚鵡和猛禽經(jīng)常被鎖鏈栓著，因此往往不能“體驗(yàn)生活”，于是在圈養(yǎng)狀態(tài)下獲得了較長(zhǎng)的壽命。有些能通過冬眠或嗜睡來保存能量的動(dòng)物(例如蝙蝠或刺猬)通常比那些總是很活躍的動(dòng)物活得更長(zhǎng)久。老鼠的代謝速率可以通過減少食物消耗量(饑餓飲食法)來降低，他們的壽命可能比那些平日吃飽喝足的同類壽命長(zhǎng)一倍。另外，女性的壽命很明顯比男性的壽命長(zhǎng)(大約10%)。如果研究?jī)尚缘拇x速率，你會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)男性代謝速率較高，這就意味著男性的壽命較短，也就是說他們?cè)谏钪斜容^耗費(fèi)能量——比女性活動(dòng)更為劇烈，但生命持續(xù)的時(shí)間沒有女性長(zhǎng)。

　　G從上面的討論可以看出，節(jié)約使用我們的能量?jī)?chǔ)備應(yīng)該可以延長(zhǎng)壽命。極端的劇烈運(yùn)動(dòng)可能會(huì)讓心血管功能達(dá)到最佳狀態(tài)，但肯定不會(huì)延長(zhǎng)壽命。放松下來可以降低代謝率，而充足的睡眠及大體平和的性格也會(huì)起到相同的作用。只要進(jìn)行一些自我觀察、嚴(yán)格的自我控制，尤其重要的是保持邏輯連貫性，我們每個(gè)人都能發(fā)展自己的“節(jié)能程序”。經(jīng)驗(yàn)表明這樣的生活方式不僅能夠延年益壽，而且非常健康。最后這點(diǎn)絕對(duì)不要忘記。

　　劍橋雅思閱讀8原文解析(test3)

　　Passage 1

　　Question 1

　　答案： D

　　關(guān)鍵詞： main topic

　　定位原文: 文章標(biāo)題

　　解題思路: 通過標(biāo)題知道整篇文章的主旨是“通過激光來回?fù)糸W電”，因此答案是 D 選項(xiàng),意思為 “一種用于控制閃電襲擊的激光技術(shù)”，屬于對(duì)標(biāo)題的同義替換。

　　Question 2

　　答案： A

　　關(guān)鍵詞： every year lightening

　　定位原文： 第1段內(nèi)容

　　解題思路： 本題考查關(guān)于每年閃電情況的細(xì)節(jié),可 定位于第一段。B 選項(xiàng)可以通過 golfer 一詞來定 位,也在第一段,原文意思是“孤單的高爾夫球 手或許將是閃電之箭最為有吸引力的目標(biāo)”,選 項(xiàng) B“在美國(guó)主要?dú)⑺阑蛘邆Ω郀柗蚯蚴帧备?變了原意 ;C 和 D 選項(xiàng)可以分別通過 500,100 這兩個(gè)數(shù)字來定位到第一段,但是 C 選項(xiàng)中將原 文 in the United States 偷換成了 throughout the world,因此不對(duì);D中將原文的0 million 偷換成 100 companies,也不對(duì)。通過對(duì)第一段 的概括,可以知道閃電帶來的影響是非常大的, 因此答案是 A。

　　Question 3

　　答案： A

　　關(guān)鍵詞： University of Florida, University of New Mexico

　　定位原文： 第三段和第五段內(nèi)容

　　解題思路： 題目問的是 University of Florida 和 University of New Mexico 的研究員的關(guān)系。通 過 University of Florida 和 University of New Mexico 分別定位至第三段和第五段。對(duì)兩處論 述進(jìn)行對(duì)比,不難得出兩者共同之處是“從同一來源獲得經(jīng)費(fèi)”，都是 EPRI。答案是 A。

　　Question 4

　　答案： power companies

　　關(guān)鍵詞： EPRI, financial support

　　對(duì)應(yīng)原文： 第3段第4句“EPRI, which is funded…”

　　解題思路： 用EPRI定位到文章第三段，EPRI第一次出現(xiàn)之后即指出其是由電力公司資助的，原文中的funded 等同于題干中的 receives financial support from, 因此答案應(yīng)該填power companies。注意不要寫成單數(shù)。

　　Question 5

　　答案： safely

　　關(guān)鍵詞： Diels, advantage

　　定位原文： 第5段第3句“...to try to use lasers to…”

　　解題思路： 用人名Diels在文中定位到第五段，從題目看出這里應(yīng)填入一個(gè)副詞，所以可以在人名周圍尋找 use或者use的替換詞，并且在其周圍找?guī)в?ly形式的詞，這樣正確答案safely很快就能浮出水面了。

　　Question 6

　　答案: size

　　關(guān)鍵詞: difficulty, laser equipment

　　定位原文: 第7段第1、2句“…The laser is no nifty…”

　　解題思路： 這道題目的定位稍微有一些困難，需要將 difficulty一詞與文章中的stumbling block聯(lián)系起來，進(jìn)而找到第七段中的laser一詞。文中提到，該激光設(shè)備并不方便攜帶，它是個(gè)體積占據(jù)了一整間房間的龐然大物。看到這里，通過理解，考生們可以想到激光設(shè)備最大的問題就是體積太大，不好攜帶，所以正確答案是size。

　　Question 7

　　答案： B

　　關(guān)鍵詞： removing electrons

　　定位原文： 第6段第1句“...to extract electrons out…”

　　解題思路： 本題關(guān)鍵是要理解題目中的remove...from...與文中的extract...out of...屬于同義替換，這里要表達(dá)的是從原子(atoms)中提取電荷(electrons)。

　　Question 8

　　答案: C

　　關(guān)鍵詞: then, control electrical charges

　　定位原文: 第6段第2句“If a laser could generate a line of ionization in the air all the way up to a storm cloud...”

　　解題思路： 注意文中g(shù)enerate是“產(chǎn)生”的意思;directed at對(duì)應(yīng)文中的 all the way up to，其后的 a storm cloud即對(duì)應(yīng)空格處要填的內(nèi)容。因此正確答案是C。

　　Question 9

　　答案: G

　　關(guān)鍵詞: less dangerous than

　　定位原文: 第4段和第5段內(nèi)容

　　解題思路：解答本題需要對(duì)文章有一個(gè)提煉,第 9 題問的是激光是相對(duì)于哪種方式更加有安全 的技術(shù)。根據(jù)第四段和第五段可以知道，第四段說火箭發(fā)射的缺點(diǎn)，第五段說出于安全性的考慮開始使用激光，因此答案應(yīng)該是火箭(rockets)。

　　Question 10

　　答案: D

　　關(guān)鍵詞： protection, aimed firstly

　　定位原文： 第6段第3、4句“To stop the laser…”

　　解題思路: protection對(duì)應(yīng)文中的 stop...being struck; at是解題關(guān)鍵詞，即使不知道文中的directed和題目中的aimed是同義詞，也可以從詞組的形式上看出來兩者是同位的，其后的名詞即為答案。由此可知答案是D。

　　Question 11

　　答案: NO

　　關(guān)鍵詞: Diels, enough money

　　定位原文: 第8段第3句“‘I cannot say I have…”

　　解題思路: “I cannot say I have money yet, but I am working on it”( “我還不能說我已經(jīng)拿到錢了，但是我正在為之努力?！?看到這句話，再聯(lián)系上句：Bernstein says that Diels’ system is attracting lots of interest from the power companies. But they have not yet come up with the million that EPRI says will be needed to develop a commercial system...(Bernstein表示，Diels的激光系統(tǒng)正在引起各電力公司的廣泛興趣。但他們還沒有準(zhǔn)備EPRI提出的500萬(wàn)美元——開發(fā)一個(gè)……的商用系統(tǒng)的所需資金。)這兩句話足以證明Diels系統(tǒng)還沒有得到足夠的資金支持。

　　Question 12

　　答案： YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞： depend on tests in real storms

　　定位原文： 第8段第4句“He reckons…”

　　解題思路： 根據(jù)第八段Bernstein的話可知,他認(rèn)為即將來臨的實(shí)地測(cè)驗(yàn)將是轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn),他希望有好消息。如果一切進(jìn)展順利，Bernstein 預(yù)測(cè)關(guān)注和支持將潮涌而來。題目表述符合文意。

　　Question 13

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　關(guān)鍵詞： Diels, weather forecasters

　　定位原文： 第9段最后兩句“Diels also hopes…”

　　解題思路： 文章第九段雖然提到了天氣預(yù)報(bào)，即Diels希望將來看到“交互式氣象學(xué)”， 不僅是預(yù)報(bào)天氣，還可以控制天氣 ;但是卻并沒有提到過 weather forecasters 的態(tài)度，他們也許感興趣,也許不感興趣，無(wú)從判斷。

　　Test 3 Passage 2

　　Question 14-Question 18

　　答案: B C F H J

　　關(guān)鍵詞: popular beliefs

　　定位原文: 第2段整體內(nèi)容

　　解題思路: A 對(duì)應(yīng)“if people are talented…”意思是“如果一個(gè)人在某一方面具有天賦,他們必然在另一方面有缺陷”因此天才并非是在各個(gè)領(lǐng)域都具備天賦的，A錯(cuò)誤;B對(duì)應(yīng)“prodigies burn…” 意思是“神童只是曇花一現(xiàn)”B選項(xiàng)正確;C對(duì)應(yīng)“people with gifts..” 言下之意也就是有天賦的人需要使用他們的天賦，C正確;F對(duì)應(yīng)“genius runs in families” 也就是說天賦是遺傳的，F(xiàn)對(duì);H對(duì)應(yīng)“we envy the gifted..”說明人們并不會(huì)真正欣賞天才，H正確;J對(duì)應(yīng)“adversity makes…” 說明天才在困境中發(fā)展其天賦， J正確;其他選項(xiàng)沒有提及。

　　Question 19

　　答案: TRUE

　　關(guān)鍵詞： nineteen-century, studies

　　定位原文：第3段內(nèi)容

　　解題思路: 本題需要通讀第3段，可以得知，原文只提到了研究會(huì)考慮 the method of upbringing，但是沒有考慮到 uniqueness of the person’s upbringing，題目表述符合文意。

　　Question 20

　　答案: TRUE

　　關(guān)鍵詞： nineteen-century, objectivity

　　定位原文： 第3段最后1句“It was only with…”

　　解題思路： 通過本句首先可以推測(cè)出19世紀(jì)關(guān)于天才的研究缺乏客觀性，然后通過if still not always very scientific得知，連20世紀(jì)有關(guān)天才的研究都并不總是很科學(xué)，那么就更別提19世紀(jì)的研究了，因此可以推測(cè)出本題正確答案是TRUE。

　　Question 21

　　答案： FALSE

　　關(guān)鍵詞： general powers, area

　　定位原文：第4段第5句“We may disagree…”

　　解題思路：定位句的意思是“但我們可能會(huì)對(duì)“各方面”這一點(diǎn)有所保留，因?yàn)槲覀儜岩墒欠袼械奶觳乓魳芳叶伎梢猿蔀樘觳趴茖W(xué)家，反之亦然?！边@句話表明了作者對(duì)于所謂全能型天才的質(zhì)疑，正好與題干的表述相反，故答案應(yīng)該是 FALSE。

　　Question 22

　　答案： TRUE

　　關(guān)鍵詞： skills, ordinary individuals, prodigies

　　定位原文：第5段第1句“What we appreciate,…”

　　解題思路：天才的技能和普通人的技能在本質(zhì)上是相似的，盡管在表現(xiàn)上不一樣。題目表述符合文意。

　　Question 23

　　答案： TRUE

　　關(guān)鍵詞： truly great ideas

　　定位原文：第5段最后兩句“But that their minds…”

　　解題思路： 作者先是舉出數(shù)個(gè)例子來說明天才偉大的思想或者作品已經(jīng)成為日常生活中司空見慣的東西，這就對(duì)應(yīng)了題目的前半句the ease...，接著又提出This does not minimise the supremacy of their achievements，正好對(duì)應(yīng)題干后半句。因此此題選TRUE。

　　Question 24

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　關(guān)鍵詞： giftedness, genius, scientific research

　　定位原文：第6段第1句“To think of geniuses and the gifted…”

　　解題思路：第6段開頭提到了“geniuses and the gifted…”但是題目表述的觀點(diǎn)沒有被提及。

　　Question 25

　　答案： TRUE

　　關(guān)鍵詞： pay a high price

　　定位原文：第6段最后一句話“...but we should also recognize…”

　　解題思路： 這句話以及接下來的內(nèi)容明確說明了天才在成為天才的道路上所付出的高昂代價(jià)，是本題中最容易判斷的一道題目。

　　Question 26

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　關(guān)鍵詞： high personal cost

　　定位原文：第6段最后1句的后半句“...but we should also…”

　　解題思路：…但是也應(yīng)該看到他們?yōu)榇怂冻龅拇鷥r(jià)，看到他們的鍥而不舍，專心致志，獻(xiàn)身精神，自我約束，他們對(duì)自己時(shí)間和精力的嚴(yán)格要求，以及多少次他們不得不表現(xiàn)出極大的勇氣來保持自身的正直或艱難地走向成功。這些都是天才為了成為天才而付出的個(gè)人代價(jià)，但是通過其前后句，沒有任何一個(gè)評(píng)述講到這種個(gè)人付出值還是不值。典型的文中無(wú)此信息型題目。

　　Test 3 Passage 3

　　Question 27

　　答案： ix

　　關(guān)鍵詞： fundamental differences, objects, organisms

　　定位原文：B段前4句“Our ‘dead’ products… the same way”

　　解題思路：要想弄清楚這一段的意思，至少要閱讀前半段，才能明白作者是在對(duì)object變舊的過程和生物體衰老的過程做對(duì)比。通過is not inexorable in the same way 猜測(cè)出是對(duì)應(yīng)答案中的fundamental differences。正確答案為ix。

　　Question 28

　　答案： ii

　　關(guān)鍵詞： dying, beneficial

　　定位原文：C段第3、4句“Nevertheless, a restricted…”

　　解題思路：首先在C段找到表達(dá)轉(zhuǎn)折意義的副詞 nevertheless，一般段落大意都藏在轉(zhuǎn)折詞后面;接著發(fā)現(xiàn)the reason for this，這就可以對(duì)應(yīng)選項(xiàng)ii中的why;接著讀下去發(fā)現(xiàn)提到了死亡是必要的，immortality會(huì)擾亂整個(gè)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)，這樣就可以進(jìn)行選擇了。正確答案是ii。

　　Question 29

　　答案： vii

　　關(guān)鍵詞： stable, despite improvements

　　定位原文：D段第2句和第4句“... but within one species…”“Although more…”

　　解題思路：本段指出，每個(gè)生物體都有極具特色的壽命;不同物種之間的壽命有很大差別，但同一物種中，這個(gè)參數(shù)相對(duì)恒定，這就是選項(xiàng)vii中所提到的a stable life span; 接下來的although則可以對(duì)應(yīng)Heading中的despite, improvement對(duì)應(yīng)句中的 developments in medical care and better nutrition。這樣就和Heading的意思完全吻合了。正確答案是vii。

　　Question 30

　　答案： i

　　關(guān)鍵詞： biological clock

　　定位原文：E段第1句“If a life span is a genetically…”

　　解題思路：本段首句中提到：如果壽命是一個(gè)由基因決定的生物特征，那么我們就有必要提出這樣一個(gè)觀點(diǎn)，那就是生物體內(nèi)存在一個(gè)內(nèi)部時(shí)鐘。這是文章第一次提到生物鐘這樣一個(gè)概念。正確答案是i。

　　Question 31：

　　答案： viii

　　關(guān)鍵詞： energy consumption

　　定位原文： F段第1句“Animals which behave 'frugally' with…”

　　解題思路：本段列舉了眾多例子,都是為了說明一個(gè)問題——能力消耗的多少與壽命長(zhǎng)短成反比：新陳代謝越快，壽命越，新陳代謝越慢，壽命越長(zhǎng)。選項(xiàng) iii“能力消耗”抽象概括了本段的主題。

　　Question 32：

　　答案： iv

　　關(guān)鍵詞： prolonging

　　定位原文： G段首句“It follows from…”

　　解題思路： Heading中的prolong一詞等同于本段首句中的extend。句意為：“從上面的討論可以看出，節(jié)約使用我們的能量?jī)?chǔ)備應(yīng)該可以延長(zhǎng)壽命?！闭_答案是iv。

　　Question 33 & Question 34

　　答案： physical chemistry (and) thermodynamics

　　關(guān)鍵詞： objects age in accordance with principle

　　定位原文： B段第3、4句“Ageing in this case…”

　　解題思路： 并列的兩處空格中需填名詞。首先到文中尋找 objects一詞，可以在B段順利找到，然后請(qǐng)注意尋找并列關(guān)系連接詞and，很快可以發(fā)現(xiàn)正確答案。答案為physical chemistry (and) thermodynamics。

　　Question 35：

　　答案： adapt

　　關(guān)鍵詞： mutations, organisms

　　定位原文： C段第5句“Because of…”

　　解題思路： 首先通過mutations一詞將此題在文章中定位，雖然尋找過程不容易，但是一定要相信自己能找到。定位之后尋找空格后的關(guān)鍵字better to，根據(jù)空格前的情態(tài)動(dòng)詞can推測(cè)空格處只能填一個(gè)動(dòng)詞，而且是原型，還要能和to搭配。這么一來，這句話里只有一個(gè)對(duì)應(yīng)詞比較合適：adaptation, 將其變形為動(dòng)詞即可。

　　Question 36：

　　答案： immortality

　　關(guān)鍵詞： evolution theory

　　定位原文： C段最后1句“Immortality would disturb …”

　　解題思路： 空格處要填入的是會(huì)對(duì)進(jìn)化論帶來嚴(yán)重問題的內(nèi)容，可通過evolution進(jìn)行定位。注意disturb一詞意思 是“干擾、擾亂”，對(duì)應(yīng)題目中的pose a serious problem for，因此答案為 immortality。

　　Question 37：

　　答案： NO

　　關(guān)鍵詞： the wear and tear theory

　　定位原文： B段前4句“Our ‘dead’ products…”

　　解題思路：對(duì)于生物體而言，死亡并非不可阻擋的，因此自然磨損理論對(duì)于生物體來講，當(dāng)然就不太適用了。 inexorable在解題中起著關(guān)鍵作用。

　　Question 38：

　　答案： YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞： older, ageing

　　定位原文： B段第5句“At least as long as…”

　　解題思路： 至少只要一個(gè)生物系統(tǒng)有能力自我更新，它就確實(shí)能夠不斷成長(zhǎng)但不會(huì)老化……

　　這句話與題目中的敘述完全吻合，故答案應(yīng)該是YES

　　Question 39：

　　答案： NOT GIVEN

　　關(guān)鍵詞： seven years, 90 per cent

　　定位原文： B段和F段

　　解題思路： 文章在 B 段和 F 段均提到生物體的更新代謝，但是并沒有提到具體的數(shù)值。

　　Question 40：

　　答案： YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞： energy

　　定位原文： G段第1句“It follows from…”

　　解題思路： 題目表述是G段首句的同義替換, 其中題目中的 conserving energy 對(duì)應(yīng)原文中的 sparing use of energy。

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