1.2023上半年英语六级阅读理解练习 篇一
To live in the United States today is to gain an appreciation for Dahrendorf’s assertion that social change exists everywhere. Technology, the application of knowledge for practical ends, is a major source of social change.Yet we would do well to remind ourselves that technology is a human creation; it does not exist naturally.A spear or a robot is as much a cultural as a physical object. Until humans use a spear to hunt game or a robot to produce machine parts, neither is much more than a solid mass of matter. For a bird looking for an object on which to rest, a spear or robot serves the purpose equally well. The explosion of the Challenger space shuttle and the Russian nuclear accident at Chernobyl drive home the human quality of technology;they provide cases in which well-planned systems suddenly went haywire(变得混乱) and there was no ready hand to set them right. Since technology is a human creation, we are responsible for what is done with it. Pessimists worry that we will use our technology eventually to blow our world and ourselves to pieces. But they have been saying this for decades. and so far we have managed to survive and even flourish. Whether we will continue to do so in the years ahead remains uncertain. Clearly, the impact of technology on our lives deserves a closer examination.
Few technological developments have had a greater impact on our lives than the computer revolution. Scientists and engineers have designed specialized machines that can do the tasks that once only people could do.There are those who assert that the switch to an information-based economy is in the same camp as other great historical milestones, particularly the Industrial Revolution. Yet when we ask why the Industrial Revolution was a revolution, we find that it was not the machines. The primary reason why it was a revolutionary is that it led to great social change. It gave rise to mass production and, through mass production, to a society in which wealth was not confined to the few.
In somewhat similar fashion, computers promise to revolutionize the struccure of American fife, particularly as they free the human mind and open new possibilities in knowledge and communication. The Industrial Revolution supplemented and replaced the muscles of humans and animals by mechanical methods. The computer extends this development to supplement and replace some aspects of the mind of human beings by electronic methods. n is the capacity of the computer for solving problems and making decisions that represents its greatest potential and that poses the greatest difficulties in predicting the impact on society.
1. A spear or a robot has the quality of technology only when it_____________.
A) is used both as a cultural and a physical object
B) serves different purposes equally well
C) is utilized by man
D) can be of use co both man and animal
2. The examples of the Challenger and Chernobyl cited by the author serve to show that_________________.
A) if not given close examination, technology could be used to destroy our world
B) technology is a human creation, so we are responsible for it
C) technology usually goes wrong, if not controlled by man
D) being a human creation. technology is liable to error
3. According to the author. the introduction of the computer is a revolution mainly because__________________.
A) the computer has revolutionized the workings of the human mind
B) the computer can do the tasks that could only be done by people before
C) it has helped to switch to an information technology
D) it has a great potential impact on society
4. By using the phrase "the human quality of technology" (Line 7, Para. 2), the author refersto the fact that technology_______________.
A) has a great impact on human life
B) has some characteristics of human nature
C) can replace some aspects of the human mind
D) does not exist in the natural world
5. The passage is based on the author's_______________.
A) keen insight into the nature of technology
B) prejudiced criticism of the role of the Industrial Revolution
C) cautious analysis of the replacement of the human mind by computers
D) exaggerated descri ption of the negative consequences of technology
2.2023上半年英语六级阅读理解练习 篇二
If you go down to the woods today, you may meet high-tech trees genetically modified to speed their growthor improve the quality of their wood. Genetically-engineered food crops have become increasingly common, albeit controversial. over the past ten years. But genetic engineering of trees has lagged behind.Part of the reason is technical. Understanding. and then altering, the genes of a big pine tree are more complex than creating a better tomato. While tomatoes sprout happily, and rapidly, in the laboratory, growing a whole tree from a single, genetically altered cell in a test tube is a tricky process that takes years, not months. Moreover. little is known about tree genes. Some trees, such as pine trees. have a lot of DNA-roughly ten times as much as human. And, whereas the Human Genome Project is more than half-way throughits task of isolating and sequencing the estimated 100,00 genes in human cells. similar efforts to analyzetree genes are still just saplings (幼苗).
Given the large number of tree genes and the little that is known about them, tree engineers are starting with a search for genetic "markers". The first step is to isolate DNA from trees with desirable propertiessuch as insect resistance. The next step is to find stretches of DNA that show the presence of a particular gene. Then, when you mate two trees with different desirable properties, it is simple to check which offspring contain them all by looking for the genetic markers. Henry Amerson, at North Carolina State University, is using genetic markers to breed fungal resistance into southern pines. Billions of these are grown across America for pulp and paper, and outbreaks of disease are expensive. But not all individual trees are susceptible. Dr. Amerson’s group has found markers that distinguish fungus-resistant stock from disease-prone trees.Using traditional breeding techniques, they are introducing the resistance genes into pines on test sites in America.
Using generic markers speeds up old-fashioned breeding methods becauseyou no longer have to wait for the tree to grow up to see if it has the desiredtraits. But it is more a sophisticated form of selective breeding. Now. however.interest in genetic tinkering (基因修补) is also gaining ground. To this end, Dr.Amerson and his colleagues are taking part in the Pine Gene Discovery Project. an initiative to identify and sequence the 50,000-odd genes in the pine tree's genome. Knowing which gene does what should make it easier to know what to alter.
1. Compared with genetic engineering of food crops, genetic engineering of trees____________________.
A) began much later
B) has developed more slowly
C) is less useful
D) was less controversial
2. What does the author think about the genetic engineering of pine trees?
A) Time-consuming.
B) Worthwhile.
C) Significant.
D) Technically impossible.
3. What can we learn about the research on tree genes?
A) The research methods are the same as the analysis of human genes.
B) The findings are expected to be as fruitful as the analysis of human genes.
C) It will take as much time and effort as the analyst, of human genes.
D) The research has been mainly concentrated on the genes of young trees.
4. It is discovered by Henry Amerson’s team that_______________.
A) southern pines cannot resist fungus
B) all southern pines are not susceptible
C) the genetic marker in southern pines was the easiest to identify
D) fungus-resistant genes came originally from outside the U.S.A.
5. What is the primary objective of carrying out the Pine Gene Discovery Project?
A) To speed up old-Fashioned breeding methods.
B) To identify all the genes in the pine tree's genome.
C) To find out what desired traits the pine trees have.
D) To make it easier to know which gene needs altering.
3.2023上半年英语六级阅读理解练习 篇三
The direct raya of the sun touch the equator and strike northward toward the Tropic of Cancer. In the Southern hemisphere winter has begun, and it is summer north of the equator. The sea and air grow warmer; the polar air of winter begins its gradual retreat.The northward shift of the sun also brings the season of tropical cyclones to the northern hemisphere, a season that is ending for the Pacific and India Oceans south of the equator. Along our coasts and those of Asia. it is time to look seaward. to guard against the season's storms. Over the Pacific, the tropical cyclone season is never quite over. but varies in intensity. Every year. conditions east of the Philippines send a score of violent storms howling toward Asia, but it is worst from June through October. Southwest of Mexico. a few Pacific hurricanes will grow during spring and summer. but most will die at sea or perish over the desert or the lower California coast as squalls.
Along our Atlantic and Gulf coasts. the hurricane season is from June to November. In an average year, there are fewer than ten tropical cyclones and six of them will develop into hurricanes. These will kill 50 to 100 persons between Texas and Maine and cause property damage of more than $100 million. If the year is worse than average, we will suffer several hundred deaths,and property damage will run to billions of dollars.
Tornadoes, floods, and severe storms are in season elsewhere on the continent. Now, to these destructive forces must be added the hazard of the hurricane. From the National Hurricane Center in Miami. a radar fence reaches westward to Texas and northward to New England. It provides a 200-mile look into offshore disturbances. In Maryland. che giant computers of the National Meteorological Center digest the myriad bits of data-atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, surface winds. and winds aloft-received from weather stations and ships monitoring the atmospheric setting each hour, every day. Cloud photographs from spacecraft orbiting the earth are received in Maryland and are studied for che telltale spiral on the warming sea. The crew of United States aircraft over the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Atlantic watch the sky and wait for the storm that will bear a person's name. The machinery of early warning vibrates with new urgency as the season of great storms begins.
1.The cyclone season of the Southern hemisphere__________________.
A) is brought by the polar air of winter
B) ends when winter comes to the Southern hemisphere
C) virtually lasts throughout the year
D) begins when the sun rays strike the Tropic of Cancer
2.What is true about the storms howling towards Asia?
A) They originate over the Pacific.
B) They influence Southeast Asia most violently.
C) They mainly grow during spring and summer.
D) They usually perish off coast.
3.When the Pacific hurricanes reach the lower California. most of them will_____________.
A) reduce their intensity
B) increase their intensity
C) cause much property damage
D) result in great rain and floods
4.What can we leam about the National Hurricane Center in Miami?
A) It mainly provides protection against hurricanes to Texas and New England.
B) It warns the whole country against tornadoes, severe storms and hurricanes.
C) It consists of radars along the coast of the west and the north of U.S.
D) It supervises the coastal areas stretching from Texas to New England.
5.The passage discusses most clearly about_______________.
A) the factors that cause hurricanes
B) the most risky areas that suffer hurricanes
C) the early warning system against hurricanes
D) the remedies for property damage by hurricanes
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