Unit 3 Inventors and inventions
Ⅰ.阅读理解
A
Humans have launched themselves into the outer space. They've landed on the moon. They've built habitable space stations that orbit the Earth. The next giant leap for mankind is to reach another planet—specifically, Mars.
The problem is that it's no easy task. The planet is 586 times further away from the Earth than the moon, and it'll take around 180 to 220 days to reach Mars, depending on where each planet is in its orbit. Such long periods in space have suggested many potential health problems, including hormonal changes, skin conditions, and muscle and bone deterioration(损耗)．
Here's where some furry friends come in. A wide range of animals have been in space, from fruit flies and spiders to cats, and dogs. Such experiments began as far back as the late 1940s in first tests to see if living things could withstand the extreme g–force(重力) of a rocket launch.
Mice continue to play a very important part in space experiments, mainly because the animals make excellent test subjects. They're small, which makes them inexpensive and easy to care for. In addition, their size and short life span make it possible to do the equivalent of several human years of tests in a much shorter time. Finally, because mice are mammals, they share many common characteristics with humans in terms of genetics, biology and behavior.
Astromice have hit the headlines recently, as a team of scientists led by Betty Nusgens, professor of biology at the University of Liege in Belgium, found that the mice suffered a 15 percent thinning of their skin after 91 days aboard the International Space Station(ISS)．
This experiment was part of a wider NASA mission(任务) called the Mice Drawer System(MDS). The Italian Space Agency developed the facility, which allows six mice to be housed, monitored, and automatically fed and watered aboard the ISS, among which three survived during the mission.
The mice have participated in 20 separate experiments, to study such effects as osteoporosis (骨质疏松症), anemia(贫血) and heart health.
Results for the 20 experiments are coming in gradually. But it's clear that mice continue to play an important role in the ongoing quest to conquer the final frontier.
语篇导读 本文为说明文。人类从未停止对未知的探索，继人类踏上月球之后，人类开
始探索去往火星的旅程。
1．We can infer from Paragraphs 2～3 that ________.
A．Mars is the farthest planet away from Earth discovered so far B．the journey to Mars could put humans' health at risk
C．it was in the late 1940s that animals were first sent to the ISS D．animals that have been sent into space have mostly survived
解析 B 推理判断题。根据第二段最后一句可知，正是因为去往太空可能会有这些健康问题，所以第三段写到要先用小动物来做实验，故选B项。
2．The underlined word “withstand” in Para.3 means ________. A．set up C．work out
B．hold up D．come across
解析 B 词义猜测题。根据画线词所在句子可知，这些实验早在20世纪40年代就开始了，第一个实验是观测生物是否能够忍受火箭发射的巨大重力。hold up支持住；承受住，故选B项。
3．According to Betty Nusgens and her team, the mice aboard the ISS ________. A．suffered the loss of part of their skin B．all survived for the duration of the mission C．were fed and watered by the astronauts
D．participated in 20 experiments that made great breakthroughs
解析 A 细节理解题。根据第五段可知，在国际空间站待了91天后，这些老鼠的皮肤变薄了15%，故选A项。
4．The main purpose of the article is to ________. A．describe the role mice play in scientific research B．report on the results of the Mice Drawer System C．analyze how mice could pave the way to Mars D．change people's traditional attitudes toward mice
解析 C 写作意图题。文章主要讲述了为检测人类在去往火星探索的旅程中可能遭受的身体损害，需要用小动物来做实验，而在众多小动物中，老鼠被认为是最适合的，因此老鼠为人类通向火星奠定了基础，故选C项。
B
What do you do when you need to look something up? Go to the library? Open an encyclopedia(百科全书)? Click onto the Internet? These days, most people go straight to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. But how reliable is it?
There is no denying the popularity and usefulness of Wikipedia. It attracts as
many as 78 million visitors every month, and the site is available in more than 270 different languages. It's one of the most comprehensive resources available, which includes almost all details, facts and information that may be concerned. It's got much more information than an ordinary encyclopedia. The site is updated on a daily basis by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can log on and edit the contents or add a new page. And you don't need any formal training.
Of course, there are some controls. Wikipedia has a team of more than 1,500 administrators who check for false information. And main targets for harmful comments (such as politicians) are off–limits to public editing. But with more than 16 million articles to keep an eye on, it isn't easy. So, while Wikipedia benefits from being constantly updated with information from all over the world, it's also open to “vandals”(破坏他人财产者)．
Some of the damage is easy to notice. One person drew devil horns and a moustache on Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' photo, while another edited Greek philosopher Plato's biography to say he was a “Hawaiian weather man who is wildly believed to have been a student of ‘Barney the purple Dinosaur' and to have been deeply influenced by his dog, Cutie”．
But other things are harder to spot. The most common form of vandalism involves adding tiny items of false information into the biography of a famous person. Unbelievably, some of this misinformation has appeared in newspapers, with The Daily
Mail, The Guardian and The Independent all having fallen victim to the dirty tricks.
For example, in an article about British comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, one newspaper claimed that he co–wrote Dame Vera Lynn's wartime hit There'll be bluebirds over
the White Cliffs of Dover. He did no such thing. And in another article, it was
reported that TV theme tune composer Ronnie Hazlehurst had written the S Club 7 hit
Reach. Once again, not true.
So, if you're going to use any information from Wikipedia, make sure you double–check it first.
语篇导读 本文为议论文，介绍维基百科的受欢迎程度，指出其优点，同时也指出其有些信息有虚假成分的不足之处。
5．Which of the following would the author most probably agree with? A．Before using the information from Wikipedia, one should first check it. B．Though popular and widely used, Wikipedia provides little reliable
information.
C．It is understandable that some people add false information to Wikipedia. D．Updated on a daily basis, any information from Wikipedia is reliable. 解析 A 细节理解题。根据最后一段可知，A项准确地表达了作者的建议。B项表述过于否定；C项表述有误；D项表述过于肯定，故选A项。
6．We can learn from the passage that ________.
A．because of its popularity, 78 million people from 270 countries visit Wikipedia monthly
B．Wikipedia is the most comprehensive resource with all information we need C．anyone who has access to the Internet can edit any contents of Wikipedia as they like
D．the primary job of the administrators is to make sure true information is conveyed
解析 D 细节理解题。根据第二段第二句可知，A项表述有误；由第二段第三句可知，B项错误；由第三段第三句可知，C项错误。D项是对第三段第二句的另一种表述，准确反映了原文信息，故选D项。
7．What does the underlined part “off–limits” in Paragraph 3 mean? A．Not convenient. C．Not accessible.
B．Not welcome. D．Not boundless.
解析 C 词义猜测题。根据第三段第一句可推知，off–limits意为“禁止入内；禁止使用”，故选C项。
8．What's the writer's attitude to Wikipedia? A．Negative. C．Indifferent.
B．Worried. D．Objective.
解析 D 观点态度题。从全文来看作者分别介绍了维基百科的优缺点，客观地对其进行了评述，故选D项。
Ⅱ.语法填空
Grow vegetables
With high inflation(通货膨胀) and food shortages across Russia, some Russians are growing their own 1.vegetables(vegetable). The country's struggling economy has kept food prices rising and put millions of people 2.in poverty. In the former Soviet Union, Russians 3.who/that lived in traditional country homes called dachas often grew their own food.
Today, many Russian families—including some in cities—are again growing food
4.to deal(deal) with the hard economic times. Irina Bulozhenko lives and works in Moscow. “Our grandma has a dacha where she grows lots of things like cabbages and beets. I am cooking borscht right now 5.and I am using our beets and carrots. The onions are ours. So we are saving on what we 6.have grown(grow) in summer. So that's why we don't feel it so badly.”
But for some families, 7.growing(grow) their own share food is still not enough. To help them, Russian volunteers have set up Share Food Program. The food 8.is donated(donate) by restaurants or individuals, and given to those in need.
Tatyana Golubyeva said that receiving food through the program had become 9.important(importance) to her family. “We spend now a lot less on food than before, when we did not know about Share Food Program and did not use it. Now we hope that we'll get not only bread, 10.but some other food, as well...” She noted that the donations had cut the amount her family spends on food in half.
语篇导读 本文为说明文。俄罗斯经济的不景气，导致食品物价上涨，国内出现高通货膨胀以及食物短缺。一些俄罗斯人开始自己种植蔬菜，以减少日常食物方面的开支。
1．vegetables 解析 考查名词的数。vegetable为可数名词，根据语境可知用复数形式。
2．in 解析 考查介词。in poverty贫困，处于贫困中。
3．who/that 解析 考查连词。句中的lived in traditional country homes called dachas为定语从句，修饰先行词Russians。定语从句中缺少主语，故用关系代词who/that。
4．to deal 解析 考查非谓语动词。此处为不定式短语作目的状语。
5．and 解析 考查连词。根据句子结构可知，空处前后两个句子为并列关系，故用and连接。
6．have grown 解析 考查时态和主谓一致。句意：因此，我们通过食用今年夏天耕种的食材，达到了节约的目的。表示过去的动作对现在产生的影响，故用现在完成时态；从句主语为we，谓语动词用复数形式。
7．growing 解析 考查非谓语动词。句意：但对很多家庭来说，自己种植食材还远远不够。从句子结构看，此处为动名词短语growing their own food作主语。
8．is donated 解析 考查时态、语态和主谓一致。句意：这些食物由餐馆或者个人捐赠，给予那些需要帮助的人。讲述的是现在的情况，用一般现在时；主语为the food，谓语动词用第三人称单数形式；the food与donate之间为动宾关系，故用被动语态。
9．important 解析 考查词性转换。此处要用形容词作表语。
10．but 解析 考查连词。not only...but(also)．..不但……而且……。 Ⅲ.短文改错
ring①
One day I saw an advertisement in a local newspaper. I up the company,
rangand I was given the job immediately. They asked me to take a tour around the city which③∧②
next morning. The manager just told me to say anything I could imagine thethatterribly④
about the city. My first tour was . The old bus was not air–conditioned,
terriblebut⑤that⑥
it was in the middle of summer, so was really uncomfortable to be inside andittourist⑦the bus. The soon became very hot and bad–tempered. I had a very hard
touristscalm⑧because⑨
time them down. This was I stayed there only for a few weeks.
calmingwhyThen I left and joined in a better company.
① 解析 动作发生在过去，故用一般过去时。
② 解析 the next morning特指过去那个时间的第二天早晨。
③ 解析 这是一个定语从句，先行词为anything，关系代词只能用that。 ④ 解析 此处was后用形容词，构成系表结构。
⑤ 解析 句意：旧公交没有空调，并且是在盛夏时节，因此会感到不舒服。上下句之间为递进关系，故用and。
⑥ 解析 不定式是真正的主语，用it作形式主语。 ⑦ 解析 应该是许多游客。
⑧ 解析 have a hard time doing sth做某事有困难。 ⑨ 解析 This is/was why...这就是为什么……。
⑩ 解析 join in指的是加入活动，与company不符；join指的是加入某组织或团体，故in多余。
Ⅳ.书面表达
在国外某知名学习论坛上，一名署名为Jack的中学生认为许多同学不会合理安排时间，于是邀请网友参与讨论。假如你对此话题感兴趣，现请你用英文回帖，分析合理安排时间的重要性，并分享自己在学习生活中安排时间的经验或教训。
注意：1.词数100左右；2.适当增加细节以使行文连贯。 【参考范文】 Dear Jack，
It's due to the inappropriate assignment of time that we often find it difficult to fulfill tasks in time, which often leads to low efficiency and failures.
But, as a matter of fact，we can take certain steps to help ourselves out. The
⑩
following is how I usually arrange my time. Firstly, I list all the jobs that must be done and decide which one requires immediate attention.Secondly，I divide the work into separate parts so it will be easier to see whether each part is being accomplished as desired. Finally, I assign each task a certain amount of time so that it will be carried out systematically.
If we assign our time appropriately, we'll find all the work will be done in time and a sense of accomplishment will replace the anxiety at first.
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