组卷网 > 高中英语综合库 > 主题 > 人与社会 > 科普与现代技术 > 科普知识
题型:阅读理解-阅读单选 难度:0.94 引用次数:1176 题号:4029635
Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience? Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given to us at birth, and no amount of education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. While the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random(随机地) from population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If, on the other hand, we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.
1. Which best describes the writer’s point in Para.1?
A.Intelligence is given at birth.
B.Intelligence is developed by the environment.
C.Intelligence is fixed at birth, but is developed by the environment.
D.Some people are born clever and others born stupid.
2. It is suggested in this passage that __________.
A.close relations usually have similar intelligence
B.unrelated people are not likely to have similar intelligence
C.the closer the blood relationship between people, the more different they are likely to be in intelligence
D.people who live in close contact with each other are not likely to have similar degrees of intelligence
3. The example of the twins going to a university and to a factory separately shows_________.
A.the importance of their intelligence
B.the effect of environment on intelligence
C.the importance of their positions
D.the part that birth plays
4. The best title for this article would be “_____________”.
A.On Intelligence
B.What Intelligence Means
C.Born with Intelligence
D.Environment Decides Intelligence

相似题推荐

阅读理解-阅读单选(约460词) | 容易 (0.94)
名校
文章大意:这是一篇说明文。主要讲述了认知活动对人的头脑有好处。
【推荐1】If you don’t have a college degree, you’re at greater risk of developing memory problems or even Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆). Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder, and it’s well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive (认知的)   advantage over their less educated counterparts in middle and old age.
Now, a large national study from Brandeis University published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that those with less schooling can significantly make up for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures.
“The lifelong benefits of higher education for memory in later life are quite impressive, but we do not clearly understand how and why these effects last so long,” said lead author Margie Lachman, a psychologist. She suggested that higher education may encourage lifelong interest in cognitive efforts, while those with less education may not engage as frequently in mental exercises that help keep the memory agile (敏捷地).
But education early in adulthood does not appear to be the only route to maintain your memory. The study found that intellectual activities undertaken regularly made a difference. “Among individuals with low education, those who are engaged in reading, writing, attending lectures, doing word games or puzzles once a week or more had memory scores similar to people with more education,” said Lachman.
The study, called Midlife in the United States, assessed 3,343 men and women between the ages of 32 and 84 with a mean age of 56 years. Almost 40 percent of the participants had at least a 4-year college degree. The researchers evaluated how the participants performed in two cognitive areas, verbal memory and executive function --- brain processes involved in planning, abstract thinking and cognitive flexibility. Participants were given a battery of tests, including tests of verbal fluency, word recall, and backward counting.
As expected, those with higher education said they engaged in cognitive activities more often and also did better on the memory tests, but some with lower education also did well, explained Lachman.
“The findings are promising because they suggest there may be ways to level the playing field for those with lower educational achievement, and protect those at greatest risk for memory declines,” said Lachman. “Although we can not rule out the possibility that those who have better memories are the ones who take on more activities, the evidence is consistent with cognitive plasticity   (可塑性), and suggests some degree of personal control over cognitive functioning in adulthood by adopting an intellectually active lifestyle.”
1. What is the text mainly about?
A.Higher education has a better cognitive advantage.
B.Better memories result from college degree.
C.Cognitive activity does a mind good.
D.Poor education has more risk of memory declines.
2. According to the result of Margie Lachman’s study, we can conclude that ________.
A.education is responsible for the lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder
B.education early in adulthood can be the only route to maintain your memory
C.those with higher education did better on the memory tests than those with lower education
D.an intellectually active lifestyle does help to maintain your memory
3. What do we know about the study called Midlife?
A.Participants each were given a battery to test their memory.
B.The average age of the participants are 56 years old.
C.Participants had to perform in one of the two cognitive areas.
D.One in four of the participants had a 4-year college degree.
4. Why are the findings of the Lachman’s study promising?
A.The lower educated may have the same opportunities to keep up memory.
B.We may have ways to cure the people who have memory declines.
C.Adopting a different lifestyle can control over cognitive functioning.
D.We can find out the possibility to have better memories.
2016-11-26更新 | 360次组卷
阅读理解-阅读单选(约380词) | 容易 (0.94)

【推荐2】Old Fossils

Scientists have found what they think is probably the oldest fossil on Earth, a remnant of life from 3.7 billion years ago when Earth's skies were orange and its oceans green.

In a newly melted part of Greenland, Australian scientists found the leftover structure from a community of microbes(微生物) that lived on an ancient seafloor.Based on their analysis of the fossils, the researchers determined that they are 220 million years older than those discovered in Western Australia, which were 3.48 billion years old.

The discovery shows life may have formed quicker and more easily than once thought, about half a billion years after Earth formed.And that may also give hope for life forming elsewhere, such as Mars, said study co-author Martin VanKranendonk of the University of New South Wales and director of the Australian Center for Astrobiology.“It gives us an idea how our planet evolved and how life gained_a_foothold,” VanKranendonk said.

Scientists had thought it would take at least half a billion years for life to form after the molten Earth started to cool a bit, but this shows it could have happened quicker, he said.That's because the newly found fossil is far too complex to have developed soon after the planet's first life forms, he said.

In an outcrop of rocks that used to be covered with ice and snow which melted after an exceptionally warm spring, the Australian team found stromatolites(叠层石), which are layered structures that are often produced by a community of microbes.The stromatolites were about 1 to 4 centimeters high.

“It is like the house left behind made by the microbes,” VanKranendonk said.“Scientists used the layers of ash from volcanoes and tiny zircon(锆石) with uranium and estimated that they date back to 3.7 billion years ago.”

The dating seems about right, said Abigail Allwood, a NASA astrobiologist who found the previous oldest fossil, from 3.48 billion years ago, in Australia.But Allwood said she is not completely convinced that what VanKranendonk's team found once was alive.She said the evidence wasn't conclusive enough that it was life and not a geologic quirk(地质巧合).“It would be nice to have more evidence, but in these rocks that's a lot to ask,” Allwood said in an email.

1. The underlined words “gained a foothold” in Paragraph 3 mean.
A.continuedB.changed
C.increasedD.started
2. We can learn from Paragraph 4.
A.the fossil appeared soon after the birth of the earth
B.the fossil formed soon after the earth's first life
C.life formed earlier than the newly found fossil
D.life appeared about half a billion years ago
3. What is Abigail Allwood's attitude towards the newly found fossil?
A.Neutral.B.Sceptical.
C.Objective.D.Supportive.
4. According to the passage,____.
A.the previous fossils are a geologic quirk
B.the previous fossils are made up of stromatolites
C.the newly found fossils come from Western Australia
D.the newly found fossils have a history of 3.7 billion years
2018-09-17更新 | 38次组卷
阅读理解-阅读单选(约240词) | 容易 (0.94)
名校

【推荐3】These are instructions for making invisible ink using baking soda.

Difficulty:Easy
Time requiredA few minutes
What you needBaking soda   Paper       Water        Light bulb        Paintbrush
Measuring cup       Purple grape juice
Here’s how:There are at least two methods of using baking soda as invisible ink.
Mix equal amounts of water and baking soda.
Use a paintbrush to write a message onto white paper, using the baking soda solution (溶液) as “ink”.
Allow the ink to dry.
One way to read the message is to hold the paper up to a heat source, such as a light bulb. The baking soda will cause the writing in the paper to turn brown.
The second way to read the message is to paint over the paper with purple grape juice. The message will appear in a different color.
Tips:If you are using the heating method, avoid igniting (点燃) the paper.
Baking soda and grape juice react with each other in an acid-base (酸碱) reaction, producing a color change in the paper.
Grape juice concentrate (浓缩物) results in a more visible color change than regular grape juice.

1. ______ is not needed for making invisible ink.
A.Baking sodaB.Paper
C.WaterD.Ink
2. What’s the function of the paintbrush?
A.To draw a picture.B.To write a message onto the white paper.
C.To allow the “ink” to appear.D.To help the“ink” dry.
3. Why will the message appear in a different color in the second way to read the message?
A.Because there is enough grape juice.
B.Because baking soda reacts with grape juice.
C.Because of the use of water.
D.Because of the special paper.
4. From the process, we can know that making invisible ink is ______.
A.very hardB.not difficult
C.a little difficultD.not easy
2019-01-24更新 | 93次组卷
共计 平均难度:一般