题文

阅读与表达。

November 24, 1859 was a special day in London. On the day, many Londoners rushed to a bookstore to buy a book that was just published. The first printing of 1,250 copies sold out on the first day.     The popular book was The origin of Species (《物种起源》) by British naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882). In the book, Darwin argued that different forms of life could change over time because of natural selection. This means that only those who are best suited to their environment will live and reproduce. Darwin supported his arguments with examples he found during his around-the-world trip in the 1830s.     The book laid the foundation of modern biology. It changed how other scientists understood the appearance of life on Earth.     A hundred and fifty years later, Darwin's theory (理论) of natural selection still has great influence in the world of science. But some people have a question: since medicine and modern life have made people healthier, are we still evolving (进化) by natural selection?     The answer is yes, according to Stephen Sterns and his team of Yale University researchers. They did a study on 2,238 women in the US. They found that shorter, heavier women have more children then thinner, taller ones. This trend (趋势) runs among their female children and grandchildren. So if this continues, women in 400 years will be about 2cm shorter and a kilo heavier.     Sterns' findings are supported by other scientists. For example, John Hawks at the University of Wisconsin, US and his team believe they have found nearly 2,000 gene variations (基因变异) in modern humans. Those variations allow people to drink milk, fight disease and improve brain development.

1. Was The origin of Species a popular book?                                                                                                             2. When was the book published?                                                                                                            3. What does natural selection mean?                                                                                                            4. Why does the writer introduce Sterns' findings in the passage?                                                                                                            5. Why is Darwin's theory of natural selection important?

题型：阅读理解  难度：偏难

答案

1. Yes. 2. In November 24, 1859. 3. Only those who are best suited to their environment will live and reproduce. 4. To support the idea that we're still evolving by natural selection. 5. The theory laid the foundation of modern biology. It changed other scientists' thinking about the     appearance of life on Earth. And it still has great influence in the world of science today. (答案不唯一)

据专家权威分析，试题“阅读与表达。November 24, 1859 was a special day in London. ..”主要考查你对  科教类阅读  等考点的理解。关于这些考点的“档案”如下：

科教类阅读

考点名称：科教类阅读

• 科普类的阅读：
  科普类的阅读理解包含介绍科学知识、社会知识的短文。阅读这类短文时，要以事实为中心进行思考，抓住事物的特征、用途、相互关系等。
  如果是介绍社会现象的文章，要掌握所谈现象的内涵。

• 答题技巧：
  1. 加强整体意识，把握文章的主要内容。在阅读的时候可给段落标上序号，并给重要的句子和
     关键词做上记号，尤其是各段中心句，为答题提供更快捷更多的信息源。
  2. 审清题干，发觉和把握试题中有效的提示性信息，确认命题的角度、阅读范围和答题方式。