专题03 阅读理解：说明文-【大题精做】冲刺2025年高考英语大题突破+限时集训（北京专用）

大题03 阅读理解之说明文 高中英语阅读理解中的说明文涵盖众多领域，包括科技（如人工智能、航天技术发展等）、自然科学（像动植物习性、生态环境变化等）、文化（不同地区文化习俗、历史传承等）、健康（养生知识、疾病防治等）以及社会现象（如共享经济、网络社交影响等）。例如，近年来高考中出现过介绍新型环保材料、古代建筑技艺传承、智能手机对生活影响的说明文。更注重考查学生深度理解文本的能力，推理判断题会更加注重考查多维度、深层次的逻辑推理，不再局限于简单的文本表层信息推断；同时对文章结构和写作意图的考查会更细致，要求学生能准确把握说明文不同的组织架构以及作者隐藏在文字背后的真实目的。 （2025高三·北京海淀·一模）As global temperatures continue to rise due to human-induced climate change, precise computerized climate models will be crucial in shedding light on how our climate will evolve in the coming years. A study published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres by Chloe Clark and her team from UC Irvine highlights a significant issue with a commonly used climate model known as the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). The research reveals that this model currently overestimates a key physical property of Earth’s climate system called albedo, which is the degree to which ice reflects planet-warming sunlight into space. Albedo is a measure of the reflectivity of a surface, expressed as the fraction of incoming solar radiation that is reflected by that surface back into space. It is a critical factor in determining Earth’s climate and energy balance. Surfaces with high albedo, such as snow and ice, reflect a large portion of solar energy, whereas darker surfaces like forests or oceans absorb more solar energy. “We found that with old model versions, the ice is too reflective by about five percent,” said Chloe Clarke, “Ice reflectivity was much too high.” The amount of sunlight the planet receives and reflects is important for estimating how much the planet will warm in the coming years. Previous versions of E3SM overestimated albedo because they failed to account for microphysical properties of ice in a warming world. These properties include the effects things like algae (藻类) and dust have on albedo. Dark colored algae and dust can make snow and ice less reflective and less able to reflect sunlight. To do the analysis, Clarke and her team studied satellite data to track the albedo of the Greenland Ice Sheet. They found E3SM overestimates the reflectivity of the ice sheet, meaning the model estimates less melt than what would be expected from the ice microphysical properties. But with the new ice reflectivity incorporated into the model, they discovered the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting at a rate of about six gigatons more than in older model versions. This is based on albedo measurements that are more consistent with satellite observations. Clarke hopes her team’s study stresses the importance of the seemingly minuscule properties that can have far-reaching consequences for the overall climate. “I think our work is going to help models do a much better job of helping us capture snow and ice-related climate feedbacks,” she said. Next, Clarke wants to study different icy parts of the planet to calculate how widespread the albedo discrepancy (差异) is in E3SM. “Our next steps are to get it so the model is functional globally and not just valid over Greenland,” said Clarke, who also intends to compare the new Greenland Ice Sheet melt rates to observations to measure how much more accurate the new ice albedo is. “It would be useful to apply it to glaciers in places like the Andes and Alaska.” 1．According to the passage, albedo ______. A．changes with the lightness of surfaces B．matches up with the shape of the ice or snow C．is a measure of the solar energy arriving at the surface D．varies with the direction of the incoming solar radiation 2．What can be learned from the passage? A．The new model is more reliable than satellite observations. B．The previous model versions overestimate Greenland melt. C．Model adaptation improves the accuracy of climate predictions. D．Scientists have used the model globally to reduce the discrepancy. 3．What does the underlined word “minuscule” in Paragraph 7 probably mean? A．Tiny. B．Invisible. C．Plain. D．Stable. 4．The last paragraph is written to ______. A．note the limitations of the finding B．point out further research directions C．illustrate the benefits of a new approach D．sum up the changes made in E3SM 1. 抓结构，明逻辑 速读首尾段：确定说明对象及核心论点。 关注段落首句：通常为段落主题句，后接解释或例证。 标记逻辑词： 因果：because, therefore, result in. 对比：however, on the contrary. 分类：firstly, secondly, finally. 2. 定位细节，精准匹配 题干关键词法：用数字、专有名词、术语快速定位原文。 同义替换意识：答案常对原文信息换词表达（如“reduce”替换“cut down”）。 3. 析手法，悟目的 说明方法：举例子（for example）、列数据（statistics）、作比较（compared with）、下定义（is defined as）。 作用分析：增强说服力、具体化抽象概念、突出差异等。 Passage（1） （24-25高三上·北京石景山·期末）Experts frequently warn about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). Sadly, the rapid advancement of AI technology in recent years has not led to a common understanding of its risks, as it should have. Actually, beneath the surface of AI discussions lies conflict among divided groups, which may mislead lawmakers and the public and prevent competent regulatory measures. Understanding the motivations behind these differing views is crucial to addressing AI’s societal impact. The loudest perspective is a frightening vision from doomsayers (末日论者), who present AI as a threat to human existence, capable of wiping out life and controlling everything. This doomsaying is heightened by influential tech figures using tools like ChatGPT to shape the conversation. Some in this group focus on extreme disastrous risks and emphasize the distant future implications of our actions. While many doomsayers claim they are reasonable, their exaggerated concerns about hypothetical (假设的) existential risks amount to a misguided bet with humanity’s future. Technology historian David Brock calls such fears “wishful worries” — that is, problems that it would be nice to have, in contrast to the actual struggles of the present. While doomsayers focus on the distant future, reformers focus on immediate issues. They view AI reform as a matter of integrity, urging Big Tech to prioritize the public good over profit. These experts advocate for regulators to address current harms caused by AI, such as misinformation, monitoring, and algorithmic (算法的) unfairness. They propose initiatives like civil education for AI literacy and the design of human-centered systems to fight growing societal inequalities. Warriors, another group, describe AI through the language of national security and competitiveness. Their views benefit some tech giants and government agencies. Top AI firms seek costly regulations that they claim guard against crime and terrorism, which could secure their market dominance and limit startup competition. Governments, tightly connected to these firms, may prioritize defense applications over moral concerns, leading to regulatory blind spots. In conclusion, the differing viewpoints on AI underline the complexity of addressing its societal impact. To minimize potential harms and ensure that AI serves the public interest, it is crucial to strengthen legal frameworks that close existing gaps and hold corporations accountable. Expanding regulatory strategies can help restrict corporate overreach and foster transparency in AI development. Publicly directed projects can counterbalance corporate influence, ensuring that AI benefits society as a whole. By prioritizing accountability and collective welfare, we can shape a future where AI empowers everyone, not just a select few. 1．What is the consequence of diverse points of view on AI? A．Enhancing our ability to tackle AI issues. B．Advancing the standardization of AI guidelines. C．Delaying the creation of effective AI regulations. D．Breaking the integrity of current AI legal framework. 2．The author quotes David Brock’s words in order to ______. A．prove that AI has positive impacts B．confirm that doomsayers’ worries are justified C．suggest that the concerns over AI are overstated D．show that current struggles have serious outcomes 3．What can be inferred from the passage? A．A publicly directed AI project will ultimately empower the select few. B．Reformers advocate human-centered AI systems to gain personal profits. C．Warriors pursue dominance in national security by improving AI morally. D．Lawmakers should toughen rules limiting corporate influence for public good. 4．Which would be the best title for the passage? A．The Battle over AI: Power and Benefit B．Perspectives on AI: Individualism or Collectivism C．The Argument about AI: Reformers vs. Doomsayers D．Debates on the Future of AI: Innovation or Regulation Passage（2） （2025·北京东城·一模）In 1993, a ship sailed into the Pacific Ocean carrying nearly 1,000 pounds of iron, then dumped it all into the waves. The next morning, the water turned a little greenish due to newly emerged phytoplankton (浮游生物). The microorganisms, which need iron to grow, draw CO₂ out of the air. Fertilizing the ocean with iron is a form of geoengineering, a set of technologies fascinating for their potential to meaningfully impact Earth’s systems, and controversial for the same reason. As the planet heats, geoengineering is employed to manipulate (控制) it in novel ways, whether researchers mist the skies with sea salt to increase how much sunlight clouds reflect or invent machines to suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. Engineering home-grown plankton sounds like a less dramatic approach. But the field is so new that scientists don’t yet know whether geoengineering with microorganisms would really be a gentler form of climate intervention. Microbes, after all, play enormously consequential roles in the world around us and within us. For the best chance of keeping Earth liveable, scientists need to understand exactly how the microscopic creatures might be useful, and perhaps even preferable to the more sci-fi approaches to cooling off the world. One favored approach centers on methane, a greenhouse gas accounting for 30% of the rise in global temperature. Mary Lidstrom, a professor, is working on genetically modifying bacteria that naturally consume methane, so that the microbes pull even more gas from the air. The bacteria would live inside facilities known as bioreactors. They could be positioned near known methane sources — landfills and wetlands — to minimize the amount of methane that makes it into the air. Scaling up any kind of climate engineering is tricky. Significantly slowing warming caused by methane would require about 300,000 bioreactors to be active for 20 years. And the downstream effects are difficult to predict, let alone contain. For example, the iron put into the Pacific Ocean could have consequences for other regions of the world’s seas. Also, there’s nearly as much uncertainty about intended effects. Scientists don’t know for sure how effective these concepts will prove to be. The 1993 ship expeditions, for example, didn’t stick around very long; the journeys were expensive, and scientists couldn’t remain at sea to determine what exactly was happening in the depths. Carbon stolen out of the atmosphere should remain buried for at least a century for maximum impact Yet it’s entirely possible that if the phytoplankton doesn’t sink to deep enough waters, it just gets eaten by the organisms in the surface ocean, and that CO₂ just returns to the atmosphere. The hotter the planet gets, the more attractive geoengineering will likely seem. Short of large-scale behavioral changes globally, we do seem to be committing ourselves to an engineered solution on our current routes. We might have to decide, sooner than we think, which levers we need to pull, large or small. 1．What can we learn about geoengineering? A．Ocean iron-fertilization is on the horizon. B．Sunlight-reflection method is cost-effective. C．Methane-eating bacteria are being improved. D．Gas-sucking machine is a theoretical concept. 2．What can we infer from Paragraph 4 about the geoengineering approaches? A．Their impact on the ecosystem is overlooked. B．Their implications are hard to anticipate. C．They call for decades of preparation. D．They are monitored continuously. 3．The iron-fertilization experiment may achieve its intended effects if __________. A．the target microbes survive B．carbon is stored separately C．the phytoplankton grows faster D．more deep-sea organisms are tested 4．What might be the best title for the passage? A．How Will Geoengineering Better Earth’s Systems? B．How to Cool the World Without Blocking the Sun? C．How to Steal Carbon with Sci-fi Approaches? D．How Can the Engineered Solution Deliver? Passage（1） （24-25高三上·北京房山·期中）The human brain’s understanding of figure zero may have evolved from primitive neural pathways initially used for counting predators. This discovery could aid doctors in helping stroke patients who struggle with numerical comprehension. Zeros are integral to various fields, including astronomy, engineering, and literature. Researchers Benjy Barnett and Steve Fleming from University College London explored the origins of figure zero by using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to monitor the brain activity of 29 participants engaged in two tasks. In the first, people compared whether two consecutive patterns were made of the same number of dots, from 0 to 5, In the second, they saw 10 numbers, also from 0 to 5, each for 250 milliseconds. Half were orange and the rest blue. They then reported which colored numbers had the highest value. To compare people’s brain activity when they saw a “0” with them seeing other numbers, Barnett and Fleming input the MEG data into a machine-learning algorithm (算法). Previous research has shown that specific neurons respond to numbers like“1,” “2,” and so on, up to “9.” Barnett noted that their findings revealed that the neural response to “0” closely resembled that of “1,” while becoming less similar to larger numbers. This suggests that zero occupies a fundamental position on the neural number line, next to “1” and two less than “2.” They also examined similarities between the brain’s response to “0” and a blank screen, finding identical activity patterns. This suggests that our comprehension of zero may have evolved from recognizing absences. “If I’m an antelope on the grassland and I quickly scan to check if I can see any predators, the brain activity that leads me to decide ‘no, I haven’t seen anything’ might be the starting point for the number zero in the brain,” says Barnett. While humans and other animals recognize absence, humans have built upon this to apply zeros into numerical systems. Additionally, a previous study involving over 650 stroke patients revealed that approximately 15% struggled to process numbers containing zeros post-stroke. “Our results may well contribute to better understanding of this phenomenon and help inform potential treatments,” says Barnett. Jorge Morales at Northeastern University in Boston says that despite the importance of zero in mathematics and culture, this study suggests that the concept originates from the ability to notice absences, which we probably share with other animals. 1．How did the researchers explore the origin of figure zero? A．By comparing brain activity patterns. B．By monitoring brain function directly. C．By observing how people count dots. D．By studying people’s response for MEG. 2．What can we learn from the passage? A．Figure zero is unique to numerical system. B．Figure zero is important for noticing absence. C．The brain is more sensitive to process larger numbers. D．Stroke patients struggle to understand figure zero. 3．What does the author mainly intend to tell us? A．Figure zero is essential in various scientific disciplines. B．Recognizing absence helps in understanding figure zero. C．MEG is an effective tool for analyzing figure zero. D．Figure zero is primarily useful for counting. Passage（2） （24-25高三上·北京·一模）What does it mean to live a good life? This question has been debated for centuries. In the field of psychology, two main concepts of the good life have been quite popular: A happy life full of pleasure and positive emotions, and a meaningful life full of purpose and sacrifice. But what if these aren’t the only options? In recent years, a long-neglected version of the good life has been receiving greater attention: the psychologically rich life. It is full of complex mental engagement, a wide range of intense and deep emotions, and diverse, novel, surprising and interesting experiences. Sometimes they are neither pleasant nor meaningful. However, they are rarely boring or monotonous. After all, both happy and meaningful lives can become monotonous and repetitive. A person with a steady office job, married with children, may be satisfied and find his or her life meaningful and still be bored. Also, the psychologically rich life doesn’t necessarily involve economic richness. For instance, consider Hesse’s character Goldmund, who has no money but pursues the life of a free spirit. Research has found psychological richness is related to, but partially distinct from, both happy and meaningful lives. Psychological richness is related with openness to experience and experiencing both positive and negative emotions more intensely. But is the psychologically rich life one that people actually want? In a new study, Qishi and his colleagues asked people in nine countries the degree to which they value a psychologically rich life, a happy life and a meaningful life. They found many people’s self-described ideal lives involve psychological richness. When forced to choose a life, however, the majority chose a happy life and a meaningful life. Even so, a minority of people still favored the psychologically rich life, ranging from 6.7% in Singapore to 16.8% in Germany. These numbers went up when the desire for a psychologically rich life was measured indirectly. To understand what a person wishes their lives might have been, it is important to explore what people wish they had avoided in their lives. When asked what they regret most and whether undoing this event would have made their lives happier, more meaningful or psychologically richer, about 28% of Americans said undoing the regrettable event would have made their lives psychologically richer. These findings suggest that while most people strive to be happy and have meaning in their lives, a sizable number of people are content merely living a psychologically rich existence. As Oishi and his colleagues conclude, “We believe that taking the psychologically rich life seriously will deepen and enrich our understanding of well-being.” At the end of the day, there is no one singularly acceptable path to the good life. You have to find a path that works best for you. 1．What does Oishi’s research indicate? A．The Germans prefer psychological richness to a happy life. B．Undoing regrettable events has enriched many people’s lives. C．A hidden desire for psychological richness exists among some people. D．People with psychological richness tend to describe their lives as ideal. 2．We can learn from the passage that ________. A．purpose outweighs pleasure in terms of significance B．the choice of a good life differs from person to person C．a positive mindset helps us understand our well-being D．we should never be content and always strive for the best 3．What is the main purpose of the article? A．To compare different concepts of a good life. B．To explain how to live a psychologically rich life. C．To persuade people to attain psychological richness. D．To draw attention to a less familiar version of a good life. Passage（3） （24-25高三上·北京·二模）Is it true that our brain alone is responsible for human cognition (认知)? What about our body? Is it possible for thought and behavior to originate from somewhere other than our brain? Psychologists who study Embodied Cognition (EC) ask similar questions. The EC theory suggests our body is also responsible for thinking or problem- solving. More precisely, the mind shapes the body and the body shapes the mind in equal measure. If you think about it for a moment, it makes total sense. When you smell something good or hear amusing sounds, certain emotions are awakened. Think about how newborns use their senses to understand the world around them. They don’t have emotions so much as needs — they don’t feel sad, they’ re just hungry and need food. Even unborn babies can feel their mothers’ heartbeats and this has a calming effect. In the real world, they cry when they’ re cold and then get hugged. That way, they start to associate being warm with being loved. Understandably, theorists have been arguing for years and still disagree on whether the brain is the nerve center that operates the rest of the body. Older Western philosóphers and mainstream language researchers believe this is fact, while EC theorises that the brain and body are working together as an organic supercomputer, processing everything and forming your reactions. Further studies have backed up the mind-body interaction! In one experiment, test subjects were asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They all made warm evaluations when their fingertips perceived warmth rather than coolness. And it works the other way too; in another study, subjects’ fingertip temperatures were measured after being included in or“ rejected” from a group task. Those who were included felt physically warmer. For further proof, we can look at the metaphors (比方说法) that we use without even thinking. A kind and sympathetic person is frequently referred to as one with a soft heart and someone who is very strong and calm in difficult situations is often described as solid as a rock. And this kind of metaphorical use is common across languages. Now that you have the knowledge of mind-body interaction, why not use it? If you’re having a bad day, a warm cup of tea will give you a flash of pleasure. If you know you’re physically cold, warm up before making any interpersonal decisions. 1．According to the author, the significance of the EC theory lies in________. A．facilitating our understanding of the origin of psychology B．revealing the major role of the mind in human cognition C．offering a clearer picture of the shape of human brain D．bringing us closer to the truth in human cognition 2．The experiments mentioned in Paragraph 4 further prove ________. A．how body temperature is related to health B．the mind and the body influence each other C．environment impacts how we judge others D．how humans interact with their surroundings 3．What is the author’s purpose in writing the last paragraph? A．To share with the reader ways to release their emotions. B．To guide the reader onto the path to career success. C．To encourage the reader to put EC into practice. D．To deepen the reader’s understanding of EC． Passage（4） （24-25高三下·北京通州·开学考试）Imagine that on a Friday afternoon, before leaving work to start your weekend, you are asked to solve two problems that require creative thinking. Do you: 1) . Spend the first half of your time attempting the first problem and the second half of your time attempting the second; 2) . Alternate between the two problems at a regular, predetermined interval (e. g. , switching every five minutes) ; 3) . Switch between the problems at your own discretion (自行决定) . If you are like the hundreds of people to whom we posed this question, you would choose to switch between the two problems at your own discretion. After all, this approach offers maximum autonomy and flexibility, enabling you to change tracks from one problem to the other when you feel stuck. But if coming up with creative answers is your goal, this approach may not be ideal. Instead, switching between the problems at a regular, predetermined interval will likely yield the best results, according to research we published in the March issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. In an experiment, we randomly assigned participants to one of the three approaches. Participants who were instructed to continually switch back and forth between two problems at a fixed interval were significantly more likely to find the correct answer to both problems than participants who switched at their own discretion or halfway through the allotted time. The issue with both other approaches seemed to be that people failed to recognize when rigid thinking crept in. Participants who didn’t step away from a task at regular intervals were more likely to write “new” ideas that were very similar to the last one they had written. While they might have felt that they were on a roll, the reality was that, without the breaks afforded by continual task switching, their actual progress was limited. The findings suggest that the hustle and bustle of your daily work life may facilitate your creativity if it leads you to step away from a task and reset your thinking. So when you’re working on tasks that would benefit from creative thinking, consciously insert breaks at regular intervals—use a timer if you have to. When it goes off, switch tasks: Organize your receipts, check your email, or clean your desk, and then return to the original task. If you’re hesitant to break away because you feel that you’re on a roll, be mindful that it might be a false impression. We tend to generate redundant ideas when we don’t take regular breaks; ask yourself whether your latest ideas are qualitatively different. Finally, don’t skip your lunch breaks, and don’t feel guilty about taking breaks, especially when you are feeling stuck. Doing so may actually be the best use of your time. 1．Why do people favor the third approach mentioned in Paragraph 1? A．Because it facilitates autonomous learning. B．Because it encourages independent thinking. C．Because it improves concentration. D．Because it allows much freedom. 2．What does the underlined word “rigid” in Paragraph 4 probably mean? A．critical B．inflexible C．innovative D．serious 3．What can be inferred from the passage? A．People will make great progress when they work continually. B．People will automatically take breaks when they feel stuck C．Regularly scheduled breaks can refresh people’s thinking. D．Continually doing chores is key to generating new ideas. 4．What is the main purpose of the passage? A．To present a way to boost creative thinking. B．To introduce a new study on work efficiency. C．To compare three methods of creative thinking. D．To explain why people fail to produce creative ideas. Passage（5） （2024·北京昌平·二模）Baleen whales play a vital role in ecosystems. To communicate across vast distances and find each other, baleen whales depend critically on the production of sounds that travels far in dark oceans. However, since whale songs were first discovered more than 50 years ago, it remained unknown how baleen whales produce their complex vocalizations (发音). A new study in the journal Nature reports that baleen whales developed unique structures in their larynx (喉) that enable their low-frequency vocalizations, but also limit their communication range. The study was led by voice scientists Professor Coen Elemans and Professor Tecumseh Fitch. “The toothed whales and baleen whales were initially land animals that had a larynx serving two functions: protecting the airways and sound production. However, their switching to living in the water placed new and strict demands on the larynx to prevent choking underwater,” says Tecumseh Fitch. The study shows that baleen whales nevertheless can still produce sound with their larynx, but they have developed new structures to do so, which only exists in baleen whales. “This is probably to keep a rigid open airway when they have to move huge amounts of air in and out during explosive surface breathing,” states Fitch. “We found that this U-shaped structure pushes against a big fatty cushion (垫) on the inside of the larynx. When the whales push air from their lungs past this cushion, it starts to shake and this generates very low frequency underwater sounds,” says Elemans. To understand how muscle activity could change the calls, the researchers built a computational model of the entire whale larynx. The model predicted the natural vocalizations of the whales very well. However, these newly discovered features that allowed whales to successfully communicate in the vast oceans also poses huge physiological (生理的) limits for many baleen whales. Combining experiments and models, the researchers provide the first evidence that baleen whales are physiologically incapable of escaping noise caused by humans, because it covers up their voices, and thus limits their communication range. “Unfortunately, the main frequency and depth of man-made noise caused by shipping traffic cover the frequency range and maximum communication depth of 100 meters that we predicted,” Elemans says. The first voice recordings of a certain whale song by Roger and Katy Payne in 1970 attracted global interest in sea conservation efforts. The Payne’s made people aware how quiet the seas were before humans started the widespread use of machine ships. Elemans adds: “Compared to the seventies, our oceans are now even more filled with human-made noise, which affects the whales, because they are dependent on sound for communication. Now we show that despite their amazing physiology, they literally cannot escape the noise humans make in the oceans.” 1．What can we know about baleen whales’ vocalization system? A．Their airways are closed during explosive surface breath. B．Their larynx has difficulty preventing choking underwater. C．Their vocalization system changed when they were land animals. D．Their fatty cushion shakes to make low frequency underwater sounds. 2．The researchers’ experiments and models show that ______. A．baleen whales are incapable of recognizing humans’ noise B．the muscle activity is related to the vocalizations of the whales C．human-made noises disturb baleen whales’ communication range D．the bodily features in baleen whales limit their communication depth 3．What can we infer from the last paragraph? A．Sea conservation efforts used to be better than now. B．The special structure protects Baleen whales from noises. C．Actions should be taken to regulate human activities at sea. D．The application of technology contributes to sea conservation. Passage（1） （2024·北京·高考真题）Franz Boas’s description of Inuit (因纽特人) life in the 19th century illustrates the probable moral code of early humans. Here, norms (规范) were unwritten and rarely expressed clearly, but were well understood and taken to heart. Dishonest and violent behaviours were disapproved of; leadership, marriage and interactions with other groups were loosely governed by traditions. Conflict was often resolved in musical battles. Because arguing angrily leads to chaos, it was strongly discouraged. With life in the unforgiving Northern Canada being so demanding, the Inuit’s practical approach to morality made good sense. The similarity of moral virtues across cultures is striking, even though the relative ranking of the virtues may vary with a social group’s history and environment. Typically, cruelty and cheating are discouraged, while cooperation, humbleness and courage are praised. These universal norms far pre-date the concept of any moralising religion or written law. Instead, they are rooted in the similarity of basic human needs and our shared mechanisms for learning and problem solving. Our social instincts (本能) include the intense desire to belong. The approval of others is rewarding, while their disapproval is strongly disliked. These social emotions prepare our brains to shape our behaviour according to the norms and values of our family and our community. More generally, social instincts motivate us to learn how to behave in a socially complex world. The mechanism involves a repurposed reward system originally used to develop habits important for self-care. Our brains use the system to acquire behavioural patterns regarding safe routes home, efficient food gathering and dangers to avoid. Good habits save time, energy and sometimes your life. Good social habits do something similar in a social context. We learn to tell the truth, even when lying is self-serving; we help a grandparent even when it is inconvenient. We acquire what we call a sense of right and wrong. Social benefits are accompanied by social demands: we must get along, but not put up with too much. Hence self-discipline is advantageous. In humans, a greatly enlarged brain boosts self-control, just as it boosts problem-solving skills in the social as well as the physical world. These abilities are strengthened by our capacity for language, which allows social practices to develop in extremely unobvious ways. 1．What can be inferred about the forming of the Inuit’s moral code? A．Living conditions were the drive. B．Unwritten rules were the target. C．Social tradition was the basis. D．Honesty was the key. 2．What can we learn from this passage? A．Inconveniences are the cause of telling lies. B．Basic human needs lead to universal norms. C．Language capacity is limited by self-control. D．Written laws have great influence on virtues. 3．Which would be the best title for this passage? A．Virtues: Bridges Across Cultures B．The Values of Self-discipline C．Brains: Walls Against Chaos D．The Roots of Morality Passage（2） （2023·北京·高考真题）What is life? Like most great questions, this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer. The reason is simple: we know of just one type of life and it’s challenging to do science with a sample size of one. The field of artificial life-called ALife for short — is the systematic attempt to spell out life’s fundamental principles. Many of these practitioners, so-called ALifers, think that somehow making life is the surest way to really understand what life is. So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism, such as declarations of the field’s doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith, a complexity scientist, is tired of such complaints. Asking about “the point” of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely, he says. “The existence of a living system is not about the use of anything.” Alan says. “Some people ask me, ‘So what’s the worth of artificial life?’ Do you ever think, ‘What is the worth of your grandmother?’” As much as many ALifers hate emphasizing their research’s applications, the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs. Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife’s cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamored by a concept called open-ended evolution (演化). This is the capacity for a system to create essentially endless complexity, to be a sort of “novelty generator”. The only system known to exhibit this is Earth’s biosphere. If the field of ALife manages to reproduce life’s endless “creativity” in some virtual model, those same principles could give rise to truly inventive machines. Compared with the developments of Al, advances in ALife are harder to recognize. One reason is that ALife is a field in which the central concept — life itself — is undefined. The lack of agreement among ALifers doesn’t help either. The result is a diverse line of projects that each advance along their unique paths. For better or worse, ALife mirrors the very subject it studies. Its muddled (混乱的) progression is a striking parallel (平行线) to the evolutionary struggles that have shaped Earth biosphere. Undefined and uncontrolled, ALife drives its followers to repurpose old ideas and generated novelty. It may be, of course, that these characteristics aren’t in any way surprising or singular. They may apply universally to all acts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something：perhaps, just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable. 1．Regarding Alan Smith’s defence of ALife, the author is . A．supportive B．puzzled C．unconcerned D．doubtful 2．What does the word “enamored” underlined in Paragraph 3 most probably mean? A．Shocked. B．Protected. C．Attracted. D．Challenged. 3．What can we learn from this passage? A．ALife holds the key to human future. B．ALife and AI share a common feature. C．AI mirrors the developments of ALife. D．AI speeds up the process of human evolution. 4．Which would be the best title for the passage? A．Life Is Undefined. Can AI Be a Way Out? B．Life Evolves. Can AI Help ALife Evolve, Too? C．Life Is Undefined. Can ALife Be Defined One Day? D．Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ALife Evolve, Too? Passage（3） （2023·北京·高考真题）In recent years, researchers from diverse fields have agreed that short-termism is now a significant problem in industrialised societies. The inability to engage with longer-term causes and consequences leads to some of the world’s most serious problems: climate change, biodiversity collapse, and more. The historian Francis Cole argues that the West has entered a period where “only the present exists, a present characterised at once by the cruelty of the instant and by the boredom of an unending now”. It has been proved that people have a bias (偏向) towards the present, focusing on loud attractions in the moment at the expense of the health, well-being and financial stability of their future selves or community. In business, this bias surfaces as short-sighted decisions. And on slow-burning problems like climate change, it translates into the unwillingness to make small sacrifices (牺牲) today that could make a major difference tomorrow. Instead, all that matters is next quarter’s profit, or satisfying some other near-term desires. These biased perspectives cannot be blamed on one single cause. It is fair to say, though, that our psychological biases play a major role. People’s hesitancy to delay satisfaction is the most obvious example, but there are others. One of them is about how the most accessible information in the present affects decisions about the future. For instance, you might hear someone say: “It’s cold this winter, so I needn’t worry about global warming.”Another is that loud and urgent matters are given too much importance, making people ignore longer-term trends that arguably matter more. This is when a pop star draws far more attention than, say, gradual biodiversity decline. As a psychologist once joked, if aliens (外星人) wanted to weaken humanity, they wouldn’t send ships; they would invent climate change. Indeed, when it comes to environmental transformations, we can develop a form of collective “poor memory”, and each new generation can believe the state of affairs they encounter is nothing out of the ordinary. Older people today, for example, can remember a time with insect-covered car windscreens after long drives. Children, on the other hand, have no idea that insect population has dropped dramatically. 1．The author quotes Francis Cole mainly to ________. A．draw a comparison B．introduce a topic C．evaluate a statement D．highlight a problem 2．What can be inferred from the last paragraph? A．Climate change has been forgotten. B．Lessons of history are highly valued. C．The human mind is bad at noting slow change. D．Humans are unwilling to admit their shortcomings. 3．What does the author intend to tell us? A．Far-sighted thinking matters to humans. B．Humans tend to make long-term sacrifices. C．Current policies facilitate future decision-making. D．Bias towards the present helps reduce near-term desires. 7 / 10 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $$ 大题03 阅读理解之说明文 高中英语阅读理解中的说明文涵盖众多领域，包括科技（如人工智能、航天技术发展等）、自然科学（像动植物习性、生态环境变化等）、文化（不同地区文化习俗、历史传承等）、健康（养生知识、疾病防治等）以及社会现象（如共享经济、网络社交影响等）。例如，近年来高考中出现过介绍新型环保材料、古代建筑技艺传承、智能手机对生活影响的说明文。更注重考查学生深度理解文本的能力，推理判断题会更加注重考查多维度、深层次的逻辑推理，不再局限于简单的文本表层信息推断；同时对文章结构和写作意图的考查会更细致，要求学生能准确把握说明文不同的组织架构以及作者隐藏在文字背后的真实目的。 （2025高三·北京海淀·一模）As global temperatures continue to rise due to human-induced climate change, precise computerized climate models will be crucial in shedding light on how our climate will evolve in the coming years. A study published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres by Chloe Clark and her team from UC Irvine highlights a significant issue with a commonly used climate model known as the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). The research reveals that this model currently overestimates a key physical property of Earth’s climate system called albedo, which is the degree to which ice reflects planet-warming sunlight into space. Albedo is a measure of the reflectivity of a surface, expressed as the fraction of incoming solar radiation that is reflected by that surface back into space. It is a critical factor in determining Earth’s climate and energy balance. Surfaces with high albedo, such as snow and ice, reflect a large portion of solar energy, whereas darker surfaces like forests or oceans absorb more solar energy. “We found that with old model versions, the ice is too reflective by about five percent,” said Chloe Clarke, “Ice reflectivity was much too high.” The amount of sunlight the planet receives and reflects is important for estimating how much the planet will warm in the coming years. Previous versions of E3SM overestimated albedo because they failed to account for microphysical properties of ice in a warming world. These properties include the effects things like algae (藻类) and dust have on albedo. Dark colored algae and dust can make snow and ice less reflective and less able to reflect sunlight. To do the analysis, Clarke and her team studied satellite data to track the albedo of the Greenland Ice Sheet. They found E3SM overestimates the reflectivity of the ice sheet, meaning the model estimates less melt than what would be expected from the ice microphysical properties. But with the new ice reflectivity incorporated into the model, they discovered the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting at a rate of about six gigatons more than in older model versions. This is based on albedo measurements that are more consistent with satellite observations. Clarke hopes her team’s study stresses the importance of the seemingly minuscule properties that can have far-reaching consequences for the overall climate. “I think our work is going to help models do a much better job of helping us capture snow and ice-related climate feedbacks,” she said. Next, Clarke wants to study different icy parts of the planet to calculate how widespread the albedo discrepancy (差异) is in E3SM. “Our next steps are to get it so the model is functional globally and not just valid over Greenland,” said Clarke, who also intends to compare the new Greenland Ice Sheet melt rates to observations to measure how much more accurate the new ice albedo is. “It would be useful to apply it to glaciers in places like the Andes and Alaska.” 1．According to the passage, albedo ______. A．changes with the lightness of surfaces B．matches up with the shape of the ice or snow C．is a measure of the solar energy arriving at the surface D．varies with the direction of the incoming solar radiation 2．What can be learned from the passage? A．The new model is more reliable than satellite observations. B．The previous model versions overestimate Greenland melt. C．Model adaptation improves the accuracy of climate predictions. D．Scientists have used the model globally to reduce the discrepancy. 3．What does the underlined word “minuscule” in Paragraph 7 probably mean? A．Tiny. B．Invisible. C．Plain. D．Stable. 4．The last paragraph is written to ______. A．note the limitations of the finding B．point out further research directions C．illustrate the benefits of a new approach D．sum up the changes made in E3SM 【答案】1．A 2．C 3．A 4．B 【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了由于人类引起的气候变化导致全球气温持续上升，精确的计算机化气候模型对于揭示未来几年气候将如何演变至关重要。介绍了改编过的模型的特点。 1．细节理解题。根据第二段“The research reveals that this model currently overestimates a key physical property of Earth’s climate system called albedo, which is the degree to which ice reflects planet-warming sunlight into space.(研究表明，该模型目前高估了地球气候系统的一个关键物理特性，即反照率。反照率是指冰将地球变暖的阳光反射到太空的程度)”可知，反照率随表面亮度的变化而变化。故选A。 2．细节理解题。根据倒数第三段“They found E3SM overestimates the reflectivity of the ice sheet, meaning the model estimates less melt than what would be expected from the ice microphysical properties. But with the new ice reflectivity incorporated into the model, they discovered the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting at a rate of about six gigatons more than in older model versions. This is based on albedo measurements that are more consistent with satellite observations.(他们发现E3SM高估了冰盖的反射率，这意味着该模型估计的融化程度低于从冰的微物理特性中得出的预期。但是，将新的冰反射率纳入模型后，他们发现格陵兰冰盖的融化速度比旧模型版本快了约60亿吨。这是基于与卫星观测更一致的反照率测量)”可知，模式改编版提高了气候预测的准确性。故选C。 3．词句猜测题。根据划线词上文“Clarke hopes her team’s study stresses the importance of the seemingly(克拉克希望她的团队的研究强调看似……特性的重要性)”以及后文“properties that can have far-reaching consequences for the overall climate(这些特性可能对整体气候产生深远的影响)”可知，某些特性看似微不足道，但可能对整体气候产生深远的影响，所以克拉克希望她的团队的研究强调了这些小特性的重要性。故划线词意思是“小的”。故选A。 4．推理判断题。根据最后一段“Next, Clarke wants to study different icy parts of the planet to calculate how widespread the albedo discrepancy (差异) is in E3SM. “Our next steps are to get it so the model is functional globally and not just valid over Greenland,” said Clarke, who also intends to compare the new Greenland Ice Sheet melt rates to observations to measure how much more accurate the new ice albedo is. “It would be useful to apply it to glaciers in places like the Andes and Alaska.”(接下来，克拉克想要研究地球上不同的冰区，以计算反照率差异在E3SM中的分布范围。克拉克说：“我们的下一步是让这个模型在全球范围内发挥作用，而不仅仅是在格陵兰岛有效。”他还打算将新的格陵兰冰盖融化率与观测结果进行比较，以衡量新的冰反照率有多准确。“将其应用于安第斯山脉和阿拉斯加等地的冰川将是有用的。”)”可知，最后一段的目的是为了指出进一步的研究方向。故选B。 1. 抓结构，明逻辑 速读首尾段：确定说明对象及核心论点。 关注段落首句：通常为段落主题句，后接解释或例证。 标记逻辑词： 因果：because, therefore, result in. 对比：however, on the contrary. 分类：firstly, secondly, finally. 2. 定位细节，精准匹配 题干关键词法：用数字、专有名词、术语快速定位原文。 同义替换意识：答案常对原文信息换词表达（如“reduce”替换“cut down”）。 3. 析手法，悟目的 说明方法：举例子（for example）、列数据（statistics）、作比较（compared with）、下定义（is defined as）。 作用分析：增强说服力、具体化抽象概念、突出差异等。 Passage（1） （24-25高三上·北京石景山·期末）Experts frequently warn about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI). Sadly, the rapid advancement of AI technology in recent years has not led to a common understanding of its risks, as it should have. Actually, beneath the surface of AI discussions lies conflict among divided groups, which may mislead lawmakers and the public and prevent competent regulatory measures. Understanding the motivations behind these differing views is crucial to addressing AI’s societal impact. The loudest perspective is a frightening vision from doomsayers (末日论者), who present AI as a threat to human existence, capable of wiping out life and controlling everything. This doomsaying is heightened by influential tech figures using tools like ChatGPT to shape the conversation. Some in this group focus on extreme disastrous risks and emphasize the distant future implications of our actions. While many doomsayers claim they are reasonable, their exaggerated concerns about hypothetical (假设的) existential risks amount to a misguided bet with humanity’s future. Technology historian David Brock calls such fears “wishful worries” — that is, problems that it would be nice to have, in contrast to the actual struggles of the present. While doomsayers focus on the distant future, reformers focus on immediate issues. They view AI reform as a matter of integrity, urging Big Tech to prioritize the public good over profit. These experts advocate for regulators to address current harms caused by AI, such as misinformation, monitoring, and algorithmic (算法的) unfairness. They propose initiatives like civil education for AI literacy and the design of human-centered systems to fight growing societal inequalities. Warriors, another group, describe AI through the language of national security and competitiveness. Their views benefit some tech giants and government agencies. Top AI firms seek costly regulations that they claim guard against crime and terrorism, which could secure their market dominance and limit startup competition. Governments, tightly connected to these firms, may prioritize defense applications over moral concerns, leading to regulatory blind spots. In conclusion, the differing viewpoints on AI underline the complexity of addressing its societal impact. To minimize potential harms and ensure that AI serves the public interest, it is crucial to strengthen legal frameworks that close existing gaps and hold corporations accountable. Expanding regulatory strategies can help restrict corporate overreach and foster transparency in AI development. Publicly directed projects can counterbalance corporate influence, ensuring that AI benefits society as a whole. By prioritizing accountability and collective welfare, we can shape a future where AI empowers everyone, not just a select few. 1．What is the consequence of diverse points of view on AI? A．Enhancing our ability to tackle AI issues. B．Advancing the standardization of AI guidelines. C．Delaying the creation of effective AI regulations. D．Breaking the integrity of current AI legal framework. 2．The author quotes David Brock’s words in order to ______. A．prove that AI has positive impacts B．confirm that doomsayers’ worries are justified C．suggest that the concerns over AI are overstated D．show that current struggles have serious outcomes 3．What can be inferred from the passage? A．A publicly directed AI project will ultimately empower the select few. B．Reformers advocate human-centered AI systems to gain personal profits. C．Warriors pursue dominance in national security by improving AI morally. D．Lawmakers should toughen rules limiting corporate influence for public good. 4．Which would be the best title for the passage? A．The Battle over AI: Power and Benefit B．Perspectives on AI: Individualism or Collectivism C．The Argument about AI: Reformers vs. Doomsayers D．Debates on the Future of AI: Innovation or Regulation 【答案】1．C 2．C 3．D 4．A 【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了关于人工智能的不同观点，包括末日论者、改革者和战士等不同群体对人工智能的看法，最后强调，为了最小化潜在危害并确保人工智能服务于公共利益，需要加强法律框架，限制企业过度扩张，促进人工智能发展的透明度，并通过公共指导的项目平衡企业影响力。 1．细节理解题。根据第一段中“Actually, beneath the surface of AI discussions lies conflict among divided groups, which may mislead lawmakers and the public and prevent competent regulatory measures.(实际上，在人工智能讨论的表面之下，存在着不同群体之间的冲突，这可能会误导立法者和公众，并阻碍有效的监管措施)”可知，对于人工智能持不同观点会导致有效的监管措施被阻碍，即延迟制定有效的人工智能法规。故选C。 2．推理判断题。根据第二段中“While many doomsayers claim they are reasonable, their exaggerated concerns about hypothetical (假设的) existential risks amount to a misguided bet with humanity’s future. Technology historian David Brock calls such fears “wishful worries” — that is, problems that it would be nice to have, in contrast to the actual struggles of the present.(尽管许多末日论者声称他们是合理的，但他们对假想存在风险的夸大担忧相当于对人类未来的错误押注。科技历史学家David Brock称这种担忧为“一厢情愿的担忧”——也就是说，与目前的实际斗争相比，最好有这些问题)”可推知，前一句提到许多末日论者夸大了人工智能的风险，后一句是引用David Brock的话是为了证明前一句的观点。故选C。 3．推理判断题。根据最后一段中“To minimize potential harms and ensure that AI serves the public interest, it is crucial to strengthen legal frameworks that close existing gaps and hold corporations accountable. Expanding regulatory strategies can help restrict corporate overreach and foster transparency in AI development. Publicly directed projects can counterbalance corporate influence, ensuring that AI benefits society as a whole.(为了最大限度地减少潜在危害并确保人工智能服务于公众利益，加强法律框架以缩小现有差距并使企业承担责任至关重要。扩大监管战略有助于限制企业的过度扩张，提高人工智能发展的透明度。公共指导的项目可以抵消企业的影响，确保人工智能造福整个社会)”可推知，立法者应该加强规则，限制企业的影响力，以造福公众。故选D。 4．主旨大意题。根据全文内容，结合第一段中“Understanding the motivations behind these differing views is crucial to addressing AI’s societal impact.(理解这些不同观点背后的动机对于解决人工智能的社会影响至关重要)”和最后一段中“Publicly directed projects can counterbalance corporate influence, ensuring that AI benefits society as a whole. By prioritizing accountability and collective welfare, we can shape a future where AI empowers everyone, not just a select few.(公共指导的项目可以抵消企业的影响，确保人工智能造福整个社会。通过优先考虑问责制和集体福利，我们可以塑造一个人工智能赋予每个人权力的未来，而不仅仅是少数人)”可知，文章主要讲述了关于人工智能的不同观点，包括末日论者、改革者和战士等不同群体对人工智能的看法，最后强调，为了最小化潜在危害并确保人工智能服务于公共利益，需要加强法律框架，限制企业过度扩张，促进人工智能发展的透明度，并通过公共指导的项目平衡企业影响力。由此可知，A项“人工智能之战：权力与利益”适合作文章最佳标题。故选A。 Passage（2） （2025·北京东城·一模）In 1993, a ship sailed into the Pacific Ocean carrying nearly 1,000 pounds of iron, then dumped it all into the waves. The next morning, the water turned a little greenish due to newly emerged phytoplankton (浮游生物). The microorganisms, which need iron to grow, draw CO₂ out of the air. Fertilizing the ocean with iron is a form of geoengineering, a set of technologies fascinating for their potential to meaningfully impact Earth’s systems, and controversial for the same reason. As the planet heats, geoengineering is employed to manipulate (控制) it in novel ways, whether researchers mist the skies with sea salt to increase how much sunlight clouds reflect or invent machines to suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. Engineering home-grown plankton sounds like a less dramatic approach. But the field is so new that scientists don’t yet know whether geoengineering with microorganisms would really be a gentler form of climate intervention. Microbes, after all, play enormously consequential roles in the world around us and within us. For the best chance of keeping Earth liveable, scientists need to understand exactly how the microscopic creatures might be useful, and perhaps even preferable to the more sci-fi approaches to cooling off the world. One favored approach centers on methane, a greenhouse gas accounting for 30% of the rise in global temperature. Mary Lidstrom, a professor, is working on genetically modifying bacteria that naturally consume methane, so that the microbes pull even more gas from the air. The bacteria would live inside facilities known as bioreactors. They could be positioned near known methane sources — landfills and wetlands — to minimize the amount of methane that makes it into the air. Scaling up any kind of climate engineering is tricky. Significantly slowing warming caused by methane would require about 300,000 bioreactors to be active for 20 years. And the downstream effects are difficult to predict, let alone contain. For example, the iron put into the Pacific Ocean could have consequences for other regions of the world’s seas. Also, there’s nearly as much uncertainty about intended effects. Scientists don’t know for sure how effective these concepts will prove to be. The 1993 ship expeditions, for example, didn’t stick around very long; the journeys were expensive, and scientists couldn’t remain at sea to determine what exactly was happening in the depths. Carbon stolen out of the atmosphere should remain buried for at least a century for maximum impact Yet it’s entirely possible that if the phytoplankton doesn’t sink to deep enough waters, it just gets eaten by the organisms in the surface ocean, and that CO₂ just returns to the atmosphere. The hotter the planet gets, the more attractive geoengineering will likely seem. Short of large-scale behavioral changes globally, we do seem to be committing ourselves to an engineered solution on our current routes. We might have to decide, sooner than we think, which levers we need to pull, large or small. 1．What can we learn about geoengineering? A．Ocean iron-fertilization is on the horizon. B．Sunlight-reflection method is cost-effective. C．Methane-eating bacteria are being improved. D．Gas-sucking machine is a theoretical concept. 2．What can we infer from Paragraph 4 about the geoengineering approaches? A．Their impact on the ecosystem is overlooked. B．Their implications are hard to anticipate. C．They call for decades of preparation. D．They are monitored continuously. 3．The iron-fertilization experiment may achieve its intended effects if __________. A．the target microbes survive B．carbon is stored separately C．the phytoplankton grows faster D．more deep-sea organisms are tested 4．What might be the best title for the passage? A．How Will Geoengineering Better Earth’s Systems? B．How to Cool the World Without Blocking the Sun? C．How to Steal Carbon with Sci-fi Approaches? D．How Can the Engineered Solution Deliver? 【答案】1．C 2．B 3．B 4．A 【导语】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了地球工程(geoengineering)这一技术，包括其向海洋施铁以促进浮游生物生长吸收二氧化碳、改造细菌消耗甲烷等方法，同时也探讨了其潜在的不确定性和风险。 1．细节理解题。根据第三段中“One favored approach centers on methane, a greenhouse gas accounting for 30% of the rise in global temperature. Mary Lidstrom, a professor, is working on genetically modifying bacteria that naturally consume methane, so that the microbes pull even more gas from the air. (一种受欢迎的方法是以甲烷为中心，甲烷是一种温室气体，占全球温度上升的30%。教授Mary Lidstrom正在研究如何基因改造自然消耗甲烷的细菌，以便这些微生物从空气中吸收更多的气体)”可知，关于地球工程，有科学家正在研究如何基因改造消耗甲烷的细菌，即改进食用甲烷的细菌。故选C项。 2．推理判断题。根据第四段“Significantly slowing warming caused by methane would require about 300,000 bioreactors to be active for 20 years. And the downstream effects are difficult to predict, let alone contain. For example, the iron put into the Pacific Ocean could have consequences for other regions of the world’s seas.(要想显著减缓甲烷引起的气候变暖，需要大约30万个生物反应器在20年内保持活跃。下游的影响很难预测，更不用说控制了。例如，进入太平洋的铁可能会对世界海洋的其他地区产生影响)”可推知，地球工程方法可能带来其它后果，其影响很难预测。故选B项。 3．推理判断题。根据第五段中“Carbon stolen out of the atmosphere should remain buried for at least a century for maximum impact Yet it’s entirely possible that if the phytoplankton doesn’t sink to deep enough waters, it just gets eaten by the organisms in the surface ocean, and that CO₂ just returns to the atmosphere. (从大气中窃取的碳应该被埋藏至少一个世纪才能产生最大影响。然而，如果浮游植物没有下沉到足够深的水域，它很可能会被表层海洋中的生物吃掉，而二氧化碳则会重新回到大气中)”可推知，如果碳被单独储存起来，即不被表层海洋中的生物吃掉而回到大气中，那么向海洋施铁以促进浮游生物生长的实验就可能达到其预期效果。故选B项。 4．主旨大意题。通读全文，结合第一段中“Fertilizing the ocean with iron is a form of geoengineering, a set of technologies fascinating for their potential to meaningfully impact Earth’s systems, and controversial for the same reason. (向海洋施铁是一种地球工程，这是一套因其有可能对地球系统产生有意义的影响而令人着迷的技术，也因此而引发争议)”可知，文章主要介绍了地球工程这一技术，包括向海洋施铁以促进浮游生物生长吸收二氧化碳、改造细菌消耗甲烷等方法，同时也探讨了其潜在的不确定性和风险。故A选项“How Will Geoengineering Better Earth’s Systems?(地球工程将如何改善地球系统？)”是文章内容的概括，最适合作文章标题。故选A项。 Passage（1） （24-25高三上·北京房山·期中）The human brain’s understanding of figure zero may have evolved from primitive neural pathways initially used for counting predators. This discovery could aid doctors in helping stroke patients who struggle with numerical comprehension. Zeros are integral to various fields, including astronomy, engineering, and literature. Researchers Benjy Barnett and Steve Fleming from University College London explored the origins of figure zero by using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to monitor the brain activity of 29 participants engaged in two tasks. In the first, people compared whether two consecutive patterns were made of the same number of dots, from 0 to 5, In the second, they saw 10 numbers, also from 0 to 5, each for 250 milliseconds. Half were orange and the rest blue. They then reported which colored numbers had the highest value. To compare people’s brain activity when they saw a “0” with them seeing other numbers, Barnett and Fleming input the MEG data into a machine-learning algorithm (算法). Previous research has shown that specific neurons respond to numbers like“1,” “2,” and so on, up to “9.” Barnett noted that their findings revealed that the neural response to “0” closely resembled that of “1,” while becoming less similar to larger numbers. This suggests that zero occupies a fundamental position on the neural number line, next to “1” and two less than “2.” They also examined similarities between the brain’s response to “0” and a blank screen, finding identical activity patterns. This suggests that our comprehension of zero may have evolved from recognizing absences. “If I’m an antelope on the grassland and I quickly scan to check if I can see any predators, the brain activity that leads me to decide ‘no, I haven’t seen anything’ might be the starting point for the number zero in the brain,” says Barnett. While humans and other animals recognize absence, humans have built upon this to apply zeros into numerical systems. Additionally, a previous study involving over 650 stroke patients revealed that approximately 15% struggled to process numbers containing zeros post-stroke. “Our results may well contribute to better understanding of this phenomenon and help inform potential treatments,” says Barnett. Jorge Morales at Northeastern University in Boston says that despite the importance of zero in mathematics and culture, this study suggests that the concept originates from the ability to notice absences, which we probably share with other animals. 1．How did the researchers explore the origin of figure zero? A．By comparing brain activity patterns. B．By monitoring brain function directly. C．By observing how people count dots. D．By studying people’s response for MEG. 2．What can we learn from the passage? A．Figure zero is unique to numerical system. B．Figure zero is important for noticing absence. C．The brain is more sensitive to process larger numbers. D．Stroke patients struggle to understand figure zero. 3．What does the author mainly intend to tell us? A．Figure zero is essential in various scientific disciplines. B．Recognizing absence helps in understanding figure zero. C．MEG is an effective tool for analyzing figure zero. D．Figure zero is primarily useful for counting. 【答案】1．A 2．B 3．B 【导语】这是一篇说明文。本文主要探讨了数字0的起源以及人类大脑如何理解数字0。 1．推理判断题。根据文章第二段“To compare people’s brain activity when they saw a “0” with them seeing other numbers, Barnett and Fleming input the MEG data into a machine-learning algorithm.(为了比较人们在看到数字“0”和其他数字时的脑活动，Barnett和Fleming将MEG数据输入到机器学习算法中。)”可知，研究人员通过比较人们在看到数字0和其他数字时的脑活动模式来探索数字0的起源。故选A。 2．细节理解题。根据文章第四段“They also examined similarities between the brain’s response to “0” and a blank screen, finding identical activity patterns. This suggests that our comprehension of zero may have evolved from recognizing absences.(他们还检查了大脑对数字“0”的反应和空白屏幕之间的相似性，发现了相同的活动模式。这表明我们对数字0的理解可能源于对缺失的识别。)”可知，文章提到数字0对识别缺失的重要性。故选B。 3．推理判断题。根据文章第一段“The human brain’s understanding of figure zero may have evolved from primitive neural pathways initially used for counting predators. This discovery could aid doctors in helping stroke patients who struggle with numerical comprehension.(人类大脑对数字0的理解可能是从最初用于计算捕食者数量的原始神经通路演化而来的。这一发现可能有助于医生治疗在数字理解方面存在困难的卒中患者。)”第四段“This suggests that our comprehension of zero may have evolved from recognizing absences.(这表明我们对数字0的理解可能源于对缺失的识别。)”可知，文章主要探讨了数字0的起源和大脑如何理解数字0，并指出对缺失的识别是理解数字0的关键。故选B。 Passage（2） （24-25高三上·北京·一模）What does it mean to live a good life? This question has been debated for centuries. In the field of psychology, two main concepts of the good life have been quite popular: A happy life full of pleasure and positive emotions, and a meaningful life full of purpose and sacrifice. But what if these aren’t the only options? In recent years, a long-neglected version of the good life has been receiving greater attention: the psychologically rich life. It is full of complex mental engagement, a wide range of intense and deep emotions, and diverse, novel, surprising and interesting experiences. Sometimes they are neither pleasant nor meaningful. However, they are rarely boring or monotonous. After all, both happy and meaningful lives can become monotonous and repetitive. A person with a steady office job, married with children, may be satisfied and find his or her life meaningful and still be bored. Also, the psychologically rich life doesn’t necessarily involve economic richness. For instance, consider Hesse’s character Goldmund, who has no money but pursues the life of a free spirit. Research has found psychological richness is related to, but partially distinct from, both happy and meaningful lives. Psychological richness is related with openness to experience and experiencing both positive and negative emotions more intensely. But is the psychologically rich life one that people actually want? In a new study, Qishi and his colleagues asked people in nine countries the degree to which they value a psychologically rich life, a happy life and a meaningful life. They found many people’s self-described ideal lives involve psychological richness. When forced to choose a life, however, the majority chose a happy life and a meaningful life. Even so, a minority of people still favored the psychologically rich life, ranging from 6.7% in Singapore to 16.8% in Germany. These numbers went up when the desire for a psychologically rich life was measured indirectly. To understand what a person wishes their lives might have been, it is important to explore what people wish they had avoided in their lives. When asked what they regret most and whether undoing this event would have made their lives happier, more meaningful or psychologically richer, about 28% of Americans said undoing the regrettable event would have made their lives psychologically richer. These findings suggest that while most people strive to be happy and have meaning in their lives, a sizable number of people are content merely living a psychologically rich existence. As Oishi and his colleagues conclude, “We believe that taking the psychologically rich life seriously will deepen and enrich our understanding of well-being.” At the end of the day, there is no one singularly acceptable path to the good life. You have to find a path that works best for you. 1．What does Oishi’s research indicate? A．The Germans prefer psychological richness to a happy life. B．Undoing regrettable events has enriched many people’s lives. C．A hidden desire for psychological richness exists among some people. D．People with psychological richness tend to describe their lives as ideal. 2．We can learn from the passage that ________. A．purpose outweighs pleasure in terms of significance B．the choice of a good life differs from person to person C．a positive mindset helps us understand our well-being D．we should never be content and always strive for the best 3．What is the main purpose of the article? A．To compare different concepts of a good life. B．To explain how to live a psychologically rich life. C．To persuade people to attain psychological richness. D．To draw attention to a less familiar version of a good life. 【答案】1．C 2．B 3．D 【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章提出除了传统观念的好的生活之外，另一种好生活——心理丰富的生活应该得到关注。 1．细节理解题。根据倒第二段“These findings suggest that while most people strive to be happy and have meaning in their lives, a sizable number of people are content merely living a psychologically rich existence.(这些发现表明，虽然大多数人努力让自己快乐，让自己的生活有意义，但仍有相当数量的人仅仅满足于心理上丰富的生活)”可知，Oishi的调查表明，在一些人当中，隐藏着一种对心理丰富的渴望。故选C。 2．推理判断题。根据第五段最后两句“When forced to choose a life, however, the majority chose a happy life and a meaningful life. Even so, a minority of people still favored the psychologically rich life, ranging from 6.7% in Singapore to 16.8% in Germany.(然而，当被迫选择一种生活时，大多数人选择了幸福的生活和有意义的生活。即便如此，仍有一小部分人青睐心理富裕的生活，从新加坡的6.7%到德国的16.8%不等)”可知，大多数人选择了幸福的生活和有意义的生活，但仍有一小部分人青睐心理富裕的生活，由此可知，对于好的生活的选择因人而异。故选B。 3．推理判断题。文章第一段中提出问题“What does it mean to live a good life? (过好生活意味着什么？)”，指出“In the field of psychology, two main concepts of the good life have been quite popular: A happy life full of pleasure and positive emotions, and a meaningful life full of purpose and sacrifice.(在心理学领域，关于美好生活的两个主要概念一直很流行：一个是充满快乐和积极情绪的幸福生活，一个是充满目标和牺牲的有意义的生活)”，然后提出问题“ But what if these aren’t the only options?(但如果这些不是唯一的选择呢？)”，由此可知，文章提出一种不与传统概念相同的另一种好的生活的选择，并在第二段中提出“In recent years, a long-neglected version of the good life has been receiving greater attention: the psychologically rich life. (近年来，一个长期被忽视的美好生活的版本越来越受到关注：心理丰富的生活)”可知，这篇文章的主要目的是让人们注意到不太熟悉的美好生活。故选D。 Passage（3） （24-25高三上·北京·二模）Is it true that our brain alone is responsible for human cognition (认知)? What about our body? Is it possible for thought and behavior to originate from somewhere other than our brain? Psychologists who study Embodied Cognition (EC) ask similar questions. The EC theory suggests our body is also responsible for thinking or problem- solving. More precisely, the mind shapes the body and the body shapes the mind in equal measure. If you think about it for a moment, it makes total sense. When you smell something good or hear amusing sounds, certain emotions are awakened. Think about how newborns use their senses to understand the world around them. They don’t have emotions so much as needs — they don’t feel sad, they’ re just hungry and need food. Even unborn babies can feel their mothers’ heartbeats and this has a calming effect. In the real world, they cry when they’ re cold and then get hugged. That way, they start to associate being warm with being loved. Understandably, theorists have been arguing for years and still disagree on whether the brain is the nerve center that operates the rest of the body. Older Western philosóphers and mainstream language researchers believe this is fact, while EC theorises that the brain and body are working together as an organic supercomputer, processing everything and forming your reactions. Further studies have backed up the mind-body interaction! In one experiment, test subjects were asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They all made warm evaluations when their fingertips perceived warmth rather than coolness. And it works the other way too; in another study, subjects’ fingertip temperatures were measured after being included in or“ rejected” from a group task. Those who were included felt physically warmer. For further proof, we can look at the metaphors (比方说法) that we use without even thinking. A kind and sympathetic person is frequently referred to as one with a soft heart and someone who is very strong and calm in difficult situations is often described as solid as a rock. And this kind of metaphorical use is common across languages. Now that you have the knowledge of mind-body interaction, why not use it? If you’re having a bad day, a warm cup of tea will give you a flash of pleasure. If you know you’re physically cold, warm up before making any interpersonal decisions. 1．According to the author, the significance of the EC theory lies in________. A．facilitating our understanding of the origin of psychology B．revealing the major role of the mind in human cognition C．offering a clearer picture of the shape of human brain D．bringing us closer to the truth in human cognition 2．The experiments mentioned in Paragraph 4 further prove ________. A．how body temperature is related to health B．the mind and the body influence each other C．environment impacts how we judge others D．how humans interact with their surroundings 3．What is the author’s purpose in writing the last paragraph? A．To share with the reader ways to release their emotions. B．To guide the reader onto the path to career success. C．To encourage the reader to put EC into practice. D．To deepen the reader’s understanding of EC． 【答案】1．D 2．B 3．C 【导语】本文是一篇说明文。介绍了心理学家的一项EC理论表明，我们不是只有大脑负责人类的认知，我们的身体也负责思考或者解决问题。更准确的说思想塑造身体，身体同等程度地塑造思想。 1．推理判断题。根据第一段“The EC theory suggests our body is also responsible for thinking or problem- solving. More precisely, the mind shapes the body and the body shapes the mind in equal measure.(EC理论认为我们的身体也负责思考和解决问题。更准确地说，思想塑造身体，身体也同样塑造思想)”可知，作者认为，EC理论的意义在于使我们更接近人类认知的真理。故选D项。 2．推理判断题。根据第四段“Further studies have backed up the mind-body interaction. (进一步的研究支持了思想与身体的相互作用)”以及接下来列举了两个实验“In one experiment, test subjects were asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They all made warm evaluations when their fingertips perceived warmth rather than coolness.(在一项实验中，测试对象被要求在拿到热饮或冷饮后对人做出判断。当他们的指尖感受到温暖而不是凉爽时，他们都做出了温暖的评价)”表明，身体会影响到思想，以及“And it works the other way too; in another study, subjects’ fingertip temperatures were measured after being included in or“ rejected” from a group task. Those who were included felt physically warmer.(反过来也一样；在另一项研究中，研究人员测量了受试者在被纳入或被“拒绝”小组任务后的指尖温度。那些被包括在内的人感到身体更温暖)”表明身体会受到思想的影响，因此推断本段的实验进一步证明了身体与思想间的相互作用。故选B项。 3．推理判断题。根据最后一段“Now that you have the knowledge of mind-body interaction, why not use it?(既然你已经掌握了身心互动的知识，为什么不使用它呢？)”以及下文中列举的两种现实生活中的情况“If you’re having a bad day, a warm cup of tea will give you a flash of pleasure. If you know you’re physically cold, warm up before making any interpersonal decisions.(如果你今天过得很糟糕，一杯温暖的茶会给你带来一瞬间的快乐。如果你知道自己身体很冷，在做出任何人际关系决定之前先热身)”可知，理论知识已经知道，且在现实生活中有一定的运用价值，所以作者最后一段是在鼓励读者把EC理论运用于现实生活中。故选C项。 Passage（4） （24-25高三下·北京通州·开学考试）Imagine that on a Friday afternoon, before leaving work to start your weekend, you are asked to solve two problems that require creative thinking. Do you: 1) . Spend the first half of your time attempting the first problem and the second half of your time attempting the second; 2) . Alternate between the two problems at a regular, predetermined interval (e. g. , switching every five minutes) ; 3) . Switch between the problems at your own discretion (自行决定) . If you are like the hundreds of people to whom we posed this question, you would choose to switch between the two problems at your own discretion. After all, this approach offers maximum autonomy and flexibility, enabling you to change tracks from one problem to the other when you feel stuck. But if coming up with creative answers is your goal, this approach may not be ideal. Instead, switching between the problems at a regular, predetermined interval will likely yield the best results, according to research we published in the March issue of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. In an experiment, we randomly assigned participants to one of the three approaches. Participants who were instructed to continually switch back and forth between two problems at a fixed interval were significantly more likely to find the correct answer to both problems than participants who switched at their own discretion or halfway through the allotted time. The issue with both other approaches seemed to be that people failed to recognize when rigid thinking crept in. Participants who didn’t step away from a task at regular intervals were more likely to write “new” ideas that were very similar to the last one they had written. While they might have felt that they were on a roll, the reality was that, without the breaks afforded by continual task switching, their actual progress was limited. The findings suggest that the hustle and bustle of your daily work life may facilitate your creativity if it leads you to step away from a task and reset your thinking. So when you’re working on tasks that would benefit from creative thinking, consciously insert breaks at regular intervals—use a timer if you have to. When it goes off, switch tasks: Organize your receipts, check your email, or clean your desk, and then return to the original task. If you’re hesitant to break away because you feel that you’re on a roll, be mindful that it might be a false impression. We tend to generate redundant ideas when we don’t take regular breaks; ask yourself whether your latest ideas are qualitatively different. Finally, don’t skip your lunch breaks, and don’t feel guilty about taking breaks, especially when you are feeling stuck. Doing so may actually be the best use of your time. 1．Why do people favor the third approach mentioned in Paragraph 1? A．Because it facilitates autonomous learning. B．Because it encourages independent thinking. C．Because it improves concentration. D．Because it allows much freedom. 2．What does the underlined word “rigid” in Paragraph 4 probably mean? A．critical B．inflexible C．innovative D．serious 3．What can be inferred from the passage? A．People will make great progress when they work continually. B．People will automatically take breaks when they feel stuck C．Regularly scheduled breaks can refresh people’s thinking. D．Continually doing chores is key to generating new ideas. 4．What is the main purpose of the passage? A．To present a way to boost creative thinking. B．To introduce a new study on work efficiency. C．To compare three methods of creative thinking. D．To explain why people fail to produce creative ideas. 【答案】1．D 2．B 3．C 4．A 【导语】本文是一篇说明文。主要介绍了在解决需要创造性思维的问题时，如何更有效地切换任务才能促进创造性思维。 1．细节理解题。根据第一段“Switch between the problems at your own discretion (自行决定) . (在问题之间自行决定切换。)”以及第二段“If you are like the hundreds of people to whom we posed this question, you would choose to switch between the two problems at your own discretion. After all, this approach offers maximum autonomy and flexibility, enabling you to change tracks from one problem to the other when you feel stuck. (如果你和我们对其提问这一问题的数百人一样，你会选择在这两个问题之间自行切换。毕竟，这种方法提供了最大的自主权和灵活性，使您能够在感到困难时将轨迹从一个问题更改为另一个问题。)”可知，第三种方法受欢迎，是因为这种方法提供最大的自主权和灵活性，人们相信它可以允许很大的自由。故选D。 2．词句猜测题。根据划线词前面的内容“The issue with both other approaches seemed to be that people failed to recognize….(其他两种方法的问题似乎都是，人们没有意识到……)”以及根据划线词后面的内容“ Participants who didn’t step away from a task at regular intervals were more likely to write “new” ideas that were very similar to the last one they had written. (那些没有定期离开任务的参与者更有可能写出与他们上次写的非常相似的“新”想法。)”可知，不定期离开任务的参与者更有可能得到的想法与之前的非常相似，在无意识的情况下，形成了僵化思维，而人们没有意识到这种僵化性思维。由此推测划线单词表示“不灵活的，僵化的”，与B选项“inflexible(不灵活)”意义相近。故选B。 3．推理判断题。根据倒数第二段“The findings suggest that the hustle and bustle of your daily work life may facilitate your creativity if it leads you to step away from a task and reset your thinking. (研究结果表明，如果你的日常工作生活中的忙碌会让你放弃任务，重新设定思维，那么它可能会促进你的创造力。)”以及最后一段“So when you’re working on tasks that would benefit from creative thinking, consciously insert breaks at regular intervals—use a timer if you have to. When it goes off, switch tasks: Organize your receipts, check your email, or clean your desk, and then return to the original task. (因此，当你在做有利于创造性思维的任务时，有意识地每隔一段时间插入休息时间——如果必须的话，可以使用计时器。当计时器关闭时，切换任务：整理收据、检查电子邮件或清理办公桌，然后返回到原始任务。)”可知，有意识地每隔一段时间休息一会儿，会使得人们重新设定思维，可能会促进创造力，即有规律的安排休息可以刷新人们的思维。故选C。 4．推理判断题。根据倒数第二段“The findings suggest that the hustle and bustle of your daily work life may facilitate your creativity if it leads you to step away from a task and reset your thinking. (研究结果表明，如果你的日常工作生活中的忙碌会让你放弃任务，重新设定思维，那么它可能会促进你的创造力。)”以及文章内容可知，本文主要介绍了在解决需要创造性思维的问题时，如何更有效地切换任务才能促进创造性思维，文章的目的是介绍一种促进创造性思维的方法。故选A。 Passage（5） （2024·北京昌平·二模）Baleen whales play a vital role in ecosystems. To communicate across vast distances and find each other, baleen whales depend critically on the production of sounds that travels far in dark oceans. However, since whale songs were first discovered more than 50 years ago, it remained unknown how baleen whales produce their complex vocalizations (发音). A new study in the journal Nature reports that baleen whales developed unique structures in their larynx (喉) that enable their low-frequency vocalizations, but also limit their communication range. The study was led by voice scientists Professor Coen Elemans and Professor Tecumseh Fitch. “The toothed whales and baleen whales were initially land animals that had a larynx serving two functions: protecting the airways and sound production. However, their switching to living in the water placed new and strict demands on the larynx to prevent choking underwater,” says Tecumseh Fitch. The study shows that baleen whales nevertheless can still produce sound with their larynx, but they have developed new structures to do so, which only exists in baleen whales. “This is probably to keep a rigid open airway when they have to move huge amounts of air in and out during explosive surface breathing,” states Fitch. “We found that this U-shaped structure pushes against a big fatty cushion (垫) on the inside of the larynx. When the whales push air from their lungs past this cushion, it starts to shake and this generates very low frequency underwater sounds,” says Elemans. To understand how muscle activity could change the calls, the researchers built a computational model of the entire whale larynx. The model predicted the natural vocalizations of the whales very well. However, these newly discovered features that allowed whales to successfully communicate in the vast oceans also poses huge physiological (生理的) limits for many baleen whales. Combining experiments and models, the researchers provide the first evidence that baleen whales are physiologically incapable of escaping noise caused by humans, because it covers up their voices, and thus limits their communication range. “Unfortunately, the main frequency and depth of man-made noise caused by shipping traffic cover the frequency range and maximum communication depth of 100 meters that we predicted,” Elemans says. The first voice recordings of a certain whale song by Roger and Katy Payne in 1970 attracted global interest in sea conservation efforts. The Payne’s made people aware how quiet the seas were before humans started the widespread use of machine ships. Elemans adds: “Compared to the seventies, our oceans are now even more filled with human-made noise, which affects the whales, because they are dependent on sound for communication. Now we show that despite their amazing physiology, they literally cannot escape the noise humans make in the oceans.” 1．What can we know about baleen whales’ vocalization system? A．Their airways are closed during explosive surface breath. B．Their larynx has difficulty preventing choking underwater. C．Their vocalization system changed when they were land animals. D．Their fatty cushion shakes to make low frequency underwater sounds. 2．The researchers’ experiments and models show that ______. A．baleen whales are incapable of recognizing humans’ noise B．the muscle activity is related to the vocalizations of the whales C．human-made noises disturb baleen whales’ communication range D．the bodily features in baleen whales limit their communication depth 3．What can we infer from the last paragraph? A．Sea conservation efforts used to be better than now. B．The special structure protects Baleen whales from noises. C．Actions should be taken to regulate human activities at sea. D．The application of technology contributes to sea conservation. 【答案】1．D 2．C 3．C 【导语】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了须鲸由于喉部的特殊结构可以在水下发出低频的声音，但交流范围有限，而来自人类的噪音远远超过了须鲸的声音，使它们彼此之间不能进行交流甚至交配，从而威胁了须鲸的数量。 1．细节理解题。根据文章第三段“We found that this U-shaped structure pushes against a big fatty cushion (垫) on the inside of the larynx. When the whales push air from their lungs past this cushion, it starts to shake and this generates very low frequency underwater sounds”（我们发现这个U形结构在喉部内部推动一个大的脂肪垫。当鲸鱼从他们的肺部推动空气经过这个垫子时，它开始震动，这产生了非常低频的水下声音）可知，鲸鱼的脂肪垫震动以产生低频水下声音。故选D。 2．推理判断题。根据文章第四段“Combining experiments and models, the researchers provide the first evidence that baleen whales are physiologically incapable of escaping noise caused by humans, because it covers up their voices, and thus limits their communication range.”（通过结合实验和模型，研究人员提供了第一个证据，即鲸鱼在生理上无法逃避人类造成的噪音，因为它掩盖了他们的声音，从而限制了他们的通信范围。）可知，人类制造的噪音干扰了鲸鱼的通信范围。故选C。 3．推理判断题。根据文章最后一段“Now we show that despite their amazing physiology, they literally cannot escape the noise humans make in the oceans.”（现在我们表明，尽管他们的生理结构令人惊叹，但他们实际上无法逃避人类在海洋中制造的噪音。）可推知，应该采取行动来规范海上的人类活动。故选C。 Passage（1） （2024·北京·高考真题）Franz Boas’s description of Inuit (因纽特人) life in the 19th century illustrates the probable moral code of early humans. Here, norms (规范) were unwritten and rarely expressed clearly, but were well understood and taken to heart. Dishonest and violent behaviours were disapproved of; leadership, marriage and interactions with other groups were loosely governed by traditions. Conflict was often resolved in musical battles. Because arguing angrily leads to chaos, it was strongly discouraged. With life in the unforgiving Northern Canada being so demanding, the Inuit’s practical approach to morality made good sense. The similarity of moral virtues across cultures is striking, even though the relative ranking of the virtues may vary with a social group’s history and environment. Typically, cruelty and cheating are discouraged, while cooperation, humbleness and courage are praised. These universal norms far pre-date the concept of any moralising religion or written law. Instead, they are rooted in the similarity of basic human needs and our shared mechanisms for learning and problem solving. Our social instincts (本能) include the intense desire to belong. The approval of others is rewarding, while their disapproval is strongly disliked. These social emotions prepare our brains to shape our behaviour according to the norms and values of our family and our community. More generally, social instincts motivate us to learn how to behave in a socially complex world. The mechanism involves a repurposed reward system originally used to develop habits important for self-care. Our brains use the system to acquire behavioural patterns regarding safe routes home, efficient food gathering and dangers to avoid. Good habits save time, energy and sometimes your life. Good social habits do something similar in a social context. We learn to tell the truth, even when lying is self-serving; we help a grandparent even when it is inconvenient. We acquire what we call a sense of right and wrong. Social benefits are accompanied by social demands: we must get along, but not put up with too much. Hence self-discipline is advantageous. In humans, a greatly enlarged brain boosts self-control, just as it boosts problem-solving skills in the social as well as the physical world. These abilities are strengthened by our capacity for language, which allows social practices to develop in extremely unobvious ways. 1．What can be inferred about the forming of the Inuit’s moral code? A．Living conditions were the drive. B．Unwritten rules were the target. C．Social tradition was the basis. D．Honesty was the key. 2．What can we learn from this passage? A．Inconveniences are the cause of telling lies. B．Basic human needs lead to universal norms. C．Language capacity is limited by self-control. D．Written laws have great influence on virtues. 3．Which would be the best title for this passage? A．Virtues: Bridges Across Cultures B．The Values of Self-discipline C．Brains: Walls Against Chaos D．The Roots of Morality 【答案】1．C 2．B 3．D 【导语】本文是一篇说明文。主要围绕人类道德规范的起源进行讨论，介绍了早期人类道德准则的形成过程及其如何根植于人类基本需求及共同的社会学习和问题解决机制中。 1．推理判断题。根据第一段“Here, norms (规范) were unwritten and rarely expressed clearly, but were well understood and taken to heart. Dishonest and violent behaviours were disapproved of; leadership, marriage and interactions with other groups were loosely governed by traditions. Conflict was often resolved in musical battles. Because arguing angrily leads to chaos, it was strongly discouraged. With life in the unforgiving Northern Canada being so demanding, the Inuit’s practical approach to morality made good sense. (在这里，规范是不成文的，很少明确表达，但被很好地理解和铭记。不赞成不诚实和暴力行为；领导、婚姻以及与其他群体的互动都受到传统的松散控制。冲突往往通过音乐斗争来解决。因为愤怒的争论会导致混乱，所以强烈反对。在无情的加拿大北部，生活的要求如此之高，因纽特人对待道德的务实态度很有道理)”可知，因纽特人的生活中，规范是不成文的，因纽特人的道德准则是以社会传统为基础的。故选C项。 2．细节理解题。根据第二段“These universal norms far pre-date the concept of any moralising religion or written law. Instead, they are rooted in the similarity of basic human needs and our shared mechanisms for learning and problem solving.(这些普遍规范远远早于任何道德化宗教或成文法律的概念。相反，它们植根于人类基本需求的相似性以及我们学习和解决问题的共同机制)”可知，普遍的道德规范植根于人类基本需求的相似性以及我们学习和解决问题的共同机制，即人类的基本需求导致普遍的道德规范形成。故选B项。 3．主旨大意题。根据第一段“Franz Boas’s description of Inuit (因纽特人) life in the 19th century illustrates the probable moral code of early humans.(弗朗兹·博厄斯对19世纪因纽特人生活的描述说明了早期人类可能的道德准则)”以及文章内容可知，本文围绕人类道德规范的起源进行讨论，主要介绍了早期人类道德准则的形成过程及其如何根植于人类基本需求及共同的社会学习和问题解决机制中，所以“道德的起源”适合作为文章标题。故选D项。 Passage（2） （2023·北京·高考真题）What is life? Like most great questions, this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer. The reason is simple: we know of just one type of life and it’s challenging to do science with a sample size of one. The field of artificial life-called ALife for short — is the systematic attempt to spell out life’s fundamental principles. Many of these practitioners, so-called ALifers, think that somehow making life is the surest way to really understand what life is. So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism, such as declarations of the field’s doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith, a complexity scientist, is tired of such complaints. Asking about “the point” of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely, he says. “The existence of a living system is not about the use of anything.” Alan says. “Some people ask me, ‘So what’s the worth of artificial life?’ Do you ever think, ‘What is the worth of your grandmother?’” As much as many ALifers hate emphasizing their research’s applications, the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs. Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife’s cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamored by a concept called open-ended evolution (演化). This is the capacity for a system to create essentially endless complexity, to be a sort of “novelty generator”. The only system known to exhibit this is Earth’s biosphere. If the field of ALife manages to reproduce life’s endless “creativity” in some virtual model, those same principles could give rise to truly inventive machines. Compared with the developments of Al, advances in ALife are harder to recognize. One reason is that ALife is a field in which the central concept — life itself — is undefined. The lack of agreement among ALifers doesn’t help either. The result is a diverse line of projects that each advance along their unique paths. For better or worse, ALife mirrors the very subject it studies. Its muddled (混乱的) progression is a striking parallel (平行线) to the evolutionary struggles that have shaped Earth biosphere. Undefined and uncontrolled, ALife drives its followers to repurpose old ideas and generated novelty. It may be, of course, that these characteristics aren’t in any way surprising or singular. They may apply universally to all acts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something：perhaps, just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable. 1．Regarding Alan Smith’s defence of ALife, the author is . A．supportive B．puzzled C．unconcerned D．doubtful 2．What does the word “enamored” underlined in Paragraph 3 most probably mean? A．Shocked. B．Protected. C．Attracted. D．Challenged. 3．What can we learn from this passage? A．ALife holds the key to human future. B．ALife and AI share a common feature. C．AI mirrors the developments of ALife. D．AI speeds up the process of human evolution. 4．Which would be the best title for the passage? A．Life Is Undefined. Can AI Be a Way Out? B．Life Evolves. Can AI Help ALife Evolve, Too? C．Life Is Undefined. Can ALife Be Defined One Day? D．Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ALife Evolve, Too? 【答案】1．A 2．C 3．B 4．D 【导语】本文为说明文。文章主要探讨了ALife是否也在不断地进化的问题。 1．推理判断题。根据第三段“As much as many ALifers hate emphasizing their research’s applications, the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs. (尽管许多ALifer讨厌强调他们研究的应用，但创造人工生命的尝试可能会有实际的回报)”可知，作者认为创造人工生命的尝试是会有回报的；再结合第二段“So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism, such as declarations of the field’s doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith, a complexity scientist, is tired of such complaints. Asking about “the point” of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely, he says. “The existence of a living system is not about the use of anything.” Alan says. “Some people ask me, ‘So what’s the worth of artificial life?’ Do you ever think, ‘What is the worth of your grandmother?’”(到目前为止，还没有人能令人信服地制造出人工生命。这一记录使生命科学成为批评的成熟目标，比如对该领域可疑科学价值的声明。复杂性科学家艾伦•史密斯厌倦了这样的抱怨。他说，询问ALife的“意义”可能完全没有抓住要点。“一个生命系统的存在与任何东西的使用无关。”Alan说。“有人问我，‘那么人工生命的价值是什么？’你有没有想过，‘你祖母的价值是多少？’”)”可推知，因为还没有人能令人信服地制造出人工生命，才导致使生命科学成为批评（认为其没有科学价值）的成熟目标，作者认为这是不合理的，所以后文引用了Alan Smith的话语对这种观点进行反驳，即关于Alan Smith对ALife的辩护，作者表示支持。故选A。 2．词句猜测题。根据划线词上文“Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife’s cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamored by a concept called open-ended evolution (演化).(人工智能可能被认为是ALife的表亲，因为这两个领域的研究人员都被一个叫做开放进化的概念enamored)”可知，人工智能可能被认为是ALife的表亲，说明人工智能和ALife二者间有共同之处，可推测是因为这两个领域的研究人员都被一个叫做开放进化的概念所吸引，所以才有了这种观点。故划线词意为“吸引”。故选C。 3．推理判断题。根据第三段“Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife’s cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamored by a concept called open-ended evolution (演化).(人工智能可能被认为是ALife的表亲，因为这两个领域的研究人员都被一个叫做开放进化的概念所吸引)”可知，ALife和AI有一个共同的特点。故选B。 4．主旨大意题。根据最后一段“They may apply universally to all acts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something: perhaps, just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable.(它们可能普遍适用于所有进化行为。最终，ALife可能没有什么特别的。但即使是这种否定也表明了一些事情：也许，就像整个宇宙中的生命本身一样，ALife的崛起将被证明是不可避免的)”结合文章主要探讨了ALife是否也在不断地进化。D选项“生命在进化。创造ALife的尝试也能进化吗？”是最合适的标题。故选D。 Passage（3） （2023·北京·高考真题）In recent years, researchers from diverse fields have agreed that short-termism is now a significant problem in industrialised societies. The inability to engage with longer-term causes and consequences leads to some of the world’s most serious problems: climate change, biodiversity collapse, and more. The historian Francis Cole argues that the West has entered a period where “only the present exists, a present characterised at once by the cruelty of the instant and by the boredom of an unending now”. It has been proved that people have a bias (偏向) towards the present, focusing on loud attractions in the moment at the expense of the health, well-being and financial stability of their future selves or community. In business, this bias surfaces as short-sighted decisions. And on slow-burning problems like climate change, it translates into the unwillingness to make small sacrifices (牺牲) today that could make a major difference tomorrow. Instead, all that matters is next quarter’s profit, or satisfying some other near-term desires. These biased perspectives cannot be blamed on one single cause. It is fair to say, though, that our psychological biases play a major role. People’s hesitancy to delay satisfaction is the most obvious example, but there are others. One of them is about how the most accessible information in the present affects decisions about the future. For instance, you might hear someone say: “It’s cold this winter, so I needn’t worry about global warming.”Another is that loud and urgent matters are given too much importance, making people ignore longer-term trends that arguably matter more. This is when a pop star draws far more attention than, say, gradual biodiversity decline. As a psychologist once joked, if aliens (外星人) wanted to weaken humanity, they wouldn’t send ships; they would invent climate change. Indeed, when it comes to environmental transformations, we can develop a form of collective “poor memory”, and each new generation can believe the state of affairs they encounter is nothing out of the ordinary. Older people today, for example, can remember a time with insect-covered car windscreens after long drives. Children, on the other hand, have no idea that insect population has dropped dramatically. 1．The author quotes Francis Cole mainly to ________. A．draw a comparison B．introduce a topic C．evaluate a statement D．highlight a problem 2．What can be inferred from the last paragraph? A．Climate change has been forgotten. B．Lessons of history are highly valued. C．The human mind is bad at noting slow change. D．Humans are unwilling to admit their shortcomings. 3．What does the author intend to tell us? A．Far-sighted thinking matters to humans. B．Humans tend to make long-term sacrifices. C．Current policies facilitate future decision-making. D．Bias towards the present helps reduce near-term desires. 【答案】1．D 2．C 3．A 【导语】本文是说明文。近年来，来自不同领域的研究人员一致认为，短期主义现在是工业化社会的一个重大问题。事实证明，人们对现在有偏见，以牺牲健康为代价，专注于当下有吸引力的事物，而牺牲了未来自己或社区的健康、幸福和财务稳定。 1．推理判断题。第一段首句“In recent years, researchers from diverse fields have agreed that short-termism is now a significant problem in industrialised societies.(近年来，来自不同领域的研究人员一致认为，短期主义现在是工业化社会的一个重大问题。)”提出一个问题——短期主义，接着下文“The historian Francis Cole argues that the West has entered a period where “only the present exists, a present characterised at once by the cruelty of the instant and by the boredom of an unending now”.(历史学家弗朗西斯•科尔（Francis Cole）认为，西方已经进入了一个“只有现在存在的时代，现在的特点是瞬间的残酷和无休止的现在的无聊”。)”引用历史学家Francis Cole的话来强调只注重现在的这种短期主义的危害，由此可推知，文章引用Francis Col的话是为了强调一个问题，故选D。 2．推理判断题。根据最后一段中“As a psychologist once joked, if aliens (外星人) wanted to weaken humanity, they wouldn’t send ships; they would invent climate change. Indeed, when it comes to environmental transformations, we can develop a form of collective “poor memory”, and each new generation can believe the state of affairs they encounter is nothing out of the ordinary.(一位心理学家曾经开玩笑说，如果外星人想削弱人类，他们不会派出飞船；他们会发明气候变化。的确，在环境变化的问题上，我们可以形成一种集体的“记忆不良”，每一代人都会认为他们所遇到的情况并没有什么不同寻常的)”可知，一位心理学家曾经开玩笑说，如果外星人想要削弱人类，他们会发明气候变化，通过这种方式来削弱人类，因为人们对于气候变化形成一种集体的“记忆不良”，认为他们所遇到的情况没什么异常的，由此可推知人们不擅长察觉出缓慢的变化，故选C。 3．推理判断题。通读全文，尤其是第一段“In recent years, researchers from diverse fields have agreed that short-termism is now a significant problem in industrialised societies.(近年来，来自不同领域的研究人员一致认为，短期主义现在是工业化社会的一个重大问题。)”提出一个问题——短期主义，和第二段“It has been proved that people have a bias(偏向) towards the present, focusing on loud attractions in the moment at the expense of the health, well-being and financial stability of their future selves or community. In business, this bias surfaces as short-sighted decisions. And on slow-burning problems like climate change, it translates into the unwillingness to make small sacrifices(牺牲) today that could make a major difference tomorrow.(事实证明人们对现在有偏见，以牺牲健康为代价，只专注于当下引人注目的事物，而牺牲了未来自己或社区的健康、幸福和稳定。在商业中，这种偏见表现为短视决策。在气候变化等缓慢燃烧的问题上，这意味着不愿意今天做出小的牺牲，而这些牺牲可能会在明天产生重大影响。)”可知，文章主要讲述了短视决策的危害，呼吁我们要做出有远见的思考。由此可推知，作者的写作目的是告诉我们有远见的思考对人类的重要性，故选A。 7 / 10 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $$