课时测评21 Section Ⅰ Starting out & Understanding ideas—Comprehending-【金版新学案】2025-2026学年高中英语必修第二册同步课堂高效讲义配套练习（外研版）

课时测评21　Section Ⅰ　Starting out & Understanding ideas—Comprehending

(时间：30分钟　满分：26分)

(本栏目内容，在学生用书中以独立形式分册装订！)

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Ⅰ.阅读理解(每小题2分，共16分)

A

(2024·河北邯郸期末)

Scientists have reported that the sea ice in Antarctica (南极) is at a record low level.Antarctica is a great, icy land, surrounded (围绕) by the huge Southern Ocean.The ice in Antarctica doesn't just cover the land.There's also a large area of sea ice on the ocean's surface.

Every year, the sea ice at the South Pole goes through a cycle.In the summer, the huge sea ice melts (融化) to its smallest point.Over the colder winter months, the sea ice grows and grows until it covers a wide area.Usually, the sea ice covers the greatest area around September 23, as winter ends at the South Pole.

Scientists have been measuring the area of the sea ice in Antarctica since 1979.For most of this time, Antarctica has seemed to be almost unaffected by the changing weather conditions experienced in other parts of the globe.That began to change around 2016.Now, for several years, the area of Antarctica's sea ice has been shrinking．

This year, the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) reported that Antarctica's sea ice covered its greatest area on September 10 — almost two weeks earlier than normal.And the sea ice was at a new record low—not just by a little bit, but by a lot.

The last time Antarctica's low sea ice set a record at the end of winter was in 1986.And this year, there's about 398, 000 square miles less sea ice than in 1986.

Scientists are still trying to understand what is driving the change in Antarctica.One likely direct cause for the change is the rising temperatures of the world's oceans.Ted Scambos, a research scientist at the University of Colorado, says Antarctica's ice levels have always changed some, but the sharp loss this year is “pointing towards warmer ocean conditions around the continent”．

The new low record has concerned the scientists.Scientists are working hard to better understand Antarctica.They don't know yet if this is just a short-term problem, or part of a long-term shift (转变) towards less sea ice in Antarctica.

语篇解读　本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了南极的海冰不断消融，海冰面积减少创下新纪录。

1．What does the underlined word “shrinking” mean in Paragraph 3?

A．Getting smaller. B．Being flat.

C．Observed. D．Measured.

答案：A

解析：词义猜测题。根据第一段“Scientists have reported that the sea ice in Antarctica (南极) is at a record low level.”以及第三段“Scientists have been measuring...change around 2016.”可知，大部分时间南极的海冰没有受到全球其他地区天气变化的影响。但是从2016年往后出现了变化，说明海冰开始减少，变得更小了。故画线词意思是“变得更小”。故选A项。

2．Why does the author mention the record in 1986?

A．To give an example.

B．To make a comparison.

C．To make a summary.

D．To offer an argument.

答案：B

解析：推理判断题。根据第五段“The last time Antarctica's...less sea ice than in 1986.”可推知，作者提到1986年的记录是为了拿现在和之前的数据作对比。故选B项。

3．What is the possible direct reason for the change in Antarctica's sea ice?

A．The changing weather conditions.

B．Human activities in Antarctica.

C．Increased volcanic activities in the area.

D．The increasing temperatures of the global oceans.

答案：D

解析：细节理解题。根据第六段“One likely direct cause for the change is the rising temperatures of the world's oceans.”可知，一个可能的直接原因是全球海洋的温度上升。故选D项。

4．How do scientists feel about the low record?

A．Worried. B．Annoyed.

C．Excited. D．Satisfied.

答案：A

解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段“The new low record has concerned the scientists.”可推知，科学家对此感到非常担忧。故选A项。

B

Whale communication has long been a puzzle for scientists，with their underwater sound — “click...click...click” — remaining largely unexplained.However，thanks to the surprising abilities of artificial intelligence (AI)，researchers from a program can interpret the sounds of these amazing sea animals.

The program is called the Whale Translation Project (WTP)，whose meaning is to know what whales are saying.Its goal is clear but very difficult to achieve.Understanding the communication of whales and other animals could inspire conservation (保护) efforts.For example，the discovery that humpback whales sing to each other in the 1960s led to successful conservation activities and laws.

The WTP started when Gruber，a biologist at Harvard University，turned to a computer scientist for help about dealing with a large amount of data on whale sounds.They thought of applying machine learning，used for improving human language translations，to whales.The sound of click，similar to a binary code (二进制)，is easy for AI to analyze.

Scientists once presented the sounds of a whale using a series of lines to show the number of clicks per second.Now，with the help of AI，Gruber can quickly turn the thousands of whale sounds from hours of recordings into a new kind of pictures that look like musical notes.This method helps to find tiny differences in the sounds.Gruber can use AI to analyze the differences and the specific context，like the behavior of moving to the surface and hunting for food，and thus understand the meaning of the whale sound easily.He can also discover how whales interact，getting 99% right in predicting (预测) the next click.

This kind of work isn't limited to whales.Suresh Neethirajan，a computer science and agriculture professor，studies how farmers can use real-time observation to explain animal behaviors.He collects data，such as body temperature，paired with recorded sounds and videos，to understand whether animals are comfortable or not.With AI，he can recognise sick animals quickly，improving their well-being.

语篇解读　本文是一篇说明文。本文主要介绍了鲸鱼的神秘性以及科学家如何利用人工智能技术来解读鲸鱼的声音。

5．What is the purpose of mentioning the discovery in the 1960s?

A．To show the success of protecting the environment.

B．To explain the difficulty of saving humpback whales.

C．To stress the value of studying animal communication.

D．To introduce the challenge of understanding whale language.

答案：C

解析：推理判断题。根据文章第二段“For example，the discovery that humpback whales sing to each other in the 1960s led to successful conservation activities and laws.(例如，20世纪60年代