2026年9-10月最新时文阅读练习(GVC+ABC+六选四)第07套-2027届高考英语一轮复习专项

2026 年 9—10 月最新时文阅读练习（GVC + ABC + 六选四） · 教师版 2026 年 9—10 月最新时文阅读练习（GVC + ABC + 六选四） 教师版 · 含答案与解析 　 Set 7 　 II. Grammar and Vocabulary 　 Section A　Grammar 出处：Scientific American · Claire Cameron · 2026年9月8日 ·《Something Unique Is Happening to the Brain in Menopause》 Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank. 　 Scientists have known for years that women's brains change during puberty and pregnancy. During both periods, hormones reshape neural networks and reduce the volume of the brain's outer layer, 　　21　　(know) as cortical gray matter. Far less research has been done on 　　22　　 happens during menopause, the third major hormonal change in a woman's life. A new study published in Nature Communications is the first 　　23　　(examine) whole-brain tissue during the menopausal transition itself. Its main finding is a negative one, 　　24　　 negatives can be useful. Unlike puberty and pregnancy, menopause does not seem to be linked 　　25　　 an overall decrease in gray matter. Gray matter does shrink as people get older, but when the researchers compared women at different stages, they found very little difference. In other words, falling hormone levels do not seem to strip away brain tissue the way the earlier transitions do. This suggests that sex hormones affect the brain 　　26　　(different) at different points in a person's life. The study has limitations. The volunteers 　　27　　(describe) their own stage of menopause, and the researchers did not check this with hormone tests. It is also 　　28　　(clear) whether any of these structural changes affect thinking and memory. Still, the work is important. As the study's first author notes, the female brain 　　29　　(ignore) by researchers for a long time. Understanding how it responds to hormonal change is 　　30　　 first step toward answering questions that women have been asking for decades. 　 Section B　Vocabulary 出处：Scientific American · Mary Randolph · 2026年9月1日 ·《Where NASA's Roman Telescope Will Call Home》 Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need. A. journey　B. balance　C. fuel　D. view　E. closer　F. far　G. repair　H. image　I. data　J. planets　K. corrections 　 NASA's Roman Space Telescope is on its way to a place called the second sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2, about a million miles from Earth. The 　　31　　 will take roughly three months, and engineers will use the time to check instruments that must work for years without 　　32　　. Its main camera can capture a patch of sky much larger than Hubble could record in a single exposure. The telescope is named after Nancy Grace Roman, a pioneering astronomer who argued for decades that such a survey was worth the money. L2 is not a place in the ordinary sense. At a Lagrange point, the pull of the Earth and the sun and the movement of a spacecraft 　　33　　 one another out, so the spacecraft can hold its position while using very little 　　34　　. Several other spacecraft, including the James Webb Space Telescope, already make use of such points. Such points are popular because they move with the Earth around the sun. L2 is popular with astronomers for two reasons. It is near enough for information to be sent back to Earth quickly, and it is 　　35　　 enough for the Earth, the sun and the moon to stay out of the telescope's field of 　　36　　. Nearer to our planet, stray light would flood the instruments. Even at L2, small 　　37　　 are needed from time to time to keep the telescope in position. Each adjustment is tiny, but without them the telescope would slowly drift out of place. Once it starts work, Roman will be able to capture large areas of the sky in a single 　　38　　. During its mission, the survey is expected to produce enormous amounts of 　　39　　, which should help astronomers study dark energy and look for 　　40　　 orbiting other stars. The observations, taken over a period of about five years, should keep astronomers busy for decades, and the results will be shared widely with researchers around the world. 　 III. Reading Comprehension 　 Section A　Cloze 出处：素材依据：The Economist / The New York Times · 2023–2026年注意力经济（attention economy）、“手机在桌上即分心”实验（University of Texas 系列研究）与数字极简报道 · 原创议论文编写（2026年10月） Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context. 　 If you have ever picked up your phone to check one message and looked up twenty minutes later, you know the feeling. Your attention did not wander; it was 　　41　　. Attention, economists say, is the scarce 　　42　　 of the digital age — and it is harvested on an industrial scale. The techniques are well documented. Notifications arrive at the moment when they are hardest to 　　43　　; feeds scroll for ever; videos start automatically. None of this is an accident. The people who design these systems are paid to keep us looking. This is why blaming yourself is a mistake. Habits of attention are shaped by 　　44　　, not by character. A person who cannot read a book for ten minutes without checking a screen is not weak; they are outnumbered — one mind against thousands of engineers. The evidence comes from experiments that change the 　　45　　 rather than the person. When participants' phones are placed in another room, their ability to concentrate improves noticeably. When the phone is merely face down on the desk, the improvement is smaller but still real. The finding suggests a different remedy: not willpower, but 　　46　　. In practice, this means making the wanted behaviour easy and the unwanted behaviour 　　47　　. A book left on a chair gets read; a reading app buried three screens deep in a phone does not. The best strategies remove the decision from the moment. A phone switched off during dinner settles an argument that no amount of good 　　48　　 can win at the table. There is a cost to this approach. A strict ban on phones may also cut us off from people who need us. The answer is not to 　　49　　 the rules but to make them flexible: a fixed hour for messages, a fixed place for the phone. Sceptics argue that the whole debate is overblown. People have always worried about new media: novels, radio and television were each said to be destroying attention, and yet the human 　　50　　 has proved remarkably adaptable. But there is a difference this time. Novels and television did not learn from their readers. Feeds do: every swipe is a piece of 　　51　　 that makes the next screen harder to resist. That is why the responsibility is shared. Designers should be required to make the healthy choice the easy one. Users should be taught how the systems work — not to make them feel 　　52　　, but to make them harder to fool. Attention is not a moral quality; it is a skill, and like a muscle it grows weak with 　　53　　. The stakes are higher than they look. A society that cannot pay attention cannot solve hard problems, and hard problems are exactly what the coming decades will 　　54　　. The good news is that attention, unlike time, can be 　　55　　. 　 41. A. measured B. stolen C. repaired D. shared 42. A. habit B. talent C. reward D. resource 43. A. understand B. repair C. ignore D. share 44. A. environment B. genes C. luck D. laws 45. A. subject B. weather C. story D. setting 46. A. punishment B. design C. tradition D. exercise 47. A. difficult B. popular C. cheap D. attractive 48. A. food B. weather C. intention D. luck 49. A. follow B. abandon C. explain D. copy 50. A. mind B. race C. voice D. memory 51. A. luck B. furniture C. advice D. evidence 52. A. curious B. welcome C. guilty D. sleepy 53. A. exercise B. neglect C. practice D. age 54. A. bring B. avoid C. forgive D. sell 55. A. counted B. bought C. returned D. rebuilt 　 Section B　Reading Comprehension Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read. 　 Passage A Source: Smithsonian Magazine, 7 October 2026 　 A dinosaur that has been dead for sixty-six million years ought to be settled science. Tyrannosaurus rex is not. In the century since its description, the picture of the animal has changed repeatedly, and almost every change has come from asking a question that earlier researchers did not think to ask. The first surprise was temperature. Bone tissue preserves chemical traces of the conditions in which it formed, and analysis of those traces suggests that T. rex regulated its body heat more like a bird than like a modern reptile. If so, the animal was not the sluggish creature of early paintings but something active enough to need a great deal of food. The second was the mouth. Popular images give T. rex a grin of exposed teeth, on the grounds that the teeth of a predator should be visible. Comparisons with living crocodilians, whose teeth are covered by lips, have convinced many palaeontologists that the teeth were hidden, at least at rest. The same comparison raised a third question: whether feathers covered part of the body. Several of the animal's smaller relatives are known from fossils preserved with feathers, and if the trait was inherited from a common ancestor, T. rex probably had some too. The fourth revision concerned movement. For decades the animal was drawn standing upright, tail dragging, in the pose of a kangaroo. That reconstruction was partly a consequence of the way skeletons were mounted in museums, which needed a support. Biomechanical modelling now suggests a horizontal posture and a walking speed no faster than a brisk human jog — unimpressive for a predator, until one remembers the size of the strides. The fifth and most recent concerns how the animal grew. Studies of bone growth rings indicate that individuals passed through a striking transformation in their teens, becoming heavier and more powerfully built in a short period. Some researchers argue that fossils once assigned to separate species are in fact large and small members of the same one at different ages — a conclusion that would quietly erase a genus from the books. None of these questions is closed. That is the point. A familiar animal is a convenient place to test a new technique, and the techniques keep arriving. 　 56. What does the writer suggest about the changes in how T. rex is portrayed? A. They reflect new questions rather than new fossils alone. B. They were mostly caused by errors in early excavation. C. They have slowed down in the last twenty years. D. They mainly concern the animal's diet. 　 57. What does the comparison with living crocodilians suggest? A. That T. rex had a stronger bite than was thought. B. That its teeth may have been covered by lips. C. That it spent much of its time in water. D. That it could not have been a predator. 　 58. Why does the writer mention museum mounting? A. To explain why early reconstructions showed an upright pose. B. To argue that museums should redisplay their dinosaurs. C. To show that the skeletons were badly damaged. D. To criticise the way palaeontologists present their work. 　 59. What would be the effect of the conclusion about growth? A. Fewer species would be recognised than before. B. T. rex would be reclassified as a smaller predator. C. Fossils would have to be dated more precisely. D. The animal's maximum weight would be reduced. 　 　 Passage B Source: compiled from Scientific American, October 2026 　 WHAT A TRIAL IS FOR　　A clinical trial asks a specific question, not a general one. A study may test whether a drug prevents a side effect, whether a smaller dose works as well, or whether an existing treatment is safe for a group it has never been given to before. Participants are told the question in plain language before they agree. WHAT YOU MAY BE ASKED TO DO　　Most trials require more visits than ordinary treatment. You may be asked to keep a diary, give blood samples, or complete questionnaires at fixed intervals. Some studies ask participants to stop taking a medicine they are already using, and this should be discussed with your own doctor first. WHAT YOU WILL NOT BE TOLD　　In a randomised trial, neither you nor your doctor chooses which group you join; a computer decides. If the study is also “blinded”, you will not be told which treatment you are receiving until the trial ends. This is not secrecy for its own sake: if participants knew, their expectations would change the results and make them worthless. WHAT YOU CAN ALWAYS DO　　You may ask any question at any point, including what will happen to your samples and who will see your records. You may withdraw at any time and for any reason, without giving one, and your ordinary care will not be affected. Withdrawal is a right, not a failure of commitment. WHAT HAPPENS AFTERWARDS　　Results are usually published whether or not the treatment worked, and participants can normally ask to be sent a summary in plain language. Negative results are as valuable as positive ones; a treatment that does not work is worth knowing about. 　 Term What it means Randomised a computer, not your doctor, decides which group you join Blinded you are not told which treatment you receive until the trial ends Withdrawal you may leave at any time, for any reason, without giving one Negative result the treatment did not work — still published, and still worth knowing 　 60. Why are participants not told which treatment they receive? A. To prevent them discussing the trial with others. B. Because their expectations could affect the results. C. Because the information is legally confidential. D. To keep the cost of the trial down. 　 61. What is said about leaving a trial? A. Participants must give a reason in writing. B. Participants lose access to their usual care. C. It can be done at any time without giving a reason. D. It is only possible in the first three months. 　 62. What do the fourth and fifth sections have in common? A. Both describe what happens after the trial ends. B. Both stress what the participant is entitled to. C. Both explain how samples are stored. D. Both warn of risks during treatment. 　 　 Passage C Source: Smithsonian Magazine, October 2026 　 When a film director dies, the working materials of a lifetime usually scatter. A script goes to a collector, a prop to a studio, a notebook to a university library — and the reasoning that once connected them is lost. Why was this scene reshot? Whose objection changed the ending? Those questions are answered only by the papers that nobody thought to keep together. That is not what happened to the archive of Stanley Kubrick. More than two hundred objects from his personal collection are to be offered at auction next month: annotated scripts, a director's chair, correspondence, and props that were kept for decades, among them the axe from one film and the model star child from another. What makes such material valuable to researchers is not the objects but the annotations. A script marked up in three different colours shows where a writer hesitated and who persuaded him. A page of notes about a lighting problem records which solutions were tried and abandoned — information that no final cut can supply. Studios keep finished films; they almost never keep the argument that produced them. This is also why an auction is an awkward home for an archive. Prices are set by fame rather than by research value, and once the lots are dispersed the connections between them are gone for good. Part of the proceeds will support film education, which is generous, but a student holding a scholarship still cannot consult an axe in a private collection. The question an auction really raises is not what these objects are worth, but whether anywhere else would have taken them. 　 63. What does the passage say usually happens to a director's working materials? A. They are collected by universities intact. B. They are dispersed and their connections are lost. C. They are destroyed by the studios that own them. D. They are sold to fund film schools. 　 64. According to the writer, where does the research value lie? A. In the fame of the films concerned. B. In the marks and notes left on the working documents. C. In the physical condition of the props. D. In the number of objects offered together. 　 65. Why is an auction described as an “awkward home”? A. Auctions are held too soon after a director's death. B. Fame sets the price, and dispersal breaks the connections between items. C. Auction houses are not permitted to sell film props. D. Buyers are usually unable to look after the objects. 　 66. What does the last sentence suggest? A. The auction should be cancelled. B. The writer wonders whether public collections could take such archives. C. The objects are worth far more than the estimates. D. Film education is an unsuitable use of the proceeds. 　 　 Section C Source: compiled from WHO and urban-research reports, October 2026 Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need. 　 Human beings today have access to more information than any generation in history, and many societies are lonelier than ever. The World Health Organization now estimates that one in six people worldwide experiences loneliness, and treats it as a public health concern rather than a private sadness. The two facts are not unrelated, but the link is not the one usually offered. 　　67　　 Urban researchers point to the decline of what are sometimes called third places: the spaces that are neither home nor workplace, where people gather without an appointment. The corner shop, the library, the park bench and the swimming pool all once performed this function almost without being noticed. 　　68　　 A second line of evidence comes from the design of the streets themselves. In a walkable neighbourhood, stepping out for twenty minutes to buy milk involves incidental contact — a neighbour walking a dog, the person who runs the bakery — that provides a mild form of social nourishment without demanding anything in return. In an environment where every errand requires keys, traffic and planning, the same twenty minutes produces stress rather than contact. 　　69　　 This is where the idea of weak ties becomes useful. Psychologists have found that people report greater happiness and a stronger sense of belonging on days when they exchange even brief words with acquaintances. Such exchanges are not friendships, and they are not meant to be. 　　70　　 A city that makes them easy allows a person to be alone without being entirely isolated — which may be the most valuable service a street can offer. None of this is an argument that design can cure loneliness. It cannot. But it does suggest that the question worth asking about any neighbourhood is a simple one: when somebody is having a bad day, how much life is still within reach? 　 A. The likely culprit is not the screen but the disappearance of the ordinary places where people run into one another. B. The result is that people retreat indoors, where the sofa is always more convenient than the bus stop. C. Their gradual closure has been described as one of the quieter social shifts shaping modern cities. D. What they do is register a person's existence somewhere in the community. E. Libraries, in particular, have expanded their opening hours in many cities. F. Loneliness has also been linked to an increased risk of heart disease. 　 ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS 　 Section A　Grammar 21. known　【过去分词作定语】the brain's outer layer 与 know 被动，known as 表“被称为”。 22. what　【宾语从句】on ___ happens during menopause；介词后接宾语从句，what 在从句中作主语。 23. to examine　【不定式作定语】the first 后接不定式，表“第一个做…的（研究）”。 24. but　【转折连词】“主要发现是否定性的，但否定性结果也有价值”。 25. to　【介词】be linked to 固定搭配，表“与…相关”。 26. differently　【形容词→副词】修饰动词 affect。 27. described　【一般过去时】与后文 did not check 时态一致，描述研究过程。 28. unclear　【词形转换】It is ___ whether…；clear 加否定前缀 un-。 29. has been ignored　【现在完成时被动】for a long time 提示完成时态；brain 与 ignore 被动。 30. the　【定冠词】the first step 表“第一步”，序数词前须加 the。 速查：21. known　22. what　23. to examine　24. but　25. to　26. differently　27. described　28. unclear　29. has been ignored　30. the 　 Section B　Vocabulary 31. A（journey）　【名词】The ___ will take roughly three months，指“行程”。 32. G（repair）　【名词】without ___ 表“无需维修”，与 must work for years 呼应。 33. B（balance）　【动词原形】___ one another out；balance out 为短语动词，表“相互抵消”。 34. C（fuel）　【名词】using very little ___ 表“燃料”。 35. F（far）　【形容词】it is ___ enough 与前文 near enough 形成对照。 36. D（view）　【名词】field of ___ 表“视野”，为固定搭配。 37. K（corrections）　【名词复数】small ___ are needed，指“轨道修正”。 38. H（image）　【名词】in a single ___ 表“单张图像”。 39. I（data）　【名词】enormous amounts of ___ 表“数据”（不可数）。 40. J（planets）　【名词复数】look for ___ orbiting other stars，指“系外行星”。 【多余词】E. closer —— 比较级不能与 enough 搭配，且与前文 near enough 的对照方向相反。 速查：31-40: A G B C F D K H I J　　多余词: E 　 Section A　Cloze 41. B（stolen）　【句组·对照】your attention did not wander 与 it was ___ 构成“主动走神／被夺走”的对照；下文 harvested on an industrial scale（被工业化收割）与 stolen 同向。measured、repaired 与“注意力被夺”无关。 42. D（resource）　【句组·复现】破折号后 it is harvested on an industrial scale 使用“收割资源”的隐喻，直接支持 resource（稀缺资源）。habit、talent 无法被“收割”。 43. C（ignore）　【句组·因果】通知在“最难忽视的时刻”送达，才能解释其有效性；hardest to ignore 表“最难以忽视”。understand、share 与“提醒的侵入性”无关。 44. A（environment）　【句组·对照】not by character 是直接对照标记，空白应指外在因素；后文 one mind against thousands of engineers 说的正是被设计的“环境”。genes、luck 属不可控的偶然因素，与“设计者”不符。 45. D（setting）　【句组·复现】后文另一间房、屏幕朝下放在桌上，都是对“环境设置”的改变；than the person 提示对照的是“情境”而非“人”。subject、weather 与实验情境无关。 46. B（design）　【句组·递进】not willpower, but ___ 是“自制力／设计”的对照，与上句 change the setting 呼应，也与全文“问题出在设计”的论点一致。punishment、tradition 与实验结论无关。 47. A（difficult）　【句组·对照】making the wanted behaviour easy and the unwanted behaviour ___ 为“易—难”对照；冒号后“放在椅上的书会被读、藏得很深的阅读 App 不会被打开”是例证。attractive、popular 与对照方向矛盾。 48. C（intention）　【句组·因果】与 willpower 同义复现的选择：再强的“意志力／决心”在餐桌上也争不过一部关掉的手机，说明“提前移除决定”优于临场克制。food、weather 与餐桌上的自制力话题无关。 49. B（abandon）　【句组·对照】not to ___ the rules but to make them flexible 构成“废除／灵活化”的对照；前句已承认规则的价值，故答案为“废除”。follow、copy 与后文“灵活化”不构成对照。 50. A（mind）　【句组·让步】面对“小说、广播、电视都曾被指毁掉注意力”的历史论据，作者承认人脑“适应性极强”，mind 表“心智／大脑”。voice、memory 与“适应新媒介”的论点不符。 51. D（evidence）　【句组·对照】Novels and television did not learn from their readers. Feeds do 是核心对照：信息流会“学习”，故每一次滑动都是“数据／证据”，使下一个页面更难抵抗。advice、luck 与算法学习无关。 52. C（guilty）　【句组·对照】not to make them feel ___ but to make them harder to fool 与首段 blaming yourself is a mistake 呼应：了解机制不是为了自责。curious、sleepy 与“被欺骗”的对照无关。 53. B（neglect）　【句组·类比递进】like a muscle 是类比：肌肉因“不使用”而变弱，neglect 表“弃置不用”。exercise、practice 与 grows weak（变弱）的因果方向相反。 54. A（bring）　【语篇·收束】hard problems are exactly what the coming decades will ___ 指未来几十年“带来”的难题，与 cannot solve hard problems 构成因果照应。avoid、forgive 与“难题将至”的判断不符。 55. D（rebuilt）　【语篇·对照】unlike time 提示与时间形成对照：时间不可追回，而注意力可以“重建／重新训练”，与上段 like a muscle 的类比闭合。bought、counted 无法与 unlike time 构成对照。 速查：41-55: B D C A D B A C B A D C B A D 　 逻辑覆盖：转折/对照 6 · 因果 3 · 递进/类比 3 · 语篇统摄 3（共 15 题，四类齐全） 　 Section B　Passage A 56. A　Detail. Para 1: almost every change has come from asking a question earlier researchers did not think to ask. B, C and D are not supported. 57. B　Detail. Para 3: because living crocodilians have lips over their teeth, many palaeontologists now think T. rex did too, at least at rest. A, C and D are not the point of the comparison. 58. A　Detail. Para 4 explains that the old upright pose was partly a consequence of how skeletons had to be mounted. B and D read intentions into the passage; C is not stated. 59. A　Inference. Para 5: fossils once assigned to separate species may be large and small members of the same one at different ages — a conclusion that 'would quietly erase a genus from the books'. B, C and D do not follow. 　 Section B　Passage B 60. B　Detail. Para 3 explains that if participants knew, their expectations would change the results and make them worthless. A, C and D are not the reasons given. 61. C　Detail. Para 4: you may withdraw at any time and for any reason, without giving one, and your ordinary care is unaffected. A, B and D all contradict this. 62. B　Inference. Section 4 sets out what participants may always do; section 5 sets out what they will be told afterwards. Both are about entitlements. A fits only section 5; C is a detail of section 4; D is not discussed in either. 　 Section B　Passage C 63. B　Detail. Para 1: the working materials of a lifetime usually scatter, and the reasoning that connected them is lost. A contradicts the very scattering described; C is not stated; D is the use made of this particular sale. 64. B　Detail. Para 3: what makes such material valuable is not the objects but the annotations. A is the basis of the pricing the writer criticises; C and D are not presented as sources of value. 65. B　Detail. Para 4: prices are set by fame rather than research value, and once the lots are dispersed the connections are gone for good. A, C and D are not mentioned. 66. B　Inference. The closing sentence asks not what the objects are worth but 'whether anywhere else would have taken them' — a question that points to public collections. A overstates; C and D are not the writer's view. 　 Section C　六选四 67. A　Gap 67, end of para 1 (the claim). The paragraph contrasts historical accounts of technology with more information and deeper loneliness, including the WHO figure. A identifies the cause as the loss of ordinary shared places, which the next paragraph develops. E and F are details that cannot introduce the argument. 68. C　Gap 68, end of para 2 (consequence). The paragraph describes third places and their decline. C supplies the judgement that this is one of the quieter social shifts shaping modern cities, closing the paragraph. E and F remain irrelevant. 69. B　Gap 69, end of para 3 (contrast completed). The paragraph contrasts incidental contact in a walkable neighbourhood with the stress of an environment where every errand needs keys and planning. B states the result — people retreat indoors — completing the contrast. E and F do not follow from it. 70. D　Gap 70, mid para 4 (definition). The paragraph explains weak ties and insists that such exchanges are not friendships; the next sentence describes what a city gains when they are easy. D says what they do — register a person's existence in the community — bridging the two. E and F are unrelated. Answers: 67-A　68-C　69-B　70-D 2026 年 9—10 月最新时文阅读练习（GVC + ABC + 六选四） · 教师版 Distractors (not used): E and F Page 1 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 Page 1 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $2026 年 9—10 月最新时文阅读练习（GVC + ABC + 六选四） · 学生版 2026 年 9—10 月最新时文阅读练习（GVC + ABC + 六选四） 学生版 　 Set 7 　 II. Grammar and Vocabulary 　 Section A　Grammar Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank. 　 Scientists have known for years that women's brains change during puberty and pregnancy. During both periods, hormones reshape neural networks and reduce the volume of the brain's outer layer, 　　21　　(know) as cortical gray matter. Far less research has been done on 　　22　　 happens during menopause, the third major hormonal change in a woman's life. A new study published in Nature Communications is the first 　　23　　(examine) whole-brain tissue during the menopausal transition itself. Its main finding is a negative one, 　　24　　 negatives can be useful. Unlike puberty and pregnancy, menopause does not seem to be linked 　　25　　 an overall decrease in gray matter. Gray matter does shrink as people get older, but when the researchers compared women at different stages, they found very little difference. In other words, falling hormone levels do not seem to strip away brain tissue the way the earlier transitions do. This suggests that sex hormones affect the brain 　　26　　(different) at different points in a person's life. The study has limitations. The volunteers 　　27　　(describe) their own stage of menopause, and the researchers did not check this with hormone tests. It is also 　　28　　(clear) whether any of these structural changes affect thinking and memory. Still, the work is important. As the study's first author notes, the female brain 　　29　　(ignore) by researchers for a long time. Understanding how it responds to hormonal change is 　　30　　 first step toward answering questions that women have been asking for decades. 　 Section B　Vocabulary Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word given in the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need. A. journey　B. balance　C. fuel　D. view　E. closer　F. far　G. repair　H. image　I. data　J. planets　K. corrections 　 NASA's Roman Space Telescope is on its way to a place called the second sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2, about a million miles from Earth. The 　　31　　 will take roughly three months, and engineers will use the time to check instruments that must work for years without 　　32　　. Its main camera can capture a patch of sky much larger than Hubble could record in a single exposure. The telescope is named after Nancy Grace Roman, a pioneering astronomer who argued for decades that such a survey was worth the money. L2 is not a place in the ordinary sense. At a Lagrange point, the pull of the Earth and the sun and the movement of a spacecraft 　　33　　 one another out, so the spacecraft can hold its position while using very little 　　34　　. Several other spacecraft, including the James Webb Space Telescope, already make use of such points. Such points are popular because they move with the Earth around the sun. L2 is popular with astronomers for two reasons. It is near enough for information to be sent back to Earth quickly, and it is 　　35　　 enough for the Earth, the sun and the moon to stay out of the telescope's field of 　　36　　. Nearer to our planet, stray light would flood the instruments. Even at L2, small 　　37　　 are needed from time to time to keep the telescope in position. Each adjustment is tiny, but without them the telescope would slowly drift out of place. Once it starts work, Roman will be able to capture large areas of the sky in a single 　　38　　. During its mission, the survey is expected to produce enormous amounts of 　　39　　, which should help astronomers study dark energy and look for 　　40　　 orbiting other stars. The observations, taken over a period of about five years, should keep astronomers busy for decades, and the results will be shared widely with researchers around the world. 　 III. Reading Comprehension 　 Section A　Cloze Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context. 　 If you have ever picked up your phone to check one message and looked up twenty minutes later, you know the feeling. Your attention did not wander; it was 　　41　　. Attention, economists say, is the scarce 　　42　　 of the digital age — and it is harvested on an industrial scale. The techniques are well documented. Notifications arrive at the moment when they are hardest to 　　43　　; feeds scroll for ever; videos start automatically. None of this is an accident. The people who design these systems are paid to keep us looking. This is why blaming yourself is a mistake. Habits of attention are shaped by 　　44　　, not by character. A person who cannot read a book for ten minutes without checking a screen is not weak; they are outnumbered — one mind against thousands of engineers. The evidence comes from experiments that change the 　　45　　 rather than the person. When participants' phones are placed in another room, their ability to concentrate improves noticeably. When the phone is merely face down on the desk, the improvement is smaller but still real. The finding suggests a different remedy: not willpower, but 　　46　　. In practice, this means making the wanted behaviour easy and the unwanted behaviour 　　47　　. A book left on a chair gets read; a reading app buried three screens deep in a phone does not. The best strategies remove the decision from the moment. A phone switched off during dinner settles an argument that no amount of good 　　48　　 can win at the table. There is a cost to this approach. A strict ban on phones may also cut us off from people who need us. The answer is not to 　　49　　 the rules but to make them flexible: a fixed hour for messages, a fixed place for the phone. Sceptics argue that the whole debate is overblown. People have always worried about new media: novels, radio and television were each said to be destroying attention, and yet the human 　　50　　 has proved remarkably adaptable. But there is a difference this time. Novels and television did not learn from their readers. Feeds do: every swipe is a piece of 　　51　　 that makes the next screen harder to resist. That is why the responsibility is shared. Designers should be required to make the healthy choice the easy one. Users should be taught how the systems work — not to make them feel 　　52　　, but to make them harder to fool. Attention is not a moral quality; it is a skill, and like a muscle it grows weak with 　　53　　. The stakes are higher than they look. A society that cannot pay attention cannot solve hard problems, and hard problems are exactly what the coming decades will 　　54　　. The good news is that attention, unlike time, can be 　　55　　. 　 41. A. measured B. stolen C. repaired D. shared 42. A. habit B. talent C. reward D. resource 43. A. understand B. repair C. ignore D. share 44. A. environment B. genes C. luck D. laws 45. A. subject B. weather C. story D. setting 46. A. punishment B. design C. tradition D. exercise 47. A. difficult B. popular C. cheap D. attractive 48. A. food B. weather C. intention D. luck 49. A. follow B. abandon C. explain D. copy 50. A. mind B. race C. voice D. memory 51. A. luck B. furniture C. advice D. evidence 52. A. curious B. welcome C. guilty D. sleepy 53. A. exercise B. neglect C. practice D. age 54. A. bring B. avoid C. forgive D. sell 55. A. counted B. bought C. returned D. rebuilt 　 Section B　Reading Comprehension Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read. 　 Passage A 　 A dinosaur that has been dead for sixty-six million years ought to be settled science. Tyrannosaurus rex is not. In the century since its description, the picture of the animal has changed repeatedly, and almost every change has come from asking a question that earlier researchers did not think to ask. The first surprise was temperature. Bone tissue preserves chemical traces of the conditions in which it formed, and analysis of those traces suggests that T. rex regulated its body heat more like a bird than like a modern reptile. If so, the animal was not the sluggish creature of early paintings but something active enough to need a great deal of food. The second was the mouth. Popular images give T. rex a grin of exposed teeth, on the grounds that the teeth of a predator should be visible. Comparisons with living crocodilians, whose teeth are covered by lips, have convinced many palaeontologists that the teeth were hidden, at least at rest. The same comparison raised a third question: whether feathers covered part of the body. Several of the animal's smaller relatives are known from fossils preserved with feathers, and if the trait was inherited from a common ancestor, T. rex probably had some too. The fourth revision concerned movement. For decades the animal was drawn standing upright, tail dragging, in the pose of a kangaroo. That reconstruction was partly a consequence of the way skeletons were mounted in museums, which needed a support. Biomechanical modelling now suggests a horizontal posture and a walking speed no faster than a brisk human jog — unimpressive for a predator, until one remembers the size of the strides. The fifth and most recent concerns how the animal grew. Studies of bone growth rings indicate that individuals passed through a striking transformation in their teens, becoming heavier and more powerfully built in a short period. Some researchers argue that fossils once assigned to separate species are in fact large and small members of the same one at different ages — a conclusion that would quietly erase a genus from the books. None of these questions is closed. That is the point. A familiar animal is a convenient place to test a new technique, and the techniques keep arriving. 　 56. What does the writer suggest about the changes in how T. rex is portrayed? A. They reflect new questions rather than new fossils alone. B. They were mostly caused by errors in early excavation. C. They have slowed down in the last twenty years. D. They mainly concern the animal's diet. 　 57. What does the comparison with living crocodilians suggest? A. That T. rex had a stronger bite than was thought. B. That its teeth may have been covered by lips. C. That it spent much of its time in water. D. That it could not have been a predator. 　 58. Why does the writer mention museum mounting? A. To explain why early reconstructions showed an upright pose. B. To argue that museums should redisplay their dinosaurs. C. To show that the skeletons were badly damaged. D. To criticise the way palaeontologists present their work. 　 59. What would be the effect of the conclusion about growth? A. Fewer species would be recognised than before. B. T. rex would be reclassified as a smaller predator. C. Fossils would have to be dated more precisely. D. The animal's maximum weight would be reduced. 　 　 Passage B 　 WHAT A TRIAL IS FOR　　A clinical trial asks a specific question, not a general one. A study may test whether a drug prevents a side effect, whether a smaller dose works as well, or whether an existing treatment is safe for a group it has never been given to before. Participants are told the question in plain language before they agree. WHAT YOU MAY BE ASKED TO DO　　Most trials require more visits than ordinary treatment. You may be asked to keep a diary, give blood samples, or complete questionnaires at fixed intervals. Some studies ask participants to stop taking a medicine they are already using, and this should be discussed with your own doctor first. WHAT YOU WILL NOT BE TOLD　　In a randomised trial, neither you nor your doctor chooses which group you join; a computer decides. If the study is also “blinded”, you will not be told which treatment you are receiving until the trial ends. This is not secrecy for its own sake: if participants knew, their expectations would change the results and make them worthless. WHAT YOU CAN ALWAYS DO　　You may ask any question at any point, including what will happen to your samples and who will see your records. You may withdraw at any time and for any reason, without giving one, and your ordinary care will not be affected. Withdrawal is a right, not a failure of commitment. WHAT HAPPENS AFTERWARDS　　Results are usually published whether or not the treatment worked, and participants can normally ask to be sent a summary in plain language. Negative results are as valuable as positive ones; a treatment that does not work is worth knowing about. 　 Term What it means Randomised a computer, not your doctor, decides which group you join Blinded you are not told which treatment you receive until the trial ends Withdrawal you may leave at any time, for any reason, without giving one Negative result the treatment did not work — still published, and still worth knowing 　 60. Why are participants not told which treatment they receive? A. To prevent them discussing the trial with others. B. Because their expectations could affect the results. C. Because the information is legally confidential. D. To keep the cost of the trial down. 　 61. What is said about leaving a trial? A. Participants must give a reason in writing. B. Participants lose access to their usual care. C. It can be done at any time without giving a reason. D. It is only possible in the first three months. 　 62. What do the fourth and fifth sections have in common? A. Both describe what happens after the trial ends. B. Both stress what the participant is entitled to. C. Both explain how samples are stored. D. Both warn of risks during treatment. 　 　 Passage C 　 When a film director dies, the working materials of a lifetime usually scatter. A script goes to a collector, a prop to a studio, a notebook to a university library — and the reasoning that once connected them is lost. Why was this scene reshot? Whose objection changed the ending? Those questions are answered only by the papers that nobody thought to keep together. That is not what happened to the archive of Stanley Kubrick. More than two hundred objects from his personal collection are to be offered at auction next month: annotated scripts, a director's chair, correspondence, and props that were kept for decades, among them the axe from one film and the model star child from another. What makes such material valuable to researchers is not the objects but the annotations. A script marked up in three different colours shows where a writer hesitated and who persuaded him. A page of notes about a lighting problem records which solutions were tried and abandoned — information that no final cut can supply. Studios keep finished films; they almost never keep the argument that produced them. This is also why an auction is an awkward home for an archive. Prices are set by fame rather than by research value, and once the lots are dispersed the connections between them are gone for good. Part of the proceeds will support film education, which is generous, but a student holding a scholarship still cannot consult an axe in a private collection. The question an auction really raises is not what these objects are worth, but whether anywhere else would have taken them. 　 63. What does the passage say usually happens to a director's working materials? A. They are collected by universities intact. B. They are dispersed and their connections are lost. C. They are destroyed by the studios that own them. D. They are sold to fund film schools. 　 64. According to the writer, where does the research value lie? A. In the fame of the films concerned. B. In the marks and notes left on the working documents. C. In the physical condition of the props. D. In the number of objects offered together. 　 65. Why is an auction described as an “awkward home”? A. Auctions are held too soon after a director's death. B. Fame sets the price, and dispersal breaks the connections between items. C. Auction houses are not permitted to sell film props. D. Buyers are usually unable to look after the objects. 　 66. What does the last sentence suggest? A. The auction should be cancelled. B. The writer wonders whether public collections could take such archives. C. The objects are worth far more than the estimates. D. Film education is an unsuitable use of the proceeds. 　 　 Section C Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need. 　 Human beings today have access to more information than any generation in history, and many societies are lonelier than ever. The World Health Organization now estimates that one in six people worldwide experiences loneliness, and treats it as a public health concern rather than a private sadness. The two facts are not unrelated, but the link is not the one usually offered. 　　67　　 Urban researchers point to the decline of what are sometimes called third places: the spaces that are neither home nor workplace, where people gather without an appointment. The corner shop, the library, the park bench and the swimming pool all once performed this function almost without being noticed. 　　68　　 A second line of evidence comes from the design of the streets themselves. In a walkable neighbourhood, stepping out for twenty minutes to buy milk involves incidental contact — a neighbour walking a dog, the person who runs the bakery — that provides a mild form of social nourishment without demanding anything in return. In an environment where every errand requires keys, traffic and planning, the same twenty minutes produces stress rather than contact. 　　69　　 This is where the idea of weak ties becomes useful. Psychologists have found that people report greater happiness and a stronger sense of belonging on days when they exchange even brief words with acquaintances. Such exchanges are not friendships, and they are not meant to be. 　　70　　 A city that makes them easy allows a person to be alone without being entirely isolated — which may be the most valuable service a street can offer. None of this is an argument that design can cure loneliness. It cannot. But it does suggest that the question worth asking about any neighbourhood is a simple one: when somebody is having a bad day, how much life is still within reach? 　 A. The likely culprit is not the screen but the disappearance of the ordinary places where people run into one another. B. The result is that people retreat indoors, where the sofa is always more convenient than the bus stop. C. Their gradual closure has been described as one of the quieter social shifts shaping modern cities. D. What they do is register a person's existence somewhere in the community. E. Libraries, in particular, have expanded their opening hours in many cities. F. Loneliness has also been linked to an increased risk of heart disease. 2026 年 9—10 月最新时文阅读练习（GVC + ABC + 六选四） · 学生版 　 Page 1 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 Page 1 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $