1、【 精品教育资源文库 】 Unit 3 Life in the future . 阅读理解 A Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping a moderate diet, engaging in regular exercise, etc. But what effect does your personality have on your longevity? Do some kinds of personalities lead to longe
2、r lives? A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100. The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing, more active and less neurotic(神经质的
3、) than other people. Longerliving women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span. These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory: those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to ma
4、ke it through tough times. Interestingly, however, other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer. Those who were more selfdisciplined, for instance, were no more likely to live to be very old. Also, being open to new
5、 ideas had no relationship to long life, which might explain all those badtempered old people who are fixed in their ways. Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate. But the new paper suggests that if you want long life, yo
6、u should strive to be as outgoing as possible. Unfortunately, another recent study shows that your mothers personality may also help determine your longevity. That study looked at nearly 28,000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious, depressed and angry were more likely to
7、 feed their kids unhealthy diets. Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when were adults, which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger. Personality isnt destiny, and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change. But both studies show that long life isnt just a m
8、atter of your physical health but of your mental health. 语篇导读 【 精品教育资源文库 】 本文为说明文，阐述了影响长寿的因素。 1 According to the author, outgoing and sympathetic people _. A have a good understanding of evolution B are probably more active and neurotic C are more likely to recover from hardship D generally appear
9、more resourceful 解析 C 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句可知，那些喜欢交朋友并且喜欢帮助他人的人能够收集到足够的资源，度过艰难时期，故选 C 项。 2 What finding of the study might be out of our expectation? A Helpful people can live a relatively long life. B Being selfdiscipline makes no difference to longevity. C Readiness to accept new ideas offers more possi
10、bilities to enjoy longevity. D Personality characteristics that prove advantageous actually vary with times. 解析 B 细节理解题。根据第三段第二句可 知，那些自律的人，并没有更大的可能性能够长寿，故选 B 项。 3 What does the recent study of Norwegian mothers show? A Mothers anxiety may affect their childrens life spans. B People with unhealthy ea
11、ting habits are likely to die at a young age. C Mothers may have a longer influence on children than fathers. D Childrens personality characteristics are always shaped by their mothers. 解析 A 推理判断题。第五段主要通过一项针对近 28 000 名挪威母亲的研究阐述了母亲的性格特征对人的影响，即母亲越焦虑、沮丧和愤怒，就越可能喂给孩子不健康的饮食，孩子由此形成的不良饮食习惯会一直延续到成年之后的生活，这种根深
12、蒂固的不良饮食习惯使得人短寿，故选 A 项。 4 What can we learn from the findings of the two new studies? A Anxiety and depression more often than not cut short ones life span. B A persons lifestyle is largely related to his or her health. C Personality plays a decisive and significant role in how healthy one is. D A mi
13、xture of mental and physical health produces longevity. 解析 D 细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句可知，两项研究都表明，长寿不仅仅是身体健康的问题，而且是精神健康的问题。也就是说，精神和身体上的健康造就了长寿，故选D 项。 B 【 精品教育资源文库 】 Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? Its an increasingly urge
14、nt question, given the recent highprofile(引人注目的 ) mining accidents in Sago, W Va., and Huntington, Utah. A small group of engineers and robotics experts envision(展望 ) a day in the nottoodistant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work. One of the first mining robo
15、ts was developed five years ago at Carnegie Mellon Universitys Robotics Institute. It was called Groundhog and it looked like a golf cart. It used lasers to “see” in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines some of the most dangerous work in the business. The latest prototype is called Cave Crawler. Its
16、 a bit smaller than Groundhog, and even more advanced. It can take photos and videos and has sensors mounted(装置 ) that can detect the presence of dangerous gases. Incredibly, the robot has a real sense of logic. If it comes across an obstacle, it gets momentarily confused, it has to think through th
17、e process and where to go next, and sometimes it _throws_a_fit_ just like a real person. The biggest obstacle， though， is cost. The original research project was federally funded, but that money has dried up, and its not clear where future funding will come from. Partly for that reason, and partly b
18、ecause of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past. Since 1990, deaths have declined by 67 percent, and injuries by 51 percent, according to the National Mining Association. Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do
19、 in the automotive industry. The robots do the most repetitive and dangerous jobs, but dont eliminate the need for human workers. 语篇导读 本文为说明文，介绍了可代替人类从事挖煤等危险工作的矿山机器人。 5 The phrase “throws a fit” in the third paragraph probably means_. A gets angry B gets shocked C becomes excited D becomes cheerful
20、解析 A 词义猜测题。根据第三段最后一句可知，在障碍不能被解决时，矿山机器人有时也会像人一样大发脾气，故选 A 项。 6 The latest robot is more advanced than Groundhog mainly because_. 【 精品教育资源文库 】 A it can map abandoned mines B its a bit smaller than Groundhog C it can see in the dark tunnel D the robot has a real sense of logic 解析 D 细节理解题。根据第三段第四句可知，最新型
21、机器人具有真实的逻辑能力。 A项和 C 项是第一代机器人的特点； B 项是先进的地方之一，但不是主要的，故选 D 项。 7 We can infer from the last paragraph that_. A the mine robots will have a very bright future B robots in mines will serve much in the automotive industry C there will be no need for human workers in mines D robots in mines have a long way
22、 to go 解析 A 推理判断题。根据第五段的 robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry 可推知，矿山机器人前景广阔，故选 A 项。 8 Which of the following can be the best title of this passage? A Highprofile Mining Accidents in America B Could Robots Replace Humans in Mines? C The Developm
23、ent of Robot D Cave Crawler, the Latest Robot 解析 B 标题归纳题。第一段引入话题：矿山机 器人；第二、三段：矿山机器人发展；第四段：矿山机器人的研发存在的障碍；第五段：虽然有障碍但专家预测矿山机器人的前景广阔，故选 B 项。 . 语法填空 A teahouse is a special house which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. Its function varies widely 1 _depending_ (depend) on the culture. In China, a teahouse is a place 2 _where_ people gather to enjoy tea, chat an
