1、雅思（阅读）模拟试卷 99及答案与解析 一、 Reading Module (60 minutes) 0 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based,on Reading Passage 1 below. Can animals count?Prime among basic numerical faculties is the ability to distinguish between a larger and a smaller number, says psychologist Elizabe
2、th Brannon. Humans can do this with ease - providing the ratio is big enough - but do other animals share this ability? In one experiment, rhesus monkeys and university students examined two sets of geometrical objects that appeared briefly on a computer monitor. They had to decide which set contain
3、ed more objects. Both groups performed successfully but, importantly, Brannons team found that monkeys, like humans, make more errors when two sets of objects are close in number. The students performance ends up looking just like a monkeys. Its practically identical, she says.Humans and monkeys are
4、 mammals, in the animal family known as primates. These are not the only animals whose numerical capacities rely on ratio, however. The same seems to apply to some amphibians. Psychologist Claudia Ullers team tempted salamanders with two sets of fruit flies held in clear tubes. In a series of trials
5、, the researchers noted which tube the salamanders scampered towards, reasoning that if they had a capacity to recognise number, they would head for the larger number. The salamanders successfully discriminated between tubes containing 8 and 16 flies respectively, but not between 3 and 4, 4 and 6, o
6、r 8 and 12. So it seems that for the salamanders to discriminate between two numbers, the larger must be at least twice as big as the smaller. However, they could differentiate between 2 and 3 flies just as well as between 1 and 2 flies, suggesting they recognise small numbers in a different way fro
7、m larger numbers.Further support for this theory comes from studies of mosquitofish, which instinctively join the biggest shoal* they can. A team at the University of Padova found that while mosquitofish can tell the difference between a group containing 3 shoal-mates and a group containing 4, they
8、did not show a preference between groups of 4 and 5. The team also found that mosquitofish can discriminate between numbers up to 16, but only if the ratio between the fish in each shoal was greater than 2:1. This indicates that the fish, like salamanders, possess both the approximate and precise nu
9、mber systems found in more intelligent animals such as infant humans and other primates.While these findings are highly suggestive, some critics argue that the animals might be relying on other factors to complete the tasks, without considering the number itself. Any study thats claiming an animal i
10、s capable of representing number should also be controlling for other factors, says Brannon. Experiments have confirmed that primates can indeed perform numerical feats without extra clues, but what about the more primitive animals? To consider this possibility, the mosquitofish tests were repeated,
11、 this time using varying geometrical shapes in place of fish. The team arranged these shapes so that they had the same overall surface area and luminance even though they contained a different number of objects. Across hundreds of trials on 14 different fish, the team found they consistently discrim
12、inated 2 objects from 3. The team is now testing whether mosquitofish can also distinguish 3 geometric objects from 4.Even more primitive organisms may share this ability. Entomologist Jurgen Tautz sent a group of bees down a corridor, at the end of which lay two chambers - one which contained sugar
13、 water, which they like, while the other was empty. To test the bees numeracy, the team marked each chamber with a different number of geometrical shapes - between 2 and 6. The bees quickly learned to match the number of shapes with the correct chamber. Like the salamanders and fish, there was a lim
14、it to the bees mathematical prowess -they could differentiate up to 4 shapes, but failed with 5 or 6 shapes.These studies still do not show whether animals learn to count through training, or whether they are born with the skills already intact. If the latter is true, it would suggest there was a st
15、rong evolutionary advantage to a mathematical mind. Proof that this may be the case has emerged from an experiment testing the mathematical ability of three- and four-day-old chicks. Like mosquitofish, chicks prefer to be around as many of their siblings as possible, so they will always head towards
16、 a larger number of their kin. If chicks spend their first few days surrounded by certain objects, they become attached to these objects as if they were family. Researchers placed each chick in the middle of a platform and showed it two groups of balls of paper. Next, they hid the two piles behind s
17、creens, changed the quantities and revealed them to the chick. This forced the chick to perform simple computations to decide which side now contained the biggest number of its “brothers“. Without any prior coaching, the chicks scuttled to the larger quantity at a rate well above chance. They were d
18、oing some very simple arithmetic, claim the researchers.Why these skills evolved is not hard to imagine, since it would help almost any animal forage for food. Animals on the prowl for sustenance must constantly decide which tree has the most fruit, or which patch of flowers will contain the most ne
19、ctar. There are also other, less obvious, advantages of numeracy. In one compelling example, researchers in America found that female coots appear to calculate how many eggs they have laid - and add any in the nest laid by an intruder - before making any decisions about adding to them. Exactly how a
20、ncient these skills are is difficult to determine, however. Only by studying the numerical abilities of more and more creatures using standardised procedures can we hope to understand the basic preconditions for the evolution of number.* a group of fishQuestions 1-7Complete the table below.Choose NO
21、 MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet. 7 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1 ? In boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet, write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the
22、 statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 8 Primates are better at identifying the larger of two numbers if one is much bigger than the other. （ A）真 （ B）假 （ C） NOT GIVEN 9 Jurgen Tautz trained the insects in his experiment to recognise the shapes of individu
23、al numbers. （ A）真 （ B）假 （ C） NOT GIVEN 10 The research involving young chicks took place over two separate days. （ A）真 （ B）假 （ C） NOT GIVEN 11 The experiment with chicks suggests that some numerical ability exists in newborn animals. （ A）真 （ B）假 （ C） NOT GIVEN 12 Researchers have experimented by alt
24、ering quantities of nectar or fruit available to certain wild animals. （ A）真 （ B）假 （ C） NOT GIVEN 13 When assessing the number of eggs in their nest, coots take into account those of other birds. （ A）真 （ B）假 （ C） NOT GIVEN 13 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on R
25、eading Passage 2 below.Questions 14-18Reading Passage 2 has five paragraphs A-E.Choose the correct heading for each paragraph, A-E, from the list of headings below.Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet. List of Headingsi A lack of consistent policyii Learning from exp
26、erienceiii The greatest advantageiv The role of researchv A unique materialvi An irrational anxietyvii Avoiding the real challengesviii A sign of things to comeA Close up, plastic packaging can be a marvellous thing. Those who make a living from it call it a forgotten infrastructure that allows mode
27、rn urban life to exist. Plastics have helped society defy natural limits such as the seasons, the rotting of food and the distance most of us live from where our food is produced. And yet we do not like it. Partly we do not like waste, but plastic waste, with its hydrocarbon roots and industrial man
28、ufacture, is especially galling. In 2008, the UK, for example, produced around two million tonnes of plastic waste, twice as much as in the early 1990s. The very qualities of plastic - its cheapness, its indestructible aura - make it a reproachful symbol of an unsustainable way of life. The facts, h
29、owever, do not justify our unease. All plastics are, at least theoretically, recyclable. Plastic packaging makes up just 6 to 7 per cent of the contents of British dustbins by weight and less than 3 per cent of landfill. Supermarkets and brands, which are under pressure to reduce the quantity of pac
30、kaging of all types that they use, are finding good environmental reasons to turn to plastic: it is lighter, so requires less energy for transportation than glass, for example; it requires relatively little energy to produce; and it is often re-usable. An Austrian study found that if plastic packagi
31、ng were removed from the supply chain, other packaging would have to increase fourfold to make up for it.B So are we just wrong about plastic packaging? Is it time to stop worrying and learn to love the disposable plastic wrapping around sandwiches? Certainly there are bigger targets for environment
32、al savings such as improving household insulation and energy emissions. Naturally, the plastics industry is keen to point them out. Whats more, concern over plastic packaging has produced a squall of conflicting initiatives from retailers, manufacturers and local authorities. Its a squall that dies
33、down and then blows harder from one month to the next. Tt is being left to the individual conscience and supermarkets playing the market, says Tim Lang, a professor specialising in food policy. Its a mess.C Dick Searle of the Packaging Federation points out that societies without sophisticated packa
34、ging lose half their food before it reaches consumers and that in the UK, waste in supply chains is about 3 per cent. In India, it is more than 50 per cent. The difference comes later: the British throw out 30 per cent of the food they buy -an environmental cost in terms of emissions equivalent to a
35、 fifth of the cars on their roads. Packagers agree that cardboard, metals and glass all have their good points, but theres nothing quite like plastic. With more than 20 families of polymers to choose from and then sometimes blend, packaging designers and manufacturers have a limitless variety of qua
36、lities to play with.D But if there is one law of plastic that, in environmental terms at least, prevails over all others, it is this: a little goes a long way. This means, first, that plastic is relatively cheap to use - it represents just over one-third of the UK packaging market by value but it wr
37、aps more than half the total number of items bought. Second, it means that even though plastic encases about 53 per cent of products bought, it only makes up 20 per cent by weight of the packaging consumed. And in the packaging equation, weight is the main issue because the heavier something is, the
38、 more energy you expend moving it around. In view of this, righteous indignation against plastic can look foolish.E One store commissioned a study to find precise data on which had less environmental impact: selling apples loose or ready-wrapped. Helene Roberts, head of packaging, explains that in f
39、act they found apples in fours on a tray covered by plastic film needed 27 per cent less packaging in transportation than those sold loose. Steve Kelsey, a packaging designer, finds the debate frustrating. He argues that the hunger to do something quickly is diverting effort away from more complicat
40、ed questions about how you truly alter supply chains. Rather than further reducing the weight of a plastic bottle, more thought should be given to how packaging can be recycled. Helene Roberts explains that their greatest packaging reduction came when the company switched to re-usable plastic crates
41、 and stopped consuming 62,000 tonnes of cardboard boxes every year. Plastic packaging is important, and it might provide a way of thinking about broader questions of sustainability. To target plastic on its own is to evade the complexity of the issues. There seems to be a universal eagerness to cond
42、emn plastic. Is this due to an inability to make the general changes in society that are really required? Plastic as a lightweight food wrapper is now built in as the logical thing, Lang says. Does that make it an environmentally sound system of packaging? It only makes sense if you have a structure
43、 such as exists now. An environmentally driven packaging system would look completely different. Dick Searle put the challenge another way. The amount of packaging used today is a reflection of modern life. 14 Paragraph A 15 Paragraph B 16 Paragraph C 17 Paragraph D 18 Paragraph E 18 Look at the fol
44、lowing statements(Questions 19-23)and the list of people below. Match each statement to the correct person A-D. Write the correct letter, A-D, in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once. People A Tim Lang B Dick Searle C Helene Roberts D Steve Kelsey 19 Comparison
45、of two approaches to packaging revealed an interesting result. 20 People are expected to do the right thing. 21 Most food reaches UK shops in good condition. 22 Complex issues are ignored in the search for speedy solutions. 23 It is merely because of the way societies operate that using plastic seem
46、s valid. 23 Complete the summary below. Write NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the text for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet. A revolutionary material Plastic packaging has changed the way we consume food. However, we instinctively dislike it, partly because it is the pr
47、oduct of【 R24】 _processes, but also because it seems to be【 R25】 _so we feel it is wasteful. Nevertheless, it is thanks to plastic that for many people their choice of food is no longer restricted by the【 R26】 _in which it is available or the location of its source. 24 【 R24】 25 【 R25】 26 【 R26】 26
48、You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below. The growth of intelligence No one doubts that intelligence develops as children grow older. Yet the concept of intelligence has proved both quite difficult to define in unambiguous terms and unexpectedl
49、y controversial in some respects. Although, at one level, there seem to be almost as many definitions of intelligence as people who have tried to define it, there is broad agreement on two key features. That is, intelligence involves the capacity not only to learn from experience but also to adapt to ones environment. However, we cannot leave the concept there. Before turning to what is known about the development of intelligence, it is necessary to consider whether we are considering the growth of one or many skills. That question has been tackled in r
