1、考研英语(阅读)模拟试卷 184 及答案与解析Part B (10 points) 0 Imagine if every time you saw someone called Tom you got a strong taste of earwax in your mouth. It happens to William James, who runs a pub. Tom is one of his regulars. Another regulars name gives him the taste of wet nappies. For some puzzling reason, Ja
2、mess sense of sound and taste are intermingled.【C1】 _Both of them have a mysterious condition called synaesthesia(联觉), in which their senses have become linked. For years scientists dismissed it, putting it in the same category as seances(an attempt to communicate with God)and spoon-bending. But now
3、, synaesthesia is sparking a revolution in our understanding of the human mind.【C2】 _But despite these differences, scientists are now beginning to discover more and more overarching synaesthetic patterns among synaesthetes and non-synaesthetes.Dorothy doesnt only see letters and numbers in color. M
4、usic produces a riot of color, too.【C3】 _But surprisingly, when non-synaesthetes are asked to match colors and music, they show a similar pattern. Most of us seem to associate low notes with darker colors and high notes with brighter colors.The evidence of the synaesthete in all of us doesnt end her
5、e. Scientists started to investigate how non-synaesthetes deal with numbers. They found theyre better at manipulating small numbers with their left hand, and their bigger numbers with our right hand.【C4】 _Some scientists believe that synaesthesia might even explain how we evolved two of the traits t
6、hat define our species and have transformed our worldcreativity and language.【C5】 _Some believe that our common synaesthetic abilities may also have been the springboard to language. Connections between our senses of hearing and vision, for example, could have been an important initial step towards
7、the creation of words. Our earliest ancestors may have first started to talk by using sounds that actually evoked the object they wished to describe. According to this theory, language could have emerged from the multitude of synaesthetic connections within our brains.AAs Dorothy hears notes going f
8、rom low to high, her colors change from black and purple to mid-browns and then yellows and whites. Overall, lower notes evoke darker colors and higher notes brighter colorsand this pattern is true for most synaesthetes.BScientists agree that synaesthesia has a genetic basis, because it frequently r
9、uns in families. But an actual synaesthesia gene(or genes)has not been identified yet.CSynaesthetes have long been accused of making their experiences up. In the early 1990s, however, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen of Cambridge University noticed that synaesthetic colors dont change over time. If asked
10、 what color is evoked by a letter or number, synaesthetes are incredibly specific and consistent at naming iteven if tested months or even years apart. This consistency was seen as a proof that synaesthesia is real.DMany famous artists have been synaesthetesthe jazz legend Miles Davis, for instance,
11、 and the painter Kandinsky. In fact, a number of studies suggest that synaesthesia may be more common among artists, poets and musicians. This has led some scientists to argue that synaesthesia and creativity may share a similar basisthat both may be down to brain processes that involve linking two
12、seemingly unrelated areas.ETwo synaesthetes seldom agree on the colors or tastes they experience. Its very unlikely to have the same taste for another synaesthete. Dorothys brother Peter, also a synaesthete, wont see M or Z in the same color as she does.FDorothy Latham sees words as colors. Whenever
13、 she reads a black and white text, she sees each letter tinged in the shade of her own multi-colored alphabeteven though she knows the reality of the text is black and white. Spoken words have an even stranger effect. She sees them, spelled out letter by letter, on a colorful tickertape(纸带)in front
14、of her head.GThis suggests that we all somehow think of numbers as arranged in space, just as synaesthets do, even if were not aware of it. More evidence, it seems, that were all synaesthetic to some degree. Its just that some people experience a more exaggerated version.1 【C1 】2 【C2 】3 【C3 】4 【C4 】
15、5 【C5 】5 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD)is one of the most feared and misunderstood of all medical conditions. Despite over 200 scientific papers being published on this neurological condition every year, it remains stigmatized and controversial. Some doctors dont even believe it exis
16、ts.【C1】 _In Charlotte Fishers household, ADHD is rampant. Both she and her children, Jazmine(11)and James(7), have already been diagnosed with it. All three show the classic symptoms of this neurological conditioninattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. The result is a household with extremes o
17、f behaviors, chaos and disorganization.【C2】 _People with ADHD have difficulty suppressing their impulses and therefore respond to more cues than the average person. Rather than failing to pay attention, they pay attention to everything. This means theyre often overloaded with information they cannot
18、 filter out. These people are unable to stop and think about a situation, to “apply the brakes“ and consider the consequences before they act.In spite of the difficulties that they face, the Fishers are a happy family and proud of who they are and what they can achieve.【C3】 _The Fishers have not alw
19、ays had such a positive outlook on life. Just three years ago, before any of them were diagnosed, life was very different. James was extremely hyperactive and had violent and aggressive tendencies. Jazmine was hyperactive too. The whole situation didnt change until the children were diagnosed.【C4】 _
20、As a child Charlotte was constantly in trouble and found it difficult to fit in with her peers. She couldnt concentrate at school and her teachers described her as unruly and out of control. She left with few qualifications and started to take drugs. But these drugs were addictive and made her ill t
21、oo. They also didnt help with the bouts of severe anxiety that she had suffered all her adult life. Until at the age of 30, she was diagnosed and treated for the conditionand able to turn her life around.【C5】 _Though theres ongoing concern about the possible overuse of stimulant drugs. But with regu
22、lar monitoring and support Charlotte has found that medication has provided her family with a crucial window of opportunity in which she can control her thoughts and her children can learn how to behave, build relationships and lay the foundations of a normal life.AThe diagnosis of her childrens ADH
23、D brought Charlottes own life into focus. As she found out more about the condition, she realized that ADHD had been the problem of her whole life.BScientists believe that people with ADHD behave the way they do because they have key differences in the frontal lobes of their brainsthe part that play
24、s an important role in the way that we control our impulses.CYet it is estimated that as many as 3%5% of the childhood population, and over one million adults in the UK are affected by ADHD. These people are often described as stupid, lazy, disorganized, wild, out of control or woozy on drugs. But t
25、he reality is altogether more complex, and deeply moving.DBoth Jazmine and James have impressive talents. James shows great promise at football and has recently won a place at a local football school of excellence. Jazmine has an exceptional artistic ability. She has won a number of prizes for her i
26、ntricate drawings and delicate watercolor paintings.ECharlotte, James and Jazmine now all take methylphenidate, a stimulant drug most commonly known by the brand name Ritalin. Methylphenidate helps to control some of the core symptoms of ADHD.FNot all children with ADHD need medication and there are
27、 a number of non-pharmacological treatments that effectively help to control symptoms too such as behavior management advice for schools and parents, specialized parent skills training and family and individual therapy.GEven when a child is being medicated, it is recommended that behavior management
28、 strategies are always provided in conjunction with the drugs.6 【C1 】7 【C2 】8 【C3 】9 【C4 】10 【C5 】10 In 2001, a secret meeting of leading Israeli archaeologists are shown a remarkable artifact. Its a stone tablet, apparently from 1000 B. C. The writing on its face describes repairs to the temple of
29、King Solomon. It is the first archaeological evidence ever found of this legendary building. The relic caused a sensation. But this was only just the start.【C1】 _These were apparently the result of the tablet surviving the fire which, according to the bible, destroyed the temple when the Babylonians
30、 sacked Jerusalem in 586 B. C.The stone tablet was offered for sale to the Israel Museum, home to many of Israels greatest treasures. Rumors suggested the asking price was as high as $10 million.【C2】 _ To make matters more complex, the stone itself had disappeared again. The Israeli Antiquities Auth
31、ority wanted answers. A nine-month search for the mysterious stranger who had first appeared with the stone eventually led them to a private detective who had been hired by a well known antiquities collector, Oded Golan.Golan insisted he too was just a front man(名誉负责人)for another collector. But the
32、authorities were suspicious. He was known to be the owner of the James Ossuary(尸骨罐), another extraordinary artifact which had appeared a couple of years earlier. This was a burial box with an inscription linking it to Jesus brother.【C3】 _Looking at the stone, several linguists said “fake“. Some of t
33、he Hebrew, they claimed, was not ancient. Other experts claimed that so little is known of ancient Hebrew that its impossible to be sure.The committee turned to geology. Dr. Yuval Goren, a geo-arehaeologist and head of-the Archaeological Institute at Tel-Aviv University, soon found evidence that a t
34、eam of sophisticated forgers had led the earlier experts astray.【C4】 _The authorities presented their conclusions. They announced that the stone tablet and the James Ossuary were elaborate fakes.【C5】 _Some archaeologists have now concluded that everything that came to market in the last 20 years wit
35、hout clear provenance should be considered a fake. Many of these objects, like the stone tablet which started the investigation, were cynically playing on the desire of many of the collectors to see the bible confirmed as history. For those in search of the temple of Solomontheir goal is as far away
36、 as ever.AThe authorities raided Golans apartment and recovered both the ossuary and the elusive stone. It was time to establish once and for all if both were genuine. So they set up a committee of linguists and scientists to examine them.BThe patina(铜绿)on the stpne had in fact been manufactured art
37、ificially. The charcoal particles, which produced the convincing radiocarbon date, had been added by hand. And the gold fragments hinting at an ancient fire were a clever final addition. CBut the museum needed to know where the stone had come from. Even its owner was a mystery.DFor authentification,
38、 the tablet was taken to the Geological Survey of Israel. Here, after a battery of tests, including radiocarbon dating, scientists officially pronounced the stone to be genuine. The tests even revealed microscopic particles of gold in the outer layer of stone.EThe stone tablet has a 15-line inscript
39、ion in ancient Hebrew that resembles descriptions in Kings II, 12: 1-6, 11-17, said Israels Geological Survey, which examined the artifact. The words refer to King Joash, who ruled the area 2, 800 years ago. In it, the king tells priests to take “holy money. to buy quarry stones and timber and coppe
40、r and labor to carry out the duty with faith. “If the work is completed well, the Lord will protect his people with blessing, “ reads the last sentence of the inscription.FAccording to the Bible, The Temple of Solomon was the Israelites first permanent “house“ of God, built specifically to house the
41、 Ark of the Covenant. The Ark, a gold covered wooden chest containing the Ten Commandments, had originally been carried by the chosen people and Moses through the desert.GBut who was producing these fakes and how? Dr. Goren decided to piece together how the stone tablet had been made. He tracked the
42、 origin of the stone itselfapparently a building block taken from a Crusader castle. It was even possible to work out how the fake patina had been manufactured and the ingredients used. What was clear was the team of forgers included experts in a range of disciplines.11 【C1 】12 【C2 】13 【C3 】14 【C4 】
43、15 【C5 】15 Most people believed that chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, were peaceful apes living an idyllic life in the African rainforestuntil Jane Goodall, a zoologist, began her pioneering work in Gombe. It was she who first observed chimps eating meat. “I used to think that chimpanzees
44、were basically vegetarians and perhaps consumed a few insects“, she says.【C1】 _Since that time, chimp “murders“ have been witnessed in other study sites at Mahale, in Tanzania, and Kibale and Ngogo in Uganda. Chimps involved in what has become known as “lethal raiding“ follow a very specific pattern
45、 of behavior. Males go on a “border patrol“ walking silently in single file, searching for lone males from another group. When they find one, a number of males will hold him down, while the others beat him to death.According to Goodalls observation, these attacks on strangers can last between 10 and
46、 20 minutes and can be excessively brutal.【C2】 _Richard Wrangham, a professor at Harvard University, has made a striking comparison between himpanzee and man. In his opinion, there is only one other mammal in which the male will make deliberate attempts to go out and kill neighboring groups of the s
47、ame species, and that is humans. And he calls it the Demonic Male Hypothesis for a very simple reason. “We think about this as being demonic male behavior because, of course, females dont do it, “ says Wrangham.In a sense, Wranghams hypothesis can be justified.【C3】 _But not all chimpanzee population
48、s are as aggressive as Wranghams. Major projects in the Ivory Coast and the Congo have failed to record chimpanzees ever killing another individual.So there are people who argue that, though chimpanzees can certainly be aggressive, focusing on their violence is misguided. Professor Frans de Waal, fr
49、om Emory University, says:【C4】 _Unsurprisingly, de Waal is not one of Wranghams greatest fans. Wranghams argument rests on our current assumption that chimpanzees and humans diverged from a common ancestor five to six million years ago. If chimps and humans are both violent, they are likely to share a genetic legacy for violence with this ancestor. “Im not 100 percent convinced that the last common a