大学生英语竞赛C类阅读理解专项强化真题试卷19

Albert Einstein was one of the greatest thinkers the world has ever known. He formulated theories of relativity, successfully described the nature of the universe and came up with the most famous equation in the world. David Beckham is the footballer whose skills and precision have made him one of the most gifted sportsmen of his generation. Who is more intelligent? How Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences(MI)dares us to put these two men on neighboring pedestals. Instead of regarding intelligence as a single quantity measurable by pen-and-paper tests, Gardner, an education professor at Harvard University, divides human intelligence into no fewer than eight separate categories ranging from mathematical to musical competence.(74)His ideas have provoked vigorous debate about how one defines intelligence. Gardner’s point is that quantity measures only one capacity, the sort of mental agility that is valued in academic achievement, and that this single number does not do justice to human potential. So he has created his own spheres of achievement. Some categories are easily reconcilable with general perceptions about IQ. For example, “ linguistic“ intelligence confers a mastery of language, and is the preserve of such people as poets, writers and linguists. “Logical mathematical“ intelligence marks out people who take a reasoning approach to physical things, and seek underlying principles. Einstein is the standard-bearer of this group, which also includes philosophers. These two categories are the main components of what we generally think of as “intelligence“. “Musical“ intelligence characterizes musicians, composers and conductors. “Spatial“ intelligence is about being able to picture perspective, to visualize a world in one’s head with great accuracy. Chess players, artists and architects would rate highly in this category. Dancers, athletes and actors are lumped under the “bodily-kinesthetic“ heading: these individuals, like Beckham, are able to control their bodies and movements very carefully. Then come two types of “ personal“ intelligence—intrapersonal, the ability to gauge one’s own mood, feelings and mental states, and interpersonal, being able to gauge it in others and use the information. These two categories could be interpreted as emotional intelligence. Psychiatrists are particularly adept at the former, while religious leaders and politicians are seen as people who can exploit the latter. Charles Darwin is perhaps the perfect embodiment of the eighth intelligence—“naturalist“. This label describes people with a deep understanding of the natural world and its objects. Zoologists and botanists can count themselves among this group. (75)These eight categories certainly reflect the fact that, in these areas, there is a spectrum of human ability ranging from the hopeless to the brilliant. But are these really intelligences, or could these competences be more accurately described as gifts or talents?

No Creatures can stride as human beings. They are not physically designed to support and balance a vertical body balanced on two long lower limbs, propelled forward by a foot engineered exclusively for body support and forward propulsion and to do so with a stride at high-speed locomotion. While other bipeds walk in a similar fashion, human walk is unique. Bipedalism by itself offers no comparison with the distinctive human gait form. And, significantly, no other biped can actually cover more than a tiny fraction of the walking distance that can be sustained by humans. Striding requires a special design of hip, knee, and ankle joints, plus an arched foot, plus long lower-limb bones. These “finishing touches“ demanded extended evolutionary time. Striding provided numerous advantages over the simple stepping gait. For example, the ability to cover twice the distance with the same number of steps is a definite survival advantage. It also added much speed to running, more height to jumping. None of this would have been possible without, first, a foot equipped to support and balance an erect body and to produce the leverage necessary to propel the body forward in locomotion. The ape foot was not suited for this. A new kind of foot was essential if those hominids were to become full-scale bipeds. Indeed a pair of human feet has one-fourth of all the body’s 206 bones and 244 joints. Why this extraordinary number of bones and joints concentrated in such a small part of the body?(74)Because the intricate network of the many different parts required not only for supporting and balancing a heavy superstructure but to enable the multiple motions and actions, hundreds or thousands of times daily. No other part of the body comes even close to the amount and degree of stresses imposed on it. The human foot had to go through an extensive evolutionary development in which it underwent enormous design changes in cohering its 28 bones, 37 joints and 107 ligaments, and 32 muscles and tendons to adapt to the body weight and numerous torsions.(75)In fact, it probably wasn’t until only about 400, 000 years ago that early humans were fully striding, the final touch of human gait. Orthopedist Philip J. Mayer writes in the Orthopedic Review: “The development of a true stride on an orthopedic foot was the most crucial of all the steps of human evolution. “ Nature had perhaps never undertaken an anatomical engineering project of such complexity.

Alaska is disappearing slowly but surely. Since the 1950s, it is estimated that as much as 15 percent of Alaska’s area has disappeared. But how can a whole state be disappearing? One reason for Alaska’s gradual disappearance is the melting of its glaciers. According to one geologist at the US Geological Survey, about 98 percent of Alaska’s glaciers are either unmoving or diminishing. This diminishing seems mainly due to the increase in global temperatures. Since the 1960s, the average year-round temperature has increased by 5℉. Furthermore, the average winter temperature has increased by 8℉. Presently, an estimated 24 cubic miles of ice is disappearing from Alaskan glaciers every year. It may be even more in the near future, as some scientists predict that the average world temperature could go up 2. 5 to 10°F by the year 2100. Another problem contributing to Alaska’s gradual disappearance is its thawing permafrost.(74)Much of the land in Alaska was permanently, frozen for most of the year, thus maintaining its integrity. Now, the thawing permafrost is causing a number of problems on land. Roads and utility poles are collapsing. Also, the hard permafrost which originally prevented beaches from eroding during violent storms is now melting. Affected villages are forced to relocate. For villages on small low islands, one terrible storm could wipe out the entire community. The melting permafrost and increasing temperature are also having a negative impact on the forests of Alaska. As the permafrost under the forests melts, insects that normally don’t turn up until the warmer seasons are appearing sooner. The spruce-bark beetle, for example, is increasing in numbers as a result of global warming. It usually takes about two years for these beetles to grow and reproduce in very cold weather. However, due to the increase in temperatures, spruce-bark beetles are damaging as many trees in one year as they previously damaged in two. At this rate, Alaska’s forest won’t survive the turn of the century. Some scientists believe that human activity is linked to a global increase in weather temperature. Whether the rising temperatures are caused by human activity or natural changes, the fact remains that Alaska is warming. Some others argue that global warming may be a normal trend on the Earth’s temperature chart.(75)One theory argues that we are near the end of a so-called “ Little Ice Age“ , and the retreat of the glaciers is a natural result of this cycle. Whether natural or produced by humans, there is little hope for the immediate future of glaciers as we know them. Horribly, this could be a preview of what will happen to the rest of the world in the next century.

[*] It seems that there is no middle ground when it comes to cats. People either love them or hate them. These feelings are not new either. All through history, cats have been worshiped or hated. A study of ancient writings and evidence found in tombs indicates that for the past 5,000 years, cats have been kept as pets in China, Arabia, Egypt, and India. However, this isn’t very long compared to dogs, which have been domesticated for 50,000 years. Still, while the period in which cats have been domesticated may be quite short, it has definitely had its high and low points. Cats were at their positions of domesticated life in ancient Egypt. There were more cats living in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs than any other place in the world since that time. This high number of cats was probably due to the laws protecting them as holy animals. If anyone was caught killing a cat, the person could be put to death. Families in Egypt also mourned the death of a cat and had the body of the dead cat wrapped in cloth before it was finally laid to rest. This respect for cats carried over to the Boman Empire where cats were the only animals allowed into temples. This fact was probably because of the ability of cats to keep the temples free of mice and rats. With the coming of the Dark Ages in Europe, the place of cats in society took a turn for the worse. Because they were associated so closely with the “old religions“ of Egypt and the Roman Empire, Christians began to associate cats with pagan beliefs.(74)Cats had a reputation as helpers of witches. When a person was accused of being a witch, a cat would often be put on trial with the person. The cat would be tortured to try and make the person tell the truth, and usually the cat and the person would end up being burned in a bonfire or drowned. Bonfires of collected cats were not uncommon during this time. The days of hunting witches have ended, but other myths about cats still hold out. For a while, people in some places used to bury live cats under new buildings for good luck. As well, many people today continued to believe that black cats bring bad luck. If a black cat walks in front of a person, that person must take extra care in the near future to watch out for dangerous situations.(75)Regardless of superstition, cats remain a popular pet today. Some cat experts believe that a cat can never truly be domesticated because it may turn wild and run away at any time. However, this claim has not put people off keeping cats in their homes. A third of homes in the United States have cats, and one out of every three of these homes keeps both a dog and a cat. Especially in large cities, many people in small apartments have found that cats make much better pets than dogs.