TPO 65
约 1920 个字 预计阅读时间 6 分钟
Reading 1
题材：生物
- 词汇题：
How is the infrared radiation sensed? The pit is covered by a thin transparent membrane, and it has been suggested that a rise in temperature in the pit behind the membrane could cause an expansion of the gas with a consequent deformation of the membrane. This in turn could be sensed by a suitable receptor. This hypothesis is highly improbable, for a cut in the membrane that opens the pit to the outside air causes no loss in responsiveness, a result that is incompatible with the hypothesis that a pressure change is sensed.
The word "consequent" in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. resultant
B. eventual
C. premature
D. visible
Answer
A. 词汇问题
-
resultant: adj.<正式>由此引起的，因而发生的；n.
合力，合成速率，合成矢量；结果 -
premature：adj. 过早的，提早的；早产的；草率的，仓促的
- 六选三
The Pit Organs of Snakes
It is thought that the facial pits or pit organs on the head of some snakes are specialized infrared (heat) receptors. When a rattlesnake strikes, the direction of the strike seems to be guided by the infrared radiation from its prey. A rattlesnake strikes only at warm-blooded prey, and when the prey is dead and at room temperature, the snake will not strike. However, a blindfolded snake strikes correctly at a dead rat that is pulled across the cage, provided the rat is warmer than the surroundings. Blindfolded, the snake cannot be guided by vision; nor is it guided by the sense of smell, for it will strike correctly even at a moving, cloth-wrapped electric bulb. The pit organs are evidently involved in sensing the location of warm objects. All snakes that have pit organs feed preferentially on warm-blooded prey, and this further supports the view that these organs are infrared sensors. In the rattlesnake the pit organs are located, one on each side, between the nostril and the eye: they are connected to many nerves, and this in itself suggests a sensory role for the organ.
The sensitivity of the facial pit has been examined by recording the activity in the nerve leading from the organ. A variety of stimuli, such as sound, vibration, or light of moderate intensity (with the infrared part of the spectrum filtered out), has no detectable effect on the activity in the nerve. However, if objects of a temperature different from the surroundings are brought into the receptive field around the head, there is a striking change in nerve activity, regardless of the temperature of the intervening air.
How is the infrared radiation sensed? The pit is covered by a thin transparent membrane, and it has been suggested that a rise in temperature in the pit behind the membrane could cause an expansion of the gas with a consequent deformation of the membrane. This in turn could be sensed by a suitable receptor. This hypothesis is highly improbable, for a cut in the membrane that opens the pit to the outside air causes no loss in responsiveness, a result that is incompatible with the hypothesis that a pressure change is sensed.
We are left with two other possibilities to consider: Either the effect is photochemical, which means that the infrared radiation is absorbed by a specific compound, analogous to the light- sensitive pigments in the eye, or the pit organs are sensitive to the slight temperature rise caused when infrared radiation reaches it. The infrared radiation emitted from a mammalian body has low quantum energy, which makes any photochemical effect on a pigment extremely unlikely. Pure infrared radiation can be produced by a laser, and experiments with such radiation of known wavelength provide strong evidence that the mode of reception in the facial pit organ is entirely thermal.
Can the pit organs be used for perception of the infrared source in the way our two eyes are used for stereoscopic vision? This seems likely, not only from observations of the precision with which a snake can strike, but also from studies of its brain activity. When infrared radiation falls on the facial pit organ, electric activity can be recorded from the optic tectum, the part of the brain with which the optic nerve is connected. This in itself is suggestive; although the nerves from the pit organ are completely separate from the optic nerves, the same part of the brain seems to handle visual information, which is known to be stereoscopic, and infrared information. The optic tectum has left and right parts, located on either side of the brain Each part receives input from each eye via the optic chiasma, the point at which the optic nerves from the left and right eye meet. Many of the neurons in the tectum respond to stimulation of the pit organ on the opposite side of the head. This is reminiscent of the way information from the eyes is handled; the crossover of the optic nerve in the optic chiasma is essential for stereoscopic vision and interpretation of distance Information from the two pit organs is apparently coordinated and interpreted in a similar way, a conclusion in agreement with recorded changes in the neural activity in the tectum when the infrared source is in a position to irradiate both pits at once It therefore appears that the facial pits indeed provide stereoscopic perception and substantially aid in the precision of estimating the location of prey.
A. Some snakes seem to be able to locate and strike at warm-blooded prey solely through the use of pit organs.
B. The pit organs of snakes seem to be sensitive to a variety of stimuli, including sound, vibration, and light, as well as heat
C. The precision with which snakes are able to locate prey can be accounted for by the intersection of the optic nerves and nerves from the pit organs
D. Snakes with pit organs will strike at dead rats at room temperature only when the rats are dragged across a cage.
E. Experiments provide strong evidence that snake pit organs are sensitive to temperature changes caused by infrared radiation.
F. Studies of brain activity suggest that the two facial pits provide snakes with stereoscopic perception for the exact location of prey
Answer
B. ×
这段表明只对 heat 有反应，表述错误；
The sensitivity of the facial pit has been examined by recording the activity in the nerve leading from the organ. A variety of stimuli, such as sound, vibration, or light of moderate intensity (with the infrared part of the spectrum filtered out), has no detectable effect on the activity in the nerve. However, if objects of a temperature different from the surroundings are brought into the receptive field around the head, there is a striking change in nerve activity, regardless of the temperature of the intervening air.
C. ×
依旧是表述错误。这段话把optic的可能性排除了。
We are left with two other possibilities to consider: Either the effect is photochemical, which means that the infrared radiation is absorbed by a specific compound, analogous to the light- sensitive pigments in the eye, or the pit organs are sensitive to the slight temperature rise caused when infrared radiation reaches it. The infrared radiation emitted from a mammalian body has low quantum energy, which makes any photochemical effect on a pigment extremely unlikely. Pure infrared radiation can be produced by a laser, and experiments with such radiation of known wavelength provide strong evidence that the mode of reception in the facial pit organ is entirely thermal.
Reading 2
Paragraph
In the early 1700s, the air was widely seen as just such an environment, and "air" and "the air" were one and the same thing. Chemists were not in the habit of regarding airs or gases as having different chemical properties. There was simply air. One obvious reason for this was practical Chemists could examine solids and liquids, exposing them to a variety of tests and seeing how they contributed to assorted reactions. Chemists had, however, no comparable way of examining air ; and they came to view chemistry as the sum total of the reactions of solids and liquids, excluding gases. Chemists stressed chemical qualities over physical properties like weight and let physicists deal with air. Chemists generally did not examine air, and they did not try to weigh it. That does not mean that chemists did not weigh substances. They did a lot of weighing, and pharmacists and metallurgists did more. But weighing gases was outside their brief. In the Encyclopedia of Diderot and Alembert, published between 1751 and 1775. readers were told that "the incoercibility of gases will remove them from our researches for a long time to come."
Question
What is the main point of paragraph 2?
A. Diderot and d'Alembert were the first to recognize that gases were a third state of matter
B. Advances in pharmacy and metallurgy led to a better understanding of gases
C. Early chemists had no tools for investigating the chemical properties of gases
D. By performing various tests on solids and liquids, chemists were able to better understand gases.
Answer
答案是C，虽然也没有很准确，其实我觉得更准确的是没有这样的认识或者意识，但是C是最接近的了，剩下的肯定不是这段话 主要 讲的东西嘛
hint是 Chemists had, however, no comparable way of examining air. 这里的comparable是和solid 和 liquid相比，也算是C的意思
Paragraph
In devising this apparatus, Hales had coincidentally furnished an instrument for catching and holding air, which could then be subjected to various tests. Used in this way the apparatus became known as the pneumatic through half a century after its invention, it became a staple of the chemical laboratory. It also became one of the key instruments in the reform of chemistry that we know as the chemical revolution because it was essential to incorporating a whole new state of matter, the gaseous state, into chemistry, alongside the already studied solid and liquid states. Once that step had been taken, it was possible to speculate and then to demonstrate that the gaseous state, like the solid and liquid states, could contain a variety of chemical substances. This was an enormous step, and it did not happen overnight. Hales had shown that air could be contained, washed, and purified, and tested chemically as well as physically. This, however, did not lead him to think that there was more than one kind of air. Air for him remained air, not one of a number of airs. Other chemists would take that essential step.
Question
The word "staple" in the passage is closest in meaning to
A. regular feature
B. effective tool
C. new device
D. distinct advantage
Answer
还是挺明确的orz Used in this way the apparatus became known as the pneumatic through half a century after its invention, 整段话都在描述它的known、useful，那就很顺的得出是行业惯例，也就选A.