Question

Once upon a time, on an isolated island in the Java sea, lived short people who dominated(支配, 占優(yōu)勢) the food chain. Standing no more than three and a half feet tall, these human ancestors hunted giant rats, lumbering lizards（笨拙的蜥蜴), and miniature elephants.  

   It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but it's true. Unearthed relics on the island uncovered the remains of a race of tiny human ancestors. Homo floresiensis, as the newly discovered species has been named, apparently could date back to 13,000 years ago. This means they have a lot in common with modern humans.

  So how and why did these people get so small? Scientists suspect that it's due to the fact that this race lived on an isolated island with limited resources. Take the miniature elephants for example. When elephants first came to the island either by swimming or by some kind of natural land raft, they were probably close to full size. But since there wasn't much to eat, over time smaller elephants lived longer and better. The smaller the elephant was, the less it had to eat to stay strong and healthy.

  Scientists call this the "island role", and it can apply to humans as well as animals. Given the island's sparse(稀少) food supply, it makes sense that the early humans living there would have evolved (進化) a body size requiring less food to survive. So bigger isn't always better. In the floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.

1.According to the passage, the fact Homo floresiensis are very small is based on________.

A. the islanders in the Java Sea B. the human ancestors

C. a newspaper report      D. the unearthed relics

2.The underlined word "miniature" in the first paragraph most probably means______.

A. tiny       B. active    C. rare       D. wild

3.People on the island got so small because____________.

A. they gradually developed for lack of food.

B. they did not have enough food to eat.

C. they shared less food with elephants.

D. they remained alive as the elephants.

4.What might be the most suitable title of the passage?

A. The history of short people   B. Short people on an isolated island

C. The proofs on short people   D. Short people from a fairy tale

5.According to the passage, getting smaller can make people and animals ____

A. run quickly   B. live weaker   C. live longer    D. run slowly

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.D

2.A

3.A

4.B

5.C

【解析】

試題分析：文章介紹了孤立的島上生活著一群身材短小的人，身高不足3.5英尺，這是生活在古代的一個種族，科學家以微小的大象為例分析了他們身材短小的原因。主要是因為在孤立的島上資源缺乏，沒有足夠的食物為了生存下去適應環(huán)境而變小的。

1. D細節(jié)理解題。  It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but it's true. Unearthed relics on the island uncovered the remains of a race of tiny human ancestors.句意為：這聽起來就像一個童話故事，但他是真的，這個孤島上的出土文物揭露了這個微小的祖先的存在。所這這個事實是建立在出土的文物的基礎上的。故答案為D。

2.A詞義推測題。miniature從構詞法上看mini—是前綴表“細小的，微小的”的意思。下文  Take the miniature elephants for example.以大象為例，講述了大象通過不同的方式到達這個孤島上，由于食物缺乏身體逐漸的由小變大，所以此處應該指身材微小的大象。

3.A段落大意題。第三自然段的大意為：這些人類為什么會變小，又是怎么變小的呢，科學家的推斷是他們到達了這個資源匱乏的島上，以大象為例，他們沒有足夠的食物吃，剛到這個島上的時候是很大的，但是隨著時間的發(fā)展只有那些小象才能生活得更健康，很長壽，所以慢慢的他們身材只能變小。所以人類的身材也是在食物的缺乏下逐漸變小的。故答案為A。

4.B大意理解題。文章以短小的人類開篇，從出土的文物證明這個種族在若干年前是存在的，科學家推斷了這些人類人材短小的原因，生物包括人類在內在環(huán)境的影響下在不斷的改變。由文章的大意可知最佳答案為B。A. The history of short people文章并未介紹這類人的歷史和發(fā)展；The proofs on short people文章大部分的篇幅是在說明這個種族變小的原因，并不是說他們存在的原因；Short people from a fairy tale由第二自然段的第一句話說明不是童話故事。

5.C細節(jié)理解題。But since there wasn't much to eat, over time smaller elephants lived longer and better. The smaller the elephant was, the less it had to eat to stay strong and healthy. 由于沒有足夠吃的，隨著時間的發(fā)展，小象才能長壽生存得才能更好，象越小，它吃的東西越少才能長得壯而且健康。So bigger isn't always better. In the floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.因此，大并不總是好的，至少變小才能走得更遠，因此答案應為C。

【考點】考查歷史類文章的閱讀理解。