2018上半年英语六级阅读理解试题库及答案2篇

There are some each phenomena you can count on, but the magnetic field, someday is not of them. It fluctuates in strength, drifts from its axis, and every few 100,000 years undergo, dramatic polarity reversal-a period when North Pole becomes South Pole and South Pole becomes North Pole. But how is the field generated, and why is it so unstable?

Groundbreaking research by two French geophysicists promises to shed some light on the mystery. Using 80 metres of deep sea sediment (沉淀物) core, they have obtained measurements lots of magnetic-field intensity that span 11 polarity reversals and four million years. The analysis reveals that intensity appears to fluctuate with a clear, well-defined rhythm. Although the strength of the magnetic field varies irregularly during the short term, there seems to be an inevitable long-term decline preceding each polarity reversal. When the poles flip—a process that takes several hundred thousand years-the magnetic field rapidly regains its strength and the cycle is repeated.

The results have caused a stir among geophysicists. The magnetic field is thought to originate from molten (熔化的) iron in the outer core, 3,000 kilometers beneath the earth’s surface. By studying mineral grains found in material ranging from rocks to clay articles, previous researchers have already been able to identify reversals dating back 170 million years, including the most recent switch 730,000 years ago. How and why they occur, however, has been widely debated. Several theories link polarity flips to external disasters such as meteor (陨星) impacts. But Peter Olson, a geophysicist at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says this is unlikely if the French researchers are right. In fact, Olson says intensity that predictably declines from one reversal to the next contradicts 90 percent of the models currently under study. If the results prove to be valid geophysicists will have a new theory to guide them in their quest to understand the earth’s inner physics. It certainly points the direction for future research.

26. Which of the following titles is most appropriate to the passage?

A) Polarity Reversal: A Fantastic Phenomenon of Nature.

B) Measurement of the Earth’s Magnetic-Field Intensity.

C) Formation of the Two Poles of the Earth.

D) A New Approach to the Study or Geophysics.

27. The word “flip” (Line 6, Para. 2) most probably means “________”.

A) decline

B) intensify

C) fluctuate

D) reverse

28. What have the two French geophysicists discovered in their research?

A) Some regularity in the changes of the earth’s magnetic field.

B) Some causes of the fluctuation of the earth’s magnetic field.

C) The origin of the earth’s magnetic field.

D) The frequency of polarity reversals.

29. The French geophysicists’ study is different from currently prevailing theories in ________.

A) its identification of the origin of the earth’s magnetic field

B) the way the earth’s magnetic intensity is measured

C) its explanation of the shift in the earth’s polarity

D) the way the earth’s fluctuation rhythm is defined

30. In Peter Oslo’s opinion the French experiment ________.

A) is likely to direct further research in the inner physics of the earth

B) has successfully solved the mystery of polarity reversals

C) is certain to help predict external disasters

D) has caused great confusion among the world’s geophysicists

参考答案：

26. D27. D28. A29. C30. A

Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion-a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor pleasure, anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or enemies, there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members of groups. Society’s economic underpinnings (支柱) would be destroyed: since earning $10 million would be no more pleasant than earning $10, there would be no incentive to work. In fact, there would be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a capacity to enjoy them.

In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object’s physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us—hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We al so use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are good and others are bad, and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life—from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society exploits our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty morality, pride shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal penal (刑法的) system to make people afraid to engage in antisocial acts.

31. The reason why people might not be able to stay alive in a world without emotion is that ________.

A) they would not be able to tell the texture of objects

B) they would not know what was beneficial and what was harmful to them

C) they would not be happy with a life without love

D) they would do things that hurt each other’s feelings

32. According to the passage, people’s learning activities are possible because they ________.

A) believe that emotions are fundamental for them to stay alive

B) benefit from providing help and support to one another

C) enjoy being rewarded for doing the right thing

D) know what is vital to the progress of society

33. It can be inferred from the passage that the economic foundation of society is dependent on ________.

A) the ability to make money

B) the will to work for pleasure

C) the capacity to enjoy incentives

D) the categorizations of our emotional experiences

34. Emotions are significant for man’s survival and adaptation because ________.

A) they provide the means by which people view the size or shape of objects

B) they are the basis for the social feeling of agreement by which society is maintained

C) they encourage people to perform dangerous achievements

D) they generate more love than hate among people

35. The emotional aspects of an object are more important than its physical aspects in that they ________.

A) help society exploit its members for profit

B) encourage us to perform important tasks

C) help to perfect the legal and penal system

D) help us adapt our behavior to the world surrounding us

　　参考答案：

31. B32. C33. C34. B35. D