小学、初中、高中各种试卷真题知识归纳文案合同PPT等免费下载www.doc985.com小学、初中、高中各种试卷真题知识归纳文案合同PPT等免费下载www.doc985.com必修第二册Unit4HistoryandTraditionsⅠ.阅读理解A(★)Scientistshavesolvedapuzzleaboutmodernhumans，afterresearchshowedthatafamousskullofahumanancestorfoundinSouthAfricaisamillionyearsolderthanexpertsthought.Thisdiscoveryhaschangedwhatweknowofhumanhistory.Theskull，whichscientistshavenamed“MrsPles”，isfromanape-likehumanrelativefromaspeciescalledAustralopithecusafricanus(南方古猿非洲种)．ItwasfoundnearJohannesburgin1947and，basedonevidencefromitssurroundings，wasthoughttobebetween2.1and2.6millionyearsold.Thispuzzledscientists，becausealthoughMrsPleslookslikeapossibleearlyancestorofearlyhumans，thefirsttruehumanshadalreadyevolvedbythetimesheapparentlylived.Forthisreason，scientistshaddecidedthatAustralopithecusafarensis，asimilarspeciesfromEastAfricathatlivedabout3.5millionyearsago，wasourmostlikelyancestorinstead.TogetamoreaccurateageforMrsPles，ateamledbyProfessorDarrylGrangerofPurdueUniversityinIndiana，US，usedanewmethodtodatethesandyrockswheretheskulllay.Theymeasuredtheamountofcertainchemicalsinrocks，whichformatasteadyratewhentheyareexposedtocosmicrays(宇宙射线)onEarth’ssurface.Oncerocksareburied，thesechemicalsstopformingandslowlydisappear；thesurvivingamountrevealshowmuchtimehaspassedsincetherocks(orbones)wereonthesurface.ThenewstudyshowsthatMrsPlesandotheraustralopithecinebonesnearbyarebetween3.4and3.7millionyearsold.ThismeanstheylivedatthesametimeastheirEastAfricanrelatives，sothateithergroupcouldhavegivenrisetomodernhumans.However，teammemberDrLaurentBruxellespointedoutthatovermillionsofyears，atonly2,500milesaway，thesegroupshadplentyoftimetotravelandtobreedwitheachother.Inotherwords，thegroupscouldquiteeasilyhavemet，hadchildrentogetherandbothbeenpartofthehistoryofmodernhumans.1．WhatcanwelearnaboutMrsPlesfromthefirsttwoparagraphs?A．ItisaskullfoundinEastAfrica.B．Itisthemostpossibleancestorofhumans.C．Itisamillionyearsolderthanscientistsexpected.D．Itisprovedtolivebetween2.1and2.6millionyearsago.2．Howdidscientistsgettheaccurateageof“MrsPles”？小学、初中、高中各种试卷真题知识归纳文案合同PPT等免费下载www.doc985.com小学、初中、高中各种试卷真题知识归纳文案合同PPT等免费下载www.doc985.comA．Bystudyingtheeffectofcosmicrays.B．Bycalculatingtheformingrateofchemicals.C．Bylocatingthesandyrockswheretheskulllay.D．Bymeasuringthesurvivingamountofchemicals.3．Whatcanweinferfromthenewstudy?A．ModernhumanscameintobeinginEastAfrica.B．MrsPlestravelledandhadchildrenwithEastAfricanrelatives.C．Thehistoryofmodernhumansmightbegin3.5millionyearsago.D．Ape-likespeciesfromAfricacouldhaveinteractedwitheachother.4．Whichofthefollowingcanbethebesttitleofthepassage?A．HistoricalPuzzleUnsolvedB．AncestorMysterySolvedC．MrsPles:TheEarliestHumanBeingD．MrsPles:AFamousSkullB(★)AnewstudyanalyzingstonetoolsfromsouthernChinaprovidestheearliestevidenceofriceharvesting，datingtoasearlyas10,000yearsago.Theresearchersidentifiedtwomethodsofharvestingrice，whichhelpedstartricedomestication.Toharvestrice，somesortoftoolswouldhavebeenneeded.“Forquitealongtime，oneofthepuzzleshasbeenthatharvestingtoolshavenotbeenfoundinsouthernChinafromtheearlyNeolithicperiodorNewStoneAge(10,000－7,000BeforePresent)—thetimeperiodwhenweknowricebegantobedomesticated，”says...