[沖刺中考]英語閱讀與填空：15-Wednesday 蘋果 290詞

15-Wednesday 蘋果 290詞

題材： 蘋果　 詞數(shù)： 290　 建議閱讀時間： 6分鐘

閱讀下面的短文，選擇正確答案。

You are probably familiar with the saying：An apple a day keeps the doctor away．A recent research carried out by the Chinese University of Hong Kong may change the saying：An apple a day may keep aging away.

The research chose fruit flies，as they share many genes with humans．The fruit flies were either fed normally or had an apple extract added to their diet.

It turned out that those fruit flies that were given apple extract lived about 55 days—five days longer than the flies that were normally fed．The research group also found it easier for the flies to walk，climb and move about as they aged.

According to the result，the researchers believed that the antioxidants （抗氧化劑） in the apple extract helped clean up dangerous chemicals that cause illnesses，as well as aging.

In another study，researchers examined diets of thousands of women．They discovered that those who regularly ate apple were 20 percent less likely to suffer heart illnesses and stroke.

The apples' genetic code was discovered recently．It allows scientists to develop nicer and healthier fruits．Researchers are already using the information to grow a kind of apples full of antioxidants that can keep eyes and joints healthy and protect humans against heart illnesses and cancer.

Apples that kill the desire to eat could also be produced，with the first“extra-healthy”apples on supermarket shelves within just four or five year.

The team that keeps studying apple DNA includes 100 scientists from five countries．Their research also suggests that around 65 million years ago，when dinosaurs began to die off，the plant，which would finally become today's apple tree，experienced a great genetic change．The number of many of its genes doubled．The extra genes allowed the apple to get used to worse conditions and go through a different development from peaches，strawberries，and other related fruits.

生詞

age　v． 變老，衰老：After his wife's death，Wilfred seemed to age quickly.妻子死后，威爾弗雷德看上去老得很快?！琣ging　n． 變老，衰老：the aging and decay of things事物的老化腐朽

extract　n． 提煉物，提取物；濃縮物：an extract of coffee濃縮咖啡

code　n． 密碼，代碼：All government messages were to be sent in code.政府的所有信息都是用密碼發(fā)送的。

desire　v． 欲望：Teenagers' desire for independence can cause problems for their parents.青少年對獨(dú)立的渴望會給父母帶來麻煩。

1．Why were fruit flies used for the research？

A．Because they have a similar diet to humans.

B．Because they have a history as long as apples.

C．Because they share a lot of genes with humans.

D．Because they feed on nothing but apple extract.

2．What result did the researchers find out？

A．Apples produce chemicals that can change human genes.

B．Apples have antioxidants that kill chemicals that cause aging.

C．Apples are rich in vitamins that are needed in humans' bodies.

D．Apples produce chemicals that make apples taste more delicious.

3．What happened to apples around 65 million years ago according to the research？

A．Their genes stopped their development as the environment got worse.

B．Their genes became twice in number but they finally died off like dinosaurs.

C．They experienced a great genetic change making them used to worse conditions.

D．They went through a similar development to peaches，strawberries and other related fruits.

4．What can we infer from the passage？

A．Eating apples may bring us more advantages than we might believe before.

B．People who have the habit of eating apples don't need to see a doctor.

C．Apples that kill the desire to eat are already available in supermarkets now.

D．People will eat apples instead of peaches and strawberries from now on.

參考譯文

你可能熟悉這句俗語：一日一蘋果，醫(yī)生遠(yuǎn)離我。然而，香港中文大學(xué)最近進(jìn)行的一項研究卻可能改寫這句俗語：一日一蘋果，衰老遠(yuǎn)離我！

研究人員選擇果蠅作為實(shí)驗(yàn)對象，因?yàn)樗鼈兊幕蚺c人類有許多相似之處。果蠅被分成兩組，一組按常規(guī)飼養(yǎng)，另一組在食譜中添加濃縮蘋果汁。

實(shí)驗(yàn)表明，食物中添加了濃縮蘋果汁的果蠅活了約55天——比常規(guī)飼養(yǎng)的果蠅壽命長5天。研究小組還發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些果蠅衰老后，無論在行走、攀爬和飛行時都顯得更為利索。

根據(jù)實(shí)驗(yàn)結(jié)果，研究人員認(rèn)為濃縮蘋果汁中的抗氧化劑能幫助清除致病、致衰老的危險化學(xué)物質(zhì)。

在另一項研究中，研究人員調(diào)查了數(shù)千名女性的食譜。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，常吃蘋果的女性罹患心臟病和卒中的概率少20％。

蘋果的遺傳密碼近日已被破解。這使得科學(xué)家能夠培養(yǎng)出更好、更健康的水果。研究人員已經(jīng)著手運(yùn)用這些信息去培育富含抗氧化劑的蘋果新品種，這種蘋果能保護(hù)視力、增強(qiáng)關(guān)節(jié)、預(yù)防心臟病、遠(yuǎn)離癌癥。

抑制食欲的蘋果也能被生產(chǎn)出來，只要四五年時間，首批這種“超級健康的”蘋果就能出現(xiàn)在超市的貨架上。

這支仍在研究蘋果DNA的團(tuán)隊包括5個國家的100名科學(xué)家。他們的研究還表明，大約6500萬年前，也就是恐龍走向滅絕之時，最終成為今天的蘋果樹的那種植物經(jīng)歷了一次基因突變。它的許多基因數(shù)量翻倍，這些額外的基因使得蘋果樹適應(yīng)了嚴(yán)酷的環(huán)境，并走上與桃樹、草莓及其他相關(guān)水果不同的進(jìn)化之路。

參考答案

Wednesday 1．C　2．B　3．C　4．A