2018年北京卷
第二部分：阅读理解(共两节，40 分)
第一节(共 15 小题：每小题 2 分，共 30 分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
My First Marathon (马拉松)
A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.
I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn’t do either well. He later informed me that I was “not athletic”.
The idea that I was “not athletic” stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!
The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn’t even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.
Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces (鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!
At mile 3, I passed a sign: “GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!”
By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.
By mile 21, I was starving!
As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.
I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.
Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels (世俗标签), I can now call myself a “marathon winner”.
36. A month before the marathon, the author .
A. was well trained
B. felt scared
C. made up his mind to run
D. lost hope
37. Why did the author mention the P.E. class in his 7th year?
A. To acknowledge the support of his teacher.
B. To amuse the readers with a funny story.
C. To show he was not talented in sports.
D. To share a precious memory.
38. How was the author’s first marathon?
A. He made it.
B. He quit halfway.
C. He got the first prize.
D. He walked to the end.
39. What does the story mainly tell us?
A. A man owes his success to his family support.
B. A winner is one with a great effort of will.
C. failure is the mother of success.
D. One is never too old to learn.
答案解析：
36. C 根据第一段中的"I was determined to go ahead."可知，作者在马拉松比赛前一个月，尽管脚踝受伤，但他决心继续参加比赛。因此，选项C "made up his mind to run"(下定决心要跑)符合题意。
37. C 根据第二段中的"I didn’t do either well. He later informed me that I was 'not athletic'."可知，作者提到七年级的体育课是为了展示他在运动方面没有天赋。因此，选项C "To show he was not talented in sports"(为了显示他在运动方面没有天赋)符合题意。
38. A 根据最后一段中的"But I finished! And I got a medal."可知，作者虽然不是第一个完成比赛，但他确实完成了马拉松。因此，选项A "He made it"(他做到了)符合题意。
39. B 文章主要讲述了作者在脚踝受伤、训练时间不足的情况下，凭借坚定的意志完成了他的第一个马拉松。因此，选项B "A winner is one with a great effort of will"(赢家是那些付出巨大意志努力的人)最能概括文章的主旨。
B
Find Your adventure at the Space and Aviation (航空) Center
If you’re looking for a unique adventure, the Space and Aviation center (SAC) is the place to be. The center offers programs designed to challenge and inspire with hands-on tasks and lots of fun.
More than 750,000 have graduated from SAC, with many seeking employment in engineering, aviation, education, medicine and a wide variety of other professions. They come to camp, wanting to know what it is like to be an astronaut or a pilot, and they leave with real-world applications for what they’re studying in the classroom.
For the trainees, the programs also offer a great way to earn merit badges (荣誉徽章). At Space Camp, trainees can earn their Space Exploration badge as they build and fire model rockets, learn about space tasks and try simulated (模拟) flying to space with the crew from all over the world. The Aviation Challenge program gives trainees the chance to earn their Aviation badge. They learn the principles of flight and test their operating skills in the cockpit (驾驶舱) of a variety of flight simulators. Trainees also get a good start on their Wilderness Survival badge as they learn about water- and land-survival through designed tasks and their search and rescue of a “downed” pilot.
With all the programs, teamwork is key as trainees learn the importance of leadership and being part of a bigger task.
All this fun is available for ages 9 to 18. Families can enjoy the experience together, too, with Family Camp programs for families with children as young as 7.
Stay an hour or stay a week—there is something here for everyone!
For more details, please visit us online at www.oursac.com.
40. Why do people come to SAC?
A. To experience adventures.
B. To look for jobs in aviation.
C. To get a degree in engineering.
D. To learn more about medicine.
41. To earn a Space Exploration badge, a trainee needs to .
A. fly to space B. get an Aviation badge first
C. study the principles of flight D. build and fire model rockets
42. What is the most important for trainees?
A. Leadership. B. Team spirit. C. Task planning. D. Survival skills.
答案解析：
40. A 根据文章第一段中的"If you’re looking for a unique adventure, the Space and Aviation Center (SAC) is the place to be."可知，人们来到SAC是为了寻找独特的冒险体验。因此，选项A "To experience adventures"(体验冒险)符合题意。
41. D 根据文章第三段中的"At Space Camp, trainees can earn their Space Exploration badge as they build and fire model rockets..."可知，为了获得太空探索徽章，学员需要建造并发射模型火箭。因此，选项D "build and fire model rockets"(建造并发射模型火箭)是正确的。
42. B 根据文章最后一段中的"With all the programs, teamwork is key as trainees learn the importance of leadership and being part of a bigger task."可知，对于所有项目来说，团队合作是最重要的，因为学员们学习领导力和成为更大任务一部分的重要性。因此，选项B "Team spirit"(团队精神)是最重要的。
C
Plastic-Eating Worms
Humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. Almost half of that winds up in landfills (垃圾填埋场), and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms.
Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics. The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms’ chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste (糊状物) and applied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass—apparently broken down by enzymes (酶) from the worms’ stomachs. Their findings were published in current Biology in 2017.
Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the study, says the worms’ ability to break down their everyday food—beeswax—also allows them to break down plastic. “Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well,” she explains. “The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond.”
Jennifer DeBruyn, a microbiologist at the university of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes (肠道微生物)?
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team’s findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process—not simply “millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic.”
43. What can we learn about the worms in the study?
A. They take plastics as their everyday food.
B. They are newly evolved creatures.
C. They can consume plastics.
D. They wind up in landfills.
44. according to Jennifer DeBruyn, the next step of the study is to .
A. identify other means of the breakdown
B. find out the source of the enzyme
C. confirm the research findings
D. increase the breakdown speed
45. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the chemical might .
A. help to raise worms
B. help make plastic bags
C. be used to clean the oceans
D. be produced in factories in future
46. What is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To explain a study method on worms.
B. To introduce the diet of a special worm.
C. To present a way to break down plastics.
D. To propose new means to keep eco-balance.
答案解析：
43. C 根据第二段中的"The worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it."可知，这些虫子能够消耗和分解塑料。因此，选项C "They can consume plastics"(它们可以消耗塑料)是正确的。
44. B 根据第四段中的"The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes?"可知，下一步的研究是要确定分解的原因，即酶是由虫子本身产生的还是由其肠道微生物产生的。因此，选项B "find out the source of the enzyme"(找出酶的来源)是正确的。
45. D 根据最后一段中的"Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team’s findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process—not simply “millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic.”"可知，Bertocchini希望有一天能够利用这种酶在工业过程中分解垃圾填埋场中的塑料。因此，选项D "be produced in factories in future"(未来在工厂中生产)是可以推断出的。
46. C 整篇文章主要介绍了一项研究，该研究发现某些虫子能够分解聚乙烯塑料，这为解决塑料污染问题提供了一种可能的方法。因此，选项C "To present a way to break down plastics"(提出一种分解塑料的方法)是文章的主要目的。
D
Preparing Cities for Robot Cars
The possibility of self-driving robot cars has often seemed like a futurist’s dream, years away from materializing in the real world. Well, the future is apparently now. The California department of Motor Vehicles began giving permits in April for companies to test truly self-driving cars on public roads. The state also cleared the way for companies to sell or rent out self-driving cars, and for companies to operate driverless taxi services. California, it should be noted, isn’t leading the way here. Companies have been testing their vehicles in cities across the country. It’s hard to predict when driverless cars will be everywhere on our roads. But however long it takes, the technology has the potential to change our transportation systems and our cities, for better or for worse, depending on how the transformation is regulated.
While much of the debate so far has been focused on the safety of driverless cars (and rightfully so), policymakers also should be talking about how self-driving vehicles can help reduce traffic jams, cut emissions (排放) and offer more convenient, affordable mobility options. The arrival of driverless vehicles is a chance to make sure that those vehicles are environmentally friendly and more shared.
Do we want to copy—or even worsen—the traffic of today with driverless cars? imagine a future where most adults own individual self-driving vehicles. They tolerate long, slow journeys to and from work on packed highways because they can work, entertain themselves or sleep on the ride, which encourages urban spread. They take their driverless car to an appointment and set the empty vehicle to circle the building to avoid paying for parking. instead of walking a few blocks to pick up a child or the dry cleaning, they send the self-driving minibus. The convenience even leads fewer people to take public transport—an unwelcome side effect researchers have already found in ride-hailing (叫车) services.
A study from the university of California at Davis suggested that replacing petrol-powered private cars worldwide with electric, self-driving and shared systems could reduce carbon emissions from transportation 80% and cut the cost of transportation infrastructure (基础设施) and operations 40% by 2050. Fewer emissions and cheaper travel sound pretty appealing. The first commercially available driverless cars will almost certainly be fielded by ride-hailing services, considering the cost of self-driving technology as well as liability and maintenance issues (责任与维护问题). But driverless car ownership could increase as the prices drop and more people become comfortable with the technology.
Policymakers should start thinking now about how to make sure the appearance of driverless vehicles doesn’t extend the worst aspects of the car-controlled transportation system we have today. The coming technological advancement presents a chance for cities and states to develop transportation systems designed to move more people，and more affordably. The car of the future is coming. We just have to plan for it.
47. according to the author, attention should be paid to how driverless cars can __________.
A. help deal with transportation-related problems
B. provide better services to customers
C. cause damage to our environment
D. make some people lose jobs
48. As for driverless cars, what is the author’s major concern?
A. Safety. B. Side effects.
C. Affordability. D. Management.
49. What does the underlined word “fielded” in paragraph 4 probably mean?
A. Employed. B. Replaced.
C. Shared. D. Reduced.
50. What is the author’s attitude to the future of self-driving cars?
A. Doubtful. B. Positive.
C. Disapproving. D. Sympathetic.
答案解析：
47.A. 作者在文章第二段中提到，政策制定者也应该讨论自动驾驶汽车如何帮助减少交通拥堵、减少排放，并提供更方便、更实惠的出行选择。因此，作者认为我们应该关注自动驾驶汽车如何解决交通相关问题，选项A正确。
48.D.作者在最后一段中提到政策制定者应该考虑如何确保无人驾驶汽车的出现不会加剧我们现有的以汽车为主导的交通运输系统的最糟糕方面，因此作者主要关心的是无人驾驶汽车的管理问题，选项D为正确答案。
49.A. 在第四段中提到，考虑到自动驾驶技术的成本以及责任和维护问题，第一批商用无人驾驶汽车几乎肯定会被叫车服务所使用。根据上下文推断，fielded在此处的意思是“使用”，与employed同义。因此，答案为A。
50.B. 作者在文章中提到无人驾驶车辆的出现是一个机会，可以确保这些车辆环保、共享，而且未来的技术进步为城市和国家提供了发展交通运输系统的机会，旨在让更多的人能够更经济地出行。因此，作者对无人驾驶汽车的未来持积极态度，选项B正确。
