英语六级阅读模拟训练及答案

　　The beginning of our sleep deficit crisis can be _1_ to the invention of the light bulb a centuryago. From diary entries and other personal _2_ from the 18th and 19th centuries, sleepscientists have reached the conclusion that the average person used to sleep about 9.5 hoursa night. By the 1950s and 1960s, that sleep schedule had been reduced _3_ to between 7.5and 8 hours, and most people had to wake to an alarm clock. “People cheat on their sleep, andthey don’t even _4_ they’re doing it,” says Dr. David. “They think they’re okay because theycan get by on 6.5 hours, when they really need 7.5，8 or even more to feel ideally _5_.”

　　Perhaps the most merciless robber of sleep, researchers say, is the _6_ of the day. Wheneverpressures from work, family, friends and community mount, many people consider sleep theleast _7_ item on the agenda. “In our society, you’re considered dynamic if you say you onlyneed 5.5 hours’ sleep. If you say you’ve got to get 8.5 hours, people think you lack _8_ andambition.”

　　To assess the _9_ of sleep deficit, researchers have put subjects through a set ofpsychological and performance tests requiring them. “We’ve found that if you’re sleep-deprived, performance _10_,” says Dr. David. “Short-term memory is impaired, as are abilitiesto make decisions and to concentrate.”

　　A) consequences B) complexity C) ingenious D) dramatically

　　E) suffers F) tracked G) realize H) expensive

　　I) slightly J) traced K) detaches L) vigorous

　　M) inspiration N) accounts O) drive

　　解题思路

　　1.[J]can be表明此处需填入名词、形容词或分词作表语，且能与介词to搭配。由句子主语The beginningof our sleep deficit crisis(初现睡眠不足)和宾语the invention of the light bulb a century ago(一世纪前发明了电灯)，可知此处在探寻睡眠不足的原因。traced“追溯……的发展”可与to搭配，符合上下文语境。tracked表示“追踪，跟踪”时,是及物动词，故排除。

　　2.[N]此处需填人personal所修饰的名词，与句中的diary entries(日记)并列，因此应该也是复数形式。Personal accounts指“个人叙述”，符合此处语境。

　　3.[D]此处需填入副词，修饰谓语动词reduced。根据空格后between 7.5 and 8 hours,可知相比之前的9.5hours,睡眠时间减少了很多，故选用dramatically“显著地”。

　　4.[G]空格前出现否定助动词don’t,故此处需填入动词原形。上文说人们偷走了(cheat on)睡眠时间，空格前的even “甚至”表示递进关系，realize “意识到”符合句意，表示他们甚至都没有意识到这一点。

　　5.[L]此处需填入名词、形容词或分词，作feel的表语。本句意为:他们认为睡6.5小时也没有问题(okay),而实际上他们需要睡7.5或8个小时，甚至更多才能感觉……。由前后两个时间的对比和空格前的ideally(理想地)可知，vigorous“精力充沛的”符合句意。

　　6.[B] the…of结构表明此处需填入名词。由下文“来自工作、家庭、朋友及社会的压力”，可知填人的名词表消极含义，故complexily“错综复杂”符合句意，表示睡眠被无情夺走的原因是每天各种错综复杂的事务。

　　7.[H]此处需填入名词、形容词或分词，修饰item(项目)。上文提到人们的睡眠时间越来越少，由此可知很多人不重视睡眠时间。空格前的least表示否定,故填入expensive“昂贵的;浪费的”。

　　8.[O]此处需填入与ambition(抱负)并列的抽象名词，作lack的宾语。drive作名词时意为“干劲”，符合此处语境，表示“如果你说要睡8.5小时，人们就会觉得你缺少干劲和抱负”。

　　9.[A] the... of结构表明此处需填入名词。由后文We’ve found that...可知，研究专家做试验的目的是为了知道睡眠不足的后果，consequences指不太好的后果，故为正确答案。

　　10.[E]此处需填入谓语动词，由主语performance可知是第三人称单数形式。根据后文提到的Short-termmemory is impaired(短期记忆受损)等，可知在sleep-deprived(睡眠不足)的情况下，行为应该会受到不良影响，故 suffers“受损害”符合语境。'

　　A study conducted by an Australian science agency has discovered signs that the country’sancient Aborigines may have been the world’s first astronomers, _1_ Stonehenge (巨石阵)inBritain by more than a thousand years.

　　Professor Ray Norris, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO), said_2_ knowledge of the stars through songs and stories had been passed down throughgenerations by the Aboriginal people, whose history dates back tens of thousands of years.

　　“We know there are many stories about the sky: songs, legends, myths to mark out theseasons， so they are very _3_,” Norris said. “People _4_ changed settlement, so when Pleiades(the Seven Sisters star _5_ ) was up they would move to where the nuts and berries are.Another sign and it would be time to move to the rivers to fish for barramundi, and so on.”

　　Norris, who has studied Aboriginal culture _6_ and has made several journeys to Arnhem Landin Australia’s Outback, said the research also _7_ more detailed astronomical thought. “Clearly some thinker in the past has been sitting down in the bush, watching the _8_ andtrying to figure out how it works,” he said. “Those thoughts are then encoded in the songsand ceremonies.” Norris is now looking for _9_ that might date the earliest signs of Aboriginalastronomy, such as a stone carving of a meteor strike or comet.

　　Norris is confident that the Aborigines pre-dated European astronomers, including Stonehengeand Egypt’s great pyramid Giza, both of which are _10_ at around 3100 BC. “We’veestablished there is all this astronomy, what I don’t know is how far back this goes. If it goesback 10,000 or 20,000 years, that makes Aborigines the world’s first astronomers,” he said.

　　A) detailed B) boosted C) eclipse D) vigorous

　　E) practical F) evidence G) revealed H) estimated

　　I) regularly J) routine K) cluster L) preceding

　　M) extensively N) rectifying O) respectively

　　解题思路

　　1.[L]空格所在部分意为“比英国的巨石阵要……一千多年”,结合前面的the world’s first,可推断填入空格的词应含“早于，先于”之义。词库中现在分词preceding“先于……发生”符合句法和句意，preceding…years在句中作状语。

　　2.[A]空格处需要一个名词、形容词或分词修饰knowledge，词库中的形容词detailed最符合上下文的意思，表示“详细的星象知识”。由于本段没有提及土著人的星象学怎么有用，因此practical不如detailed合适。

　　3.[E]空格在they are very之后，应为形容词或分词。空格前的连词so表明此部分内容与前一分句存在因果关系。前面说到土著有许多描绘季节如何更替的歌谣、传说和神话，可见这些故事都很“实用”，故此处应选practical。

　　4. [I]空格在主语和动词之间，应为副词。根据so分句提到的“他们会迁移到有坚果和架果的地方”可知，土著人会随季节变换迁移居所，regularly能体现迁移的规律性，符合文中语境。

　　5.[K] the Seven Sisters star...是对Pleiades的进一步解说。空格有可能是分词或形容词作后置定语，修饰名词star;也有可能是名词，star作其定语。词库中，名词cluster可以与star搭配，意为“星团”，符合句子语境。

　　6.[M]空格所在的定语从句已有谓语动词和宾语，因此空格最有可能填入副词。Norris是研究土著文化的专家，extensively最切文意，表示Norris“大量、深人”地研究过土著文化。regularly填入句中，句法虽正确但不足以说明Norris在这方面的权威，故排除。

　　7.[G]从句the research... astronomical thought缺少谓语动词，根据主句谓语said判断该动词应为过去式。此处应选用revealed，表示“研究揭示了土著人对于天文学的更多想法”。

　　8.[C]承接上一句，本句的内容应该也与“天文”有关。根据空格后的“努力弄明白它是怎么运行的”，可推知填入空格的名词可能是某个天文现象。eclipse“日食，月食”为本题答案。

　　9.[F] for提示空格处应填入名词。根据后面内容“可以追溯土著天文学的最早标记，比如记录流星撞击或彗星的石刻”,可知Norris正在寻找的是证据，evidence符合句意。

　　10.[H] around 3100 BC提示空格所在从句补充说明巨石阵和吉萨金字塔的年代，但对于它们的建造年代并没有确切的记录，只能推测，estimated符合句意，与系动词are构成被动语态。