選擇性必修第四冊UNIT10CONNECTIONS(一)Ⅰ.閱讀理解AResearchersatNorthCarolinaStateUniversityareproposinganadditionalwhitetrafficlightthatwillactasasigntohumandriversandpassengersthattheyshouldfollowtheleadofself-drivingvehiclesmovingthroughintersections(十字路口)．Drivingisfundamentallychanging.Inthefuture，humandriverswillbesharingtheroadwithautonomousvehicles.Thetransitiontoautonomousvehiclesisprogressingwitheachpassingyearandhumansarenolongertheonlyonessittingbehindanautomobile’ssteeringwheel.Thismakesiturgentfortrafficlightswithafourthcolortobecomeareality.ThewhitetrafficlightwouldbeequippedwithwirelessBluetoothtechnologyandwouldengagewhenthenumberofautonomousvehiclesdrivingontheroadatanygiventimeexceedsacertainthreshold(閾值)．Autonomousvehicleswouldbeincommunicationwitheachotherandwiththetrafficlightsatintersections，withinacertainrange.Anyhumandriversinthemixwouldbeinformedtofollowtheleadofthevehicleinfrontofthemviathewhitelight：stopifitstops，continueifitcontinues.Insimulationmodels，autonomousvehicleswereshowntoimprovetrafficflowontheirown.Thehigherthepercentageofautonomousvehiclesatanintersection，thefasterthetrafficmoved，withimprovementsofabout40to99percentintermsoftotaldelayreductionspossible.“Thewhitelightcanbeusedtocoordinate(協(xié)調(diào))trafficinanysituationinvolvingautonomousvehiclesandtellhumandriverswhat’sgoingon，sothattheyknowwhattheyaresupposedtodoastheyapproachtheintersection，”sayscivilengineerAliHajbabaie.Asanexample，mostrecently，Tesla’sproblematicfull-self-drivingvehicleshavebeenattheforefrontofpubliccriticismafteracarcrashedintoafiretruck.Consequently，thepotentialriskslinkedtoautonomousdrivingarewhatmadeNorthCarolinaStateUniversityresearcherssuggestaddingafourthcolortotrafficlightsinthecomingyears.1．Whatdoestheunderlinedword“This”inparagraph2referto?A．Stricttrafficrules.B．Theupgradeofroadsystem.C．Increasingautonomousvehicles.D．Thehighcostofself-drivingtechnology.2．Whatdoesparagraph3mainlytellusaboutthewhitetrafficlight?A．Itssignalmeaning. B．Itsworkingprinciple.C．Itscomplexdatabase. D．Itspotentialapplications.3．WhatdoesAliHajbabaieconveyinhiswords?A．Thewhitetrafficlightcanhelpimprovetheflowoftraffic.B．Autonomousvehiclesarepotentialthreatstoroadsafety.C．Itisdifficultforelderlydriverstoadapttowhitetrafficlights.D．Peoplehadtobetrainedbeforedrivingontheroadswithwhitetrafficlights.4．WhydoestheauthormentiontheexampleofTeslainthelastparagraph?A．Tostressthepopularityofdriverlessvehicles.B．Toprovethenecessityofaddingwhitetrafficlights.C．Tocallonthepublictopaycloseattentiontoroadsafety.D．Topresentthehiddendangersofusingwhitetrafficlights.B(★)(2024·江蘇鹽城聯(lián)盟校調(diào)研)Inconversationswithstrangers，peoplecommonlytendtothinktheyshouldspeaklessthanhalftheconversationtimetobelikable.Butwe’vediscoveredthisideaiswrong.Ourdatashowsthatpeopletendtothinktheyshouldspeakabout45%ofthetimetobelikableinaone-on-oneconversationwithsomeonenew.However，itappearsspeakingupabitmoreisactuallyabetterstrategy.Inourresearch，werandomlyassignedpeopletospeakfor30%,40%,50%,60%ofthetimeinaconversationwithsomeonenew.Wefoundthatthemoretheyspoke，themoretheywerelikedbytheirnewpartners.Thiswasonlyonestudywith116participants，buttheoutcomeissupportedbyotherresearchers’findings.Forexample，apreviousstudyrandomlyassignedoneinapairtotakeontheroleof“speaker”andtheothertotakeontheroleof“l(fā)istener”．Afterengagingin12-minuteinteractions，listenerslikedspeakersmorethanspeakerslikedlistenersbecauselistenersfeltmoresimilartospeakersthanspeakersdidtolisteners.Thisoutcomesuggeststhereasonpeoplepreferthosewhospeakup：Learningmoreaboutanewpartnercanmakeyoufeellikeyouhavemoreincommonwithhimorher.Further，weassignedpeopletospeakforupto70%andeven90%ofthetime.Theresultshowsitisnotanidealstrategy.Ourresearchdoesnotsuggestpeopleholddownaconversationalpartnerbutratherthattheyfeelcomfortablespeakingupmorethantheyusuallymight.Researchlikeourscanhelppeoplegainamorereasonableunderstandingofsocialinteractionswithnewpeopleandbecomemoreconfidentabouthowtomakeagoodfirstimpression.Ithastheobviousbenefitofallowingustocarefullycontrolspeakingtime.However，itdoesnotreflectmorenaturalconversations.Futureresearchshouldfigureoutwhetherourfindingsgeneralizetomorenaturalinteractions.5．Whatisthecommonbeliefconcerningconversationswithstrangers?A．Speakingalittlelessispreferred.B．Speakinghalfthetimeisthebest.C．Listenersaremorelikablethanspeakers.D．Listenersfailtocontroltheconversations.6．Howwastheresearchcarriedout?A．Byanalyzingspeakinghabits. B．Bymakingcomparisons.C．Bylistingexamples. D．Bycollectingdata.7．Whatisthedisadvantageoftheresearch?A．Theconversationtimeislimited.B．Furtherstudyishardtocontinue.C．Thefindingsarelesswidelyapplicable.D．Interactionswithstrangersaremissing.8．Inwhichsituationcantheresearchfindingbeapplied?A．Attendingafamilygathering. B．Partyingwithyourfriends.C．Meetinganewteacher. D．Makingapublicspeech.CScientistshavesolvedapuzzleaboutmodernhumans，afterresearchshowedthatafamousskullofahumanancestorfoundinSouthAfricaisamillionyearsolderthanexpertsthought.Thisdiscoveryhaschangedwhatweknowofhumanhistory.Theskull，whichscientistshavenamed“MrsPles”，isfromanape-likehumanrelativefromaspeciescalledAustralopithecusafricanus(南方古猿非洲種)．ItwasfoundnearJohannesburgin1947and，basedonevidencefromitssurroundings，wasthoughttobebetween2.1and2.6millionyearsold.Thispuzzledscientists，becausealthoughMrsPleslookslikeapossibleearlyancestorofearlyhumans，thefirsttruehumanshadalreadyevolvedbythetimesheapparentlylived.Forthisreason，scientistshaddecidedthatAustralopithecusafarensis，asimilarspeciesfromEastAfricathatlivedabout3.5millionyearsago，wasourmostlikelyancestorinstead.TogetamoreaccurateageforMrsPles，ateamledbyProfessorDarrylGrangerofPurdueUniversityinIndiana，US，usedanewmethodtodatethesandyrockswheretheskulllay.Theymeasuredtheamountofcertainchemicalsinrocks，whichformatasteadyratewhentheyareexposedtocosmicrays(宇宙射線)onEarth’ssurface.Oncerocksareburied，thesechemicalsstopformingandslowlydisappear；thesurvivingamountrevealshowmuchtimehaspassedsincetherocks(orbones)wereonthesurface.ThenewstudyshowsthatMrsPlesandotheraustralopithecinebonesnearbyarebetween3.4and3.7millionyearsold.ThismeanstheylivedatthesametimeastheirEastAfricanrelatives，sothateithergroupcouldhavegivenrisetomodernhumans.However，teammemberDrLaurentBruxellespointedoutthatovermillionsofyears，atonly2,500milesaway，thesegroupshadplentyoftimetotravelandtobreedwitheachother.Inotherwords，thegroupscouldquiteeasilyhavemet，hadchildrentogetherandbothbeenpartofthehistoryofmodernhumans.9．WhatcanwelearnaboutMrsPlesfromthefirsttwoparagraphs?A．ItisaskullfoundinEastAfrica.B．Itisthemostpossibleancestorofhumans.C．Itisamillionyearsolderthanscientistsexpected.D．Itisprovedtolivebetween2.1and2.6millionyearsago.10．Howdidscientistsgettheaccurateageof“MrsPles”？A．Bystudyingtheeffectofcosmicrays.B．Bycalculatingtheformingrateofchemicals.C．Bylocatingthesandyrockswheretheskulllay.D．Bymeasuringthesurvivingamountofchemicals.11．Whatcanweinferfromthenewstudy?A．ModernhumanscameintobeinginEastAfrica.B．MrsPlestravelledandhadchildrenwithEastAfricanrelatives.C．Thehistoryofmodernhumansmightbegin3.5millionyearsago.D．Ape-likespeciesfromAfricacouldhaveinteractedwitheachother.12．Whichofthefollowingcanbethebesttitleofthepassage?A．HistoricalPuzzleUnsolvedB．AncestorMysterySolvedC．MrsPles：TheEarliestHumanBeingD．MrsPles：AFamousSkullⅡ.七選五(★)Livingwithotherpeoplecanbedifficult，especiallywheneachpersoncomesfromadifferentbackgroundandhastheirownideasabouthowtheywanttolive.Thoughhavingaroommatecanbechallengingattimes，itcanalsobeenjoyableandfun.1Youcandiscussyourexpectationsaheadoftime.Gettogetherbeforeoronthefirstdayyoumoveintogetherandtalkaboutwhateachofyouneedsandwantsfromtheother.2Thisappliestofinances，food，clothes，possessions，useofcommonareasandsoon.Youshouldagreetorespecteachother’sprivacy.Thisisespeciallyimportant.3Forinstance，youmaynotmindifyourroommatecomesintoyourroomunannounced，buttheymightfindyoutobeveryrudefordoingso.Youshouldtalkaboutthesekindsofthingssothatyouknowwhattoexpectfromeachother.4Sayhelloandgoodbye，askthemhowtheirdaywas，an