江苏省盐城市2018届高三第三次模拟考试英语试卷（含答案） - 图(5)

It is believed that a period of mass extinction,

which happened between 234 and 232 million years ago during the Triassic period, enabled the booming of dinosaurs. This extinction is thought to have been caused by a period of unstable climate called the Carnian Pluvial Episode (CPE), in which the climate went from dry, to wet, to dry again four times over the course of 2m years. The earliest fossil remains that are widely agreed to be those of a dinosaur come from Tanzania and date from about 245m years ago. For the next 10m years or so, however, dinosaurs are nothing special. In collections of the bones of land animals they form about 5% of the total. But then the percentage starts to rise and within 5m years or less they dominate (处于首要位置) such collections, while other groups of creatures decrease and eventually disappear. The bones show a huge turnover of species, and that this coincides with the CPE. The bone evidence, however, is restricted mainly to what are now Argentina and Brazil. Massimo Bernardi of the Museum of Sciences in Trento, Italy sought to prove it elsewhere, and with a different type of evidence—the tracks they left behind. Dr Bernardi and his colleagues identified more than 20 sets of such tracks, called ichno-associations, in Dolomite rocks laid down during the relevant part of the Triassic. The Dolomite ichno-associations, they found, fall into three groups. The oldest show no signs of dinosaur tracks. In those of middling age, about 40% of the tracks have been laid down by dinosaurs. In the most recent, that proportion is 90%. The relative ages of rock layers are easy to see. Unless a rock formation has been turned upside down by movement of Earth’s crust, young layers will be at the top and old ones at the bottom. That is how Dr Bernardi knew which tracks were older and which younger. Working out absolute ages, though, is harder. The Dolomites’ rocks were formed at a time when the sea’s level, relative to the land, was going up and down. Such movements mean that marine (海的) and land sediments (沉积物) are sandwiched in these mountains, and the marine sediments provided the information needed. Most obviously, those sediments show how far, at the time they were laid down, the turnover of species had continued at sea. On top of this, some of them contain layers of volcanic ash that can be dated from radioactive isotopes within. The result was that Dr Bernardi and his colleagues were able to establish accurate dates for the various ichno-associations they had catalogued, confirming that those associations precisely run through the Carnian Pluvial Episode, thus matching the bone evidence in South America. That is clear evidence the dinosaurs were indeed the beneficiaries of the CPE, though why they did better than other groups is not yet understood.

61. By studying the tracks of dinosaurs, Dr Bernardi wants to prove that ______. A. climate changes led to a period of mass extinction B. the CPE helped the growth of dinosaurs’ population C. dinosaurs make up the most part of bone collections D. the bone evidence can be found in other places 62. From the passage we can know that _______. A. first dinosaurs appeared during the CPE period B. Dolomite rocks also contain other animals’ tracks C. upper rock layers are younger than those beneath D. land sediments don’t provide clues to absolute ages

63. The underlined word “beneficiaries” in paragraph 7 refers to animals that _______ the CPE.

·21·

A. gained from B. suffered from C. survived in D. appeared in 64. Which can be the most suitable title for the passage? A. The rise of Dinosaurs B. Seeking new evidence of CPE C. Footprints in the Mud D. Tracking down the truth

D

In 1845, as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace, Benjamin Disraeli published a novel, “Sybil”, which mourned that Britain was dividing into “two nations between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy”. Today, as the information revolution gathers pace, Britain suffers from the same problem, with the rich strengthening their power and people who are born in the wrong class or region seeing their chances of getting ahead declining. Social mobility is essential to the working of an advanced capitalist society. For one thing, citizens will accept the inequalities that capitalism generates only if they think they have a fair chance of getting ahead. Secondly, advanced economies can grow only if they make a reasonable job of discovering the hidden Einsteins who might be able to produce the next great invention if they were given the chance. Unfortunately, Britain is failing badly on both fronts. As social mobility has become more important it has become more difficult to promote. In the first half of the 20th century, when the old establishment ruled the country, opening up opportunities was relatively simple. You forced the establishment to abandon obvious prejudices, such as the fact that the best Oxbridge colleges were reserved for men. You also forced it to build a ladder of opportunity for the poor: the 1944 Education Act raised the school-leaving age to 15, then 16, and the expansion of universities in the 1960s made higher education more available. Today opening up opportunities is much more difficult, precisely because meritocracy (精英制度) has been so successful. The meritocratic elite (精英) have proved remarkably good at guarding opportunities. Successful people tend to marry each other. Couples devote themselves to giving their children the best education possible, starting in the nursery. Private schools have also proved to be more successful than state schools at adapting to the meritocratic spirit. Institutions that once turned out both flannelled (穿法兰绒衣服的) and muddied fools are now enthusiastic about exam results. To make matters worse, the knowledge economy is a …… 此处隐藏：12468字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……