2013年上半年大学英语四级模拟试卷：快速阅读

　　(Skimming and Scanning)

　　Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. For question 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.

　　Animals on the Move

　　It looked like a scene from “Jaws” but without the dramatic music. A huge shark was slowly swimming through the water, its tail swinging back and forth like the pendulum of a clock.

　　Suddenly sensitive nerve ending in the shark’s skin picked up vibrations of a struggling fish. The shark was immediately transformed into a deadly, efficient machine of death. With muscles taut, the shark knifed through the water at a rapid speed. In a flash the shark caught its victim, a large fish, in its powerful jaws. Then, jerking its head back and forth, the shark tore huge chunks of flesh from its victim and swallowed them. Soon the action was over.

　　Moving to Survive

　　In pursuing its prey, the shark demonstrated in a dramatic way the important role of movement, or locomotion, in animals.

　　Like the shark, most animals use movement to find food. They also use locomotion to escape enemies, find a mate, and explore new territories. The methods of locomotion include crawling, hopping, slithering, flying, swimming, or walking.

　　Humans have the added advantage of using their various inventions to move about in just about any kind of environment. Automobiles, rockets, and submarines transport humans from deep oceans to as far away as the moon. However, for other animals movement came about naturally through millions of years of evolution. One of the most successful examples of animal locomotion is that of the shark. Its ability to quickly zero in on its prey has always impressed scientists. But it took a detailed study by Duke University marine biologists S. A. Wainwright, F. Vosburgh, and J. H. Hebrank to find out how the sharks did it. In their study the scientists observed sharks swimming in a tank at Marine land in Saint Augustine, Fla. Movies were taken of the sharks’ movements and analyzed. Studies were also made of shark skin and muscle.

　　Skin Is the Key

　　The biologists discovered that the skin of the shark is the key to the animal’s high efficiency in swimming through the water. The skin contains many fibers that crisscross like the inside of a belted radial tire. The fibers are called collagen fibers. These fibers can either store or release large amounts of energy depending on whether the fibers are relaxed or taut. When the fibers are stretched, energy is stored in them the way energy is stored in the string of a bow when pulled tight. When the energy is released, the fibers become relaxed.

　　The Duke University biologists have found that the greatest stretching occurs where the shark bends its body while swimming. During the body’s back and forth motion, fibers along the outside part of the bending body stretch greatly. Much potential energy is stored in the fibers. This energy is released when the shark’s body snaps back the other way.

　　As energy is alternately stored and released on both sides of the animal’s body, the tail whips strongly back and forth. This whip-like action propels the animal through the water like a living bullet.

　　Source of Energy

　　What causes the fibers to store so much energy? In finding the answer the Duke University scientists learned that the shark’s similarity to a belted radial tire doesn’t stop with the skin. Just as a radial tire is inflated by pressure, so, too, is the area just under the shark’s collagen “radials”. Instead of air pressure, however, the pressure in the shark may be due to the force of the blood pressing on the collagen fibers.

　　When the shark swims slowly, the pressure on the fibers is relatively low. The fibers are more relaxed, and the shark is able to bend its body at sharp angles. The animal swims this way when looking around for food or just swimming. However, when the shark detects an important food source, some fantastic involuntary changes take place.

　　The pressure inside the animal may increase by 10 times. This pressure change greatly stretches the fibers, enabling much energy to be stored.

　　This energy is then transferred to the tail, and the shark is off. The rest of the story is predictable.

　　Dolphin Has Speed Record

　　Another fast marine animal is the dolphin. This seagoing mammal has been clocked at speeds of 32 kilometers (20 miles) an hour. Biologists studying the dolphin have discovered that, like the shark, the animal’s efficient locomotion can be traced to its skin. A dolphin’s skin is made up in such a way that it offers very little resistance to the water flowing over it. Normally when a fish or other object moves slowly through the water, the water flows smoothly past the body. This smooth flow is known as laminar flow. However, at faster speeds the water becomes more turbulent along the moving fish. This turbulence muses friction and slows the fish down.

　　In a dolphin the skin is so flexible that it bends and yields to the waviness of the water. The waves, in effect, become tucked into the skin’s folds. This allows the rest of the water to move smoothly by in a laminar flow. Where other animals would be slowed by turbulent water at rapid speeds, the dolphin can race through the water at record breaking speeds.

　　Other Animals Less Efficient

　　Not all animals move as efficiently as sharks and dolphins. Perhaps the greatest loser in locomotion efficiency is the slug. The slug, which looks like a snail without a shell, lays down a slimy trail over which it crawls. It uses so much energy producing the slimy mucus and crawling over it that a mouse traveling the same distance uses only one twelfth as much energy.

　　Scientists say that because of the slug’s inefficient use of energy, its lifestyle must be restricted. That is, the animals are forced to confine themselves to small areas for obtaining food and finding proper living conditions. Have humans ever been faced with this kind of problem?

　　1.According to the passage, a shark can use movement to do something except____________.

　　[A]to find food

　　[B]to avoid being chased by its enemies

　　[C]to find a new place to live

　　[D]to show its braveness

　　2.Examples of automobiles, rockets and submarines are used to show that _______________.

　　[A]humans are the most clever living creatures in the world

　　[B]human inventions enable us to travel in almost any kind of environment

　　[C]humans are very successful in inventing transportation tools

　　[D]humans can’t move like other animals in any circumstances

　　3.What is the key to the shark’s swift locomotion in water?

　　[A]The skin. [B]The tail. [C]The muscle. [D]The jaw.

　　4.According to the Duke University scientists, when does the shark stretch its collagen fibers to the greatest extent?

　　[A]When moving its tail rapidly.

　　[B]When finding its preys.

　　[C]When staying without any movement.

　　[D]When bending its body in swimming.

　　5.Why is the area just under the shark’s collagen fibers similar to a belted radial tire?

　　[A]Because it is also full of blood pressure.

　　[B]Because it is also filled of air pressure.

　　[C]Because it is also inflated by pressure.

　　[D]Because it also can be used again and again.

　　6.A laminar flow is formed when a fish swims________________.

　　[A]slowly through the water

　　[B]rapidly through the water

　　[C]against the current　　[D]at the fastest speed in water

　　7.Consuming the equal amount of energy as a slug does, a mouse can travel _________ as long as a slug.

　　[A]one twelfth times

　　[B]the same

　　[C]12 times

　　[D]1.2 times

　　8.A shark finds its prey by________________.

　　9.According to the passage, _______________can be compared to the string of a bow for both of them store energy when stretched.

　　10.When the shark detects an important food source, _______________________take place.

　　1.【解析】[D]属同义转换题，本题是一种排除选择题。根据题干中的中心词“movement to do something”，可以将答案定位在小标题“Moving to Survive”下第二段的前两句话，“Like the shark, most animals use movement to find food. They also use locomotion to escape enemies, find a mate, and explore now territories”。该句与题干是一种同义转换，选项A、B和C在原文中均有提及，所以不是正确选项;答案D在原文没有提及，所以是正确答案。

　　2.【解析】[B]属细节推断题。题干考查汽车、火箭和潜艇的例子是为了说明什么，其中的“examples of automobiles, rockets and submarines”是关键词，可以将答案定位在文章小标题“Moving to Survive”下第三段的前两句话，“Humans have the added advantage of using their various inventions to move about in just about any kind of environment. Automobiles, rockets, and submarines transport humans from deep oceans to as far away as the moon”，第二句话所举例子正是为了说明第一句话的内容，这与B项意思一致，而其他选项在文中均未提及。

　　3.【解析】[A]属细节推断题。分析题干，本题考查鲨鱼在水中快速游动的关键是在什么。其中的“key”是关键词，可以将答案定位在小标题“Skin Is the Key”下首段的第一句话，“The biologists discovered that the skin of the shark is the key to the animal’s high efficiency in swimming through the water”，这与选项A完全一致，所以直接选择A即可。其他选项在文中均有提及，但是都不符合题干的要求。

　　4.【解析】[D]属细节推断题。题干中的“collagen fibers to the greatest extent”是关键词，可以将答案定位在小标题“Skin Is the Key”下第二段的第一句话，“The Duke University biologists have found that the greatest stretching occurs where the shark bends its body while swimming”。这与选项D的内容完全一致，所以答案选D项，而其他选项原文均未提及，为干扰项。

　　5.【解析】[C]属细节推断题。题干中“a belted radial tire”是关键词，可以将答案锁定在文章小标题“Source of Energy”下第一段的第三句话，“Just as a radial tire is inflated by pressure, so, too, is the area just under the shark’s collagen ‘radials’”。其中的“just as”和“so”正说明了两者的相似之处在于“inflated by pressure”，所以答案应该是C。选项A和B是两者的不同之处，选项D在文中没有提及。

　　6.【解析】[A]属细节推断题。题干中的关键词是“a laminar flow”，所以可以将答案锁定在文章小标题“Dolphin Has Speed Record”下，根据该节第一段的倒数第三、四句话，“Normally when a fish or other object moves slowly through the water, the water flows smoothly past the body. This smooth flow is known as laminar flow.”。题干是对这两句话的改写，所以正确答案是A选项。其他三个选项的意思均不符合“a laminar flow”的定义，与题干要求不符。

　　7.【解析】[C]属同义转换题。题干中“a slug”和“a mouse”均为关键词，可以直接定位在小标题“Other Animals Less Efficient”下第一段的第二句话，“It uses so much energy ... a mouse traveling the same distance uses only one twelfth as much energy”。题干是对该句的同义改写，所以正确答案是[C]12 times，其他选项均与原文内容不符。

　　8. 【解析】feeling the vibrations of a struggling prey鲨鱼靠感受猎物游动的震动来发现猎物。

　　9. 【解析】collagen fibers 在Skin Is the Key中，第二、三句话，The fibers are called collagen fibers.

　　10. 【解析】some fantastic involuntary changes 在Source of Energy中，第二段倒数第一句话就是本题答案。