长春外国语学校2014年高考冲刺英语试题及答案（三）

B

Once upon a time, on an isolated island in the Java sea, lived short people who dominated(支配, 占优势) the food chain. Standing no more than three and a half feet tall, these human ancestors hunted giant rats, lumbering lizards(笨拙的蜥蜴), and miniature elephants. ?

It sounds a bit like a fairy tale, but it's true. Unearthed relics on the island uncovered the remains of a race of tiny human ancestors. Homo floresiensis, as the newly discovered species has been named, apparently could date back to 13,000 years ago. This means they have a lot in common with modern humans.

So how and why did these people get so small? Scientists suspect that it's due to the fact that this race lived on an isolated island with limited resources. Take the miniature elephants for example. When elephants first came to the island either by swimming or by some kind of natural land raft, they were probably close to full size. But since there wasn't much to eat, over time smaller elephants lived longer and better. The smaller the elephant was, the less it had to eat to stay strong and healthy.

Scientists call this the "island role", and it can apply to humans as well as animals. Given the island's sparse(稀少) food supply, it makes sense that the early humans living there would have evolved (进化) a body size requiring less food to survive. So bigger isn't always better.

In the floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.

60. According to the passage, the fact Homo floresiensis are very small is based on________.

A. the islanders in the Java SeaB. the human ancestors

C. a newspaper report D. the unearthed relics

61. The underlined word "miniature" in the first paragraph most probably means______.

A. tinyB. activeC. rareD. wild

62. People on the island got so small because____________.

A. they gradually developed for lack of food.

B. they did not have enough food to eat.

C. they shared less food with elephants.

D. they remained alive as the elephants.

63. What might be the most suitable title of the passage?

A. The history of short peopleB. Short people on an isolated island

C. The proofs on short peopleD. Short people from a fairy tale

64. According to the passage, getting smaller can make people and animals ____

A. run quicklyB. live weakerC. live longer D. run slowly

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