passage3

注解：標(biāo)題為紅色，翻譯為藍(lán)色，分析為綠色。?

????????In the early 1960s Wilt Chamberlain was one of the only three players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) listed at over seven feet(腳,尺(但這里是取這個(gè)意思)). If he had played last season, however, he would have been one of 42. The bodies playing major professional sports have changed dramatically over the years, and managers have been more than willing to adjust team uniforms to fit the growing numbers of bigger, longer frames.

????????The trend in sports, though, may be obscuring(obscure使……含糊,隱藏) an unrecognized reality: Americans have generally stopped growing. Though typically about two inches taller now than 140 years ago, today’s people— especially those born to families who have lived in the U.S. for many generations—apparently reached their limit in the early 1960s.And they aren’t likely to get any taller. “In the general population today, at this genetic, environmental level, we’ve pretty much gone as far as we can go,” says anthropologist William Cameron Chumlea of Wright State University. In the case of NBA players, their increase in height appears to result from the increasingly common practice of recruiting players from all over the world.

????????Growth, which rarely continues beyond the age of 20, demands calories and nutrients—notably, protein —to feed expanding tissues(紙巾,(動(dòng)物或植物的細(xì)胞)組織(這里取這個(gè)意思)). At the start of the 20th century, under-nutrition(under-nutrition合并詞，不是“處于營(yíng)養(yǎng)之下”，而是“營(yíng)養(yǎng)不良”) and childhood infections got in the way. But as diet and health improved, children and adolescents have, on average, increased in height by about an inch and a half every 20 years, a pattern known as the secular(長(zhǎng)期的(這里取這個(gè)意思)，現(xiàn)實(shí)世界的) trend in height. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average height—5'9" for men, 5'4" for women—hasn’t really changed since 1960.

????????Genetically speaking, there are advantages to avoiding substantial height. During childbirth, larger babies have more difficulty passing through the birth canal. Moreover, even though humans have been upright for millions of years, our feet and back continue to struggle with bipedal(兩足動(dòng)物的,二足的) posture((坐或立的)姿勢(shì),態(tài)度,立場(chǎng)) and cannot easily withstand repeated strain imposed by oversize limbs. “There are some real constraints that are set by the genetic architecture of the individual organism,” says anthropologist William Leonard of Northwestern University.

????????Genetic maximums can change, but don’t expect this to happen soon. Claire C. Gordon, senior anthropologist at the Army Research Center in Natick, Mass., ensures that 90 percent of the uniforms and workstations fit recruits without alteration. She says that, unlike those for basketball, the length of military uniforms has not changed for some time. And if you need to predict human height in the near future to design a piece of equipment, Gordon says that by and large, “you could use today's data and feel fairly confident.”

一、文章結(jié)構(gòu)分析

這是一篇議論文。

文章探討了美國(guó)人的身高極限問(wèn)題。

文章首段以 NBA 隊(duì)員的身高變化作為引子來(lái)引出身高變化話題。

文章第二段提出了論述的中心。

第三段、第四段論述了原因。

第五段則談到了這一結(jié)論對(duì)將來(lái)的一些影響。

31. Wilt Chamberlain is cited as an example to.

[A] illustrate the change of height of NBA players

[B] show the popularity of NBA players in the U.S.6

[C] compare different generations of NBA players

[D] assess the achievements of famous NBA players

31．以威爾特·張伯倫為例是為了 。

[A] 說(shuō)明 NBA 球員身高的變化

[B] 表明美國(guó) NBA 球員很受歡迎

[C] 對(duì)幾代 NBA 球員進(jìn)行對(duì)比

[D] 評(píng)估注明 NBA 球員的成就

32. Which of the following plays a key role in body growth according to the text?

[A] Genetic modification.

[B] Natural environment.

[C] Living standards.

[D] Daily exercise.

32．根據(jù)文章，下面哪一項(xiàng)在身高增長(zhǎng)方面發(fā)揮關(guān)鍵作用？

[A] 基因改造。

[B] 自然環(huán)境。

[C] 生活水平。

[D] 日常健身鍛煉。

33. On which of the following statements would the author most probably agree?

[A] Non-Americans add to the average height of the nation.

[B] Human height is conditioned by the upright posture.

[C] Americans are the tallest on average in the world.

[D] Larger babies tend to become taller in adulthood.

33．作者很可能同意下面哪種論述？

[A] 非美國(guó)人增加了美國(guó)的平均身高。

[B] 人類身高受直立姿勢(shì)的制約。

[C] 美國(guó)人是世界上平均身高最高的人。

[D] 較大的嬰兒往往在成年后身材較高。

34. We learn from the last paragraph that in the near future.

[A] the garment industry will reconsider the uniform size

[B] the design of military uniforms will remain unchanged

[C] genetic testing will be employed in selecting sportsmen

[D] the existing data of human height will still be applicable

34．從最后一段我們可以知道在不久的將來(lái) 。

[A] 服裝業(yè)將重新考慮制服尺碼

[B] 軍服的設(shè)計(jì)將保持不變

[C] 基因檢測(cè)將被應(yīng)用到選擇運(yùn)動(dòng)員上

[D] 現(xiàn)在的人類身高數(shù)據(jù)將來(lái)仍然適用

35. The text intends to tell us that.

[A] the change of human height follows a cyclic pattern

[B] human height is becoming even more predictable

[C] Americans have reached their genetic growth limit

[D] the genetic pattern of Americans has altered

35．本文旨在告訴我們 。

[A] 人類身高的變化遵循循環(huán)模式

[B] 人類身高變得更加可以預(yù)測(cè)了

[C] 美國(guó)人已經(jīng)達(dá)到他們身高的遺傳極限

[D] 美國(guó)人的遺傳模式已經(jīng)改變

二、核心詞匯與超綱詞匯

1. by and large 大體上，基本上

2. canal n. 運(yùn)河

3. frame n. 架子；體格 v. 給……裝框子；陷害，誣告

4. get in the way (of) 妨礙

5. notably ad. 引人注目地；尤其

6. obscure v. 使暗；a.模(含)糊的；晦澀的

7. recruit n. 新兵，新分子；v. 征募

8. anthropologist n. 人類學(xué)家

9. bipedal a. 兩足動(dòng)物的

10. secular a. 現(xiàn)世的，世俗的

三、閱讀答案： A C B D C

四、全文翻譯：?

????????20 世紀(jì) 60 年代初，威爾特·張伯倫是僅有的三名身高超過(guò) 7 英尺的 NBA 球員之一，但是如果上個(gè)賽季他還在打球的話，他就成了 42 名這樣的球員中的一員了。過(guò)去幾年，參加主要職業(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)的運(yùn)動(dòng)員的身體發(fā)生了重大變化，俱樂(lè)部的經(jīng)理們很樂(lè)意更改隊(duì)服以適應(yīng)身材高大的運(yùn)動(dòng)員數(shù)量不斷增加的需求。

????????然而，體育運(yùn)動(dòng)的這種趨勢(shì)可能隱蓋了這樣一個(gè)未被認(rèn)識(shí)的事實(shí)：美國(guó)人的身高總體上已經(jīng)停止了增長(zhǎng)。盡管一般來(lái)說(shuō)，現(xiàn)在美國(guó)的身高比 140 年前高了 2 英寸，但他們，尤其是那些幾代生長(zhǎng)在美國(guó)家庭中出生的人，其身高在 20 世紀(jì) 60 年代初期明顯已達(dá)到了極限。他們不會(huì)再長(zhǎng)得更高了。萊特州立大學(xué)的人類學(xué)家威廉·卡麥隆·查姆利說(shuō)：“當(dāng)今，就總?cè)丝趤?lái)說(shuō)，在現(xiàn)有環(huán)境和基因水平下，我們已經(jīng)達(dá)到了身高的極限?！敝劣?NBA 球員，他們身高的增長(zhǎng)似乎是從世界各國(guó)吸收球員這種日益普遍的做法的結(jié)果。

????????在 20 歲后人很少繼續(xù)長(zhǎng)高，長(zhǎng)高需要熱量和營(yíng)養(yǎng)，特別是蛋白質(zhì)，以滿足組織增長(zhǎng)的需求。20 世紀(jì)初期，營(yíng)養(yǎng)不良和兒童傳染病盛行，但隨著飲食和健康的改善，兒童和青少年的身高平均每 20 年增加約1.5 英寸，這就是被稱之為身高增長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)期趨勢(shì)的模式。然而根據(jù)疾病控制與預(yù)防中心的數(shù)據(jù)(男性 5.9英尺，女性 5.4 英尺)，從 1960 年以來(lái)并沒(méi)有改變過(guò)。

????????從遺傳學(xué)的角度看，避免身高過(guò)高是有好處的。分娩過(guò)程中，較大的嬰兒更難通過(guò)產(chǎn)道。此外，盡管我們?nèi)祟愐呀?jīng)直立行走了幾百萬(wàn)年，但兩足和背部仍繼續(xù)同兩足行走的姿勢(shì)相抗衡，難以承受因肢體過(guò)長(zhǎng)不斷造成的壓力。西北大學(xué)人類學(xué)家威廉·倫納德稱，“對(duì)身高的一些真正的限制是由個(gè)體有機(jī)體的遺傳結(jié)構(gòu)所決定的”。

????????遺傳身高最大值可能會(huì)改變，但不可能期望它很快就會(huì)出現(xiàn)。馬薩諸塞州納蒂克軍隊(duì)研究中心的資深人類學(xué)家克萊爾·戈登保證說(shuō)：90%的制服和工作間適合新兵使用，不需要改動(dòng)。她說(shuō)，不像籃球運(yùn)動(dòng)員的隊(duì)服，軍服尺寸一段時(shí)間以來(lái)都沒(méi)有變動(dòng)。她還說(shuō)，如果你需要預(yù)測(cè)不久的將來(lái)的人的身高以便設(shè)計(jì)一種裝備，基本上“你就可以使用當(dāng)前的數(shù)據(jù)，并感到相當(dāng)自信?！?/span>