(Viên chức Mầm non) 650 câu trắc nghiệm Đọc hiểu tiếng Anh có đáp án - Phần 14

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.Orchids are unique in having the most highly developed of all blossoms, in which the usual male and female reproductive organs are fused in a single structure called the column. The column is designed so that a single pollination will fertilize hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of seeds, so microscopic and light they are easily carried by the breeze. Surrounding the column are three sepals and three petals, sometimes easily recognizable assuch, often distorted into gorgeous, weird, but always functional shapes. The most noticeable of the petals is called the labellum, or lip. It is often dramatically marked as an unmistakable landing strip to attract the specific insect the orchid has chosen as its pollinator.

To lure their pollinators from afar, orchids use appropriately intriguing shapes, colors, and scents. At least 50 different aromatic compounds have been analyzed in the orchid family, each blended to attract one, or at most a few, species of insects or birds. Some orchids even change their scents to interest different insects at different times.

Once the right insect has been attracted, some orchids present all sorts of one-way obstacle courses to make sure it does not leave until pollen has been accurately placed or removed. By such ingenious adaptations to specific pollinators, orchids have avoided the hazards of rampant crossbreeding in the wild, assuring the survival of species as discrete identities. At the same time they have made themselves irresistible to collectors.

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Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But a long time ago, it wasn't easy at all. Before 1750, the idea of skating didn’t exist. That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin’s work was making musical instruments. In his spare time he liked to play the violin. Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams. People called him a dreamer.

One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room. Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates. Merlin was very proud of his invention as he dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin.

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Technology has utterly transformed our ability to communicate with each other. Linking to each other both literally and figuratively, many of us connect through cell phones, email, instant messaging, blogs, and networking web sites, yet we may be less connected to each other than we think.

According to a study, Americans are becoming increasingly socially isolated. The study reveals, for example, that one quarter of Americans say that they have no one to discuss important personal issues with, and that the number of close friends that American have has dropped from three to two. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe reports that this spreading isolation is experienced more sharply among those with less education, people of color, and older Americans. Unsurprisingly, those who are young, white, and well educated tend to have stronger social networks.

From my own experience I have to say that I’ve never felt more connected, thanks to a web of friends, family, and colleagues. One of my closest friends is someone I met through an online discussion group who lives hundreds of miles away from me. We have met face-to-face only twice, yet our regular electronic correspondence and cell phone callssustain our close friendship. And, speaking of blogging, my blog has introduced me to people I would never have met otherwise and has led to enduring and important friendships.

On the other hand, I recently saw a scene unfold that proved to me how deeply disconnected we as Americans have become. I had just wrapped up a presentation on mediation at a family therapy center. As I was leaving, I noticed a mother and her teenage son who had just completed their session with their family therapist. After making their next appointment, they both took out their cell phones, placed calls, and began loud conversations with whoever was on the other end. I walked out behind them to the parking lot to my car. They both jumped into their SUV, and, as I saw them drive off, they were still talking on their cell phones. But, alas, not to each other.

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A rather surprising geographical feature of Antarctica is that a huge freshwater, one of the world’s largest and deepest, lies hidden there under four kilometers of ice. Now known as Lake Vostok, this huge body of water is located under the ice block that comprises Antarctica. The lake is able to exist in its unfrozen state beneath this block of ice because its waters are warned by geothermal heat from the earth’s core. This thick glacier above Lake Vostok actually insulates it from frigid temperatures (the lowest ever recorded on Earth) on the surface.

The lake was first discovered in the 1970s while a research team was conducting an aerial survey of the area. Radio waves from the survey equipment penetrated the ice and revealed a body of water of indeterminate size. It was not until much more recently that data collected by satellite made scientists aware of the tremendous size of the lake; satellite-borne radar detected an extremely flat region where the ice remains level because it is floating on the water of the lake.

The discovery of such a huge fresh water lake trapped under Antarctica is of interest to the scientific community because of the potential that the lake contains ancient microbes that have survived for thousands upon thousands of years, unaffected by factors such as nuclear falloutand elevated ultraviolet light that have conducting research on the lake in such a harsh climate and in theproblems associated with obtaining uncontaminated sampled from the lake without actually exposing the lake to contamination. Scientists are looking for possible ways to accomplish this.