Question

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.

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

A. the islanders in the Java Sea B. the human ancestors

C. a newspaper report      D. the unearthed relics

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

A. tiny       B. active    C. rare       D. wild

3.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.

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

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

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

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

A. run quickly   B. live weaker   C. live longer    D. run slowly

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.A

4.B

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：文章介绍了孤立的岛上生活着一群身材短小的人，身高不足3.5英尺，这是生活在古代的一个种族，科学家以微小的大象为例分析了他们身材短小的原因。主要是因为在孤立的岛上资源缺乏，没有足够的食物为了生存下去适应环境而变小的。

1. D细节理解题。  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.句意为：这听起来就像一个童话故事，但他是真的，这个孤岛上的出土文物揭露了这个微小的祖先的存在。所这这个事实是建立在出土的文物的基础上的。故答案为D。

2.A词义推测题。miniature从构词法上看mini—是前缀表“细小的，微小的”的意思。下文  Take the miniature elephants for example.以大象为例，讲述了大象通过不同的方式到达这个孤岛上，由于食物缺乏身体逐渐的由小变大，所以此处应该指身材微小的大象。

3.A段落大意题。第三自然段的大意为：这些人类为什么会变小，又是怎么变小的呢，科学家的推断是他们到达了这个资源匮乏的岛上，以大象为例，他们没有足够的食物吃，刚到这个岛上的时候是很大的，但是随着时间的发展只有那些小象才能生活得更健康，很长寿，所以慢慢的他们身材只能变小。所以人类的身材也是在食物的缺乏下逐渐变小的。故答案为A。

4.B大意理解题。文章以短小的人类开篇，从出土的文物证明这个种族在若干年前是存在的，科学家推断了这些人类人材短小的原因，生物包括人类在内在环境的影响下在不断的改变。由文章的大意可知最佳答案为B。A. The history of short people文章并未介绍这类人的历史和发展；The proofs on short people文章大部分的篇幅是在说明这个种族变小的原因，并不是说他们存在的原因；Short people from a fairy tale由第二自然段的第一句话说明不是童话故事。

5.C细节理解题。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. 由于没有足够吃的，随着时间的发展，小象才能长寿生存得才能更好，象越小，它吃的东西越少才能长得壮而且健康。So bigger isn't always better. In the floresiensis, at least, getting smaller was the way to go.因此，大并不总是好的，至少变小才能走得更远，因此答案应为C。

【考点】考查历史类文章的阅读理解。