Question

“Mobile phones killed our man，”screamed one headline last year．Also came statements that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones heat the brain．For anyone who uses a mobile phone，these are worring times．But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scared and you will hear a different story.

What we do have，however，are some results suggesting that mobile phones’emission(辐射) have a variety of strange effects on living tissue that can’t be explained by the general radiation biology．And it’s only when the questions raised by these experiments are answered that we’ll be able to say for sure what moblie phones might be doing to the brain．

One of the strange effects comes from the now famous “memory loss” study Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device(装置) that copied the microwave emission of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers．The volunteers were all good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen．Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end．But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive(感知的) abilities．“I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory，”he says．

Another expert，Tatterasll，remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss．One result，for instance，suggests that nerve cell synapses(神经元突触) exposed to microwaves become more—rather than less—receptive to under—going changes linked to the memory formation.

It would be an even happier outcome if microwave turned out to be good for you．It sounds crazy，but a couple of years ago a team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California，found that mice exposed to microwave for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours(肿瘤) when given a cancer—causing chemical．

So should we forget about mobile phone radiation causing brain tumours and making us unable to think clearly or reasonably?

“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans，”says William．And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone does damage your memories or give your cancer，the unanimity is：Don’t panic.

1.What worries people who use mobile phones?

A. Mobile phones will kill them.

B. Mobile phones cause memory loss.

C. Mobile phones heat the brain.

D. All above is right.

2.What is the attitude of Preece on the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our congnitive abilities?

A. Doubt.B. Disagree.C. Approve.D. Wait and see.

3.The underlined word “unanimity” in the last paragraph most probably means “________”.

A. consensusB. disagreementC. possibilityD. impossibility

4.From the fifth paragraph，we can infer that being exposed to microwaves for two hours ________.

A. can result in killing you

B. is likely to develop brain tumours

C. is unlikely to develop brain tumours

D. will cause your loss of memory for ever

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：有报道说手机会对人的健康有影响，本文则介绍了一些科学家的观点，他们认为并没有绝对的证据证明手机对人体有很大的危害。

1.1】D 细节理解题。根据第一段中"Mobile phones killed our man, "screamed one headline last year. Also came statements that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones cause memory loss And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones heat the brain.可知，A、B、C项都会让使用手机的人焦虑，故答案选D。

2.2】B 细节理解题。根据第三段中But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive(感知的)abilities.可知，他不同意这种观点，故选B。

3.3】A 词义猜测题。根据上文And while there's still no absolute evidence that mobile phone does damage your memories or give your cancer（并没有绝对的证据能证明手机对你的记忆力有损伤或者让你得癌症）可知，这里意为“一致意见是：不要惊慌。”故选A。

4.4】C 细节理解题。根据第五段found that mice exposed to microwave for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours(肿瘤)when given a cancer—causing chemical.可知，答案选C。

【名师点睛】

下面介绍一些词义猜测题的解题技巧。

1.根据定义或上下文解释进行猜测

有时短文中出现一个需要猜测其意义的词或短语，下面接着出现其定义或解释，这就是判断该词或短语意义的主要依据。例如：It will be very hard but also very brittle—that is, it will break easily.从后面that is(也就是说)的解释中我们可以了解到brittle 是“脆”的意思。

2.根据同位关系进行猜测

阅读中出现的难词有时后面紧跟一个同位语，对前面的词进行解释，这时可利用同位关系对前面或后面的词义或句意进行猜测。例如：The “Chunnel”, a tunnel(隧道) connecting England and France, is now complete.此句中a tunnel connecting England and France是Chunnel的同位语。因此，The “Chunnel”就是英法之间的海底隧道。

3.根据构词法(前缀、后缀、复合、派生等)进行猜测

在英语中，有很多词可以在前面加前缀，在后面加后缀，从而构成一个词，乍看起来，这个词可能是新词，但掌握了一定的构词知识，就不难猜出它的词义。例如：“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10,” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive and creative in that they built a sense of drama based on a subject.”文中interactive是由前缀inter-(相互的)和active(活动的，活跃的)而构成的，同时根据上下文的意思可以判断，该词的含义应是“互动的”。

4.根据转折或对比关系进行猜测

根据上下句的连接词，如but, however, otherwise等就可以看到前后句在意义上的差别，从而依据某一句的含义，来确定另一句的含义。另外，分号也可以表示转折、对比或不相干的意义。例如：A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun.从前后两句的意思可以看出，hassle和a basket of fun肯定是近乎相反的意义。所以不难判断hassle的意思是“困难，麻烦”。

考点：科普类短文阅读。