2014届高考英语二轮往届真题回顾 阅读理解.docVIP

　阅读理解 ——决定成败 科普常识类 (2013·浙江，B)Below is a selection from a popular science book. If blood is red，why are veins(静脉) blue? Actually，veins are not blue at all.They are more of a clear，yellowish colour.Although blood looks red when its outside the body，when its sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin，its more of a dark reddish purple colour.At the right depth，these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin，making them look blue by comparison. Which works harder，your heart or your brain? That kind of depends on whether youre busy thinking or busy exercising.Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise，and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker.But，in the long run，your brain probably tips it，because even when youre sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart，and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it. Why do teeth fall out，and why dont they grow back in grown-ups? Baby (or “milk”) teeth do not last long；they fall out to make room for bigger，stronger adult teeth later on.Adult teeth fall out when they become damaged，decayed and infected by bacteria.Once this second set of teeth has grown in，youre done.When theyre gone，theyre gone.This is because nature figures youre set for life，and what controls regrowth of your teeth switches off. Do old people shrink as they age? Yes and no.Many people do get shorter as they age.But，when they do，it isnt because theyre shrinking all over.They simply lose height as their spine(脊柱) becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effects of gravity(重力)．Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older.Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age，while women may lose 5 cm or more.If you live to be 200 years old，would you keep shrinking till you were，like 60 cm tall，like a little boy again？No，because old people dont really shrink！It is not that they are growing backwards—their legs，arms and backbones getting shor