统考版2022届高考英语必修5Unit13-15 课时提能练北师大版.docVIP

PAGE 课时提能练(二十五) 必修5　Unit 13　People(A) Ⅰ.阅读理解 A (2020·南昌市一模)The remains of an ancient ape (猿) found in a Bavarian clay site recently caught peoples eye.According to scientists，they may renew peoples opinion on when humans ancestors began standing upright. An international team of researchers said the fossilized skeleton of a male ape that lived in the humid forests of what is now southern Germany bore a striking resemblance (相似之处) to modern human bones.In a paper published by the journal Nature，they concluded that the previously unknown species — named Danuvius guggenmosi — could walk on two legs but also climb like an ape. The findings “raise fundamental questions about our previous understanding of the evolution of the great apes and humans，” said Madelaine Boehme，who led the research. The question of when apes could walk on two legs has fascinated scientists since Charles Darwin first argued that they were the ancestors of humans.Previous fossil records of apes with an upright move — found in Crete and Kenya — dated only as far back as 6 million years.These apes are called Toumai. Boehme，along with researchers from Bulgaria，Canada and the United States，examined more than 15,000 bones recovered from the archaeological remains.Among the remains they were able to piece together primate (灵长目动物) fossils belonging to four individuals that lived 11.62 million years ago.The most complete，an adult male，likely stood about 1 meter tall，weighed 31 kilograms and looked similar to modern-day bonobos，a species of the chimpanzee. Like humans，Danuvius had an S-shaped backbone to hold its body upright while standing.Unlike humans，though，it had a powerful big toe that would have allowed it to grab branches with its foot easily. Fred Spoor，a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London，called the fossil finds “fantastic” but said they would likely be denied or suspected by others，not least because they could challenge many existing ideas about evolution. 【语篇解读】　本文主要介绍了科学