《2026年水木金卷高考模拟试卷精编英语》

C
Scientists today are making greater effort to study ocean currents (洋流). Most do it using satellites and other high-tech equipment. However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way—by studying movements of random floating garbage. As a scientist with many years' experience, he started this type of research in the early 1990s when he heard about hundreds of athletic shoes washing up on the shores of the northwest coast of the United States. There were so many shoes that people were setting up swap meets to try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear.
Ebbesmeyer found out in his research that the shoes—about 60,000 in total—fell into the ocean in a shipping accident. He phoned the shoe company and asked if they wanted the shoes back. As expected, the company told him that they didn't. Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment. If he learned when and where the shoes went into the water and tracked where they landed, he could learn a lot about the patterns of ocean currents.
The Pacific Northwest is one of the world's best areas for beachcombing (海滩搜寻) because winds and currents join here, and as a result, there is a group of serious beachcombers in the area. Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed. In a year he collected reliable information on 1,600 shoes. With this data, he and a colleague were able to test and improve a computer program designed to model ocean currents, and publish the findings of their study.
As the result of his work, Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean. He has even started an association of beachcombers and ocean experts, with 500 subscribers from West Africa to New Zealand. They have recorded all lost objects ranging from potatoes to golf gloves.
46. The underlined phrase "swap meets" in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to "".
A. fitting rooms
B. trading fairs
C. business talks
D. group meetings
47. Ebbesmeyer phoned the shoe company to find out .
A. what caused the shipping accident
B. when and where the shoes went missing
C. whether it was all right to use their shoes
D. how much they lost in the shipping accident
48. How did Ebbesmeyer prove his assumption?
A. By collecting information from beachcombers.
B. By studying the shoes found by beachcombers.
C. By searching the web for ocean currents models.
D. By researching ocean currents data in the library.
49. Ebbesmeyer is most famous for .
A. traveling widely the coastal cities of the world
B. making records for any lost objects on the sea
C. running a global currents research association
D. phoning about any doubtful objects on the sea
50. What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
A. To call for people's attention to ocean pollution.
B. To warn people of shipping safety in the ocean.
C. To explain a unique way of studying ocean currents.
D. To give tips on how to search for lost objects on the beach.

答案： 46.B 词义猜测题。题干意为:第一段中的画线短语“swap meets”与“______”的意思最接近。根据第一段中“try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear”可知,人们要匹配鞋子左右脚并试穿或卖这些鞋,故推测这是在进行一个交易会,所以画线短语与B项“交易会”意思相近。故选B。 47.C 推理判断题。题干意为:Ebbesmeyer给鞋子公司打电话,以弄清______。根据第二段中“He phoned the shoe company... of ocean currents.”可知,Ebbesmeyer打电话的目的是确认是否可以使用这些鞋子。故选C。 48.A 细节理解题。题干意为:Ebbesmeyer是如何证明他的假设的?根据第三段中“Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed.”可知,Ebbesmeyer通过从海滩搜寻员那里收集信息来证明他的假设。故选A。 49.D 细节理解题。题干意为:Ebbesmeyer因______而最为人知。根据第四段中“Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean”可知,Ebbesmeyer最为人所知的是,他会打电话询问海上任何可疑的物体。故选D。 50.C 写作意图题。题干意为:作者写这篇文章的目的是什么?根据全文内容,尤其是第一段中“Scientists today are... random floating garbage.”可知,本文写作的目的是解释一种研究洋流的独特方法。故选C。