Plants are flowering faster than scientists predicted (預(yù)測) in reaction to climate change, which could have long damaging effects on food chains (鏈條) and ecosystems.（生態(tài)系統(tǒng)）

Global warming is having a great effect on hundreds of plant and animal species around the world, changing some living patterns, scientists say.

Increased carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air from burning coal and oil can have an effect on how plants produce oxygen (氧氣), while higher temperatures and changeable rainfall patterns can change their patterns of growth.

“Predicting species’ reaction to climate change is a major challenge in ecology,” said the researches of several U.S. universities. They said plants had been the key object of study because their reaction to climate change could have an effect on food chains and ecosystem services.

The study, published on the Nature website, uses the findings from plant life cycle studies and experiments across four continents and 1,634 species. It found that some experiments had underestimated (低估) the speed of flowering by 8.5 times and leafing（長出葉子） by 4 times.

“Across all species, the experiments under-predicted the speed of the advance —for both leafing and flowering —that results from temperature increases,” the study said.

The design of future experiments may need to be improved to better predict how plants will react to climate change, it said.

Plants are necessary for life on the Earth. They are the base of the food chain, using photosynthesis (光合作用) to produce sugar from carbon dioxide and water. They let out oxygen which is needed by nearly every organism on the planet.

Scientists believe the world’s average temperature has risen by about 0.8℃ since 1900, and nearly 0.2℃ every ten years since 1979.

So far, efforts to cut emissions (排放) of planet-warming greenhouse gases are not seen as enough to prevent the Earth heating up beyond（超出） 2℃ this century —a point scientists say will bring the danger of a changeable climate in which weather extremes are common, leading to drought, floods, crop failures and rising sea levels.

1.What is the key information the author wants to give in Paragraph 1?

A. Plants’ reaction to weather could have damaging effects on ecosystems.

B. The increasing speed of flowering is beyond scientists’ expectation.

C. Climate change leads to the change of food production patterns.

D. Food chains have been seriously damaged because of weather.

2.We can learn from the study published on the Nature website that __________.

A. plants’ flowering is 8.5 times faster than leafing

B. there are 1,634 plant species on the four continents

C. scientists should improve the design of the experiments

D. the experiments failed to predict how plants react to climate change

3.Scientists pay special attention to the study of plants because __________.

A. they can prove the climate change clearly

B. they are very important in the food chainsA

C. they play a leading role in reducing global warming

D. they are growing and flowering much faster than before

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs about the world’s temperature?

A. It has risen nearly 0.2℃ since 1979.

B. Its change will lead to weather extremes.

C. It is 0.8℃ higher in 1979 than that of 1900.

D. It needs to be controlled within 2℃ in this century.

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年湖北武漢第二中學(xué)高二上期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

I always experienced guilt when I passed by without giving a coin or two to a beggar.

My conscience was pricked again on a tour of Venice in 2010. I had taken refuge from the crowds in a quiet canal-side café. Outside the café was an old woman kneeling on the ancient cobbled stones, begging. Steady streams of tourists were walking past her. A lone young back-packer stood away from the crowds drinking something, but I noticed he was also observing the woman.

A tourist group glanced at the woman and walked on. Another group of tourists arrived and, again, walked past her. The backpacker watched. Then, as I prepared to leave, I stopped at the sight of the backpacker stepping forward and placing some money in the woman’s cup. He did this rather ostentatiously（炫耀地）, just before the arrival of another tourist group. I watched as the leader of the group stopped and put some money in the cup. Having been shown the way, other tourists followed suit and added more coins to the woman’s cup.

The young backpacker repeated this process in front of the next tour party going past. Once again, the subtle peer （同伴）pressure worked on the tourists, who all added coins to the cup. His work done, the young man walked over to the old beggar woman, patted her shoulder and said, “I hope that helps a bit.”

I don’t know if the woman understood his English or realized what had just happened, but I did. I placed some money in the woman’s cup and continued my travels, light-hearted after witnessing such an act of caring.

1.The backpacker placed some money in the woman’s cup rather ostentatiously because______.

A. he wanted to stop the tourists by doing this

B. he wanted people to know that he was rich and kind

C. he wanted to help the woman by himself

D. he wanted the tourist group to follow him

2.The author went to a quiet canal-side cafe to_______ .

A. avoid meeting the beggar

B. get away from the crowds

C. take a rest

D. watch the woman beggar

3.We can infer from the passage that ________ .

A. tourists can be cheated by beggars

B. people usually have pity on an old beggar

C. tourists are willing to help beggars

D. people can do kind acts due to peer pressure

4.Before the backpacker dropped some money in the woman’s cup, the tourists ______ .

A. all showed pity for the woman

B. didn’t notice the woman

C. walked by without giving any money

D. gave a little money to the woman

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年江西撫州臨川十中高二上學(xué)期12月月英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

An old gentleman who lives a few doors away from me can always be seen with a bag. He goes out by himself and picks up plastic bottles, plastic bags and pieces of paper everywhere. He does it all carefully and never complains.

The children in the nearby school are probably responsible for some of that litter（廢棄物）. “There will come a time when they know better ,” he said . “ It’s just not yet . So, I’ll do it for them.”

Well, this morning I was out walking my neighbor’s dog when I saw another neighbor, a much younger man , out doing the same thing ! He had his two little sons with him and they were having good fun trying to pick up the litter.

When I commented（評論）on what a good job he was doing, he said , “ Well , an older fellow in our street does this . And my friend and I thought it wasn’t fair that he had to do it all the time , so now we take turns .”

Not only was he taking a turn , not only did he have a friend join in as well , but he was passing on the lesson to the next generation（代）！

By the time I had returned the dog to my neighbor I looked again and his children’ s friends had joined in !

This man was teaching a whole group of young children to keep their own street sanitary. An older man had set an example for him and now he was passing it on — the next generation is doing what he did and the generation to come after that !

1.The old gentleman picks up the litter _______.

A. to make money.

B. to keep the environment clean.

C. to set an example to children.

D. to help the cleaners.

2.The underlined word “ sanitary ” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “_______”

A. polluted B. crowded

C. straight D. clean

3.What can we learn from the text ?

A. Two heads are better than one.

B. Like father , like son .

C. The power of example is endless.

D. No pains , no gains .

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年湖北四校高一上學(xué)期期中聯(lián)考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達(dá)

書面表達(dá)

Rilla 將她的煩惱寫在了博客上并征求大家的建議。假如你是吉林的李丹，請了解她的煩惱，根據(jù)以下提示寫出你的建議，要求100詞左右，建議的開頭和結(jié)尾已經(jīng)給出，不計(jì)入總詞數(shù)。

要點(diǎn)提示：

1. 孩子應(yīng)尊重父母；

2. 父母經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富；

3. 父母的要求是對你的成長有好處的。

4. 多同父母交流溝通；

5. ………

詞語提示：respect v.﹠n.尊重

responsible adj. 有責(zé)任感的

demand v.﹠n. 要求

Here is Rilla’s problem on the Blog:

My problem is my parents. They never stop going on about (嘮叨) how I should keep my room clean, keep my hair tidy and wear smart clothes. They even make me do the washing-up after dinner every night! None of my friends have got such terrible parents. What should I do?

Rilla , the USA

Hi , Rilla. I think you are lucky to have such good parents.

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Li Dan , Jilin

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年四川雅安中學(xué)高二上學(xué)期期中考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

How I Turned to Be Optimistic

I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt's house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.

I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see-—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then.

The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to "the hard times."

My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.

From my experiences I have learned one important rule: almost all common troubles eventually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.

1.How did the author get to know America?

A. From her relatives. B. From her mother.

C. From books and pictures. D. From radio programs.

2.Upon leaving for America, the author felt_______.

A. confused B. excited C. worried D. amazed

3.What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 4?

A. She worked as a translator.

B. She attended a lot of job interviews.

C. She paid telephone bills for her family.

D She helped her family with her English.

4.The author believes that______.

A. her future will be free from troubles

B. it is difficult to learn to become patient

C. there are more good things than bad things

D. good things will happen if one keeps trying

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年湖南常德石門第一中學(xué)高二上期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

The world was mysterious (神秘的) when I was a child, so miracles (奇跡) were welcome wonders. Now, there doesn’t seem to be space for them in this world I so intelligently understand.

Perhaps it’s from years of working around sick and often dying children, watching time and time again as a child slips away from the arms of a begging mother. I have stopped hoping as the parents around me hope.

I recently cared for a patient near the end of his life. Medically speaking, his situation was hopeless, which made me feel helpless and defeated.

His mother came in to see him. I had prepared myself to support her, imagining she would crumble (崩潰) into a pile of tears.

“Our God is faithful,” she said, with a smile on her face and the sunshine of hope in her eyes.

“Cancer is faithful,” I muttered (嘀咕) in my mind.

“We still believe he can heal him,” she continued, as if she had heard what I was thinking.

I provided updates on his body. In a laundry list of updates, perhaps two things were positive. She thanked me for the information, repeating back the minor positive notes I had given.

I brcame kind of angry. And I wanted to sak, “Do you really not understand the gravity (嚴(yán)重性) of this illness?”

And then, yet again, as if she had heard me, she replied with this: A positive attitude gives us power over our circumstances, rather than allowing our circumstances to have power over us.

I was shocked. Here I was, judging her positive attitude as a fault. I completely disregarded the choice to believe in something more powerful than me, more healing than the doctors on our team. It wasn’t blind faith. It was strength and devotion.

When I came out of the room, tears welling in my eyes, I sat at my computer and looked

down at a small plate of candies she must have left for me on her way into the room. A hand

written note was laid above them: Kate, your devotion is so appreciated, S.

S, it is your devotion that I am appreciating today. Because of you, I am begging again to

believe in miracles.

1.The author is probably a ________.

A.nurse B.patient C.teacher D.mother

2.Before seeing the patient’s mother, the author thought that the patient ________.

A.would recover soon

B.had got much better

C.was going to die of cancer

D.might make a miraculous recovery

3.Why was the author angry with the patient’s mother?

A.Because of her optimism.

B.Because of her impoliteness.

C.Because she couldn’t stop crying.

D.Because she was always complaining.

4.Finally, the patient’s mother made the author become ________.

A.more patient B.more positive

C.more aggressive D.more sympathetic

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年湖南常德石門第一中學(xué)高一上期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：語法填空

閱讀下面材料，在空白處填入適當(dāng)?shù)膬?nèi)容(1個(gè)單詞)或括號內(nèi)單詞的正確形式。

Alex: Kelly, I' 11 go back home to visit my family for several weeks.

Kelly: That' s great. It' s been quite a long time since you 1. (see) them, hasn't it?

Alex: Yes, but I'm thinking about 2. I should bring back from China for everyone---my little brother, my sister and my parents.

Kelly: You want to bring back some 3. (attract) things, don't you? How about a Weifang-style kite? You once mentioned that your brother is fond 4. collecting kites.

Alex: Hey, that' s a good idea! You and I had a lot of fun 5. (fly) kites together. I' m sure my brother would like a Weifang-style kite, too.

Kelly: You could also bring back some embroidery (繡品) from Suzhou, 6. is very famous.

Alex: Kelly, you're a genius(天才)! Not only is Su embroidery very colorful, 7. it represents Chinese traditions(傳統(tǒng)) too! My parents will really like it. Okay, now 1 have to decide what 8. (buy) for my sister. That' s really 9. difficult decision!

Kelly: Don't be so upset, Alex. Does she like drinking tea'? What about a Chinese teapot?

Alex: Sure, she' d love that. Another great idea! How do you think up these ideas so _10.__

(easy), Kelly'?

Kelly: Geniuses always do that!

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科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆遼寧大連第八中學(xué)高三上學(xué)期期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：語法填空

閱讀下面材料，在空白處填入適當(dāng)?shù)膬?nèi)容（1個(gè)單詞）或括號內(nèi)的單詞的正確形式。

Daniel Davila can often 1. (see) walking around the city of San Francisco. Sometimes people are surprised to see him walking 2. any shoes or socks, 3. Daniel doesn’t mind at all. He likes to walk barefoot, and so 4. 740 other members of Dirty Sole Society, the club that Daniel started years ago. Daniel’s idea for this is to encourage others to live 5. (free) —free of shoes.

According to Daniel, the barefoot life has many advantages. 6. most important is simply that it feels good. He also says that 7. ( walk) barefoot allows you to experience the world directly by touching it with your feet. In addition, the feet do not smell so much 8. they stay dry, making it hard for bacteria to grow. And of course, walking barefoot keeps your feet 9. good shape, so it’s actually 10. (healthy) than wearing shoes.

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年貴州遵義航天中學(xué)高二上學(xué)期期末英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Growing mushrooms(蘑菇) is probably the easiest thing you can do if you are new to mushroom growing. Mushroom growing is becoming more and more common as restaurants are creating more dishes that include mushrooms.

Mushroom growing is easy. To start with you need to have a growing space where you are going to grow these mushrooms. It does not have to be too big enough for you to grow as many mushrooms as you need. When you have found the space that is perfect for you, you can start to research what kind of mushrooms you want to grow. There are hundreds of kinds to choose from but not all mushrooms are edible, which is an important fact you need to remember before you start. Don’t grow mushrooms you can’t use or sell.

When you figure out what kind of mushrooms you want to grow, you can make some preparations. Sometimes you need to hire some workers to help you if you have a large mushroom farm, or if you are trying to start a professional mushroom growing business. Trying to start a business by yourself can be stressful. If you don’t have time to take care of everything yourself, to hire a worker is the best bet.

After you have started the mushroom growing, you should regularly check and make sure that your mushrooms are growing properly and that they are not being attacked by any pesticides(殺蟲劑) or any other animals that are potentially dangerous for them. That is the worst situation of mushroom growing. Protect your mushroom farm well with a fence or a gate so that only you and your workers can get in an out.

Mushroom growing is not difficult and is a really easy way to get started in the field of farming. You will possibly supply some of the great chefs(廚師) of the world with high-quality mushrooms that will be enjoyed by thousands of people around the world.

1. Many people are beginning to plant mushrooms probably because _______.

A. they are too common

B. they look very beautiful

C. there are more restaurants

D. they are in great need

2.The underlined word “edible” (in paragraph 2) probably means “________”.

A. easy to find B. expensive to buy

C. suitable to eat D. difficult to grow

3.Which of the following is the right order of planting mushrooms?

a. Choose the suitable mushrooms.

b. Protect your mushrooms well.

c. Find some people to help you.

d. Start to grow mushrooms.

e. Find a place to plant mushrooms.

A. b, d, a, e, c B. e, a, c, d, b

C. e, c, a, b, d D. d, c, b, a, e

4.What is the main topic of the passage?

A. It is easy to grow mushrooms.

B. You should hire other people to help you.

C. Growing mushrooms is not easy.

D. Tips for mushroom growing

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