What would you think if someone suggested knocking down St Paul’s Cathedral to widen the road? Or pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park? It would be ridiculous, right? But when it comes to devastation (毀滅) of the natural world, we aren’t so easily shocked. But we should be…or we’ll be in a lot of trouble.
Nature is shrinking by the day. Ancient forests are destroyed. Wetlands are becoming dry. Woodland is disappearing, and all in the name of progress. This is bad in itself, but it’s devastating for biodiversity.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals and other living things that are all interconnected. The ecological services provided by biodiversity are vital to everyday life. The air we breathe is a product of photosynthesis (光合作用) by green plants. Insects, worms and bacteria break down waste and make soils rich. And tiny organisms clean the water in rivers and sea. In fact, all life on the earth exists thanks to the benefits of biodiversity. More than 90 percent of the calories consumed by people worldwide are produced from 80 plant species. And 30 percent of medicines are developed from plants and animals. Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve all living things.
The loss of biodiversity could be devastating. “It is wrong to think that biodiversity can be reduced indefinitely without threatening humans,” said Harvard University biologist Edward O. Wilson, known as the “father of biodiversity”. He warned, “We are about to reach a critical point beyond which biodiversity loss will become irreversible (不可挽回的).”
But what can we do? The present problem is that the concept of biodiversity is so vague (含糊的). People might care about giant pandas, but it is much harder to excite them about the fate of tiny sea creatures which are being boiled to death in the cooling systems of power stations along coastlines. The Guardian newspaper is trying to help. It has launched the Biodiversity 100 campaign to try to convince governments around the world to take action to deal with the widespread concerns about biodiversity. This includes persuading the UK government to create a series of marine reserves to reserve the decrease in the sea-life caused by industrial fishing, stopping fishing sharks by the Japanese fishermen and banning the killing of dingoes (wild dogs) in Australia, among many other things.
There is a lot to do. And we’d better act quickly if we don’t want to end up with a planet that can’t sustain life!
【小題1】The writer thinks it ________ to pull down Big Ben to make way for a car park.
| A．unreasonable | B．necessary | C．difficult | D．reasonable |
| A．nature is badly polluted by humans |
| B．species are becoming fewer and fewer day by day |
| C．rainforests are being cut down every day |
| D．nature is full of mysteries |
| A．it doesn’t matter to reduce biodiversity |
| B．people have done enough to preserve biodiversity |
| C．the situation of biodiversity is very serious |
| D．biodiversity loss has become irreversible |
| A．people might not clearly know what is biodiversity and what should be protected |
| B．people are not aware that giant pandas are endangered |
| C．people don’t realize that biodiversity is vital to everyday life |
| D．people hunt sea creatures for food |
| A．The UK government. | B．The concept of biodiversity. |
| C．The action to deal with the problem. | D．The Guardian newspaper. |
【小題1】A
【小題2】B
【小題3】C
【小題4】A
【小題5】D
解析試題分析：文章介紹了生物的多樣化的嚴(yán)峻形式，很多物種面臨滅絕的危險，作者強烈要求政府采取措施解決這一問題。
【小題1】從第一段的句子：It would be ridiculous, right?可知作者認(rèn)為這種做法是不合理的。選A
【小題2】推理題：從第二段的句子：but it’s devastating for biodiversity.
可以推斷出這句話的意思是物種在慢慢變少。選B
【小題3】推理題;從第三段的句子：We are about to reach a critical point beyond which biodiversity loss will become irreversible (不可挽回的).”可知Edward O. Wilson認(rèn)為物種多樣化面臨嚴(yán)峻的問題。選C。
【小題4】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第四段的句子：The present problem is that the concept of biodiversity is so vague (含糊的).可知對物種多樣化的問題人們還不知道這是什么，該保護什么。選A
【小題5】猜詞題：從前面的句子：The Guardian newspaper is trying to help.可知it指代的是The Guardian newspaper 。選D。
考點：考查科普環(huán)保類短文
點評：本題有一定難度，題目設(shè)置合理全面：考查細(xì)節(jié)題，歸納題，主旨題，要求考生根據(jù)題目要求，在文章中準(zhǔn)確定位。進(jìn)行推理。
科目：高中英語 來源：2011-2012學(xué)年江西省安福中學(xué)高二上學(xué)期期中考試英語卷 題型：閱讀理解
It was the old lady’s eightieth birthday. She was sure Myra wouldn’t forget her mother’s birthday, even if she was busy. After all, eighty was a special birthday. Perhaps Myra might come. Even if Myra did not come, she would send a present. The old lady was sure of that. Two spots of colour brightened her cheeks. She was excited like a child.
Mrs. Morrison had brought a card and a bunch of flowers when she came to do the breakfast. Mrs. Grant downstairs had made a cake. Johnnie, the little boy next door, was now up with her with a packe
t of sweets.
“I guess you’ll get lots and lots of presents, ” he said. “I did last week when I was six.”
What would she like? A pair of slippers, perhaps. A blue new cardigan(羊毛衫). Or a table lamp. Or a little clock, with clear black numbers. So many lovely things.
She stood by the window, watching. The postman turned round the corner on his bicycle. Her heart beat fast. Johnnie had seen him too and ran to the gate.
“Granny, granny, ” Johnnie returned. “I’ve got your post!”
He gave her four envelopes. Three were from old friends. The fourth was in Myra’s writing.
“No parcel(包裹), Johnnie?”
“No, granny.”
Almost reluctantly, she tore the fourth envelope open. Folded in the card was a check. Written on the card was a message: Happy Birthday—Buy yourself something nice with the check, Myra and Harold.
The six-figure check fell to the floor like a bird with a broken wing. Slowly the old lady bent to pick it up. Her present, her lovely present. With trembling fingers she tore it into little bits.
【小題1】As can be inferred from the passage, _______.
| A．the old lady lived alone in a flat away from her daughter |
| B．the friends sent the old lady many lovely presents by post |
| C．Myra was stopped by her husband from seeing her mother |
| D．the neighbours cared little about the old lady in daily life |
| A．to send her a present. | B．to send her a check. |
| C．to come back home to celebrate her birthday. | D．not to return home. |
| A．excited | B．happy | C．disappointed | D．impatient |
| A．The Present | B．The Check | C．The Birthday | D．The Daughter |
| A．she was sure her daughter would come, not the check |
| B．she didn’t notice there were six figures on the check |
| C．she didn’t think the check was large enough for a present |
| D．she would prefer a present with love from her daughter |
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科目：高中英語 來源：2012-2013學(xué)年湖南省邵陽二中高一上學(xué)期期中考試英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解
Once there was an island where all the feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others, including Love. One day it was said that the island would go down, so all made boats and left except Love.
Love was the only one who stayed. Love wanted to offer her help until the last possible moment. When the island had almost gone down, Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a great boat. Love said, “Richness, can you take me with you?” Richness answered, “No, I can’t. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you.”
Sadness was close by, so Love asked, “Sadness, let me go with you .” “Oh, Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!”
Happiness passed by Love, too, but she was so happy that she did not even notice when Love called her.
Suddenly, there was a voice, “Come, Love, I will take you.” It was an elder. Love was so excited that she even forgot to ask who the elder was. So Love asked Knowledge, another elder, “Who helped me?” “It was Time,” Knowledge answered. “Time?” asked Love. “But why did Time help me?”
Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and answered, “Because only Time understands how valuable Love is.”
【小題1】What would happen to the island?
| A．It would grow bigger. | B．It would sink. |
| C．It drove feelings away. | D．All the feelings lived. |
| A．Yes, he did. | B．Yes, he didn’t. |
| C．No, he didn’t. | D．No, he did. |
| A．Because Happiness didn’t like Love. |
| B．Because Happiness didn’t hear Love calling her. |
| C．Because her boat was so small that she couldn’t take Love with her. |
| D．Because she needed to be by herself. |
| A．Sadness. | B．Knowledge. | C．Happiness. | D．Time. |
| A．令人喜愛的 | B．珍貴的 |
| C．吸引人的 | D．有愛心的 |
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科目：高中英語 來源：2013屆廣東省深圳市高三第一次調(diào)研考試英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解
Once there was a man who lied to eat mangoes. One day he decided to get the sweetest mango from the very top of the tree. Mangoes which are exposed to the sun the most are the sweetest.
So he climbed up to the top, where the branches were thin. He managed to pick up a few sweet reddish fruits, but, in an attempt to climb down, he slipped and started falling towards the ground. Fortunately, he caught the branch as he was falling and remained helplessly hanging on the tree. Then he started to call nearby villagers for help. They immediately came with a ladder and sticks, but could do little to help him.
Then after some time one calm and thoughtful person arrived - a well-known sage who lived in a simple hut nearby. People were very curious to see what he would do, as he was famous in solving many people’s problems in the area and sometimes very complicated ones.
He was silent for a minute and then picked up a stone and threw it at the hanging man.
Everybody was surprised. The hanging mango lover started to shout: What are you doing?! Are you crazy? Do you want me to break my neck?” The sage was silent. Then he took another stone and threw it at the man. The man was very angry: “If I could just come down, I would show you!”
That’s what everybody wanted - that he came down. But how? Now everybody was tense, as to what would happen next! Some wanted to chastise the sage, but they didn’t. The sage picked another stone and threw it again at the man, even more forcefully. Now the man on the tree was enraged and developed a great determination to come down and take revenge.（復(fù)仇）
He then used all his skill and strength and somehow reached the branches which were safe to start going down. And he made it! Everybody was amazed.
However, the rescued man found the sage gone. He stood there, realizing that the man really sed him because he induced（引誘）him to try his best and save himself.
“I should be thankful and not angry.”
【小題1】From the story we know that the sweetest mango must be the one .
| A．on the very top of the a tree |
| B．hidden in the middle of a tree |
| C．on the tree for the longest time |
| D．exposed to sunlight less often |
| A．He slipped and fell to the ground suddenly. |
| B．He was climbing down quickly but carefully. |
| C．He remained hanging helplessly on the tree. |
| D．He shouted loudly for help but no one helped. |
| A．He was nervous. | B．He kept silent. |
| C．He felt surprised. | D．He was angry. |
| A．Courage. | B．Revenge. | C．Carefulness. | D．Assistance. |
| A．Anger saves one’s life. | B．Wisdom does count. |
| C．Skill and strength count. | D．Anger is the biggest enemy. |
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科目：高中英語 來源：2013屆河北省容城中學(xué)高三上學(xué)期第三次月考英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解
It’s good to make mistakes, and here is why．
First of all, mistakes are a clear sign that you are trying new things． It’s always good to try new things because when you are trying new things you are growing． If you never try anything new, how can you improve? How can you expand? The simple answer is “You can’t”． Look around you． With very few exceptions, either everything you see in your physical world or every single detail of every single thing is the result of someone trying something new．
Another good thing about mistakes is this: When you are making mistakes, you are learning． Consider this: Edison failed 10,000 times before he perfected the light bulb． When asked how it felt to fail that many times, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times, but rather had learned 10,000 things that didn’t work．
Finally, when you make a mistake you are much closer to success． Why?
Because when all is said and done, you will have tried some number of things before you succeeded． Every time you make a mistake you eliminate one of those things and are one step closer．
But this all doesn’t mean that you should go ahead without considering the consequences of a mistake． Quite the contrary, when you try something new you have to be willing to set some reasonable limits so that in the event that it doesn’t work out the way you want it to, you will be in a position to try again．
We all have limited resources in the form of time and money so don’t blow them all on one approach to a problem． Realize that it probably won’t be perfect the first time and allocate （分配） these resources appropriately so you can learn, make corrections, and try it again． Only by accepting and using your mistakes in this way can you make significant advances in your business and your career．
There is an old saying that goes, “If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough．”
So go forth and make mistakes． And learn． And grow． And prosper（成功）．
【小題1】From the second paragraph, we can conclude that _______．
| A．mistakes are unnecessary for development |
| B．we are afraid of trying new things |
| C．it’s common for people to make mistakes |
| D．mistakes are better than not trying |
| A．a(chǎn)void | B．remove | C．a(chǎn)ccept | D．solve |
| A．a(chǎn)voiding making the same mistakes |
| B．a(chǎn)ccepting the punishment willingly |
| C．taking consequences into account |
| D．trying things out one by one |
| A．Never mind, I can always try again． |
| B．I’d better stay out of trouble． |
| C．Ok! Now I can learn something． |
| D．Look at this mess． Anyone would be upset． |
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科目：高中英語 來源：2011-2012學(xué)年山西省大同市實驗中學(xué)高二下學(xué)期期中考試英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解
Now, we know that if we do not get enough vitamins, we are at risk of developing a number of diseases. As a result, vitamin supplements（補品），though expensive, are popular with people who worry that they are not getting enough vitamins from the foods they eat. But contrary to what many people think, medical experts have found little evidence that most supplements do anything to improve health or protect against disease.
In fact, medical experts warn that taking too many of some vitamins can be harmful. For example, too much vitamin E can cause bleeding. People should discuss what vitamins they take with their doctors, as some vitamins can produce harmful side effects when mixed with medicines.
Experts, however, do say that sometimes vitamins can help prevent disease. People who know they lack a particular vitamin should take vitamin supplements. Some older adults, for example, may not have enough vitamin B-twelve. This is because, as people get older, their body loses its ability to take it from foods. Also, people who spend much time inside may need some extra vitamin D as the skin makes this vitamin from sunlight.
Different vitamins are found in different foods. Vitamin A is found in fish liver oil. It also is in the yellow part of eggs. Sweet potatoes, carrots and other darkly colored fruits and vegetables contain substances that the body can change into vitamin A. Vitamin B-twelve is found in green leafy vegetables and other foods, like fruits. Vitamin K can be found in pork products.
In fact, for most people, a balanced diet can ensure enough of the vitamins our bodies need. So, it is important for us to eat a mixture of foods every day to ensure that we get enough vitamins our bodies need.
【小題1】Vitamin supplements are popular with people because ________.
| A．people mistakenly think that they are good for their health |
| B．they contain more vitamins than the foods people eat |
| C．food does not provide enough vitamins people need |
| D．people fear that a lack of vitamins will lead to disease |
| A．never to take any vitamin supplements |
| B．to depend only on food for their vitamins |
| C．not to take any vitamins together with medicines |
| D．to consult doctors before taking vitamin supplements |
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