04Unit1单元话题阅读精练(阅读理解15篇七选五5篇)(原卷版)

Unit Nature in the balance (译林版2020必修第三册)
单元话题阅读精练(阅读理解15篇+七选五5篇)
Ⅰ. 阅读理解
A
(2024上·云南玉溪·高一统考期末)For many people, visiting a wildlife park is a musthave bucketlist item. Few travel experiences can pare with watching wild animals wandering freely in wildlife reserves, enjoying their natural habitat. Here are some of the very best wildlife parks from all around the world.
1. Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
The Masai Marais located in the southwest of Kenya and is one of the most important and wellknown wildlife conservation areas in the world. Covering an area of 1,510square kilometers, the Masai Mara National Reserve consists of the grasslands, mountain highlands, lakelands and valley.
Those looking for an unforgettable traditional wildlife park experience should look no further than the Masai Mara National Reserve. Famous for its natural diversity of animals, you can expect to see vast numbers of leopards, elephants and lions. The wildlife park is also home to over 450 bird species.
2. The Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Serengeti National Park is a land of beauty that is one of the last naturalistic wonders left on this planet. This wildlife park is the symbol of Africa, and also one of the world’s oldest ecosystems to ever exist. Located in the northern area of Tanzania, the Serengeti National Park has also been famous for the annual migration (迁徙) of wildlife to permanent waterholes.
During this phenomenon, you’ll get to see vast herds of zebras, buffaloe s and elephants migrating to the waterholes due to the change of season, followed by predators(捕食者) on the hunt for them.
3. Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina
The Tierra del Fuego National Park, located at the southern tip of Argentina, is nestled between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, thus featuring a dynamic weather ecosystem with beech forests, mountains, waterfalls and glaciers (冰川). Not quite the image you may have in mind of a wildlife park being muddy, brownish and all dry landscapes.
It is a most breathtaking wildlife park, home to beautiful species such as eagles, rabbits and North American beavers. Aside from basking in the sightings of these wild animals, visitors to Tierra del Fuego often go hiking and fishing there.
1. Which park would you remend to someone who is looking for a traditional wildlife tour?
A. Masai Mara National Reserve.
B. The Serengeti National Park.
C. Tierra del Fuego National Park.
D. None of them.
2. Which special activity can visitors do in The Serengeti National Park?
A. Hiking and fishing in the park.
B. Creating a musthave bucketlist.
C. Exploring numbers of different landscapes.
D. Watching the annual migration of many animals.
3. What is the unique feature of Tierra del Fuego National Park?
A. It is naturalistic.
B. It is the most famous one.
C. It has the oldest ecosystem.
D. It has waterfalls and glaciers.
B
(2024上·甘肃定西·高一统考期末)The day starts early for Tang Shengli, a bird protection volunteer in Lanshan county, Yongzhou, Hunan province. At about 5 am, the 60yearold is in uniform and ready to start his day’s work protecting and recording migratory(迁徙的) birds. Located on the
northern side of the Nanling Mountains, Lanshan is an important
passageway for migratory birds. From September to December every
year, more than 240 species of migratory birds fly from Siberia to
Australia via Hunan. In the past 10 years, Tang has recorded more than 120 species of such birds with his camera. “The flight calls of the migratory birds at night attract me so much that I cannot s leep. All I want to do is get up and record them,” Tang says.
When Tang joined the Hunan provincial bird protection organization in 2013, he knew he faced a tough task. Numerous migratory birds were lost each year as a result of killing and illegal trade. At that time, poachers (偷猎者) lit up the hillside to attract the birds there and hunt them. Some nights hundreds of birds would be killed or caught, remembers Liao Changgui, an official with the local forestry bureau.
By day, Tang distributes brochures to villagers in Lanshan to raise public awareness of bird protection, while at night, he goes deep into the wilderness to tackle illegal hunting. “Many villagers didn’t think bird hunting was illegal, and some made a living from it. Our work has affected their business,” Tang explains, adding his wife was threatened at their home in order to stop him doing his work.
To stop poaching, in October 2012, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration issued a notice to prevent the illegal hunting of migratory birds. In December that year, the Hunan provincial government promised to fight against poaching and establish a bird monitoring and protection system. So far, 43 migratory bird protection stations have been built across the province, covering almost all ke y points on the passageway. In 2020, a “lights out” program started in Lanshan county to prevent the birds from being distracted (使分心).
On Nov 1, the Hunan provincial government issued a ban on hunting migratory birds and other wildlife listed under national and provincial protection. Nationwide, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration is carrying out a twomonth special action plan to strengthen patrols and remove illegal hunting equipment in national parks, nature reserves and bird migration routes across the country.
4. Why did poachers light up the hillside according to paragraph 2?
A. To find their way around the hill.
B. To search for birds’ nests and catch them.
C. To draw the birds’ attention to catch them.
D. To lead the birds to fly safely and in the correct direction.
5. What is the possible meaning of the underlined word “tackle” in paragraph 3?
A. Give up.
B. Put off.
C. Call for.
D. Deal with.
6. What is the main idea of the fourth paragraph?
A. Ways to punish bird poachers.
B. Routes migratory birds fly along.
C. Measures to protect migratory birds.
D. Reasons why poachers try to capture birds.
7. What is a suitable title for the news report?
A. Ensuring birds have a safe passage
B. Important passageway for migratory birds
C. Flight calls of migratory birds at night attract Tang
D. Tang records more than 120 species of migratory birds
C
(2024上·河北沧州·高一泊头市第一中学校考阶段练习)You might remember watching Tweety and Sylvester from the Looney Tunes cartoons while growing up. Every time the cat Sylvester would try to eat the bird Tweety, the latter would call its owner and plain about the cat, just as a human would. In reality, several birds are able to mimic(模仿) speech. The most mon bird known to do this is the parrot.
Studies have shown that the young birds learn and memorize speciesspecific songs by mimicking vocalizations(发声) of their father, starting as early as a week after birth. If separated from the father during this sensitive(感觉敏锐的) period, young birds may develop very strange songs.
It is mon sense that a singer with a broader vocal range(范围) will be more successful than one with a smaller vocal range. Similarly, male songbirds with the vocal learning ability to learn broader types of songs enjoy higher chances of attracting attention of female. Therefore, such songbirds started achieving broader song learning skills as time went by. Eventually, they ended up with vocal skills so broad that they could not just learn songs from other males in their species, but songs from different species too.
Parrots have been kept as pets for thousands of years, and are probably the most famous mimics. V ocal mimicry in parrots has often caught human’s attention, since they can mimic the difficult vocalizati ons of human speech learned from their caretakers. The reason for this is not to attract mates. Parrots raised as pets often mimic humans to establish social connections.
In a study on an African Grey parrot, scientists observed that it could not just mimic human speech, but could also learn several hundreds of words and their meanings, recognize objects by names, and even count! The study has made scientists think that parrots are not simply mimicking, but that their vocal ability is very similar to that of human speech. This is a huge discovery, as humans are the only animals known to be capable of using “language” to date.
8. Why does the author mention the cartoon in Paragraph 1?
A. To introduce the main topic.
B. To find a solution to a problem.
C. To present conflicts between animals.
D. To encourage readers to watch the cartoon.
9. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?
A. Male birds are born to have the ability to use their language.
B. Animals start learning language one week earlier than humans.
C. Young male birds are more sensitive to vocalizations than female ones.
D. Language learning needs proper language environment at a proper stage.
10. Why do pet parrots mimic humans?
A. To attract mates.
B. To build relations with humans.
C. To show off their vocal abilities.
D. To municate with other parrots.
11. How does the author feel about the findings of the study in the last paragraph?
A. Confused.
B. Honoured.
C. Amazed.
D. Disappointed.
D
(2024上·江苏泰州·高一校联考期末)Like dogs, wolves can recognize and respond to the voices of familiar humans more than those of strangers, according to a recent study. The research challenges the belief that dogs ability to differentiate human voices is due to selective breeding(选择性繁殖).
Holly Root Gutteridge and colleagues carried out experiments across five zoos and wildlife parks in Spain, involving a total of 24 gray wolves. The team set up speakers and first played the animals the voice of a number of strangers. Then, they played the wolves the voice of their keeper who would say familiar things to them in Spanish, such as “Hey, what’s up, wolves?” The wolves raised their heads, pricked their ears up, and turned toward the speaker. To test that the effect wasn’t accidental, the researchers went back to playing the wolves recordings of strangers and found that they once more lost interest. Finally, to make sure that the wolves truly knew their keepers’ voices, the team mixed things up and had the keepers say a series of unfamiliar phrases. Once more, the results held up.
Root Gutteridge pointed out the significance of wolves being able to differentiate between humans, despite the fact that our species went our separate evolutionary(进化的) ways tens of millions of years ago.
Before this, there had been a limited number of studies on the topic of how animals differentiate between the vocalizations (发声) of other species. Research has shown that our close cousins, gorillas, listen to people, but that was expected.
Given the new finding, “chances are that lots of species are listen ing to us and getting to know us as individuals,” Root Gutteridge said. “And it’s not all about us. Dogs could be listening to the neighbors’ cats and understanding the difference between one meow or the other. If the abilities are that general, it means that animals might be having a lot more cross species interactions than we had thought about before.”
12. What established viewpoint does the recent research call into question?
A. Dogs are the only animals that can differentiate human voices.
B. Wolves recognize the voices of humans better than dogs.
C. Wolves cannot understand human languages.
D. Selective breeding enables dogs to differentiate human voices.
12. How did the researchers test if the wolves truly recognized their keepers’ voices?
A. By letting the keepers say unfamiliar phrases in Spanish.
B. By asking strangers to reproduce the keepers’ voices.
C. By playing recordings of strangers speaking familiar phrases.
D. By changing the playback speed of the keepers’ recordings.
14. Why are gorillas mentioned in paragraph 5?
A. To stress their close relationship with humans.
B. To offer additional evidence for the recent study.
C. To point out another species that can differentiate voices.
D. To explain how animals’ ability to differentiate humans’ voices developed.
15. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?
A. The focus of the future studies.
B. The limitations of the research.
C. The significance of the research.
D. The uniqueness of the experiments.
E
(2024上·黑龙江·高一校联考期末)Beijing No 4 Inter mediate People’s Court said on Thursday that it concluded 77 cases of smuggling(走私) precious animal products from the beginning of 2015 to June this year, with about 40 percent of defendants(被告) given prison terms of three or more years. The products were found to be frequently made of body parts of some endangered wild animals such as elephants, turtles, bears and wolves, Wang Jing, vicepresident of the court, told a news conference.
“Most of the defendants were migrant workers, students and tourists ing back to China, “Wang said. “Some aimed to sell the products for profits or send to friends and family members as gifts, while they wanted to use them to help with diseases.”
Wang explained that some of the defendants received heavier penalties (惩罚), such as a longterm imprisonment and a high fine, because the animal parts they smuggled were from animals listed on the national key protection of wildlife or related to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). For example, a defendant surnamed Yan was sentenced to 10 years in prison, along with 200,000 yuan ($27, 968) in fines, for smuggling 393 fish bladder products, the court said. Yan was caught while arriving at the Beijing Capital International Airport from Mexico on March 21, 2018, and the suspected products were discovered by the customs staff members in Yan’s luggage. The products were later identified as being made of drum fish in Gulf of California, and the fish is listed on the CITES, the court said, adding that the products were worth of about 2.51 million yuan ($351,000).
To effectively fight the crime, the court has issued a guideline on the smuggling of precious animal products to help judges accurately apply laws and unify (统一) the standards of relevant case hearings.
On Thursday, the court also disclosed four other smuggling cases, showing its determination and effort to protect precious animals by rule of law.
16. What does Wang Jing mainly express in paragraph 2?
A. The diseases that the animal products can be used to cure people of.
B. The way the defendants managed to get the animal products abroad.
C. The reasons why the defendants brought the animal products from abroad.
D. The people who the defendants were supposed to sell the animal products to.
17. What can be learned about the defendant surnamed Yan from paragraph 3?
A. Yan was sentenced to one decade in prison without any fines.
B. Yan was caught when trying to make a deal with someone.
C. Yan’s products were made of a kind of endangered fish.
D. Yan was a migrant worker, who came from Europe.
18. Which can replace the underlined word “disclose” in the last paragraph?
A. Have some doubts about.
B. Feel a little upset about.
C. Try to hide the truth about.
D. Give people information about.
19. What can be a suitable title for the news report?
A. Beijing court handles 77 cases of smuggling animal products
B. Beijing court makes an effort to recognize wild animals products
C. Beijing court helps judges apply laws about smuggling animal products
D. Beijing court issues guideline on smuggling of precious animal products
F
(2024上·辽宁抚顺·高一校联考期末)Songbirds do have a perfect voice. Every species of bird wakes up at a very particular time in the morning and begins to sing. This is because each species has its own specific waking stimulus(刺激), which is linked to the brightness of the sunlight.
Like human beings have to learn to speak, birds also have to learn how to sing. They do this in several stages. First, they practise voices and sounds, which is parable to the early stage in human language development. During the second stage, the birds practise their songs for eight to nine months, until memory and practice match up. The singing is strengthened during the final stage.
Although nightingales got their name as a result of their singing at night, not all nightingales sing at night. Generally, both males and females sing during the day. The night song is used mainly for seeking partners. After succeeding in attracting a female, the male nightingale falls silent and doesn't start his song again until the early morning.
Birds are seasonal singers. We only hear numerous kinds of bird concerts between spring and high summer. This is the time when birds are looking for partners, and when the males aim to impress the females with their song and mark out their territory at the same time. However, even after they have found a partner, male birds continue to sing, because this is the time when they are showing their offspring(幼崽) how to sing.
Birds don’t all sing as well as others, not even within a species. The song of a bird in London will be quite different from that of a bird in Paris or Berlin. Although the members of each bird species share a vocabulary of sounds, dialect differences are quite mon. The individual dialects are not natural but are learnt while the birds are children that adopt the dialect of their parents. The young birds always sing as well or as badly as their teachers, because the adults on whom they model themselves vary in style and talent from region to region.
20. What role does the brightness of sunlight play in birds’ singing?
A. It makes them learn songs easily.
B. It affects where they hold concerts.
C. It leads them to find abundant food.
D. It determines when they begin to sing.
21. What’s the reason for male birds continue to sing after finding partners?
A. To mark its territory
B. To teach its offspring
C. To draw female’s attention
D. To drive enemies away
22. When do birds learn individual dialects?
A. After they leave their homes
B. Before they find partners
C. When they are still young
D. When they bee grownup
23. What is the text mainly about?
A. The varieties of Birdsong
B. The science of Birds’ singing
C. The living environment of Birds
D. The dialects of Bird munication
G
(2024上·辽宁沈阳·高一统考期末)Some chimpanzees(黑猩猩)are much wilder when it es to making beats, scientists have discovered. In a Ugandan rainforest, the chimps have developed their own drumming(击鼓)styles on tree roots. Researchers observed their drumming styles range from rock to jazz. One chimpanzee brought back the style of the late John Bonham, a drummer who played a piece of music, Whole Lotta Love, and is ranked as one of the best. “The chimpanzee makes very fast drums with many evenly separated beats. His drumming is so fast that you can hardly see his hands.” said Catherine, leading scientist of the study.
Drumming with feet and hands with their special calls is used to exchange messages through thick forests, even with miles between them. Ben the Alpha’s call was a close two quick beats and a distant third, sometimes fourth.
Catherine also said. “We could often recognize which chimpanzee was drumming, and it was a fantastic way to find the different ones we were looking for. So if we could recognize, we were sure they could.”
The team was surprised to note the chimpanzees only used their personalized drumming styles when on the move, showing that the chimpanzees could decide whether to be recognized or not. The research could also settle a problem about why these chimpanzees greet each other when they meet but are not observed to say goodbye when they part in the forest. “The chimpanzees don’t need to say goodbye because they’re effectively able to keep in touch.” Catherine said. These longdistance signals give the chimpanzees a way to recognize with each other.
The researchers’ next study will be to explore whether different drumming styles can lead to different drumming cultures among the different chimpanzee populations.
24. What do we know about the chimpanzees in the first paragraph?
A. Their drumming styles are too fast to discover.
B. Their own drumming styles have been formed.
C. Their wild drumming styles are ranked as the best.
D. Their drumming styles are in various music forms.
25. How do the male chimpanzees municate through thick forests?
A. By performing different styles of calling.
B. By beating the drum quickly on tree roots.
C. By bining drumming and special calls.
D. By using their personalized drumming styles.
26. Why is it unnecessary for these chimpanzees to say goodbye?
A. Because they don’t want to be recognized.
B. Because they don’t want to see each other.
C. Because they are on the move all the time.
D. Because they have their own way to contact.
27. Which can be the best title for the text?
A. The Chimps—singers in their special voices
B. The Chimps—drummers in personalized styles
C. The Chimps interested in making musical beats
D. The Chimps delighted in performing with hands
H
(2024上·甘肃·高一统考期末)On the side of the road in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve in northwest China's Qinghai Province, you might see a chubby wolf wagging its tail, rolling on the ground in front of the passing cars in hopes of getting a meal. However, it was skin and bones a few months ago. It is said that the old starving wolf was kicked out of the wolf pack because of its poor hunting ability. But that all changed after a passing driver gave it two pies and posted a video of it online in July, which has made the wolf popular, with people rushing to the area to provide it with food.
Since then, the wolf has given up its hunting instinct(本能) and turned to passersby for snacks that are high in oil, sugar and salt, such as pies, roasted chicken and sausages. Subsequently, more wolves have joined this behavior. The wolfs change has led many netizens to find humor as they are actually acting like pet dogs. However, the change means that it is losing its ability to survive in nature, which is extremely dangerous to wild animals.
“Wolves are part of the food web in the ecosystem, and as people continue to feed them, their habits will change, which will disrupt their role in the ecosystem and affect the stability of the ecosystem,” said Qi Xinzhang, deputy head of the Xining Wildlife Park in the province.
Although wolves sit near the top of the food web, their kill rate is only 14 percent. They don't eat every day. Instead, they live a life of feast or famine, and hunger is their norm.
So far, some parts of the country have enacted laws and regulations prohibiting the feeding of wild animals. Shanghai municipal government implemented regulations on October 1 this year, prohibiting the feeding of wild animals. On October 16, a newly revised wildlife protection law in southwest China's Sichuan Province made it clear that feeding and driving away wild animals are prohibited while observing and photographing them.
28. Why was the wolf kicked out of the wolf pack?
A. His old age.
B. His skinny body.
C. His poor hunting ability.
D. His popularity on the Internet.
29. Why shouldn't tourists feed wild animals?
A. Because wild animal may attack humans.
B. Because wild animals don't like the food.
C. Because wild animals don't have to eat everyday.
D. Because feeding wild animals will affect the ecosystem.
30. What do we know about wolves from this passage?
A. They live like dogs.
B. They can always find something to eat.
C. They are at the bottom of food chain.
D. They don't often succeed in hunting.
31. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. People are taking actions to protect wild animals.
B. People shouldn't observe and photograph wild animals.
C. Laws are newly introduced to protect wild animals recently.
D. People can feed wild animals outside Shanghai and Sichuan.
I
(2024上·黑龙江·高一校联考期末)Half a year ago, Lacey Scott was shopping for supplies at a local pet store in Kansas City, Missouri. When she was in that location, a bored face of a little goldfish attracted her attention, and she didn’t stop staring at it the entire time she was there.
Lying at the bottom of a dark fish tank, the sad fi sh didn’t appear to have much of a wish to survive. Lacey learned from a store clerk that the fish was ten years old and had spent a long time in that depressing tank.
“I couldn’t take my mind off him. I couldn’t bear the thought of a fish who had wasted s o much of its life and would end up dying in a pet store,” Lacey said.
Lacey approached the store owner and asked if she could take the small fish home with her.
What no one realized was that the small fish’s best days were still to e: all it needed was a second chance.
Lacey returned home and built a pond out of various materials for the fish she named “Monstro”. She changed his water every day to keep it clean and fresh, and fed him with only the fish food. Monstro, on the other hand, did not appear to be enjoying his new living environment, not even moving to have his meal.
Despite this, Lacey did not give up on him and continued to provide him with specialized care. “I found him swimming for small amounts of time after a month,” Lacey said. “And it was a t that point that I realized things began to change.”
Monstro’s body began to change as well. The gray scales (鱼鳞) that made him seem unwell began to change colors. His small body began to shine, showing that his condition had improved greatly.
Lacey put Monstro into a much larger tank once he had fully recovered, where he continues to live in the greatest possible way.
32. Why did the goldfish at the pet store catch Lacey Scott’s attention?
A. He was a rare type of goldfish.
B. He looked sad and was tired of life.
C. He looked energetic, colorful and lovely.
D. He was so old that he could hardly move.
33. How was the fish when he just arrived at Lacey’s home?
A. He tried to jump out of the pond.
B. He adapted to his new life very quickly.
C. He seemed not to be fond of his new home.
D. He appeared to be dead and floated on the surface.
34. When did Lacey start to find Monstro’s change?
A. The fish began to swim in the pond.
B. The fish started to eat a lot of food.
C. The fish’s scales began to change color s.
D. The fish came to the surface to breathe.
35. What is the text mainly about?
A. A goldfish bought by a woman recovers from his injury.
B. A woman builds a new pond for an active goldfish.
C. A kind woman saves a goldfish from being killed.
D. A goldfish adopted by a woman starts a new life.
J
(2024上·陕西渭南·高一校考期末)All we know about the abandoned(被抛弃的) newborn cat that made news for its genetic rareness es from a web. A user named V odkaholy posted a handful of photos of the tiny cat with a few background details.
No one knows how the newborn cat ended up in a rubbish bag, but it is very mon for heartless people to abandon cats they choose not to care for. Luckily, V odkaholy’s aunt heard the tiny mews that the cat was letting out. It appears she was the one who rescued the baby, who was only a week old. Not only had the cat been immediately abandoned after it was born, but it was injured and had developed a serious illness. Just a few days old, it had a broken leg and a badly injured paw(爪). Sadly, afte r the cat’s rescuer took it to the vet(兽医), they found out that the paw couldn’t be saved.
No doubt it was a shock to find such a sad cat abandoned in the rubbish bag, but the vet had another big surprise for the woman. It was a male calico cat(花斑猫)! The vet said it was really scarce for calico cats to be male. However, it won’t be a dad to any more calico cats. It was born with some kind of illness, but the vet said it’s normal for male calico cats. “Except for that, it is a normal happy cat, healthy as a horse,” V odkaholy said.
V odkaholy’s aunt is keeping the cat. It grows healthy and happy even if it only has 3 paws. And it is not the first cat this sweet aunt has brought home.
36. What can we infer about the abandoned cat?
A. It had three paws at birth.
B. It was abandoned by a naughty boy.
C. It was in bad condition when it was found.
D. It called loudly when Vodkaholy passed by.
37. What can we say about V odkaholy’s aunt?
A. She is warmhearted and caring.
B. She is smart but impatient.
C. She is hardworking but rude.
D. She is kind and curious.
38. What does the underlined word “scarce” in paragraph 3 mean?
A. Graceful.
B. Challenging.
C. Frightening.
D. Unusual.
39. What is the best title for the text?
A. A Funny Story of a Kind Aunt
B. A Young Cat Lost Its Way Home。