【英语】高考英语阅读理解精编习题含解析

【英语】高考英语阅读理解精编习题含解析一、高中英语阅读理解1．阅读理解Recent summer temperatures in parts of Australia were high enough to melt asphalt. As global warming speeds up the heat and climatic events increase, many plants may be unable to cope. But at least one species of eucalyptus tree can resist extreme heat by continuing to “sweat” when other essential processes stop, a new study finds.As plants change sunlight into food, or photosynthesize (光合作用), they absorb carbon dioxide through pores on their leaves. These pores also release water via transpiration(蒸腾), which circulates nutrients through the plant and helps cool it by evaporation(蒸发). But exceptionally high temperatures are known to greatly reduce photosynthesis—and most existing plant models suggest this should also decrease transpiration, leaving trees in danger of fatally overheating. Because it is difficult for scientists to control and vary trees' conditions in their natural environment, little is known about how individual species handle this situation. Ecologist John Drake of the S.U.N.Y. College of Environmental Science and Forestry and his colleagues grew a dozen Parramatta red gum (Eucalyptus parramattensis) trees in large, climate-controlled plastic pods that separated the trees from the surrounding forest for a year in Richmond, Australia. Six of the trees were grown at surrounding air temperatures and six at temperatures three degrees Celsius higher. The researchers withheld (扣留) water from the surface soil of all 12 trees for a month to imitate a mild dry spell, then induced a four-day “extreme” heat wave: They raised the maximum temperatures in half of the pods（three with surrounding temperatures and three of the warmer ones）— to 44 degrees ℃. Photosynthesis ground to a near halt in the trees facing the artificial heat wave. But to the researchers' surprise, these trees continued to transpire at close-to-normal levels, effectively cooling themselves and their surroundings. The trees grown in warmer conditions coped just as well as the others, and photosynthesis rates bounced back to normal after the heat wave passed, Drake and his colleagues reported online in Global Change Biology.The researchers think the Parramatta red gums were able to effectively sweat — even without photosynthesis — because they are particularly good at tapping into water deep in the soil. But if a heat wave and a severe drought (干旱) were to hit at the same time and the groundwater was exhausted, the trees may not be so lucky, Drake says.Other scientists call the finding encouragin g. “It's definitely good news,” says Trevor Keenan, an ecologist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who was not part of the study. “It would be very interesting to know how this translates to other species,” he adds. Drake hopes to conduct similar experiments with trees common in North America.（1）How does one species of eucalyptus tree cope with extreme heat waves?A. By releasing water.B. By blocking sunlight.C. By absorbing groundwater.D. By reducing photosynthesis.（2）What did the researchers do during their study?A. They grew all the trees in artificial temperatures.B. They induced a heat wave in a dozenpods of trees.C. They created climate-controlled surroundings for trees.D. They varied trees' conditions in their natural environment.（3）The underlined phrase “ground to a near halt” in Paragraph 4 means “________”. A. continued B. substituted C. strengthened D. ceased（4）What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?A. Photosynthesis is necessary for the trees to sweat.B. No further experiments will be done other species.C. Other species will be transplanted to North America.D. Groundwater helps the trees survive the extreme heat.【答案】（1）A（2）C（3）D（4）D【解析】【分析】本文是一篇说明文，联合国环境科学与林业学院的生态学家John Drake 和他的同事们通过对红桉树做实验，得出结论：在极度的高温中，红桉树仍然可以通过释放水分来抵抗热浪，获得生存。

(1)考查细节理解。

根据第一段中的“But at least one species of eucalyptus tree can resist extreme heat by continuing to 'sweat’”可知，桉树通过“流汗”，即释放水分来抵抗极度的热，故选A。

(2)考查细节理解。

根据第三段中的“Ecologist John Drake… and his colleagues grew a dozen Parramatta red gum … trees in large, climate-controlled plastic pods that separated the trees from the surrounding forest for a year in Richmond, Australia.”可知，研究者们将12棵红桉树种植在巨大的，气候受控制的塑料舱里，这种塑料仓将这些树和周围的森林分离开来。

可知，研究者们为这些树创造了一个气候受控制的生长环境，故选C。

(3)考查词义猜测。

根据第二段中的“But exceptionally high temperatures are known to greatly reduce photosynthesis”可知，极度的高温会减少光合作用。