高考英语阅读理解科普文难度较高完整版

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2014年高考英语二轮复习阅读理解拉分题（较难题目）特训：节
能环保类
1
The Goldman Environmental Foundation recently recognized a group of
individuals (个体) for their efforts to protect the environment. Each year,
the American-based group honors environmental activists from six different areas.
The first three winners of the 2012 Goldman Prize are from Kenya, the Philippines and China.
The Goldman Environmental Foundation says Ikal Angelei is a hero to those who live around Lake Turkana. The Kenyan woman received the award because of her efforts to stop a dam project on a river in Ethiopia. Critics say the dam will harm the lake and restrict (限制) the flow of water for people who live nearby. The Philippine island of Mindoro is home to those who depend on the area’s natural resources for food and jobs. Edwin Gariguez became concerned when a European company announced plans to mine for nickel (镍) on the island. The Roman Catholic minister said waste materials from the mining project would pollute the water and destroy the forests. So he started a campaign to stop
the project.
In China, Ma June is working with businesses to clean up their pollution. He formed a group that collects information about pollution, and publishes it on the Internet.
The Goldman Prize was also awarded to activists from Argentina, Russia and the United States.
Sofia Gatica of Argentina is from a town where farmers commonly use pesticide (杀虫剂) products to protect soybean crops from insects. The town also has a high rate of cancer. Sofia Gatica belie ved that pesticide use was responsible for the death of her baby. She worked with other mothers to get government officials to ban the use of chemicals near populated areas.
Evgenia Chirikova objects to the plans to build a road through a protected forest just outside Moscow. She has demanded that Russian officials redirect
th e road away from the forest. She and her followers have been arrested for their activities. However, their campaign has gained widespread public support. The sixth winner is American Caroline Cannon—a community leader in Point Hope, Alaska. Miz Cannon is fighting to keep Arctic waters safe from oil and gas
exp loration.
60. We can know from the passage that ______.
A. the dam project has been prevented
B. the first three activists are all from Asia
C. a European company is going to dig for nickel
D. Ma June is trying to stop oil and gas exploration
61. From the 7th paragraph, we can know that ______.
A. pesticide use accounts for a high-rate of cancer
B. Sofia managed to ban the use of chemicals
C. the farmers mainly live on unpolluted products
D. the death of the baby was due to delayed treatment
62. What do we know about Evgenia Chirikova
A. She plans to build a road to protect the forest.
B. She is in charge of a project far away from the road.
C. She persuaded the government to set her followers free.
D. Her environmental action has been widely acknowledged.
63. What would be the best title for the passage
A. Six Advanced Individuals for Hard Work
B. Efforts to Create a Clean and Beautiful World
C. Six Environmental Activists Win Goldman Prize
D. The Goldman Environmental Foundation Prize
2
SCS Global Services （SCS） has evaluated a new methodology for measuring the carbon sequestration（封存） ability of soil under the Verified（验证） Carbon Standard （VCS）, a leading greenhouse gas （GHG） accounting system. The methodology, developed by The Earth Partners, will allow land managers who sequester GHGs in grasslands and farmlands to produce carbon credits for sale in the voluntary market.
Managers of grasslands and farmlands can increase carbon sequestration in soil by practices such as changing grazing（放牧） practices and operating treatments designed to improve the variety and productivity of plant groups. The Earth Partners is presently piloting this methodology with farmers across seven million acres of the Palouse River and Columbia Plateau regions in the Pacific Northwest.
“The VCS p rogram has achieved an important milestone in now combining grassland and rangeland carbon offset（抵消，补偿） projects," said Dr. Robert J. Hrubes, Executive Vice President of SCS."SCS looks forward to approving and verifying agricultural carbon offset projects that use this very powerful new methodology."
The VM0021 Soil Carbon Quantification Methodology is based on decades of soil carbon research and testing conducted by top soil scientists. The methodology was developed by The Earth Partners and verified by Environmental Services, Inc. as well as SCS Global Services. It is the first soil carbon methodology to be approved for use under the VCS.
"This widely tested methodology is the first to specially deal with soils in a market," said Steven I. Apfelbaum, Chairman of Applied Ecological Services, Inc. and Director of Science with The Earth Partners. According to Apfelbaum, soils represent the second largest living sink of carbon on the planet.
68. The new methodology is assessed according to .
A. The Earth Partners
B. the Verified Carbon Standard
C. Environmental Services, Inc.
D. Applied Ecological Services, Inc.
69. Carbon sequestration in soil can be strengthened by .
A. selling carbon credits in the voluntary market
B. changing grazing practices and operating treatments
C. reducing the variety and productivity of plant groups
D. decreasing farmlands in the Pacific Northwest
70. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. The VCS program proves to be successful in carbon offset projects.
B. Many soil Carbon Methodologies have already been approved for use.
C. The new methodology has been tested in many fields including soil.
D. Soils seem to be the largest living sink of carbon on the planet.
71. What is the attitude of SCS towards the new methodology?
A. Opposed.
B. Cautious.
C. Doubtful.
D. Approving.
3
Rainforest is home to around two-thirds of all plant and animal species found on land—in addition to millions of people who depend on them for survival—our remaining ancient forests are some of the most diverse ecosystems known to science. They are also vitally important to the health of our planet, especially when it comes to regulating the climate. But ancient forests around the world are under attack.
Protecting rainforests is on the global agenda (议事日程) in a big way. Governments now recognize the importance of protecting tropical forests in order to avoid dangerous climate change, and there is now much debate. As governments try to thrash out the details of a new international agreement, expected to be signed at the end of 2009, they are discussing how best to include measures to save rainforests, and therefore address one of the major
causes of climate change. Worldwide, forest destruction causes more greenhouse gas emissions (排放) each year than do all the trains, planes and cars on the planet. So if we are to deal with global warming, there is an urgent need to find ways to reduce the 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by
forest destruction each year, and to keep the remaining forests standing.
We need to protect the planet’s remaining forests not only to stop climate change from getting worse, but to ensure that we can stand the impacts of
global warming. Healthy forests absorb and store quantities of carbon, helping to regulate temperature and generate rain. When they are destroyed, this
carbon is released into the atmosphere. Thus keeping forests standing is both
a critical part of regulating climate change and of adapting to a warmer world. To date, most of the talk has focused on how to pay for reducing deforestation (滥伐森林), rather than on how to actually go about doing it. We believe governments need to support local people to protect their environment, as we have been showing for 20 years can be a very effective way of saving rainforests.
1. The best title for the passage is .
A. Rainforest and Climate Change
B. Strategies on Protecting Rainforest
C. Serious Deforestation to Rainforest
D. Present Situation of Rainforest
2. From the first paragraph we can infer that .
A. we have little rainforest left until now
B. the ancient forests are being destroyed
C. rainforest control the planet in many ways
D. Rainforest is home to all plants and animals on earth
3. The underlined part “thrash out” in the second paragraph means.
A. try to understand
B. come up with
C. hide away
D. have
a thorough discussion
4. Greenhouse gas emissions caused by forest destruction .
A. are the same amount by transport on earth
B. take 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions
C. can be avoided by setting measures only
D. have nothing to do with climate change
5. From the text we can learn that healthy forest .
A. can keep us healthy and happy
B. can increase the effect from global warming
C. can be helpful in adjusting the temperature
D. can give out large amounts of carbon
4
Rivers may be a significant source of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (一氧化
二氮), scientists now find.
Their calculation suggests that across the globe the waterways contribute
three times the amount of nitrous oxide to the atmosphere as had been
estimated by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations scientific body charged with reviewing climate change research. They found that the amount of nitrous oxide produced in streams is related to human activities that release nitrogen (氮) into the environment, such as fertilizer use and sewage discharges.
“Human activities, including fossil fuel combustion and intensive agriculture, ha ve increased the availability of nitrogen in the environment,” said Jake Beaulieu of the University of Notre Dame and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, and lead author of the paper published this week
in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Much of this nitrogen is transported into river and stream networks,” Beaulieu said. There, microbes (微生物) convert the nitrogen into nitrous oxide (also called laughing gas) and an inert gas called dinitrogen (二氮). The finding is important, the researchers say, because nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and destruction of the stratosphere’s ozone layer, which protects us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (紫外线) radiation. Compared with carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide is 300-fold more powerful in terms of its warming potential, though carbon dioxide is a far more common greenhouse gas. Scientists estimate nitrous oxide accounts for about 6 percent of human-induced climate change.
Beaulieu and colleagues measured nitrous oxide production rates in 72 streams. When summed across the globe, the results showed rivers and streams are the source of at least 10 percent of human-caused nitrous oxide emissions to the atmosphere.
“Changes in agricultural and land-use practices that result in less nitrogen being delivered to streams would reduce nitrous oxide emissions from river networks,” Beaulieu said.
1. From the second paragraph we can learn .
A. actually rivers give off much more nitrous oxide than expected
B. scientists’ calculation is totally wrong
C. human activities release nitrous oxide in to the rivers
D. there is no nitrogen in fertilizer
2. Which of the following is NOT the source of nitrogen
A. Fertilizer use.
B. Sewage discharges.
C. Fossil fuel combustion.
D. Climate change.
3. Nitrous oxide is a powerful greenhouse gas because .
A. it can protect us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet radiation
B. it is to blame for most of human-induced climate change
C. it is a far more common greenhouse gas
D. it has much more warming potential than carbon dioxide
4. What does the passage mainly tells us
A. Rivers may be a source of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide.
B. It’s human activities that release nitrogen int o the environment.
C. How to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from river networks
D What to do with the climate change caused by nitrous oxide.
5
The Maldives faces the threat of extinction from rising sea levels, but the government said on Thursday it was looking to the future with plans to build homes and a golf course that float.
An increase in sea levels of just 18 to 59 centimeters would make the Maldives—a nation of tiny coral islands in the Indian Ocean—virtually uninhabitable by 2100, the UN’s cli mate change panel has warned.
President Mohamed Nasheed has vowed a fight for survival, and last month he signed a deal with a Dutch company to study proposals for a floating structure that could support a conference centre, homes and an 18-hole golf course.
“It is still early stages and we are awaiting a report on the practicality,”
a government official who declined to be named said.
The company, Dutch Docklands, is currently building floating developments in the Netherlands and Dubai. There was no immediate comment from the firm but
its website said it undertook projects that make “land from water by providing large-scale floating constructions to create similar conditions as on land”.
The Maldives began to work on an artificial island known as the Hulhumale near the crowded capital island of Male in 1997 and more than 30,000 people have
been settled there to ease congestion. The city, which has a population of 100,000, is already protected from rising sea levels by a 30-million-dollar sea wall, and the government is considering increasingly imaginative ways to combat climate change.
Nasheed, who staged the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting in October
to highlight his people’s serious and difficult situation, has even spoken of buying land elsewhere in the world to enable Maldivians to relocate if their homes are completed covered.
He has also promised to turn his nation into a model for the rest of the world by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2020. His plan involves ending fossil fuel use and pow ering all vehicles and buildings from “green” sources such as burning coconut husks.
1. Why do you think Mohamed Nasheed chose Dutch Docklands
A. Because it has experience in building floating structure.
B. Because it has a good fame throughout the world.
C. Because it charged much less than other companies.
D. Because it supports building floating structures in the world.
2. The Hulhumale was built with the purpose of .
A. attracting more visitors
B. making it a new capital
C. making the capital less crowded
D. fighting against climate change
3. According to the last two paragraphs, Nasheed is a person who .
A. has succeeded in buying land abroad
B. is more than well-known
C. has thought more for his nation
D. has stopped using fossil fuel
4. The underlined word “vowed” in paragraph 3 can be replaced by.
A. ended
B. promised
C. failed
D. weighed
6
PLAYA GRANDE, COSTA RICA This resort town was long known for Leatherback Sea Turtle (棱皮龟) national Park, nightly turtle beach tours and even a sea
turtle museum. However, on a beach where dozens of turtles used to nest on a given night, scientists spied only 32 leatherbacks all of last year.
With leatherbacks threatened with extinction (灭绝), Playa Grande’s turtle museum was abandoned three years ago and now sits among a sea of weeds. And the beachside ticket office for turtle tours was washed away by a high tide in
September. “We do not promote that as a turtle tourism destination any more because we realize there are far too few turtles to please,” said Alvaro Fonseca, a park ranger (管理员).
Even before scientists found temperatures going up over the past decade, sea turtles were threatened by beach development, drift net fishing and Costa Ricans interest in eating turtle eggs. But climate change may cause the most serious harm to an animal that has lived in the Pacific for 150 million years. Sea turtles are sensitive to numerous effects of warming. They feed on reefs, which are dying in hotter seas. They lay eggs on beaches that are being covered by rising seas and more violent waves.
More uniquely their gender (性别) is determined, not by genes but by the
egg’s temperature during development. Small rises in beach temperatures can result in ail-female populations, obviously problematic for survival. If the sand around the eggs hits 30 degrees Celsius, the gender balance shits to females: at about 32 degrees they are all female. Above 34, you get boiled eggs.
On some nesting beaches, scientists are artificially cooling nests with shade or irrigation and trying to protect broader areas of coastal property from development to ensure that turtles have a place to nest as the seas rise.
5. Why does the resort town stop promoting it’s turtle tourism
A. It decides no t to disturb the turtles’ normal life.
B. Tourists have lost interest in watching turtles.
C. There are only very few turtles now.
D. The turtle museum was destroyed by a high tide.
6. Which of the following is the major factor in the turtles endangerment
A. The locals eating habit.
B. Drift net fishing.
C. Beach development.
D. Global warming.
7. We learn from the last paragraph that scientists .
A. are doing research on the sea rise
B. are moving turtles to new homes
C. are protecting turtles’ nests
D. are getting rid of sea weeds
8. The passage intends to .
A. introduce a special kind of sea turtle
B. explain the mystery of turtles’ eggs
C. show the dangers a certain kind of turtle is facing
D. attract more visitors to a sea turtle museum
7
Sometimes, the simplest ideas are the best. For example, to absorb heat from the sun to heat water, you need large, flat, black surfaces. One way to do
that is to build those surfaces specially, on the roofs of buildings. But why go to all that trouble when cities are full of black surfaces already, in the form of asphalt(柏油) roads
Ten years ago, this thought came into the mind of Arian de Bondt, a Dutch engineer. He finally persuaded his boss to follow it up. The result is that their building is now heated in winter and cooled in summer by a system that relies on the surface of the road outside.
The heat-collector is a system of connected water pipes. Most of them run from one side of the street to the other, just under the asphalt road. Some, however, dive deep into the ground.
When the street surface gets hot in summer, water pumped through the pipes picks up this heat and takes it underground through one of the diving pipes. At a depth of 100 metres lies a natural aquifer(蓄水层) into which several heat exchangers(交换器) have been built. The hot water from the street runs through these exchangers, warming the ground-water, before returning to the surface through another pipe. The aquifer is thus used as a heat store.
In winter, the working system is changed slightly. Water is pumped through the he at exchangers to pick up the heat stored during summer. This water goes into the building and is used to warm the place up. After performing that task, it is pumped under the asphalt and its remaining heat keeps the road free of snow and ice.
1. Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs
A. Arian de Bondt got his idea from his boss.
B. Large, flat, black surfaces need to be built in cities.
C. The Dutch engineer’s system has been widely used.
D. Heat can also be collected from asphalt roads.
2. For what purpose are the diving pipes used
A. To absorb heat from the sun.
B. To store heat for future use.
C. To turn solar energy into heat energy.
D. To carry heat down below the surface.
3. From the last paragraph we can learn that .
A. some pipes have to be re-arranged in winter
B. the system can do more than warming up the building
C. the exchangers will pick up heat from the street surface
D. less heat may be collected in winter than in summer
4. What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows
A. What we shall do if the system goes wrong.
B. What we shall do if there are no asphalt roads.
C. How the system cools the building in summer.
D. How the system collects heat in spring and autumn.
8
We already know the fastest, least expensive way to slow climate change: Use less energy. With a little effort, and not much money, most of us could reduce our energy diets by 25 percent or more—doing the Earth a favor while also helping our wallets.
Not long ago, my wife, PJ, and I tried a new diet—not to lose a little weight but to answer an annoying question about climate change. Scientists have reported recently that the world is heating up even faster than predicted only a few years ago, and that the consequences could be severe if we don’t keep
) and other greenhouse gases reducing emissions(排放) of carbon dioxide(CO
2
that are trapping heat in our atmosphere.
We decided to try an experiment. For one month we recorded our personal
. We wanted to see how much we could cut back, so we went on a emissions of CO
2
a strict die t. The average US household(家庭) produces about 150 pounds of CO
2 day by doing common-place things like turning on air-conditioning or driving cars. That’s more than twice the European average and almost five times the global average, mostly because Americans drive more and have bigger houses. But how much should we try to reduce
For an answer, I checked with Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers:
How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth. In his book, he had challenged readers to make deep cuts in personal emissions to keep the world from reaching extremely important tipping points, such as the melting(融化) of the ice sheets in Greenland or West Antarctica. “To stay below that point, we need to reduce CO
emissions by 80 percent, “ he said.
2
Good advice, I thought. I’d opened our bedroom windows to let in the wind. We’d gotten so used to keeping our air-conditioning going around the clock. I’d almost forgotten the windows even opened. We should not let this happen again. It’s time for us to change our hab its if necessary.
1. Why did the author and his wife try a new diet
A. To take special kinds of food.
B. To respond to climate change.
C. To lose weight.
D. To improve their health.
2. The underlined words “tipping points” most probably refer to “”.
A. freezing points
B. burning points
C. melting points
D. boiling points
3. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. it is necessary to keep the air-conditioning on all the time
B. it seems possible for every household to cut emissions of CO
2
a month
C. the average US household produces about 3, 000 pounds of CO
2
a month D. the average European household produces about 1, 000 pounds of CO
2
4. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage
A. Saving Energy Starts at Home
B. Changing Our Habits Begins at Work
C. Changing Climate Sounds Reasonable
Proves Difficult
D. Reducing Emissions of CO
2
9
The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world’s supply of water. With 97% of the world’s w ater too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage (短缺) seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world’s agricultural industries experience constant water shortages. Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution (重新分配) are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys (山谷) are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.
This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation (灌溉). In Texas, farmers’ overuse of irrgation water has resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southwestern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.
Saudi Arabia’s attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping
o f huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry.
1. From the first two paragraphs we learn that .
A. much of the world’s water is available for use
B. people in high rainfall countries feel lucky
C. the costs of water redistribution should be considered
D. water can be easily carried through pipes across the world
2. Which of the following is true
A. The water stores in Texas have been reduced by 75%.
B. Most industries in the world suffer from water shortages.
C. The underground water in Saudi Arabia might run out in 50 years.
D. Good management of water use resulted from the project in the Central Valley.
3. What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows
A. Steps to improving water use management.
B. Ways to reduce the costs of building dams.
C. Measures to deal with worldwide water shortages.
D. Approaches to handling the pressure on water supply.
4. The text is mainly about .
A. water supply and increasing population
B. water use management and agriculture
C. water redistribution and wildlife protection
D. water shortages and environmental protection
10
Businesses are witnessing a difficult time, which has in turn produced influence on consumers’ desire to go green. However, shopper s are still laying stress on environmental concerns.
Two thirds of customers say that environmental considerations inform their purchases to the same degree as they did a year ago, while more than a quarter say that they are now even better aware of the environmental effect on what they buy.
This may help to influence how shops store goods on their shelves. And the companies should still make efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Two out of three people think it is important to buy from environmentally responsible companies, with about one in seven saying that they had even decided to take their custom elsewhere if they felt a company’s environmental reputation was not good enough.
Harry Morrison, chief executive (主管) of the Carbon Trust, sympathizes: “I understand this situation where survival is very important now. But f rom environmental considerations, the clock is ticking—we don’t have much time. In addition, cutting carbon has an immediate effect as costs drop and a medium-term benefit for the brand.”
Larger companies have an extra motivation to look at reducing their carbon footprint, as new rules next year will require businesses to buy carbon allowances to make up for their emissions (排放). Those that have taken early action will have a head start. More than two thirds of consumers are not clear about which companies are environmentally responsible. This suggests that firms that are able to relay clearly their message to the public will be in a pole position to attract shoppers.。