新高考高三英语时文阅读精选(含答案解析)

新高考高三英语时文阅读精选（含答案解析）

A

Climate protection and public health have striking similarities. The benefits of both can be enjoyed by everyone, even by individuals who do not contribute to the collective efforts to address these problems. If climate change slows down, both drivers of gas-guzzlers and electric cars will benefit — although the former did not help in climate efforts. Similarly, if the spread of Coronavirus is halted, individuals who refused to wash their hands, as well as the ones who washed them assiduously, will enjoy the restored normal life.

Most countries have gotten their acts together, although behind time, on Coronavirus. Citizens also seem to be following the advice of public health officials. Could then the Coronavirus policy model be applied to climate change? We urge caution because these crises are different, which means that policies that worked well for Coronavirus might not be effective for climate change.

Climate change is the defining crisis of our times. Floods, hurricanes, forest fires, and extreme weather events have become more frequent and severe over the years. Although climate change generates passionate discussions in big cities and university campuses, there is inadequate public call for immediate action. Some types of decarbonization policies are certainly in place. However, carbon-intensive lifestyles continue. This policy lethargy (无精打采) and behavioral inertia (惰性) are due to many reasons, including concerted opposition by the fossil fuel industry to deep decarbonization. But there are other reasons as well. Climate change is cumulative and does not have a quick onset. Its effects are not always immediate and visible. Many individuals probably do not see a clear link between their actions and the eventual outcome. This reduces the willingness to alter lifestyles and tolerate personal sacrifices for the collective good.

In contrast, Coronavirus is forcing an immediate policy response and behavioral changes. Its causality is clear and its onset quick. Lives are at stake, especially in western countries. The stock markets are tanking, and the economy is heading towards a recession. Politicians recognize that waffling can lead to massive consequences, even in the short-term. Corona-skeptic President Trump has reversed course and declared a national emergency.

1. What does the writer think climate protection and public health have in common?

A. They can’t be influenced by what people do.

B. They only benefit those who contribute to them.

C. They usually punish those who do harm to them.

D. They offer benefits to everyone whatever people do.

2. Which word can take the place of the underlined word “assiduously”?

A. Attentively.

B. Absolutely.

C. Abundantly.

D. Alternatively.

3. Why are people unwilling to change their carbon-intensive lifestyles?

A. Because they think the climate is none of their business.

B. Because they think what they do has no effect on the climate.

C. Because they can’t see the quick result from what they do to the climate.

D. Because they don’t clearly know how their lifestyles influence the climate.

4. Which of the following does the author disagree with?

A. President Trump had a skeptic attitude to coronavirus at first.

B. Compared with climate change, coronavirus has a quick result.

C. People are willing to change their lifestyles because of coronavirus.

D. Many countries have responded to coronavirus quickly and effectively.

B

Robots, Not Humans, Are the New Space Explorers “Since the days of Apollo, the greatest adventures in space have been these robots that have gone all over the solar system,” says Emily Lakdawalla, a self-described planetary evangelist①at the Planetary Society.

By “these robots,” Lakdawalla means the various robotic probes that have flown past planets, moons and asteroids②— orbiting③some, landing on others.

Millions of people around the world have watched with delight as the six-wheeled rovers④have trundled across the Martian surface, snapping pictures and taking selfies.

At Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., Matthew Shindell says visitors make a point of coming to the planetary exhibit in a gallery tucked into the west end of the museum.

Shindell is the museum’s planetary science curator⑤. A prominent⑥feature of the gallery is a large glass case containing versions⑦of all the rovers that NASA has sent to Mars, from the tiny Sojourner rover that landed in 1997 to the 2,000-pound Curiosity rover that arrived in 2012.