For most of recorded history, the struggle to eat has been the main focus of human activity, and all but a handful of people were either farmers or farm workers. Starvation was ever-present threat. Even the best years rarely yielded much of a surplus to carry over as an insurance against leaner times. In the worst situation, none but the powerful could be sure of a full stomach.
Now most people in rich countries never have to worry about where the next meal is coming from. In 1900 two in every five American workers laboured on a farm: now one in 5Q does. Even in poor places such as India, where famine still struck until the mid-20th century, the assumption that everyone will have something to eat is increasingly built into the rhythm of life.
That assumption, though, leads to complacency(自满情结). Famine has ended in much of the world, but it still stalks parts of Africa -Ethiopia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, to name three countries, depend on handouts of food. And millions of people still suffer from malnutrition. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO), some 2 billion of the world's 7.3 billion people do not have enough to eat. Moreover, by 2050, the total population is projected to grow to almost 10 billion. Add this to the rising demand for meat, fish, milk and eggs, which is born of prosperity and which requires extra fodder to satisfy, and 70% more food will be needed in 2050 than was produced in 2009, the year the FAO did the calculation. That is a tall order. But it is not impossible.
Since the time of Thomas Malthus, an economist writing a little over 200 years ago, people have worried that population growth would outstrip(超过)food supply. So far, it has not. But neo-Malthusians spot worrying signs. One is that in some places the productivity of staples(主食)such as rice and wheat has reached a plateau(停滞期).Neither new strains nor fancy agrochemicals are raising yields. Nor is there much unfarmed land left that is suitable to be brought under the plough. Neo-Malthusians also suggest that, if global temperatures continue to rise, some places will become unfarmable -particularly poor, tropical regions.
These are reasonable, concerns. But they can be overcome by two things: the application and spread of technology, and the implementation of sensible government policies.
Agricultural technology is changing fast. Much of this change is brought about by rich-world farmers and by rich fanners in middle-income places like Brazil. Techniques developed in the West 一 especially genome-based breeding that can create crops with special properties almost to order 一 are being adapted to make tropical crops. Such smart breeding, in alliance with new, precise techniques of genetic modification, should break through the yield plateaus. It can also produce crops with properties such as drought and heat-resistance that will. reduce the effects of global warming. Drought-resistant maize created in this way is already on the market.
The developing world applies as little to existing farming techniques as it does to the latest advances in genetic modification. Yield plateaus are a phenomenon only of the most intensively farmed parts of the world. Extending to the smallholders and subsistence farmers of Africa and Asia the best of today's agricultural practices, in such simple matters as how much fertilizer to apply and when, would get humanity quite a long way towards a 70% increase in output.
Indeed, government policy on reducing waste more generally would make a huge difference. The FAO says that about a third of food is lost during or after harvest. In rich countries a lot of food is thrown away by consumers. In poor ones it does not reach consumers in the first place. Bad harvesting practices, poor storage and slow transport mean that food is damaged, spoiled or lost to pests. Changing that, which is mostly a question of building things like better, pest-proof grain silos and monitoring their contents properly, would take a big bite out of the 70% increase.
The neo-Malthusians may throw up their hands in despair, but consider this: despite all the apparent obstacles, from yield plateaus to climate change, in the six years following the FAO analysis cereal production rose by 11%. If growth like that continues it should not only be possible to feed the 10 billion, but to feed them well.
1.According to Paragraphs 1 and 2, we can know that most people in the modern world ______ .
A.usually take food for granted .
B.are successfully getting rid of farming
C.tend to deal with lean years skillfully
D.enjoy equal rights to get good food
2.What does the underlined sentence, in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Feeding a population of almost 10 billion can be expensive.
B.A precise calculation of the food growth rate is hard to make.
C.Increasing the output of food by 70% in given years is very difficult.
D.There is no parallel to the rising demand for high-quality food in history.
3.According to the passage, neo-Malthusians ______.
A.have disproved Thomas Malthus' argument
B.have contributed to the increased output of crops
C.have found that population growth will exceed food supply
D.have claimed that climate change may influence food production
4.What can we infer from the example of the develop world in Paragraph 7?
A.Technology is of little use if it is not adopted.
B.Yield plateaus are common to see all over the world.
C.The developing world has got used to existing farming techniques.
D.More advanced agricultural practices should be introduced to the developing world.
5.The underlined part "take a big bite out of" in the last but one paragraph is closest in meaning to “______ "
A.make a big profit of.
B.take full advantage of
C.indicate the influence of.
D.reduce a significant amount of
6.What does the author think of the future of le world's food supply?
A.It is worrying. B.It is promising.
C.It is controversial. D.It is uncertain.
高三英语阅读理解困难题
For most of recorded history, the struggle to eat has been the main focus of human activity, and all but a handful of people were either farmers or farm workers. Starvation was ever-present threat. Even the best years rarely yielded much of a surplus to carry over as an insurance against leaner times. In the worst situation, none but the powerful could be sure of a full stomach.
Now most people in rich countries never have to worry about where the next meal is coming from. In 1900 two in every five American workers laboured on a farm: now one in 5Q does. Even in poor places such as India, where famine still struck until the mid-20th century, the assumption that everyone will have something to eat is increasingly built into the rhythm of life.
That assumption, though, leads to complacency(自满情结). Famine has ended in much of the world, but it still stalks parts of Africa -Ethiopia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, to name three countries, depend on handouts of food. And millions of people still suffer from malnutrition. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation(FAO), some 2 billion of the world's 7.3 billion people do not have enough to eat. Moreover, by 2050, the total population is projected to grow to almost 10 billion. Add this to the rising demand for meat, fish, milk and eggs, which is born of prosperity and which requires extra fodder to satisfy, and 70% more food will be needed in 2050 than was produced in 2009, the year the FAO did the calculation. That is a tall order. But it is not impossible.
Since the time of Thomas Malthus, an economist writing a little over 200 years ago, people have worried that population growth would outstrip(超过)food supply. So far, it has not. But neo-Malthusians spot worrying signs. One is that in some places the productivity of staples(主食)such as rice and wheat has reached a plateau(停滞期).Neither new strains nor fancy agrochemicals are raising yields. Nor is there much unfarmed land left that is suitable to be brought under the plough. Neo-Malthusians also suggest that, if global temperatures continue to rise, some places will become unfarmable -particularly poor, tropical regions.
These are reasonable, concerns. But they can be overcome by two things: the application and spread of technology, and the implementation of sensible government policies.
Agricultural technology is changing fast. Much of this change is brought about by rich-world farmers and by rich fanners in middle-income places like Brazil. Techniques developed in the West 一 especially genome-based breeding that can create crops with special properties almost to order 一 are being adapted to make tropical crops. Such smart breeding, in alliance with new, precise techniques of genetic modification, should break through the yield plateaus. It can also produce crops with properties such as drought and heat-resistance that will. reduce the effects of global warming. Drought-resistant maize created in this way is already on the market.
The developing world applies as little to existing farming techniques as it does to the latest advances in genetic modification. Yield plateaus are a phenomenon only of the most intensively farmed parts of the world. Extending to the smallholders and subsistence farmers of Africa and Asia the best of today's agricultural practices, in such simple matters as how much fertilizer to apply and when, would get humanity quite a long way towards a 70% increase in output.
Indeed, government policy on reducing waste more generally would make a huge difference. The FAO says that about a third of food is lost during or after harvest. In rich countries a lot of food is thrown away by consumers. In poor ones it does not reach consumers in the first place. Bad harvesting practices, poor storage and slow transport mean that food is damaged, spoiled or lost to pests. Changing that, which is mostly a question of building things like better, pest-proof grain silos and monitoring their contents properly, would take a big bite out of the 70% increase.
The neo-Malthusians may throw up their hands in despair, but consider this: despite all the apparent obstacles, from yield plateaus to climate change, in the six years following the FAO analysis cereal production rose by 11%. If growth like that continues it should not only be possible to feed the 10 billion, but to feed them well.
1.According to Paragraphs 1 and 2, we can know that most people in the modern world ______ .
A.usually take food for granted .
B.are successfully getting rid of farming
C.tend to deal with lean years skillfully
D.enjoy equal rights to get good food
2.What does the underlined sentence, in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Feeding a population of almost 10 billion can be expensive.
B.A precise calculation of the food growth rate is hard to make.
C.Increasing the output of food by 70% in given years is very difficult.
D.There is no parallel to the rising demand for high-quality food in history.
3.According to the passage, neo-Malthusians ______.
A.have disproved Thomas Malthus' argument
B.have contributed to the increased output of crops
C.have found that population growth will exceed food supply
D.have claimed that climate change may influence food production
4.What can we infer from the example of the develop world in Paragraph 7?
A.Technology is of little use if it is not adopted.
B.Yield plateaus are common to see all over the world.
C.The developing world has got used to existing farming techniques.
D.More advanced agricultural practices should be introduced to the developing world.
5.The underlined part "take a big bite out of" in the last but one paragraph is closest in meaning to “______ "
A.make a big profit of.
B.take full advantage of
C.indicate the influence of.
D.reduce a significant amount of
6.What does the author think of the future of le world's food supply?
A.It is worrying. B.It is promising.
C.It is controversial. D.It is uncertain.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The rise of the Internet has been one of the most transformative developments in human history, comparable in impact to the invention of the printing press and the telegraph. Over two billion people worldwide now have access to vastly more information than ever before, and can communicate with each other instantly, often using Web-connected mobile devices they carry everywhere. But the Internet’s tremendous impact has only just begun.
“Mass adoption of the Internet is driving one of the most exciting social, cultural, and political transformations in history, and unlike earlier periods of change, this time the effects are fully global,” Schmidt and Cohen write in their new book The New Digital Age.
Perhaps the most profound changes will come when the five billion people worldwide who currently lack Internet access get online. The authors do an excellent job of examining the implications of the Internet revolution for individuals, governments, and institutions like the news media. But if the book has one major shortcoming, it’s that authors don’t spend enough time applying a critical eye to the role of Internet businesses in these sweeping changes.
In their book, the authors provide the most authoritative volume to date that describes — and more importantly predicts — how the Internet will shape our lives in the coming decades. They paint a picture of a world in which individuals, companies, institutions, and governments must deal with two realities, one physical, and one virtual.
At the core of the book is the idea that “technology is neutral, but people aren’t.” By using this concept as a starting point, the authors aim to move beyond the now familiar optimist vs. pessimist dichotomy (对立观点) that has characterized many recent debates about whether the rise of the Internet will ultimately be good or bad for society. In an interview with TIME earlier this week, Cohen said although he and his co-author are optimistic about many aspects of the Internet, they’re also realistic about the risks and dangers that lie ahead when the next five billion people come online, particularly with respect to personal privacy and state surveillance(监视).
【题文1】 In what way is the rise of the Internet similar to the invention of the printing press and the telegraph?
A. It transforms human history.
B. It revolutionizes people's thinking.
C. It is adopted by all human beings.
D. It makes daily communication easy.
【题文2】 In what respect is the book The New Digital Age considered inadequate?
A. It lacks an objective evaluation of the role of Internet businesses
B. It fails to look into the social implications of the Internet.
C. It fails to recognize the impact of the Internet technology.
D. It does not address the technical aspects of Internet communication.
1.What will the future be like when everybody gets online?
A. People don’t have to travel to see the world.
B. People will have equal access to information.
C. People will be living in two different realities.
D. People don’t have to communicate face to face.
2.What does the passage say about the authors of The New Digital Age?
A. They leave many questions unanswered concerning the Internet.
B. They don’t take sides in analyzing the effects of the Internet.
C. They have explored the unknown territories of the virtual world.
D. They are optimistic about the future of the Internet revolution.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
With many college graduates struggling to find jobs, one of the most important for you to understand is that you're in school all your life. In fact, your real education is just beginning.
I'd like to pass on a few lessons that you didn't necessarily get in school. If you've been out of school for a few years or a lot of years, they could still teach you something.
· Develop relationships and keep networking, if I had to name a single characteristic shared by all the truly successful people I've met, I'd say it is the ability to create and nurture (培育) networks of contacts. Start strengthening your relationships now, so that they'll be in place when you really need them later. In the classroom it was mostly about individual performance. Success in real life requires relationships.
· Set goals. Ask any winner what the key to his or her success was, and you'll hear four consistent messages: vision, determination, persistence, and setting goals. If you don't set goals and determine where you're going, how will you know when you get there? Goals give you more than a reason to get up in the morning; they are an incentive (激励)to keep you going all day.
· Sense of humor. I'm a firm believer in using humor, though not necessarily jokes. A good sense of humor helps one understand the unconventional(非传统的), tolerate the unpleasant, and overcome the unexpected. There are plenty of times to be serious, but I believe that keeping things light and comfortable encourages better teamwork.
· Volunteer. It might be hard to do a lot of volunteer work at first, but people who help others on a regular basis have a healthier outlook on life.
67. By saying "your real education is just beginning", the author wants to
A. explain why it's difficult for college graduates to find jobs
B. show the importance of social experience, besides schooling, in education
C. advise students to value their time at school, and to study hard
D. advise college graduates to face bravely the problems they may encounter (遭遇)
68. You should start to strengthen your relationships now because______.
A. it will take you time to develop them before you need them
B. you may have gotten used to being judged as an individual, and need to change
C. successful people have no time to develop relationships with you
D. you need to spend a lot of time learning the importance of good relationships
69. The author believes that being humorous means that you_______.
A. should prepare jokes to be used in various situations
B. can deal with difficult situations in an easy and comfortable way
C. can show your difference from others and be able to succeed
D. should smile all the time and avoid being serious on any occasion
70. The target readers of this passage are probably_______.
A. educational experts
B. people who want to change jobs
C. college graduates who have just left school
D. high school students who are still at school
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
阅读下面短,在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Most of the food we eat today has been processed in some way, from salad mix to frozen dinners Some processed foods have ingredients(成分)added, Some 1. (prepare)for convenience, and some are packaged to last much 2. (long). Even foods labeled"natural"or "organic"can be processed. If you eat a lot of highly processed foods, you risk 3. (get) too much sodium(钠), added sugars and unhealthy fats. Highly processed foods contribute almost 60%, of calories and 90%6 of added sugars in the American diet according to a research study.
So 4. can you do if you want to eat more healthily? While it's 5. (wonder)to throw all processed food"under the bus, the reality 6. (be)that you can't avoid it entirely …… nor should you! The key is knowing how 7. (recognize) healthier processed foods and make smart 8. (choice) in the grocery store and restaurants.
Choosing healthier processed foods should start with reading food labels. 9. is the best way to know exactly what's in a processed food. Choose products without a lot of sodium, added sugars, or unhealthy fats. What is more, replace highly processed foods 10. less-processed options。
高三英语语法填空简单题查看答案及解析
Breakfast has long been regarded as the most important meal of the day, vital for getting the body going and preventing overeating later on. 1.C to popular belief, the study found the first meal of the day had little impact 2. snacking or portion sizes later in the day.
The researcher added:“The 3. (信念) that breakfast is the ‘most important meal of the day’ is so widespread 4. many people are surprised to learn that there is a lack of scientific evidence5.
(表明)whether or how breakfast may directly cause changes in our health.6. is certainly true that people who regularly eat breakfast tend to be slimmer and healthier but these 7. (个人)also typically follow most other recommendations for a healthy lifestyle, so have more 8. b diets and take more physical exercise.”
In another study9.p this month, researchers at Birmingham 10.d volunteers into three groups. One skipped breakfast, others always ate it and a third continued with current diet. Four months later, no one in any group lost much weight.
高三英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
For most of the eight years they have been married, Ryan has never received a hug from his wife, Tracy. He has not even received a “hello” or a smile. Tracy has been since 2008. But this is not a story about the outcome of a young lady. Rather, it is about a man who has stayed to his wife, nursing her night and day, making sure she is as as possible.
Ryan and Tracy in a friend’s home in 2003. “She was beautiful and interesting to talk to,” Ryan says of his first of Tracy. In 2005, they got married and were very happy. However, a call put the couple’s life in a month after their daughter was born. Ryan was at work when a neighbor called to inform him that Tracy had been to the hospital.
, he ran to the hospital. When he got there, he knew his had been treated for fever. However, the fever did not after Tracy received that medical treatment.
Tracy’s breathing became labored and was to speak. The medical examination she developed an infection damaging her nerve system. Tracy went into a coma(昏迷) and a few days later, though she regained consciousness, she could not move her lower legs. “She was admitted to hospital for four months and doctors did all they could, her got worse,” Ryan says. She could no longer her legs, and lost the ability to give voices.
“Those four months are the most time I have ever had. I have never stopped hoping and praying she will regain her ,” Ryan says with a smile, “I miss her laughter, and wonder what kind of a mother she would be to our daughter.”
1.A. happy B. simple C. different D. basic
2.A. weak B. alone C. ill D. cruel
3.A. magic B. exciting C. unexpected D. sad
4.A. true B. strange C. rude D. useful
5.A. comfortable B. special C. safe D. conscious
6.A. married B. stayed C. met D. worked
7.A. impression B. expression C. discussion D. attention
8.A. danger B. trouble C. surprise D. silence
9.A. dashed B. rushed C. pushed D. carried
10.A. Angry B. Confident C. Anxious D. Proud
11.A. daughter B. friend C. neighbor D. wife
12.A. slow down B. go down C. look down D. burn down
13.A. ready B. eager C. unwilling D. unable
14.A. revealed B. repeated C. agreed D. admitted
15.A. even B. instead C. still D. again
16.A. though B. after C. since D. when
17.A. attitude B. examination C. condition D. pain
18.A. clean B. remove C. touch D. move
19.A. wonderful B. difficult C. ridiculous D. important
20.A. position B. power C. confidence D. health
高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
______ is recorded in the history book, Diaoyu Island has belonged to China since ancient times.
A. As B. That
C. It D. What
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The science of computer,____ rapid progress has been made, is the most important of all.
A.to which | B.from which | C.in which | D.of which |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
History is a record of what has happened in the past. 1. The really fascinating thing is that much of history has been repeated time and again. It allows us to learn from the past, both the mistakes made and the successes achieved.
One of the benefits of history is reading how other people both famous and totally unknown have overcome tremendous challenges in their life. These challenges, although particular to a person, or to a certain time in the past, or occurring in a different country or culture, all convey the same thing. 2.
3. He encountered many failures while on the road to finally inventing the modern day light bulb. He could be held out as an example of a person who never gave up. 4. However, he did not let those failures stop him. He had a dream and he just kept trying different things until he did reach success.
Or, consider the story of Abraham Lincoln who managed to become President of the United States even though he suffered many setbacks and personal losses. Most of us only realize the success of Mr. Lincoln becoming President. 5. His life was not an easy one. His story is one that motivates us to keep moving forward no matter what obstacles we have in life.
A. History has a lot of influence on us.
B. Take for example the story of Thomas Edison.
C. History has some very unique qualities about it.
D. I am sure he was discouraged by his many failures.
E. They convey wisdom in their short stories of perseverance.
F. Few of us knew about the many challenges he had to overcome.
G. Only those with courage to face challenges can hope to live their dreams.
高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
Most of what has been said about the Simiths also true of the Johnsons.
A.are B.is
C.being D.to be
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析