UK physicist Isaac Newton once said, “Nature is pleased with simplicity and nature is no dummy (傻子).” Indeed, Mother Nature can provide almost everything human beings need if we follow her rules. But if we break the rules, she is likely to be cruel and lash out at (抨击) us.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (新型冠状病毒肺炎, NCP) in China and some other countries at the beginning of this year is an example. According to Xinhua News Agency, the new coronavirus is similar to a virus found in a bat in 2017 and probably has an intermediate host (中间宿主).
It’s once believed that the virus originated from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where live wild animals were sold.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Dr Peter Daszak, president of the US-based health organization EcoHealth Alliance, said, “This outbreak is a lesson for us. On a global scale (规模), human population density (密度), wildlife diversity, and land use change are what drive new pandemics (流行病).”
In ancient times, people needed to rely on nature to survive so they held it in awe (敬畏). For example, the American Indians believed that humans are a part of nature and nature is a part of humans. Chinese ancients always pursued the harmony between nature and human beings.
However, as human beings master more knowledge and make more advanced tools, people try to change and even conquer nature. They use more land to make buildings, genetically modify (改变) plants, capture some wild and rare animals to suit their own needs. In this process, humans gradually lose contact with nature and even throw it out of balance. For example, cutting a large number of forests means carbon dioxide must build up in the atmosphere and it contributes to global warming.
Although we don’t know for sure what first caused the NCP outbreak, Brian Lamacraft at Medium said it’s time for people to “reflect on our relationship with our planet” and “reconnect with this world and everything that we’ve been given”. After all, according to US poet Gary Snyder, “Nature is not the place to visit. It’s our home.”
1.What lesson did Daszak think human beings should learn from the NCP outbreak?
A.Bats are one of the most dangerous wild animals.
B.It’s impossible to prevent new pandemics globally.
C.We should stop the wildlife trade around the world.
D.Humans should live peacefully with nature.
2.What is the main idea of Paragraph 5?
A.How human beings become their own masters.
B.How human activities cause global warming.
C.How human beings break the balance of nature.
D.How humans use technology to improve their lives.
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing this article?
A.To reflect on the NCP outbreak.
B.To explain what led to the NCP outbreak.
C.To describe experts’ predictions on new pandemics.
D.To compare ancient and modern attitudes toward nature.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
UK physicist Isaac Newton once said, “Nature is pleased with simplicity and nature is no dummy (傻子).” Indeed, Mother Nature can provide almost everything human beings need if we follow her rules. But if we break the rules, she is likely to be cruel and lash out at (抨击) us.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (新型冠状病毒肺炎, NCP) in China and some other countries at the beginning of this year is an example. According to Xinhua News Agency, the new coronavirus is similar to a virus found in a bat in 2017 and probably has an intermediate host (中间宿主).
It’s once believed that the virus originated from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where live wild animals were sold.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Dr Peter Daszak, president of the US-based health organization EcoHealth Alliance, said, “This outbreak is a lesson for us. On a global scale (规模), human population density (密度), wildlife diversity, and land use change are what drive new pandemics (流行病).”
In ancient times, people needed to rely on nature to survive so they held it in awe (敬畏). For example, the American Indians believed that humans are a part of nature and nature is a part of humans. Chinese ancients always pursued the harmony between nature and human beings.
However, as human beings master more knowledge and make more advanced tools, people try to change and even conquer nature. They use more land to make buildings, genetically modify (改变) plants, capture some wild and rare animals to suit their own needs. In this process, humans gradually lose contact with nature and even throw it out of balance. For example, cutting a large number of forests means carbon dioxide must build up in the atmosphere and it contributes to global warming.
Although we don’t know for sure what first caused the NCP outbreak, Brian Lamacraft at Medium said it’s time for people to “reflect on our relationship with our planet” and “reconnect with this world and everything that we’ve been given”. After all, according to US poet Gary Snyder, “Nature is not the place to visit. It’s our home.”
1.What lesson did Daszak think human beings should learn from the NCP outbreak?
A.Bats are one of the most dangerous wild animals.
B.It’s impossible to prevent new pandemics globally.
C.We should stop the wildlife trade around the world.
D.Humans should live peacefully with nature.
2.What is the main idea of Paragraph 5?
A.How human beings become their own masters.
B.How human activities cause global warming.
C.How human beings break the balance of nature.
D.How humans use technology to improve their lives.
3.What is the author’s purpose in writing this article?
A.To reflect on the NCP outbreak.
B.To explain what led to the NCP outbreak.
C.To describe experts’ predictions on new pandemics.
D.To compare ancient and modern attitudes toward nature.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Stephen Hawking, one of the world’s smartest physicists, once said: “I’m obsessed by time.”Many of us are, and the popularity of time travel TV series has just proved that.
After Palace and Startling by Each Step 《步步惊心》achieved startling ratings last year, Palace 2 aired on January 20, attracting time travel fans back to TV.“It’s fun to watch characters travel back in time and deal with the conflicts between modernity and ancient times,” Xia Xiaoyan, who works for a foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai, told China Daily. “Time travel series connect both today and the past, thus offering room for imagination,” said Cai Yinong, the producer of Startling by Each Step.
“I’m hooked by the shows because they are characterized by dramatic and poetic love and have eye-pleasing actors,” Xia explained her love for time travel TV series.Her comment echoes a 2011 survey by Great Marketing Research Co Ltd in China. When asked about what’s so appealing about time travel TV series, 21 percent of respondents answered: “Those attractive characters.”
A bigger reason behind the popularity of time travel stories, however, is the relaxation they offer, according to the survey.Cai Yinong agrees. “Many people are facing tremendous pressures in their fast-paced lives, so this genre is more relaxing than other shows as it provides people with a terrific outlet to escape reality,” Cai told China Daily.
The love for time traveling is universal.Woody Allen’s latest movie Midnight in Paris, which has been nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Art Direction for the 2012 Academy Awards, features modernity versus cultural nostalgia.
1.Which might be the best title for this passage ?
A.Time travel is universal B.Time travel TV series
C.A introduction to Startling by Each Step D.Time travel wins fans
2.The reasons why people like time travel are as followings except______.
A.It’s fun to watch characters travel back and deal with the conflicts between modernity and ancient times.
B.Time travel series offer room for imagination.
C.The characters are attractive.
D.After watching time travel series, you can escape reality.
3.Which word can replace the underlined word “hooked” in the third paragraph.
A.pleased B.moved C.attracted D.surprised
4.It can be inferred from the passage that________.
A.Stephen Hawking likes time travel TV series.
B.A bigger reason behind the popularity of time travel stories, however, is the relaxation they offer.
C.Not only Chinese audience but also foreigners like watching time travel stories.
D.Startling by Each Step has been nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Art Direction for the 2012 Academy Awards.
5.We can learn form what Cai Yinong said in the fourth paragraph that ________.
A.Everyone likes watching time travel stories.
B.Many people want to escape reality because of the pressures in their fast-paced lives.
C.Many people want to go back to the ancient times.
D.People can get more relaxation in the ancient times.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Please help! I live in Germany with my wife and three kids. My parents live in the UK. I want my kids to have as much contact with their grandparents as possible. The kids all use e-mail, Skype and SMS but my parents won’t. I’ve bought them a laptop, paid for broadband, given them both mobile phones and a digital camera, but they won’t use them. My parents say they hate computers and new technology. What can I do with these “technophobes”?
Daniel, Buremburg, Germany
Actually, the original technophobes were the Luddites, a group of cloth workers in 19th century Britain during the Industrial Revolution. The Luddite cloth workers, who traditionally made cloth by hand, were worried that machines were going to take away their jobs and way of life. These machines could make cloth much faster and cheaper than humans. In 1811 and 1812 the Luddites destroyed the machines that they hated so much, but the British government supported the factory owners. Many Luddites were arrested. Charlotte Bronte’s novel Shirley will tell your parents all about it.
Laura, Valencia, Spain
Laura makes some interesting points, I think. Technophobes has been a common theme in science fiction. Frankenstein, one of the first science fiction, is a warning of what could happen if humans began to experiment with human life.
Freda, Copenhagen, Denmark
One thing you could try is to find hardware that is designed for older people to use. An example is the mobiles made by the US company, Jitterbug. Instead of icons and menus the Jitterbug phones ask users simple “yes/no” questions and have larger keypads. The company realized that there are potentially 100 million older users in the US alone.
Graham, Patras, Greece
1.The underlined part “the technophobes” in the passage refers to ______.
A. those who are ready to try new technology
B. those who are addicted to the Internet
C. those who refuse to use modern technology
D. those who are devoted to inventing new things
2.Which of the following is TRUE of the Luddites?
A. They called themselves the technophobes.
B. They got full support from their factory owners.
C. They preferred to keep their traditional working methods.
D. They were killed by the government.
3.Who has put forward a practical and useful suggestions?
A. Laura. B. Freda. C. Daniel. D. Graham.
4.The passage is probably taken from _____.
A. a personal blog B. a letter between friends
C. a personal diary D. a speech on new technology
5.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Daniel would buy her parents a novel written by Shirley.
B. Charlotte Bronte wrote about technophobes in her novel Shirley.
C. Daniel would buy her parents cell phones with icons and menus.
D. Daniel worried about her children using e-mails.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
More than half of teachers in a UK survey said they thought plagiarism from the Internet is a problem.
Some students who steal essays wholly from the Web, they said, are so lazy they don’t even bother to take the ads off the cut-and-pasted text. 58 percent of the teachers interviewed in the Association of Teachers and Lectures(ALT) questionnaire had come across plagiarism among their pupils. Gill Bullen from Itchen College in Southampton, for example, said pieces handed in by two students were the same and significantly better than either of them could have done.” “Not only that, the essays given in didn’t quite answer the title question I had set.” A teacher from Leeds said, “ I had one piece of work so obviously ‘cut and pasted’ that it still contained ads from the Web page” Connie Robinson from Stockton Riverside College, Stockton, said, “ With less able students, it is easy to spot plagiarism as the writing style changes mid-assignment, but with more able students, it is sometimes necessary for teachers to carry out Internet research to find out the source of the plagiarism.” Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ALT, said, “Teachers are struggling under a mountain of cut-and-pasting to spot whether work was the student’s own or plagiarism.” She called for strong policies to oppose plagiarism, and asked for help from the government in providing resources and techniques to delete cheats.
1.What does the underlined word “plagiarism” in Para 1 probably mean?
A.making quotations
B.stealing others’ works or ideas
C.cutting and pasting on the Internet
D.surfing others’ works or ideas
2.According to Para 2 some students are so lazy that they don’t_______.
A.bother to remove the ads
B.want to steal the whole essay
C.check the mistakes on the Internet
D.bother to do the work of cutting and pasting
3.According to Mary Bousted, we can learn that_______.
A.the government doesn’t complete its duty to stop plagiarism
B.it’s very easy for teachers to spot plagiarism
C.plagiarism causes the teachers great trouble
D.only the government can find cheats
4.What can be the best title for the passage?
A.UK students are lazy
B.punishment on plagiarism
C.Internet plagiarism –a problem in UK
D.Hard to prevent plagiarism from the Internet
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
US basketball player Dave once said the best teams always communicate with each other and they __________ personal glory for the common goal.
A. divide B. relieve C.acquire D. sacrifice
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.
A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.
There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say so peculiar that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl -friend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.
1.The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is ____.
A.repeated without any change B.treated as a joke
C.made some changes by the parent D.set in the present
2.According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is ____.
A.in a realistic setting B.heard for the first time
C.repeated too often D.told in a different way
3.The advantage claimed (提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it ____.
A.makes them less fearful
B.develops their power of memory
C.makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of
D.encourages them not to have strange beliefs
4.The author's mention of sticks and telephones is meant to suggest that ______.
A.fairy stories are still being made up
B.there is some misunderstanding about fairy tales
C.people try to modernize old fairy stories
D.there is more concern for children's fears nowadays
5.One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that _______.
A.they are full of imagination
B.they just make up the stories which are far from the truth
C.they are not interesting
D.they make teachers of history difficult to teach
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.
A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises(出现) from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.
There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say, so peculiar(奇怪的) that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girlfriend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.
1.The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when _______.
A. it is repeated without any change B. it is treated as a joke
C. some changes are made to it by a parent D. it is set in the present
2.According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is _______.
A. in a realistic setting B. told in a different way
C. repeated too often D. heard for the first time
3.The advantage claimed(提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it _______.
A. develops their power of memory
B. makes them less fearful
C. makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of
D. encourages them not to have strange beliefs
4.One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that _______.
A. they are full of imagination
B. they make teachers of history difficult to teach
C. they are not interesting
D. they are just made up of the stories which are far from the truth
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes,as a rule,to have it retold in almost the same words,but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts.It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book,and,if a parent can produce what,in the actual situation of the time and the child,is an improvement on the printed-text,so much the better.
A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking.To prove the latter,one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not.As to fears,there are,I think,some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story.Often,however,this arises from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.
There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true,that giants, witches(女巫),two-headed dragons,magic carpets,etc.do not exist;and that,instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales,the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history.If I find such people,I must say so strange that I do not know how to argue with them.If their cases were reasonable,the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl-friend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.
1.In the author's opinion,when is a fairy story more effective?
A. It is treated as a joke.
B. It is set in the present.
C. It is repeated without any change.
D. It is made some changes by the parent.
2.According to the passage,great fear can take place in a child when the story is .
A. heard for the first time B. in a realistic setting
C. repeated too often D. told in a different way
3.What advantage does repeating fairy stories to young children bring?
A. It develops their power of memory.
B. It makes them less fearful.
C. It encourages them not to have strange beliefs.
D. It makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of.
4.Which is one of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales?
A. Fairy tales are not interesting.
B. Fairy tales are full of imagination.
C. Fairy tales just make up the stories which are far from the truth.
D. Fairy tales make teachers of history difficult to teach.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Would you please speak ____ a loud voice? I didn’t catch what you said, with all the noise going on.
A. in B. on C. of D. to
高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
The famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem he has is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
This is both encouraging and discouraging. The fact that we were all born to be artists is certainly exciting, and yet the reality has proven that remaining one is a task that many of us have failed.
Fortunately, some people have seen the problem and want to solve it.
Western educators have suggested that we introduce the concept of “STEAM” instead of “STEM” - traditional “core majors” including science, technology, engineering, and math -since the “A”, which stands for “arts”, is just as important.
And on April 11, China’s Ministry of Education issued a guideline. Colleges and universities are required to provide more art-related courses and students need to earn a certain number of art credits in order to graduate.
These efforts came after many scientific studies had found that art education helps students develop self-confidence and teamwork skills, as well as habits of mind such as problem solving and critical thinking, according to The Washington Post.
It’s true that none of these skills target specific jobs. But as former US ballet dancer Damian
Woetzel told The Atlantic, the purpose of art is “to give kids the tools to become adults who are creative, adaptable, and expressive - capable of having their eyes and ears and senses alive”.And we can now see how we lost track of our born “artist self” on our way to growing up: We failed to keep our capabilities to see, hear and feel, and became blind, deaf and insensitive adults.
Hopefully, art education can help turn things around.
1.What is the function of the first paragraph?
A.To introduce a famous artist. B.To summarize the whole passage.
C.To lead in the topic. D.To encourage us to be artists.
2.Why should the concept of “STEAM” be introduced according to western educators?
A.Art is as important as traditional “core majors”.
B.All of us should learn art in college.
C.Traditional “core majors” are out of date.
D.Western education is more helpful.
3.What can we predict from the guideline issued by China’s Ministry of education?
A.More art-related courses will appear in all schools.
B.College students will have to gain enough art credits to graduate.
C.More students will major in art at colleges and universities.
D.Art will become much more important than science.
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A.Every child is an artist B.Bringing art to life
C.Learning from the artists D.Life is art
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析