Record fires sweeping across the Amazon recently have been making the headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change crisis and endanger biodiversity(生物多样性）。
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called"the lungs of the world”. It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million local people. The vast area of rainforest plays an important role in the world's ecosystem because it absorbs heat instead of reflecting heat back into the atmosphere. It also stores carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, reducing the effects of climate change.
＂Any forest destroyed is a danger to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity," Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic."The great danger is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere,"he stressed."In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity.The Amazon must be protected,"UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research(INPE)show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August a year ago.A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first 8 months of 2019,up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018,INPE said.＂We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months," Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest,whose degradation(恶化）could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall.The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has gone beyond Brazil's borders.
1.What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A.The great role of the Amazon rainforest.
B.The effects of consistent climate change.
C.The causes of the decreasing biodiversity.
D.The results of the Amazon rainforest fires.
2.Why does the author mention the figures in the fourth paragraph?
A.To explain the process of the research.
B.To present the bad influence of forest fires.
C.To prove the great importance of the rainforest.
D.To show the emergency of protecting the rainforest.
3.What does the author want to tell us in the passage?
A.The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires.
B.The biodiversity makes the rainforest unique.
C.The rainforest fires result in serious consequences.
D.The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires.
4.Which section of a magazine might this passage probably be taken from?
A.Climate and life.
B.Nature and geography.
C.Humankind and society.
D.Science and technology.
英语阅读理解中等难度题
Record fires sweeping across the Amazon recently have been making the headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change crisis and endanger biodiversity(生物多样性）。
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called"the lungs of the world”. It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million local people. The vast area of rainforest plays an important role in the world's ecosystem because it absorbs heat instead of reflecting heat back into the atmosphere. It also stores carbon dioxide and produces oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, reducing the effects of climate change.
＂Any forest destroyed is a danger to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity," Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic."The great danger is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere,"he stressed."In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity.The Amazon must be protected,"UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research(INPE)show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August a year ago.A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first 8 months of 2019,up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018,INPE said.＂We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months," Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest,whose degradation(恶化）could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall.The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has gone beyond Brazil's borders.
1.What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A.The great role of the Amazon rainforest.
B.The effects of consistent climate change.
C.The causes of the decreasing biodiversity.
D.The results of the Amazon rainforest fires.
2.Why does the author mention the figures in the fourth paragraph?
A.To explain the process of the research.
B.To present the bad influence of forest fires.
C.To prove the great importance of the rainforest.
D.To show the emergency of protecting the rainforest.
3.What does the author want to tell us in the passage?
A.The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires.
B.The biodiversity makes the rainforest unique.
C.The rainforest fires result in serious consequences.
D.The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires.
4.Which section of a magazine might this passage probably be taken from?
A.Climate and life.
B.Nature and geography.
C.Humankind and society.
D.Science and technology.
英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month have been grabbing global headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will aggravate climate change crisis and threaten biodiversity (生物多样性).
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called "the lungs of the world". It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million local people. The vast rainforest plays an important role in the world's ecosystem because they absorb heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, mitigating the effects of climate change.
"Any forest destroyed is a threat to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity," Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic. "The overwhelming threat is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere," he stressed. "In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon mu:st be protected/5 U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago. A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, INPE said. "We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months," Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, whose degradation could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall. The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has transcended (超出)Brazil's borders, reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian regions.
1.Which of the following best explains "mitigating” underlined in Paragraph 2?
A.Worsening. B.Causing. C.Easing. D.Benefiting.
2.What can we learn from Thomas's and Antonio's words?
A.The biodiversity makes the rainforest unique.
B.The rainforest fires result in serious consequences.
C.The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires.
D.The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires.
3.Why does the author list the numbers in Paragraph 4?
A.To present the reduction of rainforest areas.
B.To show the influence of forest fires.
C.To explain the process of the research.
D.To prove the importance of rainforest.
4.Which section of a magazine is this text probably taken from?
A.Sports and music. B.Science and technology.
C..Business and culture. D.Nature and geography.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month have been grabbing global headlines as scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will worsen climate change crisis and threaten biodiversity.
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called “the lungs of the world”. It is also home to about 3 million species of plants and animals, and 1 million native people. The vast areas of rainforest play an important role in the world’s ecosystem because they absorb heat instead of it being reflected back into the atmosphere. They also store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, ensuring that less carbon is released, mitigating the effects of climate change.
“Any forest destroyed is a threat to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity,” Thomas Lovejoy, an ecologist at George Mason University told National Geographic. “The overwhelming threat is that a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere,” he stressed. “In the midst of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago. A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019, up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, INPE said. “We estimate that the forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have decreased something between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months,” Carlos Nobre, a researcher at the University of Sao Paulo, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.
Brazil owns about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, whose degradation could have severe consequences for global climate and rainfall. The extent of the area ruined by fires has yet to be determined, but the emergency has transcended (超出) Brazil’s borders, reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian regions.
1.What is the second paragraph mainly talking about?
A.The effects of climate change. B.The role of the Amazon rainforest.
C.The results of the Amazon rainforest fires. D.The causes of the decreasing biodiversity.
2.What can we learn from Thomas’s and Antonio’s words?
A.The biodiversity makes the rainforests unique.
B.The rainforest fires result in serious consequences.
C.The global climate crisis brings more rainforest fires.
D.The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires.
3.Why does the author list the numbers in Paragraph 4?
A.To prove the importance of rainforest. B.To show the influence of forest fires.
C.To explain the process of the research. D.To present the reduction of rainforest areas.
4.What is the best title of this passage?
A.The climate change crisis is worsening. B.The forest areas are on the decline.
C.“The lungs of the earth” is burning. D.The world’s ecosystem is under attack.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Major causes of record fires sweeping across the Amazon rainforest this month include the dry season and human activities, according to research institutions and media reports.
The rainforest is typically wet and humid, and the frequency of fire activity usually rise each year since July — the onset of the dry season, and peaks in September and decreases in October as the rainy season approaches.
However, data from the Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (Inpe) showed that the number of forest fires in Brazil soared by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago, and over half of those fires occurred in the Amazon rainforest. A total of 71,497 forest fires were registered in the country in the first eight months of 2019 , up from 39,194 in the same period in 2018, the Inpe said.
Human activities have led to the recent increase of fires, some experts have noted. The view was echoed by many, though they were divided over who actually conducted the activities. On Friday evening, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pledged “zero tolerance” of environmental crimes, adding that the Armed Forces troops and resources will be mobilized from Saturday to help put out the fires.
Earlier this week, Bolsonaro blamed non-governmental organizations for increasing wildfires in the Amazon rainforest in the country’s north. His claim was refuted (反驳) by environmentalists, who argued that the surge of fires was a result of increasing deforestation and burning fueled by the governments anti-environmental policy. Alberto Setzer, an Inpe researcher, told local news site G1 that all the fires are results of human activities some accidental while others intentional.
Scientists and environmental groups are worried that the fires will aggravate climate change crisis and threaten biodiversity. The emergency has now transcended (越过) Brazil’s borders , reaching Peruvian, Paraguayan and Bolivian regions.
1.What is the main idea of the text?
A.The text explains the major causes of the Amazon fires.
B.The text aims to arouse human’s awareness of protecting the Amazon.
C.The text is intended to call on people to help the Amazon.
D.The text is expected to warn other countries of the Amazon fires.
2.Which of the followings is not the main causes of the Amazon’s fires?
A.The dry weather. B.The intentional deforestation.
C.The natural disasters. D.Some accidental human activities.
3.What can we infer from Paragraph Three?
A.Similar to that in 2018, the frequency of fire activity will peak in September in 2019.
B.Compared with those in 2018, fires have happened more frequently in the first eight months in 2019.
C.There are more fires in 2019 than in 2018.
D.All of the big fires have happened in the Amazon rainforest.
4.What may Alberto Setzer agree with?
A.Non-governmental organizations are responsible for wild fires in the Amazon rainforest.
B.The Amazon rainforest fires may be attributed to human activities.
C.We should pledge “zero tolerance” of environmental crimes.
D.The fires will influence Brazil’s bordering countries.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Record fires sweeping across the Amazon this month have been catching the world's attention, because scientists and environmental groups are worried that they will make the climate worse and threaten biodiversity.
As the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon is often called "the lungs of the world". It is also home to about 3 million plants and animals, and 1 million native people. Rainforests play an important role in the world's ecosystem because they can take in heat. They can also store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, making that less carbon is given off, mitigating the effects of climate change.
"Any forest destroyed is a threat to biodiversity and the people who use that biodiversity," said Thomas Lovejoy. "The most serious threat is that a lot of carbon goes into the air," he added. "In the center of the global climate crisis, we cannot afford more damage to a major source of oxygen and biodiversity. The Amazon must be protected," Antonio said.
Data from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) show that the number of forest fires in Brazil quickly increased by 82 percent from January to August this year from a year ago. "The forest areas in the Brazilian Amazon have dropped between 20 and 30 percent compared to the last 12 months," Carlos Nobre said.
Word Bank
threaten 威胁 biodiversity 生物多样性 ecosystem 生态系统 crisis 危机 data 数据
1.What does the underlined word "they" refer to in Paragraph 1?
A.fires B.scientists
C.environmental groups D.rainforests
2.Which of the following words has the closest meaning with the underlined word "mitigating" in Paragraph 2?
A.reducing B.increasing
C.causing D.producing
3.What can we know from Paragraph 3?
A.The dry weather leads to the rainforest fires.
B.Carbon dioxide is important in the air.
C.Oxygen has nothing to do with global climate crisis.
D.Forests play an important role in biodiversity.
4.Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?
A.3 million plants, animals and people live in Amazon.
B.Rainforests can store carbon dioxide and produce oxygen.
C.Carbon dioxide goes into the air will do no harm to us.
D.Ecosystem can take in heat and give off carbon dioxide.
5.What's the best title of the passage?
A.The climate change crisis. B.The forest areas are decreasing.
C."The lungs of the earth" is burning. D.The world's ecosystem is under attack.
九年级英语阅读单选中等难度题查看答案及解析
Recently hand-foot-mouth disease has spread across China. In the past three months, there have been about 41,846 cases (病例) in 30 provinces and regions. The number is increasing. Eighteen Chinese children have died of the disease so far this year.
What causes the disease and why is it dangerous?
Hand-foot-mouth disease is a common childhood illness. It mainly affects children under the age of 10. It gets its name from the rash (疹子) that develops on the hands and feet. It can also cause blisters (水泡) in your mouth.
A child who has the disease will usually have a fever, a runny nose and sore throat. He or she doesn’t want to eat or drink because of pain in the mouth.
Hand-foot-mouth disease is mostly not serious. The fever and rash clear within a few days. But in some cases, the virus (病毒) affects the heart, lungs or brain. This puts the child’s life in danger.
A virus causes hand-foot-mouth disease. The disease spreads easily where a lot of young children are together, such as in a child-care center. Sometimes it can also affect teenagers and adults.
In order not to pass on the virus, good hygiene (卫生) is important. We should wash our hands as often as possible. Especially we should wash our hands before meals and after going to the toilet.
1.More than __________ people have caught hand-foot-mouth disease this year.
A. thirty thousand B. forty thousand
C. four million D. fourteen thousand
2.Hand-foot-mouth disease __________.
A. is a kind of cancer
B. isn’t dangerous at all
C. can cause death
D. will disappear soon
3.A patient of hand-foot-mouth may __________.
A. eat more
B. have blisters in the mouth
C. have rash on the face
D. eat less
4.From the passage, we know that the hand-foot-mouth disease __________.
A. spreads easily among the young children
B. will not affect adults
C. didn’t happen in China
D. starts from villages
5.__________ can help us to keep away from the hand-foot-mouth disease.
A. Passing on the virus
B. Taking children to the child-care center
C. Keeping your hands clean
D. Not going to public places
九年级英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
As wildfires continued to sweep across Australia, the loss of life in the area was reaching astonishing numbers. Ecologists (生态学家) at the University of Sydney said that nearly half a billion animals and plants had been wiped out since the fires began several months before. Images and videos from the area showed kangaroos trying to escape from burning forests and charred (烧焦的) bodies of koalas lying on the ground.
Koalas, which had been already under threat because of significant habitat loss, were hit particularly hard compared with other animals. Ecologists said nearly 8,000 koalas—about one-third of the population in their primary habitat-were believed to have died from the big fires. Professor Dieter Hochuli from the University of Sydney said it wasn’t just the well- known species, such as kangaroos, koalas and emus(鸸鹋), that were in danger. Insects also suffered losses. Additionally, many rare plant species might have disappeared completely.
While animal hospitals were taking in as many animals as possible to treat burns and nursed them back to health, services had overall struggled to keep up with the amount of care needed. And the animals that had survived would have trouble finding food and shelters among the ongoing flames, so they were still in a dangerous situation.
“We’re getting a lot of lessons out of this and it’s just showing how unprepared we are,” Dr. Sussan Ley said. “Now Australia is burning and national parks and our native animals are being destroyed. People have lost homes. People have died. Firefighters have been killed defending communities, most recently last night. There’s no protocols (拟定草案) in place even wildlife carers dont’ have protocols for when they can go in after fire. It’s our national government that is failing us.”
1.What’s the purpose of the second paragraph?
A.To explain why there were so many rare animals in Australia.
B.To show the terrible effect Australian wildfires had on species.
C.To further confirm Professor Dieter Hochuli’s’unique opinion.
D.To warn people to take good care of wild animals and plants.
2.Why were the animals still in danger after surviving the fire?
A.They failed to recover from serious burns.
B.They might be hunted by people for food.
C.They were short of food and shelters.
D.They were unable to get nursing services.
3.What is Dr.Sussan Ley’s attitude towards the national government’s deed?
A.Supportive. B.Unconcerned. C.Doubtful. D.Dissatisfied.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Many rare animal species might have disappeared.
B.Measures should be taken to prevent Australian wildfires.
C.Australian wildfires killed nearly half a billion animals and plants.
D.Ecologists have made great efforts to find the causes of wildfires.
高一英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
It was a lifesaving task as thrilling as any in the months-long battle against the wildfires that have torn through the Australian bush. But instead of a race to save humans or animals, a specialized team of Australian firefighters was bent on saving invaluable plant life: hidden groves (树林) of the Wollemi pine, a prehistoric tree species.
Wollemi pines peaked in abundance 34 million to 65 million years ago, before a steady decline. Today, only 200 of the trees exist in their natural environment. The trees are so rare that they were thought to die out until 1994. That’s the year when David Noble, an officer with the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, came across a grove of large trees he didn’t recognize.
Noble brought back a few branches and showed them to other biologists and botanists. A month later, Noble returned to the grove with some scientists. It was then that they realized what they had found: “a prehistoric tree species that has outlived the dinosaurs.” the American Scientist explains. So when Australia’s wildfires started burning toward Wollemi National Park in recent weeks, firefighters from the parks and wildlife service put a carefully planned operation into action.
Large air tankers dropped fire retardant (阻燃剂) around the pines. Firefighters set up an irrigation (灌溉) system around the trees to keep them wet. “If the fire did go through, we wanted it to be a cool burn as opposed to a hot burn to give them the best chance of survival,” Kean said. The fire did sweep through the groves where these trees have somehow survived for millions of years. For a few days, the smoke was so thick that it wasn’t clear whether the plan had worked. At last the smoke eased off. A few trees had been burned by the flames, and two died. But the efforts had paid off. “Finally,” Kean said, “we were able to get in there and see that, thank goodness, the trees were saved.”
1.What do we know about Wollemi pines?
A.Scientists searched for them in the wild.
B.They used to grow in parts of Australia.
C.There were a considerable number of them long ago.
D.Firefighters and biologists cooperated to keep them alive.
2.Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “outlived” in Paragraph 3?
A.been superior to. B.been related to.
C.died earlier than. D.existed longer than.
3.What can be learned from the last paragraph?
A.It was cool to drop retardant over the fire.
B.It wasn’t clear whether the trees were saved.
C.It helped the trees survive to keep them wet.
D.It worked best for the trees to keep a hot burn.
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A.An investigation into Wollemi pines.
B.A hard-won battle against the wildfires.
C.Constructing a firefighting system for the trees.
D.Saving world’s rare pine species from wildfires.
高三英语阅读选择简单题查看答案及解析
This season, the bushfires in Australia have burned more than 12.35 million acres of land. At least 25 people have been killed and 2000 homes destroyed. According to the BBC, this is the most casualties（伤亡）from wildfires in the country since 2009. The University of Sydney estimates that 480 million animals have died in South Wales alone.
Zeke Hausfather, an energy systems analyst and climate researcher at Berkeley Earth, said warmer temperatures and extreme weather have made Australia more susceptible to fires and increased the length of the fire season. “The drier conditions combined with record high temperatures in 2019 created main conditions for the disastrous fires.Australia’s fires were worsened by the combination of those two. 2019 was the perfect storm for being the warmest year on record for Australia and the driest year on record for Australia,” Hausfather added on Friday.
Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, said warmer ocean temperatures also contributed to more variable weather around the world. Trenberth believes that global warming contributed to energy imbalances and hot spots in the oceans, which can create a wave in the atmosphere that locks weather patterns in places, causing longer rain events in Indonesia, for example, and at the same time contributing to drought in Australia.He said that once an area experiences drought conditions for two months or more, it increases the risk of fires catching and spreading. Those changing weather patterns due to global warming make drought events longer.
Climate experts stress that climate change is not the only factor in the severity of wildfires. How land is managed can also impact the amount of fuel available for fires. Practices like controlled burns and other factors can impact the risk to people and property, such as warning systems and the type of development in a given area. Changing those policies has great potential to limit future damage from wildfires along with changes to how fire management resources are dispatched (派遣).
1.What are the numbers about in paragraph 1?
A.The causes of Australian fires. B.The consequences of Australian fires.
C.The damaged areas of Australian fires. D.The property destruction of Australian fires.
2.Which of the following best explains “susceptible to” in the second paragraph?
A.Very quickly to adapt to. B.Very seriously to focus on.
C.Very likely to be influenced by. D.Very easily to be protected against.
3.What can we infer from Trenberth’s research?
A.Global warming is the root cause of the bushfires.
B.Longer dry weather contributes to global warming.
C.Warmer ocean temperatures promote fires spreading.
D.The imbalanced energy leads to the temperature rising.
4.What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?
A.To stress the effects of Australia fires.
B.To show the methods for controlling burns.
C.To predict the seriousness of Australia fires.
D.To provide some advice about reducing damage.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Named after Camp Creek Road, its place of origin, the fire started on November 8, 2018 and killed at least 71 people. More than 1,000 people are reported to be missing, although officials say that number could increase.
The fire has been heavily sweeping the Sierra Nevada forest since last Friday, according to the California firefighting office, Calfire. 1,500 firefighters were sent to the affected area, but difficult conditions have prevented their activities and access to the area.
The fire has had huge fuel(燃料) as a result of wood from dead trees—27 million died last year after years of dry weather — plus leaves and grass dried by heat.
Evacuations(疏散) were ordered in several camps and in other areas. Calfire asked people to get ready to escape, considering high temperatures for the next few days.
The fire forced the shutdown of a highway and one of the entrances to Yosemite National Park. Meanwhile, scores of people have become sick and the air in northern California has been listed the world’s worst.
Heavy rain is coming next week that could reduce the flames but also bring floods on hillsides.
According to experts, the main causes of the wildfires are the weather, climate change and population change.
1.Where did the fire happen at the beginning?
A.Calfire
B.Sierra Nevada
C.Camp Creek Road
D.Yosemite National Park
2.What made the fire continue?
A.Climate change.
B.Firefighters’ action.
C.People’s evacuation.
D.Dry wood in the forest.
3.What result has the fire caused?
A.Floods happened there.
B.27 million trees were dead.
C.The Yosemite National Park was closed.
D.The air became worse in northern California.
4.What’s the text mainly about?
A.The main causes of the fire.
B.A forest fire in California.
C.The measures to stop the fire.
D.The influences on people’s life.
高一英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析