The sixth mass extinction is not a worry for the future. It’s happening now，much faster than previously expected，and it's entirely our fault，according to a study puhlished Mooday.
Humans have already wiped out hundreds of species and pushed many more to the brink of extinction through wildlife trade，pollution，habitat loss and the use of toxic substances. The findings published in the scientific Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences( PNAS)show that the rate at which species are dying out has accelerated in recent decades.
Gerardo Ceballos González，a professor of ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and one of the authors of the study，said approximately 173 species went extinct between 2001 and 2014. “173 species is 25 times more extinct species than you would expect under the normal extinction rate. ”he told CNN in an email. He and his team found that in the past 100 years，more than 400 vertebrate(脊椎动物的)species went extinct. In the normal course of evolution，such extinctions would have taken up to 10，000 years，they said.
Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests. There have been five mass extinction events in the Earth’s history，each wiping out between 70％and 95％of the species of plants，animals and microorganisms. The most recent，66 million years ago，saw dinosaurs disappear. The past events were caused by catastrophic changes of the environment，including massive volcanic eruptions or collision with an asteroid.
The sixth mass extinction the one happening now—is different：scientists say it’s caused by humans. The researchers also said the current coronavirus(冠状病毒)crisis shows people’s recklessness(鲁莽)towards nature can seriously hurt themselves. Many endangered species are dying in large numbers due to the trade in wild animals and plants.
1.What does the underlined word“toxic”in Para. 2 mean?
A.Poisonous B.Useful
C.Alternative D.Environment-friendly
2.How does the writer convince readers of the seriousness of the mass extinctions?
A.By listing reliable statistics.
B.By imagining a picture of the extinctions.
C.By mentioning some news from CNN.
D.By explaining the history of the extinctions.
3.What is the purpose of the last paragraph?
A.To tell the difference between the fifth and sixth extinction.
B.To explain the cause of the coronavirus crisis.
C.To warn humans to get rid of their wrong actions.
D.To show the writer’s concern about the endangered species.
4.What does this article mainly talk about?
A.The changes of the environment do harm to wildlife.
B.The sixth mass extinction is much faster than expected.
C.Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests.
D.The current coronavirus has arisen from the illegal trade.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
The sixth mass extinction is not a worry for the future. It’s happening now，much faster than previously expected，and it's entirely our fault，according to a study puhlished Mooday.
Humans have already wiped out hundreds of species and pushed many more to the brink of extinction through wildlife trade，pollution，habitat loss and the use of toxic substances. The findings published in the scientific Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences( PNAS)show that the rate at which species are dying out has accelerated in recent decades.
Gerardo Ceballos González，a professor of ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and one of the authors of the study，said approximately 173 species went extinct between 2001 and 2014. “173 species is 25 times more extinct species than you would expect under the normal extinction rate. ”he told CNN in an email. He and his team found that in the past 100 years，more than 400 vertebrate(脊椎动物的)species went extinct. In the normal course of evolution，such extinctions would have taken up to 10，000 years，they said.
Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests. There have been five mass extinction events in the Earth’s history，each wiping out between 70％and 95％of the species of plants，animals and microorganisms. The most recent，66 million years ago，saw dinosaurs disappear. The past events were caused by catastrophic changes of the environment，including massive volcanic eruptions or collision with an asteroid.
The sixth mass extinction the one happening now—is different：scientists say it’s caused by humans. The researchers also said the current coronavirus(冠状病毒)crisis shows people’s recklessness(鲁莽)towards nature can seriously hurt themselves. Many endangered species are dying in large numbers due to the trade in wild animals and plants.
1.What does the underlined word“toxic”in Para. 2 mean?
A.Poisonous B.Useful
C.Alternative D.Environment-friendly
2.How does the writer convince readers of the seriousness of the mass extinctions?
A.By listing reliable statistics.
B.By imagining a picture of the extinctions.
C.By mentioning some news from CNN.
D.By explaining the history of the extinctions.
3.What is the purpose of the last paragraph?
A.To tell the difference between the fifth and sixth extinction.
B.To explain the cause of the coronavirus crisis.
C.To warn humans to get rid of their wrong actions.
D.To show the writer’s concern about the endangered species.
4.What does this article mainly talk about?
A.The changes of the environment do harm to wildlife.
B.The sixth mass extinction is much faster than expected.
C.Mass extinctions are just as severe as their name suggests.
D.The current coronavirus has arisen from the illegal trade.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The sixth mass extinction of life on the Earth is unfolding more quickly than feared, scientists have warned. More than 30 percent of animals with a backbone — fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals — are declining in both range and population, according to the first comprehensive analysis of these trends.
Around a decade ago, experts feared that a new range wipeout of species was appearing. Today, most agree that it is underway — but the new study suggests that the die-out is already growing fast.
The loss of biodiversity has recently accelerated. Several species of mammals that were relatively safe one or two decades ago are now endangered, including cheetahs, lions and giraffes, the study showed.
There is no mystery as to why: our own ever-expanding species — which has more than doubled in number since 1960 to 7.4 billion — is eating, crowding and polluting its planetary cohabitants out of existence. By comparison, there are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas.
The main drivers of wildlife decline are habitat loss, over-consumption, pollution, other species, disease, as well as hunting in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts.
Climate change is thought to become a major threat in the coming decades, with some animals — most famously polar bears — already in decline due to rising temperatures and changing weather patterns.
1.What does the underlined word “accelerated” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Made up. B. Put up.
C. Sped up. D. Used up.
2.Why has the loss of biodiversity sped up?
A. The mankind’s population is growing fast.
B. The air pollution is too severe.
C. There are fewer species in larger areas.
D. Man causes wider water pollution.
3.Which is not the main driver of wildlife decline?
A. Outside animals.
B. Loss of living areas.
C. Various illnesses.
D. Lack of water.
4.How is the future of polar bears?
A. Uncertain. B. Hopeful.
C. Doubtful. D. Unsatisfying.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Earth is most likely experiencing its sixth mass extinction (灭绝). The planet has been through at least five such catastrophes 1., but this is the first one in human history — and the first one with human fingerprints.
A report by the World Wildlife Fund2.(offer) the details about this decline, which has cut the planet's vertebrate (有脊椎的) wildlife populations3. an average of 60 percent in just 40 years. Habitat loss is the main threat to many 4. (danger) land animals. "Science shows us the cruel 5. (real) that our forests, oceans and rivers are suffering at our hands now," says Marco Lambertini, director of WWF International, in a statement. "Inch by inch and species by species, 6.(shrink) wildlife numbers and wild places are an indicator of the huge influence and pressure we are putting on the planet. "
"The statistics are7.(scare), but all hope is not lost, "says Ken Norris, science director for the Zoological Society of London. The report exposes some environmental 8.(problem) around the world, but it also throws light on the ways we can still protect and recover what9.(leave). We have an opportunity to design a new path forward10. allows us to co-exist with the wildlife we depend upon.
高三英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
The dodo is among the most famous extinct creatures, and a poster child for human-caused extinction events. Despite its bad name, and the fact that the species was alive during recorded human history, little is actually known about how this animal lived, looked, and behaved. A new study of the only known complete skeleton(骨架) from a single bird takes advantage of modern 3-D laser scanning(扫描) technology to open a new window into the life of this famous extinct bird.
The study was presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Estrel, Berlin. Leon Claessens, Associate Professor at the College of the Holy Cross, and lead researcher on the study said that, "the 3-D laser surface scans we made of the fragile dodo skeletons enable us to reconstruct how the dodo walked, moved and lived to a level of detail that has never been possible before. There are so many outstanding questions about the dodo bird that we can answer with this new knowledge."
A complete dodo skeleton, found by an amateur collector and barber, Etienne Thirioux, on the island of Mauritius between 1899 and 1917, has remained unstudied, even though it is the only complete dodo skeleton from a single individual bird known to exist. All other skeletons are incomplete combinations, meaning that they are gathered from more than one individual. In addition, Thirioux constructed a second, partially combined skeleton, which contains many bones that also belong to a single bird. "Being able to examine the skeleton of a single, individual dodo, which is not made up from as many individual birds as there are bones, as is the case in all those other combined skeletons, truly allows us to appreciate the way the dodo looked and see how tall or fat it really was," said Juilan Hume, of the Natural History Museum UK, a co-author on the study.
The scans were performed on site in Durban, South Africa, and allow examination of the biology of this mysterious extinct bird in detail for the first time. Using the newest digital tools and techniques, the scans provide an insight into how the flightless dodo may have developed its giant size, and how it walked and lived in its forest home. According to Kenneth Rijsdijk, a biologist from University of Amsterdam, “the skull of the dodo is so large and its mouth so strong that it is easy to understand that the earliest naturalists thought it was related to sharks and other birds of prey（猛禽）, rather than the pigeon family.”
1.The underlined phrase “a poster child” in Para. 1 is closest in meaning to “ ”.
A. a typical example
B. an endangered animal
C. a child who puts up posters on the board
D. a child posted in a newspaper as an advertisement
2.The researchers study the dodo skeleton to find out .
A. ways to save the dodo
B. the dodo’s living habits
C. the bird’s natural habitat
D. the cause of the dodo’s extinction
3.What is special about the dodo skeleton found by an amateur collector?
A. It is gathered from more than one individual.
B. It reminded unstudied between 1899 and 1917.
C. It is the only complete dodo skeleton from a single individual bird.
D. It can be examined with 3-D laser scanning technology.
4.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
A. To call people’s attention to wildlife protection.
B. To criticize humans for the extinction events.
C. To introduce a new way of studying the dodo.
D. To give tips on how to study extinct creatures.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Cursive (手写体)is about to become extinct. Do we raise the red flag? To teach or not to teach cursive is the question that several state education departments are struggling with.
Before you read this write-up $ do a simple exercise. Pick a pen and paper and start writing in cursive. Yes，that fancy handwriting that you learned in grade school. You may not have forgotten the good times you had while writing loopy Ps and Gs as well as curly Ms and Ns. However，the chances are that you won't be able to write it as excellently as you used to. Some people are good at making the perfect loops and curls，while some are bad. I am still terrible at it.
Cursive is hardly used by kids anymore as even adults don 't write in this style，unless they are using it for their signature. Learning this handwriting was a usual practice in school for several decades. However，in 2011, the Indiana Department of Education made it optional (可选择的)for schools to teach cursive writing to the students. In fact, there were 46 more states who have done the same. There are some who believe that it is high time for cursive to retire from school curriculum. After all，if we don ’ t leave the past behind，we cannot make way for new things. If you walk into any classroom，you would find children using keyboards to communicate in written form. On the other hand，fans of this cursive insist on its usefulness. They remind us that if we stop teaching and learning cursive in schools，very soon most of our historical documents will become hard to us.
Where do we stand on this subject? Is it the right time to erase an almost forgotten handwriting and live in the keyboarding world? Or can we do both without compromising (妥协)on our school curriculum? Let me know your thoughts on this matter by leaving a comment in the section below.
1.People use cursive when they
A.give their signature B.are in Indiana
C.grow up as adults D.are at school
2.In Indiana school, children
A.must learn cursive
B.are interested in cursive
C.can choose to learn cursive
D.learn cursive everyday
3.It can be inferred that the author
A.prefers to learn cursive
B.is a cursive teacher
C.welcomes people to show their opinions
D.is a very famous expert in education
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Is Cursive Writing Necessary?
B.Is Keyboarding World Good?
C.A Keyboarding World
D.Advantages of Cursive
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Cursive(草书) writing is about to become extinct.Do we raise the red flag? To teach or not to teach cursive writing is a question that several state education departments are meeting with.
Before you read this text, do a simple exercise.Pick a pen and paper and start writing in cursive.Yes, that fancy handwriting that you learned in grade school.You may not have forgotten the good times you had while writing curly(弯曲的) Ms and Ns.However, the chances are that you won’t be able to write it as excellently as you used to.Some people are good at making the perfect curls, while some are bad.I am still terrible at it.
Cursive writing is hardly used by kids anymore as even adults don’t write in this style, unless they are using it for their signature.Learning it was a usual practice in school for several decades.However, in 2011, the Indiana Department of Education made it optional(可选择的) for schools to teach cursive writing to the students.In fact, there are 46 more states that have also done the same.
There are some who believe that it is high time for cursive writing to retire from school curriculum.After all, if we don’t leave the past behind, we cannot make way for new things.If you walk into any classroom, you would find children using keyboards to communicate in the written form.On the other hand, fans of cursive writing insist on its usefulness.They remind us that if we stop teaching and learning cursive writing in school, very soon most of our historical documents will become hard to us.Where do we stand on this subject? Is it the right time to erase an almost forgotten writing style and live in the keyboarding world? Or can we do both without compromising on our school curriculum? Let me know your thoughts on this matter by leaving a comment in the section below.
1.From the second paragraph, we know that the author ___________.
A.didn’t learn cursive writing in grade school
B.is poor at making the perfect curls
C.often writes in cursive
D.often does physical exercise
2.In Indiana schools, children ___________.
A.must learn cursive writing
B.are interested in cursive writing
C.can choose to learn cursive writing
D.learn cursive writing every day
3.It can be inferred that the author __________.
A.prefers to learn cursive writing
B.is a cursive writing teacher
C.welcomes people to show their opinions
D.is a very famous expert in education
4.Which of the following could be the best title for the text?
A.Is cursive writing necessary?
B.Is the keyboarding world good?
C.How to write in cursive
D.How to improve cursive writing
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Cursive (手写体)is about to become extinct. Do we raise the red flag? To teach or not to teach cursive is the question that several state education departments are struggling with.
Before you read this write-up $ do a simple exercise. Pick a pen and paper and start writing in cursive. Yes，that fancy handwriting that you learned in grade school. You may not have forgotten the good times you had while writing loopy Ps and Gs as well as curly Ms and Ns. However，the chances are that you won't be able to write it as excellently as you used to. Some people are good at making the perfect loops and curls，while some are bad. I am still terrible at it.
Cursive is hardly used by kids anymore as even adults don 't write in this style，unless they are using it for their signature. Learning this handwriting was a usual practice in school for several decades. However，in 2011, the Indiana Department of Education made it optional (可选择的)for schools to teach cursive writing to the students. In fact, there were 46 more states who have done the same. There are some who believe that it is high time for cursive to retire from school curriculum. After all，if we don ’ t leave the past behind，we cannot make way for new things. If you walk into any classroom，you would find children using keyboards to communicate in written form. On the other hand，fans of this cursive insist on its usefulness. They remind us that if we stop teaching and learning cursive in schools，very soon most of our historical documents will become hard to us.
Where do we stand on this subject? Is it the right time to erase an almost forgotten handwriting and live in the keyboarding world? Or can we do both without compromising (妥协)on our school curriculum? Let me know your thoughts on this matter by leaving a comment in the section below.
1.People use cursive when they
A. give their signature B. are in Indiana
C. grow up as adults D. are at school
2. In Indiana school, children
A. must learn cursive
B. are interested in cursive
C. can choose to learn cursive
D. learn cursive everyday
3. It can be inferred that the author
A. prefers to learn cursive
B. is a cursive teacher
C. welcomes people to show their opinions
D. is a very famous expert in education
4. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Is Cursive Writing Necessary?
B. Is Keyboarding World Good?
C. A Keyboarding World
D. Advantages of Cursive
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
214. The mass of people in that country _________not Buddhists (佛教徒) but Christians.
| A．is | B．are | C．was | D．Am |
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
People who are worried about bad breath often reach for a toothbrush or a gun. But in the future, personal breath monitoring may include far more than fresh breath.
In face, breath is so rich in chemical compounds that fully understanding it has proved challenging. Each breath contains gases like carbon dioxide, the volatile(挥发性的)remains of recent snacks, medicines and even compounds taken in from things like carpeting or various kinds of air pollution. But breath detectors(检测器) can sort out these substances with increasing sensitivity(敏感性)。
Scientists are building electronic sniffers that examine the exhaled(呼气)air for signs of cancer, asthma(哮喘), and other diseases.
“There are clear signatures in the breath for liver(肝)disease, kidney(肾)disease and heart disease. Breath is a rich mixture that can reflect out state of health and disease.” said Dr. Raed Dweik, director of the Cleveland Clinic, adding “Breath analysis is the future of medical testing.”
He and his partners are testing a desktop system called BreathLink for use in rapid identification of diseases. The system is designed to work wherever there is an Internet connection. To use BreathLink, a person breathes into a long tube, and a breath sample is collected and analyzed within the system. Then it can detail chemical concentrations(浓度)of the breath in graphics. Dr. Raed Dweik said, “If you examine patients of asthma, you will find they have higher levels of nitric oxide(一氧化碳) in their exhaled air. It reflects their abnormal symptoms in the lungs.” His tests have reached 85 percent accuracy(精确度)so far in spotting people with some illness.
But some trained dogs, he pointed out, can sniff out cancer with 99 percent accuracy—although without the ability to identify particular compounds the way some detectors can.
“We are getting better and better,” he said. “But whether we will ever approach the accuracy of the dog—we don’t know.”
1.What is the breath detector used for?
A. To find what kind of disease a person has.
B. To identify substances from people’s breath.
C. To help a patient recover from disease.
D. To smell how bad the breath is.
2.In the fifth paragraph, what Dr. Raed Dwik said is meant to______.
A. show how he and his partners treated patients
B. tell why a person has asthma
C. show how sensitive the device is
D. show how to diagnose a patient of asthma
3.It can be inferred that_______
A. brushing teeth can improve one’s bad breath
B. there are leftovers like snacks and medicines in one’s breath
C. one can know exactly about his physical state through the breath
D. breath analysis can be helpful in medical diagnosis
4.What’s the author’s attitude towards the future of breath detectors?
A. Indifferent B. Positive
C. Doubtful. D. Critical.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Believe it or not, that is _____ people call the sixth sense.
| A．when | B．what | C．why | D．which |
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析