Scientists warn that our earth is drowning in plastic. The world’s cities produce 2 billion tons of rubbish every year. That number is expected to rise to 3 billion tons by 2050.
We often buy packaged goods but that packaging is often made of plastic. Now, it may be changing. A new environmentally friendly shopping model, called Loop, was recently launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It aims to replace throwaway containers with reusable ones. This is what some people call the zero-waste movement. The main belief driving this movement is that much of the trash we create is unnecessary.
Loop is the idea of TerraCycle, a recycling company. It first came from the “milkman model” of the 1950s in the US. Back then, someone brought milk to your doorstep in glass bottles and then left with empty bottles. These could be cleaned and used again. The result is zero-waste. Loop will work the same way. Instead of throwing away, the product comes in a reusable one. When the product is all gone, someone will collect and clean the old container, fill it up and then return it to you.
At the start, Loop will offer about 300 products. Proctor & Gamble will start by selling 10 products on Loop as a test. If the results are good, more products will be added later.
Representatives from Greenpeace also joined in the discussion about Loop at Davos. Jennifer Morgan said that “Greenpeace welcomes the aim of the Loop Alliance to move away from throwaway culture and disposability. But I doubt whether companies worldwide are ready to change their business models”.
Loop is set to launch later in three eastern U. S. states, and also in Paris, France and some of the surrounding area. Then Loop plans to expand to the U. S. West Coast, Toronto, Canada and Britain by the end of this year.
1.The purpose of Loop is to___________.
A.make packaging easier
B.reduce the plastic waste
C.lower the production cost
D.change shopping model
2.What is the third paragraph mainly about?
A.The origin of the idea of Loop.
B.The way to recycle milk bottles.
C.The future of shopping pattern.
D.The benefit of recycling containers.
3.What is Morgan’s attitude towards the current situation of loop?
A.Optimistic. B.Desperate.
C.Worried. D.Ambiguous.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To show scientists’ concern about plastic.
B.To present us benefits of recycling plastic.
C.To introduce the zero-waste shopping model.
D.To inform us of an environmental issue.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
Scientists warn that our earth is drowning in plastic. The world’s cities produce 2 billion tons of rubbish every year. That number is expected to rise to 3 billion tons by 2050.
We often buy packaged goods but that packaging is often made of plastic. Now, it may be changing. A new environmentally friendly shopping model, called Loop, was recently launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It aims to replace throwaway containers with reusable ones. This is what some people call the zero-waste movement. The main belief driving this movement is that much of the trash we create is unnecessary.
Loop is the idea of TerraCycle, a recycling company. It first came from the “milkman model” of the 1950s in the US. Back then, someone brought milk to your doorstep in glass bottles and then left with empty bottles. These could be cleaned and used again. The result is zero-waste. Loop will work the same way. Instead of throwing away, the product comes in a reusable one. When the product is all gone, someone will collect and clean the old container, fill it up and then return it to you.
At the start, Loop will offer about 300 products. Proctor & Gamble will start by selling 10 products on Loop as a test. If the results are good, more products will be added later.
Representatives from Greenpeace also joined in the discussion about Loop at Davos. Jennifer Morgan said that “Greenpeace welcomes the aim of the Loop Alliance to move away from throwaway culture and disposability. But I doubt whether companies worldwide are ready to change their business models”.
Loop is set to launch later in three eastern U. S. states, and also in Paris, France and some of the surrounding area. Then Loop plans to expand to the U. S. West Coast, Toronto, Canada and Britain by the end of this year.
1.The purpose of Loop is to___________.
A.make packaging easier
B.reduce the plastic waste
C.lower the production cost
D.change shopping model
2.What is the third paragraph mainly about?
A.The origin of the idea of Loop.
B.The way to recycle milk bottles.
C.The future of shopping pattern.
D.The benefit of recycling containers.
3.What is Morgan’s attitude towards the current situation of loop?
A.Optimistic. B.Desperate.
C.Worried. D.Ambiguous.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To show scientists’ concern about plastic.
B.To present us benefits of recycling plastic.
C.To introduce the zero-waste shopping model.
D.To inform us of an environmental issue.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
More than 11,000 scientists are warning that the Earth, in their words, "clearly and unequivocally （明确地）faces a climate emergency.” The scientists represent several fields of study and come from 150 countries around the world. They approved a report that appeared in the publication Bioscience earlier this month. It warns that the world would face "untold human suffering" if it does not make deep and lasting shifts in human activities that influence climate change. Three leaders of the study are from the United States. They worked on the study with scientists from universities in South Africa and Australia. This is the first time a large group of scientists have jointly （共同地）used the word "emergency" when talking about climate change.
"Despite 40 years of global climate negotiations ...we have generally conducted business as usual and have largely failed to address this worrying situation,” the study said. “Climate change has arrived and is accelerating faster than many scientists expected."
The report identified five areas that the world needs to deal with immediately. The scientists appealed to nations to use energy more efficiently and cut their use of fossil fuels. They suggested that lawmakers approve taxes on the burning of carbon-based fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. The report urges people to move toward more of a plant-based diet. Other areas of concern include preventing the destruction of forests and permanent loss of some plant and animal species. The report noted that it will most likely take strong actions by the public to move politicians to approve lasting policy changes.
The scientists added, "We believe that the prospects （前景）will be greatest if decision-makers and all of humanity quickly respond to this warning and declaration of a climate emergency, and act to support life on planet Earth, our only home.”
1.What will happen to people if they don't stop the activities that influence the climate change?
A.They will have no places to live in.
B.They will be fined and lose their jobs.
C.They will become bored with their life.
D.They will go through a lot of sufferings.
2.What have people done when facing the climate change in the past 40 years?
A.They have ignored the scientists’ warning,
B.They have solved the problem successfully.
C.They have talked too much but done too little.
D.They have realized the problem isn’t that serious.
3.In which paragraph can we find the advice from the scientists about ways to control the climate change ?
A.Paragraph 1. B.Paragraph 2.
C.Paragraph 3. D.Paragraph 4.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Scientists' Hard Work of Saving the Earth
B.l he Important Reasons of Climate Change
C.The Impact of Human Activities on Climate
D.Scientists' Warning of a Climate Emergency
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
All scientists _______ to the view that the increase in the earth’s temperature is due to the burning of fossil fuels.
A.submit B.preserve C.subscribe D.deserve
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Some scientists believe that one of the most intelligent beings on Earth is in fact the octopus (章鱼).
Octopuses usually live at the bottom of river mouths and seas-areas which are not attractive to researchers. They are not social animals so it can be hard to study their interaction with others. And the octopus’ intelligence is not easy for humans to understand. When we observe some animals such as rats or dogs, we can often understand their behavior. Octopuses，however can seem like aliens (外星人). Scientists need to have a lot of imagination to understand what an octopus is thinking!
In the 1950s, the US Air Force sponsored scientists to study the way octopuses use their brains. They hoped that they could use this knowledge to help them build better computers. However, their brains were so complex that the scientists felt it of no significance to continue with it. Octopuses have a very complex nervous system and recent research suggests that they have some of their intelligence inside each arm, which means that each arm can “think” for itself. It also appears that they have a good memory, perhaps similar to a cat’s.
Perhaps the most striking thing about octopuses is their ability to change their color and body pattern. They do this to camouflage themselves to avoid their enemies and also to communicate with others. They can completely change their appearance in less than a second. It can change its skin to look like rocks, sand or planktron (浮游生物).
Some scientists have even suggested that these different patterns and colors are in fact a very hard language-and that each design is a different verb，adjective or noun. But nobody has been able to work out what they might be saying. There’s a long way to go to get to know the octopus completely.
1.What can we infer about the octopus’ intelligence from Paragraph 2?
A.It does not attract scientists. B.Little has been known about it.
C.It is equal to the cat’s or dog’s. D.Much has been done about it.
2.What can we say about scientists’ study on the octopus in the 1950s?
A.They had to give it up eventually. B.They used computers to help.
C.They found its arms could think. D.They judged it lived like a cat.
3.What does the underlined word “camouflage” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Relax. B.Strengthen. C.Hide. D.Express.
4.What does the author think of the octopuses?
A.They are the smartest animals. B.They’re easy to be seen in the sea.
C.It is useful to copy their language. D.It is difficult to understand them.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
(2013·咸阳二模)We should keep in mind that the earth is our only home and only by saving the environment________ourselves.
A．we can save B．can we save
C．we must save D．must we save
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Scientists have long understood the key role that oceans play in regulating the Earth’s climate. Oceans cover 70 percent of the globe and store a thousand times more heat than the atmosphere does. What’s newer is the understanding of how this key component of our climate system responds to global warming.
A brake on global warming — for now
One of oceans’most important climate functions is absorbing heat and carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the gases that cause global warming. Acting as a heat sponge (海绵), oceans have absorbed huge amounts of heat and CO2 in the last forty years.
Fujita explains that "oceans are saving us from faster climate change — they are a big flywheel that delays rapid overheating of the Earth, putting a brake on the climate system."
"That’s the good news," he adds. "The bad news is that oceans only slow the atmospheric warming. Once oceans come to balance with a greenhouse gas warmed earth, the extreme heat will remain in the atmosphere and things will get much hotter." But where and how oceans release this accumulated (积累的) heat is uncertain. And as oceans store heat, fragile underwater ecosystems are struggling.
The most recent scientific report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also notes with concern that oceans are acidifying because of increased absorption of atmospheric CO2, and thus causing a threat for shell-forming species. Sharp increases in carbon dioxide levels will cause further acidification of oceans.
Currents distributing heat
Another important role oceans play is that of distributor. Oceans deliver heat and life-sustaining nutrients around the globe. Just as blood vessels bring oxygen and nutrients to cells in the human body, oceans’ currents carry oxygen, nutrients and heat throughout the Earth. Oceans distribute 25 percent to 50 percent of the energy the planet receives from the sun. For example, the Gulf Stream carries heat across the Atlantic. This warm current gives northwestern Europe a milder climate than it would normally have so far north. A change to oceans’ circulation (循环) patterns could throw Europe into a colder period, even as the rest of world experiences warmer temperatures.
1.We can infer from the passage that .
A.oceans cause global warming
B.oceans stop global warming
C.oceans release nutrients and heat
D.ocean ecosystems face more dangers
2.From the passage we can learn that oceans’ currents .
A.produce oxygen and nutrients everywhere
B.absorb 25% to 50% of the energy from the sun
C.distribute heat and nutrients around the globe
D.change oceans’ circulation patterns
3.Which of the following is NOT the result of oceans absorbing heat and carbon dioxide?
A.It causes further acidification.
B.It affects shell-forming species.
C.It makes the atmosphere hotter.
D.It regulates the Earth’s climate.
4.This passage mainly talks about .
A.the roles of oceans B.global warming
C.ocean currents D.carbon dioxide
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Scientists have long understood the key role that oceans play in controlling the Earth’s climate. Oceans cover 70 per cent of the surface of the globe and store a thousand times more heat than the atmosphere does. What’s newer is the understanding of how this key component(组成部分) of our climate system responds to global warming.
A brake on global warming—for now
One of the oceans’ most important climate functions is absorbing heat and carbon dioxide(CO2), one of the gases that causes global warming. Acting as something absorbing heat, the oceans have absorbed huge amounts of heat and CO2 in the last forty years.
Fujita explains, “the oceans are saving us from faster climate change—they are putting a brake on the climate system.”
“That’s the good news,” he adds. “The bad news is that the oceans only slow the atmospheric warming. Once the oceans come to balance with a greenhouse-gas warmed earth, the extreme heat will remain in the atmosphere and things will get much hotter.” But where and how the oceans release this slowly increased heat is uncertain. And as the ocean stores heat, fragile(脆弱的) underwater ecosystems are struggling.
The most recent scientific report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) also notes with concern that the ocean is acidifying(酸化) because of increased absorption of atmospheric CO2. and thus causing a threat to shell-forming species. Sharp increase in CO2 levels will cause further acidification of the ocean.
Currents distributing heat
Another important role the oceans play is that of distributor(散布者). Oceans deliver heat and life-sustaining nutrition around the globe. Just as blood tube bring oxygen and nutrition to cells in the human body, the ocean’s currents carry oxygen, nutrients and heat throughout the Earth. The ocean distributes 25 to 50 per cent of energy the planet receives from the sun. For example, the Gulf Stream carries heat across the Atlantic. This warm current gives northwestern European a milder climate that it would normally have so far north. A change to the ocean’s circulation patterns could throw Europe into a colder period, even as the rest of the world is experiencing warmer temperatures.
1. We can infer from the passage that _______.
| A．the oceans cause global warming | B．the oceans stop global warming |
| C．the oceans release nutrients and heat | D．the ocean ecosystems face more dangers |
2. From the passage we can learn that ocean’s currents _______.
produce oxygen and nutrients around absorb 25-50% of the energy from the sun distribute the atmosphere hotterD. change the ocean’s circulation patterns
3. Which of the following are the results of the ocean absorbing heat and CO2?
a. It causes further acidification.
b. It makes the atmosphere hotter.
c. It balances the oceans with a green-house gas.
d. It affects shell-forming species.
e. It makes the oceans act as a heat sponge.
f. It controls the Earth’s climate.
| A．a-c-f | B．a-d-f | C．b-d-e | D．b-c-e |
4. If the ocean’s circulation pattern changed, ______.
| A．Asia would suffer a hotter climate. |
| B．Europe would become hotter |
| C．the rest of the world would become warmer. |
| D．the climate of Europe would become colder. |
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Scientists are worried that an asteroid(小行星) will possibly hit the earth in 2036. If scientists are right, planet earth is 24 years away from a major disaster.
Scientists have been monitoring the progress of a 390-metre-wide asteroid ever since it was discovered last June. They have announced that it could hit the earth, causing huge damage, in 2036.
NASA estimates that the impact from the asteroid named after Apophis and ancient Egyptian demon(魔鬼) would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear explosion over Hiroshima. Thousands of square kilometers would be directly affected by the explosion. The whole planet would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere.
This is the worst possible scenario(情景) of any asteroid in recorded history.
Having more than 20 years’ warning of possible impact might seem plenty of time. But scientists insist that there is actually very little time left to decide.
Luckily, however, they aren’t short on ideas for deflecting the asteroid. The favored method is also probably the easiest—throwing a spacecraft at the asteroid to change its direction. The European Space Agency plans to test this in the next decade.
One idea that seems to have no support from astronomers is the use of explosive, although this sounds more likely to the public or Hollywood producer.
At present, scientists are trying to make a better estimate of how much time we have, through more observations.
In spring of next year, there will be another chance for radar observation of Apophis. This will help astronomers calculate the orbits of the asteroid more accurately.
If, at that stage, they can’t rule out an impact with the earth in 2036, the next chance to make better observations will not be until 2016, then 2029.
“If we wait until 2029 and the worst—case scenario turns out to be true, it would seem unlikely that we’d be able to do anything about 2036,” warns Prof Fitzsimmons.
1.What does the underlined word “deflecting” most probably mean?
| A．making it smaller. |
| B．observing it clearly enough. |
| C．dividing into pieces. |
| D．changing its direction. |
2.According to the scientists’ observation, _______.
| A．the asteroid named Apophis will explode in 2036. |
| B．the asteroid named Apophis might hit the earth in 2036. |
| C．the asteroid named Apophis is 24 years old. |
| D．there is plenty of time to decide the way we deal with the asteroid. |
3.What is the impact from Apophis if it hits the earth?
| A．It will damage Hiroshima. |
| B．Thousands of square kilometers would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere. |
| C．It might be the worst damage caused by asteroids in recorded history. |
| D．The whole planet would be directly affected by the explosion. |
4.It can be inferred from the text that _____.
| A．Hollywood producers will explode Apophis to avoid its hit. |
| B．There are only two chances for scientists to make better observations if they can’t grasp the chance next year. |
| C．NASA plans to throw a spacecraft at Apophis to change its direction. |
| D．It is supportive from astronauts that we explode the Apophis. |
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
We’re drowning in plastic. If you want to reduce your own contribution to the plastic pollution problem, recycling might seem like an easy solution.
But what happens after you clean out those plastic containers and pour them into a recycling bin? Unfortunately, the outcome isn’t as rosy as many people think; recycling is unlikely to give plastic to-go containers new life. “Of all the waste produced in 2017, only 8.4% of it eventually got recycled. It’s not that consumers aren’t motivated to recycle or that they don’t have ready access to recycling programs; the United States simply doesn’t have the proper facilities (设施),” said John Hocevar, a marine biologist with Greenpeace USA.
A recent report surveyed the United States’ 367 materials recovery facilities—the facilities that sort our recycling—and found only plastic bottles were regularly recycled. The fate of most other types of plastic such as packaging usually ends up being buried or burnt.
Not all plastic is created equal. If you turn over a transparent plastic bottle, like those used to hold water, you’ll notice a number “1” inside a triangular recycling symbol. Non-transparent jugs, like the kind that hold milk, get a “2”. At materials recovery facilities, or MRF’s, plastics get sorted based on these numbers, which indicate how recyclable they are.
Numbers 1 and 2 are relatively recyclable. Recycling gets more difficult with higher numbers, called “mixed plastic”. This waste makes up around 69% of all the plastic we use. It’s much more expensive to process than numbers 1 and 2.
So what the United States needs is facilities equipped to process other kinds of plastic. But Hocevar came up with a different solution: “The really simple answer is that we have to stop making so much throwaway plastic.”
That said, is recycling worth it? For bottles labeled (贴标签) “1” or “2”, the answer is “yes”. There’s also a growing market for plastics labeled “5”. For other numbers, Hocevar’s answer was simple: a resounding (响亮的) “no” on numbers 3, 4, 6 and 7.
1.Which problem is the USA facing according to the text?
A.People don’t know the best way to recycle.
B.Ready recycling programs are not accessible.
C.People lack awareness about plastic recycling.
D.There isn’t suitable equipment for plastic recycling.
2.What may John Hocevar think of plastic recycling in the USA?
A.Productive. B.Promising.
C.Unsatisfying. D.Controversial.
3.What information can the numbers on plastic bottles convey?
A.Whether it is easy to recycle them.
B.The recycling technology they need.
C.They places where they were produced.
D.Which dustbin we should put them into.
4.What should we do with plastic according to Hocevar?
A.Give up the use of plastic.
B.Develop more cheaper facilities.
C.Only recycle plastics labeled 1 to 5.
D.Reduce the production of mixed plastic.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Many of us have wondered what Earth is like beneath the surface. So have writers and scientists. In French novelist Jules Verne’s masterpiece Journey to the Center of the Earth, explorers go down to Earth’s center and discover amazing wonders.
But in real life, human beings haven’t even come close to the planet’s core (核心). The core is over 6,000 km down. The deepest hole ever created, according to the BBC, is the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia, which only goes 12.3 km down.
So how do we know about everything down below without any samples？
One good way to start is to think about the Earth’s density (密度), Simon Redfern of the University of Cambridge in the UK told the BBC.
“The density of the material on Earth’s surface is much lower than the average density of the whole Earth, so that tells us there’s something that has greater density,” Redfern said.
The challenge is to find out which heavy materials the core is made of. And the main material scientists have found is iron. The idea is that when Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, a lot of iron made its way down to the core, taking up about 80 percent of it. Today scientists are still working on finding out which other materials the core could be made up of.
You might also wonder how we know the size of the core. There’s a one-word answer: seismology (地震学).
When an earthquake happens, seismic stations around the world record the shockwaves it sends throughout the planet. It’s like hitting one side of the planet with a huge hammer and listening on the other side for the noise.
Early research found that some shockwaves, called “S-waves”, went missing. S-waves can only travel through solid material, but not through liquid, so they must have found something molten in Earth’s center. By following the S-waves’ paths, scientists found out that rocks became liquid around 3,000 km down.
There are still many questions about the Earth’s core to answer. But the study of the dark world below isn’t just for scientists’ curiosity.
The movement of Earth’s molten iron core builds up a powerful magnetic (有磁力的) field. It protects us from radiation from the sun and is needed for compasses and GPS systems to work.
So perhaps none of us will ever set eyes on the core, but it’s good to know it’s there.
1.The author mentions Jules Verne’s novel Journey to the Center of the Earth in the first paragraph to .
A. discuss the possibility of going down to Earth’s center
B. show how much humans have discovered about Earth
C. paint a picture in our imagination of the dark world below
D. show humans’ deep interest in Earth’s center
2.We can learn from the article that “S-waves” .
A. are often used to predict earthquakes
B. cannot travel through liquid material
C. are the most noticeable shockwaves produced by earthquakes
D. can travel most rapidly at 3,000 kilometers below Earth’s surface
3.We can infer from the last three paragraphs that .
A. research into Earth’s core has hardly made any progress in recent years
B. improvements in GPS systems could help people find out more about Earth
C. Earth’s core helps to protect humans from harm
D. scientists are likely to reach Earth’s center within dozens of years
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析