Not many organisms can survive in this severe...

Not many organisms can survive in this severe environment, the Sahara Desert, where daytime temperatures can reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit. But an insect called the Saharan silver ant grows well. They rush out onto the sand from their protected nests to gather up the bodies of insects that have died from the heat.

“The hotter the day, the more insect bodies they will find. The more food they have.” said Sarah Pfeffer, an animal behaviorist at Ulm University in Germany. She says that to avoid sinking into the Saharan sand, where they could meet the same fate（命运）as their lunch, silver ants have to be fast.

To document just how quickly the ants move, Pfeffer and her colleagues set up high-speed cameras above a channel between the entrance to the hungry ants’ nest and a food source. The researchers recorded top speeds approaching 35 inches per second.“But if you really look at how big the animals are and you calculate the body length per second, you will come up with a walking speed that is an astonishing 108 body-lengths per second.”That figure makes them the fastest known ant on the planet. By comparison, cheetahs(猎豹）top out at about 16 body lengths per second. The videos showed how the ants achieve such amazing speeds. As they accelerate, their leg movements become synchronized(同步). They increase their running length by bringing all six feet off the sand at once, which Pfeffer describes as a gallop. “Really all legs are lifted from the ground. They are in the air, but it’s not jumping. It’s a very smooth run that they have.”

A closely related ant called Cataglyphis fortis only reaches about 24 inches per second, or two-thirds of the silver ant's max.

The Saharan silver ants' speeds may be impressive, but two insects are even faster. The Califormia coastal mite (壁虱) and the Australian tiger beetle, both of which also grow well at near-deadly temperatures. It seems that to beat the heat, it pays to be fleet.

1.What does the underlined word "they" refer to?

A.The insects. B.The silver ants.

C.Pfeffer and her colleagues. D.The high-speed cameras.

2.How long is a Saharan silver ant?

A.About 0.14 inches. B.About 0.08 inches.

C.About 0.22 inches. D.About 0.32 inches.

3.How do the ants accelerate while running?

A.By jumping smoothly. B.By lifting all their legs.

C.By sinking into the sand. D.By flying in the air.

4.Why does the author mention another two animals in the last paragraph?

A.To introduce two speedy animals.

B.To present the near-deadly environment.

C.To show high temperature makes fast speed.

D.To indicate silver ants rank third in speed.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Not many people can say that they have lived in two totally different environments, and technically neither can I. I have lived in the same house in the same Connecticut town my whole life, but a lot of my childhood and teenage years have been spent visiting my family in New York City.

Wethersfield is a typical New England town, a small close community (社区) where almost everyone knows your name. My friends all go to the same high school and my parents are friendly with my friends’ parents. Most of my friends don’t realize what life is like outside this little town. Maybe every so often a few take a day trip to Manhattan or Boston, but none really knows what it’s like to live in an urban environment.

My parents are both from New York City and since they have siblings and friends who still live there, we visit a lot. From an early age I have been exposed to urban life. Jeff, one of my cousins, lives with his mother in a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. He has never had his own room and has always been very much on his own. I don’t think any of my friends could understand how someone could live like that.

When I go to the city I see things I would never see in my hometown. I see poverty and people struggling to make a living. I observe a whole different pace; there, you’re just one guy living with millions of others who will never know your name.

I feel blessed to have experienced the lifestyles of two completely different places. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had. I feel that living in Wethersfield has given me a solid base in forming my character and the ability to deal in a close-knit society. On the other hand, my time spent in New York has exposed me to diverse cultural experiences. I feel that I would be comfortable in any environment and could make the best of any situation.

1.According to the author, most of his friends in the town _____.

A. have never experienced city life

B. can only understand the rural life

C. prefer the small close community

D. know little about the real city life

2.The underlined word “siblings” in paragraph 3 means _____.

A. schoolmates　　 B. colleagues

C. relatives　　 D. parents

3.The author’s life in New York has brought him _____.

A. his present character　　 B. the social ability

C. the comfort of city life　　 D. diverse cultural experiences

4.What could be the best title for the passage?

A. A Small Town and a Big City

B. A Man of Two Different Worlds

C. Experience Various Environments

D. Make the Best of Diverse Cultures

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Not many people can say that they have lived in two totally different environments, and technically neither can I. I have lived in the same house in the same Connecticut town my whole life, but a lot of my childhood and teenage years have been spent visiting my family in New York City.

Wethersfield is a typical New England town, a small close community (社区) where almost everyone knows your name. My friends all go to the same high school and my parents are friendly with my friends’ parents. Most of my friends don’t realize what life is like outside this little town. Maybe every so often a few take a day trip to Manhattan or Boston, but none really knows what it’s like to live in an urban environment.

My parents are both from New York City and since they have siblings and friends who still live there, we visit a lot. From an early age I have been exposed to urban life. Jeff, one of my cousins, lives with his mother in a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. He has never had his own room and has always been very much on his own. I don’t think any of my friends could understand how someone could live like that.

When I go to the city I see things I would never see in my hometown. I see poverty and people struggling to make a living. I observe a whole different pace; there, you’re just one guy living with millions of others who will never know your name.

I feel blessed to have experienced the lifestyles of two completely different places. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had. I feel that living in Wethersfield has given me a solid base in forming my character and the ability to deal in a close-knit society. On the other hand, my time spent in New York has exposed me to diverse cultural experiences. I feel that I would be comfortable in any environment and could make the best of any situation.

1.According to the author, most of his friends in the town _____.

A. have never experienced city life

B. can only understand the rural life

C. prefer the small close community

D. know little about the real city life

2.The underlined word “siblings” in paragraph 3 means _____.

A. schoolmates B. colleagues              C. relatives                  D. parents

3.The author’s life in New York has brought him _____.

A. his present character                                B. the social ability

C. the comfort of city life                     D. diverse cultural experiences

4.What could be the best title for the passage?

A. A Small Town and a Big City

B. A Man of Two Different Worlds

C. Experience Various Environments

D. Make the Best of Diverse Cultures

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

“Human influenza viruses can survive and be infectious for several days when they are deposited on banknotes,” according to the latest study by Yves Thomas and his colleages in Switzerland. Scientists put different types of flu virus onto Swiss franc notes and found that they could survive from a few hours to more than a week. The results depended on the type of flu virus.

According to the study, Swiss-banknotes are mostly cotton covered by a nonporous resin(无孔树脂). Banknotes from other countries may be composed of different materials, and this could affect viral transmission. “Whether similar results would be obtained with banknotes from other countries and with different characteristics needs to be studied.” the authors wrote. In an interview with Reuters, Thomas said. “Our studies have convinced us that it is possible to catch the flu from banknotes, but the chances are very, very small and there is no cause for concern among the gneral population,” To be sure, many kinds of frequently touched surfaces could temporarily hide the flu virus. Broadly speaking, scientists consider the risk of transmission in this way to be low. Particularly if hand-washing and other hygiene measures are practiced.

Three things must happen for a flu virus to be transmitted from one person to another via money. First, a person who is infected with the flu virus must sneeze or cough onto the banknote. Next, an uninfected person would need to touch the money while the virus si still present. Finally, that person would need to put his hand in his mouth or pick his nose, says Thomas. The best defense against infection: follow public health guidelines and wash your hands frequently.

49. What does the underlined word “this” refers to in the second paragraph?

A. The time when people stay in a bank.

B. The fact that banknotes may consist of deferent materials.

C. The bank where people draw their money.

D. The country where the banknotes are in circlation.

50. From the last paragraph, we can know that an infected person should ________.

A. pay attention to his personal hygiene    B. wash his hands after leaving a bank

C. be monitored at a bank                D. not cough at a bank

51. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Any person who touches banknotes will become infected.

B. Different flu viruses stay on the surface of banknotes for different lengths of time.

C. The bank should not allow any infected person to enter.

D. Only banknotes in Switzerland can transmit the flu virus.

52. What is the best title for the passage?

A. Is it Dangerous to Stay in a Bank?

B. How to Avoid Being Infected with the Flu Virus?

C. Can You Catch the Flu from Handling Money?

D. Why Do People Refuse to Use Banknotes in Switzerland?

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environment．For example, the end of the last Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, brought a big challenge to which humans had to adapt．Before this time, large parts of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that contained much of the earth' s water．In North America, large animals that wandered the vast tundra （冰原） provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters．When the earth became warm, large Ice Age animals disappeared, and many land areas were covered by rising sea levels from melting ice．But people survived, they developed new technologies and learned how to survive on new plant and animal species． Finally some people settled into permanent villages, durable houses and farms．

Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet． Through history, major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive in ever-increasing numbers．The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to about 6 billion today．

However, the successes of culture adaptation can also create problems in the long run．Over the last 200 years, people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount of material and chemical wastes．The global population now consumes some important natural resources—such as petroleum, wood, and minerals—faster than nature can produce them．Many scientists believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be changing the global climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways．Thus, the adaptive success of the present-day global culture of production and trade may be temporary．

1.What is the first paragraph mainly talking about?

2.To deal with the problems, human beings should ______according to the passage．

3.Which of the following is the problem caused by cultural adaptation according to the passage?

4.Which of the following can be the best tide of the passage?

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

This book contains a ________ of several articles in nuclear physics so you can read it before you read the book in detail.

A. digest　　　　　　　　 B. digestion

C. preview　　　　　　　 D. manual

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

When the market economy is introduced, many factories will not 　　 .

A. live　　　　　　 B. last　　　　　　 C. survive　　　　　 D. keep

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

For several decades, there has been an organized campaign intended to produce distrust in science, funded by those whose interests are threatened by the findings of modern science. In response, scientists have tended to stress the success of science. After all, scientists have been right about most things, from the structure of the universe to the relativity of time and space.

Stressing successes isn’t wrong, but for many people it’s not persuasive. An alternative answer to the question “Why trust science?” is that scientists use the so-called scientific method. But what is called the scientific method isn’t what scientists actually do. Science is dynamic: new methods get invented; old ones get abandoned; and at any particular point, scientists can be found doing many different things. False theories sometimes lead to true results, so even if an experiment works, it doesn’t prove that the theory it was designed to test is true.

If there is no specific scientific method, then what is the basis for trust in science? The answer is the methods by which those claims are evaluated. A scientific claim is never accepted as true until it has gone through a long process of examination by fellow scientists. Scientists draft the initial version of a paper and then send it to colleagues for suggestions. Until this point, scientific feedback is typically fairly friendly. But the next step is different: the revised paper is submitted to a scientific journal, where things get a whole lot tougher. Editors deliberately send scientific papers to people who are not friends or colleagues of the authors, and the job of the reviewer is to find errors or other faults. We call this process “peer review” because the reviewers are scientific peers—experts in the same field—but they act in the role of a superior who has both the right and the responsibility to find fault. It is only after the reviewers and the editor are satisfied that any problems have been fixed that the paper will be printed in the journal and enters the body of “science.”

Some people argue that we should not trust science because scientists are “always changing their minds.” While examples of truly settled science being overturned are far fewer than is sometimes claimed, they do exist. But the beauty of this scientific process is that science produces both creativity and stability. New observations, ideas, explanations and attempts to combine competing claims introduce creativity; transformative questioning leads to collective decisions and the stability of scientific knowledge. Scientists do change their minds in the face of new evidence, but this is a strength of science, not a weakness.

1.Scientists stress the success of science in order to ________.

A.promote basic knowledge of science

B.remind people of scientific achievements

C.remove possible doubts about science

D.show their attitude towards the campaign

2.What can we learn about the so-called scientific method?

A.It’s an easy job to prove its existence.

B.It usually agrees with scientists’ ideas.

C.It hardly gets mixed with false theories.

D.It constantly changes and progresses.

3.What can we learn about “peer” review?

A.It seldom gives negative evaluation of a paper.

B.It is usually conducted by unfriendly experts.

C.It aims to perfect the paper to be published.

D.It happens at the beginning of the evaluation process.

4.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph implies that ________.

A.it is not uncommon for science to be overturned

B.scientists are very strong in changing their minds

C.people lose faith in those changeable scientists

D.changes bring creativity and stability to science

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

In the decade（十年）of the 1970s, the United Nations organized several important meetings on the human environment to study a very serious problem．We humans are destroying the world around us．We must learn to protect them, or life will be very bad for our children and grandchildren．

There are several major aspects to this problem．

Population

Most problems of the environment come from population growth．In 1700 there were 635 million people in the world; in 1900 there were 1．6 billion; in 1950, 2．5 billion; and in 1980, 4．4 billion．In the year 2010 there will be 7．3 billion．More people need more water, more food, more wood, and more petroleum．

Distribution

Scientists say there is enough water in the world for everyone, but some countries have a lot of water and some have only a little．Some areas get all rain during one season．The rest of the year is dry．

Petroleum

We are using up the world’s petroleum．We use it in our cars and to heat our buildings in winter．Farmers use petrochemicals to make the soil rich．They use them to kill insects on those plants．These chemicals go into rivers and lakes and kill the fish there．Thousands of people also die from these chemicals every year．Chemicals also go into the air and pollute it．Winds carry this polluted air to other countries and other countries．

Poverty

Poor farmers use the same land over and over．The land needs a rest so it will be better next year．However, the farmer must have food every year．Poor people cut down trees for firewood．In some areas when the trees are gone, the land becomes desert．However, people need wood to cook their food now．Poor people cannot save the environment for the future．

We now have the information and the ability to solve these huge problems．However, this is not a problem for one country or one area of the world．It is a problem for all humans．The people and the nation of the world must work together to protect the world’s resources．No one controls the future, but we all help make it．

1.According to the passage, our world is being destroyed mainly because ______．

A．pollution is getting worse and worse

B．population are increasing greatly

C．we humans are using up all of our natural resources

D．distribution is not reasonable．

2.Good distribution means ________．

A．having things in the right place at the right time．

B．cutting down forests and selling them to other countries．

C．building water systems to carry water to farms．

D．conserving our natural resources

3.The best title of the passage should be ________

A．The World Being Destroyed

B．A Serious Problem We Should Pay Attention to

C．Aspects That Destroyed Our World

D．Conserving the World’s Natural Resources

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

This book is said to be a very special one, because it _______ many events not found in other history books.

A. covers　 B. writes　 C. prints　　　　 D. reads

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析