“The world has never been a better place to live in” says science writer Matt Ridley, “and it will keep on getting better.” Read on to see how Ridley makes his case. Right or wrong? You decide.
Compared with 50 years ago, when I was just four years old, people now make nearly three times as much money, eat one third more food and expect to live one third longer. In fact, it’s hard to find any areas of the world that’s worse off now than it was then, even though the world population has more than doubled over that period.
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown much cheaper. Take one example: In 1800, a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s, the same light from a lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950, it was eight seconds. Today, it’s half a second. In these terms, we are 43,200 times better off than in1800.
In the United States, rivers, lakes, seas and air are getting cleaner all the time. A car today produces less pollution traveling at full speed than a parked car did from leaks (泄漏) in 1970.
Although the world population is growing, the rate (率) of increase has been falling for 50 years. Across the world, national birth rates are lower now than in 1960, and in the less developed world, the birth rate has almost halved. According to a research report from the United Nations, population will start falling once it reaches 9.2 billion in 2075. After all, there are already seven billion people on earth, and they are eating better and better.
In 1970s, there were 550 billion barrels (桶) of oil reserves (储存) in the world, and in the 20 years that followed the world used up 600 billion. So by 1990, reserves should have been overused by 50 billion barrels. Instead, it is reported there are 900 billion today. They will last for many years and people will find something in place of oil long before they run out.
The more we develop, the more we can develop. The more we invent, the more inventions become possible. For 200 years, pessimists (people who believe that terrible things will happen in future) have had all the headlines—even though optimists have far more often been right. There are some reasons for pessimists. No charity (慈善机构) ever raised money by saying things are getting better. No journalist ever got the front page writing a story about how terrible things won’t happen. Don’t be a pessimist—dare to be an optimist!
1.Today, providing one hour’s light costs ______.
A. 6 hours’ work B. 15 minutes’ work
C. 8 seconds’ work D. 0.5 second’s work
2.Which of the following is true, according to the passage?
A. Things we used to need were much cheaper than they are today.
B. The pollution today is much more serious than it was long ago.
C. Population problem has nearly made the world stop developing.
D. It’s not necessary to be worried about oil reserves in the world.
3.What does the word “optimists” in the last paragraph mean?
A. People who are brave enough to face anything terrible.
B. People who can always tell good things from bad ones.
C. People who have hopeful and happy feelings about life.
D. People who don’t easily believe what they’re told about.
4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Never Give Up B. Cheer Up
C. Don’t Be Sad D. Think Out
九年级英语阅读理解中等难度题
“The world has never been a better place to live in” says science writer Matt Ridley, “and it will keep on getting better.” Read on to see how Ridley makes his case. Right or wrong? You decide.
Compared with 50 years ago, when I was just four years old, people now make nearly three times as much money, eat one third more food and expect to live one third longer. In fact, it’s hard to find any areas of the world that’s worse off now than it was then, even though the world population has more than doubled over that period.
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer-lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown much cheaper. Take one example: In 1800, a candle providing one hour’s light cost six hours’ work. In the 1880s, the same light from a lamp took 15 minutes’ work to pay for. In 1950, it was eight seconds. Today, it’s half a second. In these terms, we are 43,200 times better off than in1800.
In the United States, rivers, lakes, seas and air are getting cleaner all the time. A car today produces less pollution traveling at full speed than a parked car did from leaks (泄漏) in 1970.
Although the world population is growing, the rate (率) of increase has been falling for 50 years. Across the world, national birth rates are lower now than in 1960, and in the less developed world, the birth rate has almost halved. According to a research report from the United Nations, population will start falling once it reaches 9.2 billion in 2075. After all, there are already seven billion people on earth, and they are eating better and better.
In 1970s, there were 550 billion barrels (桶) of oil reserves (储存) in the world, and in the 20 years that followed the world used up 600 billion. So by 1990, reserves should have been overused by 50 billion barrels. Instead, it is reported there are 900 billion today. They will last for many years and people will find something in place of oil long before they run out.
The more we develop, the more we can develop. The more we invent, the more inventions become possible. For 200 years, pessimists (people who believe that terrible things will happen in future) have had all the headlines—even though optimists have far more often been right. There are some reasons for pessimists. No charity (慈善机构) ever raised money by saying things are getting better. No journalist ever got the front page writing a story about how terrible things won’t happen. Don’t be a pessimist—dare to be an optimist!
1.Today, providing one hour’s light costs ______.
A. 6 hours’ work B. 15 minutes’ work
C. 8 seconds’ work D. 0.5 second’s work
2.Which of the following is true, according to the passage?
A. Things we used to need were much cheaper than they are today.
B. The pollution today is much more serious than it was long ago.
C. Population problem has nearly made the world stop developing.
D. It’s not necessary to be worried about oil reserves in the world.
3.What does the word “optimists” in the last paragraph mean?
A. People who are brave enough to face anything terrible.
B. People who can always tell good things from bad ones.
C. People who have hopeful and happy feelings about life.
D. People who don’t easily believe what they’re told about.
4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Never Give Up B. Cheer Up
C. Don’t Be Sad D. Think Out
九年级英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
There has never been a better time than now to buy a new piece of technology,(技术) such as a computer. Technology usually starts out at a high price, but as time goes by it goes down in price. Now I’ve found that many new products are at good prices from the st art.There is no question about it This is a buyers’ market for sure.!
Also, as shopping on the Internet gets saf er , more people are trying to buy things in that way.The Net is where buyers can save money if they know of a few money-saving sites. The first things that a person should do is to compare the prices online stores.Sites such as pricesgrabber.com, techbargains.com, nextag.com and street prices.com will help you decide which store has the lowest price.The differences can be $500-$1000.
Remember that many stores also have large discounts (打折) on many things at certain times of the year. But I’d rather sit in front of my computer in my comfortable chair of going shopping in crowded places
1.What should come first if you want to shop online ?_______
A. Cheap stores B. Good prices
C. Safe Internet. D. Good technology
2.If you want to buy a computer online,What should you do before you buy one ?___
A. Bargain first, then make a decision.
B. Search different online stores and buy a good one
C. Choose one and compare the prices at different online stores
D. Look for many online stores to find out whether you can a fford it
3.Why does the writer prefer to shop online? Because______
A. he can save time and relaxed
B. he doesn’t like shopping by himself
C. shops are too far
D. the prices online are lower
4.Which of the following does the writer agree to ?____
A. Shopping online is comfortable.
B.The buyers’market is growing worse.
C. The Internet is really bad
D. shopping in malls is not good for him
5. What would be the best title for the text?_____
A. How to buy a computer
B. How to save money
B. How to use computers safely
D. How to go shopping online
九年级英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
(题文)There has never been such a beautiful village _________ in the world.
A. anywhere B. everywhere C. somewhere D. nowhere
九年级英语单选题中等难度题查看答案及解析
There has never been such a beautiful village _________ in the world.
A.anywhere B.everywhere C.somewhere D.nowhere
九年级英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
UNICEF wants to make _____ world _____ better place for children.
A. the; the B. /; a C. the; / D. the; a
九年级英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析
The coldest and most difficult place in the world in which to live is Antarctica. Antarctica is the land of snow and ice near the South Pole. Most people do not think there is much life in the icy waters around it. They are wrong.
Antarctica's seas are full of life. There are many kinds of fishes, water birds, seals and whales. They eat the thick plant life in the sea and the smaller water animals. Some whales, for example, eat more than a ton of food every day.
The most famous animal of Antarctica is the penguin. It struts around the icy as if it were a movie star walking down the street.
1.The best title is ____________.
A. Thick Plant Life B. Life Around Antarctica
C. Tons of Food D. Penguins
2.The most famous animal of Antarctica is the ____________.
A. whale B. seal C. penguin D. fox
3.Antarctica has ____________.
A. much ice B. warm weather C. flocks of geese D. warm water
4.Around Antarctica there ____________.
A. are many people B. is little plant life C. are many animals D. is little snow
5.The word “struts” in the last paragraph means____________.
A. swims gracefully B. walks proudly C. runs swiftly D. jumps happily
九年级英语阅读单选中等难度题查看答案及解析
kind and helpful to the people around us, and we will make the world a nicer place to live in.
A. Be B. Being C. To be D. Been
九年级英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
kind and helpful to the people around us, and we will make the world a nicer place to live in.
A. Be B. Being
C. To be D. Been
九年级英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
I have been to quite a few restaurants, but I can. say this one is .
A.good B.better C.the better D.the best
九年级英语单选题中等难度题查看答案及解析
I’ve never been the kind of person to say,“It’s the thought counts”(贵在心意)when it comes to gifts. That was until a couple of weeks ago when my kids gave me a present that blew me away.
For years now. I’ve been wanting to sell our home,the place where my husband and I raised our kids. But to me,this house is much more than just building.
In the front room,there is a wall that has hundreds of pencil lines,marking the progress of my children’s growth. Every growth stage is marked in grey,with each child’s name and the date on which they were measured. Of all the objects and all the memories,It’s this one thing that’s the hardest to leave behind. Friends I know have returned home after work only to discover their wall of heights that has been freshly painted over. A new paint job wouldn’t normally be greeted by tears,but erasing that evidence(证据)of motherhood hurts more than it should. Our kids grow in so many ways,but the wall is a piece of physical evidence of their progress,right there for everyone to see.
Over the years,I’ve talked about how much I would hate leaving that wall behind when I moved,even thought the last marks were made ten years ago when my kids stopped growing.
So one day,my children decided to do something about it.
They hired Jacquie Manning,a professional photographer whose work is about capturing(拍摄)the beautiful things in life,from clear lakes and skies to diamonds and ball gowns. She came to our house while I was at work,and over several hours,took photos of the hundreds of drawings and lines,little grey fingerprints and old marks. Somehow,she managed to photograph all those years of memories perfectly. Afterwards,she put all the photos together into one image(影像),turning them into a beautiful history of my family.
Three weeks later,my children’s wonderful gift made its way to me—a life-size-photo of the pencil lines and fingerprints that represents(代表)love and growth.
1.What was the hardest thing to leave behind when the author planned to move?
A.The presents friends gave her. B.Some expensive objects.
C.Some old photos. D.The pencil lines and fingerprints on a wall.
2.Who came up with the idea of the photo gift?
A.A professional photographer. B.The author herself.
C.The author’s children. D.The author’s friends.
3.We can include from the article that the author .
A.was strongly against selling her home
B.was not happy with the gift from her family
C.measures her children’s heights every Christmas
D.put great love and care in raising her children
4.The author used the example of her friends(in paragraph 4)to .
A.persuade her family to leave the wall as it was
B.stress the meaning of keeping good memories
C.explain why her house needed a new paint job
D.share her memory of being a mother with her readers
5.The main purpose of the article is to .
A.give advice on picking gifts for parents
B.introduce effective ways of communicating with children
C.explain why memories of love and growth are important
D.recommend a unique way of recording family history
九年级英语阅读单选困难题查看答案及解析