Breathing in polluted air on busy roads is as...

Breathing in polluted air on busy roads is as harmful as passively smoking ten cigarettes a day, new research has found. The drop in pollution had the same effects as avoiding four cigarettes a day. One of the researchers, Saskia van der Zee, explained why they compared the effects of pollution lo passive smoking. “We thought that passive smoking would be easier to understand,” she told The Times. ‘‘You don’t want your neighbors to come into your house and smoke three cigarettes every day.”

Earlier this week, doctors warned that Britain is facing a major health emergency unless diesel(柴油)cars are taken off the roads. Emissions (排放物) from diesel cars arc already contributing to smog which has been linked to the deaths of 40,000 people a year. Health charities, medical leaders and environmental groups have called for a modern Clean Air Act lo bring pollution under control. Separately, more than 300 doctors in the Doctors Against Diesel group have written to Theresa May, calling for a diesel reduction.

Professor John Middleton, president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, said, “Diesel is the primary source of nitrogen dioxide(二氧化氮)in urban areas and is linked to health effects that begin before birth and extend throughout life, from childhood lung development to increased risk of heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. It is high lime lo handle the problem.”

London is already planning to introduce an “emission zone” which diesel drivers would be charged to enter, and other cities are set to follow. But exerts are desperate to find new ways to control the damage done by pollution. Diesel drivers in Westminster have been told they may soon be charged 50 percent extra for on-street parking. And Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London，submitted a £ 3,500 plan to encourage drivers to switch to petrol or electric cars.

“Cutting diesel emissions would therefore have an immediate effect on children’s personal exposure, and improve their long-term health.” A government spokesman said.

1.Why did the researchers compare pollution to smoking?

A. It’s easier for people to understand.

B. It’s hard for people to quit smoking.

C. It’s a bad habit to smoke at home.

D. It’s harmful to breathe in polluted air.

2.How can the major health emergency be solved according to Britain doctors?

A. Give up smoking.

B. Abandon diesel cars.

C. Make strict laws.

D. Schedule yearly exams.

3.What can we infer from what Professor John Middleton said?

A. Cutting diesel emissions is urgent.

B. Prevention is better than relief.

C. Children are the worst victims.

D. People ignored the harm of diesel.

4.What is the purpose of the plan put forward by Sadiq Khan?

A. To improve air quality with high technology.

B. To limit the total number of cars on roads.

C. To inspire people to choose greener vehicles.

D. To carry out license plate restrictions.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

I can’t imagine what air we would be breathing in if we __________ anything to stop air pollution.

A. hadn’t done　　　　　 B. didn’t do

C. haven’t done 　　　　 D. don’t do

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Mr. Robinson had to travel somewhere on business and as he was in a hurry, he decided to go by air. He liked to sit beside a window when he was flying. So, when he got on to the plane, he looked for a window seat. He found all of them had already been taken except one. There was a soldier sitting in the seat beside this one and Mr. Robinson was happy that he had not taken the one by the window; but, anyhow, he at once went towards it. When he reached it, however, he saw there was a notice on it. It was written in ink and said “This seat is reserved for proper load balance. Thank you.” Mr. Robinson had never seen such a notice in a plane before, but he thought that the plane must be carrying something heavy in its baggage room which made it necessary to have the passengers properly balanced, so he walked on and found another empty seat, not beside a window, to sit in. Then, when the plane was quite full, a very beautiful girl stepped into the plane. The soldier quickly took the notice off the seat beside him and in this way succeeded in having the girl beside him during the whole trip.

1.When he got on the plane he was happy to find that _______.

A. a notice was put in a window seat

B. some of the seats were not occupied

C. there was a seat that he had hoped to have

D. the plane was not very crowded

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Mr. Robinson was the last passenger to get on board the plane.

B. Mr. Robinson was surprised to see the notice in the seat.

C. The window seats were all occupied when Mr. Robinson got on hoard the plane.

D. The plane Mr. Robinson took was heavily loaded with luggage.

3.In the end Mr. Robinson found out that _________.

A. the notice was put on the seat by the soldier.

B. the solider was waiting for his girl friend

C. the girl was the last passenger who got on the plane.

D. the seat by the window was kept for the last passenger.

4.This short passage may be taken from a _____.

A. novel        B. news report       C. science fiction      D. magazine.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Breathing dirty air comes at a high price. Air pollution lowers the average life spans (寿命) by a year worldwide and in more polluted parts of Asia and Africa, dirty air shortens lives up to twice that much. Scientists shared their new findings in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The study used data gathered in 2016 as part of a project known as the Global Burden of Disease and was the first major country-by-country look at the connection between the length of life and what’s known as fine PM.

Air pollution has been linked to many health problems. Most earlier studies had looked at how tiny air pollutants affected rates of illness or death. Joshua Apte is an environmental scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. By looking at life expectancy (预期寿命), his team had hoped to make the threat easier to understand. PM2.5 is what scientists call tiny particles (颗粒) of pollution in the air. Higher levels of PM2.5 can cause health problems and cut months, if not years, from the average length of life. This analysis shows how pollution affects life expectancy in different parts of the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting PM2.5 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Apte’s group calculated how holding pollution to this low level would help people. In countries with very dirty air, meeting this standard would lengthen people’s lives. However, in countries whose air already meets this standard, the study shows no gain in life expectancy. In other words, meeting the WHO standard won’t reduce health costs resulting from dirty air because even below 10 micrograms per cubic meter, pollution still causes serious risks. Meanwhile, the scientists compared how other threats including smoking and cancer shorten the length of life across the globe.

1.What is special about the study?

A.It won recognition from a professional journal.

B.It discussed health problems caused by air pollution.

C.It gathered lots of data for the Global Burden of Disease.

D.It analyzed the link between life spans and PM by country.

2.What is Joshua Apte’s team trying to do?

A.Help people better understand air pollution.

B.Study life expectancy in different countries.

C.Know how small air pollutants affect health.

D.Deal with different kinds of health problems.

3.What will happen if a country limits PM2.5 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air?

A.People’s life spans will surely increase. B.It will get strong support from the WHO.

C.People’s health may not be much improved. D.It will guarantee people clean air.

4.What might be discussed in the following paragraphs?

A.How cleaning up the air can lengthen lives.

B.How air pollution shortens lives by country.

C.How other threats shorten life expectancy.

D.How all the countries deal with severe pollution.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Old as my car is, it is in good condition and ________ well, even on rough roads.

A.handles B.is handled C.has been handled D.will handle

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

As people in Beijing and northern China struggle with severe air pollution this winter,the toxic(有毒的)air is also making life hard for plants and even food crops of China．

"in the last 50 years there has been a 1 6-fold increase in ozone(臭氧)pollution”in the Beijing area，said Hanqin Tian of Auburn University in Alabama,who studies the effects of China's pollution and climate change on plants．

Ozone is particularly harmful to plants because it damages the pores(气孔)  on leaves，called stomata,which plants use to regulate how much water evaporates from the leaves．That，in turn，affectS how much water a plant must take up through its roots．Changes in water uptake by plants have been documented in other parts of the world，including the United States，as having major impacts on regional groundwater and surface water supplies．

In studies of the long-term productivity of plants，Hanqin Tian and some of his colleagues show that ozone pollution,along with climate change，has been lowering plant productivity in China,which reduces the amount of carbon and other pollutants that the plants Can absorb to fight all the emissions from the burning offossil fuels．

The worst effects on plants are likely to be in areas where the growing pollution problem is just fairly new, said Arthur Chappelka, also a plant researcher at Auburn University．Some plants are more resistant to pollutants than others，he said，and the plants that are living today in long-polluted urban areas are likely to be only those that are very pollution tolerant．

Away from the cities, however, where crops are necded to feed China’s yast population, the effeets of the growing pollution on crops is a significant concern.

“In some ways it affects the crop production and food securiy of China,”said Hanqin Tian.“Air quality is really important for human health, plants and ecosystem and sustainability.”

The problem is bound to get worse as China continues to develop economically, he said, and so he and other researchers continue to urge the Chinese government to take action to reduce emissions from cars and industries.

1.ozone does harm to plants mainly by ________.

A.exposing them to strong sunlight

B.damaging the structure of their leaves

C.adding more pores to the roots

D.making the land unfit for the plants to grow

2.Which of the following statement does Hanqin Tian support?

A.Ozone pollution has increased 1 6 times in the past 30 years．

B．Ozone pollution has lowered plant productivity alone．

C.Plants can take in a large amount of carbon and other pollutants．

D.The toxic air has few effects on food supply in China．

3.What Can we infer from the passage?

A．Healthy foods are not available in Beijing．

B．Some kinds of plants aren’t affected by air pollution．

C．Crops in China are hard to feed its large population．

D．People should stop developing economically

4.According to the passage，the Chinese govemment should

A．care more about developing economy

B．reduce the number of cars and industries

C．continue to make more researches

D．take measures to reduce carbon emissions

5.What′S the best title of the passage?

A．Polluted air damages plants and crops

B．Air pollution is becoming more serious

C．China’s air pollution and climate changes

D．Food security in China

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The pollution is likely to reach its peak on Monday, and some parts ________ heavy air pollution, the environmental watchdog told the newspaper.

A. see　　 B. will see　　 C. would see　　 D. saw

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

As the air is being polluted，many kinds of wild animals are________.

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Even as Google plans to test its fleet（车队）of self-driving cars on public roads this summer, its business model remains a bit of a mystery. By 2025, as many as 250,000 self-driving vehicles could be sold each year globally, according to a study by an industry research firm.

"Vehicles that can take anyone from A to B at the push of a button could transform mobility for millions of people," said Chris Urmson, director of Google's self-driving car project. For now, Google has no plans to sell any of its self-driving cars. They are strictly for research. But they will hit public roads this summer near Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California. Previous testing has taken place only on closed courses.

The cars are built to operate without a steering wheel, accelerator（油门）or brake pedal. "Our software and sensors do all the work," Urmson said. "The vehicles will be very basic—we want to learn from them and adapt them as quickly as possible—but they will take you where you want to go at the push of a button." The prototype（雏形）are the first of a 100-car fleet the tech giant is building.

In the long run, Urmson sees a future of safer roads—the majority of auto accidents are caused by human error—and fewer traffic jams. Robotic cars could also shuttle people who can't drive because of age or illness.

Google has said that self-driving cars could launch new business models in which people buy the use of vehicles they don't own. The company has already tested other types of self-driving cars on public streets, including modified Lexus sport-utility vehicles, under a special permit program by the California Department of Motor Vehicles that requires a human driver at the controls.

The state has issued six other companies permits to operate such cars, including Delphi, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Tesla, Bosch and Nissan. The vehicles that will be tested on open roads this summer will have removable steering wheels, accelerators and brake pedals to allow "safety drivers" to take control if needed.

Google says the cars are safe. The vehicles have sensors that "can detect objects out to a distance of more than two football fields in all directions, which is especially helpful on busy streets with lots of intersections," Urmson said. "We're looking forward to learning how the community understands and interacts with the vehicles, and to uncovering challenges that are unique to a fully self-driving vehicle," Urmson said.

1.The passage informs us that self-driving cars __________.

A. will probably decrease traffic jams

B. have already passed necessary tests

C. have been purchased by some companies

D. will be able to communicate with drivers

2.According to Chris Urmson, ______________.

A. software and sensors are vital for self-driving cars

B. self-driving cars can give driving orders to humans

C. self-driving cars are specially designed for the elderly

D. ordinary vehicles will be replaced by self-driving cars

3.The underlined word "intersections" in the last paragraph probably means ______________.

A. accidents　　　　　 　 B. buildings

C. crossings　　　　　　　 D. vehicles

4.What is the best title for this passage?

A. Self-driving Car Avoids Human Errors

B. Self-driving Car Meets New Challenges

C. Google's Self-driving Car Enjoys Global Popularity

D. Google's Self-driving Car Graduates to City Streets

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The pollution in Beijing is expected to improve, ________ a series of air pollution control measures.

A. regardless of　　　 B. but for

C. thanks to　　　 D. such as

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析