A US student has just spent 30 days on an “insect diet ” – eating insects three times a day. Camren Brantley-Rios says traditional meats such as pork and beef are unable to continue and he wanted to try out what many consider the diet of the future.
Many people would find the idea of eating insects distasteful, even if it were not disgusting. Not so long ago, Brantley-Rios was among them. But for the last month he has been eating insects for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“I’m mainly sticking to three kinds,” he says. Occasionally he has included different insects. Preparing these he “actually cried”, though he insists they were surprisingly good.
Insects consume fewer resources than animals, like pigs and cows, to produce the same amount of protein(蛋白质), Brantley-Rios says – and more than two billion people worldwide include insects in their regular diet, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
“There’s not really a need to eat insects in America because we have it so nice,” Brantley-Rios says. “We have finer meats and we’re lucky to have that luxury(奢侈), so there’s not much of a pressure to eat insects right now. But what a lot of people are trying to do is make it a little bit more marketable.”
He has ordered insects from farms that usually supply zoos, which need them “to feed certain animals”. He has always made sure the insects have been fed on an organic diet, he says, and only bought species he knows are safe to eat.
He knows that one person eating insects won’t make much difference. To have a real environmental effect, millions would have to follow his example.
1.Why has the US student tried out an “insect diet”?
A. To seek for future vegetables.
B. To advocate traditional meats.
C. To make up for the lack of meat.
D. To explore new forms of protein.
2.What can we learn about Brantley-Rios from Paragraph 2?
A. He is tired of meats like pork and beef.
B. He advised people to eat insects though disgusted.
C. He had nothing to eat but insects last month.
D. He didn’t like the idea of eating insects.
3.What does the underlined part “actually cried” in Paragraph 5 mean?
A. was scared B. was pitiful
C. was sorry D. was puzzled
4.How does Brantley-Rios guarantee the safety of his insect diet?
A. He tests each species before eating it.
B. He orders insects for certain zoo animals.
C. He feeds his insects on an organic diet.
D. He has insects raised on his own farm.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
A US student has just spent 30 days on an “insect diet ” – eating insects three times a day. Camren Brantley-Rios says traditional meats such as pork and beef are unable to continue and he wanted to try out what many consider the diet of the future.
Many people would find the idea of eating insects distasteful, even if it were not disgusting. Not so long ago, Brantley-Rios was among them. But for the last month he has been eating insects for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
“I’m mainly sticking to three kinds,” he says. Occasionally he has included different insects. Preparing these he “actually cried”, though he insists they were surprisingly good.
Insects consume fewer resources than animals, like pigs and cows, to produce the same amount of protein(蛋白质), Brantley-Rios says – and more than two billion people worldwide include insects in their regular diet, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
“There’s not really a need to eat insects in America because we have it so nice,” Brantley-Rios says. “We have finer meats and we’re lucky to have that luxury(奢侈), so there’s not much of a pressure to eat insects right now. But what a lot of people are trying to do is make it a little bit more marketable.”
He has ordered insects from farms that usually supply zoos, which need them “to feed certain animals”. He has always made sure the insects have been fed on an organic diet, he says, and only bought species he knows are safe to eat.
He knows that one person eating insects won’t make much difference. To have a real environmental effect, millions would have to follow his example.
1.Why has the US student tried out an “insect diet”?
A. To seek for future vegetables.
B. To advocate traditional meats.
C. To make up for the lack of meat.
D. To explore new forms of protein.
2.What can we learn about Brantley-Rios from Paragraph 2?
A. He is tired of meats like pork and beef.
B. He advised people to eat insects though disgusted.
C. He had nothing to eat but insects last month.
D. He didn’t like the idea of eating insects.
3.What does the underlined part “actually cried” in Paragraph 5 mean?
A. was scared B. was pitiful
C. was sorry D. was puzzled
4.How does Brantley-Rios guarantee the safety of his insect diet?
A. He tests each species before eating it.
B. He orders insects for certain zoo animals.
C. He feeds his insects on an organic diet.
D. He has insects raised on his own farm.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A British shopper, Emma Mumford, who was named “the Coupon(优惠券) Queen” has spent just £350 on a luxury Christmas for her and her family-but got £2,500 worth of food, drink and presents thanks to coupons and offers.
Ms Mumford is a so-called “extreme couponer” and spends hours hunting out the best deals and bargains. She has been preparing for this Christmas since the end of the last one. Ms Mumford made the huge savings by checking price comparison websites and as a result collected more presents than she needed for Christmas. After sorting out gifts for all of her family, she has even been able to donate £1,000 worth of presents to her local hospital.
“It has been so nice to have Christmas sorted and not having to worry about breaking the bank. I wanted to get high quality presents for my family and show that you can do it without spending a fortune. There is a misconception that everyone who does couponing only gets value products but through my careful shopping I have managed to purchase designer perfumes, a high-end coffee machine.” she explained.
She said “What started as a hobby to help me save money has turned into my life and I am able to run a business helping people save money. I know what it feels like to struggle as my ex-partner had a lot of debt which I took on for him. We were in a poor situation where every penny counted. That’s what really inspired me.”
She has now turned her bargain-hunting addiction into a business where she searches for the best deals and offer tips to the general public through video blogging and her Facebook Page.
“I try and show people that it is just a little bit of work in the beginning but it will eventually pay off. One of the best things to do is just to be a bit forward thinking and save throughout the year.”
1.How did Emma make the huge savings ?
A. She compared prices through websites.
B. She hunted out bargains in real shops.
C. She used coupons and offers worth £2,500.
D. She collected more Christmas presents than needed.
2.What does “breaking the bank” in the third paragraph mean____?
A. Buying presents of low quality.
B. Spending more money than you have.
C. Breaking into the bank.
D. Taking out money from the bank.
3.What really inspired Emma to help people save money?
A. Her addiction to bargain-hunting.
B. The financial difficulties she shared with her ex-partner.
C. The poor situation people around her were going through.
D. Her experience of running an unsuccessful business.
4.Which of the following can best describe Emma?
A. Ambitious and creative.
B. Sensitive and determined.
C. Brave and lucky.
D. Careful and caring.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
A British shopper, Emma Mumford, who was named “the Coupon(优惠券) Queen” has spent just £350 on a luxury Christmas for her and her family-but got £2,500 worth of food, drink and presents thanks to coupons and offers.
Ms Mumford is a so-called “extreme couponer” and spends hours hunting out the best deals and bargains. She has been preparing for this Christmas since the end of the last one. Ms Mumford made the huge savings by checking price comparison websites and as a result collected more presents than she needed for Christmas. After sorting out gifts for all of her family, she has even been able to donate £1,000 worth of presents to her local hospital.
“It has been so nice to have Christmas sorted and not having to worry about breaking the bank. I wanted to get high quality presents for my family and show that you can do it without spending a fortune. There is a misconception that everyone who does couponing only gets value products but through my careful shopping I have managed to purchase designer perfumes, a high-end coffee machine.” she explained.
She said “What started as a hobby to help me save money has turned into my life and I am able to run a business helping people save money. I know what it feels like to struggle as my ex-partner had a lot of debt which I took on for him. We were in a poor situation where every penny counted. That’s what really inspired me.”
She has now turned her bargain-hunting addiction into a business where she searches for the best deals and offer tips to the general public through video blogging and her Facebook Page.
“I try and show people that it is just a little bit of work in the beginning but it will eventually pay off. One of the best things to do is just to be a bit forward thinking and save throughout the year.”
1.How did Emma make the huge savings ?
A. She compared prices through websites.
B. She hunted out bargains in real shops.
C. She used coupons and offers worth £2,500.
D. She collected more Christmas presents than needed.
2.What does “breaking the bank” in the third paragraph mean____?
A. Buying presents of low quality.
B. Spending more money than you have.
C. Breaking into the bank.
D. Taking out money from the bank.
3.What really inspired Emma to help people save money?
A. Her addiction to bargain-hunting.
B. The financial difficulties she shared with her ex-partner.
C. The poor situation people around her were going through.
D. Her experience of running an unsuccessful business.
4.Which of the following can best describe Emma?
A. Ambitious and creative.
B. Sensitive and determined.
C. Brave and lucky.
D. Careful and caring.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Why does Lisa just eat an apple for lunch?
A. She is on a diet. B. She is too busy to have a meal. C. There's nothing else in the fridge.
高二英语短对话简单题查看答案及解析
Last year college students in America spent an estimated $700 on textbooks on average. The National Association of College Stores reported more than five billion dollars in sales of textbooks and course materials.
The association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now just make up 2%~3% of sales. But he says that is expected to reach 10%~15% by 2012.
Online versions(版本) are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. An etextbook can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access to them after the end of the term. And the books cannot be placed on more than one device(设备),so they are not easy to share.
So what do students think of etextbooks?Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find it out. Earlier this year they tested them with 500 students in 20 classes.
The university is unusual. It provides laptop computers for all 7,000 of its fulltime students. It does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to etextbooks.
The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks. And 56% said they were better able to find information.
But most found that using etextbooks did not change their study habits. And 60% felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all,almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better.
But the survey found that cost could be a big influence.55% said they would choose etextbooks if using them meant their textbook rental fee would not increase.
Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State University. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the etextbooks now available because the majority are not interactive(交互式的).
He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video,activities,games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving. But for now,most of the books are just words on a screen.
1.Etextbooks are not better than paper books in that________.
A.they cost more money
B.they’re difficult to carry
C.they’re not convenient to share
D.they can’t be downloaded from the Internet
2.How many surveyed students think paper books make better reading?
A.60%. B.56%. C.55%. D.50%.
3.It can be inferred from the text that in the future________.
A.digital books will be more popular
B.the digital books available need improvement
C.free digital books are available online
D.digital books will replace print textbooks
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
In a national survey, just 1 in 3 students thought that smoking on some days, but not others, can cause a lot of harm. This smoking pattern is common. It is also dangerous. In fact, its health risks are about the same as smoking heavily, report Stephen Amrock and Michael Weitzman. Their new study’s findings show that most kids do not see risks in smoking the occasional (偶尔的) cigarette.
For their study, Amrock and Weitzman analyzed data from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey. It had probed (探究) tobacco-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in 24,658 students. All were in grades 6 through 12 and lived throughout the 50 U. S. states and the district of Columbia.
Most teens knew that heavy smoking can be harmful. About 2 in every 3 students recognized that smoking even just a few cigarettes each day can be harmful (有危害的). Only 1 in3 students, however, recognized that occasional—non-daily—smoking is harmful. Among teens who smoke this way—intermittently—just 1 out of every 7 understood their habit was dangerous.
Occasional smoking is not safe, so “we really need to have a conversation” with whoever thinks otherwise, notes Dave Dobbins. He heads research and public education at Legacy, a group based in Washington, D. C. It encourages teens to reject tobacco. “Intermittent smoking carries lots of risks,” Dobbins explains. These include the chance that light use will progress to heavier smoking. “We explain to kids that light smoking is smoking,” says Dobbins, who was not connected with the study. And, he adds, his group points out that “the dangers begin right away”.
Adults who are light or intermittent smokers are those most willing and able to quit. Amrock and Weitzman note. Most smokers start by age 18. That’s why the NYU School of Medicine researchers suggest anti-smoking efforts should target youth who today are light or occasional smokers.
1.What’s the text mainly about?
A.Occasional smoking. B.Health and smoking.
C.The number of smokers. D.Anti-smoking efforts.
2.Where can you find the data showing students’ views on different smoking patterns?
A.In Paragraph 1. B.In Paragraph 3.
C.In Paragraph 2. D.In Paragraph 4.
3.What’s the meaning of the underlined “intermittently” in Paragraph 3?
A.Heavily. B.Continuously.
C.Occasionally. D.Purposefully.
4.Dave Dobbins agrees that ________.
A.dangers of kids’ light smoking appear in no time
B.light smoking is sure to result in heavy smoking
C.most teens have realized the risks of light smoking
D.light smokers are likely to quit smoking naturally
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Jadav Payeng, an Indian, has been planting a tree every day since he was just 16 years old. Now, almost 40 years later, he has created a ______ of 1,360 acres on what was once a _____ land.
Growing up on Majuli, the world’s largest river island, he once ______ hundreds of animals dying from drought among the ______ greenery on the island, so he was ______ to plant one tree every day.
After almost four ______ of growth, his forest is now home to hundreds of elephants, tigers, deer and birds. Payeng says he has lost ______ of how many trees he has planted—but he ____ there are now thousands of trees providing ______ to the wildlife.
“It’s not as if I did it ______,” Payeng said. “You plant one or two trees, and they have to seed. And once they seed, the wind knows how to plant them, the birds here know how to ____ them, cows know, elephants ______, and even the river knows. The entire ______ knows.”
Island locals used to call Payeng “crazy” for his ______, but since he was accidentally ___ by a wandering wildlife journalist in 2007, the “Forest Man of India” has been ______ as a role model for protecting the environment.
Payeng doesn’t plan on ______ any time soon—he wants to continue planting trees “until his last ______”. He hopes to one day ______ the entire island with 5,000 acres of trees. “Nature is everything. It ______ me. It gives me power…As long as it survives, I survive.”
1.A.lake B.forest C.park D.hole
2.A.big B.fertile C.poor D.flat
3.A.witnessed B.imagined C.reported D.rescued
4.A.remote B.amazing C.fresh D.decreasing
5.A.delighted B.moved C.determined D.convinced
6.A.decades B.years C.months D.weeks
7.A.interest B.count C.control D.sight
8.A.argues B.dreams C.hopes D.believes
9.A.food B.care C.water D.shelter
10.A.by accident B.by myself C.by mistake D.by all means
11.A.eat B.pass C.repair D.sow
12.A.know B.work C.rest D.run
13.A.village B.ecosystem C.planet D.desert
14.A.confidence B.position C.ambition D.experiment
15.A.discovered B.connected C.decided D.regarded
16.A.ordered B.observed C.praised D.studied
17.A.stopping B.returning C.hiding D.waiting
18.A.purpose B.view C.breath D.picture
19.A.tighten B.restart C.arrange D.save
20.A.improves B.inspires C.changes D.forbids
高二英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
An 18-year-old student has won a local election to become mayor of his hometown in the US state of Michigan. Michael Sessions won by the slenderest of margins - just two votes put him ahead of his only rival, the incumbent 51-year-old mayor. Mr. Sessions attributed his electoral success to the votes cast by his parents. He will now have to juggle schedules between attending school and fulfilling his civic duties. He will attend his school classes between 8am to 3pm and carry out his new job as the elected mayor of Hillsdale before dinner at 6pm. He aims to deliver on his campaign pledges of increasing the contingent (小分队) of full-time fire-fighters from three to four, revitalizing (使恢复元气) the local economy and enabling townsfolk to air their views and grievances on town life.
Mr. Sessions was too young to enter the election when it was first announced – he turned 18 only in September, which meant he had just four weeks of campaigning. Although he is the youngest elected official in America, he cannot celebrate his success with champagne because he would be arrested for underage drinking. He ran for office with a budget of $700, which he made from his summer job of selling toffee apples. His position is largely ceremonial and he will not get his own office. Instead, he will receive an annual stipend of $3,600 to cover basic expenses. He starts his four-year position on November 21. Mr. Sessions has become an overnight celebrity since his victory and has already done the circuit of television chat show interviews.
1. When did the election probably take place?
A. August. B. September. C. October. D. December.
2. How long will Mr. Sessions be the mayor of Michigan State?
A. One year. B. Two years. C. Four years. D. Not mentioned.
3. Which of the following statements is correct?
A. Mr. Sessions won the election by two votes.
B. Mr. Sessions had many competitors during the election.
C. The new mayor will get an office after the election.
D. The new mayor doesn’t have to attend the school any more.
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
In an interview, he told us that he is always happy to _____ new foreign students.
A. take on B. put on C. take up D. pick up
高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
On the first day of class, a graduate student from Xi’an Jiaotong University reminded me that, especially in China, “There are always two sides of a coin.” Experiencing China’s May 12 earthquake while living in Xi’an, Shanxi Province just north of the earthquake’s epicenter (地震的震中) in Sichuan with our two daughters, we have indeed seen both sides of what is beginning to be called China’s 5·12 disaster coin.
On television, in newspapers and through the Internet, we learned about the extent (巨大,重要性) of the destruction, and the statistics were horrific – over 69,000 confirmed (确认) dead, some 18,000 missing and more than 374,000 injured.
When we turn off the television and discuss what we as a family have learned from the events of the last several weeks, we find ourselves marveling (觉得惊奇) at how the Chinese are confidently but quietly dealing with this unprecedented tragedy – a disaster that continues with every aftershocks, mudslide and potential flood.
It seems like every school, organization and business is raising money for Sichuan, and young people all over the country are out in the streets looking for donations or giving blood at the many mobile blood vans that are out in full force.
Those who cannot give, like the 75-year-old woman from Sichuan, are volunteering or giving in other ways. An impressive example is the Sichuan policewoman with a newborn child who was nursing many infants whose mothers were killed in the quake.
The national concern over the fate of affected children has been moving. On May 22, there were 1697 orphans, but on June 24, the number dropped to 558; and rest assured, there are more people willing to adopt than there are orphans from Sichuan.
So, while no country or person ever welcomes tragedy, especially something of this magnitude (程度), the earthquake has taught us a great deal about China’s true character and its people’s resilience (韧性). It has also reminded us that the other side of even a dark coin may hold the promise of a brighter future,
(The author is an American Professor of International Relations at Xi’an Jiaotong University.)
1.
When the 5·12 earthquake happened, the author and his family were ________.
A. in Sichuan province B. near the earthquake epicenter
C. in Xi’an Jiaotong University D. in their own country
2.
How many orphans had been adopted from Sichuan by June 24, 2008?
A. 1139 B. 1697 C. 558 D. We don’t know.
3.
The author quoted “ There are always two sides of a coin.” In the passage. Here “ two sides” refers to ________.
A. a dark side and a bright one of a coin
B. the unprecedented tragedy and China’s true character
C. the dead and the victims in the earthquake
D. the destruction and the donations
4.
Which of the following statements is NOT right according to the passage?
A. The whole world has seen all about China’s 5·12 disaster in the news media.
B. A policewoman fed her breast milk to many babies who lost their mothers.
C. Even a 75-year-old woman gave blood at the mobile blood vans.
D. The earthquake brought other natural disasters at the same time.
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析