Fascinated with images from the Mars Rover? It turns out you don’t have to go to space. The following spots may look like they are on another planet, but they are right here on earth.
* Socotra Island, Indian Ocean
The largest of the four-island Socotra Archipelago, the island has about 250 species of plants that are not found anywhere else in the world. This includes the canopy-topped dragon’s blood tree, which has blood-red resin(树脂)that runs down if the trunk is cut deep. It can grow to 10 feet with a bulbous(球根的)trunk that swells with water absorbed in case of dry weather.
See it for yourself: There are regular flights from the Yemen capital of Sanaa on(Felix Airways) ($ 180 each way)
* Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona
This wilderness in Northern Arizona/southern Utah is home to some of the most striking landscapes in the American Southwest. The nearly 300,000-acre site is known for its abundance of colorful shale(页岩)and Navajo sandstone that has been eroded(侵蚀)by the elements to create cliffs that rise as high as 3,000 feet. In the northwest of the park is the Coyote Buttes, where you’ll find The Wave, a wall of red sandstone that twists and turns in a way that just doesn’t look natural ---but is.
See it for yourself: Permits are required to hike in Vermilion Cliffs. Paria Canyon and Buckskin Gulch permits are available at on-site pay stations or in advance ($5 per person).
*Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
The huge size of the Perito Moreno Glacier is unbelievable---it is more than 50 miles in length and 500 feet deep. The terminus(终点)of the glacier is Lago Argetino, where a 50-foot blue-hued ice wall rises from the lake. The Perito Moreno is also one of the only glaciers left on earth that is still growing.
See it for yourself: Many tour companies offer day trips to Perito Moreno from El Calafte. Viator’s full-day tour includes transportation from a local hotel and a guided tour for $ 106 per person.
1.Which is true about the canopy-topped dragon’s blood tree?
A. It grows where there is little rain.
B. It has blood-red skin.
C. It is shaped like a dragon.
D. It stores water for dry season.
2.What do we know about The Wave?
A. It is created in a natural way.
B. It is created by waves.
C. It is as high as 3,000 feet.
D. It looks quite natural.
3.How much does a couple pay for a trip to Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina?
A. $106 B.$ 212 C.$ 360 D. $ 420
4.Where does the text probably come from?
A. A geography book. B. A tourist guidebook.
C. A news report. D. A TV program.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
Fascinated with images from the Mars Rover? It turns out you don’t have to go to space. The following spots may look like they are on another planet, but they are right here on earth.
* Socotra Island, Indian Ocean
The largest of the four-island Socotra Archipelago, the island has about 250 species of plants that are not found anywhere else in the world. This includes the canopy-topped dragon’s blood tree, which has blood-red resin(树脂)that runs down if the trunk is cut deep. It can grow to 10 feet with a bulbous(球根的)trunk that swells with water absorbed in case of dry weather.
See it for yourself: There are regular flights from the Yemen capital of Sanaa on(Felix Airways) ($ 180 each way)
* Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona
This wilderness in Northern Arizona/southern Utah is home to some of the most striking landscapes in the American Southwest. The nearly 300,000-acre site is known for its abundance of colorful shale(页岩)and Navajo sandstone that has been eroded(侵蚀)by the elements to create cliffs that rise as high as 3,000 feet. In the northwest of the park is the Coyote Buttes, where you’ll find The Wave, a wall of red sandstone that twists and turns in a way that just doesn’t look natural ---but is.
See it for yourself: Permits are required to hike in Vermilion Cliffs. Paria Canyon and Buckskin Gulch permits are available at on-site pay stations or in advance ($5 per person).
*Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
The huge size of the Perito Moreno Glacier is unbelievable---it is more than 50 miles in length and 500 feet deep. The terminus(终点)of the glacier is Lago Argetino, where a 50-foot blue-hued ice wall rises from the lake. The Perito Moreno is also one of the only glaciers left on earth that is still growing.
See it for yourself: Many tour companies offer day trips to Perito Moreno from El Calafte. Viator’s full-day tour includes transportation from a local hotel and a guided tour for $ 106 per person.
1.Which is true about the canopy-topped dragon’s blood tree?
A. It grows where there is little rain.
B. It has blood-red skin.
C. It is shaped like a dragon.
D. It stores water for dry season.
2.What do we know about The Wave?
A. It is created in a natural way.
B. It is created by waves.
C. It is as high as 3,000 feet.
D. It looks quite natural.
3.How much does a couple pay for a trip to Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina?
A. $106 B.$ 212 C.$ 360 D. $ 420
4.Where does the text probably come from?
A. A geography book. B. A tourist guidebook.
C. A news report. D. A TV program.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The weather turned out to be fine yesterday.You ________the trouble to carry your raincoat with you.
A.should have taken | B.could have taken |
C.needn’t have taken | D.mustn’t have taken |
高三英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析
He glanced at the note,_______and went on with the meeting.
A.turned it down B.gave it out C.brought it on D.put it aside
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
The Mars 2020 rover(02W), which sets off for the Red Planet this year, will not only search for traces of ancient life, but pave the way for future human missions, NASA scientists said Friday as they introduced the vehicle.
The rover has been constructed in a large, sterile room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, near Los Angeles, where its driving equipment was given its first successful test last week.
Shown to invited journalists on Friday, it is scheduled to leave Earth in July 2020 from Floridas Cape Canaveral, becoming the fifth US rover to land on Mars seven months later in February.
“It's designed to seek the signs of life, so we’re carrying a number of different instruments that will help us understand the geological and chemical context on the surface of Mars,” deputy mission leader Matt Wallace told AFP.
Among the devices on board the rover are 23 cameras, two “ears” that will allow it to listen to Martian winds, and lasers used for chemical analysis.
Approximately the size of a car, the rover is equipped with six wheels like the former US rover, Curiosity, allowing it to travel along rocky land.
Speed is not a priority for the vehicle, which only has to cover around 200 yards(180 metres) per Martian day -approximately the same as a day on Earth.
Fuelled by a tiny nuclear reactor, Mars 202(has seven-foot-long(2 metres) articulated arms and a drill to crack open rock samples in locations scientists identify as potentially suitable for life.
We are hoping to move fairly quickly. We'd like to see the next mission launched in 2026 which will get to Mars and pick up the samples, put them into a rocket and finally bring them back to the Earth, "said Wallace. NASA’s Mars 2020 will remain active for at least one Martian year, which is around two years on Earth.
1.What does the underlined part “pave the way” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A.Making preparations B.Finding suitable landing sites
C.Setting up research centers. D.Constructing roads.
2.What can we know about the Mars 2020 rover?
A.It looks much like a car with six wheels.
B.It is an updated of the US rover Curiosity.
C.It is solar-powered and can crack open rock samples.
D.It is able to perform different tasks on Mars in search of the signs of life
3.If you search the passage on the website of China Daily, where can you probably find it?
A.Lifestyle B.Regional
C.World D.Culture
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.The Mars 2020 rover has successfully passed its first driving test.
B.NASA is planning a new round of space exploration
C.Future human missions on Mars are on the way
D.A new rover will be launched to carry out scientific research on Mars
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
In today’s congratulatory phone call to the team behind NASA's Mars Curiosity rover(火星车), President Barack Obama made sure that if the mission discovers Martians, he'll be one of the first to know.
"If in fact you do make contact with Martians, please let me know right away," Obama said during the call, "I've got a lot of things on my plate, but I expect that that will go to the top of the list. Even if they're just microbes(微生物), it will be pretty exciting."
Obama also said he was impressed by the attention that's been paid to flight director Bobak Ferdowsi, the "Mohawk Guy" whose star-spangled haircut and warmhearted behavior during Curiosity's Aug. 5 landing won him Internet fame.
"I, in the past, thought about getting a Mohawk myself," Obama joked. "But my team keeps on discouraging me. And now that he's received marriage proposals and thousands of new Twitter followers, I think I'm going to go back to my team and see if it makes sense."
The congratulatory phone call is a tradition for the White House. But it was clear that Obama particularly enjoyed congratulating the scientists and engineers behind the amazingly successful landing of NASA's newest Mars exploration.
He also said the achievement reflected the American spirit, and he gave his personal promise to protect these critical investments in science and technology.
"This is the kind of thing that inspires kids across the country," he said. "They’re telling their moms and dads they want to be part of a Mars mission, maybe even the first person to walk on Mars. And that kind of inspiration is the byproduct of work of the sort that you guys have done."
The Curiosity rover's $2.5 billion mission focuses on studying billions of years' worth of geology on Mars and determining whether the planet was ever potentially suitable for people to live in. The mission is not specifically designed to explore life, even on the range of microbes, but it could point the way for future life-exploration experiments.
1.Obama phoned the team behind NASA's Mars Curiosity rover in order to _______.
A.congratulate them on finding Martians
B.praise the flight director
C.congratulate on the rover’s landing
D.encourage them to contact with Martians
2.What is the main idea of Paragraph 2 ?
A.Obama is very busy now.
B.Obama longs for the finding of life on Mars.
C.Obama is interested in biology.
D.Obama wants to contact Martians.
3.Which of the following about the Curiosity rover is TRUE ?
A.It costs billions of dollars.
B.It mainly aims to find life on Mars.
C.It carries the first person to Mars.
D.It proves Mars fit to live on.
4.What can we learn from the passage ?
A.Bobak Ferdowsi got a Mohawk haircut to win great Internet fame.
B.Obama called on the government and companies to invest in science.
C.America’s president seldom congratulates on scientific achievements.
D.Children showed special interest in the landing of Curiosity.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
You know those nutrition guidelines the government issues every few years? It turns out that following them isn't just good for your health. It's good for the planet, too.
“What we found is that impacts vary across nations, but in the highimpact nations, in general, you can see that, if you follow a nationally recommended diet, despite the fact that these diets don't mention explicitly—or most of them don't explicitly mention—environmental impacts, that you are going to have lower environmental impacts due to that. So that's sort of fairly clear across all the highincome nations.” said Paul Behrens, an environmental scientist at Leiden University in the Netherlands.
The food we eat takes a big toll on the environment. A third of the icefree land on Earth is used for agriculture, and according to some estimates, producing food accounts for roughly a fifth of all humancaused greenhouse gas emissions. Fertilizer runoff also leads to other problems, like the algae blooms in Lake Eerie and the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico.
However, following dietary guidelines would reduce those impacts, especially in wealthy countries like the US. “Most of the reductions come from meat and dairy,” which have an outsized impact on land use and pollution, and are a major source of greenhouse gases.(That's partly due to cow farts. Seriously.) Following the suggestions would also mean eating fewer calories, since many people here eat more than they need.
Overall, in highincome countries, Behren's team estimates that following the rules could result in as much as a 17 percent reduction in land use, a 21 percent reduction in nutrient pollution, and a 25 percent drop in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Cutting down on how much food we waste—which is roughly a third in the US—could help even more. The results are in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Of course, people are notoriously bad at following diets. But: “These nationally recommended guidelines do actually have a knockon effect on other areas of policy making. So if I'm developing a new healthyeatingforschools program then that's going to be based off a lot of detail that I get from the nationally recommended guidelines. So while it might not necessarily be the case that people follow directly … they actually are quite influential on the preparation of other advice.”
It seems that a smaller environmental footprint and a healthier lifestyle could go hand in hand.
1.Which of the following statement will Paul Behrens approve of?
A. Following a nationally recommended diet can have similar impacts in different countries.
B. Following a nationally recommended diet can do good to our health.
C. Not all the countries have recommended diets in an explicit manner.
D. Some highincome nations don't mention the diet explicitly for its impacts can be ignored.
2.What do the underlined words “takes a big toll on” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. shows signs of B. has a bad effect on
C. takes full advantage of D. makes up for
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Food production can lead to about 20 percent of humancaused greenhouse gas with only a third of the icefree land used.
B. It is estimated that following dietary guidelines can lead to decrease in more land use than in nutrient pollution.
C. Paul Behrens' new program concerning healthy eating for schools is likely to be based on national nutrition guidelines.
D. Some wealthy countries tend to reduce meat and dairy though the other areas of policy making isn't effected much.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
You would be foolish to________the offer. At that price, it's dirt cheap.
A. turn out B.turn off c.turn down D. turn over
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
—The program Running Man in Zhejiang TV turned out __________ success. Have you seen it?
— It‘s a pity I haven‘t. But I have __________ rough idea of what it‘s about.
A. a; the B. 不填; a C. a; a D. the; 不填
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
—The program Running Man in Zhejiang TV turned out __________ success. Have you seen it?
— It’s a pity I haven’t. But I have __________ rough idea of what it’s about.
A. a; the B. 不填; a C. a; a D. the; 不填
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
You may be fascinated with pictures of animals in the wild. You might have imagined yourself taking pictures of animals that are rarely seen in the city. If you do get that chance, you may want to consider the following tips or rules.
First of all, a lot of professional photographers give respect to these animals and the environment they are in. Just remember that you should respect the animals and the environment in case these animals bite or hurt you.
Keep in mind that you are taking pictures of real, live, wild animals. A wild animal may bite to protect itself. You must be sensitive while taking their pictures and be gentle in all your movements. Do not feed the animals, or interact with animals that are sleeping or caring for their young.
If you are going to a place where it is privately(私人)owned, you’d better get the owner’s permission first before you start taking pictures.
Change the flash of your camera to natural light, so the animals will not be frightened or surprised when you start shooting. Animals do not react well when they are surprised.
Be very patient. Make sure you are aware of the changes in behavior of the animal and its moods. Be familiar with the animals’ natural habitat.
Now if those rules are clear, it is time for planning. Consider the weather; some animals do not go out when it is raining while some animals love the rain. Therefore, a little research on the weather will not hurt. You should consider taking pictures after sunrise and before sunset. Now if the animal is nocturnal(夜间活动的), then you should prepare to battle not only the wild but also the darkness.
An adventure in the wild will make you very excited. However, you should be well equipped, have experts to back you up, and also a permit for doing the photo shoot. If you do not have any of these, then maybe you should consider visiting the zoo instead.
1.The main purpose of the author in writing this passage is .
A. to call for us to protect animals
B. to show where to buy pictures of animals
C. to explain how to get along with wild animals
D. to give us tips on taking pictures of animals in the wild
2.Which of the following aspects is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Respecting the animals.
B. Making gentle movements.
C. Making the animals happy.
D. Changing the flash of your camera to natural light.
3. If the animals are on a farm owned by a person, we should .
A. ask the owner to take pictures for us
B. ask for the owner’s permission first
C. make sure the owner is present when we take pictures
D. take pictures when the owner is feeding animals
4. We can infer from the passage that .
A. most animals love being taken pictures of
B. we have to finish the pictures before sunset
C. we’d better take pictures when the animals are sleeping
D. we should pay attention to the animals’ moods when taking pictures
5.What preparation should you do before going to take pictures of wild animals?
①Preparing some food to feed the animals.
②Asking experts for advice.
③Knowing the weather in the animals’ habitat.
④Getting a permission for taking pictures of wild animals.
A. ①②④ B. ②③④ C. ①②③ D. ①③④
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析