East Africa is experiencing the worst desert locust outbreak in decades. Climate events have accelerated breeding of the pest across the region, and with a sudden rise in the locust population expected in coming weeks, urgent actions and funds are needed to prevent a human crisis.
Twenty million people in six of the eight East African countries are most affected by an ongoing desert locust outbreak at risk of serious food insecurity. Considered among the most destructive of moving pests, an adult locust can consume 2g of plants per day, affecting crops and grasslands. A group typically holds 20 to 150 million locusts per square kilometer and can move hundreds of kilometers per day, invading areas covering millions of square kilometers. An active group, therefore, can destroy crops and grasslands within a very short period of time.
That global warming could increase the risk of desert locust crisis was proposed over ten years ago, and in February, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the current outbreak is linked to the effects of climate change: “warmer seas mean more perfect breeding ground for locusts”. The outbreak has its origins in 2018, when a series of windstorms in the Arabian Peninsula (阿拉伯半岛) enabled the warm and wet conditions the desert locust requires to breed and band undetected in remote regions. Though our focus here is migration west, dreadful outbreaks of the desert locust have been experienced to the east.
The situation is going out of control. A rescue operation and financial support admit no delay.
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) can take out only US$138 million for rapid response and immediate action — controlling the spread of the desert locust and safeguarding livelihoods. They say the maths is clear: about half the funding (资助) is needed for supervision, ground and sky control, and uniting efforts; the other half is needed for livelihoods and food security of farmers. As for the huge gap, they have called on the international community to act now through funding. However, by the end of February, just US$69 million had been promised.
This most alarming crisis has developed and is worsening in East Africa. The funds needed to control the situation become very difficult to achieve and the gap is a big concern.
1.Why does the crisis happen in East Africa?
A.There is a big population there.
B.There are large deserts and grasslands.
C.Africa lies west of Arabian Peninsula.
D.Good climate for breeding plays a role.
2.Why does the writer list those figures in Para 2?
A.To warn of the terrible damage by locusts.
B.To help us understand how locusts live.
C.To show how many locusts there are now.
D.To draw a picture of the present Africa.
3.What can we infer from the text?
A.The crisis is not noticed until recently.
B.More fund is needed to prevent the crisis.
C.The crisis has been the focus of the world.
D.Locusts are all from the Arabian Peninsula.
4.Which is the best title for the text?
A.Killing locusts before too late
B.Global warming, a world problem
C.Funding Gap for Locust Crisis
D.Africa, a crisis-stricken place
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
East Africa is experiencing the worst desert locust outbreak in decades. Climate events have accelerated breeding of the pest across the region, and with a sudden rise in the locust population expected in coming weeks, urgent actions and funds are needed to prevent a human crisis.
Twenty million people in six of the eight East African countries are most affected by an ongoing desert locust outbreak at risk of serious food insecurity. Considered among the most destructive of moving pests, an adult locust can consume 2g of plants per day, affecting crops and grasslands. A group typically holds 20 to 150 million locusts per square kilometer and can move hundreds of kilometers per day, invading areas covering millions of square kilometers. An active group, therefore, can destroy crops and grasslands within a very short period of time.
That global warming could increase the risk of desert locust crisis was proposed over ten years ago, and in February, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated that the current outbreak is linked to the effects of climate change: “warmer seas mean more perfect breeding ground for locusts”. The outbreak has its origins in 2018, when a series of windstorms in the Arabian Peninsula (阿拉伯半岛) enabled the warm and wet conditions the desert locust requires to breed and band undetected in remote regions. Though our focus here is migration west, dreadful outbreaks of the desert locust have been experienced to the east.
The situation is going out of control. A rescue operation and financial support admit no delay.
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) can take out only US$138 million for rapid response and immediate action — controlling the spread of the desert locust and safeguarding livelihoods. They say the maths is clear: about half the funding (资助) is needed for supervision, ground and sky control, and uniting efforts; the other half is needed for livelihoods and food security of farmers. As for the huge gap, they have called on the international community to act now through funding. However, by the end of February, just US$69 million had been promised.
This most alarming crisis has developed and is worsening in East Africa. The funds needed to control the situation become very difficult to achieve and the gap is a big concern.
1.Why does the crisis happen in East Africa?
A.There is a big population there.
B.There are large deserts and grasslands.
C.Africa lies west of Arabian Peninsula.
D.Good climate for breeding plays a role.
2.Why does the writer list those figures in Para 2?
A.To warn of the terrible damage by locusts.
B.To help us understand how locusts live.
C.To show how many locusts there are now.
D.To draw a picture of the present Africa.
3.What can we infer from the text?
A.The crisis is not noticed until recently.
B.More fund is needed to prevent the crisis.
C.The crisis has been the focus of the world.
D.Locusts are all from the Arabian Peninsula.
4.Which is the best title for the text?
A.Killing locusts before too late
B.Global warming, a world problem
C.Funding Gap for Locust Crisis
D.Africa, a crisis-stricken place
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The worst outbreak of desert locusts (蝗虫) in decades is presently underway in the Horn of Africa. It is the biggest of its kind in 25 years for Ethiopia and Somalia — and the worst Kenya has seen for 70 years.
What we are seeing in East Africa today is unlike anything we’ve seen in a very long time. Its destructive potential is enormous, and it’s taking place in a region where farmers need every gram of food to feed themselves and their families. Most of the countries hardest hit are those where millions of people are already vulnerable (脆弱的) or in serious humanitarian need, as they endure the impact of violence, drought, and floods.
We have acted quickly to respond to this outbreak. The primary method of battling locusts is the aerial spraying of pesticides (杀虫剂). FAO’s “Locust Watch” service explains that “although giant nets, flamethrowers, lasers, and huge vacuums have been proposed in the past, these are not in use for locust control. People and birds often eat locusts but usually not enough to significantly reduce population levels over large areas.”
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has released $10 million from its Central Emergency Relief Fund to fund a huge scale-up in aerial operations to manage the outbreak.
But the window to contain this crisis is closing fast. We only have until the beginning of March to bring this infestation under control as that is when the rain and planting season begins. If left unchecked — and with expected additional rains — locust numbers in East Africa could increase 500 times by June.
We must act now to avoid a full-blown catastrophe. And we will. At the same time, we need to pay attention to a bigger picture. This is not the first time the Greater Horn of Africa has seen locust outbreak approach this scale, but the current situation is the worst in decades. This is linked to climate change. Warmer seas mean more tropical storms, generating the perfect breeding conditions for locusts.
1.What is implied in paragraph 2?
A.People in East Africa are suffering drought.
B.People in East Africa are going through floods.
C.The locust outbreak will cause crop failure.
D.The locust outbreak is worsening locals’ life.
2.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A.We need a bigger picture to study the disaster.
B.It is the second outbreak of locusts in East Africa.
C.It is the largest outbreak of locusts ever in history.
D.The outbreak of locusts is fueled by global warming.
3.What is the purpose of the text?
A.To analyse and compare. B.To inform and call for.
C.To argue and discuss. D.To introduce and assess.
4.Where does the text probably come from?
A.A guidebook. B.A health magazine.
C.A news report. D.A chemistry paper.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Controlling the Ebola virus outbreak at the source in West Africa is the most effective way to decrease international risk of transmission, according to a research paper.
If the epidemic(时疫) persists and grows, it's likely there will be more cases(病例) of the deadly virus exported to other countries, including Canada, via air travel, said Dr. Kamran Khan, a physician and researcher at St. Michael's Hospital.
Dr. Khan, who examines global airline travel patterns to predict the spread of diseases, said that every month, three Ebola-infected travellers are likely to leave West Africa, which is experiencing a widespread outbreak of the virus -- and this number would only increase as the epidemic grows.
Dr. Khan and his co-authors said it is essential that other countries, their public health agencies and hospitals should be prepared. The risk of international spread would be further _____ if this epidemic were to take hold in other countries, especially those with weak public health systems.
"The international community must be mindful and be ready to support the early detection and control of cases." Dr. Khan said.
Dr. Khan noted that of the almost 500,000 travellers who flew on commercial flights out of Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone in 2013, more than half were headed to destinations in five countries: Ghana (17.5 per cent, Senegal (14.4 per cent), the United Kingdom (8.7 per cent, France (7.1 per cent) and Gambia (6.8 per cent). More than 60 per cent of travellers from those countries in 2014 are expected to have final destinations in low- or lower-middle income countries.
"Given that these countries have limited medical and public health resources, they may have difficulty quickly identifying and effectively responding to imported Ebola cases”, said Dr Khan.
1.How does Dr. Khan predict the spread of diseases?
A.By doing experiments
B.By examining global airline travel patterns
C. By setting up a model
D. By collecting the data of the cases
2.We can fill in the blank in Paragraph 4 with _____.
A. decreased B. increased
C. avoided D. predicted
3.In low income countries, ______.
A. it is easy to identify imported Ebola cases
B. people have rich medical resources
C. imported Ebola cases may not be effectively responded to
D. travelers are not allowed to go to some places
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
This is the most serious and worst situation ___ I have ever experienced as a fan of the NBA.
A. which B. that C. when D. where
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
This is the most serious and worst situation ________ I have ever experienced as a fan of the NBA.
A. which B. when
C. that D. where
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Madagascar lies in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa. The island is perhaps best known as the unique home of the lemur (狐猴）. But those lemurs live among some of the most rich and varied flora (植物群）in the world. And so threatened is that flora that British and Malagasy scientists were involved in a project to collect seeds from the island to be stored in a British seed bank. The project is being done by the Royal Botanic Garden in London. The botanist Steward Cable is head of the conservation center there and a frequent visitor of the island.
I mean Madagascar is well known as one of the top biodiversity hot spots in the world. It has perhaps 13,000 plant species. 90% of those are unique to the country, i.e. found nowhere else in the world. But also many species, many of those species are only found in small areas. And I would say that probably about 80% of the population are dependent on farming.
And a lot of their farming is slash and burn，shifting cultivation (耕作）where farmers have to move to a new patch of forest every year. They cut it and they burn it and they can grow dry rice or cassava for a year or so or two years at most.And the nutrients are gone and they have to move to a new patch of forest .And for centuries that would not have been a problem with the low population and with long periods of no farming but people returning after three or five years something like that ,then the forest became grassland. So we are losing many of those species in Madagascar, those unique species.
1.which of the following is the habitat of the lemur?
A.Madagascar B.Britain
C.An Indian island. D.The coast
2.Why do scientists collect seeds from Madagascar?
A.The lemur will die out without them.
B.The flora on Madagascar is in great danger.
C.The island will sink to the bottom of the ocean.
D.The British seed bank wants to make money from them.
3.What is the result of the way people farm?
A.Many farmers have lost their homes. B.The population is becoming smaller.
C.Some rare species are gone. D.The crops are poor in nutrition.
4.How does the author sound?
A.Hopeless. B.Enthusiastic. C.Optimistic. D.Worried.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The current Ebola (埃博拉病毒) outbreak in western and central Africa has infected at least 3,069 people, including 1,552 dead, making it the largest outbreak in history. Ebola is a deadly virus —about 60 percent of people infected with it have died.
How is Ebola doing its harm?
When a person becomes infected with Ebola, the virus damages the body’s immune (免疫的) cells, which defend against infection, said a researcher at Lancaster University. But if a person’s immune system can stand up to this attack, then he is more likely to survive the disease.
The patients that survive it best are those who dont get such a bad disadvantage in immune system. But if the body isnt able to get rid of this attack, then the immune system becomes less able to regulate (调节) itself. This means the immune system is more likely to run out of control, leading to a drop in blood pressure, multi-organ failure and eventually death.
What are the common symptoms of the disease?
Fever. Headache. Joint and muscle aches. Weakness. Diarrhea. Vomiting. Stomach pain. Lack of appetite. Chills. Rash. Redness in the eyes. Hiccups. Cough. Sore throat. Chest pain. Difficult breathing or swallowing. Bleeding inside and outside of the body.
How to prevent the spread of Ebola?
Ebola can be spread primarily via direct contact with patients, specifically the blood and fluids of an infected patient.
We should avoid contact with infected patients and objects such as clothing, bedding, and needles used by them. Avoid areas where infections have been reported. For now, the disease has only been confirmed in central and West Africa, four cases in America and Europe. Avoid eating wild-caught bush meat. Researchers have suspected that the disease came to humans via animals, probably through the meat of primates(灵长类). If you’re in an area where the disease has been reported, avoid purchasing, eating, or handling wild game to stay on the safe side.
Wear protective medical clothing if you’re around infected patients. Extreme caution is necessary. Hospital workers must use masks, gloves, goggles, and gowns, which needed to be worn at all times if you’re around infected patients.
How Do People Survive Ebola?
Doctors don’t know for certain who will survive Ebola, and there is no specific treatment or cure for the disease. Although in the minority, some people do recover from infection.
Our suggestions include:
Maintain your electrolytes (电解质) and body liquid. Sports drinks can be used. Monitor your blood pressure and control it if necessary. Dropping blood pressure may be a serious sign of infection. Breathe in an oxygen-rich environment. Quickly address any symptoms of infection. Be honest about when and where you’re feeling pain.
1.Ebola causes the death of a human being by ________.
A. attacking him with high fever
B. regulating his immune system
C. damaging his immune cells
D. harming all his organs directly
2.What is NOT mentioned as the symptom of Ebola?
A. Fever and chills. B. Swallowing difficulty.
C. Loss of blood. D. High blood pressure.
3.In order not to be infected by Ebola, we should _________.
A. have the clothing of the infected cleaned
B. avoid eating wild animals like monkeys
C. not travel to Africa, America or Europe
D. stay at home without going anywhere
4.It is true that ________.
A. a certain number of people survive Ebola
B. human has found a special cure for Ebola
C. oxygen can save infected people’s lives
D. low blood pressure is surely caused by Ebola
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The current Ebola (埃博拉病毒)outbreak in western and central Africa has infected at least 3,069 people, including 1,552 dead, making it the largest outbreak in history. Ebola is a deadly virus-about 60 percent of people infected with it have died.
How is Ebola doing its harm?
When a person becomes infected with Ebola, the virus damages the body’s immune (免疫的)cells, which defend against infection, said a researcher at Lancaster University. But if a person’s immune system can stand up to this attack, then he is more likely to survive the disease.
The patients that survive it best are those who don’t get such a bad disadvantage in immune system. But if the body isn’t able to get rid of this attack, then the immune system becomes less able to regulate(调节) itself. This means the immune system is more likely to run out of control, leading to a drop in blood pressure, multi-organ failure and eventually death.
What are the common symptoms of the disease?
Fever. Headache. Joint and muscle aches. Weakness. Diarrhea. Vomiting. Stomach pain. Lack of appetite. Chills. Rash. Redness in the eyes. Hiccups. Cough. Sore throat. Chest pain. Difficult breathing or swallowing. Bleeding inside and outside of the body.
How to prevent the spread of Ebola?
Ebola can be spread primarily via direct contact with patients, specifically the blood and fluids of an infected patient.
We should avoid contact with infected patients and objects such as clothing, bedding, and needles used by them. Avoid areas where infections have been reported. For now, the disease has only been confirmed in central and West Africa, four cases in America and Europe. Avoid eating wild-caught bush meat. Researchers have suspected that the disease came to humans via animals, probably through the meat of primates(灵长类). If you’re in an area where the disease has been reported, avoid purchasing, eating, or handling wild game to stay on the safe side.
Wear protective medical clothing if you’re around infected patients. Extreme caution is necessary. Hospital workers must use masks, gloves, goggles, and gowns, which needed to be worn at all times if you’re around infected patients.
How Do People Survive Ebola?
Doctors don’t know for certain who will survive Ebola, and there is no specific treatment or cure for the disease. Although in the minority, some people do recover from infection.
Our suggestions include:
Maintain your electrolytes(电解质) and body liquid. Sports drinks can be used. Monitor your blood pressure and control it if necessary. Dropping blood pressure may be a serious sign of infection. Breathe in an oxygen-rich environment. Quickly address any symptoms of infection. Be honest about when and where you’re feeling pain.
1.Ebola causes the death of a human being by ________________________________________.
A. attacking him with high fever B. regulating his immune system
C. damaging his immune cells D. harming all his organs directly
2.What is NOT mentioned as the symptom of Ebola?
A. Fever and chills B. Swallowing difficulty
C. Lack of appetite D. High blood pressure
3.In order not to be infected by Ebola, we should ________________________________________.
A. have the clothing of the infected cleaned
B. avoid eating wild animals like monkeys
C. not travel to Africa, America or Europe
D. stay at home without going anywhere
4.It is true that ________________________________________.
A. a certain number of people survive Ebola
B. human has found a special cure for Ebola
C. oxygen can save infected people’s lives
D. low blood pressure is surely caused by Ebola
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
The current Ebola (埃博拉病毒) outbreak in western and central Africa has infected at least 3,069 people, including 1,552 dead, making it the largest outbreak in history. Ebola is a deadly virus —about 60 percent of people infected with it have died.
How is Ebola doing its harm?
When a person becomes infected with Ebola, the virus damages the body’s immune (免疫的) cells, which defend against infection, said a researcher at Lancaster University. But if a person’s immune system can stand up to this attack, then he is more likely to survive the disease.
The patients that survive it best are those who don’t get such a bad disadvantage in immune system. But if the body isn’t able to get rid of this attack, then the immune system becomes less able to regulate (调节) itself. This means the immune system is more likely to run out of control, leading to a drop in blood pressure, multi-organ failure and eventually death.
What are the common symptoms of the disease?
Fever. Headache. Joint and muscle aches. Weakness. Diarrhea. Vomiting. Stomach pain. Lack of appetite. Chills. Rash. Redness in the eyes. Hiccups. Cough. Sore throat. Chest pain. Difficult breathing or swallowing. Bleeding inside and outside of the body.
How to prevent the spread of Ebola?
Ebola can be spread primarily via direct contact with patients, specifically the blood and fluids of an infected patient.
We should avoid contact with infected patients and objects such as clothing, bedding, and needles used by them. Avoid areas where infections have been reported. For now, the disease has only been confirmed in central and West Africa, four cases in America and Europe. Avoid eating wild-caught bush meat. Researchers have suspected that the disease came to humans via animals, probably through the meat of primates(灵长类). If you’re in an area where the disease has been reported, avoid purchasing, eating, or handling wild game to stay on the safe side.
Wear protective medical clothing if you’re around infected patients. Extreme caution is necessary. Hospital workers must use masks, gloves, goggles, and gowns, which needed to be worn at all times if you’re around infected patients.
How Do People Survive Ebola?
Doctors don’t know for certain who will survive Ebola, and there is no specific treatment or cure for the disease. Although in the minority, some people do recover from infection.
Our suggestions include:
Maintain your electrolytes (电解质) and body liquid. Sports drinks can be used. Monitor your blood pressure and control it if necessary. Dropping blood pressure may be a serious sign of infection. Breathe in an oxygen-rich environment. Quickly address any symptoms of infection. Be honest about when and where you’re feeling pain.
1.Ebola causes the death of a human being by ________.
A. attacking him with high fever
B. regulating his immune system
C. damaging his immune cells
D. harming all his organs directly
2.What is NOT mentioned as the symptom of Ebola?
A. Fever and chills. B. Swallowing difficulty.
C. Loss of blood. D. High blood pressure.
3.In order not to be infected by Ebola, we should _________.
A. have the clothing of the infected cleaned
B. avoid eating wild animals like monkeys
C. not travel to Africa, America or Europe
D. stay at home without going anywhere
4.It is true that ________.
A. a certain number of people survive Ebola
B. human has found a special cure for Ebola
C. oxygen can save infected people’s lives
D. low blood pressure is surely caused by Ebola
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
For six hours we shot through the landscape of the Karoo desert in South Africa. Just rocks
and sand and baking sun. Knowing our journey was ending, Daniel and I just wanted to remember all we had seen and done. He used a camera. I used words. I had already finished three notebooks and was into the fourth, a beautiful leather notebook I’d bought in a market in Mozambique.
Southern Africa was full of stories. And visions. We were almost drunk on sensations. The roaring of the water at Victoria Falls, the impossible silence of the Okavango Delta in Botswana . And then the other things: dogs in the streets, whole families in Soweto living in one room, a kilometre from clean water.
As we drove towards the setting sun, a quietness fell over us. The road was empty -- we hadn’t seen another car for hours. And as I drove, something caught my eye, something moving next to me. I glanced in the mirror of the car; I glanced sideways to the right, and that was when I saw them. Next to us, by the side of the road, thirty, forty wild horses were racing the car, a cloud of dust rising behind them -- brown, muscular horses almost close enough to touch them, to smell their hot breath. I didn’t know how long they had been there next to us.
I shouted to Dan: “Look!”, but he was in a deep sleep, his camera lying useless by his feet. They raced the car for a few seconds, then disappeared far behind us, a memory of heroic forms in the red landscape. When Daniel woke up an hour later I told him what had happened.
“Wild horses?” he said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“I tried. But they were gone after a few seconds.”
“Are you sure you didn’t dream it?”
“You were the one who was sleeping!”
Typical, he said. “The best photos are the ones we never take.”
We checked into a dusty hotel and slept the sleep of the dead.
1. During their journey in Africa, the two travelers______.
| A．made friends with local residents |
| B．complained about the poor living conditions |
| C．enjoyed the sunset in the Karoo desert most |
| D．recorded their experiences in different ways |
2. What did Daniel think when he woke up and was told what had happened?
| A．He always missed out on the best thing. |
| B．He had already taken beautiful pictures. |
| C．A sound sleep was more important. |
| D．The next trip would be better. |
3. What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to view wildlife in Africa. |
| B．Running into wildlife in Africa. |
| C．Tourist attractions in southern Africa. |
| D．Possible dangers of travelling in the desert. |
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析