Birds in eastern North America are picking up...

Birds in eastern North America are picking up the pace along their yearly migratory (迁移的) paths. The reason, according to researchers, is rising temperatures due to climate change.

Using migration information collected in eBird, a citizen science program database containing 10 years’ worth of observations from amateur birdwatchers, assistant professor of biology Allen Hurlbert, Ph.D., and his team analyzed when 18 different species of birds arrived at various points across their migration journeys.

Pushing migration earlier in the year could negatively affect birds over the long term, Hurlbert said. “Timing of bird migration is something critical for the overall health of bird species,” he said. “They have to time it right so they can balance arriving on breeding (繁殖) grounds after there’s no longer a risk of severe winter conditions. If they get it wrong, they may die or may not produce as many young.”

Hurlbert said, the speed at which a species migrates is the biggest influence on how strongly it responds to increasing temperatures. Slow migrators were the most adaptable to changes. Additionally, the length of the migration path affects how quickly birds move from one location to another.

“It makes sense that if you take your time to move north, you’re sort of checking out the surroundings around you,” he said. “If the conditions seem too cold, you can decide there’s no point in moving on that day. Species that tended to advance quickly, as well as those migrating from greater distances, such as Central or South America, were less able to adapt to temperature changes.”

However, being a slow traveler does not free a species from all climate change-induced migration challenges. Because they stay in one spot longer, such birds have heavier habitat and food requirements, making them more dependent upon the resources that are available along their paths. That reliance could become a greater problem if climate projections for the next 50 years to 75 years hold true, Hurlbert said. Climatologists predict the Northeast will continue to warm at a faster pace than the Southeast, potentially forcing slow migrators to move even slower and put greater difficulty on their migratory routes.

1.The rising temperatures led to _______________.

A.the speed-up of birds’ migration

B.the weakness of the birds’ physical health

C.the birds’ less demand for food

D.the variation of breeding grounds

2.According to Hurbert, wrong timing of bird migration can lead to ___________.

A.a risk of wrong migration paths B.change in life habit

C.a lack of natural resources D.decrease in bird population

3.What is the most important factor in adapting to climate change for birds?

A.The cycle of migration.

B.Migration speed.

C.Their local habitat.

D.The temperature along the migratory path.

4.What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A.Climatologists’ prediction.

B.Climate changes’ bad effects.

C.Challenges of slow migrators’ migration.

D.Changes of birds’ migratory routes.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

California condors are North America’s largest birds, with wing-length of up to 3 meters. In the 1980s, electrical lines and lead poisoning (铅中毒) nearly drove them to dying out. Now, electric shock training and medical treatment are helping to save these big birds.

In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wild to be bred (繁殖). Since 1992, there have been multiple reintroductions to the wild, and there are now more than 150 flying over California and nearby Arizona, Utah and Baja in Mexico.

Electrical lines have been killing them off. “As they go in to rest for the night, they just don’t see the power lines,” says Bruce Rideout of San Diego Zoo. Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in electrocution (电死) if they touch two lines at once.

So scientists have come up with a shocking idea. Tall poles, placed in large training areas, teach the birds to stay clear of electrical lines by giving them a painful but undeadly electric shock. Before the training was introduced, 66% of set-free birds died of electrocution. This has now dropped to 18%.

Lead poisoning has proved more difficult to deal with. When condors eat dead bodies of other animals containing lead, they take in large quantities of lead. This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby birds, and can lead to kidney (肾) failures and death. So condors with high levels of lead are sent to Los Angeles Zoo, where they are treated with calcium EDTA, a chemical that removes lead from the blood over several days. This work is starting to pay off. The annual death rate for adult condors has dropped from 38% in 2000 to 5.4% in 2011.

Rideout’s team thinks that the California condors’ average survival time in the wild is now just under eight years. “Although these measures are not effective forever, they are important for now,” he says. “They are truly good birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them.”

1.California condors attract researchers’ interest because they ______.

A.are active at night

B.had to be bred in the wild

C.are found on in California

D.almost died out in the 1980s

2.Researchers have found electrical lines are ______.

A.giving condors’ journey home

B.big killers of Califorbnia condoras

C.rest places for condors at night

D.used to keep condors away

3.According to Paragraph 5, lead poisoning ______.

A.makes condors too nervous to fly

B.has little effect on condors’ kidneys

C.can hardly be gotten rid of from condors’ blood

D.makes it difficult for condors to produce baby birds

4.The passage shows that ______.

A.the average survival time of condors is satisfactory

B.Rideout’s research interest lies in electric engineering

C.the efforts to protect condors have brought good results

D.researchers have found the final answers to the problem

5.What could be the best title for the passage?

A.California Condor’s Shocking Recovery

B.Dangers California Condors Face

C.How to Protect California Condor

D.California Condors’ Future Life

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The little girl is walking along the beach, _________, occasionally bending down to pick up a beautiful seashell.

A.happily and joyfully B.happily and joyful

C.happy and joyful D.happy and joyfully

高二英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析

The little girl is walking along the beach, happy and joyful, ______ bending down to pick up a beautiful seashell.

A　 approximately　　　　 B. regularly

C. obviously　　 　　　 D. occasionally

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

I was walking along the deserted main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to get in touch with the Automobile Association .Low gray clouds were drifting across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea. It had rained in the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat.

There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his job, but the town was completely dead.

Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street next to it was the town's only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint, I hurried forward but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was very fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat and rubber boots. I could not see his face - he was bending forward over the phone with his back pressed against the glass and didn't even raise his head at the sound of my coming nearer and nearer. Carefully and surprisedly, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the call box door.

1.The author was walking through the small seaside town__________.

2.The weather of the day was ____, when the story happened.

3. Why was the author astonished when he saw that there was a man in the call box? Because____.

4.The author waited, standing a few feet away from the box because____.

5. What do you suppose happened to the man in the call box?

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

World Wrestling Entertainment is the largest professional wrestling organization in North America. It was called World Wrestling Federation until it changed its name because of a legal dispute. Its more than one hundred wrestlers fight each other in competitive matches that are written and practiced before they are performed.

Professional wrestlers are athletes but act as entertainers. They are not seeking athletic records, but instead want to excite an audience. To do this, they use unusual names and wear special clothing during wrestling matches. These wrestlers include the Stone Cold Stunner and the Undertaker.

Most professional wrestling matches are between two men or two women. They fight inside an area called a ring that is separated from the audience by ropes. Each match continues until one wrestler forces the other's shoulders to the floor and holds them there for a count of three. Most World Wrestling Entertainment matches continue for only about four to seven minutes.

An organization official called a promoter decides before the match who will win. But who wins and who loses is not the important thing in professional wrestling. The important thing is that the audience enjoys the pretend fight. Some wrestlers rarely win, but continue to be popular.

Not all wrestling matches are between two people. Some are called tag team matches and involve teams of two, three or four wrestlers. Another kind of match is called a battle royal. It involves thirty to sixty wrestlers competing against each other. A wrestler loses when he or she is thrown out of the ring. The winner is the last wrestler still standing.

1.Why did World Wrestling Federation change its name?

2. Professional wrestlers’ main aim is to _______.

3. As a whole, the third paragraph is _______.

4. Which of the following statements is right according to the passage?

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

A regular drop in the sun’s radiation(辐射) can cause unusually cold winters in parts of North America and Europe, scientists say, a finding that could improve long-range forecasts and help countries prepare for snowstorms.

Scientists have known for a long time that the sun has an 11-year cycle during which radiation measured by sunspots on the surface reaches a peak then falls. But explaining a clear connection to weather is harder.

“Our research confirms the observed connection between solar change and regional winter climate,” lead author Sarah Ineson of the UK Met Office told the reporters in an email. The study was published in the magazine Nature Geoscience on Monday.

The researchers found that the reducing of ultraviolet(UV，紫外线) radiation from the sun can affect high-altitude wind patterns in the Northern Hemisphere(半球), causing cold winters.

“While UV levels won’t tell us what the day-to-day weather will do, they show us the bright future of improved forecasts for winter conditions for months and even years ahead. These forecasts play an important role in long-term possibility planning,” Ineson, a climate scientist, said.

Ineson and colleagues from Imperial College London and the University of Oxford used satellite data that more accurately(精确的) measures UV radiation from the sun and found a much greater change than previously thought.

They found that in years of low activity, unusually cold air forms high in the atmosphere over the tropics. This causes a redistribution(重新分配) of heat in the atmosphere, making easterly winds that bring freezing weather and snowstorms to northern Europe and the United States and milder weather to Canada and the Mediterranean.

When solar UV radiation is stronger, the opposite occurs.

More study was needed, though. A key uncertainty in the experiment lay in the satellite data used, because it covers only a few years. “So questions remain concerning both accuracy(精确) and also applicability to other solar cycles,” she said.

1.The new finding claims cold winters in the North Hemisphere can be caused by ______.

A. a sharp rise in the amount of sunspots

B. a drop in the sun’s UV radiation

C. a complex computer model simulation

D. a clear link between the sun and the earth

2. It has long been known by scientists that ______.

A. UV radiation can affect high-altitude wind patterns

B. there’s a clear connection between the sun’s activity and weather

C. the sun’s radiation reaches a peak every eleven years

D. they can predict day-to-day weather conditions from UV levels

3. What will happen if the sun turns into years of high activity according to the finding?

A. Canada and the Mediterranean will have milder weather.

B. The whole Northern Hemisphere will suffer from extreme winter days.

C. Freezing cold weather will appear in northern Europe.

D. Burning hot weather will appear in the United States.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A. researchers have analyzed the data collected in eleven years

B. long-term weather conditions can be accurately predicted depending on UV levels

C. the research doesn’t seem correct and true enough due to limited satellite data used

D. climate scientists have just begun their research in severe weather forecast

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

People from Great Britain brought the English language to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. And in the __________ 300 years, there were so many __________ in both places that now people can easily __________ an English person from an American in the __________ he or she talks.

Many old words __________ in England but were kept in America. For example, 300 years ago people in Great Britain got their water from something they __________ either a “faucet”, “spigot”, or a “tap”. All these words are __________ heard in different parts of America, but only “tap” is still __________ in England. Americans often make __________ new words or change old ones. “Corn” is one kind of plant in America and __________ in England.

Also, over the last three centuries the English language has __________ thousands of new words for things that weren't __________ before. And often, American and English people used two __________ names for them. A tin can is called “tin” for short in English, but a “can” in America. The word “radio” is __________ all over the world, including America. But many English people call it a “wireless”. And almost anything __________ something to do with cars, railroads, has different __________ in British and American English.

But now American and British English may be __________ closer together. One thing is that __________ people can hear a large amount of American speech daily in __________, on television, or from travelers. Because of this, Americans __________ to be influencing the British more and more. So some day, English may even be the same on both sides of the Atlantic.

1.A. past　　 B. recent　　 C. oldest　　 D. latest

2.A. citizens　　 B. inventions　　 C. changes　　 D. advances

3.A. pick　　 B. tell　　 C. take　　 D. judge

4.A. voice　　 B. place　　 C. language　　 D. way

5.A. disappeared　　 B. stayed　　 C. returned　　 D. formed

6.A. said　　 B. talked　　 C. spoke　　 D. called

7.A. then　　 B. hardly　　 C. clearly　　 D. still

8.A. necessary　　 B. native　　 C. common　　 D. lively

9.A. of　　 B. into　　 C. up　　 D. out

10.A. another　　 B. the other　　 C. none　　 D. something

11.A. discovered　　 B. added　　 C. improved　　 D. learned

12.A. accepted　　 B. known　　 C. introduced　　 D. understood

13.A. new　　 B. short　　 C. different　　 D. surprising

14.A. produced　　 B. made　　 C. developed　　 D. used

15.A. having　　 B. bringing　　 C. getting　　 D. making

16.A. types　　 B. names　　 C. degrees　　 D. parts

17.A. putting　　 B. staying　　 C. living　　 D. growing

18.A. British　　 B. American　　 C. educated　　 D. ordinary

19.A. families　　 B. buses　　 C. movies　　 D. newspapers

20.A. need　　 B. expect　　 C. seem　　 D. happen

高二英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

People from Great Britain brought the English language to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. And in the __________ 300 years, there were so many __________ in both places that now people can easily __________ an English person from an American in the __________ he or she talks.

Many old words __________ in England but were kept in America. For example, 300 years ago people in Great Britain got their water from something they __________ either a “faucet”, “spigot”, or a “tap”. All these words are __________ heard in different parts of America, but only “tap” is still __________ in England. Americans often make __________ new words or change old ones. “Corn” is one kind of plant in America and __________ in England.

Also, over the last three centuries the English language has __________ thousands of new words for things that weren't __________ before. And often, American and English people used two __________ names for them. A tin can is called “tin” for short in English, but a “can” in America. The word “radio” is __________ all over the world, including America. But many English people call it a “wireless”. And almost anything __________ something to do with cars, railroads, has different __________ in British and American English.

But now American and British English may be __________ closer together. One thing is that __________ people can hear a large amount of American speech daily in __________, on television, or from travelers. Because of this, Americans __________ to be influencing the British more and more. So some day, English may even be the same on both sides of the Atlantic.

1.A.past B.recent C.oldest D.latest

2.A.citizens B.inventions C.changes D.advances

3.A.pick B.tell C.take D.judge

4.A.voice B.place C.language D.way

5.A.disappeared B.stayed C.returned D.formed

6.A.said B.talked C.spoke D.called

7.A.then B.hardly C.clearly D.still

8.A.necessary B.native C.common D.lively

9.A.of B.into C.up D.out

10.A.another B.the other C.none D.something

11.A.discovered B.added C.improved D.learned

12.A.accepted B.known C.introduced D.understood

13.A.new B.short C.different D.surprising

14.A.produced B.made C.developed D.used

15.A.having B.bringing C.getting D.making

16.A.types B.names C.degrees D.parts

17.A.putting B.staying C.living D.growing

18.A.British B.American C.educated D.ordinary

19.A.families B.buses C.movies D.newspapers

20.A.need B.expect C.seem D.happen

高二英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

People from Great Britain brought the English language to North America in the 16th and 17th centuries. And in the __36__ 300 years, there were so many___37__ in both places that now people can easily___38__ an English person from an American in the___39__ he or she talks.

Many old words___40__ in England but were kept in America．For example,300 years ago people in Great Britain got their water from something they__41__either a“faucet”,“spigot”,or a“tap”.All these words are___42__ heard in different parts of America, but only “tap”is still___43_ in England．Americans often make___44__ new words or change old ones. “Corn”is one kind of plant in America and__45__ in England．

Also, over the last three centuries the English language has___46__ thousands of new words for things that weren’t___47__ before. And often, American and English people used two__48__ names for them. A tin can is called“tin”for short in English, but a “can”in America．The word “radio”is__49__all over the world, including America．But many English people call it a “wireless”.And almost anything___50__ something to do with cars, railroads, etc．has different___51__ in British and American English.

But now American and British English may be___52__ closer together. One thing is that__ 53_ people can hear a large amount of American speech daily in___54__, on television, or from travelers. Because of this, Americans___55__ to be influencing the British more and more. So some day, English may even be the same on both sides of the Atlantic．

1.A. past                        B．recent                  C．oldest                  D．latest

2.A. citizens                        B．inventions           C．changes              D．advances

3.A. pick                         B．tell                        C．take                      D．judge

4.A. voice                            B．place                    C．language             D．way

5.A. disappeared               B．stayed                 C．returned             D．formed

6.A. said                         B. talked                     C．spoke                   D．called

7.A. then                   B．hardly                  C．clearly                  D．still

8.A. necessary                       B．native                  C．common              D．lively

9.A. of                             B．into                       C．up                         D．out

10.A. another               B．the other            C．none                     D．something

11.A. discovered               B．added                  C. improved               D．learned

12.A. accepted                      B．known                  C．introduced                   D．understood

13.A. new                            B．short                    C．different              D．surprising

14.A. produced                  B．made                   C．developed           D．used

15.A. having                  B．bringing               C．getting                D．making

16.A. types                         B．names                 C．degrees               D．parts

17.A. putting                B．staying                C．living           D．growing

18.A. British                  B．American            C．educated            D．ordinary

19.A. families               B．buses                            C．movies                 D．newspapers

20.A. need                          B．expect                 C．seem                    D．happen

高二英语完型填空中等难度题查看答案及解析