Today's buzz words, which include global warm...

Today's buzz words, which include global warming and zero emissions, are causing everyday people (not just celebrities) to look for ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Based on this trend, entire districts, known as eco-communities, are being designed with green initiatives in mind. Dockside Green in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada is one of these communities. If everything goes according to plan, Dockside Green will be a self-sufficient community. The plans describe a variety of environmental features, some of which have never been seen.

Builders of Dockside Green have the environment in mind with every choice they make. They ensure proper ventilation (通风), and guarantee residents 100% fresh indoor air. Interior and exterior building materials, such as paints and wood, are natural and non-toxic (无毒的). Eco-conscious builders use bamboo wherever possible because it is durable and does not require pesticides to grow.

Energy efficiency is one of the top priorities in eco-communities, such as Dockside Green. Not only do energy-efficient appliances and light fixtures reduce the environmental impact of heating and hot water, they also save residents and business owners money. Dockside Green claims that home owners will use 55% less energy than average residents in Canada. Studies show that people use approximately 20% less energy when they are billed for exactly what they use. In addition, water is treated at Dockside Green and reused on site for flushing toilets.

Planners of eco-communities such as Dockside Green must take the future into account. Dockside Green plans on reusing 90% of its construction waste. They also plan to continue using local suppliers for all of their transport and maintenance needs. This is a great way to reduce emissions. Finally, plans are in the works for a high-tech heating system that will use renewable biomass instead of fossil fuels.

The first two stages of development at Dockside Green have already been completed, and many other plans are in the works. Other smaller eco-villages can be found around the world. Residents of these communities aim to reduce their carbon footprint and be models for sustainable living.

1.The purpose of the article is to ______ .

A.introduce eco-communities

B.describe Dockside Green's plans

C.advertise Dockside Green

D.illustrate sustainable living

2.According to the article, what percentage of energy saving will Dockside Green residents save？ ______

A.100%.

B.90%.

C.55%.

D.20%.

3.Bamboo is an environmentally friendly choice for builders because it ______ .

A.provides good air circulation

B.keeps pests out of houses

C.is toxic substances free

D.can be used for a long time

4.What will Dockside Green try to do in the future？ ______

A.To find fossil fuel alternatives.

B.To develop an interior transportation system.

C.To use most of construction waste again.

D.To cooperate with other eco-villages.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The global warming is more and more serious，for which human beings ________.

A．are blaming　                             B．are to blame

C．are going to blame　                     D．are to be blamed

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Experts warn that global warming will cause extreme climate changes including more______　　　　 floods, heat waves and droughts.

A. usual　　　　 B. ordinary　　　　 C. frequent　　　 D. common

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Experts warn that global warming will cause climate changes, including more ______ floods, heat waves and droughts.

A. frequent             B. usual                                 C. ordinary                     D. common

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

Jack will hold a meeting ______ people can voice their opinions on today's global economy．

A．which　　　　　　 B．when

C．where　　 　 　　 D．whose

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

Along with global warming and the Ebola virus，this year, something far less life-and society-threatening also spiraled out of control：email．

It was long ago invented as something to make us more productive．But what productivity expert would ever say that it's a good thing that instead of working，we now“answer email? Or that on some days，I am unwilling to leave my desk to head into a meeting because it means taking my finger off the keyboard and knowing 1 will return to a flood of new messages waiting patiently for my total attention?

Some people struggle for“inbox zero”．But like many people，I now get so much junk mail that if I were to adopt such a goal，I would spend every workday doing nothing but deleting emails．To make sure nothing important gets buried，I have developed an embarrassinglv old system of keeping a pen-and-paper list of emails that need responses on a series of Post-It notes．As far back as 2007，Fred Wilson famously declared “email bankruptcy”．I'm close to doing the Same．

But I may not need to．I predict that 2015 will mark the beginning of the end of emails．Already, some tools have emerged(出现)over the years，like software Freedom which disables access to the Internet for chosen periods of time．Corporations have gradually been adopting stricter email policies：A few years ago，Volkswagen said it would stop sending emails from its servers to company-owned BlackBerrys after the end of its workday．

But this great hope is largely the optimist in me speaking，and I give this prediction small chances compared to some of our others．As Tony Hsieh once told me，the problem with email is that it is a“good—enough”solution．Some technologies stay around just because there isn’t anything better．It’s probably right．But my wish is that 2015 is the year when truly effective email management solutions go from good to great-and that email volume goes from crazy to reasonable．We’ll a11 be better for it．

1.The underlined word “spiraled” in Paragraph l probably means “_____________”.

A．increased rapidly　　　　 B．moved in circle

C．changed unexpectedly 　 D．appeared suddenly

2.The writer is unwilling to attend a meeting because____________.

A．he has to return with quantities of emails

B．answering emails calls for great attention

C．more emails will flood in waiting for him to check

D．he doesn’t want to take his fingers off the keyboard

3.From Paragraph 3，we may infer that____________.

A．the goal “inbox zero” is hard to obtain

B．the writer is devoted to deleting emails

C．pens and paper are highly favored at work

D．Fred Wilson famously declared “email bankruptcy”

4.The writer may agree that____________.

A．emails will come to an end

B．emails will still hold a place

C．existing email management is perfect

D．emails will never be sent to BlackBerrys

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Global warming is causing more than 300,000 deaths and about $125 billion in economic losses each year, according to a report by the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization led by Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.

The report, to be released Friday, analyzed data and existing studies of health, disaster, population and economic trends. It found that human-influenced climate change was raising the global death rates from illnesses including malnutrition (营养不良) and heat-related health problems.

But even before its release, the report drew criticism from some experts on climate and risk, who questioned its methods and conclusions.

Along with the deaths, the report said that the lives of 325 million people, primarily in poor countries, were being seriously affected by climate change. It projected that the number would double by 2030.

Roger Pielke Jr., a political scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies disaster trends, said the Forum’s report was “a methodological embarrassment” because there was no way to distinguish deaths or economic losses related to human-driven global warming amid the much larger losses resulting from the growth in populations and economic development in vulnerable (易受伤害的) regions. Dr. Pielke said that “climate change is an important problem requiring our utmost (极度的) attention.” But the report, he said, “will harm the cause for action on both climate change and disasters because it is so deeply flawed (有瑕疵的).”

However, Soren Andreasen, a social scientist at Dalberg Global Development Partners who supervised the writing of the report, defended it, saying that it was clear that the numbers were rough estimates. He said the report was aimed at world leaders, who will meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a new international climate treaty.

In a press release describing the report, Mr. Annan stressed the need for the negotiations to focus on increasing the flow of money from rich to poor regions to help reduce their vulnerability(弱点) to climate hazards(危害)while still curbing (限制) the emissions of the heat-trapping gases. More than 90% of the human and economic losses from climate change are occurring in poor countries, according to the report.

1.What is the finding of the Global Humanitarian Forum?

2.  What do we learn about the Forum’s report from the passage?

3. What does Dr. Pielke say about the Forum’s report?

4.  What is Soren Andreasen’s view of the report?

5.  What does Kofi Annan say should be the focus of the Copenhagen conference?

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Global warming is causing more than 300,000 deaths and about $125 billion in economic losses each year, according to a report by the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization led by Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.

The report, to be released Friday, analyzed data and existing studies of health, disaster, population and economic trends. It found that human-influenced climate change was raising the global death rates from illnesses including malnutrition and heat-related health problems.

But even before its release, the report drew criticism from some experts on climate and risk, who questioned its methods and conclusions. Along with the deaths, the report said that the lives of 325 million people, primarily in poor countries,were being seriously affected by climate change. It projected that the number would double by 2030.

Roger Pielke Jr., a politicalscientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies disaster trends, said the Forum’s report was “a methodological embarrassment” because there was no way to distinguish deaths or economic losses related to human-driven global warming amid（在...中间） the much larger losses resulting from the growth in populations and economic development in vulnerable(易受伤害的) regions. Dr. Pielke said that “climate change is an important problem requiring our utmost attention.” But the report, he said, “will harm the cause for action on both climate change and disasters because it is so deeply flawed(有瑕疵的).”

However, Soren Andreasen, a social scientist at Dalberg Global Development Partners who supervised the writing of the report, defended it, saying that it was clear that the numbers were rough estimates. He said the report was aimed at world leaders, who will meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a new international climate treaty.

In a press release describing the report, Mr. Annan stressed the need for the negotiations to focus on increasing the flow of money from rich to poor regions to help reduce their vulnerability to climate hazards while still controling the emissions of the heat-trapping gases. More than 90% of the human and economic losses from climate change are occurring in poor countries, according to the report.

1.What is the finding of the Global Humanitarian Forum?

A. Rates of death from illnesses have risen due to global warming.

B. Global temperatures affect the rate of economic development.

C. Malnutrition has caused serious health problems in poor countries.

D. Economic trends have to do withpopulation and natural disasters.

2. What do we learn about the Forum’s report from the passage?

A. It caused a big stir in developing countries.

B. It was warmly received by environmentalists.

C. It caused a lot of interest in the scientific circles.

D. It was challenged by some climate and risk experts.

3. What is Soren Andreasen’s view of the report?

A. Its conclusions are based on carefully collected data.

B. It is vulnerable to criticism if the statistics are closely examined.

C. It will give rise to heated discussions at the Copenhagen conference.

D. Its rough estimates are meant to draw the attention of world leaders.

4.What does Kofi Annan say should be the focus of the Copenhagen conference?

A. How human and economic losses from climate change can be reduced.

B. How rich countries can better help poor regions reduce climate hazards.

C. How emissions of heat-trapping gases can be reduced on a global scale.

D. How rich and poor regionscan share responsibility in curbing global warming.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The health and welfare of every person in America will be affected by global warming, especially children, the elderly and the poor, according to a new White House science report.

The report said every region (地区) of the country will suffer worse health from heat waves and drought. All but a handful of states would have worse air quality and flooding. It predicts an increase in diseases spread by tainted (腐烂的) food, bad water and bugs (臭虫).

The report concludes that climate change causes real risk to human health and human system that supports the way of life in the United States.

Man-made global warming is caused by greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels. At current emission (放射) levels, global temperatures are likely to rise by about 2 degrees by midcentury and about 7.5 degrees by the end of the century.

The most vulnerable (脆弱的) Americans — the poor, elderly, sick, very young and immigrants — will suffer more. That’s at least 10 percent of the country’s population, probably more. It will be tougher for these people to get enough health care for climate-related illnesses, to cool down in heat waves, to escape extreme events such as Hurricane Katrina, and even to get enough food.

While every region of America is vulnerable to global warming’s health and welfare effects, more people are moving to coastal regions, which are most vulnerable to climate change because of drought and hurricanes.

1.According to the report, we learn all of the following will risk human’s health EXCEPT ______.

A. heat waves and drought

B. increase in the number of bugs

C. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions

D. global warming and climate change

2.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

A. All of states would suffer flooding.

B. Air quality in few states is not high.

C. About half of all states would have clear air.

D. Flooding would occur in almost all the states.

3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Global warming is caused by human beings.

B. It is wise for the Americans to move into coastal regions.

C. Global temperatures are increasing year by year because of carbon dioxide.

D. At least one tenth of Americans are more likely to suffer climate-related illnesses.

4. The writer wrote this passage to ______.

A. explain how the phenomenon of global warming forms

B. protect the vulnerable Americans from suffering from diseases

C. provide evidence that global warming and climate change risk human’s health

D. warn every American of the danger of global warming to their health

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Monitoring global warming usually requires a Ph. D. and enough maths to glaze your eyes. But that Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant track（记录）what climate change is doing to five different plants in Tucson, Arizona and they are only in the second grade.

“We are collecting data because the weather is changing and the plants are blooming,” Ruby explained.

Scores of other students at Borton Primary Magnet School and Sunnyside High School in Tucson are heading outdoors to be part of a new scientific push to figure out how the biological timing of the earth is changing. It’s a research project that the average person, even a kindergartner, can join in.

The National Phenology（生物气候学）Network is calling on volunteers to help track early spring blooms and eventually changes in animals caused by global warming. It’s called Project Budburst. When it was first open to the public last year, thousands of people participated in 26 states.

“All people can contribute to it by tracking the timing of flowering events or leaf-out events for plants and animals in their backyard,” said Phenology Network director Jake Weltzin. He calls the volunteers “citizen-scientists.”

The idea is that tracking flowers blooming—especially lilacs（丁香）; which everyday people have helped track for decades—is fairly simple. The Website http://www.Windows.ucar.edu/ citizen_science/budburst/index.html gives directions on what to look for in different parts of the country.

University of Maryland professor David Inouye said it’s so easy to figure out what’s blooming that a lack of special knowledge isn’t a problem.

University of Arizona ecology graduate student Lisa Benton coordinated（协调）the Tucson high school students as they looked at plants five minutes from their high school. Each student has specific guidelines and she’s been happy so far with the data she is getting. For his part, second-grader Francisco said he had fun helping out.

“I like going out in the desert,” he said. “I want to be an Einstein.”

1.Francisco Lopez and Ruby Nostrant are monitoring global warming by __________.

A. watching early spring blooms and changes in animals

B. studying the biological timing of earth

C. collecting data of the local weather

D. tracking the early spring blooms of some local plants

2.Those who participate in Project Budburst are mostly ___________.

A. ecology college graduates              B. high school students

C. common people                         D. experts

3.What David Inouye says suggests that ____________.

A. the study carried out by students is convincing

B. the students still need special training to study climate change

C. it is difficult to study climate change

D. to figure out what’s blooming needs special knowledge

4.Who is primary school student joining in the Project Budburst?

A. Lisa Benton.      B. David Inouye

C. Francisco Lopez.    D. Jake Weltzin.

5.We can conclude from the passage that _______.

A. changes in animals caused by global warming happen earlier than those in plants

B. the biological timing of earth is changing because of climate change

C. the effect of climate change in Tucson, Arizona can be hardly noticed

D. all the plants in Tucson, Arizona are blooming earlier because of climate change

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析