高考英语阅读理解强化训练Day 83

高考英语阅读理解强化训练

Day 83

Passage 1

In the United States alone, over 100 million cell-phones are thrown away each year.

Cell-phones are part of

a growing mountain

of electronic waste like computers and

personal digital assistants. The electronic waste stream is increasing three times faster

than traditional garbage as a whole.

Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver. A Swiss study

reported that while the weight of electronic goods represented by precious metals was

relatively small in comparison to total waste, the concentration

（含量）

of gold and

other

precious

metals

was

higher

in

so-called

e-waste

than

in

naturally

occurring

minerals.

Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals. Even when the machines

are recycled and the harmful metals removed, the recycled process often is carried out

in

poor

countries,

in

practically

uncontrolled

ways

which

allow

many

poisonous

substances to escape into the environment.

Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material, up to

100 times more, than the material contained in the finished products. Consider again

the cell-phone, and imagine the mines that produced those metals, the factories needed

to

make the box and packaging

（包装）

it came in.

Many wastes produced in

the

producing process are harmful as well.

The U.S. Environment Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in

that “the production, distribution, and use of products—as well as management of the

resulting waste—all result in greenhouse release.” Individuals can reduce contributions

by creating less waste at the start—for instance, buying reusable products and recycling.

In

many

countries,

the

concept

of

extended

producer

responsibility

is

being

considered or has been put in place as an incentive

（动机）

for reducing waste. If

producers are required to take back packaging they use to sell their products, would

they reduce the packaging in the first place?

Governments'

incentive

to

require

producers

to

take

responsibility

for

the

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packaging they produce is

usually based on money. Why, they ask, should cities or

towns

be

responsible

to

deal

with

the

bubble

wrap

（气泡垫）

that

encased

your

television?

From the governments' point of view, a primary goal of laws requiring extended

producer responsibility is to transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of

waste management from the government and tax-payers back to the producers.

1. By the Swiss study, the author intended to tell us ______.

A. the weight of e-goods is rather small

B. e-waste deserves to be made good use of

C. natural materials contains more precious metals

D. the percentage of precious metals is heavy in e-waste

2. The responsibility of e-waste treatment should be extended ______.

A. from producers to governments

B. from governments to producers

C. from individuals to distributors

D. from distributors to governments

3. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. The increase in e-waste.

B. The creation of e-waste.

C. The seriousness of e-waste.

D. The management of e-waste.

Passage 2

Breakdancing is set to make its first debut (

亮相

) as an Olympic sport at Paris 2024,

Tony

Estanguet,

head

of

the

Paris

organizing

committee,

said

on

February

21st.

Skateboarding,

sport

climbing

and

surfing,

which

have

already

been

added

to

the

programme for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,

have

been invited to

return in

Paris four

years later.

Tony Estanguet said the choices responded to a need to make the Olympics “more

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urban”

and

“more

artistic”.

We

have

chosen

to

present

the

International

Olympic

Committee (IOC) with the four sports because they are creative, appealing to youth and

completely in line with our vision. They reflect perfectly Paris 2024’s identity.

Breakdancing

is

an

example

of

a

sport

“Which

can

be

played

anywhere

and

anytime in urban and other environment. “It appeared at the 2018 Youth Olympics in

Buenos

Aires

in

the

form

of

head-to-head

“battles”.

In

competitive

breakdancing,

“breakers”

face

off

in

“battles”

against

each

other,

either

as

individuals

or

teams.

Breakdancers

use

a

mix

of

physical

and

artistic

skills

combining

elements

from

gymnastics or acrobatics (

杂技

).

The IOC had announced that the number of competitors at Paris 2024 would be

restricted to 10, 500, which limited the opportunity to add sports. But the organizers

said the inclusion of the four sports in Paris would not necessitate the construction of

permanent facilities and would involve just 248 competitors, of which 32 would he in

breakdancing. The surfing events are likely to be held in established surf centres such

as Biarritz or Lacanau in southwest France.

The

inclusion

still

need

to

be

rubberstamped

by

the

IOC,

which

is

expected

to

decide on which sports to add in Paris after next years’ Tokyo Games.

1. What do we know about breakdancing?

A. It involves multiple skills.

B. It’s limited to group competition.

C. It will show up in Paris 2024.

D. It never appeared in the world events.

2. Why have Paris organizers chosen the four sports?

A. Because they attract young people.

B. Because they perfectly reflect Paris’ identity

C. Because they make Paris more urban and artistic.

D. Because they can be played anytime and anywhere.

3. What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

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A. 10, 500 competitors will compete for the new sports.

B. More surf centers will be specially designed for Paris 2024.

C. The IOC will reject the proposal because of inadequate facilities.

D. The inclusion won’t require additional competition space to he built.

4. Which

is

closest

in

meaning

to

the

underlined

word

“rubberstamped”

in

the

last

paragraph?

A. approved

B. canceled

C. submitted

D. designed

Passage 3

If

humans

pump

enough

carbon

dioxide

(CO

2

)

into

the

atmosphere,

the

stratocumulus

clouds(

层积云

)

could

disappear,

and

the

earth's

temperature

could

climb

sharply to heights not

predicted in

current climate models.

It

would burn the

planet. That's the conclusion of a paper published in the journal

Nature Geoscience

and

described in detail by Natalie Wolchover for

Quanta Magazine.

As Wolchover explained, clouds have long been one of the great uncertainties of

climate models. Computer models that easily capture the complexity and detail of most

climate

systems

just

aren't

powerful

enough

to

predict

worldwide

changes

in

cloud

behavior. But clouds are important. They reflect sunlight away from the earth's surface.

And stratocumulus clouds are those white blankets you might have seen as you looked

out

the

window

of

arm

airplane,

rolling

out

below

you

and

hiding

the

ground

Researchers

suspect

that

certain

sudden,

past

jumps

in

temperature

may

have

been

caused by changes to clouds like these.

For

the

new

research,

scientists

modeled

just

a

small

patch

of

sky

using

a

supercomputer. They found that if carbon dioxide levels reach about 1, 200 parts per

million(ppm)

in

the

atmosphere,

stratocumulus

clouds

break

up. That's

a

very

high

carbon

dioxide

concentration.

Right

now,

levels

have

climbed

past

410

ppm--a

dangerous change from 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution.

But humans put more and more CO

2

into the atmosphere every

year. If current

trends continue, the earth could reach 1, 200 ppm within 100 to 150 years. This could

happen

if

our

society

doesn't

follow

through

on

any

of

its

commitments

to

reduce

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emissions(

排放

), Wolchover reported. And even if it does, the result would be another

8 degrees Celsius of heat added to the global average, on top of the dangerous changes

already underway due to greenhouse gases.

That’s an enormous change, and it goes beyond predictions of worldwide ice melt

and catastrophic sea level rise. And, once the stratocumulus clouds are gone, Wolchover

reported, they likely wouldn't reappear until atmospheric carbon dioxide levels dropped

below where they are currently.

There's still some uncertainty in the data. The 1, 200 ppm figure could change as

scientists look into the issue further.

1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A. Most climate systems are not complex.

B. Cloud behavior is uncertain and hard to predict.

C. Temperature changes affect the stratocumulus clouds.

D. The stratocumulus clouds protect planes from sunlight.

2. How did the scientists study clouds in the new research?

A. By measuring the sea level.

B. By experimenting in a natural state.

C. By comparing climate models.

D. By computer modeling and analyzing.

3. What does

A. The atmosphere.

B. The earth.

C. Our society.

D. The result.

4. Which of the following statements would Wolchover most probably agree with?

A. The effects of CO

2

emissions have been fully assessed.

B. The stratocumulus clouds won't return if they are gone.

C. The breakup of stratocumulus clouds could result in catastrophes.

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D. Once CO

2

level reaches 1, 200 ppm, stratocumulus clouds will go extinct.

Passage 4

If what we did were simply work to live, the reality of our everyday existence

would be equivalent to that of stone age man. All of human achievement that makes

modern life possible has happened because of the time that has been freed up from the

work of everyday survival.

For most of the human species on earth man and woman have been occupied with

the simple business of staying alive in as much relative comfort as possible. Hunting

and gathering, finding or building shelter, defending the little that one has from plunder

（抢夺）

,

surviving

long

enough

to

have

off-springs

of

a

mature

enough

age

to

contribute to the welfare of the group—this was initially the main business of living. It

has only been comparatively recently, since the agricultural and industrial revolutions

that used emerging technologies to free human beings from the

drudgery

of day- to-

day survival, that time has become available to do other than simply survive.

However, living to work is a luxury that we should not take for granted, for even

now still most of the human race couldn’t be blessed with the pearl.

When we live to work we enjoy what we are doing, otherwise we wouldn’t be

doing

it.

The

term“live

to

work”implies

choice.

Working

to

live

denotes

the

exact

opposite

：

anything will do that pays the bills. Anyone in the latter situation will attest

to the undesirability of being in such a position. Living to work suggests exhilaration

in one’s calling

；

it summons images of freedom and excitement in the prospect of what

each new day will bring, whereas working to live suggests little choice if any. “What

do you want to do when you grow up

？

”is a question with which most children will be

familiar, perhaps even bored. It is a question of what even a young adult can often not

be sure of until they have had experiences of many different jobs, or at least the ones

they thought to try. But to be forced to work at a task that one does not enjoy day after

day for survival would be last choice on anyone’s list. Enlightened humanity, while

acknowledging

that

some

undesirable

jobs

must

be

done

regardless,

would

acknowledge that if one was motivated in his work, the work would be so much better

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accomplished.

1. The underlined word drudgery is closest in meaning to________ .

A. imagination

C. dragging

B. hard labor

D. familiarity

2. It is implied in the text that human beings________ .

A. have been satisfied by contributing to the welfare of the group

B. stayed alive in much possible comfort for centuries

C. made little progress before the emergence of technologies

D. were addicted to hunting, gathering and building shelters

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage

？

________

A. Human achievements facilitating modem life arc done during the leisure time freed

from survival work.

B.

The

major

early

business

of

humans

is

to

seek

chances

for

technological

developments.

C. In modem society, most people have enough comforts to make individual choices

for work. D. Most adults can answer confidently questions concerning what jobs they

want to do.

4. The best title for the passage would be________ .

A. Technology, a driving force to push humans ahead

B. Working to live, a basic condition for pleasant living to work

C. Different desires and prospects people have for different kinds of work

D. Working to live or living to work, a choice distinguishing joy from suffering

Passage 5

The

eyeliner

makes

the

dark

circles

less

pronounced.

The

lipstick

hides

the

trembling. The ponytail

（马尾辫）

masks missing patches of hair. I might look a bit

thinner, but everyone will ask about my new diet. One hour of preparation and I look

like myself. One hour out of 24. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it– wasting a twenty-

fourth of my day on a lie.

Checking my makeup one last time, I slip on acute pair of flats – heels are too

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