Antarctica and Environment
Antarctica has actually become a kind of space station – a unique observation post for detecting important changes in the world’s environment. Remote from major sources of pollution and the complex geological and ecological systems that prevail elsewhere, Antarctica makes possible scientific measurements that are often sharper and easier to interpret than those made in other parts of the world.
Growing numbers of scientists therefore see Antarctica as a distant-early-warning sensor, where potentially dangerous global trends may be spotted before they show up to the north. One promising field of investigation is glaciology. Scholars from the United States, Switzerland, and France are pursuing seven separate but related projects that reflect their concern for the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – a concern they believe the world at large should share.
The Transantarctic Mountain, some of them more than 14,000 feet high, divide the continent into two very different regions. The part of the continent to the “east” of the mountains is a high plateau covered by an ice sheet nearly two miles thick. “West” of the mountain, the half of the continent south of the Americas is also covered by an ice sheet, but there the ice rests on rock that is mostly well below sea level. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared, the western part of the continent would be reduced to a sparse cluster of island.
While ice and snow are obviously central to many environmental experiments, others focus on the mysterious “dry valley” of Antarctica, valleys that contain little ice or snow even in the depths of winter. Slashed through the mountains of southern Victoria Land, these valleys once held enormous glaciers that descended 9,000 feet from the polar plateau to the Ross Sea. Now the glaciers are gone, perhaps a casualty of the global warming trend during the 10,000 years since the ice age. Even the snow that falls in the dry valleys is blasted out by vicious winds that roars down from the polar plateau to the sea. Left bare are spectacular gorges, rippled fields of sand dunes, clusters of boulders sculptured into fantastic shapes by 100-mile-an-hour winds, and an aura of extraterrestrial desolation.
Despite the unearthly aspect of the dry valleys, some scientists believe they may carry a message of hope of the verdant parts of the earth. Some scientists believe that in some cases the dry valleys may soak up pollutants faster than pollutants enter them.
小題1:What is the best title for this passage?
A Antarctica and environmental Problems.
B Antarctica: Earth’s Early-Warning station.
C Antarctica: a Unique Observation Post.
D Antarctica: a Mysterious Place.
小題2:What would the result be if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared?
A The western part of the continent would be disappeared.
B The western part of the continent would be reduced.
C The western part of the continent would become scattered Islands.
D The western part of the continent would be reduced to a cluster of Islands.
小題3:Why are the Dry Valleys left bare?
A Vicious wind blasts the snow away.                B It rarely snows.
C Because of the global warming trend and fierce wind.  D Sand dunes.
小題4:Which of the following is true?
A The “Dry Valleys” have nothing left inside.
B The “Dry Valleys” never held glaciers.
C The “Dry Valleys” may carry a message of hope for the verdant.
D The “Dry Valleys” are useless to scientists.

小題1:A
小題2:D
小題3:C
小題4:C

這是一篇有關(guān)南極洲科研考察的重要性的科普文章。采用因果，點(diǎn)面結(jié)合寫法。首先提出：由于南極洲遠(yuǎn)離污染，又不同于其它任何地方，普遍存在著復(fù)雜的地質(zhì)和生態(tài)環(huán)境，所以這塊地方就可能得到更敏銳又易解釋的科學(xué)測(cè)量結(jié)果。它成了監(jiān)察世界環(huán)境變化的觀察哨和空間站，后面幾段就寫了進(jìn)行考察的方面和結(jié)果。
小題1:南極洲和環(huán)境問(wèn)題。
B. 南極洲：地球最早的報(bào)警戰(zhàn)。C.南極洲：獨(dú)一無(wú)二的觀察哨。D. 南極洲：神秘的地方。三項(xiàng)都是總內(nèi)容眾的組成部分。
小題2:大陸西部成為一群島嶼。第三段“橫斷南極的山脈，有的高達(dá)一萬(wàn)四千多英尺，把這大陸分成情況各異的兩個(gè)地區(qū)。山脈以東的大陸部分是由差不多兩英里厚的冰層覆蓋的高原；山脈以西，即美洲以南的半個(gè)大陸也為冰層所覆蓋�？墒�，這里冰層覆蓋在大大低于海平面的巖石。如果西南極洲冰層消失，那這大陸西部將成為稀疏的島群�！�
A. 大陸西部將小時(shí)。B. 大陸西部縮小。 D. 大陸西部將成為分散的島嶼。
小題3:因?yàn)榈厍蜃兣涂耧L(fēng)勁吹。在第四段：“……這些干谷甚至在寒冬季節(jié)也很少有冰雪。它們插在南維多利亞陸地的山脈中，一度曾有從極地高原到羅斯海的深度為9000英尺的冰河�，F(xiàn)在冰河已不存在，很可能是冰期之后一萬(wàn)年間地球變暖的結(jié)果。即使落入干谷的雪也被從極地高原咆哮入海的邪惡狂風(fēng)吹散了。留下來(lái)的是裸露的壯觀的峽谷，沙丘起伏的原野，被時(shí)速一百英里的大風(fēng)雕刻成奇形怪狀的大礫石，形成與世隔絕的荒涼景象�！�
A. 邪惡的狂風(fēng)吹走了雪。B. 它很少下雪。D.沙丘。這三項(xiàng)只是干谷現(xiàn)象的一部分。
小題4:他們可能為地球上綠色地區(qū)帶來(lái)了希望的信息。答案是第五段第一句“盡管干谷具有神秘的一面，科學(xué)家卻相信他們可能為地球上蔥綠的地方帶來(lái)了希望的信息�！�
A.干谷內(nèi)什么都沒有留下。B. 干谷內(nèi)從沒有冰河。D. 按照科學(xué)家的看法，干谷毫無(wú)用處。
練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

When we say that Cambridge is a university town, we do not mean just that it is a town with a university in it. Manchester and Milan have universities, but we do not call them university towns. A university town is one where there is no clear separation between the university buildings and the rest of the city. The university is not just one part of the town; it is all over the town. The heart of Cambridge has its shops, pubs, market-place and so on, but most of it is university-colleges, faculties, libraries, clubs and other places for university staff and students. Students fill the shops, cafes, banks, and churches, making these as well part of the university.,
The town was there first. Two Roman roads crossed there, and there are signs of building before Roman times (earlier than A.D. 43). Cambridge became a center of learning, and the authority of the head of the university was recognized by the king in 1226.
With about 8,250 undergraduates and over2,000 postgraduates, the city is a busy place in “full term” .Undergraduates are not allowed to keep cars in Cambridge, so nearly all of them use bicycles. Don’t try to drive through Cambridge during the five minutes between lectures. Your bicycle must go through a boiling sea of other bicycles hurrying in all directions, if you are in Cambridge at five minutes to the hour any morning of full term, you know that you are in a university town.
小題1:What is called a university town?
A.    A town with a university in it    
B.     B. A university with a town in it.
C.  One where there is no clear separation between a university and a town.
D.    One where there are both a university and a town.
小題2:How many students does Cambridge have?
A．Eight thousand, two hundred and fifty.B．Two thousand.
C．Ten thousand.D．More than ten thousand.
小題3:Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A．the university is all over the town
B．the town came earlier than the university
C．during the five minutes between lectures, your bicycle must go through other bicycles hurrying in all directions.
D．the teachers have many strange ways of making their lectures lively and interesting.
小題4:What’s the title of the passage?
A．Cambridge—A University Town.B．Cambridge – A Centre of Learning
C．Cambridge with Many Students.D．Cambridge with a Long History

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：完形填空

More and more students want to study in“hot”majors. 1 a result, many students want to 2 their interests and study in these 3 such as foreign languages, international business and law, etc.
Fewer and fewer students choose scientific majors, 4 maths, physics and biology, and art majors, 5 history, Chinese and philosophy.
6 students can study in these“hot”majors, because the number of these“hot”majors 7 limited.
If one 8 interest in his work or study, 9 can he do well? I 10 this from one of my classmates.He is 11 the countryside.His parents are farmers.Though he 12 biology, he chose“international business”.He 13 to live a life which is different 14 of his parents.  
In the end, he found he 15 in doing business.He found all the subjects to be 16 . 17 this wouldn't have happened if he had chosen his major according to his own interests.
Choosing a major in university 18 decide one's whole life.Majors 19 are not“hot”today may become the“hot”major of tomorrow.
Choosing your major according to your own 20 is the bestway to succeed.
1.A.Being B.For    C.Having D.As
2.A.give up    B.appear  C.give     D.master
3.A.place B.room   C.areas    D.space
4.A.for example     B.much as      C.and so on    D.as a result
5.A.even B.like      C.just      D.or
6.A.Only a few      B.Quite a few C.Perhaps       D.Many
7.A.is      B.are       C.would be     D.have been
8.A.had no     B.had      C.has no  D.has
9.A.why  B.and what     C.how     D.and how
10.A.suggested       B.guessed       C.searched      D.learned
11.A.out of     B.off       C.in D.from
12.A.studied   B.likes    C.learns   D.succeeds to study
13.A.wants     B.doesn’t want       C.enjoys  D.doesn’t like
14.A.from which    B.from that     C.for which    D.for that
15.A.was interested       B.was clever         C.was not interested D.was not clever
16.A.lovely    B.rare     C.obvious       D.tiresome
17.A.So B.Then    C.Just then     D.Maybe
18.A.can B.does not      C.probably     D.perhaps       not to
19.A.on which       B.in which      C.which  D.——
20.A.interests  B.experience   C.mind    D.heartCloze

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Almost every child is scared of something, from monsters in the cupboard to dogs in the park. But the fact that such fears are common and normal doesn’t mean they can be taken lightly. Kids experience fears and phobias (恐懼癥) much more strongly than adults. And the influence of the fear can be physical as well as psychological (心理的). It can build up so they almost seem scared of everything-a kind of childhood anxiety. Dr. Creswell says:"Your child may always seem to expect the worst to happen and lack confidence in his or her ability to deal with any challenge.” So don’t make the same old mistake of treating them as if they’re silly for being “a scared cat”（膽小鬼）. Handing the fears is essential.
Children can be born nervous and., if you have such a baby, you’ll tend to prevent them from getting worried. So if they fear dogs, you’ll keep them away from dogs, but in fact that can just confirm to the child that dogs are scary. What is worse, keeping your child away from what they fear can turn that feeling into a phobia. Instead, you should encourage them to get in touch with the thing they fear, in a safe and supportive environment. Dr. Andy Field, a researcher of childhood fears, says: “You shouldn’t force, for example, a dog anxious child to go up to a dog. But you can approach it yourself, show them there is nothing to be afraid of, stroke (撫摸) it, and talk about the dog being friendly. Once your child dares to stroke a dog-one that’s good with children, of course-then you should encourage them to carry on until they feel calmer, and reward them for ‘being brave’.”
小題1:Children’s fears are usually taken lightly because     .
A．they will not develop into phobias
B．their influence is psychological
C．they exist widely in the world
D．they will disappear gradually
小題2:If we fail to help children to overcome fears, they will    .
A．make the same old mistake
B．overcome them by themselves
C．experience the worst of things
D．grow up lacking self-confidence
小題3:According to Dr. Andy Field, if a child is afraid of a cat, parents should     .
A．tell the child not to be afraid of it
B．show the child how to approach it
C．keep the child away from it
D．a(chǎn)sk the child to stroke it

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Scientists have found what look like caves on Mars(火星), and say they could be protecting life from the planet’s terrible environment.
The first caves discovered beyond the Earth appear as seven mysterious black dots on the pictures sent back by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. Each as large as a football field, they may be openings into natural caves below the Martian surface.
“If there is life on Mars, there is a good chance you’d find it in caves,” said Jut Wynne, one of the researchers who noticed the features while working on a US Geological Survey Mars Cave Detection Program.
Jonathan Clarke, a geologist with the Mars Society of Australia, yesterday described the discovery as exciting.
One photo taken at night by an infrared imager(紅外線成像器) showed one hole to be unusually warm, suggesting hot air trapped during the day is flowing out.
“I said: ‘Wow, that’s a cave’” Dr. Clarke said excitedly. “People have been looking for these for a long time; now we have found them.”
He agreed such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life escaping from the bitterly cold, radiation-soaked(充滿輻射的), dry surface.
“Tiny drops of water could collect inside,” he said. “If there are gases coming out, they could provide energy for a whole range of bacteria. A cave is also a protection from radiation; the surface of Mars is exposed to high levels of space radiation.”
The caves probably formed when tube-shaped lave flows(管狀巖漿流) spread across the planet long ago. The outside of the tubes cooled, forming solid walls, while something hotter inside allowed the remaining have to flow out, forming caves. 
小題1:What does the passage mainly talk about?
A．How the caves were formed on Mars.B．How scientists found these caves on Mars.
C．Caves on Mars may be full of hot air or a sign of life.
D．Scientists have completely recognized the surface of Mars.
小題2:We can learn from the passage that           .
A．water has already been found on MarsB．the scientists found all the caves at night
C．it is certain that there is life in these caves
D．the surface of Mars is bitterly cold, radiation-soaked and dry
小題3:According to the passage, Dr. Clarke was so excited because        .
A．such caves could provide energy for lifeB．they had finally found the caves on Mars
C．such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life
D．scientists had long been looking for these caves
小題4:Necessary conditions for life on Mars mentioned in the passage may include        .
A．lava and energyB．water and radiation from space
C．gases and lavaD．water and protection from radiation

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Dogs may help save the day in the Philippines, as they use their noses to smell out survivors buried by Friday’s mudslide(泥石流). The team of dogs arrived in the Philippines from Spain, and this Tuesday they were just beginning their work. Search officials told CNN they hope the recent rain will wash away the smell of rescue teams so the dogs can do their job more accurately.
The dogs were brought in after sound equipment found sounds coming from deep inside the ruins, at a place where a school stood before the mudslide covered it. The sounds could mean people are still alive under all the mud or it could just be the earth resettling.
On Monday, rescue workers worked at the school site until three in the morning, trying to locate survivors, and they will begin digging again as soon as the dogs think they find someone.
Human teams from the US, Malaysia, and Australia are all trying to help, too. But so far they have yet to locate any survivors. Rescue workers told CNN that an earlier report that 50 survivors had been found was false.
How did all that mud bury the village in the first place? On Friday, 2,400-foot Mt Kanabag turned into a mudslide after two weeks of constant rain weakened it. The mountain crumbled and the mud fell onto the village Guinsaugon, burying the 1,800 people who lived there . Out of the 300 houses in the village, only 3 were not covered by the mud . The village is on a southern Philippine Island called Levte. Rescue efforts have been difficult because the village takes six hours to reach from the nearest airport. Hopefully, the dogs can help their human friends find survivors.
小題1:According to the search officials’ words in the first paragraph, we can learn that_________
A．the smell of rescue teams can disturb the dogs
B．the dogs can follow the smell of rescue teams
C．the gods can’t smell the rescue teams
D．the dogs can tell the differences between people and rescue teams
小題2: The main purpose of this passage is probably_______.
A．to show the way to rescue the victims in the ruins
B．to introduce the instruments to save victims in a disaster
C．to tell readers that dogs can smell out victims buried in the ruins
D．to show how to train dogs to save victims in a mudslide
小題3:How many survivors were found by the dogs?
A．50.B．Only a few.C．1,800.D．None.
小題4:The reason why the rescue work wasn’t going smoothly was probably that_______.
A．the rain was heavy
B．so many people were buried
C．it was difficult to reach the village
D．these is little chance to save the survivors
小題5:The underlined word “crumbled” in the last paragraph can be replaced by______.
A．brokeB．shookC．fellD．moved

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

A “l(fā)ost tribe” that reached America from Australia may have been the first Native Americans, according to a new theory.
If proved by DNA evidence, the theory will break long established beliefs about the southerly migration of people who entered America across the Bering Strait, found it empty and occupied it.
On this theory rests the belief of Native Americans to have been the first true Americans. They would be classified to the ranks of escapee, beaten to the New World by Aboriginals (土著人) in boats.
To a European, this may seem like an academic argument, but to Americans it is a philosophical question about identity, Silvia Gonzales, of Liverpool University said .
Her claims are based on skeletons found in the California Peninsula of Mexico that have skulls quite unlike the broad Mongolian features of Native Americans. These narrow-skulled people have more in common with southern Asians, Aboriginal Australians and people of the South Pacific Region.
The bones, stored at the National Museum of Anthropology (人類學(xué)) in Mexico City, have been carbon-dated and one is 12,700 years old, which places it several thousand years before the arrival of people from the North. “We think there were several migration waves into the Americas at different times by different human groups,” Dr. Gonzales said. “The timing, route and point of origin of the first colonization of the Americas remains a most contentious topic in human evolution.”
But comparisons based on skull shape are not considered conclusive by anthropologists, so a team of Mexican and British scientists, backed by the Natural Environment Research Council, has also attempted to take out DNA from the bones. Dr. Gonzales declined yesterday to say exactly what the results were, as they need to be checked, but indicated that they were consistent(一致) with an Australian origin.
小題1:It is generally considered that the first Native Americans came from ________.
A．North AsiaB．Australia
C．South PacificD．South Asia
小題2:The skeletons found in the California Peninsula of Mexico have ________.
A．the broad skull shape
B．the narrow skull shape
C．different features of Aboriginal Australians
D．the same features of Native Americans
小題3:The underlined “contentious” is similar in meaning to “________”.
A．likely to cause great interestB．difficult to solve
C．well-known to allD．likely to cause argument
小題4:Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
A．Research on skulls can draw an exact conclusion.
B．DNA tests have proved the fact that the first Native Americans came from Australian.
C．Scientists are still not sure about the origin of the Native Americans.
D．People began to enter America across the Bering Strait about 12,700 years ago.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

M When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter(煉銅廠), and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back.. The answer from that big industry was “No.”
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren't any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn’t get his idea accepted.
Paul later got married and had some kids. But his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. As Samuel Johnson wrote, “It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges.” Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the plain common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow he made to himself as a child.
小題1:When Paul was a boy, _____.
he had decided never to leave his hometown
the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter
no laws were made to protect the environment against pollution
he had determined to stop the copper smelter polluting the area
小題2:Why did Paul go to college to study the science of plants?
He wanted to find out the best way to save the area himself.
He was interested in planting trees since he was young.
He wanted to get more knowledgeable people to help him.
He thought his knowledge would make his advice more persuasive.
小題3:What does the underlined phrase “the plain common sense” probably refer to?
That it was impossible for trees to grow on the wasteland.
That his normal work and life would be greatly affected.
That no one would like to join him in the efforts.
That he had to keep everything he did secret.
小題4:The message of the passage is that _____.
action speaks louder than words
perseverance(持之以恒) will work wonders
God helps those who help themselves
many hands make light work

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

To get cash out in the 21st century, you won’t need a bank card, a PIN(個(gè)人識(shí)別編號(hào)) or even have to move a finger. You will simply have to look the cash machine straight in the eye, declares National Cash Registers, a multinational company that makes automated teller machines, or ATMs. NCR has shown its first example machine that is believed to be the future of banking. Instead of asking you for your PIN on a screen, the Super Teller-Stella for short, asks you orally through a loudspeaker to look straight ahead while an infrared camera turns to your head, then your eye, and finally takes an infrared photograph of your iris(虹膜). For identification(識(shí)別) purposes, an iris picture is better than a fingerprint, with around 256 noticeable characteristics compared with 40 for fingerprints. This means that the chances of someone else being recognized in your place is about 1 in 1020. Once you’ve been identified, Stella greets you by name and says: “Would you like cash or a statement?” An infrared port allows the machine to send a bank statement straight to your pocket computer.
小題1:What does this passage mainly talk about?
A．A new medical instrument
B．A new type of talking machine.
C．A new type of cash machine.
D．National Cash Register
小題2:What is this new machine called?
A．Stella B．ATM C．PIN D．NCR
小題3:When you want to get cash out in the 21st century, you will _______.
A．need a bank cardB．have to put in your PIN
C．move your fingerD．just look directly at the teller machine

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案