Human demands on natural resources have doubled in less than 50 years and are now outstripping(超過) what the Earth can provide by more than half, a new report has warned. If this situation continues, globablly it will need the capacity of two Earths by 2030, the Living Planet Report said. And the report, from the World Wide Fund For Nature, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, said British people are still consuming（消費(fèi)、消耗） far more than the Earth can offer..

Wildlife in tropical countries is also under huge pressure, with populations of species falling by 60 percent in three decades. The study’s authors looked at 8,000 populations of 2,500 species and studied the change in land use and water consumption across the globe. Warned that if everyone are now living lifestyles which would  require one and a half planets to support their lives, though there are signiflcant differences between rich and poor nations.

The UK comes 31st in a list of countries based on their “ecological footprint” — the amount of land and sea each person needs to provide the food, clothes and other products they consume and to absorb the carbon dioxide they give off. The country has fallen down the league table from having the 15th biggest footprint in the last report two years ago, but the World Wide Fund For Nature points out this is due to an increase in other countries’ impact rather than a reduction in the UK’s use of resources. Ireland has the 10th highest ecological footprint in the world, while the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Denmark, Belgium and the USA are the five worst countries for over-consumption of resources.

It also carried a warning about the loss of wildlife and ecosystems which people depend on for food, fuel, clean water and other resources — with populations of species declining by 30 percent worldwide between 1970 and 2007.

48．In this text the author wants to tell us           .

       A．humans are overusing the planet

       B．e need two earths to live on by 2030

       C．differences between rich and poor nations

       D．wildlife on earth is under huge pressure

49．According to the text, what has happened worldwide in the last three decades and seven years? A．Populations of species have fallen by 60 percent.

       B．Human demands on natural resources have doubled.

       C．Populations of species have declined by 30 percent.

       D．Our lifestyles have used up 1.5 planets’ resources.

50．From the third paragraph we know           .

       A．the UK’s sudation is no better than that of Ireland

       B．the UK is now in its 15th position in the league table

       C．the UK has reduced its consumption of natural resources

       D．other countries are increasing their consumption of natural resoures

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

It's time to be water efficient!

   As populations increase across Australia and the rest of the world, demand for water will also increase. If we don’t reduce each individual’s demand for water (both directly and through embodied water) the water situation will become dire.

    It is obvious that we cannot increase demands for water much more without detrimental(有害的) effects to the environment, society and the economy.

    It’s all too easy to blame someone else for the water situation –“if 70% of water is used for agriculture then that’s what we should target” – but it’s not that easy. We all depend on the food and resources that agriculture provides, and while there are definitely opportunities to increase water efficiency on the farm, the solution will take more than that.

    We each share responsibility for the sustainable management of our water resources, which means using less water at home, in the workplace, at school, on holidays, on the farm, … everyone, everywhere, every time.

    It's time to become water efficient! This involves reassessing our relationship with water, and learning to use it more sparingly. On the most basic level, it requires a behavioural（行動(dòng)的） change, and assigning a value to water that truly reflects its worth.

    We can also unlock economic benefits of being water efficient. There are many real world examples given in the case studies on this site.

    Everybody has a responsibility to save water, if future generations are to enjoy a similar standard of living to the one we enjoy now. In fact, many of the impacts associated with water use are likely to have an effect on our own lives!

    www.savewater.com.au has been designed to help you respond to the challenge to become water efficient. It acts as a central repository for relevant information and further advice, so that you can actually achieve significant savings. It also showcases those companies with products that will assist you in your goal.

Can you infer where this passage is from?

    A. newspaper    B. TV programme    C. Radio broadcast    D. Internet 

What can we do to save water?

    A. find more water resources 

    B. use less water everywhere, every time

    C. realize the importance of saving water

    D. unlock economic benefits of being water efficient

What is not the reason to save water?

    A. There are more and more people in the world.

    B. The water resources are limited.

    C. Agriculture needs more water.

    D. The water is very important for us.

What is the main idea of this passage?

    A. Water is very important for the human.

    B. Everybody has a responsibility to save water.

    C. It's time to be water efficient.

    D. Let’s save water for our future generations.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Human needs seem endless. When a hungry man gets a meal, he begins to think about an overcoat, when a manager gets a new sports car, a big house and pleasure boats dance into view.

The many needs of mankind might be regarded as making up several levels. When there is money enough to satisfy one level of needs, another level appears.

The first and most basic level of needs involves food. Once this level is satisfied, the second level of needs, clothing and some sort of shelter, appears. By the end of World War Ⅱ, these needs were satisfied for a great majority of Americans. Then a third level appeared. It included such items as automobiles and new houses.

By 1957 or 1958 this third level of needs was fairly well satisfied. Then, in the late 1950s, a fourth level of needs appeared; the “l(fā)ife-enriching” level. While the other levels involve physical satisfaction, that is, the need in comfort, safety, and transportation, this level stresses mental needs for recognition, achievement, and happiness. It includes a variety of goods and services, many of which could be called “l(fā)uxury” items. Among them are vacation trips, the best medical and dental care, and recreation. Also included here are fancy goods and the latest styles in clothing.

On the fourth level, a lot of money is spent on services, while on the first three levels more is spent on goods. Will consumers raise their sights to a fifth level of needs as their income increases, or will they continue to demand luxuries and personal services on the fourth level?

A fifth level would probably involve needs that can be achieved best by community action. Consumers may be spending more on taxes to pay for government action against disease, ignorance, crime, and prejudice. After filling our stomachs, our clothes closets, our garages, our teeth, and our minds, we now may seek to ensure the health, safety, and leisure to enjoy more fully the good things on the first four levels.

According to the passage, man will begin to think about such needs as housing and clothing only when       .

A. he has saved up enough money

B. he has grown dissatified with his simple shelter

C. he has satisfied his hunger

D. he has learned to build houses

It can be inferred from the passage that by the end of World War Ⅱ, most Americans           .

A. were very rich       B. lived in poverty

C. had the good things on the first three levels

D. did not own automobiles

Which of the following is NOT related to “physical satisfaction” ?

A. A successful career.                 B. A comfortable home.

C. A good meal.                          D. A family car.

What is the main concern of man on the fourth level?

A. The more goods the better.

B. The more mental satisfaction the better.

C. The more “l(fā)uxury” items the better.

D. The more earnings the better.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Human needs seem endless. When a hungry man gets a meal, he begins to think about an overcoat, when a manager gets a new sports car, a big house and pleasure boats dance into view.

The many needs of mankind might be regarded as making up several levels. When there is money enough to satisfy one level of needs, another level appears.

The first and most basic level of needs involves food. Once this level is satisfied, the second level of needs, clothing and some sort of shelter, appears. By the end of World War Ⅱ, these needs were satisfied for a great majority of Americans. Then a third level appeared. It included such items as automobiles and new houses.

By 1957 or 1958 this third level of needs was fairly well satisfied. Then, in the late 1950s, a fourth level of needs appeared; the “l(fā)ife-enriching” level. While the other levels involve physical satisfaction, that is, the need in comfort, safety, and transportation, this level stresses mental needs for recognition, achievement, and happiness. It includes a variety of goods and services, many of which could be called “l(fā)uxury” items. Among them are vacation trips, the best medical and dental care, and recreation. Also included here are fancy goods and the latest styles in clothing.

On the fourth level, a lot of money is spent on services, while on the first three levels more is spent on goods. Will consumers raise their sights to a fifth level of needs as their income increases, or will they continue to demand luxuries and personal services on the fourth level?

A fifth level would probably involve needs that can be achieved best by community action. Consumers may be spending more on taxes to pay for government action against disease, ignorance, crime, and prejudice. After filling our stomachs, our clothes closets, our garages, our teeth, and our minds, we now may seek to ensure the health, safety, and leisure to enjoy more fully the good things on the first four levels.

According to the passage, man will begin to think about such needs as housing and clothing only when       .

A. he has saved up enough money

B. he has grown dissatisfied with his simple shelter

C. he has satisfied his hunger

D. he has learned to build houses

It can be inferred from the passage that by the end of World War Ⅱ, most Americans        .

A. were very rich      

B. lived in poverty

C. had the good things on the first three levels

D. did not own automobiles

Which of the following is NOT related to “physical satisfaction” ?

A. A successful career.                 B. A comfortable home.

C. A good meal.                          D. A family car.

What is the main concern of man on the fourth level?

A. The more goods the better.

B. The more mental satisfaction the better.

C. The more “l(fā)uxury” items the better.

D. The more earnings the better.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：2012屆廣東省廣州六中高三下學(xué)期第一次月考英語(yǔ)試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解


Many people seem to think that science fiction is typified by the Bug-eyed Monster, embodying every feature that most people find unpleasant. This is unfortunate because it degrades a worthwhile literary endeavor. Instead, the basic interest of science fiction lies in the relation between man and his technology and between man and the universe. Science fiction is a literature of change and a literature of the future, and the aspects of human life that it considers make it well worth reading and studying for no other literary form does quite the same things. What is science fiction? To begin, the following definition should be helpful: science fiction is a literary subgenre which postulates(以…為前提) a change (for human beings) from conditions as we know them and follows the implications of these changes to a conclusion.
The first point that science fiction is a literary subgenre is a very important one, but one which is often overlooked. Specifically, science fiction is either a short story or a novel. There are only a few dramas which could be called science fiction; the body of poetry that might be labeled science fiction is only slightly larger. To say that science fiction is a subgenre of prose fiction(小說) is to say that it has all the basic characteristics and serves the same basic functions in much the same way as prose fiction in general, that is, it shares a great deal with all other novels and short stories.
Everything that can be said about prose fiction, in general, applies to science fiction. Every piece of science fiction, whether short story or novel, must have a narrator, a story, a plot, characters, setting, and language. The themes of science fiction are concerned with interpreting man’s nature and experience around him. Themes in science fiction are constructed and presented in exactly the same ways that themes are dealt with in any other kind of fiction. They are the result to a particular combination of a narrator, story, plot, character, setting, and language. In short, the reasons for reading and enjoying science fiction, and the ways of studying and analyzing it, are basically the same as they would be for any other story or novel.
【小題1】 From the first paragraph, we can infer that science fiction has been most popular in modern society because ____.

A．with the growth of literacy, the size of the reading public has increased
B．competition from television has created a demand for more exciting fiction
C．science fiction is easier to understand than other kinds of fiction
D．the increased importance of technology has given science fiction an increased relevance
【小題2】 According to the definition in the passage, a fictional work that places human beings in a prehistoric world inhabited by dinosaurs____.
A．cannot be called science fiction because it does not deal with the future
B．cannot be called science fiction because it doesn’t deal with technology
C．can be called science fiction because it deals with man’s relation with the world
D．can be called science fiction because it places people in an environment different from the one we know
【小題3】 Science fiction is called a literary subgenre because____.
A．it is not important enough to be a literary genre
B．it cannot be made into a dramatic presentation
C．it shares characteristics with other types of prose fiction
D．it has a great number of readers keen on reading
【小題4】 One implication of the final sentence in the passage is that____.
A．the reader should turn next to commentaries on general fiction
B．there is no reason for any reader not to like science fiction
C．the reader should compare other novels and stories to science fiction
D．those who can appreciate prose fiction can appreciate science fiction
【小題5】An appropriate title for this passage would be____.
A．Man and the UniverseB．Toward a Definition of Science Fiction
C．A Type of Prose FictionD．The Bug-Eyed Monster

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：2012-2013學(xué)年河南許昌平頂山新鄉(xiāng)三市高三第三次調(diào)研考試英語(yǔ)卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

There are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is undue absorption in the past. It does not do to live in memories, in regrets for the good old days, or in sadness about friends who are dead. One’s thoughts must be directed to the future and to things about which there is something to be done.

It is unwise to be too attached to the youth in the hope of sucking vigor from its vitality. When your children are grown up they want to live their own lives, and if you continue to be as interested in them as you were when they were young, you are likely to become a burden to them, unless they are cold to you.

I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive. It is no use telling grown-up children not to make mistakes, both because they will not believe you, and because mistakes are an essential part of education. But if you are one of those who are incapable of impersonal interests, you may find that your life will be empty unless you concern yourself with you children and grandchildren. In that case you must realize that while you can still render them material services, such as making them an allowance or knitting them jumpers, you must not expect that they will enjoy your company.

 Some old people are afraid of death. But in fact the best way is to make your interests gradually wider and ore impersonal. An individual human existence should be like a river-small at fist, rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider and the banks move back and in the end they become mixed in the sea without any visible break.

   The old man who can see life in this way will not suffer from the fear of growing old and death.

1.The author suggests that old people should_______.

A. develop impersonal interests with proper activities.

B. tell their children not to make mistakes

C. concern themselves with their children

D. not give their children an allowance

2.The underlined word “render” in Paragraph 3 is close to the meaning of  “_____”.

A. return            B. reward           C. offer               D. demand

3.The author compares an individual human existence to a river because _____.

A. Life is like a river, first small, and then it becomes wide

B. life is like a river finally flowing into the sea

C. old age and death are both natural just like a river

D. old people will be mixed in the crowd like a river mixed in the sea

4.What’s the best title of this passage?

A. Setting Sun Is Beautiful           B. Growing Old Successfully

C. Why Fear Getting Old             D. Caring for Olds More

 

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