The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound(白蚁堆).
Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air-conditioning and almost no heating. The building—the country’s largest commercial and shopping complex—uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building of its size. The Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning plant didn’t have to be imported.
The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glass-roofed atrium(天井) open to the air. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents(通风口). As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finally exists through forty-eight brick chimneys.
During summer’s cool nights, big fans blow air through the building seven times an hour to cool the empty floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building, to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents.
This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature swings—days as warm as 31℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn’t do this in New York, with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters,” Pearce said.
The engineering firm of Ove Arup&Partners monitors daily temperatures. It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23℃ and 25℃, with the exception of the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night. And the air is fresh—far more so than in air-conditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled.
【小题1】Why was Eastgate cheaper to be built than a conventional building?
| A．It was designed in a smaller size. |
| B．No air conditioners were fixed in. |
| C．Its heating system was less advanced. |
| D．It used rather different building materials. |
| A．Fresh air from outside. | B．Heat in the building. |
| C．Hollow space. | D．Baseboard vent. |
| A．New York has less clear skies as Harare. |
| B．Its dampness affects the circulation of air. |
| C．New York covers a larger area than Harare. |
| D．Its temperature changes seasonally rather than daily. |
| A．allows a wide range of temperatures |
| B．functions well for most of the year |
| C．can recycle up to 30% of the air |
| D．works better in hot seasons |
【小题1】B
【小题2】A
【小题3】D
【小题4】B
解析试题分析：本文讲新型的建筑Eastgate,它比传统的建筑省钱，因为不需要装空调，它是利用天井和风扇把外面新鲜空气吸到办公室里面，这样空气即新鲜又经济。
【小题1】细节题：从第二段的句子：The Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning equipment didn’t have to be imported. 可知Eastgate比传统的建筑便宜，因为它不需要装空调，选B
【小题2】指代题：从第三段的句子：Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents(通风口). 可知新鲜空气一个通过通风口，另外当它上升变暖，最后通过被烟囱从天花板吸走，可知这里的it指“新鲜空气”，选A
【小题3】细节理解题。根据倒数第二段提到This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little dampness and rapid temperature swings—days as warm as 31℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn’t do this in New York, with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters,得知只有一定海拔高度，并且白天的气温30度而夜晚气温14度的条件才能实现，而纽约的天气是季节变化而不是天，选D
【小题4】细节理解题。根据最后一段提到It is found that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23℃ and 25℃, 除了 the annual hot period just before the summer rains in October and three days in November, when a doorkeeper accidentally switched off the fans at night得知建筑物内的温度保持在23到25度，除10月与11月的雨季之外。所 以这个系统一年的大部分时间都能用，选B
考点：考查科普类阅读。
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同步奥数系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Bananas are one of the world’s most important food crops. They are also one of the most valuable exports. Bananas do not grow from seeds. Instead, they grow from existing plants. Bananas are threatened by disease because all the plants on a farm are copies of each other. They all share the same genetic weaknesses. For example, the Cavendish banana is most popular in North American and European markets. However, some kinds of fungus organisms easily infect the Cavendish. Black Sigatoka disease affects the leaves of Cavendish banana plants. The disease is controlled on large farms by putting chemicals on the plants’ leaves. Farmers put anti-fungal chemicals on their crops up to once a week. 
Another fungal disease is more serious. Panama disease attacks the roots of the banana plants. There is no chemical treatment for this disease. Infected plants must be destroyed. Panama disease has affected crops in Southeast Asia, Australia and South Africa. There is concern that it may spread to bananas grown in the Americas. This could threaten an important export product for Central and South America.
The International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain supports research on bananas. The group has headquarters in France and other offices in the major banana-growing areas of the world. The group says that more research must be done to develop improved kinds of bananas. The group says that fungal diseases mainly affect only one kind of banana. In fact, there are five hundred different kinds of bananas. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has said that the Cavendish banana represents only 10% of world production.
The U. N. agency says farmers should grow different kinds of bananas. This protects against diseases that affect only one kind. Experts warn that disease may cause the Cavendish banana to disappear. This happened earlier to another popular banana because of its genetic weakness against disease.
【小题1】What does this passage mainly tell us?
| A．Bananas are the world’s most important food crops. |
| B．The risk to a popular banana shows need to grow other kinds. |
| C．There are five hundred different kinds of bananas. |
| D．How to grow bananas in different countries. |
| A．they grow from seeds |
| B．they are one of the most valuable exports |
| C．the only way to prevent it is to put chemicals on their leaves |
| D．they have genetic weaknesses against disease |
| A．doesn’t belong to fungal disease |
| B．affects the leaves of banana plants |
| C．destroys bananas more seriously than Black Sigatoka disease |
| D．has spread to bananas all over the world |
| A．the center of the group is in the US |
| B．the Cavendish banana covers only a small part of the yield of bananas |
| C．the key to solving the disease is to research all kinds of bananas |
| D．each fungal disease affects five hundred different kinds of bananas |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Cold weather can be hard on pets, just like it can be hard on people. Sometimes owners forget that their cats are just as used to the warm shelter as they are. Some owners will leave their animals outside for a long period of time, thinking that all animals are used to living outdoors. This can put their pet in danger of serious illness. There are things you can do to keep your animal warm and safe.
Keep your pets inside as much as you can when the weather is bad. If you have to take them out, stay outside with them. When you’re cold enough to go inside, they probably are too. If you must leave them outside for a long time, make sure they have a warm, solid shelter against the wind, thick bedding, and plenty of non-frozen water.
If left alone outside, dogs and cats can be very smart in their search for warm shelter. They can dig into snow banks or hide somewhere. Watch them closely when they are left outdoors, and provide them with shelter of good quality. Keep an eye on your pet’s water. Sometimes owners don’t realize that a water bowl has frozen and their pet can’t get anything to drink. Animals that don’t have clean and unfrozen water may drink dirty water outside, which may contain something unhealthy for them.
【小题1】The word shelter in paragraph one means:
| A．warm clothes | B．a hiding place | C．proper temperature | D．diet food |
| A．They are often forgotten by their owners. |
| B．They like to stay in warm places. |
| C．They build their own shelters. |
| D．They are used to living outdoors. |
| A．To keep company. |
| B．To keep them from eating bad food |
| C．To help them find shelters. |
| D．To know when to bring them inside |
| A．run short of clean water | B．dig deep holes for fun |
| C．dirty the snow nearby | D．get lost in the wild |
| A．To solve a problem |
| B．To give practical advice |
| C．To tell an interesting story |
| D．To present a research result. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Wikipedia: The Online Know-It-All
If you want to find out a piece of information about anything, the best place to search for it is Wikipedia. The name “Wikipedia” is from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning “quick”. This online encyclopedia (百科全书) is written by thousands of people around the world. Anyone with Internet access can write, add or make changes to Wikipedia articles if he or she finds it incorrect or not well written. In this way, people who know a lot about a certain subject can write about it even if they are not university professors. But contributions cannot damage Wikipedia because many experienced editors are watching pages and techies (技术专家) can write editing programs to keep track of or correct bad edits. Where there are disagreements on how to present facts, editors work together to arrive at an article that fairly represents current expert opinion on the subject.
Wikipedia is quite different from paper-based reference sources in important ways. Unlike printed encyclopedias, it is continually created and updated, with articles on historic events appearing within minutes, rather than months or years.
What’s more, Wikipedia includes articles written in about 285 languages. This fact makes it one of the few websites on the Internet that are truly international. It was started in 2001 by Larry Sanger and Jimmy Wales, as a free online English-language encyclopedia project. Since its creation, it has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference websites, attracting nearly 500 million unique visitors monthly. There are more than 77,000 active contributors working on more than 22,000,000 articles in different languages. As of today, there are 4,396,866 articles in English.
So, if you are looking for some information, why not try Wikipedia? It’s free, multilingual，and informative.
【小题1】According to the passage, what is Wikipedia?
| A．A free website encyclopedia. | B．A computer game. |
| C．A free encyclopedia in book form. | D．An online university. |
| A．Wikipedia only charges users a small fee |
| B．Wikipedia catches a wide audience |
| C．incorrect editions might do great harm to Wikipedia |
| D．it will take long to update the information on Wikipedia |
| A．In a story book. | B．In a research report. |
| C．In a science magazine. | D．In a travel brochure. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
A board game is a game played on a pre-marked surface or “board” according to a set of rules. Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history. Do you think of yourself as a bit of an expert at board games like chess or Go?
Maybe you’re not quite as good as you think. New research from the University of Manchester and Oxford suggests complex games like these are impossible to learn fully. They may even be too complex for the human mind to understand.
Researchers studied two-player games, to try and understand the strategies which people use to make decisions during the game. Some games with two players are simple, with only a small number of possible moves. Players can quickly work out the best strategy but that means the game soon becomes boring.
It gets more interesting when there are many possible moves. That’s why people are so fascinated by complex board games like chess or Go, or some card games. But what the researchers found was that with difficult games, players find it hard to work out the best strategy and their actions become less reasonable.
This research is part of the field called game theory: the study of human strategic decision-making. Much thinking on how people play complex games is based on something called “the balance point”, which is when players have a perfect knowledge of what they are going to do and of what their rivals are going to do.
When you add more than two players then of course the game becomes even harder to understand. Trading on the stock market is an example of a complex multi-player game.
【小题1】Which of the following games belongs to board games?
| A．football | B．badminton | C．swimming | D．Mahjong |
| A．the simpler the board game is, the better it is |
| B．people dislike board games for the complex moves |
| C．players are easy to lose patience when in difficult games |
| D．it’s possible for people to understand complex games thoroughly |
| A．ask other players to work out the best strategy |
| B．have a good knowledge of the games they are playing |
| C．figure out the next actions of themselves and their opponents |
| D．come to a quick decision about what to do next by themselves |
| A．Culture | B．Discovery | C．Career | D．Campus |
| A．a new research about board games |
| B．the importance of playing board games |
| C．how the players win board games |
| D．how to learn board games fully |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Until recently, the "science of the future" was supposed to be electronics and artificial intelligence. Today it seems more and more likely that the next great breakthroughs in technology will be brought through a combination of those two sciences with organic chemistry and genetic engineering. This combination is the science of biotechnology.
Organic chemistry enables us to produce marvelous synthetic materials. However, it is still difficult to manufacture anything that has the capacity of wool to conserve (保存) heat and also to absorb moisture. Nothing that we have been able to produce so far comes anywhere near the combination of strength, lightness and flexibility that we find in the bodies of ordinary insects.
Nevertheless, scientists in the laboratory have already succeeded in "growing" a material that has many of the characteristics of human skin. The next step may well be "biotech hearts and eyes" which can replace diseased organs in human beings. These will not be rejected by the body, as is the case with organs from humans.
The application of biotechnology to energy production seems even more promising. In 1996 the famous science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke, many of whose previous predictions have come true, said that we may soon be able to develop remarkably cheap and renewable sources of energy. Some of these power sources will be biological. Clarke and others have warned us repeatedly that sooner or later we will have to give up our dependence on non-renewable power sources. Coal, oil and gas are indeed convenient. However, using them also means creating dangerously high levels of pollution. It will be impossible to meet the growing demand for energy without increasing that pollution to catastrophic (灾难性的) levels unless we develop power sources that are both cheaper and cleaner.
It is attempting to think that biotechnology or some other "science of the future" can solve our problems. Before we surrender to that temptation we should remember nuclear power. Only a few generations ago it seemed to promise limitless, cheap and safe energy. Today those promises lie buried in a concrete grave in a place called Chernobyl, in the Ukraine. Biotechnology is unlikely, however, to break its promises in quite the same or such a dangerous way.
【小题1】According to the passage, the science of the future is likely to be ________.
| A．electronics | B．biotechnology |
| C．genetic engineering | D．nuclear technology |
| A．as good as wool |
| B．as good as an insect's body |
| C．better than natural materials |
| D．not as good as natural materials |
| A．to transplant human organs |
| B．to make artificial hearts and eyes |
| C．to produce drugs without side effects |
| D．to make something as good as human skin |
| A．Biological power will keep all its promises. |
| B．Biological power is cheaper than nuclear power. |
| C．Biotechnology can solve all our future energy problems |
| D．Biological power may not be as dangerous as nuclear power |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Coffee is a powerful beverage．On a personal level，it helps keep US awake and active．On a much broader level，it has helped shape our history and continues to shape our culture．
Coffee didn’t take off until the l400s when people figured out they could roast its seeds．By the l500s，the drink had spread to coffeehouses across the Arab world．Within another l50 years，it took Europe by storm．
“It actually had a major impact on the rise of business，” historian Mark Pendergrast says．Coffeehouses became a spot not just to enjoy a cup but to exchange ideas．The insurer Lloyd’s of London was founded hundreds of years ago in one of London’s 2,000 coffeehouses．Literature，newspapers and even the works of great composers like Bach and Beethoven were also spawned(涌现)in coffeehouses．
It is often said that after the Boston Tea Party of l773，when American colonists attacked British tea ships and threw boxes of tea into the harbor，Americans universally switched over to drinking coffee．In a letter John Adams wrote to his wife，Abigail，the Founding Father claims his love of tea but says he will have to learn to embrace coffee instead，because drinking tea had become a symbol of not loving the country．
For all the upsides coffee has brought the modern world，it also led to its fair share of downsides，too．Europeans carried coffee with them as they colonized various parts of the world，and this frequently meant they enslaved people in order to grow it．In Brazil — where slavery was legal until l888 — coffee plantations would use slash-and-burn agriculture，tearing down rain forests and planting coffee trees．Once the soil had been exhausted，growers would move on to another place．
And yet，coffee，as Pendergrast says，”had a very good impact in many ways on our civilization，even though it was，for a long time，grown by slaves．”
【小题1】Why did people enjoy going to coffeehouses?
| A．Because it was a fashion to drink coffee． |
| B．Because coffeehouses provided a better flavor． |
| C．Because they could stay awake and active there． |
| D．Because they could exchange ideas there． |
| A．American colonists made great profits by trading in coffee． |
| B．Tea was regarded as a symbol of loving one’s country． |
| C．Coffee became very popular after the incident in Boston． |
| D．John Adams was the Founding Father of the Tea Party． |
| A．Coffee plantation was closely connected with slavery |
| B．coffee plantation led to outdated agriculture in Brazil |
| C．slavery in Brazil had been against the law until l888 |
| D．slavery was responsible for the damage to rainforests |
| A．Some interesting stories about coffee culture． |
| B．Important Roles that coffee played in history． |
| C．How coffee became the most popular beverage． |
| D．How coffee affected America’s independence． |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Cyberspace,data superhighway,multimedia,for those who have seen the future,and the linking of computers,televisions and telephones will change our lives for ever.Yet for all the talks of a forthcoming technological utopia,little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor.As for all the new high technology,the West concerns itself with the “how”,while the question of “for whom” is put aside once again.
Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communication revolution has affected the world economy.Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries,and transnational corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade and exchange, interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods.The electronic economy made by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets — with a destructive impact on the have-nots.
For them the result is unstable. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As “futures” are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies.
So what are the options of regaining control？One alternative for developing countries is to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries’ economies.
Communication technology is generally exported from the US, Europe or Japan；the patents, skills and ability remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries. It is also expensive, therefore imported products and services must be bought on credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.
【小题1】 From the passage we know that the development of high technology is in the interests of________.
| A．the rich countries | B．scientific development |
| C．the local elites | D．the world economy |
| A．international trade should be expanded |
| B．the interests of the poor countries have not been given enough consideration |
| C．the exports of the poor countries should be increased |
| D．communication technology in developing countries should be modernized |
| A．Because it enables the developed countries to control the international market. |
| B．Because it destroys the economic balance of the poor countries. |
| C．Because it violates the national boundaries of the poor countries. |
| D．Because it inhibits the industrial growth of developing countries. |
| A．hinder their industrial production |
| B．cause them to lose control of their trade |
| C．force them to reduce their share of exports |
| D．cost them their economic independence |
| A．positive | B．critical |
| C．indifferent | D．tolerant |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The world's largest solar thermal plant(太阳热能发电站)is set to begin producing power in the United States by the end of the year. Wind and energy from the sun are generally considered clean, unlike energy from coal-burning power stations. However, environmentalists now worry that too much solar power development could harm the local environment.
A California company — BrightSource Energy is building a huge solar power plant in the Mojave desert, about 60 kilometers southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. The plant is known as the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. Joe Desmond works for the company. "This is actually one of the highest concentrations of sunlight in the world, out here in Ivanpah." explained Desmond. BrightSource Energy will deploy 170,000 specially designed mirrors to direct solar energy towards boilers on top of three power towers. The steam produced in the boilers will drive turbine (涡轮) to make electricity. Joe Desmond says the steam can reach temperatures of more than 260 degrees Celsius. "We can store the sun's thermal energy in the form of molten salt, so we can produce electricity even when the sun goes down. There is a lot of interest in concentrating solar power around the globe in environmnents where you have lots of sun, such as China, South Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, explained Desmond.
Environmentalists generally support the idea of solar power, however, many are concerned about the effect of power plants on sensitive environment. Lisa Belenky is a lawyer with the Center for Biological Diversity, a private group. She says environmentalists are specifically worried about the effect of the Ivanpah Solar Project on the sensitive plant and animal life in that part of Mojave desert. "Even though the desert seems big, when you start cutting it up, it can really affect how the species and the animals and the plants are able to survive in the long run,"said Lisa Belenky. BrightSource Energy has already spent more than $ 50 million to move endangered desert tortoises away from the power plant. but Lisa Belenky says this is not the answer. "We should be reusing areas that have a1ready been disturbed, like old mining sites, for example...either on homes, on businesses, parking lots." said Belenky.
There have also been reports of birds dying at the Ivanpah Plant and others like it.
Some birds die after colliding with solar equipment which the animals mistake for water. Other birds were killed or suffered burns after flying through the intense heat at the solar thermal plant. As solar projects increase, environmentalists and developers are considering what to do to reduce bird death.
【小题1】Why is the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System being built in the desert?
| A．Because the temperature is extremely high in the desert. |
| B．Because there is no life in the desert. |
| C．Because there is much salt in the desert. |
| D．Because sunlight is highly focused in the desert. |
| A．Because the sun's thermal energy can be stored in the form of steam. |
| B．Because the sun's thermal energy can be stored in the form of molten salt. |
| C．Because the sun'ss thermal energy can be stored through mirrors |
| D．Because the sun's thermal energy can be stored in the boilers. |
| A．supportive | B．critical | C．indifferent | D．cautious |
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