Eating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease. But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately: the air you breathe.
Previous studies have linked high exposure (暴露)to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problem, but two analyses now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke (中风)within as little as a few hours after exposure. In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants (污染物)were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure. A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers to be of “moderate” (良好)quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.
The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices. So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.
【小题1】The text mainly discusses the relationship between ______ .
A.heart problems and air quality | B.heart problems and exercising |
C.heart problems and smoking | D.heart problems and fatty food |
A.relatively high | B.extremely low |
C.relatively low | D.extremely high |
A.Eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart. |
B.The EPA conducted many studies on air quality. |
C.Moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking. |
D.Stricter regulations on pollutants should be made. |
A.inform | B.persuade | C.describe | D.entertain |
【小题1】A
【小题2】C
【小题3】D
【小题4】A
解析试题分析:本文主要讲了被污染的空气可导致心脏病或者中风,最后作者说更严格的环境法规不仅仅有利于改善环境,更有利于保护公众健康。
【小题1】文章大意题:根据第一段及全文可知全文讲述的是心脏病和空气质量的关系,故正确答案为A。
【小题2】词义推测题:根据这句话中的信息词“small”,并且后面紧跟着and,可知这个词的意思和small为同义词。故选C。
【小题3】推理题:根据文章最后一句“So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.”可知D为正确答案。
【小题4】句意理解题:根据正整篇文章的语气可得出文章是“告知”,而不是persuade:说服; describe描绘; entertain娱乐。故选A。
考点:考查科普类短文阅读
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Food prices have risen sharply over the past few years. The good news is that the rate of increase has slowed. The bad news is that prices will not go down anytime soon.
Also,the rate of global agricultural production is slowing. Yet it needs to increase 60% over the next 40 years to feed a growing world population.
These are among the findings from the OECDFAO(the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development & the Food and Agriculture Organization)Agricultural Outlook(展望)2012-2021.
FAO DirectorGeneral Jose Graziano da Silva spoke at a news conference in Rome when the report was released. Mr.Da Silva said that,not surprisingly,the world's poorest people will feel the greatest effects of higher prices.
“For the millions and millions of extremely poor people, the effects of high food prices are clear—they might have to change their diets,usually to ones with poorer nutrition quality, ”he said.
In middleincome countries, people are gaining weight as they eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more of the cheaper but less nutritious foods.
The report also shows that farmers in poorer countries will be leading efforts to feed an expected 9,000,000,000 people by 2050.The outlook predicts that farmers in Latin America,the Caribbean and subSaharan Africa will drive agricultural production in the future.
Angel Gurria,SecretaryGeneral of the OECD,said:“We can feed 9,000,000,000 people by 2050 on this planet. But we have to organize ourselves better.” But there are plenty of challenges.Onefourth of all agricultural land is damaged. Many countries face water shortages(短缺).And experts believe climate change is driving increasingly unusual weather patterns.
The report says farmers need to use more growing methods that can't cause damage to the environment.At the same time,it says governments should end economically harmful supports and spend more money to increase agricultural production.Mr.Gurria says rich and poor nations need to treat agriculture more like a business.
“In many cases,agriculture is related in people's minds to the poorest. It's related to aid. It's related to very poor living conditions,etc. We have got to shake that image away,”he said.
【小题1】Why are people gaining weight in countries with average incomes?
A.They eat more food. | B.They eat less nutritious foods. |
C.They eat cheaper fruits. | D.They eat cheaper vegetables. |
A.are damaging a great part of their agricultural land |
B.will play a great role in feeding the growing world population |
C.are spending lots of money increasing agricultural production |
D.will not be so seriously affected by food prices as rich nations |
A.Improving the growing methods. |
B.Finding more agricultural land. |
C.Preventing governments' involvement. |
D.Improving farmers' living conditions. |
A.Agriculture means difficulty and sadness. |
B.Food prices will go down in the near future. |
C.It's almost impossible to feed 9,000,000,000 people by 2050. |
D.Both rich and poor countries should take agriculture seriously. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
In Greek mythology(神话), fire is a gift form God, stolen from Zeus(宙斯) by Prometheus and handed over to humans suffering from cold. What could be more natural than sitting around a beautiful fire on a winter night, at a campsite in the Berkshires?
Hard as it may be to believe, the fireplace—long considered a trophy(奖杯), particularly in a city like New York—is acquiring a social shame. Among those who desire to be environmentally responsible, it is joining the ranks of bottled water and big houses.
Sally Treadwell, a 51-year-old public relations executive in Boone, N.C., said nothing makes her happier than building a fire on a cold winter night. But most of the time she doesn’t, because she feels too guilty about the damage it may do to the environment. Every time she builds a fire, it causes “inner conflict,” she said. “It’s a guilty pleasure”.
“The smoke from a fire smells very nice,” said Diane Bailey, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. “But it can cause a lot of harm. The tiny particles(颗粒) can cause illness, and can cross into the bloodstream, causing heart attacks as well as worsening other conditions.”
Growing concerns about the air pollution and health problems caused by smoke from wood fires are urging a number of areas across the country to pass laws regulating them. Idaho offers a tax cut to people who replace uncertified(不合格的)wood stoves with “greener” ones; San Joaquin County in California forbids selling a home unless its wood stove is replaced with an E.P.A. certified one;and Palo Alto and other governments in California forbid wood-burning fireplaces in new construction.
Certainly, many think otherwise. In any case, most fireplaces are used far too infrequently to cause any real damage to the environment, said Stephen Sears, the vice president of the Brick Industry Association, voicing an opinion shared by some.
Perhaps not coincidentally, sales of wood-burning equipment dropped to 235,000 in 2009 from 800,000 in 1999, according to the Brick Industry Association. It also reports that approximately 35,000 fireplaces were installed in the United States in 2009, compared to 80,000 in 2005. Certainly those numbers reflect the economic slowdown, but the may also be affected by growing mixed feelings to wood fries.
【小题1】We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that ________.
A.big houses are not considered environmentally friendly |
B.bottle water is a good companion for a fire place |
C.a fireplace is viewed as a sign of success |
D.people in New York are laughed at for their tradition |
A.her love for the fireplace |
B.the damage to the environment |
C.the concern about her health |
D.her mixed emotion fro the fireplace |
A.uncertified fireplaces are forbidden in Idaho |
B.some people are against the woodfire controlling regulations |
C.only energy-efficient wood stoves can be used in the US |
D.all the people support measures taken to control the use of fireplaces |
A.To urge people to burn less wood |
B.To discuss wood-burning’s impact |
C.To throw light on the causes of the fireplace’s decline |
D.To indicate the cooling love for the fireplace |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
What if we could replace oil with a fuel which produced no pollution and which everybody had equal access to? The good news is that we can. In fact, we are swimming in it--- literally.
Hydrogen is one of the building blocks of the universe. Our own sun is basically a big, dense cloud of the stuff. And hydrogen can be used to create electricity for power, heat and light.
The problem is that hydrogen is everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It does not exist as a material on its own, but is always part of something else. So it has to be separated before it can be used.
Most commercial hydrogen in use now is created from natural gas. As oil will start to run out in around the year 2030, it makes sense to produce as much hydrogen as possible as soon as we can. But natural gas supplies will also begin to run out soon after. Another source is needed.
Researchers are now using electricity to make water into hydrogen. Companies are working on the problem in their own areas. The first commercial hydrogen “fuel cells” for computers and mobile phones have already come on to the market. Auto companies have also invested over US $2 billion in the production of hydrogen fuelled cars.
The nations of a hydrogen fuelled planet would not fight over energy recourses. There would be a great reduction in pollution. The only by-product of creating hydrogen is pure drinking water--- something that is very scarce in many parts of the world. But that is not where the good news ends. Once the costs of producing hydrogen have been brought down, it will possibly provide power for a third of the Earth’s population that has no electricity.
And electricity creates wealth. In South Africa over the last decade there has been a large programme of electrification. Thanks to the programme, people do not have to spend their days looking firewood to burn for heat. And with electric light, they can work long into the night.
Some scientists see radical changes in the way the human race co-operates. Hydrogen creates electricity, and is also created by it. With dual use fuel cells, everyone who consumes energy could also produce it. Late at night, a man drives home in London and connects his car into the “world-wide hydrogen web,” which it supplies with electricity. A few hours later, a man in Beijing uses that electricity to power the hydrogen cell in his car. Hydrogen could be the first democratic energy source.
Like all dreams of the future, it seems very far away. But the threat of war and terrorism in the Middle East has made governments and businesses more aware of the need to end oil dependency and spend more time and money on hydrogen resource. So maybe the threat of war is not a completely bad thing for the future of the human race.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “it” in the last but one paragraph refer to?
A.wealth | B.hydrogen | C.electricity | D.fuel |
A.It has by-products. |
B.It has to be separated from other materials. |
C.It will make energy too cheap. |
D.It is too far away from us. |
A.To tell us that we produce energy while using hydrogen power. |
B.To tell us that hydrogen power does not produce pollution. |
C.To show hydrogen power can stop war. |
D.To show hydrogen power is cheap. |
A.skeptical | B.negative | C.indifferent | D.positive |
A.war and energy | B.the future of hydrogen as an energy resource |
C.the disadvantages of oil | D.How to end war |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
A study shows that nearly ninety percent of teens report that they have tried alcohol. That’s an increase of 23 percent in just four years!
Each year, 1.1 billion cans of beer are drunk by students aged 15-19 years old. Beer is the most common alcoholic drink among teens—81 percent of the drinkers had tried it. Beer is followed by wine with 63 percent, hard liquor(烈酒) with 53 percent and wine coolers with 35 percent.
When the young people are asked why they drank, the most common answer is that drinking is “something to do”. If a teen’s parents drink alcohol, the teenager is more likely to start drinking at an early age. Also, tens see all of their friends drinking alcohol so they think it is the must-to-do thing. Peer pressure is probably the hardest thing teens have to deal with. What’s more, teens often drink alcohol because it makes them feel older and cooler.
Researchers asked 56,000 students about their drinking habits and grades, to see how drinking might affect their grades in school. The results seem to be clear. Students who got a C level or lower tend to use three times as much alcohol as those who got B’s or A’s.
Alcohol use can be deadly. About 8,100 young people are killed per year in alcohol-related accidents. Eight young people die per day as a result of a drunk-driving accident. Between 50 and 65 percent of all teen suicides (自杀) occur after the young people drink.
So you see, drinking the alcohol doesn’t always end up with a good time. The next time you try to push someone to drink or someone tries to push you to drink, please remember this. One drink can set the habit for life. Why not throw it away?
【小题1】The reasons for teens’ drinking alcohol are mentioned EXCEPT that _______________.
A.they think it is cool to drink alcohol |
B.their parents set a bad example to them |
C.alcohol can make them happier |
D.peer pressure plays an important role |
A.Drinking alcohol makes students stupid. |
B.Good students never try alcohol. |
C.Drinking habits have something to do with IQ. |
D.Students with poor grades tend to use more alcohol. |
A.show the bad effect of drinking alcohol |
B.show how many teenagers drink alcohol |
C.tell teenagers not to try alcohol |
D.tell the reasons why teenagers drink alcohol. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
This site , all-birds. com, is about bird watching. Enjoy your browsing. There is much to learn and see.
Bird Watching Equipment
Some items that might make bird watching more enjoyable are binoculars ( 双目望远镜) , a camera, some kind of system for keeping notes, and maybe a back pack. Birders often keep lists of the birds they see along with notes about the habits. There is some great bird log software that will let you keep records on your computer. For more details on choosing binoculars see our Binocular -Optics page.
Clothes
If you are walking through a wooded area just wear clothes you would wear on any hike or field trip. You are best off wearing clothes with dull colors that mix into the background. Greens, browns, and grays are good. Avoid fabrics that rustle(沙沙响)easily. Depending on the birds you are watching you may want to get rain gear, rubber boots and warm clothing. For birds such as owls that you might look for in the evening a strong flashlight is also handy.
Choosing a Bird Field Guide
Take a good field guide to identify birds. Look for clear color pictures that make it easy to recognize one bird from another. Next to each picture should be detailed descriptions of each bird's anatomy, habits, and what it eats. The guide should have information about what habitat each species uses. Many guides have maps showing the range of different birds along with their migration patterns.
Where and When to see Birds
Learning the habitats of birds in your area will increase the number of birds you see, and make your birding more enjoyable. If you know that Meadow larks are likely to be in open grassy areas, and dippers are forage along stream beds, you may be looking for them if you are in those types of habitats. Edge areas where different types of habitats meet will likely have more species in them. You are more likely to see specific birds at certain times of the day. For example songbirds are easier to see two to three hours after dawn, or just before sunset. This is when songbirds are most actively feeding. Many small birds will be silent or even hidden during the rest of the day. After sunup is the best time to see eagles and hawks. Visibility is best for hunting at this time, and they can soar on the thermal currents from the warmed air. Birds like owls are more likely to be seen in the evening. Many shorebirds and waders rest at high tide and feed when the water rises or falls.
Photographing Birds
Patience in Bird Photography
Most birds are afraid of people, and all species have their own comfort zone. With a little time you can learn the comfort zone of the birds you are photographing. Once they know that you are not a threat you may be able to get closer.
Type or Style
Your reason for photographing birds may determine your style and the kind of equipment you use. If you are just recording the kinds of birds you see you don't need to get as close, and you can use less expensive equipment, then you need for high quality prints.
Photographing Birds in Flight
Photographing birds in flight can be fun. Many digital cameras have a tracking function. With these you focus on the bird, and then as you track it the lens will keep focus.
Use Your Yard
Choose an open area where the birds will get direct sunlight, showing off their magnificent colors.
Try using props
Birds will often land on a stick or post near a seed feeder before going to the feeder. The background was just an out of focus fence but you can use anything you want for a background, and then wait for a bird to perch.
【小题1】The main purpose of the passage is to _____.
A.attract more people to photograph birds |
B.help birders learn how to identify and understand birds |
C.call on people to set some comfort zones for birds |
D.inform birders of the results of a scientific research on birds |
A.red | B.yellow | C.brown | D.blue |
A.Owls | B.Shorebirds | C.Songbirds | D.Larks |
A.A stick in the yard may scares birds off when you are photographing them. |
B.It will be wise for birders to hire a guide for themselves. |
C.Birders have to bring some notebooks to keep records of birds' habits. |
D.A flashlight will come in handy when you look for owls. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Many of us believe that a person’s mind becomes less active as he grows older. But this is not true, according to Dr Jarvik, professor of psychiatry at the University of California. She has studied the mental functioning of aging persons for several years. For example, one of her studies concerns 136 pairs of twins (双胞胎), who were first examined when they were already 60 years old. As Dr Jarvik continued the study of the twins into their 70s and 80s, their minds did not generally decline (衰弱) as was expected.
However, there was some decline in their psycho-motor speed. This means that it took them longer to finish mental tasks than it used to. But when speed was not a factor, they lost very little intellectual (智力的) ability over the years. In general, Dr Jarvik’s studies have shown that there is no decline in knowledge or reasoning ability. This is true not only with those in their 30s and 40s, but with those in their 60s and 70s as well.
It is true that older people themselves often complain that their memory is not as good as it once was. However, much of what we call “loss of memory” is not that at all. There usually was incomplete learning in the first place. For example, the older person perhaps had trouble hearing, or poor vision, or was trying to learn the new thing at too fast a speed. In the cases where the older person’s mind really seems to get worse, it is not necessarily a sign of decline due to old age. Often it is simply a sign of a sad emotional state.
【小题1】 This passage is mainly about _______.
A.what caused mental decline |
B.a new discovery about mental decline |
C.the difference between middle-aged and older persons |
D.how Dr Jarvik studied mental functioning of the twins |
A.the study of diseases of the mind |
B.the study of physical diseases |
C.the study of twins’ growth |
D.the study of human behavior |
A.a worsening state of health | B.old age |
C.nervous tension | D.a state of unhappiness |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
In July 1994 Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, was struck by 21 pieces of a comet(彗星). When the fragment(碎片)landed in the southern part of the giant planet, the explosions were watched by scientists here on earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?
The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our plant, but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.
On 17 July, a fragment four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.
Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth, but the north won’t escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.
Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs(恐龙)were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn’t survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?
【小题1】Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author’s description of the disaster in 2094?
A.The whole world becomes extremely cold. |
B.All the coastal cities in African are destroyed. |
C.The whole mankind becomes extinct. |
D.The visit of the comet results in wars. |
A.Because they could only live in the warm climate. |
B.Because they once ruled the Earth. |
C.Because their extinction shows future disasters. |
D.Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age. |
A.give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future |
B.prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed |
C.tell the historical development of the Earth |
D.warn of a possible disaster in the future |
A.terror story | B.news report |
C.research paper | D.article of popular science |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Cutting global warming pollution would not only make the planet healthier, it would make people healthier too, new research suggests.
Cutting carbon dioxide emissions could save millions of lives, mostly by reducing preventable deaths from heart and lung diseases, according to studies released Wednesday and published in a special issue of The Lancet British medical journal.
“Relying on fossil fuels leads to unhealthy lifestyles, increasing our chances for getting sick and in some cases takes years from our lives,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a telecast (电视广播) briefing from her home state of Kansas. “As greenhouse gas emissions go down, so do deaths from cardiovascular (心血管的) and respiratory diseases (呼吸疾病). This is not a small effect.”
Instead of looking at the health ills caused by future global warming, as past studies have done, this research looks at the immediate benefits of doing something about the problem, said Linda Birnbaum, director of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Some possible benefits seemed highly speculative (投机的,推测的), the researchers conceded (承认,给予), based on people driving less and walking and cycling more. Other proposals studied were more concrete and achievable, such as reducing cook stoves that burn dung (粪便), charcoal and other polluting fuels in the developing world.
And cutting carbon dioxide emissions also makes the air cleaner, reducing lung damage for millions of people, doctors said.
“Here are ways you can attack major health problems at the same time as dealing with climate change," said lead author Dr. Paul Wilkinson, an environmental epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Wilkinson said the individual studies came up with numbers of premature deaths prevented or extra years of life added for certain places.
For example, switching to low-polluting cars in London and Delhi, India, would save 160 lost years of life in London and nearly 1,700 in Delhi for every million residents, one study found. But if people also drove less and walked or biked more, those extra saved years would soar (高耸,高涨) to more than 7,300 years in London and 12,500 years in Delhi because of less heart disease.
【小题1】What does the passage mainly about?
A.How can people live longer. |
B.Cutting carbon dioxide emissions saves life. |
C.Global warming threatens people’s lives |
D.People should stop relying on fossil fuels |
A.it focuses on the immediate benefits of cutting carbon dioxide emissions |
B.it studies the bad effects arising from future global warming |
C.it is believed by most people |
D.it mainly targets at developing countries |
A.sometimes it takes years to see the bad effects caused by consuming fossil fuels |
B.without greenhouse gas emissions, people would not die of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases |
C.the main reason why people get sick is that they rely on fossil fuels |
D.death from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are closely related to greenhouse gas emissions |
A.London and Delhi have already benefited from reducing greenhouse gas emissions |
B.switching to low-polluting cars would save 160 lives in London every year |
C.walking and biking instead of driving will reduce the chance of heart disease |
D.attacking health problems and dealing with climate change are contradictory |
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