the,climate,in,hubei

篇一：新托福TPO10阅读原文及译文(二)Variations in the Climate

新托福TPO10阅读原文(二):Variations in the Climate

TPO10-2：Variations in the Climate

One of the most difficult aspects of deciding whether current climatic events reveal evidence of the impact of human activities is that it is hard to get a measure of what constitutes the natural variability of the climate. We know that over the past millennia the climate has undergone major changes without any significant human intervention. We also know that the global climate system is immensely complicated and that everything is in some way connected, and so the system is capable of fluctuating in unexpected ways. We need therefore to know how much the climate can vary of its own accord in order to interpret with confidence the extent to which recent changes are natural as opposed to being the result of human activities.

Instrumental records do not go back far enough to provide us with reliable measurements of global climatic variability on timescales longer than a century. What we do know is that as we include longer time intervals, the record shows increasing evidence of slow swings in climate between different regimes. To build up a better picture of fluctuations appreciably further back in time requires us to use proxy records.

Over long periods of time, substances whose physical and chemical properties change with the ambient climate at the time can be deposited in a systematic way to provide a continuous record of changes in those properties overtime, sometimes for hundreds or thousands of years. Generally, the layering occurs on an annual basis, hence the observed changes in the records can be dated. Information on temperature, rainfall, and other aspects of the climate that can be inferred from the systematic changes in properties is usually referred to as proxy data. Proxy temperature records have been reconstructed from ice core drilled out of the central Greenland ice cap, calcite shells embedded in layered lake sediments in Western Europe, ocean floor sediment cores from the tropical Atlantic Ocean, ice cores from Peruvian glaciers, and

ice cores from eastern Antarctica. While these records provide broadly consistent indications that temperature variations can occur on a global scale, there are nonetheless some intriguing differences, which suggest that the pattern of temperature variations in regional climates can also differ significantly from each other.

What the proxy records make abundantly clear is that there have been significant natural changes in the climate over timescales longer than a few thousand years. Equally striking, however, is the relative stability of the climate in the past 10,000 years (the Holocene period).

To the extent that the coverage of the global climate from these records can provide a measure of its true variability, it should at least indicate how all the natural causes of climate change have combined. These include the chaotic fluctuations of the atmosphere, the slower but equally erratic behavior of the oceans, changes in the land surfaces, and the extent of ice and snow. Also included will be any variations that have arisen from volcanic activity, solar activity, and, possibly, human activities. One way to estimate how all the various processes leading to climate variability will combine is by using computer models of the global climate. They can do only so much to represent the full complexity of the global climate and hence may give only limited information about natural variability. Studies suggest that to date the variability in computer simulations is considerably smaller than in data obtained from the proxy records.

In addition to the internal variability of the global climate system itself, there is the added factor of external influences, such as volcanoes and solar activity. There is a growing body of opinion that both these physical variations have a measurable impact on the climate. Thus we need to be able to include these in our deliberations. Some current analyses conclude that volcanoes and solar activity explain quite a considerable amount of the observed variability in the period from the seventeenth to

warming in recent decades. the early twentieth centuries, but that they cannot be invoked to explain the rapid

译文TPO10-2：气候变化

要证实当前气候是否受到人类的影响，最困难的一方面是很难得到一种构成气候自然变化的方法。我们理解到在过去的几千年里，气候在没有显著的人类干预的情况下也经历了重大变化。我们还知道全球气候系统是非常复杂的，各个因素之间存在着千丝万缕的联系，因此，这一系统纷繁复杂变化多端。因此，我们需要知道气候变化在多大程度上是自然原因造成的，从而可以确切地解释出最近的气候变化是自然原因造成，，或相反人类活动的结果。

仪器记录不能追溯到那么久远的时期给我们提供跨度长于一个世纪的全球气候变化的可靠测量方法。我们所确知的就是，当我们想时间跨度延长，记载的信息展现了朝代更迭的过程中气候缓慢的证据。为了更好地描述，更为久远的时期内的气候变化状况，我们需要使用替代性指标。

经过很长一段时间，有些物质地物理和化学特征会随着当时周围的气候变化而变化，它们将会以系统的方法沉淀，这些特征就可以记录更长时间跨度内连续的气候变化,有时可达几百年或几千年。通常来说，分层堆积是每年都会发生，因此我们可以通过记录中可观察的变化来确定时间。温度，降水和气候的其他方面的气候信息通常被称为替代性数据，这些信息可以从这些特征的系统变化中推断出来。替代性温度指标已被重建：格陵兰冰帽中部钻取的冰核，西欧深嵌在分层湖底沉积物中的方解石壳，取自热带大西洋的海底沉积物核，取自秘鲁冰河的冰核,以及取自东南极洲的冰核。尽管这新记录提供了广范一致的迹象指出温度变化可在全球范围内发生，但仍存在有趣的差异，这些差异表明区域性气候的温度变化方式可以如此不同。

替代性指标充分说明，几千年以上的时间跨度里存在着显著的自然气候变化。然而，同样令人惊讶的是在过去的一万年(全新世)中气候变化的相对来说很稳定。

这些指标中记录的全球气候的覆盖范围已经达到了可以提供真实的气候变化标准的程度，它至少能揭示所有引起气候变化的自然原因是怎样息息相关的。这些原因包括变化多端的大气波动，较慢却同样不稳定的海洋活动，地表变化以及冰雪的覆盖度。还包括所有火山活动、太阳活动，可能还有人类活动会引起的变化。

要判断所有导致气候变化的不同过程是如何结合的一种方法就是使用全球气候的计算机模型。它们只可以用来描绘全球气候的全面复杂性，因此只能提供自然变化的有限信息。研究表明迄今为止计算机模拟的气候可变性比从自替代性记录中获取的数据要少得多。

除全球气候系统本身的内部变化之外，还存在其他外部的影响因素，如火山和太阳活动。有越来越多的观点认为这两种物理变化对气候有着可测量的影响。因此我们需要能够考虑到这些因素。一些现有的分析断定火山和太阳活动解释了自17世纪到20世纪早期的相当多的可观察到的变化，但它们不能用以解释最近几十年的全球气候迅速变暖的现象。

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篇二：2014湖北高考英语专项训练阅读理解21

2014高考英语冲刺阅读理解专项 50-21

A

US billionaires are back on top with Microsoft founder Bill Gates

again the world's richest man in a year when even billionaires felt the

heat of the global recession, Forbes magazine said Wednesday.

The wealthy few did not escape big shocks this year, with net worth

on the list of 793 billionaires -- down from 1,125 billionaires in 2008

-- plummeting to 2.4 trillion dollars from 4.4 trillion, Forbes said. "The biggest news today is that we are here and there still are billionaires," Forbes spokeswoman Monie Begley joked at a press

conference.

The much-watched annual rich list put Gates back on top with a net

worth of 40 billion dollars, although he saw his bank balance lose 18

billion over the last 12 months. In second came investor Warren Buffett

with 37 billion dollars, despite losing 25 billion dollars this year in

the value of his Berkshire Hathaway shares. Also losing 25 billion dollars,

Mexican telecoms king Carlos Slim still managed to come in third with 35

billion dollars.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at number 17, was notable as the

only top 20 member to see a net gain. That was not because of his salary,

which is a symbolic one dollar a year, but thanks to re-evaluation of

Bloomberg financial news agency after the mayor bought a 20 percent stake

from Merrill Lynch last year for 4.5 billion dollars.

About 64 percent of the billionaires are self-made and their average

age is 63.7, a slight rise resulting from the lower number of rich Russians

and Chinese, whose average ages last year were 46 and 48.

By contrast with that aging trend, Gates is a relatively youthful 53.

The youngest billionaire prize this year goes to Albert von Thurn und Taxis

of Germany, who is 25 and listed as having 2.1 billion dollars. But one

of the young success stories from last year -- Facebook founder Mark

Zuckerberg -- dropped off the list altogether.

1. Of all the billionaires mentioned above, who didn’t lose in the global

recession?

A. Bill Gates. B. Warren Buffet.

C. Carlos Slim. D. Michael Bloomberg.

答案解析：答案为D。本题为细节题。由第五段“New York Mayor Michael

Bloomberg, at number 17, was notable as the only top 20 member to see a

net gain.”可知，排名第十七的Michael Bloomberg是唯一一位前20名富翁中

获得净利的，因此他就是在全球经济萧条中没有输的人，故答案为D。

2. The sentence “The biggest news today is that we are here and there

still are billionaires” may probably means ______

A. the number of billionares in 2009 is much smaller than that in 2008

B. the number of billionares in 2009 is a bit larger than that in 2008

C. there are many billionaires in America, which is the biggest news today.

D. the biggest news is that many billionaires are at the press conference 答案解析：答案为A。本题为语义理解题。该句话出现在第三段《财富(福布斯)》杂志发言人在记者招待会上的玩笑话，结合第二段的内容 “The wealthy few did not escape big shocks this year, with net worth on the list of 793 billionaires -- down from 1,125 billionaires in 2008 -- plummeting to 2.4 trillion dollars from 4.4 trillion, Forbes said.”可知，发言人指出今年（2009年）有793位亿万富翁，2008年却有1,125位，因此该发言人的言外之意就是2009年的亿万富翁比2008年少了，故答案为A。C选项只是文字的表层意思，D选项与文意完全不符合，均不选。

3. How many billion dollars did the US billionaires lose in 2008 altogether mentioned in the paragraph 4?

A. 18 B. 25 C. 43 D. 50

答案解析：答案为C。本题为数字计算题。题干要求算出第四段中美国的亿万富翁在2008年总共损失多少美元，由第四段可知，Gates损失了18 billion，Warren Buffett损失了25 billion，他们都是美国人，总共是43 billion，故答案为C。

第四段提到的第三位虽然也损失了25 billion，但是是墨西哥人，因此他所损失的美元不计入总数。

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A. Self-Made Billionaires B. What Made Billionaires

C. Bill Gates Back on Top Again D. Biggest Gainter and Biggest Loser 答案解析：答案为C。本题要求选择最佳标题。从文章的语言可以看出本文为新闻报道，首段的内容就是该报道的中心内容，故答案为C。

B

The "Earth Hour" initiative(自发行动) started in Australia' s biggest city Sydney last year when an estimated 2. 2 million people flicked the switch --- leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbor Bridge blacked out.

Organizer Andy Ridley said Sydney ' s 60 minutes of darkness generated huge interest around the world and 23 other cities from the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and the Middle East had now signed up to be part of the 2008 event.

The eight latest cities to join "Earth Hour" are Atlanta, San Francisco and Phoenix in the US; Thailand's capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland. They joined Australian cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide; Denmark's Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense; the Philippine capital Manila, Fiji ' s biggest city Suva. Christchurch in New Zealand; Chicago; Tel Aviv and Toronto.

Ridley said he expected the "Earth Hour" concept, which is managed by the conservation group WWF, to extend beyond the borders of these countries on the scheduled start time of 8:00 p. m. local time on Saturday

March 29.

“ I think it already has become much bigger," he said. "The idea was that anyone could do it, whether they were in a small village in France or a city like Sydney. "

Ridley said the Sydney event, in which residents were asked to switch off lights and appliances for one hour, had raised awareness about the problem of global warming while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving energy.

"I know that on the night we thought we might be able to cut energy use in the city by five percent but it ended up being 10. 1 percent," he said.

He said he hoped Earth Hour provided a "very big visual message" to politicians that climate change must be addressed quickly.

“The problem is massive but we do make a difference when we all take action," he said.

1. The purpose of the "Earth Hour" activity is _____ .

A. to conserve energy

B. to change the climate

C. to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions

D. to draw people' s attention to the global warming

答案解析：答案为C。本题为细节推理题。由第六段 “Ridley said the Sydney event, in which residents were asked to switch off lights and appliances for one hour, had raised awareness about the problem of global warming while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving energy..” 可知，地球日就是人们关灯一小时，此活动已经提高了人们全球气候变暖问题的意识，通过节能的方式来减少温室气体排放，故C选项正确。 A选项 “节能”是方式，D选项 “引起人们对全球气候变暖的关注”，是地球日的影响而不是目的。故答案为C。

2. The underlined word "flick" in paragraph 1 means ______.

A. switch on B. switch off C. move quickly

D. hit quickly

答案解析：答案为B。本题为词义猜测题。结合该词出现的上下文 “?when an estimated 2. 2 million people flicked the switch --- leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbor Bridge blacked out.” 可知，破折号后面的内容是对前面的“flicked the switch”进行解释，让悉尼歌剧院沐浴在月光中，悉尼大桥一片漆黑，可以推断flicked the switch就是关灯。flick 即意为switch off “关掉”。switch on 意为“打开”，move quickly 意为“迅速移动”，hit quickly意为“迅速打击”，均不符合该词意思。故答案为B。

3. Which city doesn’t join the black-out organization?

A. Bangkok. B. Manchester. C. Montreal.

D. Brisbane.

答案解析：答案为B。本题为细节题。由第三段 “?Thailand's capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland. They

joined Australian cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, ?”可知， Manchester没有加入该组织。故答案为B。

4. From the passage we can learn that_____ .

A. the black-out activity will have a great effect on climate change

B. the " Earth Hour" initiative first began in the capital of Australia

C. all the countries in the world become interested in the black-out activity

D. the black-out activity has already caught politician' s attention to the climate change

答案解析：答案为A。本题为推理题。由最后一段 ““The problem is massive but we do make a difference when we all take action," he said.”可推断，地球日关灯一小时会对气候变化产生影响， 故答案为A。

由第一段 “The ‘Earth Hour’ initiative started in Australia' s biggest city Sydney last year?” 可知，B选项表述错误，悉尼不是澳大利亚的首都。C选项明显表述错误。由倒数第二段 “He said he hoped Earth Hour provided a ‘very big visual message’ to politicians that climate change must be addressed quickly.”可知，政治家对气候变化的重视是Ridley的希望，D选项与此不符，均不选。

篇三：英语卷·2014届湖北省部分重点中学高三11月联考(2013.11)

湖北省部分重点高中2014届高三十一月联考

英语试题

整理：全品高考网

时间：2013年11月16日 下午：14:30-16:30

第一部分：听力(共两节，满分30分)

做题时,先将答案划在试卷上。 录音内容结束后,你将有两分钟的时间将试卷上的答案转涂到答题卡上。

第一节(共5小题：每小题1.5分，共7.5分)

听下面5段对话。每段对话后有一个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。听完每段对话后，你都有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话仅读一遍。

1. What are the speakers mainly talking about?

A. A hobby. B. A plan. C. Music.

2. Where are the speakers?

A. At a clinic. B. At a drugstore. C. At a vegetable market.

3. What can we learn about Jane?

A. She wasn’t hurt. B. She had an accident. C. She wore her seat belt.

4. What can we learn about the woman?

A. She was washing her face. B. She was driving. C. She was hurt.

5. How much does the woman weigh now?

A. 153 pounds. B. 160 pounds. C. 163 pounds.

第二节 （共15小题；每小题1.5分，满分22.5分）

听下面五段对话或独白。每段对话或独白后有几个小题，从题中所给的A、B、C 三个选项中选出最佳选项。听每段对话或独白前，你将有时间阅读各个小题，每小题5秒钟；听完后，各小题将给出5秒钟的作答时间。每段对话或独白读两遍。

听第6段材料，回答第6、7题。

6. Where does the conversation take place?

A. At a clinic. B. At a restaurant. C. At a drugstore.

7. What restaurant did the woman go to first last night?

A. Chinese. B. Italian. C. American.

听第7段材料，回答第8至10题。

8. What is the trouble with British education?

A. Students. B. Subjects. C. Teachers.

9. What is the man’s attitude towards British school education?

A. More classrooms should be built.

B. Students need more time to learn to live.

C. Students shouldn’t be kept busy.

10. What opinion does the woman support?

A. Teachers should learn more about real life.

B. Better subjects should be offered.

C. Teachers should be old.

听第8段材料，回答第11至13题。

11. Who probably is the woman?

A. A mountaineer. B. A sportswoman. C. A pilot.

12. What caused the accident?

A. The woman hurt her arm. B. The woman lost her way. C. The woman landed the wrong way.

13. What can we learn about the woman?

A. She is weak. B. She failed only twice. C. She’ll recover in about two months. 听第9段材料，回答第14至16题。

14. Where most probably are the speakers?

A. In a hospital. B. In a classroom. C. At a restaurant.

15. What is the main symptom according to the man?

A. Pain in the chest. B. Throwing up. C. Aches in bones.

16. What does the man say about his throat?

A. It’s a bit hard for him to swallow. B. He has a dull pain in it. C. It’s been hurt.

听第10段材料，回答第17至20题。

17. What is the purpose of the talk?

A. Offering some advice on sleeping problems.

B. Stressing physical exercise.

C. Telling people how to exercise.

18. Why is it useless to keep turning around when you can’t sleep?

A. It’s tiring. B. It makes you worry. C. It increases heart rate.

19. Which of the following can cause sleeplessness?

A. Eating cheese before going to bed.

B. Lack of sleep on weekends.

C. Too much exercise in the evening.

20. What can we learn about sleeping pills?

A. It’s of great use. B. It prevents sleeping. C. It’ll help relax.

第二部分：词汇知识运用(共两节，满分3０分)

第一节：多项选择 (共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)

从A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

21. For the last couple of years we have consistently run ______ through social media to help raise public

awareness of the issue drawing people’s attention nationwide.

A. assumptions B. campaigns C. preferences D. demonstrations

22. Poorer families often lack _____to a car, which they would need to drive their children to a more

successful school outside their own district.

A. commitment B. motivation C. access D. affection

23. We are constantly introducing novel schemes and ______ options designed to suit individual circumstances

and the current financial climate.

A. tentative B. relevant C. beneficial D. flexible

24. Don't take it for granted that parents should show their unconditional love to you. You should also

understand and be ______ to their feelings.

A. sensitive B. optimistic C. contradictory D. particular

25. We have many cases where hard work as well as good communication skills have ______ one's chances of

success in the past years.

A. condemned B. multiplied C. estimated D. highlighted

26. With the information explosion in science and technology, more and more new terms will _____ and need

to be defined.

A. consist B. occupy C. resolve D. emerge

27. ______ a divorce is really a terrible experience for Mr. Taylor, and that may be the reason why he has been

upset lately.

A. Focusing on B. Bringing down C. Going through D. Getting over

28. The Tiger Woods participated in a golf game, other top players would stop trying as hard and thus perform

worse, as if his superstar status ______ the competitions.

A. sped up B. held back C. applied for D. marked out

29. The virus came without people’s being aware of it and it was ______ assumed to be a common one. But

with more cases reported, it proved wrong.

A. precisely B. relatively C. initially D. purely

30. According to the agreement, _____ you shall get preferred shares accounting for 8% of the whole income

for your investment.

A. in return B. in turn C. after all D. above all

第二节：完形填空 (共20小题；每小题1分,满20分)

阅读下面短文,从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I learned about life from an ant farm. When I was seven years old, my family tried to an ant farm at home. First, we put clean sand in a thin glass box, and then we brought some ants from the backyard and home.

Shortly after the new were dropped into the glass structure, they got to work making tunnels. I was amazed that each one knew what to do. After hours of staring, I realized that the ants had particular given jobs. With my mom’s help, I kept a journal of what happened each day and the ants. My favorite was the biggest, Cinderella. I drew a picture of her in my journal, which I still have.

On day five a disaster the ant farm. While I was the ants, I had put my face so close to the structure that I accidentally tipped it over, in all the tunnels. Although the ants their earthquake, one by one they began to die. I was as I watched them give up their tunnel-building to

carry the bodies to a corner of the farm. My mother reported that the ants were dying of “frustration”—feeling annoyed and impatient as they couldn’t control the situation. They simply could not tunnels had been destroyed. Cinderella was the last to die; she did so while carrying a dead ant on her back.

Although much time has passed, I still think of that ant farm. Mom had hoped it would teach me about the natural world, it taught me much more. the years, I came to realize the ants were a study in the benefits of Working together, they were able to create a(n) world for themselves. I also learned that they should be for their hard work. Day in and day out, each labored at their task. The ant farm demonstrated that teamwork and perseverance are indeed two key to success. But there was an even larger lesson that I did not until recently: Disaster is a natural part of life, and must be Unlike the ants, humans cannot give up when they face tunnel caves in, we just have to build another.

31. A. create B. purchase C. maintain D. abandon

32. A. empty B. new C. strange D. distant

33. A. guests B. settlers C. friends D. members

34. A. probably B. roughly C. exactly D. normally

35. A. named B. trained C. compared D. measured

36. A. affected B. struck C. kicked D. beat

37. A. removing B. teaching C. observing D. collecting

38. A. turning B. rushing C. filling D. caving

39. A. experienced B. predicted C. faced D. survived

40. A. annoyed B. horrified C. moved D. thrilled

41. A. reflect B. ignore C. confirm D. stand

42. A. and B. but C. so D. or

43. A. In B. For C. From D. Over

44. A. teamwork B. devotion C. responsibility D. organization

45. A. relaxing B. amusing C. moving D. amazing

46. A. supported B. inspired C. admired D. admitted

47. A. certificates B. approaches C. ingredients D. circumstances

48. A. give B. realize C. take D. adopt

49. A. accepted B. suffered C. achieved D. managed

50. A. anxiety B. confusion C. pressure D. disappointment

第三部分：阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)

阅读下列短文，从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项 (A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

On a number of drives throughout my childhood, my mother would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle from tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat impatiently in the car.

Though Mother’s Day follows Earth Day, for me, they have always been related to each other. My mom has been “green” since she became concerned about the environment. Part of this habit was born of thrift (节

俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, mom saves glass jars, empty cheese containers and reuses her plastic bags.

Mom creates a kind of harmonious relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to avoid the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders(给食器) out at night, it is likely that they will be knocked down by a family of raccoons (浣熊). Spiders that make their way into the house and are caught in juice glasses will be set loose in the garden.

I try to teach my children that looking out for the environment starts with being aware of the environment. On busy streets, we look for dandelions (蒲公英) to fly in the wind; we say hello to neighborhood cats and pick up plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by example. Mom didn’t need to lecture; she didn’t need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to enjoy living in it and with that joy came mercy and an instinct for protection.

I am slowing down and it isn’t because of the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet, it is out of my concern for the planet itself. I’ve begun to save glass jars and reuse packing envelopes. I pause in my daily tasks to watch the squirrels race each other in the trees above my house.

Last summer, in the company of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with a sweetness I immediately wanted to share with my mom.

51. Why does the author say Earth Day is connected with Mother’s Day?

A. Because Mother’s Day always falls shortly after Earth Day.

B. To stress that all the women in her family are environmentalists.

C. To stress how much her mother cares about the environment.

D. Because her mother shows her concern to nature on Mother’s Day.

52. Which of the following is NOT related to Mom’s “green life”?

A. Rescuing a beetle from a certain tragedy. B. Saving glass jars, empty cheese containers.

C. Setting a caught spider free in the garden D. Picking dandelions on busy streets.

53. We can infer from the article that ______.

A. the author realizes that she should teach her children by example as well

B. the author’s mother knows how to get rid of the wildlife in her yard

C. the author believes that only by learning to slow down can we enjoy life

D. the author’s mother used to lecture her to protect the environment.

54. What can be learned from the last paragraph?

A. Tomatoes make the author think of her mother.

B. The author likes eating tomatoes planted by herself.

C. Planting tomatoes is a way of protecting environment.

D. The author really appreciates her mother’s teaching.

B

High-quality customer service is preached（宣扬）by many, but actually keeping customers happy is easier said than done.

Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store(零售店), but instead will warn their friends, relatives, co-workers, strangers and anyone who will listen. Store managers are often the last to hear complaints. “Storytelling hurts retailers(零售商) and entertains consumers,” said Paula Courtney, President of

篇四：阅读理解 湖北

篇五：2014湖北高考英语专项训练-阅读理解21

2014高考英语冲刺阅读理解专项 50-21

A

US billionaires are back on top with Microsoft founder Bill Gates again the

world's richest man in a year when even billionaires felt the heat of the global recession, Forbes magazine said Wednesday.

The wealthy few did not escape big shocks this year, with net worth on the list of

793 billionaires -- down from 1,125 billionaires in 2008 -- plummeting to 2.4 trillion dollars from 4.4 trillion, Forbes said.

Forbes spokeswoman Monie Begley joked at a press conference.

The much-watched annual rich list put Gates back on top with a net worth of 40

billion dollars, although he saw his bank balance lose 18 billion over the last 12 months. In second came investor Warren Buffett with 37 billion dollars, despite losing 25 billion dollars this year in the value of his Berkshire Hathaway shares. Also losing 25 billion dollars, Mexican telecoms king Carlos Slim still managed to come in third with 35 billion dollars.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at number 17, was notable as the only top

20 member to see a net gain. That was not because of his salary, which is a symbolic one dollar a year, but thanks to re-evaluation of Bloomberg financial news agency after the mayor bought a 20 percent stake from Merrill Lynch last year for 4.5 billion dollars.

About 64 percent of the billionaires are self-made and their average age is 63.7,

a slight rise resulting from the lower number of rich Russians and Chinese, whose average ages last year were 46 and 48.

By contrast with that aging trend, Gates is a relatively youthful 53. The youn

gest

billionaire prize this year goes to Albert von Thurn und Taxis of Germany, who is 25 and listed as having 2.1 billion dollars. But one of the young success stories from last year -- Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg -- dropped off the list altogether.

1. Of all the billionaires mentioned above, who didn’t lose in the global recession?

A. Bill Gates. B. Warren Buffet.

C. Carlos Slim. D. Michael Bloomberg.

答案解析：答案为D。本题为细节题。由第五段“New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at number 17, was notable as the only top 20 member to see a net gain.”可知，排名第十七的Michael Bloomberg是唯一一位前20名富翁中获得净利的，因此他就是在全球经济萧条中没有输的人，故答案为D。

2. The sentence “The biggest news today is that we are here and there still are billionaires” may probably means ______

A. the number of billionares in 2009 is much smaller than that in 2008

B. the number of billionares in 2009 is a bit larger than that in 2008

C. there are many billionaires in America, which is the biggest news today.

D. the biggest news is that many billionaires are at the press conference

答案解析：答案为A。本题为语义理解题。该句话出现在第三段《财富(福布斯)》杂志发言人在记者招待会上的玩笑话，结合第二段的内容 “The wealthy few did not escape big shocks this year, with net worth on the list of 793 billionaires -- down from 1,125 billionaires in 2008 -- plummeting to 2.4 trillion dollars from 4.4 trillion, Forbes said.”可知，发言人指出今年（2009年）有793位亿万富翁，2008年却有1,125位，因此该发言人的言外之意就是2009年的亿万富翁比2008年少了，故答案为A。C选项只是文字的表层意思，D选项与文意完全不符合，均不选。

3. How many billion dollars did the US billionaires lose in 2008 altogether mentioned in the paragraph 4?

A. 18 B. 25 C. 43 D. 50

答案解析：答案为C。本题为数字计算题。题干要求算出第四段中美国的亿万富翁在2008年总共损失多少美元，由第四段可知，Gates损失了18 billion，Warren Buffett损失了25 billion，他们都是美国人，总共是43 billion，故答案为C。第四段提到的第三位虽然也损失了25 billion，但是是墨西哥人，因此他所损失的美元不计入总数。

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A. Self-Made Billionaires B. What Made Billionaires

C. Bill Gates Back on Top Again D. Biggest Gainter and Biggest Loser 答案解析：答案为C。本题要求选择最佳标题。从文章的语言可以看出本文为新闻报道，首段的内容就是该报道的中心内容，故答案为C。

B

The "Earth Hour" initiative(自发行动) started in Australia' s biggest city Sydney

last year when an estimated 2. 2 million people switch --- leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbor Bridge blacked out.

Organizer Andy Ridley said Sydney ' s 60 minutes of darkness generated huge

interest around the world and 23 other cities from the Asia Pacific, North America,

Europe and the Middle East had now signed up to be part of the 2008 event.

The eight latest cities to join "Earth Hour" are Atlanta, San Francisco and

Phoenix in the US; Thailand's capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland. They joined Australian cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide; Denmark's Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense; the Philippine capital Manila, Fiji ' s biggest city Suva. Christchurch in New Zealand; Chicago; Tel Aviv and Toronto.

Ridley said he expected the "Earth Hour" concept, which is managed by the

conservation group WWF, to extend beyond the borders of these countries on the

scheduled start time of 8:00 p. m. local time on Saturday March 29.

“ I think it already has become much bigger," he said. "The idea was that anyone

could do it, whether they were in a small village in France or a city like Sydney. "

Ridley said the Sydney event, in which residents were asked to switch off lights

and appliances for one hour, had raised awareness about the problem of global

warming while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving energy.

"I know that on the night we thought we might be able to cut energy use in the city by five percent but it ended up being 10. 1 percent," he said.

He said he hoped Earth Hour provided a "very big visual message" to politicians that climate change must be addressed quickly.

“The problem is massive but we do make a difference when we all take action," he said.

1. The purpose of the "Earth Hour" activity is _____ .

A. to conserve energy

B. to change the climate

C. to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions

D. to draw people' s attention to the global warming

答案解析：答案为C。本题为细节推理题。由第六段 “Ridley said the Sydney event, in which residents were asked to switch off lights and appliances for one hour, had raised awareness about the problem of global warming while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by conserving energy..” 可知，地球日就是人们关灯一小时，此活动已经提高了人们全球气候变暖问题的意识，通过节能的方式来减少温室气体排放，故C选项正确。 A选项 “节能”是方式，D选项 “引起人们对全球气候变暖的关注”，是地球日的影响而不是目的。故答案为C。

2. The underlined word "flick" in paragraph 1 means ______.

A. switch on B. switch off C. move quickly D. hit quickly 答案解析：答案为B。本题为词义猜测题。结合该词出现的上下文 “…when an estimated 2. 2 million people flicked the switch --- leaving the Sydney Opera House bathed in moonlight and the Harbor Bridge blacked out.” 可知，破折号后面的内容是对前面的“flicked the switch”进行解释，让悉尼歌剧院沐浴在月光中，悉尼大桥一片漆黑，可以推断flicked the switch就是关灯。flick 即意为switch off “关掉”。switch on 意为“打开”，move quickly 意为“迅速移动”，hit quickly意为“迅速打击”，均不符合该词意思。故答案为B。

3. Which city doesn’t join the black-out organization?

A. Bangkok. B. Manchester. C. Montreal. D. Brisbane.

答案解析：答案为B。本题为细节题。由第三段 “…Thailand's capital Bangkok; Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal in Canada and Dublin in Ireland. They joined Australian cities Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, …”可知， Manchester没有加入该组织。故答案为B。

4. From the passage we can learn that_____ .

A. the black-out activity will have a great effect on climate change

B. the " Earth Hour" initiative first began in the capital of Australia

C. all the countries in the world become interested in the black-out activity

D. the black-out activity has already caught politician' s attention to the climate change

答案解析：答案为A。本题为推理题。由最后一段 ““The problem is massive but we do make a difference when we all take action," he said.”可推断，地球日关灯一小时会对气候变化产生影响， 故答案为A。

由第一段 “The ‘Earth Hour’ initiative started in Australia' s biggest city Sydney last year…” 可知，B选项表述错误，悉尼不是澳大利亚的首都。C选项明显表述错误。由倒数第二段 “He said he hoped Earth Hour provided a ‘very big visual message’ to politicians that climate change must be addressed quickly.”可知，政治家对气候变化的重视是Ridley的希望，D选项与此不符，均不选。

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