根据以英语作为母语的人数计算，英语可能是世界上第三大语言，但它是世界上最广泛的第二语言。以下是精品学习网为大家整理的高三年级英语二轮复习科普环保类阅读题，希望可以解决您所遇到的相关问题，加油，精品学习网一直陪伴您。

1、阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments -mostly for entertainment purposes - is fair and respectful?

Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals.However, most zoos remain “collections” of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats.Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely, and far from their natural homes.

Zoos claim to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leave zoos without having learned anything meaningful about the animals’ natural behavior, intelligence, or beauty.Zoos keep animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species’ name, diet, and natural range.The animals’ normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don’t usually take care of the animals’ natural needs.

The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise.This results in unusually and self-destructive behavior called zoochosis.A worldwide study of zoos found that zoochosis is common among animals kept in small spaces or cages.Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars, and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain.

Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered.Captive breeding(圈养繁殖) of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and other species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild.Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding programs because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out.In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers.Haven’t we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?

Actually, we will save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them.Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats.

【小题1】How would the author describe the animals’ life in zoos?

A.Dangerous.

B.Unhappy.

C.Natural.

D.Easy.

【小题2】In the state of zoochosis, animals _________.

A.remain in cages

B.behave strangely

C.attack other animals

D.enjoy moving around

【小题3】What does the author try to argue in the passage?

A.Zoos are not worth the public support.

B.Zoos fail in their attempt to save animals.

C.Zoos should treat animals as human beings.

D.Zoos use animals as a means of entertainment.

【小题4】The author tries to persuade readers to accept his argument mainly by _________.

A.pointing out the faults in what zoos do

B.using evidence he has collected at zoos

C.questioning the way animals are protected

D.discussing the advantages of natural habitats

2、You may have never heard of Lanthanum, Cerium or Neodymium, but these elements (元素) and others known as “rare earth” play a major role in modern technology. They can actually be found in many places on the earth, but not in quantities that can be mined. Only a few countries — China, America, India, Australia, Brazil and Malaysia have any that can be mined enough to be traded.

Even though some of these elements such as Cerium are as abundant as Copper, they are not found in concentrated amounts on the earth’s surface. They are often mixed together with other metals, which makes extraction (提取) of these elements an expensive and an environmentally messy process. It was due to this reason that the term “rare earth” was invented.

Rare earth metals are used widely in our life. Rechargeable car batteries, computers, iPhones, DVD players, computer monitors, televisions, lighting, lasers, glass polishing, and superconductors all use quantities of rare earth metals. Also, with the advancement in “green” technology like solar panels, these shiny materials are becoming more important than ever. An average electric car uses 10 pounds of Lanthanum for its rechargeable battery!

America has large deposits (存储量) of rare earths and has one of the first mines. It was opened in Southern California in 1940. The element “Europium” was the first metal to be separated in quantity for use in color televisions. However, in the 1980’s and 1990’s, as China started producing these elements in Inner Mongolia, the mines in America and elsewhere could not keep pace. The mine in Mountain Pass, California also failed environmental regulations and shut down in 2002.

Now, recognizing the importance of having more than one supplier of this important resource, other rare earth owning countries like India and Australia are either dusting off their rare earth mines or speeding up their production. It is believed that the debate over rare earths will become louder in the coming months and years.

【小题1】What can we learn about rare earths?

A.They are actually as abundant as Copper.

B.They can be mined easily as other metals.

C.They can only be found in a few countries.

D.They are not really as rare as they are named.

【小题2】Compared with China, America _____.

A.paid more attention to Europium

B.has larger deposits of rare earths

C.started producing rare earths earlier

D.has more rare earth mines

【小题3】It can be inferred from the text that rare earths _____.

A.are now in great demand

B.can now be used in few fields

C.are harmful to the environment

D.will soon be replaced by other metals

3、Mosquitoes have an extraordinary ability to target humans far away and fly straight to their unprotected skin. Regrettably，mosquitoes can do more than cause an itchy(发痒的)wound. Some mosquitoes spread several serious diseases，including Dengue，yellow fever and  malaria.

Over one million people worldwide die from these diseases each year. New research now   shows how mosquitoes choose who to bite.

Mosquitoes need blood to survive. They are attracted to human skin and breath. They smell the carbon dioxide gas，which all mammals breathe out. This gas is the main way for mosquitoes to know that a warm-blooded creature is nearby.

But mosquitoes also use their eyes and sense of touch. Michael Dickinson is a professor at the California Institute of Technology. His research shows how these small insects，with even smaller brains，use three senses to find a blood meal.

Michael Dickinson’s team used plumes—a material that rises into the air of carbon dioxide gas into a wind tunnel. They then used cameras to record the mosquitoes. The insects followed the plume.

Then，the scientists placed dark objects on the lighter  colored floor and walls of the  tunnel. Mr. Dickinson said，at first，the mosquitoes showed no interest in the objects at all.      “What was quite striking and quite surprising is that the mosquitoes fly back and forth for hours. These are hungry females and they completely ignore the objects on the floor and wall of the tunnel. But the moment they get a hit of CO2，they change their behavior quite obviously and now would become attracted to these little visual blobs (斑点).”

This suggested to the researchers that a mosquito’s sense of smell is more important in the search for food. Once mosquitoes catch a smell of a human  or animal，they also follow  visual signals.

【小题1】What do mosquitoes mainly use to find their targets?

A.Sense of smell. B.Sense of touch.

C.Sense of sight. D.Smart brains.

【小题2】The first response of the mosquitoes to the objects in the experiment is     .

A.to fly to the dark ones

B.to catch and stick to them

C.to take no notice of them

D.to attach themselves to them

【小题3】How can we avoid being attacked by mosquitoes according to the text ?

A.Don’t let them see us.

B.Use dark objects to stop them.

C.Make them fly back and forth for hours.

D.Attract them to objects full of carbon dioxide gas.

【小题4】What can be the best title for the text?

A.How Do Mosquitoes Survive?

B.Why Do Mosquitoes Need Blood?

C.How Do Mosquitoes Choose to Bite You?

D.Why Do Mosquitoes Attack the Human Being?

4、The way we cook is important. In many countries, the two sources of heat used for cooking are natural gas or electric stoves. The World Health Organization(WHO) warns that millions of people are dying every year from indoor air pollution. The WHO finds that poor cooking, heating and lighting technologies are killing millions of people each year.

Indoor air pollution results from the use of dangerous fuels and cook stoves in the home. WHO officials say nearly three billion people are unable to use clean fuels and technologies for cooking, heating and lighting. And they say more than seven million people die from exposure to indoor or outdoor air pollution each year. Of that number, the WHO says about 4.3 million people die from household air pollution given off  by simple biomass(生物燃料)and coal stoves.

These findings show that the home use of poisonous fuels is to blame for many of these deaths. These fuels include wood, coal, animal waste and so on. Carlos Dora is Coordinator in the WHO’ s Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. He says people should not use unprocessed coal and kerosene(煤油)fuel indoors. He says opening a window or door to let out the harmful air will not correct the situation. It will only pollute the outdoors. “New technologies and clean fuels can rid people of this problem.”

The United Nations found that more than 95 percent of families in sub-Saharan Africa depend on solid fuels for cooking. It says huge populations in India, China and Latin American countries, such as Guatemala and Peru, are also at risk.

Nigel Bruce is a professor of Public Health at the University of Liverpool. He says researchers are developing good stoves and other equipment to burn fuels in a more efficient way.“There are already many technologies for clean fuels available now. An effective and reasonably low-cost ethanol(酒精)stove that is made by Dometic (a Sweden-based company)is now being tested out. Another interesting development is electric induction stoves.” In India, you can buy an induction stove for about $8. And in Africa you can buy a solar lamp for less than $1.

【小题1】How is Paragraph 2 mainly developed?

A.By making classifications. B.By listing numbers.

C.By following time order. D.By describing a process.

【小题2】According to Carlos Dora, what is the best solution to indoor air pollution?

A.People should use an effective air cleaner.

B.People should use new technologies and clean fuels.

C.People should open a window or door to let out the harmful air.

D.People should prevent themselves from being exposed to harmful air..

【小题3】What can we learn from the passage?

A.Most of the deaths from indoor pollution are in developing countries.

B.Burning solid fuels can help limit indoor air pollution .

C.People can buy ethanol stoves made by Dometic in India.

D.There are already two technologies for clean fuels available for use.

【小题4】Which would be the best title for the passage?

A.The way we cook is changing.

B.Cause of indoor air pollution.

C.The development of electric stoves.

D.Indoor air pollution kills millions each year.

5、Humans have been keeping animals as pets for tens of thousands of years, but Dr Jean-Loup Rault, an animal scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, believes new companions are coming: robot pets.

“Technology is moving very fast,” Rault told ABC News, “The Tamagotchi in the early 1990s was really the first robotic pet, and now Sony and other big companies have improved them a lot.”

This may not sit well with pet lovers. After all, who would choose a plastic toy over a lovely puppy? But Rault argues that the robotic kind has a lot going for it: “You don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to walk it, it won’t make a mess in your house, and you can go on a holiday without feeling guilty.” The technology also benefits those who are allergic to pets, short on space, or fearful of real animals.

It’s not clear whether robot pets can replace real ones. But studies do suggest that we can bond with these smart machines. People give their cars names and kids give their toy animals life stories. It’s the same with robots. When Sony stopped its repair service for its robot dog Aibo in March 2014, owners in Japan held funerals.

As an animal welfare researcher, Rault is concerned about how robotic pets could affect our attitudes towards live animals. “If we become used to a robotic companion that doesn’t need food, water or exercises, perhaps it will change how humans care about other living beings,” he said.

So are dogs and cats a thing of the past, as Rault predicts? For those who grew up with living and breathing pets, the mechanical kind might not do. But for our next generation who are in constant touch with smart technology, a future in which lovely pets needn’t have a heartbeat might not be a far-fetched dream.

【小题1】What does the underlined phrase “sit well with” means?

A.be refused by B.be beneficial to

C.make a difference to D.receive support from

【小题2】What are the advantages of robot pets?

a. They are plastic and feel smooth.

b. Owners needn’t worry about them when going out.

c. They can help cure allergies(过敏).

d. They save space and costs.

A.ab B.bc C.bd D.cd

【小题3】We can learn from the passage that___________.

A.Sony is the first company to produce robot pets Aibo.

B.People can develop strong bond(联系、关系) with their robot pets.

C.Rault thinks robot pets still have a long way to go.

D.Robot toys may help people care more about living beings.

【小题4】The passage mainly tells us___________.

A.the advantages of robot toys

B.the popularity of robot pets

C.living pets are dying out

D.robot pets are coming

6、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 equipment 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 changes—days as warm as 31℃ commonly drop to 14℃ at night. “You couldn’t do this in New York, with its hot summers and 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.

【小题2】What does “it” refer to in Paragraph 3?

A.Hollow space.

B.Baseboard vent.

C.Fresh air from outside.

D.Heat in the building.

【小题3】Why would a building like Eastgate Not work efficiently in New York?

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.

【小题4】The data in the last paragraph suggests Eastgate’s temperature control system_____.

A.works better in hot seasons

B.can recycle up to 30% of the air

C.functions well for most of the year

D.allows a wide range of temperatures

7、Many gardeners believe that “talking” to their plants helps them grow---it turns out that they may not be crazy after all. According to the scientists from the University of Exeter, plants may keep communicating with each other through a secret “unseen” language.

For their experiment, the scientists picked a cabbage plant that is known to send out a gas when its surface is cut. In order to get video evidence of the communication, they changed the cabbage gene by adding the protein---luciderase(虫荧光素酶), which is what makes fireflies(萤火虫) glow in the dark.

When the changed cabbage plant was in full bloom, they cut a leaf off with a pair of scissors, and almost immediately, thanks to the luciderase, they could see the plant sending out “methyl jasmonate(茉莉酸甲酯)”.

While this was a known fact, what was surprising was the fact that the minute this gas began to give out, the nearby cabbage plants seemed to sense some kind of danger and started to send out a gas that they normally have to keep predators(捕食者) like caterpillars(毛虫) away.

What the scientists are not sure is whether the plants are trying to warn the other leaves or the near plants about the danger---something that will require further research However, the team, which is led by Professor Nick Smirnoff, is quite excited about the findings because this is the first time it has been proved that plants do not live a passive life, but actually move, sense and even communicate with each other.

However, before you get all concerned, they are quite sure that plants do not feel the pain when they are cut, since they do not have nerves---so go ahead and bite into that juicy carrot!

【小题1】What’s the best title of the passage?

A. Plants Can Send Some Gas

B. Plants Can Communicate with Each Other

C. The “Unseen” Language of Plants

D. Plants Can’t Feel Pain

【小题2】What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. Gardeners B. Plants

C. Scientists D. Fireflies

【小题3】When the plant sent out methyl jasmonate, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A. The nearby cabbage plants seemed to sense some kind of danger.

B. The nearby cabbage plants started to send out a gas.

C. The nearby cabbage plants tried to warn the near plants.

D. The nearby cabbage plants communicated through a secret language.

【小题4】According to the experiment, plants ________________.

A. don’t live a passive life

B. can feel pain when they are cut

C. can warn the other leaves about danger

D. can talk with each other

8、Technological change is everywhere and affects every aspect of life, mostly for the better. However, social changes are brought about by new technology are often mistaken for a change in attitudes.

An example at hand is the involvement of parents in the lives of their children who are attending college. Surveys (调查) on this topic suggests that parents today continue to be “very” or “somewhat” overly-protective even after their children move into college dormitories. The same surveys also indicate that the rate of parental involvement is greater today than it was a generation ago. This is usually interpreted as a sign that today’s parents are trying to manage their children’s lives past the point where this behavior is appropriate.

However, greater parental involvement does not necessarily indicate that parents are failing to let go of their “adult” children.

In the context (背景) of this discussion, it seems valuable to first find out the cause of change in the case of parents’ involvement with their grown children. If parents of earlier generations had wanted to be in touch with their college-age children frequently, would this have been possible?

Probably not. On the other hand, does the possibility of frequent communication today mean that the urge to do so wasn’t present a generation ago? Many studies show that older parents—today’s grandparents—would have called their children more often if the means and cost of doing so had not been a barrier.

Furthermore, studies show that finances are the most frequent subject of communication between parents and their college children. The fact that college students are financially dependent on their parents is nothing new; nor are requests for more money to be sent from home. This phenomenon is neither good nor bad; it is a fact of college life, today and in the past.

Thanks to the advanced technology, we live in an age of bettered communication. This has many implications well beyond the role that parents seem to play in the lives of their children who have left for college. But it is useful to bear in mind that all such changes come from the technology and not some imagined desire by parents to keep their children under their wings.

【小题1】The surveys inform us of______.

A.the development of technology

B.the changes of adult children’s behavior

C.the parents’ over-protection of their college children

D.the means and expenses of students’ communication

【小题2】 The writer believes that__________.

A.parents today are more protective than those in the past

B.the disadvantages of new technology outweigh its advantages

C.technology explains greater involvement with their children

D.parents’ changed attitudes lead to college children’s delayed independence

【小题3】What is the best title for the passage?

A.Technology or Attitude

B.Dependence or Independence

C.Family Influences or Social Changes

D.College Management or Communication Advancement

【小题4】Which of the following shows the development of ideas in this passage?

9、Strawberry (草莓) fields dotted with hunched-over workers picking and packaging, then pushing the delicate red fruit to waiting trucks — it is a typical winter scene embedded in the patchwork of homes and farms that make up eastern Hillsborough County.

That scene is changing, though, as the labor pool shrinks and technology comes knocking. Wish Farms owner Gary Wishnatzki and his engineer partner Bob Pitzer are banking on technology.

As strawberry season wrapped up in February, their driverless strawberry-picking machine drove into the fields for some test runs. The results were impressive and enlightening(有启迪作用的), Wishnatzki said.

For some three years now, farmers have been forced to abandon millions of dollars worth of strawberries in fields, mostly in Hillsborough and Manatee counties, because they lacked laborers, industry experts say. The problem has been just as serious in California, Arizona and other farm communities.

The reasons for the shrinking worker pool are numerous. Migrant(移民)workers who have picked the fields for years are aging. Young adults in migrant families already in the United States are getting better educations and have more choices these days, including the construction industry, which again is on the upswing. Stricter security is allowing fewer undocumented workers to cross the border from Mexico. And Mexicans are having much smaller families now  — just over two children per family, compared with 7.3 per family in 1960, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report released in 2012.

And since Mexico’s economy bounced back faster than that of the U.S., more Mexicans have been able to find work closer to home, according to the study.

“We came up with a concept we perceive as a necessity,” Wishnatzki said. “The labor pool has been shrinking for over 10 years now. It has been pretty harmful.” So in 2012, he and Pitzer formed their partnership, Harvest CROO Robotics, to develop a mechanical picker.

The Harvest CROO design has multiple picking heads that will move across a field, picking 25 acres over a three-day period, the typical time for picking fruit as it ripens. It has a “vision system” to distinguish between red and green strawberries and is able to get under the leaves to find and pick the ripe berries.

Picking strawberries is nothing like using a combine on a corn field, coming through and thrashing down the plants. Strawberries are delicate and ripen in various intervals, which Harvest CROO is taking into account in developing its machine.

A strawberry-picking machine will never completely replace the need for human labor in the fields, Wishnatzki said, but if the machines can supplement(补充)labor enough to keep the industry profitable, he and Pitzer will have met their goal.

【小题1】Which of the following describes the typical winter scene of eastern Hillsborough County?

A.Farmers work hard on a corn field.

B.Workers pick and package strawberries.

C.Scientists test machines in strawberry fields.

D.Farmers operate strawberry-picking machines.