阅读理解。 Three years ago, five parrots were set free in a wild place of Arizona
题型：湖北省高考真题难度：来源：
Islands in Jersey. They had been looked after by zookeepers. No evolutionary strategies informed them how
to behave in this new Landscape of mountainous pine forest unoccupied by their king for 50 years. To the
researchers" surprise, they failed to make contact with a group of wild parrots imported from Mexico and set
free at the same time. Within 24 hours the reintroducing ended in failure, and the poor birds were back in cages,
on their way to the safety of the Arizona reintroduction programme.
Ever since then, the programme has enjoyed great success, mainly because the birds now being set free are
Mexican birds illegally caught in the wild, confiscated (没收) on arrival north of the border, and raised by their
parents in the safety of the programme. The experience shows how little we know about the behaviour and
psychology (心理) of parrots, as Peter Bennett, a bird researcher, points out:"Reintroducing species of high
intelligence like parrots is a lot more difficult. People like parrots, always treating them as nothing more than
peers or valuable "collectables"."
Now that many species of parrot are in immediate danger of dying out, biologists are working together to
study the natural history and the behaviour of this family of birds. Last year was an important turning point:
conservationists founded the World Parrot Trust, based at Hayle in Cornwall, to support research into both
wild and caged birds.
Research on parrots is vital for two reasons. Forest, as the Arizona programme showed, when reintroducing
parrots to the wild, we need to be aware of what the birds must know if they are to survive in their natural
home. We also need to learn more about the needs of parrots kept as pets, particularly as the Trust"s campaign
does not attempt to discourage the practice, but rather urges people who buy parrots as pets to choose birds
raised by humans.
B. It used to be home to parrots of their kind.
C. It is close to where they had been kept.
D. Pine trees were planted to attract birds.
A. can find their way back home in Jersey
B. are unable to recognize their parents
C. are unable to adapt to the wild
D. can produce a new species
B. We need to knows more about how to preserve parrots.
C. Many people are interested in collecting parrots.
D. Parrots" intelligence may someday benefit people.
B to set up comfortable homes for parrots
C. not to keep wild parrots as pets
D. not to let more parrots go to the wild
答案
举一反三
would take to design a public school that used 50 percent less energy, cost much less to build and obviously
improved student learning. "I think half of then fell off their chairs," Gerner says.
Gerner manages school facilities (设施) for Clark county, Nevada, a district roughly the size of
Massachusetts. By 2018, 143, 000 additional students will enter the already crowded public-education system.
Gerner needs 73 new schools to house them. Four architecture teams have nearly finished designing primary
school prototypes (样品); They plan to construct their schools starting in 2009. The district will then assess
how well the schools perform, and three winners will copy those designs in 50 to 70 new buildings.
Green schools are appearing all over, but in Clark County, which stands out for its vastness, such
aggressive targets are difficult because design requirements like more natural light for students go against the
realities of a desert climate. "One of the biggest challenges is getting the right site orientation (朝向)," Mark
McGinty, a director at SH Architecture, says. His firm recently completed a high school in Las Vegas. "You
have the same building, same set of windows, but if its orientation is incorrect and it faces the sun, it will be
really expensive to cool."
Surprisingly, the man responsible for one of re most progressive green-design competitions has doubts
about ideas of eco-friendly buildings. "I don"t believe in the new green religion," Gerner says. "Some of the
building technologies that you get are impractical. I"m interested in those that work." But he wouldn"t mind
if some green features inspire students. He says he hopes to set up green energy systems that allow them to
learn about the process of harvesting wind and solar power." "You never know what"s going to start the
interest of a child to study math and science," he says.
B. they showed strong disbelief.
C. they expressed little interest.
D. they burst into cheers.
B. Assessment－Design－Prototype－Construction.
C. Design－Assessment－Prototype－Construction.
D. Design－Prototype－Assessment－Construction.
B. Limited facilities.
C. The desert climate.
D. Poor natural resources.
B. They are out of date.
C. They are advanced.
D. They are practical.
注意：每空不超过3个单词。
two aspects of fashion-"ecological" and "ethical" (伦理的). Ecological fashion usually refers to textile (织
物) and clothing production processes and the environmental issues (议题) surrounding them; ethical
fashion generally relates to the working conditions involved in the producing processes.
What are the problems with fashion? Firstly, the production of textiles pollutes the environment heavily.
Cotton-planting uses pesticides; sheep-farming and wool-cleaning contribute to global warming; synthetics-
making (人造纤维生产) brings about harmful waste. Secondly, every stage of clothing production has a
significant effect on the environment. They all use a great deal of energy, and some also involve harmful
chemicals. In addition to this, there is a lot of waste produced in the process, especially in the form of
polluted water. Thirdly, growing consumption levels and our shopping habits further worsen the bad effects.
We are now buying clothes in increasing quantities without realizing the scale on which it affects natural
environment, and we are also quick to throw away clothes that have been worn only a couple of times.
Then, how to solve the problems? To a large degree, it is the fashion producers that really have the power
and the responsibility to shape our future. There are numerous ways in which these producers can reduce
their ecological footprint, from switching to green energy and reducing energy use, through selecting
sustainable (可持续使用的) materials and choosing local suppliers, to recycle and minimize waste. On the
other hand, as consumers we can all make contributions by selecting environmentally friendly clothing and
reducing clothing consumption.
Now many people are beginning to shop for organic food products because the benefits of eating food
free of chemicals are straightforward and immediate. They relate directly to our personal health. In fact,
choosing eco-fashion can also contribute to our personal health, though it is mostly done by way of keeping
the health of the planet.
for the city council (市议会).
Recently, Edinburgh is faced with the problem of disposing of (处理) about 250,000 million tons of waste
a year. Despite different ways to dispose of much of it in a green manner-largely through encouraging recycling-
its aging facilities such as the Powderhall landfill do not have the ability to deal with it.
The European Union (EU) has issued a new policy, regulating how such mountains of waste are to be
disposed of. The five councils (Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian, Midlothian and Borders) face fines
around ￡18 million a year from 2013 if they don"t increase recycling levels and rely less on landfill. With this
in mind, the councils got together with the idea of building a large incinerator plant (垃圾焚烧厂) to burn half
of the waste produced in their districts. But this plan fell apart after the change of target levels by a new UK
government waste policy which required that no more than 25% of the city"s waste should be disposed of in
this way by 2025.
After the plan was abandoned, a private company which already transported millions of tons of the city"s
waste by train to a landfill site near Dunbar, offered an alternative solution when it suggested opening a huge
waste site near Portobello.
Since Powderhall is supposed to close in 2015, it seemed necessary for the members of the Edinburgh
Council to accept the suggestion. But soon they turned it down-after 700 local objections reached them-because
it would have meant hundreds of lorries a day making loud noise through heavily populated areas.
That still leaves the council with a problem. By 2013, only 50% of 1995 levels of waste will be allowed to
be sent to landfill. Even if recycling targets are met, there will still be a large amount of rubbish to be burnt up.
Due to this, Edinburgh and Midlothian councils have now decided to work together to build an incinerator plant
as time to find a solution is fast running out.
B. restoring
C. burying
D. burning
B. meet the EU requirements
C. speed up waste recycling
D. replace landfill sites
_____.
B. the council was not interested in it
C. it was not supported by EU
D. the local people were against it
B. To close the Powderhall landfill in 2015.
C. To set up a plan for burning waste.
D. To persuade people to deduce their waste.
 | According to the US government, wind farms off the Pacific coast could produce 900 gig watts of electricity every year. Unfortunately, the water there is far too deep for even the tallest windmills (see picture) to touch bottom. An experiment under way off the coast of Norway, however, could help put them anywhere. |
| 完形填空。 | |
| There are times when people are so tired that they fall asleep almost anywhere. We can see there is a lot of sleeping on the bus or train on the 1 home from work in the evenings. A man will be 2 the newspaper, and seconds later it 3 as if he is trying to 4 it. Or he will fall asleep on the shoulder of the stranger 5 next to him. 6 place where unplanned short sleep 7 is in the lecture hall where a student will start snoring (打鼾) so 8 that the professor has to ask another student to 9 the sleeper awake. A more embarrassing (尴尬) situation occurs when a student starts falling into sleep and the 10 of the head pushes the arm off the 11 , and the movement carries the 12 of the body along. The student wakes up on the floor with no 13 of getting there. The worst time to fall asleep is when 14 . Police reports are full of 15 that occur when people fall into sleep and go 16 the road. If the drivers are 17 , they are not seriously hurt. One woman"s car, 18 , went into the river. She woke up in four feet of 19 and thought it was raining. When people are really 20 , nothing will stop them from falling asleep-no matter where they are. | |