高考英语阅读理解灾难篇

1. 2021年高考英语全国卷 - 阅读理解C

When the explorers first set foot upon the continent of North America, the skies and lands were alive with an astonishing variety of wildlife. Native Americans had taken care of these precious natural resources wisely. Unfortunately, it took the explorers and the settlers who followed only a few decades to decimate a large part of these resources. Millions of waterfowl were killed at the hands of market hunters and a handful of overly ambitious sportsmen. Millions of acres of wetlands were dried to feed and house the ever-increasing populations, greatly recing waterfowl habitat.
当探险家们第一次踏上北美洲大陆时，天空和大地上到处都是各种各样的野生动物，美洲土著人智慧地保护了这些宝贵的自然资源。然而仅仅几十年，探险家和定居者们就夺走了这些资源中的大部分。数百万只水鸟在市场猎人和一些野心勃勃的运动员手中被杀。上百万英亩，用于喂养和容纳不断增加的水禽种群的湿地干涸，水禽栖息地大大减少。

In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from Des Moines, Iowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources.
1934年，随着《候鸟狩猎邮票法案》的通过，越来越受到关注的国家采取了坚定的行动，制止对候鸟水禽以及对它们的生存至关重要的湿地的破坏。根据该法案，所有16岁及以上的水禽猎手每年都必须购买并携带联邦鸭票。第一张联邦鸭票是由J.N.“丁”达林设计的，他是爱荷华州得梅因的一位政治漫画家，当时被富兰克林·罗斯福总统任命为生物调查局局长。猎人愿意购买鸭票，可以确保我们自然资源的生存。

About 98 percent of every ck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934, better than half a billion dollars has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated.
每一张鸭票的98%直接进入候鸟保护基金，用于购买湿地和野生动物栖息地，纳入国家野生动物保护区系统——确保这片土地得到保护，提供给子孙后代。自1934年以来，已有超过5亿美元的资金投入该基金，用于购买超过500万英亩的栖息地。难怪联邦鸭票计划被称为有史以来最成功的保护计划之一。

2. 2018年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解C

Plastic-Eating Worms
吃塑料的蠕虫

Humans proce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. Almost half of that winds up in landfills， and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms.
人类每年生产超过3亿吨塑料，其中几乎一半被作为垃圾填埋， 多达1200万吨污染海洋。目前还没有有效的方法来消除它，但一项新的研究表明，答案可能在于一些饥饿蠕虫的胃。

Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics. The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms' chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste and applied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass--apparently broken down by enzymes from the worms' stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017.
西班牙和英国的研究人员最近发现，大蜡螟的蠕虫可以分解聚乙烯，聚乙烯占塑料的40%。研究小组将100只蜡虫蠕虫放在一个商用聚乙烯购物袋中12小时，这些蠕虫消耗并分解了约92毫克，约占总量的3%。为了证实蠕虫的咀嚼并不是聚乙烯分解的原因，研究人员将一些蠕虫制成糊状物并将其放置于塑料薄膜。14小时后，这些胶片失去了13%的质量——显然被蠕虫胃里的酶分解了。他们的发现发表在2017年的《当代生物学》上。

Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the study, says the worms' ability to break down their everyday food-beeswax--also allows them to break down plastic. "Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well, "she explains. "The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond. "
这项研究的合著者费德丽卡·贝尔托基尼说，蠕虫分解日常食物——蜂蜡的能力，也可以让它们分解塑料。“蜡是一种复杂的混合物，但聚乙烯中的基本键——碳碳键——也存在，”她解释道，“蜡虫进化出一种方法或系统来破坏这种键。”

Jennifer Debruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme proced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes?
田纳西大学的微生物学家詹妮弗·德布鲁恩没有参与这项研究，她说，这种蠕虫可以破坏聚乙烯，这并不奇怪。但与之前的研究相比，她发现这次研究的分解速度令人兴奋。德布鲁恩说，下一步将是确定分解原因。这种酶是由蠕虫自身产生还是肠道微生物产生？

Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team’s findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of instrial process-not simply "millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic.”
贝尔托基尼对此表示同意，并希望她的研究小组的发现有朝一日能利用这种酶在垃圾填埋场分解塑料。但她希望在某种工业过程中使用这种化学物质，而不仅仅是将“数百万只蠕虫扔在塑料上”。

3. 2018年高考英语全国卷2 - 阅读理解B

Many of us love July because it’s the month when nature’s berries and stone fruits are in abundance. These colourful and sweet jewels form British Columbia’s fields are little powerhouses of nutritional protection.
我们中的许多人喜欢七月，因做吵为它是大辩早自然的浆果和核果丰收的月份。这些来自不列颠哥伦比亚省田野，五颜六色、甘甜的宝石是营养保护的小小动力。

Of the common berries, strawberries are highest in vitamin C, although, because of their seeds, raspberries contain a little more protein, iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein). Blueberries are particularly high in antioxidants. The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants. As for cherries, they are so delicious who cares? However, they are rich in vitamin C.
在普通浆果中，草莓的维生素C含量最高，尽管是由于种子的 原因，覆盆子含有更多的蛋白质, 铁和锌（水果中不含太多蛋白质）。蓝莓的抗氧化剂含量特别高。 黄色和橙色的核果，如桃子，富含类胡萝卜素，我们可以将其转化为维生素A，这是一种抗氧化剂。至于樱桃, 它们太好吃了，谁会在乎营养价值呢？不过，它们富含维生素C。

When combined with berries or slices of other fruits, frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick, cooling fruit shakes and low fat “ice cream”. For this purpose, select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter. Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze. If you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on the bananas will prevent them turning brown. Frozen bananas will last several weeks, depending on their ripeness and the temperature of the freezer.
当和浆果或其他水果片混纯灶侍合时，冷冻香蕉是制作浓稠冰凉的水果奶昔和低脂“冰淇淋”的最佳基础配料。为此，选择熟的香蕉冷冻，这样更甜。去皮，将其放入塑料袋或容器中冷冻。如果你愿意，在香蕉上洒一点新鲜柠檬汁可以防止香蕉变成棕色。冷冻香蕉可以保存几个星期，这取决于它们的成熟度和冰箱的温度。

If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a “soft-serve” creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children’s party; they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below.
如果你有榨汁机，你可以简单地加入冷冻香蕉和一些浆果或切片水果。松软的奶油甜点完成，可以立即食用。这对于儿童聚会来说是一项有趣的活动；他们喜欢把水果和冷冻香蕉放进机器的顶部，观察下面挤出的冰淇淋。

4. 高考英语阅读理解训练题及参考答案

高考英语阅读理解【1】

Blondin was a very famous acrobat(杂技师) in the 19th century. He used to walk on a tight--rope across the Niagara Falls(瀑布). On September 8th, 1860, a crowd of about 300,000 people gathered at Niagara to watch Blondin carry a man across! Three men had offered to go with him, but they falled to appear, so Blondin asked his manager, Mr. Colcord, to climb on his back, Colcord agreed to go this so as not to disappoint the crowd, but he was terrified. The crossing was very difficult because Colcord was heavier than Blondin thought. After he had gone a short way, Blondin had to stop in order to rest. He asked Colcord to get down. At first Colcord refused, but at last he had to. He clung to (紧紧握住) Blondin’s leg and the rope in order not to fall, Blondin had to stop six times ring the crossing so as to rest. Sometimes the rope swung(荡，摆动) as much as 40 feet! At last both men crossed safely. The crowd sighed with relief(松一口气) and so did poor Mr. Colcord.

1. How did Blondin walk across Niagara Falls on September 8th , 1860?

A. On a tight—rope with his manager on his back.

B. On a tight—rope by himself.

C. On a tight—rope with three men on his back.

D. On a tight—rope with one of his helpers on his back.

2. Why do you think the three men did not appear?

A. They couldn’t walk on tight-rope. B. They did not dare to take the risk.

C. They were ill. D. They had met with an accident.

3. Mr. Colcord agreed to act with Blondin because he .

A. was brave

B. was Blondin’s true friend

C. did not want to disappoint the 300,000 people

D. was Blondin’s manager

4. Blondin stopped six times ring the crossing .

A. in order to help Colcord

B. in order to get his strength back

C. because Colcord clung to his leg and the rope

D. because Colcord was heavier than him

5. Blondin’s nationality was .

A. American B. Canadian

C. Englishman D. not mentioned in the passage

高考英语阅读理解【2】

One day last November, Tom Baker stopped out of his house into the morning light and headed across the rice fields toward the bank of the Rapti River. Tom, a 32-year-old school teacher in the farming village of Madanpur, was going for his morning bath.

As he approached(走近) the river, the head of a tiger(老虎) suddenly appeared over the edge of the river bank. Before he could turn to run, the tiger was upon him. It jumped on his shoulder and threw him to the ground, its huge jaws attacked his head in a killing bite.

Peter Smith was also on his way to the river and saw the attack. He screamed. The tiger lifted its head and roared(吼叫) at him. Peter ran.

From the window of his house John Brown heard the tiger roar and ran out to see it attacking a man. He screamed, too, and all the villagers ran out shouting as the tiger dropped its victim(牺牲品) and ran off. When the villagers reached the river bank, Tom was already dead.

For the villagers, the horror of the incident intensified(加剧) by the tales of man-eating tigers that has once run around in the countryside, killing hundreds.

1. How many people saw the tiger before it was driven off?

A One person. B. Two persons. C. Three persons. D. Four persons.

2. What was the victim’s professional job?

A. A hunter. B. A teacher. C. A farmer. D. A manager.

3. The reason why the tiger attacked the man was .

A. it was hungry B. it was angry

C. it was frightened by the man D. not mentioned in the passage

5. 2022年高考英语全国甲卷 - 阅读理解C

As Ginni Bazlinton reached Antarctica, she found herself greeted by a group of little Gentoo penguins longing to say hello. These gentle, lovely gatekeepers welcomed her and kick-started what was to be a trip Ginni would never forget.
吉妮·巴兹林顿到达南极洲时，一群渴望问好的小巴布亚企鹅向她打招呼。这些温柔可爱的看门人欢迎她，开始了一段吉妮永远难忘的旅程。

Ever since her childhood, Ginni, now 71, has had a deep love for travel. Throughout her career as a professional dancer, she toured in the UK, but always longed to explore further. When she retired from dancing and her sons eventually flew the nest, she decided it was time to take the plunge.
现年71岁的吉妮从小就热爱旅行。在她的职业舞蹈生涯中，曾在英国巡回演出，一直渴望继续探险。当她从舞蹈中退休，儿子们最终各自成家立业后，决定是时候冒险了。

After taking a degree at Chichester University in Related Arts, Ginni began to travel the world, eventually getting work teaching English in Japan and Chile. And it was in Chile she discovered she could get last-minute cheap deals on ships going to Antarctica from the islands off Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the South American mainland. "I just decided wanted to go," she says. "I had no idea about what I'd find there and I wasn't nervous, I just wanted to do it. And I wanted to do it alone as I always prefer it that way."
在奇切斯特大学获得相关艺术学位后，吉妮开始周游世界，最终在日本和智利找到了教英语的工作。她发现，在智利，她可以在最后一刻买到从南美大陆最南端火地岛出发前往南极洲的便宜船票。“我只是想去，”她说，“我不知道在那里会发现什么，我也不紧张，我只是想去。我想一个人去，因为我总是喜欢这样。”

In March 2008, Ginni boarded a ship with 48 passengers she'd never met before, to begin the journey towards Antarctica. "From seeing the wildlife to witnessing sunrises, the whole experience was amazing. Antarctica left an impression on me that no other place has," Ginni says. "I remember the first time I saw a humpback whale; it just rose out of the water like some prehistoric creature and I thought it was smiling at us. You could still hear the operatic sounds it was making underwater."
2008年3月，吉妮登上一艘载有48名乘客的船，开启了她从未经历的南极洲之旅。“从看野生动物到看日出，整个过程令人惊叹。南极洲给我留下了独一无二的印象，”吉妮说，“我记得我第一次看到座头鲸时，它就像史前生物一样从水中浮出水面，我认为它在向我们微笑。你还可以听见它在水下发出的歌剧般的声音。”

The realization that this is a precious land, to be respected by humans, was one of the biggest things that hit home to Ginni.
认识到这是一块宝贵的土地，应该受到人类的尊重，这就是对吉妮来说最重要的事情之一。

6. 2017年高考英语北京卷 - 阅读理解C

Measles, which once killed 450 children each year and disabled even more,was nearly wiped out in the United States 14 years ago by the universal use ofthe MMR vaccine. But thedisease is making a comeback, caused by a growing anti-vaccine movement andmisinformation that is spreading quickly. Already this year, 115 measles caseshave been reported in the USA, compared with 189 for all of last year.
麻疹, 曾一度每年导致450名儿童死亡，甚至更多的儿童致残，14年前由于MMR疫苗的普遍使用，在美国几乎被消灭。不过这种疾病正在卷土重来，这是因为不断增长的反疫苗运动和迅速传播的错误信息造成的。今年美国已经报告了115例麻疹病例，而去年全年为189例。

The numbers might sound small, but they are the leading edge of a dangerous trend. When vaccination rates are very high, as they still are in the nation as a whole, everyone is protected. This is called “herd immunity”, which protects the people who get hurt easily, including those who can’t be vaccinated for medical reasons, babies too young to get vaccinated and people on whom the vaccine doesn’t work.
数字听起来可能很小，但它们代表一种危险趋势。当全国范围内作为一个整体疫苗接种率很高时，每个人才会受到保护。这就是所谓的“群体免疫”，保护那些易受感染的人，包括那些因医疗原因不能接种疫苗的人，年龄太橘州小不能接种疫苗的婴儿，以及那些疫苗不起作用的人。

But herd immunity works only when nearly the whole herd joins in. When some refuse vaccination and seek a free ride, immunity breaks down and everyone is in even bigger danger.
但群体免疫只有在几乎整个群体都加入时才起作用。当一些人拒绝接种疫苗并寻求自由乘车时，群体免疫就会崩溃，每个人都会圆告蔽面临更大的风险。

That’s exactly what is happening in small neighborhoods around the country from Orange County, California, where 22 measles cases were reported this month, to Brooklyn, N.Y., where a 17-year-old caused an outbreak last year.
从本月报告了22例麻疹病例的加利福尼亚州奥兰治县到去年一名17岁青年引发了一场麻疹友宏疫情的纽约州布鲁克林，全国各地的小社区都是如此。

The resistance to vaccine has continued for decades, and it is driven by a real but very small risk. Those who refuse to take that risk selfishly make others suffer.
对疫苗的反对已经持续了几十年，因为存在真实但非常小的风险。那些拒绝冒险的人让别人承受痛苦，非常自私。

Making things worse are state laws that make it too easy to opt out of what are supposed to be required vaccines for all children entering kindergarten. Seventeen states allow parents to get an exemption, sometimes just by signing apaper saying they personally object to a vaccine.
更糟糕的是，州法律使得所有进入幼儿园的儿童放弃接种疫苗很容易。17个州允许父母选择放弃, 有时候，只需要签署一份声明，说他们个人反对疫苗。

Now, several states are moving to tighten laws by adding new regulations for opting out. But no one does enough to limit exemptions.
现在，有几个州正在加强法律，为退出接种增加新的规定。但没有人采取措施来限制放弃接种。

Parents ought to be able to opt out only for limited medical or religious reasons. But personal opinions? Not good enough. Everyone enjoys the life-saving benefits vaccines provide, but they’ll exist only as long as everyone shares in the risks.
父母应该只能因为有限的医疗或宗教原因选择放弃。但是个人意见呢？还不够充分。每个人都享受疫苗提供的拯救生命的好处，但只要每个人都分担风险，疫苗才会存在。