A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely dipping below l6℃.Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate.Without the forest cover,these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere,warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns,potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.

    In the past hundred years,humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources(资源): land for crops,wood for paper and other products,land for raising farm animals.This action affects the environment as a whole.For example,a lot of carbon dioxide(二氧化碳) in the air comes from burning the rainforests.People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.

    There are two main reasons for this.Firstly,when people cut down trees,generally they can only use the land for a year or two.Secondly,cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now,but in the long run it actually reduces the world’s wood supply.

    Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store.More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests.However,fewer than l%of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value.It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.

Rainforests can help to adjust the climate because they                

  A.reflect more heat into the atmosphere

  B.bring about high rainfall throughout the world

  C.rarely cause the temperature to drop lower than l6℃

  D.reduce the effect of heat from the sun on the earth

What does the word “this” underlined in the third paragraph refer to? 

  A.We will lose much more than we can gain.

  B.Humans have begun destroying rainforests.

  C.People have a strong desire for resources.

  D.Much carbon dioxide comes from burning rainforests.

It can be inferred from the text that      

  A.we can get enough resources without rainforests

  B.there is great medicine potential in rainforests

  C.we will grow fewer kinds of crops in the gained land

  D.the level of annual rainfall affects wind patterns

What might be the best title for the text? 

   A.How to Save Rainforests                B.How to Protect Nature

   C.Rainforests and the Environment        D.Rainforests and Medical Development

   At a certain time in our lives we consider every place as the possible sites(地点) for a house. I have thus searched the country within a dozen miles of where I live. In imagination I have bought all the farms, one after another, and I knew their prices.

   The nearest thing that I came to actual ownership was when I bought the Hollowell place. But before the owner completed the sale with me, his wife changed her mind and wished to keep it, and he offered me additional dollars to return the farm to him. However, I let him keep the additional dollars and sold him the farm for just what I gave for it.

   The real attractiong of the Hollowell farm to me were its position, being about two miles from the village, half a mile from the nearest neighbor, bounded(相邻) on one side by the river, and separated from the highway by a wide field. The poor condition fo the house and fences showed that it hadn’t been used for some time. I remembered from my earliest trip up the river that the house used to be hidden behind a forest area, and I was in a hurry to buy it before the owner finished getting out some rocks, cutting down the apples trees, and clearing away some young trees which had grown up in the fields. I wanted to buy it before he made any more of his improvements. But it turned out as I have said.

   I was not really troubled by the loss. I had always had a garden, but I don’t thing I was ready for a large farm. I believe that as long as possible it is better to live free and uncommitted (无牵挂的). It makes but little difference whether you own a farm or not.

What do we know about the author?

   A. He wanted to buy the oldest farm near where he lived.

   B. He made a study of many farms before buying.

   C. He made money by buying and selling farms.

   D. He had the money to buy the best farm in the country.

Why did the author decide to buy the Hollowell place?

   A. It was of good market value.

   B. It was next to the highway.

   C. It was in a good position.

   D. It was behind a nice garden.

Why did the author want to buy the farm in a hurry?

   A. He was afraid the owner might changes his mind.

   B. He hoped to enlarge the forest on the farm.

   C. He wanted to keep the farm as it was.

   D. He was eager to become a farm owner.

The underlined words “the loss” in the last paragraph refer to ___.

A. the money the author lost in buying the farm

B. the sale of the garden in the Hollowell place

C. the removal of the trees around the house

D. the failure to possess the Hollowell place

What does the author believe as important in life?

A. To own a farm                    B. To satisfy his needs

C. To be free from worries             D. To live in the countryside

The African elephant, the largest land animal remaining on earth, is of great importance to African ecosystem(生态系统). Unlike other animals, the African elephant is to a great extent the builder of its environment. As a big plant-eater, it largely shapes the forest-and-savanna(大草原) surroundings in which it lives, therefore setting the terms of existence for millions of other animals that live in its habitat.
It is the elephant’s great desire for food that makes it a disturber of the environment and an important builder of its habitat. In its continuous search for the 300 pounds of plants it must have every day, it kills small trees and under-bushes, and pulls branches off big trees. This results in numerous open spaces in both deep tropical forests and in the woodlands that cover part of the African savannas. In these open spaces are numerous plants in various stages of growth that attract a variety of other plant-eaters.
Take the rain forests for example. In their natural state, the spreading branches overhead shut out sunlight and prevent the growth of plants on the forest floor. By pulling down trees and eating plants, elephants make open spaces, allowing new plants to grow on the forest floor. In such situations, the forests become suitable for large hoofed plant-eaters to move around and for small plant-eaters to get their food as well.
What worries scientists now is that the African elephant has become an endangered species. If the elephant disappears, scientists say, many other animals will also disappear from vast areas of forest and savanna, greatly changing and worsening the whole ecosystem.
【小题1】What does the underlined phrase “setting the terms” most probably mean?

A.Improving the quality.
B.Deciding the conditions.
C.Fixing the time.
D.Worsening the state.
【小题2】The passage is developed mainly by_________.
A.giving examples
B.showing the effect and then explaining the causes
C.pointing out similarities and differences
D.describing the changes in space order
【小题3】What is the passage mainly about?
A.Forests and savannas as habitats for African elephants.
B.The eating habit of African elephants.
C.Disappearance of African elephants
D.The effect of African elephants’ search for food
【小题4】What do we know about the open spaces in the passage?
A.They are home to many endangered animals.
B.They are attractive to plant-eating animals of different kinds.
C.They result from the destruction of rain forests.
D.They provide food mainly for African elephants.

Along the river banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the stomach of a cow and has claws (爪) on its wings when young. They build their homes about 4.6m above the river, an important feature (特征) for the safety of the young. It is called the hoatzin.
In appearance, the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside. The head is small, with a large set of feathers on the top, bright red eyes, and blue skin. Its nearest relatives are the common birds, cuckoos. Its most striking feature, though, is only found in the young.
Baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip. Using these four claws, together with the beak (喙), they can climb about in the bushes, looking very much like primitive birds must have done. When the young hoatzins have learned to fly, they lose their claws.
During the drier months between December and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in April, when the rainy season begins, they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.
【小题1】What is the text mainly about?

A.Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons.
B.The relatives and enemies of hoatzins.
C.Primitive birds and hoatzins of the Amazon.
D.The appearance and living habits of hoatzins.
【小题2】Young hoatzins are different from their parents in that_________ .
A.they look like young cuckoos
B.they have claws on the wings
C.they eat a lot like a cow
D.they live on river banks
【小题3】What can we infer about primitive birds from the text?
A.They had claws to help them climb.
B.They could fly long distances.
C.They had four wings like hoatzins.
D.They had a head with long feathers on the top.
【小题4】Why do hoatzins collect together in smaller groups when the rainy season comes?
A.To find more food.B.To protect themselves better.
C.To keep themselves warm.D.To produce their young.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网