题目内容
Everyday on the way to work I drive down a street lined with pine trees.One tree in particular 1 my attention.It must have suffered some 2 .Part of its trunk grew nearly parallel to the ground, and then in an effort to 3 its own course of life, the trunk took a 90 degree turn 4 to stand tall and stretch toward the sun.
This tree became a 5 for me.Each day as I drove by, I saw this bent but determined tree and I would be 6 .It was a reminder to me that 7 I may not have had the best start in life, I could change 8 in the parts of my life at any time.
I was planning to stop one day to get a perfect 9 of my kindred-spirit (志趣相同的) tree.But that week I was 10 .After that busy week, I still didn’t take any action.Every time I drove by the tree I would 11 myself, “Tomorrow, I’ll stop tomorrow to take one.” Then one day, as I 12 by “my” tree, I glanced over, and much to my 13 found a sawed-off stump (树桩) where that symbolic tree had stood.Gone.I had 14 my plan until “tomorrow” and tomorrow proved to be too 15 .
A picture of a tree is not of great 16 .But my lesson rang through clearly 17 I found out one of my colleagues had been 18 with stage-four cancer.He may no longer have many 19 .
What have you been putting off? What would you do today if you knew you would 20 have the opportunity to do it again? Why not do those things that you have been putting off until tomorrow?
1.A.paid B.caught C.fixed D.escaped
2.A.damage B.influence C.experience D.defeat
3.A.continue B.design C.change D.imagine
4.A.applying B.attempting C.happening D.learning
5.A.shelter B.signal C.sign D.symbol
6.A.interested B.satisfied C.encouraged D.educated
7.A.even though B.as if C.in case D.if only
8.A.purpose B.plan C.habit D.direction
9.A.glance B.view C.picture D.knowledge
10.A.busy B.free C.worried D.bored
11.A.tell B.help C.call D.see
12.A.wandered B.drove C.rode D.ran
13.A.surprise B.pleasure C.regret D.happiness
14.A.taken off B.cut off C.put off D.called off
15.A.cold B.far C.sunny D.late
16.A.value B.achievement C.fun D.disappointment
17.A.when B.before C.because D.unless
18.A.linked B.combined C.provided D.diagnosed
19.A.lives B.tomorrows C.lessons D.opportunities
20.A.surely B.almost C.ever D.never
1-5 BACBD 6-10 CADCA 11-15 ABACD 16-20 AADBD
What would you think if someone suggested knocking down St Paul’s Cathedral to widen the road? Or pulling down Big Ben to make way for a car park? It would be ridiculous, right? But when it comes to devastation (毁灭) of the natural world, we aren’t so easily shocked. But we should be…or we’ll be in a lot of trouble.
Nature is shrinking by the day. Ancient forests are destroyed. Wetlands are becoming dry. Woodland is disappearing, and all in the name of progress. This is bad in itself, but it’s devastating for biodiversity.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals and other living things that are all interconnected. The ecological services provided by biodiversity are vital to everyday life. The air we breathe is a product of photosynthesis (光合作用) by green plants. Insects, worms and bacteria break down waste and make soils rich. And tiny organisms clean the water in rivers and sea. In fact, all life on the earth exists thanks to the benefits of biodiversity. More than 90 percent of the calories consumed by people worldwide are produced from 80 plant species. And 30 percent of medicines are developed from plants and animals. Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve all living things.
The loss of biodiversity could be devastating. “It is wrong to think that biodiversity can be reduced indefinitely without threatening humans,” said Harvard University biologist Edward O. Wilson, known as the “father of biodiversity”. He warned, “We are about to reach a critical point beyond which biodiversity loss will become irreversible (不可挽回的).”
But what can we do? The present problem is that the concept of biodiversity is so vague (含糊的). People might care about giant pandas, but it is much harder to excite them about the fate of tiny sea creatures which are being boiled to death in the cooling systems of power stations along coastlines. The Guardian newspaper is trying to help. It has launched the Biodiversity 100 campaign to try to convince governments around the world to take action to deal with the widespread concerns about biodiversity. This includes persuading the UK government to create a series of marine reserves to reserve the decrease in the sea-life caused by industrial fishing, stopping fishing sharks by the Japanese fishermen and banning the killing of dingoes (wild dogs) in Australia, among many other things.
There is a lot to do. And we’d better act quickly if we don’t want to end up with a planet that can’t sustain life!
【小题1】The writer thinks it ________ to pull down Big Ben to make way for a car park.
| A.unreasonable | B.necessary | C.difficult | D.reasonable |
| A.nature is badly polluted by humans |
| B.species are becoming fewer and fewer day by day |
| C.rainforests are being cut down every day |
| D.nature is full of mysteries |
| A.it doesn’t matter to reduce biodiversity |
| B.people have done enough to preserve biodiversity |
| C.the situation of biodiversity is very serious |
| D.biodiversity loss has become irreversible |
| A.people might not clearly know what is biodiversity and what should be protected |
| B.people are not aware that giant pandas are endangered |
| C.people don’t realize that biodiversity is vital to everyday life |
| D.people hunt sea creatures for food |
| A.The UK government. | B.The concept of biodiversity. |
| C.The action to deal with the problem. | D.The Guardian newspaper. |