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题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通

浙江省七彩阳光联盟2020届高三上学期英语期初联考试卷(含小段音频)

阅读理解

    NASA's (美国宇航局的) newly announced space tourism program is possibly the biggest mistake in the agency's history.

    Beginning as early as 2020, NASA will offer visits to the International Space Station for $35,000 per night, not including transportation, to pretty much anyone who can pass a physical.

    The reason this is a mistake, and a big one, is that NASA has worked for generations to create an image of astronauts as extraordinarily skilled, highly trained, courageous heroes. For example, NASA invites grade schools to participate in creating experiments that are carried on the space station. The astronauts talk to kids from space, sending a message that if you study, work hard and learn math and science, you may reach these heights, too.

    According to one report, Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace is making plans to haul four tourists at a time to the space station on SpaceX rockets. U.S. taxpayers forked over a hundred billion dollars to build the International Space Station. It would be nice to try to preserve the image of it as an inspirational achievement, instead of turning it into a flying Howard Johnson's.

    NASA's press release about the space tourism program tries to cast it as a partnership with the private sector to "provide expanded opportunities" at the space station to "manufacture, market and promote commercial products and services." But it also states that one goal is "quantifying NASA's long-term demand for activities in low-Earth orbit."

    The space station has been costing U.S. taxpayers between $1.5 billion and $3 billion each year. If it's perceived as a private Disneyland for the top tax bracket, public support for the entire space program could be at risk.

    But worse, we will have degraded what once inspired us. Sometimes a nation needs stars in its eyes.

(1)、What is NASA's space tourism program?
A、To invite students to attend their experiments. B、To send visitors to the space station. C、To run a restaurant in the space station. D、To build a Disneyland in the space station.
(2)、Why does the writer view the space tourism program as a big mistake?
A、It may influence the science experiment negatively. B、It will cost people a lot of money. C、It is too dangerous for visitors. D、It may destroy the image of astronauts.
(3)、What does the underlined word "stars" refer to?
A、Planets. B、Satellites. C、Wealthy tourists. D、Astronauts
举一反三
阅读理解

    It was Mother's Day morning last year and I was doing my shopping at our local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Teayson. As we were leaving, we found that only minutes earlier an elderly woman had fallen over at the entrance and had hit her bead on the concrete. Her husband was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock.

    Walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very upset about what had happened to the couple. Ile said to me. “Mums it's not much fun falling over in front of everyone.”

    At the front of the supermarket a charity group had set up a stand selling cooked sausages and flowers to raise funds. Tenyson suggested that we should boy the lady a flower. “It will make her feel better,” he said. I was amazed that he'd come up such a sweet idea. So we went over to the flower seller and asked her if we could buy a flower for the lady to cheer her up. “Just take it,” she replied. “I can't take your money for such a wonderful gesture.”

    By now paramedics(救援人员) had arrived, and were attending the injured woman. As we walked up to her, my son became intimidated by all the blood and medical equipment. He said he was just too scared to go up to her.

    Instead I gave the flower to the woman's husband and told him. “My son was very upset for your wife and wanted to give her this flower to make her feel better.”

    At that, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you so much, you have a wonderful son, Happy Mother's Day to you.”

The man then bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. Though badly hurt and shaken, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with love in her eyes and gave him a little smile.

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。

    On January 13, 2016, France became the first country in the world to pass a law requiring supermarkets to donate food that is approaching its expiration date (保质期) instead of throwing it away. The regulation that applies to supermarkets over 4,000 square feet requires stores to sign official donation agreements with local food banks.

    The law also makes it illegal for stores to pour water over nearly-expired food, or store it inside locked warehouses until it is picked up by the garbage trucks. These measures are often undertaken by supermarkets to prevent the hungry from searching for food through the dustbins.

    Though that may appear cruel, the stores claim they do it to avoid potential food poisoning that could occur if the product is on its way past its expiry. Those who do not obey the new law face the risk of heavy fines.

    Also, excess goods like yogurt or milk that are likely to go bad quickly are now allowed to be donated directly to the food banks. Though this has always been possible, the current process is long and complex, making it difficult for producers to give away the food in a timely manner.

    France's food banks are of course thrilled about the possibility of receiving extra food. Jacques Bailet, who heads a network of French food banks called the Banques Alimentaires, says that of the 110,000 tons of goods received annually, only 36,000 tons comes from supermarkets. Bailet estimates (估计) that just a 15% increase in supermarket donations would translate to over 10 million additional meals to feed the hungry each year.

    Though this is a great first step, Arash Dermabarsh, the activist responsible for the grassroots movement that led to the ban, is not done. He now wants to extend the law to other places like restaurants and also try to convince other countries in the European Union to pass similar regulations. These steps are necessary because of the over 9 million tons of food wasted in France; an astonishing 67% is thrown away by consumers, with supermarkets and restaurants making up the rest.

阅读理解

    Robots are increasingly being developed to think and act like humans. But it is difficult for engineers to create humor (幽默) in machines. Computer scientists have hoped to help them understand humor. But they failed again and again. Why is it so difficult?

    Kiki, a computer language expert (专家), studies humor at a university. "Most robots are powered by artificial intelligence (人工智能AI). But AI will never understand jokes like humans do." He said, "The main problem is that AI system doesn't have the sense of humor."

    Other experts agree that context (语境) is very important to understand humor, both for humans and robots. In one project, Tristan Miller, a computer scientist, studied more than 10, 000 puns. Puns are a kind of joke that uses a word with two meanings. For example, you could say, "Balloons (气球) do not like pop music." The word "pop" can be a way of saying popular music, or "pop" can be the sound a balloon makes when it explodes(爆炸). "A robot might not understand the joke because it doesn't know the meaning of the puns." Miller said.

    Although it's difficult, some scientists say there are good reasons to keep trying to teach humor to robots. It can make machines understand humans better and serve humans better. And it can also help them to think more like humans.

    But other scientists don't think it's a good idea to teach humor to robots. They may find humor, but they may use it in a wrong way. Maybe bad Al will start killing people because it thinks it is funny. Besides, it may make some people feel not safe. The comedians(喜剧演员) may lose their jobs when the robots can understand humor.

阅读理解

    They still bite, but new research shows lab-grown mosquitoes are fighting dengue fever — a dangerous disease that they normally would spread. Dengue infections appear to be dropping fast in communities in Indonesia, Vietnam, Brazil and Australia that are filled with the specially grown mosquitoes.

    Researchers first injected (注射)mosquito eggs with Wolbachia bacteria that's common in insects and harmless to people in a lab. Infected females then pass the bacteria on through their eggs. Releasing enough Wolbachia carriers, both the females that bite and the males that don't, allows mating(交配)to spread the bacteria through a local mosquito population.

    Rather than using chemicals to wipe out pests, "this is really about transforming the mosquito," said Cameron Simmons of the nonprofit World Mosquito Program, which is conducting the research.

    The first success came from Australia. Mosquitoes carrying Wolbachia were released in parts of North Queensland starting in 2011, and gradually spread through the local mosquito population. Dengue is spread when a mosquito bites someone who is infected, and then bites another person, but somehow Wolbachia blocks that — and local spread has nearly disappeared in those North Queensland Communities, Simmons said.

    The studies are continuing in other countries. But the findings, presented at a meeting of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, suggest it's possible to turn at least some mosquitoes from a public health threat into annoying biters.

    The work marks "exciting progress," said Michigan State University professor Zhiyong Xi, who wasn't involved with the project but has long studied how Wolbachia can turn mosquitoes against themselves.

    More research is needed, specialists cautioned. "The results are pretty exciting — strong levels of reductions — but there clearly are going to be things to be learned from the areas where the reductions are not as great," said Penn State University professor Elizabeth McGraw.

 阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。

Hip-hop started 50 years ago as an escape from poverty and violence in Bronx, New York City. The music and style appealed to Black and Latino teenagers. As hip-hop spread throughout New York, so did the culture.

People often mix up hip-hop with rap. Rap is a musical style that combines quick recitation of rhymes with musical beats. But hip-hop is more than just music. It is a culture, and rap music is one part of it. Hip-hop also includes other activities, like breakdancing, disc-jockeying and graffiti art. In his 1993 song Hip Hop vs. Rap, KRS-One said: "Rap is something you do. Hip hop is something you live." In the early days of hip-hop, playing music on the streets or turning a basketball court into a dance floor may have seemed like a simple invitation to have fun and party. But it actually was an answer to social and economic injustice in poor neighborhoods. It was a way to show joy and imagination even without resources and wealth.

As hip-hop and rap music grew into a force in American culture, entertainers used it to speak to their personal realities. In 1982, in the song The Message, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five criticized poverty and a lack of investment in Black communities. Several years later, Tupac Shakur complained about police violence in the song Changes. Today, hip-hop's influence on music and other industries is so widespread that experts say it becomes difficult to measure.

There is also hip-hop's influence on protest, resistance and political dissent(异议)around the world. From the Arab Spring and the Palestinian freedom fight to feminism and class struggles, rap music is a popular expression for calls to action. Music videos produced by artists in Africa, Europe, Asia and South America often include breakdancers, graffiti and other elements of hip-hop.

"Hip-hop took the chains off us and said, ‘No, we're gonna say it our way,' " Al Sharpton, American civil rights leader, said, "It was that freedom. It was that raw, non-watered down kind of expression."

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