题型:任务型阅读 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
山西省应县第一中学2017-2018学年高一下学期英语4月月考试卷
The history of chocolate begins with a plant whose name is cacao. For centuries, people worldwide have been enjoying the rich favor of chocolate, a product made from cacaoAmericans eat an average of more than five kilograms of chocolate per person every year. The specialty shop shows the culture of chocolate and sells chocolates from different areas of the world.
Historians believe the Mayan people of Central America first learned to farm cacao plants around 2,000 years agoThen they grew them around their homes. They cooked the cacao seeds and pressed them into soft powder. They mixed the powder with water to make a delicious chocolate drink. There are often images of cacao plants on Maya buildings and art objects. The rulers drank chocolate at ceremonies
The Aztecs also valued chocolate in the Aztec culture. But the cacao plant could not grow in the area where they livedThey even used cacao seeds as a form of money to pay or give as offerings to the gods. Only the very wealthy people in Aztec societies could afford to drink chocolate because cacao was so valuable.
The explorer Christopher Columbus brought cacao seeds to Spain after his trip to Central America in 1502. The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed the chocolate drink Nowadays, the English, Dutch and French all plant cacao trees in their own countries.
A. Chocolate is very sensitive to temperature.
B. The Mayan took the cacao trees from the rainforests.
C. Chocolate is especially popular in the United States.
D. Chocolate has been prepared as a drink for nearly all of its history.
E. So they had to exchange goods with other societies for cacao seeds.
F. Since then, the popularity of the drink has spread throughout Europe.
G. And even poorer members of Mayan society could enjoy the drink sometimes.
Trust has been regarded as the basis of any relationship, including friendship. No relationship can last long with a lack of trust. Not many of your friends will have real faith in you as you would like to believe. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sometimes, it takes years, even a complete lifetime, to trust someone. However, how do we know if our friends have faith in us?
{#blank#}2{#/blank#}With whom will you share things that you don't want everyone to know? It would be with a close friend, whom you trust as much as you trust yourself. While a few of your friend may be fiercely protective of their privacy and may not tell their secrets to anyone, those who do, surely find you trustworthy and reliable.
Whom do you look up to for advice when you need it the most? It has to be either your parents or your friends. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This is a shining example of trust. You only seek advice from people you hold in high regard and find dependable. The friends who trust you will never forget to include you in the important decisions of their life.
Arguments and heated discussions are a part of every relationship, and this is also true for friendship. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} While some people find it difficult to forgive and forget, your friends will never have problems moving on. It is because they trust you and believe that you will never cause any pain to them on purpose.
There are times in life when you find yourself a lonely soldier. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Your friends will never let you down and will strongly stand for you when you need encouragement. You can determine that they trust you and believe in your beliefs, if they side with you when you need them the most.
A. If your friends share their secrets, there's a good possibility that they have much faith in you. B. People can be extraordinarily jealous sometimes. C. Two people cannot have identical reaction to a situation and different opinions do exist. D. In fact, winning trust is, by far, the most challenging aspect of relationships. E. No matter how close you are to your friend, you cannot take that comfort level for granted. F. However, people who are fortunate to have been blessed with true friends are never alone in any battle. G. You know they will never pass on a wrong suggestion. |
Lindsay Renwick, the mayor of Deniliquin, a country town in New South Wales, misses the constant whir(嗡嗡声)of the rice mill whose giant fans dried the rice. The Deniliquin mill, the largest rice mill in the Southern Hemisphere (南半球), once processed enough grain to meet the needs of 20 million people globally. But six years of drought have had a destructive effect, reducing Australia's rice crop by 98 percent and leading to the mothballing of the mill last December.
Drought affects every agriculture industry based in Australia, not just rice – from sheep farming, the country's other backbone, to the cultivation of grapes for wine, the fastest-growing crop there, with that expansion often coming at the expense of rice. The drought's effect on rice has produced the greatest impact on the rest of the world, so far. It is one factor contributing to skyrocketing prices, and many scientists believe it is among the earliest signs that a warming planet is starting to affect food production.
Researchers are looking for solutions to global rice shortages – for example, rice that blooms earlier in the day, when it is cooler, to fight against global warming. Rice plants that happen to bloom on hot days are less likely to produce grains of rice, a difficulty that is already starting to emerge in inland areas of China and other Asian countries as temperatures begin to climb. 'there will be problems very soon unless we have new varieties of rice in place,” said Reiner Wassmann, climate change director at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The recent reports on climate change carried a warning that could make the news even worse: that existing models for the effects of climate change on agriculture did not yet include newer findings that global warming could reduce rainfall and make it more variable.
Yet the effects of climate change are not uniformly bad for rice. Rising concentrations (浓度) of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, can actually help rice – although the effect reduces or disappears if the plants face unnecessary heat, inadequate water, severe pollution or other stresses. Still, the flexibility of farmers here has persuaded some climate experts that, particularly in developed countries, the effects of climate change may be relieved, if not completely avoided. “I'm not as negative as most people,” said Will Steffen, director of the Fenner School of Environment and Society at Australian National University. “Farmers are learning how to do things differently.”
Meanwhile, changes like the use of water to grow wine grapes instead of rice carry their own costs, as the developing world is discovering. “Rice is an essential food,” said Graeme Haley, the general manager of the town of Deniliquin. “Wine is not.”
Phenomenon | Six years of drought reduced Australia's rice crop by 98%, leaving the rice mill{#blank#}1{#/blank#} |
{#blank#}2{#/blank#}of drought and climate change | Every Australian agriculture industry is affected,{#blank#}3{#/blank#}from sheep farming to the cultivation of grapes for wine. The whole world is in{#blank#}4{#/blank#}of rice. Prices rise{#blank#}5{#/blank#} . Temperatures begin to climb, causing{#blank#}6{#/blank#}rice production. |
{#blank#}7{#/blank#}to global rice shortages | Seek a new variety of rice that blooms earlier when it is cooler as a{#blank#}8{#/blank#} |
Some good news | Unless faced with unnecessary heat, inadequate water or other stress, the main green house gas can actually do{#blank#}9{#/blank#}to rice. Farmers are flexible and they can do things{#blank#}10{#/blank#}. |
试题篮