英语时事阅读题六（适用于初三和高一学生）暑假练习.docx

第 9 页 共 9 页最新英语时事阅读题六（适用于初三和高一学生）A篇Flu season has arrived in the United States, after taking an unusual year off. Flu hospitalizations are rising, and at least two child deaths have been reported. Last year's flu season was the lowest on record. COVID-19 protection measures such as school closures, distancing, masks and canceled travel likely prevented the spread of influenza."This is setting itself up to be more of a normal flu season," said Lynnette Brammer. She studies flu-like illnesses for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The childhood deaths, Brammer said, are "unfortunately what we would expect when flu activity picks up. It's a sad reminder of how severe flu can be."During last year's unusually light flu season, only one child died. Two years ago, 199 children died from flu, and 144 the year before that. In the newest data, the most severe flu activity was in the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. The number of states with high flu activity rose from three to seven. Recent data show high flu activity in New Mexico, Kansas, Indiana, New Jersey, Tennessee, Georgia and North Dakota.The type of flu virus this year seems to cause the largest amount of severe disease, especially in the elderly and the very young, Brammer said. Last year's break from the flu made it more difficult to plan for this year's flu vaccine. Brammer said it is too early to know whether small changes to the flu virus this year will affect the flu vaccine's effectiveness. "We'll have to see what the impact of these little changes" will be, she added. "Flu vaccine is your best way to protect yourself against flu."Early signs show that fewer people are getting flu shots this year compared to 2020. Brammer said with hospitals already affected by COVID-19, it is more important than ever to get a flu shot and take other safety measures. "Cover your cough. Wash your hands. Stay home if you're sick," she said. "If you do get flu, there are anti-virals you can talk to your doctor about that can prevent severe illness and help you stay out of the hospital."(353 words)根据文章内容， 选择最佳答案：1. Last year's flu season was the lowest on record because _.  A. Flu hospitalizations werent reported.  B. COVID-19 stopped the flu.  C. people kept social distancing and wore masks against the flu.  D. people followed the protection measures against the COVID-19.2. How many child deaths were reported last year?  A. Only one child.   B. Only two children  C. 199 children      D. 144 children3. Which group of people are more dangerous during the flu season?  A. Children and woman.   B. Woman and old man.  C. Children and the old    D. the young and the old4. What is different about the flu season between this year and last year?  A. There were more deaths last year.  B. There were more states with high flu activity last year.  C. Fewer people are getting flu shots this year.  D. Its more difficult to get flu vaccines this year.5. Which is the most important to get away from the flu?  A. To keep social distancing.  B. To stay out of hospitals.  C. To get a flu shot.  D.To stay at home. 答案：1D2A3C4C5CB篇When corals are mentioned, many people think of rock-life forms in the sea filled with colorful fish. But corals are made up of hundreds of thousands of small organisms which live and feed like any other sea life.For the past five years, researchers in Hawaii and Australia have been engineering(培育) corals inside a lab to see if they could better resist the effects of climate change. They say it is now time to see how their creations perform in nature.The scientists say climate change linked to human causes has led to warming oceans that can harm sea life. They say if the more heat-resistant corals they developed do well in the ocean, the method can be used to help save suffering and dying reefs（暗礁）.The team tested three methods for making corals that would be strong and healthy in nature. One was the method of selective breeding（繁殖）. This method involves scientists choosing parents with desirable characteristics for reproductive （繁殖的）purposes. The goal is to produce babies with the same desirable characteristics. A second method subjected the corals to increasing temperatures to condition them to be able to survive in warm ocean environments. The third involved making changes to the algae（藻类） that provide corals with necessary nutrients（营养物）.The leader of the project, University of Hawaii researcher Kira Hughes, said all the methods proved successful in the lab. She told The Associated Press that some scientists might worry that such methods go against the natural processes of nature. But with the planet continuing to warm more and more, she does not see any better options. "We have to intervene in order to make a change for coral reefs to survive into the future," Hughes said.When ocean temperatures rise, corals release algae that supplies nutrients and gives them color. This causes them to turn white, a process called bleaching. When this happens, corals can quickly become sick and die. But for years, scientists have been observing corals that have survived bleaching, even when others have died on the same reef. They are now centering on those healthy survivors and hoping to further increase their resistance to heat. Those corals were used as the parents for the newly created kinds.A recent study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other research organizations took a close look at bleaching events. It found them to be the biggest current threat to the world's coral reefs.Scientists found that between 2009 and 2018, the world lost about 14 percent of its corals. "Corals are threatened worldwide by a lot of stressors, but increasing temperatures are probably the most severe," said Crawford Drury.（448 words）  根据文章内容，选择最佳答案：1. The scientists want to create a new coral which can live in _ water.  A. colder   B. warmer    C. deeper   D. cleaner2. Which is not the cause for more and more sick and dead corals?  A. There is less and less food for the corals.  B. The climate around the world are getting worse.C. The temperature of sea water is rising.D. Human are polluting the ocean.3. Which is not the method of making corals stronger and healthier by the scientists in the lab?  A. Choosing more resistant corals to reproduce.  B. Putting the corals into a higher temperature to live.  C. Changing the food of corals.  D. Making the corals turn white.4. The scientists think those healthy surviving corals can _.  A. reproduce more corals.  B. live in colder water.  C. be more heat-resistant.  D. eat more food.5. What does the underlined word intervene mean?  A. 协助   B. 介入    C. 保护   D. 考虑答案：1B2A3D4C5BC篇The "Futures" exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., gives viewers a look at what may happen in the years to come.It is open November 20, 2021 through July 6, 2022. The exhibit opened as part of the 175th anniversary of the Smithsonian. It is being held at the Arts and Industries Building, which reopened in November after being closed for almost 20 years. With more than 150 ideas, improvements, technologies and historical pieces,the installation(安装;设置) permits viewers to think about how they will live in the future. Some of those exhibits include how human remains can be put to good ecological use by using them to grow a tree.Another is a "taxi," but unlike a normal car, it flies, and it can fly itself.The Virgin Hyperloop is also exhibited. It is a futuristic transport tube that could become a new form of train-like transportation. Virgin said on its hyperloop website that it could have "a lower environmental impact" than other forms of mass transportation. Virgin said it could transport people at speeds of more than 1,000 kph.The exhibit also provides chances for thought by looking back to past technological improvements, like an 1800s experimental telephone.The exhibit was designed by the Labof Rockwell Group, a building and exhibit design firm in New York.David Tracy is the director of creative technology at Rockwell. He said, "The exhibition opens up many different possible forms that the future can take"The exhibits are several, small looks at possible futures. The company designed the newest technology installations called beacons. They have questions that help " people's imaginations and get them to think about the kind of future they want to see," Tracy told VOA. Tracy said to answer the questions, people use hand movements, holding their hand over an answer. This provides health and safety measures since people do not have to touch anything.Jane McGonigal is the director of game research and development at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California. She said it's difficult for people "to imagine how the future may be different and the technologies that might make it different."McGonigal told VOA she provided the questions for visitors to help them imagine the future more clearly.One question asks viewers when they think moon tourism will happen.Another looks at what the future might be like if meat does not come from an animal, but is grown in a laboratory. Viewer Raj Goel from New York got a taste of what that might be like as he looked at an exhibit that was set up like a store with possible food in the future. Goel said he is concerned about meat being grown in a lab. But he said he liked the idea of mushrooms, a plant-like food, being used as a sort of meatless meat. Goel said "Futures" makes him feel a bit like he's walked into a science movie. He said he was hopeful "because many things I saw here made me think the future is bright."（515 words） 根据文章内容，选择最佳答案：1. The exhibit focuses on _.  A. something we will make next year.  B. some ideas we will have in the future.  C. something we used in the past.  D. something will happen in our future life.2. From the exhibit we may learn that_ in the future.  A. some cars may be able run as fast as plane.  B. human bodies may be used to grow plants.  C. the trains may be able to fly like a plane.  D. all meat is not from animals.3. The exhibit can not help us to _.  A. make something for our future.  B. think about some ideas about our future.  C. improve something in our future.  D. make our future healthy and safe4. How do people answer beacons at the exhibit?  A. They type their answers on the screen.  B. They speak out their answers orally.  C. They touch the answers on the screen.  D. They put their hands over the answer on the screen.5. How did Goel feel about the future after visiting the exhibits?  A. confused.   B.confident   C. worried   D. excited答案：1D2B3A4D5BD篇The COVID-19 pandemic has led to emptier coastal areas around the world. Animals like sea turtles have used the chance to reclaim the less-polluted, quieter beaches to lay their eggs during the breeding（繁殖） season.Workers from the Sindh Wildlife group in Pakistan recently watched as a female turtle walked across the beach in Karachi late one night. She was looking for a place to lay her eggs. She buried a hundred or more eggs in the sand before heading back out into the Arabian Sea.Sindh Wildlife counted 15,000 green turtles on Karachi's beaches last year. By comparison, the group counted between 8,000 and 8,500 in 2019. Pandemic-related lock downs there had ended by the start of this year's breeding season. But animal experts still expect a large number of the endangered animals to visit.Green turtles are among the world's largest sea turtles. Adults can weigh more than 90 kilograms. They lay their eggs in more than 80 countries around the world and can be found in more than 140 countries. They live in tropical and subtropical coastal areas.The conservation group Sea Turtle Conservancy says there are 85,000 to 90,000 nesting females worldwide. The main breeding season for sea turtles goes from September to November. The weather in Karachi is good for egg-laying as late as January. Wildlife officials there plan to keep looking for the animals until then.Ashfaq Ali Memon leads Sindh Wildlife's Marine Turtle Unit. He said females have nested about 6,000 eggs so far this season. As soon as the mother turtle leaves the beach, workers hurry to dig out the eggs. They move them to a one-meter-deep hole in a hatchery(孵化场) until the babies come out of the eggs, about 40 to 45 days later. The new turtles are taken to the beach immediately and released into the sea. The Sindh turtle unit has released 860,000 turtle babies into the Arabian Sea since it began operating in 1970. Memon said that 900 have been released so far this season.Conservationists say that in the past, sea turtle populations were threatened by demand for their fat, meat and eggs. In recent years, loss of habitat from pollution and land reclamation have also threatened the animals.（377 words）根据文章内容，选择最佳答案：1. Many emptier coastal areas are found around the world because _.  A. many coastal areas are polluted around the world.  B. animals come to the areas in their breeding season.  C. people want to make some quieter place for the animals.  D. few people travel to the areas because of the pandemic2. How long does turtles breeding season usually last?  A. two months   B. three months   C. 4 months   D. 5 months3. Which is untrue about green turtles?  A.They are one of the biggest turtles in the world.  B.You can find them in most area of the world.C. They live in only tropical coastal areas.D. They are endangered animals.4. How do the people in Sindh Wildlife's Marine Turtle Unit protect the turtle?  A. They help them to go back to the sea after breeding.  B. They help them to find the beach to lay.C. They help them to find a hole to lay.  D. They protect their eggs and babies. 5. What does the underlined word reclamation mean?   A. 保护  B. 开发   C. 荒废   D. 缺乏答案：1D2B3C4D5BE篇New Zealand's government believes it has come up with a new plan to end tobacco smoking: a lifetime ban for those aged 14 or younger. Under a new law the government plans to pass next year, the lowest age to buy cigarettes would keep rising year after year. The yearly increase could mean that 65 years after the law takes effect, shoppers could still buy cigarettes - but only if they could prove they were at least 80 years old. Officials hope smoking will disappear many years before then. The new plan sets a goal of having fewer than 5 percent of New Zealanders smoking by 2025.Other parts of the plan include allowing only the sale of tobacco products with very low nicotine levels and reducing the number of stores that can sell such products. The changes would be brought in over a set period of time to help sellers deal with the