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常考话题二 生态环保类
“人与自然和谐发展”是时代的主题，生态环保类阅读理解是历年高考命题的热点，这
类文章与学生的生活息息相关。通过对这些话题的学习和高考英语对这些话题的考查，可以
让学生多注意身边的人和事、关注社会环境、树立环保意识、学会与大自然和谐相处。因此，
考生应该了解生态环保类文章的以下特点：
动植物保护、环境保护、生态保护、自然灾害、环保生活方式、人与自
话题内容
然和谐发展。
命题 细节理解题、主旨大意题、观点态度题、词义猜测题等。
生态环保类说明文通常会开门见山表明作者的观点，并且通常使用比较新颖的词汇和长
难句，这类材料的命题点往往落在主旨大意题和细节理解题上。具体答题策略如下：
(2021·全国乙·C)
You’ve heard that plastic is polluting the oceans—between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes enter
ocean ecosystems every year.But does one plastic straw or cup really make a difference? Artist
Benjamin Von Wong wants you to know that it does.He builds massive sculptures out of plastic
garbage，forcing viewers to re-examine their relationship to single-use plastic products.
At the beginning of the year，the artist built a piece called “Strawpocalypse”，a pair of
10-foot-tall plastic waves，frozen mid-crash.Made of 168,000 plastic straws collected from several
volunteer beach cleanups，the sculpture made its first appearance at the Estella Place shopping
center in Ho Chi Minh City，Vietnam.
Just 9% of global plastic waste is recycled.Plastic straws are by no means the biggestsource(来源) of plastic pollution，but they’ve recently come under fire because most people
don’t need them to drink with and，because of their small size and weight，they cannot be
recycled.Every straw that’s part of Von Wong’s artwork likely came from a drink that someone
used for only a few minutes.Once the drink is gone，the straw will take centuries to disappear.
In a piece from 2018，Von Wong wanted to illustrate(说明) a specific statistic：Every 60
seconds，a truckload’s worth of plastic enters the ocean.For this work，titled “Truckload of
Plastic”，Von Wong and a group of volunteers collected more than 10,000 pieces of plastic，
which were then tied together to look like they’d been dumped(倾倒) from a truck all at once.
Von Wong hopes that his work will also help pressure big companies to reduce their plastic
footprint.
28．What are Von Wong’s artworks intended for?
A．Beautifying the city he lives in.
B．Introducing eco-friendly products.
C．Drawing public attention to plastic waste.
D．Reducing garbage on the beach.
29．Why does the author discuss plastic straws in paragraph 3?
A．To show the difficulty of their recycling.
B．To explain why they are useful.
C．To voice his views on modern art.
D．To find a substitute for them.
30．What effect would “Truckload of Plastic” have on viewers?
A．Calming. B．Disturbing.
C．Refreshing. D．Challenging.
31．Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A．Artists’ Opinions on Plastic Safety
B．Media Interest in Contemporary Art
C．Responsibility Demanded of Big Companies
D．Ocean Plastics Transformed into Sculptures
A
The Amazon rainforest is as undisturbed a place as most people can imagine，but even
there，the effects of a changing climate are playing out.Now，research suggests that many of the
region’s most sensitive bird species are starting to evolve in response to warming.
Birds are often considered sentinel(哨兵)species—meaning that they indicate the overall
health of an ecosystem—so scientists are particularly interested in how they’re responding toclimate change.In general，the news has not been good.For instance，a 2019 report by the
National Audubon Society found that more than two-thirds of North America’s bird species will
be in danger of extinction by 2100 if warming trends continue on their current course.
For the new study，researchers collected the biggest dataset so far on the Amazon’s resident
birds，representing 77 non-migratory species and lasting the 40 years from 1979 to 2019.During
the study period，the average temperature in the region rose，while the amount of rainfall
declined，making for a hotter，dryer climate overall.According to the report on November 12 in
the journal Science Advances,36 species have lost substantial weight，as much as 2 percent of
their body weight per decade since 1980.Meanwhile，all the species showed some decrease in
average body mass，while a third grew longer wings.
Because of the study’s long time series and large sample sizes，the authors were able to
show the morphological(形态学的)effects of climate change on resident birds.However，the
researchers themselves are unsure and wonder what advantage the wing length changes give the
birds，but suppose smaller birds may have an easier time keeping cool.In general，smaller
animals have a larger rate of surface area to body size，so they dissipate more heat faster than a
bigger animal.Less available food，such as fruit or insects，in dryer weather might lead to smaller
body size.
1．Why are scientists fond of doing research on birds?
A．They have small body sizes.
B．They are sensitive to hot weather.
C．They live in an undisturbed rainforest.
D．They are ecological balance indicators.
2．What can we learn from the new study?
A．A third of species have been extinct for a decade.
B．36 species lost 2% of their body weight every year.
C．Two-thirds of species showed a considerable decrease in weight.
D．About 26 species responded to climate change with longer wings.
3．What does the underlined word “dissipate” in the last paragraph mean?
A．Put off. B．Give off.
C．Put away. D．Give away.
4．What would probably the researchers further study?
A．Why it is easier for smaller animals to keep cool.
B．What effects the wing length changes have on birds.
C．Why the Amazonian birds have lost substantial weight.
D．Whether bird species in North America will be extinct in 2100.
BThe over 48,000 orange trees in Seville，Spain，not only fill the city’s air with the pleasant
smell of orange blossoms in spring，but they also produce over 16,500 tons of fruit every
winter.Though that makes the capital of southern Spain’s Andalusia region Europe’s top orange-
producing city，the fruit is too sour to be consumed fresh.While some of the produce is used to
make orange jam and an alcoholic drink，most of it ends up in Seville’s landfills(填埋场)．
However，that may change soon thanks to a clever idea to use the oranges to produce clean energy.
The trial program is being launched by the city’s council and park department in cooperation
with Emasesa，Seville’s water supply and sanitation(卫生) division.Juice from 38.6 tons of
oranges will be left to ferment(发酵) in a specialized facility.The methane(甲烷) released from the
fermented liquid will be captured and used to drive a generator to produce clean power.The
officials estimate the test run will produce about 1,500 kWh of energy—enough to run one of
Emasesa’s water purification plants.To ensure there is no waste，the orange skins，peels，and
flesh will be used as fertilizer.
“It’s not just about saving money.The oranges are a problem for the city，and we’re
producing added value from waste，” said Benigno Lopez，head of Emasesa’s environmental
department.
If successful，by 2023，the city hopes to recycle all the oranges and add the electricity
produced back into its power transmission network.In trial runs，one ton of oranges produced 50
kWh of clean energy—enough to cover the daily electricity needs of five homes.The project team
estimates that if all the fruit is recycled，it will produce enough energy to power as many as 73,000
residences.
“This project will help us to reach our targets for reducing emissions ，energy self-
sufficiency，and the circular economy，” Juan Espadas Cejas，mayor of Seville，said in the
press conference announcing the trial scheme.
5．What do we know about oranges in Seville from the first paragraph?
A．They are usually picked in spring.
B．They are mostly used to make jams and juice.
C．They are not recommended to be eaten fresh.
D．They make Seville the world’s top orange-producing city.
6．What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A．Different uses of oranges.
B．How to produce power from juice.
C．An introduction to the trial program.
D．Why the trial program was put forward.
7．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Seville hasn’t carried out the trial program yet.
B．The electricity produced will be used to purify water.C．The electricity produced will go to Seville’s power plants.
D．Seville may need to recycle 14,600 tons of oranges to power 73,000 homes.
8．What is the best title for the text?
A．Seville Is Turning Waste into Wealth
B．Seville Is Seeking Market for Oranges
C．Seville Is Contributing to Global Warming
D．Seville Is Dealing with the Electricity Shortage
