重庆市2019年高考英语模拟信息卷及答案(二)

重庆市2019年高考英语模拟信息卷及答案

（二）

注意事项：

1. 本试卷分第I卷（选择题）和第II卷（非选择题）两部分；满分150分，考试时间120分钟。

2. 考生作答时，将答案写在答题卡上，在本试题卷上做答无效

．．．．．．．．．．。考试结束后，将本试题卷和答题卡一并交回。

第I卷

第一部分听力（共两节，满分30分）（略）

第二部分阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）

第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）

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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Humanity has begun wrestling with the dangers of globalthreats such as climate change. But fewauthorities are planning for catastrophic solar storms-huge eruptions of massand energy from the sun that destroy Earth’s magnetic field. In a recent paper,two Harvard University scientists estimate the potential economic damage fromsuch an event will increase in the future and could equal the current U.S.GDP-about $20 trillion-150years from now.

This kind of storm hashappened before. The so-called Carrington Event in 1859, the most intensemagnetic storm ever recorded on Earth, caused auroras (极光）in the atmosphere and even delivered electric shocks totelegraph operators. But a Carrington-scale storm today would cause far moreharm because society now depends so heavily on electrical power grids,communications satellites and GPS.

In an effort to quantify thatthreat, astrophysicists Abraham Loeb and Manasvi Lingam of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics developed a mathematical model that assumessociety’s

vulnerability (脆弱性）to solar stormswill grow with technological advances. Under this model, during the next 50years

thepotential for economic damage will depend primarily on the rising odds of astrong solar storm over time. Beyond 50 years our vulnerability will increasedramatically with technological progress until the latter levels off.

Some scientists question themodel’spredictions. “Estimating the economic impact is challenging now, let alone inover a century,” says Edward Oughton, a research associate at the University ofCambridge’s Center for Risk Studies. Yet he warns that uncertainty should notstop us from practical preparations, such as making power grids stronger andimproving early-warning systems.

Loeb and Lingam think up amuch wider strategy: a $100-billion magnetic deflector shield (导流板), positione d between Earth and the sun. This ideaseems “pretty preposterous,” however, given that solar particles arrive atEarth from all directions, says Daniel Baker, director of the Laboratory forAtmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder.

A better understanding of“space weather”-the changing condition in Earth’s outer space environment,including solar radiation and particles-could help find the best strategies forconfronting a dangerous solar storm, says Stracey Worman, a senior analyst at consulting firm Abt Associates. “This is a challenging but important question,”Worman says, “that we need more eyes on.”

21. According toEdward Oughton, which of the following about solar storms is right?

A. They will become much stronger in 150 years.

B. Technology makes their potential damage grow.

C. It’s difficult to predict their possible economicdamage.

D. Space weather forecast can effectively help dealwith them.

22.The underlined word “preposterous” inParagraph 5 means .

A. unreasonable

B. practical

C.innovative

D.inflexible

23. The author writesthe passage mainly to .