疫情有关阅读理解练习

A

During the ongoing battle against the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), you may have read news that garlic and sesame oil can quickly kill the virus but it proved to be misinformation. While the nation continues to fight against the NCP, it’s also stepping up efforts to fight the spread of misinformation.
In the internet era, the nature of how information spreads has transformed drastically (巨大地). Information – and misinformation – can spread to thousands of households in seconds.
For most people, fact-checking is an afterthought – if it is a thought at all. Therefore, misinformation thrives (滋生蔓延), said The Washington Post. People simply prefer passing on information that will evoke (引起) an emotional response from readers. Whether or not it is factual is not always the top criterion, especially in times of public crisis.
Misinformation could be a greater danger than the virus itself. Misinformation is “making the work of our heroic workers even harder”, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told China Daily. He said misinformation “causes confusion and spreads fear”.
During the fight against the NCP, Ghebreyesus said that “at the WHO we’re not just battling the virus, we’re also battling ... conspiracy (阴谋) theories that undermine our response.”
It is true that as China races to contain the NCP and minimize (减少到最低限度) its spread across borders, fear and rumors (谣言) surrounding the virus are creating their own problems on social media. “Ironically (讽刺地), speed is important on those things,” US professor Gabriel Kahn told The Los Angeles Times. “But … those are the ones you have to be most certain about verifying (验证) before you share.”
As ordinary people, we may not be able to devote ourselves like those medical staff. But we could think twice about what we read. If you can be careful about sharing information, it’s your contribution to the fight against the outbreak.

1. According to the article, what is the main cause for the spread of misinformation?
A. The lack of fact-checking.
B. The rise of public crises. 
C. People’s desire to trick others.
D. Changes in the way people view information.

2. What does the underlined word “undermine” probably mean? 
A. test     B. harm C. guide  D. explain

3. What problem has been found during the battle against the NCP?
A. People have fears caused by misinformation.
B. It is hard to deal with misinformation across borders.
C. Rumors about the virus travel too fast to be controlled.
D. Social media creates problems for people to verify misinformation.
4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?
A. To share tips on how to fight misinformation.
B. To disprove some misinformation about the NCP.
C. To call on people to watch out for misinformation.
D. To tell what China has done to deal with misinformation.

B

Since December, there have been tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases both in and out of China, caused by a previously unknown virus: novel coronavirus.
It’s not the first time for viruses to make headlines. Viruses have brought big trouble to humans, with their potential to cause widespread disease and death.
What are they? Viruses are considered to be non-living organisms (有机物). They can infect animals and plants, making them sick. They contain genetic materials like DNA and are protected by a coating of protein.
Unlike bacteria, viruses can’t reproduce (繁殖) on their own. Instead, they invaded the cells of living organisms to reproduce, spread and take over. But the basic question is, where did viruses first come from?
Until now, no clear explanation for their origin exists. “Tracing the origins of viruses is difficult,” Ed Rybicki, a virologist at the university of Cape Town in South Africa, told Scientific American, “because viruses don’t leave fossils (化石) and because of the tricks they use to make copies of themselves within the cells they’ve invaded.”
Understanding the origins of viruses means fully understanding the history of their hosts – not only humans, but also bacteria, plants and other animals, which is a complicated task, says Nature. However, there are three main theories (推测) to explain the origin of viruses. First, viruses started as independent organisms, then became parasites (寄生者). Second, viruses evolved from pieces of DNA (脱氧核糖核酸) or RNA (核糖核酸) that “escaped” from larger organisms. The third one is that viruses co-evolved with their host cells, which means they existed alongside these cells.
7.8 For the time being, these are only theories. The technology and proofs we have today cannot be used to test these theories and discover the most plausible explanation. Continuing studies may provide us with clearer answers. Or future studies may find that the answer is even more mysterious than it now appears.

5. What can we learn about viruses from the article?
A. They mainly infect animals and plants.
B. They are really small living organisms.
C. They are more dangerous than bacteria.
D. They can’t reproduce unless they find a host cell.

6. Which of the following might explain the origin of viruses?
A. They evolved along with their host cells.
B. They evolved from the DNA or RNA in animals.
C. They evolved from the fossils of large organisms.
D. They evolved from parasites to independent organisms.

7. The underlined word “plausible” in the last paragraph probably means “_______”.
A. creative  B. reasonable     C. common  D. unbelievable

8. What do we conclude from the article?
A. Viruses live longer in human host cells than in animals’.  
B. Viruses will become more like bacteria as they evolve.
C. It may take a long time to understand the origin of viruses.

D. The author is confident about future virus research.

C

The sudden rise of the new coronavirus (冠状病毒) has shocked China. Although China has been doing everything possible to stop the virus, it has spread outside of its borders and into other regions. There are now confirmed cases (确诊病例) of COVID-19 in countries including the UK, Japan, Germany, Vietnam, Russia and the United States.
There is a growing fear that the effects of the outbreak (疫情爆发) will worsen if it is not contained. This has led to countries closing borders with China and putting travel bans (禁令) in place, hoping to protect their own citizens. However, fear and misinformation (不实消息) have also caused the spread of something else – racism (种族歧视).
Restaurants and businesses in many tourist areas across the world have posted signs banning Chinese people. Social media users recently shared a picture of a sign outside a hotel in Rome, Italy. The sign said that “all people coming from China” were “not allowed” in the hotel. Similar signs with anti-Chinese sentiment (情绪) were also reportedly seen in South Korea, the UK, Malaysia and Canada. These signs were loud and clear – “No Chinese”.
Racist actions such as these do a lot more harm than good.
“My ethnicity (种族渊源) has made me feel like I was part of a threatening and diseased mass (群体),” Sam Phan, a master’s student at the University of Manchester, wrote to the Guardian.
Edith Bracho-Sanchez, an assistant professor at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, has experience working on health issues that involve (涉及) international borders. 2. “As human beings, we are afraid of the things we don’t know, but our response should be to educate ourselves, not to further spread … fears and misunderstandings,” she said. Bracho-Sanchez suggested that the media should “stick to the facts”.
Phan shared a similar view: “It’s important … to see us in all our diversity (多样性), as individual human beings, and to challenge stereotypes (刻板印象). The coronavirus is a human tragedy, so let’s not allow fear to breed (引发) hatred (仇恨), intolerance and racism.”
3. Instead of spreading misinformation and fueling fearful thoughts, we should do everything we can to support those who are affected by events such as the COVID-19 outbreak. After all, the real enemy is the virus, not the people who are fighting it.

9.What do Paragraphs 2-3 mainly talk about?
A. How COVID-19 has spread outside of China.
B. How other countries deal with COVID-19.
C. COVID-19 leading to racism against Chinese people.
D. COVID-19 affecting business and tourism worldwide.

10. What did Bracho-Sanchez tell people with her words?
A. The media helps educate people.
B. It’s harmful to fear what we don’t know.
C. It’s better to keep your fears to yourself.
D. It’s helpful to learn about unknown things.

11. What attitude does the author hold toward the COVID-19 outbreak?
A. She hopes people work together to fight the virus.
B. She blames Chinese for spreading the virus abroad.
C. She thinks the media is responsible for misinformation.
D. She criticizes China for not doing enough to contain the virus. 

D

UK physicist Isaac Newton once said, “Nature is pleased with simplicity and nature is no dummy (傻子).” Indeed, Mother Nature can provide almost everything human beings need if we follow her rules. But if we break the rules, she is likely to be cruel and lash out at us.
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (新型冠状病毒肺炎, NCP) in China and some other countries at the beginning of this year is an example. According to Xinhua News Agency, the new coronavirus is similar to a virus found in a bat in 2017 and probably has an intermediate host (中间宿主). It’s believed that the virus originated from the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, Hubei province, where live wild animals were sold.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Dr Peter Daszak, president of the US-based health organization EcoHealth Alliance, said, “This outbreak is a lesson for us. On a global scale (规模), human population density (密度), wildlife diversity, and land use change are what drive new pandemics (流行病).”
In ancient times, people needed to rely on nature to survive so they held it in awe (敬畏). For example, the American Indians believed that humans are a part of nature and nature is a part of humans. Chinese ancients always pursued the harmony between nature and human beings.
However, as human beings master more knowledge and make more advanced tools, people try to change and even conquer nature. They use more land to make buildings, genetically modify (改变) plants, capture some wild and rare animals to suit their own needs. In this process, humans gradually lose contact with nature and even throw it out of balance. For example, cutting a large number of forests means carbon dioxide must build up in the atmosphere and it contributes to global warming.
Although we don’t know for sure what first caused the NCP outbreak, Brian Lamacraft at Medium said it’s time for people to “reflect on our relationship with our planet” and “reconnect with this world and everything that we’ve been given”.  After all, according to US poet Gary Snyder, “Nature is not the place to visit. It’s our home.”

12. What does the phrase “lash out at” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A. punish  B. control C. test  D. challenge

13. What lesson did Daszak think human beings should learn from the NCP outbreak?
A. Bats are one of the most dangerous wild animals.
B. It’s impossible to prevent new pandemics globally.
C. We should stop the wildlife trade around the world.
D. Humans should live peacefully with nature.

14. What is the main idea of Paragraph 5?
A. How human beings become their own masters.
B. How human activities cause global warming.
C. How human beings break the balance of nature.
D. How humans use technology to improve their lives.

15. What is the author’s purpose in writing this article?
A. To reflect on the NCP outbreak.
B. To explain what led to the NCP outbreak.
C. To describe experts’ predictions on new pandemics. D. To compare ancient and modern attitudes toward nature.

答案

1-4 ABAC

5-8 DABC 

9-11 CDA

12-15  ADCA