专题 02 阅读理解 （说明文） --2023年新高考八省名校联考高二英语期末试题汇编

专题 02 阅读理解 （说明文） --2023年新高考八省名校联考高二英语期末试题汇编 （原卷版） 1.【重庆市巴蜀中学2022-2023学年高二上学期期中考试】 The Blue Eye of the Sahara is a geological formation in the Sahara Desert that resembles an enormous bullseye. The formation stretches across a 40-kilometer-wide region of the desert in the nation of Mauritania. For centuries, only a few local tribes knew about the formation. It was first photographed in the 1960s by astronauts who used it as a landmark to track the progress of their landing. Later, the Landsat satellite took additional images and provided information about the size, height, and extent of the formation. Geologists originally believed that Eye of the Sahara was created when an object from outer space crashed into the surface. However, lengthy studies of the rocks inside the structure show that its origins are entirely Earth-based, as the formation contains rocks that are at least 100 million years old; some date back to well before the appearance of life on Earth. Millions of years ago, volcanic activity from deep beneath Earth’s surface lifted the entire landscape around the Eye. After the volcanism died down, wind and water erosion( 侵蚀) began to eat away at the layers of rock. After years of erosion, the region began to settle down and fall in on itself, creating the roughly circular “eye” feature. The Eye of the Sahara attracts both tourists and geologists to study the unique geological feature in person. However, because the Eye is located in a remote region of the desert with very little water or rainfall, it is not under much threat from humans. That leaves the Eye at the mercy of nature. The ongoing effects of erosion threaten the landscape, just as they do other places on the planet. Desert winds may well bring more dunes(沙丘) to the region, particularly as climate change causes increased desertification in the area. It’s quite possible that, in the distant future, the Eye of the Sahara will be buried under sand and dust. Future travelers may find only a wind