2024届最新高考英语外刊阅读语篇精选（2）

最新高考英语外刊阅读语篇精选 （二） 选材世界知名报刊 对接国家最新课标 资深一线老师特约撰稿 第一节 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。 （A） Insects thrive on solar farms planted with native flowers Sowing grasses and wildflowers among solar panels can bring big increases in bees and aid crop pollination in nearby fields, a four-year study in the US suggests. The expansion of solar energy is sometimes seen as a threat to the environment because of the large amounts of land required, but solar developments can be designed to restore habitat and bring biodiversity gains. Leroy Walston at Argonne… National Laboratory in Illinois and his colleagues monitored the impact on insects after two solar farms in Minnesota were planted with native vegetation. The solar farms were built in 2017 on land that was previously used to grow rows of crops. The entirety of both sites were sown with specially designed seed mixes in 2017, and smaller, experimental plots were sown again a year later. From annual surveys of the experimental plots in the summer, Walston’s team found that the number of beneficial insects tripled and their diversity increased by 13 per cent from 2018 to 2022. There was a particularly big impact on native bees, with their numbers increasing 20-fold over the study period. The researchers also counted insects visiting flowers in adjacent soybean fields, finding a comparable level of visits as there were in fields next to grasslands enrolled in a restoration programme. This suggests attracting pollinators to the solar sites has a spillover effect on nearby farmland. “While we prefer solar energy projects avoid ecologically sensitive areas altogether, solar-pollinator habitat can be a means to ease some ecological impacts associated with the conversion of lands to solar energy,” says Walston. “In some cases, where solar facilities have been properly sited on disturbed or marginal lands, habitat-friendly solar may provide a net benefit to biodiversity.” 1. Why the expansion of solar energy is sometimes viewed as a t