精品解析：新疆维吾尔自治区乌鲁木齐市第二十三中学2023-2024学年高三上学期12月月考英语试题

乌鲁木齐市第23中学 2023-2024学年高三12月月考 英语试题 总分120分 考试时间120分钟 一、阅读理解(共40分) Andrew runs a car repair workshop in a village in London, where swallows have made their nests on the crossbeams beneath its roof. All day long, they fly in and out, bringing back insects for their hungry chicks, seemingly unconscious of the constant noise and the comings and goings of customers. However, this spring the swallows didn’t arrive back at his workshop until 10 April — the latest they have returned in nearly 40 years. Actually, the average return date has been 8 April, but this year I didn’t see one over my garden in Scottish Highlands until the 25th. Numbers are down, too. While the tide appears to have turned up from last weekend onwards, other familiar species, like house martin (毛脚燕), needle-tailed swift, etc have been very few and far between. There are two reasons for their late arrival. Unlike many other migrating (迁徙) birds, which fatten themselves up before they depart, these species feed as they travel, replenishing (补充) lost energy by catching flying insects. For that reason, they are especially vulnerable to bad weather. And the weather in southern Europe this spring has been very unpredictable. The second reason is that, here in Britain these years, although the weather has been mainly dry, there have been persistent easterly and northeasterly winds, which may have also slowed down the birds’ progress as they headed north. How might this end up affecting these global travellers over the long term? Migrating birds usually live for only one or two years, so they need to get down to raising a family as soon as they return. Swallows, which usually start nesting in early April, may only be able to raise a single hatch this year, rather than two as they do in most years. I have seen swallows all over the world and discovered just how important they are as a sign of spring: not just in Britain but all the way across the northern hemisphere. Yet I am concerned that rapid cha