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(2021·江西南昌市高三一模)
Prince William, second in line to the British throne, gave his first TED Talk on Saturday to launch his Earthshot Prize, a competition that will award ￡five million prize money every year for the next decade to those who can come up with solutions to environmental problems.
Any person, group or organization around the world is qualified, and any suggestion is welcome, so long as it is applicable globally.It could be a new technology, a new approach, a new governmental policy or any other ideas toward five environmental goals—fixing the climate, purifying the air, protecting nature, cleaning oceans and handling waste.
“Earthshot” was inspired by John F.Kennedy’s “Moonshot”， an ambitious 1961 mission to get a man on the moon within a decade.The purpose of the prize is partly to arouse excitement and offer what Prince William called “a bit of catalyst ,a bit of hope, a bit of positivity” at a time when the world needs.The money will come from donors around the world.The prize committee includes many celebrities.
Prince William has environmental activism in his blue blood.Both his grandfather, and his father Prince Charles were active environmentalists.Prince William acknowledged his heritage by saying he had always listened, learned and believed what they were saying about the environment.Besides speaking wise words, he also puts forward a good prize.Over a million pounds is significantly more than a Nobel Prize and should inspire some serious and creative thinking about the difficulties of Planet Earth.Unlike the Nobel Prize money, the Earthshot money is supposed to be spent on the winning project.“If we achieve these goals, by 2030 our lives won’t be worse, and we won’t have to sacrifice everything we enjoy.Instead, the way we live will be healthier, cleaner, smarter, and better for all of us，” he said.
1．What can be learned about The Earthshot Prize?
A．It will be awarded to Britons.
B．It aims to solve social problems.
C．It is named after a moon mission.
D．It offers ￡50 million in total.
2．A person can win the prize for ________.
A．a method to monitor sea levels
B．a new technology to forecast the weather
C．a new approach to recycling the waste
D．a local government policy to ban fishing
3．What does the underlined word “catalyst” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A．Encouragement. B．Alarm.
C．Challenge. D．Surprise.
4．What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A．Earthshot Prize equals Nobel Prize.
B．Planet Earth will be cleaned by 2030．
C．Prince William only talks the talk.
D．Prince William is influenced by his family.
【语篇解读】 本文是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了威廉王子由于受到家人的影响，也很关心环境问题，并设立了一个奖项“Earthshot Prize”用来奖励那些能够有效解决某些环境问题的人。
1．D 细节理解题。根据第一段“Prince William, second in line to the British throne, gave his first TED Talk on Saturday to launch his Earthshot Prize, a competition that will award ￡five million prize money every year for the next decade to those who can come up with solutions to environmental problems.(英国王位第二继承人威廉王子于上周六发表了他的首次TED演讲，宣布设立“Earthshot Prize”。在未来十年里，该奖项每年将向那些能想出环境问题解决方案的人颁发500万英镑的奖金。)”可知，该奖项单人将获得500万英镑，总共十年，因此总奖金为5000万英镑。故选D项。
2．C 细节理解题。根据第二段“It could be a new technology, a new approach, a new governmental policy or any other ideas toward five environmental goals—fixing the climate, purifying the air, protecting nature, cleaning oceans and handling waste.(它可以是一项新技术、一种新方法、一项新的政府政策或任何其他旨在实现五个环境目标的想法——修复气候、净化空气、保护自然、清洁海洋和处理废物。)”可知，一个人能够获得该奖项的条件是要提出一种循环处理废弃物的新方法。故选C项。
3．A 词义猜测题。根据第三段“The purpose of the prize is partly to arouse excitement and offer what Prince William called ’a bit of catalyst , a bit of hope, a bit of positivity’ at a time when the world needs.(设立该奖项的部分目的是在这个世界需要的时候激起人们的兴奋，并提供威廉王子所说的“一点catalyst，一点希望，一点积极性”。)”可知，catalyst与hope(希望)，positivity(积极性)并列，其词性与含义都要与它们相近，表达正向的感觉，结合选项意思，A.鼓励；B.警告；C.挑战；D.惊喜，惊讶。最符合要求的是A项“鼓励”。故选A项。
4．D 细节理解题。根据最后一段“Both his grandfather, and his father Prince Charles were active environmentalists.Prince William acknowledged his heritage by saying he had always listened, learned and believed what they were saying about the environment.(他的祖父和父亲查尔斯王子都是积极的环保主义者。威廉王子承认自己的传统，他说他一直在倾听、学习和相信他们对环境的看法。)”可知，威廉王子重视环保的思想是受到了他的家人的影响。故选D项。
