一、阅读理解
The Dead Sea lies in the Jordan Rift Valley in southwest Asia, with about 80 kilometres long and 18 kilometres wide at its widest point. What’s interesting is that the Dead Sea isn’t actually a sea. It’s a lake with a salt concentration(浓度) of more than 30 percent. That is about eight times saltier than typical seawater.
The Dead Sea stays so salty due to its special natural conditions. It is the lowest point on Earth’s land so there is no outlet for the Dead Sea. Each year, it receives very little rainfall. And the hot weather around the Dead Sea causes the fresh water to evaporate(蒸发) quickly. That makes the salt concentration even higher. For these reasons, it is also known as the Salt Sea.

If you were to swim in the Dead Sea, you wouldn’t see any sea life. The high salt concentration makes it impossible for them to live there. That’s actually why it’s called the Dead Sea.
However, don’t let the name scare you. Even if you fall into the Dead Sea and can’t swim, you won’t die. The high concentration of salt in the Dead Sea allows anyone to float well, without the need for swim rings. In fact, many people visit the Dead Sea every year on vacation. They like floating in the water, reading books or magazines. But too many visitors also cause some pollution. The Dead Sea may face more challenges.

()1. How does the writer start the passage?
A. By giving examples.
B. By asking questions.
C. By showing some facts.
D. By telling a story.
()2. What causes the Dead Sea to have such a high salt concentration?
①Low sea level ②Little rainfall
③Hot weather ④Human activities
A. ①②③ B. ②③④ C. ①③④ D. ①②④
()3. Which of the following was answered in the passage?
A. How deep is the Dead Sea?
B. Why can people float in the Dead Sea?
C. When was the best time to visit the Dead Sea?
D. What can we do to protect the Dead Sea?
()4. What can we infer from the passage?
A. The Dead Sea will become less salty in the future.
B. Plants and animals are growing more in the Dead Sea.
C. The salt concentration of typical seawater is about 3.5%.
D. There will be more tourists who want to float in the Dead Sea in the future.
()5. In which part of the newspaper do you probably see the passage?
A. History. B. Nature. C. Culture. D. Society.

【文章大意】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了死海的地理位置、并非海洋的属性、高盐浓度的成因、没有海洋生物的原因、能使人漂浮的特点以及面临的挑战等内容。
1. C 写作手法题。文章开头提到“The Dead Sea lies in the Jordan Rift Valley in southwest Asia, with about 80 kilometres long and 18 kilometres wide at its widest point. What's interesting is that the Dead Sea isn't actually a sea. It's a lake with a salt concentration of more than 30 percent. That is about eight times saltier than typical seawater.”可知，作者是通过展示一些事实来开始这篇文章的。故选 C。
2. A 细节理解题。根据“It is the lowest point on Earth's land so there is no outlet for the Dead Sea. Each year, it receives very little rainfall. And the hot weather around the Dead Sea causes the fresh water to evaporate quickly. That makes the salt concentration even higher.”可知，死海盐浓度高的原因包括低海拔（没有出口）、少降雨、炎热天气，不包括人类活动。故选①②③，即 A。
3. B 细节理解题。根据“The high concentration of salt in the Dead Sea allows anyone to float well, without the need for swim rings.”可知，文章回答了人们为什么能在死海里漂浮。故选 B。
4. C 推理判断题。根据“It's a lake with a salt concentration of more than 30 percent. That is about eight times saltier than typical seawater.”可推算，普通海水的盐浓度约为 30%÷8≈3.75%，与选项 C 中“about 3.5%”接近，可推断该说法合理。故选 C。
5. B 文章出处题。文章主要介绍了死海的地理位置、盐浓度高的原因、特点等自然相关内容。由此可推知，这篇文章可能出现在报纸的自然版块。故选 B。

【分析】
首先通读全文可知这是一篇介绍死海相关知识的自然科普说明文，解题时可按照不同题型的对应思路逐一突破：
1. 针对第1题写作手法题，直接定位文章开篇第一段的内容，判断作者开篇的引入方式，排除不符合的选项；
2. 第2题是细节理解题，回到原文第二段介绍死海盐度高成因的段落，逐一核对给出的四个因素，排除原文未提及的诱因，选出正确组合；
3. 第3题需要逐一比对四个选项的问题，确认哪一个的答案在原文中有明确表述，排除文章没有给出对应解答的选项；
4. 第4题推理判断题，不能凭主观猜测，要依托原文给出的有效数据和信息推导，排除没有原文依据的错误推断；
5. 第5题文章出处题，根据全文的主题属性，匹配对应的报纸版块即可。
【解析】
1. 写作手法题：文章开篇直接介绍死海的地理位置、长宽数据、属性、盐度数值等一系列客观事实，没有举例子、设问或者讲故事，因此作者是通过展示事实的方式开启全文，选C。
2. 细节理解题：根据原文第二段内容，死海盐度高的原因包括：它是地球陆地最低点没有出水口、年降雨量极少、周边炎热天气加速淡水蒸发，文中并未提到人类活动是盐度高的成因，因此①②③正确，选A。
3. 细节理解题：原文明确提到死海的高盐浓度让任何人都可以轻松漂浮，回答了“为什么人们可以在死海漂浮”的问题；而死海的深度、最佳游览时间、保护死海的措施在文中均没有相关表述，因此选B。
4. 推理判断题：原文提到死海盐度超过30%，是普通海水的8倍左右，计算可得普通海水盐度约为30%÷8=3.75%，和选项C提到的约3.5%非常接近，推断成立；A选项死海盐度未来降低、B选项死海动植物增多、D选项未来会有更多游客想要漂浮在死海，均没有原文信息支撑，属于错误推断，因此选C。
5. 文章出处题：全文围绕死海的地理属性、自然特征展开科普，属于自然类内容，最可能出现在报纸的自然版块，选B。
【答案】
1.C 2.A 3.B 4.C 5.B
【知识点】
说明文细节定位，写作手法判断，文本推理判断
【点评】
本题属于自然科普类初中英语阅读，考点覆盖了阅读常考的写作手法、细节查找、推理判断、文章出处四类题型，引导学生养成依托原文线索解题的习惯，避免主观臆断，其中第4题需要结合简单的数学运算推导结论，对学生的信息整合能力有一定的小要求，整体难度适中。
【难度系数】
0.75