Question

【題目】An absolute description of the threat hanging over the world's mammals,reptiles,amphibians and other life forms has been published by the well-known scientific journal,Nature.A special analysis carried out by the journal indicates that an astonishing 41% of all amphibians on the planet now face extinction while 26% of mammal species and 13% of birds are similarly threatened.

Many species are already critically endangered and close to extinction,including the Sumatran elephant,Amur leopard and mountain gorilla.But also in danger of vanishing（消失）for the wild,it now appears,are animals that are currently rated as merely being endangered.

In each case,the finger of blame points directly at human activities.The continuing spread of agriculture is destroying millions of hectares of wild habitats every year,leaving animals without homes,while the introduction of newly-come species,often helped by humans,is also damaging native populations.At the same time,pollution and overfishing are destroying ocean ecosystems.

"Habitat destruction,pollution or overfishing either kill off wild creatures and plants or leaves them badly weakened," said Derek Tittensor,an ocean ecologist at the World Conservation Monitoring Centre in Cambridge. "The trouble is that in coming decades,the additional threat of worsening climate change will become more and more common and could then kill off these survivors."

The problem,according to Nature,is worsened because of the huge gaps in scientists knowledge about the planet's biodiversity.Evaluations of the total number of species of animals and plants alive vary from 2 million to 50 million.In addition,evaluations of current rates of species' disappearances vary from 500 to 36,000 a year. "That is the real problem we face," added Tittensor. "The scale of uncertainty is huge."

In the end,however,the data indicate that the world is heading cruelly towards a mass extinction-which is defined as one involving a loss of 75% of species or more.This could arrive in less than a hundred years or could take a thousand,depending on extinction rates.

【1】What's the main idea of the first two paragraphs?

A. Figures about some wild animals are astonishing.

B. Nature is the famous journal around the world.

C. Many endangered species are close to extinction.

D. Some rare species have appeared around the world.

【2】From paragraph 4 we know that another future threat is .

A. destruction of habitats B. overfishing and pollution

C. the worsening climate change D. killing off wild creatures and plants

【3】What is the real problem we are facing now according to paragraph 5?

A. The killing of wild creatures and cutting of trees.

B. The global warming caused by human beings.

C. The destruction of ocean ecosystem by pollution.

D. Evaluation of current rates of species' disappearances.

【4】What does "This" in the last sentence refer to?

A. mass extinction. B. extinction rates.

C. extinction time. D. 75% of species or more.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】C

【3】D

【4】A

【解析】本文講了世界著名雜志“自然”，做了一個(gè)特別的分析，用一些驚人的數(shù)據(jù)說(shuō)明世界上的一些動(dòng)物正面臨滅絕。同時(shí)指出，造成這些動(dòng)物滅絕的主要原因是人類(lèi)的破壞活動(dòng)。

【1】主旨大意題。由第一段的“an astonishing 41% of all amphibians on the planet now face extinction while 26% of mammal species and 13% of birds are similarly threatened.”這個(gè)星球上驚人的41%的兩棲動(dòng)物現(xiàn)在面臨滅絕，而26%的哺乳動(dòng)物和13%的鳥(niǎo)類(lèi)同樣受到威脅。第二段中的“Many species are already critically endangered and close to extinction,”許多物種已經(jīng)瀕臨滅絕，可知文章前兩段主要講“許多物種瀕臨滅絕”這樣一個(gè)事實(shí)。故選C。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由第四段中的“The trouble is that in coming decades,the additional threat of worsening climate change will become more and more common and could then kill off these survivors.”麻煩的是，在未來(lái)幾十年，氣候惡化將越來(lái)越普遍，這將會(huì)導(dǎo)致一些幸存下來(lái)的物種走向滅絕。可知未來(lái)的另一個(gè)威脅是氣候惡化。故選C。

【3】推理判斷題。由第五段中的“evaluations of current rates of species' disappearances vary from 500 to 36,000 a year. "That is the real problem we face," added Tittensor. "The scale of uncertainty is huge.”目前動(dòng)物的消失比率估計(jì)在500到36000之間，這才是我們面臨的真正問(wèn)題，即不確定性太大。由此可知，“evaluations of current rates of species' disappearances”物種消失率的評(píng)估，是人類(lèi)面臨的真正問(wèn)題，故選D。

【4】詞義推測(cè)題。由最后一段“In the end,however,the data indicate that the world is heading cruelly towards a mass extinction-which is defined as one involving a loss of 75% of species or more.This could arrive in less than a hundred years or could take a thousand,depending on extinction rates.”總之，數(shù)據(jù)顯示我們的世界正走向一場(chǎng)大滅絕，這場(chǎng)滅絕將導(dǎo)致75%甚至更多的物種滅絕，這在100年之內(nèi)就會(huì)發(fā)生。由此可推知，“this”指的是大滅絕。故選A。