Question

【題目】Every year seals would crowd ashore in Farne Island and give birth to their pups. Between early October and early December, 1,500 seal pups will be born. Almost half of them will not make it past the first three weeks of life.

“The pups have to stay out of the water for the first three weeks, when they have their white coat, which is not very waterproof,” explains the warden (監(jiān)察員)，who spends nine months on the Island.

“But when you’re born in November on a rock in the North Sea, it’s a tough start to life,” he said. Storms often wash young pups into the water. And occasionally, young, inexperienced mothers abandon their pups and head out to sea.

“We lost 41% last year,” said David Steel, the National Trust’s head warden on the Farne Islands. “Mother Nature certainly keeps them in check.”

Despite the early challenges for every newborn seal, the population is healthily and slowly and steadily growing. There are almost 4,000 seals on a set of islands, which is named a Special Area of Conservation(SAC), meaning it is protected under EU regulations. This successful human safeguarding of the seals’ habitat is huge turnaround(轉(zhuǎn)機).

Just a few decades ago, the seal population was deliberately decimated. The animals used to be thought of as a threat to local fish stocks. During the late 1960s and 1970s, thousands of seals were shot in a cull(剔除)that aimed to protect the local fishing industry. According to the National Trust, between 1962 and 1983 approximately 2,000 adult females and 3,000 pups were shot.

But, as the fishing industry collapsed, it was gradually replaced by tourism. Today, several companies use fishing boats to take groups of people to visit the islands and admire the scenery, seabirds and, of course, the seals that make their homes in this bleakly beautiful place.

【1】In the first three weeks after they were born, almost half of the seal pups _______.

A. would be abandoned by their mothers

B. would be protected by the wardens

C. couldn’t live independently

D. would die mostly in the sea water.

【2】According to David Steel, death of so many pups________.

A. is a normal and natural phenomenon

B. is mainly caused by farmers’ killing

C. can be prevented efficiently by man

D. will be controlled by Mother Nature

【3】The underlined word “decimate” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to ____.

A. increase B. kill C. reduce D. control

【4】What’s the best title for the passage?

A. The Beautiful Farne Island

B. A Tough Beginning

C. How to Protect Grey Seals

D. Tourism or Fishing Industry

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】C

【4】B

【解析】

試題分析：本文寫了海豹幼崽的降生，又說明了現(xiàn)在海豹幼崽的死亡率。

【1】D細節(jié)理解題。由The pups have to stay out of the water for the first three weeks可知他們在水里待了三周，故選D。

【2】A推理判斷題。 Mother Nature certainly keeps them in check根據(jù)他的話可知海豹幼崽死亡是自然的，故選A。

【3】C細節(jié)理解題。由 the seal population was deliberately decimated. The animals used to be thought of as a threat to local fish stocks.可知動物們以前受到魚的威脅，所以它們死亡是少的，故選C。

【4】B主旨理解題。由文章開始可知1500只海豹幼崽要降生了，所以它們的威脅很多，所以這是一個艱難的開始，故選B。