【正文】 ere few animal deaths. It39。s unlikely that an animal39。s socalled sixth sense es from some magical power to see into the future. Experts believe that animals may be more sensitive than humans to changes in temperature and other environmental conditions that take place before a natural disaster. The elephants in Sri Lanka, for example, may have picked up vibrations from within the Earth, a sign that earthquake was ing. Because vibrations in the ground travel much faster than an ocean wave, the elephants may have felt the earthquake that caused the tsunami well before the tsunami itself came to the coast. A few scientists are calling for a system to track reports of strange behavior in people39。s pets, hoping that these reports can serve as a warning system that a natural disaster is about to happen. But Marina Haynes, an animal behavior scientist at the Philadelphia Zoo, says, It would be an unreliable way to predict disasters. It can be difficult to know what an animal is doing. Is the animal nervous because an earthquake is about to happen or is it frightened because there is an enemy nearby?（1）What happened to the elephants in Yala National Park on December 26, 2004? A.They died in the natural disaster.B.They were disturbed by the tourists.C.They moved from the hill to the seaside.D.They behaved strangely before the tsunami.（2）The author supports his point of view in paragraph 3 mainly by . A.giving examplesB.making parisonsC.telling interesting storiesD.showing research findings（3）The underlined word vibrations in paragraph 4 means . A.changes in temperatureB.a kind of chemical powerC.continuous shaking movementD.serious environmental pollution（4）What may be Marina Haynes39。 attitude towards the warning system in the last paragraph? A.Positive.B.Doubtful.C.Hopeful.D.Supportive.【答案】 （1）D（2）A（3）C（4）B 【解析】【分析】本文是一篇說明文，長期以來，科學家們一直懷疑動物比人類更能感知自然災害。 （1）考查細節(jié)理解。根據(jù)第一段中的“But at midmorning the park39。s elephants began crying wildly and running away from the ocean and up a nearby hill.”但在上午10點左右，公園里的大象開始狂呼亂叫，從海里跑開，爬上附近的一座小山。由此可知，2004年12月26日，亞拉國家公園的大象在海嘯前表現(xiàn)得很奇怪，故選D。 （2）考查推理判斷。根據(jù)第三段中的“People have told stories of dogs refusing to go outside and sharks swimming to deeper waters before a hurricane. After the 2004 tsunami, people said they saw tigers, monkeys, and water buffalo escaping to higher ground before the waters rushed in. Even in the hardesthit areas of southern Asia, there were few animal deaths.”人們講過這樣的故事:狗不愿出門，鯊魚在颶風前游到較深的水域。在2004年的海嘯之后，人們說他們看到老虎、猴子和水牛在洪水涌入之前逃到地勢較高的地方。即使在受災最嚴重的南亞地區(qū)，也很少有動物死亡?？赏茢喑鲎髡咴诘谌沃饕ㄟ^舉例來支持自己的觀點，故選A。 （3）考查詞義猜測。根據(jù)第四段中的“Because vibrations in the ground travel much faster than an ocean wave, the elephants may have felt the earthquake that caused the tsunami well before the tsunami itself came to the coast.”由于地面的震動比海浪的傳播速度快得多，大象可能早在海嘯到達海岸之前就已經(jīng)感受到引發(fā)海嘯的地震。由此可以推斷出vibrations意思是連續(xù)晃動，故選C。 （4）考查推理判斷。根據(jù)最后一段中的“But Marina Haynes, an animal behavior scientist at the Philadelphia Zoo, says,‘It would be an unreliable way to predict disasters. It can be difficult to know what an animal is doing. Is the animal nervous because an earthquake is about to happen or is it frightened because there is an enemy nearby?’但是費城動物園的動物行為科學家Marina Haynes說:這是一種不可靠的預測災難的方法。很難知道動物在做什么。是因為地震即將發(fā)生而感到緊張，還是因為附近有敵人而感到害怕?由此推斷出，Marina Haynes在最后一段對這種預警系統(tǒng)持懷疑態(tài)度。故選B。 【點評】本題考點涉及細節(jié)理解，詞義猜測和推理判斷三個題型的考查，是一篇科研類閱讀，考生需要準確掌握細節(jié)信息，并根據(jù)上下文進行邏輯推理，從而選出正確答案。7．閱讀短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D四個選項中，選出最佳選項。 The world39。s insects are going down the path of extinction, threatening a catastrophic collapse of nature39。s ecosystems, according to the first global scientific review. More than 40％of insect species are declining and third are endangered, the analysis found. The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. It should be of huge concern to all of us, for insects are at the heart of every food web. They pollinate (授粉) the large majority of plant species, keep the soil healthy, recycle nutrients, control pests, and much more. Love them or 1oathe them, we humans cannot survive without insects, said Prof Dave Goulson at the University of Sussex in the UK. The analysis, published in the journal Biological Conservation, says intensive (集約型) agriculture is the main driver of the declines, particularly the heavy use of pesticides. Urbanisation and climate change are also significant factors. If insect species losses cannot be stopped, this will have catastrophic consequences for both the planet39。s ecosystems and for the survival of mankind. It is very rapid. In 10 years you will have a quarter less, in 50 years only half left and in 100 years you will have none, said review author Francisco S225。nchezBayo, at the University of Sydney, Australia. One of the biggest impacts of insect loss is on many birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish that eat insects. If this food source is taken away, all these animals starve to death, he said. Such effects have already been seen in Puerto Rico, where a recent study revealed a 98％fall in ground insects over 35 years. Matt Shardlow, at the conservation charity Buglife, said: It is thoughtful to see this evidence that shows the pitiful state of the world39。s insect populations. It is increasingly obvious that the planet39。s ecolog