【正文】 ould kill, recalls (回憶) Andre, who is the director of the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics at the Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona. Andre has spent 20 years developing an advanced system to better understand why incidents like this happen. His underwater microphones have exposed a world of deafening sound and animal munication never observed with such clarity(清晰) before. It was not an easy task. Sound waves don39。t travel through water in the uniform, predictable way they do through the air. Instead, the temperature, salinity (鹽度) and, flow of water have great effects on their path. What can be done? One solution is to change shipping routes to courses where ships are statistically less likely to meet animals. It39。s also possible to slow ships down to 18km/h or less, which is less likely to seriously injure a whale. As for dealing with the root cause of the problem, the UN39。s International Maritime Organisation has already published guidelines on how to quieten ships, but it will be a while before the effects of such changes might be observed. The ocean is not our world, ments Andre. But it is ours to look after. And thanks to his work, we can better understand the effects of subsea sound pollution.（1）What does the underlined word desensitised in Paragraph 2 mean? A.Stubborn.B.Flexible.C.Dull.D.Friendly.（2）What39。s one way to solve the problem according to the text? A.To lower the speed of ships.B.To reduce the number of ships.C.To set up preserves under the sea.D.To give the injured animals timely treatment.（3）What is the author39。s attitude towards what Michel Andre has done? A.Doubtful.B.Disapproving.C.Positive.D.Uncaring.（4）What is the text mainly about? A.A great expert.B.Noise in the sea.C.Animals in the sea.D.Sea exploration technology.【答案】 （1）C（2）A（3）C（4）B 【解析】【分析】本文是一篇說明文，介紹了海底噪音對海洋生物的影響以及如何降低海底噪音的問題。 （1）考查詞義猜測。根據(jù)第二段中的”the noise of approaching boats and were being struck by them, often seriously“可知，鯨魚被靠近的船只碰撞，因為它們可能是對船只所產(chǎn)生的噪音比較“遲鈍”。故可知劃線部分單詞意思為“遲鈍的”。故選C。 （2）考查細(xì)節(jié)理解。根據(jù)第五段中的”It39。s also possible to slow ships down to 18 km/h or less, which is less likely to seriously injure a whale.“也有可能將船只減速到每小時18公里或更少，這樣就不太可能嚴(yán)重傷害鯨魚。可知，降低船只速度是文中提到的一種解決辦法。故選A。 （3）考查推理判斷。根據(jù)最后一段中的”And thanks to his work, we can better understand the effects of subsea sound pollution.“由于他的工作，我們可以更好地了解海底聲音污染的影響?？芍?，作者對Michel Andre所做的工作十分認(rèn)可。故選C。 （4）考查主旨大意。通讀全文可知，文章主要講述了海底噪音對海洋生物的影響以及如何降低海底噪音的問題，故選B。 【點評】本題考點涉及細(xì)節(jié)理解，詞義猜測，推理判斷和主旨大意四個題型的考查，是一篇科研類閱讀，要求考生在捕捉細(xì)節(jié)信息的基礎(chǔ)上，進(jìn)一步根據(jù)上下文的邏輯關(guān)系，進(jìn)行分析，推理，概括和歸納，從而選出正確答案。8．閱讀理解 Benefits and Problems of Genetic Engineering Plant breeding is the science of changing the characteristics of plants in order to produce desired ones. Genes in a plant are what determine what type of characteristics it will have. Plant breeders try to create a specific oute of plants and potentially new plant varieties by changing the genes of the plants through breeding, which is making new plants from parents of different varieties or species. Actually, plant breeding has been practiced for thousands of years, since near the beginning of human civilization. It is practiced worldwide by individuals such as gardeners and farmers and by professional plant breeders employed by organizations such as government institutions, universities, cropspecific industry associations or research centers. They have crossbred plants to create the new types of plants that are, for example, bigger, stronger, or more attractive. Crossbreeding can take such a long time, however, and it is inaccurate. Now, we can change exact sections of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), so the process is more accurate and faster. But people all over the world are arguing about its benefits and disadvantages. Some people use the technology to produce desired characteristics of plants and animals. Other people are concerned that the genetically engineered plants may harm the environment and worried that they may be dangerous for people to eat. There are many reasons for changing plants in this way. International development agencies believe that breeding new crops is important for ensuring food security by developing new varieties that are higher yielding(高產(chǎn)的), disease resistant, drought tolerant or regionally adapted to different environments and growing conditions. For example, some genetically engineered plants can live through frost or draught. As a result, famers can make more profit because fewer plants will die. Some genetically engineered plants are more nutritious. They have less fat, taste better or stay fresher than nongenetically engineered plants. This will allow people to buy betterquality fruit and vegetables. Some genetically engineered plants can resist natural pests such as viruses or insects. This reduces the amount of chemical needed to kill pests, which is helpful to the environment. However, genetically engineered plants can cause unexpected problems. Genetically engineered plants that resist pests may pass on that characteristic to a wild relative. This may cause the wild plant to spread fast, because pests are not naturally killing it. Genetically engineered plants can also harm animals. A type of corn