Question

【題目】Over millions of years, penguins（企鵝）have developed a keen sense of where to find food. Once they’re old enough, they set off from the shores on which they were hatched for the first time and swim long distances in search of tasty fish like anchovies and sardines. But they don’t search directly for the fish themselves.

For example, when young African penguins head out to sea, they look for areas with low surface temperatures and high chlorophyll(葉綠素) because those conditions signal the presence of phytoplankton（浮游植物）. And lots of phytoplankton means lots of plankton（浮游動(dòng)物）, which in turn means lots of their favorite fish. Well, that’s what it used to mean.

Climate change plus overfishing have made the penguin feeding grounds a mirage(海市蜃樓). The habitat is indeed plankton-rich—but now it’s fish-poor. Researchers call this an “ecological trap.”

“It’s a situation where you have a signal that previously pointed an animal towards good quality habitat. That habitat’s been changed, usually by human pressures. The signal stays, but the quality in the environment deteriorates.”

Richard Sherley, a zoologist at the University of Exeter and his team used satellite imaging to track the African penguins from eight sites along southern Africa. Historically, the birds benefited from tons of fish off the coasts of Angola, Namibia and western South Africa, but now they’re going hungry.

“I was really hoping we’d see them going east, and finding areas where the fish had moved to but it ends up being quite a sad story for the penguins.” said Richard.

The researchers calculate that by falling into this ecological trap, African penguin populations on South Africa's Western Cape have declined by around 80 percent.

Some research groups are exploring the idea of moving chicks to a place where they can’t get trapped, like the Eastern Cape. But Sherley thinks that a longer-term solution means making and carrying out rules to create more sustainable(可持續(xù)的) fishing industry, something that he says needs public support.

【1】How do penguins find their food?

A. They discover fish with their keen sense.

B. They swim long distances directly for fish.

C. They make signals to each other when finding fish.

D. They look for warmer and greener areas.

【2】What is an ecological trap for the African penguins?

A. A trap set to catch penguins.

B. A good fish habitat with few fish.

C. A habitat unsuitable for fish.

D. A mirage on the sea.

【3】What does the underlined word “deteriorates” in the fourth paragraph mean?

A. Get worse. B. Get better.

C. Stay the same. D. Become suitable.

【4】What can be done to help the penguins in the long run?

A. Move the penguins to other places.

B. Create nature reserves for penguins.

C. Keep a balanced fishing industry.

D. Increase the population of penguins.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】A

【4】C

【解析】經(jīng)過(guò)數(shù)百萬(wàn)年,企鵝已經(jīng)進(jìn)化出一種敏銳的感覺(jué)去哪里尋找食物。尋找像鳳尾魚(yú)和沙丁魚(yú)這樣的美味的魚(yú)。但是他們不會(huì)直接搜索這些魚(yú)。而是尋找大量的浮游植物。因?yàn)榇罅康母∮沃参镆馕吨鴷?huì)有大量的以蜉蝣植物為食的魚(yú)。而氣候變化和過(guò)度捕撈導(dǎo)致環(huán)境不斷惡化，使企鵝不能再準(zhǔn)確地找到魚(yú)類的棲息地。作者提議最好制定和執(zhí)行一個(gè)長(zhǎng)期的規(guī)則，以使?jié)O業(yè)可持續(xù)發(fā)展。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題， How do penguins find their food?企鵝是如何找到它們的食物的?根據(jù)“Over millions of years, penguins（企鵝）have developed a keen sense of where to find food. 經(jīng)過(guò)數(shù)百萬(wàn)年的進(jìn)化,企鵝已經(jīng)進(jìn)化出一種敏銳的感覺(jué)去尋找食物”可知本題選A. They discover fish with their keen sense.他們以敏銳的感覺(jué)找到魚(yú)。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題，What is an ecological trap for the African penguins?非洲企鵝的生態(tài)陷阱是什么?根據(jù)“ The habitat is indeed plankton-rich—but now it’s fish-poor. Researchers call this an “ecological trap.”這里的棲息地確實(shí)是富含浮游生物，但現(xiàn)在是魚(yú)很少。研究人員稱這是一個(gè)“生態(tài)陷阱”。”可知本題選B. A good fish habitat （棲息地）with few fish.魚(yú)的有利棲息地，但是卻只有很少的魚(yú)。

【3】猜測(cè)詞意題，由“The signal stays, but the quality in the environment deteriorates.信號(hào)保持不變，但環(huán)境的質(zhì)量卻在deteriorates�！�由上一句話可知The signal是指某個(gè)區(qū)域含有大量的蜉蝣生物，正常情況下是會(huì)有大量的魚(yú)。但是由于人類的干擾，某個(gè)地方仍然有大量藻類，卻只有很少的魚(yú)。即環(huán)境在不斷惡化。故可判斷出該詞的意思是Get worse. 惡化、更糟糕。

【4】細(xì)節(jié)理解題， What can be done to help the penguins in the long run?從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)來(lái)看，我們能做些什么來(lái)幫助企鵝呢?根據(jù)“ a longer-term solution means making and carrying out rules to create more sustainable(可持續(xù)的) fishing industry.一個(gè)更長(zhǎng)期的解決方案是制定和執(zhí)行規(guī)則，以創(chuàng)造可持續(xù)的捕魚(yú)業(yè)”故本題選C. Keep a balanced fishing industry.維持捕魚(yú)業(yè)的平衡。