Question

Fencing or Not

Wildlife fences are constructed for a variety of reasons including to prevent the spread of diseases, to protect wildlife from poachers(偷獵者), and to help manage small populations of threatened species. Human-wildlife conflict is another common reason for building fences. Wildlife can damage valuable farm animals and crops. Some species carry diseases of agricultural concern, and a few threaten human lives. At the same time, people kill wild animals for food, trade, or to defend lives or property, and human activities destroy wildlife habitat(棲息地). Separating people and wildlife by fencing can appear to be a mutually beneficial way to avoid such harmful effects. But in a paper in the journal Science, published recently, some scientists argue that fencing should only be used if worse comes to worst.

According to the scientists, although fencing can have conservation benefits, it also has costs. When areas of wildlife habitat are changed into islands, the resulting small and isolated populations tend towards extinction, and the resulting loss of larger-bodied species can affect interactions between species in ways that cause further local extinctions. Therefore, scientists are asking that conservationists carefully weigh up the biodiversity costs and benefits of new and existing fences.

In addition to fences’ ecosystem-wide impact, the scientists don’t think they always achieve their specific aims. Construction of fences to reduce human-wildlife conflict has been successful in some places but the challenges of appropriate fence design, location, construction, and protection mean that fences often fail to deliver the anticipated benefits. In some places, fences also provide poachers with a ready supply of wire for making traps.

A variety of alternative approaches, including better caring for farm animals, community-based crop-guarding, insurance and wildlife-sensitive land-use planning are suggested to reduce conflicts between people and wildlife without the need for fencing. Some projects working with local people and government agencies in Indonesia have shown that human-elephant conflict can be dramatically reduced without using fences.

The scientists conclude that as climate change increases the importance of facilitating wildlife mobility and conserving landscape connectivity, fence removal may become an important form of climate change preparation, and so fencing of wildlife should be avoided whenever possible.

1.What does the underlined word “mutually” in Paragraph 1 probably mean________?

A. Indeed. B. Outdoors. C. Straight. D. Both.

2.According to the scientists, what will fencing influence______?

A. Land building.

B. Species diversity.

C. Human population.

D. Wildlife’s body size.

3.What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 4_______?

A. Replacements for fences.

B. Wildlife-protection methods.

C. Effective land-use approaches.

D. Conflicts between human and wildlife

4.The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. argue and prove

B. inform and explain

C. appeal and discuss

D. compare and assess

Answer 1

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：文章主要講的是人類和野生動(dòng)物之間的沖突。一方面，野生動(dòng)物給農(nóng)作物帶來(lái)傷害，還可能會(huì)威脅人的生命；另一方面，人類捕殺野生動(dòng)物，人類活動(dòng)破壞野生動(dòng)物的棲息地。為了解決這種沖突，有人提出用隔離人類和野生動(dòng)物的辦法。科學(xué)家認(rèn)為此舉不利于保護(hù)物種的多樣性。

1.such harmful effects”指的是“Wildlife can damage valuable farm animals and crops. Some species carry diseases of agricultural concern, and a few threaten human lives...people kill wild animals for food, trade, or to defend lives or property, and human activities destroy wildlife habitat”，把人類和野生動(dòng)物分隔開來(lái)能使農(nóng)作物和人類的生命得到保護(hù)，同時(shí)，野生動(dòng)物也能免遭殺害，這似乎是對(duì)人類和野生動(dòng)物都有益處的辦法，說(shuō)明劃線詞是“相互的”之意，故選D。

2.the resulting small and isolated populations tend towards extinction, and the resulting loss of larger-bodied species...cause further local extinctions”可知，科學(xué)家認(rèn)為隔離野生動(dòng)物和人類會(huì)造成動(dòng)物的滅絕，進(jìn)而影響物種的多樣化，故選B。

3.A variety of alternative approaches...are suggested to reduce conflicts between people and wildlife without the need for fencing”可知，在解決人類和野生動(dòng)物沖突方面，有許多可替代性的途徑，故選A。

4.Fencing or Not”可知，文章主要講的是，是否應(yīng)該在人類和野生動(dòng)物之間建立屏障。根據(jù)第一段“Wildlife fences are constructed for a variety of reasons”和最后一段“fencing of wildlife should be avoided whenever possible”可知，文章提出了問(wèn)題--隔離人類和野生動(dòng)物，在文章的結(jié)尾給出了解答，即避免建立屏障，故選B。

考點(diǎn)：環(huán)保類短文閱讀