科技类Passage One For hundreds of millions of years, turtles (海龟) have struggled out of the sea to lay their eggs on sandy beaches, long before there were nature documentaries to celebrate them, or GPS satellites and marine biologists to track them, or volunteers to hand-carry the hatchlings (幼龟) down to the water’s edge lest they become disoriented by headlights and crawl towards a motel parking lot instead. [52]A formidable wall of bureaucracy has been erected to protect their prime nesting on the Atlantic coastlines. With all that attention paid to them, you’d think these creatures would at least have the gratitude not to go extinct. [53]But Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness, and a report by the Fish and Wildlife Service showed a worrisome drop in the populations of several species of North Atlantic turtles, notably loggerheads, which can grow to as much as 400 pounds. The South Florida nesting population, the largest, has declined by 50% in the last decade, according to Elizabeth Griffin, a marine biologist with the environmental group Oceana. The figures prompted Oceana to petition the government to upgrade the level of protection for the North Atlantic loggerheads from “threatened” to “endangered”—meaning they are in danger of disappearing without additional help. Which raises the obvious question: what else do these turtles want from us, anyway? It turns out, according to Griffin, that while we have done a good job of protecting the turtles for the weeks they spend on land (as egg-laying females, as eggs and as hatchlings), we have neglected the years spend in the ocean. [54]“The threat is from commercial fishing,” says Griffin. Trawlers (which drag large nets through the water and along the ocean floor) and long line fishers (which can deploy thousands of hooks on lines that can stretch for miles) take a heavy toll on turtles. Of course, like every other environmental issue today, this is playing out against the background of global warming and human interference with natural ecosystems. [55]The narrow strips of beach on which the turtles lay their eggs are being squeezed on one side by development and on the other by the threat of rising sea levels as the oceans warm. [56]Ultimately we must get a handle on those issues as well, or a creature that outlived the dinosaurs (恐龙) will meet its end at the hands of humans, leaving our descendants to wonder how creature so ugly could have won so much affection. 52. We can learn from the first paragraph that ________. A．human activities have changed the way turtles survive B．efforts have been made to protect turtles from dying out C．government bureaucracy has contributed to turtles’ extinction D．marine biologists are looking for the secret of turtles’ reproduction 53. What does the author mean by “Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness” (Line 1, Para. 2)? A．Nature is quite fair regarding the survival of turtles. B．Turtles are by nature indifferent to human activities. C．The course of nature will not be changed by human interference. D．The turtle population has decreased in spite of human protection. 54. What constitutes a major threat to the survival of turtles according to Elizabeth Griffin? A．Their inadequate food supply. B．Unregulated commercial fishing. C．Their lower reproductively ability. D．Contamination of sea water 55. How does global warming affect the survival of turtles? A．It threatens the sandy beaches on which they lay eggs. B．The changing climate makes it difficult for their eggs to hatch. C．The rising sea levels make it harder for their hatchlings to grow. D．It takes them longer to adapt to the high beach temperature. 56. The last sentence of the passage is meant to ________. A．persuade human beings to show more affection for turtles B．stress that even the most ugly species should be protected C．call for effective measures to ensure sea turtles’ survivalD．warn our descendants about the extinction of species52．B [定位] 首段。
[解析]首段最后两句提到“为了保护它们在大西洋沿岸的主要筑巢地，人们建起了一套强大的制度体系你可能会想：既然人们给这些生物这么多关注，它们才不至于灭绝，在这一点上它们起码会感恩戴德”，而表达同样含义的为选项B[点睛] 答案应该围绕文章首段的主题A“人类的行为已经改变了海龟的生存方式”和D“海洋生物学家正在寻找海龟繁殖的奥秘”文中并没有提到，而“政府的制度体系造成了海龟的灭绝”和原文“海龟不至于灭绝”这一信息相悖53．D [定位] 第二段首句[解析]事实上这一句话是本段的topic sentence后面内容对该句作了进一步说明，即“渔业和野生动物署的一个报道表明，几种北大西洋海龟的数量急剧下降，令人担忧”，再结合首段提到的人类对海龟的保护，可知本题选D[点睛] 语义题要结合上下文和文章主题A“大自然在海龟的生存方面非常公平”和B“海龟本性对人类的行为不感兴趣”与原文表达差别太大，不符合题意C“大自然的进程不会被人类干扰而改变”过于宽泛，与文章主题毫不相干54．B [定位] 根据题干的threat和Griffin查找第三段最后两句[解析]第三段最后两句提到，“威胁来自商业性捕鱼”拖捞船和多钩长线渔船给海龟带来了巨大的伤害，故B正确。
55．A [定位] 根据题干中的global warming和turtles查找到末段第二句[解析]本题询问全球变暖对海龟生存的影响，末段第二句提到“沿海发展和因海洋变暖而造成的海平面上升正在使海龟产卵的海岸越变越窄”，故A正确56．B [定位] 末段末句[解析]末段末句可以认为是对全文的总结全文的基调是谈论海龟现在所遭遇的问题，并希望我们能够找出解决的方法而文章末句说“我们一定要解决这个问题”，故C正确[点睛] 答案往往含有文章关键词，而本文最关键的词汇就是C中的turtles’ survivalA“说服人类给海龟更多的关爱”是个很强的干扰项，不过做单项选择题时要选择最好的，最合适的选项；B“强调即使最丑陋的物种也需要得到保护”是对原文的曲解；D“警告我们的后代物种的灭绝”和原文意思相悖Passag。