Question

Rainforests, it turns out, are not created equal. Take the Amazon rainforest, an area that covers about 7 million square kilometers. But within that huge expanse are all kinds of ecological zones, and some of these zones, says Greg Asner, are a lot more crowded than others.

“Some forests have many species of trees,” he said, “others have few. Many forests are unique from others in terms of their overall species composition…” And all of these different small areas of forest exist within the giant space that is the Amazon Rainforest.

So Asner, using the signature technique called airborne laser-guided imaging spectroscopy, began to map these different zones from the air. “By mapping the traits of tropical forests from above,” he explains, “we are, for the first time, able to understand how forest composition varies geographically.”

The results show up in multicolored maps, with each color representing different kinds of species, different kinds of trees, the different kinds of chemical they are producing and using, and even the amount of biodiversity, the animal and plant species that live within each zone.

Armed with this information, Asner says decision-makers now have “a first-time way to decide whether any given forest geography is protected well enough or not. If not, then new protections can be put in place to save a given forest from destruction.”

Asner says the information is a great way for decision-makers to develop a “cost-benefit ratio type analysis.”  Conservation efforts can be expensive, so armed with this information, government leaders can ensure they are making the most of their conservation dollars by focusing on areas that are the most biologically diverse or unique.

The next step, Asner says, is to take his project global, and to put his eyes even higher in the sky, on orbital satellites. “The technique we developed and applied to map Peru is ready to go global.” Asner said. “We want to put the required instrumentation on an Earth-orbiting satellite, to map the planet every month, which will give the best possible view of how the world’s biodiversity is changing, and where to put much needed protections.

1.Unequally-created rainforests refer to the fact ______.

A. how crowded they are

B. where they are located

C. when they came into being

D. what kinds of species they have

2.What can government leaders learn from Asner’s mapping?

A. The cost to conserve forests.

B. The chemicals needing for certain forests.

C. The forest areas needing special protection.

D. The number of animals living in a forest.

3.What is Asner planning to do now?

A. To send a satellite to map the world.

B. To track the change of biodiversity in the world.

C. To develop technology for mapping the globe.

D. To advertise his project around the world.

4.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. Using eyes in the sky to map biodiversity.

B. Making a map of big forests in the world.

C. Learning about the biodiversity of Amazon forest.

D. Protecting the forest from being destructed.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】本文讲述了雨林生来就不是平等的，并以亚马逊雨林的森林树木多样性为例，说明了需要人们提高对世界生物多样性的勘测技术，比如运用地球轨道卫星对地球进行测绘，勘测技术提高了，可以更有效的保护雨林。

1.细节理解题。由第二段第一句““Some forests have many species of trees,” he said, “others have few.”可知，有些森林有许多种类的树木，然而其他的森林却有较少种类的树木，故可知生来不平等的雨林指的是事实上雨林所含物种的类型，故选D。

2.推理判断题。由第四段大意可知，显示在多色地图上的每一种颜色代表了不同种类的物种，不同种类的树木，不同种类的化学物质的生产和使用，甚至生物多样性的数量，生活在每个区域的动植物物种，所以可以推理判断出从阿斯纳的地图上政府领导者可以知道哪些雨林区域需要特殊的保护，根据不同的特征采取不同的保护措施，故选C。

3.细节理解题。由最后一段中的“We want to put the required instrumentation on an Earth-orbiting satellite, to map the planet every month, which will give the best possible view of how the world’s biodiversity is changing, and where to put much needed protections.”（我们希望在地球轨道卫星上安装所需的仪器，每个月对地球进行测绘，这将给出有关世界生物多样性的变化最可能好的观点，以及在何处进行必要的保护）可推知，阿斯纳现在想要去做的事是去追踪世界生物多样性的改变，以便可以更好的保护，故选B。

4.主旨大意题。整篇文章主要围绕着生物多样性来开展，并通过一系列的勘测方法来勘测世界生物的多样性，从而知道应该怎样保护它使其免受破坏，且由最后一段中的“take his project global, and to put his eyes even higher in the sky, on orbital satellites.”可知，阿斯纳想要实施自己的全球项目，并利用轨道卫星每个月对地球进行测绘，简言之，就是利用天空中的眼睛来描绘生物的多样性，故选A。

【名师点睛】阅读理解旨在考查考生对于文章整体的理解与细节的把握和分析的能力，做阅读理解时要在了解整篇文章框架的基础上进行选择。但是有些阅读题目还需要考生学会反面思考，从另一个角度推测出作者想表达的意思。

例如，本篇文章的第2题，“从阿斯纳的地图中政府领导者可以学会什么？”文章第四段主要讲述了地图所显示的结果：在多色地图上的每一种颜色代表了不同种类的物种，不同种类的树木，不同种类的化学物质的生产和使用，甚至生物多样性的数量，生活在每个区域的动植物物种。由段意可从侧面推测出不同的颜色代表不同的物种，那么，不同的种类就需要采取特殊的保护方法，不能在不同的物种上采取相同的保护措施，那样达不到物种保护的真正目的，故选C。