Question

Raising a baby takes a lot of work, especially when that baby is a king penguin. Now, it looks like climate change will make life even harder for these birds.

Most king penguins live on the Crozet Archipelago, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, about 1，000 miles north of Antarctica. After the penguin chicks are born in November，which is summer in the Southern Hemisphere，both parents spend 4 months collecting fish to feed their offspring (后代)．

When the fish move to deeper waters in March, the adults swim hundreds of miles south.  There, near the Antarctic ice, they spend the winter eating seafood to add to their own energy stores. In October, the parents return to their babies and finish raising them.

Scientists from France have been studying king penguins for a decade. Starting in 1998，Yvon Le Maho and his colleagues put electronic ID tags under the skin of hundreds of penguins. These are the same types of tags you might put in your dog or cat so that you can track them if they're lost. The tags have allowed researchers to get everything about penguins, such as how long they live, whether they return from their winter trips, and if their babies manage to survive the winter.

To see whether water temperatures affect the penguins, Le Maho compared his data with temperature records.  Ocean surface temperatures vary from year to year. And previous research had shown that fewer fish and other creatures grow when the water is warmer. Le Maho suspected that this drop would make it harder for adult penguins to survive the hard times ahead. Indeed, his results showed that fewer adults survived during winters when the water was especially warm.

King penguins can live for up to 30 years. And for now, the population still appears healthy. But a warming trend could spell big trouble for a bird that depends on cold and ice.

1.What do adult penguins do in March?

A. They swim south to find food for their offspring.

B. They leave their offspring alone for months.

C. They take their offspring elsewhere to search for food.

D. They teach their offspring some living skills.

2.In the research, electronic ID tags were used to________．

A. help penguins recognize each other

B. help researchers tell one penguin from another

C. keep track of the details of the penguins

D. help researchers find the lost penguins

3.What attitude does the author hold towards the future of penguins?

A. Worried.    B. Optimistic.

C. Indifferent.    D. Satisfied.

4.What is the purpose of the passage?

A. To call on people to fight against global warming.

B. To call on people to protect the endangered penguins.

C. To tell global warming is threatening the survival of penguins.

D. To explain how global warming affects the life of sea animals.

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.C

【解析】科学家们通过植入企鹅体内的电子标签了解企鹅的各种信息，从而了解到由于全球变暖，企鹅的生存正面临着巨大威胁。

1.B

细节理解题。根据第三段When the fish move to deeper waters in March, the adults swim hundreds of miles south. they spend the winter eating seafood to add to their own energy stores. In October, the parents return to their babies and finish raising them.可知在三月份，成年企鹅会往南游在那里度过冬天，为自己储存能量，到10月份它们才回到孩子的身边，履行它们的养育职责，故选B.

2.C

细节理解题。根据第四段中的“The tags have allowed researchers to get everything about penguins ...”可知通过把电子标签植入企鹅体内，研究者们可以了解到有关企鹅的各种信息，故选C.

3.A

推理判断题。根据倒数第二段Indeed, his results showed that fewer adults survived during winters when the water was especially warm.和最后一段中And for now, the population still appears healthy. But a warming trend could spell big trouble for a bird that depends on cold and ice.可知作者对企鹅的命运感到担忧。故选A.

4.C

主旨大意题。文章主要介绍了科学家们发现全球变暖给企鹅的生存带来了隐患。故选C.

【名师点睛】

细节理解题属直接解答性问题，是阅读理解题中最简单的一种，多数属中低难度的题。但高考所占的比例大，应特别引起注意。事实和细节题的命题特点是：对文章或某一段落中的一些特定细节或文章重要事实的理解，一般包括直接理解题和语义转化题。直接理解题能在原文直接找到答案，而语义转化题则需要将题目信息与原文信息加工或整理后才能得出结论。

做细节理解题具体方法与步骤如下：

①略读材料，大概了解原文，掌握中心或主旨；

②按文章的体裁，作者写作的组织模式及有关的信息词。如for example, first, second…等预测应该到何处寻找自己所需要的事实；

③将自己精力放在寻找你所需要的细节上。快速通篇跳读，全文扫视，找到细节出处，待找到含细节句子时，放慢速度，仔细核对比较内容，直至找到答案。如小题1问题是What do adult penguins do in March? 根据第三段When the fish move to deeper waters in March, the adults swim hundreds of miles south. they spend the winter eating seafood to add to their own energy stores. In October, the parents return to their babies and finish raising them.可知在三月份，成年企鹅会往南游在那里度过冬天，为自己储存能量，到10月份它们才回到孩子的身边，履行它们的养育职责，所以答案是They leave their offspring alone for months.