Question

    A recent study confirms that several turtle species(海龟种类) have either greatly dropped or disappeared from various sections of the Australian Murray River. “The problem is that the long life of turtles makes people unable to sense the seriousness of the situation,” says Ricky Spencer, a co-author of the study, which was published in February in Scientific Reports. “It’s human nature that only when something is gone do we start missing it.”

Spencer and his workmates recorded the population of three once common turtle species at 52 sites along the southern areas of the river. The researchers inferred the species’ population sizes from the number of individuals they caught in a given amount of time. They found the turtles have disappeared in places where they were previously rich, and most of the individuals they managed to catch elsewhere were large—and likely old—adults. Spencer and his workmates blame the losses on continuing nest predation(捕食) by foxes, accompanied by other problems, including a worse and worse environment and serious drought(干旱) in the 2000s.

“We have known about the sudden sharp drop of the population of the turtles for tens of years, and although media have covered a lot about the ‘trouble of our rivers’, nothing has been done,” says Rick Shine from Macquarie University in Sydney. “This paper is a wake-up call that unless we begin to do something about turtle protection, we may lose an attractive part of our native creatures.”

The turtles could recover quickly if action is taken to protect nests from foxes and bring back living areas, Spencer notes. But governments tend to respond only when losses reach crisis levels, and the Murray River species currently lack the government’s protection, he says. He and his workmates have a solution, however. “Our next step is to start designing community protection efforts for common turtle species,” he explains, “so people can actually do things without having to wait for the government’s support.”

1.Why are people unaware that turtles are in a very serious situation?

A.The government hasn’t taken action.

B.They know turtles have a long life.

C.Old turtles still have a large population.

D.Media haven’t done any report about it.

2.What is the greatest challenge for turtles according to Spencer’s team?

A.Foxes catch and feed on them. B.The environment is getting worse.

C.The climate is extremely dry. D.Human beings kill them in quantity.

3.Which of the following does Rick Shine agree with?

A.Media have already done their best. B.The study gives people a warning.

C.Turtles are sure to disappear soon. D.Turtle protection is a long process.

4.What do we know from the last paragraph?

A.It’s not possible that turtles can avoid disappearing.

B.The government is taking action against the crisis.

C.Community efforts to protect turtles will start soon.

D.People have to wait for the government’s support.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了人们以为海龟寿命很长，对于海龟面临灭绝没有给予重视，以斯宾塞为首的科研团队正在努力保护它们：发表论文以作为警告，保护海龟还需要政府和社区的努力。

1.细节理解题。根据文章第一段第2句内容“The problem is that the long life of turtles makes people unable to sense the seriousness of the situation (问题是海龟的长寿使人们无法意识到问题的严重性)”可知，对于海龟寿命长的认知使人类没有意识到海龟正处于危险时期。故选B项。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第二段末句内容“Spencer and his workmates blame the losses on continuing nest predation by foxes, accompanied by other problems, including a worse and worse environment and serious drought in the 2000s. (斯宾塞和他的同事们将这些损失归咎于狐狸对巢穴的持续捕食，以及其他问题，包括2000年以来越来越糟糕的环境和严重的干旱)”可知，海龟面临的最大危机是狐狸的捕食。故选A项。

3.推理判断题。根据文章第三段末句内容“This paper is a wake-up call that unless we begin to do something about turtle protection, we may lose an attractive part of our native creatures.(这篇论文给我们敲响了警钟，除非我们开始采取措施保护海龟，否则我们可能会失去本土生物中有吸引力的部分)”可知， Rick Shine认为这是一种警钟。故选B项。

4.细节理解题。根据文章末段末尾内容：“Our next step is to start designing community protection efforts for common turtle species,”he explains, “so people can actually do things without having to wait for the government’s support.”(“我们的下一步是开始为普通的海龟物种设计社区保护措施，”他解释说，“这样人们就可以不需要等待政府的支持就可以做事情了”)”可知，社区有可能下一步采取措施保护海龟。C项“Community efforts to protect turtles will start soon.( 社区保护海龟的工作将很快开始)”论述正确。故选C项。