Question

    The situation of the world's plants is not good. One fifth of the kinds of plants are in danger of disappearing, according to a report.

"Plants are very vital to human beings, " said Kathy Willis, who led the new report. "Plants provide us with everything-food, fuel, medicine, and they are very important for our climate controlling. Without plants we would not be here. "

The good news is that deforestation rates(森林砍伐率) around the world have dropped largely since the 1950s. However, this report on the health of plants around the world shows that there is much more to be done.

The report predicts that there are now 390, 900 kinds of plants. And about 21 percent of those plants are in danger of disappearing. "The good side is that we're still discovering lots of new plants, about 2, 000 each year, " said Dr. Willis. "The bad side is that we've seen a huge change in land cover, mainly caused by cultural activity, with a little bit of climate change in there as well."

Human activity has a great effect on the danger of plants disappearing. As humans cut down forests to make room for agriculture(农业), and towns and cities, biodiversity(生物多样性) is lost. This could not only affect our own food supply directly, but also it could affect the food web.

1.What does the underlined word "vital" in paragraph 2 probably mean? ______

A.Useless. B.Friendly. C.Equal. D.Important.

2.Which of the following does Dr. Willis agree with? ______

A.New plants are more than ever before.

B.About half the plants will disappear soon.

C.Many new plants are found every year.

D.Plants mustn't be used to produce medicine.

3.What do we learn from the third paragraph? ______

A.We have made little progress. B.There is a long way for us to go.

C.We have achieved our goal. D.There will be nothing we can do.

4.What is the best title for the text? ______

A.Biodiversity Being Lost B.Human Social Activity

C.Environment Protection D.Nature Climate Change

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

本文属于说明文阅读，文章主要从五分之一的植物物种面临消失的危险出发，引出植物对人类的重要性，然后对当前植物所面临的险境，以及导致生物多样性丧失的原因进行了详细的介绍并指出这种变化最终将会危害到人类自身。

1.词义猜测题。根据后文Plants provide us with everything-food, fuel, medicine, and they are very important for our climate controlling. Without plants we would not be here.可知植物为我们提供了一切——食物、燃料、药物，它们对我们控制气候非常重要。没有植物，我们就不会在这里。故Kathy Willis说的是植物对人类非常重要。可知划线单词意思为“重要的”。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段中"The good side is that we're still discovering lots of new plants, about 2, 000 each year, " said Dr. Willis.(Willis博士说:“好的一面是我们仍在发现大量的新植物，每年大约有2000种。”)结合选项可知Willis博士会同意每年都发现许多新植物的说法。故选C。

3.细节理解题。根据第三段中However, this report on the health of plants around the world shows that there is much more to be done.(然而，这份关于世界各地植物健康状况的报告表明，还有很多工作要做)可知我们还有很长的路要走。故选B。

4.主旨大意题。根据最后一段Human activity has a great effect on the danger of plants disappearing. As humans cut down forests to make room for agriculture, and towns and cities, biodiversity is lost. This could not only affect our own food supply directly, but also it could affect the food web.(人类活动对植物消失的危险有很大的影响。当人类为了给农业和城镇腾出空间而砍伐森林时，生物多样性就消失了。这不仅会直接影响到我们的食物供应，还会影响到食物网)结合文章可知，文章主要讲述植物物种面临消失，植物对人类非常重要，植物所面临的险境会导致生物多样性丧失，这种变化最终将会危害到人类自身。可知A选项“生物多样性正在丧失”符合文章标题。故选A。