Question

    For a long time hikers in Japan have considered a bear bell essential. Its tinny ring is said to scare off huge creatures. Nowadays, however, bear bells are increasingly useful on the way to the shops as well as in the wild. “The number of animals - whether bears, boars or monkeys --is expanding, and they are going into villages and towns”, says Hiroto Enari of  Yamagata University.

Japan is home to many species of wild animals, including both black and brown bears. Estimates of their numbers are unstable, but since the 2000s the number of bear sightings has been rising. There were close to 1 3 , 000 in 2018 alone. The reappearance has its roots in the truth : the shrinking of Japan’s population is especially sharp in rural areas, where it is more serious by ongoing urbanization. The reducing quantity of people, in turn, has emboldened (使大胆)animals. Bears are less limited about entering villages in broad daylight if there are few folks around, Mr Enari says. Indeed, the biggest jumps in sightings have been where the population is falling fastest.

Hunting is declining in Japan, too. Government data suggest that the average hunter is now 68 years old. The country’s many forests and mountains provide an expansive habitat for wild animals. Indeed, the true wilderness is growing as foresters and farmers die off. Bears become particularly bold in years when acorns (橡实)are scarce, sneaking into orchards (果园)to steal fruits.

While some welcome their reappearance? others suffer from it. Every year bears injure scores of people, and kill a handful. Deer cause damage to farmland and speed up erosion by, for example, eating up grass. Simple solutions, such as changing the layout around villages or putting up fences, are rarely used. Instead, many bears are captured or killed. In 2013 the government decided to halve the number of certain types of deer, boars and monkeys by 2023. Japan is struggling to adapt to the changing power balance between animals and people”, says Mr Enari.

1.In Japan, what were the bear bells first used for?

A.Warning people of bears’  appearance.

B.Safeguarding the shops and villages.

C.Driving away various wild animals.

D.Scaring off bears for the hikers.

2.What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A.It is hard to see a brown bear in Japan.

B.The number of bear sightings has declined since 2000.

C.Japan’s reducing population is a main cause for bears’ reappearance.

D.Bears appear most frequently where the population increases fastest.

3.What is the other cause for wild animals’ reappearance?

A.The increase of forests. B.The decline of hunting.

C.The reduction of their habitats. D.The death of foresters and farmers.

4.What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A.The problem wild animals bring about and related measures to handle it.

B.Japanese people’s attitude to the reappearance of wild animals.

C.Methods for killing wild animals and the government’s attitude to them.

D.The wild animals’ future Japanese experts expect.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。因为人口及狩猎活动减少，日本各地已经出现野生动物数量持续增长的现象，因而对当地居民生活产生负面影响，日本政府正想办法解决人与动物之间生态平衡的问题。

1.细节理解题。根据文章首段第一、二句： For a long time hikers in Japan have considered a bear bell essential. Its tinny ring is said to scare off huge creatures. 长久以来，在日本的徒步旅行者，都认为熊铃是必不可少的。 据说它那细小的圆环能吓跑巨大的生物。可知熊铃铛最初被徒步旅行者用来吓走大型动物的，所以D项正确。故选D项。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段中的 “The reappearance has its roots in the truth: the shrinking of Japan’s population is especially sharp in rural areas, where it is more serious by ongoing urbanization.” 这种再现的根源在于事实: 日本人口的萎缩在农村地区尤为突出，而农村地区的城市化进程更为严重。可知C项正确。故选C项。

3.细节理解题。结合第二段：The reappearance has its roots in the truth : the shrinking of Japan’s population is especially sharp in rural areas, where it is more serious by ongoing urbanization. The reducing quantity of people, in turn, has emboldened (使大胆)animals. 这种再现的根源在于事实: 日本人口的萎缩在农村地区尤为突出，而农村地区的城市化进程更为严重。 人口数量的减少，反过来，也给动物们壮了胆。第三段首句Hunting is declining in Japan, too.狩猎减少也是一个原因。可知人口减少和狩猎减少促成了熊的再现，所以B项正确。故选B项。

4.主旨大意题。本段主要讲述野生动物数量增加对部分人的困扰，并讲述了政府采取的平衡措施，所以A项正确。故选A项。