Question

    Whale researchers believe they have found a new way to measure the amount of stress felt by whales when they experience serious threats, such as being hit by a ship, and they say the technique could help protect the huge sea creatures from dying off.

American Rosalind Rolland is the lead scientist on the project. She and her team are with the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. They measured stress hormones (荷尔蒙 ) by studying baleen, a substance found in the upper part of the mouth of some kinds of whale. She explains that the baleen serves as a record that shows a spike in stress hormones when whales face dangers such as a changing climate and ship strikes. Scientists can then read these records, similar to reading the rings on a tree.

Understanding the information is important because whales who often feel stressed are less likely to be reproductive and more likely to become sick. That combination is not good for the whale population, which is already dangerously low.

The scientists did their work on a whale that had become trapped in fishing equipment, which some scientists estimate kills up to 300, 000 whales and dolphins annually. It was finally killed by Inuit hunters who found it trying to drag the fishing equipment. The hunters said the whale seemed to lack energy. When scientists examined the dead whale, they found its mouth showed an increase in stress hormones 20 times greater than normal.

Regina Asmutis-Silvia is a biologist with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation in Massachusetts. She didn’t participate in the research, but she says it is important. “We clearly understand that stress is bad for humans. We also need to understand that stress is bad for other animals, too,” she adds.

1.What does the text mainly tell us?

A.The dangers the whale often faces.

B.The measures to stop sea life being hit.

C.A discovery to measure stress on whales.

D.A way to protect the mouth of the whale.

2.Which of the following can best replace “spike” underlined in Paragraph 2?

A.Rise. B.Change. C.Crash. D.Slide.

3.What may a whale living a stressful life be like?

A.Calm and fierce. B.Unhealthy and unable to reproduce.

C.Uneasy and energetic. D.Sizeable and likely to lose appetite.

4.Why does the author mention the words by Regina?

A.To move on to another topic.

B.To stress the importance of the finding.

C.To tell the necessity of studying other animals.

D.To show the similarity between humans and animals.

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章讲述了，研究人员找到了一种新的方法测量鲸鱼在遭遇严重威胁时所感受到的压力，这项技术可以帮助保护这些巨大的海洋生物免于灭绝。

1.主旨大意题。由第一段中的“Whale researchers believe they have found a new way to measure the amount of stress felt by whales when they experience serious threats, such as being hit by a ship, and they say the technique could help protect the huge sea creatures from dying off.”（鲸鱼研究人员认为，他们找到了一种新的方法来测量鲸鱼在遭遇严重威胁（如被船撞）时所感受到的压力，他们说，这项技术可以帮助保护这些巨大的海洋生物免于死亡。）可知文章主要讲一项测量鲸鱼压力的发现。故选C项。

2.词义猜测题。由第二段中的“She explains that the baleen serves as a record that shows a spike in stress hormones when whales face dangers such as a changing climate and ship strikes.”（她解释说，当鲸鱼面临气候变化和船只撞击等危险时，须鲸的压力荷尔蒙会急剧上升。）和第四段最后一句“When scientists examined the dead whale, they found its mouth showed an increase in stress hormones 20 times greater than normal.”（当科学家检查死鲸时，他们发现它的嘴显示出压力荷尔蒙的增加是正常的20倍。），可知鲸鱼面临危险时，压力荷尔蒙处于增长状态，所以死鲸压力荷尔蒙的增加是正常的20倍，此处spike意为“增加、上升”。故选A项。

3.细节理解题。由第三段中的“Understanding the information is important because whales who often feel stressed are less likely to be reproductive and more likely to become sick.”（了解这些信息是很重要的，因为经常感到压力的鲸鱼不太可能繁殖，更容易生病。）可知经常感到压力的鲸鱼繁殖率低，更容易生病。故选B项。

4.推理判断题。由最后一段中的“She didn’t participate in the research, but she says it is important. “We clearly understand that stress is bad for humans. We also need to understand that stress is bad for other animals, too,” she adds.”（她没有参与这项研究，但她说这很重要。“我们清楚地知道压力对人类有害。我们还需要明白，压力对其他动物也有害，”她补充说。），可推断出作者引用Regina的话是强调该发现的重要性。故选B项。