Question

    Now scientists believe that global warming affects hibernating animals, causing them to wake up earlier. _______ this may seem a little concern, it is in fact a significant environmental problem. The _______ hibernation period could actually lead to significant declines in the populations of several species.

Some of the first concrete evidence of the _______ came from Colorado, where researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological lab have been observing marmot (旱獭) hibernation behavior since the 1970s. In the early days of their studies, marmots generally hibernated several weeks into the month of May. Nowadays, _______, temperatures in the area have risen by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and the marmots are waking up about a month _______.

At least the marmots are _______ hibernating. Several other animals have not been hibernating at all recently. Brown bears in the Spanish Cantabrian Mountains did not hibernate last year. In parts of the United States, chipmunks (花鼠) also _______ the hibernation period. The bears seem to have _______ without losing many individuals. The chipmunks, however, were not so _______. Many of the animals died ________ starvation during the winter.

The problem with animals waking up early, or skipping hibernation altogether ________ the creatures' metabolism (新陈代谢). When an animal hibernates, their metabolism drops significantly. The animals' heart rate ________, and they require very little energy to live. When the animals awake from their winter slumber (睡眠), their metabolism returns to ________.

But while their metabolism may be as active as it was before hibernation, food sources aren't as ________ as they were before. A marmot may wake up when temperatures get ________, thinking it's spring, but plants will not have gotten the amount of sun they need to signal their spring period of growth. So until the plants grow, the marmots have no ________ food source.

Many scientists believe the problem will continue to get ________. ________ changes in hibernation patterns, some believe that other animals will also begin to change their migration patterns or begin to give birth earlier. For many biologists, that's a ________ prospect. Terry Root, an animal expert at Stanford University, said: "I do think what we will be facing is the ________ of many species."

1.A.When B.But C.While D.So

2.A.increased B.shortened C.declined D.spread

3.A.phenomenon B.atmosphere C.circumstance D.situation

4.A.but B.so C.therefore D.however

5.A.later B.earlier C.longer D.before

6.A.still B.thus C.never D.not

7.A.entered B.failed C.skipped D.lost

8.A.died B.lived C.survived D.existed

9.A.delighted B.lucky C.mild D.refreshed

10.A.from B.in C.with D.of

11.A.lie down B.lie with C.get into D.get along with

12.A.decreases B.slows C.stops D.falls

13.A.abnormal B.average C.ordinary D.normal

14.A.available B.rich C.full D.enough

15.A.hotter B.better C.cooler D.warmer

16.A.steady B.reliable C.casual D.fixed

17.A.unfortunate B.harmful C.disappointed D.worse

18.A.In addition to B.As a result of C.Due to D.In spite of

19.A.desperate B.hopeful C.scary D.eager

20.A.survival B.tendency C.existence D.extinction

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

5.B

6.A

7.C

8.C

9.B

10.D

11.B

12.B

13.D

14.A

15.D

16.B

17.D

18.A

19.C

20.D

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章讲述了，全球变暖导致一些动物的冬眠期变短，给这些动物带来巨大影响，动物数量会减少，有些动物甚至会灭绝。

1.考查连词词义辨析。句意：虽然这看起来有点令人担忧，但实际上却是一个重大的环境问题。A. When当……时候；B. But但是；C. While虽然……但是……；D. So因此。由语境可知，前后两句表让步，意为“虽然……但是……”，应用While。故选C项。

2.考查动词词义辨析。句意：缩短的冬眠期实际上可能导致几个物种的数量显著下降。A. increased增加；B. shortened缩短；C. declined减少、拒绝；D. spread扩散。由上文的global warming affects hibernating animals, causing them to wake up earlier可知，此空指缩短的冬眠期。故选B项。

3.考查名词词义辨析。句意：这一现象最早的一些具体证据来自科罗拉多州，在那里，洛基山生物实验室的研究人员从20世纪70年代就开始观察旱獭的冬眠行为。A. phenomenon现象；B. atmosphere气氛；C. circumstance环境；D. situation情况。由上文语境可知，全球变暖导致动物冬眠期缩短，此空指的是（缩短的冬眠期）这一现象。故选A项。

4.考查副词词义辨析。句意：然而，现在这个地区的气温已经上升了2.5华氏度，旱獭大约一个月前就醒了。A. but只有、仅仅；B. so那么；C. therefore因此；D. however然而。由上下文语境可知，旱獭一般冬眠到5月份的几个星期，现在却大约一个月前就醒了，前后表转折，应用副词however。故选D项。

5.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：然而，现在这个地区的气温已经上升了2.5华氏度，旱獭大约一个月前就醒了。A. later后来的；B. earlier更早的；C. longer更长的；D. before之前。由上文的global warming affects hibernating animals, causing them to wake up earlier可知，温度上升，动物会醒的早。故选B项。

6.考查副词词义辨析。句意：至少旱獭还在冬眠。A. still还、仍然；B. thus那么；C. never绝不；D. not不。由下文的Several other animals have not been hibernating at all recently可知，其他一些动物最近根本没有冬眠，说明旱獭还在冬眠。故选A项。

7.考查动词词义辨析。句意：在美国部分地区，花栗鼠也跳过了冬眠期。A. entered进入；B. failed失败；C. skipped跳过、不参加；D. lost丢失。由上文的Several other animals have not been hibernating at all recently可知，其他一些动物最近根本没有冬眠，熊和花栗鼠是举例说明，所以花栗鼠跳过了冬眠期。故选C项。

8.考查动词词义辨析。句意：熊似乎在没有失去许多个体的情况下幸存下来。A. died死亡；B. lived居住；C. survived幸存；D. existed存在。由下文的without losing many individuals可知，熊幸存了下来。故选C项。

9.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：不过，花栗鼠并没有那么幸运。A. delighted开心的；B. lucky幸运的；C. mild温和的；D. refreshed恢复精力的。由上文的however可知，此处表转折，熊幸存了下来，说明花栗鼠没有幸存下来，花栗鼠不幸运。故选B项。

10.考查介词词义辨析。句意：许多动物在冬天饿死了。A. from从……；B. in在……；C. with用……；D. of……的。由语境可知，此处指“饿死”。固定搭配die of starvation（饿死），符合语境。故选D项。

11.考查动词短语辨析。句意：动物早醒或不冬眠的问题在于它们的新陈代谢。A. lie down躺下；B. lie with在于、是……的责任；C. get into进入；D. get along with与……和睦相处。由语境可知，此处指动物的新陈代谢要为动物早醒或不冬眠的问题负责。故选B项。

12.考查动词词义辨析。句意：这些动物的心率减慢，而且它们需要的能量很少。A. decreases减少；B. slows放慢；C. stops停止；D. falls落下。由上文的When an animal hibernates, their metabolism drops significantly可知，动物冬眠新陈代谢明显下降，所以这些动物的心率也减慢。故选B项。

13.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：当动物从冬眠中醒来时，它们的新陈代谢恢复正常。 A. abnormal异常的；B. average平均的；C. ordinary普通的；D. normal正常的。由常识可知，动物冬眠醒来后，它们的新陈代谢会恢复正常。故选D项。

14.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：不过，虽然它们的新陈代谢可能和冬眠前一样活跃，但食物来源却不像冬眠前（那样容易）找到的。A. available可找到的；B. rich富有的；C. full充满的；D. enough足够的。由语境可知，此处指冬眠时的食物不像冬眠前那样找得到。故选A项。

15.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：当气温升高时，旱獭可能会醒来，以为春天到了，但植物不会得到足够的阳光来开启春天的生长期。A. hotter更热的；B. better更好的；C. cooler更冷的；D. warmer更温暖的。由上文语境可知，气温升高，动物会醒的早，所以此空指气温升高，变得温暖。故选D项。

16.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：所以直到植物生长时，旱獭没有可靠的食物来源。A. steady稳定的；B. reliable可靠的；C. casual随便的；D. fixed固定的。由上文的until the plants grow可知，植物没有成长，可推断出动物是没有可靠的食物来源的。故选B项。

17.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：许多科学家认为这个问题将继续恶化。A. unfortunate不幸的；B. harmful有害的；C. disappointed失望的；D. worse更糟的。由下文语境可知，科学家预测一些动物会迁徙，甚至一些动物会灭绝，说明这个问题将继续恶化。故选D项。

18.考查介词短语词义辨析。句意：除了冬眠模式的改变外，一些人认为其他动物也会开始改变它们的迁徙模式或更早开始分娩。A. In addition to除了；B. As a result of (作)为……的结果；C. Due to由于；D. In spite of尽管。由下文语境可知，此处指除了冬眠模式的改变外，气候变暖还导致其它的一些问题，如动物迁徙模式的改变或更早开始分娩。故选A项。

19.考查形容词词义辨析。句意：对许多生物学家来说，这是一个可怕的前景。A. desperate绝望的；B. hopeful有希望的；C. scary可怕的、吓人的；D. eager渴望的。由上文语境可知，动物冬眠期缩短这个问题将继续恶化，说明这是一个可怕的前景。故选C项。

20.考查名词词义辨析。句意：斯坦福大学的动物专家Terry Root 说：“我确实认为，我们将面临的是许多物种的灭绝。”A. survival生存；B. tendency趋势；C. existence存在；D. extinction灭绝。由上文语境可知，动物冬眠期缩短这个问题将会导致动物冬眠模式和迁徙模式的改变或更早开始分娩，对许多生物学家来说，这是一个可怕的前景，可推断出许多物种会灭绝。故选D项。