Question

Late in 1990, when Paul Kagame was hiding on the Congolese side of the Virunga mountains preparing to invade Rwanda, his army were not the only inhabitants of that thickly forested volcanic range. The Virungas are also home to mountain gorillas (大猩猩). Soldiers are notoriously excited when it comes to wildlife, but Mr. Kagame ordered his men not to shoot the apes. “They will be valuable one day,” he said. He was right.

By 2017, with Mr. Kagame now installed as Rwanda’s president, that country’s wildlife-tourism industry, of which gorilla-watching on the Rwandan side of the Virungas accounts for 90%, was worth around $438 million a year. But now the world’s gorillas, and also their great-ape cousins, the chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans, face another threat from their human neighbours: covid-19.

Great apes share about 98% of their DNA with human beings, and are vulnerable to many of the same diseases. So far, there have been no reported cases of wild apes sickening with the new coronavirus (冠状病毒). But research done by Amanda Melin of the University of Calgary, in Canada, and her colleagues, suggests that many primates are at risk.

The virus infects people by locking onto ACE2, a protein found on the surface membranes (细胞膜) of certain cells - particularly those of the airways into the lungs. The ape version of ACE2 is, Dr Melin has discovered, identical to the human variety, so apes are likely to be particularly susceptible to SARS-COV-2.

Covid-19 is novel, but primatologists (灵长类动物学家) like Dr Wrangham, who is familiar with the harm caused by diseases of human origin, are already worried. They estimate that Ebola virus alone is responsible for the deaths of a third of the world’s wild gorillas over the past three decades. Jane Goodall, a primatologist doing research on chimpanzees in Tanzania is also worried. The country has not enforced a full anti-covid lockdown, so villagers who live around the park could spread the disease to the chimps. Worse still, mountain-gorilla groups are normally harems that have several females but only a single adult male. If this silver-back were to die of covid-19, the females - likely to have been infected as well - would probably disperse to join other groups, spreading the virus further.

Mr. de Merode says that if a gorilla tested positive for covid-19, his park “would consider a veterinary (兽医的) intervention to isolate (隔离) and treat the individual, but we would then be in unknown territory”. Most primatologists think isolating a sick ape would be impractical. Rather, laments Dr Wrangham, “we would just have to sit back and watch.”

1.From Melin’s research, we can learn that ______.

A.wild apes have sickened with covid-19

B.many primates are at the risk of dying off

C.ACE2 is merely founded in the lungs

D.apes are likely to be infected by covid-19

2.Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?

(① to ⑥ represent paragraphs 1 – 6)

A. B. C. D.

3.From the last paragraph, we can infer that the attitude of the experts concerned towards isolation is ______.

A.uncertain and passive B.disapproving and pessimistic

C.optimistic and active D.enthusiastic and confident

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章中研究者认为大猩猩很有可能感染新冠肺炎。并且研究者认为如果大猩猩感染新冠肺炎，人类的作用将是有限的。

1.

细节理解题。根据文章第三段Great apes share about 98% of their DNA with human beings, and are vulnerable to many of the same diseases. So far, there have been no reported cases of wild apes sickening with the new coronavirus. But research done by Amanda Melin of the University of Calgary, in Canada, and her colleagues, suggests that many primates are at risk（类人猿与人类共享大约98%的DNA，并且容易受到许多相同疾病的侵袭。到目前为止，还没有报告野生猿感染这种新型冠状病毒的病例。但是加拿大卡尔加里大学的阿曼达·梅林和她的同事所做的研究表明，许多灵长类动物处于危险之中）可知，许多灵长类动物处于危险中。再根据第四段The ape version of ACE2 is, Dr. Melin has discovered, identical to the human variety, so apes are likely to be particularly susceptible to SARS-COV-2（梅林博士发现，猿类的ACE2与人类的变种完全相同，所以猿类可能特别容易感染SARS-COV-2）可知，类人猿可能较容易感染SARS-COV-2。综合分析可知，类人猿很有可能感染新冠病毒。故选D项。

2.

推理判读题。分析文章结构可知，文章第一段和第二段为导入段，引入大猩猩面临人类新冠病毒的问题。文章第三、四、五段讲述了科学家的研究新发现，强调类人猿有很大的可能性感染新冠肺炎。文章第六段作为总结段，描述如果一只大猩猩被检测出covid-19呈阳性，人类的措施将是有限的。故选A项。

3.

推理判断题。根据文章最后一段Most primatologists think isolating a sick ape would be impractical. Rather, laments Dr. Wrangham, “We would just have to sit back and watch.”（ 大多数灵长类动物学家认为隔离一只生病的猿是不切实际的。相反，Wrangham博士悲叹道，“我们只能坐视不管”）可知，很多专家认为隔离是不切实际的，且我们只能坐视不管。A. uncertain and passive 无把握与消极；B. disapproving and pessimistic 不认同与悲观；C. optimistic and active 乐观与积极；D. enthusiastic and confident 热情与自信。故选A项。