Question

    PLAYA GRANDE, COSTA RICA? This resort town was long known for Leatherback Sea Turtle (棱皮龟) national Park, nightly turtle beach tours and even a sea turtle museum. However, on a beach where dozens of turtles used to nest on a given night, scientists spied only 32 leatherbacks all of last year.

With leatherbacks threatened with extinction (灭绝), Playa Grande’s turtle museum was abandoned three years ago and now sits among a sea of weeds. And the beachside ticket office for turtle tours was washed away by a high tide in September. “We do not promote that as a turtle tourism destination any more because we realize there are far too few turtles to please,” said Alvaro Fonseca, a park ranger (管理员).

Even before scientists found temperatures going up over the past decade, sea turtles were threatened by beach development, drift net fishing and Costa Ricans interest in eating turtle eggs. But climate change may cause the most serious harm to an animal that has lived in the Pacific for 150 million years.

Sea turtles are sensitive to numerous effects of warming. They feed on reefs, which are dying in hotter seas. They lay eggs on beaches that are being covered by rising seas and more violent waves.

More uniquely their gender (性别) is determined, not by genes but by the egg’s temperature during development. Small rises in beach temperatures can result in ail-female populations, obviously problematic for survival. If the sand around the eggs hits 30 degrees Celsius, the gender balance shits to females: at about 32 degrees they are all female. Above 34, you get boiled eggs.

On some nesting beaches, scientists are artificially cooling nests with shade or irrigation and trying to protect broader areas of coastal property from development to ensure that turtles have a place to nest as the seas rise.

1.Why does the resort town stop promoting it’s turtle tourism?

A.It decides not to disturb the turtles’ normal life.

B.Tourists have lost interest in watching turtles.

C.There are only very few turtles now.

D.The turtle museum was destroyed by a high tide.

2.Which of the following is the major factor in the turtles endangerment?

A.The locals eating habit.

B.Drift net fishing.

C.Beach development.

D.Global warming.

3.We learn from the last paragraph that scientists　　　.

A.are doing research on the sea rise

B.are moving turtles to new homes

C.are protecting turtles’ nests

D.are getting rid of sea weeds

4.The passage intends to　　　.

A.introduce a special kind of sea turtle

B.explain the mystery of turtles’ eggs

C.show the dangers a certain kind of turtle is facing

D.attract more visitors to a sea turtle museum

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.C

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。这篇文章旨在展示一种海龟所面临的危险。

1.

细节理解题。根据第二段中We do not promote that as a turtle tourism destination any more because we realize there are far too few turtles to please,“我们不再把那里作为海龟旅游目的地，因为我们意识到需要取悦的海龟太少了，”由此可知，这个度假小镇之所以停止推广海龟旅游，是因为现在只有很少的海龟了。故选C。

2.

细节理解题。根据第三段中But climate change may cause the most serious harm to an animal that has lived in the Pacific for 150 million years. “但是气候变化可能会对在太平洋生活了一亿五千万年的动物造成最严重的伤害。”由此可知，“气候变暖”是导致海龟濒危的主要因素。故选D。

3.

推理判断题。根据最后一段On some nesting beaches, scientists are artificially cooling nests with shade or irrigation and trying to protect broader areas of coastal property from development to ensure that turtles have a place to nest as the seas rise.“在一些筑巢的海滩上，科学家们用荫凉或灌溉为筑巢地人工降温，并试图保护更大范围的沿海地产不受开发，以确保海龟在海平面上升时有一个筑巢的地方。由此判断出，从最后一段我们了解到科学家正在保护海龟的巢穴。故选C。

4.

推理判断题。纵观全文，尤其是根据第一段中However, on a beach where dozens of turtles used to nest on a given night, scientists spied only 32 leatherbacks all of last year. “然而，在一个曾经有几十只海龟在某个晚上筑巢的海滩上，科学家去年全年只发现了32只棱皮龟。”和第二段中With leatherbacks threatened with extinction (灭绝), Playa Grande’s turtle museum was abandoned three years ago and now sits among a sea of weeds.“由于棱皮龟濒临灭绝，Playa Grande的海龟博物馆三年前被废弃，现在坐落在一片杂草之中。”可知，这篇文章的目的是展示一种海龟所面临的危险。故选C。