Question

    Sometimes fishing ships disappear: Captains turn off the radios that broadcast their locations, leaving regulators wondering whether the ships are fishing illegally. Now, researchers have shown that albatrosses(信天翁)bearing small detectors can find these doubtful ships, even in the middle of the open ocean. After a 6-month study with the large seabirds, the researchers say that more than one-third of ships in the southern Indian Ocean are fishing illegally.

“These are animal police,” says Boris Worm of Dalhousie University. “You’re empowering animals to survey their own environment, ”Worm says. “That’s pretty cool.” The method could also help albatrosses themselves, which can be killed when they get caught or accidentally eat fishing hooks. The researchers will be there on time.

Illegal fishing is a major concern for environment biologists, especially in remote areas. Over the past decade, scientists have studied the problem with data from automatic identification systems (AISs) on ships, which send their identity, location, speed, and direction to satellites. But AlSs can be turned off. Researchers suspect that fishing ships turn off AISs when they are fishing illegally or want to prevent competitors from knowing where they are getting a good catch.

Albatrosses make good spies. The birds, which live on fish, can spot a fishing ship from as far away as 30 kilometers. Some species fly hundreds or thousands of kilometers while hunting. Between December 2018 and June 2019, the birds met 353 ships. Those locations were sent to the lab in less than 2 hours. If they did not match the locations of ships with an active AIS, the team knew the ships had switched it off. In international waters, 37% of detected ships had their AlS switched off and fished illegally.

Although the albatrosses can detect ships, they cannot track them over longer distances, one scientist says. He says, “What you need to do is to look for patterns to take pictures as evidence.” More albatrosses will be arranged in March and April around the Prince Edward Islands in the southern Indian Ocean to reveal the illegal fishing.

1.What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A.Fishing ships disappear sometimes.

B.Illegal fishing is very serious in the open ocean.

C.Some seabirds are used to monitor the illegal fishing.

D.One-third of ships in the southern Indian Ocean are fishing illegally.

2.What benefit will the method do for the albatrosses?

A.They can get enough food.

B.They can get saved when in danger.

C.They can protect their own rights of fishing.

D.They can avoid being killed or eating fishing hooks.

3.How do the seabirds offer help?

A.By sending locations of ships.

B.By turning off AISs of the ships.

C.By following the ships as far as possible.

D.By taking the pictures of ships fishing illegally.

4.In which column of a newspaper can this text be read?

A.Education. B.Politics. C.Science. D.Health

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.C

【解析】

本文是说明文。由于存在渔船在非法捕鱼时关掉船上的自动识别系统的现象，带有小探测器的信天翁被用于通过发送船舶位置来提供帮助，判断渔船是否在非法捕鱼。

1.

主旨大意题。第一段开头介绍了渔船在进行非法捕鱼时，会关掉船上的自动识别系统，使渔船在监管下消失。根据Now, researchers have shown that albatrosses(信天翁)bearing small detectors can find these doubtful ships, even in the middle of the open ocean.可知带有小探测器的信天翁能够在广阔的海洋中找到这些可疑的船只。下文详细介绍了信天翁的工作过程和作用，所以第一段主要是介绍一些海鸟被用来监视非法捕鱼，引出下文内容。故选C。

2.

细节理解题。根据第二段The method could also help albatrosses themselves, which can be killed when they get caught or accidentally eat fishing hooks.可知这种方法也可以帮助信天翁自己，当它们被抓住或不小心被钩住时，它们可能会被杀死。即这种方法可以帮助信天翁避免被杀死或被钩住致死，故选D。

3.

推理判断题。根据最后两段中的Those locations were sent to the lab in less than 2 hours. If they did not match the locations of ships with an active AIS, the team knew the ships had switched it off.和Although the albatrosses can detect ships, ……可知如果信天翁探测到渔船，渔船的位置会被很快传到实验室，通过位置对比就能判断渔船是否关闭了船上的自动识别系统，是否在非法捕鱼。所以信天翁是通过发送船舶位置来提供帮助的，故选A。

4.

推理判断题。文章介绍的是带有小探测器的信天翁被用于通过发送船舶位置来提供帮助，判断渔船是否在非法捕鱼。此类文章不属于教育、政治和健康内容，而应该是出自报纸的科学版块，故选C。